http://www.monstersandcritics.com
Africa News
Aug 11, 2009, 14:43
GMT
Harare - Seventeen people, including five children, were
killed when a
crowded bus crashed into a ditch after being sideswiped by an
oncoming heavy
truck, Zimbabwe state media reported Tuesday.
The
accident in which another 49 people were seriously injured, occurred
Sunday
in the remote northern Mount Darwin district, the state-controlled
daily
Herald said.
It quoted passengers as saying the driver appeared drunk
when he took the
wheel of the bus, and was racing other buses on the
route.
It brought to 35 the number killed in accidents around the country
during
the four-day national holiday weekend. Two weeks ago 41 people were
killed
and 27 were seriously injured in a similar accident in the south of
the
country.
http://af.reuters.com
Tue Aug 11, 2009 12:52pm
GMT
By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe accused Western powers
on Tuesday of seeking to
divide a fragile unity government he formed with
rival Morgan Tsvangirai
this year.
The veteran president has been angered by Western countries
who refuse to
give financial aid to the country until the new administration
undertakes
political and economic reforms.
Mugabe on Monday said
Harare may need to reconsider its ties with the West
for withholding
financial support.
"Allegations of gross abuses of human rights or
failure to respect good
governance have provided fodder for the West and its
media as they
repeatedly seek blemishes to stick on to our country," Mugabe
told thousands
at a gathering to commemorate Zimbabwe Defence Forces
day.
"Our detractors, the same old detractors continue with their
sinister
efforts to divide us."
While Mugabe continues to blame the
West, his coalition partner Morgan
Tsvangirai is on a drive to restore full
ties with Western governments that
are crucial for financial aid to fix the
battered economy.
Tsvangirai toured Europe and the United States in June,
but his efforts to
attract Western aid for the government, which needs $8.3
billion for
reconstruction, were met with calls for more reform.
The
government says it has secured $2 billion in credit lines for the
private
sector, mostly from Africa, but has failed to attract budgetary
support or
significant foreign investment.
The unity government has suffered
tensions since its formation in February
but on Tuesday Mugabe and
Tsvangirai stood together at a ceremony to honour
the country's defence
forces.
Senior security chiefs had previously vowed not to salute
Tsvangirai but on
Tuesday, in a sign that relations maybe thawing, they rose
to salute the
former trade union leader as he arrived for the
ceremony.
Mugabe said the country's security services had been hit by the
economic
crisis and Western sanctions but had managed to partner local firms
to
manufacture equipment and spares while farms seized from whites would be
used to supplement rations.
"The defence forces are utilising their
farms to supplement their ration
allocations from the fiscus (treasury).
This is a positive development which
I hope will be pursued to higher
levels," Mugabe said.
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Tuesday, 11 August 2009
16:27
A confidential dossier prepared by the MDC-T's security
department has
implicated senior Zanu PF officials in cases of murder and
political
violence during last year's elections amid growing fears of a
repeat of the
killings.
The officials either participated
in the violence themselves or
incited their supporters to kill or brutally
assault their victims, the
dossier seen by The Standard last week,
indicates.
The report lists names of over 200 MDC supporters
allegedly murdered
during last year's election, which failed to produce a
decisive winner
between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
It also lists names of senior Zanu PF officials,
army officers, the
police, youth militia and members of the dreaded Central
Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) as the perpetrators of the
violence.
The dossier gives names of alleged perpetrators and
victims as well as
dates and places where the murders or violence
occurred.
Ironically, one of those fingered is a minister in
the inclusive
government who hails from Mashonaland
Central.
The other is a former deputy Minister and three are
Zanu PF MPs.
Soldiers and war veterans are also on the
list.
The government of national unity (GNU) was formed in
February this
year after the signing of the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
in September
last year.
Senior MDC officials told The
Standard last week that the dossier had
already been handed over to Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, whom they
accused of trying to put a lid on the
controversial report.
"We want the Prime Minister to take up
the issue with Mugabe," said
one of the officials. "This is because some of
the murder cases were
reported to the police and none of the accused persons
have ever been
questioned."
Another official said a radical
group within the MDC-T wants
architects of violence brought to book
insisting that the nation cannot be
healed when the perpetrators were free
to roam around and continue to attack
the party's supporters with
impunity.
But analysts said it was unlikely that Mugabe - even
if he received
the dossier - would push for justice given that the killings
seemed to have
been sanctioned from the top.
Mugabe has
pardoned criminals convicted of torturing or shooting his
political rivals
before.
The 85-year-old leader pardoned two State security
agents convicted of
attempted murder after they shot the late businessman
Patrick Kombayi who
was contesting in a parliamentary poll against the late
Vice President Simon
Muzenda in 1990.
Tsvangirai's
spokesperson James Maridadi on Friday said the Prime
Minister had not seen
the dossier.
"We are not aware of it. I don't think he has seen it yet,
if it
exists," said Maridadi.
Analysts fear that the
dossier could rupture the fragile inclusive
government that has started "a
painfully slow" process of national healing
and
reconciliation.
Some cases, said one MDC-T official, had not
been reported because
police in certain constituencies stopped recording
politically-motivated
incidents for fear of reprisals from Zanu PF militia
and war veterans.
