(Justin Sutcliffe) Mike Campbell's son-in-law Ben Freeth was also
attacked last year And this is one of the farms "protected" by
the SADC court ruling. Showing the world that the SADC is powerless, that tthe
MDC "prime minister" is being ignored, that ZANU ignore the SADC and that the
SADC is protecting and trying to get money from the west to pay for this
stupidity. Alisdair Budd, Southend , UK
April 8, 2009
Comment
http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=2829&cat=1
Wednesday,
April 08, 2009
Herald Reporters
TWO white
former commercial farmers appeared in separate courts in Chegutu
and
Chiredzi over land-related issues while six others and their managers in
the
southeastern Lowveld were arrested for allegedly refusing to vacate
State
acquired land.
In Chegutu, Martin Joubert was charged with taking hostage
eight youths
living on a farm allocated to veteran politician and Zanu-PF
information and
publicity secretary Cde Nathan Shamuyarira.
On the
other hand, Digby Sean Nesbitt appeared in a Chiredzi court for
refusing to
vacate a farm allocated to the Officer Commanding Matabeleland
North
Province, Senior Assistant Commissioner Edmore Veterai.
Still in
Chiredzi, former farmers Michael Fay-Dherbe of Farm 33 Hippo Valley
Settlement, Benoit Lagesse of Farm 1 Hippo Valley, Cecil Jean Derobellad,
Tony Renato Sarto of Lot 1 Ranch North, Jeffrey Soma of Lot 2 Fair Ranch and
Mariah Theressa Warth of Wasara Ranch were arrested for refusing to vacate
acquired farms.
Also arrested were farm managers Jaison Mahomu
(Lagesse), Albert Chisango
(Derobellad) and Chenzira Wilson Gondo
(Soma).
The arrests, carried out between March 22 and yesterday, come
hard on the
heels of a Supreme Court ruling that farmers who refused to
vacate acquired
farms could be prosecuted.
Warth is expected to
appear in court today, while the other five are due to
stand in the dock on
April 16.
Investigations are still in progress.
Prominent Chiredzi
businessman and former farmer Nesbitt, who is refusing to
vacate State
acquired land, yesterday told Chiredzi magistrate Mr Enias
Magate that he
was prepared to leave his farm but only after Government had
paid him
compensation of US$2,1 million.
In his defence, Nesbitt said he would
remain on the remainder of Farm 30 at
Hippo Valley Estates since he was
given specific instructions by the then
Minister of National Security,
Lands, Land Resettlement, Cde Didymus Mutasa,
to stay on the farm.
He
told the magistrate that he had been given a
provisional court order in
Masvingo to remain on the farm.
Although Nesbitt said he had never met
Cde Mutasa, he said the instructions
came from some officials from the
minister's office.
He stated that senior Politiburo members -former
Masvingo governor Willard
Chiwewe, Minister Stan Mudenge, former Senator
Dzikamai Mavhaire and former
legislator Celina Pote had also made efforts to
have him reinstated on the
farm.
The farm was allocated to four
beneficiaries including Snr Asst Comm
Veterai.
Nesbitt said former
governor Chiwewe became furious when he told him that
Snr Asst Comm Veterai
had an offer letter for 70 hectares.
The court heard that Nesbitt had
gone through the courts in a bid to evict
all the four beneficiaries from
the farm.
Nesbitt said he applied for land on February 10, 2006, but
never got a
response.
"As long as the ministry does not respond to my
application for land
especially on Farm 30, I will remain there," he
said.
He added that the developments he had made on the farm had cost
US$2,1
million. These included 8 000 crocodiles, which he valued at US$700
000 and
farm equipment worth US$300 000.
Chief law officer Mr Tawanda
Zvekare appeared for the State while Harare
lawyers Ms Nyaradzo Maphosa and
Rodney Makausi defended Nesbitt.
In Chegutu, Joubert of Mt Camel Farm,
who is allegedly managing the farm,
which formerly belonged to Mike Campbell
and seven other men alleged to be
working for Campbell, were arraigned
before the magistrates' court yesterday
for alleged kidnapping.
The
other seven men are Enock Freedwell (48), Innocent Takawira (33), Alex
Chemai (45), Umali Makanje (35), Daiton Dzimbiri (45), Davis Chikaunda (35)
and Dhadhe Antonia (42).
