Undermanned UN mission in Chad faces further temporary cuts

The United Nations force seeking to provide security in the Central African Republic (CAR) and Chad, already at barely half its mandated strength, will be further constrained in the coming months due to the departure of some units, a top UN official warned today.

Climate change to accelerate displacement in Africa, top UN official warns

Climate change will lead to ever greater numbers of people being uprooted in Africa, the top United Nations humanitarian official said today, calling for enhanced and swift actions to reduce disaster risk and step up mitigation.

President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe Hails Ties Between RevolutionaryParties in Southern Africa; Imperialists Still Financing Regime ChangeAgenda

President hails revolutionary parties ties

Herald Reporter

President Mugabe yesterday re-asserted the strong relations that exist between revolutionary parties in the Southern Africa region.

Speaking at a meeting with the visiting Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola delegation at State House yesterday, President Mugabe acknowledged the strong relations between Zanu-PF and the MPLA.

President Mugabe is also the First Secretary of Zanu-PF.

“We would like to reaffirm the long standing relationship between the two parties,” he said.

The MPLA delegation led by secretary-general Cde Juliao Mateus Paulo, consisted of the party’s secretary for international relations Cde Paulo Gorge and Cde Manuel Pedro Chavez, the head of Africa region.

Speaking after meeting President Mugabe, Cde Paulo said they would work to strengthen relations between Zanu-PF and the MPLA.

“We will continue working together to strengthen co-operation between our two parties,” he said.

Cde Paulo said while the struggle against the colonial masters was over, there was, however, need for the parties to continue working for the development of the people.

He, however, said there was need to be wary of the imperialist agenda to remove revolutionary parties from power through propaganda activities.

The MPLA secretary-general paid tribute to President Mugabe for forming the inclusive Government with the MDC formations.

“We believe this is an effort by Zanu-PF to unite the people and it is for the people,” he said.

On the reported visit to Angola by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Cde Paulo said although they were not aware of the visit, his country would welcome the MDC-T leader.

“He will, (however), get a message of unity in Zimbabwe. We will not change and give him the wrong advice,” he said.

Zanu-PF secretary for administration Cde Didymus Mutasa and Cde Kumbirai Kangai (secretary for external affairs) were among officials present when the visiting MPLA delegation met President Mugabe.

The delegation, which earlier during the day met Vice President Joice Mujuru, also visited the National Heroes Acre.

MPLA and Zanu-PF officials met early this week and discussed ways to strengthen political and economic relations between the two parties.

Over US$700m set aside for illegal regime change

By John Manzongo
Zimbabwe Herald

Western nations hostile to Zimbabwe and its leadership have budgeted over US$700 million to influence illegal regime change under the guise of humanitarian assistance.

Addressing Joint Command and Staff Course number 22 students at Zimbabwe Staff College yesterday, Minister of State for National Security Sydney Sekeramayi, said Zimbabwe was under serious threat.

“The biggest western monetary injections into Zimbabwe is not towards development, but humanitarian plus some interventions designed to condition the masses to be amenable to illegal regime change.

“Such interventions have a budget which is in excess of US$700 million, thus underscoring the huge investment towards subverting Zimba-bwe’s security,” he said.

Minister Sekeramayi said Zimbabwe had more than 2 500 non-governmental organisations, the bulk of them driven by one fundamental theme of illegal regime change.

“That industry currently employs more people than the formal sector of the Zimbabwean economy.

“Thus the industry that seeks to overthrow President Mugabe and Zanu-PF employs a significant population, institutions and formations,” he said.

Minister Sekeramayi said Britain and its western allies embarked on a demonisation campaign against Zimbabwe through false media reports.

“The purpose of this global information warfare, fought by CNN, BBC, Sky News and Aljazeera, is aimed at discrediting the Zimbabwe land reform (programme) by assaulting the morality behind the noble exercise.

“The pirate radio stations continue to illegally broadcast in spite of the fact that they are outlawed by the Global Political Agreement, which gave birth to the inclusive Government.”

Minister Sekeramayi said the illegal sanctions imposed by the West posed the most direct threat to Zimbabwe’s security.

Blue helmets bring deadly tribal violence under control in Darfur

Peacekeepers serving with the joint United Nations-African Union mission in Sudan’s war-wracked Darfur region have intervened in deadly tribal clashes, bringing the situation under control, it was announced today.

Côte d’Ivoire: UN envoy appeals for November presidential elections to keep on track

The top United Nations envoy to the Côte d’Ivoire today called on the West African nation to build on momentum towards holding its much-delayed presidential elections, slated for the end of next month.

