Government Promises to Rebuild Health System

 

Stanley Kwenda interviews HENRY MADZORERA, minister of Health and Child Welfare,

Caring for a cholera patient: the health system faces massive challenges with almost no budget. Credit: Paul Garwood/WHO

HARARE, Apr 4 (IPS) - The resuscitation of Zimbabwe’s health care system has been identified as one of the major challenges facing the country by the country’s new unity government.

Zimbabwe is still struggling with a devastating cholera epidemic, which has so far left more than 4,000 people dead according to United Nations statistics.

A major referral hospital, Harare Central Hospital, which had been closed since November 2008 due to lack of equipment, drugs and health workers, has recently been re-opened but is far from being fully operational.

Zimbabwe’s health minister, Henry Madzorera, will have to solve a wide range of problems to get the country’s public health system back on track, such as water shortages, malfunctioning equipment, a de-motivated workforce and a general lack of finances.

IPS: You have become health minister at a time when the country faces a devastating cholera epidemic. What immediate measures have you put into place in response?

Henry Madzorera: Cholera continues to be a source of sickness and death in many towns and villages. A reasonable response was mounted a few months ago when the donor community was asked to come in and help. Many agents, like UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières, Red Cross and church organisations, to name but a few, helped with much needed supplies and human resources to fight cholera.

A fund was established to support health care workers, not just at the cholera camps, but throughout the country. This general strengthening of our health care centres is an integral part of the war against cholera. From the ministry of health’s perspective, we are doing fine on the curative side. Case fatality rates have dropped to under one percent and that’s acceptable by global standards.

Please note that water and sewerage failures are the cause of this sustained onslaught on our people. We are working hard to encourage local government to deal with the problem.

Prevention is the only answer to cut cholera. We have educational campaigns going on, such as television and radio ads and posters, but without ready access to clean water and sanitation, this education is of limited value. Zimbabweans must start learning how to demand what is rightfully theirs.

IPS: The national health system has virtually collapsed. How will you start rebuilding it?

HM: We are negotiating with various partners such as UNICEF, World Bank and others, for infrastructure rehabilitation, repair of equipment and transport, supply of drugs, etc. As the ministry of health, we will continue with our educational campaigns to improve household hygiene and implement a coordinated health plan once funds are available.

IPS: Rebuilding the public health sector will require significant amounts of money, yet the new government is inheriting a bankrupt system. What budget has been allocated to fix this?

HM: You correctly point out that there is no money in the ministry. There is no formula for funding health care at the moment. That’s why we are relying on our international partners for funding until Zimbabwe is back on its feet economically.

Medical taxes have been contributing a negligible amount to health care financing in Zimbabwe. We plan to eliminate these in the long term, but first we must come up with innovative ways of funding health care. This we can only do with the involvement of all our communities, including the patients, the private sector, government and the donor community.

IPS: The plight of health workers who have been on strike for many months is ongoing. How will you address health workers’ demands for higher salaries?

HM: We now have the health sector support fund [since Nov. 2008], which is paying out allowances to health workers of $100 a month to as a retention incentive. As a result, 95 percent of our workers are back to work. Obviously they hope the once-off allowances will continue.

IPS: What is your strategy to rehabilitate rural health facilities, some of which have been closed down?

HM: Its work in progress. We are working with [international] partners to first make sure that rural facilities have the personnel, drugs and equipment and then move on to other issues, such as upgrading facilities. We are taking over a collapsed system.

IPS: HIV and AIDS remain a big problem in Zimbabwe with a HIV prevalence rate of 15.3 percent. This is exacerbated by poverty and lack of access to health care. How will you ensure HIV treatment and care?

HM: We have grants from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. $496 million were approved in round eight of the Global Fund. We are also trying to ensure that the flow of funds [from government to health facilities] improves. If all processes go well, we should be able to access some of these funds by Jul. 2009. There is great potential for achieving universal access to [antiretroviral] treatment soon.

New governors soon: Mutsekwa

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Friday, 03 April 2009

MUTARE REPORTER

MUTARE - Co-Minister Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa has said the
inclusive government has finalised appointment of new Provincial governors
and permanent secretaries and will soon announce the names.
Speaking at a rally in the high density suburb of Chikanga in the
eastern border city of Mutare last week Mutsekwa revealed that the
government was working to finalise remaining issues in last September's
global political agreement (GPA) that gave birth to the power sharing
administration between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert
Mugabe.

"We are very hopeful that that the announcements would be done after
the Prime Minister resumes his official duties," he said.

Tsvangirai was in South Africa on compassionate leave following the
death of his wife Susan in a car crush along the Harare-Masvingo highway
early last month.

Tsvangirai who escaped with head injuries from the accident officially
returned to work on Wednesday last week.

Mugabe had unilaterally appointed provincial governors and permanent
secretaries for government ministries, a move Tsvangirai criticised, saying
the appointment was in contravention of both the GPA and the Constitution of
Zimbabwe, as the President should have consulted the other two parties in
the unity government.

Mutsekwa said Tsvangirai, Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara, who heads a
splinter faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) had agreed on a
way to share the governorships among their parties.

"The three principals have agreed on a distribution process of the 10
governorship posts with each party set to have a governor in a province it
claimed the popular vote in the March 29 elections."

Under the agreement the Tsvagirai-led MDC is set to have five
governors in Harare and Bulawayo metropolitan provinces, Manicaland,
Masvingo and Matebeleland South provinces.

Mugabe's Zanu (PF) would claim Mashonaland East, West, Central and the
Midlands provinces while the Mutambara-led MDC formation would have the
Matebeleland North province.

Zim expelled from bullion market

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Friday, 03 April 2009
BY NEVER CHANDA

HARARE - Zimbabwe has been expelled from the London Bullion Market
Association (LBMA) after failing to meet the organisation's membership
requirement, the Zimbabwean on Sunday learnt last week.

LBMA accreditation certifies the quality of gold sold by members who
must produce a minimum of 10 tonnes per annum to maintain membership.

Sources said Zimbabwe lost its membership of the LBMA last year after
successive years of declining gold output.

The country's bullion production nose-dived from 10 960 kilogrammes in
2006 to 3 072kg last year - a massive 40 percent drop in two years.

"The loss of LBMA membership means we are no longer among the elite
group of gold producers in the world and have forfeited the benefits derived
from trading on the London bullion market," a senior mining executive told
the Zimbabwean on Sunday.

The LBMA website said Fidelity Printers and Refiners was expelled from
the association on 30 June 2008 and listed the Zimbabwean company among
refiners "whose bars are no longer accepted as Good Delivery by the London
Bullion market".

Fidelity's expulsion from the LBMA was one of the reasons behind the
decision by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono to allow
Zimbabwean producers to sell gold directly to international buyers.

A directive issued by the RBZ in February set out revised export
procedures for gold produced in Zimbabwe, under which gold producers were
for the first time allowed to make individual arrangements for the refining
and sale of gold.

Gold producers are also entitled to receive a price based on that
prevailing on the international bullion market, thereby removing the
historic surrender requirements to the RBZ.

A subsidiary of the RBZ, Fidelity was until now the sole authorised
buyer and exporter of gold in Zimbabwe.

Fidelity would do all the refining and take 7.5 percent of all gold
produced.

Gono did not reveal the loss of LBMA membership when he announced that
producers could start selling gold directly to offshore clients in January.

The LBMA is the London-based trade association that represents the
wholesale over-the-counter market for gold and silver in London.

The work of the Association encompasses many areas, among them
refining standards, good trading practices and standard documentation.

News of the loss of Zimbabwe's LBMA membership comes at a time
President Robert Mugabe's government has targeted foreign-owned mines for
nationalisation in a controversial black economic empowerment initiative to
benefit the ruling elite and their supporters.
Output has more than halved since the country's economic crisis began
in 2000.

ZCTU wants workers paid US$454 per month

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Saturday, 04 April 2009

BY STEVEN NYATHI

BULAWAYO -- The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has said it
was giving employers up to the end of June to raise minimum wages for
workers to US$454 per month.

The union, which has in the past threatened to call strikes by workers
to pressure employers to increase salaries, said a research it carried
showed that an average family of six people required more than US$400 for
basic goods and services per month or more than four times the US$100 civil
servants and most workers are earning.

“Between now and June we would expect businesses to adjust salaries
and pay ′their workers the new minimum wage,” ZCTU secretary general
Wellington Chibebe said.

Workers have borne the brunt of Zimbabwe’s economic crisis with many
losing jobs as companies downsized or closed shop altogether while those
luck to be still holding a formal job have been forced to accept paltry
salaries or risk retrenchment.

Many in the country had hoped a power-sharing government formed by
President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara would ease the political situation and allow the
country to emerge from its crisis.

But the unity government is facing immense difficulties raising cash
and resources to kick start the economy with rich Western governments that
have the capacity to fund the Zimbabwe’s recovery refusing to provide
support until they see evidence Mugabe is committed to genuine power sharing
and to implementing comprehensive political and economic reforms.

Zimondi must go

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Saturday, 04 April 2009

'This is one area where well-thought out reforms could be implemented
without the need for massive injections of foreign assistance'

'They are poison among our public servants. They need to be replaced
by younger and more enlightened officers'

BY JOHN MAKUMBE

The news that the Commissioner of the Zimbabwe Prison Services (ZPS),
Paradzai Zimondi has made a U-Turn in his attitude towards Prime Minister,
Morgan Tsvangirai is not funny. This is the man who publicly stated that as
an avowed and staunch member of Zanu (PF) he would not salute Tsvangirai if
he came into power. He further stated that should the MDC come into power he
would resign his post and go and defend his farm, presumably from
re-possession by the state and subsequent return to the rightful owners. It
is trite to say what happened in June 2008 should be forgotten because it
was done for political reasons.

Zimondi is of the sick idea that all the murders that were committed
during the run-up to the run-off presidential elections should be swept
aside because these were crimes committed for political ends. How sick can
an official be?
Zimondi also told his subordinates to stop victimizing junior officers
in the ZPS as this was no longer tolerable. It is therefore obvious that
prior to the setting up of the inclusive government such practice was
tolerable, if not encouraged by none other than the Commissioner himself.
Junior officials were always suspected of being supporters of the MDC.
This same practice is also rampant in the police force and in the
military service. It is this sick mentality that the Prime Minister (PM)
will find most difficult to transform in the new Zimbabwe. My view is that
people like Zimondi, Chihuri, Chiwenga and Shiri, should be written off as
well beyond rehabilitation for effective service in the new Zimbabwe. They
should simply be pensioned off and dismissed form government service.
They are poison among our public servants. They need to be replaced by
younger and more enlightened officers who have respect for the laws of this
land. It is not enough for Zimondi to advise that the anti-Tsvangirai
comments that he had made in the past should be disregarded. The man has to
apologise to the PM as well as submit his resignation and go home.
What is even more depressing is the fact that, by and large, these
fellows are grossly inefficient in the running of their entities. For
example, just one look at the picture of prison inmates sleeping at
Chikurubi (published in the Standard of 29.03.09) gives you the creeps. It
is unbelievable that there are human beings in this country that are forced
to live like that for years.
This is one of the outfits that crazy old Zimondi is responsible for.
It is obvious that some of these inmates never wake up the following day,
and it is not news at all, not to Zimondi. This is one area where
well-thought out reforms could be implemented without the need for massive
injections of foreign assistance.
We challenge the inclusive government to tackle this serious
humanitarian situation as soon as possible in order to save lives. There is
little to be expected from Zimondi, whose primary concern is his farm and
blind loyalty to Zanu (PF).

