President
Robert Mugabe and his Zanu-PF are plotting to oust South African president
Jacob Zuma from his position as facilitator in Zimbabwe's political
negotiations if he becomes chairman of the Southern African Development
Community troika of the organ on politics, defence and security co-operation
on Thursday.
Zuma, the SADC facilitator on Zimbabwe, is set to assume the
chairmanship of the troika at the regional grouping's annual summit, which
starts on Wednesday in Luanda, Angola. This would give Zuma more power to
tackle the Zimbabwe situation, on which he has of late become more
firm.
Zuma mobilised regional leaders against Mugabe before the troika
summit in Livingstone, Zambia, in March, where he issued a damning report on
the political and security situation in Zimbabwe.
This angered Mugabe
- who described the resolutions of the Livingstone summit as a "bombshell" -
and forced him to attack Zuma and other leaders, saying they could not tell
him what to do. The clashes led to a serious regional fallout, threatening
the stability and cohesion of the SADC itself.
However, Zuma and other
SADC leaders were not intimidated and further tackled Mugabe head-on at the
extraordinary SADC summit in Sandton, Johannesburg, in June.
Informed
SADC diplomats say Mugabe, now fed up with Zuma, is planning to stage a
daring diplomatic coup against Zuma in Luanda. They say Mugabe and his
strategists have been lobbying regional leaders to force Zuma to relinquish
his role as facilitator if he becomes chairman of the troika on
Thursday.
On Wednesday night Mugabe met with SADC chairman, President
Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia, at State House in Windhoek to discuss the
situation in Zimbabwe and the Zuma issue.
Mugabe was in Namibia for
the meeting of former liberation struggle movements in the region where,
insiders say, he lobbied intensely for support in Luanda.
Mugabe's
strategists and loyalists have spent a week campaigning against Zuma through
the state-controlled media. They have also engaged diplomats to build a
coalition against him.
Insiders say Mugabe and Zanu-PF believe if Zuma
becomes chairman of the troika he will have a "conflict of interest" on
Zimbabwe.
They say it would be against the SADC "precedent" and "against
principles of natural justice".
Zanu-PF officials say Mugabe is going
to give Zuma options as part of the plot to oust him.
These include a
proposal that SADC leaders must rule in Luanda on whether or not Zuma should
remain as facilitator if he takes over as chairman of the troika.
If
Zuma becomes chairman of the troika, then Mugabe wants him to recuse himself
when the Zimbabwe issue comes before the troika.
The other option which
Mugabe wants Zuma to consider is to postpone his assumption of the
chairmanship until Zimbabwe is off the SADC agenda.
If all this fails,
Mugabe wants a retired SADC president to be appointed as facilitator to
replace Zuma. However, SADC executive secretary Tomaz Salomao said this week
Zuma would remain facilitator and become chairman of the troika at the same
time.
Salomao said it was untrue there was no precedent on that, as
former South African president Thabo Mbeki had been facilitator and SADC
chairman at the same time by sheer coincidence.
Zanu-PF officials
reacted angrily, saying it was not Salomao's job to decide on such issues.
They also said Salomao must stop "causing unnecessary
confusion".
However, SADC diplomats told the Sunday Times that,
besides what Salomao had pointed out on Mbeki, Mugabe was once involved in
Lesotho and Swaziland situations during the 1990s while he was chairman of
the troika.
But Mugabe's loyalists are unyielding. Zanu-PF politburo
member and former Information Minister Jonathan Moyo said Zuma should choose
between the two roles.
"To say President Zuma should execute the two
duties is utter nonsense. He should choose one of the two hats. He cannot
wear two because he does not have two heads," Moyo said.
"If they
insist he should take the two responsibilities, they will be inviting the
clear conclusion that there is a sinister agenda. That will create
unnecessary tension within the facilitation team and the SADC itself."
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku has upheld a High Court
ruling granting renegade Anglican bishop Nolbert Kunonga control over all
Anglican Church assets in Harare. 12.08.1105:33pm by Chief
Reporter
In July 2009, High Court judge Justice Ben Hlatshwayo ruled
in favour of Kunonga in a property dispute between the deposed bishop and
the new consecrated bishop, Chad Gandiya. Gandiya appealed that ruling in
the Superme Court.
Over a year later, Chidyausiku has upheld that
ruling, granting Kunonga custodianship of all Anglican property.
The
Supreme Court also declared in its interim order that Bishop Gandiya remains
the Bishop of Harare and therefore consecration of a new Bishop by Kunonga
on 26 July 2009 or any date thereafter was stopped, pending the discharge or
confirmation of the order on the return date.
