Zim Online
Mon 14 August 2006
HARARE - The Zimbabwean government
has splashed US$4 million buying
320 luxury vehicles for middle-ranking
police officers and plans to spend a
further US$10 million on vehicles for
same level military and secret service
officers, authoritative sources told
ZimOnline.
US$4 million is enough to buy 16 000 tonnes of
Zimbabwe's main staple
food, maize, at about US$250 per tonne. The maize
enough is enough to feed
about 266 000 hungry families for a month. Food aid
agencies estimate that
an average family of six requires about 60 kg of
maize per month.
Our sources said President Robert Mugabe
authorised the latest vehicle
purchase - barely two months after the
government spent another US$144 000
on cars for the army and police - on
advice from his Joint Operations
Command (JOC), comprising security chiefs
from the army, air force, Central
Intelligence Organisation, police and
prison service.
The JOC had during one of their
regular meetings with Mugabe held
earlier this year complained to the
President about what they said were
"pathetic working conditions" for middle
officers across the security
apparatus.
The key security
committee recommended urgent action to quell
disgruntlement among middle
officers by improving their pay packets and
service conditions, to ensure
their loyalty as a worsening economic crisis
buoys public discontent against
Mugabe and his government.
"The salary hikes announced last May but
which benefited nearly all
civil servants and now the cars that are being
bought are all part of the
recommendations made by the commanders (JOC),"
said a senior military
officer, privy to JOC discussions with
Mugabe.
The officer, who cannot be named because he was disclosing
classified
information, added: "The commanders told the President that in
the event of
opposition-led mass protests, middle-ranking officers will be
the people
commanding operations on the ground and they needed to be taken
care of."
Both spokesmen for the police and army were not
immediately available
to comment on the matter while State Security
(Intelligence) Minister
Didymus Mutasa said the government was working to
improve the welfare of
security forces although he refused to specifically
discuss the vehicle
purchases.
Mutasa accused - without giving
evidence - the political opposition
and what he termed "like minded people"
of opposing any attempts by the
government to improve conditions for the
security forces in the hope that if
the forces were kept poor that would
make them support the opposition.
He said: "We are aware that the
opposition and like-minded people are
always quick to discourage an
improvement on the welfare of security people,
the reason simply being that
you want them to remain poor so that they can
easily be manipulated (by the
opposition). Anyway, we don't disclose details
on the kind of query (vehicle
purchases) you are raising."
Political analysts say Mugabe is keen
to keep the army and police
happy to ensure they could be relied upon to
crush mass protests against his
government that the main opposition Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC)
party has said it will call this
winter.
The MDC says it will mobilise Zimbabweans onto the streets
to demand
that Mugabe steps aside to pave way for a transitional government
that shall
be tasked to lead the writing of a new constitution and organise
fresh
elections under international supervision.
But the
veteran President, who has in the past deployed soldiers and
police to quell
dissent, has vowed not to allow a Ukraine-style uprising
against his rule,
telling MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai mass protests against
the government
would be a "dice with death".
According to sources, the Peugeot 306
cars were assembled by Quest
Motor Corporation at its plant in the eastern
city of Mutare. The vehicles
were delivered two weeks ago to the police's
Morris depot in Harare.
They shall be distributed to officers of
the rank of superintendent
and chief superintendent, who previously used
pool cars, which they could
not retain on retirement.
Previously, only top-ranking police officers such as assistant
commissioners, senior assistant commissioners and deputy commissioners were
allowed to keep their official issue vehicles as part of their retirement
packages.
Superintendents and chief superintendents will now be
allowed to do
the same, according to our sources. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Mon 14 August 2006
GABORONE - The contagion effects of
Zimbabwe's economic meltdown are
beginning to be felt by the Southern
African Development Community (SADC)
amid fears the bloc could miss its
regional integration targets.
The Zimbabwe crisis threatens to
derail the region's plans to move
towards a free trade area by 2008 and a
customs union two years later.
According to senior officials at
SADC's Gaborone headquarters, the
contagion effects of the Zimbabwe crisis
are beginning to slow down the
region's war against inflation.
The majority of member states have managed to tighten their monetary
policies and maintain low inflation rates at single digits.
Countries such as Angola and Zambia, which used to have high inflation
rates, managed to halve inflation on the back of less expansionary fiscal
policies and currency appreciation.
"Zimbabwe, on the other
hand is going the opposite direction. In fact,
the effects of its high
inflation on the region are such that the regional
average shot to 23
percent against 10.8 percent if the country's figures
were not factored in,"
a senior SADC official told ZimOnline on condition he
was not
named.
Zimbabwe currently has the highest inflation in the world,
pegged at
993.6 percent in July.
The average real Gross
Domestic Product (GDP) growth of five percent
in 2005 indicates an overall
increase in the macroeconomic performance of
SADC countries despite the
disparities among member states.
Angola had the highest growth rate
at 15.6 percent, followed by
Botswana at 8.3 percent, Mozambique at 7.7
percent and Tanzania at 6.9
percent GDP growth.
Average
regional economic growth is estimated at six percent in 2006.