It is unfortunate to have to express the sentiments that for some
reason, the inclusive government seems to be dragging its feet when it comes
to addressing issues of gross violations of human rights and the
administration of justice. Admittedly, we are still cursed with a largely
partisan judiciary and a rabidly unjust Attorney General. Transforming the
judiciary and the prison systems in this country is likely to be among the
last activities that the Tsvangirai government is likely to tackle. They
could perhaps begin by cleaning house from the top to the bottom. Make
Zimondi and his ilk go home to their farms, please!

Biti, Gono Square-off, Tragedy Strikes Tsvangirai

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 21:39
VICTORIA FALLS - The Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti yesterday told
off Gideon Gono, the Governor of the Reserve Bank that the central bank no
longer has any business "engaging in quasi-fiscal operations".

Responding to Gono's attempts to reassert his role last week by
offering vehicles to MPs, Biti said: "They had no authority to give the MPs
the cars. I certainly need to know where the money came from."

Relapsing into familiar mode last week, Gono wooed legislators with
offers of vehicles in what has been interpreted as an attempt to curry
favour with the lawmakers ahead of crucial debate in Parliament on Wednesday
on the role of the Reserve Bank.But Biti, in telling off Gono, said the
government had no resources, hospitals had no drugs, schools are closed and
"we have all those priorities".

On buying MPs cars Biti said: "This does not mean the MPs will not get
their cars when things stabilise."
Biti spoke in Victoria Falls where  government leaders are gathered
here ahead of a decision this week by the three main political parties on
the fate of Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana as the inclusive
government moves in to settle outstanding issues.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai made the announcement on this week's
meeting at a Cabinet retreat that set targets the unity government must meet
in the next 100 days.

The retreat was described as a sign that the former arch-rivals from
Zanu PF and the two MDC formations were preparing themselves to work
together.

Tsvangirai, in his address yesterday said the roles of permanent
secretaries, deputy ministers and ministers would be defined by the end of
the retreat and that the recommendations would be implemented as part of the
Global Political Agreement (GPA).

President Robert Mugabe, who also addressed the retreat and was full
of praise for the MDC leader, has in the past maintained that Gono and
Tomana's positions would not be reviewed before their terms expired.

But Tsvangirai said everyone was now in agreement that addressing the
outstanding issues that also include a fair distribution of posts of
permanent secretaries, ambassadors and provincial governors should be dealt
with immediately for the government to begin addressing humanitarian and
economic challenges.

He said the principals from Zanu PF and the two MDC formations would
also conclude the talks on the outstanding issues to restore confidence
among Zimbabweans and the international community that the GPA was working.

"This body will meet in the coming week to address these outstanding
issues," he said. "The clarity of the GPA and the constitution mean that if
we abide by their letter and spirit, these issues can be resolved
immediately."

Tsvangirai, whose office organised the three-day event sponsored by
the World Bank and other donors, said he was encouraged by the spirit of
co-operation shown by ministers from the different parties.

"I continue to be encouraged by the spirit of co-operation that has
grown amongst the majority of ministers," he said. "In fact, it is safe to
say the vast majority of ministers, MPs and civil servants are committed to
seeing this arrangement work."

Tsvangirai said there was need for the inclusive government to restore
the rule of law and stop the farm invasions.

Almost all the ministers from across the political divide attended the
three-day retreat, describing it as crucial in bonding the former
adversaries. The retreat ends today.

Meanwhile tragedy struck  Tsvangirai's family yesterday. The family,
still grieving after the death of Tsvangirai's wife on March 6, was plunged
into mourning after the PM's grandson drowned in a swimming pool.

The Standard heard last night that the grandson, identified as Shaun,
drowned at the PM's Strathaven home.

Tsvangirai's spokesperson James Maridadi confirmed the drowning.
Tsvangirai rushed back to Harare after learning of the tragedy.

BY KHOLWANI NYATHI

Outcry Over RBZ's Vehicle Offer

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 21:04
MDC-T MPs will soon convene a caucus to consider an offer of cars from
the central bank, amid warnings from political parties that such a move
would compromise the independence of Parliament.

On Thursday Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono played
"Father Christmas" by offering the central bank's cars to legislators for
use in their day-to-day work.

Gono said the cars would be returned after the Minister of Finance,
Tendai Biti, found money to buy cars for legislators.

  MDC-T Chief Whip, Innocent Gonese said the party was still to "meet
as a caucus to consider the proposal to have cars from RBZ".

Gonese, however, said some legislators were facing difficulties in
travelling to their constituencies as they do not have personal cars and the
allowances they receive are inadequate to buy vehicles.
MPs, like all civil servants, get an allowance of US$100. Gonese said
legislators had not been receiving their transport allowances last year. In
the period from August to November, he said, they received allowances in
Zimbabwean dollars - inadequate to meet their daily needs.

Travel allowances were also paid in local currency at US$0.30-US$0.35
a kilometre, calculated at the official bank rate. They did not get sitting
allowances, Gonese said.

But Senator David Coltart, the Minister of Education, Sports, Arts and
Culture and a senior member in the MDC-M warned yesterday MPs should not
accept the cars as such a move would compromise the independence of
legislators.

"I believe it will compromise the independence of legislators,"
Coltart, a lawyer, said. "I don't believe the Reserve Bank should be
involved in handing out vehicles to anyone. The Parliamentary vehicle scheme
is the appropriate way.

"Unfortunately this is another example of quasi-fiscal expenditure
which we are trying to run away from. We should not encourage that."

Told that the vehicles had been bought for other purposes, Coltart
said the cars should have been sold and the money used to supplement scarce
resources in our budget.

Coltart said he would not accept the RBZ offer.

"No, I will not accept a vehicle from the Reserve Bank. It is a time
of financial constraints and we have to tighten our belts," he said.

Coltart declined a ministerial Mercedes Benz vehicle and opted for a
Nissan 4x4 saying his job requires visiting rural areas which would not be
compatible with the Benz.

Retired Major Kudzai Mbudzi, head of National Mobilisation in the
Mavambo formation accused the central bank of engaging in "quasi-political
activities" which would compromise the independence of Parliament.

"These are the quasi-political activities of the Reserve Bank. These
are the same cars that were given to soldiers to campaign for Zanu PF,"
Mbudzi said.

Mbudzi said RBZ was trying to curry favours with legislators. On
Thursday Gono said the offer of cars was not meant to bribe MPs but was a
realisation that legislators needed transport to move around their
constituencies.

He boasted that RBZ interventions had resulted in some legislators
retaining their constituencies.

The majority of the legislators murmured disapprovals as Gono made his
presentation only to applaud when Gono dangled the cars.

Mbudzi said the fact that some legislators applauded the offer of cars
showed that they "are into power to remove their poverty".

Political analysts questioned Gono's motive, adding that the move
would weaken Parliament's watchdog role.

Ironically, Parliament on Wednesday is supposed to debate the alleged
unauthorised use of Africa University foreign currency by the central bank,
resulting in the stalling of projects at the university.

"It compromises the independence, autonomy and capacity of Parliament
to act as watchdog of RBZ and its structures," said Professor Eldred
Masunungure, the director of the Mass Public Opinion Institute.

"This is all part of Zanu PF way of doing things anchored on
patronage-driven behaviour," Masunungure said.

Masunungure said Gono was marginalised in the past few weeks by the
ministry of Finance and he was trying to carve some space for himself.

He said a number of legislators were suffering and were susceptible to
this incentive.

"MPs have been agitating for these vehicles and with Tendai Biti
saying the coffers are empty, Gono is trying to lure the Parliamentarians to
his side," Masunungure said.

"This is a fight back by Gono on the individual level and the Reserve
Bank as the institution but this is more to do with the former rather than
the latter."

In his address to legislators on Thursday, Gono said central bank's
interventions had benefited all sectors of the economy but Masunungure
disagreed.

"Who in the civil society benefited," he asked.

Non-Governmental Organisations spent the better part of last year
besieging RBZ after the central had raided their foreign currency accounts.

Law expert Dr Lovemore Madhuku said Gono was trying to legitimise his
quasi-fiscal operations by dishing out cars to legislators. He was quick to
add that the issue was not about the central bank governor but the
principals.

"Why have principals kept quiet about the outstanding issues? Why has
the issue of Gono not been resolved? Why is Gono confident of coming out of
his hiding," Madhuku asked.

Gono's position together with that of Attorney-General Johannes Tomana
was the subject for discussion when the three principals - President Robert
Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara - joined forces to form an inclusive government in February.

Gono told legislators that his actions were above board and in line
with the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Act.

BY NDAMU SANDU

Why Bennett not Yet Sworn-in

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 19:49
MDC-T spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa has attributed the delays in
swearing in Roy Bennett as deputy minister to the fact that Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai was on compassionate leave following the death of his
wife, Susan.

Asked to comment on reports that President Robert Mugabe was refusing
to swear in Bennett, Chamisa over a week ago said the MDC Treasury General's
appointment as deputy Minister could not be stopped.

"The issue is not about whether or not," he said. "It is about when.
The nomination of Roy Bennett is an MDC-T thing and therefore the President
cannot interfere with MDC-T business."

The former commercial farmer is now a non-constituency Senator.

Water Resources and Infrastructure Development Minister, Samuel Sipepa
Nkomo told a private radio station that Mugabe was refusing to swear in
Bennett citing that he had a pending case in the courts.

Sipepa Nkomo is reported to have said that attempts to frustrate the
former Chimanimani legislator were against the spirit of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA).

Bennett was arrested on the same day Mugabe swore in ministers from
Zanu PF and the two MDC formations as he tried to return to South Africa
where he had lived in exile for two years.

This was after he was informed that deputy ministers would be sworn in
at a later date.

He was held at Mutare Prison for a month after he was charged for his
alleged involvement in acts of terrorism and for illegal possession of
firearms.

The MDC-T blamed his arrest on Zanu PF loyalists who were trying to
sabotage the unity government.

Last week Bennett said he did not know what was delaying his swearing
in and referred all questions to the Prime Minister's office.

BY OUR STAFF

Political Prisoners Still Locked-up, Says MDC

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 19:48
THE Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has said many of its
activists are still locked up on tramped up charges despite President Robert
Mugabe's claims last week that there were no political prisoners in the
country's filthy jails.

Mugabe and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi
recently dismissed media reports that they were still detaining political
prisoners despite the formation of the inclusive government.

Last week MDC spokesperson and Minister of Information Communication
Technology Nelson Chamisa contradicted Mugabe and said that many activists
from his party were still locked up.

"Yes, we still have many of our colleagues in jails and it's actually
worrisome," Chamisa said. "This is one of the things undermining the
credibility and take-off of the inclusive government."

Those still locked up include MDC leader's Morgan Tsvangirai's former
personal assistant Gandhi Mudzingwa and the party's director of security
Chris Dhlamini, who are facing of banditry and terrorism charges.