Zimbabwe News Update: GPA Principals to Meet; ZANU-PF Walks Out ofParliament in Protest; Idigenise Nestle

GPA principals to meet

Herald Reporter

THE three parties to the Global Political Agreement have agreed to “holistically” look at divisive issues affecting the inclusive Government and a meeting of the three principals might take place soon, a senior Government official has said.

In his address at the launch of the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries Manufacturing Sector Survey, Industry and Commerce Minister and MDC secretary-general Professor Welshman Ncube said there had been efforts at rapprochement over the past two days.

The news of a possible breakthrough following MDC-T’s decision to “disengage” from the inclusive Government came as South African President Jacob Zuma poured cold water on calls from some quarters to send a fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe and impose an arms embargo on the country.

Reports from South Africa said President Zuma was responding to a question in Parliament by Democratic Alliance parliamentary leader Mr Athol Trollip on MDC-T’s “partial pullout” over the indictment for trial on terror-related charges of party treasurer Roy Bennett.

The South African government yesterday also issued a statement denying that President Zuma would meet Mr Tsvangirai as claimed by MDC-T.

“There is no such thing. Some of these statements made by politicians are made to draw the attention of the public.

“President Zuma has a tight schedule for this week, and it does not accommodate the MDC president, Mr Tsvangirai,” said President Zuma’s spokesperson, Mr Zizi Kodwa.

The MDC-T leader had unsuccessfully sought a meeting with President Zuma in Cape Town yesterday. But MDC-T functionaries in South Africa insisted that a meeting between the two was scheduled for today.

Yesterday, Prof Ncube revealed: “I am happy to say that in the last 48 hours, the leadership of the three political parties have resolved that they need to holistically look at the issues that have led to the current situation.

“We hope that in the next two to three days there will be a meeting of the three leaders to discuss those issues.”

Prof Ncube said it was imperative for politicians to behave responsibly because their actions had already fuelled scepticism among investors that the GPA would hold.

“The principals need to talk to each other and agree on things that they agree on and disagree on things that they disagree on.

“But more importantly, they need to find a way of living with what they disagree on and continue to talk about those things,” he said.

In South Africa, President Zuma told Mr Trollip that issues to do with Zimbabwe had been dealt with comprehensively at the Sadc Summit in the Democratic Republic of Congo last month.

That summit resolved that the GPA was being adequately implemented and also repeated the bloc’s call for illegal sanctions against Zimbabwe to be lifted.

President Zuma said South Africa was willing to work with Sadc to assist the inclusive Government to resolve any outstanding issues pertaining to the implementation of the GPA.

Mr Tsvangirai is touring the region to drum up support for their decision to “disengage” from the inclusive Government. Internet news reports said he was yesterday also seeking a meeting with DRC leader and Sadc chairman President Joseph Kabila.

Mr Tsvangirai is flying around the region in a hired South African-registered private jet with close advisors Mr Ian Makone and Professor Eliphas Mukonoweshuro.

The meeting with President Kabila — whose occurrence could not be verified last night — follows a similar one with Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, who is the chair of the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security, on Tuesday.

Details of that meeting were not available at the time of writing.

Mr Tsvangirai is also set to travel to Angola where he hopes to meet President Jose Eduardo dos Santos.

Indications yesterday were that he had cancelled a meeting with ally Botswana’s President Seretse Khama Ian Khama.

Government has said MDC-T’s “partial pullout” will not stop the operations of the Executive because Cabinet does not make decisions through a vote or by the constitution of a quorum.
On Tuesday, Cabinet met without MDC-T ministers for the second time since the formation of the inclusive Government in February.

According to Media, Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu, Cabinet business proceeded well and all matters on the agenda were exhausted.

Zanu-PF MPs walk out in protest

Herald Reporter

Zanu-PF legislators yesterday walked out of the House of Assembly and slammed the behaviour of MDC-T MPs after they denigrated the Head of State and Government President Mugabe.

Mberengwa East Member of the House of Assembly Cde Makhosini Hlongwane led his fellow lawmakers out of the house after Masvingo Urban MP Mr Tongai Matutu (MDC-T) made a contribution they found to be insulting.

In his contribution on the President’s speech while opening Parliament last month, Mr Matutu said the address should have been directed to “people at Engutsheni and Mlondolozi.”

Engutsheni and Mlondolozi are rehabilitation institutions for people who are mentally challenged.

Observers last night pointed out that Mr Matutu obviously did not know that the President’s speech at the opening of a Parliamentary session was prepared as per the guidelines from all Cabinet Ministers, including those from MDC-T.

