Land Scam Controversy Forces Mugabe's Hand
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
J *,TODAY: POPE IN A FLAP ON.'BIRTH CONTRO.L ~ I N.SE UPDATE * TOP WEEKEND SPORT * f ,6 I J.' , J J 4. J • ~ • L. , .. , ing Africa South Vol.3 No.392 land scam controversy Curtain rises forces Mugabe's hand HARARE: Zimbawean president vincial governor, senior police, Robert Mugabe has ordered the army, air force and intelligence cancellation of all leases of state service officers and civil servants owned farms in an attempt to de that had been leased government fuse the damaging scandal over owned farms. on Lubowski land issued to. senior ,ruUng party The. 'properties included farms and go~rnment -Officials. '. bought ,and seized by govehtment In his tiroSt · reaction to revela to resettle land-hungry peasants, . tions of the leases by the country's as well as about 100 properties pre independent Press, Mugabe was viously rented by white farmers - quoted in The People's Voice, the some (or as long as three decades - organ of the ruling Zanu (PF) but who had their leases cancelled party, as saying he was taking the by the government in October last inquest today action because of public outcry. year as a prelude to re-leasing them. But there was immediate criti Mugabe promised that the list of cism that his moves were not people who had been leased farms GWEN LISTER enough. would be published, and said in In early March independently future leases of state-owned land owned newspapers began a series would be done through "proper THE long-awaited inquest into the of reports that listed the names of procedures". murder of Swapo activist Anton dozens of senior figures, including Lubowski, will start in the Windhoek hvo cabinet ministers, MPs, a pro- To page 2 High Couribefore Judge Harold Levy today, when the State will call wit y o • nesses to testify. EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT • Lubowski was brutally gunned down outside his o Windhoek home.on September 121989, during the U CLEANING CARPETS BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK run-up to UN-sponsored elections in Namibia. He had risen to prominence in the country due to his R work with the trade unions and when he joined Swapo in 1984, working Closely with the leadership of the movement in exile. C Lubowski's parents will not be present at the inquest, but will be represented by South African J.\ Senior Counsel Wim Trengrove, assisted by David R To page 2 P "r 'I'm sure it was an .... s Most £arpets Dry elephant' says beer drinker 'IV In 60 Minutes• No Steam Or drinkers' versions of how big it was • Shampoo TOM MINNEY AT varying from 'huge' to 'nearly as big l Removes TWYFELFONTEIN as the CDM building'. l Stubborn Stains Elephant adventure is part of the A WILD elephant joined the party at No Sticky attractions at Twyfelfontein campsite, a campsite bar last week, sending built up over the last two years by local Residue drinkers diving for cover amongst the entrepreneur Elias Xoagub. It is clean l Economical bottles. Drinkers at a small bar re and well-organised with friendly staff cently-built at Twyfeifontein camp o and well-designed basic camping fa site in Kunene region on Wednesday cilities among the spreading trees. V fou nd they had help to blow the foam Xoagub seems continuously mak off their Tafel beers when a trumpet ing improvements and frequently gives ing bull elephant appeared about 10 staff more training including sending metres behind them. y Contact Telephone: them on environmental courses. The unexpected gate-crasher sent Twyfelfontein staff seemed to take panic through the clients, many of the elephant in the bar in their stride, ,0 (061) 32455/224829 ~ 43303 (H) whom promptly vaulted the bar and I " saying the giants were increasingly peered back from the relative secu u • . P 0 Box 22811, Wlndhoek, frequent visitors at the campsite. They rity. They might have been even more have taken to raiding water at farms far nervous if they knew that waiting in . N"mibia., to the east and then move past to check the velvet night east of the campsite F the bar - and maybe develop a taste for where there were some six more el Namibian beers? - on their way to their ephants with babies. ranges. Ro ~~~ Intervention by campsite staff per According to Rudi Loutit, Khorixas suaded the irritable bull to take the chief conservation officer of the Min fami ly past by a detour. Drinking re istry of Environment and Tourism, the sumed. elephant population of the area is do- By morning the elephant family "r• had become a campsite legend with To page 2 Lida Cleaning Services 2 _Monday April 18 1994 THE NAMIBIAN ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Zim land scam controversy Housing programme the issue has been promi I from page 1 I proper process that in nent in' the local Press