Also still in jail at Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison is freelance
photojournalist Anderson Manyere, who is accused of the same charges.

Of the three, Dhlamini and Mudzingwa are under prison and police guard
at a private clinic in Harare where they are being treated for injuries
sustained while in custody.

The three detainees were abducted in December 2008.

Chamisa said there were still many other MDC activists who were
missing and the party was frantically trying to locate them.

"We are still trying to account for many others, but we believe they
are locked and surely they are political prisoners."

The Supreme Court will tomorrow preside over an appeal by defence
lawyers against the denial of bail by High Court judge Justice Yunus Omerjee
to three political detainees.

The three are jointly charged with other MDC activists namely Regis
Mujeyi, Chinoto Zulu, Zachariah Nkomo and Mapfumo Garutsa.

The four were recently released from the notorious Chikurubi prison
after they were granted bail.

Chamisa said Tsvangirai and Mugabe would this week meet to deliberate
on the outstanding issues of permanent secretaries, provincial governors and
the fate of Attorney General Johannes Tomana and central bank governor,
Gideon Gono.

BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE AND EDGAR GWESHE

Prisons Scandal: Officers Arrested Over SABC Report

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 19:48
THREE prison officers suspected of smuggling in investigative
reporters from the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC)'s special
assignment programme into Beitbridge Prison were arrested on Friday.

Thabiso Nyathi (35), Siyai Muchechedzi (35) and Thembinkosi Nkomo (28)
were arrested in Gwanda, where they had gone for independence rehearsals.

A senior police officer at Beitbridge Police Station confirmed
yesterday that the three were locked up in cells at the station.

"I can confirm that there are people who are being investigated by
police from Gwanda regarding the SABC case. For more information, you
contact Superintendent Chigona from Law and Order Section. He is the one who
is doing the case," he said.

The trio is being charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act.

The SABC recently screened a documentary exposing the sorry state of
prisoners in the country's filthy jails.

The documentary showed sickly inmates who appeared to be deprived of
food and medical care.

The SABC crew worked with some wardens and officers. fforts to get a
comment from Chigona were fruitless.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa was quoted by an online publication
saying the documentary, which shocked many Zimbabweans due to its horrifying
pictures of gravely ill inmates, was "a fraud".

The SABC team said the film was shot over three months with cameras
smuggled into the prisons.

Efforts to get a comment from police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena
yesterday were also fruitless.

BY SANDRA MANDIZVIDZA

Matonga a 'bed-hopper': Wife

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 19:25
ELISABETH Anne Matonga, the estranged British wife of former deputy
Minister Bright Matonga has exposed the Zanu PF politician as a bed-hopper
who used political activities to cover-up for his adulterous forays.

Anne, who is distressed and easily breaks down in tears when her
troubled marriage to Bright Matonga is mentioned, has implored the High
Court to censure the politician heavily for what she terms "gross marital
misconduct".
She says the Zanu PF politician deserted her and their child, Farai
Mandishona Matonga, in May last year.
Anne, who is in Zimbabwe on a residency permit which does not allow
her to work, says they live on charity.

Anne provides damning revelations about the man who was at the
forefront of defending the Zanu PF government before he was unceremoniously
left out of the inclusive government.

She will lead evidence to show that the Zanu PF politician not only
subjected her to cruel punishment and mental torture, but abused his
government position as he sought to banish her from Zimbabwe.

She says Matonga unleashed CIO agents and the police in order to
silence her.

The revelations are contained in divorce papers filed in the High
Court. Matonga is seeking a decree of divorce in a case where both parties
agree that the marriage has irretrievably broken down.

Matonga, who married Anne in Essex County in UK on April 26, 1997 in
terms of the marriage Act, is quick to admit in his papers that he committed
adultery.

He, however, blames this on the British woman's "conscious and
deliberate disdain, insolence and disrespect" that led him to engage in "an
improper relationship" with another woman, an association he admits led to
the birth of a child while their marriage still subsisted.

Anne denies any wrongdoing, saying she played her role as a faithful
wife.

She says in the papers that their marriage broke down after Matonga
committed "adultery with other women, latest of which is one Sharon Mugabe
who he is co-habiting with in Rolfe Valley, Borrowdale, Harare."

Narrating her troubles, Anne says sometime in 2008, she discovered an
intimate message on Matonga's phone and when she called the woman who had
sent the message, she was told to expect these "kinds of liaisons" now that
"plaintiff was a big man".

Anne says she threatened to leave but could not do so after Matonga
told her that she would not see her son again. She says Matonga stayed away
from home for long periods despite the fact that she was living with his
"gravely ill father". She says Matonga never even checked on the condition
of his father.

At the end of May, Anne says she received a call from an unidentified
woman who told her to leave the farm as she was going to marry Matonga soon.

Following investigations, she says she was able to establish that
Matonga had two girlfriends, one of them who was expecting at the time.

She raised the issue with friends and relatives but Matonga refused to
discuss the matter.

When he was at the farm, Anne said, Matonga started slaughtering
beasts without accounting for the meat or proceeds. When she questioned him,
he allegedly became abusive and at one point instructed members of the ZRP
to arrest her if she "made any noise".

Alarmed by Matonga's behaviour, Anne brought legal proceedings against
him to halt his dissipation of "assets and income in order to entertain and
support his mistress".

She says Matonga retaliated by making the farm inhabitable for her:
withdrawing domestic staff, and ensuring there was no water and electricity
supplies at their matrimonial home where she had stayed for six years.

She says she feels particularly hard done by Matonga because she is
surviving on charity, yet she was employed "in fairly senior position and
enjoyed a fairly high standard of living" in UK when they married.

"The Plaintiff at the time was a student residing in a bed-sitter with
very little income," Anne, who is an accountant by training, says in the
papers.

She will testify that her parents accepted Matonga as their son,
buying him a car, and also paying for its repairs.

When the couple experienced financial problems, Anne's parents
constantly came to their rescue, she says. At one time they gave them 15 000
Pounds which they used to renovate the house.

Anne will say she bore the burden of the African extended family, all
for the love of Matonga. She will tell the court she brought Matonga's
father to UK, accommodated and took care of his brother, who was studying in
the UK. She also welcomed his sister, who "turned up in the UK in 2000".

In July 2002, Anne says as a faithful wife, she resigned her
well-paying accountancy job, sold her UK house and followed Matonga to
Zimbabwe when he was offered a job by President Robert Mugabe's regime.

She used some of the money to buy household property in Zimbabwe, pay
for family debts. Arriving at the height of the farm invasions, Anne who
believed it would "strengthen her relationship" with Matonga embraced the
land reform exercise and "immersed" herself into running and operating the
farm in the best interests of the family. This was in spite of the fact that
she is white.

She admits, in the court papers, that this attracted negative
publicity and alienated her from members of her family, which will make it
difficult for her to return to the UK.

BY WALTER MARWIZI

Headmistress Trial Set for April

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 19:25
GWERU - The trial date of a headmistress and her deputy who are
alleged to have abused minors at a primary school in Gweru has been set for
April 15.

The headmistress, Idah Nyabeze Mutuswa (51), and her deputy,
Munyaradzi Murenga (45), of Cecil John Rhodes Primary School had their bail
conditions relaxed when they appeared before Gweru magistrate, Auxillia
Chiumburu on Tuesday.

Representing the accused, Brian Dube of Gundu, Mawarire & Partners
asked the court to allow Murenga to report to Mkoba 1 police station instead
of Gweru Central. He also asked that Mutuswa's passport be released from
April 6 until April 9 for a business trip. Mutuswa will return the passport
on April 10.

The two are facing charges of contravening section 7(1) of the
Children's Act and are on US$100 bail. The charges arise from allegations
that the school punished pupils who had not paid a levy of US$80 by making
them stand while lessons were being conducted.

It is alleged that on March 8, Mutuswa and Murenga moved around Grade
III-VII classes fishing out those who had not paid the levy.

It is alleged that 239 pupils from Grade III to VII were told to carry
their chairs to the storeroom and surrender them to the caretaker.

They were told that they would only get their chairs back after paying
the levy. It is reported that the police were tipped off by concerned
parents.

Mutuswa and Murenga who report twice a week to the police are also not
reporting for duty as part of their bail conditions.

The court was packed on Tuesday with parents saying they were very
concerned and would follow the court proceedings until the end.

Some parents also said they were bitter that school authorities could
punish young children because their parents had failed to pay the levy.

BY RUTENDO MAWERE

Daggers out for ZUJ chief

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 17:47
ZIMBABWEAN journalists, for long strident in their criticism of
President Robert Mugabe for clinging to power, have shifted their attention
to their own association - the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists (ZUJ).

At the centre of their focus is how long-serving ZUJ President Mathew
Takaona is controversially trying to secure another term of office, ignoring
an outcry from journalists who accuse him of overstaying his welcome.
The journalists say, as a professional body, the ZUJ leadership should
be rotated among the professionals and "not privatised like some NGO that is
a one-man band".

The journalists have started likening Takaona to Mugabe, who has ruled
the country for 29 years, but wants to stay in office despite rejection by
the electorate.

They said Takaona hasn't really achieved Mugabe's feat, but has been
at the organisation for more than 10 years, which ran against the concept of
leadership renewal.

Takaona maintains that he was "legally and constitutionally in office"
and therefore could not be accused of having "overstayed".

"What does overstaying mean? According to the ZUJ constitution, the
terms for the ZUJ presidency are three years and if they are saying I am
going for the sixth term, it means I have served for 15 years and yet I am
just about to complete my third term," he said.

Takaona said there were some "rogue elements" in the journalism
fraternity who fail to embrace professional standards and suggested a hidden
plot behind the allegations.

Determined to oust Takaona, some journalists have launched a cyber
campaign, "Save ZUJ: Takaona Should GO", which is found on facebook. Those
disgruntled by his continued reign sign-in and put their comments. So far 14
journalists have signed up.

The journalists accused the current ZUJ leadership of lacking
direction. They claim that whenever there is a congress the ZUJ leadership
selects "friends" to attend.

In most cases, the journalists claimed, ZUJ leadership holds the
congress outside Harare to make sure that uninvited members would not be
able to attend.

Journalists pushing for the ZUJ president's ouster also claim that
Takaona should be considered an employer or a senior company editorial
executive unfit for union leadership, citing his interest in the affairs of
a struggling weekly, the Masvingo Mirror.

The Masvingo Mirror is a community newspaper in Masvingo  town and
information at hand shows that, although his name is not on the list of
directors, Takaona is involved in running the paper which recently sought to
kick out its editor, Kennedy Murwira, replacing him with someone who has
been on the job less than a year.

Murwira is said to hold vital information regarding how the paper was
purchased from leading Masvingo businessman, Doug Hill.

The ZUJ constitution forbids editors, deputy editors and assistant
editors in the print media and directors and controllers in the electronic
media from holding national office in the capacities of president,
vice-president, secretary-general or treasurer.

Takaona's opponents are threatening to provide irrefutable evidence at
the congress that shows how Takaona, through a close relative, is connected
to the ownership structure of the newspaper.

When asked to comment on this, Takaona who had earlier on challenged
this paper to check with the Deeds Office whether he was a director or not
at Masvingo Mirror, switched off his phone.