Last week, the MDC urged victims of political
violence around the
country to file their cases with the local
police.
Hardliners in MDC last week castigated the Organ on
National Healing,
Reconciliation and Integration chairman John Nkomo as well
as fellow members
Sekai Holland and Gibson Sibanda for the slow pace of the
national healing
process.
They queried why it took so long
for the officials to visit rural
areas to douse the flames of political
violence.
They said the organ had done nothing since its formation
other than
organizing conferences in Harare.
"Addressing
meetings on national healing will not end violence. They
must go together
and meet people in Mudzi, Guruve and Muzarabani who are
being torture day
and night," said a senior MDC official.
Addressing a press
conference recently, Nkomo promised that the organ
would soon take the
national healing campaign to the rural areas to call for
an end to
violence.
The new wave of political violence has mostly
affected areas believed
to be Zanu PF strongholds.
These
include Mashonaland East, Central and West as well as parts of
Masvingo and
Manicaland.
There are fears of increased violence after reports
that Zanu PF has
deployed youth militia and war veterans to campaign for the
adoption of the
Kariba Draft constitution which is at the centre of dispute
between
Tsvangirai and Mugabe.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
11 August
2008
After vowing never to salute Morgan Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe's army
Generals
finally saluted the Prime Minister during the Defence Forces
ceremony in
Harare on Tuesday. The Generals, who had always said their
loyalty was only
to Mugabe, gave what is seen as a boost to the troubled
coalition government
by marking their respects, as the Prime Minister
attended his first Defence
Forces Day ceremony.
Political commentator
Professor John Makumbe said: "It's about time. This is
a positive moment. It
is a shame they have only done this six months after
the inauguration of the
inclusive government. But he (Tsvangirai) has
respected them by showing up
at the Heroes celebrations and the burial of
Vice President Msika, and today
at the Defence Forces Day and so they should
reciprocate."
However,
observers say the significance of this act by the service chiefs
will be
fully appreciated and realised in the days and months ahead. The
observers
asked: "Will the selective prosecutions stop? Will the youth
militia be
disbanded? Will the constitution reform process be unfettered and
free of
tom-thuggery and tom-foolery and how much of this progress is a
realisation
that SADC under President Zuma will not tolerate belligerence?"
Makumbe
said if the abuses don't change, especially by the army, their
saluting of
Tsvangirai would be just the 'height of hypocrisy.'
Meanwhile, the MDC-T
called for the de-politicisation of the defence forces,
and appealed to
uniformed forces to support and not undermine the coalition
government, as
the country commemorated Defence Forces Day. Since the
formation of the
inclusive government in February the MDC has made numerous
statements
accusing members of the police of applying the law selectively,
and
targeting MDC members. Only last week the MDC was accusing soldiers of
tearing down posters publicising a star rally to be addressed by party
President Morgan Tsvangirai in Mutare.
Ironically, while speaking at
the Tuesday ceremony, Mugabe defended the
security forces, despite the
widespread reports by human rights groups and
the MDC itself of violations
committed by security forces. He rejected the
accusations that the army had
committed abuses during last year's elections,
or even under the present
coalition government.
The MDC, a partner in the coalition government,
insists politically
motivated violence and victimisation is still
continuing, especially in the
rural areas, and gave examples of places like
Vhumbunu Primary School in
Mutasa Central, where soldiers are allegedly
harassing and torturing
innocent villagers.
The MDC called 'upon all
uniformed forces of Zimbabwe to embrace the letter
and spirit of the Global
Political Agreement,' and said, 'it is vital for
our uniformed forces to
support, rather than undermine, the structure and
hierarchy of the Inclusive
government.'
Former freedom fighter Wilfred Mhanda says the MDC seems to
be at pains to
curry favours with the defence forces, when they know they
don't have their
respect. "As far as we know, our defence forces for the
past ten years have
behaved in a very partisan manner. They have spearheaded
bloody campaigns
against the people and have spearheaded campaigns in
Chiadzwa (diamond area)
and killed hundreds of people."
The outspoken
commentator said the uniformed forces have to turn over a new
leaf to prove
that they are no longer Mugabe's instruments. He said: "Right
now they are
not a national defence force, but serving the interest of
Robert Mugabe and
his ZANU PF. So I think the MDC has to be alive to that."
Mhanda believes
the MDC is a mere 'junior partner' in the inclusive
government, and
therefore unable to call the shots where the armed forces
are
concerned.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
11 August
2009
President Robert Mugabe on Tuesday defended the role of the security
forces
against charges of human rights violations, dismissing the military's
role
in the rampant abuses and killings at the Chiadzwa diamond
fields.
In an address to mark Zimbabwe Defence Forces Day, Mugabe accused
Western
governments and rights groups of actively seeking to tarnish
Zimbabwe's name
by 'falsely' claiming security forces had committed human
rights abuses. He
instead praised the army and police for cracking down on
illegal diamond
miners in Chiadzwa last year, a crackdown that left a trail
of torture and
abuse, and hundreds of people dead.
"Allegations of
gross human abuses of human rights and failure to observe
good governance
have provided fodder for the West and its media as they
repeatedly seek
blemishes to stick onto our country," Mugabe told a
gathering comprised
mostly of members of the uniformed forces.
