From The Daily News Online Edition, 10 August
Air Zim graft sucks in
Zanu PF bosses
A former Air Zimbabwe managing director was detained
for three days for
alleged corruption but was saved from prosecution by
powerful Zanu PF and
civil service allies, sources at the airline said this
week. Rambai
Chingwena's subsequent resignation from the airline was
apparently a direct
result of a political and business trade-off between
influential government
officials and powerful Zanu PF politicians. A senior
Air Zimbabwe official
speaking on condition of anonymity, said a retired army
general who wields
enormous influence in the ruling party, and a former
secretary in the
Ministry of Transport and Communications, had in the past
shielded Chingwena
and his management from a possible government probe over
alleged money
laundering and other incidents of corruption. The official
said: "All
efforts by the three workers' unions at the State-owned airline to
expose
the corruption failed. We first wrote to Katsande but he denied there
was
corruption at Air Zimbabwe. Our chance came when the Parliamentary
Portfolio
Committee on Transport and Communication set up a probe into the
airline. We
submitted reports on the corruption to the CID headquarters at
Harare
Central Police Station. We pleaded with them to intervene before the
airline
collapsed." Still, there was no action forthcoming, the official
said.
The parliamentary committee reportedly recommended a probe into
the senior
managers' theft of aircraft spare parts, underhand dealings with
travel
agencies and misuse of workers' pensions contributions in the
pensions'
fund. The police compiled a dossier on the activities of the
managers,
leading to Chingwena's brief detention, the source said. "Chingwena
had
always been at loggerheads with the workers, especially engineers
who
constantly criticised him for destroying the airline by making
suicidal
decisions against their advice," another official said. "The truth
is that
things took a nasty turn for him and his handlers in the Ministry
of
Transport could no longer protect him. "Chingwena was arrested around 15
or
17 May and detained for three days. But powerful people in Zanu PF
used
money and political clout to ensure he was not brought to court." During
the
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and
Communications
investigations, the chairman, Silas Mangono (MDC Masvingo
Central), said
some of the managers admitted that Zanu PF heavyweights in
Mashonaland East
were often involved in Air Zimbabwe affairs. He said: "There
was a high
level of indiscipline at the airline, especially among the top
management.
Our findings were that there were powerful politicians in Zanu PF
who flexed
their political clout in the management of the airline. Now we
expect all
those implicated to answer for their indiscipline and corrupt
dealings.
"There were a lot of shady deals which were going on at the airline
when it
came to the importation of spares, repairs of aircraft. There were
some
people benefiting from the transactions at the airline."
The
workers alleged that Chingwena withdrew $400 million from the Pension
Fund
without the consent of other trustee members. This was after the
workers
discovered that the airline had not remitted their pension
contributions
since September 2003. The workers claimed that pressure
mounted on Chingwena
after a key ally was moved from the parent ministry.
Karikoga Kaseke, then
new permanent secretary in the ministry, adopted most
of the committee's
recommendations that urged the government to probe the
airline and punish
those responsible for corruption and mismanagement. It
recommended that a
turn-around strategy, drafted by all stakeholders be
implemented urgently to
save the airline from collapse. Tendai Mujuru, the
acting CEO of the airline,
was previously its company secretary and finance
director. She is said to be
related to retired army commander, Solomon
Mujuru. Last Friday, Ms Mujuru was
asked about the events preceding her
appointment. She said: "I am not at
liberty to comment on the matter related
to the former managing director. I
deny what has been said about me and will
not comment on the issue. His
resignation has nothing to do with me. You
could speak to the board chairman,
Livingstone Gwata. My relationship to
anyone powerful means nothing." Gwata
was not available for comment.
Chingwena resigned in May while in South
Africa and has not returned to
Zimbabwe since. Highly placed sources claim he
is in Botswana. Sources at
the airline claim the Attorney General's Office is
preparing papers to
consolidate the State case against Chingwena. They said
he faces charges
under the Prevention of Corruption Act. In June, Chingwena
told the Zimbabwe
Independent newspaper he would return to Harare to clear
his name. He denied
allegations that he stole airline funds and entered into
several corrupt
deals that prejudiced the airline. "I will be coming back to
Zimbabwe soon
and will face anyone who believes I have a case to answer,"
Chingwena was
quoted as saying in one of the weekly papers recently. "My
reason for
leaving Air Zimbabwe was purely personal. That's all."
Zim Online
THE MUGABES BRING HOME MORE LUXURY GOODS FROM MALAYSIA
Wed
11 August 2004
HARARE Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and his
wife Grace last
week brought back several tonnes of timber and household
goods from Malaysia
for their mansion under construction in Harare's
exclusive Borrowdale
suburb, ZimOnline has learnt.
Staff at
Harare International airport said Mugabe, who was in Malaysia
on official
business, arrived back in the country at about 4 o'clock in the
morning of
August 3 aboard an Air Zimbabwe Boeing 767.
The 767, which Mugabe
kept in Malaysia for more than a week, is one of
Air Zimbabwe's two remaining
usable planes. The national flag carrier, which
had 15 working aeroplanes at
independence 24 years ago, owns a third jet
presently not in operation
because it needs extensive repairs.
Airport staff who helped
offload the jet said it was heavily laden
with several tonnes of dark redwood
timber, kitchenware, household
electronic equipment, computers and television
sets.
