http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 12:34
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
MASS uprisings in North Africa and concerns over President
Robert Mugabe's
health gave regional leaders a new impetus to take Zanu PF
head-on at the
just ended Southern African Development Community (Sadc) mini
summit,
political analysts have said.
This observation comes after
the regional body on Thursday resolved to
appoint a team of officials to
join the facilitation group to monitor and
evaluate the implementation of
the Global Political Agreement (GPA), which
Zanu PF is accused of derailing
to ensure its total demise.
The teams will work with the Joint Monitoring
and Implementation Committee
(Jomic), which has been labelled as a toothless
bulldog after it appeared
powerless to stop Zanu PF’s wanton violation of
the GPA.
The summit, which was held in Livingstone in Zambia, received
the report on
the political and security situation in the country that was
presented by
the Sadc facilitator and South African president, Jacob Zuma
(pictured).
The analysts said the inability or and the reluctance to
implement its
resolutions has been SADC’s great undoing in the past
years.
Dewa Mavhinga, the regional information and advocacy coordinator
of Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC), South African office, said the
regional body,
unlike in the past, had pledged to take the country’s crisis
head-on.
“The Sadc Troika will appoint a team of officials to assist the
facilitation
team, this is positive in that Sadc is taking greater
responsibility for the
Zimbabwe crisis which cannot be solved without direct
Sadc intervention,”
he said.
The Troika will develop the terms of
reference, time frames and provide
regular progress reports, the first, to
be presented during the next Sadc
extraordinary summit.
This summit
will review progress on the implementation of GPA and take
appropriate
action.
Mavhinga, who attended the summit, said deliberations on Zimbabwe
in
Livingstone lasted one and half hours, a clear sign that the regional
leaders are no longer prepared “to listen to cooked up stories or endless
excuses meant to buy time.”
“Mugabe's health, appears to have given
Sadc leaders a new impetus to take
Zanu PF head-on,” he added.
There
have widespread rumours of Mugabe’s deteriorating health although
government
spokesperson George Charamba has been quick to dismiss them.
The summit
also resolved that there must be an immediate end of violence,
intimidation,
hate speech, harassment, and any other form of action that
contradicts the
letter of the GPA.
Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai formed the
coalition government
in February 2009 in a bid to end rampant violence
surrounding disputed 2008
elections and stem an economic crisis.
The
summit also resolved that all signatories to the GPA must implement all
the
provisions of the pact and create a conducive environment for peace,
security, and free political activity.
“The Inclusive Government in
Zimbabwe should complete all the steps
necessary for the holding of the
election including the finalisation of
the constitutional amendment and the
referendum,” says the SADC communiqué.
The regional body resolved to
assist Zimbabwe to formulate guidelines that
will assist in holding an
election that will be peaceful, free and fair, in
accordance with the SADC
principles and guidelines governing democratic
elections.
Both Mugabe
and Tsvangirai have said they are ready for elections that would
put an end
to the transitional government.
But Tsvangirai is demanding wholesome
electoral changes before the polls.
University of Zimbabwe political
scientist Eldred Masunungure said the
recent SADC communiqué was the most
robust statement that regional body has
ever issued since the formation e of
the government of national unity (GNU)
over two years ago.
He said
given the “sting” in the tone of the statement, it was natural to
speculate
that there was greater determination to implement what the bloc
recommends.
“But as you might be aware the taste of the pudding is in
the eating,” said
Masunungure.
“Words are one thing and action is
another thing.”
Mavhinga concurred saying although the summit was
“positive”, the key
challenge remained Sadc’s inability to follow-up and
closely monitor the
full implementation of its resolutions and the
GPA.
“We must not celebrate resolutions, but actions on the ground,”
Mavhinga
said.
“Once we see positive movement on the ground in
Zimbabwe, then we will be in
a position to judge accurately the success of
this summit.”
Another political analyst, who requested anonymity, also
said the tone of
the Sadc communiqué had changed pointing to impatience by
the regional
leaders, who were once accused of siding with
Mugabe.
“It’s no longer business as usual,” he said. “Reading through it
(communiqué) it is almost palpable that there is a sense of fatigue with the
Zimbabwe crisis which does not seem to go away.”
Of note remarks by
Zambian president Rupiah Banda in his official opening
speech when he warned
other Sadc leaders to take heed of what is happening
in North Africa.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 12:43
BY OUR
CORRESPONDENT
LIVINGSTONE, Zambia — President Robert Mugabe moved
around in a golf cart
during the Thursday summit of the Southern African
Development Community
(Sadc) troika on peace and security, sparking fresh
speculation about the
87-year-old ruler’s health.
Travelling with
a large entourage that included six medical people, Mugabe
had difficulties
disembarking from the Air Zimbabwe chartered flight at
Livingstone
International Airport.
With one bodyguard in front and one on the
left, Mugabe walked slowly to the
dais where he was again assisted to climb
up for the singing of the national
anthems.
During the summit at
Zambezi Sun Hotel in the resort town in southern
Zambia, Mugabe moved around
in a golf cart.
Even disembarking from the golf cart required his
optimum concentration and
holding of supporting metal bars while his
counterparts walked freely.
Last month, Mugabe’s spokesman George
Charamba, in what should be a first in
the former guerilla leader’s
presidency, announced that his boss had
undergone a surgical operation to
remove cataracts in his eyes in Singapore.
The announcement followed
intense speculation during Mugabe’s annual leave
that he was suffering from
prostate cancer and had visited a hospital in the
Far East.
Zanu
PF has chosen Zimbabwe’s only ruler since independence to represent it
in
presidential elections expected later this year.
But analysts’ doubt
that he would be fit enough to see through the usually
vigorous election
campaign.
His major rival would be the 59-year-old Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai
who beat Mugabe in the first round of the 2008
presidential elections but
failed to garner the majority required to claim
the presidency.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 14:13
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
MASS uprisings in North Africa and concerns over
President Robert Mugabe's
health gave regional leaders a new impetus to take
Zanu PF head-on at the
just ended Southern African Development Community
(Sadc) mini summit,
political analysts have said.
This
observation comes after the regional body on Thursday resolved to
appoint a
team of officials to join the facilitation group to monitor and
evaluate the
implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), which
Zanu PF is
accused of derailing to ensure its total demise.
The teams will
work with the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee
(Jomic), which
has been labelled as a toothless bulldog after it appeared
powerless to stop
Zanu PF’s wanton violation of the GPA.
The summit, which was held
in Livingstone in Zambia, received the report on
the political and security
situation in the country that was presented by
the Sadc facilitator and
South African president, Jacob Zuma.
The analysts said the
inability or and the reluctance to implement its
resolutions has been SADC’s
great undoing in the past years.
Dewa Mavhinga, the regional
information and advocacy coordinator of Crisis
in Zimbabwe Coalition (CiZC),
South African office, said the regional body,
unlike in the past, had
pledged to take the country’s crisis head-on.