High
money supply growth and the existence of an unregulated and
turbulent
parallel economy - which has become the most reliable source of
jobs, goods
and service for many Zimbabweans - are blamed for fuelling
inflation in the
country.
Hyperinflation is one of many severe symptoms of
Zimbabwe's six-year
old economic crisis that has also spawned shortages of
fuel, electricity,
essential medicines, hard cash and just about every basic
survival
commodity.
The main opposition Movement for Democratic
Change party and Western
governments blame the crisis on repression and
wrong policies by Mugabe such
as his seizure of productive farms from whites
for redistribution to
landless blacks.
The farm seizures
destabilised the mainstay agricultural sector and
caused severe food
shortages after the government failed to give black
villagers resettled on
former white farms skills training and inputs support
to maintain
production.
But Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since the country's
1980
independence from Britain, denies mismanaging the country and says its
problems are because of economic sabotage by Western governments opposed to
his seizure of white land. - ZimOnline
IOL
August 13
2006 at 02:50PM
Harare - Local currency smuggled out of Zimbabwe is
being brought back
into the country across makeshift bridges from South
Africa before the money
becomes worthless next week, official media claimed
on Sunday.
Days before old Zimbabwean dollars cease to become legal
tender the
race is on to return billions of dollars of the currency across
the Limpopo
River, which separates the two countries, reports the
state-controlled
Sunday Mail.
Desperate cash barons are
creating small dams at some illegal crossing
points using sand and sticks to
reduce the flow of water beyond the dam
walls to enable them to spot
crocodiles in time when they move large volumes
of cash, the paper said,
citing sources at Beitbridge border post.
Secretary for
Home Affairs Melusi Matshiya has urged police to try to
seal off all porous
points along the country's southern border, the report
said.
On
August 21, 43 trillion old Zimbabwe dollars currently in
circulation will
become worthless.
The money has to be deposited with local banks.
Those who are unable
to account for their money risk losing it.
An equivalent amount of new banknotes, with three fewer zeros, were
put into
circulation in the beleaguered economy on August 1.
Last month
central bank governor Gideon Gono unveiled the new
banknotes in a bid to
clamp down on inflation and black market trading.
Zimbabwe's annual
rate of inflation is close to 1 000 percent, and
most of the country's cash
is reported to be circulating in an unofficial
market for scarce commodities
such as fuel and foreign currency.
Between 10 and 15 trillion old
Zimbabwe dollars were believed to be
stashed in neighbouring Mozambique,
South Africa and Zambia, where it was
used to purchase foreign currency,
according to the central bank.
Meanwhile the Sunday Mail reports
that new Zimbabwean banknotes are
already in circulation in Zambia and are
being smuggled to South Africa. -
Sapa-dpa
From The Sunday Independent (SA), 13 August
Human rights report exposes the xenophobia that
those desperate for work in
South Africa have to endure, writes Edwin
Naidu
"I came to South Africa on April 18. There are people there [at
the Zimbabwe
border] who do it as a business. They are Zimbabweans. They
have three vans.
Malatchas. It's the name of the business. To go to
Johannesburg, they charge
about R800. We were about 14 in the van. Our uncle
in Johannesburg paid when
we got there. They phoned my uncle from Beitbridge
[Zimbabwe]. He agreed to
pay. It is common procedure. We went by foot at
night from Beitbridge to
Musina, going through farms. We walked from about
11pm. Around six in the
morning they picked us up in the van. We arrived in
Johannesburg at about 11
in the morning. We looked for work. I worked for
two weeks. It [being
deported] was very unfortunate. When I was on my way
from work to my uncle's
place, I was taken there [a detention centre]. I was
working at a
construction company with a Zimbabwean friend with whom I'd
crossed [the
border]. We were not paid. They were to pay us in a fortnight.
There were
many Zimbabweans working at the construction company. They did
have workers'
permits. The company comes to Beitbridge and finds one
Zimbabwean person,
who will search for others in Zimbabwe because these
people here [South
Africans] don't want to work. I observe these people are
more of thieves
than to work on their own. Then [after we were detained] we
were transported
by train to Musina. You feel uncomfortable [to be arrested
and deported].
You've tried everything. You've used money from others, and
you won't have
anything."
This is the story of a Zimbabwean
before he was deported in April. He is not
alone, according to a report this
week by Human Rights Watch (HRW), the
international human rights
organisation, which cast a damning indictment on
the conduct of immigration
officials and police in dealing with foreigners,
particularly Zimbabweans.
The study was conducted in Limpopo because of the
historical predominance of
Zimbabwean migrants working on farms in the far
north and the recent
increase in Zimbabweans fleeing the political and
economic crisis at home.
Ironically, the South African police and
immigration officials' arrogant
attitude and brutal handling of Zimbabweans
contradicts the government's
"silent diplomacy" approach to the human rights
violations of Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe. Zimbabweans crossing the
border into South Africa
come in search of a better life. Although
conditions are bad, they are
better than those back home. That is why,
despite the red tape, bribery and
beatings, their determination to enter
South Africa is unshaken. They make
their way back as swiftly as they are
deported. At least 400 a day try to
enter South Africa via Beitbridge.