A senior official, who did not want to be named, said, "The
timber
was offloaded and left lying at the airport hangar for some hours
before a
7-tonnes Mercedes Benz open truck and a 30-tonnes lorry arrived to
ferry the
timber to his (Mugabe's) house in Borrowdale."
Before
the trucks arrived at about 7.30 am, agents of the government's
Central
Intelligence Organisation kept a watchful guard, preventing airport
workers
from getting too close to the goods.
"Several other personal goods
like kitchenware and clothing were put
in the presidential vehicles. The
First Lady (Grace Mugabe) monitored
everything while the airport crew loaded
the goods," another airport
official said.
As far as the
officials could see, the Mugabes did not pay duty for
the goods whose value
airport officials estimated could be several million
United States
dollars.
Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba could not be reached
for comment.
His phone was not being answered when ZimOnline tried to call
him from
Johannesburg.
Mugabe has been building his retirement
home for the last four years.
The property includes two man-made lakes and a
small nature reserve. Most of
the material being used to construct the
opulent building was imported from
Malaysia and other countries.
The Malaysian Parliament last month queried why the country's former
prime
minister Mahatir Mohammed donated timber to Mugabe.
The Mugabes now
do most of their shopping in Malaysia and South
Africa. The European Union
and the United States of America have banned the
Zimbabwean President, his
wife and other top officials from visiting their
territories because of gross
human rights violations in Zimbabwe. ZimOnline
Zim Online
Zimbabwe not yet on the agenda of SADC summit
Wed 11 August
2004
HARARE - Foreign ministers of the Southern African
Development
Community (SADC) are yet to decide whether to put Zimbabwe on
the agenda of
the annual SADC heads of state and government
meeting.
The Council of Ministers meets from August 13 to 15, prior
to the
summit which begins in Mauritius on August 16. It is still unclear
whether
either Zimbabwe's human rights record and disputed electoral
processes or
the problems in strife-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo
will be placed
on the formal agenda.
Public relations officer at
the regional group's secretariat
Petronilla Ndebele could neither confirm nor
deny that Zimbabwe would be
under the spotlight in Mauritius: 'It is the
prerogative of the Summit to
choose which matters to be discussed. But all
political matters happening in
the region will be discussed. The Council of
Ministers will set the agenda
for the Heads of Government
meeting.'
Zimbabwe's Minister of Foreign Affairs Stan Mudenge, who
will take
part in the deliberations of the Council of Ministers, could not be
reached
for comment.
SADC has in the past refused to criticise
the controversial
performance of President Robert Mugabe and his government.
The Africa Human
Rights Commission, however, last month submitted a damning
report on
Zimbabwe to the African Union summit. Harare managed to block the
report
from being adopted by the AU, saying it had not been given an
opportunity to
respond to the commission's findings and that it would do so
within a week.
The response is still outstanding.
A SADC
official, who did not want to be named, said, 'Zimbabwe is one
of few
countries in the region where SADC (parliamentary) electoral norms
and
standards have been totally disregarded. Leaders (from the region) would
be
interested to know how far the country has gone aligning its electoral
laws
to the accepted SADC standards.'
The SADC norms, long adopted by
the SADC Parliamentary Forum,
stipulate minimum conditions for elections
which include setting up
independent commissions to run elections,
transparency, upholding the rule
of law and the protection of individual
rights and freedoms.
The heads of state summit is expected to adopt
its own set of norms
and standards for elections. Among these are the setting
up of impartial
electoral bodies, the safeguarding of human and civil
liberties, measures to
prevent vote rigging and adequate security.
ZimOnline
Panel appointed for Zimbabwe race probe
Wisden Cricinfo
staff
August 10, 2004
The International Cricket Council
has appointed a two-man panel to
investigate the allegations of racism that
have torn the Zimbabwean national
team apart. Nearly six months have passed
since 15 white Zimbabwean
cricketers, led by their captain, Heath Streak,
boycotted the national team
in protest at what they perceived as its biased
selection policy.
India's Solicitor-General, Goolam Vahanvati, and South
African High Court
judge Steven Majiedt have been appointed to carry out an
independent review
into the claims. "The ICC regards allegations of racism as
a serious
matter," said their president, Ehsan Mani. "The process which is
now in
place to investigate these claims will ensure that the issues and
concerns
are addressed thoroughly and independently.
"Judge Majiedt
and Mr Vahanvati both have considerable experience in
overseeing legal
hearings, and dealing within a fair and considered
framework for all
parties," added Mani. "We have strong confidence and faith
in the approach
they are undertaking, and the ICC executive board will
receive their findings
and recommendations in October."
The row between the 15 players and the
board escalated in June when, after a
string of dismal results, the ICC was
forced to step in and suspend Zimbabwe
from Test cricket. Zimbabwe were,
however, allowed to carry on competing in
one-day matches, and England are
due to tour there in November.
The Zimbabwe Cricket Union, whose members
were unanimously re-elected at
their annual general meeting last week, agreed
to the arbitration process
last month, and the findings of the two-man panel
will be binding.
© Wisden Cricinfo Ltd
BOTSWANA-ZIMBABWE: Tensions continue to simmer
[ This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 10
Aug 2004 (IRIN) - Botswana has defended the practice of
caning people,
including illegal immigrants, convicted of petty offences,
despite protests
from neighbouring Zimbabwe over the "primitive" punishment
handed out to some
of its citizens.