Gandiya said in a letter to
the Anglican communion seen by The Zimbabwean that the decision would cause
chaos.
"You can well imagine the distress and chaos this is likely to
result, especially for our priests who are living in rectories," Gandiya
said in his letter to the church. "I am very concerned about the likely
disturbances to my priests and their families. I am hopeful that common
sense will prevail. How can he be given custodianship of properties of an
organisation of which he is
not a member?"
The excommunicated
Kunonga left the Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) in 2007 to
set up a rival church.
"If the Supreme Court does not return the
properties to our church then we will have no way of appealing the
decision," said Gandiya.
The Axe
and the Tree: Zimbabwe’s Legacy of Political Violence focuses on the experiences
of four individuals living in settlements around Harare during the electoral
violence of 2008. Those featured in the documentary participated of their own
free will and are aware of the repercussions that they could face due to their
involvement. The International Center for Transitional Justice believe that this
documentary will force the world to sit up and pay attention to the forgotten
stories of the Zimbabwean people.
13
August, 2011 18:10 ZOLI MANGENA Sunday Times Zimbabwe
In a sign that the Zimbabwe government is
climbing down on its controversial indigenisation law, penalties for
non-compliant companies and bosses have been reduced.
The law seeks
to expropriate foreign-owned companies under the guise of
empowerment.
The change comes after clashes between Indigenisation
Minister Saviour Kasukuwere and Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono over
company seizures.
While Kasukuwere wants to take over companies, Gono is
against it - though he supports indigenisation and empowerment.
A
government gazette said penalties for offences, including falsifying
shareholdings and company valuations, will now range from three to 12 months
in jail - down from five years. Fines for failing to comply have been cut
from $2000 to $1000 or $750.
The apparent U-turn follows objections
from the Chamber of Mines and a parliamentary legal committee that said the
law was unconstitutional.
The committee said a $2000 fine or five years
in jail, or both, were so harsh they amounted to a breach of the
constitution, which prohibits inhuman and degrading punishment.
It
criticised as absurd the provision for companies and "artificial persons" to
be imprisoned.
A few weeks ago Kasukuwere threatened to seize assets of
foreign-owned companies if they defied the law.
Kasukuwere said after
finishing with the mining sector, where it is working to take over large
foreign-owned companies, government would move on foreign-owned
banks.
This angered finance minister Tendai Biti and Gono, who have been
battling to stabilise the fragile banking sector. Bank vulnerabilities could
be intensified by renewed threats of expropriation under the disguise of
indigenisation.
Banks argue that the indigenisation laws are
unrealistic and the sector is already largely locally owned anyway.
GWANDA, Zimbabwe (AlertNet) - With poor crop yields now a
perennial problem and this year looking worse than ever, subsistence farmers
like Thumeliso Mabasa have become living proof of an old adage: desperate
times call for desperate measures.
He and other farmers are being
advised to lobby for the use of genetically modified crops - currently
banned in Zimbabwe - as a way of dealing with worsening extreme weather
linked to climate change.
Volatile climatic patterns in southern
Zimbabwe’s Matebeleland, particularly in low-rainfall rural areas like
Gwanda, south of Bulawayo, are seeing farmer livelihoods being destroyed
with little they can do to mitigate their losses.
Each year Mabasa
plants his crop, and each year he knows the crop will fail.
He says maize
– the country’s staple - has failed him each year. But he is reluctant to
switch away from the crop he prefers, despite being advised by extension
officers to plant drought resistant varieties of other small
grains.
Instead, he is pondering whether genetically modified (GMO)
crops could be an answer.
“I have been in the city (Bulawayo) and was
advised by some people that we should lobby for the planting of genetically
modified maize crop, which we are told is drought resistant,” he
said.
GOVERNMENT RESTRICTIONS
Zimbabwe’s government, however, has
for most of a decade banned the import of genetically modified maize seed,
citing environmental and health concerns. As food security has weakened in
the country, the government has agreed to accept genetically modified milled
maize into the country as food aid, but continues to insist it will not
allow such maize to be grown in Zimbabwe.
Advocates of genetically
modified crops, however, say that resistance may need to change as
traditional crops bear the brunt of changing climate patterns, and as the
country continues to need food aid.
Parts of this year’s harvest was
destroyed by floods that hit parts of southern Africa early this year, as
well as by extremes of heat and then winter frost that followed in quick
succession.
The U.S.-backed Famine Early Warning Systems Network (FEWS
NET), which monitors food security, says millions of Zimbabweans will
require food assistance this year.
Mabasa said the government had
provided fertiliser to assist farmers but it had not helped boost
yields.