The government had originally
illegally seized the Chiadzwa diamond claim in
2007, and set off a diamond
rush when it encouraged locals to help
themselves. But the arrival of the
army last year resulted in violence and
murder after the area was sealed off
with military roadblocks and troops.
Accounts from survivors of the military
onslaught detailed the killings,
speaking of helicopter machine-gun attacks
and armed attacks by troops on
the ground. Civilians in the region also
reported that anyone attempting to
enter Chiadzwa was arrested and often
tortured and killed.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have said that about
5,000 people were
arrested during the army operation, with three quarters of
them showing
signs of having been severely tortured. There were also claims
that hundreds
of people have been buried in mass graves to hide the
military's murderous
activities, and that the soldiers sent to 'guard' the
fields had become
illegal diamond dealers themselves.
Human rights groups
have since repeatedly called for Zimbabwe's suspension
from the Kimberley
Process, the international regulatory body tasked with
ending the trade of
conflict diamonds. Last month, an investigatory team
sent by the Kimberly
Process to probe the accounts of human rights abuses in
Chiadzwa, declared
that Zimbabwe had violated international diamond
standards. The delegation
urged the government to demilitarise the diamond
fields or face suspension
from the Kimberley Process, but more than a month
later, the military grip
on Chiadzwa has tightened further. Human Rights
Watch last week reported
that fresh troops had been rotated into Chiadzwa
where human rights
violations, including child labour, are continuing.
But Mugabe, who on
Monday said Zimbabwe may have to reconsider its relations
with the West,
dismissed charges of rights violations as lies spread by 'our
detractors as
they have sought desperately and without good reason to find
wrong doing on
our part.' The ageing dictator argued that the West wants to
interfere with
Zimbabwe's internal politics and to divide and weaken the
unity government
in Harare. Mugabe instead praised the defence forces for
safeguarding
Zimbabwe's 'national territorial integrity, national
sovereignty and
national interest in line with their constitutional
obligation.'
Ironically, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, whose MDC
party came under
violent attack by the defence forces last year, was also
present during
Mugabe's speech. The defence forces, which have been credited
with keeping
Mugabe and ZANU PF in power, last year launched a vicious
campaign of
violence against opposition supporters, all in the name of
'national
interest.'
However, in a move that observers say is a
public boost for the flailing
coalition government, Zimbabwean Generals
saluted Tsvangirai for the first
time on Tuesday. The service chiefs led by
army Commander Lieutenant General
Philip Sibanda and Air Force Commander
Perence Shiri each greeted
Tsvangirai, seated in the front row of the VIP
tent next to retired army
General Solomon Mujuru. The military chiefs shook
hands with Tsvangirai and
then saluted him.
http://nehandaradio.com/
Published on: 11th August,
2009
Johannesburg, South Africa
A 3-day Zimbabwe Exiles Forum
(ZEF) workshop organized in Johannesburg to
discuss the phenomenon of
Enforced Disappearances (ED's) ended with a call
to Zimbabwe government to
stop the practice.
The workshop, which was supported by Aim for Human
Rights of Netherlands
attracted leading luminaries of the civil society
movement from Zimbabwe and
South Africa. Some of the organizations
represented included Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights, Restoration of Human
Rights, Zimrights, Women of
Zimbabwe Arise as well as South African NGO's
such as Khulumani.
Commending after the workshop, Mr Gabriel Shumba, the
Executive Director of
ZEF and also a human rights lawyer said, "Enforced
disappearances are an
international crime, yet they have been happening in
Zimbabwe over the
years. They involve the recent phenomenon of abductions,
yet they date back
to pre-independence and the Gukurahundi period. We urge
the government of
national unity to ratify the UN Convention on ED's, as
well as to stop the
practice of ED's by the state."
The ZEF workshop
which began on the 7th and ended on the 9th of August ended
with delegates
receiving certificates of attendance. It also recommended
increased
collaboration on this issue between the ZEF and NGO's in Zimbabwe;
the
setting up of a secretariat to deal with this; the need for ZEF to raise
the
issue with international and regional bodies such as the UN and the
African
Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, and a demand that this
crime be
recognized as such in Zimbabwe as well as the need to give as a
right
protection from this crime by the state.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare -
Prime Minister and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
leader Morgan
Tsvangirai on Monday said Zimbabweans who have fought for the
unity
government should also be regarded as heroes.
Zimbabwe
commemorated Heroes holiday on Monday in which those who
contributed to the
war of liberation that brought Zimbabwe's independence in
1980 are
remembered.
"It is important that, on this our nation's Heroes
Day, we recognise
the contribution of these unique Zimbabweans who, like our
liberation
heroes, were guided by a vision of a country whose inhabitants
could live
and prosper in a free, open and democratic society."
"As a society we have been blessed with the presence of extraordinary
individuals from all walks of life, from all races, tribal backgrounds and
religions who have put the interest and welfare of their fellow individuals
above their own needs.
" ...we acknowledge that heroes can
arise in all periods of a nation's
development, in peace and prosperity as
well as in times of war. Just as
Zimbabwe today is governed by an inclusive
agreement, so the definition of
our nations' heroes must also be inclusive.
No one group has the right to
dictate to the nation who should be deemed a
hero for this undermines the
integrity of such an institution."
