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ZANU
PF dismisses draft constitution after marathon meeting
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
09 August 2012
ZANU PF’s top decision making body ended a
marathon meeting about the new
constitution in the early hours of Thursday
morning, stating it will not
accept the draft in its current
form.
The Politburo meeting started on Wednesday, amid speculation that
Robert
Mugabe’s party is deliberately stalling on making a decision. This
was the
fourth meeting since the draft charter was released late last month,
with
ZANU PF still not taking an official position.
Instead, the
meeting ended at about 5am on Thursday with the party insisting
that the
current draft must be renegotiated. ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo
said that
the party could not accept the draft without changes to several
clauses.
“The party is expecting the amendments to be factored in by
Wednesday next
week, when the politburo meets to finalize its position on
the draft
constitution,” Gumbo said.
ZANU PF’s chief negotiator in
the constitution reform process, Patrick
Chinamasa, said after the last
Politburo meeting that once the party
executive had reached a final decision
on the changes they want, this would
be brought before the Constitution
Management Committee.
Gumbo meanwhile had previously expressed confidence
that ZANU PF’s partners
in the government would renegotiate, saying: “We
cannot afford to see the
process come to naught.”
But the MDC
formations in the unity government have both insisted that the
negotiations
have been finalised and no more changes can be made to the
document. The two
parties have thrown their weight behind the draft, both
saying they will
campaign for a ‘yes’ vote ahead of a referendum.
Blessing Vava from the
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) told SW Radio
Africa on Thursday that
ZANU PF has cleverly manipulated the multiple flaws
in the constitution
reform process, saying the negotiation loophole is wide
open.
“In a
negotiated process, a process steered by politicians, we were likely
to get
such scenarios. This process is flawed and these are the loopholes
that have
exposed this,” Vava said.
He said that negotiating the document was a
deviation from the original
process that was meant to be people driven and
this deviation “left the
process open to manipulation and
abuse.”
“ZANU PF is capitalising on a flawed process… this was never
about the
constitution, it was about the parties getting their preferred
positions in
place. And it’s very sad for Zimbabwe,” Vava said.
The
NCA official also said that the MDC formations have been ‘duped’ by ZANU
PF
into believing that the document is a good one, despite the draft clearly
favouring the ZANU PF position.
“It is ZANU PF that has gained more
than the MDC, and all they are doing now
is pushing for more concessions,”
Vava said. He added that it was likely the
amendments will be allowed, and
soon we will see the Principals in
government giving their approval.
Civil Society Charges Political Sparing Over Draft Constitution
Shadowing People
http://www.voanews.com/
08 August
2012
Tatenda Gumbo | Washington/Harare
As
political parties spar over the draft constitution, civil society
organizations have embarked on a voter education campaign to ensure that
stakeholders are not marginalized.
The Centre for Community
Development Zimbabwe (CCDZ) launched the national
voter education campaign
to improve locals' political knowledge, mostly in
rural areas where they are
unable to access the draft document.
The ruling parties' political
discord has effectively delayed the adoption
of Zimbabwe's draft
constitution and some civil society groups are already
pushing for a ‘no’
vote.
Though the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change
have adopted
the draft charter, the Zanu PF politburo held a marathon
meeting in Harare
on Wednesday to make final decisions on the draft
constitution which had
been agreed by all the three parties in the shaky
unity government.
During the previous meetings, the party expressed
reservations on a number
of issues including the appointment of governors,
presidential running
mates, the judiciary and operations of the office of
the attorney-general.
CCDZ officials said Zimbabweans must be educated
and empowered in order to
make informed political choices.
Center
Director Phillip Pasirayi said Zimbabweans know their basic voting
rights.
"We are just telling people about the contents of the draft and
provisions
of a democratic constitution," said Pasirayi
The voter education campaign
is expected to continue up to the next polls.
Meanwhile, civil society
organisations have petitioned the inclusive
government and other
stakeholders over the continued outbreak of prevantable
diseases such as
typhoid in Zimbabwe.
Training
stopped, but census still to take place
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
08
August 2012
The exercise to train enumerators for the country’s
population census has
been abandoned, after uniformed forces hijacked the
program and demanded
they be included .
Many believe the attempt to
take over the census has the full backing of
ZANU PF.
On Thursday
government announced that the training of enumerators had been
stopped, but
the count itself would go ahead as planned on the 17th and 18th
August.
Acting Finance Minister Gorden Moyo told journalists at the
news conference
in Harare that the bulk of teachers to be used for the
exercise were already
qualified and trained, as the majority of them took
part in the last census
conducted in 2002.
‘Where we don’t have
access like military and police camps, we will use our
armed forces so they
still have a role to play in the exercise,’ Moyo said.
On Wednesday Moyo
had issued a statement saying cabinet were only going to
allow a certain
number of uniformed forces to be involved in the census. The
armed forces,
controlled by Mugabe’s powerful Junta, had wanted 10,000 of
their men and
women to be part of the 31,000 enumerators. But cabinet only
approved just
over 1,500 officers from the uniformed forces.
The Ministry of Finance,
which is in charge of the process through the
national statistical body
Zimstats, said it had allocated 292 slots to
prison services, 541 to the
police, 467 to the defence forces and 267 to the
CIO.
But political
commentator Pedzisai Ruhanya told SW Radio Africa that the
cabinet decision
on the census was bogus and meant to mislead people. He
alleged that the
decision to disrupt the program was made by a political and
military cabal
that supports Mugabe.
‘Any other speculation and postulation is misguided
and what the army is
doing is a clear directive from the regime led by
Mugabe. What the army is
doing is promoting the interests of ZANU PF,’
Ruhanya added.
The commentator said the former ruling ZANU PF is
deliberately pushing for
the inclusion of its partisan forces to monitor the
census. Census results
could be used to determine political boundaries and
could shift control of
the House of Assembly.
‘For instance, it will
tell us how many people are in the rural areas
because there’s a myth that
has always been there, that ZANU PF is supported
by people in rural
constituencies and that they are the majority.
‘So this census will tell
us how many people are in Tsholotsho, Muzarabani,
Harare and Bulawayo. It
will demystify certain perceptions about the
demographic nature of our
country and will tell us how many people will be
eligible to vote,’ said
Ruhanya.
The chaos began earlier this week when thousands of soldiers,
police, prison
officers and CIO went on a destructive rampage, stopping the
training of
enumerators in each of the country’s 10 provinces. At some
venues the
soldiers took all the food meant for enumerators and confiscated
training
materials. They also vowed that ‘there will be no peace until we
are
included in the Census training and exercise.’ On Wednesday Newsday
journalist, Blessed Mhlanga, was reportedly assaulted by suspected soldiers
while covering the chaos surrounding the census training exercise in
Kwekwe.
With less than a year to go before the country heads to a crucial
poll, this
is more evidence of powerful and divisive forces out to divide,
instead of
unite, Zimbabweans.
On Thursday the country’s leading
newspapers and websites carried front page
headlines that provided the
latest evidence of the urgent need for security
sector reform before
elections.
‘Security Forces Block Census Workshops;’ ‘Soldiers invade
census centres;’
‘Census: Riot police descend on girls high school and stop
process;’
‘Soldiers Disrupt Census Trainings in Bulawayo;’ were just some of
the
shocking headlines summarising the fiasco surrounding the whole
process.
MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said: ‘If we cannot hold a
census, how are
we expected to hold a fresh and fair election.’
