http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
06 April 2009
A Chegutu farming family has been left shaken after
spending the weekend
defending their farm from land invaders, who viciously
beat several staff
members and left one of them in a critical
condition.
On Friday afternoon, Ben Freeth and his family came under
siege by a group
of around 15 invaders, who arrived on their Mount Carmel
farm and announced
that the family had five minutes to leave the property.
Freeth explained to
SW Radio Africa that the head invader eventually left
the property "to get
more men to come help him." The family, who have
previously been forced to
flee their property under constant harassment, was
left on Friday evening in
a stand off with the remaining
invaders.
The gang of men then returned on Saturday morning only to be
forced off the
property by the farm's employees and workers from other farms
in the area,
who united against the invaders. But the invasion turned
violent on Saturday
night when the thugs returned and assaulted six of the
family's farm
workers. One worker is still in a critical condition in
hospital, while
another seven have been locked up on charges that have been
described as
'ludicrous'.
Justice for Agriculture's John
Worsley-Worswick explained on Monday that the
Chegutu police have been
absolutely no help in preventing the attack,
explaining that police
officials only arrived on the farm at the request of
the invaders
themselves. He also explained that according to eye-witness
accounts,
several police officers were also involved in the attacks. The
police action
is the clearest sign yet that some police officials are intent
on assisting
the fresh wave of farm attacks, that has forced most of the
remaining
commercial farmers into hiding.
Freeth and his in-laws, Mike and Angela
Campbell, have come under threat on
numerous occasions and still wear the
scars of physical attacks launched on
them for staying on their land. Last
year, the three were abducted and
viciously assaulted on the same day that
Robert Mugabe held his one-man
presidential election run off. Mike Campbell
was left without hearing in one
ear while Freeth had to undergo critical
brain surgery from head injures.
The family has now sealed off their farm by
barricading the roads. But
without police intervention it is likely the
threat against them will be
renewed.
Meanwhile there has so far been
no action from the unity government, despite
promises by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai that the perpetrators of the
land invasions would be
arrested. Tsvangirai has previously condemned the
recent farm attacks and
last week told the media that the Joint Monitoring
and Implementation
Committee (JOMIC) had been tasked to deal with the land
issue. However,
doubt has been cast over how the Prime Minister will be able
to keep his
word. Many police officials and judicial members, who should be
handing out
justice over the land issue, are themselves beneficiaries of the
land grab,
and will be unlikely to change allegiance at the request of
Tsvangirai.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Masvingo - Three men from Nemanwa
Growth point, about six kilometers
from Great Zimbabwe monuments are
battling for life in MorgensterMission
Hospital following severe assaults by
soldiers in full army regalia who
accused them for 'buying much beer' on
Sunday night, Radio VOP has learnt.
Eye witnesses said
about ten soldiers who were drinking beer together
with civilians turned
rogue and started to beat everyone who was in
Makwarimba beer hall
demanding to know where the people were getting
money which they were
using.
Over 20 people got injured and three men who were among the
group had
to be taken by friends to Morgenster Mission Hospital for
treatment as
they had sustained 'life threatening' injuries.
Police Assistant Inspector for Masvingo province, Tinaye Matake
confirmed
the incident. "We received a report that there was some violence
at Nemanwa
last night but I am yet to get what really happened. It is
immature to
conclude that the people were beaten by soldiers because any one
can put on
a camouflage and pretend to be a soldier", he said.
James Chiremba who
was part of the harassed revelers said:"I am very
shocked by what happened.
Soldiers must not always harass civilians as and
when they wish. Honestly
speaking, I do not know why we were beaten. They
(soldiers) told everyone to
vacate the place saying we had bought enough for
ourselves. When we tried to
negotiate with them, they turned violent and
started to beat us using
chairs...Three men were seriously injured and they
are in Morgenster
hospital for treatment right now."
Soldiers in Masvingo were beating
people in night clubs and looting
wares at flea markets last year. However,
such behaviour had almost
become a thing of the past following serious
threats from Army
commander 4 brigade Brigadier Francis Mutisi that anyone
who would be
caught on the wrong side of the law would not escape the
full wrath of
law.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
6 April
2009
Supreme Court Judge Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku has dismissed a bail
application by three political detainees who have been in custody for four
months.
MDC officials Chris Dhlamini, Gandhi Mudzingwa and
photo-journalist Shadreck
Andrew Manyere are among a group of seven people
facing charges of sabotage,
terrorism and banditry. They are accused of
bombing police stations and
railway lines to destabilise the Mugabe regime.
Four co-accused persons
were granted bail in February by High Court Judge
Justice Yunus Omerjee, but
Dhlamini, Mudzingwa and Manyare were
denied.
Defence lawyers appealed to the Supreme Court and on Monday
Justice
Chidyausiku dismissed the application saying there was no
misdirection to
the earlier ruling by Justice Omerjee. The State alleges the
three political
detainees were found in possession of 'explosive
weapons.'
Lawyer Charles Kwaramba said the charges are fictitious and
that is why the
State has not been able to produce any evidence to bolster
their accusations
in court. Kwaramba said in the case of Dhlamini and
Manyere, the state
claims to have found fuses used to detonate dynamite and
48 rounds of
ammunition respectively, after having conducted illegal
searches at their
homes in the absence of the accused or their lawyers. In
Mudzingwa's case,
the State claims to have found a teargas canister in his
pocket. However
Mudzingwa says that his wallet and other possessions were
in fact stolen by
his abductors when he was kidnapped at
gunpoint.
Scores of political and civic activists were abducted from
their homes or
workplaces during the months of October and December last
year. All known
activists except the three were released recently, but the
MDC says at least
seven more are still missing.
Human rights lawyers
are going to file another urgent bail application in
the High Court on
Tuesday. A statement by the MDC on Monday said the
continued detention of
the three political detainees is going against the
spirit and letter of the
Global Political Agreement.
"The continued detention of MDC activists has
nothing to do with the law but
is a product of political machinations of the
residual elements in ZANU PF
and the securocrats who are waging a perpetual
battle to scuttle change by
undermining the inclusive
government."
"The MDC calls for the immediate release of the three
prisoners and the
scores of MDC activists who are being held in secret
locations after they
were abducted by State security agents last year," the
statement said.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14716
April 6, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - An elaborate plot is currently brewing which seeks
to reverse the
August 25 election of the mainstream MDC's chairman, Lovemore
Moyo, to the
position of Speaker of Parliament.
Highly placed
official sources say the plot is being spearheaded by a number
of so-called
hawks within Zanu-PF, a party which backed the wrong horse in
the election.
It is alleged they are conniving with Tsholotsho North
independent MP, Prof
Jonathan Moyo, with the ultimate objective of bringing
the tenure of Moyo as
Speaker of the 7th Parliament of Zimbabwe to a
premature and inglorious
end.
Prof Moyo's lawyer Terrence Hussein has demanded that the High Court
Registrar immediately sets down a date to hear a court application in this
regard. Speaker Moyo's lawyer, Chris Mhike of law firm Atherstone and Cook,
says they are eagerly awaiting a date for the hearing.
"They have
requested for the matter to be set down," Mhike said. "They sent
a notice of
set down to the Registrar of the High Court a few days ago. We
await the
allocation of a date by the High Court."
The MDC chairman beat former
parliamentarian Paul Themba-Nyathi, whose
candidacy for the Speaker's post
was sponsored by his party, the breakaway
faction of the MDC led by Arthur
Mutambara and had the full backing of
President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF.
The legal challenge means the MDC's control of Parliament stands
doubtful in
the face of the constitutional court challenge against the
election of its
national chairman which the applicants claim was in
contravention of Article
6 of the Parliamentary Standing
Orders.
Lovemore Moyo was elected Speaker by a surprising 110 votes to
the 98
clinched by the Mutambara MDC's candidate, Themba-Nyathi, following a
surprise change in allegiance on the part of the 10 MPs representing the
breakaway faction of the MDC as parliamentarians cast their
ballot.
The distribution of the votes left little doubt of what exactly
had
happened. The 10 legislators of the Mutambara camp had gone against
their
party en masse and voted for the candidate of the rival MDC party led
by
Morgan Tsvangirai, leaving their own candidate to receive the
overwhelming
but futile support of all Zanu-PF legislators.
Zanu-PF
strategically refrained from fielding a candidate but ordered its
legislators to vote for the Mutambara faction's candidate, Themba-Nyathi,
instead. A combination of the Zanu -PF MPs and those of the Mutambara
faction would have delivered the required mortal blow on the mainstream MDC
candidate on that crucial day, if the Mutambara MPs had not become
turncoats.
The strategy was thwarted by the rebellion of the
defectors. The tables were
effectively turned on Mutambara when his MPs
betrayed him and aligned
themselves with Tsvangirai by turning their back on
Themba-Nyathi to vote
for Moyo.
Reports suggest Mutambara MPs had
shown their ballot papers to mainstream
MDC chief whip, Innocent Gonese and
MDC vice president Thokozani Khupe, to
assure them that they had, indeed,
betrayed Mutambara and voted for Moyo.
Zanu-PF and the Mutambara MDC have
quietly fumed since then, culminating in
the latest court
challenge.
The Speaker has come out fighting, insisting that the doctrine
of separation
of powers outlawed the courts from interfering with
parliamentary processes.
Speaker Moyo's opposing papers have been filed by
mainstream MDC's
Parliamentary deputy chief whip, Paurina
Mpariwa.
The papers state that the applicants should have brought a
motion in
Parliament seeking the reversal of the Speaker vote instead of
rushing to
the law courts.
Speaker Moyo has also queried Prof Moyo's
standing in the case and
questioned why the aggrieved party, Themba-Nyathi,
had not brought the
challenge and what Prof Moyo's interest was in the
matter.
The Zimbabwe Times understands the legal challenge was mooted at
the Kadoma
Ranch Motel during a so-called strategy workshop of the Mutambara
faction in
September last year. Prof Jonathan Moyo, who by all indications
has now
returned to the Zanu-PF fold, checked into the motel for the
duration of the
workshop, sources say.
At the height of the dispute
last year, the MDC issued a statement stating
that the MPs' vote for Moyo
was a true reflection of the will of the people
of Zimbabwe.
"The
election of Hon Moyo as Speaker of Parliament remains a historic
occasion,
which cannot be reversed by losers, regardless of whatever
machinations they
can concoct to reverse the people's will," the MDC
statement
said.
But Prof Moyo insists that Speaker Moyo was elected through an
undemocratic
process and has called for a rescission of the election
result.
Moyo says the insistence that mainstream MDC MPs show their
ballot papers to
Gonese and Khupe prior to voting was not only unlawful, but
it also ran
against one of the fundamental tenets of democratic
parliamentary practice.
He has insisted that the election of Lovemore
Moyo should be set aside by a
court, ostensibly because it established an
unacceptable standard of
behaviour for Parliament.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
06 April
2009
Seven students were arrested at the National University of Science
and
Technology (NUST) in Bulawayo on Monday following a demonstration over
fees
pegged in foreign currency. According to our correspondent Lionel
Saungweme
the students who included Sheunesu Nyoni, Kurai Hoyi, Eddios
Mucheuka, Vivid
Gwede, Kudakwashe Maguchu and two others were being held at
Bulawayo Central
Police Station. Nyoni is the treasurer for the National
Students Union
(ZINASU).
Police allege the group stoned a car
belonging to a visitor on campus during
the demonstration. ZINASU President
Clever Bere said he was unaware of the
stoning incident but confirmed that
students are not happy with the
exorbitant fees which are pegged in foreign
currency and beyond the means of
most parents or students. Last week the
University of Zimbabwe in Harare
failed to open after over 70 percent of
students failed to pay the fees
which are as high as US$800 per term for
some courses. This contrasts
sharply with most civil servants earning US$100
a month.
Students at NUST are said to have taken exception to a decision
by the
authorities to 'defer' to next term the progress of students who have
failed
to pay the fees. Bere questioned the wisdom of such a decision saying
students could not have a whole year wasted because they did not have the
money.
Meanwhile Saungweme reports that several parents milled around
Bulawayo
central police station enquiring as to the welfare of the arrested
students.
Most were seen bringing food for their detained children.
http://www.radiovop.com
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe can still
easily steal the next Presidential
and parliamentary elections scheduled to
be held in two years as he has
retained unlimited powers to influence the
polls, it has emerged.
Experts of constitutional law are
concerned that despite the country's
Lancaster House constitution having
been amended with the approval of the
opposition, President Mugabe still
enjoys powers to appoint an electoral
commission of his choice and play
around with the voters' roll without much
hindrance.
Although the
just enacted Amendment No 19 increased the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission
from seven to nine members and created more gender
balance, their
appointments, as before, are still entirely at the discretion
of the
President.
Independent lawyers say it is in the wording of the Act that
leaves it
open for manipulation as it states that the President, "after
consultation"
with the Judiciary Services Commission and Committee on
Standing Rules and
Orders of Parliament appoints the commission.
President Mugabe appoints members of the Judiciary Service Commission
and
has set up a docile judiciary through the appointment and promotion of
his
loyalists.
"Section 14 of the amendment clearly states that "after
consultations"
means that the person required to consult before arriving at
a decision
makes the consultation but is not bound by the advice or opinion
given by
the person consulted.