“Even with the help of fertiliser we have not been able to get
the best out of our land,” he said.
Hubert Sibanda, another farmer,
says farmers need a better long-term solution to their problems, and if that
means planting genetically modified crops, he “does not mind.”
“We
need to eat and we need government assurance that they can help us plant
what we want, even in the form of these (genetically modified) crops,”
Sibanda said.
Genetically modified milled maize, grown in
neighbouring South Africa, continues to flood into the country as Zimbabwe’s
own farmers fail to grow enough to meet demand.
Growing the same
maize locally could not only improve farmer incomes, but also stave off
hunger among millions lining up for food assistance, said Gamaliel Sobuza, a
climate change researcher with Zimbabwe Climate Change, an NGO in
Bulawayo.
CATCH-22
“There is a kind of Catch-22 for government,
and it is that either they reverse what has been a long time policy and let
researchers work with these small-holder farmers to develop GMOs or refuse
to acknowledge this need and continue appealing for food assistance,” Sobuza
said.
Farmers in low-rainfall areas “need crops that are drought
resistant and that could mean GMO research alongside developing organic
types to provide farmers with options,” he said.
Researchers from the
Zimbabwe Organic Producers and Promoters Association (ZOPPA), however, are
not convinced.
“There is little to be gained by local farmers as these
(GMO) varieties have not yet shown us that they can improve and safeguard
farmer produce,” said Timothy Panganai, a researcher who has worked with
ZOPPA.
“More work needs to be done before farmers take this up as it
(could) threaten the environment,” he said.
An alternative, he said,
might be to adopt high-nutrition and drought-resistant crop varieties being
developed by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid
Tropics (ICRISAT). The organization has embarked on a sub-Sahara-wide
research effort to find better adapted crops, including for countries like
Zimbabwe, but its work has yet to filter down to Zimbabwean farmers like
Mabasa, researchers said.
Madalitso Mwando is a journalist based in
Harare, Zimbabwe.
The government's food requirement predictions are
inaccurate and the cash-strapped nation will definitely need more food due
to serious cereal shortages throughout the country and the prospect of an
influx of refugees from South Africa, according to a report by
donors. 11.08.1111:23am by Ngoni Chanakira Harare
The report, a
copy of which is in our possession, has been published by a consortium of
the donors who regularly support food programmes for impoverished
Zimbabweans.
It said the Second Round Crop and Livestock Assessment,
conducted in April this year, had wrongly estimated that national cereal
production for the 2010/2011 season was 1 607 700 tonnes against an
estimated national requirement of 1 717 800 tonnes.
"While this is
about 9 percent higher than last season's production, there is still a
significant deficit requiring support from humanitarian partners," the
report said.
"The government estimates that, due to the impact of the dry
spell earlier this year, areas in six out of the country's 10 provinces will
require food aid. The lean period is likely to start earlier than usual in
these areas and, therefore, adequate and timely food security strategies
will be needed."
The South African government recently announced it
would this month begin to deport Zimbabweans who had not succeeded in
regularising their stay there.
"It is thus expected that Zimbabwe will
receive large numbers (estimated at upwards of 15 000 monthly and mostly
men) of returned migrants from then onwards," the report
said.
"Secondly, there are indications that the South African authorities
will soon begin to deport those Zimbabwean migrants who either have no
documentation at all, or who have expired asylum seeker permits, or whose
asylum requests have been turned down."
Reports coming from South
Africa, however, indicate that Pretoria has had a change of heart over the
"burning and sensitive issue" of returning Zimbabweans to their
country.
They say the unemployed Zimbabweans have, instead, been given a
further reprieve to get their "papers in order or face the boot
soon".
"At the end of April, South Africa decided that it would no longer
accept asylum claims from third-country nationals that used Zimbabwe (and
other neighbouring States) as transit countries, unless they could possibly
identify themselves (preferably with a passport or other official
documentation) and provide justification why they could not seek asylum in
other countries," the donor report said.
"This has resulted in South
Africa refusing entry and asylum applications to several hundred asylum
seekers from the Great Lakes/Horn of Africa region.
"A large number of
those affected by this development are currently in Zimbabwe and the
government and humanitarian actors have so far responded to the humanitarian
needs of 7 200 people who reportedly arrived within the First Quarter of
this year."
Reports indicate, however, that this number is increasing
daily as migrants arrive in Beitbridge. Those who request asylum in Zimbabwe
are transported to Tongogara Refugee Camp (TRC) in Chipinge (south-eastern
Zimbabwe) for processing.