“The Sadc Troika
will appoint a team of officials to assist the facilitation
team, this is
positive in that Sadc is taking greater responsibility for the
Zimbabwe
crisis which cannot be solved without direct Sadc intervention,”
he
said.
The Troika will develop the terms of reference, time frames and
provide
regular progress reports, the first, to be presented during the next
Sadc
extraordinary summit.
This summit will review progress
on the implementation of GPA and take
appropriate
action.
Mavhinga, who attended the summit, said deliberations on
Zimbabwe in
Livingstone lasted one and half hours, a clear sign that the
regional
leaders are no longer prepared “to listen to cooked up stories or
endless
excuses meant to buy time.”
“Mugabe's health, appears
to have given Sadc leaders a new impetus to take
Zanu PF head-on,” he
added.
There have widespread rumours of Mugabe’s deteriorating
health although
government spokesperson George Charamba has been quick to
dismiss them.
The summit also resolved that there must be an
immediate end of violence,
intimidation, hate speech, harassment, and any
other form of action that
contradicts the letter of the
GPA.
Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai formed the
coalition government
in February 2009 in a bid to end rampant violence
surrounding disputed 2008
elections and stem an economic
crisis.
The summit also resolved that all signatories to the GPA
must implement all
the provisions of the pact and create a conducive
environment for peace,
security, and free political
activity.
“The Inclusive Government in Zimbabwe should complete
all the steps
necessary for the holding of the election including the
finalisation of
the constitutional amendment and the referendum,” says the
SADC communiqué.
The regional body resolved to assist Zimbabwe to
formulate guidelines that
will assist in holding an election that will be
peaceful, free and fair, in
accordance with the SADC principles and
guidelines governing democratic
elections.
Both Mugabe and
Tsvangirai have said they are ready for elections that would
put an end to
the transitional government.
But Tsvangirai is demanding
wholesome electoral changes before the polls.
University of
Zimbabwe political scientist Eldred Masunungure said the
recent SADC
communiqué was the most robust statement that regional body has
ever issued
since the formation e of the government of national unity (GNU)
over two
years ago.
He said given the “sting” in the tone of the
statement, it was natural to
speculate that there was greater determination
to implement what the bloc
recommends.
“But as you might be
aware the taste of the pudding is in the eating,” said
Masunungure.
“Words are one thing and action is another
thing.”
Mavhinga concurred saying although the summit was
“positive”, the key
challenge remained Sadc’s inability to follow-up and
closely monitor the
full implementation of its resolutions and the
GPA.
“We must not celebrate resolutions, but actions on the
ground,” Mavhinga
said.
“Once we see positive movement on the
ground in Zimbabwe, then we will be in
a position to judge accurately the
success of this summit.”
Another political analyst, who requested
anonymity, also said the tone of
the Sadc communiqué had changed pointing to
impatience by the regional
leaders, who were once accused of siding with
Mugabe.
“It’s no longer business as usual,” he said. “Reading
through it
(communiqué) it is almost palpable that there is a sense of
fatigue with the
Zimbabwe crisis which does not seem to go
away.”
Of note remarks by Zambian president Rupiah Banda in his
official opening
speech when he warned other Sadc leaders to take heed of
what is happening
in North Africa.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 14:11
BY PATIENCE
NYANGOVE
ZANU PF party desperately wanted to win the Speaker of
Parliament position
last week because the post is of symbolic value to the
party, political
analysts contend.
According to the analysts the loss of
the post to Lovemore Moyo was a slap
in the face for Jonathan Moyo who
together with some MDC MPs had contested
the 2008 election of the MDC-T
chairman in the Supreme Court.
Moyo’s victory saw him become the
first Speaker of Parliament who was not
elected on a Zanu PF ticket since
independence in 1980.
Political analyst Charles Mangongera said
though the position was largely of
symbolic value, whichever party commands
it had an advantage over the other
parties in Parliament.
In the
long run one of the three main factions within Zanu PF which would
have won
the Speaker of Parliament position would have been in a strategic
position
to deal with President (Robert) Mugabe’s succession issue, he
said.
“They all know Mugabe’s age is advanced they are aware anything
can happen
at any time so they have to deal with a possibility of a
succession battle
arising,” said Mangongera.
“ It was really a
slap in the face for Jonathan Moyo because it obviously
derails his
political ambitions he had. He wants to be seen as the kingmaker
in Zanu
PF.”
Moyo launched a court challenge that resulted in another
election being
called for Speaker.
National Constitution Assembly
(NCA) chairman Lovemore Madhuku feels that
Zanu PF wanted the position
because the party wanted “a feel good” scenario
that would lift up the
spirits of its members ahead of the next elections.
“The Speaker post
is symbolic and Zanu PF wanted to show its supporters that
they had
recovered from the 2008 loss.”
Madhuku however said the loss was a
temporary setback for the Zanu PF spin
doctor and former Information and
Publicity minister.
“It is a temporary setback for
Jonathan.
“Zanu PF has nowhere to go while Jonathan has no
competitors in Zanu PF.
Human rights activist, Pedzisayi Ruhanya,
said Zanu PF’s grand idea was to
win the Speaker of Parliament position and
send a strong message that the
MDC formations were
divided.
“Which dictator doesn’t want to control everything? It is in
that spirit
through hook and crook that they wanted to control the Speaker
of Parliament
position.
“This victory for Zanu PF was supposed to
be a precursor to the proposed
election in which Zanu PF wanted to use the
divisions in the MDC to rig
elections and tell the masses that the MDC has
no direction, values and
ideologies that’s why they beat
them.”
MDC deputy spokesperson Kurauone Chihwayi said the Speaker of
Parliament is
one of the most powerful positions and there was no way Zanu
PF would have
let it go without a fight.
Chihwayi said because of
Zanu PF’s desperation the party had to use
unorthodox means to try and win
the elections which led his party to vote
with the MDC-T.
“There
was no deal between us and the MDC-T, we did it all for justice, we
changed
our position after seeing how Zanu PF was trying to rig the
elections.
“We are not expecting anything from the MDC-T. We know
Zanu PF desperately
wanted the position.”
Initially the MDC had
said they would not participate in the elections.
MDC-T spokesperson
Nelson Chamisa said the good thing about the poll was
that Zanu PF could not
rig or use violence to influence the outcome.
“We know Zanu PF are
now are our young brothers because you can’t have the
tail wagging the dog
but the dog wagging the tail,” he said.
“In this case the dog wagged
the tail. Yes Zanu PF was born before us but we
have the mandate of the
people.”
He said the free and fair voting process of the election was
what should be
happening in national elections.
However, Zanu PF
Chief Whip Joram Gumbo dismissed the loss of the Speaker of
Parliament as a
non event.
“That post means nothing, it’s not like one will be
Speaker of a party.
“It was just a position that had to be filled.