They were not asked to plead when they
appeared before magistrate Mr Tinashe
Ndereka.
Mr Ndereka remanded
all the eight in custody to today when he will rule on
the defence
application challenging the decision by the State to have them
placed on
remand.
The State, led by Mr Allan Chifokoyo, alleges that on April 4 the
men went
to Mt Camel Farm and forced the complainants into two Landcruiser
vehicles
before assaulting them with bicycle chains.
It is alleged
that the Joubert and his team then drove their victims to
Balclutha Farm
where they ordered the complainants out of the vehicles and
forced them to
roll in a pond alongside the road.
The complainants, it is alleged, were
again forced to get into the trucks
and driven to Msengezi area and beaten
along the way.
It is further alleged that Joubert and his team then
dumped the eight youths
at a bush village 3 in Msengezi after assaulting
them.
The youths then ran for their lives and disappeared and when they
regrouped
after some time one of them, Mike Tangwena, was
missing.
His whereabouts are still unknown and police are making efforts
to find him.
Earlier on, Mr David Drury of Gollop and Blank, who is
representing all the
eight suspects, complained over the unlawful detention
of his clients, which
he said exceeded the stipulated 48 hours.
He
also complained that his clients were severely assaulted by the
police.
In his brief ruling, Mr Ndereka said the claims over detention
were
unfounded as the 48-hour period spilled into yesterday in terms of the
law.
The magistrate, however, ordered full investigations into the
allegations of
torture of the suspects while in police detention.
"If
the investigations show that they were ill-treated we will demonstrate
that
no one is above the law," said Mr Ndereka.
The magistrate is also today
expected to make an order allowing the suspects
to go for medical
examination and treatment.
After the court ruling, Mr Drury made an
application seeking to block the
State from placing his clients on
remand.
He argued that before the suspects were placed on remand the
court should be
satisfied with the basic matrix of the facts, which are not
concocted to
place his clients on remand.
Mr Drury said the
statements by the State witnesses and the facts on the
State outline were
contradictory, putting the credibility of the State case
at
stake.
But in his counter-argument, Mr Chifokoyo said the placing of the
suspects
on remand did not require resolution of conflict of
evidence.
"The constitutional requirement relates to suspicion that is
reasonable,"
said Mr Chifokoyo.
After hearing the submissions from
both the defence and State counsel Mr
Ndereka reserved judgment to today.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14807
April 8, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
THE Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media, Information
and
Communication Technology tomorrow gets down to business with a meeting
to
review progress made in the sector by the outgoing
committee.
Committee chairman and Southerton Member of Parliament, Gift
Chimanikire
told The Zimbabwe Times the meeting would give his committee a
first hand
account of the amount of work that lies ahead of
it.
Chimanikire said from the meeting, his committee was expected to draw
out
its work plan that would be used as the operational dossier until the
end of
the term of the committee.
He said there was need for reforms
to be implemented in the sector to ensure
Zimbabwe falls into line with
regional and international expectations.
"We are meeting on Thursday
(tomorrow) for our first meeting," said
Chimanikire, adding: "This is a
meeting that we believe will give us a first
hand account of what has been
done, what is being done, and what needs to be
done in the future as we move
as a nation towards the normalization of the
information and
telecommunication sector in line with regional and
international
trends."
Chimanikire said the meeting would also review submissions that
were made by
stakeholders on how reforms in the ministry could be
implemented, saying
there had been numerous submissions by stakeholders on
how to turn around
the sector.
Said Chimanikire: "There are a lot of
submissions that were made to
Parliament that are meant for the committee to
look at. These are the
submissions that will give us the guiding framework
on what policies we
believe should be pursued by the ministry.
"We
are not going to impose but we will share with the ministry on those
policies."
Chimanikire revealed his committee would also conduct a
familiarization tour
of the media industry.
"Our tour is basically
aimed at meeting media practitioners, their
employers, and other
stakeholders in so far as getting to know each other
better," Chimanikire
said.
"We will also seek to find out their input as far as policies are
concerned
and the challenges facing them in the discharge of their duties.
We will
also meet with heads of technological institutions dealing in
research
matters on information and media to find out what they have been
doing in
the past."
