http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 12:07
Our
Staff
President Robert Mugabe’s week-long absence has added to
speculation about
his health, but his party maintains he is in good health.
Mugabe reportedly
went to Singapore to oversee university postgraduate
studies arrangements
for his daughter Bona, but this has not helped quell
speculation that the
president had health issues to contend
with.
Questions have been raised as to whether it was necessary for
Mugabe to
personally oversee Bona’s registration or aides could have done
that on his
behalf.
That Mugabe favours South-East Asia for his
medical treatments has also
heightened speculation, with some saying the
registration story was a ruse,
with the president actually visiting
Singapore for health reasons.
Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba,
said the nation would know when the
president returned, as his itinerary
could not be made public for security
reasons.
But MDC-T youth
assembly secretary general, Promise Mkwananzi said Mugabe’s
lengthy absence
was cause for concern.
“His absence is causing great uncertainty in
the country,” he said.
“Zimbabweans need to know what is happening
with their president.”
His counterpart in the MDC, Discent Bajila,
said Mugabe’s visit to Singapore
was obviously going to raise speculation
about his health, as this was a
carefully kept secret.
“His
absence, because of his health, is a concern for the country, as the
Cabinet
does not sit when he is away,” he said.
Bajila said if indeed Mugabe
had gone for treatment, then maybe it was time
for the veteran leader to
step aside.
Gabriel Chaibva, a political analyst linked to Zanu PF,
said he was loath to
discuss the president’s health with The Standard,
claiming the paper had a
sinister agenda.
“This is getting
monotonous,” he charged. “I am reluctant to talk to you
because I feel you
have an agenda. each time the president leaves the
country, you raise
speculation.”
Zanu PF was last week due to hold a special politburo
meeting to discuss
what they deemed to be a deliberate slowing-down of the
constitution-making
process.
The party was also supposed to make
a definitive stand on when it wants
elections held, but the meeting had to
be postponed as Mugabe was away.
Mugabe’s trips to the Far East have
often raised speculation. Just over a
year ago, it was rumoured that Mugabe
was unwell and had gone to Singapore,
only for it to emerge that it was
actually his wife Grace, who needed
medical attention.
Mugabe
also frequented Singapore last year, with his party maintaining that
he had
gone there for a cataract operation and there was no need to fear for
his
health.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 11:29
BY
NQABA MATSHAZI
WHILE Zimbabwe prepares to bask in the sparkle of diamonds,
leakages remain
a headache for the sector, with allegations that people in
positions of
power may be benefitting from the illicit trade. Recently, an
Israeli pilot
was caught with US$2 million worth of diamonds, while last
year diamonds
worth a similar amount were found in India.
This
has raised questions on the security of the gemstones.
Farai Maguwu
of the Centre for Research and Development, reckons the problem
lies in the
transportation and storage of the gemstones.
He said diamonds are
usually stored in packages of about US$2 million and it
was a striking
coincidence that in both high-profile smuggling cases,
minerals of a related
value were recovered.
“The volume of diamonds that were found in
India last year is similar to
this one that was allegedly being smuggled out
of the country by the Israeli
and this raises suspicion,” Maguwu
said.
He said it was highly unlikely that the diamonds could have
been smuggled
out of the Marange diamond fields, as the security was
“water-tight”, but
instead pointed a wagging finger at the storage
facilities in Harare.
“There is no way 1 300 pieces could have been
picked up from Marange,”
Maguwu said. “Such volumes can only be taken from
where there are stored.”
He alleged that a hidden hand, with access
to the diamonds and with both
political and financial muscle, was stoking
the illicit trade in the
gemstones.
Moses Mare, who chairs a
parliamentary portfolio committee on mines, echoed
the same sentiments,
saying there were some shenanigans he did not
understand.
“There
is an anomaly in the transportation of diamonds from Marange to
Harare,
because for instance, you hear that a company sorts 20 000 carats in
an hour
yet only 4 000 carats are delivered in Harare,” he said. “There is a
black
hole somewhere.”
Mare, who recently led the portfolio committee tour
to Marange, said there
was something sinister happening at the diamond
fields, particularly with
one of the mining companies.
“When we
got there, they told everyone to leave and only the chief security
officer
who could not answer our questions remained,” he said.
“Something is
not right. I believe the Anti Corruption Commission should
descend on
Chiadzwa. They will discover no less US$1 billion worth of
diamonds.”
Mare believes the diamonds uncovered at the airport
were only the tip of the
iceberg, as some gemstones could have been smuggled
through borders,
particularly those that are reportedly found in
Mozambique.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena would not be drawn to
comment on the
leakages, saying security at the mines and during
transportation was the
duty of the respective mining houses.
“It
is the responsibility of the companies, we work with them when it comes
to
tracing the leakages but it is their duty,” he said. “Already they work
with
our minerals unit.”
Zimbabwe has pinned its hopes of economic growth
on Marange diamonds, but
Finance minister, Tendai Biti says the gemstones
are not performing.
He has often clashed with the Minister if Mines
and Mining Development,
Obert Mpofu, on the little revenue that Treasury
gets from diamonds.
Recently Mpofu said the arrest of the Israeli
showed that the government was
committed to plugging
leakages.
“The fact that we are arresting these people shows how
diligent and strict
we are with such people, because of the strictness
government puts into
diamond movement,” he said.
Masimirembwa
suspects De Beer is behind leakages
Zimbabwe Mining Development
Corporation boss, Goodwills Masimirembwa said
they were working on cutting
on leakages, but suggested that the leaked
diamonds could have been taken
out of the country by De Beers, which was
exploring in Marange before the
government came in.
“If you look closely at both these cases, the
diamonds emanated from South
Africa and we cannot rule out the involvement
of De Beers,” he said.
Masimirembwa said De Beers had been removing
diamonds over a long period and
questioned whether these were not the
gemstones on the market. De Beers has
in the past disputed allegations
raised by government that it was looting
gems.
The company said
its operations in Marange were above board.
Masimirembwa disputed
that leakages could have emanated from the
transportation of the gemstones,
as the police and the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority (Zimra) were also
involved.
But Masimirembwa conceded that the mining fields were vast
and it was
difficult for the companies to police the whole area. This, he
said, could
result in some gemstones finding their way onto the parallel
market.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012
11:35
BY PATRICE MAKOVA
THE Constitution Select Committee (Copac) says
the completion of the draft
constitution is well on course, with a final
revision of all the chapters
expected to be completed by Tuesday this week.
Copac co-chairperson, Douglas
Mwo-nzora, said the revision of 12 out of the
17 chapters was completed last
Thursday, while the remaining chapters would
be concluded by mid-week, in
time for the publication of the final draft by
the end of the month. He said
Chapter 5, which deals with the principles of
devolution, was merged with
Chapter 14, which outlines the structures of
devolution, and sets out the
criteria for selecting provincial governments
and their jurisdiction.
“We have unpacked devolution. It will be in
the constitution in accordance
with the wishes of the people,” said
Mwonzora.
President Robert Mugabe told the annual meeting of
traditional chiefs in
Bulawayo last month that the country was too small to
be divided into
“pieces”, while describing devolution as divisive. His
spokesperson, George
Charamba, has also questioned some clauses in the draft
constitution saying
they sought to relegate Zimbabwe from its sovereign
status to a non-State
government by foreign laws. Charamba said the
devolution being pushed in the
draft constitution was impossible in a
unitary state and suggested that its
proponents were advocating for future
secession.
Meanwhile Mwonzora, who is also the MDC-T spokesperson,
said his party was
dismayed by the upsurge in cases of violence across the
country being
targeted at mostly the poor and supporters of his
party.
Cases of violence in the last month have been reported in
Mbare,
Sunningdale, Zaka, Bikita and Sanyati. Mwonzora said a senior Zanu PF
official linked to the Mbare militia outfit, Chipangano, recently uttered
statements ostensibly threatening Marondera Central MP, Ian Kay and “the
whites in Marondera” with death.
He said the MDC takes such
threats seriously as more than 200 of its members
were murdered in 2008 in
the run up to the bloody June Presidential election
runoff.
“We
call on the Police to arrest the official and charge him with
threatening
the peace of Marondera residents, threatening a person with
death, and for
promoting terrorism,” said Mwonzora.
He said suspected Zanu PF
supporters who torched centenarian headman Zimunya
Muonde’s homestead and
farming equipment in Bikita recently should also be
arrested as the culprits
were well-known in the area.