The report said special attention should be
paid to women and girls who "are potentially vulnerable to sexual violence
and abuse".
Touched by the plight of villagers in
Nyamandlovu, a semi arid marginalised area in Matebeleland North, the United
Nations' humanitarian arm, OCHA, recently poured in about $4 million to sink
boreholes. 12.08.1108:31am by Fungai Kwaramba Harare
The
borehole at Nyamandlovu School is one of 15 drilled in the district. Mildred
Sandi heads a local NGO that has worked with the UN to ensure that boreholes
are sunk in this drought-prone area.
“When we came here I was shocked,
amazed to see how people lived without proper drinking water for a decade,
to a point some said we are no longer enjoying our conjugal rights because
we have to bath after that. I wondered how people lived without water,” said
Sandi.
People were walking up to 30km in search of water, and some had to
work for those who had water in order to earn a bucket of
water.
Nyamandlovu Secondary School wa without constant water supply
since its establishment in 2000, until the UN’s Emergency Response Fund
chipped in and drilled a borehole.
Qisani Ndlovu is a teacher at the
school and he remembers the problems they had before. “It was difficult. We
do not have accommodation for teachers in the schooI so teachers have to
bring water from faraway homes.
I have to wake up daily at 4.30am, Monday
to Friday. It is dusty here, winds blow heavily and when you happen not to
block your nose, the flu you suffer from will not be bearable. It was very,
very tough.”
Some of the boreholes that had existed before had failed due
to negligence, after the commercial farmers who drilled them were thrown out
under President Robert Mugabe’s land seizures.
The peasant farmers
who took over the farms had no resources to maintain the boreholes, but the
UN has renovated them.
One of the farmers is Emily Ncube. This
77-year-old woman has had to look after her four grandchildren ever since
their parents succumbed to HIV and Aids.
With water now available she
is able to plant vegetables near one of the boreholes. Her grandchildren now
get the food they need to enable them to walk the five kilometres to
school.
“My grandchildren assist and this has really helped me and all of
them are now able to go to school with food in their stomach and we sell
some vegetables to local villagers.”
The Matabeleland region has been
marginalised since the country gained independence in 1980 The only time
development is talked about is during election campaigns.
Through the
borehole programme OCHA hopes to get water to all marginalised areas in
Zimbabwe so as to improve the future of women and children.
As costs of accessing decent medical care continue to be
beyond the reach of many in Zimbabwe, residents of Mutare and the surrounding
areas are flooding Mozambican health facilities for
treatment.
The costs at
Chimoio Hospital are lower than those of local Zimbabwean
hospitals.
Officials at
Chimoio Provincial hospital told The Zimbabwean on Tuesday that they
were overwhelmed by ever increasing number of Zimbabweans seeking cheaper
medical treatment at the centre.
“We have enough
staff, but we are being overwhelmed by patients coming from Zimbabwe to seek
cheaper medical care,” said a local medical practitioner.
Chimoio Hospital
charges R5 for tooth extraction while dentists in Zimbabwe charge no less than
US$30 for the same service.
Evans Manhanga
from Vumba in Manicaland said he chose to visit Chimoio Hospital after he failed
to raise enough money to consult local doctors.
“I was left with
no choice but to visit Mozambique for treatment. It’s affordable here because I
was given drugs at a low cost, compared to local hospitals where there are no
drugs or qualified medical practitioners,” said
Manhanga.
A new tax has been proposed to make healthcare more
affordable. 11.08.1106:08pm by Fungisai Kwaramba
Minister of
Health and Child Welfare, Henry Madzorera, said the funds raised would allow
the scrapping of hospital user fees which inhibited the poor, especially
pregnant women and those with HIV and AIDS, from accessing
healthcare.
“There is need to introduce some form of tax so that
people in the country get to access health facilities, especially pregnant
women,” he said.
According to UNICEF at least eight women die in
childbirth - often outside medical settings - and 100 children under the age
of five also die daily because of, among other factors, prohibitive user
fees.
Madzorera said the introduction of such a tax is yet to be tabled
in cabinet, but would not affect the already heavily taxed
workers.
“We can always find a way through which we can assist people,”
he said.
“The taxes could be minimal.”
Coalition of African
Parliamentarians Against HIV and AIDS member and Kwekwe MP (MDC-T) Blessing
Chebundo agreed user fees should be abolished – and the shortfall funded by
so-called sin taxes.
“As MPs we agree that there should be a new tax, but
this should not be achieved through taxing the already heavily taxed
workers,” Chebundo said.
“We need to look at other avenues of getting
revenue, such as introducing sin taxes on tobacco and
alcohol.”