"It is also on this day that we must consider what it is that makes a
hero.
Just as a country's history dictates its substance, so the heroes that
that
country chooses to recognise dictate the character of the nation," he
said.
"Such is the turbulent history of our nation, from its birth out of
civil
war towards maturity as a democratic state, that many of our heroes
rose to
prominence in times of conflict and strife. Their sacrifices must be
recognised and praised."
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
11 August 2009
A
strike by doctors frustrated with their wages has now spread to most
government hospitals leaving the country vulnerable to the raging world wide
swine flu pandemic. Experts expressed concerns that with few doctors
available, the country would fail to deal with any potential disease
outbreaks as happened with the cholera epidemic that wreaked havoc last
year.
Since the formation of the unity government in February doctors
agreed to
continue working, despite not being entirely happy with the US$100
offered
to all civil servants. Union leaders say they had hoped Finance
Minister
Tendai Biti in his mid-term budget would raise their wages to
reasonable
levels. Doctors were subsequently awarded US$70 increases which
took their
salaries from US$100 to US$170 per month, but saw most of their
allowances
taken away.
Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa reports
that doctors are
disillusioned by what they see as a failure by government
to prioritise
their welfare. The total monthly wage for doctors is currently
US$390
because Crown Agents, a British relief agency is forking out an extra
US$220
per doctor per month in additional allowances. The doctors say
however, the
extra payments are not being made in some months and cannot be
relied upon.
Muchemwa says money injected into the health system has seen
the purchases
of furniture and vehicles for hospital directors instead of
wages.
The strike initially started with junior doctors two weeks ago but now
senior doctors have since joined in. Reports say Bulawayo only had one
consulting physician over the long Heroes weekend, while the situation in
Harare was said to be better. Brighton Chizhanje the President of the
Hospital Doctors Association said their strike began at Mpilo and United
Hospitals in Bulawayo. Doctors at Harare Central Hospital later joined the
strike. "We began by withdrawing on-call services because we are not getting
on-call transport and housing allowances, yet patients are paying for drugs
and drip; they are even paying for gloves used by hospital staff," he
said.
Chizhanje also explained that they were not happy with the flat rate
being
offered by government with no allowances. He accused the government of
coming up with the new pay structure without consulting
them.
Meanwhile, Muchemwa also reports that even before the strike,
staffing
levels were still very low. In June this year he went on a
familiarisation
tour of hospitals with Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara, and said
during a visit to Harare Central Hospital, only one
doctor was said to be on
duty. Even then, the doctor on duty was said to
have taken a 3-hour lunch.
This problem is common Muchemwa said, as doctors
take time off to do work in
private surgeries to supplement their
income.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by
Lizwe Sebatha Wednesday 12 August 2009
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe's
second biggest city - Bulawayo - requires US$20
million to urgently replace
its aged and broken down sewer systems that now
constantly burst putting
residents at risk of water borne diseases, city
fathers have
said.
According to the latest minutes of the Bulawayo City Council, the
entire
sewer and water reticulation system in the city is "now
malfunctional".
A feasibility study of the sewer systems by the Bulawayo
Sewerage Task Force
(BSTF) recently found that US$19 is required urgently to
fix the sewer
systems, the minutes said.
Bulawayo Mayor Thaba Moyo
told ZimOnline that the city's sewer system has
come under heavy strain due
to lack of capital over the years to replace or
rehabilitate it so that it
copes with the growing population.
As a result, residents especially in
high density suburbs have raised fears
of an outbreak of water borne
diseases like cholera due to numerous sewer
bursts resulting in raw human
waste contaminating the city's water sources.
Moyo said a group of
Australian engineers and the United Nations Children's
Fund (UNICEF) have
pledged financial and technical support to assist the
local authority to
rehabilitate its sewer systems.
"We have also appealed to the finance and
local government ministries to
assist with funds so that the project
kick-starts soon as failure would lead
to a disaster," Moyo
noted.
Zimbabwe last year battled a deadly cholera outbreak that killed 4
288
people out of 98 592 infections largely as a result of dysfunctional
water
and sewer systems in urban areas.
International relief agencies
and local health officials who coordinated
efforts to combat the outbreak
say the southern African country remains at
risk of a fresh and more deadly
outbreak of cholera once the next rainy
season starts in about three months
time chiefly because underlying causes
remained unattended to.
The
United Nations has warned that a fresh outbreak of cholera in 2009/2010
could see up to 125 000 people affected by the deadly disease, or about 25
percent more than the number of infections in the previous outbreak. -
ZimOnline
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE, August 11,
2009 - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on
Tuesday said Zimbabwe had
failed to meet the United Nations landmine
clearing deadline, 29 years after
the country attained its independence.
Zimbabwe got its
independence from British colonial rule in 1980 after
a protracted
war.
Addressing thousands of people at Gwanzura Stadium, the 85
year old
leader who has been at the helm of the country's leadership since
1980, said
he was thankful the UN had extended the deadline.
"I
am pleased to note that the UN has agreed to grant us an extension
to our
2009 landmine clearing deadline under the Ottawa Declaration," Mugabe
said.
The President shifted his failure to meet the set
deadline on the
settler colonial regime that planted the
landmines.