Freelance journalist Godwin Mangudya and The Herald news editor
Isidore Guvamombe have expressed interest in challenging Takaona at the
forthcoming congress, whose date remains unknown to the fraternity.

Mangudya said inasmuch as Takaona's efforts at ZUJ were appreciated,
the need for a new leadership at the professional body was pressing.

"We do not attack him in his personal capacity but if he is a genuine
journalist he should respect what other journalists are saying. We are in a
new dispensation and we want new ideas."

Mangudya said there was a vital need to make the union representative
of all journalists in the country.

Guvamombe, who is also gunning for Takaona's post said: "I do not want
to spend time on name-calling but what I want to see is the union becoming
more accountable to journalists.

"The union must see that journalists get decent accommodation and
decent salaries." he said.

BY EDGAR GWESHE

Concern over Staffing Levels in Schools

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 17:31
STAFFING levels in the country's education sector remain low despite a
government directive that teachers who had left the profession should be
reinstated to curtail staff shortages, The Standard has learnt.

The government in February issued a directive that teachers who had
left the profession between January 2007 and March 2009 could be reinstated
in their respective stations.

However teachers' representative bodies last week said that despite
the directive some schools still experienced serious staff shortages.

Zimbabwe Teachers' Association (Zimta) secretary-general Richard
Gundani said 35% of the posts in primary schools across the country were
still vacant, while in secondary schools the figure was 33%.

"There have been quite a number of hiccups in the reinstatement of
teachers who had left the profession.

The interpretation of the policy document is being misunderstood by
some education authorities who seem to be vindictive on teachers," Gundani
said.

He, however, said the most affected schools were in Matabeleland,
which shares borders with South Africa and Botswana.

"In provinces like Matabeleland South and North, there are still some
schools where you can only find a school head and a few remaining teachers,"
he said.

The Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) estimates that an
average of four teachers at each school left the profession in 2008,
translating to about 30 000 teachers countrywide.

Zimbabwe has lost close to 70 000 teachers in the past years creating
a huge teacher deficit.

The Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture says that a third
of vacant posts still remain unfilled.

Senator David Coltart, the Minister of Education, said there was a
"huge staff deficit" and he had received reports the reinstatement process
was being frustrated.

"We continue to receive reports that the process is being frustrated
and I am taking measures to make sure the process is respectable," he said.

Coltart vowed to take action against "unruly elements" bent on
retarding progress on the reinstatement of teachers.

Gundani said Zimta had asked the Ministry of Education to repeal a
section in the policy document on reinstatement that says teachers will be
readmitted initially for a period of one year after which an assessment will
be carried out to determine their full reinstatement.

"We had to challenge that section because we feel it will not attract
teachers back into the country, the conditions for readmission should not be
so stringent," Gundani said.

The PTUZ programmes and communication officer, Oswald Madziva, said
many teachers who had applied for reinstatement were still waiting for
approval.

"The process is too centralised and quite a number of teachers who had
applied for readmission are still waiting to get a confirmation from the
ministry," he said.

Madziva also said some headmasters, and provincial and district
education officers were frustrating the reinstatement of teachers.

"We had a case at Morgan High School, where a teacher was supposed to
come through an amnesty but the head went on to abolish the subject (Office
Practice) from the curriculum. The problem seems to be that some school
heads are taking advantage of the situation to settle personal scores with
teachers."

BY EDGAR GWESHE

Zanu PF Official on Fraud Charges

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 13:44
A top Zanu PF official and two war veterans in Chiredzi were last week
arraigned before the courts facing charges of defrauding sugarcane farmers
of 378 tonnes of sugar worth US$268 380.

Former Zanu PF provincial political commissar and self-styled leader
of the 2000 land invasions in Masvingo, Admore Hwarare, and accomplices
Darlington Chiwa and Daniel Tsingo on Monday appeared before a Chiredzi
magistrate, Georgina Ndava facing fraud charges.

The state heard that the three who are officials of the Commercial
Sugar Cane Farmers' Association of Zimbabwe, an organisation of war veterans
who invaded and occupied farms during the height of the chaotic land reform
programme, prejudiced their members of their monthly allocations of sugar
they bought from Tongaat Hulett Zimbabwe.

State Prosecutor Mirirai Shumba told the court that between November 8
and January this year Hwarare and his accomplices went to Tongaat to buy
sugar for their members who had paid in Zimbabwe dollars.

The state further heard that after purchasing the sugar, the three did
not give it to their members.

Hwarare and his accomplices allegedly continued to purchase sugar from
the company on behalf of the members but the sugar never reached the
intended beneficiaries.

The farmers later made a report to the police, leading to the arrest
of the trio.

The three are currently languishing at Buffalo Range Prison where they
were remanded in custody to April 9.

Hwarare is also the secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Sugar Milling
Workers' Union, an affiliate of the Zanu PF-aligned Zimbabwe Federation of
Trade Unions (ZFTU).

BY GODFREY MUTIMBA

Home Affairs: Litmus Test for Inclusive Govt

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 13:13
Violet Gonda (G) of SW Radio talked to MDC co-Home Affairs Minister,
Giles Mutsekwa (M) last week. Below is the edited transcript of the
interview:

G: Having held this office for over a month now what is your opinion
of the current state of the ministry and what are the challenges of this
portfolio?

M: Firstly as you correctly said I have been in the ministry for about
a month now. There are a lot of challenges involving the ministry.

The first one which in my opinion is major is that of trying to
finance the operations of the ministry itself. We need some budgetary
assistance to be able to operate efficiently in the ministry.

The second challenge that I see and face is that of trying to
transform the thinking, the behaviour and indeed the face of the entire
workers of the ministry and that includes the police force itself.

I know that is going to take a little bit of some time but as you know
we are now under this inclusive government and people who are watching us
from afar - both regionally and internationally - would want to judge the
success or failure of the inclusive government through my ministry because
we are in charge of ensuring that there is law and there is also order in
the country.

G: And you talked about the challenges in the police force and issues
to do with law and order. Can you elaborate on this and give us your
perspective of the current security situation?

M: Well the history of the police force has been that for the past 12
to 30 years the police force of Zimbabwe has unfortunately been tainted
because of the Zanu-PF government that has tended to mistaken the police
force for a political instrument.

And through no fault of the police they have tended to behave as
Zanu-PF direct. So it was a very unfortunate development and I must
emphasise here that it was not the fault of the police at all but just one
political party which tended to use State apparatus for its own benefits.

So that is one challenge but that is where the emphasis is where we
have to transform the behaviour. I am pleased to tell you that I am getting
enough cooperation and I am happy about that process.

G: How exactly are you dealing with this because the reports we are
getting on the ground - it appears not much has changed in terms of how the
police force has been conducting its business.

M: Well yes you are right there have been instances, especially before
I joined the ministry, where the police were accused of disobeying court
orders and, yes, there are clearly examples to that effect.

But as I said the attitude has changed because I have had occasions to
speak to the commanders of the police force and the response that I am
getting from them is quite positive.

It's not their fault Violet, these people have been forced to behave
like this in the past and it was purely because of the administration that
existed then - who mistook the police, the state apparatus for being
something that belonged to the party.

Transformation naturally takes quite some time but what is pleasing is
the cooperation that I am getting from them.

G: What about reports we are receiving from the Commercial Farmers'
Union saying they are being terrorised on the farms and that even some of
the people who are invading the farms illegally are senior Zanu-PF officials
like the President of the Senate, Edna Madzongwe. So surely it's your
ministry that looks at these issues of law and order?

M: We are not certain who owns what in Zimbabwe at the moment and this
is the reason why I told you that what we have heard and collected is that
there are offer letters that are circulating in the farming community
purporting to be letters of authority for people to take over land and
certain commercial farms.

We are not so sure whether these offer letters are sincere or
authentic. So what we are doing is, we are holding meetings between my
ministry and the Ministry of Lands and Resettlement so that we establish
once and for all who is supposed to be where and what is the cut off date
etc, etc.

G: But why is it the police have not been arresting the people who are
actually going ahead and invading these farms - while the ministry looks
into this situation.

Shouldn't there be a call to say stop all the invasions, stop the
illegal activities and actually threaten to arrest the perpetrators of
violence if this continues?

M: Violet you can only (instruct) the police to arrest people if you
have established that what they are terming as certificates of occupation is
either true or false. Right now as I said, there is this debate that is
going on and it would be honestly unfair for the police just to jump in and
arrest people when they are not certain as to what is going on.

You see there are two angles to this thing. The first thing is it
could be true - and I am not saying that is a fact - that these people are
carrying letters that they have authority to occupy those farms and in that
case it means the police have no right to be arresting those people.

But also what we know for sure is that these letters also could be
false documents and this is what we want to establish.

G: Now let's talk a bit about the issue of political detainees. Now I
understand that there are three political detainees left in Harare and that's
Ghandi Mudzingwa, Chris Dhlamini and the photo journalist Shadreck Manyere.

Now there are reports that you were actually summoned by JOMIC
together with Minister Kembo Mohadi that you were told to help resolve this
issue. What were you tasked to do by JOMIC and what powers do you have in
terms of ensuring that the remaining political detainees are freed?

M: Violet, once people have been arrested by the police and they've
appeared in court my ministry has got no role to play thereafter because
everything now depends on the delivery of the justice system and Honourable
Chinamasa is responsible for that. We are only responsible when the person
has been arrested and is under the custody of the police, that's when we get
involved.--SW Radio

Water Supply Disruptions Derail Cholera War - UN

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 11:16
THE cholera epidemic in Zimbabwe has slowed down in many parts of the
country except in Harare, Chitungwiza and Kadoma largely because of the
continued disruption of water supplies and sanitation issues, the United
Nations said last week.

For the past two weeks some suburbs such as Budiriro, Glen View,
Kambuzuma, Mufakose and Glen Norah have been having serious disruptions of
water supply.

For some areas such as Kambuzuma and Glen View water supply has not
been restored for more than a week now.

In a recent notice to the public the Harare City Council says the
water interruptions are largely because of the ongoing handover, takeover of
water management from the Zimbabwe National Water Authority. This follows a
recent government directive for the water authority to return water
management to the Harare City Council.

New cases were also reported in Umzingwane district in the
Matabeleland South province.

According to a report by the United Nations Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Zimbabwe covering the period
March 20 to 27, cumulative number of cholera cases since August last year
now stand at 93 274 and 4 090 deaths OCHA said data provided by the World
Health Organisation (WHO) showed that a total of 2110 cases were reported in
the period from March 20 to 26, reflecting a decrease from the 2 237 cases
last week and 3 812 cases a fortnight ago.

"The high number of cases in Chitungwiza and Harare has been
attributed to interruptions in water supply, chronic water shortages and
poor waste disposal," said the report.

"However, the cause for the increase in cases in Kadoma is being
investigated and a multi-sectoral monitoring team comprising
epidemiologists, social mobilization, case management and logistics experts
visited the area to investigate and verify the upsurge in cases."

It said even as the cholera epidemic appeared to be slowing down there
was need to remain vigilant to bring the disease under control.

"The steady decline is a positive trend, but the increase in cases in
Harare, Chitungwiza and Kadoma as well as the newly affected district of
Umzingwane, shows the need for continued vigilance in monitoring and
response activities," OCHA said.