Tafara resident Admore Tizarai said such a tax would be met
with resistance from drinkers and smokers.
“Beer and tobacco are
already expensive and the prices should not be increased,” Tizirai
said.
“If that happens then people will turn to cheaper and harmful
substances such as ZED (an imported Mozambican drink) this will cause even
more problems for the government.”
A police officer and two army officials were last
week hauled before magistrate courts to answer charges of
robbery. 12.08.1102:43pm by Liona Mwayera
Hawulethu Tshuma, 26,
a detective from Criminal Investigation (CID) Law and Order in Mutare and
Justice Gudo, 24, and Lloyd Saurombe, 33, who are both stationed at ZNA 3
Infantry Brigade, robbed a man of US$1 020 after they raided a house in
Chiadzwa diamond fields.
It was alleged that on July 19 this year, the
three law enforcement agents, who were on patrol, came across a gang of
gamblers. They are accused of forcibly gaining entry to the house and
ordering everyone to lie down.
Charles Gonzo of Sakubva refused. This
incensed the officers who took turns to assault Gonzo with their belts. The
officers then took Gonzo’s money.
The matter was reported to Marange
police who arrested the three. The officers pleaded not guilty and were
remanded out of custody to August 17.
Working conditions for foot soldiers in the
Defence Forces are a cause for concern and government will do its best to
raise their salaries to above the poverty datum line, says President Robert
Mugabe. 12.08.1108:21am by Jane Makoni
A Defence Forces Day
address read by his representatives around the country on Tuesday says:
“Government would do its best to improve welfare of Defence Forces through
among other methods, raise their salaries to levels above the poverty datum
line. The issue regarding pensions for defence forces members who retired
from active service before the country adopted the multi-currency regime
would also be looked into.”
Some members of the forces, who retired prior
to the adoption of the multi-currency economy, are yet to receive their
gratuities. Inside sources indicated that those receiving lump sum
gratuities were pocketing an average $7 000. They earn an indefinite monthly
pension salary calculated at two thirds of what serving members earn. The
monthly salary is subject to review in keeping with percentage increments
awarded civil servants.
Currently, low ranking soldiers earn around $270
following the recent controversial civil servants’ salary hikes. This
remains far below the poverty datum line pegged at above $550.
In
Marondera the president’s speech was read on his behalf by the Governor and
Resident Minister, Aenius Chigwedere.
Some 2000 residents witnessed the
event, which was spiced by foot and arms drills. The Zimbabwe Prison Service
Band provided marching music for the soldiers.
Zimbabwe has voluntarily withdrawn from United
Nations and African Union peacekeeping duties but questions remain after
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa declared the country did not have the
resources to match the standards of international military
assignments. 12.08.1102:23pm by John Chimunhu
In a statement,
Mnangagwa said Zimbabwe did not have the capacity to represent Africa in
helping quell the ongoing conflicts on the continent.
The statement is
telling, considering that Zimbabwe is currently chair of the peacekeeping
wing of the AU, expected to play a role in whatever military outcome in
Libya and the Horn of Africa. Some members of the armed forces said this is
an open admission the country's forces are not
battle-ready.
President Robert Mugabe has for long dismissed reports
that the country's army can no fight any of the regional enemies that he is
creating.
The move by Zimbabwe is also seen as an attempt to quash debate
over the country's suitability in peacekeeping missions following the
killing of civilians in the bloody aftermath of the 2008 election defeat of
Robert Mugabe by Morgan Tsvangirai.
The Zimbabwean army has courted
controversy in international military circles by declaring that it was
aligned to Mugabe and Zanu (PF), in violation of the constitution, which
states that military officers must be non-partisan.
There are also
global calls for an investigation into the Gukurahundi massacre by the army
of more than 20 000 civilians in Matabeleland and Midlands
provinces.
Efforts to get Mnangagwa to comment were unsuccessful as he
answered the phone several times but was on a bad line. The Zimbabwean army
is in a bad state, according to defence analysts.
Last week, the Air
Force showed Mugabe antiquated aircraft, including skeletons of the formerly
flagship Hawk planes from Britain. Most equipment has fallen into disrepair
following an arms embargo on Zimbabwe by the West in 2001.
Civic organizations in the Southern African
region have voiced concern over their detention and subsequent deportation
upon arrival at the Quatro de Fevereiro International Airport of Luanda,
Angola without any explanation on Thursday 11 August 2011 and the
cancellation of their accommodation and planned meetings. According to a
joint statement by Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa, SADC
council of NGOs and Southern African Trade Union Coordination Countries and
the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Those detained and subsequently
deported include the Executive Director of SADC-CNGO Abie Ditlhake,
Executive Secretary of SATUCC Austin Muneku and Executive Director of
FOCCISA Malcolm Damon among others.