"The landmines show the cold-heated nature of the
brutal settler
regime that was meant to stop the Zimbabweans from fighting
them in our
quest to gain our independence. 29 years on, they are still
planted, posing
a threat to people and livestock. We hope to clear the
landmines so that we
may open up areas for tourism," he said.
Political analysts however blamed Mugabe for having inverted
priorities set
for the army, which spend most of its years beating up people
and quashing
political opponents, as well as grabbing land, instead of
concentrating on
other developmental issues expected in a non war zone.
"It shows
that Mugabe dedicated the army to other duties only for his
benefit, like
participating in the political violence of last year. Those
are upside-down
priorities. The army should concentrate on other projects
like building
bridges, de-mining, among others in a non-war zone, not to be
used by one
person to strengthen his grip on power," said Progressive
Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe (PTUZ) president Takavafira Zhou.
Last year, the army has
been blamed for the political violence among
the then opposition Movement
For Democratic (MDC) party during the run-up to
last year's sham June 27
presidential runoff polls that saw Mugabe retaining
power by
force.
Mugabe however on Tuesday he rejected accusations that
soldiers had
committed abuses, either during last year's campaign and voting
or more
recently under the unity government. He lauded the military for
keeping law
and order.
"Allegations of gross abuses of human
rights or failure to respect
good governance have provided fodder for the
West and its media," said
Mugabe, who remains commander in chief in the
unity government. "The peace
and stability have over the years angered our
detractors as they have sought
desperately and without good reason to find
wrongdoing on our part as the
defense forces."
According to the MDC, more than 100 of its supporters were murdered
while
more than 5 000 people were displaced internally and externally,
leaving
hordes injured and homeless.
JOHANNESBURG , 11 August 2009 (IRIN) -
Zimbabwe's food insecurity is being eased by private imports but prices remain
high, making basic commodities unaffordable to many of the few people who have a
job, said the Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS NET) Food Security Outlook released on 7 August.
Photo:
Antony Kaminju/IRIN
More food
available
Food
security has greatly improved since the 2008/09 season, when nearly 7 million
people were receiving food assistance, compared with projections for the 2009/10
period, when an estimated 2 million to 2.4 million people will require aid.
The UN Food and Agriculture
Organization and UN World Food
Programme Crop and Food Assessment Mission forecast the 2009 cereal
harvest at 1.3 million tons, compared to 690,000 tons in 2008.
A better
harvest, lifting import duties on basic commodities, and the dollarization
of the economy have ameliorated food scarcity, the FEWS NET report said. The
Zimbabwe dollar, which was fuelling hyperinflation, was discontinued earlier his
year.
The use of multiple currencies - South African rand, Botswana pula
and US dollar - coupled with the introduction of an across-the-board US$100
monthly wage for government employees in February 2009, has seen market-driven
forces providing the impetus to fill shop shelves. Donor organizations are also
paying medical staff a US$100 monthly stipend.
According to the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe, in
June 2009 the US$100 monthly salary was only sufficient for 20 percent of a
family's monthly requirements; even if other essentials, such as health,
education, clothing and housing were discounted, it would only cover about 70
percent of household food expenses.
Zimbabwe's economy has been in
recession for a decade and around 94 percent of the population are unemployed;
many rely on remittances from family members working in neighbouring states or
further afield in Britain and the US.
Between January and June 2009,
some basic food items fell by between 30 [percent] and 60 percent, but prices
still remain between three and six times higher than the five-year average for
June
"Between January and June 2009, some
basic food items fell by between 30 [percent] and 60 percent, but prices still
remain between three and six times higher than the five-year average for June
[2009]. Between April and June 2009, maize grain price dropped by 31 percent and
maize flour went down by 15 percent," the report said.
"This decline was
attributed to both improved supply on the market and the good harvest. In the
rural areas, grain prices are even lower than those in urban areas, with grain
selling at US$0.17/kg on average, and between two times and three times less
than urban prices," FEWS NET noted.
The tax holiday on imported basic
commodities has been extended to the end of the 2009, however; should the duty
be reimposed, this could mean a "reduced supply of maize-meal on the market
lead[ing] to increased prices and reduced purchasing power for market-dependent
households."
Between 500,000 and 900,000 of Zimbabwe's urban population
are viewed as food insecure, the report said, while "about 1.4 million rural
people will not be able to meet their cereal requirements during the 2009/10
consumption year."
Click here to read the July 2009 GNU Watch by Idasa
To: His Excellency The President of
the Republic of Zimbabwe
The Honourable Prime Minister
The
Honourable Minister of Finance
The Honourable Minister of Higher and
tertiary Education
The Honourable Minister of Foreign Affairs
All other responsible Authorities and The Nation at Large
This letter
serves as a desperate plea from the students in Algeria to the
responsible
authorities in Zimbabwe as all other means of formal
communications have
received no response. Circumstances here are very bad ;
these circumstances
have risen because we have only received ten percent of
our annual stipend
as from last November which is vital for our survival
here.
Currently
we are on a four months summer holiday in which we do not have
subsidised
food so we are starving. We are supposed to buy our own food and
cooking
utensils as stoves, pots e.t.c. We used to borrow money from other
nationalities that are in the same scholarship programme and receiving their
stipend in time but they are no longer willing to lend us money because we
have failed to repay them our outstanding debts and we have become nothing
but a burden to them.