A work permit costs R1 520, which
is expensive for most Zimbabweans, so they
sneak in. Many find work on farms
and in the building industry but are often
paid less than South Africans,
and far less than the legal minimum. Many who
have made it to South Africa
have already endured hazardous journeys - they
have braved raging rivers and
survived crocodiles and predators in the
Kruger National Park. But poverty
and unemployment, and the legacy of racism
in South Africa, has shaped a
xenophobic society that manifests itself
violently. A 36-year-old Zimbabwean
man from Chipinge, interviewed while
waiting to be deported, said he and a
friend had crossed the border
illegally. They were arrested on a bus at
Masisi, near the Kruger National
Park, en route to Thohoyandou. They were
taken to the Masisi police camp,
and then to the Musina police station. "We
are opposition party supporters.
We have been chased, and then we ran, and
then we came here." Another
deportee, a 25-year-old Zimbabwean from
Masvingo, said he was returning to
Pretoria where he had had a building job
since 2003. He said he had been
arrested five times in Johannesburg, and
each time the police had treated
him badly. "They are asking for ID, for
permit, and they want money from
you. If you have money, you give it to
them. Then they leave you. If you
don't have money, they arrest you. They
start from R50. If you are not
co-operative, they search you. And if they
find more, they take it all. If
they search you and find no money, they
arrest you." He was deported once in
2003.
South Africa's
Immigration Act acknowledges human rights and has guidelines
on how to treat
people with dignity. But HRW found that immigration officers
were breaking
the laws they were supposed to uphold. At Makhado police
station, a
Zimbabwean man said he was beaten by police after his arrest. "I
stay in
Chikota [a township in Makhado]. Early this morning, police stopped
us. We
were going to the market. We buy and sell biscuits. They beat us.
There were
two police. We were two. They beat us in the bush. They hit us
with baton
sticks." The HRW report is not the first to raise problem of
xenophobia in
the country. Since 1998, when two Senegalese were beaten and
thrown off a
train in Johannesburg, the South African Human Rights
Commission (SAHRC) has
worked with the United Nations high commissioner for
refugees (UNHCR) to
find solutions, annually putting the issue high on the
national agenda. They
urge the government to do more to uphold the rights
enshrined in the
constitution. According to the SAHRC, most refugees and
migrants live in
overpriced and overcrowded urban settings. Evidence
presented to hearings it
held found that migrants paid more for
accommodation than South Africans. It
is not uncommon for up to 10
non-nationals to share a room; they sleep in
shifts, and in bathrooms and
hallways. Despite often appalling living
conditions, foreigners prefer to
live in the city, citing xenophobia and
high levels of violence and crime in
the townships as the
reason.
According to the SAHRC, they feel vulnerable and physically
threatened.
Police are accused of profiling illegal foreigners in terms of
skin tone,
language, hairstyle and manner of dress, and some police
anti-crime blitzes
are seen as veiled attempts to rid the country of
unwanted foreigners.
Despite 25 000 police having undergone diversity
training, the message is
not getting across. "We were caught at Louis
Trichardt [Makhado]. Traffic
cops stopped the car. They asked the driver if
he had papers. The police
just happened to arrive. They asked for our
papers. We said we didn't have.
They took us to Louis Trichardt station.
After some minutes, they wrote down
our names and brought us here, Musina.
We've been here since yesterday. We
arrived at about 6pm. There was no food.
We have had no food this morning.
We slept on the ground. What they want is
just for you to go home. At least
something should be done for people who
work. It is illegal, but we are
working. I'm now owed about R400 for the
week I worked. Many people from
Zimbabwe just want work. They really don't
care about conditions. The
situation in Zimbabwe is terrible. You'd rather
die on the road here. You
can't just sit there."
The HRW report
contains many painful examples of how badly people have been
treated. A
Zimbabwean from Bulawayo, who had been working on a farm, said he
was not
given an opportunity to retrieve his work permit. "I've been working
there
[on the farm] six years. It's along the Thohoyandou road. I'm the only
Zimbabwean on that farm. After 12 days I get R560. I was arrested yesterday.
I have a work permit at work. I asked them this morning to phone my home to
ask them to bring the document but they did not. Nobody at home even knows
where I am." Another Zimbabwean, a tractor driver, said: "I was arrested on
October 9 last year while working on a farm. They accused us of poaching
wild animals on the owner's game farm. We denied [it]. In the car driven by
the white farmer we were taken to the security company car. They took us to
the bush. We were brutally assaulted with batons. Late at night, around 7pm,
they took us to Musina to their private-like jail. We slept there. Next day
we were taken to the farm. That morning they assaulted us. They start taking
statements without asking us anything. They took us to the owner then to
Musina in the bush. We were kept there. We were not given any food, no
water. Around 3pm we were taken to the police station. We were locked in the
police cells. On the third day we went to court. The case was later
withdrawn because of a lack of evidence," said a Zimbabwean in the HRW
report.
After South Africa's new immigration law became
operational in 2003, the
government saw a massive increase in the numbers of
illegal migrants being
deported. According to the department of home
affairs, 44 225 were deported
in 1988, 96 515 in 1993, about 155 000 in 2003
and 167 137 in 2004.