The CSO leaders were in Angola to
participate in the 7th Southern Africa Civil Society Forum, which is an
event held by civil society organisations annually in the SADC country that
will be hosting the SADC Heads of State Summit, and for which permission had
been granted by the Angolan government. “The Regional Apex Organisations
views this incomprehensible act by the Angolan government as a blatant
attempt to deny leaders of civil society an opportunity to interact with and
add voice to SADC structures; and that this act also flies in the face of
the tenets of the Protocol on the Facilitation of movement of persons to
which many SADC member states are signatory, “reads the statement. The
grouping of civic groups say Angola is breaching SADC principles and laid
down rules by its actions. “We would like to draw the Angolan government’s
attention to Articles 16A and 23 of the SADC Treaty which commits SADC
member states to engage fully peoples of the region and civil society in
regional integration and development, and also that, we as Regional Apex
Organisations are tirelessly striving for a Southern Africa Regional
Community in which every human being lives a dignified, peaceful and secure
life and participate freely in issues that affect them.” The action against
civic society groups comes a few days before the Zimbabwean crisis takes
center stage at the SADC summit in Luanda.
There will also be dialogue on
other regional issues to do with conflict in member states. The civic
society believes this incident that has taken shape ahead of the summit is a
move to frustrate it from taking part in regional democratic and human
rights related issues. “Our detention, subsequent deportation, as well as
that of other CSO delegates to the same forum; shows a singular
determination by the government of Angola to ensure that civil society will
not have a voice in this year’s proceedings; and depicts a disregard for
dialogue between government and civil society; which further emboldens our
call to the 14 nation SADC Community to enforce its own commitments on human
rights and democracy. The astonishing callousness of this act was that we
were denied entry to Angola despite having official correspondence from the
office of a Director General of The Technical Unit of Humanitarian Aid
Co-ordination (UTCAH), stating we should receive visas on arrival,” reads on
the statement. The civic grouping also believes that Angola does not deserve
its current role in the SADC community because it is failing to deal with
its own internal party politics and restoration of the rule of law. “We
strongly believe that Angola does not deserve to chair SADC until they have
resolved their internal democratic deficits, lack of transparency and
continued repression of civil society voices. As civil society we pledge to
relentlessly campaign against Angolans government authoritarian and
repressive practice. We call the heads of state and government attending the
forthcoming SADC summit to suspend the impending chairperson-ship of SADC by
Angola until full compliance with the provision of SADC Treaty and other
protocols.”
Children wearing Unicef T-shirts
have become the latest target of state agents in Harare. The shirts had been
handed out to members of the Youth Parliament and also to school children,
but many are afraid to wear the garments in public. 12.08.1102:15pm by
OWN CORRESPONDENT
A flower seller who runs a stall across from
Meikles Hotel told The Zimbabwean that she had seen several incidents in the
city.
"Just this week we have seen it again. Men in plain clothes and
aged in their 30s beat up the kids wearing Unicef T-shirts," she said. "From
our tables we saw the whole thing and the men did not seem to care. They
told the boys that next time someone would die."
The woman said the
men were often at Meikles and worked at the Zanu (PF) office on Fourth
Street.
"The boys had their shirts removed and received some slaps," she
said. "The worst thing is that none of us tried to help because there is
such a fear these days. I feel ashamed now that I did not get
involved."
From Meikles, the men moved on to the corner of Nelson Mandela
Avenue and Third Street where they stripped more youths including one girl.
"Lucky she had something on under her T-shirt or she would have been
exposed," the woman said.
She said she could not be sure whether the
men were from CIO or just party workers. "It was better when the militia
were in green uniforms because then we knew who was what. Now you can't be
sure who is standing next to you."
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs Eric Matinenga recently said only
66 were able to account for the funds, sparking outrage among civil society
activists about the apparent misuse of much of the total US$10.5 million
dollars
Thomas Chiripasi & Violet Gonda |
Washington
Residents of Zimbabwe's Chikomba West constituency in
Mashonaland East province are up in arms over the alleged abuse of
constituency development funds provided to the parliamentarian who
represents the district, charging that local lawmaker Michael Bimha has not
put the cash to use to raise living standards in the
community.
Chikomba West villagers including Tendai Muchemwa, a staunch
ZANU-PF supporter in Madamombe village, charge that the ZANU-PF member of
Parliament hasn’t initiated a single development program since the beginning
of the year.