"Instead, it should have been "in
consultation" as it makes the
President legally bound to first seek the
agreement or consent before making
such decisions," explained Kucaca Phulu a
prominent Bulawayo lawyer with the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, a non
governmental organisation.
He said as long as the President appoints an
official at his sole
discretion, and where he or his party are candidates,
the independence of
that official will always be in question.
"What
is needed is for a public process of nomination and appointment
with the
President only required for the ceremonial installation of the
commissioners," he said.
Phulu says it is also regrettable that the
agreed amendment also
allows for an authority other than the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission to
register voters.
"The position of the
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is clear as to
the lack of independence
and accountability of the office of the
registrar-general.
"Blame
can squarely be placed on the registrar general for the
deplorable state of
the voters' roll and the failure to ensure that a
comprehensive, transparent
and independent registration is carried out. The
amendment did not make any
changes in relation to this office and therefore
there will still be a lack
of transparency and violation of the rights of
voters," he said.
Self declared Zanu (PF) loyalist and close relative of President
Mugabe,
Tobaiwa Mudede, has been and is still at helm of the registrar
general's
office since independence in 1980.
He has in the past been accused on
several occasions of manipulating
the voters' roll and creating ghost
voters, but vehemently denies the
allegations.
By CLARE NULLIS - 3 hours
ago
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) - Zimbabwe's unity government plans to
relax
draconian media restrictions as part of an action plan meant to
restore
basic rights, heal political scars and boost international trust,
the state
newspaper reported Monday.
Ministers agreed on the 100-day
action plan at a weekend retreat marked by a
high degree of consensus
between President Robert Mugabe's party and his
former opposition rivals,
the official Herald newspaper said.
"Even if we don't have the money,
let's allow ourselves to dream," it quoted
Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa as saying. "After setting these targets,
we can now start sourcing
for the resources," said Chinamasa - a longtime
Mugabe loyalist.
"We
have infected each other with hope and optimism and so let's go out
there
and infect others," said Gordon Moyo, a senior aide to Movement for
Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
After months of political
deadlock and economic misery, a government of
national unity was established
in February, with Mugabe as president and his
longtime nemesis Tsvangirai as
prime minister.
After a faltering start there are increasing signs that
the two rival
parties are determined to overcome their differences and mend
fences with
the rest of the world. Zimbabwe is desperate for foreign aid and
wants to
see an end to sanctions imposed by the United States and European
countries.
Mugabe, in power since independence from Britain in 1980,
dropped his usual
political rhetoric in opening the weekend retreat at the
resort of Victoria
Falls. Both he and Tsvangirai appealed for united action
to halt the
collapse of the economy.
Tsvangirai left the meeting
early after his toddler grandson drowned in his
swimming pool in Harare -
less than a month after his wife was killed in a
car crash.
Chinamasa
said one of the most immediate priorities was to improve the
"justice
delivery system," especially in prisons. A shocking South African
documentary last week showed prisoners literally starving to
death.
"We have agreed to meet the basic needs of all prisoners in terms
of food,
clothing, bedding and health in the next 30 days," the Herald
quoted him as
saying.
He said the government also wanted to ease
media restrictions in accordance
with the power-sharing deal, which called
for more freedoms. Under Mugabe,
the independent press was muzzled, foreign
news organizations banned and
journalists regularly harassed, beaten and
jailed.
Chinamasa said there was "agreement to review the media policy so
as to
create a political climate where divergent voices will be heard," said
Chinamasa. "We want to see a multiplicity of media houses."
Moyo said
there would likely be a new media commission which would consider
licensing
new television and radio stations.
Since becoming prime minister,
Tsvangirai has set up his own Web site with
details of government and
opposition speeches and inviting Zimbabweans to
send in their blogs and
comments in a bid to promote transparent governance
and greater
democracy.
He has pleaded with the West to trust the unity government -
until now the
United States, Britain and other countries have adopted a
"wait and see"
attitude, although they have provided some short term
emergency relief. The
World Bank was one of the sponsors of the weekend
retreat - a sign of the
thaw between Zimbabwe and donors.
An
estimated two-thirds of Zimbabweans are in need of food aid and a cholera
epidemic has sickened more than 80,000 people and killed more than 4,000
since August. Zimbabwe says it needs $2 billion from its southern African
neighbors to kickstart the economy and help it back on the long path toward
recovering its position as regional breadbasket.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14696
April 6, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Zimbabwe continues to witness escalating incidents
of farm
disruptions countrywide despite continued denials by top government
officials belonging to President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF
party.
Nathan Shamuyarira, the ageing Zanu-PF secretary for information
and former
Minister of Information, is alleged to be behind a bid to take
over Zimbabwe's
largest produced of mango and other fruits.
The
Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) reports that more than 200 of its members
were targeted for harassment last month by marauding groups of activists
loyal to President Mugabe.
CFU President Hendriek Olivier has
revealed that 91 farming disruptions were
witnessed throughout the country
in March this year.
The affected group involves Mike Campbell, the
convener of a November 2008
SADC tribunal ruling that barred the Zimbabwean
government from further
repossessing white-owned land.
The March
incidents included sporadic land invasions that saw farmers being
forced to
flee their farms, property being damaged and sometimes stolen.
Farm workers
were also assaulted.
The CFU says it recorded 88 prosecutions of its
members who are being
accused of remaining on their land in violation of a
government directive
forcing them to make way for new
land-owners.
The union says at least four commercial farms were taken
over for good by
top government officials determined to seize the last
pieces of land from
the largely white farming community.
Twenty
commercial farmers who benefited from the SADC tribunal ruling were
also
prosecuted while 19 incidents were witnessed in which new people
emerged in
some farms with fresh offer letters.
Meanwhile, more than 12 Zanu-PF
supporters invaded Mount Carmel Farm, the
country's biggest producer of
mango. They claimed they had been sent to take
over the farm by Zanu-PF
politburo member, Shamuyarira.
Ben Freeth, the son-in-law to Campbell,
the owner of the farm, told The
Zimbabwe Times Sunday that the group invaded
the farm on Friday and beat up
Campbell's workers before breaking doors to
the farm house while demanding
that everyone vacate the farm in
minutes.
Campbell was the first Zimbabwean commercial farmer to take his
case to the
SADC tribunal after the government had passed legislation in
2005 which
decentralized land ownership and barred the courts from hearing
any land
dispute.
"The fresh farm disruptions at our farm started
some three weeks ago but
this is the worst invasion since we took our case
to the SADC tribunal,"
said Freeth.
"The worrying thing is that the
police have refused to do anything in this
case. These people claim they
have been sent by Shamuyarira to take over the
farm but we do not know if it
is him for sure because we last saw him on
this farm back in
2007."
Mount Carmel Farm, situated in the farming town of Chegutu, some
100km west
of Harare, is a consistent producer of mangoes, oranges, maize,
sunflower
and cowpeas.
According to Freeth, the farm produces 600
tonnes of mangoes, 400 tonnes of
oranges, 200 tonnes of maize and some 100
tonnes of sunflower every year.
It also produces beef and milk from more
than 600 cattle.
Zimbabwe's commercial farmers are the most affected
victims of a clearly
fragmented government policy on land
ownership.
President Mugabe, whose government embarked on a controversial
land reform
programme in 2000, has vowed to continue to take more land from
the
commercial farmers.
He is adamant the SADC tribunal ruling shall
have no effect on the
Zimbabwean territory.
On the other hand, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, whose party has
vehemently opposed Mugabe's
punitive land policies, maintains the fresh farm
invasions are scaring away
much needed economic support meant to help
Zimbabwe dig itself out of its
economic abyss.
http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com
6th
Apr 2009 01:22 GMT
By John Fenandes
DIAMONDS are Forever, they say, as
in the James Bond movie in which Sean
Connery was the main actor. The
glitter and glamour of the gems from all
over the world bring bling, joy and
happiness to the wealthy in the West.
Over the years we have seem
diamond-encrusted cell phones, vehicles,
outfits, rings, necklaces and all
but as the glitter continues education
authorities in Zimbabwe are having
nightmares in trying to lure back into
the classroom the thousands of
children who had abandoned school to join the
diamond rush in
Chiadzwa.
The child diamond dealers no longer have the thousands of
United States
dollars they amassed through the illegal mining and selling of
diamond.
The life of glitter that they had grown accustomed to, acting on
behalf of
the bigger diamond dealers and foreigners that invaded their once
tranquil
environment in search of the coveted gems, has suddenly changed and
they
have been forced to go back to their quiet boring lives in their rural
setting.
The illegal mining and trading of diamonds in Chiadzwa came
top an abrupt
end last November after the government launched a ruthless
campaign to flush
out over 20 000 illegal miners who had camped inside the
diamond fields.
Human rights campaigners say up to 200 people were gunned
down during the
army blitz. The government deployed hundreds of armed
soldiers backed by
helicopters into the fields and within days they had
cleared the area of
illegal miners and dealers.
Individuals that had
amassed thousands of US dollars through the illegal
trade suddenly found
themselves with no source of cash. Children constituted
a big chunk of the
illegal miners.
So as adult dealers moved on to other areas of dealing,
the children of
Chiadzwa, who have not known anything else, many even being
introduced to
the provincial capital of Mutare through the foreign currency
they made at
the mining fields, there is nothing else to do.
After
having tasted the good life of having their own money and doing as
they
pleased, going to the classroom is no longer an option.
When schools
re-opened here after a lengthy period due to a strike by
teachers, very few
children attended classes in schools in and around the
Chiadzwa and
Charasika areas where the diamonds were discovered.
Teachers at schools
in around the diamond fields say they are failing to
fill classrooms as most
children are reluctant to attend classes.
They say up to as many as 2000
children have not attended classes.
"It is really sad," said Jonasi
Matika, a primary school teacher in the
area. "Schools have opened but very
few children have turned up. At our
school we are failing to fill even one
classroom."
Another Form Four teacher, Adelaide Marange, said at her
school only 15
students have so far turned up.
"Most of the children
were part of those who joined the illegal mining in
Chiadzwa and are finding
it hard to come back to school where they spend the
whole day in class
without making money," said Marange.
The children, it is now feared, may
end up engaged in illegal activities
since they have in the past few years
been used to handling lots of cash and
being independent.
The problem
in Chiadzwa has prompted social workers to advocate for
rehabilitation
programmes for the children. They are encouraging the
government to come up
with these programmes so the former child diamond
dealers can go through
such programmes so they can once again develop the
desire to go to school to
learn and have a better honest future.
Edna Chirwa, a social worker with
an international relief organization,
said: "In schools in and around
Chiadzwa there should be a serious
rehabilitation programme for the children
who had turned into illegal
mining. In countries were child soldering was
rife a rehabilitation
programnme for children normally follow after the
war."
Chirwa said even in instances of child labour or prostitution,
rehabilitation programmes were normal practice to bring them back into the
fold.
A Mutare-based human rights campaigner said failure to address
the situation
would be a disaster as these children would most likely end up
as hard core
criminals because already they have been exposed to all sorts
of evil vices.
At the height of activity at the diamonds fields there
were several cases of
murder, robberies and rape and in most instances
children were either
victims or perpetrators.
"It might look simple
today but it will be a real problem tomorrow," said
the human rights
campaigner. "We are nurturing a new breed of tomorrow's
robbers and thieves.
These children will soon turn to these evil vices
because they were used to
handling lots of money and now it is no longer
that easy to get the
money."
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe's governor, Gideon Gono, has
estimated that
transactions worth more than one billion US Dollars were
handled a month at
the height of activity at the diamond fields.
The
World Diamond Council has put Zimbabwe's production of rough diamonds at
0.4
percent of world output, mostly exported with Kimberley Process
certificates.
http://af.reuters.com
Mon Apr 6, 2009 3:05pm
GMT
By Nelson Banya
HARARE, April 6 (Reuters) - South African
business leaders on Monday called
for guarantees to protect new investment
in Zimbabwe, after noting efforts
by Harare's new unity government to
attract business to help its battered
economy.
A weekend government
reconstruction summit produced a 100-day action plan
that seeks to end
Zimbabwe's isolation and aims at re-engagement with
Western governments seen
crucial in funding an economic recovery plan.
South African mining
magnate Patrice Motsepe led a 22-member delegation from
Business Unity South
Africa (BUSA), which held talks with President Robert
Mugabe and Finance
Minister Tendai Biti in Harare.
"This was a very good meeting, it was a
very frank discussion and they want
to make Zimbabwe attractive.The critical
thing is that the rules of
investment should remain in place," Motsepe told
reporters after the
meeting.
Western donors have withheld aid to
Zimbabwe over policy differences with
Mugabe, including the seizure of
white-owned farms for distribution to
landless blacks.
Last year's
enactment of an empowerment law seeking to transfer control of
foreign firms
to locals has also unnerved investors.
"The concern is that there should
be no shifting of goalposts a few years
down the line. What the President
and the finance minister have reconfirmed
is the new policy formulated by
the inclusive government to create an
environment which builds trust," said
Motsepe.
"I'm very confident and optimistic, Mr President, that two years
from now,
there will be huge investment in this country."
Mugabe said
the visit by the South African delegation showed confidence in
the unity
government between his ZANU-PF party and the MDC of Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Biti told journalists he had assured the group that the new
government was
committed to protecting investments.