The MDC-T spokesperson said the
coalition government should deal with the
issue of violence before elections
are held. Zanu PF has insisted that
elections will be held this year, with
or without a new constitution.
“The issue for the MDC has never been
when an election will be held but the
conditions under which those elections
must be held,” said Mwonzora.
“The MDC’s position is that elections
can only be done in terms of the
Global Political Agreement. Importantly,
the President must agree with the
Prime Minister on the date of an
election.”
Election roadmap must be respected:
Mwonzora
Mwonzora reiterated his party’s position that the election must
follow the
roadmap adopted by the negotiators and Sadc facilitator,
President Jacob
Zuma of South Africa.
He also said political parties
in the inclusive government must allow the
constitution-making process to be
completed and called for an end to all
forms of state sponsored violence
while legislative reforms, including media
and security sector reforms, must
be made.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012
11:33
GWERU — The Zimbabwe Environmental Law Association (Zela) has
accused
government of failing to negotiate contracts that benefit local
communities
when awarding foreign-owned co-mpanies mining rights. Zela is a
local
organisation that promotes rights of poor communities to drive
economic
benefits from natural resources found in their areas and fights
against
exploitation by multinational and domestic companies involved in the
extraction of such resources.
Mutuso Dhliwayo, director of Zela,
said the poorly negotiated contracts have
failed to unlock value to the
country and thereby failing to add value to
the communities.
“The
contracts are poorly negotiated and do not benefit the country and the
communities, yet the mining companies are looting the
resources.”
He attributed the problem to the old and archaic legal
framework governing
the mining sector.
“The Mines and Mineral Act
of 1961 is an old colonial act which can no
longer address socio-cultural,
environmental and economic issues associated
with mining in the modern day.
We need a new act and the 1961 Act has to go
as of yesterday.”
He
said negotiations ofthe contracts must be done with input from
parliament,
communities and other stakeholders.
Zela projects coordinator Gilbert
Makore applauded the Community Ownership
Scheme Trusts but was quick to add
that a lot more still needed to be done
for communities to benefit from such
projects.
The scheme is a government initiative to empower rural
communities by giving
them a 10% stake in companies that exploit natural
resources in their areas.
— By Rutendo Mawere
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 11:22
BY
LESLEY WURAYAYI
FIVE years after the government declared Lupane coal-bed
methane gas a
priority project, an investor is yet to be found. Mines
minister, Obert
Mpofu, conceded that Zimbabwe stood to benefit if the gas
was exploited, but
would not explain the delay in finding an
investor.
“The main challenge has been securing investors for the
deposits and it is a
large area from Lupane to Botswana so serious
investments are to be made. We
stand to benefit in a lot of areas, estimated
revenue of up to a billion
dollars and commodities like fertiliser, petrol
and power generation,” he
said.
Industry experts say the Hwange
area holds vast deposits of coal-bed methane
gas — some of it estimated to
be 95% pure methane — hidden between Hwange
and neighbouring
Botswana.
In 2007, the government declared the exploration of the gas
project a
priority area, but to date no meaningful development has taken
place in the
area.
Critics blame policy instability and
indigenisation laws for driving out
investors, leaving the Lupane project in
limbo.
“One of the country’s biggest challenges has been the
Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Act, which is deterring potential
investors in such
projects. This case could also be one whereby the
government is lax since it’s
not as lucrative as the diamond industry,” said
one economist who requested
anonymity.
But Mpofu chose to differ,
arguing that he was not aware of any investor who
had been driven out
because of the indigenisation programme.
“It’s just a myth that the
Indigenisation Act discouraged investors from
investing in mining
activities. Countries around us all have indigenisation
clauses one way or
another in their economies. Even America has an
indigenisation policy. This
is clearly the work of people who hate the way
we run our country,” he
added.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, Gideon Gono, has
warned the country
might lose out on its rich coal-bed methane gas reserves
as Botswana has
already started tapping into the shared
resource.
Last October, Energy and Power Development deputy minister,
Hubert
Nyanhongo, also hinted that the gas was escaping through holes
drilled by an
unnamed French firm, which abandoned exploration five years
ago.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 11:19
BY TAWANDA
MARWIZI AND OUR STAFF
URAYAYI
Nendanga shakes his head as he watches
his wilting crop from the shade of
his hut.
The 45-year-old man
cannot stomach another year of drought as it entails
starvation for his
family, unless donor organisations come to his rescue. He
has already lost
hope of harvesting any crops from his sandy field.
“I have
decided to have my cattle and goats feed on the wilting crops so
that at
least they can gain weight for the meantime,” said Nendanga.
He is
one of the thousands of villagers in Buhera district in Manicaland
province
who have resigned to fate and have driven their livestock to graze
on the
wilting crops.
Some of the villagers are stocking the crops to feed
their livestock later
when all the grass is gone.
“If we don’t do
that all our livestock would die this year,” said Amos
Chiteke, another
villager.
When The Standard toured the area recently, the
temperatures were
unbearable, forcing most villagers to seek shelter under
shades of trees and
huts.Even the usually energetic and playful children
could not dare brave
the sweltering heat.
A local Arex official
Robson Masaiti said even drought resistant crops that
have been recommended
for the areas also wilted this year.
“For the past three years we
have been experiencing food shortages,” said
Masaiti. “But this time it is
serious because even some crops like sorghum
and millet also
failed.”
He said the district was also likely to experience serious
water and
pastures shortage.
“From the look of things, our water
sources are not full and the pastures
are not enough and very soon livestock
will be in danger in this district,”
said Masaiti.
MP for Buhera
South, Naison Nemadziva said he has started working with the
district
administrator to source food for the people in the
constituency.
“There is no need to hire agriculture experts to tell
us that this is
another year of drought and I have already talked to the
district
administrator about that,” said Nemadziva. He said most villagers
were
travelling as far as Chivhu and Wedza to fetch maize or to do piece
jobs
for food.
Councillor of ward 20 in Chimanimani district,
Zekias Nhachi, said food that
is being provided by government has been
hijacked by Zanu PF militia, who
are distributing it only to their party
supporters.
“We have people here who are going to bed without eating
anything these
days,” said Nhachi. “The situation is really serious. We need
food aid here
as a matter of urgency.”
Food shortages is Masvingo
could further be worsened by the recent ban of 29
non-governmental
organisations that were operating in the province.
Already, villagers
are feeling the pinch of the ban as some families are
surviving on one meal
a day.
The United Nations estimates 1,5 million people need food aid
in the
country. The number of people who need food assistance may increase
as most
parts of the country received poor rains.
Crop assessment
statistics
A crop assessment carried by the Ministry of Agriculture,
Mechanisation and
Irrigation Development in February this year showed that
about 498 144 ha,
which represented 30% of the total area planted to maize,
was a write off.
“The maize crop in the southern parts of the country
such as Masvingo,
Matabeleland South and some parts of Matabeleland North
were showing signs
of temporary and permanent wilting,” says the report.
“Stunted growth was
evident in Masvingo and Matabeleland South due to lack
of rainfall.”
The assessment report says a total of 1 689 608 ha had
been planted to maize
compared to 2 096 034 ha during the 2010-11 planting
season. This is a
decrease of 19%.
“This decrease is attributed
mainly to the late onset of the season in most
parts and dry conditions
which prevailed on the southern provinces in
January 2012,” says the report.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 11:11
BY JENNIFER
DUBE AND TATENDA CHITAGU
JUST for receiving a donation of a 10kg bag of seed
from the MDC-T, an
80-year-old grandfather is living in fear for his life
and that of his
family. Village headman Muranganwa, whose real name is
Zimunya Muonde, of
Bikita district in Masvingo province recently survived
two arson attacks
from suspected Zanu PF militia and war veterans after they
accused him of
accepting a donation from “sellouts”.
A third
attack, which was carried out within a space of days, was directed
at his
son Vikirayi’s homestead.
“We rue why the night falls because that is
when our troubles begin,”
Muranganwa’s wife Nyevero, said a fortnight
ago.
“We are living in fear because the assailants have been
repeating the arson
attacks, from Wednesday when my son’s huts were torched,
then Thursday at my
homestead, before they struck again
Saturday.”
She added: “We have not slept for the past five
days.”
Such is the fear that has gripped most parts of the country as
politically-motivated violence increases with Zanu PF pushing for polls with
or without a new constitution that sets minimum conditions for free and fair
elections.