Our image as Zimbabwean students has been
tarnished, as we are associated
with poverty and suffering, borrowing and
begging. It is hard to imagine
that at one point we had to do with food
handouts from our fellow Zambian
students and other nationalities. Since
there are virtually no job
opportunities here, there is no other means of
survival other than the
stipends from our government. In addition due to
lack of resources we have
no access what so ever to medical health
care.
Our applications to our programmes of study to various universities
have
been jeopardized owing to lack of money to process the papers and
transport
costs to the concerned universities some of which are as far as
six hundred
kilometres. The last nine months have been a period of torment
and untold
suffering which has produced an adverse effect towards our
studies.
We have numerous problems here; these are only but a few. We have
been
enduring hoping that the situation back home will stabilise but now
living
conditions in Algeria are now unbearable.
We feel we have been
left alone as all our means of formal communication at
our disposal have
recieved no response from the responsible authorities. The
Honourable Deputy
Minister of Education, The Permanent Secretary of
Education, The Diplomatic
Mission of Zimbabwe in Libya and the Z.B.C news
journalist Mr.T. Mapurisana
were in Algeria a few weeks ago and we believe
they can bear testimony to the
enormous suffering we are enduring here.
We are very grateful for this
scholarship, but with all things said and done
our suffering in a foreign
land is different from suffering at home as we do
not have parents,
relatives, nor an embassy here and the fact that we are
seven thousand miles
away from home. With all these problems and others we
kindly ask the
government to fulfil its obligations as best as it can. If
due to any
reasons the responsible authorities are unable to send us our
stipends then
we kindly ask our government to send us back home immediately.
The
Zimbabwe Student Community in Algeria.
To come home or not to come home…? That is the burning question; its a
question on many people’s lips. When do we go home to Zimbabwe? Do we go now while we are still not too sure
of the GNU? Do we wait for a while? I have had many many people ask me if it is
the right time to come home and rebuild the future in a country where the sun
shines, the people are special, and the values are good. When will the sun set on the Mugabe regime? Having spent months in J’burg sitting in traffic, days in London waiting for
the sun to shine, weeks in the USA looking for my rainbow, I know that home is
where the heart is and home is definitely in Zimbabwe. But what to advise other people - people who do not know what it is like to
have constant power cuts, irregular water supplies, potholes as long as your
arm, and traffic lights that baffle the wits out of you? Yesterday we met with a farmer who aches to come home, whose whole raison
d’etre is to work towards getting his farm back, towards getting his
children back from their enforced exile in strange parts of the world, towards
ploughing his land and turning his soil. A recent internet site had over 2000 affirmatives when asked the question “Do
you want to go home”? And people are coming home too, slowly but surely. Every
person I spoke to recently in Johannesburg wants to come home - not right now,
but wait a bit, lets see which way the wind blows. Petrol attendants, waiters,
waitresses, chefs, construction workers, all with a good education, a lot of
them ex Prince Edward or Oriole or Gifford or Townsend - we Zimbabweans are all
so identifiable whereever you go in South Africa or in the UK, and we are just
waiting, biding our time, praying for change. The people with children who left are also coming home! “That schooling out
there is the pits”, according to some who have retunred. There is none of that
excellent school spirit we have in Zimbabwe, discipline is lacking, this having
to go to clubs for sports instead of playing sport at school is crazy. “Our
academic system knocks spots off anywhere else in the world ” they say rather
broadly, but with conviction. And so some are starting to dribble back, businesses are starting up again,
businesses that were placed in mothballs for a year or so are starting to make a
slight profit, or at least to break even. Many people are still keeping their
forex “under the mattress” but some of the more adventurous are taking full
advantage of the new banking systems. Can you believe that interest is being
earned in some Zimbabwe banks whereas there is a negative interest rate in many
parts of the world.? As long as Mugabe and Gono keep their irritating mitts off everything, we
might just be able to make a go of it, and of course first prize will be when
everyone comes home in droves. This entry was posted by Freedom Writer
on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 12:21
pm
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/277424
By Christopher Szabo.
Published 1
hour ago
The only man ever to hijack a South African Airways
aircraft has
apologized for the deed - 37 years after the incident. The
former diamond
investigator apologized to flight crew, passengers and "all
South Africans"
on Facebook.
Fouad Kamil (Flash Fred) 83, said on
the social networking site that
he didn't know how long he had to live and
wanted to ask for forgiveness and
clear his conscience, according to
News24.
Former cabin crewmember Jopie Niemand said Kamil's apology came
at an
appropriate time, as Blake Flemington, the captain of the South
African
Airways Boeing 727, Letaba at the time, was in currently South
Africa.
Flemington lives in New Zealand. The Letaba was hijacked on May 24,
1972 on
a flight from what was then the Rhodesian capital, Salisbury (now
Harare,
Zimbabwe.) to Johannesburg.
Shortly before arrival, Kamil,
formerly a diamond investigator for the
vast conglomerate Anglo American and
Abou Yaghi, a Libyan policeman, stood
up and began packing dynamite onto
shelves in the passenger cabin. The armed
themselves and told a flight
attendant to inform the captain the plane was
now in their hands.
