CATHY's weekly letter from Zimbabwe.
Eyes in the night
Saturday 22nd April 2006
Dear Family and Friends,
I don't know why, but after a short stay outside of Zimbabwe, and with things as tense as they are, you come back into the country and expect something to have happened. Its hard to believe that with inflation at 913% the country can carry on, the people can survive and tolerate or that anything can be maintained at all. Amazingly though, a fortnight has passed since my last letter and everything in Zimbabwe seems to be the same as ever.
Coming back into the country by road and at night took me back in time 40 years. On the main highway I travelled, for mile after mile the roadside vegetation has not been cut and golden grass, 6 foot high, waves and sways, dipping into the road as you pass. On either side of the road and in the valleys there are no lights from farms anymore and in the distance - as far as you can see in any direction - there is only darkness, not even an orange glow on the horizon from a big town or city. The sight of the bending grass and the intense darkness took me back to journeys in remote country areas during my childhood. Journeys sitting in the back of the family station wagon, elbowing siblings and squabbling, looking out into the darkness watching for eyes. 40 years on though, and the roadside darkness is not from a sparsely populated countryside but from mile after mile of empty or subsitence level farms. Farms once overflowing with production, powered by generators when necessary, which ensured the lights stayed on over vast fields of export flowers and vegetables and kept cold rooms humming day and night. The farms now are just silent and dark.
The lack of urban lights in Zimbabwe these nights is from major and widespread power cuts. On the night of my journey the electricity had apparently been off in an area covering three main towns and over 100 kilometres for twelve hours. The long roadside grass is from municipal negligence - there are no excuses for it - we have abundant manpower due to massive unemployment and pay exhorbitant rates every month in all rural and urban areas. The lack of road signs and reflective lenses to give some light in the night are the result of people desperate for money removing anything and everything they come across - even tin road signs and little squares of shiny material buried in the tar.
The only thing about travelling at night that is not reminiscent of 4 decades ago is that now there are no eyes in the dark. As a child I remember watching the road ahead and being filled with excitement, anticipation and even a little fear as the night time world came into view and raced passed in fleeting glimpses. The eyes of wild animals used to be caught, just for a split second in the car headlights - hares, antelope, civet and genet cats, mongoose and other creatures you couldn't identify but whose eyes glowed orange, even red as you passed. Now you see nothing, just nothing; the animals seem poached almost out of existence but still you watch, ever hopeful, mesmerised by the long grass bending and swaying along the roasdsides. Zimbabwe is staggering back in time and still there seems nothing happening to halt the regression. It is, however, very good to be home and, like looking for eyes in the night, I remain ever hopeful.
Until next week, love cathy.
ZIMBABWE 'ASKS FARMERS TO RETURN'
Zimbabwe 'asks farmers to return'
Many farms were wrecked when occupied by government supporters. Zimbabwe's white farmers say they have been invited to apply for land - in an apparent U-turn by the government which has seized their land. All but 300 of the 4,000 white farmers have been forced off their land since President Robert Mugabe started his "fast-track" land reform in 2000. A farmers' leader says some 200 applications have already been made and more are coming in. Critics say the reforms have devastated the economy and led to massive hunger.
Much of the formerly white-owned land is no longer being productively used - either because the beneficiaries have no experience of farming or they lack finance and tools. Many farms were wrecked when they were invaded by government supporters. President Mugabe this month celebrated 26 years in power.The government has admitted that the exercise has been beset by corruption.
But Mr Mugabe blames Zimbabwe's economic problems on a plot by Western countries to topple him.
"There is an understanding that our members want to play a significant role in agriculture production, food security and generation of foreign currency for the country," Trevor Gifford, Commercial Farmers' Union vice-president told Reuters news agency. "It is within this context that we were invited to submit the applications and I do know that instructions have been given to provincial land committees to process the applications and we are now awaiting responses," he said.
'No going back' - Didymus Mutasa, the minister in charge of land reform, could not be reached for comment.
