Zimbabwean Govt. Puts Priorities on Drought Relief, Land Reform: Official

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, March 21, 2002

Zimbabwean Govt. Puts Priorities on Drought Relief, Land Reform: Official

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Zimbabwean Information and Publicity Secretary George Charamba said on Wednesday that the reelected government of President Robert Mugabe will put top priorities on drought relief, completion of land reform and the indigence process aimed at economically empowering the black majority.

Charamba told a media forum for students at the Zimbabwe Staff College that the focus would be directed to internal concerns instead of international issues.

"We will proceed to focus on African views and for a long time we have been discussing issues of democracy, the freedom of the press and good governance without showing their relevance to us," said Charamba.

Charamba said the land reform program was going to ensure the building up of national capital and the national economy.

Indigence of the economy, he said, would be done with capital source from friendly countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

"The media talk of the collapsing economy, but as far as we are concerned a new economy of indigenous people is emerging," Charamba told the soldiers at the meeting which was meant to familiarize them with functions of the media in Zimbabwe.

He said the Commonwealth decision to suspend Zimbabwe from the organization over its presidential election was a non-issue as most African observers had endorsed the election.

Zimbabwe was suspended for at least a year from the 54-member organization on Tuesday after a study of an adverse report produced by a Commonwealth observer team on the election.

The organization had tasked Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, South African President Thabo Mbeki and Australian Prime Minister John Howard to study the report of the Commonwealth Observer Team and report back.

Mugabe beat his rival Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change by more than 400, 000 votes in the election held from March 9 to 11.

Tsvangirai rejected the result, saying it had been rigged.

"We have gone through the election and the opposition know it' s an emphatic expression of the will of the people," said Charamba.

Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation Newsnet head Munyaradzi Hwengwere, Daily News training editor Tagwireyi Bango and Sunday Mail editor William Chikoto attended the media forum.

The three officials explained to the Zimbabwe Staff College students the history and editorial policies of their organizations.

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