Civic
groups lobby Tanzania to act on Zim crisis
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
09 August 2012
A coalition of five civil society groups
travelled to Dar es Salaam last
week to brief diplomats, political parties
and media organizations about the
situation on the ground in Zimbabwe. They
were also there to lobby for free
and fair elections, ahead of the SADC
summit to be held in Mozambique next
week.
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai is on a regional diplomatic mission around
the same issues and
was in Tanzania Thursday. He held a one-hour meeting
with President Jakaya
Kikwete in Dar-es-Salaam. Last week he also held a 30
minute private session
with President Joyce Banda of Malawi, on the
sidelines of a book launch in
Johannesburg.
Tanzania takes over the chairmanship of SADC’s Troika on
Security and
Defense next week, when heads of state meet in Maputo. The
Troika was
appointed to oversee the political negotiations in Zimbabwe and
report to
regional leaders on any progress.
But many critics and
observers are now beginning to question the importance
of SADC’s
intervention in Zimbabwe. The SADC appointed mediator, President
Jacob Zuma
of South Africa, has not been very evident in the political
negotiations
that have been taking place.
A SADC team that was appointed to assist
JOMIC to fully implement the Global
Political Agreement has still not
started their work, several months after
regional leaders decided progress
was too slow and JOMIC needed help.
Dewa Mavhinga, the regional
coordinator of the Crisis Coalition, said the
lack of resolve on the part of
SADC leaders is one of the reasons the civic
groups travelled to Dar es
Salaam last week. With Tanzania taking over the
chairmanship of the Troika,
the groups wanted to ensure Zimbabwe remained on
the SADC agenda.
“We
wanted to brief them and lobby for a more robust position and for SADC
to
enforce its agreement and decisions on Zimbabwe, in order to prepare for
credible, non-violent and free and fair elections,” Mavhinga
explained.
He said SADC needs to move beyond issues of sovereignty and
find ways to
pressure for change in Zimbabwe. “We got a clear commitment
that Zimbabwe
will be brought up within their own parliament and remain on
the SADC
agenda,” Mavhinga added.
But highlighting the problems of
expecting SADC to initiate change,
including media reform in Zimbabwe, was
the fact that during the civic
leaders visit to Tanzania a local newspaper
was banned on allegations that
it was threatening the peace and unity of the
country. Mavhinga said this
reflects the broader challenges within SADC,
with some countries being
“allergic to democratic change”.
US Promises to Reward Progress For Free Zimbabwe Polls
http://www.voanews.com/
08 August
2012
Blessing
Zulu | Washington
United States Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton says Washington will reward
efforts by Harare to pave the way for
free and fair elections promising to
“match action for
action."
Speaking at Cape Town University in South Africa Wednesday,
Clinton who is
on an 11-day tour of Africa said the international community
has made it
clear that the people of Zimbabwe deserve the right to have
their voices
and votes counted in a free and fair election.
She urged
SADC leaders - including Zimbabwe mediator President Jacob Zuma of
South
Africa - to push for the adoption of the draft constitution appended
by the
three coalition partners but now being rejected by Zanu PF.
A new
constitution will lead to the holding of fresh polls, five years after
the
violent and chaotic 2008 election.
Clinton urged regional leaders to
ensure that Zimbabwe will hold a credible
referendum and internationally
supervised free and fair polls.
The position of the United States echoes
that adopted by the European Union
which imposed sanctions on President
Robert Mugabe and his inner circle.
The United States and European Union
maintain sanctions against the
president and his colleagues. The E.U. agreed
to lift most sanctions imposed
on Mr. Mugabe’s inner circle - but not those
against him and his family - if
the country adopts a raft of democratic
reforms.
Human rights lawyer Dewa Mavhinga of the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition said
Clinton’s call is welcome though he urged Harare to adopt
reforms without
waiting for international pressure.
Meanwhile, the
Prime Minister’s spokesman said Mr. Tsvangirai, who is on a
diplomatic
offensive ahead of the regional Southern African Development
Community
regional summit next week, has a successful meeting Wednesday in
Maputo with
Mozambican President Armando Guebuzza.
In a Facebook message, Luke
Tamborinyoka said Mr. Tsvangirai is expected to
hold another important
meeting on Thursday with Tanzanian President Jakaya
Kikwete.
At the
same time, the Prime Minister’s MDC has described as barbaric moves
by
suspected Zanu PF militia, members of the Central Intelligence
Organization
and the military to take over venues for training enumerators
in some parts
of the country.
In a statement, the party said the action by the police
and soldiers "is a
deliberate and well-calculated scheme to derail the
population census
expected to kick off next week".
The MDC said armed
riot police in Harare descended on Harare Girls High
School and ordered all
enumerators undergoing training to leave.
The party said these Zanu PF
aligned state agents are trying to block the
holding of a transparent census
and referendum and free and fair polls next
year.
The party believes
that Zanu PF does not want the process of counting people
to continue as
this will “affect their traditional rigging plans when the
delimitation
exercise for constituency boundaries starts.”
MDC Says Zanu PF Forcing Zimbabweans to Pay for Heroes
Celebrations
http://www.voanews.com
08 August
2012
Jonga Kandemiiri | Washington
The Movement for
Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai claims some
Zanu PF officials in Mashonaland East Province are
forcing villagers to
contribute cash for holding this year's national heroes
celebrations.
MDC Mashonaland East provincial chairman Piniel Denga
said they are
receiving reports that villagers were being forced to make
these
contributions as far afield as Kotwa in Mudzi, Mutoko, Uzumba,
Maramba-Pfungwe and Murehwa districts.
Similar reports have been made
in Mashonaland Central and Manicaland
provinces where ordinary people are
being told to pay $2.00 per household.
Companies are forced to fork out
$20.00.
Denga told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that people should not be
forced to
commemorate national events.
But Paddy Zhanda, Zanu PF
member of parliament for Goromonzi North denied
the MDC claims saying those
who were being forced to make the contributions
should report these
incidents to the police.
Villagers in most parts of Zimbabwe are usually
forced by Zanu PF to pay
varying amounts for heroes celebrations.
Cabinet
backs Gono's bank capital hike
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
08/08/2012 00:00:00
by
Gilbert Nyambabvu
CENTRAL bank chief Gideon Gono has secured full
government backing for a
ten-fold hike in minimum capital requirements for
the country’s banks which
had appeared to spark a cross-party cabinet
revolt.
Acting Finance Minister Gorden Moyo said Wednesday that the
increases were
necessary to clamp down on abuse of depositors’ funds as well
as “usurious
interest rates and exorbitant fees” charged by the
banks.
“Both Cabinet and Treasury stand by and support the measures
announced by
the Governor,” Moyo told a press conference in Harare, also
attended by Gono
and several ministers including Obert Mpofu (Mines) and
Walter Mzembi
(Tourism).
“The government is satisfied that the
measures that the Monetary Authorities
announced are both necessary and good
for the economy of Zimbabwe as it
seeks to position itself as a key economic
player in the region and beyond.”
Gono recently increased to US$100
million the minimum capital requirements
for commercial and merchant banks
from the current levels of US$12.5 million
and US$10 million respectively.
He gave the banks until the end of 2014 to
meet the new
thresholds.
Critics raised concerns that the move would result in
closures of indigenous
banks most of which struggled to meet current capital
requirements with two
having already been forced to surrender their
operating licences.
But Moyo said the government was fully behind the
increases.
He went on: “All banking-sector stakeholders and the public
are hereby
advised that government stands fully behind the recently
announced Monetary
Policy Statement and the phased capital mobilisation
programme at the
announced levels and urges everyone in the banking sector
to comply and all
Zimbabweans and stakeholders outside our borders as well
as our cooperating
partners to rally behind our efforts, bearing in mind
that the central bank
stands ready to assist with directing all sector
players in need of such
technical/ directional
assistance.”