Itai Rusike, the director of the Community Working Group on Health
(CWGH) said the continued increase in cases of cholera in Harare,
Chitungwiza and Kadoma are a reminder of the need to address the root causes
of the disease.

He warned against complacency and urged the government and aid
agencies to step up efforts to ensure the provision of clean and safe
drinking water in every part of the country.

"I think this is still a huge crisis. The fatality rate of 4.5% is
still very high," Rusike said.

"Instead of celebrating this decline we must take advantage of this
time to address the fundamental aspects that caused the epidemic in the
first and these are issues of water and sanitation."

But there have been encouraging developments with the return of the
management of water and sewer reticulation to councils from the Zimbabwe
National Water Authority.

Donors have also come to the government's rescue with Greece donating
about US$650 000 to fight the epidemic.

The Japanese and Danish governments donated more than US$20 million
for the procurement of water treatment chemicals and the rehabilitation of
water and sewer works.

The latest support of US$850 000 for water and sanitation came from
Sweden, which would be channeled through World Vision Zimbabwe and Mercy
Corps.

The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) also announced the agency
is stepping up its effort to provide clean water to Zimbabweans.

UNICEF spokesperson Tsitsi Singizi said Unicef had placed 60 new water
boreholes under the control of municipal authorities in Harare.

BY BERTHA SHOKO

Econet Secures Frequencies for 3G Service

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 13:02
ECONET Wireless has paid for frequencies to the Postal and
Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) that would
enable the country's leading mobile operator to roll out the long over due
3G services.

3G is the third generation of telecommunication that enables network
operators to offer users a wider range of more advanced services while
achieving greater network capacity through improved spectral efficiency.

Services include wide-area wireless voice telephony, video calls, and
broadband wireless data, all in a mobile environment.

Douglas Mboweni, Econet CEO told Standardbusiness the mobile operator
had paid for the frequencies on Tuesday.

According to the arrangement, Econet negotiated for quarterly payments
that stretch for two years.

The total amount to be paid to POTRAZ could not be ascertained last
week as Mboweni could not be drawn into revealing the figures to be
involved. But insiders said Econet will pay less than US$2 million in total.

Mboweni said the frequencies allocated to the mobile operator will
cover Harare.

The regulator recently offered telecoms operators a blanket license
allowing them to offer new generation services, but it was yet to make
available the frequencies required to make the services possible.

He said engineers were testing their equipment which had been lying
idle for the past two years.

"We got the equipment two years ago and during the period this
equipment was lying idle and some have been overtaken by technological
changes," he said.

The launch of 3G is the next step after the launch of General Packet
Radio Service (GPRS) which allows mobile internet access. A full launch of
the service is expected later this month.

This week, Econet informed subscribers that had been on GPRS test that
it would begin billing tomorrow (Monday). This is in preparation for a full
launch of GPRS at the end of April.

Econet will also launch Blackberry service for the first time in
Zimbabwe. The Blackberry is a special cell phone that allows customers to
receive e-mail.

Many Zimbabwean businessmen have smart phones that can run Blackberry
services but there was no operator to deliver the service and the system
would be operational by June.

The country's three mobile operators- Econet, Net One and Telecel,
have been waiting for the past two years to get 3G frequencies from POTRAZ.

Nelson Chamisa, Information and Communication Technology told tourism
stakeholders conference last week that he had instructed POTRAZ to make the
frequencies available.

BY NDAMU SANDU

Zim Lagging Far Behind in ICT: Report

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 12:46
STATISTICS paint a gloomy picture for the country's Information and
Communication Technology Sector (ICT).

According to the Global Information Technology Report 2008-2009,
Zimbabwe was ranked 132 out of 134 countries on the network readiness index
ahead of East Timor and Chad.

Zimbabwe has 2.5 fixed lines per 100 inhabitants, 6.5 mobile lines per
100 and less than 9.5 internet users per 100 meaning that Zimbabwe ranks
below all the SADC countries except the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Yet 10 years ago, the country had the second fastest growing ICT
sector in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa.

But years of neglect meant the sector was not adequately supported
despite the availability of policies crafted to support the industry.

The National Telecom Policy, National Postal Services Policy and the
Universal Services Policy are notable examples of policies that gathered
dust in government's drawers.

In 2001, the government announced a number of sector policies
including policy on Universal Services modelled along SADC Universal Service
Guidelines.

This created a Universal Service Fund whereby operators contribute 5%
of their gross revenue to fund projects in underdeveloped areas.

According to the policy, the regulator should have achieved certain
community access targets by set deadlines.

The policy aimed at pushing the number of landline telephones for
every 100 individual (teledensity) in urban areas to 10% in 2006 from 6.27%
in 2003.

It also aimed at increasing rural teledensity to 3% in 2006 from 0.43%
in 2003.

The policy promised to double internet access to 500 000 in 2006 from
206 078 in 2003.

But such a noble intention was wasted as the money collected in the
period 2001-2008 was eroded by inflation before the implementation of any
universal services projects.

Despite the opening up of the mobile sector more than 10 years ago,
operators are struggling to meet demand. The country's three mobile
operators - Econet, Net One and Telecel - have a subscriber base of under
three million.

The operators blame shortage of foreign currency to carry out
expansion projects but are hopeful the dollarisation of the economy will
reverse the trend.

Mobile operators have been battling for the past two years to get
frequencies from the regulatory body to roll out 3G network.

Douglas Mboweni, Econet Wireless CEO told a tourism stakeholders
conference the mobile operator had been waiting for two years to get the
frequency.

"The issue of 3G has been going on for quite some time. We brought the
equipment for 3G 24 months ago," he said.

Mboweni said the delay in allocating the frequencies means that "some
of the boxes we deployed in 2007 have been overtaken by technological
changes".

Nelson Chamisa, Information Communication Technology Minister said the
ministry is on a consultative process with stakeholders on how the sector
could be improved.

To date the ministry has held two meetings to plot the way forward
which Chamisa said "will inform our policy matrix as a government".

Chamisa said players have also raised the issue of accessories such as
laptops, sim cards, computers and cellphones being regarded as luxury goods
and the ministry was liaising with the Treasury on how the goods should be
classified as necessities.

Chamisa is optimistic the ICT sector will get a slice of the cake in
funds targeted for strategic sectors.
"In the ICT sector, we have companies that desperately need support,"
Chamisa said.

"We are going to work closely with the ministries of Finance and
Tourism."

Asked why the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of
Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) was delaying the allocation of frequencies for 3G
technology, Chamisa said the matter had been solved.

"It's no longer an issue. It's a question of when, what time and what
day," he said adding that there was conscious necessity of laws to deal with
cyber crimes.

"We can't get rid of technology but manage it," Chamisa said.

Reward Kangai, Telecommunications Operators Association of Zimbabwe
chairman told Standardbusiness the industry is getting back on its feet
following licencing to charge in foreign currency in January.

He said operators are using proceeds to build capacity and servicing
creditors.

Kangai said mobile operators are already working out to make sure that
sim cards are available depending on the capacity in the network.

Kangai said there is need to reduce duty on cellphones,
telecommunication equipment and terminal equipment to make communication
easier.

"These are assets for communication. To raise high duty on things that
have significant bearing on what I call the competitiveness of a country . .
. we are shooting ourselves in the feet," Kangai said.

Kangai said the lowering of Value Added Tax (VAT) on mobile operators
will increase the competitiveness of the industry.

In January, Patrick Chinamasa, then acting Finance Minister lowered
VAT to 15% from 22.5% in a move that led to a reduction in tariffs charged
by operators.

Industry experts say by lowering the so-called luxury tax, the
government will increase the usage of mobile phones and the fiscus gets more
revenue in taxation.

Zimbabwe's connectivity to the rest of the world has been concern
raised by tourists that visit the country's resort destinations.

Chamisa said Zimbabwe was literally "connecting to a six-lane global
information highway through a two-lane, pothole infested road".

The new economic blueprint launched last month proposed the
formulation of an ICT bill to drive the industry.

Chamisa said the fact that there is a ministry responsible for ICTs
and that a bill is on the cards to drive the industry shows government's
commitment to establish an ICT hub in the region.

Told that money under the Universal Services Fund was eroded by
inflation before it could be utilised, Chamisa said: "We are going to look
at the Universal Service Fund. Now the currency which is there has value and
purpose."

Notwithstanding the worrying statistics, Chamisa is confident the
sector will rise from the ashes to join the best invoking the Biblical
saying, "the first shall be the last and the last shall be the first".

BY NDAMU SANDU

Alex Magaisa: Begging from Beggars: Zim & the Global Crisis

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 18:15
I have very vivid, if sad memories of the 1982-83 agricultural season
in Zimbabwe.

That year, someone decided to lock the gates and run away with the
keys.
Crops failed. Many cattle, matungundu, as they were called, failed to
make it. The dry fields were filled with skeletons of our departed cattle
and the air carried the heavy smell of death.

Villagers who could not let go descended on the carcasses like
vultures.

I remember women and children walking long distances, from village to
village, desperately pleading for help.

Vapemhi, people begged for help. They asked for anything. The trouble
though was that they were begging from those who were also begging. It was
the worst of times.

Today it's my country Zimbabwe on an extensive begging expedition.
Yet, the time could not have been worse.

These are hard economic times for the global community. We are in the
middle of a bitter winter of an economic recession.

And here we are, begging from our SADC colleagues for help. They came
up this week with a statement that is no more than a begging pact.

'SADC approves financial package for Zimbabwe', the headlines
bellowed. But you had to read the small print to see what this actually
meant.

It simply called on member states to pledge support to their
beleaguered neighbour and to increase the begging party to be sent to the
doorsteps of the developed nations.

The trouble is that many of our neighbours are poor and rely on
begging for their own needs. Countries like Malawi and Mozambique, for
example, predominantly depend on external budget support.

Besides, Botswana and South Africa, most SADC member states have to
depend on external help. Even those that have potentially lucrative
resources like Angola and the DRC have been weighed down by years of war and
chaos.

But even South Africa and Botswana have massive social demands from
their own domestic constituencies that funding their neighbour is no easy
task.

The biggest target therefore, remains the 'developed nations' and SADC
has formed a "Coordination Committee to visit major capitals in Europe,
Asia, and America as well as the major financial institutions to mobilise
support for Zimbabwe's economic recovery programme".

On 1 April 2009, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai wrote a letter
published in The Times, a major British newspaper ahead of the G20 Summit in
London this week.

It was a powerful plea for help. Yet there are reasons why assistance
from the West may still prove hard to come by.

First, the West (and the UK and the US in particular) are experiencing
massive economic challenges not seen since the Great Depression of the
1930s.

The single biggest challenge is how to stem the tide, which is fast
growing into a tsunami that has engulfed these countries in the last couple
of years.

This is what has caused the G20 leaders to meet in London this week.

The rich nations have had to take unprecedented measures to intervene
in the markets to save failing businesses, they are printing money -
'quantitative easing' is the sophisticated term they use, indeed, some are
saying Britain may have to seek an IMF bailout. The result is that West is
presently pre-occupied with this big problem which is now the centre of
attention.

Zimbabwe, which hogged the limelight a year ago is now a small matter
on the international radar. We are on our own.