It’s a neutral position of
someone who is the head of administration of
Parliament.
“There is nothing special about it.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011
14:15
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
BULAWAYO — President Robert Mugabe was
reluctant to become Zanu PF leader,
former Home Affairs minister Enos Nkala
has said.
Nkala, a founding Zanu PF me-mber told The Standard that the way
Mugabe
assumed the leadership of the ruling party would be exposed in a book
he is
writing.
Nkala indicated that his book, titled The Years of
Challenge — which he says
should be published after his death — contains a
number of untold truths
revealing his experiences during, before and after
independence.
The former minister —who describes Zanu-PF as his baby —
engineered the
split of Zapu leading to the
formation of Zanu at his
house with Ndabaningi Sitho-
le as president and Muga-be as the secretary
general.
Nkala said he regrets the move, which he took with the late Maurice
Nyagumbo
and Edgar Tekere.
“Mugabe owes a lot to me. I was so close to
him and I was detained with him
for 10 years. I used to have a lot of
respect for Mugabe. He impressed us
with his English when he addressed a
meeting in Harare.
“But I now do not have any respect for him and I regret
the decision which
we took with Nyagumbo and Tekere to remove the late
Sithole and replace him
with Mugabe.
“What makes me regret
the most is
that Mugabe was unwilling to be thrust to the top,” Nkala said.
“I, Tekere
and Nyagumbo moved a vote of no confidence against Sithole while
we were in
detention in Kwekwe in 1974.
“Mugabe chaired the meeting. The three of us
voted against Sithole and we
voted for Mugabe to be acting president.
“He
was not willing to take up the post and he was saying that we were
making a
mistake.
“I regret that move because even after we were released, other Zanu
members
like Rugare Gumbo were against our decision but we defended it and
they had
to go along fearing another split.”
Nkala also said Mugabe was
unwilling to take up politics when he was a
teacher in Ghana.
The former
Zanu PF treasurer claimed he had to travel to the West African
country to
meet its leader Nkwame Nkrumah who facilitated Mugabe’s return
home.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 14:16
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
THE MDC-T congress scheduled for this month end has virtually
split the
party into two camps as senior party members jostle to position
themselves
ahead of the watershed election, authoritative sources
said.
The sources said one camp is led by the party’s women’s assembly
chairlady
Theresa Makone and her husband Ian.
The couple is believed
to be working closely with incumbent organising
secretary Elias
Mudzuri.
The other camp, said the sources, is led by Finance Minister
Tendai Biti,
the party’s secretary general.
Mudzuri, who is said to
be gunning for Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo’s
job as the MDC national
chairman, is accused of using his current post to
re-arrange the party’s
structures for his camp’s benefit.
“Mudzuri has deployed provincial
campaign managers for his camp on the
pretext of organising party
structures,” said a senior MDC-T official.
“But what we have gathered is
that they are preparing the ground for members
of their faction ahead of the
congress.”
But Mudzuri on Friday denied the deployments were designed to
strengthen the
alleged factions. He said they were meant to embolden the
whole party.
Mudzuri said the selection of “oversight teams” deployed
into provinces was
done through the proper party channels when they were
selected by the
standing committee and confirmed by the national
executive.
“There is a system that is set for such a deployment so I
don’t have any
influence other than that I am the organising secretary and I
update the
party about developments in all the provinces,” Mudzuri
said.
He also denied that he intended to contest the post of national
chairman,
insisting that he wanted to serve two terms as organising
secretary.
“I will leave after two terms after making sure that the
party’s structures
are well organised,” Mudzuri said.
However sources
said Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who is assured of
retaining his post
as MDC leader, fears this gulf could widen to levels akin
to Zanu PF’s
Solomon Mujuru and Emerson Mnangagwa factions.
The Mujuru and Mnangagwa
factions are fighting to succeed President Robert
Mugabe, who has been
ruling the country for the past three decades.
“Tsvangirai is worried of
this development because there is hatred among
members as if they are not
from the same party,” said another official.
On Thursday Mudzuri told
journalists that the party had drafted a code of
conduct that will guide the
holding of elections.
According to the code those involved in vote
buying, violence, defamation,
intimidation, tribalism and nepotism would be
punished.
But sources said the code was mooted after the party leadership
noticed the
vicious and unorthodox campaign methods that were being used by
one of the
factions.
Chamisa dismissed the issue of factionalism
blaming ambitious party members
of spreading falsehoods in their bid to win
posts.
“I know where all this is coming from,” Chamisa said.
“But
these are lies by people who want to influence the election process.”
The
MDC-T congress, which is expected to draw about 5 000 delegates, has
been
set for April 30 to May 1, in Bulawayo.
The party’s youth and women’s
assemblies will hold their separate congresses
on April 29.
The
congress, which will run under the theme “United, Winning – The People’s
Covenant to Real Change, will have Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga as
guest of honour.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 14:17
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
HARARE’s Ballantyne Park residents have expressed concern over
businessman
Phillip Chiyangwa’s activities at a park in the area.
The
residents say they recently woke up to find some men putting up a fence
around the park donated to them by a well-wisher.
“A team of men recently
fenced off the park and put razor wire at the top of
the fence,” one
resident said. “They are now clearing the area between the
park and the
roads.
“They told us they were contracted by Philip Chiyangwa and we are not
happy
about this because that park was given to us and we are in the process
of
getting custodianship for it.”
Apart from the fact that the park is
set aside for recreational purposes and
was given to the residents by the
Ballantyne family, environmentally
conscious residents have said it is a
wetland and therefore should not be
tampered with.
“After the residents
came to me with their concerns, I spoke to Chiyangwa
and found out that the
park could be part of the land transactions done
before the current council
came into office,” area councillor Peter
Mudavanhu said.
“Council agrees
that the park should be in the residents’ custody and as
councillor for the
area I insist that place should remain as a recreational
area.
“I have
since suggested that alternative land be found to replace Chiyangwa’s
land.”
The matter was briefly discussed at a full council meeting on
Thursday, with
councillor Sasha Jogi indicating he had seen men working
around the park and
was wondering what could be happening.
Masunda
indicated that he had been assured by council officials that
nothing
sinister was happening.
Chiyangwa scoffed at the protests by residents
saying he was doing them a
favour by keeping the area clean.“The fence which
was there was very old and
the bushes had grown thick, providing criminals
with hiding places.
“Besides, I have nine expensive houses and several other
properties around
that area and I could not allow my children to be exposed
to some of the
vices which were now taking root because of that place’s
state of neglect.
“Some people were having sex in that park and throwing
around used condoms.
“It was very dirty I tell you. I am just doing what any
citizen would do and
I do not need to consult anyone because I am using my
money. I have no
hidden agenda, I am just helping out that’s
all.”