Meanwhile, the hunt is on for the chairperson of
the Zimbabwe Media
Commission (ZMC).
Sources in parliament said the
process of identifying members of the
commission, including its chairperson,
were already underway.
The sources said it was government's plan to
appoint a former media
practitioner to head the committee, taking over from
Dr Tafataona Mahoso who
was widely accused of partisanship in favour of
Zanu-PF. The Media and
Information Commission which Mahoso headed was
abolished after the signing
of Constitutional Amendment Number
19.
The amendment paves the way for the establishment of the ZMC by
government
after consultation with relevant media stakeholders
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14827
April 8, 2009
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO - Prosecutors based at the Chiredzi magistrate courts
remained
outside court throughout Tuesday, while protesting against the
mysterious
release from police custody of Edmore Hwarare, who was arrested
last week
and charged with fraud.
It is now being said that accused
man was released from police custody on
the instructions of a minister in
the government of national unity.
Hwarare is a former Zanu-PF Masvingo
provincial political commissar.
Currently he is the self-proclaimed
president of the Zimbabwe Sugar Milling
Industry Workers Union.
After
his arrest last week he was denied bail by Chiredzi magistrate Judith
Zuyu
after the state successfully opposed bail on the grounds that he might
interfere with state witnesses.
A record 300 witnesses have been
dramatically lined up to testify against
Hwarare, who is also a
self-proclaimed war veteran.
However it emerged on Monday that Hwarare
had somehow found his way out of
remand prison without the knowledge of
either the state or the presiding
magistrate.
"We have decided to
boycott work protesting against the way in which a
suspect has been released
from custody without the knowledge of both the
state and the magistrate",
said a prosecutor based at the Chiredzi
magistrate courts who spoke to The
Zimbabwe Times only on condition of
anonymity.
"We are not going to
attend to any cases unless all this mess is sorted out.
No one is above the
law."
Allegations levelled against Hwarare are that during the period
extending
from June 2008 to February this year, acting in his capacity as
president of
the Zimbabwe Sugar Milling Industry Workers Union, he swindled
settler
farmers in Chiredzi of 380 tonnes of sugar.
According to the
state Hwarare would collect monthly allocations of sugar
from Triangle and
Hippo Valley on the pretext that he would distribute it
among the farmers
who were the intended beneficiaries.
Hwarare was arrested along with the
chief executive officer, one Tsingo, and
Darlington Chiwa the secretary
general of the Commercial Sugar Farmers'
Association for embezzling the
members of US$132,000 worth of sugar. He was
the chairman. They were
responsible for collecting the sugar from the mills
for distribution to the
members to use to pay their workers. They allegedly
sold 90 tonnes of the
members' sugar on the black market and pocketed the
money.
One of the
members of the CSFA, who lost sugar to Hwarare and alleged
accomplices, is
Deputy Police Commissioner Edward Veterai. Veterai himself
forced Digby and
Jess Nesbitt out of their home before taking over their
sugar
farm.
It is alleged that it is Veterai who finally engineered the arrest
of
Hwarare, the man who has allegedly terrorised the sugar farming community
in
the Lowveld over the years. Veterai was then upstaged by the politician
who
spirited Hwarare out of remand prison over the weekend.
Instead
of taking the sugar to the farmers, Hwarare would sell it on the
black
market, where there was a serious shortage. Some of the sugar was
allegedly
smuggled out of the country where Hwarare had established a good
market.
Sources within the Ministry of Justice Legal and
Parliamentary affairs
yesterday said that the Hwarare was mysteriously
released from remand prison
after the cabinet minister ordered his release.
The name of the minister in
question was supplied to The Zimbabwe Times but
is now being withheld
pending confirmation.
"We have established that
the release of Hwarare was facilitated by a
cabinet minister, but we are
saying that was unlawful", said the source.
Hwarare said to be a staunch
Zanu-PF supporter has over the past eight years
allegedly instigated and on
occasion personally led acts of public violence
against the white sugarcane
growers in the Lowveld. He is also alleged to
have been in the forefront of
acts of violence against MDC supporters in the
Lowveld in the period leading
up to the June 2008 presidential.
A number of MDC supporters were
reported murdered during the violence. There
was said to be celebration at
Hwarare's arrest last week.