Tension between the two countries has been simmering in
recent years as
increasing numbers of Zimbabweans enter Botswana, both
legally and
illegally, in a bid to escape the economic crisis at
home.
On Monday Zimbabwe's official Herald newspaper quoted Junior
Security
Minister Nicholas Goche as saying: "The act of flogging law-breakers
in
public is primitive and unruly. We have even stopped flogging our
children
in schools here in Zimbabwe, and feel Botswana should move with the
times."
The practice of caning had to be "aborted", he
said.
Zimbabwean officials have previously objected to Botswana court
decisions
sentencing Zimbabwean immigrants to corporal punishment, but
Botswana has
reiterated that its laws are applied universally within its
borders and are
not targeted at Zimbabweans.
Presidential spokesman
Jeff Ramsay told IRIN that "flogging under certain
circumstances is allowed
and it would apply to anybody, it is not targeted
to any one group of
people". However, "certain categories of people, such as
the youth, women,
the elderly ... are excluded" from the sentencing option
of corporal
punishment.
There were "two parallel legal systems" in Botswana, and
"most of the
floggings have been in the context of customary courts run by
traditional
authorities [deliberating] on minor cases", he
explained.
"In the original case that caused something of a stir, the
people who had
been caned happened to be Zimbabwean and admitted their guilt
and opted for
caning. Some of the Zimbabweans [familiar with Botswana's
customs] ...
frequently take the option of customary courts because they are
quicker, and
people don't want to go to jail for petty theft," Ramsay
said.
[ENDS]
VOA
Greece Bars Burma, Zimbabwe Sports Ministers
VOA News
10 Aug
2004, 15:33 UTC
The Greek government has barred the sports ministers
from Burma and Zimbabwe
as part of the EU's sanctions against the two
countries for their human and
civil rights abuses.
Zimbabwe's Aeneas
Chigwedere and Burma's Brigadier General Thura Aye Myint
were previously
barred from entering the European Union. A Greek official
says his country is
merely complying with the EU sanctions.
European Union governments accuse
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe of
rigging his re-election. Burma is
frequently criticized for human rights
abuses.
The move comes after
Greece said it would bar Belorussian Sports Minister
Yuri Sivakov because of
allegations against the former interior minister
involving the disappearance
of journalists.
Some information for this report provided by AFP
and Reuters.
SABC
Mugabe to prioritise building of military
August 10, 2004,
14:53
Robert Mugabe, the Zimbabwe president, says his government would
continue to
give priority to building the military to defend the gains made
since
independence from Britain in 1980. Speaking at a celebration marking
the
24th anniversary of the country's defence forces, Mugabe said Zimbabwe
must
be wary of "imperialists" who are desperate to destabilise the
southern
African nation, and its defence forces must stand ready to fight
back.
"As we enjoy the peace in our country we shall however remain
vigilant and
wary of increasingly desperate and dangerous imperialist efforts
to
destabilise our nation," Mugabe told a crowd of thousands in the
capital
Harare. "The enemy machinations will never make us forget that we
got
Zimbabwe after a protracted liberation struggle," he said.
Mugabe
has previously singled out former colonial power Britain for trying
to topple
his government over its land reforms, which have seen land seized
from whites
for redistribution to landless blacks, and his controversial
re-election in
2002. Zimbabwe's main opposition and several Western
countries say that
election was rigged, a charge Mugabe denies.
Yesterday, Mugabe took a new
swipe at Tony Blair, the British prime
minister, who told parliament in June
that his government was working with
the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC). Mugabe said today that
in the face of such threats, and what he
has called British attempts to
bring "regime change", the country looked to
the defence forces to safeguard
its territory. "The greater part of this
national effort falls on the
defence forces who should always maintain a high
level of preparedness in
order to safeguard our sovereignty and territorial
integrity."
Mugabe, a former guerrilla leader who spearheaded Zimbabwe's
war of
independence in the 1970s, has placed some of his most trusted
military
lieutenants in political positions such as provincial governorships
and the
intelligence services, moves seen as efforts to consolidate his grip
on
power. The veteran leader, in power since 1980, charges that his local
and
foreign opponents have sabotaged Zimbabwe's economy over the land
seizures,
leading to record unemployment, inflation and erratic supplies of
food and
foreign currency. - Reuters
10 August 2004
PRESIDENT TSVANGIRAI'S TUESDAY MESSAGE TO THE PEOPLE OF
ZIMBABWE
My reading of the Zimbabwean crisis agrees with a widely held
view that a
lasting solution is now clearly in sight.
We are feeling
the weight of a nation in its darkest hour. We have refused
to give in to a
determined assault on our body and soul. We are on a winning
trail. All the
signs point to an endgame.
The regime pulled out its last card, but
nothing has come out of it: whites,
land, puppets, price controls, media
controls, intolerance, nationalism,
anti-corruption, cosmetic electoral
reforms, nothing. After five hectic
years, we are worse off than we were in
2000. We are, however, clearer on
what needs to be done to put Zimbabwe back
on the rails.
Zimbabweans are amazed at Zanu PF's pronouncements that it
can win a free
and fair election in these circumstances. The crisis has
defined the
national, political and economic priorities and needs, their
content and
their force in moulding our future choices.
We are not
alone in this assessment. Reformers in Zanu PF have, at last,
realised that
the country is in a cul-de-sac. They see a possibility of a
solution emerging
from constructive engagement. But their efforts are being
thwarted by
late-comer opportunists swirling their hard-line views around a
restless Zanu
PF leadership.