Kamil demanded that Anglo American's Harry Openheimer, said to be the
richest man in South Africa at the time, meet him at the airport at
Blantyre, Malawi. Kamil claimed he had retrieved millions of dollars worth
of diamonds from illegal buyers, but had never been paid. He thought Gordon
Waddell, Oppenheimer's son-in-law, was on board, but he was
mistaken.
The plane landed back in Salisbury very short of fuel, and
then took
off, accompanied by jets of the Rhodesian Air Force.
Niemand told the Afrikaans newspaper Beeld that the South African
government
wanted the plane shot down, but that Rhodesian Prime Minister Ian
Smith
refused.
The plane did arrive at Blantyre, but after a standoff,
Malawian
soldiers fired on the aircraft, deflating the wheels and damaged
the
steering mechanism.
Kamil and Yahgi were both sentenced to ten
years, but only served
eight months, after which Kamil fled to Spain, then
on to Brazil. His wife,
Meloni, stayed in Johannesburg with their
children.
The report said Oppenheimer later paid 115 000 dollars into
Kamil's
bank account after he corresponded Kamil.
Beeld says Kamil
lives alone in Brazil, where he writes books and
paints.
BILL WATCH
SPECIAL
[11th August
2009]
Notices
of Parliamentary Committee Meetings Open to
Public
Committee on Small and
Medium Enterprises and Cooperative Development
Hearing of oral
evidence from Ministry officials
Committee Room No.
1, Thursday 13th August, 10 am
Committee on Education,
Sport, Arts and Culture
Hearing of oral
evidence from the Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and
Culture
Committee Room No.
4, Thursday 13th August, 10 am
Members of the public
wishing to attend are advised to first telephone Parliament [700181] to check
with the appropriate committee clerk.
House of Assembly
Portfolio Committees
Brief
History
Portfolio Committees were first set
up in 2000 following Parliament’s adoption of the Parliamentary Reform
Committee’s Report, which recommended their establishment. At that time there
was no Upper House, so they were known as Parliamentary Portfolio Committees
[PPCs]. An Upper House, the Senate, was introduced in November 2005 by
Constitution Amendment No. 17 in the middle of a Parliamentary session when the
PPCs had already been set up and were functioning. Senators were allocated to
the Portfolio Committees which continued as joint committees of both Houses.
With the beginning of the 7th Parliament [the current Parliament] it was decided
to discontinue this joint committee system and to have separate House of
Assembly Portfolio Committees and Senate Thematic Committees [which have
slightly different terms of reference].
Setting up of Portfolio
Committees
Portfolio Committees are set up by
the Committee on Standing Rules and Orders [CSRO] according to parameters laid
down in Parliamentary Standing Order 159. The CSRO decides on the number of
portfolio committees and the Ministerial portfolios to be covered by each
committee, and also appoints the members. This is done at the commencement of
each session of Parliament, which is usually in July or August. Only
back-benchers are appointed as members of portfolio committees –
Vice-Presidents, Ministers and Deputy Ministers cannot serve on them, as it is
their work that will be under scrutiny by the committees. In making the
appointments the CSRO must take into account the expressed interests or
expertise of members and the political and gender composition of the House. In
practice the CSRO tends to rubber-stamp the nominations put forward by the
political parties represented in the House. [Note: the present committees were not
set up at the beginning of the first session of this Parliament in August 2008 –
they were only set up in early April, shortly after the long-delayed setting up
of the CSRO.]
Purpose of Portfolio
Committees
They are there to "shadow" or
monitor the activities of the government Ministry or Ministries assigned to
them. The general idea is that the committees [representing the Legislature,
which votes the funds Ministries need to operate] will provide a constant check
on the way Ministries [constituting the Executive] carry out their functions.
List of
Committees
There are nineteen Portfolio
Committees, but thirty-two Ministries, so some committees are shadowing more
than one Ministry. The committees are: [1] Agriculture, Water, Lands and
Resettlement; [2] Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion; [3] Education,
Sport, Arts and Culture [4] Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and
International Trade; [5] Health and Child Welfare; [6] Higher Education, Science
and Technology; [7] Home Affairs and Defence; [8] Industry and Commerce; [9]
Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs; [10] Local
Government, Rural and Urban Development; [11] Media, Information and
Communication Technology; [12] Mines and Energy; [13] Natural Resources,
Environment and Tourism; [14] Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare; [15]
Public Works and National Housing; [16] Small and Medium Enterprises and
Co-operative Development; [17] State Enterprises and Parastatals Management;
[18] Transport and Infrastructure Development; [19] Women, Youth, Gender and
Community Development.
Functions of
Portfolio Committees
Scrutiny of
Bills
Every Bill sent to Parliament by a
Minister is automatically referred to the relevant portfolio committee as soon
as it has been gazetted [published in the Government Gazette]. The committee then has at least
fourteen days in which to consider the Bill and to prepare a report on the
Bill. It may call on the sponsoring Minister or his officials to appear before
it to explain and justify the Bill.