Opponents of the move rounded on Gono, arguing the
increases were
unrealistic considering the size of Zimbabwe’s economy. Some
suggested that
poor regulation by the central bank was responsible for the
fragility of the
country’s banks.
Said UK-based banking expert and
New Zimbabwe.com blogger Lance Mambondiani:
“The central banks’ abdication
of effective regulation and supervision,
preferring to manage banks by a
yearly increase in capital requirements is
patently bad policy which takes
the course of least resistance whilst
failing to address the core of a
10-year crisis.
“The recurrence of near identical bank crises since 2003
even after several
changes in the capital requirements could indicate that
the problem is less
about adequacy.”
Munyaradzi Kereke, a former
adviser to Gono, who has been crusading against
his former boss said the
move was a “dangerous, reckless experiment”,
adding: “This decision merits
the RBZ top team and the board being fired.
Immediately!”
Still, Gono
said he welcomed the “robust debate” and criticism of the
measures.
“The exercise of constitutional and democratic rights by
Zimbabweans through
the free expression of their views, in efforts aimed at
adding value to
policy formulation in respect of the financial sector, is a
development that
we greatly appreciate,” he said.
“Assuredly, we will
amalgamate all the expert views and opinions proffered
to inform debate on
this pertinent subject. This wealth of information will
form part of our
library reference material which will remain at our
disposal as we craft
future policies for the banking sector and the economy
at large.”
He
insisted that the banking sector was largely supportive of the
increases.
“I am gratified by the level of preparedness and
responsiveness of the
majority of bankers to our call for enhancement of
capital levels. What
remains, however, is to give those intentions greater
expression through
real and tangible deliverables,” he said.
The RBZ
chief also downplayed reports of initial cabinet opposition saying:
“Discussions in Cabinet and at all other forums referred to were robust,
insightful and supportive of a vision for a well-run, adequately
capitalised, diversified, strong, reliable and well supervised financial
sector in Zimbabwe.
“This undoubtedly ensures that the country’s
financial sector plays its
rightful role as the fulcrum of economic
development.
Govt
under pressure to deal with typhoid outbreaks
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
09
August 2012
Zimbabwe’s government has this week come under more pressure
to urgently
deal with the ongoing threat of typhoid, which continues to
affect hundreds
of people across the country.
Most recently a fresh
outbreak of typhoid has been reported in Chitungwiza
and in parts of Harare,
and at least 112 cases have been reported. The local
council has been blamed
for failing to deal with issues of sewerage
management and access to clean
water.
Typhoid has been reported in Zimbabwe since last year and the
worst affected
have been the densely populated areas around Harare’s centre,
including
Kuwadzana and Mufakose. That outbreak threatened to spread across
the
country, after cases were confirmed in Bindura, Mashonaland Central and
Norton and Zvimba in Mashonaland West.
In February the Health
Ministry admitted it was not on top of the situation,
with a critical lack
of medicine and clean water hampering treatment and
prevention efforts. For
areas like Chitungwiza, where sewerage problems and
a lack of clean water
have been major problems for years, the threat of an
outbreak seemed
imminent.
Civil society groups have now banded together to pressure the
higher levels
of government to do more, with a petition being handed Robert
Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, as well as the ministries of Local
Government,
Water Resources Development and Health and Child Welfare. The
petition is
also addressed to the Mayors of Harare and
Chitungwiza.
“We, the undersigned citizens and represented Civil Society
Organisations,
do hereby petition the Government of Zimbabwe through the
relevant
ministries and local authorities to immediately set up effective
strategies
to address the recurring problems of the outbreak of the typhoid
fever and
cholera in Zimbabwe,” read part of the petition.
Addressing
a press conference in Harare on Wednesday Abel Chikomo, the
Director of the
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum, said they had so far
gathered 1,795
signatures from concerned Zimbabweans. The target is to
collect a million
signatures.
Civil society has also demanded that the government
immediately set up a
commission of inquiry to investigate the outbreaks
throughout the country
and recommend solutions to end to the problem. The
government is also being
pressured to come up with long term strategies that
include a clear plan to
provide clean water, and to disperse necessary funds
and technical
resources.
Zimbabweans
meet Coltart in London
http://www.zimdiaspora.com/
Wednesday, 08 August 2012 19:44 Eugene Majuru
News
By Eugene Majuru and Anthony Robinson
Zimbabwe's Minister of
Education Sports and Culture met several disaporans
in London last night in
an event held in the British capital.
Also present at the event was the
deputy Ambassador, Cecil Chinenere.
Questions presented to Coltart
included challenges being faced in Zimbabwean
education and how the
education system can be improved and the role being
played by the ministry
in terms of sponsorship, fund raising and how to work
with people in the
Diaspora.
Lucia Dube, a resident in the UK expressed her appreciation to
Coltart for
engaging with the community during his visits to the
UK.
"As far as I know you are the only minister who always comes to
engage with
the diaspora community. Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
other ministers
come but do not fully engage with community members.On my
recent visit to
Zimbabwe I tried to engage with government departments but
the problem was
knowing who is who in Zimbabwe.
"There is confusion
and no one knows who is to produce the policy. I met
someone in Tsvangirais`
office and was told the issue was handed over to a
senior official who is
not well at the moment and is away from work. As far
as engaging with
government and Diasporans I was wondering how best we could
do it. Some
ministers do not want to engage". she said.
Grace Sinikiwe Mupfurutsa a
Zimbabwean human rights activist based in
Bedfordshire said she attended the
event because "I believe education is one
of the basic human rights, I
wanted to find out what the Minister had to
say".
Mupfurutsa
encouraged other Zimbaweans based in various parts of the world
to start
helping and supporting the education system in Zimbabwe by
sponsorring
school fees and uniforms to under privileged children and give
them
upliftment as it comes at a small cost.
Former Zimbabwe athletics coach
Stanley Madiri popularly known as “Fresh
“attended the event and fully
supports Zimbabwe sports.
Asked if he saw any of the remaining three
athletes in the current Olympics
winning any medal he said: “from the
performances I have watched there will
be no medal for Zimbabwe. If Zimbabwe
is looking for medals it takes a whole
lot more. After having worked with
athletes in Zimbabwe I know that talent
is in abundance in Zimbabwe but
interventions need to be put into place to
aid development”
Asked if
he was contributing to Zimbabwean sports he replied “ I have
offered my
services to coach the Zimbabwean athletes on several occasions
but did not
get favourable response from the athletics association in
Harare”
Madiri is currently attending a coaching conference being
held in London. “I
invited several national athletics coaches from Zimbabwe
to attend the
conference”.
Achievements of Madiri include coaching
Christina Ohurugu, 400m athlete
representing team GB in current Olympics. He
is also behind British 200m
champion Desiree Henrys and Jodie Williams,
world junior champion who won
gold in the 100m and silver in the 200min
Canada 2011.
Life
turns bumpy for Zimbabwe asylum seekers
http://www.zimdiaspora.com
Thursday, 09 August 2012 11:13 Editor
News
JOHANNESBURG — South Africa’s Home Affairs department’s refugee
status
determination officials need rigorous training to grasp what factors
cause
people to seek asylum in the country, a refugee rights group has
said.
People Against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (Passop) paralegal
head
Langton Miriyoga said some Home Affairs officials seemed ignorant of
the
“African map and politics”.