President Robert Mugabe appears to have raised
political emotions when he
declared recently that elections would be held
this year. Talk of elections
reminds Zimbabweans of the bloody violence that
engulfed the country during
the 2008 polls, in which the MDC-T claims 200 of
its supporters were
murdered by Zanu PF militia and state security
agents.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), a local human rights
organisation,
confirmed the surge in cases of politically-motivated human
rights
violations in the past two months. It recorded about 800 such
cases.
In its latest report, ZPP said 89 cases were recorded in
Manicaland, down
from 94 in January, with one death registered after Zanu PF
supporters
assaulted one of their own.
The bulk of cases in the
province occurred during the week of Mugabe’s 88th
birthday celebrations.
Commuter omnibus operators were forced to divert from
their usual routes to
ferry people to Mugabe’s bash venue, without payment.
“The increase
can be directly linked to rising political tensions as a
result of the move
to push for elections this year,” ZPP wrote. “Cases of
politically-motivated
violations remain high and the atmosphere has remained
volatile in the
Midlands, Manicaland and Masvingo provinces with a
significant rise in
Mashonaland West Province.”
An MDC-T activist, Rhinos Musareva from
Zaka West, was abducted and
assaulted by suspected Zanu PF militia and war
veterans last month before
being handed over to the police where he was
charged for theft.
Zaka West MP Festus Dumbu confirmed the abduction
of Musareva, who is the
constituency’s secretary for defence and
security.
“He was taken in handcuffs to a homestead of Mr Tsvana, a
Zanu PF activist,
where he was severely assaulted and dragged around the
yard. They also used
burning firewood with which they tortured him during
the assault,” Dumbu
said.
In Chipinge South, MDC-T supporters
were threatened with death by suspected
Zanu PF youth militia after they
wore party regalia and chanted slogans at a
colleague’s
funeral.
MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora expressed dismay at the
upsurge of
violence across the country. He said most of the cases recorded
were at the
instigation of Zanu PF, adding that perpetrators of violence
should be
prosecuted.
“We have received reports of
politically-motivated murders in Zaka, cases of
arson and also psychological
violence whereby Zanu PF militia constantly
instill fear in citizens,
especially the poor, like vegetable vendors, by
reminding them of what they
did to them in 2008,” said Mwonzora. “We urge
the police to investigate all
cases related to violence and human rights
abuses in order to bring the
culprits to book.”
Mwonzora said MDC-T supporters in drought-hit
regions such as Manicaland and
Masvingo provinces, were also being denied
food assistance.
“We have also received reports of deprivation of
food to some citizens in
rural areas and this is a form of violence,” said
Mwonzora.
Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said he could not comment
on cases of
violence and human rights abuses as they were handled by
Jomic.
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena said it was difficult to
comment on the
issue as police “cases are just treated as cases and not
classified as
political or human rights abuses”.
MDC
representative in Jomic, Qhubani Moyo, said violence and human rights
abuses
had declined since the formation of the coalition government. He
however
added that sporadic cases were being reported from various parts of
the
country.
“There are remnants of Zanu PF militia and militants who
remain resistant to
the new order but we hope they will start respecting the
law soon,” said
Moyo.
Chipanagano terror in
Sunningdale
Political violence has also engulfed urban areas, the MDC-T’s
political
stronghold. A Zanu PF-aligned militia group, Chipangano, continues
to
terrorise people who do not support the former liberation war party in
Mbare
and Sunningdale suburbs.
The group recently extended its
political influence to Mashonaland East
province where it issued death
threats to Iain Kay “and the whites in
Marondera” querying why a white
person was elected legislator in a largely
black community.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 11:41
BY PATRICE
MAKOVA
THOUSANDS of unsuspecting motorists in the country are coughing up
more for
a product which costs less on the market as some petroleum
companies and
service stations in the country are clandestinely importing
blended fuel,
but selling it as unleaded petrol. Tests done by the
University of Zimbabwe’s
Chemistry department recently show that some of
the fuel which has found
itself at the country’s service stations was
already blended, yet motorists
are made to believe it is unleaded petrol
which costs more.
“From the respective peak retention times and
chromato-graphric profiles
(laboratory technique to separate mixtures), it
was evident that the samples
provided were a petrol blend, whose
constituents were typical of that
material,” reads findings of the
analysis.
The tests show that some of the so-called unleaded petrol
carries between 3
to 10% ethanol.
Zimbabwe Energy Regulatory
Authority (Zera) chief executive officer, Gloria
Magombo said if there were
companies purporting to be selling unleaded
petrol, this would be in
contravention of the fuel specifications as
stipulated in the Government
Gazette, General Notice 430 of 2011 published
on October 14 last
year.
Although oil companies contacted by The Standard were not eager
to comment
on the issue referring questions to the National Oil Company of
Zimbabwe
(Noczim), sources in the industry said the trend has been going on
for many
years.
A Noczim official who spoke on condition of
anonymity said some of the
companies were buying cheap and sometimes poor
quality blended fuel from
“pirate” ships docked at Beira port in Mozambique
and transporting the
product by road instead of using the pipeline which is
subjected to tests by
authorities.
He said the country could be
losing millions of dollars in customs duty
every month as some of the fuel
tankers coming into the country were falsely
declaring that they were
bringing in paraffin or diesel which attracts less
duty, yet they would be
carrying petrol.
“This is why some fuel importers are resisting using
the oil pipeline
preferring to use the road because they connive with
corrupt customs
officials in order to beat the system and maximise their
profits,” said the
official.
“At the end of the day, it is the
country which suffers because millions of
dollars in potential revenue which
should otherwise be used to buy food or
medicine end up being pocketed by a
few individuals who are
politically-connected.”
Minister of
Energy and Power Development, Elton Mangoma said although he was
not yet
aware of the tests done by the UZ, Zera was now handling all the
issues to
do with the quality of fuel coming into the country.
He said regular
tests were being carried out on fuel coming through the
pipeline, but it was
difficult to monitor tankers bringing the product by
road.
“That
is why we have put a levy to penalise importers bringing fuel using
tankers.
It becomes difficult to know what they are up to and determine
whether their
product is good or sub-standard,” said Mangoma. He said it was
much cheaper
to use the pipeline than tankers which damage the country’s
roads.
Nothing wrong with Green fuel
An industry source
said some fuel companies were not eager to promote E10,
the locally blended
ethanol produced by the US$600 million Green Fuel’s
Chisumbanje plant
because they knew that their fuel was already blended.
E10 currently
costs about US$1,39 while unleaded costs around US$1,44.
An engineer
with one oil company said the current resistance to E10 stemmed
from lack of
knowledge by motorists who believe that the product would
damage their
vehicles.
“In reality the market has been awash with ethanol blended
fuel which
motorists have been unknowingly using for the past 20 years,” he
said. “Fuel
marketers do not want to tell motorists that E10 is safe and a
good
alternative because they want people to continue paying
more.”
But the Zera boss said the fuel body was working closely with
National Oil
Infrastructure Company (Noic), a subsidiary of Noczim, which
carries out
quality checks on fuel which is largely being imported through
the pipeline
from Beira.
“The fuel is tested before injection
into the pipeline and Nioc approves or
rejects any fuel that does not meet
the minimum specifications,” Magombo
said, adding that random tests were
also taken at service stations.
She said the proposed mandatory
blending of petrol with ethanol was a policy
issue which was currently being
addressed by the government, with Zera’s
role being to ensure that all
stakeholder interests and concerns are
addressed.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 11:47
BY OUR
STAFF
NOMATTER Tagarira alias Rotina Mavhunga, who made headlines in 2007
after
misleading President Robert Mugabe and other prominent Zanu (PF)
politicians
that she had powers to extract diesel from a rock, was recently
released
from prison and is now a Christian. An official at Chinhoyi Prison
identified as Chaplain Ngulube confirmed Mavhunga’s release on March 29 this
year.
“Indeed she is now a converted believer and is attending
AFM church after
our preaching sessions at the prison,” said Ngulube. “She
has asked for
prayers to strengthen her as she doesn’t want to be associated
with other
witchdoctors who may want to harm her.”
Mavhunga was
sentenced in 2010 to 27 months in prison for defrauding the
state and
misrepresenting to government officials that petroleum was oozing
from a
rock at Maningwa Hills in Chinhoyi.