Second, this crisis means that Western countries now have to focus
more on their own domestic constituencies to cushion them against the
economic challenges.

We are slowly moving away from the era dominated by the ambitious
foreign policy of spreading the word of democracy across the world. The
focus is now firmly on the domestic woes and the local constituencies demand
it because they are feeling the pinch.

These governments can no longer justify spending abroad whilst the
locals are suffering. Charity begins at home, they will demand. This will
see cuts in development support and foreign investment to developing poor
countries.
The 'Mugabe Factor'
Third, the Mugabe factor still dominates discussions around Zimbabwe
in these parts.

Prime Minister Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara and their
respective parties may have found a way of working with President Mugabe for
what they consider to be the good of the Zimbabwean people but this is still
to resonate with their Western colleagues who still view Mugabe's shadow
with great scepticism.

Sadc may have good reason to deal with President Mugabe but their
Western counterparts still find it hard to do the same.

This reluctance arises from the domestic sensitivities. It will take a
very brave Brown or Obama to defy that view and be seen to be canoodling
with Mugabe.

Even if the leaders see reason to support Tsvangirai they have a
political constituency to report to. The view of Mugabe in the Western
domain is that of a Hitler-like figure who can and should never be forgiven.

The leader's political fortunes would be undermined if they were seen
to be appeasing a man widely characterised in the media as a dictator.

Fourth, given these impediments and in particular the very negative
view that Mugabe suffers in the West you would have thought that Zimbabwe
government would do everything in its power to re-brand itself.

This means not only stopping those acts that caused it to be so badly
tainted but also demonstrating to the world that it has turned a corner.
Deputy PM Mutambara was candid in his maiden parliamentary speech imploring
the government to cease the 'sanctions' that it has imposed on its people
over the years.

The sad pictures of prisoners languishing in Zimbabwe's death-traps
that pass for jails will do the country no good at all. It has been said, in
varying terms, that a society's decency is measured by how it treats its
weakest members.

Many in Zimbabwe fall into that category but none more so than
prisoners, who cannot fend for themselves and have to rely on the state.

Those images of skeletal and dying prisoners are like scenes from a
medieval concentration camp and have no place in a country that is seeking
to re-brand itself. Whilst Sadc issued a Communique that praised the
progress on the Inclusive Government, it made no attempt to condemn the
failure to resolve those issues that continue to taint the country's
reputation. If it wants to be taken seriously, it has to be more candid with
the government.
Enter the Dragon

Ironically, in light of all this, President Mugabe might have the last
laugh.

Given that the West is handicapped and therefore may be unable to
fulfil its promise to help, PM Tsvangirai may have to turn the begging bowl
to Mugabe's old friends - the Chinese. One can picture Mugabe sitting back
smugly declaring, 'I told you so! These Westerners are not your friends'.
Economically, the Chinese are enjoying a place in the sun in these times of
wintry conditions in the West.

At a time when everyone is having so much trouble China is investing
heavily in infrastructure development and trying to keep its unemployed off
the streets through massive training programmes.

Indeed, it may be that Mugabe's 'Look East' policy might just enjoy a
new revival. This will be heightened should the West remain adamant in its
refusal to help a Zimbabwe government that includes President Mugabe.

The West has invested heavily in political reform in the last decade
but it could all fall apart if they abandon Zimbabwe at this stage.

Alex Magaisa is based at, Kent Law School, the University of Kent and
can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk  or a.t.magaisa@kent.ac.uk

Comment: Recovery Dependent on GPA Implementation

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 18:10
SCHOOLS throughout the country close for the Easter holidays and the
end of the first term - a month after lessons began this year -
demonstrating the hurdles that the unity government faces.

Most of the impediments that stand in the way of progress can be
attributed to an apparent covert attempt to subvert efforts to move the
country out of the crisis that is responsible for the ruin of the past
decade.
At the centre of this resistance are people belonging to the old
order, or more precisely to Zanu PF. For them, any improvement would be a
blemish on their party's record and a credit to the MDC. So they will fight
like commissars to ensure Zimbabwe succeeds in failing.

When the new Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, Senator
David Coltart, declared an amnesty for all teachers who had left the
profession, there was a huge sigh of relief among parents and students.

For the whole of 2008 the previous administration pretended the
education sector, as it did with other sectors, was functioning. But we all
know better.

Coltart's enthusiasm in getting down to business alarmed many of the
commissars and deadwood that exercise authority at national, regional and
district offices.

They were alarmed at the potential Coltart's ideas had for success and
the mortal blow their implementation would deal to their party.

It is precisely because of the resistance that less than the expected
numbers of teachers have been reinstated.

The requirements that teachers returning to the profession are being
asked to fulfill are designed purely to frustrate them and render Coltart's
plans irrelevant, while securing the status quo.

When the Minister announced his plans to get teachers back to work and
students in classrooms, ministry officials should have rallied to assist in
realisation of his vision. Instead, they whispered in conspiratorial tones,
vowing to stymie his march to progress.

The government in February issued a directive that teachers who had
left the profession between January 2007 and March 2009 could be reinstated
back to their respective stations.

However teachers' organisations say that despite the directive their
members are encountering considerable obstacles that aim to frustrate them.

This has resulted in schools still experiencing serious staff
shortages as many as 30% by some estimates.
The interpretation of the policy on teachers' reinstatement is being
deliberately misrepresented by some education authorities who appear to have
scores to settle against the teachers.

These officials who are obstructing implementation of Coltart's plans
are the same people who did nothing while Zanu PF hounded teachers out of
provinces such as Mashonaland East, Central, West, Manicaland and the
Midlands.

They would rather parents and children in these areas remained
uneducated in order to secure Zanu PF's support in these provinces. Teachers
have never been forgiven since Zanu PF suffered its major loss to the MDC
during the 2000 Parliamentary elections.

Teachers, therefore, remain unwelcome in these areas.

Coltart confirms reports that the reinstatement process is being
frustrated and has vowed to take action against "unruly elements" bent on
retarding progress on the reinstatement of teachers.

A start in confronting these dark forces against progress must be the
government's retreat, which ends today at the  Victoria Falls.

President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, their
deputies, government ministers and their deputies as well as permanent
secretaries are in the border resort town to agree on the way forward and on
targets that must be achieved within the next 100 days as part of the Short
Term Emergency Recovery Programme (STERP).

What will inspire confide-nce in the recovery process is unambiguous
evidence that the parties in government are adhering to the principles of
the Global Political Agreement. That is far from clear at present.

Sunday Opinion: Scribes, Politicos - Water and oil

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/


Saturday, 04 April 2009 18:04
IN 1975 a prominent Kenyan politician of the predominant Kikuyu ethnic
group, disappeared outside the famous Hilton hotel in Nairobi.

The story culminated in reports he had been assassinated in Kikuyu
rivalry politics.
Josiah Mwangi Kariuki's body was not immediately found. The Daily
Nation, an independent newspaper edited and staffed almost entirely by
Kenyans carried a story later claiming Kariuki, an ambitious politician, had
turned up alive and well - in Zambia.

But The Standard, a rival independent daily published in Nairobi, then
carried a story rebutting that report, confirming the politician's death,
complete with his relatives' identification of his body in a mortuary in
Nairobi.

In The Nation newsroom was a sea of red faces the next day, it was
reported.

The background: Before the paper could be put to bed on that fateful
night, a senior editorial figure had received a telephone call from what was
believed to be a reliable political source.

With his impeccable record of supplying the paper in the past, with
absolutely unimpeachable story tips, what he told The Nation on that night
was accepted as fact, and the story was published.

But after that blunder, The Nation suffered grievously -in sales, in
reputation nationwide and even worldwide.

Heads had to roll - not immediately but after what was thought to be a
"decent interval".

The Editor who received then passed on the decisive night call from
the politician with the tip, was one of the casualties.

This is one example of the complex and quite often explosive
relationship between politicians and journalists all over the world,
including Zimbabwe.

In our case, however, the government media has no opportunity or even
the right to "check" government tips. Such impudence has often earned
reporters and editors a rebuke or worse. How dare they doubt their "master's
voice"?

The conventional wisdom is that most politicians "use" journalists to
promote their careers and causes. Yet there is widespread use by journalists
of politicians to bolster stories with dubious sources.

On both sides, there have been widespread accusations of favours and
cash being used as bait - a pair of shoes was once cited in a Zimbabwean
incident.

To most editors, claiming to be devotees of the "purist" sector of the
profession, the relationship between the two groups of ordinarily "upright
citizens" - as they are both viewed by society in general - is studded with
pitsunday opinionfalls, some leading to The Nation newspaper's tragic
burlesque.

In the same year, 1975, I was fired as Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Times
Newspapers in Ndola. It was over a story I had written for The Sunday Times
of Zambia about new moves to ease the tensions in the Zimbabwe liberation
struggle.

What happened after I had been absolved of all blame and reinstated in
my old job, more than a year later, by the same man who had fired me,
President Kenneth Kaunda, was even more exciting than my dismissal.

Four journalists were fired from the group, including a fairly senior
reporter - incidentally, like me, originally from Zimbabwe.

In truth for the relationship between journalists and politicians to
be "pure" requires for the former to tread most carefully.

While the journalist's goal may simply be the publication of an
exclusive front page story, the stakes for the politician - the "pay-off"
could be a stunning step towards advancement in their career - or the final
nail in the coffin of a rival's ambition for re-election or promotion to a
cabinet post.

After the 2000 elections, an opposition shadow cabinet minister
approached me to write a parliamentary speech for him.

I declined as graciously as I could.

He had come to The Daily News offices in Harare with a whole retinue.

Then a senior Zanu PF politician, now deceased, invited me to the
Harare Club for lunch to proposition me as his public relations man in a bid
to challenge Robert Mugabe for the presidency of the ruling party in
forthcoming elections.

Later a younger Zanu PF luminary tried, by offering me a sumptuous
lunch in his equally sumptuously furnished offices in Harare, to recruit me
as his PR man for a crack at the plum civic job in the city, the executive
mayor.

I turned them down too, gently.

So, clearly, for the serious journalist, a relationship with a
politician, that goes beyond the strictly professional one could result in
the equivalent of a water-oil mixture -not much good except an all-out
attack on the professional survival of the journalist - and even the
politician, whose alleged immortality as a breed has been proved, time and
time again, to be entirely self-delusionary.

Zim Standard Letters

http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com/

Diasporans Not Likely to Come Back Home
Saturday, 04 April 2009 11:11
THERE are those rare moments when you feel proud to be Zimbabwean.
Like when you are on your "border-jumped" trip to some of our neighbouring
countries to buy some luxuries, like soap and salt.

You are using pubic transport and on the bus stereo, Oliver Mtukudzi
is blasting away, you happily translate the lyrics to fellow passengers and
even tell the guy sitting next to you that Tuku is a blood relation of
yours, because he comes from an area where your mother's friend's cousin's
husband was born.

Or you are watching the Olympics and Kirsty Coventry splashes away to
a 200m backstroke gold medal.

Then the Zimbabwean flag is shown on the screen, and our anthem is
played, right there where Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, Lionel Messi and other
important Olympians are watching.