Citing a spike in “copy-and-paste”
refugee status rejections for Zimbabwean
asylum-seekers, Miriyoga said he
wondered “if they (officials) were trained
at all”.
In 2010,
thousands of undocumented Zimbabwean asylum-seekers benefited from
the
department’s special dispensation programme when they were issued with
work
and study permits with a duration of between three and four years.
The
programme, which was welcomed by refugee rights organisations, saw South
Africa and Zimbabwe co-ordinate efforts to ensure successful
documentation.
But since the closure of the project in December 2010,
Zimbabwean
asylum-seekers are treated on the same basis as refugees from
other
countries.
However, Zimbabwe remained unstable and more people
were leaving the country
due to the failure of the government of national
unity and lack of
implementation of the Global Political Agreement signed in
2008 to end
hostilities between Zanu PF and the two MDC formations, said
Miriyoga.
Citing possible upcoming elections there, he said people were
fleeing the
country due to fears of a repeat of pre-election
violence.
He said the country had no measures in place to pre-empt
violence in which
ordinary people suffered yet 98% of the current refugee
status applications
for Zimbabweans were rejected on the basis that the
country was peaceful.
“They (officials) lack an understanding of the
context of the conflict
dimensions
. . . they are misinformed about
Zimbabwe,” he said.
He cited a British Supreme Court ruling on July 25
which had favoured
Zimbabwean asylum-seekers there by confirming that there
was evidence people
in Zimbabwe were being persecuted by the effective
ruling party Zanu PF for
their political affiliations.
He said that
it was naive to suggest that Zimbabweans had stopped fleeing
into South
Africa as the situation remained hostile.
Approached for comment, Home
Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said they had
documented thousands of
Zimbabweans under the special dispensation programme
in 2010.
He said
the project was a success and Zimbabwean asylum-seekers were now
being
treated like asylum-seekers from other countries.
Asked about the need to
further train refugee status determination officers,
he said: “We are happy
with the work they are doing.” -Western Cape news
Zimbabwe
violence too hot for SA judge
http://nehandaradio.com/
August 9, 2012 1:47
pm
JOHANNESBURG – North Gauteng High Court judge Joseph Raulinga
said he was
“left standing between a rock and a hard place” in having to
decide whether
a South African observer report about Zimbabwe’s hotly
contested 2002
elections should be released to the public.
Zimbabwe
violence too hot for SA judge
Zimbabwe violence too hot for SA
judge
The government has since 2008 been fighting the Mail &
Guardian’s attempts
to access the report, which detailed “legal and
constitutional issues” in
the run-up to the disputed election.
The
report was written by Deputy Chief Justice Dikgang Moseneke and
Constitutional Court Justice Sisi Khampepe after being sent to Zimbabwe by
former president Thabo Mbeki.
After two days of arguments, Judge
Raulinga reserved judgment and gave both
sides the opportunity to file
further legal arguments. He suggested he would
like to be addressed on
whether the public interest outweighed the possible
harm that would follow
if the report were to be released.
The Promotion of Access to Information
Act says that information sought must
be provided if it will reveal a
substantial contravention of the law, and if
“the public interest in the
disclosure … clearly outweighs the harm
contemplated in the provision in
question”.
Counsel for the state, Marumo Moerane SC, quoted extensively
from President
Jacob Zuma’s affidavit, which said releasing the report now
would have a
negative effect on SA’s continuing mediation attempts in
Zimbabwe.
Given Zuma’s assertion, it could not be said the public
interest in the
release of the report “clearly” outweighed possible harm
that would follow
were the report to be released. “The report must be seen
in its proper
political context,” Moerane said.
But counsel for the
Mail & Guardian, Frank Snyckers SC, said vague and
speculative
assertions by politicians that the “world would come to an end”
if the
report were released were not good enough. “Do not let politicians
just say
the world will come to an end. They must show you how the world
will come to
an end”.
Instead, government “specifically declined” to do so, he said.
Businesslive.co.za
Mugabe
Balloon Insult Man Freed
http://www.radiovop.com
By Professor Matodzi Mutare, August 09, 2012
- A Zimbabwean carpenter, who
landed in trouble for allegedly enquiring on
the ability of President Robert
Mugabe to blow up birthday balloons given
his advanced age and ill-health
status, is now a free man after he was
removed from remand.
Richmore Mashinga Jazi, a self-employed carpenter
based in the eastern
border town of Mutare, was arrested and charged with
mocking, undermining
and insulting Mugabe in February after he allegedly
enquired from a
colleague, Pension Gwinyai, how the octogenarian leader had
managed to blow
up birthday balloons because of falling ill-health and old
age.
“VaMugabe vagona sei kufuridza zvibharuma, asi pane munhu avabatsira
here
uye samba racho variwanepi,” which the police translated to mean “Did
Mugabe
manage to blow all those balloons or did someone assist him to do so
and
where did he get the power.” The police and prosecutors say by uttering
such
words Mashinga Jazi, who watched the live broadcasting of Mugabe’s
birthday
celebrations held at a football stadium in Mutare, undermined and
insulted
the ZANU PF leader in contravention of Section 33 of the Criminal
Law
(Codification and Reform) Act Chapter 9:23.
But Jazi, who was out
of custody on bail, is now a free man after he was
recently removed from
remand by a Mutare Magistrate. His removal from remand
followed an
application for refusal of further remand filed by his lawyers
from Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights, who objected to the continued
persecution of their
client when the state failed to produce an authority to
prosecute from the
Attorney General’s office as is required by law.
Jazi is just but one of
several Zimbabweans who have been charged with
undermining Mugabe. Last
year, Mutare police charged Constitution Select
Committee (COPAC)
co-chairperson and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
legislator, Douglas
Mwonzora, with undermining the authority of or insulting
Robert Mugabe for
allegedly enquiring on the health status of the former
freedom
fighter.
Mwonzora allegedly mocked Mugabe by posing questions on a
portrait of the 87
year old leader, which was positioned in Nyanga
Magistrates Court, when he
appeared in court on public violence charges.
“Makadii baba? Iri sei mwiri?
Riri sei ziso?” The police translated this to
mean “How are you father? How
is your health? How is your
eye?”
Mugabe’s health status has been under the spotlight in recent years
after
his lieutenants publicly admitted that he had a cataract operation on
his
eye in Singapore early last year and has been a frequent visitor of the
Asian country on several occasions and has also made frequent visits to a
private health institution in Harare.
The MDC Today Issue – 411
Thursday, 09 August 2012
Hussein
Charlie, a Zanu PF activist has been remanded in custody for
murdering
Simbarashe Nemaura, an MDC activist in Chiredzi in July. Nemaura a
well-known MDC activist was waylaid by Charlie while passing through Section
7 of Hippo Valley Estate on 9 July 2012.
Charlie is the Zanu PF Ward
Chairperson for Section 7.
Allegations are that on the fateful day, Charlie
falsely accused Nemaura of
stealing a bicycle claiming that MDC members are
thieves and they should be
banned from the estate. Nemaura’s bicycle had
broken down forcing him to
carry it on his shoulders.
The Zanu PF thug
then pulled out a knife and stabbed the victim in the
chest. Nemaura fell
down screaming and Charlie ran away. Chiredzi residents
who responded to
Nemaura’s screams found him bleeding profusely and he
narrated what had
happened.
Nemaura later died at Chiredzi hospital.
Charlie was arrested
and is currently being held at Chiredzi Prison awaiting
trial.
Cases of
political motivated violence perpetrated by Zanu PF hooligans are
on the
increase across the country as the nation faces a crucial referendum
and
impending national elections.