Zimbabwean migrants numbered 17 000 in 2001. Last year
nearly 100 000 were
sent home, at least 50 000 between December and January,
most of them women
and children. The total cost of deportations last year
was about R200
million. Last year, out of 16 000 applications by Zimbabeans
to home affairs
for refugee status, only 114 were granted. Bemma Donkoh of
the UNHCR said
xenophobia-related sentiment was taking on more sinister,
menacing and
subtle forms; public servants were victimising refugees, asylum
seekers and
even South Africans whom they mistook for foreigners. Despite
President
Thabo Mbeki's forthright condemnation of xenophobia during the
World
Conference Against Racism, the office of the UNHCR said: "Only a
handful of
ministers and members of parliament have lent their voices to
that of the
president or expressed solidarity with the objectives of
initiatives such as
the Roll Back Xenophobia Campaign. One of those who
spoke out was Nosiviwe
Mapisa-Nqakula, the minister of home affairs, who
said: "The scourge of
xenophobia needs to be condemned because it is based
on prejudice, is
frequently violent and, most of the time, racist. There is
no way, as the
South African government and as a nation, we can tolerate or
justify
xenophobia."
From The Sunday Times (SA), 13 August
Henriette Geldenhuys
South African
police have seized three hijacked cars from senior Zimbabwean
goverment
officials. This week, a former Zimbabwean government member of
Parliament
confirmed that he had been arrested for defeating the ends of
justice when
two luxury cars - a Mercedes-Benz Kompressor and BMW X5
hijacked in South
Africa - were found at his home. Phillip Chiyangwa, a
nephew of Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe, confirmed that two associates
of his who were
"being chased" had asked him to park the vehicles at his
home. However,
Chiyangwa, who describes himself as the "Tokyo Sexwale or the
Donald Trump
of Zimbabwe" denied he knew they were stolen vehicles. "I have
a lot of cars
at my house. I can actually donate cars. I'm rich. I don't
need to steal
cars from South Africa," Chiyangwa said this week. He was
earlier accused of
"hiding" a third car, a Porsche Cayenne, hijacked from a
Sandton
businessman. He has since been found not guilty of defeating the
ends of
justice, a charge that stems from allegedly hiding some of the
stolen cars.
He told the Sunday Times that the Porsche was found at the home
of a senior
Zimbabwean government official, Senator Vivian Mwashita. The
Zimbabwean
police testified during Chiyangwa's trial that, when confronted
about the
whereabouts of the Porsche, he had claimed it was with Mwashita.
Mwashita
could not be reached for comment, but Chiyangwa's lawyer provided
affidavits
obtained in support of his client's case.
Police confirmed that several
cross-border investigations had resulted in
the recovery of at least 14
luxury cars worth around R7-million that were
impounded in Zimbabwe and
returned to South Africa following a two-week
undercover operation involving
both countries. Some of the vehicles had been
found with senior government
officials. The traumatised South African hijack
victims later travelled to a
police pound in Zimbabwe to identify their cars
before insurance company
representatives drove them back to South Africa to
be sold on auction. Among
the cars were a R1.4-million Porsche Cayenne, a
Mercedes-Benz E55 AMG V8, a
Toyota Prado VX Landcruiser, six BMWs and
several other Mercedes-Benz
vehicles. So far no one involved in the Zimbabwe
cases has been convicted.
National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi denied
any knowledge of the
involvement of senior Zimbabwean politicians in the
purchase or possession
of stolen or hijacked South African cars. Each year,
more than 30000 cars
stolen or hijacked in South Africa are smuggled across
the border and sold
in neighbouring countries such as Mozambique, Angola,
Zambia, Namibia and
Botswana. According to the Vehicle Security Association
of South Africa,
highly organised and sophisticated car-theft syndicates
operate the
estimated R5-billion illegal industry. The head of the SAPS
Organised Crime
Unit, Assistant Commissioner Godfrey Lebeya, said police
recovered 450
stolen cars this year and 700 last year in cross-border
operations. During a
Sunday Times investigation, it also emerged that South
African and
Zimbabwean police were investigating the possibility that other
stolen
luxury vehicles, including a Toyota Prado and a Mercedes parked in
front of
the Zimbabwean parliament, were being driven by Zimbabwean
government
officials.
A large and boisterous Vigil with
good news from several quarters. Harris
reported on a meeting to prepare
for talks with the Home Office on the
asylum situation - A 3 person
delegation accompanied by a member of the
Refugee Council will be meeting
the Home Office to put the case for
Zimbabwean asylum seekers. Sara Harland
of the Zimbabwe Association urged
failed asylum seekers to make sure that
somebody knew where they were (and
had their solicitor's number) when they
went to sign on in case they were
detained. She stressed that they should
live quietly and avoid breaking the
law - no speeding and driving without a
licence. Vigil Co-ordinator Evelyn
paid tribute to the enormous amount of
hard work put in by Sarah.