Muchemwa’s remarks were echoed by Ward 15 Councilor
Takesure Ndaveni, who says he was never consulted as local councilor on how
the funds should be used.
“We only heard about this money in the
newspapers but we have never heard any projects that were done using this
money. I am the ward 15 Councilor and since the MP stays here, I was
expecting that he would consult me on what projects the people wanted the
money to be used for,” Muchemwa said.
Ward 11 Councilor Arnold Reza said
he has also been left in the dark. He said he asked Bimha about the funds
during a recent council meeting in Chivhu, and Bimha responded that no one
but him had a say in how the financial resources should be
used.
Reza, like other Chikomba West villagers, is calling on authorities
to investigate Bimha.
VOA Studio 7 was unable to obtain a comment
from the legislator – who is also the Deputy Minister of Industry and
Commerce.
The misuse of Constituency Development Funds is an issue in
many constituencies.
All 210 House members received $50,000 each last
year to spend to improve the lives of their constituents. But Minister of
Parliamentary Affairs Eric Matinenga recently said only 66 were able to
account for the funds, sparking outrage among civil society activists over
the apparent misuse of much of the total of US$10.5 million
dollars.
Civic activists are calling on the government to arrest
legislators who abuse such funds.
Matinenga told reporter VOA Studio
7 reporter Violet Gonda that some 106 lawmakers have now made returns
regarding the use of the funds.
But he said those who don’t act
responsibly and account for the funds will suffer the legal consequences,
though better accounting mechanisms are also needed.
“What we have
seen so far is that some people are not accounting because they have spent
the money," Matinenga said, "but people are not accounting simply because
they are not bookkeepers and some of what they are being asked to do is just
beyond them.”
He said legislators who have made returns come from
provinces where there have been capacity-building exercises, such as
Matebeleland, Masvingo and Manicaland.
Elsewhere, Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai told reporters on Friday that Bulawayo’s accelerating loss
of industries is due in part to chronic shortages of water in the city and
the Matabeleland region, but added that inadequate financing is a bigger
problem as well as cash flow issues stemming from the adoption of a hard
currency monetary regimen.
An angry meeting looms here tomorrow when embattled
conservancy owners come face-to-face with marauding self-styled war veterans
accused of widespread rhino and elephant poaching in the
area.
Despite signs
throughout the National Parks, poaching has continued unabated.
According to
notices for the meeting seen by The Zimbabwean, the National Parks and
Wildlife Authority has invited 'indigenous wildlife operators', as the invaders
are called, and the rightful conservancy owners.
The notice said
the meeting was being convened to educate game farmers about new hunting quotas
to be issued by the Authority this season. The meeting will take place at Hippo
Valley country club.
The stage is set
for confrontation as the wannabe wildlife farmers have failed to raise money to
buy equity on existing properties. The director-general of the Parks Authority,
Vitalis Chadenga, said earlier this year that a formula was being worked out for
the new entrants to buy equity on conservancies but they all failed to borrow
from the banks.
The dispute has
spawned vicious poaching in the region, where units of the army have been
deployed to bolster the out-gunned and outsmarted parks scouts. Investigations
show that, contrary to government claims that the poachers are all from South
Africa, local gangs of war veterans are behind an upsurge in rhino and elephant
poaching. Some of the gangsters, including ex-soldiers, were arrested recently
and army weapons found at the scene.
“The issue of
poaching is related to the ownership disputes which the government created by
proposing that we co-exist with people who have no capital, no expertise and
basically nothing to offer besides being a nuisance,” said Clem du Toit, a
conservancy manager.
“Now we have all
sorts of people engaged in poaching, but claiming to have been directed to be on
our farms by the state.”
Masvingo governor
Titus Maluleke intervened at the height of confrontation between militant Zanu
(PF) members and farmers last year over the lucrative hunting areas, which the
Mugabe government had previously protected when other farms were
taken.
The conservancies
attract cash-rich hunters from all over the world and bring in millions
annually. However, they have become the target of senior party hawks who now
want them for themselves - as it becomes apparent that there will be no more
land to grab after the next election.
Unlike the other
farms which the government broke up willy-nilly, conservancies have proved
difficult to tear apart because of the dangerous nature of some of the wild
animals and the sensitivity of the ecology.
At the alleged
instigation of Zanu (PF), high-profile individuals have taken over vast tracts,
resulting in one case in the death of hundreds of crocodiles.
Two black rhinos
were killed at Ruware ranch and another two at another two at Devure conservancy
recently.