"We made it clear
that our economy is ready for investment," he said.
The BUSA delegation,
which included executives from the agriculture, mining,
construction,
financial and pharmaceutical sectors, was scheduled to meet
Zimbabwe's
business leaders on Monday.
Zimbabwe's unity government has crafted a
short-term emergency programme to
help revive the economy, battered by ten
years of contraction and
hyperinflation, while unemployment is over 90
percent.
The government says the programme will give greater emphasis to
political
reforms demanded by Western donors before pouring in aid. (Editing
by Andy
Bruce)
http://www.radiovop.com
MASVINGO-As health officials
battle to contain a cholera epidemic
that claimed more than 3000 people
since August last year and infected about
80 000 people throughout the
country, Masvingo, one of the country's oldest
urban settlements has gone
for four days without water, raising fears of a
fresh
outbreak.
Residents woke up last Friday to find no drop
from their taps up to
Monday, resulting in many turning to unprotected
waters sources and using
bush toilets.The city fathers blamed the water cuts
on power outages that
had stopped pumping at one of their major pumps in
Bushmead. "The water cuts
were due to power cuts by ZESA which stopped
pumping at one of our water
pumps in Bushmead. We are sincerely apologising
to residents about that.
Meanwhile, we have had some contingency measures to
residents like supplying
water bowsers in the locations thrice a day,"
Masvingo Mayor, Alderman
Chakabuda said on Monday.
The mayor said
they had since engaged the power utility, ZESA.
More than 30 people in
the province died of cholera since last year's
outbreak.
Recently,
a fresh outbreak was detected in Mwenezi district, south of
Masvingo town.
No deaths have been recorded so far.
April 6, 2009 With Condard Nyamutata Walter and Barbara Mzembi Mzembi, Walter (Zanu-PF) - Minister of Tourism and Hospitality Industry Walter Mzembi, Member of Parliament for Masvingo South, is married to Barbara
and the couple has five children. A mechanical engineer by profession, Mzembi (45) says he is studying for a
Masters Degree in Strategic Management with Chinhoyi University. Mzembi is said to have been inspired to support the liberation struggle by
his father, the late Xavier Morris Mzembi, President Robert Mugabe and the late
Dr Eddison Zvobgo. After the detention of Zimbabwe’s liberation war leaders at Hwahwa, his
father, Xavier is said to have visited and supported the detainees Leopold
Takawira, Thomas Zawaira, Nolan Makombe and Zvobgo. He says he is a member of
the association of war collaborators. Walter Mzembi served a stint in the civil service as one of the first black
inspectors of mining machinery between 1988 and 1989. He was posted in the
Midlands Since 1990, Mzembi is said to have been a development agent for Zvobgo,
implementing a number of community projects in Masvingo with him. He worked as depot manager for Total Zimbabwe (Pvt) Ltd (Midlands Region) and
divisional engineer for Mitchell Cotts Engineering in Bulawayo. In 1996 he was appointed general manager of engineering company, Stewarts and
Lloyds. In 1997, he was appointed marketing director of Ag-Venture (Pvt)
Ltd. In 2000, he ventured into business in his own right and still runs Rarefields
Investments (Pvt) Ltd, a company described as an agro-dealership. In 2003, he was elected to the post of district coordinating chairman for the
Masvingo Province of Zanu-PF. After Zvobgo’s death he was elected Member of
Parliament for Masvingo South on a Zanu-PF ticket in March 2005. Mzembi was
appointed deputy minister of Water Resources. He has served as chairperson of the Land and Land Reform, Resettlement and
Agriculture Committee, and also of the Budget, Finance and Economic Development
Committee in Parliament. He retained the Masvingo South seat in the 2008 elections and became Minister
of the newly created portfolio of Minister Tourism and the Hospitality
Industry. Mzembi is charged with reviving the tourism industry, one of Zimbabwe’s major
foreign currency earners, after tourist arrivals plummeted due to political
violence since 2000. Mudzuri, Elias (MDC) - Minister of Energy and Power
Development Born on April 4, 1957, Mudzuri is a qualified civil engineer. He is married
to Jabu, a Swazi national, and the couple has three children. His wife lives in
the United States. Mudzuri is a graduate of Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone,
where he attained a Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Honours) degree in 1987. He spent 2006 on the Mason Fellows Programme at the John F Kennedy School of
Government at Harvard University. This is a mid-career Masters in Public
Administration programme. He joined the City of Harare as a junior engineer in 1987 in the water and
sewerage department and rose through the ranks to the position of deputy chief
engineer from 1994-2002. A fellow of the Zimbabwe Institution of Engineers, Mudzuri has done
consultancy work in engineering and has lectured part-time on waste water
management at the University of Zimbabwe. Mudzuri was a founder member of the MDC in 1999. He was elected
vice-chairman at ward level in Budiriro, Harare, where he ran a business. He rose to become vice- organizing secretary for Harare Province. Mudzuri contested for the position of Executive Mayor of Harare successfully
in March 2002, standing as a candidate for the MDC. He defeated Zanu-PF’s
representative Amos Midzi by 262 275 votes to 56 796. A power struggle between the Minister of Local Government Ignatius Chombo and
Mudzuri started immediately after the mayor took office. Chombo blocked funds for local improvements and development in the capital
city in a move seen as designed to cripple Mudzuri’s administration. On January 11, 2003 the police arrested and assaulted Mudzuri while he met
with Harare residents. More than 20 city officials and residents were also
arrested. At the end of April 2003, the government suspended Mudzuri from his position
as Executive Mayor and locked him out of his office. Mudzuri was dismissed on
allegations of mismanagement and corruption. The allegations were never
substantiated. The deputy mayor, Sekesai Makwavarara, was immediately appointed acting mayor
and a commission was appointed by Chombo to run the affairs of the city. Makwavarara, formerly a member of the MDC, had defected to join Zanu-PF just
in time for her elevation in status. In March 2006 Mudzuri was elected national organizing secretary at the MDC’s
second congress in Harare. In February, Tsvangirai appointed him Minister of Energy and Power
Development, a position once held by his challenger in the mayoral elections,
Midzi. Mudzuri faces the challenging assignment of restoring electricity supplies to
Zimbabwean homes and industry against a background of regular power cuts. Tuesday: Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, Francis
Nhema
http://www.hararetribune.com
Monday, 06 April 2009
00:46
Education, Sport, Arts and Culture Minister David Coltart
has described as
false reports that there were ghost examination markers
registered by the
Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council
(Zimsec).
Speaking in a telephone interview from Harare, Minister Coltart
said Zimsec
had made a mistake in listing the markers.
The Minister was
responding to reports in the media, that there were a
number of ghost
markers.
He said the main problem was duplication of names and national
identity
numbers, which appeared twice on the register.
Minister Coltart
said the duplication of names was a result of typographical
errors on the
part of the examination body.
"The situation is under control and the Zimsec
list was re-written without
the anomalies," said Minister Coltart.
He
argued that the list of markers was long, since there were 3 500 teachers
and mistakes were bound to occur.
"There were anomalies in the list of
markers and I can't say there are any
ghost markers. There is nothing like
that. It was just duplication of names
and IDs but that has since been dealt
with," said Minister Coltart.
He cited the glaring mistakes as one of the
major reasons that caused the
delay in the payment of markers.
The
Government, in conjunction with United Nations agencies, the Minister
said,
had already started paying Ordinary Level markers while Advanced Level
examinations markers would be paid soon.
Minister Coltart could not be
drawn to reveal the exact date when the
examiners would access their
allowances.
The markers are reportedly getting US$1 per script.
The
marking of Zimsec 2008 final examination was delayed by months due to a
teachers' strike that dragged for almost a year.
Teachers were on an
industrial action demanding a salary of US$2 300.
However, the Government
has awarded teachers and other civil servants an
allowance of US$100.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Monday, 06 April
2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe faces a fresh cholera epidemic given
that the
country's water and sewage systems have not been repaired, visiting
Oxfam
chief executive Barbara Stocking said on Monday.
"We have to
expect a cholera epidemic and outbreak to happen again at
the end of this
year given that the water and sewage system is not working
well," said
Stocking who is on a three-day visit to Zimbabwe.
The Oxfam chief was
speaking after touring a cholera treatment centre
in Harare's working class
suburb of Budiriro, one of the areas worst
affected by a devastating cholera
epidemic that has so far claimed over 4
000 lives and infected over 90 000
0thers.
Stocking officially commissioned a borehole-drilling programme
at a
primary school in the suburb.
"It's not going to be quick and
easy to get an efficient water and
sewage system fully working so all the
things that we did in the fight
against cholera will certainly be needed
again next year," said Stocking.
The cholera epidemic that the World
Health Organisation (WHO) says is
the worst outbreak of the disease in
Africa in 15 years has highlighted the
collapse of Zimbabwe's once brilliant
economy and infrastructure over the
past decade and also seen in food
shortages, deepening poverty and rising
joblessness.
The recent
success in curbing the number of deaths caused by cholera
has been
attributed to efforts of the numerous international aid
organisations,
including Oxfam which have mounted an integrated response
since October last
year.
Oxfam will drill 20 boreholes in Harare as the government fails
to
provide clean water to the more than 3 million people living in the
capital.
"The key to cholera is good sanitation and making sure that
people
have clean water and ensuring that sewage does not mix with drinking
water,"
said Stocking.
Cholera causes vomiting and acute diarrhoea,
and can rapidly lead to
death from dehydration.
The disease spreads
fastest in situations with poor sanitation such as
those found in Zimbabwe's
cities where sewers have broken down while garbage
piles up in the streets
and a shortage of clean water means residents have
to rely on unprotected
shallow wells for water.
A malfunctioning public health sector due to
years of under-funding
and mismanagement also helped drive the cholera
epidemic that the WHO has
however said could be past its peak with then rate
of new infections as well
as deaths dropping by the week.
A
power-sharing government by President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai in February has given hope Zimbabwe could end its
economic
and humanitarian crisis.
But rich Western nations with financial
resources to bankroll
reconstruction of Zimbabwe's economy and health sector
have said they will
withhold support until they are convinced Mugabe is
committed to genuinely
share power with Tsvangirai.
Western
governments and aid agencies have so far only focused their
support to
Zimbabwe to alleviating the humanitarian crisis.
But Stocking said
there was an understanding among international aid
organisations that the
donor community must also focus on the recovery phase
and not on
humanitarian aid only.
"But it is not going to be very fast. From an
Oxfam point of view, we
will be talking to donors to try and persuade them
that we should move on a
little bit into the recovery phase, but there are
some long term questions
that the country will have to answer, " she said. -
ZimOnline
http://www.herald.co.zw
Monday, April 06, 2009
Business Reporter
THE 2009 tobacco selling
season that was scheduled to kick off during
the last week of this month may
now be moved to next month.
The tobacco selling season
traditionally opens in April each year.
Tobacco Industry Marketing Board,
which is responsible for tobacco sales has
proposed April 29 as the
tentative date for the opening of the 2009 season
but this might change as
the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair would be
running during that
time.
Officials within the industry said there was need, therefore,
to defer
the opening to the first week of May to accommodate the annual
trade
showcase.
"It is important that people attend because
this is one of the major
events that we have in the country, the official
said.
When contacted for comment, TIMB's acting chief executive, Dr
Andrew
Matibiri said he would only be in a position to comment after the
TIMB board
meeting on Wednesday.
The 2009 season is expected to
be a lot better than the previous
seasons as all three floors have been
licenced while nine contract buyers
have been granted the necessary approval
to purchase tobacco. The adoption
of the multiple currency system in the
country was, to a large extent,
expected to address challenges that were
faced by farmers in the past.
Issues relating to delays in
pay-outs, cash shortages, shortages of
packaging material, transport costs
and poor prices led to numerous
stoppages during the season ultimately
resulting in a drop in the total
amount of tobacco delivered during the
entire season. Out of a target of 75
million kg, only 47 million kg had been
delivered by the end of last season.
The TIMB has since revised its
target downward to 42 million kg for
this season although Dr Matibiri is
optimistic that the deliveries would
surpass the target due to the
favourable climate in the country.
Source: Government of Zimbabwe; World Health Organization (WHO) Date: 05 Apr 2009 ** Daily information on new deaths should not imply that these deaths
occurred in cases reported that day. Therefore daily CFRs >100% may
occasionally result A. Highlights of the day: - 19 Cases and 6 deaths added today (in comparison with 132 cases and 1
deaths yesterday) - 28.3 % of the districts affected have reported today 17 out of 60 affected
districts) - 96.8 % of districts reported to be affected (60 districts out of 62) - Cumulative Institutional Case Fatality Rate = 1.7% - Daily Institutional CFR = 13.3 %. - Reports not received from Mashonaland East, Mashonaland Central and
Mashonaland West
* Please note that
daily information collection is a challenge due to communication and staff
constraints. On-going data cleaning may result in an increase or decrease in the
numbers. Any change will then be explained.
Email: jag@mango.zw : justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
JAG
Hotlines: +263 (011) 610 073, +263 (04) 799410. If you are in
trouble or
need advice, please don't hesitate to contact us - we're here
to
help!