But on Wednesday he said: "There is definitely no going back on our policy on land." He also said that 99-year leases for commercial farms would be distributed by June, which he hoped would lead to higher agricultural output. Earlier this year, Agriculture Minister Joseph Made told the BBC News website that any Zimbabwean was free to apply for land, whether white or black, as long as they used it.
Under colonial rule, the best agricultural land was reserved for whites - a policy which Mr Mugabe says he is trying to reverse. But many white-owned farms were highly mechanised, productive businesses which formed the backbone of the economy. The opposition says Mr Mugabe is using the land to buy votes.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
KENYAN LEADER SEEKS DIVINE HELP!
Trouble has stalked Mr Kibaki's administration.President Mwai Kibaki is leading fellow Kenyans in prayers to reflect on the numerous problems and tragedies that have befallen the country. The latest was the death in last week's plane crash of several MPs on a peace mission to the drought-stricken north. The public holiday was declared two days ago, prompting some to wonder if it was timed to divert attention away from the government's political woes. The announcement came as an official audit revealed even more corruption.
Mr Kibaki was elected in December 2002 on promises to change Kenya after 40 years of one-party rule. But the BBC's Ruth Nesoba in Nairobi says trouble has stalked his administration. The president himself was involved in a car accident shortly before assuming office, and was hospitalised Kenya has also been hit by a drought, which has left forcing some 3.5m reliant on food aid
The drought has increased competition for scare water resources and grazing, leading to conflict between nomadic groups in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan Mr Kibaki's first vice-president died and his ruling coalition has been dogged by incessant claims of massive corruption, leading donors to suspend some aid He also lost a referendum on a new constitution, which was an embarrassing personal defeat and split his ruling coalition. Some human rights activists say what seems like a last-minute decision to hold a day of prayers looks suspiciously like a diversionary tactic.
Examining 18 state tenders, this week's audit said the government had paid hugely inflated prices for military and security equipment.
Earlier, MPs adopted a parliamentary committee report which called for ministers, including the vice-president, to be prosecuted for alleged corruption in another state contract. The BBC's Karen Allen in Nairobi says many Kenyans believe that prayers are not enough to heal the country's woes; and better governance and efforts to smooth over ethnic rivalries might be more constructive.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
NIGERIA TO SETTLE PARIS CLUB DEBT!
Despite great oil wealth, Nigeria is one of the world's poorest nations. Nigeria is due to pay off its billion-dollar Paris Club debt on Friday, becoming the first African nation to settle with its lenders. The move will clear the way for greater government spending on infrastructure, healthcare and education, and is hoped will prompt greater foreign investment. Nigeria has undertaken a programme of economic reforms and the oil exporter has been helped by record crude prices. The Paris Club is a group of 19 lenders including the UK, Russia, and Germany. After the deal, Nigeria still will owe about $5bn to other lenders, including the World Bank and the private sector.
The country's debts date back to the early 1980s, and had ballooned to more than $35bn due to penalties and late fees during the 1990s. Last year the country agreed to a repayment plan that was a mix of cash and debt relief. Nigeria agreed to pay the Paris Club, $12.4bn (£8.2bn) in exchange for the remainder of its $30bn official debts being written off. It already has paid $6bn, and now plans to pay off the remaining $6.4bn on Friday. Nigeria's plan to pay off its debt and restructure its economy was approved by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) earlier this week.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
KENYA OUTRAGE AT HIV BOY KILLING
Aids activists are outraged at the killing. Hundreds of people have marched through the Kenyan capital to protest at the brutal killing of an HIV-positive boy. Isaiah Gakuyo was allegedly stabbed to death with a pitch-fork because of his status. Police are hunting his uncle, who was supposedly looking after him. Mr Gakuyo's mother and grandmother had both reportedly died from Aids-related illnesses. Aids activists say the killing highlighted the stigma faced by those living with HIV/Aids in Kenya. At one point, he was looked after by members of Nobel laureate Wangari Maathai's Green Belt Movement after he had reportedly been mistreated by his uncle.