Holding Public Hearings
on Bills
The committee has the power to hold
public hearings on a Bill in order to give stakeholders and members of the
public a chance to state their views on the Bill and make representations for
changes to it. In the past this power has been used quite regularly,
particularly for important or controversial Bills. Public hearings will not
necessarily be restricted to
The committee's views on a Bill will
be presented as a report to the House by the chairperson of the committee during
the Second Reading debate. If there has been a public hearing the views of the
public should be incorporated into the Committee’s report so that all members of
the House become aware of public feeling about it.
Other Public Input into
Portfolio Committees
It is also open to members of the
public and civil society to submit written representations on a Bill or any
other matter falling within a committee’s terms of reference even where a public
hearing is not held or there has been no invitation for representations.
Letters for a committee should be addressed to the Clerk of Parliament and
marked for the attention of the relevant committee.
Public Admission to
Meetings
"Members of the public, the media
and interested parties (stakeholders) are free to attend any committee meetings
except deliberative meetings" [Committee
Operations Manual, 2.4]. Deliberative meetings are
those at which a portfolio committee discusses its work-plans, deliberates on
oral evidence or considers the wording of a report
Other Functions of
Portfolio Committees
A
Portfolio Committee must also:
· "monitor, investigate, enquire into
and make recommendations relating to any aspect of the legislative programme,
budget, policy or any other matter it may consider relevant to" the Ministry or
Ministries assigned to it;
· consider or deal with all
international treaties, conventions and agreements relevant to the committee
which are from time to time negotiated, entered into or agreed on by the
Government [Standing Order
158].
Collection of Information by
Portfolio Committees
A
committee can collect information in four ways:
·
by requesting written information
from Government Ministers and officials, stakeholders, civil society
organisations and members of the public
·
by requesting oral evidence to be
given to the committee
·
by making field visits in order to
establish facts or to authenticate information already given to it [e.g., to
hospitals when investigating the state of the health delivery
system]
·
by holding public hearings at which
stakeholders and members of the public can express their views and convey
information to the committee about the matter concerned [whether it be a Bill or
any other matter the committee is looking into].
Powers to Subpoena
Witnesses
A
Portfolio Committee has the power to subpoena anyone, except the President, to
appear before it to give evidence on oath on a matter it has under
consideration. It also has the power to require the production of relevant
documents. What a witness says in evidence to a committee is protected by
Parliamentary privilege, and he or she cannot be prosecuted or sued in civil
court for any statements made in the course of that evidence. This does not,
however, mean that a witness before a committee cannot subsequently be
prosecuted for perjury if he or she lies under oath.
Reports of Portfolio
Committees
The reports of Portfolio Committees
are presented to the House of Assembly.
Although the First Session of the
present Parliament has produced no Portfolio Committee reports, in normal times
there is a steady flow of reports during a session, ranging from regular routine
reports on every Ministry's Budget Performance [usually quarterly] to reports on
matters specially investigated. It is hoped that the forthcoming Second Session
will see Portfolio Committees returning to a more normal cycle of
activities.
Portfolio Committee reports become
public documents once tabled in the House of Assembly. Copies of reports are
available from Parliament's Papers Office once tabling has taken place – and
Veritas is usually able to offer electronic versions within a day or two of
tabling.
Comments on
delay in setting up Portfolio Committees
From the last
sitting of the 6th Parliament in January 2008 right through to July this year,
when the Portfolio Committees started their work, Parliament effectively ceased
to monitor the activities of the Government – a period of almost 18 months.
From March last year to February this year “de facto” Ministries continued to
operate with no accountability to the Legislature. It should have been
especially important to set up the Portfolio Committees and for them to start
their work of shadowing the “executive” as soon as Parliament was sworn in in
August. There had already been an abnormally long gap between Parliaments –
over seven months. By not setting up Portfolio Committees Parliament let the de
facto government continue for almost another six months, unshadowed and
unmonitored and unaccountable by Parliament. This has been a discouragement for
those working for more transparent and accountable
government.
Veritas makes
every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied.
Press Association, UK
(UKPA) - 3 hours
ago
An explosive century from Shakib Al Hasan helped Bangladesh beat
Zimbabwe by
49 runs in a high-scoring second one-day international in
Bulawayo.
Shakib Al Hasan's 104 and 79 from Tamim Iqbal saw Bangladesh
set the hosts
an imposing target of 321 - and despite a brave effort, it
proved a hurdle
too far as Zimbabwe were all out for 271 with 23 balls to
spare.
Bangladesh's aggressive style was clear for all to see as four of
the eight
wickets to fall were run-outs, including both openers.
But
it was Al Hasan who brought the real fireworks, smashing 10 fours and
four
sixes as he reached 104 off just 64 balls - before he too was run out
attempting to squeeze a third run.
Tamim was unlucky to be run out by
a direct hit, while fellow opener Junaid
Siddique was looking for a quick
single to add to his 27 when he went.
Of the Zimbabwe bowlers, Elton
Chigumbura emerged from the onslaught with a
little credit - taking three
for 59.
Zimbabwe kept up the scoring rate, but early wickets proved their
undoing as
openers Mark Vermeulen and Hamilton Masakadza failed to get
going.
Charles Coventry came in at number three and made 61, and Sean
Williams was
part of a 78-run sixth-wicket partnership with Stuart
Matsikenyeri before
departing for 75.
Bangladesh lead the five-match
series 2-0.