To subscribe/unsubscribe to the JAG mailing list, please
email:
jag@mango.zw with subject line
"subscribe"
or
"unsubscribe".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Catherine Meredith - Twyford Farm
2. Ben Freeth - Mt
Carmel
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Catherine Meredith - Twyford Farm
Twyford Farm is not going well as I am
slowly losing my grip onto my own
farm. Jamaya Muduvuri is now using our
small kiosk to sell our oranges,
sweet potatoes and maize. His own people are
manning it. He is still
desperately trying to chase my African manager,
Joseph, off the farm and
for the second time this week, Joseph has had to
barricade himself in his
house with all his windows broken while the thugs
harassed him and tried
to force him to come out. He is still hanging in there
today, Sunday 5th
April.
We have now found out that the invaders are
driving around our house with
cars and tractors on our lawn and playing the
drums that are on our
veranda. They seem to be scared of our German shepherd
and therefore
don't come out of their vehicle too often. They also have
confiscated our
lawn mowers so that the lawns are now knee high and the place
generally
looks run down.
Last night, Saturday, they slaughtered our
ram. They had about 300 sheep
to choose from but of course they had to go for
the ram instead.
The situation is dire and costly for us and we wait for
the Unity
Government to indeed take some positive action in our case after
the
promising PM's speech two Fridays ago. The authorities are relentless
in
assuring that BIPA protected businesses including farms will be
left
alone and that the BIPAs will be respected. This is definitely not
my
experience of a BIPA at the
moment.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2. Ben Freeth - Mt CarmelWe have just heard that 7 of our workers have been
arrested by police andsome of them
assaulted.-------------------------------------
JUSTICE FOR AGRICULTURE - JAG LEGAL COMMUNIQUE -
dated 5th APRIL
2009
Email: jag@mango.zw : justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
JAG
Hotlines: +263 (011) 610 073, +263 (04) 799410. If you are in
trouble or
need advice, please don't hesitate to contact us - we're here
to
help!
To subscribe/unsubscribe to the JAG mailing list, please
email:
jag@mango.zw with subject line
"subscribe"
or
"unsubscribe".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5
March 2009
The Commissioner General
Zimbabwe Republic
Police
Police General Headquarters
Off Josiah Chinhamano
Ave
Harare
Dear Sir
RE: NEW FARM INVASION, ASSAULTS,
MALICIOUS DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND FORCED
WORK STOPPAGE - MOUNT CARMEL CHEGUTU
- MIKE CAMPBELL (PVT)
LTD, WILLIAM MICHAEL CAMPBELL AND ORS
Mike
Campbell (Pvt) Ltd, William Michael Campbell, his family,
representatives
employees and their families instruct us.
THE FACTS
Mount Carmel
farm in the Chegutu farming district is registered in the
name of Mike
Campbell (Pvt) Ltd a company with limited liability duly
registered in
accordance with the laws of Zimbabwe.
As you are aware the SADC Tribunal
under case No SADCT 02/2007 handed
down its judgment in Windhoek on the 28
November 2008. Part of the final
order reads as follows:
"By
unanimity, the Respondent (the Government of the Republic of
Zimbabwe) is
directed to take all necessary measures, through its agents,
to protect the
possession, occupation and ownership of the lands of the
Applicants and to
take all appropriate measures to ensure that no
action is taken, pursuant to
Amendment 17, directly or indirectly,
whether by its agents or by others, to
evict from, or interfere with, the
peaceful residence on, and of those farms
by the applicants".
On the 28 May 2008 in open court before the Tribunal
the Deputy Attorney
General Advocate Prince Machaya on behalf of the
Government of the
Republic of Zimbabwe had this to say to their Excellencies
of the
Tribunal:
"I would like to categorically inform the Tribunal
that there
should be compliance with the order of this Tribunal. I
have
drawn[this] to the attention of our Acting Attorney -
General[and]
I've also drawn it to the attention of
the Minister of Justice and the
Minister responsible for Lands that there
is a need to comply fully with the
order of the TribunalOur
Minister of Justice concurred in my discussion with
him that Respondent
had an obligation to comply at the international level
with the orders of
this Tribunal". [Transcription of proceedings - Windhoek
SADC
Tribunal p. 31-32].
The Deputy Attorney- General's undertaking is
of course consistent
with the Southern African Development Community
Declaration and Treaty
signed by President R G Mugabe on behalf of the people
of Zimbabwe on 17
August 1992 in Windhoek.
Article 6 .4. provides:
"Member States shall take all steps necessary to
ensure the uniform
application of this Treaty ".
Article 6.5 states that "Member States
shall take all necessary steps to
accord this Treaty the force of national
law."
Finally, Article 6.6 requires "Member States[to] co-operate
with
and assist institutions of SADC in the performance of their
duties." The
Tribunal is one of the institutions established by the
Heads of State of
SADC.
The Treaty - as you might be aware - was ratified by our Parliament
on 17
November 1992.
Honourable R G Mugabe with other Heads of State,
desirous of concluding
the Protocol on the Tribunal, signed the Protocol on
the 7th August 2000.
In so doing, Government undertook and agreed that the
"Tribunal shall
have jurisdiction over disputes between States, and between
natural or
legal persons and States."
Importantly, Article 32 2. -
concerning the enforcement and execution of
Tribunal decisions - provides
that "States and institutions of the
Community shall take forthwith all
measures necessary to ensure execution
of decisions of the Tribunal". Article
32. 3 is explicit. It provides
that "Decisions of the Tribunal shall be
binding upon the parties to the
dispute in respect of[a] particular case and
[shall
be]enforceable within the territories of the States
concerned."
Georges JA (as he then was) in the case of Barker McCormac
(Pvt) Ltd v
Government of Kenya 1983 (4) SA 817 (ZS) said:
"there is
no doubt that customary international law is part of the law of
this
country. In so far as the common law of Zimbabwe is Roman - Dutch
the
support for the proposition in Nduli and Another v Minister of
Justice and
Others'. Rumpff C.J. quoted with apparent
approval from Hahlo and Kahn
`South African Legal Systems and its
Background' at 113: `. South African
legislatures and
courts have always held that the law of nations exists. The
courts will
normally apply it (taking judicial cognisance of its rules)
in
appropriate cases unless it conflicts with South African legislation
or
common law'".
There is no Supreme Court or statutory authority to
our knowledge to
contradict the authority referred to.
On the basis of
our client's final order from the SADC Tribunal
there is a legitimate
expectation that our client is entitled to the
protection of the law to the
order so granted.
But even if this is not agreed, our client has
established common law and
statutory rights to protection of the law to
quiet, undisturbed peaceful
possession to their property against self-help
conduct from third parties
that amounts to dispossession.
This right
is an inalienable right. That right is recognized under the
mandamentem van
spolie. The right to protection through due process
proceedings continues to
subsist no matter Constitutional Amendment No 17
and to the promulgation of
the Gazetted Land (Consequential Provisions)
Act Cap 20:28. In this latter
regard, our clients have not been called
upon to answer a charge of having
contravened the provisions of the
Gazetted Land Act. No court has issued
against our client an eviction
order from Mt Carmel. That process has not
commenced let alone been
completed.
From an enforcement perspective,
the police clearly have a Constitutional
duty to ensure that persons and
their property are safeguarded and
protected from inimical conduct by third
parties who resort to taking the
law into their own hands.
"[E]very
person is entitled to the protection of the law." (s 18 of the
Constitution
of Zimbabwe).
That right and the concomitant obligation on the part of
the police to
provide protection to persons and their property against
summary
invasion, assaults, damage to property and other criminal conduct
ought
to be self-evident. In case it is not, we draw your attention to the
case
of Commissioner of Police v Commercial Farmers' Union 2000 (1)
ZLR
503 (H) wherein Chinhengo J held that the police were enjoined as
law
enforcement agents to ensure that law and order was protected
and
maintained.
In the matter of Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum v
Zimbabwe -
Communication 245/2002 - 2006 the African Commission
recognised
that the
"responsibility of maintaining law and order in
any country lies with the
State specifically with the police force of that
State. As such, it is
the duty of the State to ensure through its police
force that where there
is a breakdown of law and order, the perpetrators are
arrested and
brought before the domestic courts of that country."
New
legal developments have arisen which deserve recognition and
application by
the police force. Police officers are public officers.
They have public duty
obligations and responsibilities.
Amendment No 19 - promulgated into law
on 13 February 2009 through GN
7A/2009 - inserted the following to our
Constitution
"Provisions to ensure protection of law"
"18 (1a) Every
public officer has a duty towards every person in
Zimbabwe to exercise his or
her functions as a public officer in
accordance with the law and to observe
and uphold the rule of law".
In line with the inalienable right of our
clients' to peaceful,
undisturbed possession of their property, to the right
to protection of
their homes and means to a livelihood, we must now call upon
you as a
matter of extreme urgency - through your officers - to uphold the
rule of
law in line with the spirit and intent of our Constitution
and
established common laws principles. If this is not done an
unacceptable
perpetuation of anarchy will manifest itself.
As stated
by Justice Brandeis in Olmstead et al v United States 277 US
438,485 (1928)
quoted with approval by Honourable Justice Ebrahim in the
matter of
Commercial Farmers Union v Minister of Lands, Agriculture and
Resettlement
and Ors in SC 111/2001 at p 55 of the judgment:
"In a government of laws,
existence of the government will be imperilled
if it fails to observe the law
scrupulously. Government is the
potent, omnipresent teacher. For good or
for ill, it teaches the whole
people by its example. If the government
becomes the law unto
himself, it invites anarchy."
CRIMINAL CONDUCT IN
AND AROUND MOUNT CARMEL
It becomes necessary to set out recent
developments on Mount Carmel,
specifically in the last two days. The criminal
acts and misconduct that
have occurred imperil the rule of law and
preservation of peace and
order.
On 3 April 2009 at approximately
15:00 hours a maroon Toyota Prado
Registration No 743 - 096M arrived on the
farm led by man who gave
his name as Mr Chimbambabira. which is presumably
a
`chimurenga' name.
He later gave out that his name was Mr
Madangonda. This individual came
straight into the main residence through the
backdoor and gave Bruce
Campbell five minutes to get out of the house and
leave the property.
This individual was accompanied by approximately 10 other
people who told
Mr Campbell that they were from Mr Shamuyarira's office.
They had
no papers and no land officials or police were present.
A
report was made to Chief Inspector Manyika (Chegutu RRB No 0505651
refers)
The Chief Inspector said that he was coming to sort out a problem
on Fairview
farm 6 km away and would proceed onto Mt Carmel thereafter.
The Mount Carmel
workers were unhappy that Mr Madangonda wished to evict
their employer with
immediate effect and gathered in numbers to dissuade
them from doing so.
Chief Inspector Manyika never came to the farm and at
9:30 pm the workers
eventually prevailed upon the invaders to leave.
The invaders appeared
the next morning at approximately 9 am and further
reports were made to
police Chegutu. This included two visits to the
police station as well as
various telephone calls for assistance. When
the police never came out - as
expected - the workers and others from
resettlement and surrounding farms
removed them from the farm by
motor-vehicle. Eventually Chegutu police came
out and arrested seven
including 3 Mount Carmel workers and 4
others.
These persons have subsequently been detained by the police at
Chegutu
police station ostensibly on charges of "kidnapping". Since then, as
at
Sunday 5 April 2009, it is reported that a further 15 (approximately)
Mt
Carmel workers have been arrested by the Chegutu police, on as
yet
undetermined charges, presumably at the instance of Mr Madangonda and
his
accomplices.
According to witnesses the police have assaulted some
of the arrested
persons.
The invaders, assaulted various other workers
on the 4th April 2009 and
thereafter brought these persons to the Chegutu
police station on trumped
up charges. Iron bars were used in these assaults
and one worker was
particularly badly injured and has subsequently been
hospitalised. The
invaders then started moving around the main residence
singing
"chimurenga" songs. They broke through the kitchen door to the
main
residence occupied by Mr and Mrs Campbell and shouted that the house
now
belonged to Nathan Shamuyarira.
Reports were made regarding all
these events but the police decline or
refuse to arrest the
invaders.
Eventually, after four hours of persistent attempts by the
invaders to
get Mr Campbell and others out of the main residence by force
police were
transported out to the scene but made no arrest upon their
arrival.
Subsequent thereto, the invaders have caused all commercial work
and
production on Mount Carmel to be stopped. A lorry due to collect a
load
of 25 tonnes of mangoes for export has had to go back to South
Africa
empty.
In excess of 100 tonnes of mangoes are ready to be
reaped but the Mount
Carmel workers are too intimidated to harvest the crops
whilst the
invaders are present on the property. The invaders would appear to
be
allowed to act impunity.
PUBLIC PRONOUNCEMENTS BY GOVERNMENT ON THE
RULE OF LAW AND STOPPING NEW
INVASIONS
On the 19 March 2009 [and in
subsequent press reports] it is reported
that:
"President Robert
Mugabe yesterday launched an interim economic blueprint
that will, among
other things, demand an immediate halt to farm
disruptions in an effort to
kick-start the country's moribund economy.
The Short Term Emergency
Recovery Programme (Sterp) seeks to ignite
activity in Zimbabwe's key
economic drivers - agriculture, mining and
manufacturing..
`In order
to promote confidence, investments and other developments
on farms, as well
as ensuring security on farming operations, the
inclusive government will
uphold the rule of law as well as enforce law
and order on farms including
arresting any further farm
[invaders].which disrupt farming activities'
the
document says.