The hardliners, mainly political speculators and a
parasitic bureaucracy,
are exploiting an anxious and aged incumbency for a
selfish end.
As is always the case in times of instability, the
hardliners have no
political base. They fleece the country and manipulate the
dictator in order
to secure sufficient time to launder their ill-gotten
benefits and to
decontaminate their loot. Unless we push harder for change,
their actions
may delay our freedom by an extra day.
At the moment,
these hardliners give the impression that they are in charge
of the country -
managing the judiciary, ruling by decree, muzzling the
media, closing down
private schools, holding onto many stolen farms and
fiddling with the mind of
the dictator.
The Zanu PF centre has fallen apart. The country is awash
with contradictory
messages. The regime says it wants a general election in
March 2005, but the
behaviour of its officials point to a different
direction.
How does the regime explain the failure to open up the country
to political
activity if it is serious that it wants a free and fair
election? Are Robert
Mugabe and Zanu PF after another bout of violent
confrontation or are they
keen to reconcile with the people and start
afresh?
In a short space of two weeks, we are stopped from meeting our
officials on
a dozen occasions. Trade unionists are jailed for doing their
work. A new
law to criminalise civil society is in the horizon. The police
have become
Zanu PF activists in the war against the nation. The public media
has upped
the tempo against us. Works of fiction are on display as news,
without any
shame. Who, in their right mind, could go into an election under
such
conditions?
We went into all the elections and by-elections since
2000. We gained
tremendous experience during this period. You urged us to go,
regardless of
the conditions. We now know what that means. Does it make sense
to subject
the nation to that experience again?
Zanu PF must decide
what it wants to do; otherwise Zimbabwe shall conduct a
one-party election.
The choice is theirs.
As the nation commemorates the Heroes Holiday,
those who sacrificed their
lives for the liberation of this country must be
surprised at the level of
political decay that has blurred Zimbabwe's vision
and corrupted the ideals
of a noble liberation struggle.
Our dignified
revolution has been reduced to a mere racist or imperialist
conspiracy,
through hysterical references to Tony Blair, George Bush and
colonialism as a
cover for our own mistakes.
Our experience shows that our political
independence from colonialism has
yet to translate into majority rule and
freedom for all. Freedom has a deep
set of demands, none of which the current
regime has addressed so far. Only
an MDC government has the capacity to
rectify the anomaly.
As I drove into Zhombe business centre on Saturday,
a young police officer
insisted on running his fingers around my frame saying
he was under orders
to conduct a body search on me and my staff. It occurred
to me then that we
still had a long way to go in respecting people's civil
liberties and
freedoms, legal entitlements and personal space.
Halfway
through our private meeting with the MDC structures, another police
officer
broke the news that Zanu PF youths, armed with bricks, stones,
sticks and all
sorts of earthly weapons, had blocked our exit and wanted to
attack us. To
ensure our safety, he ordered, we were to use an escape route
through the
bush to the main Gokwe-Kwekwe Road.
Election campaigns encourage
participation in the voting process. Election
campaigns provide forums for
free discussion and uncensored distribution of
essential information
necessary for people to make informed choices.
How do Mugabe and Zanu PF
avoid a deeply defective electoral process if
their contestants are denied
adequate opportunities to present their case to
the people? Or, as is the
case today, when the MDC is blocked from accessing
to the public media? How
do potential voters consider the views of all the
competing players when the
state denies political parties the space to be
heard?
Majority rule
and democracy are supposed to enrich our lives. To be
prevented from taking
part in any aspect of life is a major form of
dispossession. That is the main
reason why people have turned against Zanu
PF.
The message came out
clearly at our Zhombe meeting. Despite their
humiliation at the hands of the
police, the people vowed to remain resolute,
making concrete suggestions on
the way forward. They stated that they were
determined reclaim their voice,
in the face of the recruitment, training and
deployment of large contingents
of Zanu PF militia into their villages.
We have no choice. We must arrest
the current chaos, rescue our economy from
ceaseless convulsions and push
Zanu PF out. We are getting there.
With the pressure from all Zimbabweans
and from our neighbours in the SADC
region, the regime will pack up. We all
know that flawed elections are a key
source of our problems.
Our
objective is to raise the conduct of our elections to the SADC standards
to
secure a legitimate result. We have argued that elections, which
should
reflect the exercise of our sovereignty in the selection of our
leaders
should never become open seasons for murder, torture, beatings and
violence.
We shall guard against that kind of behaviour in the run-up to
March 2005.
May I humbly ask southern Africa, through the SADC summit in
Mauritius this
week, to assist us in this regard, in particular in making
sure that the
next election is held in accordance with the SADC norms and
standards?
We are aware that the region's development agenda has been
affected by the
Zimbabwean crisis. We know you want the matter resolved
through a legitimate
election.
Together, we shall win,
Morgan
Tsvangirai
President.
VOA
8/10/04 - SUPPRESSION IN ZIMBABWE
The following is an editorial
reflecting the views of the United States
Government:
Zimbabwe is
a nation in crisis. Its population faces a government-induced
famine. Human
rights and the rule of law have been replaced by arbitrary
rule.