Someone who has been helped by the Vigil and
the ZA, Fadzanayi, came down
from Milton Keynes with 8 other MDC activists
to celebrate getting leave to
remain in the UK. They were among supporters
who came from far and wide,
some of them with children - though we lost a
group from Manchester whose
car broke down on the motorway. They were not
the only people who had
trouble getting to the Vigil - the Milton Keynes
group travelling in two
cars arrived together at nearby Trafalgar Square but
managed to get to the
Vigil one hour apart!
We were pleased to have
founding Vigil member, Chipo, with us again from
Leeds. Chipo fled Zimbabwe
after being tortured and lost contact with her
husband who also fled. He
was discovered living in Zambia and has now been
enabled to join her in
England.
More good news was the announcement by Vigil co-ordinator Dumi
and his
partner Gugu that they are going to have a baby boy in December.
The
festive tone was continued when a cake was produced for Francesca, our
English schoolgirl supporter, marking her first anniversary of attending the
Vigil and her 16th birthday. The cake was decorated with a photo of
Francesca which appeared in her local paper accompanying an article about
her work for Zimbabwe.
For this week's Vigil pictures:
http://uk.msnusers.com/ZimbabweVigil/shoebox.msnw.
FOR
THE RECORD: 85 signed the register.
FOR YOUR DIARY: Monday 14th August,
7.30 pm, Zimbabwe Forum - Another
session on the multi-signatory letter
targeting South Africa to coincide
with the next session of the UN Human
Rights Council on 18th September.
Back at our normal venue: upstairs at the
Theodore Bullfrog pub, 28 John
Adam Street, London WC2 (cross the Strand
from the Zimbabwe Embassy, go down
a passageway to John Adam Street, turn
right and you will see the pub).
Vigil co-ordinator
The Vigil,
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place
every Saturday
from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of
human rights by
the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in
October 2002 will
continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair
elections are held
in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
[12th August 2006]
The House of Assembly is
adjourned until Tuesday 5th September
The Senate is adjourned until
Tuesday 12th September
Update on Supplementary Budget Bills
The
Senate sat on Tuesday and Wednesday this week and passed the Finance
Bill
and the Appropriation (Supplementary) (2006) Bill without amendment and
then
adjourned until Tuesday 12th September. These Bills had already been
passed
by the House of Assembly the week before. All that remains is for
them to
be signed by the President and gazetted as Acts - as both are
urgent this
is likely to happen soon. Note: although the Finance Bill makes
provisions
for certain taxes, etc. to come into effect on August 1st, until
it is an
Act it is not legally in force [We have electronic version of these
Bills -
if you would like a copy of either please request it.]
Update on
Parliamentary Committees
The membership of the Portfolio Committees will
for the time being remain as
they were in the first session until new
committees have been appointed.
They have commenced sitting, but no public
hearings on Bills have yet been
announced. There is a very tentative date
which will have to be
onfirmed - Wed 23rd August - for a public hearing on
the Interception of
Communication Bill.
There have been no reports
back yet from the Parliamentary Legal Committee
on the six new
Bills.
Status of Bills as at 12th August 2006
Bills in the House
of Assembly
Interception of Communications Bill [H.B. 4, 2006] Gazetted
on 26th May
2006. [electronic version available - if you would like a copy
please
request it.]
Ministry: Transport and
Communications
Stage: Referred to PLC 26th July
Summary: The
purpose of this Bill is to establish an interception of
communications
monitoring centre and for the appointment of persons to that
centre whose
function shall be to monitor and intercept certain
communications in the
course of their transmission through a
telecommunication, postal or any
other related service system.
The Centre will be manned by technical experts
designated by the Government
Telecommunications Agency. It will be the sole
facility through which
authorised interceptions will be effected, and will
give technical advice to
authorised persons and service providers.
Telecommunication service
providers will have to ensure that their systems
are capable of supporting
lawful interceptions. They will be obliged, at
their own expense, to
acquire the facilities and devices necessary to
provide an interception
capability meeting the requirements specified by the
Postal and
Telecommunications Authority. There is, however, some provision
for
compensation to service providers for assistance in the execution of
warrants.
The Bill provides for interception of both telecommunications
and postal
articles. Interception will be permitted only if authorised by a
warrant
(telecommunications) or detention order (postal articles) issued by
the
Minister of Transport and Communications on application by an
"authorised
person". Authorised persons are the Commissioner of Police, the
Chief of
Defence Intelligence, the Director-General of the CIO and the
Commissioner-General of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority or their
nominees.
Interceptions not authorised in terms of the Act will attract
criminal
penalties (unless the interceptor has the consent of the person to
whom or
by whom the communication is sent or, in the case of a
telecommunication, is
a party to it). Evidence obtained by an interception
in breach of the Act
will not be admissible in criminal proceedings except
with the leave of the
court.
Warrants for interception of
telecommunications may be issued only if there
are reasonable grounds for
believing a "serious offence" (a defined term
that is extremely wide) has
been is being committed or that information
gathering is necessary
concerning threats to national security or a
compelling national economic
interest. Detention orders for postal articles
may be issued on even wider
grounds. There are provisions for appeals by
any person aggrieved by a
warrant, directive or order issued to or by (sic)
the Postal and
Telecommunications Authority, an authorised person or the
Government
Telecommunications Agency. The initial appeal is to the
Minister, with a
further appeal to the Administrative Court against the
Minister's
decision.