The document promises to carry out a land audit in
a `transparent
and non-partisan manner' in line with the September 15
Global
Political Agreement signed by [President] Mugabe and
leaders of the
two MDC formations, Morgan Tsvangarai and Arthur
Mutambara, now Prime
Minister and Deputy Prime Minister respectively in
the power-sharing
pact.
Sterp also seeks to restore land and property rights and provide
security
of tenure in an effort to promote private sector financing ."
[See
Zimbabwe Independent and The Herald newspapers
generally].
CONCLUSIONS OF FACT AND LAW
An untenable unlawful
state of affairs persists on Mount Carmel. The
resort to self-help invasions
of this property violates the law of
trespass. The Miscellaneous Offences
Act makes summary trespass a
criminal offence. This law remains good law and
we cannot see any
justification on the part of the police, upon receiving
complaints, not
to act to arrest and remove the invaders.
The assaults
that have taken place with iron bars and other instruments
by the group of
recent invaders violates the Criminal Code and would
ordinarily warrant
immediate reaction and arrest by the police. This has
not happened. To the
contrary, some of the victims have instead been
arrested and detained by
police Chegutu.
The smashing open of Mr Campbell's kitchen door and
forced entry as
detailed earlier is a criminal wrong.
The acts of
intimidation to force Mr Campbell and his wife Angela, both
of whom are
elderly and are not well and who were previously beaten
within inches of
their lives for having the temerity to approach the SADC
Tribunal for relief,
is unlawful and should not be allowed or overlooked.
The forced work
stoppage is tantamount to economic sabotage. This is
unacceptable
particularly at a time when Government through the
President, Prime Minister
and members of the unity government are
attempting to restore law and order
and claw back a position to property
security, tenure and investment from the
international community.
The inaction on the part of Chegutu police must
be deprecated in the
strongest possible terms.
The law to vacant
possession of Gazetted land appears to be settled. Our
Courts insist upon
Government to follow due process to vacant possession
of gazetted
land.
The current self-help action of the Mt Carmel invaders, ignoring
the
public sentiments of Government and established law, to which
police
officers at Chegutu appear to turn a blind eye, is
untenable.
For these cumulative reasons we call upon your office to
IMMEDIATELY and
as a matter of urgency do the right thing and restore the
status quo ante
to peaceful possession, use and occupation of Mt Carmel to
the Campbell
family and their workers.
The writer is in a position to
meet with you or your delegated officers
as a matter of urgency to avoid the
costs of a court application.
For record purposes, we are copying this
letter to the under-mentioned
offices.
Yours faithfully
Gollop
& Blank
Cc. The Prime Minister's Office, c/o Bath Road, Belgravia,
Harare
Cc. The Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement - Honourable
H
Murerwa - Block 2 Makombe Complex , Off H Chitepo/Harare
Street,
Harare
Cc. The Minister of Home Affairs, 11th Floor Kaguvi
Building, Off 4th
Street, Harare
Cc. The Minister of Constitutional
Affairs - Hon E Matinenga c/o
Advocates Chambers, 13th Floor Mutual Centre,
Off Africa Unity Square,
Harare
Cc. Officer in Charge - Chief
Inspector Manyika Z R Police Chegutu
Cc. SADC Secretariat, Gabarone,
Botswana
Cc. Lorentz Angula Inc 3rd Floor LA Chambers, Dr Agostinho Neto
Rd,
Auspann Plaza, Auspannplatz, Windhoek, Namibia.
Monday, 06 April 2009
SABC TV3 - SPECIAL
ASSIGNMENT: REBROADCAST OF ZIMBABWE PRISONS STORY
TUESDAY 7 APRIL AT 8.30 PM
(NOT 9.30 PM AS PREVIOUSLY)
OWING TO THE OVERWHELMING PUBLIC RESPONSE AND
INTERNATIONAL COVERAGE OF THE STORY, SPECIAL ASSIGNMENT WILL THIS TUESDAY, 07
APRIL 2009 RE-SCREEN THE CONTROVERSIAL DOCUMENTARY ‘HELL
HOLE’
Please note
the new time slot: 20h30 and not 21h30 as was the case previously
This Tuesday Special Assignment takes you into Zimbabwe’s prisons
- which have become virtual death traps for prisoners.
This exclusive, never
before been seen video images, were captured following an intense three month
investigation and brave co-operation of officials within the Zimbabwean prison
system.
The officials filmed day to day events inside prison on hidden
cameras. The result is a grim picture of a huge humanitarian crisis within the
penal system.
Inside we meet Brian Gumbo who is half way through his two year
sentence for housebreaking…and it seem unlikely that he will make if out of
there. The camera follows him around as he shuffles from his cell to a room
where he receives a bowl of sadza-a thick porridge made from maize meal. Like
many others he is also suffering from pellagra-a deficiency disease caused by a
lack of vitamin B3 and proteins.
According to a report by the Zimbabwean
Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the offender (ZACRO), at
least 20 prisoners are dying each day across the country’s 55 institutions.
Some of the prisoners featured in the programme have already died and others
like Brian Gumbo are on the brink of death.
“Hell Hole” was produced by
Executive Producer Johann Abrahams and Godknows Nare.
I want to bring to you attention an issue that has come to my attention regarding Bulawayo being scratched by ZIFA from 2010 projects. I am from Mzilikazi township in Bulawayo and concerned about the recent discouraging comments that were made by ZIFA chairman Rushwaya regarding the refurbishment of BF stadium ahead of SA 2010.
She pointed out that the preparations are already very
late.“Remember that we have the Confederations Cup around the corner and it is
only a matter of time before those games get underway.“Even if that funding was
to come, I do not think we would be able to carry out the work on time. What
would we do in 30 days time?” she said.(Sunday
News).
Now here is my problem. Harare NSS and Rufaro were refurbished long time ago and are ready to host teams who will be wanting to train and do preps outside SA.
So what ? The issue is that Bulawayo will NOT benefit from teams that will want to use Zimbabwe stadiums for training because BF does NOT meet the international standards. We are in April and The games are next year June 2010.And for some Harare administrator to tell us that its too late is an insult to our intelligence.
Bulawayo as a general stand to benefit if say Holland and Mexico use BF for their training.Bulawayo is 875 kms from Johanneburg and Harare is 1371 kms from Gauteng.Now how does one explain lack of interest in refurbishing a stadium in a city nearer both SA and Victoria Falls ?
Where are the city MPs ? I thought the vice PM was from Makokoba constituency , and it so happens to be host to Barbour Fields stadium.
Failure to refurbish the stadium will not affect not only the city council but hotels , curio traders , internet service providers , restaurants , security companies , press , media and tour operators.
This is a serious issues because if the stadium does not meet international standards , world cup soccer teams will not come to Bulawayo for training. This means that Bulawayo will not get the publicity of the international stage related to the city hosting one foreign team.
We are trying to rebuild an economy here. This is an opportunity for Zimbabwe in general to market it self internationally and regain its lost pride as seen from outside. This is a chance where the country can showcase itself . Bulawayo city is in the process of launching its website .This website will help provide potential visitors with info about the city.
This is NOT a time when someone can unilaterally decide the city’s fate without any consultation.
Thanks to the Sunday News reporter Mhlomuli Ncube who reported on this issue.
http://www.sundaynews.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=3161&cat=5
This can not and must never be allowed to
happen.
ndlovu@ymail.com | San Jose – CA , USA.
As venues for a team-bonding getaway go, Zimbabwe's opulent five-star
Elephant Hills Hotel, near Victoria Falls, seems hard to beat. The luxury resort is nestled between the mighty River Zambezi and a lush golf
course, where waterbuck and impala roam the green. In the distance can be glimpsed the soaring curtain of mist, often girdled by
a rainbow, churned up by the magnificent waterfall, which is the seventh wonder
of the world. But a three-day getting-to-know-you trip to the hotel by ministers in
Zimbabwe's power-sharing government has incensed many Zimbabweans. 'Junket' Dinner in its restaurant costs about $20 (£14) a plate, one fifth of a civil
servant's monthly salary - in a country where half the population needs food
aid. Critics derided the retreat, which was opened by President Robert Mugabe and
funded by the World Bank, as little more than a junket. But Public Service Minister Professor Eliphas Mukonoweshuro said it had
helped thaw tensions in the six-week-old unity administration. It was an attempt to foster a culture of teamwork among Zimbabwe's former
political foes and get Zimbabwe "moving again", he added. The organiser of the retreat, Professor Mandivamba Rukuni, of the Wisdom
Afrika Leadership Academy, said it had achieved its two major objectives: Team
building and agreeing a 100-day working plan of clear targets designed to revive
the economy. "This inclusive government is six weeks old, and they really need a way of
having a unity of purpose and bonding across party lines to a level that will
allow the government to be both effective and efficient," he said. 'It was magic' During the retreat, Zanu-PF ministers were paired with their colleagues and
former bitter enemies from the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) and
encouraged to have clear-the-air chats. "It was magic," Mr Rukuni said. In one such face-to-face discussion, Energy Minister Elias Mudzuri, of the
MDC, met his former rival, Zanu-PF Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo.
In his former role as mayor of Harare, Mr Mudzuri was beaten up by the police
and then fired during a fierce power struggle with Mr Chombo. But after meeting his Zanu-PF colleague, Mr Mudzuri said: "We managed to get
a good conversation, it was like a healing process, with what transpired in the
past. It worked." Zanu-PF executives at the retreat are also said to have looked in a new light
upon Finance Minister Tendai Biti, a senior MDC member and long-standing critic
of President Mugabe. "I didn't quite understand him [Biti] before," said Mines Minister Obert
Mpofu. "I realised that there was a lot that I missed about him. I found him to be a
vibrant, intelligent, an intellectual and constructive lawyer." But some commentators were not impressed. "It was a waste of time and money," says Independent MP Professor Jonathan
Moyo, who complained that some key officials, such as central bank mandarins,
had not joined the retreat. He said: "They are not supposed to bond, they are supposed to work. What we
will remember this retreat for is that they went on helicopter rides, riding
horses, while others were cruising along the Zambezi in luxurious boats, with
the country reeling under an economic meltdown. "If you call this a bonding retreat then you really need a reality check,
sooner rather than later," Mr Moyo said. Cracking jokes During the trip, the ministers also set benchmarks on restoring the rule of
law, normalising relations with the international community, building
infrastructure and promoting a free media. Many Zanu-PF bigwigs were particularly concerned by Zimbabwe's international
isolation. President Mugabe and his inner circle are the target of international
sanctions which involve travel bans and restrict them from doing business in the
West as well as curbing non-humanitarian financial aid to Zimbabwe. There was resentment at the retreat among Zanu-PF executives that while their
movements remain restricted, MDC officials are able to roam the world with ease.
Many in President Mugabe's party urged the MDC to do more to get the
sanctions removed. Zanu-PF lawmaker and Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said: "We need them
to lift sanctions, in whose interests are these sanctions being imposed. We are
now working together." But analysts say the sanctions are not likely to be lifted anytime soon,
given that nothing noteworthy has actually been done yet on promised reforms.
Professor John Makumbe, of the University of Zimbabwe political science
department, said: "Nothing significant or brilliant came up, except that they
bonded. "They went there without boxing gloves, it's a big start, which will give the
sceptics, particularly the donor countries, that crucial impression that they
can work together for the common good." Inside the bars, the politicians mingled and cracked jokes. As the retreat drew to a close, a musical show was staged by a popular local
Sungura musician, Tongayi Moyo. After feasting on a buffet, the ministers took to the dance floor, outside
the elegant pool gardens of the hotel, next to the golf course. And Tongayi Moyo belted out his song "Things Must Change / Political
Violence", which is banned by the state broadcaster. The lyrics say: "You can't continue practising violence for long, it will
come to haunt you." "The most decorated of military officers have their time, they won't be
saluted forever," the song goes, adding "violence has its time, things must
change". Zanu-PF ministers may not have been paying much attention to the lyrics. But they danced along anyway.
Victoria Falls
http://www.herald.co.zw
Netsai Mpandawana
6 April 2009
Harare
- THIS year Harare International Festival of Arts brings in a new
project in
the house of youth zone dubbed "Competition Arena" as part of the
festival's
efforts to promote talent among young people.
"The concept is based
on the principle that throughout the school year
various inter-schools
functions are held such as combined schools choir,"
said Tafadzwa Simba the
head of communication for Hifa.
He said winners to emerge from these
functions would then be publicised for
their achievements.
However,
unlike most competitions they would be no auditions held but
instead the
interested schools would be expected to forward their names to
the youth
zone consultant, who would automatically enter them into the
competition.
Simba described it as an opportunity for schools to
interact in the
magnitude of friendly competition so as to spawn their
skills in various
categories of the arts.
He said the competition
would be divided into junior and senior schools'
sections being graded in
four artistic disciplines namely dancing, music and
applied
arts.
Simba said prizes would be awarded to outstanding students in
different
categories such as the best actor and actress, best ensemble and,
best
female and male singers among others.
He added that the youth
zone was set to be most effectual arena of the
festival as it touches and
nurtures the minds of the future.
In addition, the festival was aimed at
introducing young artists into the
world of professional performance, as
most of the participants were seasoned
artists emerging from this country
and within the globe.