The Kenya Times newspaper reports that the boy had to use separate eating utensils from other members of the family. At his funeral, Aids activists urged the police to find the killer but two weeks later, no-one has been arrested. "The boy was facing violence on a daily basis," Inviolata Mwali Mmbwavi, one of the march organisers, who runs a group working with Kenyan Aids victims, told Reuters news agency. "We don't want this to happen again."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
KENYA BOOK WINS US PRIZE
Kenya 'gulag' book wins US prize
Mau Mau war veterans claim they were tortured .A book about alleged British atrocities against Kenyan Mau Mau independence fighters has won this year's US Pulitzer Prize for general non-fiction. Caroline Elkins wins $10,000 for her book Imperial Reckoning: The Untold Story of Britain's Gulag in Kenya. She says that many thousands of Kenyans died in British detention camps during the Mau Mau rebellion in the 1950s. Her research also suggests British colonial officials exaggerated the number of people killed by the rebels.
Attacks by Mau Mau fighters on white settlers in Kenya threw colonial society into panic and Britain imposed a state of emergency in 1952. From investigations into colonial records and interviews with several hundred survivors, Ms Elkins details the crackdown of the rebellion and the Kikuyu community. "I now believe there was in late colonial Kenya a murderous campaign to eliminate Kikuyu people that left tens of thousands, perhaps hundreds of thousands dead," the Harvard University historian writes in the book.
Official estimates say 11,000 Mau Mau were killed by British forces. The allegations in the book include rape, torture, murder and theft of property. War veterans who claim they were tortured in detention want compensation from the UK.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
PAUL TERGAT TO MISS LONDON MARATHON!
Injured Tergat to miss Marathon.
By Tom Fordyce
Tergat had been among the favourites to win Sunday's race. World-record holder Paul Tergat says he is devastated that injury has forced him out of Sunday's London Marathon. The 36-year-old, who has yet to win London's prestigious race, had been among the favourites for victory. But he sustained a calf injury on Monday and misses what would have been his fifth London Marathon. Tergat told BBC Sport: "This is the most frustrated I have been in my career. I was calling this the race of the century." He added: "It's very rare to find the quality of athletes you find here. I'd focused so much on this race. "I was ready for the race. I had done everything possible to make sure I competed in a race like this. "I tried everything to be able to compete here, but time was against me." I'd had my best period of training ever - Paul Tergat
Race director David Bedford told BBC Sport in January he had assembled the finest men's field in the history of marathon running. Tergat had been due to go head-to-head against double Olympic champion Haile Gebrselassie and had said it would be a "dream" to race against the Ethiopian again. Olympic marathon champion Stefano Baldini, world champion Jaouad Gharib and 2005 London winner Martin Lel are also in the field.
Tergat said: "What shocked me is how late it came. I was due to fly to London on Wednesday and this problem only came on Monday. "I trained really well all day, felt fine when I trained in the evening and went to sleep. In the morning I woke up with a lot of pain. "I tried to train but I couldn't walk afterwards. I flew to Italy to get some treatment and therapy but it didn't work. "There was no indication of anything wrong in training - I'd had my best period of training ever." The Kenyan is the second high-profile runner to withdraw from the event after Paula Radcliffe pulled out with a leg injury. Tergat has been in good form already this season having won the New York Marathon last November after a nail-biting sprint finish with Hendrick Ramaala.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
S,A, HONOUR FOR PRESIDENT'S MOTHER!
President Mbeki's father was a close colleague of Nelson Mandela. South African President Thabo Mbeki is to bestow the country's highest national honour on his mother. Epainette Mbeki will receive the Order of the Baobab for her work with poor communities and her commitment to the fight against apartheid. The former leaders of Bostwana, Lesotho and Swaziland will also be honoured posthumously for their assitance in opposing apartheid. The awards ceremony is to take place in Pretoria on Thursday.
Epainette Mbeki, 90, will receive the Order of the Baobab for her "exceptional contribution to the economic upliftment of the underprivileged communities in the Eastern Cape and her commitment to the fight against apartheid", the president's office said. Mrs Mbeki spent decades as a community activist and shopkeeper in the Eastern Cape town of Idutywa, while her husband, Govan, was in prison with Nelson Mandela, and her son, the current president, worked for the ANC in exile. Mrs Mbeki recalled the difficulties of that period in an interview with SABC radio in 2000. "I was harassed left and right by the Special Branch [police]. They would call at any time of the day, call at 12 o'clock midnight". If she refused to open the door, they would threaten to kick it open, she said. After the end of apartheid, Mrs Mbeki stayed in Idutywa, supporting community projects and women's organisations.