Your heart swells with pride. You buy your daughter a swimming kit the
next day, even if you don't have a dry river within a 25km radius! Or like
last month when Cara Black lifted another doubles' tennis title. It makes
you think of when Zimbabwe will return to "normal".

When I realised that they had formed a GNU, I was somewhat dismayed.
But the eternal optimist in me is hoping for the best. In fact, I was so
optimistic that I began to boast to a visiting Kenyan that we will soon be
back to normal!

I did not mean to boast, but its difficult not to feel proud when
Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa start sharing offices, police commisioners,
handcuffs, drinks and all, and when I could walk to the passport office and
get the document without having to pay a ransom. I could even be reading
The Daily News once again soon.

I will fulfil my age old pledge to buy my niece a radio because it
will cost me next to nothing. My cousins in the Diaspora will be back and we
can have a braai together kwaMereki in Harare. The Kenyan looked at me the
way you look at Jonathan Moyo when he opens his mouth.

The guy stays in the US, and despite the credit crunch, he won't move
back to Kenya. I strongly pointed out his lack of patriotism, given their
own version of a GNU, the Raila Odinga mania and all in his native place.

I was not prepared for his response. He says after studying in Europe,
he went back to Nairobi, intending to stay, but something African just made
him change his mind. When you have lived in a country where you pay for a
basic service and get it, Africa just doesn't seem good again.

It is simple things, like calling from your cell and getting through
at once; like suing the local police chief for not protecting you when you
get mugged and receiving compensation.

Basic things like walking to the bus stop and actually getting a clean
bus on time, not waiting for hours at Mabvuku turn-off to get into town.

Applying for a passport and getting it in the minimum prescribed time,
not having to pay someone to get you the application forms as if you are
running a mbanje-racket.

It made me realise that things may not get back to normal after all.
Some of our compatriots may not even consider ever coming back home! It's a
scary thought, I felt so depressed. I decided to do a quick mini-survey,
hoping to prove myself wrong. I wished I had not.

First stop was cousin Rumbi in the UK. She is that kind of cousin you
couldn't wait to introduce to your friends.

Fashionable, always smelling nice, manicured and all. A management
consultant by profession, Rumbi works in an automobile scrap yard where she
separates bolts and nuts from damaged cars. She said she is not coming home.

She will only consider living in a country where her vote speaks for
her, not where the election loser still gets the gold medal and the winner
settles for silver. She would rather stomach racism and cold weather than
insults that pass for news in The Herald.

My classmate Gerald is in South Africa. His job, which he generously
refers to as "technical cargo operator", involves offloading ships in Cape
Town.

He is a qualified auditor. Gerry has memories of his sister being
abused by some party thugs just for wearing another party's T-shirt.

Their father died during the liberation struggle. Shot at point blank
by soldiers for feeding the "terrorists". He always boasted that his freedom
as a Zimbabwean was bought by his own father's blood.

Freedom to choose. He chose a party of his choice, and is lucky to be
alive after that. He heard the new PM talking about forgiveness.

He can't forgive, so he decided not to come home. He bears all the
xenophobic attacks and the manual labour.

Better than watching ZTV news, he says. At least he affords new shoes
and can drink every weekend. He is sleeping in a church.

There is electricity and running water in the church where he sleeps.
No cholera there.

We were all optimistic since it began, nobody did a thing. We thought
things will get back to normal. We chose optimism because it made us feel
comfortable with our stupidity.

In short, the pessimists are wrong but important, while the optimists
are correct but dangerous.
 However, the optimist in me still wants to talk.

I believe in hope. So I want to ask you all Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora: are you coming home?

Davy Saruchera:
sarches@writeme.com

----

      Zimpost Blocks Means of Communication

      Saturday, 04 April 2009 11:05
      ZIMPOST officials have put up a notice outside Kamfinsa Post
Office notifying the public that physical postal deliveries are going to be
phased out.
      If Zimpost goes ahead and implements this, how do they intend to
deliver mail to thousands of Zimbabweans across the country that do not own
or have access of post boxes at post offices and who do not have cellphones
or access to Internet?

      Some time ago the government made so much noise about rolling
out a programme where there would be Internet cafes for the people. This
scheme was going to be run under the Ministry of Information. But now the
matter has been forgotten, while Zimpost is set to discontinue postal
deliveries.

      Zimpost management should have been at the forefront of pushing
for Internet cafes so that the business would shift from postal to
electronic. The fact that they have highly paid people who cannot think
about how to grow their business shows that we have the wrong people heading
that organisation.

      Postal communication has been one of the remaining channels
available to the majority of the people of this country, especially the
rural communities despite high postal charges.

      The Minister of Information and Communications Technology,
Nelson Chamisa, should urgently look into this issue.

      Edna Musarurwa
      Greendale
       Harare.

---------------

      A Case for Sanctions and the Way Forward
      Saturday, 04 April 2009 11:04
       THE word "sanctions" seems to have been coined specially for
Zimbabwe. Most people had never heard so much of the word before its
application here and many who had heard about it deliberately distorted its
meaning.

      The sanctions issue is two-fold. Firstly, are sanctions evil per
se and secondly, is their imposition on Zimbabwe justifiable?

      To begin with, it must be noted sanctions are an internationally
accepted method of punishing a rogue regime.

      The League of Nations, the predecessor to the United Nations
first applied sanctions against Italy for attacking Ethiopia (Abyssinia) in
1935. These were mild, half-hearted attempts really but a precedent had been
set.

      In 1965 Ian Smith declared UDI and the country was immediately
slapped with sanctions. These were not targeted sanctions, but a
comprehensive embargo broken only by the then apartheid South Africa and a
few rogue "sanctions busters" in Europe and America.

      Robert Mugabe, president of Zanu at the time never condemned the
sanctions. In actual fact, it is the sanctions that won the war for him in a
way by placing a strain on the Rhodesian government. But those sanctions
like all comprehensive ones hurt the average person most and not the leaders
and yet Mugabe and his allies did not bat an eyelid.

      South Africa was also slapped with many restrictive measures due
to its apartheid policy. I recall when Margaret Thatcher, then British Prime
Minister, visited this country, Zimbabwe challenged her to tighten sanctions
against South Africa.

      I even remember Mugabe saying that sanctions would affect South
Africa more than Rhodesia, why because South Africa was more sophisticated.
What Mugabe failed to see then was that those same sanctions would hurt
innocent people more than they would hurt the rulers.

      Now it is ironic that the same Mugabe, who benefited from
sanctions and who was the staunchest advocate of the same for South Africa
should now lament that sanctions hurt ordinary people. Are ordinary people
from Zimbabwe more human than ordinary people from South Africa?

      There is another question that is often asked here: Is Zimbabwe
really under sanctions and from whom? As I stated before, only South Africa
busted sanctions against Ian Smith.

      Today all countries in Africa trade with Zimbabwe. As the new
Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti said, Britain and America have never
stopped trading with this country and the majority of the more than 400
British companies represented in Zimbabwe are still operational.

      Can we really blame sanctions, per se, for our problems?

      In fact, the world is being magnanimous to Zimbabwe. Targeted
sanctions serve only to anger the old man while helping to perpetuate the
suffering of the poor people.

      If one half of the inclusive government that still claims all
executive power does not change its ways then the all-inclusive government
must collapse or be under sanctions in toto and the MDC part should not
continue to taint itself by an association that clearly does not benefit
them or the nation at all.

      The failure of the inclusive government to make any headway will
soon start eroding the MDC's credit and in two years' time the MDC could be
rendered irrelevant. Lest we forget, Zanu PF still enjoys the advantage of
incumbency, which gives it a strong anchor base to cling to power.

      I strongly urge the MDC that after six months when this
absurdity is to be reviewed they should put their case strongly and if they
are not satisfied, pull out of the arrangement with their reputation still
intact. The MDC is more than the party of the moment. It is the party of the
future.

      We have suffered for a long time, a little more is a sacrifice
we can and should be prepared to endure. Remember, there is no easy walk to
freedom. God is on our side.

      Pastor Nqobizitha Khumalo
      Epworth
       Harare.

----------------

      Bungling AU at it Again
      Saturday, 04 April 2009 11:03
      IT would seem Sadc and the AU are not good at solving the
continent's political problems. It took them 10 years to get a simple
arrangement going in Zimbabwe.

      Also in March 2007 during the summit in Dar es Salaam Sadc
agreed that its ministers of finance would get together and iron out a
financial package to kick-start Zimbabwe's recovery process.

      Two years later, we have another attempt to reconvene the same
ministers to do what they were empowered to do two years ago.

      Now it is Madagascar and they will bombard us with the silly
"African" solutions mantra and the evils of colonialism.

      Why they say Andry Rajoelina was installed by the military is
beyond my comprehension.
      It was the ousted Marc Ravalomanana who tried to cede power to
the military so that he buys their loyalty to help him keep the young DJ out
of politics forever.

      The military saw through this ruse and refused to be used.
Instead, they acted in the interest of the masses and gave the power to the
people's choice.

      We never heard the AU and Sadc denounce Ravalomanana's
intentions. If all the military in Africa take a leaf from the Madagascan
soldiers our land would become peaceful. If it had been so in Zimbabwe!

      Analyst
       Harare.

---------------

      The Standard SMS
      Saturday, 04 April 2009 11:11
      Rethink change
      TWINE Phiri and his fellow directors at Caps United Football
Club need to rethink their decision to move their home ground from Rufaro
Stadium to the police grounds at Morris Depot on the basis that it is
cheaper.

      If a smaller club like Shooting Stars/Caps can afford the 20%
ground rentals, why can't a more established club like Caps United with a
solid fan base?

      You cannot take our team to that sub-standard stadium simply
because there is something called a budget. I will not be travelling all the
way to Morris Depot. That is my way of protesting. - Angry fan, Mbare,
Harare.

      Payment for markers

      WE completed marking the 2008 examinations more than a fortnight
ago and I wish to let the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture,
Senator David Coltart that the Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council and
purported global donors are yet to pay us.

      It is now up to the Minister to deliver his end of the bargain
based on the "Belvedere minutes of Pact of Steel" with ever hungry teachers.
Now who is throwing spanners in the works? - Hungry teacher, Harare.

       Unrepentent broadcaster

      WHY does the public broadcaster keep on referring to Zanu PF
ministers in government as comrades and those from the two MDC formations as
Mr? If this inclusive government is going to work, let's address our leaders
as equals.- R M S, Harare.

      ******
      MY advice to the Salaries Services Bureau is for it to start
processing our salaries using banks other than CABS because it no longer
operates in Chegutu and generally its service left a lot to be desired. -
Frustrated, Chegutu.
      Reverse Form V decision

      THE Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture should
urgently reverse its decision to allow last year's Form IV students to
proceed to Form V without waiting for their final year examinations results.

      I thought when the Minister, Senator David Coltart assumed
office in February, said that the marking of national examinations was
almost complete.

      So if the results will be out soon and the students are already
attending class, will the students have to adjust their studies in order to
meet the results that will be released soon? The minister should urgently
tackle this issue and reverse the government's decision.

      Although the students and parents have been affected seriously
by the delay in releasing the results, it is only in the interest of the
students that the results are released and they only proceed with their
education in line with the outcome of the results. - A Z, Harare.