Two years ago Hwarare was allegedly caught
red-handed as he embezzled funds
from the Commercial Sugar Farmers
Association of Zimbabwe (CSFA) funds where
he was the
chairman.
"Because of his good record with Zanu-PF he got off scot-free,"
said a
source familiar with the case. "They forgave him and took him back as
chairman."
Hwarare is said to have allocated more than one commercial
farm to himself.
The farms include a sugarcane farm belonging to one John
Taylor's in
Mkwasine, a sugarcane farm belonging to the late Jeremy
Baldwin's in the
Chiredzi area, Samba Ranch 20km north of Triangle, and
Mkwasine Estates
cattle section.
Meanwhile, Shylet Uyoyo Zanu-PF
Masvingo provincial women's league
chairperson has been linked to a spate of
armed robberies that have taken
place in and around Masvingo.
Her
vehicle, a Mazda B1800 pick-up truck was allegedly used as the gate-away
car
in a number of armed robberies.
The police in Masvingo say they have
since placed the name of Uyoyo on a
police "wanted persons" list since her
car was being used by dangerous
criminals.
In the latest incident
armed robbers exchanged gun fire with the police
resulting in one of the
robbers being shot and wounded.
The armed robbers abandoned the B1800
truck which turned out to be owned by
Uyoyo, allegedly.
Sources
within the police said the Zanu-PF official would be charged with
armed
robbery since investigations had shown that she was behind several
other
cases of armed robbery in and around Masvingo over the past year.
"We
are investigating the incident in which Uyoyo's car has been linked to
a
series of armed robbery cases that have taken place in and around
Masvingo", said a police spokesman who requested anonymity.
"We have
also established that the Zanu-PF official might be behind all
these cases
and therefore we are going to charge her with armed robbery ".
Uyoyo
could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial
chairman Lovemore Matuke said he was not aware
of the case.
"I am not
aware of this case," he said, "but if it is true then let the
police do
their job."
Uyoyo was elected chairperson of Zanu-PF's Masvingo
provincial women's
league only recently following a restructuring exercise
by the party.
At one stage she was expelled from Zanu-PF for two years
after she was
linked to the Daniel Shumba-led United People's Party (UPP).
Shumba was the
former provincial chairman of Zanu-PF in Masvingo.
In
the 2005 parliamentary elections Uyoyo was the Zanu-PF candidate for
Masvingo Central Constituency. She lost to Tongai Matutu of the mainstream
MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai.
http://www.voanews.com
By Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
07 April
2009
Agriculture experts at the Netherlands-based Early Agglomeration
Recognition
System said Zimbabwe's 2009 maize crop will come in 4% short of
last year
due to uneven rainfall, but a Zimbabwean agronomist said the
harvest now
beginning could surprise on the upside.
Agricultural
scientist Thomas Nherera said maize crops have been better in
some areas
than in others depending on rainfall and the availability of key
inputs like
fertilizer.
National Director Forbes Matonga of Christian Care, a partner
of the United
Nations World Food Program, said that with the arrival of the
harvest his
organization has suspended aid to the general population while
it assesses
crops and general food availability.
But he said
Christian Care continues to provide food to vulnerable
populations, such as
people living with HIV/AIDS and households led by
children.
http://www.voanews.com
By
Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye
Washington
07 April
2009
The president of Zimbabwe's Hospital Doctors
Association said Tuesday, World
Health Day, that his group's members have
joined the government in efforts
to revive the profoundly troubled state
health care sector which virtually
shut down late last year.
Doctor
Kudzanayi Chimedza said that while issues of compensation remain to
be
worked out, the government has promised to address these in the next 100
days, paving the way for a full return to work by hospital employees and
provision of still-lacking materials.
Dr. Chimedza told reporter
Marvellous Mhlanga Nyahuye of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that the country's
public health institutions continue to be
overwhelmed and need the full
support of the newly installed national unity
government to restore
essential services.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Cuthbert
Nzou Wednesday 08 April 2009
HARARE - World Vision,
Zimbabwe's largest humanitarian agency, on
Monday received more than US$500
000 from the Canadian government to improve
water supplies and sanitation at
clinics and hospitals fighting the cholera
epidemic in the
country.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the
death toll from
the water-borne disease has shown signs of slowing down but
there is still
need to remain vigilant and to continue to reinforce the
control measures
already in place.