Posthumous awards are to be made to Botswana's late president Sir Seretse Khama, the late King Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho and the late King Sobhuza II of Swaziland. They will receive the Order of the Companions of OR Tambo - named after former ANC leader Oliver Tambo - for their "exceptional contributions to the struggle against apartheid through supporting the liberation movement in times of need."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
CATFIGHT OF S.A.'S ROBBEN ISLAND.
South Africa's most famous prison has become a tourist attraction. The feral cats that inhabit South Africa's famous Robben Island have prompted a row between animal welfare officials and conservationists. Robben Island, in Table Bay near Cape Town, is best known as the place where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners spent decades in jail. Feral cats - the descendents of prison warders' pets - are blamed for killing endangered reptiles and birds. A programme to shoot the cats resumed recently, after being suspended.
The shooting was suspended to allow the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) to trap the cats, sterilise them and return them to the island to help control the rat population. But the SPCA succeeded in trapping only eight cats. Robben Island is home to 132 species of bird. At a meeting last week, officials of the Robben Island Museum - the custodian of the island - wildlife experts and SPCA representatives, a decision was taken to resume the shootings immediately as the cats were "having a devastating effect on most of the endangered birds" on the island.
"Cats don't belong on offshore islands where there are breeding birds," said Les Underhill of the University of Cape Town's Avian Demography Unit, which monitors the island's seabird populations. Robben Island is homes to about 132 bird species and about 7,000 breeding pairs of African penguins, as well as reptiles such as the dwarf chameleon.
The SPCA agreed the cats needed to be removed, Cape chief executive Allan Perrins said. But he said the society favoured "an effective and efficient, non-confrontational, non-lethal sustainable solution". "All the focus at the moment is honed in on cats being the primary suspect," Mr Perrins told the AP news agency. He said that on a nearby island, mice three times the size of an average house mouse were found to be decimating seabirds, and that rabbits might also be responsible. The SPCA will be allowed to continue trapping and to monitor the humaneness of the shootings.
Robben Island was used as a leper colony, military base and prison from the 17th to the 20th century. Since the transition to democracy in South Africa it has been redeveloped as a tourist attraction and memorial to the struggle against apartheid, and in 1999 was declared a UN world heritage site.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
.S.A. PHONE CHARGES 'HAMPER GROWTH'!
Calling costs remain high by world standards. South Africa's telephone charges are among the highest in the world, an international consultant has found. This hinders business development and internet growth, analysts say. Monopoly landline operator Telkom says South Africa's rates are competitive. A second telecommunications company was granted a licence late last year. The survey by NUS Consulting compared call costs between 14 countries, including Australia, the UK, the US, Germany and South Africa. "Our tariffs for national long-distance calls and cellphones are still the highest of the major world economies with which we do business," Stephen Dolk of NUS Consulting told Business Day newspaper.
PHONE COSTS
3 min national call
$0.08 in Sweden
$0.34 in South Africa
3 min cell phone call
$0.16 in US
$0.74 in South Africa
Source: NUS Consulting
For example, a three-minute long-distance call costs $0.34 in South Africa, as opposed to $0.08 in Sweden, the cheapest price found in the survey. Only in Belgium were national local calls more expensive than in South Africa, and only in the United States were international calls costlier, the survey found. South Africa's second telecommunications operator has not yet started to offer services, after receiving its licence in December.
Telkom should be applauded for lowering its costs despite the current lack of competition, Mr Dolk said. "However, the decreases do not match up to the widespread price reductions made by telecommunications operators in many other countries, where charges for many call categories have dropped sharply as a result of competition," Mr Dolk said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
KENYA POLICE MOVE AGAINST RAIDERS!