Minutes tabled before council by the Education, Health, Housing and
Community Services and Licensing Committee indicate that the committee once
granted a company called Freshpro (Pvt) Ltd authority to maintain the park
but the deal flopped as the residents protested over being left out and
expressed the wish to be in the forefront in the development of the
park.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 14:14
BY PATIENCE
NYANGOVE
POLICE have denied that they raided the MDC-T headquarters
at Harvest House
and beat up party members last week.
Police spokesperson
for Harare province, Inspector James Sabau said police
only went to the
MDC-T offices to help out two senior police officers who
had been frightened
by MDC-T youths gathered at the offices.
“On Saturday March 28 2011,
two of our senior police officers who included a
commissioner got into town
to do business and they parked the police pick-up
vehicle they were using at
a parking bay near the MDC-T offices. When they
returned they saw about 15
MDC-T youths seated in the pan of the vehicle.
When they saw the two
officers approaching, the MDC-T youths started
shouting that they were
seated in their vehicle since they were in the
inclusive government,” Sabau
said in a statement.
Sabau said gestures and statements by the youths
frightened the two police
officers who then left their car and went to seek
assistance at the Harare
Central police station on foot.
“They
got police officers who accompanied them to their vehicle. When they
arrived
at the place, the 15 youths who were in the vehicle and about 20 who
were
around it fled into Harvest House after seeing the police vehicle. The
senior officers took their vehicle and drove off,” Sabau
added.
However Sabau does not explain why the police who were
reported to be
chanting liberation war songs were doing so.
MDC-T
spokesperson Nelson Chamisahad accused the police of raiding
theirheadquarters and beating up party activists from Mufakose.
The
police officers are alleged to have failed to gain access into the
building
after alert MDC-T security officers sealed the entrance.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 14:09
BY PATIENCE
NYANGOVE
ZANU PF desperately wanted to win the Speaker of Parliament
position last
week because the post is of symbolic value to the party,
political analysts
contend.
According to the analysts, the loss of the
post to Lovemore Moyo was a slap
in the face for Jonathan Moyo, who together
with some MDC MPs had contested
the 2008 election of the MDC-T chairman in
the Supreme Court.
Moyo’s victory saw him become the first Speaker of
Parliament who was not
elected on a Zanu PF ticket since independence in
1980.
Political analyst Charles Mangongera said though the position
was largely of
symbolic value, whichever party commands it had an advantage
over the other
parties in Parliament.
In the long run, one of the
three main factions within Zanu PF which would
have won the Speaker of
Parliament position would have been in a strategic
position to deal with
President (Robert) Mugabe’s succession issue, he said.
“They all know
Mugabe’s age is advanced and anything can happen at any time
so they have to
deal with the possibility of a succession battle arising,”
said
Mangongera.
“Moyo’s victory was really a slap in the face for
Jonathan Moyo because it
obviously derails any political ambitions he had.
He wants to be seen as the
kingmaker in Zanu PF.”
Moyo launched a
court challenge that resulted in another election being
called for the
position of Speaker of Parliament.
National Constitutional Assembly
(NCA) chairman Love-more Madhuku feels that
Zanu PF wanted the position
because the party wanted “a feel good” scenario
that would lift up the
spirits of its members ahead of the next elections.
“The post is
symbolic and Zanu PF wanted to show its supporters that they
had recovered
from the 2008 loss.”
Madhuku however said the loss was a temporary
setback for the Zanu PF spin
doctor and former Information and Publicity
minister.
“It is a temporary setback for Jonathan Moyo.
“Zanu PF
has nowhere to go while Jonathan has no competitors in Zanu PF.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011
14:08
BY KHULANI NKABINDE
TSHOLOTSHO — There is need to reduce
the maternal mortality rate in the
country which is among the highest in the
world, Deputy Prime Minister
Thokozani Khupe has said.
Khupe said this on
Friday while addressing villagers at Sipepa Rural
District Hospital in
Tsholotsho.
“Out of 100 000 women that give birth, 125 of them die
during the process.
We are the highest in Africa if not the whole world,”
Khupe said.
“Our aim is to reduce this by 75% starting this
year.”
Khupe said the problem had been exacerbated by the high
charges at public
hospitals, leading to a lot of women shunning the
institutions and only
turning up for health care “when it’s too
late”
She likened childbirth to “national duty” performed by the
female folk.
“Since women play such an important role in society, how
can we punish them?
Who knows, she could be giving birth to the next
president of the country.”
She said the government should ensure that
women everywhere in the county
get free medical access.
“The fees
pegged at US$50 dissuade women from going to medical centres hence
they
prefer to stay at home which is an unfortunate situation,” she said to
a
loud applause from women.
Khupe said the inclusive government was
seriously looking at addressing
imbalances in the health delivery system
through the Ministry of Health and
Child Welfare as well as the Finance
portfolios.
“Our nurses and doctors need to be applauded because they
work under very
difficult conditions especially at this hospital where
facilities are
grossly lacking,” she said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011
14:07
BY PATIENCE NYANGOVE
AS the tobacco selling season gains
momentum many women whose families grow
the golden leaf have decided to
follow their husbands to the auction floors
to ensure that their spouses do
not squander the money on booze and
commercial sex workers.
However
the agony of having to spend as much as two weeks queuing to sell
the
tobacco is now clearly visible on these women.
The women with children as
young as four months old strapped on their backs
have spent at least two
weeks holed up at the auction floors waiting in
queues to sell their
crop.
The conditions are deplorable as ablution facilities are scarce and
food and
accommodation is difficult to get.
Over the past years many
male tobacco farmers have fallen victim to Harare’s
commercial sex workers
whom they found too good to resist.
Most of them end up going back home
without their earnings, which they lose
to the prostitutes.
Grace
Mashami who has an eight month old baby said she decided to come to
Harare
and sell the tobacco herself because she could not trust her
husband.
“You know men can’t be trusted with money,” she said “He will
come here and
sell the tobacco and spend it all on commercial sex workers
and beer and
come back home with nothing.”
Mashami said she had not
bathed her child for almost two weeks because of
the poor
conditions.
She said her biggest nightmare was the unhygienic conditions
she was
exposing her child to. She also bemoaned the lack of ablution
facilities at
the auction floors.
“My baby hasn’t had a proper bath
ever since we came here 10 days ago.
“I can’t bath her in those
unhygienic bathrooms which are opened at 2am for
us to use before they lock
them up shortly after.
“She also hasn’t eaten porridge in as many
days.
Tapiwa Kangausaru from Tengwe in Karoi who also has a six month old
baby was
in a similar predicament.
“You can’t send your husband and
risk having all the money squandered away
by someone who did not struggle
for it,” she said.
“It’s not easy to grow tobacco and see your husband
bring home another woman
from what you toiled for on your
own.”
Garikai Vengesai from Karireshi in Magunje whose three year old son
was
crying from hunger said they have been surviving on food handouts from
well
wishers.
Vengesai said she had to sleep in the open with her
child in a crowded area
together with other men and women.