"The figures are tapering
off but what is worrying is that there are
many more deaths that go
unreported. Thanks to the Canadian International
Development Agency (CIDA),
World Vision can take proactive steps to prevent
the spread of cholera and
help improve the lives of children and families in
Zimbabwe," said Dave
Toycen, president of World Vision Canada.
Toycen has been in
Zimbabwe since Sunday to meet with government
officials and international
aid agencies on a fact-finding mission. He will
return to Canada on
Friday.
He said he was in Zimbabwe to see how World Vision can
further help
the country, which has been struggling under an economic crisis
that
includes hyper-inflation, unemployment of around 90 percent and severe
shortages of basic goods and services.
The $510 000 grant from
the CIDA donated yesterday would benefit more
than 422 000 patients in
Mudzi, Murehwa and Mutoko in Mashonaland East
province of
Zimbabwe.
World Vision would focus on rehabilitating water supply
systems,
development of new water points and the provision of water storage,
in
addition to supporting regular testing of water quality.
In
the area of sanitation, World Vision would repair and build new
latrines,
construct pits for the safe disposal of medical waste and educate
community
members in and around the hospitals and clinics about health and
hygiene,
treatment of water-borne diseases and HIV and AIDS prevention.
World Vision has just completed a project funded by CIDA in Bulawayo
district in southwestern Zimbabwe to also address water supply issues and
sanitary concerns.
In January, it airlifted a shipment of more
than US$4 million in
donated cholera medications to Zimbabwe with the
Canadian government's
support.
World Vision is leading a
coordinated response to the cholera
situation by providing medical supplies,
drilling boreholes and distributing
non-food items such as soap, jerry cans
and oral rehydration solution
sachets to affected areas in Mashonaland
Central, Bulawayo and Matabeleland
South.
It also continues to
distribute food aid to more than one million
people in the country where
more than five million Zimbabweans are food
insecure and in urgent need of
food aid. - ZimOnline
http://www.voanews.com
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
07
April 2009
Having pledged to re-engage the international community,
the Zimbabwe
government has set up a mechanism to end Harare's isolation,
critical to the
country's economic turnaround, led by a multi-party
ministerial task force
under Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwe, said
Finance Minister Tendai
Biti in an interview with VOA on Tuesday.
The
strategy according to Biti enlists fellow members of the Southern
African
Development Community to help persuade the West that real change is
afoot in
Harare.
Biti represents Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's formation of
the Movement
for Democratic Change in the task force, while the Arthur
Mutambara MDC
formation will be represented by Industry Minister Welshman
Ncube and
Regional Integration Minister Priscilla Misihairambwi Mushonga.
Mumbengegwe
belongs to President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF
party.
Minister of State Gorden Moyo, attached to the office of the prime
minister,
told VOA that the task force will travel on its first mission to
the
European Union, some of whose members are believed to be receptive to
the
idea of providing early reconstruction funding.
But Britain, like
the United States, has said it wants to see more progress
in Harare on key
issues, particularly human rights, before moving beyond
humanitarian
assistance.
Zimbabwean Ambassador to Great Britain Gabriel Machinga met
last week with
Foreign Secretary David Miliband, who later told the House of
Commons that
in their conversation he reiterated London's position that
economic aid
hinges on major changes in Harare.
Finance Minister Biti
told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for
Zimbabwe that the
ministerial committee will focus on governance and
economic recovery.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14788
April 7, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Top South African business leaders have warned
President Robert
Mugabe against trampling property rights, urging him to
stick strictly to
the law in his indigenisation policies in order to attract
desperately
needed investment.
Zimbabwe faces the threat of economic
chaos if the conflict over white-owned
farms in Zimbabwe continues, the
South African business leaders that were in
the country Monday to explore
investment opportunities warned.
The strong warnings came from a
high-powered business delegation led by
Johannesburg mining magnate Patrice
Motsepe, who is the president of the
National Farmers Union of South Africa.
Soweto-born Motsepe, 47, is South
Africa's first black billionaire with a
net worth of $1, 3 billion.
He warned that it was in South Africa's
interests to ensure that the
situation in Zimbabwe did not explode and that
the country, where a unity
government between longtime rivals President
Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai was established two months back,
was on the path to
recovery.