cludes an independent 'a unique success' He also questioned the for months, Mugabe is investigation. We are not secrecy under which the now claiming credit for interested in the party or 100 farms had been unearthing the affair. the central committee FRANNA KAVA RI leased. "There must be "Some of us would not cancelling the leases and fair play, and the actions have known of the then having them re-is THE MINISTRY ofI.ocal Government and Hous must be transparent," he · scheme(ofcontroverslal ' sued. That is wrong." . ing was implementing a policy of secure land ten said. leases) had I not bumped The scandal has roused ure and private ownership of property in towns across Namibia to promote private sector invest Applications for farms . into oile case by chance," widespread ou~ge on . ment and development, according to Libertine would have to be scruti- hesaitl. · '. an issue and has domi . .Amathila,~isterofLotaI Government and Hous nised by a board and .' However, Mugabe nated Zimbabwean pOli ing. farms available would made no mention of the .tics almost since 'wnite Motivating her 1994195 budget on Friday, Amathila have to be advertised. inquiry -into the ScaDdal colonists settled in .the . Justice· crisis. , said her Ministry hoped Okakarara, Khorixas, Opuwo, . He denied there was . announced last week by country over a century Ondangwa, Oshakati and Rundu would be proclaimed any corruption in the af- ' Home Affairs Minister ago and appropriated from page 1 and with it our effort to .towns by the end of the financial year. fair. "Yes, you have Dumiso Dabengwa. vast stretches of land. institutionalize respect She said full autonomy would be handed over to some civil servants, but I At the inquiry an The affair has caught Making an impassioned for human rights in Na- Oshakati, Katima Mulilo and Rehoboth when it was do not see why a person nouncement; Dabengwa Mugabe with a general pJea, the Minister said if mibia." . clear that these local councils could handle their af- in government who is said Mugabe "knew election due in a year. his miniStry was allo" Tjiriange said if va- fairs: interested in farming nothing" about the scan Observers say his appar ClUed less than N$50 cant posts were not given A substantial portion of the estimated recurrent should not have leased dal. ently lukewarm response million in the (lext fman- expenditure, as in previous fmancial years, would be land," he said. "It's not good will do little to settle al budgetary support, the utilized to subsidize the water and elecricity being It would only' be a enough," said David ready deep public disen cial year, it would not be building of new . court supplied to a fairly large percentage ofthe total number scandal if "it was the. Hasluck, direCtor of the chantment with the rul able to carry out its func- houses would have to be of consumers in Namibia, the Minister pointed out majority of people in white-dominated Com ing party and what is seen tions effectively. at>andoned. She reported that 126 villages had been provided government who got mercial Farmers Union as Mugabe' s own poor He said the Ministry Rudolph Kamburona with electricity under the extensive operation to elec- leases". (CFU). performance regarding had been receiving less of the DT A expressed trify the northern area. A pre-paid metering system Despite the fact that "We want to see a the affair. - Sapa than one per cent opera- . concern over the number had been implemented but the provision of power ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~--------I tional expenditure of the of criminal cases which would still have to be subsidized to a large extent If Amathila said it was her intention to privatise the total national budget had been postponed. sale of electricity, maintenance and reticulation in FOR SALE Elephant since independence. Tjiriange explained that certain rural areas during the current financial year. The Ministry had 61 postponement of cases The amount requested by municipalities for devel- Swakopmu rid Tamariskia gets froth vacant professional posts was due mainly to lack opment projects had escalated from N$4,1 to N$7 ,1 SINGLE QUARTERS FOR SALE (32 per cent of the total of witnesses. million. Of this amount, N$2,2 million had been BY TENDER establishment) and 70 The Ministry was earmarked for Tsumeb municipality for development flying vacant administrative of water resources to replace the supply previously "24 Bedrooms planning to set in motion provided by TCL mine. This project was a priority "Dining Room From page 1 posts. training courses for its because of the eventual closure of the mine. "Lounge "No institution can magistrates,. prosecutors, The Minister also spoke at length about the results "Caretaker Flat ing very well with a good properly-function when legal clerks and inter- of the Build Together Programme.