Many
brave Zimbabweans continue to speak out against the violence,
corruption, and
mismanagement that they are forced to endure. U.S. State
Department spokesman
Richard Boucher says the closing of the Tribune
newspaper "is the latest in a
series of assaults on press freedom and on
access to independent information
in Zimbabwe":
"It follows the government's attempts to tighten controls
on Internet use,
last year's forced closure of the Independent Daily News,
and the ongoing
intimidation, harassment, and prosecution of independent
journalists."
Journalists are not the only ones the Zimbabwean government
is trying to
suppress. Musicians in Zimbabwe are having difficulty getting
their protest
songs recorded. When they do, says an article in the Washington
Post
newspaper, "the songs are almost never played on radio stations, all
of
which are owned by the government."
Thomas Mapfumo is a Zimbabwean
who moved to the U.S. in 2002 because he
feared for himself and his family.
Today, says Mr. Mapafumo, "you are trying
to tell the people the truth, what
is happening in their country, and
somebody is trying to shut you
down."
The struggle in Zimbabwe is not about foreign values or foreign
interests.
It is about the need for Zimbabwe to return to the democracy and
rule of law
that it enjoyed during its first fifteen years of independence.
For the
people of Zimbabwe, their freedoms have been curtailed and their
economic
opportunities have been wasted. Their revolution has been betrayed
by some
of its own authors.
Zimbabwe : compliance, the litmus test of SADC protocol on
democratic
elections
L'Express (Port
Louis)
OPINION
10 Août 2004
Publié sur le web le 10 Août
2004
Pr. Welshman Ncube, MDC Secretary General
Port Louis
The
guidelines for free and fair elections will be a major item of the
SADC
summit. Zimbabwe's MDC opposition party leaders were in Mauritius last
week
to lobby on that issue.
Free and fair elections are an essential
component of the broader process of
democratic transition and the
institutionalisation of democracy. The current
regional consultations on
developing electoral norms and standards for the
SADC are an acknowledgment
of this and signal the increasing maturity of the
region's nascent
democracies; the deliberations underline the determination
of most SADC
leaders to deepen democracy and consolidate the democratic
gains that have
been made since the revival of multi-party democracy across
Southern Africa
in the 1990s.
The twin evils of poverty and inequality can only be
properly tackled in an
environment where people are free to participate in
the democratic process,
make their voices heard and periodically have the
power to vote out the
incumbents and elect leaders they believe are better
equipped to address
their basic needs and grievances. Governments, whose
authority to govern is
based on the people's will secured through a genuine
ballot, are more likely
to drive and deliver a country's human development
objectives.
When SADC leaders gather in Mauritius this week for their
annual summit it
is hoped that the current deliberations will progress into a
concrete set of
principles and guidelines for democratic elections that are
agreed to by all
members. It is critical though that any norms and standards
that are agreed
upon are comprehensive: they need to encourage both the
establishment of
enabling political environments for democratic elections as
well as legal,
institutional and administrative electoral frameworks that
harness
transparency and fairness and therefore build public confidence in
the
entire electoral process. In order to avoid undermining the credibility
of
its democratic governance agenda, SADC must resist the temptation to
produce
a "compromised protocol" based on narrow criteria, in order to
secure
agreement from those member states who do not instinctively share
the
commitment to democratic governance in its broadest context.
The
recent electoral proposals tabled by the Zimbabwe government underline
the
urgent need for SADC leaders to come up with a broad set of criteria
for
elections. In the absence of a collectively agreed set of benchmarks,
the
leverage, at the multi-lateral level, to encourage miscreant members
(who
are reluctant to properly address flaws in their electoral processes)
to
conform, is very much weakened. Moreover, the absence of binding rules
and
regulations creates a dangerous vacuum in which the definition of
what
constitutes a legitimate ballot is often subject to a very narrow
and
politically expedient interpretation, a factor, which retards the growth
of
democracy by impairing citizens' ability to have a free say in
influencing
the type of society they wish to live in. This is technically
what is
currently taking place in Zimbabwe.
Measures to level the
playing field
In his address marking the opening of Parliament on Tuesday
20 July,
President Mugabe announced that a number of electoral reforms would
be
introduced that are designed to level the playing field. These measures,
he
believes, will go someway towards appeasing those who are critical of
how
Zimbabwe manages and conducts its elections. Moreover, President Mugabe
will
no doubt attempt to ensure that any agreement between SADC leaders
on
election benchmarks is similar in scope to his own definition.
The
proposals, which include the establishment of a new Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission, the reduction of polling days from two days to one, the
counting
of votes at polling stations and the use of translucent ballot
boxes, whilst
a step in the right direction, do not tackle the more
fundamental obstacles
to genuine democratic elections in
Zimbabwe.
What the reforms clearly indicate is that Mugabe and the ruling
Zanu PF
government define the concept of an election through a narrow prism
and view
it purely in terms of the actual polling day. The reforms therefore
are
primarily focused on addressing technical and administrative issues
to
improve the levels of transparency associated with the casting and
counting
of ballots. These reforms do not take into account the context and
political
environment that has caused the democratic deficit in
Zimbabwe.
The MDC is of the view that an election is a process, not an
event; and the
minimum standards for elections that have been published by
the party in our
'RESTORE document, are premised on this broader
interpretation of what
constitutes an election. The proposals of the Zimbabwe
government may well
secure the objective of ensuring transparency and
fairness on polling day
but, given the context of the Zimbabwe's political
crisis, they are woefully
inadequate and in no way build the crucial levels
of transparency and
fairness in the entire electoral process necessary to
ensure that the poll
will be an accurate reflection of the will of the
people.