High-ranking Cabinet ministers at
the time formed a special committee tasked
by President Robert Mugabe to
look into the diesel find. These were the
Minister of Defence, Sydney
Sekeramayi, Minister of Home Affairs, Kembo
Mohadi and Security minister,
Didymus Mutasa.
However, Mavhunga at the time told the enthralled
ministers that she was
under instruction from the spirit of one “Sekuru
Dombo” to discover more
wealth that could help the country out of the
economic challenges at the
time.
Mavhunga’s aides duped the
ministers by using a pipe lodged between rocks at
the summit of Maningwa
Hills to pour diesel down where the ministers were
gathered to witness the
“spectacular” event.
The committee reported back that she was indeed
able to produce fuel out of
a granite rock. A second mission sent by Mugabe
expressed doubts about the
miraculous diesel flowing from the rocks, and she
subsequently went on the
run before she was arrested.
The Zanu PF
government planned to use the diesel and gold findings to boost
the
country’s national wealth.
Mavhunga received several presents,
including a farm and a farm house valued
at ZW$5 billion.
In
court, the state argued that she committed an offence by saying there was
diesel in Maningwa, when in actual fact she knew this was
false.
The state pointed out that Mavhunga’s acts interfered with the
ordinary
comfort, convenience and peace of the public.
Mavhunga
was also charged on another fraud charge in which she allegedly
sold a stone
weighing about 18kg, which she claimed was gold, in return for
a cow.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 12:21
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
United Family International Church (UFIC) leader, Emmanuel
Makandiwa, on
Friday night restricted his sermon at the highly publicised
Judgment Night
at the National Sports Stadium to spiritual matters, contrary
to
expectations that he would predict a perilous future for the country.
Ahead
of the day, there was widespread speculation that Makandiwa, like
Temitope
Balogun Joshua of the Synagogue Church of All Nations, who
predicted the
death of Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika, would foretell
a near
doomsday scenario for Zimbabwe in the days to
come.
Makandiwa set tongues wagging when it was revealed his
followers’ enemies
would be destroyed on “the day of the
Judgement”.
In what may have been aimed at people who were
speculating about his
statements, Makandiwa said: “It is difficult to
prophesy Zimbabweans. They
misinterpret the prophecy. If you cannot
interpret prophecy, do other
things. There are many other things one can
do.”
However, the only time he mentioned politicians directly was in
his
greetings when he acknowledged the presence of leaders from “the
political
sector”.
Among those present, were Media, Information
and Publicity minister, Webster
Shamu, Zanu PF central committee member,
Nyasha Chikwinya, Tourism minister,
Walter Mzembi and Shurugwi South MP,
Anastasia Ndlovu.
Businessman Philip Chiyangwa was also among the
congregants.
Makandiwa’s preaching was based on three bible readings
— Exodus 12 and 2
Kings 23 verses 21-24, which talk about the Passover, and
1 Peter 1 verses
9-12 which centres on salvation.
He also
preached about prosperity and healing, among other things.
Clad in a
light grey suit, a black shirt, cream waistcoat and tie, and black
shoes,
Makandiwa walked into the stadium a few minutes before 11pm, to be
greeted
with a standing ovation and thunderous cheers.
A few minutes into his
preaching, Makandiwa called out the name of a young
boy who was sitting at
one of the bays with his parents.
He prophesied about the boy and his
family, telling them his mother’s mobile
number and his sister’s name
without asking for clues.
This was the first of the many prophecies
he made, including one where he
called for the attention of a woman called
Christine from the crowd. Several
women ran to the altar before he told them
he was smelling paraffin and was
wondering if the person he wanted worked at
a filling station, although he
was not “seeing” petrol.
Another
woman emerged from the crowd and told him her name was Christine
Paraffin.
Makandiwa called many people from the crowd by their
names and would make
them confirm they had never met him
before.
Thereafter he would describe the way leading to their homes
and giving
descriptions of property in their houses. He would then make his
prophecies
afterwards.
He told one woman to be alert at 3:09am on
Thursday as thieves would break
into her house. He said if they managed to
steal anything, he would give her
their names and the serial numbers of all
stolen property.
One man was told the type of car he drives and its
number plates before
being advised to sell it and buy another as he risked
an accident if he
continued using it.
The man was given the
address to a building project he is working on and
directions to the
stand.
Together with his spiritual friend, Uebert Angel, Makandiwa
walked around
the stadium laying his hands on people who were desperate for
his touch.
Winding up his sermon just before 6am, he reiterated that
all evil which was
afflicting some of the attendees had been destroyed, but
only if they
believed in Jesus.
“We are not saying your enemies must
die,” he said. “But they must repent.
“Why should the person who is
bewitching you live? They must die and this is
biblical.”
Makandiwa said the event was a different type of
football that had never
been played at the stadium.
As if to
agree with him, some people blew vuvuzelas throughout the night and
when
there was sound loss during a Mahendere performance, the whole stadium
was
thrown into wild shouts of disapproval, typical of soccer fans.
Tight
security which included UFIC personnel and police ensured there was no
chaos.
People started arriving at the 60 000 seater stadium as
early as 8am
although the advertisements were clear the event would start in
the evening.
Commuter omnibuses recorded good business, ferrying
people to the stadium
throughout the day.
Some people walked from
nearby suburbs such as Warren Park, Westlea,
Kambuzuma, Kuwadzana and
Meyrick Park.
By 8pm on Friday, most bays were already full and
security personnel were at
a loss as to how to accommodate the rest of the
crowd. Even the chairs
arranged in the playground for VVIPs and VIPs were
all occupied.
Makandiwa’s wife’s purple outfit too turned many
heads.
The curious crowd joined the UFIC praise team in song and
dance well before
8pm.
Also present were pastors from the region,
including three from Angola who
said they were seeking Makandiwa’s anointing
so they could be able to heal
their fellow citizens who were dying of
curable diseases.
Lost: Shamu praises Jesus with fist
More
excited was the crowd when Shamu joined Mahendere Brothers on stage and
belted out ther song they had practiced for the night.
The
crowd seemed to enjoy Shamu's energetic dancing, which some youths said
reminded them of of the group, The Coopl Crooners, complete with a matching
white suit.
Shamu however drew laughter from the crowd when,
instead of lifting an open
palm when saying praise Jesus in greetingg the
crowd per usual church
practice, lifted a fist before realising his mistake
and changing to a palm.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 15:40
By LESLEY
WURAYAYI
RULING in the case in which human rights activist Sten Zvorwadza is
facing a
charge of “posing a threat of future violence” has been postponed
to
Tuesday. Presiding Magistrate Victoria Mashamba postponed the ruling last
week noting she had not yet received an application for discharge papers
filed by the defence.
According to the defence led by Jeremiah
Bamu from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights, Zvorwadza was approached by
Zanu PF youths while installing
underground paraffin tanks at the Harare
Municipality pump house near Matapi
in Mbare.
The youths ordered
Zvorwadza to stop his work claiming that Mbare was a Zanu
PF territory and
threatened him with unspecified action. Zvorwadza made a
report at Mbare
Police station, but was instead incarnated at Matapi cells.
He was
then accused of threatening to murder Zanu PF officials Clifford
Mazarura,
chairperson of Mbare district and Clever Ntabande, secretary of
the same
district.
Zvorwadza, who is the Restoration of Human Rights
vice-president and
spokesperson, is facing the charge under Section 186 of
the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act.
Under cross
examination, one of the witnesses made a startling revelation
that Zanu PF
sent as many as 200 youths to disrupt businesses in the same
area where
businessman Alex Mashamhanda was barred from constructing a
service station
and a food court.
Zvorwadza, who was abused at Matapi by policemen,
is planning to lobby for
the closure of the holding cells arguing that they
were not fit for human
beings.
“After the ruling we will advocate
for renovations to be done on remand
prisons especially Matapi which was
declared unfit for human habitation in
2004 but is still operational to
date,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 15:42
AT least 11 people had
died in road accidents across the country by
yesterday, the second day of
the Easter holiday, police have said. The
Easter holiday started on Friday
and runs up until tomorrow.
Statistics from police show that there
were 152 accidents across the country
and 120 people were injured by
yesterday.
Inspector Blessmore Chishaka, Officer-in-Charge of Press
and Public
Relations yesterday said the police had impounded 265 vehicles
for various
offences such as being defective or being
unregistered.