The activities of the zone have been designed to
accommodate different
cultures as they range from hip-hop, Latin dance,
Hindu dance, mime, acting,
Capoeira, mbira, performance poetry amongst
others.
Schools would be given the opportunity to apply for a chance to
perform in
the youth zone during the school holiday in a Hifa facilitated
programme
called the Schools Amigos where workshops pertinent to the
participating
schools needs would be held for the schools.
This
year's festival would run from April 28 to May 3 running under the
theme
"enlig10ment".
http://www.economist.com
Apr 6th 2009
From the Economist Intelligence Unit
ViewsWire
Calls to ban trade in Zimbabwean diamonds will do little to
boost government
plans to get investment
There have been further
calls to ban trade in Zimbabwean diamonds, because
of fears regarding
human-rights violations. This will do little for
government plans to form
joint ventures with international miners.
The World Federation of Diamond
Bourses (WFDB) has called for a ban on trade
in Zimbabwean diamonds,
alleging that the process is funding "human-rights
violations" by Robert
Mugabe's government. The WFDB is not alone in its
concerns: the EU has
called for an investigation by the Kimberley
Process-the international
certification scheme that seeks to ensure that
diamonds do not fund
conflict-and has expressed concern that the Mugabe
government is receiving
financial support from dealings in "illicit"
diamonds.
The calls
cast further doubt on claims by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
that the
country is capable of producing and exporting US$1.2bn of diamonds
a month.
The RBZ governor's own export figures put diamond sales over the
past four
years at US$31m annually, halving from a peak of US$44m in 2005 to
US$22.6m
last year, and the claimed totals would in fact exceed total global
output
(valued at US$12.1bn a year).
The basis for the central bank's
extravagant claim, and the focus of the
EU/WFDB concern, would appear to be
the same: production from the
controversial Marange/Chiadzya diamond fields
in eastern Zimbabwe. These
deposits-whose size and output are unknown-were
originally discovered by
Kimberlithic Searches, the Zimbabwean exploration
arm of the world's main
diamond-producing company, De Beers. The De Beers
concession, first granted
in 1980, expired in 2006 when the claim was
acquired by a UK-based firm,
African Consolidated Resources (ACR), which
started mining in December 2006,
only to be immediately shut down by the
Zimbabwean government. A court order
won by ACR nullifying the state
takeover was overruled by the mines
minister, and the Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) took over
the diamond properties, producing
an estimated US$15m-worth of stones in
2007.
However, a diamond rush
started in September 2006 and accelerated after the
state moved in, so that
by mid-December an estimated 15,000-20,000 "illegal"
artisanal miners were
working the alluvial deposits. Police and army units
were deployed and the
miners driven out, meaning that by mid-2007 there was
little evidence of
mining other than by the ZMDC. Subsequently, Air Marshall
Perence
Shiri-formerly commander of the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade,
used by
the Mugabe government to crush so-called Ndebele dissidents in the
west of
the country in the early 1980s-became involved in mining at Marange.
Late
last year there were reports of "scores" of miners being shot dead by
security forces and a report released earlier this year by Partnership
Africa Canada (PAC) says that by January 2009 the diamond fields "resembled
a military garrison". The PAC believes that the mines are being worked by
soldiers and villagers from Marange press-ganged into service by the
authorities.
Kimberley "isn't helping"
The PAC is also highly
critical of the "failure" of the Kimberley Process to
investigate Zimbabwe's
diamond industry. Some Process members argue that it
is not a human-rights
organisation and accordingly there has been no
discussion of Zimbabwe's
exclusion from the agreement.
However, critics have concluded that
Zimbabwe's diamond industry is "out of
control". Mr Mugabe's government has
been accused of expropriating diamond
properties and companies without due
process, awarding prizes to "cronies"
in the ruling party and the military,
and using "brute force" to clear the
diamond fields. The WFDB, donors and
non-governmental organisations like PAC
are likely to keep up the pressure
on the government to come clean about the
Marange fields and to restore the
properties of the mining companies that
have been dispossessed. This
suggests that the central bank's stated hope of
arranging joint ventures
between international mining groups and the ZMDC,
and so massively boosting
Zimbabwean diamond earnings, look remote,
especially given the drastic
decline in the global diamond industry over the
past six months.
China supplied weapons to the Mugabe regime at a time when it was violently
cracking down on its opposition, the people of Zimbabwe, and it is clear to us
that Mugabe would have used those weapons against them had their arrival not
been delayed by the real working class solidarity of the South African Transport
and Allied Workers Union (Satawu), members of which refused to offload the
weapons destined for the Butcher of Harare at Durban harbour [2]. China
currently has the fastest growing economy in the world, estimated to have
recently overtaken that of Germany, and it is a fast-growing imperialist power
with interests across Africa. It must be clear then that imperialism, not
humanitarianism, is its mission in Zimbabwe. To keep growing the Chinese economy
needs cheap raw materials, and it is for this reason that China is extending its
presence and influence across Africa, including Zimbabwe. That the MDC won the March 29 elections, and has the support of the majority
of the population - even if they were intimidated into either not voting, or
voting for Zanu-PF - is not contested by anyone other than Mugabe and some other
lunatics close to him. It is also not contested that Hamas was democratically
elected in Gaza in 2005, but that does not mean that Hamas represents, or has at
heart the best interests of the working class and poor Gazan majority. The
number of ordinary Gazans who have been executed by Hamas for refusing to
collaborate with them testifies to this. Neither does it mean that, because the
ANC won an overwhelming electoral victory in 1994, it has the best interests of
the South African popular classes in mind. In fact its policies since coming to
power in 1994 have consistently shown that, far from caring for the masses and
wishing to deliver to them, the ANC has sought only to enrich its own elite, the
upper levels of its hierarchy, while at the same time making the ‘better life
for all’ it promised, and which saw it to electoral victory, more and more
inaccessible to the poor and working poor of South Africa and the region. As is the case with Hamas, which wants political control of Palestine not to
deliver the people from occupation, opening up channels for aid, development and
the freedom of movement for Palestinians to seek jobs and opportunities
elsewhere, but to impose its own fundamentalist ideology on the region; so too
does the MDC seek political control of Zimbabwe in order to impose its
neo-liberal, free-market fundamentalist ideology on the people of Zimbabwe, thus
enriching its political elite, and businessmen and -women sympathetic to it, as
has done the ANC. This is because the MDC’s neo-liberal ideology says that, if
Zimbabwe can be made attractive to foreign investment - even if it means
suppressing workers’ struggles for better wages - and the economy orientated
towards competing on the global market - as opposed to meeting people’s needs -
money will flow into the country at the top, to the corporate CEOs, land- and
mine-owners etc., and, the more wealth is accumulated at the top, will
eventually trickle down the class pyramid to those, wretchedly poor, at the
bottom. This is the same ideology as adopted by the ANC and we can see that,
despite a few blacks having become extremely rich and a new black elite having
been created, the wealth gap in South Africa is in fact widening; the money
accumulated at the top simply does not trickle down, or does so in such tiny
trickles as to have no impact. This mistaken belief, held by the MDC, has led it
to abandon its real supporters - the organised working class, and the tradition
of struggle - and into all sorts of unholy alliances; such as that with the
former colonial power, thus allowing Mugabe to play his
MDC-sponosored-by-imperialism card. It is the weakness of the MDC’s politics
which has led it away from its power-base and the tradition of mass struggles
and worker militancy into the spectacle of party-political negotiations and
unholy alliances, which have allowed Mugabe to play the only card that continues
to win him support; in doing so, sowing its own demise. Of course it has been said by the West - prior to the global economic
downturn - that unprecedented sums of money would be opened up for aid and
development in light of an opposition-led government in Zimbabwe, but this is
secondary and by no means the driving motive behind MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai’s ambitions for presidency. If it were then he shouldn’t have a
problem with cozying up to China, which also provides assistance to Zimbabwe -
however dubious from the point of view of Zimbabwe’s indebtedness to that
country (although the same applies concerning indebtedness to the West) - in the
forms of grants, loans and humanitarian aid, such as cholera vaccines to the
value of $500,000 after the outbreak late in 2008 [3]. The difference is
that China refuses to join the chorus of other world leaders calling for Mugabe
to stand down, threatening a withholding or reduction of aid to Zimbabwe if he
does not. If both the West, particularly the UK, and China are both seemingly
interested in developing the Zimbabwean economy and providing humanitarian
assistance then why is it that Tsvangirai finds support in the West and Mugabe
in the East? The MDC has found support in the Western imperialist powers not because
Tsvangirai too wants to open up channels for emergency aid and development
packages to enter the country, although it is not suggested here that he
doesn’t; but because he is willing to implement the neo-liberal ideology of the
West. Thus opening up new markets and giving the West access to largely untapped
natural resources and a labour force that is probably willing to work for
next-to-nothing if it means being able to withdraw that measly amount from an
ATM and using it to buy bread without having to queue for hours only to find, on
reaching the front of the queue, that inflation has devalued the amount you
withdrew to the point that you can no loner afford the bread for which it was
withdrawn. Before the global financial crisis the West, particularly the former
colonial power, was very wiling to send aid into Zimbabwe, and to lend it money
to develop its economy. But once again this is not about helping poor
Zimbabweans, it is about developing the Zimbabwean economy so that it can once
again become profitable, and the aid packages would have strings attached by the
World Bank, IMF and perhaps to a lesser extent the African Development Bank. In
the wake of the global economic crisis, an economically viable Zimbabwe could be
helpful in alleviating the profit-pinch the capitalist class are feeling, but
few countries would now have the money available for the long-term investments
in infrastructure, health and education necessary for this. The possibility of investment in Zimbabwe, credit loans and development
packages, not to mention a cheap labour force, the movement of which has been
all but crushed under Mugabe, and the natural resources Zimbabwe has to offer
are very attractive to global investors. Anglo-American, for example, has,
despite external pressure from the British government, indicated a willingness
to ‘invest an additional US$400 million to continue its control of platinum
mines in Zimbabwe’ [4]. Despite its anti-imperialist rhetoric the
Zimbabwean government has been very accommodating of foreign capitalists, and
has severely weakened workers’ rights and struggles in the mining and other
sectors in order to attract their investment. This has proven attractive to
Chinese capitalists too as, amongst other things, being a large producer and
exporter of motor cars, the Chinese economy needs access to cheap platinum,
which is used as a catalytic converter in car engines. In 2008 the Chinese
government said it was keen to invest in Zimbabwe’s gold and platinum mining
sectors [5]. China, in turn, supports Mugabe and Zanu-PF not because it is
‘anti-imperialist’ and does not want the West to have access to the
hidden treasures of Zimbabwe, as well as to those of other African countries to
which Zimbabwe could provide a gateway, nor because of a common Maoist
background, but because China, itself, is imperialist in its own right and
already has access to some of these minerals and markets - for example that of
weapons - and, rather than lose or share this access, wants to expand it. Trade
between Africa and China increased 35% between the years 2004 and 2005, for
example, and China is heavily dependent on oil and other natural resource
supplies from Africa. The Congo, for example, is one of China’s top suppliers of
copper, cobalt and coltan, and the links that Robert Mugabe and his cronies have
maintained in the Congo since Zimbabwe’s military involvement there in 1998 -
when DRC President Kabila and Mugabe signed mining contracts, worth millions of
US dollars, for corporations owned by Mugabe and his family - make it possible
to believe that there is another reason why China is cozying up to Mugabe;
because it wants to have strategic access to the mineral-rich DRC. Another such
link is arms dealer John Bredenkamp, British Aerospace’s (BAE) Southern African
agent who ‘has had a controversial career, ranging from supplying goods to
the Zimbabwe military regime to mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo’
[6]. Incidentally, it is also these links, between the ANC, Zanu-PF and
the South African and Zimbabwean ruling class and arms dealers like Bredenkamp
and Fana Hlongwane, alleged former advisor to late defence minister Joe Modise,
and their links to the controversial arms deal in South Africa, that kept former
President Thabo Mbeki from speaking out against Mugabe during his years of
‘quiet diplomacy’ as SADC-appointed mediator between Tsvangirai and Mugabe. Although we anarchists would argue that no solution negotiated between
bourgeois politicians could ever truly benefit the poor of Zimbabwe in the long
run, there is a claim, put forward by the International Crisis Group, that there
‘is a possible negotiated way forward that could avoid Zimbabwe’s complete
collapse’ but that it would require ‘a radical shift in negotiating objectives
by the country’s leaders and regional states’. The ‘core idea’ being, it says,
‘to establish a transitional administration, run by non-partisan experts, in
which neither Mugabe nor Tsvangirai would have any position. It would be
mandated to implement fundamental political and economic reforms to stabilise
the economy and prepare new presidential elections in eighteen months’
[7]. Clearly a power-sharing deal in which Mugabe retains the presidency and
Tsvangirai occupies the seat of prime minister is incapable of producing an
outcome favourable to the Zimbabwean people, and any alternative that could get
rid of Mugabe and save Zimbabwe from complete collapse is favourable. As has
been demonstrated, however, both sides party to the negotiations are more