The contribution prompted Cde Kudakwashe Bhasikiti (Mwenezi East, Zanu-PF) to object to Deputy Speaker Mrs Nomalanga Khumalo (Umzingwane, MDC), saying Mr Matutu should withdraw his statement.

However, she failed to respond conclusively and a lot of heckling and arguing ensued during which the Deputy Speaker failed to restore order.

Zanu-PF MPs immediately rose and walked out of the chamber in protest.

Mr Matutu made the statement after Cde Hlongwane had finished his contribution in which the Zanu-PF legislator had castigated MDC-T for “disengaging” from attending Cabinet and Council of Ministers because white ex-commercial farmer Roy Bennett has been indicted for trial in the High Court on terror-related charges.

Cde Hlongwane pointed out that the “disengagement” was not consistent with what President Mugabe had said when he officially opened the Second Session of the Seventh Parliament where he called for co-operation in developing the country.

After this, Mrs Khumalo allowed Mr Matutu to contribute to the debate.

Only Cde Bhasikiti and Cde Obert Matshalaga (Zvishavane) remained in the House. No Zanu-PF minister was present when the incident occurred.

There were heated exchanges throughout most of yesterday’s debate as legislators heckled each other.

Indigenise Nestle: AAG

Herald Reporters

The Affirmative Action Group has implored Government to indigenise Nestle Zimbabwe, saying its decision to stop buying milk from Gushungo Dairy Estate was illegal and against the spirit of the Global Political Agreement.

Addressing journalists in Harare yesterday, AAG president Mr Supa Mandiwanzira, said Nestle Zimbabwe’s actions were a result of failing to indigenise some of the local firms.

“As AAG, we cannot accept this continued harassment of the Head of State. The First Family is a symbol of economic empowerment and they have taken a battering, simply because of the steps they have taken to empower the majority.

“We are taking a legal approach against Nestle Zimbabwe and not a confrontational approach.

What we are now seeing are the consequences of not indigenising. Nestle Zimbabwe should be indigenised,” said Mr Mandiwanzira.

He defended the indigenisation programme, saying it should be viewed as a guarantor of any foreign investment.

“Indigenisation is a guarantor of investment. Anyone who wants to operate in Zimbabwe should partner locals so that they secure their investment,” he said.

Mr Mandiwanzira said the refusal by the Switzerland headquartered company to purchase milk from the First Family’s dairy farm was illegal.

“It is illegal to segregate customers and it is illegal to segregate suppliers. They are against the laws of the country. We cannot have a company operating in Zimbabwe perpetuating an imperialistic agenda. It is unacceptable and Nestle Zimbabwe has crossed the line.

“When the Prime Minister was in Spain, he called for the removal of the restrictive measures.

“Nestle Zimbabwe’s actions are going against the gain in the inclusive Government and the progress it has made. Nestle Zimbabwe has buckled under the pressure of right wing Rhodies who do not want the inclusive Government to work,” said Mr Mandiwanzira.

Security Council calls for redoubled efforts on issues pending since 1990 Gulf War

The Security Council today called on Iraq and Kuwait to redouble their efforts in the search for persons and property missing since the 1990 Gulf war, noting limited progress on this matter in recent months.

Julius Nyerere: Pioneer in the Liberation of Africa

Julius Nyerere: Pioneer in the Liberation of Africa

Assessing the Tanzanian experience 10 years since the passing of Mwalimu

by Abayomi Azikiwe
Editor, Pan-African News Wire
Commentary

A decade ago on October 14, 1999, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere passed away in his East African nation of Tanzania. Nyerere was one of the leading political figures to emerge during the post World War II era of anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggles that swept through Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Nyerere was born in Butiama near Lake Victoria on April 13, 1922. Trained as a school teacher he became involved in the independence movement during the 1950s and later headed the Tanzania African National Union (TANU) which transformed into the Chama Cha Mapenduzi (CCM) in the late 1970s. He was the contemporary of other liberation movement leaders such a Kwame Nkrumah of Ghana, Sekou Toure of Guinea, Gamal Abdel Nassar of Egypt, Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigeria, Patrice Lumumba of Congo, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Amilcar Cabral of Guinea-Bissau, Eduardo Mondlande of Mozambique, Kenneth Kuanda of Zambia, among many others.

It was Germany that initially colonized Tanganyika during the late 19th century. It was known at the time as German East Africa and grew out of the European drive towards the imperial takeover of the continent as a whole. The British had control of neighboring Kenya, Uganda and Nyasaland.

After the conclusion of World War I when Germany faced defeat and the loss of its colonies in Africa, the British took control over the area and renamed it Tanganyika. However, the resistance to the imposition of British rule gained momentum during the 1920s with the formation of Tanganyika African Association (TAA).