The business tycoon was accompanied by
officials from top South African
companies Massmart, Netcare, PPC Cement,
Old Mutual, Price Waterhouse
Coopers, IDC and Aspen Pharmacare. The business
delegation comprised experts
in fields of mining, manufacturing,
agriculture, construction,
pharmaceuticals, research and advisory
services.
The warnings follow President Robert Mugabe's statement that he
would fight
any opposition by the remaining white farmers to his plan to
take over their
land.
Mugabe told his supporters in the farming town
of Chinhoyi on February 28
that his government no longer intended to ask for
the land, but would simply
take it without negotiation. Any whites who
objected should leave the
country, he suggested.
After South Africa,
Zimbabwe has the biggest economy in the region.
According to the business
leaders, economic turmoil caused by a
confrontation over the ownership of
white farms could reduce agricultural
output further and have severe
economic consequences for the inclusive
government.
The SA business
delegation met with Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti and
Economic Planning
Minister Elton Mangoma and voiced concerns over the
breakdown of property
rights.
"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.
The South African business leaders also met Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai, other top government officials and members of the
international
donor community and the private sector. In addition, the
delegation met with
President Mugabe in his capacity as Head of
State.
Mugabe said the visit by the South African delegation showed
confidence in
the unity government. Motsepe told the gathering that they
were in Zimbabwe
as pioneers of those people who want to do business with
the inclusive
government.
He added that they were prepared to do
business mutually beneficial to
Zimbabwe and South Africa.
In his
response President Mugabe said he was happy that the politicians had
done
their work and now the business people were doing their part
Last year's
enactment of an empowerment law seeking to transfer control of
foreign firms
to locals unnerved investors. Motsepe openly told Mugabe in an
open forum
that investors were edgy over Harare's belligerent rhetoric.
"The concern
is that there should be no shifting of goalposts a few years
down the line,"
Motsepe told Mugabe at a joint press reception at Zimbabwe
House. "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. I'm very confident and optimistic, Mr President, that
two years from
now, there will be huge investment in this country."
Another business
leader who was part of the delegation told The Zimbabwe
Times: "The whole
region will carry the cost if there is further economic
meltdown in
Zimbabwe. The sub-region as a whole is keen to see Zimbabwe
regain its place
as an important import and export market."
South Africa's
director-general in the presidency, Reverend Frank Chikane,
said Pretoria
was closely monitoring the situation in Zimbabwe.
"We are very concerned
about the situation and we are in constant touch with
the government in
Zimbabwe," he said.
Zimbabwe is South Africa's largest trading partner
and unrest in the
crisis-torn country has led to an influx of Zimbabweans
into South Africa.
War veterans and government supporters are squatting
on about 120
white-owned farms, and there have been attacks against some of
the owners
since the establishment of the inclusive government in
February.
MDC leaders say the dispute has nothing to do with Mugabe's
desire for fair
land distribution, but is instead an attempt to make sure
his party wins
power in elections due in two years time.
At his
February 28 rally attended by over 3 000 supporters of his Zanu-PF
party,
Mugabe said that if whites wanted to stay in Zimbabwe they must do so
on his
terms, and not oppose the seizure of their land.
"If they want to go, we
will open the borders for them. We will give them a
police escort," Mugabe
told supporters to the dismay of many Zimbabweans,
who look to the
government of national unity as a possible solution to the
countries
long-standing economic crisis. "I still hold executive
authority."
Zimbabwe's Parliament has passed constitutional amendments
giving the
government the right to seize farms without
compensation.
The wording of the constitutional amendment is identical to
a clause in a
draft constitution which was rejected in a national referendum
in 2000.
A regional court, the SADC tribunal, ruled in November last year
that the
land grab was illegal. But Mugabe has rubbished the ruling charging
that the
regional court has no jurisdiction over Zimbabwe yet the country is
a
signatory to statutes establishing the courts.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14821
April 8, 2009
By Raymond
Maingire
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's jailed former aid,
Gandhi
Mudzingwa, has made a fresh bid to secure his freedom.
He
filed yet another High Court application Tuesday afternoon seeking his
release from custody on bail.
Human rights lawyer Andrew Makoni told
The Zimbabwe Times Tuesday the matter
had been set down for this Thursday
morning in the High Court.