The people’s struggle for real change – Let’s
finish it!!!
MISA: Soldiers assault Kwekwe journalist
MISA- Zimbabwe Media Alert
9
August 2012
Soldiers assault Kwekwe journalist
Newsday journalist, Blessed
Mhlanga, was reportedly assaulted by suspected
soldiers while covering the
chaos surrounding census training exercise in
Kwekwe on August 8
2012.
Mhlanga, who was taking pictures of participants at the training
workshop,
was allegedly approached by eight soldiers in civilian attire who
assaulted
him and confiscated his camera.
The camera was later returned,
although the memory card was missing. The
journalist has since filed a
complaint with Kwekwe Central Police.
MISA- Zimbabwe position
MISA
Zimbabwe strongly condemns this latest affront to media freedom and
citizens’ right to access to information. Such conduct by the army does not
only expose extra-legal hindrances to Zimbabweans’ right to free expression
but also demonstrates the unwarranted military involvement in civilian
matters.
END
Sentamu challenges UK/EU
easing of sanctions against Zimbabwe
His Grace has
written numerous times about Zimbabwe (eg HERE and
HERE) and the
horrors being inflicted upon or fellow Anglicans by excommunicated bishop
Nolbert Kunonga (eg HERE, HERE and
HERE). The
Archbishop of Canterbury has boldly gone
where no politician dared. And now HM Government has decided to relax sanctions
against the Mugabe regime.
With permission, His Grace reproduces an
article written by the Archbishop of York and which appears in
today's Times:
On Sunday 9th December 2007, I took off
my clerical collar and cut it up during an interview on the Andrew Marr Show on
BBC1. I said I would not wear it again until Robert Mugabe had ceased to be in
power in Zimbabwe.
I made this prophetic statement as Robert Mugabe had
slowly but surely cut up the identity of the Zimbabwean people into tiny
pieces.
It is fair to say that I did not expect still to be collarless
five years on. I’m even asked occasionally why I have forgotten to wear one –
but my answer remains that this corrupt and oppressive regime has simply been
allowed to carry on for too long.
Whilst the British Government seem to
be considering easing some sanctions against Mr Mugabe and his personal allies,
I am not convinced that the time has come to weaken international opposition to
the President of Zimbabwe’s irresponsible, undemocratic, lawless, and at times
brutal regime. I certainly won’t be placing an order for a new clerical collar
at Wippells just yet.
We cannot allow Robert Mugabe off the hook. When I
cut up my clerical collar, I said I would not put it on again until Mr Mugabe
had gone from office – we need to stand in solidarity with the people of
Zimbabwe and not forget the abuses and exploitation they have suffered at the
hands of that administration.
The reason given by Her Majesty’s
Government for this ‘step change’ in relations with Zimbabwe is the work going
in to drafting a new constitution for that country. The recent meeting of
European Union foreign ministers, which agreed to lift these restrictions on Mr
Mugabe’s colleagues, have made this decision dependent only upon whether a
‘credible’ referendum is held on the new constitution. Perhaps if they had read
the draft constitution they might have taken a different view.
For
example, amongst its many more reasonable provisions, the draft constitution
cancels the right of Zimbabweans to appeal to a supreme legal body to protect
their fundamental rights.
I am advised that, at this point, Zimbabwe’s
draft constitution has been signed off by both the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) and President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF.
Across the Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC) region people are standing up for their
rights, and for the freedom to make their countries and communities prosperous
and successful.
Yet too often, they are undermined by governments and
laws that attack the very foundations of the rule of law. Land clearances,
broken contracts, bribery, extortion, dispossession and oppression are
rife.
There is only one institution in Southern Africa that has the power
to respond. The SADC Tribunal is the only place where individuals, companies and
groups can take their governments to an independent court. The SADC's regional
body began meeting yesterday and senior officials will be travelling to Harare
in the next two weeks to assess the country’s political progress following
announcement of the draft constitution. Completion of Zimbabwe’s draft
constitution and other key developments in preparing for elections will come
under scrutiny this week when the group resumes assessment of political
improvements which include media reform.
Last year, following pressure
from Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, the Tribunal was suspended then dissolved by the
SADC Heads of State. This move has denied SADC citizens access to justice and
the protection of human rights when legal systems in their own countries fail.
By dissolving the SADC Tribunal, the leaders of these nations have colluded with
Mr Mugabe in his denial of justice to the citizens of Zimbabwe.
It is
now time for all communities and organisations within the Southern African
region to stand together as one to petition their Heads of State to reinstate
and strengthen the mandate of the SADC Tribunal regional
court.
Furthermore, Zimbabwe’s new draft constitution also rules out any
compensation from the Zimbabwe Government for land that has been taken by the
government from its legal owner, stating: “no compensation is payable in respect
of its acquisition”.
It directly prevents anyone applying to a court
regarding compensation for land: “no person may apply to a court for the
determination of any question relating to compensation”.
The draft says
that land can be acquired simply by a notice in the gazette: “whereupon the land
vests in the state with full title with effect from the date of the publication
of the notice”.
Most alarmingly of all, it says in section 4.29(3)c that
discrimination is now legal: “the acquisition may not be challenged on the
grounds it was discriminatory”.
Here, for the first time since apartheid
was abolished in South Africa, we see a blatantly racist and tribalistic clause
added to what may become the new constitution of Zimbabwe. Farmers and farm
workers have much to fear from this move.
Douglas Mwonzora, spokesman for
Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change, has welcomed the move
because take-overs in the future will now be able to be done ‘legally’! It would
be tragic for Southern Africa if Mugabe’s legacy to the region is a constitution
which not only permits but actively promotes discrimination on the grounds of
ethnicity.
The SADC states stood together successfully to defeat
apartheid in South Africa. They must now stand together to stop human rights
abuses and bring an end to government-sponsored violence within member states
which has led to deaths, shocking injuries and mass scale
displacements.
Mr Mugabe’s regime has been propped up these past three
years due to the discovery of a huge diamond deposit. It is being exploited at
the expense of the ordinary citizens of the country. Those diamonds are blood
diamonds.
What we need to see is justice and transformation for the
ordinary people of Zimbabwe – the farmers and the workers – we owe them too much
to give up now.
I do hope to wear my collar again before too long, but I
it would be best if this is because free and fair elections have taken place in
Zimbabwe, legally and peacefully removing from office the President who is
responsible for so much violence and destruction.
The international
community cannot afford to turn its back on the people of Zimbabwe in their hour
of need.
ZESA
thieves caught in the act
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Two men, who allegedly stormed Chitungwiza
Sewerage Works’ Industrial Area
and siphoned transformer oil before stealing
33kg of copper cables worth $
11,080, have been
arrested.
07.08.1201:33pm
by Talent Bhachi
Only $6,600
worth of the loot was recovered, according to police. Tafara
Chigariro, 26,
of Zengeza 2 and Richard Njanji, 37, of St Mary’s appeared
before
Chitungwiza magistrate, Olivia Mariga.
The two were remanded in custody
to August 16 for trial.
On June 28 this year, the two hatched a plan to
storm Chitungwiza Sewerage
Works’ Industrial Area where they cut and stole
11/33KVA copper cables
weighing 33kg, destroyed a 100KVA transformer and
siphoned 224 litres of
oil. The two were intercepted by members of the
public while carrying the
loot. They were apprehended and taken to
Chitungwiza police station.
Taxman
misses target by $5m
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority has missed its
revenue collection target for
the first half of the year by $5 million -
collecting $1.495 billion,
against a target of $1.5
billion.