      Mpofu for the axe

      OBERT Mpofu, the newly appointed Minister of Mines should be
axed. Zimbabwe does not need bitter and twisted hate-filled so-called
leaders like him.

      What has he ever done for Zimbabwe? - Nan.

      How to run a country

      RESERVE Bank Governor, Dr Gideon Gono, can now see how a country
is run. Being a governor of the central bank doesn't mean you run all
government ministries by printing worthless money. - Oracle, Harare.

      Doubtful gesture

      THE so-called symbolic gesture of unity by the Vice-President
Joice Mujuru, Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe and Mrs Mutambara was a
manifestation of elitism by the same "leaders' who cause division and later
talk "peace".

      A genuine and spontaneous demonstration might have come from the
"totemless" of Mbare, Makokoba or Mandava. - H D, Zvishavane.
      ******
       MORE than a month after the death of Susan Tsvangirai, the wife
of the Prime Minister, nothing has been done to the accident spot, despite
the initial outpourings of grief. Do we need to lose more lives before the
hump is sorted out? - Anzaz, Masvingo.

      New umbrella of unity

      ZIMBABWEANS must now seek a new umbrella of unity in their
common quest for genuine democracy and human rights, after shameful betrayal
of the struggle for black majority. We need a new constitution now, not in
two years' time. - Pythagoras, Harare.

      Hats off to Moyo

      THANKS Professor Jonathan Moyo for the projects he is initiating
in Tsholotsho, which is now benefiting from his representation. Keep it up
Jonah. - Nkiwane, Tsholotsho.
       ******
      COULD the co-Ministers of Home Affairs reduce the fees for
passports for the majority of us the poor masses? R6 700 is too much.
Anything below R500 would be reasonable. - Stuck, Bulawayo.

      Shocking discovery

      IT has come to the attention of the Combined Harare Residents'
Association (CHRA) that the tour of the water infrastructure that was
recently undertaken by the Harare City Council has made some shocking
revelations of the gross incompetence of the disbanded Zimbabwe National
Water Authority (ZINWA).

      This comes amidst the continued delays and confusion in the
hand-over of the management of water and sewer reticulation services from
ZINWA to the City of Harare.

      One of the Councillors who were part of the delegation on tour
revealed that Council discovered that the Firle Water Works has not been
operational since 2005 when ZINWA took over.

      As a result, ZINWA was actually depositing raw sewer into
Manyame River and Lake Chivero. This has rendered the Harare water heavily
polluted.

      This could be the major reason why ZINWA was finding it
difficult to provide clean water to residents as treating the heavily
polluted water was proving to be quite expensive.

      A total of eight different chemicals are needed to purify the
Harare water while other cities like Mutare need only one chemical for water
treatment.

      This means the whole city had to rely on the Morton Jaffray
Water Works in Norton which was often affected by power cuts and the
obsolete equipment at the treatment plant. This  led to the acute water
shortages in Harare.

       Residents are keen to have the City of Harare regain complete
control of the water affairs so that the confusion that surrounds the
hand-over of the management of water services can come to an end. - Farai
Barnabas Mangodza, Harare.

Mpilo CD4 machine breaks down

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Saturday, 04 April 2009
BY STAFF REPORTER

BULAWAYO -- A CD4 count machine at Bulawayo's Mpilo Hospital has
broken down, forcing doctors the institution that is one of the country's
biggest referral hospitals to rely on physical examinations.

Beaullar Mampondo a counsellor and clinician at Mpilo told a
stakeholders meeting at the hospital organized by Habakkuk Trust last Friday
that hospital authorities had failed to raise the foreign currency required
to have the machine repaired.

A CD4 count machine is a functional diagnostic system used primarily
to test for HIV/AIDS and residual white blood cell enumeration as well as
stem cell analysis. A patient's CD4 count determines whether they should be
put on antiretroviral drugs or not.

"The CD 4 count machine has not been working for some time now after
it broke down and there is no foreign currency for the spare parts.

"Doctors are forced to conduct physical examinations as a result and
that is putting the lives of patients at risk," Sister Beaullar Mampondo
told stakeholders.

Various Bulawayo-based NGO's, the residents association and churches
that have come together to resuscitate operations at Mpilo Hospital attended
the meeting.

Mpilo Hospital, like other state health institutions, is faced with
numerous challenges like shortages of basic medicines and drugs and a
constant breakdown of machines.

"It is difficult to conduct a physical test as one needs to find the
patients white blood cell levels and effectiveness. The lives of patients
are put in danger as they might not be given ARV's because of lack of a
proper medical examination," she added.

Doctor Lindiwe Mlilo, the Mpilo Hospital Chief executive officer
confirmed the breakdown of the CD 4 count machine but said "there is no
foreign currency to fix it that is why we are appealing to various
stakeholders to help the institution."

Zimbabwe is one country in the region that continues to record a slump
in new HIV/Aids infections but some 3,000 Zimbabweans still die each week of
Aids-related illnesses.

Govt to mortgage future wealth

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Friday, 03 April 2009

HARARE - Zimbabwe plans to mortgage future mineral and agriculture
production as well as tourism receipts as collateral for more than US$1
billion required to bail out the country's tottering manufacturing sector, a
cabinet minister said last week.

Economic Planning and Investment Promotion Minister Elton Mangoma said
Zimbabwe would need at least US$1 billion for the next 10 months to
revive its ailing industry, currently operating at below 10 percent of
its installed capacity.

The target is to raise capacity utilisation to around 60 percent by
the end of 2009.

Mangoma, who is one of the opposition officials appointed to
Zimbabwe's unity government in February, pleaded with the South
African private sector to avail credit lines to capitalise Harare's
manufacturing sector.

"Zimbabwe will be able to repay these loans with proceeds from exports
of cotton, tobacco, horticulture, gold, platinum, remittances and
receipts from tourism," he said during a meeting with South African
businesspeople last week.

He said Zimbabwe was also making concerted efforts to attract foreign
direct investment and anticipated that such efforts would bear fruit
and generate enough foreign currency to assist in the repayment of the
lines of credit.

Mangoma pledged the Zimbabwe government's commitment to respect
existing and future investment protection agreements with other
countries.

He said Zimbabwe was ready to finalise a Bilateral Investment
Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) reached with South Africa
in the 1990s but yet to be signed by the two government.

"The preparedness of Zimbabwe to quickly sign this BIPPA is an
indication of its readiness to welcome South African investors into
Zimbabwe," Mangoma said.

Foreign investors and multilateral financial institutions deserted
Zimbabwe in 2000 following the introduction of a controversial land
reform programme by President Robert Mugabe.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Zimbabwe has declined from a peak
of more than US$444 million in 1998 to less than US$20 million last
year.

The lack of foreign currency in the country during the past few years
has made investment even less attractive because of the
near-impossibility of converting earnings out of the rapidly
depreciating Zimbabwe dollar due to government restrictions.

The suspension of International Monetary Fund (IMF) support in 1999 -
with its negative implications about the credit-worthiness of the
country - has limited most of Zimbabwe's business transactions with
outsiders to a cash basis.

A long walk towards reconciliation

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk


Saturday, 04 April 2009
STANDFIRST: The prospect of a viable, peaceful and inclusive Zimbabwe
democracy will remain a distant dream if the sad legacy of violence is not
dealt with through a genuine and thorough process of reconciliation.
'Behind the well-crafted signatures lay the ugly face of a wounded,
long-suffering and empty nation'
BY DADIRAI CHIKWENGO

In light of the hardships borne over many years by all Zimbabweans,
the recent political and economic events have given rise to an increased
talk on a long term process of healing and reconciliation at local and
national level. Recognition of the need for reconciliation was heightened by
the signing on September 15, of the Unity Agreement between Zanu (PF) and
the MDC.
Indeed, it was a joyful and momentous occasion, which briefly ended
months of political deadlock and violence. But behind those well-crafted
signatures lay the ugly face of a wounded, long-suffering and empty nation,
a nation yearning for truth, mercy, forgiveness, justice, healing and
reconciliation, attributes of a nation which cannot be achieved by the
stroke of a pen.
Acknowledging the need for dialogue as a process towards
reconciliation, the Archdiocese of Harare convened a meeting last October of
organisations working on justice and peace issues at community level, at
which I was a facilitator.
This was a first dialogue meeting to initiate an on-going debate
between and among different communities to enable them to work together on
issues of common concern and lead to healing and sustained reconciliation. A
total of 25 participants from all corners of Zimbabwe spent three days
grappling with the concepts of reconciliation and the practicalities of how
to achieve this at community level.

Process is important
Throughout the deliberations it was unanimously agreed that the
process is just as important as the outcome. As I reflected on the euphoria
that gripped the country during that signing ceremony, and the experiences
and voices from the grassroots reflected in this dialogue meeting, I felt
that the Unity agreement simplified our condition, suppressing and
disguising the very real conflicts among communities. Nevertheless, it
carried with it, still nascent and incomplete, the potential for positive
change.
No movement towards equality, justice and reconciliation is possible
without the active engagement and participation of the local communities.
No communities are identical; hence there is no "one size fit all" in
addressing past wrongs. I vividly recall the words of a woman who testified
in the South African Truth Reconciliation Commission.  Her question was
simple, 'I want to forgive, but whom?' This goes to show that there are
obvious benchmarks that need to be adhered to including, but not restricted
to, public acknowledgement of what went wrong in the past, a minimum of
retribution and redress. As with the case of Zimbabwe some progress towards
economic justice. Evidently the path towards reconciliation is not an easy
one.

More than rhetoric
Reconciliation has to be based on more than pragmatism and rhetoric.
Psalms 85 v 10 describes the reconciliation of God and the nation of
Israel. Reconciliation in this verse is described as where 'justice and
peace meet together, truth and mercy kiss each other'.
The four terms, justice, peace, truth and mercy, must be mutually
reinforcing in any successful attempt at reconciliation.
But how can the communities go ahead to set agenda if they are not
well informed, which regrettably is the case with most communities in
Zimbabwe. Any political processes should be underpinned and driven by the
expressed needs and aspirations of the communities. Against this backdrop it
is essential that communities should be made aware of the political
processes so that they can engage effectively.

Local level
Intrinsic to our commitments as organisations working at local level
to promote social transformation and make information available, there have
been very helpful direct outcomes from this meeting to assist in agenda
setting for reconciliation at local level. The ACPD has published a book
entitled: 'The People's Guide to the Agreement' which seeks to give local
people an understanding of what was agreed to and how they can contribute to
the rebuilding of Zimbabwe. (A copy of the 'People's Guide to the Agreement
in English or Shona is available through the CCJP Office Archdiocese of
Harare; Copies in 6 Zimbabwean languages are available through ACPD:
admin@bookteam.co.org ).
A network has been established, made up of all organisations who
participated at this dialogue meeting. This network will go a long way in
sharing resources and information.  In a bid to make the network more
effective, a resource centre of peace building materials has been
established to make available case studies, processes, frameworks of how
reconciliation has been handled elsewhere. This will assist communities to
make informed decisions on dealing with justice in their communities.
Whatever the outcomes of the new political situation, the prospect of a
viable, peaceful and inclusive Zimbabwe democracy will remain a distant
dream if the sad legacy of violence is not dealt with through a genuine and
thorough process of reconciliation.