“We sleep
in the open and we didn’t come with warm blankets and sometimes it
rains and
becomes quite chilly,” she said.
“My son last had a meal yesterday around
6pm when someone gave him rice to
eat,
“So he hasn’t eaten ever
since.”
Vengesai who came to sell her five bales of tobacco said she
could not leave
the child at home because there was not one to look after
her.
This year’s tobacco selling season opened in February and
expectations are
that this year’s crop will exceed the 170 million kgs sold
last year.
The average tobacco price is expected to remain at more than
US$3 per kg
until the end of the marketing season.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 13:53
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
ZIMPLATS, the country’s biggest platinum miner will spend US$2
billion in
expansion projects despite government’s threats to nationalise
the company.
President Robert Mugabe on Sunday last week reiterated Zanu PF’s
threats to
seize one of the world’s largest producers of
platinum.
Last Friday, government gave miners 45 days to submit their
plans to comply
with the indigenisation regulations and six months to
transfer controlling
stakes to local black investors.
But a visit
to Zimplats’ Ngezi operations showed that the South
African-owned company
was pressing ahead with its US$500 million phase two
expansion.
It is
also pressing ahead with its US$2 billion phase three expansion
project.
“We are currently doing feasibility studies for phase
three, which will
include a refinery for the base metals, a new mine and a
new concentrator,”
said Stanley Segula, Zimplats’ chief operating
officer.
“We have not yet received any response to our indigenisation
proposals since
submitting them last year but discussions with government
are continuing.
“It is our hope that the discussions will result in a win-win
situation,
that is the reason why we continue with business as
usual.”
Segula and other senior officials also dispelled the mounting
criticism from
Zanu PF that the company has not ploughed its profits back
into the
community.
Among others, the officials indicated that
Zimplats declares earnings from
all the 10 minerals it gets from its
operations.
The company closely works with the Zimbabwe Republic
Police, the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority and the Minerals Marketing
Corporation of Zimbabwe
throughout its production process up to the escort
of the exports to the
Beitbridge Border post.
They clarified that
the indigenisation proposals the company presented to
government requested
recognition of the company’s 2006 release to the
government of 40% of its
minerals rights for cash and or empowerment
credits.
The company’s
chief finance officer Patrick Maseva-Shayawabaya also
confirmed in a
statement last week that “discussions were still taking place
and
shareholders would be kept informed of any new developments”.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 13:49
BY
KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
THE World Bank says it is upbeat about Zimbabwe’s
economic future after the
inclusive government adopted a strategy to reduce
its US$7 billion arrears
to international lenders.
“Zimbabwe has adopted
a hybrid strategy to cover its debts and we at the
bank are confident that
the Ministry of Finance will pursue this debt
clearance strategy,” the
institution’s country manager Nginya Mungai
Lenneiye said last week.
The
Zimbabwe Accelerated Debt and Development Strategy (Zadds) combines
traditional debt servicing methods and application of mining resources to
clear the crippling debt.
Lenneiye said the country had witnessed
significant recovery in the mining
and agricultural sectors in the past few
months.
But he stressed that more had to be done to put the country on a firm
revival path.
“The challenge now is to create the environment for these
sectors to grow
the economy with clarifications being made on indigenisation
and the land
issue among others,” Lenneiye said.
He said Zadds would go a
long way in restoring relations between the World
Bank and
Zimbabwe.
Lenneiye said Zimbabwe also stood to reap huge benefits from the
new
strategy after implementing appropriate governance reforms and showing
predictability in government policies.
The World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund suspended balance of
payments support for
Zimbabwe over a decade ago after the country started
defaulting on its
arrears.
Meanwhile, the World Bank is finalising the drafting of an African
regional
strategy, which lays out its vision of supporting the development
process in
the region for the next 10 years, taking into account the diverse
political
economies.
The renewed strategy was developed through
widespread consultations with
representatives in government, the private
sector and civil society.
Speaking at a meeting to deliberate on the
strategy’s launch on Thursday,
Lenneiye said it aims to provide a broad
scope for the multilateral
institution’s engagement with African countries
in order to enhance the
achievement of development goals on a contextual
basis.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 13:46
BY KUDZAI
CHIMHANGWA
THE People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB) returned to
profitability last year
after posting a US$1,91 million loss in
2009.
According to the bank’s financial statements for the year ended
December 31
2010, the state- owned institution posted a net profit of
US$3,43 million.
Admire Kandlela, the POSB CEO in a statement accompanying
the results said
the bank had embraced an enterprise-wide risk management
framework and
business continuity management methodology.
“All
these initiatives are meant to ensure sustainable growth and
operational and
strategic competitiveness of the bank in the ever
challenging operating
environment,” said Kandlela.
Despite the government’s restoration of
sound macro-economic policies in
2009, Zimbabwe’s financial services sector
has been dogged by the
unavailability of credit lines and minimal capital
inflows owing to lack of
investor confidence.
“The relatively stable
environment in 2010 saw accompanying increases in
bank deposits but at
reduced levels compared to prior years,” he said.
Total bank deposits
increased by 111% to US$38 million. Last year also
witnessed the re-opening
of POSB’s Southerton branch in Harare.
It also operated 28 branches
countrywide as well as 168 Zimpost outlets
effectively covering an untapped
rural market.
Kandlela said Zimpost, which handled 3% of the bank’s
business during the
period under review, continues to be a strategic partner
in extending the
POSB’s delivery channels.
Non-interest income went
up 84% from US$6 million in 2009 to US$11 million
in the period under
review.
Cost to income ratio, excluding restructuring costs was down 76%
from the
86% mark recorded in 2009.
The bank’s balance sheet
reflected a sound position as total liabilities,
equity and reserves
continued on an upward trajectory since January 2009 to
stand at US$47
million as at December 2010.
The bank pointed out that it will continue
to consolidate its market share
following the deployment of point of sale
machines to the bank’s and Zimpost
branches to enhance service delivery.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 13:45
BY
KHOLWANI NYATHI
THE jostling for the Speaker of Parliament’s post saw
Zimbabwe missing out
on a high level African economic summit that ended in
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
on Tuesday, with a number of resolutions on the
continent’s future.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti and his Economic Planning
and Investment
Promotion counterpart Tapiwa Mashakada had been expected to
attend the
fourth joint annual meeting of the African Union (AU) and the
United Nations’
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) ministers of Finance
and Economic
Planning.
But the two had to send representatives
because parliament was voting on
Tuesday afternoon in a poll where Zanu PF
and MDC- T needed all their
representatives to be present.
Biti
and Mashakada’s presence in Harare helped MDC-T chairman Lovemore Moyo
regain his seat as he beat Zanu PF chairman Simon Khaya Moyo but deprived
Zimbabwe of a strong political voice in Addis Ababa.
Officially
opening the conference on Monday, African Union Commission
chairman Jean
Ping blasted countries that were not taking continental forums
seriously as
shown by their absence.