07.08.1212:02pm
by Clemence Machadu
Individual tax
underperformed by 6 %, against the target of $320 million.
This was largely
due to the fact that the 2012 budget reviewed the tax-free
threshold upwards
from $225 to $250 per month.
Corporate tax brought in $178 million - a
13% surplus. The overwhelming
performance of corporate tax is largely
attributed to a gradual improvement
in local industry capacity
utilisation.
Last year it rose to 57.2 %, from 43.7 %. During 2012 it is
expected to rise
to 60 %.
Customs duty also underperformed by $19.68
million, missing the target of
$189.98 million. Zimra attributed this to
improvements in local industry,
reducing reliance on imports.
But
Biti argued that imports continued to rise, recording $2 billion by
April
2012, implying that customs duty does not move commensurate with
actual
trade volumes. Imports are projected to close the year at $8 billion.
The
underperformance of this revenue head could point to other factors like
smuggling of goods, undervaluing of declared goods and faking of
certificates of origin, at the border.
Excise duty performed well
above its target of $157.5 million, rising to
$175.4 million - largely
attributed to increases in disposable incomes which
led to increased
consumption of excisable commodities and increased demand
for fuel due.
28 countries
attend consultative meeting on Syria in Tehran
http://www.irna.ir
Tehran, August 9, IRNA -
Foreign ministers and representatives from 28
Asian, African and Latin
American countries are taking part in a
consultative meeting in Tehran on
Syria themed " Denouncing violence and
upholding national dialogue."
1391/05/19 - 19:42
Present in the meeting are the foreign ministers of
Iran, Pakistan, Zimbabwe
and Iraq as well as the Iraqi minister of national
security along with
representatives from other countries
rticipated.
Deputy foreign ministers of seven countries, foreign ministry
directors
general from two countries and ambassadors of 15 countries along
with
representative of UN office in Tehran have taken part in the
meeting.
Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi had said that the
topics on the
agenda of the meeting will be denouncing violence and
establishment of
national dialogue in Syria as Iran spares no efforts to put
an end to
violence in that country as soon as possible.
Violence
claims lives of Syrian civilians, Salehi said, adding that through
national
dialogue it will be possible to prevent violence and extremism
Islamic
Republic News Agency/IRNA NewsCode: 1024796
Exiled Music Guru: I Won't Return to Zimbabwe Until There Is Change of
Government
http://www.voanews.com
08 August
2012
Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye |
Washington
Exiled Chimurenga singer and song writer Thomas
Mapfumo says he has no plans
to return to Zimbabwe to stage shows contrary
to recent press reports.
Mapfumo told VOA Studio 7 despite the rumor mill
going abuzz about his
return home, he will not set foot in Zimbabwe until
there is a change of
government.
"I will not stage any shows in
Zimbabwe until the will of the people is
respected, "said
Mapfumo.
Mapfumo said he is saddened by the large number of Zimbabweans
who have been
forced to leave their country due to the volatile political
situation.
He said he would continue to compose and sing liberation music
while still
in exile and "will only set foot in Zimbabwe once the country is
free".
Mapfumo, known for his explosive Chimurenga music that he produced
to
inspire Zimbabweans before the country attained independence from British
rule in 1980, was in the country in 2004.
Quizzed on what it would
take to convince him to return to his home country,
Mapfumo said he would
like to see a change of government that reflects the
will of the
people.
Business mogul Phillip Chiyangwa was this week reported as saying
he is
willing to bankroll a show for Mapfumo in Harare next
month
Chiyangwa was not immediately available for comment.
Zim journalists reflect after International AIDS Conference
Harare, August 8
2012: Four Zimbabwean journalists who attended the 2012 International AIDS
Conference (IAC) in the U.S. July 22-27 hailed the gathering but noted that
Zimbabwe, well regarded for its ability to harness resources for HIV and AIDS,
still has a lot to learn to effectively utilize local and international
resources.
“When everyone at the
conference was talking about ending the epidemic I was shocked because of the
challenges that we are experiencing in Zimbabwe,” said Masimba Biriwasha, writer
and journalist on public health issues.
“The point that was
being made was that we have made so much progress over two decades in terms of
the scientific and medical breakthroughs in fighting against the epidemic,”
Biriwasha said during a panel discussion held at Harare’s premier journalism
meeting place, the Quill Club. The discussion, moderated by seasoned journalist
Evince Mugumbate, was supported by the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs Section
through funding from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
It allowed media practitioners who had attended the 19th
International AIDS Conference in Washington D.C. to share their experiences as
well as discuss future options for Zimbabwe’s improved media coverage of related
topics.
During the IAC, the
United States government, through PEPFAR, approved an additional $39 million
dollars to fund HIV/AIDS programs in Zimbabwe, said Jillian Bonnardeaux of the
U.S. Embassy. The additional funding will bring total U.S. government support to
Zimbabwe to $91.2 million from $52 million in 2012.
The journalists said
Zimbabwe was cited as a model in raising local resources, but noted that it
still had a lot to learn from the experiences of other countries in effectively
utilizing these resources.
“In Washington DC,
despite it being an area of high prevalence, there has not been a single case of
a mother who has transmitted HIV to their unborn child since 2009,” said Robert
Mukondiwa, a journalist with a local daily. “What it says is that if you can
plug loopholes with regards to prevention of mother to child transmission
(PMTCT) you make tremendous progress towards reaching an AIDS free generation
that we always yearn for,” said the young journalist whose works have been
published in Thembi's Story - An Anthology of Real-Life HIV/AIDS Stories,
published by Macmillan.
However, the
journalists noted that the conference has done little in easing the fatigue that
has generally characterized reporting on HIV and AIDS.
There is a tendency
to get excited with statistics, noted Roselyn Sachiti, whose visit was supported
by the Foreign Press Centers through a nomination by the Women Journalists
Mentoring Program jointly implemented in Zimbabwe by the U.S. Embassy and the
Humanitarian Information Facilitation Centre (HIFC).
“It is important to
talk to all the people who matter - researchers, etcetera, and not get too
excited and take the statistics at face value. Statistics can reveal or mask
something,” she explained, citing recent coverage of male circumcision figures
and the Zimbabwe Health and Demographic Survey.
“Yes, there were 2500
journalists (attending the IAC) but I think there were tired,” said Masimba
Biriwasha. “There were supposed to be a lot of press conferences, but despite
the high numbers of journalists, a lot of these press conferences were empty.”
“The journalists have
become lazy these days,” noted Robert Mukondiwa, who has been deputy editor at H
Metro since its formation. “Maybe there is this fatigue,” he said.
“The challenge is how
to bridge the gap between the people implementing programs and the ones that are
implementing HIV research. You will be surprised that one of the key
microbicides research spots is in Zimbabwe, conducted at a local university,”
said Biriwasha.
Other positives,
noted the journalists, included advances in treatment and microbicides research
and reduction in stigma, judging by the increased interest in HIV and AIDS
research and activism by various sectors of society.
“I was very impressed
by the level of understanding within the faith communities now that they are a
vehicle that can cause a lot of damage. They said they were culpable for a lot
of the problems that have led to the growth of the epidemic,” said Mukondiwa,
who called for open discussions on issues considered controversial in Zimbabwe
such as commercial sex work and LGBT rights issues.
The panel did not shy
away from controversial topics either, responding to a discussion about
voluntary male circumcision in which journalists stated that public confusion
often stems from men thinking that they are invincible once circumcised.