Domestic Violence Bill [H.B. 9, 2006] Gazetted on 30th June
2006.
[electronic version available - if you would like a copy please
request it.]
Ministry: Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Stage:
Referred to PLC 26th July
Summary: This Bill aims to give victims of
domestic violence the maximum
protection from domestic violence that the law
can provide and to introduce
measures to ensure that the relevant organs of
the State give full effect to
the provisions of this Bill. The Bill creates
a new offence - domestic
violence. It offers a comprehensive definition of
domestic violence which
incorporates various degrees of relationships and
various types of abuse.
Cultural practices harmful to the girl child will
also be outlawed. It will
be mandatory for every police station to have a
section to deal with
domestic violence, and the police are expressly obliged
to assist
complainants. The Bill provides for Protection Orders which will
ensure
the safety and economic maintenance of the complainant while the case
is
being investigated. Application to a magistrate for a Protection Order
can
be made outside ordinary court hours and on any day. A third party will
be
able to make complaints, apply for a Protection Order and ensure its
enforcement on behalf of a victim. Making a false charge of domestic
violence is a criminal offence. The Bill provides for appointment of
anti-domestic violence counsellors and for the establishment of an
Anti-Domestic Violence Committee - this can form provincial and district sub
committees, set up safe house etc.
Criminal Procedure and Evidence
Amendment Bill [H.B. 3, 2006] Gazetted on
19th May 2006 [electronic version
available - if you would like a copy
please request it.]
Ministry:
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Stage: Referred to PLC 26th
July
Summary: The Bill provides for the abolition of the preparatory
examination (under which a criminal trial in the High Court is preceded by a
preparatory examination held before a magistrate to establish whether there
is sufficient evidence to warrant committing the accused person for trial).
That procedure has gradually fallen into disuse over recent decades; it was
last used in 1999. Amendments consequential to that abolition cover:-
aspects of the procedure for confirmation of extra-curial statements made by
accused persons to investigating officers; a new procedure for early
verification before a magistrate of depositions of witnesses, with a view to
the use of those depositions at the subsequent trial if the deponents are
not then available to testify in the normal way (this will cater for
witnesses who are dangerously ill, expert witnesses with other professional
commitments and any other witnesses whose attendance at the trial it may not
be possible to secure).
The Bill also makes provision for:- a
comprehensive codification and reform
of the law on the granting and
withholding of bail; various amendments
necessitated by the enactment of
the Criminal Law Code (which will likely be
brought into operation later
this year); the admissibility of medical
report forms completed by
suitably qualified nurses in respect of the
victims of sexual crimes (at
present only medical report forms completed by
medical practitioners are
admissible under the relevant provision); express
recognition of suitably
qualified nurses as competent to conduct the tests
for HIV infection that
must be carried out before sentencing of persons
convicted of sexual
offences (testing presently restricted to medical
practitioners); various
amendments to provisions of the Criminal Law Code -
correcting errors,
improving wording in the interests of consistency,
clarity, etc. ; an
extension of the right of audience of legal
practitioners employed by the
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority, to permit them to
appear in all courts in civil
cases in which ZIMRA is a party (or in which
ZIMRA's Acts are involved) and
even, with the consent of the
Attorney-General, in criminal cases in which
ZIMRA has a similar interest.
Judicial Service Bill [H.B. 12, 2006]
Gazetted on 9th June 2006. [We do not
yet have an electronic version of this
Bill - we will let you know when it
is available]
Ministry: Justice,
Legal and Parliamentary Affairs
Stage: Referred to PLC 26th
July
Summary: This Bill aims to set up the Judicial Service [under the
control
of the Judicial Service Commission] as a separate service outside
the Public
Service. The Judicial Service will include the judges of the
Supreme Court
and High Court, the Labour Court judges, the presidents of the
Administrative Court, the office of the Ombudsman, all magistrates and the
staff of the Judicial Service Commission. The Bill will not affect
appointment and conditions of service of judges, presidents of the
Administrative Court or Ombudsman and deputy Ombudsman [these will continue
to be separately provided for under the Constitution and the relevant Acts
of Parliament]. But the Judicial Service Commission will be responsible for
the appointment, conditions of service and discipline of magistrates. The
presiding officers of customary courts will not be part of the Judicial
Service. Hitherto the Judicial Service Commission, appointed by the
President under the terms of the Constitution, has had primarily advisory
and consultative functions. This Bill will give it far wider functions.
The Judicial Service will have its own funds separately voted by Parliament
and under the control of the Judicial Service Commission, with the Secretary
to the Commission as the accounting officer. It also makes provision that
no judicial officer may be arrested in chambers or in the court precincts.
Codes of conduct and ethics are envisaged.
Gazetted Land
(Consequential Provisions) Bill [H.B. 8, 2006] Gazetted on
16th June 2006.
[We have an electronic version of the Bill - if you would
like a copy please
request it.]