The ministers discussed various issues
including the setting up of
institutions such as an African monetary fund,
which might eventually lead
to a single currency for the
continent.
The conference organised under the theme: Governing
development in Africa,
debated the need for a new economic model for the
continent that will see
the State playing a more central role in
development.
Experts said the shift in the development paradigm was
necessitated by the
failure of Western prescribed economic structural
adjustment programmes.
Guinea Finance minister Kerfala Yamsane, the
new chairperson of bureau of
the conference, said this year’s event
represented a watershed in the
continent’s future.
“It was
remarkable in view of the number of ministers who attended,” he
said.
“This was about putting things back in place in the
development matrix of
our countries and it’s a milestone in the future of
Africa.”
The major concern at the conference was that although some
African countries
had recorded positive growth, their achievements were not
translating to
poverty reduction and employment creation.
African
Development Bank (AfDB) president Donald Kaberuka said the failure
of
economic models were to be blame for the current turmoil in North
Africa.
Egypt and Tunisia have seen dictatorships falling in the last
few months
while long serving Libyan ruler Muammar Gaddafi is fighting a
rebellion
engineered by people disgruntled by unending
poverty.
“When growth is not inclusive, as we can see from North
Afica, it is neither
economically, nor politically sustainable and will only
lead to frustrations
and social explosion,” Kaberuka said.
“It
follows therefore that governing development must begin with a search
for
endogenous solutions but solutions which find consensus in the general
populace.”
The event also saw the launch of the Economic Report
on Africa 2011 titled:
Governing development in Africa – the role of the
State in economic
transformation.
It shows that the continent
registered an economic growth rate of 4.7% in
2010 and projects another
positive expansion of 5% this year.
The growth will be driven by a
rebound in exports demand and commodity
prices as well as increased inflows
of foreign direct investment in
extractive industries and
aid.
The report also notes that since independence, most African
countries had
failed to achieve any sustained economic growth and
transformation.
It suggests that “successful economic transformation
in emerging economies
in Asia and Latin America was achieved by deliberate
State intervention,
based on a disciplined planning process that included
the formulation of
relevant development policies, provision of the required
investment and
creation of appropriate institutions.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 14:05
After
dithering in the past, Sadc leaders finally condemned President Robert
Mugabe’s flagrant violation of the Global Political Agreement at their
Troika Summit last week.
Presidents Jacob Zuma of South Africa, Armando
Guebuza of Mozambique and
Rupiah Banda of Zambia delivered what ranks as the
first and sharpest
regional rebuke to Mugabe yet.
The Troika
called for an immediate end to violence, intimidation and hate
speech which
has conveniently been amplified on television and other state
media outlets
in recent days.
Mugabe was told to stop the harassment and arrests of
MDC-T officials and
come up with a proper roadmap for elections that is
acceptable to all
parties.
The rebuke from peers who still consider him
as an elder statesman marks a
turning point in regional
politics.
Only Botswana President Ian Khama had mustered the courage
to denounce
Mugabe in the past. The change in approach and tone signifies
that Sadc may
finally be toughening its stance against Mugabe who has
refused to
co-operate with his coalition partners.
Predictably,
Mugabe on Friday lambasted Sadc saying they could not dictate
how Zimbabwe
should run its affairs. Effectively putting himself on a
collision course
with Sadc, Mugabe said Zimbabwe was a sovereign state and
would not
entertain any interference, even from neighbours.
It remains to be
seen whether Mugabe can really defy Sadc, but headstrong as
he is, it would
not be surprising if he does.
Mugabe pulled Zimbabwe out of the
Commonwealth in 2003 and may contemplate
doing so with Sadc. He needs to be
reminded, however, that without Sadc’s
support, his world could soon start
to crumble. Sadc, in particular South
Africa, has propped up his rule and
turning his back on the regional group
may be a costly
blunder.
Zimbabwe’s economy is heavily reliant on South Africa and it
would be
foolhardy for him to cut ties with the regional economic
powerhouse.
Clearly, Mugabe’s self-serving actions are not needed at this
point in time
when Zimbabwe’s economy is still fragile and
recovering.
The last thing we need right now is regional
isolation.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April 2011 14:03
By Levi
Kabwato
Recently, Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, went on a
regional tour to seek
support from the Southern African Development
Community (Sadc) in finding a
lasting solution to the multi-faceted but
mainly political crisis in his
country.
Sadc responded to the
deteriorating political situation in Zimbabwe by
calling for a Troika
meeting, held last week in Livingstone, Zambia.
Recently also,
Tsvangirai threatened, for the umpteenth time, to quit his
unhappy marriage
with president Robert Mugabe in a government of national
(dis)unity (GNU)
formed in February 2009. Former South African president,
Thabo Mbeki
engineered the marriage via what is called a Global Political
Agreement
(GPA), designed to bring sanity to a country that was in free
fall.
For a moment, Mbeki’s much-criticised quiet diplomacy on
Zimbabwe seemed to
have turned into a stroke of genius as stability — or
what looked like it —
descended on the erstwhile breadbasket of Africa. Few
could see both the
economic and political stability for what they really
were — an illusion.
How could they when almost everyone was caught in the
euphoria of a “new
Zimbabwe” — the long-awaited restoration of a glorious
nation?
While the seemingly overnight availability of commodities
became the new
gospel in town, accessibility to those commodities, however,
bedevilled
hordes of citizens who just could not cope in the new US Dollar
economy. On
the political front, the wisdom of Tsvangirai and his party in
entering into
union with a Zanu PF party that has no flattering record
remained
questionable.
You see, the problem with negotiated
outcomes such as GNUs is that they
create false senses of unity in deeply
polarised societies made up of a
profoundly wounded people — physically,
emotionally and psychologically.
Their true nature is that they are fierce
power contests whose aim is for
parties involved to make repeated attempts
at swallowing each other in a bid
to obtain influential control and
authority of government.
There is absolutely no unity whatsoever embedded
in them.
Today, it is now clear — if it never was — who is ruling the
government
roost in Harare; no pun intended.
Recent events,
especially the arrests of prominent activists and former
opposition
political actors will bring out that exasperated refrain among
many a
Zimbabwean; “the more things change, the more they remain the same.”
Mugabe,
aided by his well-oiled repressive machinery in the form of police,
the
army, youth militia and intelligence, is still firmly in
control.
My own bet is that had Tsvangirai accurately read the
masses’ mood and not
pulled out of the June 2008 election run-off, things
could have turned out
differently for Zimbabwe. After all, he had already
won the March poll
albeit without a sufficient majority. All that was needed
then was to
mobilise sufficient votes to become the clear winner in the
run-off.
Admittedly, the chances of a democratic transfer of power
occurring after
that were slim, especially with the way the security sector
led by service
chiefs was behaving at that time. But at least he would have
had some sort
of legitimacy, like Alassane Quattara in Ivory Coast,
something to work with
and to use in demanding thorough and more decisive
action in Zimbabwe.