For instance, the appointments' procedure for the new electoral
commission
casts serious doubt on whether this new body will discharge its
mandate in a
non-partisan manner; its chair, for example will be appointed by
Robert
Mugabe whilst the other members of the commission will be appointed
subject
to parliamentary approval. Given Zanu PF's parliamentary majority,
this
technically means that Zanu PF can submit a list of candidates and
exploit
their parliamentary majority to rubber-stamp their appointment.
Moreover,
the new commission will not have the mandate to carry out
voter
registration; this remains in the hands of the office of the
Registrar
General, which continues to manipulate the voter registration
exercise in
the interests of the ruling party.
For genuine democratic
elections to take place there has to be a free flow
of information and ideas;
voters have to be able to access alternative
views, without fear of
intimidation and violent retribution, so that they
can make informed choices
when it comes to casting their ballots. These
democratic conditions can only
exist within a political environment whereby
the rule of law is upheld, the
independent media is allowed to flourish,
opposition parties enjoy equal
access to the state media and all political
parties are able to campaign
freely without fear of persecution and
violence.
Election: a process,
not an event
Such democratic conditions do not exist at present in
Zimbabwe; the
government remains dogmatically committed to shutting down the
democratic
space, as illustrated by its refusal to consider amendments to
draconian
pieces of legislation that curtail civil and political liberties,
its
closure of three independent papers over the past six months and its
recent
announcement of plans to introduce legislation aimed at controlling
the
activities of civil society organisations. Unless the political space
is
opened up a legitimate ballot is simply impossible, regardless of
what
reforms are introduced to improve the transparency of electoral
procedures
on polling day.
SADC leaders must therefore base their
considerations for a protocol on
guidelines and principles for elections on
the broad premise that an
election is a process, not an event. A failure to
do so will play into the
hands of those who view elections as an opportunity
to distort and
manipulate the democratic process to 'legitimise' their
retention of power.
Finally, establishing consensus around electoral
benchmarks is not in itself
an accurate measure of success; success in this
context can only be measured
in terms of the level of compliance and how the
SADC responds when member
states fail in this regard - this will be the real
litmus test of any new
democratic election standards. If compliance is
successfully enforced the
SADC region has the potential to act as the
template and engine for
sustainable development and good governance across
the African continent.
The Herald
Morton Jaffray under refurbishment
Municipal
Reporter
REFURBISHMENT of the oldest section of Morton Jaffray Water
Treatment Plant
is now on course following the approval by Harare City
Council of the
purchase of various replacement equipment such as engines,
motors, blowers,
inflow and outflow meters, compressors and
dosers.
The oldest part of the plant was installed in 1953 when Lake
Chivero was
commissioned, and the planned rebuild was never done in the early
1990s.
Council also approved the procurement of similar equipment for the
Prince
Edward Water Treatment Plant.
The Morton Jaffray plant has
capacity to produce 614 megalitres of potable
water daily but is currently
producing between 420 and 530 megalitres a day
while Prince Edward produces
around 60 megalitres daily.
Repair work at the plants has partly been
stalled because council failed to
meet for the greater part of the year and
could therefore not approve the
purchases, and because of lack of
finances.
But the Government gave council $10,7 billion under the Public
Sector
Investment Programme for the refurbishment of the water and sewage
treatment
works.
Of the total amount, $1,7 billion was committed
towards the Morton Jaffray
Water Treatment Plant, an amount council said was
inadequate.
Council is now awaiting approval by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe of a loan
for $15 billion to go towards the refurbishment of the
plant.
The Government has also written to the central bank supporting the
council's
application.
However, the amount is far short of the $31
billion needed for the total
refurbishment of the plant.
Council
approved the procurement of filter sand at a cost of $20 million to
be used
at the Prince Edward plant.
It has also approved that filter nozzles
costing $45 million be purchased
for the same plant.
Council approved
the refurbishment of the dry lime feeder gearboxes for the
Morton Jaffray
plant.
The job costs $20 million.
Approval to acquire two Honda
trash dewatering pumps for the Highfield
sewerage works unit was also
given.
At least $30 million has been set aside for the job.
The
use of another $400 million to procure a motorised forklift and conveyor
belt
for the Morton Jaffray plant was approved and an additional $15 million
for
the purchase of two mobile compressors for the same plant.
Other
equipment to be bought are four bilge pumps for $80 million, five
electric
motors at a cost R839 980.
Council will use at least $100 million for the
construction of Dzivaresekwa
pipeline and booster pump station and $25
million for the construction of a
750mm diameter main from Warren Control to
the Alexandra Park reservoirs.
Town clerk Mr Nomutsa Chideya said the
equipment would be bought to the best
advantage of council but he said the
procurement should be done with speed
because of time
constraints.
"Time is not on our side. We have to move with speed and put
the plant at
full throttle," he said.
Mr Chideya said council received
encouraging support from Government and
would therefore live up to
expectation. The director of works Mr Psychology
Chiwanga, in a report to
council, said the refurbishment of the plant would
enhance investment and
industrial development.
"Many housing developments cannot be implemented
at this time due to the
unreliable water supply situation and once the
situation is improved, many
people will have opportunity to own houses," he
said.