He said police had issued a total of 8 014 tickets for
various offences.
Chishaka attributed the accidents to human error —
speeding or misjudgement
while overtaking.
He however said the
death toll had gone down as compared to the same period
last year, but
police “will continue imploring our drivers to follow the
rules of the
roads”.
During the same period last year 25 lives were lost in
accidents.
Last week, police announced that officers woAAAuld be
deployed on the
country’s major roads to ensure an accident-free Easter
Holiday.
The operation, code-named “Safe Easter Holiday”, was meant
to ensure sanity
prevailed on the roads.
Holidays in Zimbabwe
have become synonymous with a high number of accidents
and some people
believe they are linked to the country’s poor road network
and
speeding.
—By Our Staff
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012
15:44
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE AND PATRICE MAKOVA
ATTEMPTS by the Minister
of Youth Development, Indigenisation and
Empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere, to
compulsorily acquire mines are
unconstitutional and Cabinet has never
approved a nationalisation policy,
Finance minister Tendai Biti has said.
Biti’s comments came after Kasukuwere
issued a notice last week declaring
that all mining companies that had not
regularised their shareholding must
note that 51% of their shares were now
owned by the state.
He
said any business transacted in respect of the 51% shall have been
conducted
on behalf of government with effect from September last
year.
“Companies are hereby advised that they are now dealing with
assets of the
state in respect to the 51% indigenised portion and any
attempts to defraud
the state will result in prosecution,” said the
notice.
But Biti, a lawyer, said Kasukuwere had no mandate to
implement
nationalisation as the country had no such a policy on
mines.
“Government of Zimbabwe has no policy of nationalisation, in
any event, this
is unconstitutional, save for the land issue but there has
to be fair and
immediate compensation,” said Biti. “Nationalisation of mines
is outside his
mandate.”
“This is unlawful,” said
Biti.
“The Indigenisation and Empowerment Act of March 2010 makes it
clear that
where shares are ceded money has to change hands. He is breaching
his own
regulations.”
The Finance minister said a lot of Zanu PF
ministers, including those in
Cabinet, were against Kasukuwere’s attempts to
forcibly acquire mines.
He said government acted as a collective
entity and “none of us can run amok
like a mad dog. He is clearly running
amok.”
Biti said the publication of the notice would not have effect
on business or
investment as it was clear that Kasukuwere was just
grandstanding.
“It is unfortunate that someone is trying to use
government programmes to
further political ambitions,” said
Biti.
Economic planning minister, Tapiwa Mashakada said Kasukuwere’s
announcement
had created a lot of anxiety among investors and the general
public who were
now worried about the possible economic impact of such
threats.
He said investors must be given adequate time to comply,
instead of rushing
them at a time government and individuals in the country
had no money to pay
for the shares as required by the law.
“That
decision is null and void because it is arbitrary, unilateral and not
a
collective position of cabinet,” said the minister. “I want to assure
investors that Zimbabwe is open for business as government is not going to
expropriate or nationalise their companies.”
Mashakada said
although over US$6 billion investment projects were approved
last year, none
of them had been implemented up to date because of the
overtones of
expropriation and nationalisation coming from the likes of
Kasukuwere.
“Investors want predictability and consistency,” he
said.
Mashakada said Zimbabwe was last year rated third in Africa in
terms of
preferred investment destination, but the risks brought by the
indigenisation regulations were a threat to foreign direct investment which
was necessary to achieve growth and generate employment as outlined in the
Medium Term Plan.
Deputy minister of Youth Development, Tongai
Matutu also said Kasukuwere’s
statement was not supported by law and meant
to create chaos and
despondency.
“Perhaps he (Kasukuwere) made
the statement out of frustration,” he said.
“He knows that the law provides
for penalties, but unfortunately it does not
say what happens when a company
refuses to comply with the indigenisation
Act.”
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai on Thursday threatened to take action
against Kasukuwere
claiming that he does not have authority to unilaterally
seize private
companies. He said the government had not yet come up with a
position over
the issue.
Repeated attempts to get a comment from Kasukuwere
yesterday were fruitless.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 15:46
BY NQOBANI
NDLOVU
BULAWAYO — The Deputy Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban
Development, Sesil Zwidzai, has dismissed as “a non-event” the suspension of
Gwanda Mayor Lionel De Necker by his boss, Minister Ignatius Chombo. Zvidzai
called for the amendment of the Urban Council’s Act, which he said was being
abused by the Local Government minister.
Chombo last week fired
De Necker after he refused to appoint an alleged
Zanu-PF functionary, a Mrs
P Nkala, as a Gwanda Municipality Chamber
secretary.
The minister
accused De Necker of insubordination and defying his orders,
but Zvidzai on
Friday told The Standard that the mayor could still go to
work.
“Chombo is going wild shooting at everybody using the Act.
The guy still can’t
face the reality that his Zanu-PF party is no longer
running the country’s
urban councils,” Zvidzai said in an
interview.
Zvidzai said the decision to fire the Gwanda mayor was
done without
consultation.
“The dismissal is a nullity and the
mayor should go back to work,” he said.
In a letter in our possession
dated April 4 and addressed to De Necker,
Chombo suspended the mayor for
alleged insubordination.
“Following your deliberate defiance of my
directive of 30 November 2011
issued in terms of Section 314 of the Urban
Councils Act (Chapter29: 15),
directing council to appoint Mrs P Nkala as
the substantive Chamber
Secretary for Gwanda Municipality as approved by the
Local Government Board,
I hereby, in terms of Section 114 of the afore-cited
Act, suspend you from
being a councillor for Gwanda Municipality with
immediate effect,” said
Chombo.
“After you received my directive,
you proceeded to challenge the activities
of the Local Government Board
appointed to carry out its responsibilities as
specified in the Urban
Councils Act. Furthermore, you even questioned the
credibility of the Local
Government Board which was setup in terms of the
law thus undermining the
powers of both the Minister and Board.”
De Necker, who was suspended
without pay, is not supposed to conduct any
business within or outside
council premises.
Chombo copied De Necker’s suspension letter to
Matabeleland South Zanu PF
governor, Angeline Masuku, provincial
administrator, David Mpofu and town
clerk George Mlilo.
Early
this year, Chombo suspended Mutare mayor, Brian James on allegations
of
misconduct. Chombo claimed the suspension of James was in the interest of
ensuring sound local governance for effective and efficient service delivery
in Mutare City.
MDC to challenge De Necker’s
dismissal
Yesterday, the Welshman Ncube-led MDC said it would challenge
the dismissal
of De Necker.
“We will use every avenue available,
politically and legally, to make sure
that this unjust act is overturned,”
MDC organising secretary, Qhubani Moyo,
said.
He accused Chombo
of trying to destabilise the Gwanda council, dominated by
the former
opposition. Chombo could not be reached for comment yesterday.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 15:30
BY NDAMU
SANDU
A storm is brewing after the National Parks and Wildlife Management
Authority said it would not renew leases for six licence holders awarded to
operate hunting concessions 10 years ago. The authority’s board resolved
last year not to renew expired leases saying the concessions should revert
back to its management so that it would “sweat” the
asset.
According to the board resolution of a meeting held in April
2011 “all
expired leases must revert to the authority where they will be
managed under
a different business model”.
The authority wants to auction
the concessions to raise money for its
operations after it was weaned off
Treasury funds.
This paper was told last week that six operators with
expired leases —
Charara Safaris, Doma, Tuli, Sengwa, Matetsi and Makuti —
were told to pack
and go after their leases expired on December
31.
The authority has appointed KM Auctions to conduct an auction on
the three
concessions — Charara, Makuti and Tuli — at Pandhari Lodge on
April 27. The
fate of the other three could not be ascertained yesterday.
Standardbusiness
understands that a court injunction would be filed on
Tuesday to stop the
auction.
This has riled the affected players
who are now alleging that the authority
is selectively applying the rules
after it recently extended the leases for
some
operators.
According to the players, National Parks should give them
a leeway so that
they pay in installments arguing that there is a
precedent.
“Last year, when Chirisa’s licence expired, it was renewed
after it was
agreed that the safari operator would pay US$180 000 in
installments,” said
an operator.
“Chiwure North paid US$300 000
under installments. Unit 6 in Victoria Falls
paid US$100 000 in renewal
fees. We are saying why is it that some leases
which expired were renewed
but they refuse to renew ours.”