Drought has increased competition between herders. Kenya has deployed extra security forces along its border with Ethiopia following several deadly cattle raids. Two more people have been killed, following 10 deaths in recent weeks. Some 10,000 people have fled their homes, according to Kenya's Red Cross. Cattle raids are common in this remote border area, where many people's main source of income remains their animals. Correspondents say drought has increased competition for pastures between rival ethnic groups. Some 11m need food aid across East Africa.
As well as the two deaths, 10 people were kidnapped from their homes in northern Kenya and thousands of sheep, cows and camels were stolen from a village some 300km east of Marsabit, local officials say. An Ethiopian diplomat in Nairobi, Ajebe Ligaba Wolde, said he believed the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) rebel group may be behind the attacks, reports Kenya's Daily Nation newspaper. Last week, 14 members of a peace mission to the area, including two assistant ministers and four other MPs, died in a plane crash.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ZIDAN NOT INVITED TO PLAY FOR EGYPT!
Egypt freeze out Zidan.
By Amr Shaheen - BBC Sport, Cairo.
Egypt manager Hassan Shehata has declared he will never invite Germany-based striker Mohamed Zidan to join the national side. Although the striker, on loan from Werder Bremen to Mainz 04, has been a consistent performer on the German club scene, Shehata claimed Zidan had no desire to play for his country. "Zidan refused to join the team when we needed him most, before the Nations Cup. You can never count on these kind of players."
Shehata also reiterated his vow not to recall striker Ahmed "Mido" Hossam to the squad. The Tottenham Hotspur striker was given a six-month suspension by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), following an altercation with Shehata during their Nations Cup semi-final against Senegal in February. "I do not need him in my squad and even if the EFA decides to end his suspension, I will not call him for the game against Spain in June," Shehata said.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
BEER BRANDS AND WILDLIFE?
Trouble brews over Tanzania beer.
By Richard Crompton - BBC, Tanzania.
Does the leopard benefit from the beer?...
A row is brewing between Tanzania's national parks authority and the makers of the country's most popular beers.
Beer brands such as Serengeti and Kilimanjaro, named after the national park and the mountain respectively, sell in their millions. But the brewers are being accused of cashing in while providing little or nothing towards conservation. Serengeti has become a byword for conservation, and like Kilimanjaro, is an internationally recognisable symbol. Dozens of companies have seen the commercial opportunities of using such powerful brand names.
Drinking water, internet services, hotels, and - largest of all - beer companies are among those now being asked to give something in return. "We feel that, since they are using these names to make money, they should also contribute to the upkeep of these places because if they deteriorate for whatever reason, it means that this will impact on their products as well," says Gerald Bigrube, director-general of Tanzania's National Parks Authority. The national parks have asked lawyers to investigate whether they can trademark the names of natural resources.
In the meantime, they are relying on moral pressure. It may have begun to pay off: they have just taken delivery of a brand-new patrol vehicle for the Serengeti paid for by Serengeti lager.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
THE RAZING OF POMFRET IN S.A.
South Africa's 'mercenary' town. Pomfret is home to veterans who fought for the apartheid regime. Is the town of Pomfret, on the edge of the Kalahari desert, paying the price for South Africa's shame?
Home to the remnants of 32 Battalion soldiers, originally from Angola, who fought for the apartheid regime, Pomfret is now in the sights of the South African government, as it seeks to stamp out mercenary activity. It wants to raze the town to the ground, arguing that there is a danger of asbestosis. The inhabitants of Pomfret believe there is a more sinister motive and that the South African government is simply taking revenge for the past.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
ON THIS DAY!
THE DUKE OF CUMBERLAND'S FORCES DEFEATED
THE JACOBITE SCOTS AT THE BATTLE OF CULLODEN,
ON THIS DAY, ENDING THE JACOBITE UPRISING IN 1746!
SCOTLAND'S SAD LOSS OF NOVELIST.
Author Muriel Spark dies aged 88.