He said increasing the water output would increase the city's
revenue base
as reliable water supplies encourage investments that lead to
the growth of
the national economy.
Harare has been facing water
problems over the past few months, forcing the
council to introduce 24-hour
water cuts.
News24
Corruption still rife in Zim
10/08/2004 08:43 -
(SA)
Blessings Mambara
Harare - It is being questioned whether the
"anti-corruption" steps of
Gideon Gono, president of the Zimbabwean central
bank, will be successful.
This follows the announcement last week that
Royal Bank will be placed under
curatorship and the activities of the
life-insurance company First Mutual
have been suspended.
Ever since
Gono's appointed in December last year, six banks which could not
meet his
strict capital requirements of Zim$10bn have closed their doors for
business.
Royal Bank was placed under curatorship after the central
bank's
bank-supervision division warned that Royal is not in a healthy
financial
position.
Assets frozen
Royal Bank will be under the
management of Robert McIndoe for the next six
months. All transactions and
assets have been frozen, effective from August
4. This means no money can be
withdrawn or deposited unless the curator
agrees.
Documents indicate
that Royal Bank owes First Mutual Asset Management, a
subsidiary of First
Mutual, more than Zim$60bn in unpaid interest on a loan.
According to
First Mutual, the sad situation at First Mutual Asset
Management can be
attributed to non-performance of the loan to Royal Bank.
For this reason an
application for the compulsory liquidation of Royal Bank
was submitted in an
attempt to recover some of the money. The subsidiary
effectively closed down
last week.
Unauthorised deposits
The insurance commission last
week commissioned the auditing firm KPMG to
investigate First Mutual as the
latter's loan book indicates unauthorised
deposit to a bank.
The
commissioner then ordered all First Mutual's activities to close
down.
Earlier, the life insurer delisted from the Zimbabwean stock
exchange.
According to the central bank, it is important to have placed
Royal Bank
under curatorship to avoid panic withdrawals from account holders,
who are
already having a tough time in Zimbabwe's current
high-inflation
environment.
Weak corporate management
Gono said
Royal Bank is currently experiencing liquidity and solveny
problems that can
be attributed to bad corporate management. "We want the
economy to improve,
and in this way want to remove those banks from the
system that make
exorbitant profits at the expense of depositors," he said.
Analysists are
skeptical if these plans will succeed because wide-spread
corruption and
fraud are still rife in the financial sector, despite all
Gono's best
attempts.
Fellow Zimbabweans and concerned human rights activists
Following the successfu vigil we held http://www.mdczimbabwe.org/julynews/dallas2.htm We
will be holding another vigil, one of many to come at the regular venue, at
Ferris Plaza, opposite Union Train Station and the Dallas-Morning-news downtown
Dallas Texas on S. Houston street, Saturday 21, starting at 12:00 midday till
6:00 pm. We will contunue protesting the serious human rights abuses by the
Zimbabwean government and we will also be demanding the right to vote from the
diaspora. We will be signing a petition with our demands for restoration of
human liberties the Zimbabwe government is denying its own citizens. We are
counting on you to let your voice be heard by attending the vigil. There will be
singing, dancing and we anticipate some serious drumming. We will cap it all up
by holding hands in a circle and singing the National anthem. Together our voice
will be heard.
Andrew
Mudzingwa
MDC-DAllas Information and
Publicity
If you go to
one demonstration and then go home, that’s something, but the people in power
can live with that. What they can’t live with is sustained pressure that keeps
building, organisations that keep doing things, people that keep learning
lessons from the last time and doing it better the next time. Noam
Chomsky
Rochedale Observer, UK
Man held for wife's
murder
THE DAUGHTERS of a wealthy woman, whose husband is
now in a Zimbabwe jail
accused of her murder, have spoken about their
heartbreak.
Former Littleborough taxi driver, 47-year-old old Michael
Bamford was
arrested hours after the body of Mrs Ivy Sutcliffe was found in
their luxury
home on the outskirts of the capital, Harare, last
Monday.
Mrs Sutcliffe, who was 61, died from gunshot wounds to the head.
It is
understood that neighbours raised the alarm after hearing
shooting.
Mr Bamford is expected to appear before a Harare court
today.
Two of Mrs Sutcliffe's three daughters, Rebecca Nash, who lives in
the
Todmorden area, and Rachel Taylor, who has flown to this country from
her
home in New Zealand, gave an exclusive statement to the
Observer.
In it they said: "Our mother had the most supportive friends
over there in
Zimbabwe and they have been wonderful. Our mother had been in
Zimbabwe for
five years, she had known Michael Bamford for 10 years, but they
only got
married in a hotel in Harare in May this year."
"We are
completely heartbroken that her life should end at this point and in
this
fashion. She was a very beautiful, vibrant, sociable, bubbly person. A
kind
and wonderful woman."
They said their mother was a wealthy woman with
homes in this country,
Zimbabwe and Spain and she had 'hundreds of friends'
in all three countries.
"Everyone who knows what has happened is in
absolute shock and we have had
phone calls and emails from all over Europe
and America."
Mrs Sutcliffe was an avid golfer and had been a member of
both Tunshill and
Rochdale Golf Clubs. Last Thursday the lady members of the
Rochdale club
held a two-minutes silence.
Mrs Sutcliffe, who had been
married three times, was an independently
wealthy woman well known in Wardle
and Littleborough.