Sachiti said “just because you are ‘eversharp’ doesn’t mean you can go around
‘writing’ everywhere,” and reiterated her colleague’s call for better
understanding the science before acting. She also challenged the journalists in
attendance to consider their own personal HIV/AIDS concerns in addition to
writing about them for the public.
Despite noting
controversies surrounding U.S. policies in previous AIDS conferences “there was
a lot of recognition of what the U.S. has done in supporting HIV and AIDS
programs throughout the world,” said Biriwasha.
“What needs to happen
going forward in terms of the HIV response is combination prevention, when you
give people who are living with HIV treatment it is actually possible to stop
the spread of the disease,” said Biriwasha- ZimPASİ August 8,
2012
# # #
ZimPAS is a product
of the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section. Send all queries and comments to
Jillian Bonnardeaux, Acting Public Affairs Officer, hararepas@state.gov Url: http://harare.usembassy.gov
New
venue for Zimfest
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Popular southern African music, sport and culture
festival Zimfest looks set
to make a strong return to the London festival
scene with a new venue and a
fresh new impetus.
08.08.1211:05am
by
Staff Reporter
Adored as a summer highlight for diasporian southern
Africans and their Brit
hosts alike, Zimfest celebrates life outdoors
through its diverse music and
cultural offers, sports tourneys and African
cuisines with the famed
traditional braai (BBQ) at its heart.
Zimfest
coordinator, Hilton Mendelsohn, said: “This development is a mark of
the
festival’s growth as an event and a popular fixture on the London
calendar.
“Apart from the change of venue, the festival’s range of
entertainment on
offer will be enhanced, with a bigger and better kid’s
corner, more
competitive and social sport. We will also have art
installations and a
music line up with artists from Zimbabwe and around the
world making up an
innovative and exciting programme on the
day."
This year Zimfest has found a new home at Grasshoppers Rugby Club
after
sealing a partnership with Western Union, UK Sports Club and EAT
Festival.
The event has grown to become a fixture on the London calendar, as
well as
spreading to South Africa, Australia and recently
Zimbabwe.
Hilton said: ”Zimfest started life as a massive Zimbabwean
piss-up party to
raise funds for the community back home, as well as a
“therapy gig” to drown
a few sorrows as at the time the majority of
attendees were forced to leave
Zimbabwe for political or economic reasons.
The first Zimfest was also a
statement of resilience and unity culminating
in a huge group hug and a
thunderous if somewhat out of tune rendition of
Nkosi Sikeleli Africa/God
bless Africa.”
For the first time in its
history, the event will this year take place over
two days with Zimfest
being held on Saturday 18th August while EAT Festival
will cap the weekend
of festivities the following day.
Saturday’s programme will kick off with
both full contact and touch rugby
tournaments while Netball will make its
Zimfest debut. All of the sport will
be organised by The UK Sports Club,
with the Rugby pre-season cup attracting
some of London’s best
clubs.
Music as always will be the centre piece of the event. The main
stage will
feature strongly African inspired music with highlights Afro Funk
band
Thabani lead by the mercurial Zimbabwean singer Tee Nyoni, bass and
drum duo
Mashasha and Sam, acclaimed Nigerian Afrobeat and Soul singer
Wunmi, South
African Jazz legends Pinise Saul and the Lucky Ranku Band and
the remarkable
talents of South African born singer songwriter Frankie
Rudolf. Other bands
include rockers Kamikaze Test Pilots from Zimbabwe, The
Spindle Sect from
South Africa and hip hop acts Team Kontroversial and Boyz
Retonaz.
Zimfest’s popular dance arena will be headlined by Londoner
Zepherin Saint
of the globally acclaimed Tribe Records, rising star in the
Deephouse scene
Djeff performing under the same label who will be the first
Angolan ever to
perform at Zimfest. The Tribe sets will be backed up by
Zimbabwe’s Rob
Macson and Mixolis. Pretoria born and London based South
African Samantha
Blackburn rated as one to watch in a recent copy of Mixmag
will make her
Zimfest debut.
As always Zimfest will feature all the
favourites in terms of Southern
African food and drink as well as a host of
other culinary delights from
around the globe providing a mouth watering
array of meals to choose from.
The festival will also feature the usual
market with a wide array of items
to purchase and charitable causes to
support.
Tickets to Zimfest can be purchased at www.zimfestlive.com and the event
welcomes all to celebrate Zimbabwe and Africa in the heart of the UK.
Beggars can’t be
choosers
August 9th, 2012
Just last week I had lunch at a local restaurant
in Harare and having had my fill I went to wash my hands. When I returned to my
table I found another man smartly dressed helping himself to the leftovers,
picking the bones that I had left. To say I was shocked is an understatement, I
was mortified and stood there looking at the man who was unperturbed by my
presence.
I left the place but I could not get the thought
out of my head. Maybe he is just too proud to beg but so hungry that he has
found a less obvious way to scavenge for survival. The thought of hungry
Zimbabweans persists and as I write I am astounded by the fact that people are
so desperate that they are reduced to stalking diners.
I guess he is luckier than a lot of other
starving Zimbabweans for this “gentleman” is easily able to enter food outlets
and then eat leftovers, while street kids are barred at the door, for they are
visibly dirty and will drive away customers. He eats for free, while streets
kids have to beg those who eat on the go.
There are mothers with babies strapped on their
backs who dice with death as they desperately try to coax money from motorists.
There are children all over Harare who are sent out to beg by the parents who
lurk in the shadows. Now there are even children in pristine uniforms also
begging, pushed by guardians to find the means to send their wards.
Zimbabwe is successfully destroying the
international perception of beggars in tatters, the vast majority of Zimbabweans
are poorer now than ever before.
This entry was
posted by Simon Moyo on Thursday, August 9th, 2012 at 1:06
pm.
The
great Kariba deception
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Thursday, 09 August 2012 12:19
Open
Forum
with Blessing Vava
It took them more than three years, a
whopping US$45 million to come up with
a 164-paged document which they are
saying is a proposed draft constitution
for Zimbabwe.
The so-called
final draft is nothing but a copy and paste job from the
Kariba Draft
constitution crafted by the three parties in the Government of
National
Unity (GNU).
The "final" draft, is a product of the Parliamentary
Co-nstitution Select
Committee (CO-PAC) management team which comprises
negotiators from the
three parties in government, the same people who
crafted the first Kariba
constitution in 2007.
Indications coming out so
far are that many Zimbabweans are not happy with
the COPAC draft and it does
not require a rocket scientist to tell you that
come the referendum, the
COPAC draft will be rejected resoundingly because
it deviates from the views
of the people. After spending huge sums of money
and three years only to
copy and paste, the Kariba draft is scandalous and
playing with the minds of
millions of Zimbabweans whose desire is surely
that of seeing a prosperous
nation with good laws and an accountable
government that respects their
will. The politicians are taking us for
granted and getting away with it,
they are not even ashamed, and in Shona we
will say havana nyadzi, or in
Isindebele abala nhloni.
The two formations of the Movement for Democratic
Chan-ge (MDC) have already
endorsed the draft urging Zimbabweans to vote
"YES" in the referendum, with
only ZANU-PF so far saying they are agreeing
with 97 percent of the contents
pressing for more amendments to suit their
needs.
Finally, the draft will sail through in Parliament after the final
changes
to be made by the principals. Fascinatingly, three of the principals
namely
President Robert Mugabe, Welshman Ncube and Arthur Mutambara were
rejected
by the people of Zimbabwe in the March 2008 elections. It is
ridiculous how
unelected people who Zimbabweans did not vote for obviously
for lacking
confidence in these individuals will now have a final say on the
country's
supreme law.