Dame Muriel was born in Scotland . Novelist Dame Muriel Spark, who wrote the classic The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, has died in Tuscany where she had made her home. The Scottish-born writer, who was 88, wrote more than 20 books, winning numerous literary awards. As well as writing fiction, Dame Muriel also wrote critical studies of Emily Bronte and Mary Shelley.
Dr Gavin Wallace of the Scottish Arts Council called her death "an ineffably sad and deep loss to our literature". The mayor of the Tuscan village of Civitella della Chiana confirmed the author died in hospital on Thursday. Her funeral was scheduled to be held on Saturday. Dame Muriel was considered one of the liveliest literary talents in her more than 50 years of publishing. Her first novel The Comforters was published in 1957, but it was The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in 1962 that brought her to the attention of critics and fans. Set in an Edinburgh girls' school, it centred on Miss Brodie and a group of adoring pupils to whom she taught her liberal views on sex and politics. The book was turned into a much performed play and later a film starring Dame Maggie Smith, for which she won a best actress Oscar in 1969.
Dame Muriel moved to the US in the late 1960s for a brief period before moving to Italy where she continued to write poetry and novels. Dame Muriel wrote more than 20 novels. Her last book, The Finishing School, became a best-seller when it was published in 2004. In 2005 she was made an honorary citizen of the Tuscan village of Civitella della Chiana where she had lived for 30 years. "She was a simple person, affectionate and considerate," Civitella mayor Massimliano Dindalini said. Among her literary achievements was the TS Eliot prize in 1992 and the British Literature Prize in 1997. The Scottish Arts Council created the Muriel Spark International Fellowship in 2004, with Canadian Margaret Atwood winning the inaugural prize.
Dr Gavin Wallace, who is head of literature at the council, said Dame Muriel's influence had been enormous. "Her achievement and influence as Scotland's, if not the UK's, greatest novelist have been so vast and far-reaching that in an odd way she seemed to be an immutable part of the cultural landscape. "I wrote to her only two weeks ago with the good news that we had secured the first Muriel Spark international literary fellowship, a new post to which she graciously gave her name." Scottish Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson said: "Dame Muriel Spark was a great Scottish woman who brought pleasure to readers all over the world. "She led a fascinating life, producing work over more than half a century which has transcended generations and entertained millions."
The author was made a Dame in 1993 in recognition of her services to literature. Christine Lloyd, who founded the Muriel Spark Society, recalled how fortunate the society felt when the author attended a luncheon in her honour at the Edinburgh Book Festival in 2004. "It was just delightful. She was just a very unusual person, she really was. Bright, witty of course, and a marvellous conversationalist," she said. "She just loved company and fun and wanted to talk about anything and everything. The lunch lasted far longer than any of us dared hope it would."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
Posted by: Mara at April 15, 2006 22:31 |
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MALAWI COACH WARNED!
Burkhard Ziese's future as Malawi coach hangs in the balance. The president of the Football Association of Malawi (Fam), Walter Nyamilandu, has told BBC Sport that the future of their coach Burkhard Ziese is looking bleak. A row has erupted between Fam and Ziese following the visit of the under-20 side to a bar last weekend, where they received 30 T-shirts as well as two footballs from the bar owner. "[The future is] Very bleak unless he works on it. We cannot continue to have our member of staff undermining our authority and snubbing us," Nyamilandu said. "What is left is for him to improve the situation, the ball is in his court."
The president went on to say that the visit to the bar was not sanctioned by Fam. "I refused on three separate occasions to give permission to take the under-20's to a bar, the most important thing is that he is defying the orders of the president, the highest authority in the association," Nyamilandu said. However on Tuesday Ziese told BBC Sport: "My contract, signed by both myself and Fam, says I am a professional coach and that I am totally independent in my job from the FA.
"If he continues to disrespect us what kind of message is he sending us, does he want the job or not? Fam President Walter Nyamilandu . Nyamilandu however rejects this claim: "How can he be independent when he is meant to report to the association's general-secretary, when we are paying his salary, when we are looking after him in this country? "He is only independent when it comes to coaching the national team. We won't interfere when it comes to selection and calling players to the squad. "The relationship with the coach has soured. We employed him and now he is snubbing us and instead of being grateful and respecting his employers he isn't respecting authority and not obeying instructions.