Ministry: Lands & Land Reform
Stage: Referred to PLC
26th July
Summary: The Bill aims to cater for certain problems that have
arisen in
the wake of section 16B of the Constitution, enacted last year by
the
Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (No. 17) Act. The Land Acquisition
Act
will be amended. The Rural Land Occupiers (Protection from Eviction)
Act
will be repealed.
Two new terms, "Gazetted land" and "specially
Gazetted land" will be
adopted and defined. Occupation or use of gazetted
land "without lawful
authority" (offer letter, permit or lease granted by
the State) will be
prohibited on pain of criminal penalties. Short grace
periods will be
allowed to former owners or occupiers of gazetted land.
Where gazetting
occurred before the 14th September 2005, those who do not
have lawful
authority to continue in occupation must leave within 45 days of
the Bill
becoming law. Where gazetting occurs after the 14th September
2005, the
former owner or occupier without lawful authority to continue in
occupation
must cease to use the land within 45 days of gazetting and vacate
the
"living quarters" within 90 days. Criminal penalties are provided for
failure to comply.
The amendments to the Land Acquisition Act will
replace the term
"agricultural land required for resettlement purposes" with
the new term
"specially Gazetted land". Offer letters issued before the Bill
becomes law
will be validated. Compensation for improvements on Gazetted
land will be
dealt with in accordance with the Land Acquisition Act as
amended by the
Bill.
Petroleum Bill [H.B. 5. 2006] Gazetted 23rd June
Gazetted on 16th June 2006.
[We have an electronic version of the Bill - if
you would like a copy please
request it.]
Ministry: Energy and Power
Development
Stage: Referred to PLC 26th July
Summary: The Bill
provides for the setting-up of a new parastatal, the
Petroleum Regulatory
Authority, the functions of which will include ensuring
the provision of
sufficient petroleum products for domestic use and the
regulation of the
procurement, sale and production of petroleum products in
Zimbabwe. The
Authority will be controlled by a five-person Board. Its
functions will be
exercised in accordance with general policy directions
given to it by the
Minister of Energy and Power Development, but otherwise
it will enjoy
independence from outside control.
The Authority will administer a licensing
system under which only holders of
licences issued by the Authority will be
allowed to procure, sell or produce
petroleum products. Procurement,
retailing and production licences are
envisaged. Existing licences issued
under the Control of Goods Act and
regulations will continue in force as if
issued under the new system.
Appeals against the Authority's licensing
decisions will lie to the
Administrative Court.
The Bill makes reference
to the importance of effective competition in the
petroleum industry. and
requires the sale of petroleum products to be
conducted in an open,
transparent and competitive manner.
There will be a Fuel Price Stabilisation
Fund, funded in part by a fuel
price stabilisation levy to be enacted by
statutory instrument published by
the Minister. The Fund will pay out
subsidies or bounties for local
production of fuel and contribute towards
fuel price stabilisation schemes.
The Authority will be responsible for
fixing the prices of petroleum
products.
There will be a continuing role
for NOCZIM. It will be responsible for
maintaining strategic reserves of
petroleum products. And it will be deemed
to be the holder of such licences
under the new legislation as are
appropriate to its operations.
The
following Bills lapsed at the end of the last session and have not yet
been
revived
Suppression of Foreign and International Terrorism Bill [H.B.
1, 2006]
[Electronic version of this Bill available on
request]
Ministry: Home Affairs
Introduced: Senate
Stage: Still
being considered by the Parliamentary Legal Committee
following its First
Reading on the 9th May (also being considered by the
Portfolio Committee on
Defence and Home Affairs). The PLC reporting
deadline has been
extended.
Summary: This Bill aims to provide for the suppression of foreign
and
international terrorism, including mercenary activities. The preamble
refers to the 1989 UN Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and
Training of Mercenaries and to the OAU Convention for the Elimination of
Mercenarism in Africa. The Bill provides for maximum (but not mandatory)
punishment of life imprisonment for:- engaging in foreign or international
terrorist activity; training as a foreign or international terrorist;
recruiting or providing training to foreign or international terrorists;
possessing weaponry for the purposes of foreign or international terrorist
activity. Lesser, but still severe, penalties are envisaged for other
offences such as harbouring, concealing or failing to report foreign or
international terrorists; promoting or belonging to foreign or international
terrorist organisations; soliciting support for foreign or international
terrorist organisations; supplying weaponry to foreign or international
terrorist organisations; assisting foreign or international terrorist
organisations. Clause 13 provides that nearly all the clauses specifying
offences have extra-territorial operation, i.e., cover things done anywhere
in the world. The Attorney-General's authority will be necessary for
prosecutions under the Act to proceed. The Foreign Subversive Organisations
Act - the provisions of which are substantially incorporated in the Bill -
will be repealed.
Attorney General's Office Bill [H.B. 4, 2005]
Gazetted on 29.04.2005
[electronic version available - if you would like a
copy please request it.]