concerned with how the outcome will effect themselves and, in the case of both
MDCs, their political careers than they are with how they could influence the
negotiations to the benefit of the people, and this is why they have resisted
proposals such as that put forward by the Crisis Group. Mugabe and his allies in
the upper echelons of state and, particularly military power, are concerned with
what will be their fate should they be dethroned; whether they will be called to
answer for the crimes against humanity of which they are guilty. Tsvangirai is
concerned with how he can take power, implement some needed reforms and unlock
the Western aid and humanitarian intervention earmarked for a post-Mugabe
Zimbabwe, thus further establishing himself as the good guy who saved Zimbabwe
while, at the same time, making sure that the poor and working poor of Zimbabwe
do not become in any way empowered by the transition from dictatorship to
bourgeois democracy to the extent that they may begin to make demands of him and
his administration that are not within the spectrum of his plans for
neo-liberalising the Zimbabwean economy. Nowhere is this more evident than the manner in which both factions of the
MDC consistently side-lined or ignored Zimbabwean civil society in the
negotiations towards a power-sharing deal and the drafting of a new
Constitution. Mugabe obviously is not interested in democracy and popular
participation, so it should come as no surprise that he and Zanu-PF would not
consult trade unions and civil society on the process of power-sharing. But
Tsvangirai, on the other hand, makes all the pretenses towards caring about the
popular will and democracy, but has done little to nothing to involve civil
society and the trade unions in the negotiations. This is because he does not
want them to get a taste of what it is like to control one’s own destiny, to
have a say in the way that society is run because, were this to happen, civil
society and the trade unions would undoubtedly want to be increasingly involved
in the policy-making and running of a post-Mugabe Zimbabwe, and this is clearly
unacceptable to someone with an anti-worker, anti-poor neo-liberal agenda. It is
better that they remain accustomed to sitting back helplessly while the
government sets policy and makes decisions as to the future of the country. Such
concerns were raised by the Zimbabwean Congress of Trade Unions [8] that,
As noted by Horace Campbell: The ruling class in South Africa and Zimbabwe, on both sides of the political
divide, is keen to find a solution to the current impasse in order to stabilise
the situation so that the exploitation of the Zimbabwean working people can
continue unabated, no longer under the spotlight of world media and NGOs. The
popular classes of Zimbabwe must take advantage of the current situation, where
there is a focus on Zimbabwe in light of the cholera outbreak and the so-called
breakthrough in the power-sharing negotiations, to immediately establish organs
for popular participation in policy-making and the drafting of constitutional
amendments such as neighbourhood or popular assemblies, workers’ councils and
students’, women’s and youth organisations that can collectively discuss what
they want for Zimbabwe and organise to put pressure on the Unity Government to
have their demands met. In the last analysis, the MDC has not taken office in the way in which the
ANC, or for that matter Hamas did. Tsvangirai and company have been co-opted
into an unchanged regime in the same way in which Joshua Nkomo’s Zimbabwe
African People’s Union (Zapu) was co-opted by Zanu-PF before being swallowed
whole. Tsvangirai’s entrance into a Mugabe-led administration is like Nelson
Mandela accepting a post in PW Botha’s cabinet - a farce, foolish to the extreme
and bound to end very badly indeed for Mandela. This is not the usually
disappointing outcome of a pro-democracy movement - a victory over a very
authoritarian regime, but a new ruling party unable or unwilling to make
fundamental social and economic changes or to accommodate more democracy than
the ballot - but an aborted pro-democracy struggle. The spin-off of this is
that, as was the case in South Africa after Nelson Mandela rose to power in
1994, and as will probably be the case when Jacob Zuma assumes the presidency
later this year, there will be a honeymoon period in Zimbabwe in the wake of the
power-sharing deal. This period may well be characterised by a general decline
in workers’ militancy and popular struggles as people, feeling that they now
have a ‘comrade on the inside’, sit back and wait for change from above. After a
few years, however, as it becomes increasingly clear to the people that
Tsvangirai is unable to effect change from within a Mugabe-led administration,
and the pro-capitalist policies of Tsvangirai’s MDC - or whomsoever assumes the
reigns of capitalist rule after the Unity Government - are unable to deliver,
new movements will emerge, as they did in South Africa, to put pressure on the
new government to make good on its promises. The establishment of popular
assemblies and workers’ councils now could provide the foundation for these new
social movements, most likely centered around issues of service delivery and the
immediate material needs of the popular classes, and could determine the
character they take; the more people get accustomed to popular democracy and
participation now, the more likely will the social movements of the future
embody the libertarian and horizontal spirit vital for the successful overthrow
of the capitalist system of which both the dictatorship of Mugabe and the
bourgeois democracy of the MDC and ANC are a symptom. The difference between South Africa and Zimbabwe, however, lies in the fact
that there has not been a transition to democracy in the latter, that the
struggle for democracy has been aborted by its leader, who has now been co-opted
into the regime he fought against. The challenge for revolutionaries and the
popular classes in Zimbabwe, then, is to keep the democratic struggle alive and
to link it with the struggles for service delivery, development and the
demilitarisation of society. 1. See FdCA article on
Chinese and Russian Imperialism‘The Zimbabwe government is very aware of the anti-imperialist and
anti-racist sentiments among oppressed peoples and thus has deployed a range of
propagandists inside and outside of the country in a bid to link every problem
in Zimbabwe to international sanctions by the EU and USA. Anti-imperialists in
the USA cite the Zimbabwe Reconstruction and Development Act (Zidera) – passed
by the US Congress in 2001 – as being a source of economic woe for poor
Zimbabweans.’
That Mugabe can count amongst his few supporters,
then, some of those who naively swallow his pseudo-anti-imperialist rhetoric as
they and others do that of Chávez and Castro is not surprising. What is also not
surprising, albeit perhaps a bit contradictory on the surface, is that these
people blindly accept Mugabe’s anti-imperialist rhetoric while he, at the same
time as denouncing Western imperialism, happily accepts the support of other
imperialist powers, namely that of Russia and China [1]. While it is true
that both Russia and China (who shipped weapons to the Mugabe regime during the
electoral crisis, when people were being abducted, tortured and killed at an
alarming rate) vetoed the proposal put forward by the US and UK in the United
Nations Security Council to impose multilateral arms, travel and financial
sanctions on Zimbabwe - sanctions which would undoubtedly mean more poverty and
which would hit the poor hardest, not the high cabinet officials supposed to be
targeted - this must not be mistaken for an act of international solidarity or
even humanitarianism.
‘there has not been openness and wider consultation on the drafting
of the MoU [Memorandum of Unity]. On behalf of labour, the MoU has not been
availed to us for scrutiny or comment. The only time we have had a feel of the
MoU, has been through the media, where we are told that MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai had at one time refused to sign it. Nothing more has been said about
the document. The process seems to have been left to the three antagonizing
parties, that is, the MDC – T, the MDC – M and Zanu-PF’.
Similarly,
as was noted in a SADC Civil Society Statement on Zimbabwe on the Memorandum of
Unity, ‘the process lacks inclusivity, [is] insensitive to gender equity and
balance, [is] undermined by continued militarisation of the country, lacks
transparency and accountability processes’.
"Operation Zimbabwe Freedom?"In light of this apparent impossibility
for a negotiated way out of the crisis, where the only thing the antagonising
parties can agree on is that the Zimbabwean people must not be empowered by the
process, some people, including Zimbabweans, have called for military
intervention to oust Mugabe. While it seems to many that there may be little
alternative, the detrimental effects of military intervention were correctly
noted by a group of African scholars, stating that:
‘Military interventions exacerbate political and socio-economic
crises and internal differences with profoundly detrimental and destructive
regional implications. We recognise that threats of military intervention come
from imperialist powers, and also through their African proxies.’
[9]
Zimbabweans who are desperate for change might hope for
Western or African Union military intervention, but we know that any invaders
would not only attack Zanu-PF, but that many civilians would be caught-up in the
crossfire, as has happened in Iraq and elsewhere, and that military intervention
would be used only to establish a puppet regime sympathetic to Western
capitalism, and not to liberate ordinary Zimbabweans and give them control of
their lives. Anti-imperialists and anarchists should therefore oppose any
military intervention by imperialist powers, but it is important that this not
be confused with support for the crass anti-imperialism of the Robert Mugabe
regime, and that they continue to staunchly oppose and criticise him and his
allies.
‘Instead of oversimplifying imperialist threats in Zimbabwe, those
who want to see the demilitarisation of Africa must aggressively support the
exposure of the arms deals that have linked Bredenkamp and Fana Hlongwane [...]
across the politics of repression in South Africa and Zimbabwe. The British arms
manufacturer British Aerospace (BAe) has been involved with Bredenkamp and
Hlongwane in Africa, along with corrupt elements in the Middle East. There have
been calls for BAe to be prosecuted under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
(FCPA) of the USA. Such an investigation would have potentially seismic
consequences for military contractors and arms manufacturers and would provide
another means of opposing Western militarism in Africa.’
He goes on
to say that if activists and others were,
‘to expose the linkages between Zanu-PF arms dealers John Bredenkamp
and Fana Hlongwane along with the wider linkages to international capital, then
it would be clear that it is quite an oversimplification to argue that Zidera is
at the centre of Zimbabwe’s problems. Bredenkamp had been schooled from the
Smith era to blame everything on sanctions while beating the sanctions with the
help of apartheid South Africa. In the present period Bredenkamp is an ally of
the ANC, Zanu-PF and British imperialist arms manufacturers like BAe all at the
same time.’
The Struggle Aborted - Towards a Libertarian Communist
AlternativeDisregarding the possibility of foreign military intervention,
then, the problem with what the Crisis Group and SADC civil society argue for
with the notion of the transitional authority, which they say should be an
‘impartial party [...] headed by an individual who is not a member of Zanu-PF
or MDC’ [10] is that it still promotes the idea of one-man political
leadership, the worst manifestation of which, dictatorship, is exactly what
Zimbabwe is trying to rid itself of. Although they do say that ‘a broad sector
of Zimbabwean society should be incorporated into the transitional authority,
including representatives from labour, women’s and children’s rights groups,
churches, and other interest groups’ their conception of the transitional
authority is still rooted in the hierarchical, top-down political structures of
bourgeois democracy, and does little to nothing to ensure the maximum
participation of working class and poor people and foster a real culture of
direct democracy and participation. Rather than experimenting with new methods
of collective self-governance, the transitional authority is to ‘govern the
country until the newly elected government is installed’. What is needed in
Zimbabwe is not a ‘civilian authority’ that can lead the country to free and
fair elections - as much as that would be preferable to what exists now - but
genuine and permanent people’s self-governance, through the federation of
popular assemblies and workers’ councils.
Notes:
2. See ZACF statement on Chinese weapons
shipment to Zimbabwe
3. China
Considers Humanitarian Aid for Zimbabwe
4. How
Britain put the finger on Hlongwane, Published: Nov 30, 2008, The
Times
5. Chinese keen to
invest in Zimbabwe gold, platinum mining
6. Horace Campbell (2008-12-18),
Mamdani, Mugabe
and the African scholarly community - The Africanisation of exploitation,
(Campbell is Professor of African American Studies and Political Science at
Syracuse University).
7. A
Way Forward for Zimbabwe – International Crisis Group
8. ZCTU press
release, 21 July 2008, W.T Chibebe, Secretary-General
9. Horace Campbell
(2008-12-18), Mamdani, Mugabe and
the African scholarly community - The Africanisation of exploitation
10.
A
Way Forward for Zimbabwe – International Crisis Group
Email: jag@mango.zw; justiceforagriculture@zol.co.zw
Please
send any material for publication in the Open Letter Forum to
jag@mango.zw with "For Open Letter Forum" in the
subject
line.
To subscribe/unsubscribe to the JAG mailing list, please
email:
jag@mango.zw with subject line
"subscribe" or
"unsubscribe".
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Mike Laing
2. The Robinsons
3. Lance Stringham
4.
Kudzayi Erick
Kadzere
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.
Mike Laing
Dear Jag
This is probably not something you need to
publish but,,,
Thursday morning, 2nd April, 05.45 . cup of coffee and I'm
at the
computer catching up on the news, Zimbabwe's news. My junkie 'fix'
for
the day!!! JAG's "Communiqué" or 'Open letter forum" will, I
hope,
provide me with optimism and enthusiasm for the day/week.
Today, alas,
no articles about Tendai or Morgan putting Zanu behind
bars. Instead an
article by Pat Kinloch recommending that we forget
the "blame game" and get
on with reconstruction. Very mature, but perhaps
beyond me.
Then a
brilliant article by Peter Thompson. Real "Front Page" stuff,
compulsory
reading for all. Well done Peter.
Mike
Laing
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.
The Robinsons
Dear Jag,
I believe that Patricia Kinloch's
suggestion to end the
"blame game" does have merit, but where do we draw the
line
between "Blame Game" and "Accountability?"
Last night the entire
world watched the footage of the emaciated
prisoners in Zimbabwe - one single
product of Zanu PF governance.
My first reaction was to think of Biafra,
Ethiopia, the Sudan, then
Jewish concentration camps and then of course the
Allied prisoners held
by the Japanese during the war.
My wife's first
reaction was "they are just MDC supporters
being persecuted by the
government, not criminals - what crime
could they commit in their
condition?"
Can we let it all slip past and say that Mr. Zimondi and Mr.
Chinamasa
are actually "not to blame?"
Can we afford to let the
equivalent of the Nazis off the hook?
If we do, and it happens again and
again - was there a deterrent?