Against this backdrop, talks of Zimbabwe
begetting an Egypt or Tunisia
become not only misleading but also dangerous,
as recent local experience
deeply instructs us. And, accompanying slogans
such as “Mugabe must go” or
“Mubarak Mugabe” are now inappropriate because
Tsvangirai, in giving
legitimacy to Mugabe’s June 2008 poll victory by
getting into the government
bed with him, is also now complicit in whatever
wrong that government is
doing against its people, including those belonging
to his own party.
Perhaps Tsvangirai also needs to be reminded that
the very same Sadc he is
turning to is the same body that snubbed him at
last year’s Sadc Summit in
Namibia. Yesterday, the Troika resolved, among
other things, to appoint a
team to join the local Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee
(Jomic).
This is the same body that
has repeatedly failed to ensure that all parties
to the GPA stick to the
agreed principles hence, the less said about that
development the better.
What can be said, however, is that the earth upon
which Zimbabwe rests will
not exactly move after Livingstone.
Look, it is well and good to
continuously engage with institutions such as
Sadc, the free but valuable
lesson out of recent experiences locally and up
North is that ultimately,
Zimbabweans will have to be the change they desire
themselves. — Zimbabwe
in pictures.com
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday,
03 April 2011 14:01
By Nevanji Madanhire
The latest
refrain in the Zanu PF propaganda song is that reports of
incidents of
violence countrywide are “unsubstantiated”. They accuse the
MDC-T and other
political voices opposed to elections anytime this year of
peddling lies
about political violence. According to the government
mouthpiece The Herald,
“MDC-T has tried to push elections to May next year
citing unsubstantiated
claims of political violence in Zimbabwe”.
President Mugabe is quoted
in the paper saying the claims were “flimsy”
urging members of his Zanu PF
party to organise party structures in
preparation for general
elections.
This refrain is going to be repeated on national radio and
television until
our ears begin to whistle. But Zanu PF, as is its nature,
is being
dishonest. There are many organisations monitoring political
violence and
the violation of the global political agreement which played
midwife to the
government of national unity.
One such
organisation is the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), whose director
Jestina
Mukoko was victim to state-sponsored repression a few years ago.
She was
abducted from her home in Norton and for three weeks the world
waited with
bated breath for news of her fate. She emerged alive but all the
worse for
wear after being tortured and denied access to medication. It was
one of the
government’s crudest attempts at suppressing information
detrimental to its
scorched-earth policy on elections.
The ZPP compiles statistics every
month recording all politically-motivated
human rights and food and other
forms of aid-related violations. Its latest
report, for the month of
February, paints a gloomy picture of what is
happening on the ground despite
Zanu PF’s imputations to the contrary.
An excerpt from the ZPP
report:“Exactly two years following the formation of
the inclusive
government in February 2009 as a result of the signing in of
the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) on September 15 2008 among the leaders
of the
country’s three main political parties of Zanu PF and the two MDC
factions,
MDC-T and MDC-M, politically motivated human rights violations
have remained
high throughout Zimbabwe.
“A snap look at the violations figures for
the month of February clearly
shows that the continued bickering by
politicians in implementing reforms as
enshrined in the GPA has led to many
people’s rights being continuously
violated at the hands of war veterans,
Zanu PF militias and state security
agents.
“During the same
month that the inclusive government was formed, the ZPP
recorded 1 285 cases
of politically motivated human rights violations.
Politically motivated
human rights violence continued to be recorded in the
first year of the
inclusive government with 979 incidents having been
witnessed in the month
of February 2010.
“During the period under review, exactly two years’
life of the government
of national unity, there were 1 209 incidents of
politically motivated human
rights violations showing a marked increase from
the January 2011 figure of
885.
“In the report ZPP notes the
ever- increasing number of military personnel
being deployed in most rural
constituencies across the country and openly
campaigning for President
Robert Mugabe and forcing villagers to support
only Zanu PF in a clear
violation of the provisions of the GPA.
“From the reports, a number
of people had their rights violated as a result
of the ongoing national
anti-sanctions campaign being sponsored by Zanu PF
where the party is
anticipating to get over 2 million signatures in a
petition to challenge the
West-imposed sanctions on President Mugabe and his
allies.
“Soldiers have been reportedly deployed in the Midlands,
Manicaland,
Masvingo, Mashonaland Central, East and West provinces. The
soldiers are
alleged to be working in cahoots with war veterans and Zanu PF
youths to
restructure Zanu PF from the grassroots levels.
“The
ZPP reports also noted the partisan application of the law by the
police
which has led to the MDC-T complaint about the conduct of the police
when
handling politically motivated violence. Many a time, victims of the
politically motivated violence have found themselves being locked up in
police cells while the perpetrators are roaming free.”
The beauty
about the ZPP reports is that the incidents are painstakingly
tabulated by
province and they are easy to verify.
This is the message Prime
Minister Morgan must have carried on his
successful regional diplomatic
offensive in recent weeks. That the
diplomatic foray was successful is
evident in the way regional leaders,
gathered in Livingstone, Zambia last
week, upped the ante in the tone of the
language they used to, for the first
time, censure Mugabe.
As expected, Mugabe has gone on to defy Sadc.
“Any organisation, body or
group of persons that is established by the
Troika or Sadc should not
prescribe to us what to do,” Mugabe said in
response to the Troika’s call
for an agreed roadmap to elections which would
have seen general elections
he wants this year postponed to at least May
next year.
In language that shows that Mugabe has literally withdrawn
Zimbabwe from
Sadc, he told the regional body that, “We are a sovereign
state and as a
sovereign state we don’t accept any interference and even our
neighbours
should not tell us what to do.”
This sort of language
echoes what he said before withdrawing Zimbabwe from
the Commonwealth in
December 2003.
Zimbabwe’s membership of Sadc has always been just
superficial. Critics have
always said that the regional body is a toothless
bulldog. This has been
true considering the big rebuff it got from Mugabe
when he refused to accept
the ruling of the Sadc Tribunal.
The
Tribunal had ruled in November 2008 that 78 white Zimbabweans farmers
could
keep their farms because Mugabe’s land reform scheme discriminated
against
them because of their race.
Judge Luis Mondlane, presidentof the
Tribunal, said Zimbabwe had violated
the treaty governing the 15-nation
regional bloc by trying to seize the
white-owned farms. This was a test case
for the Tribunal which is still in
limbo because of it.
But
Mugabe’s latest act of defiance happens when the world has changed a
bit,
that is, since the uprisings in North Africa and events in the Ivory
Coast.
The international community is now much readier to intervene in local
conflicts that continue to adversely affect the lives of civilians.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 03 April
2011 13:59
McDonald Lewanika
The re-election of Love-more
Moyo to the post of Speaker of Parliament last
week, after the initial
election of August 25 2008 had been annulled by the
Supreme Court of
Zimbabwe on March 10 2011, was more than just poetic
justice. It makes for
some profound reading of Zimbabwe’s political tenor.