Chirisa, Chiwure North and Unit 6 are
owned by senior politicians and
businessmen.
Thandiwe
Nkomo-Ebrahim, who owns Tuli, said last week that they were trying
to appeal
for renewal “but so far we are not succeeding”.
She said they were
almost chucked out after five years but managed to
convince the authority to
extend the lease.
According to her, the process is not uniform as
some players had their
leases extended.
Retired Major-General
Paradzai Zimondi, who owns Charara Safaris, told
Standardbusiness on Tuesday
that he was not aware of problems his company
was facing with its
licensing.
Vitalis Chadenga, the authority’s director-general, said
he is constrained
by ethics not to discuss the authority’s business with
clients in the press.
He however added that leases are given for a
specific period and once they
expire, the concessions revert to the
authority.
Chadenga said he was not aware of any discussions underway
for the extension
of the leases.
When he was told that the
affected operators were alleging favouritism in
the extension of the leases,
Chadenga said players with concerns were “free
to talk to me, the board or
ministry (Environment and Natural Resources
Management)”.
The
operators got into the industry when Mugabe instructed the then Tourism
minister, Victoria Chitepo, to ensure that blacks venture into the then
white-dominated business.
There are now fears that the latest move by the
authority would reverse the
gains.
Nkomo-Ebrahim said if the
concessions go for tender, there were chances that
the indigenous players
would not win.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 15:26
BY KUDZAI
CHIMHANGWA
THE ministry of Finance is working on crafting a central bank debt
assumption bill in a move aimed at assisting to clear the bank’s balance
sheet. The proposed Debt Assumption Bill would be the last leg in the
reforms by the ministry at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to enable the
institution to concentrate on its core business.
The RBZ debt
presently stands at over US$1,5 billion, accrued when
government directed
the bank to perform duties normally done by Treasury.
Finance
minister Tendai Biti told delegates at a farewell function for
departing RBZ
deputy governors, Edward Mashiringwani and Nick Ncube, that
his ministry was
pursuing a raft of measures as part of its mandate.
“We are aiming to
liberate the balance sheet of the bank of the debt so that
they are free,
there are no legacy issues,” Biti said on Thursday.
RBZ governor,
Gideon Gono said the bill would be expedited “to make sure
that hopefully in
the shortest possible time it sees light at the end of the
day”.
“We are very keen to make sure that bifurcation (splitting)
of the RBZ
balance sheet is concluded under separate management,” he
said.
He said the move was not sinister and a witch-hunting exercise but
a concept
that has been done before notably at CBZ.
But a dossier
alleged to have been written by Gono’s former advisor,
Munyaradzi Kereke,
lambasted the move saying it would spin the country into
civil
war.
The letter alleges that bill propose to investigate all
government’s
transactions over the pre-GPA era of between 2004 and 2008 be
investigated
through an appointed court.
Such a move would also
be expected to help improve private sector confidence
in the country at a
time when the central bank is incapacitated to function
as a lender of last
resort.
The central bank owes US$300 million in funds taken from
foreign currency
accounts and another US$200 million owed in quasi-fiscal
activities carried
out at the height of the country’s economic
problems.
The introduction of the multi-currency regime in February
2009 rendered the
central bank’s key role of regulating monetary policy void
as the RBZ could
not print foreign currency notes and was
debt-ridden.
RBZ debt has in the news after some creditors obtained
writs of execution to
attach the central bank’s assets.
In 2010,
government then moved swiftly to protect the assets by invoking the
Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to protect the RBZ’s assets
from being attached by various creditors as the bank was incapacitated to
repay the outstanding amounts.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012
15:12
BY KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
HORDES of unemployed youths mill around the
gates of company premises daily,
hoping to secure a day’s earnings in the
form of contractual work.
Derelict industrial buildings house obsolete
machinery while a few trucks
move out of various yards, ferrying the limited
locally produced goods to
the city centre.
Such has become
Zimbabwe’s once vibrant industrial scene, following years of
political and
economic problems that led to widespread closure of companies
and massive
capital flight.
The inception of the inclusive government in 2009
resulted in a relatively
stable economic environment but investment has not
been as forthcoming owing
to policy inconsistencies that have deterred
foreign capital inflows.
But analysts say a policy document, the
Industrial Development Policy (IDP)
2012-2016, launched recently, could
reverse that trend if implemented
religiously. It aims to encourage the
development and growth of the country’s
manufacturing
sector.
Significantly, the policy seeks to anchor on the economic
gains made since
the inception of the coalition
government.
Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector’s contribution to the
Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) declined to below 10% by 2008 from an average
of 20% in 2000.
The sector’s contribution presently stands at
12%.
The document realises that the principle of policy certainty
which avoids
sudden changes to investment regimes will greatly contribute
towards the
successful implementation of the IDP.
“This principle
will embody the existing legal instruments which protect the
value and
ownership rights of the investors as well as on the principle of
local
ownership of the means of production as per the existing
indigenisation
laws,” reads the document.
Capacity utilisation currently stands at
57% but the policy targets at
increasing the figure to 80% by the end of the
planning period.
In a presentation at the launch of the IDP, co-chair
of the National
Economic Consultative Forum, Robbie Mupawose, noted that
policy
effectiveness related to the extent to which the public has
confidence in
policy announcements.
“There is need to ensure
congruency of policy where business can make medium
and long-term plans
without any (policy) inconsistencies,” he said, adding
that the elimination
of a culture of rent seeking and arbitrage would
consequently see the
economy growing.
Mupawose said the industrial basic supply chain
which relates to efficient
provision of electricity and water has to be
dealt with urgently, in order
for the policy to be implemented
successfully.
“Emphasis should be placed on value addition in
industry which will
contribute towards employment creation,” he
said.
The policy envisages transforming the country from a producer
of primary
goods into a producer of processed value- added goods for both
the domestic
and export markets.
Economic analyst, Eric Bloch,
said the policy document was a step in the
right direction but two key
issues would need to be addressed for successful
implementation of the
policy.
“Firstly, recapitalisation of industry will certainly be
essential for the
recovery of the country’s industry,” said Bloch.
“Secondly, the country will
need to restructure its customs
tariffs.”
The policy proposes that Zimbabwe’s industry be offered
temporary protection
through an upward raise in tariffs during the
three-year period of the IDP’s
implementation.
However, an upward
revision in tariffs would be inconsistent with Zimbabwe’s
obligations under
the World Trade Organisation, Sadc and the Common Market
for Eastern and
Southern Africa treaties.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 April 2012 13:09
By Takura
Zhangazha
As has been the practice since 1981 the Zimbabwean government
shall play the
lead-role in choreographing the meeting of our contemporary
politics with
memories of our liberation struggle. This will be done on
April 18, 2012,
the country’s Independence Day. In so doing leaders in
government will seek
to use the occasion of these commemorations to
demonstrate what they
perceive to be their “democratic” commitment to the
historically definitive
values of our national liberation struggle. Some
more than others, but all
the same, they will all insist on having played or
intending to play a role
relevant to the purposes and values of our national
independence. It is
however necessary to point out it is not the sole
prerogative of our
national leaders to remember and commemorate our national
independence.
Indeed they may lead official state functions to remember the
same, but
recognising the significance of our freedom from minority rule is
the task
of every Zimbabwean. This recognition is not, however; a call to
joining the
party-led messaging political egos for propagandistic or
electioneering
purposes. Instead, we should recognise the national
significance of
independence on the basis of the initial fact that it was a
historical and
nation-defining occurrence. This especially after a drawn out
and painful
liberation war.
In the second instance, we must all
celebrate our national independence with
the intention of insisting that
“never again!” shall we or our children bear
witness to such repression
either by way of racism (of any kind), social and
economic injustice or the
wanton killing of innocent civilians and
deprivation of human rights to all.
This is regardless of whatever
government is in charge at any given time in
present or the future.
Thirdly, we must recognise our national
independence in order to understand
the historical and progressive
democratic reasons why the Zimbabwean state
was established. While the
political parties may give their own politicised
reasons, our collective
understanding should be pre-disposed to
understanding that we raised our
national flag in April 1980 with the
explicit intention of ensuring a
democratic and better life for all
Zimbabweans regardless of race, colour or
class. It is from such a premise
that we must measure, even 32 years
afterwards, to see if our country and
its successive governments (even if
dominated by one party) have adhered to
this key noble intention of our
independence.