Her first marriage was to accountant Liam Taylor, with
whom she had her
three daughters. The other daughter, Claire, lives in
Farnborough.
She then married Brian Sutcliffe, the owner of a
Littleborough haulage
company, and when he died she met Mr
Bamford.
His parents, from Littleborough, lived in Zimbabwe, where Mr
Bamford was
born. They returned to the Rochdale area when their son was a
young boy and
became licensees of a local pub.
A Foreign Office
spokesman in London said on Monday: "A British national,
Michael Bamford, has
been charged with the murder of his wife, who died on
2
August."
"Consular staff in Harare have been in touch with the
families of Mrs
Sutcliffe and Mr Bamford."
New Zimbabwe
Shock report says 200 000 tortured in
Zimbabwe
PRESIDENT
Mugabe's regime has been accused of using torture against its
opponents
|
By Agencies
Last updated: 08/11/2004 06:52:31 Last updated: 08/10/2004 21:09:44
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe's government was accused on Monday of a "widespread,
systematic and planned campaign of organised violence and torture to suppress
normal democratic activities".
The British charity Redress, which assists torture
survivors, gave documented examples of 8 871 human rights violations from 2001to
2003 to show that torture incidents were concentrated in election periods,
especially the March 2002 presidential elections
Its report quotes estimates that more than 200 000
Zimbabweans have been tortured in recent years. "The most pressing conclusion is
the association between serious violations of human rights and elections," it
says.
It adds: "With the an nouncement that parliamentary
elections will be held in March 2005, addressing the problem of organised
torture in Zimbabwe becomes a matter of urgency."
It asks the international community to take steps to
forestall torture and other acts of political violence in the election
campaign.
The victims have included opposition MPs, trade union
leaders, lawyers and ordinary citizens. State agents are blamed for 24% of the
incidents and supporters of Mugabe's party, Zanu-PF, for 74%, Redress
says.
Its executive director, Kathleen Rose-Sender, said:
"This report presents a cool statistical analysis that shows a verifiable
pattern of abuse during election periods. This needs to be recognised and, if
possible, stopped.
"We hope that South Africa and the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) will not ignore the evidence put before it.
Regional pressure is always the most effective, coming from neighbouring
countries that share culture and values.
"For southern African countries to turn a blind eye
in the face of such evidence would be irresponsible, because it damages them
all," she said.
The report is backed up by the findings of the
African Union's commission on human rights, whose factfinding mission to
Zimbabwe led to a condemnation of Mugabe's government unprecedented by an
African organisation.
MDC
PRESS
10
August 2004
NEWSPAPER
CLAIMS THAT NIGERIA
PLANS TO GIVE MONEY TO THE MDC
ARE TOTALLY FALSE AND DEEPLY MISCHIEVIOUS
An article published in the
government controlled ‘Sunday Mail’ on 8 August, alleging that the Nigerian
government had agreed a deal with its British counterparts to channel funding to
the MDC, is without foundation and wishful
thinking on the part of the paper and its masters in Zanu PF.
For the record, the purported
meeting between an MDC delegation (comprising Morgan Tsvangirai, Gift Chimanikire,
Gandi Mudzingwa and William Bango) and
four Nigerian officials, led by Deputy Ambassador Ikeyado Laro, never took place.
The article also claimed that the MDC Secretary General visited
Nigeria. Again, this is not true; the
Secretary General has not visited
Nigeria since the formation of the
MDC.
It is also important to state, for
the record, that the Nigerian government has never, either directly or
indirectly, given funding to the MDC and neither has it agreed to
provide funding in future, either in its own capacity or as a conduit for the
British government.
The article appears to be a
mischievous attempt on the part of Mugabe and Zanu PF to smear the government of
Nigeria. It is clear from the piece that
the authorities in Harare remain determined to identify ways
of punishing Nigeria for supporting the decision taken
at the CHOGM conference in Abuja to suspend
Zimbabwe indefinitely from all councils of
the Commonwealth.
This is not the only reason,
however, why Nigeria has now been placed firmly in the
sights of the panicked marksmen within Zanu PF. By
alluding to a sinister link between Nigeria, Britain and the
MDC, the strategists within the ruling
party no doubt believe they can malign Nigeria to such an extent that it will
not risk using its position as the current chair of the African Union to push
for the adoption of the report submitted by the AU Commission on Human and
People’s Rights, which slammed human rights abuses in Zimbabwe.
This desperate strategy reveals the
extent of the disquiet caused within Zanu PF ranks by
the contents of this report and their increasing fear of what the impact will be
on their standing at the regional level if the report is adopted by the AU.
The
MDC is confident however that attempts
to intimidate Nigeria are doomed to failure. We in the
MDC believe that
Nigeria is too proud a nation to be cowed
and humiliated into a position of reticence. We hope that
Nigeria will not allow its tenure as Chair
of the AU to be tainted by the sinister machinations of a small, illegitimate,
ruling clique in Harare.
The attack on
Nigeria also betrays the increasing
vulnerability that Mugabe and his government now feel
in light of the growing erosion of African solidarity for their predicament and
the inevitable loss of friends. Vulnerability leads to desperate measures. Now
that Africa is beginning to see through Mugabe’s rhetoric his minions are resorting to even more
elaborate and treacherous ways to conceal the truth. What they are in fact doing
is digging a deeper hole for themselves from which at some point there will be
no way out.
Paul
Themba Nyathi
Secretary
for Information and Publicity