Ministry: Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs
Introduced: House of Assembly
Stage: Second Reading [having had
a non-adverse report from the
Parliamentary Legal Committee
[PLC]
Summary: This Bill aims to establish an Attorney-General's Office
Board;
to constitute the Attorney-General's Office as a service outside the
Public
Service; and, to provide for the administration of the
Attorney-General's
Office and conditions of service of its
members.
*******************
Veritas makes every effort to ensure
reliable information, but cannot take
legal
responsibility for
information
supplied.
*******************
*******************
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take
legal
responsibility for information supplied.
August 13,
2006
By ANDnetwork .com
The United Nations has raised
more than $144 million for Zimbabwe's
humanitarian assistance projects this
year, it has emerged.
By Darlington Musarurwa
This is
about 44% of funding under the Consolidated Appeal Projects
(Cap) for
Zimbabwe.
Most of the funding has gone towards the purchase of
relief food and
the provision of other support services.
Cap is
a common planning, programming, advocacy and fund-raising
initiative that is
aimed at a coordinated humanitarian response.
It is produced
through the collective efforts of governments, UN
agencies, Non Governmental
Organisations (NGOs) and other donor agencies.
According to a
recent report released by the United Nations Office for
the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs in Zimbabwe, the humanitarian
situation in the country
was noticeably better as year-on-year food
inflation had appreciably
declined from 2 000% in March to the present rate
of 812%.
"The
current level of 44% funding for the Cap projects is encouraging
to the
humanitarian community in the country.
"However, most of the
funding has gone to the food sector, which is
81% funded, and coordination
and support services, which is 60% funded. It
is important to note that
while the 2006 Cap reflects $90,3 million as
contributions to the food
sector, 96% of these contributions were received
prior to the Cap launch in
2005 but utilised in 2006," reads part of the
report.
Confirming statistics that were released by the Government, the report
also
observed that the World Food Programme (WFP) had reported a general
increase
in grain availability in the country.
"WFP monitors reported a
general improvement in the maize grain
availability across the country as a
result of the harvest. However, food
availability in the open market in some
central, eastern and southern
districts of the country is affected by
restriction of grain movement.
"Price monitoring by WFP shows a
drop in the year-on-year inflation to
821% in June compared to almost 2 000%
in March during the 'hungry'
pre-harvest season. This is in line with the
marginal drop in the annual
inflation rate as reported by the Central
Statistical Office (CSO)," added
the report.
The report further
notes that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has
appealed for $5,3 million
that is needed to fund income generating
activities in the country for the
vulnerable population and has proposed a
larger joint humanitarian
strategy.
However, it has since emerged that economic recovery
projects in CAP
that cover income generating activities are not currently
funded.
Sundaymail
August 13,
2006
By ANDnetwork .com
The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority
has given 17 August as the date by
which all errant tour operators must have
closed shop and vacated their
premises after failing to register their
operations in accordance with the
law.
By Augustine
Moyo
The Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) has also revealed that
after the
17th it will, in conjunction with State security agents, launch a
major
operation countrywide to clamp down on all unregistered
operators.
This will see some of them face prosecution for
violating sections of
the country's Tourism Act of 1996 Chapter 14:20
Section 57, which states
that all designated tourist facilities in the
country should be registered
with the ZTA.
In June 2006, the
ZTA gave tour operators one month to regularise
their operations in
accordance with the law.
The deadline, however, elapsed at the end
of July with reports that a
number of operators failed to meet ZTA standards
so as to qualify for
registration.
The ZTA has since confirmed
that only 30% of tour operators have
complied with its directive for
registration.
"We have since given them up to 17 August to
regularise their
operations by registering so that when we descend on them
they don't cry
foul.
"So far about 70% of these operators have
not registered and these
have also failed to meet ZTA set standards to
qualify for registration,"
explained Kaseke.
He added: "The
standards at some of these facilities are so pathetic
such that we don't
even believe that they are accommodation facilities."
Kaseke added
that the ZTA has already communicated to the unregistered
operators, in
writing, its intention of shutting down their operations after
17
August.
He said: "We are not only going to shut them down but they
will be
brought to book and be prosecuted according to the law.
"Midlands Hotel in Gweru, for instance, last renewed its licence in
1999 and
since then it has never bothered to renew it, hence it is operating
illegally.
"It is amazing that the famous Italian Bakery in
Avondale and popular
Jacaranda Lodge are among some of the operators that
have not yet registered
and continue to operate illegally.
"After the deadline we are going to shut them down and prosecute
them,"
said Kaseke.
Some players in the tourism sector have prejudiced
the economy in many
ways that include loss of tax revenue and foreign
currency earnings, as a
number of unregistered tour operators have been
receiving tourists and local
guests without submitting any records of their
transactions to the ZTA.
The ZTA boss said most of the unregistered
operators received foreign
currency from tourists but cannot account for the
receipts.
He added that the upcoming clean-up exercise in the
tourism sector is
set to bring back discipline into the sector that plays a
vital role in the
economy of the country.
"I must admit that we
as ZTA have been very lenient with operators,
but it is high time we crack
the whip on errant operators and stem out
foreign currency leakages and
indiscipline in the sector.
"Through this we hope to turn around
the tourism industry to become
the country's major source of foreign," he
said.
Sundaymail