This would include taking into account the policies
that have been
implemented since 1980. These would include the expansion of
social service
provision by the state, the establishment of a justiciable
bill of rights
(however flawed), the tragic conflict that was Gukurahundi,
economic
structural adjustment, the continually repressive political
environment as
well as the continually disputed and historically politicised
land
re-distribution and indigenisation programmes.
Some would
argue that the verdict is easy, meaning that perhaps 32 years on,
we are yet
to realise the objectives of our national independence and
liberation
struggle. That, however, would be to potentially fall into the
trap of
continually politicising our collective history just as some
political
parties have consistently sought to do.
Many mistakes were made and
continue to be made across political lines since
1980 to present day. Indeed
it is the liberation parties that took and
remain in power that are most
culpable for real and perceived failures that
are associated with our post
independence society. But it must now become
increasingly clear that the
country should no longer be viewed as being the
responsibility of these
movements alone. It belongs to all who live in it,
and therefore we all have
a responsibility to ensure that it pursues the
path of making progressive
and democratic history. It is no longer adequate
to merely claim political
party membership as the reason for seeking
recognition as an active
citizen with claim to the legacy of the liberation
struggle. This is
particularly so for the younger generations of adult
Zimbabweans who may not
have seen or participated either in the liberation
war or the independence
celebrations at Rufaro stadium in 1980.
As a fourth and final point,
it must be emphasised that the path that
Zimbabwe must now pursue is one
that, while being conscious of our history,
must not be imprisoned by it. In
celebrating or commemorating 32 years of
our national independence, we must
think more of the future than the past.
We must grasp that our
existence as a country is based on what were
essentially struggles for the
freedom of all and not the few. In so doing,
we must carry forward the
burden of the mistakes made more honestly and with
the clear intentions of
ensuring that these mistakes never occur again of
our own volition.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 01 April 2012 11:37
The
Senegalese electoral outcome gives fresh impetus to the numerous and
predominantly African struggles and an active expression of the “people’’
aspiration for a life without arbitrary restrictions on their liberty. Even
the African Union praised the peaceful handover of power following the
presidential elections in Senegal, after Abdoulaye Wade’s acceptance of
defeat. The chairman of the Commission of the African Union, Jean Ping,
said Wade’s stepping down showed the “maturity” of democracy in West Africa
and is a “great victory for democracy in Africa”.
In genuine
democracies elections are treated as a “human rights event”,
which gives
voice to the free political will of the people. The key lesson
from Senegal
is that for elections to be considered free and fair, they must
be conducted
in an environment which respects human rights and fundamental
freedoms.
As a result, elections have become the first step to
fulfilling people’s
dreams as they give them their full right to elect their
representatives in
genuinely free and fair elections, a clear milestone for
measuring the
progress Africa is making towards respecting the will of its
citizens and
safeguarding their rights to take part in government; right to
vote and be
voted for and their right to equal access to public
service.
While there seems to be an awakening with regards these
issues in some
African countries, the Zimbabwean government, in its
inclusive form or at
least a section of it, still totally rejects these
values of civil
liberties. Zanu PF’s calls for early elections are a clear
indication that
the will of the people is not the basis for the authority of
a government.
In Zimbabwe’s current political culture, it is the authority
of the
government that is the will of the people! The number of court cases
pitting the state against the citizens of Zimbabwe on allegations of treason
or undermining, or denigrating, or insulting the President is sufficient
evidence that President Robert Mugabe lost his legitimacy a long time
ago.
It’s testimony of a government that fears the will of its
citizens taking
shape; a government willing to thrive on fear and inaction
as opposed to
hope and action. Whenever organised and empowered citizens
challenge this
arrangement, an Orwellian agenda of denial and dismissal is
rendered. Civic
groups and opposition political parties are dismissed and
threatened as
“enemies”, “sell outs” and imperial “agents” of Western regime
change
agendas.
In Senegal, the fact that democracy is a culture
and a way of life is
self-evident. Wade’s decision to phone Macky Sall and
congratulate him
before definitive results were out was a precedent. In the
2000 elections,
Wade received the same congratulatory message from the then
Senegalese
president Abdou Diouf. These are simple and seemingly mundane,
and yet
powerful democratic gestures of handing over power. In the build up
to the
Senegalese elections, there had been fears that the president would
go the
“Putin way”, to extend his stay in power. The fact that Wade won the
legal
battle for a third term but lost the political battle is a clear
demonstration that democratic processes must build sufficient political
level infrastructure such as powerful political parties, independent media,
a strong and vibrant civil society. These institutions help to establish,
maintain and defend the ideals from any political interests and
authoritarian tendencies.
With the recent electoral events in
Senegal, the people of Zimbabwe have
been gifted with a more democratic and
human rights-friendly African
continent. Even the somewhat conservative Sadc
Troika has been forced to
give serious consideration to these developments
as they mediate in the
Zimbabwean situation.
There is also an
increasing influence of social media such as Facebook,
Twitter as well as
the telecommunications industry on the African political
landscape. These
technological changes mean that authoritarian regimes are
increasingly
finding it difficult to monopolise propaganda or conceal issues
of human
rights abuses. Citizens now have more power to create and spread
or access
their own news at an insignificant cost in terms of real time and
money. The
influence this has had on the demand for human rights and
democratic
governance is at an unprecedented rate, pace and scale.
This is
promising, particularly when Zimbabweans have to deal with a weak
but
authoritarian government that is not able to deliver adequate and
quality
public goods to the citizens. It is no wonder that despite the fact
that
Zimbabwe is a country endowed with vast minral resources, it still is
unable to repair roads, provide clean running water, provide education and
health to its citizens and most of all create employment for its productive
population.
In such as scenario, even a Stone Age epidemic like
typhoid has emerged as a
major public health threat in the year 2011 to
2012. This should not be
surprising at all.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Charlatans such as TB Joshua should keep their prophecies to
themselves. His
followers always protest when he is referred to as a
charlatan, but they
should stop to assess the potential he has of
destabilising whole societies
and even countries. Biblical prophecies were
never used to destabilise,
instead they were used to give communities
guidelines on how to move
forward. They gave the societies a clear vision of
how to deal with the
problems affecting them. But just look at the anxiety
TB Joshua has caused
not only among all the ailing African leaders and their
families, but also
among citizens who fear turmoil in the aftermath of
improper succession.
This simply cannot be God’s work. The talk around
Zimbabwe — I think around
Africa, if not the whole world — today is the
coincidence between TB Joshua’s
prophecy of the death of a president and the
death of Malawian President
Bingu wa Mutharika. Announcing the prophecy last
February, Joshua said an
African dictator would die suddenly within 60 days
and as recently as a week
ago he narrowed the demography of his prediction
by excluding dictators from
West Africa, leaving eastern and southern
Africa.
Talk was intense in Zimbabwe, Zambia and Malawi in recent
weeks concerning
the prediction because they are the three countries in
southern Africa which
had the oldest and not-so-well presidents. Could it be
a coincidence then
that Zambian President Michael Sata, was within the
predicted 60 days flown
to India for medical attention? Could it also be a
coincidence that
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is in Singapore where he
usually receives
medical attention? And that Mutharika died?
TB
Joshua’s predictions can be explained: they are called self-fulfilling
prophecies. A self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that directly or
indirectly causes itself to become true, by the very terms of the prophecy
itself, due to positive feedback between belief and behaviour.
(Wikipedia)
Sociologist Robert K Merton who coined the expression
“self-fulfilling
prophecy” defined it simply as: “when Roxanna falsely
believes her marriage
will fail, her fears of such failure actually cause
the marriage to fail.”
A more involved definition is: “The
self-fulfilling prophecy is, in the
beginning, a false definition of the
situation evoking a new behaviour which
makes the original false conception
come ‘true’. This specious validity of
the self-fulfilling prophecy
perpetuates a reign of error. For the prophet
will cite the actual course of
events as proof that he was right from the
very beginning.”
(Wikipedia)
Let us look first at Michael Sata. Voted into office
recently, he has been a
kind of disaster; some of the decisions he has been
making in his short
reign have been nothing but grotesque. From a champion
of democracy he
managed in a very short period to turn himself into a
veritable dictator.
Besides general uncertainty about the direction in which
he is steering the
country, Zambians are concerned about the whimsical
manner in which he makes
decisions. An important part of the country,
Barotseland, is seeking
secession.
There is immense pressure
on him to stop the breakup of the country.