This comes hardly 24 hours after Mudzingwa's
Supreme Court application was
dismissed by Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku
who concurred with last month's
High Court ruling denying the embattled
political activist bail.
Mudzingwa, who is detained together with
Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) director of security, Kisimusi Dhlamini
and freelance photo journalist
Shadreck Manyere, has been denied bail after
being found not to be "suitable
candidates to be admitted to
bail".
The three are among a group of seven accused persons who are
charged over an
alleged plot to dethrone President Robert Mugabe through
acts of banditry,
insurgency and terrorism.
The state says they are
responsible for five bombings incidents on two
Harare police stations and a
railway line near Norton, 40km southwest of
Harare. The bombing took place
between August and November last year.
Unlike their four alleged
accomplices, the three were denied bail as they
were allegedly found in
possession of evidence proof linking them to their
alleged offences when
they were abducted by state security agents in
December last year. The
nature of the evidence has not been publicly
disclosed.
Their lawyers
now base their fresh application on what they claim to be
changed
circumstances.
"We would be asking the courts to grant us our fresh
application for bail
because of new developments since we were denied our
first application for
bail," said Makoni.
"We are making our
submissions basing on the progression of time. This is to
say it is still
not possible any more for our clients to interfere with
investigations as
previously argued by the state."
Makoni said their clients were abducted
some four months ago and it was now
two months since their first attempt to
seek release from custody was
dismissed by the courts.
"Another point
of argument is that in all these months, the state's case has
not
strengthened to a point of enticing the accused persons to abscond," he
said. "In other words, the state has not created a somewhat inevitable
scenario for their conviction. If anything, the state's case has further
weakened during this period.
"We are asking the courts to consider
the presumption of innocence until one
is proven guilty through leaning in
favour of our clients."
The accused persons are among 32 MDC activists
and human rights activists
seized in Harare and surrounding towns between
October and December last
year.
They were kept in secret captivity
for two months, only to be handed over to
the police on December 22, facing
charges of plotting to overthrow President
Mugabe.
http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=2812&cat=8
Wednesday,
April 08, 2009
Business
Reporter
FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti has tasked banks to put their
houses in order
by enabling their systems to be compliant with the use of
multiple
currencies.
Addressing local and South African business
people on Monday, Minister Biti
said it should not take banks too long to
offer instruments such as cheques
in foreign currency.
"I have asked
them how long it will take them to introduce cheques and I was
told that
they need a month but that is not acceptable I will make sure that
this
happens as soon as possible," the Finance Minister said.
Early this
month, Minister Biti said that banks should quickly adapt to the
use of
multiple currencies to avoid past instances where civil servants and
other
employees had to wait for long hours in queues at most banking halls
across
the country while waiting to access their allowances and salaries.
This
was a result of bank systems not having been activated to accept
foreign
currency transactions on time. Minister Biti said the failure by
banks to
adapt to the new system showed that they are still holed up in the
survival
mode that characterised most businesses during the last 10 years.
"Most
businesses have been in survival mode during the past 10 years with
employees just doing enough to get by but things are different now. We need
to show the world out there that we have a product to sell and stop mourning
about lack of resources in the country," he said.
He added that
situation had left most businesses with "straight jacketed
approach" in the
way that they do business but this would be detrimental to
progress in terms
of the direction that the country wants to take.
"As Government I think
we are now way ahead of you (business) so stop
whining and feeling pity for
yourselves, you have a competitive commodity
that you can use as exchange
value," he said.
However, while most banks have been slow to get off the
block others such as
Premier bank have already taken giant steps to embrace
the use of multiple
currencies.
The bank last week became the first
financial institution in the country to
enable its Automated Teller Machines
to dispense foreign currency.
This comes as several other banks have also
reintroduced the use of
Point-of-Sale machines in most retail outlets to
encourage the use of
plastic money as opposed to cash.
The current
use of cash for all payments is largely viewed as unsustainable
given that
the country is using foreign currencies which it can not print,
and also
taking into consideration the limited amount of foreign currency in
the
country.
Bankers Association of Zimbabwe president Dr John Mangudya told
a tourism
stakeholders meeting two weeks ago that banks were also in the
process of
activating their systems to enable foreigners to use
international cards
locally whenever they visit the country as opposed to
using cash.
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