Just as we hold these two accountable - so
we also need to hold the
"new ministers" accountable - a tricky unity
agreement
yes, however, all but one of them has accepted a waBenzi for
their
troubles.
With authority comes responsibility - fact.
For
too long it has been a desire, and a right, to have the authority
with zero
responsibility.
Visit Zimbabwe and then visit a country where politicians
are held
accountable (as best as any populace can, of course!) and the
difference
between the two is the effect of non accountability.
J.L.
Robinson
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3.
Lance Stringham
All those who care for Zimbabwe should continue to wish
Morgan Tsvangirai
well, particularly in the difficult political
circumstances, and tragic
personal circumstances, in which he finds himself.
But his speech-writers
and advisers might be well-advised to keep his words
within the
boundaries of good sense and good taste.
If the BBC is to
be believed Mr Tsvangirai has recently said that
Zimbabwe should look forward
to moving beyond being a beneficiary of
emergency aid to being instead `an
investment opportunity'.
This is, at best, alarmingly inconsistent as the
following analogy
(inspired by Peter Thompson's apposite reference to AIG
-
Open Letters Forum 1 April) may demonstrate.
Let us imagine a bank -
let's call it the Mugabe Bank - which, after a
period
of relative
prosperity, fell into disrepute when its shareholders sought to
remove its
board of directors. The chairman and the board, refusing to
stand
down,
instead froze and then seized all the money in its customers' accounts
and,
over a period of nine years, distributed the cash amongst themselves
and
those shareholders willing to support them. Most customers were, of
course,
bankrupted and the bank itself crashed. New directors, eager to
salvage the
bank, at last managed to secure seats on the board. But to do so
they had to
sign a document saying that no cash would be returned, that none
of the
thieves would be punished, indeed that in some ways that daylight
robbery
was
justified. Those directors then set about persuading new
customers to open
accounts in the bank and deposit their savings. But they
met with little
success. Some said that their slogan: `Deposit your cash with
us and we may
not steal it, although if we do you will not get it back and
stealing is not
necessarily a bad thing anyway' was to blame.
This is
not the time to be talking of `investment opportunities' in
Zimbabwe,
nor
will any talk of `security of tenure' , `clarity of land rights', and
`the
Rule of Law' cut much ice when it comes from a platform shared by
Mugabe
The hard fact is that as long Mugabe's government, whatever its
constitution,
continues to seek to hold Fast Track as a fait accompli and
a central pillar
of its policy then any international assistance or
investment is a de facto
endorsement of state-led theft, pillage and
destruction. For any would-be
investor this is not a matter of `blame' or of
`recrimination', of positives
or negatives, but simply of common sense. No
serious investor will put his
money into a country where both sides of the
political spectrum have
endorsed
the confiscation and destruction of
billions of dollars' (US) worth of
patriotic investment. Mr Tsvangirai's
recent condemnation of farm invasions
is a step in the right direction but
there is much further to go. If he
cannot
make that journey whilst Mugabe
remains in power then perhaps all Mr
Tsvangirai should be talking about is
new elections.
Lance
Stringham
Canada
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4.
Kudzayi Erick Kadzere
I am always pained each time I reflect and ponder
over the fact that our
beautiful nation Zimbabwe is still being ruled by the
brutal and
oppressive Mugabe regime. This is particularly so because a year
ago (
March 2008 ) Zimbabweans peacefully voted for a transfer of power to
the
MDC. The Mugabe regime flatly refused to accept the people's verdict
and
instead launched a campaign of murder, rape, pillaging and torture
to
pulverise the people for expressing their inalienable and God given
right
to elect a government of their choice. Many people lost their lives
for
daring to vote against the monolithic regime. Pursuant to this, the
pipe
smoking Thabo Mbeki forced down our throats a skewed political
settlement
in which the very same Mugabe who had been rejected by the people
was to
remain President. How crass and pathetic. To me it is a great
injustice
of unimaginable proportions that is also unforgivable for a person
who
lost an election to rule a nation composed of the very same people
who
rejected him. It is even worse to achieve this by murdering people
in
cold blood as did the bloodthirsty thugs employed by Mugabe at the
height
of the so called Operation Mavhotera papi "Operation Who Did You
Vote
For". If Mbeki thought that Mugabe was such a good man and
that
Zimbabweans erred in rejecting him he should have invited him to
be
President of South Africa in his place and stead rather than insult
the
collective intelligence of our people. How can we be treated like
mere
toddlers who do not know what they want and are supposed to wait for
the
egotistic Mbeki to decide for us. Forgive me if I am wrong my
fellow
Zimbabweans but it will take a whole generation if not 100 years to
undo
the harm wrought upon our nation by the illegal and unelected
Mugabe
regime. I say so regardless of the fact that the MDC has entered
the
gravy train now labelled an inclusive government and in so doing
has
betrayed the thousands of Zimbabweans who died in the mistaken
belief
that the MDC would deliver democracy. It was an unforgivable sin for
the
MDC to flip flop and sup soup with the very same regime that has
killed
so many citizens with impunity. It is nauseating that MDC Ministers
can
be seen driving around in brand new cars courtesy of the brutal regime
at
a time when the populace is reeling from poverty and the extremely
harsh
effects of the impromptu dollarisation of the economy. Has
Tsvangirai
ever taken a moment to reflect on the simple fact that he won last
year's
elections and defeated Mugabe in the process. The long and short of it
is
that the MDC has lost credibility by choosing to be part of the
problem
instead of biting the bullet and remaining in the trenches. It
seems
clear to me that the MDC has been outwitted once again by Zanu PF
and
that the quest for democracy has been scuttled. Mugabe is no fool and
one
should always be cautious in dealing with this aged dictator.
Major
questions that remain unanswered in my view include why Mugabe agreed
to
get into the inclusive government? Surely there must be something in
it
for him. But what exactly? No one knows. From as far as I know the man
I
can only surmise that whatever his motive was it is not in the
best
interest of us as a people. We can never share the same vision with
that
man. He does not care about us. If he did he would step down
gracefully
and respect the wishes of the people as expressed in the ballot
box a
year ago. To the MDC I say it's never too late to learn from
your
mistakes. It is of no use to continue hoping that one day ZanuPF
will
reform and somehow magically transform into a democratic entity. Like
the
late Master of the Rolls Lord Denning said you can't put something
on
top of nothing and expect it to remain there. It will collapse. God
bless
Zimbabwe and its people.
Kudzayi Erick
Kadzere
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[5th April
2009]
Both
Houses of Parliament have adjourned until Tuesday 12th
May
Update
on Legislation
The
Finance Bill, the Appropriation (2009) Bill and the Appropriation (2008)
(Additional) Bill await signature by the President and subsequent gazetting as
Acts. They will not have the force of law until gazetted. No significant
statutory instruments
were
gazetted.
There are no new Bills
in the pipeline.
The adjournment of
Parliament for nearly six weeks suggests that the Government is not nearly ready
with the Bills it has promised to give effect to its "democratisation agenda".
It is hoped that when Parliament sits again, the relevant Ministries will have
prepared legislation in the areas of media freedom, freedom of association and
the rule of law ready to be presented to Parliament.
Last
Week in Parliament
House
of Assembly
Tuesday
· the Speaker announced
the members of the Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC] [See note on Committees below.]
· the Additional
Estimates of Expenditure for 2008 were introduced with a brief explanation by
the Minister of Finance and approved without debate or questions. The
Minister pointed out that the funds had already been irretrievably spent, but
MPs could have raised queries about how the money was spent – there were
some obvious discrepancies between the total expenditure in 2008 [ZWD 51
quintillion] and the much larger amount of revenue collected in 2008 [nearly ZWD
15 000 quintillion].
Wednesday
· the Appropriation
(2008) (Additional) Bill [to give legal effect to the Additional Estimates] was
cleared by the PLC, fast tracked through all its stages in a few minutes
without debate or questions and transmitted to the Senate.
· Question Time [see below for notes on
Questions]
· the Speaker announced
the appointment of the Public Accounts Committee and Portfolio Committees
[See note on Committees below.]
Senate
Tuesday – there were further
contributions to the debate on the President’s
speech.
Wednesday – the Appropriation
(2008) (Additional) Bill was fast tracked through all stages without debate
or questions.
To
fast track the Appropriation Bill through both Houses, Standing Orders were
suspended, although there was no deadline to be met [other than Parliament’s
desire to adjourn]. The fact that no questions were raised is another example
of Parliament rubber-stamping what the executive places before it. It is not
too late, however, for a Parliamentary Committee to make enquiries on behalf of
tax payers.
Committees
Parliament's Committee
on Standing Rules and Orders [CSRO] met on Monday and appointed the
Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC], the Public Accounts
Committee [PAC] and Portfolio
Committees [PCs].
House of Assembly
Portfolio Committees
· There are
nineteen Committees to shadow thirty-two Ministries. Some
Committees will shadow two or more Ministries [e.g. one PC will shadow Home
Affairs and Defence; another, Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare].
· Unlike the last
Parliament's Portfolio Committees, which were joint committees made up of both
MPs and Senators, the new Portfolio Committees are House of Assembly Committees
only.
Senate Committees not
yet appointed
It is understood that
the Senate will have its own "thematic committees" – yet to be announced – which
will concentrate on themes, such as HIV/AIDS, as opposed to "shadowing" a
particular Ministry or Ministries in the manner of Portfolio Committees.
[A
Bill Watch Special, to be distributed soon, will be devoted to the Committees,
their membership and functions.]
Select
Committee of Parliament to Prepare the New Constitution
Under the Interparty
Political Agreement [IPA] a Select Committee of Parliament to draft a new
Constitution must be set up by the 13th April [two months after the inception of
the new government]. Select Committee members are appointed by the Committee on
Standing Rules and Orders. Unofficial reports say the three political parties
have agreed that the Select Committee should consist of 25 members of Parliament
co-chaired by a member from each of the parties. [A suggestion that the
chairperson should be a retired judge from outside Parliament has apparently
been abandoned for being against Parliamentary Standing Orders.]
Constitutional
Subcommittees Under the
IPA the Select Committee must set up subcommittees to assist it in its work.
Subcommittees must be chaired by members of Parliament and be composed of
members of Parliament and representatives of civil society.
Nomination
of Members of Independent Commissions
According to
Constitution as now amended by the terms of the IPA, the Committee on Standing
Rules and Orders must be consulted by the President before he appoints the
chairpersons of the four Independent Commissions:
·
·
·
·
The CSRO also
nominates candidates for appointment as members of these Commissions, with the
President being confined to choosing appointees from the lists provided by the
CSRO. Unofficial reports say these Commissions will be constituted or, in the
cases of ZEC and the Anti-Corruption Commission, re-constituted by the end of
April.
Replies
to Questions
Some of the more
significant replies were as follows:
Minister Mutsekwa
[Home Affairs] explained
that his Ministry was still looking into why the UN Convention on Torture had
not been ratified. On the use of torture to extract confessions, he said the
Ministry does not approve of this, and pointed out that such confessions are not
admissible in court. This fell short of outright condemnation of torture as
conduct totally unacceptable in principle. In response to a supplementary
question about police failures to investigate complaints of torture, he pointed
to the difficulty of proving such cases. On long-standing failure by the police
to prosecute persons accused of crimes, including murder, committed against MDC
members during the election campaign, he gave an assurance that everyone would
be brought to book.
Minister Kasukuwere
[Youth Development] denied
that any youths had been employed by the Government for election campaigning in
2008, and stated that the Ministry employs “youth co-ordinating officers”
throughout the country at ward level, co-ordinating projects to empower youth.
The Ministry is conducting a Human Resources Audit to ascertain how many are
actually working. Hansard records of the follow-up questions and the Minister’s
answers were “not recorded due to a technical fault”. [Note: press reports claim that up to 29
000 youths are still being paid by government. With monthly allowances for
civil servants pegged at US$100, that means nearly US$ 3 million is being spent
monthly on paying youths whose mandate has not been fully accounted for.
Parliamentarians need to pursue this and if necessary launch a Portfolio
Committee enquiry into how these youth are
deployed.]
Next
Question Time
The next Question Time
will be on Wednesday 13th May. Key questions carried forward include renewed
queries on the Chiadzwa diamond fields [deaths of panners, environmental issues,
resettlement of displaced villagers]; Government policy for dealing with
politically partisan conduct by traditional leaders; the audit of the Reserve
Bank's distribution of farm mechanisation and agricultural inputs; the issuing
of firearms to retired army personnel and war veterans in the period leading up
to the presidential election run-off last year; and the fact that the Estimates
of Expenditure for 2009 contain no separate provision to fund the Prime
Minister's Office.
Prisons
While Parliament is
adjourned, the newly-formed Portfolio Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs,
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs could usefully launch an urgent inquiry
into the state of affairs in the country’s prisons following Minister
Chinamasa’s replies to questions during March 25th Question Time and the
shocking revelations in a documentary film since screened on South African
television. Although Minister Chinamasa and the Commissioner of Prisons have
challenged the claims made in the film and the authenticity of footage said to
have been shot inside Zimbabwean prisons, the true picture needs to be
independently established and reported to Parliament and the people of
Ministerial
Retreat – 3rd to 5th April
The Ministerial Retreat
has gone ahead at the
SADC
The SADC Summit met
in
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