It will be very interesting to see both ZANU-PF
and the two MDCs campaigning
for the "YES" vote during the referendum that
should show Zimbabweans how
selfish politicians can be in protecting their
interests. For their
interests, they unite.
No Zimbabwean will forget the
"Luxurygate" scandal where the same
politicians bought themselves
top-of-the-range luxury vehicles when the
lives of citizens have not
improved. With a population staring at
starvation, lack of clean water,
electricity, good education and health for
the poor, it is strange how those
who questioned the rational of purchasing
luxury vehicles at the expense of
improving service delivery and paying
civil servants were considered enemies
of the State.
Politicians defended themselves saying the vehicles were in
line with their
new acquired status. The politics of opulence is their game
that is what the
draft is essentially about.
The draft proposes a bloated
national assembly with 210 members plus 88
senators, a notion which the
people of Zimbabwe were critical of during the
outreach exercise. Again all
these members will be demanding hefty
allowances and luxuries as we have
witnessed with the current crop.
It is about power and wealth, nothing for
the people. Initially they came to
the people to ask for their views, later
on they dump those views and
negotiate their positions and again they will
be shamelessly coming to the
people to urge them to vote for a document
which contains not their views
but of politicians. How selfish? That is one
of the reasons until now we
have not seen the national report which contains
critical information and
statistics of what Zimbabweans said during the
outreach phase.
For the MDC-T, their satisfaction with the draft despite its
flaws is
regrettable to say the least. From my own analysis, as a party that
is
confident of winning the coming polls they are not seeing the flaws of
the
draft simply because they would also want to enjoy the same powers once
in
total control of government. It is all about power nothing else. Shame
how
people easily forget. Theirs is not to democratise this country as they
purport but simply to be in power and replace ZANU-PF so it now
seems.
Remember the late ZANU-PF legal affairs secretary, Edison Zvobgo, who
introduced executive powers in the constitution as he hoped to take over
from President Mugabe and enjoy the same as he harboured presidential
ambitions.
In the new draft constitution, nothing has substantially
changed with
regards to the powers of the President as we are being made to
believe. If
anything the powers have been expanded, it is only the term
limits which
have been reduced.
Not long ago, the two MDC formations were
complaining about too much
executive power vested in the presidency This
time their deafening silence
on the issue raises a lot of questions than
answers. The issue of an
all-powerful president is one of the reason why
President Mugabe is still in
power using those powers.
Zimbabweans should
reject the new draft constitution. It does not matter
whether it's
President Mugabe or Prime Minister Tsva-ngirai who will be in
power. The
point is we do not want an all-powerful Executive President.
The myopic
thinking by the two MDC formations is dangerous. They think that
simply
because ZANU-PF somehow appears to be against the draft then
automatically
it makes the draft a good document. A wrong perception indeed,
the same
thinking they had during the Global Political Agree-ment (GPA),
when they
thought that Prime Minister Tsvangirai had Executive powers, only
to be
reminded regularly that President Mugabe is the Head of State and
Government
and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces.
The GPA has proved PM
Tsvangirai as a ceremonial senior premier with no
power. In this draft, I
believe that it is ZANU-PF that will benefit the
most. It managed to block
issues like real devolution, diaspora vote in the
final draft and these are
some of the critical issues which the two MDC
formations were clamouring
for. The constitution is a very important
document that should live beyond
individuals.
I am flabbergasted by COPAC's second all-stakeholders conference
needing
US$2 million, a meeting which they are saying will give the public
an
opportunity to ‘interrogate' the draft, but perceptibly they will not be
in
a position to change its contents. Why waste such an amount on a process
that will not change the draft rather than just subject that constitution to
the referendum so that people decide if they want it or not.
Divisions over a new constitution
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe
HARARE, 9 August 2012
(IRIN) - After three years in the making, Zimbabwe’s proposed 150-page draft constitution was deemed unacceptable by President Robert Mugabe’s
ZANU-PF party and rejected by civil society. It was endorsed by ZANU-PF’s
political opponents.
The adoption of the new constitution is a critical
step towards holding free and fair elections after the 2009 formation of the
unity government. The unity government emerged in the wake of the violent 2008
polls that killed about 200 people and saw ZANU-PF lose its parliamentary
majority for the first time since the country gained independence from Britain
in 1980.
Brokered by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC),
the unity government allowed Mugabe to retain the presidency while appointing
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister
and requiring, among other things, a land audit, electoral reform and the
drafting of a new constitution – all of which have become divisive issues.
A new constitution is seen as vital to create stability in a country
that has suffered several bouts of political violence in recent years.
ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo announced on 9 August, after a marathon
meeting by its central committee, that it could not accept the draft
constitution without changes to several clauses. “The party is expecting the
amendments to be factored in by Wednesday next week [15 August], when the
politburo meets to finalize its position on the draft constitution.”
Among their objections, Gumbo said the proposed constitution would
dilute the authority of traditional leaders, who have been strong supporters of
ZANU-PF. It would also allow the party with the majority of parliamentary seats
in a province to appoint provincial governors, previously the prerogative of the
presidency.
ZANU-PF also objected to the provision that parliament, not
the presidency, would approve the deployment of troops both inside and outside
the country.
The draft constitution also removes the presidential
preserve to appoint judges and instead allows for public hearings under the
jurisdiction of a Judicial Services Commission.
ZANU-PF also criticised
the draft’s proposed right to hold dual citizenship and expressed concerns about
the reforming of the security services.
A draft constitution clause said
that “neither the security services nor any of their members may act in a
partisan manner, further the interest of any political party… [and] they must
not be active members of a [political] party.” High ranking defence force
commanders have previoulsy said they would refuse to accept election results
that did not return ZANU-PF to government.
A clause in an earlier draft -
since removed - prevented anyone above the age of 70 or who had served two terms
of office from running for the presidency. Mugabe is 88 and has been president
for 32 years.
Mixed reactions
Both factions of
the MDC, one led by Tsvangirai and the other by industry minister Welshman
Ncube, have accepted the draft constitution in its current form and said they
would campaign for a Yes vote in a referendum for the constitution to replace
the 1979 Lancaster House agreement, which was drawn-up to end white-minority
rule in the former Rhodesia.
If agreement is reached on the draft
constitution by all three political parties, a second all-stakeholders
conference - including participation by the public - will be held before the
draft is tabled in parliament for debate and approval. It will then be voted on
by referendum.
Finance minister and MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti
told IRIN the constitution provided for a comprehensive bill of rights and it
“makes provision for free and fair elections and sets definitive time periods in
which elections must be held”.
Ncube warned at a recent press briefing
against any tampering of the draft constitution. "We have adopted the document,
although it is not the best as it was crafted under give-and-take conditions."
There is
no basis of supporting this document, which is being decided by
politicians
|
Shakespeare
Hamauswa, of the University of Zimbabwe’s political science department, told
IRIN it was not a perfect draft, but “if you look at the language in the
preamble, it is talking of transparency, good governance and accountability.
These are all good tenets of democracy and if the draft constitution is adopted,
we are going to witness a new era in the country characterized by transparency,
fairness and openness.”
But Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of the NGO
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), which campaigns for a constitution
derived from broad-based public consultation and is an umbrella organisation for
labour, student and women groups, churches and human rights organisations, said
that they would advocate for a No vote in the referendum.
“There is no
basis of supporting this document, which is being decided by politicians. We are
compiling a list of defects in the draft constitution and will present it to the
public,” he said.
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of
the United Nations]