As a result of the economic crisis of the 1930s and reliance by Britain on the cotton produced in the colony, there was limited economic development in the country. During the 1950s a mass cooperative movement arose which sought to organize against the exploitation of Africans within the agricultural industry.

The cooperative movement took on a political character and led to the transformation of the TAA into the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) under the leadership of Julius Nyerere. TANU was formed in 1954 as mass political movement seeking independence for the colony. The movement was eventually banned by the British who saw the potential for an effective anti-colonial struggle that would displace the Europeans from political control.

Known by Tanzanians and people all over the world as “Mwalimu” (a Kiswahili word for teacher), Nyerere became Prime Minister and later president of the Republic of Tanganyika at its independence on December 9, 1961. Some three years later in the aftermath of the revolution in neighboring Zanzibar Island, the two territories merged and became the United Republic of Tanzania on April 26, 1964.

In 1967 the ruling party issued the Arusha Declaration which sought to articulate a program for the construction of socialism in Tanzania. The document was assailed by the imperialist politicians and their allies inside the country and throughout the African continent. During this period tremendous political and ideological debates were taking place over the question of which social system would lead Africa towards economic and social development.

Even prior to the publication of the Arusha Declaration, Nyerere had wrote on the role of political parties in fostering genuine democracy in a post-colonial society. In 1963, Nyerere wrote that “Where there is one party and that party is identified with the nation as a whole, the foundations of democracy are firmer than they can ever be where you have two or more parties, each representing only a section of the community.” (Speech delivered on January 14, 1963)

In a press conference held on January 23, 1962, Nyerere stated that “a strong political organization active in every village, which acts like a two-way all-weather road along which the purposes, plans, and problems of the Government can travel to the people at the same time as the ideas, desires and misunderstandings of the people can travel direct to the Government. This is the job of the new TANU.” (Tanganyika Standard, 1962)

With specific reference to the Arusha Declaration, the document initially lays out fundamental principles of beliefs and convictions embodied within a socialist party and state. The tenets uphold the notion of equality among people, the right to freedom of expression, just compensation for labor, the total liberation of Africa and public ownership of the wealth within the society.

The document states that “A truly socialist state is one in which all people are workers and in which neither capitalism nor feudalism exists. It does not have two classes of people, a lower class composed of people who work for their living, and an upper class of people who live on the work of others. In a really socialist country no person exploits another; everyone who is physically able to work does so; every worker obtains a just return for the labor he performs; and the incomes derived from different types of work are not grossly divergent.

“In a socialist country, the only people who live on the work of others, and who have the right to be dependent upon their fellows, are small children, people who are too old to support themselves, the crippled, and those whom the state at any one time cannot provide with an opportunity to work for their living.

“Tanzania is a nation of peasants but is not yet a socialist society. It still contains elements of feudalism and capitalism–with their temptations. These feudalistic and capitalistic features of our society could spread and entrench themselves.”

Therefore, the Tanzanian government and party during this era understood the necessity of having people who work in control of the economy and the state. This process of building socialism cannot take place in isolation from other developments in the international community. In Tanzania relations were established between other African states and liberation movements organizing and fighting to reclaim their independence and sovereignty.

Tanzania and the Liberation of Southern Africa

From the earliest days of independence, Tanzania under TANU, served as a base for various liberation movements fighting against colonialism and settler-colonialism. Particularly after the reactionary and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) coup against Nkrumah’s Convention People’s Party (CPP) government in Ghana, Tanzania became a focal point for various movements to receive training and organizational support for their ongoing political activities.

The Organization of African Unity (OAU) Liberation Committee was based in Tanzania. This body supplied material aid to the various mass organizations and independence movements. Liberation fronts from Zimbabwe, Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, etc. had bases of operations in Tanzania. This effort by TANU under Nyerere was key in the process of defeating classical and settler colonialism in the southern Africa region.
Tanzania and its Implications for Socialism in Africa and the Developing Regions

The Tanzanian government during the 1980s and 1990s was forced to compromise with the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank by accepting the Structural Adjustment Programs(SAPs) that became so prevalent during this time period. The role of the socialist countries in support of the national liberation movement and progressive governments in Africa was not adequate enough to prevent the ideological and political assault on the movement towards socialism in Tanzania and other countries on the continent.

Tanzania had developed close links with the People’s Republic of China during the post-independence period. Since both countries relied on the peasantry as the principal base of support in their respective development processes, TANU and later the CCM saw China as providing an effective model for fostering economic progress.