Fam are planning to meet to discuss the situation next week. "We are setting up a hearing next week, if he doesn't co-operate he will hear from us," Nyamilandu said. "But I hope that he is mature enough to take on board any serious instructions that will come from us."
BBC NEWS REPORT.
US PAY-OUT FOR JAILED ZIMBABWEAN!
Ms Tungwarara was arrested at San Francisco International Airport. A Zimbabwean woman has been granted a $45,000 settlement following her arrest at a United States airport in 2002. Tsungai Tungwarara, now aged 22, arrived in San Francisco in January 2002 to visit her mother who had been granted asylum in the US. Officials jailed and strip-searched her believing she wanted to study in the US in violation of her tourist visa. In 2004, a Federal Court judge ruled the search unconstitutional. The US government denies wrongdoing. "It was quite traumatic. I was excited to see my mother. The last thing I expected was to spend the night in jail,'' Ms Tungwarara said.
"They put me in a cell with convicts. I've never been convicted of a crime. And there was a strip search as well.'' Lawyer Tony Schoenberg said an official had told Ms Tungwarara: "We won't allow these people here - not after September 11. Go back to the jungle." A spokesman for the US attorney's office denied racist statements had been made. Officials said they had detained Ms Tungwarara on the grounds that she had only a single air ticket, and that she had signed a statement saying she intended to study in the US. Ms Tungwarara told the court she had not been aware of the content of the document she signed, and believed that by signing she would be allowed to see her mother.
She was made to return to Zimbabwe at her family's expense. Since the incident Ms Tungwarara has completed a law degree at Fort Hare University in South Africa, and has obtained a visa allowing her to live with her mother in the US.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
SAND ROW SPARKS NIGERIA CLASHES!
Hundreds of people have fled their homes in central Nigeria after three days of communal clashes. The fighting in Plateau State has left at least 25 people dead, according to unconfirmed reports.
State Information Commissioner Yakubu Datti would only confirm the deaths of two policemen and a soldier during efforts to restore order. The violence was apparently triggered by a dispute over rights to take sand from a river for building. Ethnic militias armed with guns, machetes and bows and arrows, attacked each other and burnt many homes.
A dusk-to-dawn curfew has been imposed on the area. Hundreds fled their homes in and around the town of Namu, carrying what they could and seeking shelter with the security forces, the BBC's Alex Last reports. Residents say tension has been rising recently between the pan-ethnic group and other tribes over the location of a new government building which would create jobs and bring money to the area.
The trigger, though, was a dispute over who had the right to take sand from a riverbed in Namu - a right which is claimed by different ethnic groups.
Plateau State, where these clashes occurred, has been riven by ethnic violence in the past. Two years ago, hundreds were killed in clashes which began in a land dispute but quickly escalated.
Nigeria has more than 300 ethnic groups and there are often disputes, sometimes violent, over access to land and resources.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
PRESIDENT OF ZAMBIA SUFFERS STROKE!
Zambian president suffers strokE.
Mr Mwanawasa is expected to run for a second term in office.Zambian. President Levy Mwanawasa has suffered a minor stroke, state radio has reported. A spokesman said he was making steady progress. The president was admitted to hospital in London for a check-up two weeks ago. Mr Mwanawasa, 57, has been in office since 2001, and has said he intends to contest elections later this year for a second and final term. The radio report did not make clear how long ago President Mwanawasa had suffered the stroke.
"Chief Government Spokesman Vernon Mwaanga revealed that President Mwanawasa suffered a minor stroke," Zambian National Broadcasting Corporation radio reported. "Mr Mwaanga however, said the president was making steady progress," ZNBC said. There has been speculation in Zambia over the cause of Mr Mwanawasa's illness, prompting opposition groups to demand more information. Mr Mwanawasa cancelled an election campaign trip and flew to London to see doctors after feeling ill on 1 April, officials said.
But a government spokesman said Mr Mwanawasa had gone to London for a routine check-up to ensure his fitness ahead of the election campaign.
BBC NEWS REPORT.