Worsening the whole scenario is
the fact that he is old and not too well; he
has a urological ailment. He
begins to see himself as the subject of TB
Joshua’s prophecy; he is
convinced he will die within two months. So what
does he do? He wants to
give himself a fighting chance, so he flies to what
he thinks are the best
urologists in the world.
The same applies to Robert Mugabe. There is
immense pressure on him because
the country is not running well under the
government of national unity. He
is trying to push an unworkable
indigenisation programme. Hawks in his party
want him to contest an election
this year in spite of his old age and poor
health. The situation is tense in
his party as his lieutenants machinate to
succeed him. In the past year he
has sought medical attention several times,
meaning his health is
deteriorating. And then in comes TB Joshua. Almost
everyone in the country
thinks Mugabe is the subject of the prophecy; those
closest to him must
surely also think so. There is plenty of speculation in
the media. Several
articles are already looking at the “post-Mugabe era”. So
to get a fighting
chance he wants to get as close as possible to his
doctors; those who have
all along been monitoring his health. He flies to
Singapore.
That
is how the self-fulfilling prophecy works.
Now to Bingu wa
Mutharika!
Poor Bingu had led his country very well in his first few
years as president
from 2004-8. The country achieved high agricultural
productivity and food
security. Malawi, considered one of the poorest
countries in the world, for
the first time saw poverty decline from 60% to
40% mainly due to his
agricultural subsidy programme which, though
expensive, became a model for
the African Union. For many years during his
first term Malawi achieved a
food surplus. In the 2008/9 season the food
surplus reached 1,3 million
metric tons.
Then hubris — the
excessive pride and ambition that usually leads to the
downfall of a hero in
classical tragedy — came in.
In April 2011, a leaked diplomatic cable
from British High Commissioner to
Malawi, Fergus Cochrane-Dyet in which he
said Mutharika was “becoming ever
more autocratic and intolerant of
criticism” was published. Mutharika
expelled him from the country. The UK
government expelled Malawi’s acting
high commissioner in
retaliation.
Things went into a spiral; Western donors, primarily the
UK, withheld aid,
particularly financial support which constituted 40% of
the country’s
budget. Worsening fuel shortages, rising prices and high
unemployment
sparked protests last year. Mutharika responded high-handedly;
19 people
were confirmed dead after the police used live ammunition. He was
unapologetic and unleashed a crack-down on Malawian journalists, human
rights activists, and lawyers.
Then this year tobacco sales
flopped. Malawi is the world’s biggest exporter
of burley tobacco earning
60% of all foreign currency from the crop. In 2007
Mutharika began to peg
the auction floor price of the crop at US$2 per kg.
This year about a week
before the close of sales the average price of
tobacco dropped 24% below the
government-set price.
This is arguably the straw that broke the camel’s back,
or was it TB Joshua?
Mutharika, thanks to TB Joshua, must have in the past
few weeks been seeing
himself increasingly as the subject of the prophecy;
his heart couldn’t
withstand the pressure. But who did the doomsday prophecy
serve besides TB
Joshua himself?
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
“We wanted to vote and choose
our own destiny” was the comment the late
Lieutenant General Lookout Masuku
made in an interview with Time magazine in
1980. A couple of weeks before
the 32nd anniversary of our Independence this
dream is still elusive.
Lookout Mafela Khalisabantu Vumindaba Masuku died on
April 7 1986, two days
after his birthday and 11 days before the country’s
sixth anniversary of
independence. He died after spending four years in
prison even after the
Supreme Court ruled in 1983 that he and Dumiso
Dabengwa were innocent of
charges of plotting to overthrow the government of
Robert Mugabe. It would
be most fitting to commemorate Zimbabwe’s 32nd
anniversary of Independence
by celebrating the life of one of Zimbabwe’s
finest soldiers and commander
of Zapu’s Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army
from 1978 to
1980.
Masuku then become deputy commander of the Zimbabwean National Army
at
independence but died literally at the hands of a government he had
helped
to construct.Masuku was released together with veteran Zapu
nationalist Vote
Moyo in March 1986 when he was seriously ill and Judith
Todd, in her book
Through The Darkness, expressed doubts whether the
“specialist who attended
to him was “indeed a specialist or even a
registered doctor at all”. On
April 7 he succumbed to cryptocococal
meningitis at Parirenyatwa Hospital
and this after the government had
refused to grant him one of his dying
wishes, to see his comrade Dumiso
Dabengwa who was still languishing in
jail.
General
Lookout Masuku will go down in history as the first martyr of
post-independent Zimbabwe.
Perhaps it would be critical to
reflect on Masuku’s comments to Time
magazine when he told the publication
just after independence that “we have
been fighting so people could express
their will”.Yet 32 years after
independence, what Mafela fought for is
still a mirage.
Lookout Masuku was one of the first victims of Zanu
PF’s flagrant disregard
of the rule of law and he paid the ultimate price
and as such we should not
be fooled to think trampling on and of the rule of
law and impunity only
began in 2000; it has been with us since independence
and Lookout Masuku, 26
years afterwards, is a sad reminder of an aborted
revolution.
Joshua Nkomo summarised Masuku’s supreme contribution to
the struggle on
April 12 1986 at the funeral of the Zipra commander when he
said “Mafela,
Lookout after all his sacrifices, died a pauper in our own
hands, we cannot
blame colonialism and imperialism for this tragedy”. Up to
today there is no
major street or building in the country which is named
after Masuku, what a
betrayal!
Masuku’s life and death is a sharp
rebuke of the very notion of independence
when the country still boasts of
an array of repressive legislation which
infringe on fundamental liberties
of speech, association, assembly, freedom
of the press and expression. If
Lookout Masuku, Jason Moyo, Nikita Mangena,
Lazarus Nkala, Josiah Tongogara
and Herbert Chitepo were to rise from the
dead, I am sure they would not be
sure whether they were in Rhodesia or the
Zimbabwe they fought so hard and
so long for.
Independence Day should not be a time of celebration but
rather of moaning
the betrayed liberation values of the likes of Lookout
Masuku who literally
died in chains in the same way that Steve Biko died in
prison. Independence
Day should remind us that we are yet to enjoy a new
Zimbabwe where people
can “vote “freely and choose their own
destiny”.
As we tread cautiously towards Independence Day
commemorations, it should be
a time of reflection and indeed mourning for
the betrayed ideals of the
liberation struggle which Lookout Vumindaba
Mafela Khalisabantu envisaged.
Dumisani is the Chief Executive
Officer of Habakkuk Trust and political
analyst. He can be contacted on Dumisani.nkomo@gmail.com
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
The past two weeks have seen
a disturbing escalation of political violence
across the country. Starting
with the torching of huts belonging to Zimunya
Muonde, a Bikita village
headman who was punished for receiving a 10kg maize
seed pack from MDC-T,
Zanu PF militias are back at work and are hounding
suspected supporters of
the MDC.
Their activities appear to have been galvanised by President
Robert Mugabe’s
relentless push for elections this year in the absence of
genuine electorate
reforms that level the playing field.
Suddenly
the Zanu PF youths are beating up people for chanting MDC-T slogans
and for
wearing party regalia. These illegal practices had been consigned to
politics of the past.
With the MDC formations being part of the
inclusive government, there is
hardly any justification for anyone to think
that these political parties
are outlawed in Zimbabwe.
However,
statistics released by the Zimbabwe Peace Project paint a
disturbing picture
of the resurging problem.
In January and February alone, 800 cases of
political violence were
recorded.
The bulk of these cases were
recorded in Manicaland where Mugabe celebrated
his 88th birthday.
Alarmingly, in Chipinge, a man was threatened with death
for chanting an
MDC-T slogan.
The effect of this escalation of violence means that
the gains recorded
since the signing of the GPA three years ago are in
danger of being
reversed. The peace that had started to characterise
communities is slowly
being replaced by political violence. This is
unacceptable.
In past elections, political violence claimed the lives
of many people and
villagers now fear the repeat of the violence if Mugabe
forces an election
this year. Political parties must restrain their
followers if peace is to be
given a chance.
Both Sadc and the AU
have to step up efforts to ensure that Mugabe is
stopped from imposing an
election when conditions are not yet ripe.
The activities of the
militias are a wake-up call to those who believe that
Zimbabwe can hold free
and fair elections in the absence of genuine reforms
that will make the
polls indisputable.