The victory
reinforces the contention that Zanu PF cannot win a free and
fair election.
The fact that this defeat was delivered on March 29, three
years to the day
after Zanu PF received a defeat in the 2008 harmonised
elections and four
years to the day after Sadc forced Mugabe to properly
engage with the
opposition in Dar es Salam, Tanzania, makes for interesting
symbolism.
Zanu PF’s eagerness to embarrass its national
chairman in a secret ballot is
perhaps proof that they are becoming victims
of their own propaganda and
exaggerated sense of self.
It also
demystifies the rhetoric around Zanu PF’s infallibility. It shows
that Zan
PF’s reliance on the margin of error can be checked by the power of
numbers.
Given the undemocratic means through which Zanu PF had
sought to take the
position of Speaker of Parliament, ranging from
nullification of the first
result on flimsy grounds and alleged overt vote
buying, the result should be
seen as possessing greater meaning than merely
the return of Lovemore Moyo,
and his party to the Speakers Chair.
It
breathes truth to the assertion that vote rigging in any election can be
easily countered by sheer volume of voters – making inflation and deflation
of votes more difficult. It doesn’t mean that people will not try, but the
task is harder if the progressive turn- out is high.
Moyo’s
re-election is also the triumph of unity of purpose over
authoritarian
overtures. The smaller faction of the MDC, led by Professor
Welshman Ncube,
deserves salutation for rallying behind the MDC led by
Morgan Tsvangirai in
order to avert a clear injustice and manipulation of
both political and
judicial processes.
Of course this being politics, there may be
other motivations. However, what
this action shows us is what a united
opposition to Zanu PF is able to
achieve, and leaves one wondering what
could have been if this alliance of
purpose had existed in the last
harmonised elections.
The action by the smaller MDC puts the
larger formation in a moral debt, and
leaves them with all to do in order to
show that they too can rise beyond
myopic partisan interests and do what is
right.
The action, also introduces an interesting twist to the
issue of the Deputy
Prime Minister’s position, which Professor Ncube has
been trying to wrestle
from Professor Arthur Mutambara – an ascendency,
which his party alleges,
has been blocked by both Robert Mugabe and
Tsvangirai.
The victory of Lovemore Moyo signifies a resounding
defeat for Zanu PF and
Jonathan Moyo’s machinations. It shows that Zanu PF’s
terror tactics can be
self-defeating.
The change of position
by the MDC led by Ncube, based on what their
secretary general Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, said at a press
conference on the eve of the
election, showed that rather than endearing
Zanu PF, such tactics actually
lose them support. The election result,
showed that these tactics can be
defeated and the result must be celebrated
as such, a defeat of cohesion,
manipulation and corrupt ways of trying to
subvert the will of the
people.
A cursory inspection will show that these are the same
tactics used even in
broader national elections. The victory raises morale
and confidence of
supporters of change while demoralising Zanu PF supporters
who have clearly
been on the campaign trail for the past few months.
http://www.cathybuckle.com
My lion is a spirit lion
April 2, 2011, 3:51
am
I have always loved Shona sculpture and one of the treasures I brought
with
me from Zimbabwe was a large and very heavy stone lion. But he is no
ordinary lion such as tourists might buy; this lion came from Tengenenge,
the place where Shona sculpture as we know it today developed over the last
sixty or so years. My lion is a spirit lion, a representation in stone of
the Shona belief that when a chief or important personage dies his spirit
takes the form of a young lion or mhondoro . Lion spirits are associated
with strength and fearlessness, they are the guardians of the people and
would never hurt anyone unless they are provoked. Indeed, people believed
that if you chanced to meet a lion, the one way you could be sure he was a
genuine mhondoro was if he simply passed you by.
I was reminded of
this traditional Shona belief this week when I saw in The
Zimbabwean a
picture of Headman Rwisai Nyakauru who has just been released
from three
weeks’ detention after being arrested along with MP Douglas
Mwonzoro for
attending the MP’s MDC rally. The face of this 82 year-old man,
a Headman
from the Nyanga district, symbolises all that is best in Zimbabwe.
There was
humour, intelligence, humility, wisdom and above all humanity,
something we
see too little of in these troubled times in Zimbabwe. In gaol
the old man
had been tortured but still he could smile at the world while
all around him
his own countrymen – and women – commit unspeakable acts of
depravity in the
name of political survival for a party and a man who is
already older than
Headman Nyakauru. Surely, when the Headman passes on to
the world of the
ancestral spirits, we can be sure that his spirit will harm
no one. He is
indeed a lion of a man.
Emmerson Mnangagwa this week proclaimed that
Robert Mugabe will rule
forever, like an elephant. Elephants, it’s true live
to a great age but are
not, as far as I know, immortal! Mugabe’s intention
appears to be to survive
at all costs, regardless of the harms he inflicts
on the Zimbabwean people.
I for one simply do not accept that he is no
longer in control; I believe he
knows very well what is going on. He has
only to give the nod and his
willing accomplices, the police, the army and
the militia, will put his
hints into deadly action. What sort of man, a
father and a former teacher at
that, can allow his thugs to enter schools
and force children to sign his
nonsensical Anti-Sanctions Petition? While he
thunders at his docile
followers that Zimbabwe will take over foreign
businesses, Mugabe appears
oblivious of the fact that such remarks
successfully halt any possibility of
investment. And what sort of man feels
it necessary to remind the world that
Zimbabwe is the ‘Senior Partner’? It
certainly suggests that Robert Mugabe
is suffering from a bad case of
mono-mania, rather like his good friend
Gadaffi who, Zimbabeans will
remember, strode into Zimbabwe over the
Victoria Falls Bridge like some
conquering hero. Remember, the Libyan
dictator once had African ambitions
until the AU for once put its foot down.
The AU has joined the west’s
condemnation of Gadaffi but remain silent as
their African brother destroys
what was once ‘the jewel of Africa’. Do we
hear a word from the South
Africans as Mugabe’s regime re-arrests Elton
Mangoma and threatens the Prime
Minister of the country with arrest for
contempt of court for saying what
the whole country knows to be true: that
the judiciary has been bought off
with farms and other rewards for their
compliance.
But there was one
small victory for truth this week. Despite Zanu’s
desperate attempts, not
excluding bribery and dirty tricks, Lovemore Moyo
was re-elected as Speaker
of the House by 105 to 93 votes. In a wonderful
example of honesty and
integrity, MDC MP’s handed over the thousands of
dollars that they had been
offered to vote against Moyo or to abstain. All
is not lost while there are
still honest men and women to give public
testimony to human decency in
Zimbabwe. Perhaps, after all, the spirit of
mhondoro is indeed protecting
worthy people?
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.