In fact one major project, the Tanzania-Zambia Railway, was built with Chinese assistance and support during the early 1970s. With the advent of the Sino-Soviet Dispute during the 1960s and 1970s, competition became fierce between the two major socialist states for influence in Africa and other developing regions.

After the U.S. shift in foreign policy towards China after 1971, through the overtures of the Nixon administration and the eventual establishment of diplomatic relations between the People’s Republic of China and the United States in 1979 under Carter, the U.S. sought during this period to enhance dialogue and relations with Tanzania. This was done in part in an attempt to counter Cuban influence after their intervention in Angola and Ethiopia during the period between 1975 and 1978. The Cuban internationalists were instrumental in the consolidation of Angolan independence in 1975-76 and the defeat of the U.S.-backed invasion by Somalia into Ethiopia in 1978.

Nyerere maintained the commitment of TANU/CCM in providing maximum support for the liberation movements still waging struggles in Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. The ruling party never allowed the relations between the Soviet Union and China or the United States and China to influence its policies towards national liberation in Africa and socialism in Tanzania.

Within intellectual circles in Tanzania these issues were debated with vigor during the period of the 1970s and 1980s. African Guyanese historian Walter Rodney taught at the University of Dar es Salaam off and on between 1966 and 1974. His essay entitled “Tanzanian Ujaama and Scientific Socialism” published in the inaugural issue of African Review in 1972 generated fierce discussion inside the country and internationally.

Rodney maintained that despite the unique character of TANU’s interpretation and implementation of socialist policies, the process in essence represented a progressive force within Tanzanian history and held broad implications for Africa as a whole. However, others inside Tanzania held different perspectives on the character of the Ujaama process.

According to Yash Tandon, a scholar teaching at the University of Dar es Salaam during this period, the debate over the character of socialism in Tanzania culminated between 1976-78. In Tandon’s article entitled “Arguments Within African Marxism: the Dar es Salaam Debates”, “The 1976-78 phase of the debate generated a good bit of discussion on the character of the present international conjuncture. The focus of the discussion was the General Line of the International Communist Movement as enunciated by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China during its polemic with the CPSU in 1960-63, and the four fundamental contradictions identified by the General Line.”

Tandon continues by saying that “Whereas one view held that the principal contradiction in the present epoch was between imperialism and the oppressed nations, the other view held that all four contradictions were fundamental to the epoch and that it was metaphysical to isolate one of them as principal. The latter view held that some people confused the distinction between fundamental and principal contradictions. A contradiction was fundamental when it was inherent in the capitalist production itself, and cannot be done away with until capitalist production is no more.” (Tandon, Journal of African Marxist, Issue 5, February, 1984).

Nonetheless, with specific reference to the African continent, the shift inwards in China as it relates to the international class struggle after 1972 and the collapse of Soviet Union and the Eastern European socialist countries between 1989-1991 had a profound impact on social processes on the continent. When Namibia and South Africa gained national independence in 1990 and 1994 respectively, the socialist alternative to capitalist development models had been severely weakened.

Tanzania and other countries on the continent seemed to move away from the open advocacy of socialism. However, the contradictions between the imperialist states and the developing regions intensified. In the 21st century, these contradictions have manifested themselves in a greater reliance by imperialism on Africa for the supply of raw materials and cheap labor and at the same time the world economic crisis that erupted in 2007 is having a profound and detrimental impact on the African continent throwing tens of millions more into poverty.

Consequently, despite the apparent setbacks in the movement towards socialism in Africa and other geo-political regions, the application of anti-capitalist theory is as valid, if not more so, than during the immediate post-colonial period. If Latin America is an indication of the future of the developing regions, the nations there are moving in the direction of socialism and the necessity of continental unity in opposition to the increasingly aggressive character of U.S. imperialism.

In regard to Tanzania, Nyerere resigned as president in 1985 and as leader of the ruling CCM party in 1990. Democratic elections have maintained the control of the CCM since the departure of Nyerere. Ali Hassan Mwinyi served two five-terms, followed by Benjamin Mkapa and the current head of state President Jakaya Kikwete, who will seek re-election in 2010.

Lebanese pop star Nancy Ajram named UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Middle East

Award-winning Lebanese pop star Nancy Ajram will use her fame to spotlight the needs of young people in the Middle East and North Africa as she takes on her new role as regional Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) today.

Ethiopia faces large food shortfall for over 6 million drought victims - UN

Ethiopia needs an additional $175 million this year to help feed 6.2 million people ravaged by prolonged drought and crop failure, about 8 per cent of the population, the United Nations humanitarian arm reported today, citing the Government and aid agencies.