Zimbabwe is
desperately trying to protect its remaining population of rhinos in the face of
massive attacks by regional poachers sponsored by Chinese syndicates. Police
have confirmed that the Chinese are the main buyers of tusks hunted illegally in
Masvingo.
Run-down schools and
clinics, to which villagers have to walk up to 20 kilometres, and ravaged
roads - constructed at independence and hardly repaired since. These are
some of the ills that greet visitors to rural areas in this
district. 12.08.1108:23am by Zwanai Sithole Harare
The lack of
meaningful development in the area has resulted in locals charging that the
Zanu (PF)-led government has deliberately withheld development as punishment
for their political affiliations.
Since independence in 1980, Chipinge
has had representatives in Parliament from parties opposed to Zanu (PF).
From independence to the inception of the MDC in 2000, Ndabaningi Sithole’s
Zanu (Ndonga) and Edgar Tekere’s Zimbabwe Unity Movement regularly prevailed
during elections in this Ndau-dominated area.
Since the demise of
both ZUM and Ndonga, the MDC has continued to dominate the area. An MDC
councillor in Ngaone area, Mwarekesa Mhlanga, said he agreed with the common
view of the Ndau people that they were being taught a lesson for supporting
opposition parties.
“The previous government sought to frogmarch the
people of this region into join Zanu (PF) through under developing this
area,” said Mhlanga.
Senior Zanu (PF) officials in the area, such as
Enoch Porusingaziwi, have been accused of threatening the people with
under-development if they voted for the opposition.
Most parents who
spoke to The Zimbabwean said their children were forced to start school when
they were older - in order for them to be able to walk the long distances to
the few schools in the area.
Some students are reported to be squatting
near schools to avoid walking the tiresome distances every day.
“In
my ward children walk for 20 kilometres to secondary schools. Most children
have dropped out of school because of the long distances,” said Majuru
Mukomwe, a headman in Chichichi area.
The lack of hospitals in the area
has forced many villagers to turn to traditional healers and prophets.
Traditional midwives also enjoy brisk business, but complicated births have
resulted in the deaths of many children and mothers.
Most growth
points in the area have only general dealers and bottle stores.
“The only
source of employment here were seasonal jobs at farms. But following the
acquisition of the farms by mainly Zanu (PF) chefs that employment is gone.
Those who have remained on the farms are being given only slave wages .Our
youths have turned to stealing and prostitution to make a living. In these
times of Aids we all know what will happen to our daughters,” said a
distraught headmaster in Chipinge south, who refused to be named for fear of
victimisation.
Zimbabwe’s sovereign
debt overhang has not improved since the signing of the GPA or the
inauguration of the IG – and it is not set to improve in the near future as
the country battles to finance its economic recovery and social
development. 12.08.1101:58pm by DEPROSE MUCHENA
The exact
debt stock is debatable as official figures vary. However, Zimbabwe
currently faces a debt overhang conservatively estimated at US$6.9 billion –
including US$5.2 billion in external debt.
Of the publicly guaranteed
debt, US$3.2 billion is in arrears – including US$1.3 billion owed to
multilateral creditors (International Monetary Fund, World Bank and other
institutions), US$1.6 billion to bilateral creditors (Paris Club and other
individual countries) and US$200 million to credit suppliers1.
With
the 2009 Short Term Emergency Recovery Plan (STERP) having identified a
resource gap of about US$8.3 billion for economic recovery, the greatest
challenge for the government
is its ability – or lack thereof – to
mobilise financial resources to fund projects identified as critical for
recovery. If the government needs to find US$8.3 billion for its
recovery
programme on top of its debt obligations, then Zimbabwe somehow
has to find US$15 billion in the short term. Overall, following the
cumulative economic contraction between 1998 and 2008, the country needs
US$45 billion over the next 10 years to regain the Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) levels it boasted back in 1997.
Globally speaking, many
developing countries are caught in a vicious cycle like Zimbabwe. The
problems of under-funded social sectors, such as education, and
over-indebtedness are mutually reinforcing.
As governments struggle to
meet unsustainable debt obligations, they are forced to redirect scarce
resources that could otherwise be used to achieve the objectives of the
Education for All campaign or the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs).
In many countries, debt servicing accounts for a larger portion
of the national wealth than the portion invested in education – and this is
clearly contributing to the fact that many countries, including Zimbabwe,
are not on course to achieve the MDGs by 2015.
How to remove the
albatross
The first step is for Zimbabweans – and the international
community – to publicly acknowledge the size of the debt problem and how it
is acting as a serious drag on the economic ship of state.
While
civil society organisations in Zimbabwe have highlighted the issue, some
elements of the IG continue to deny the shocking reality of Zimbabwe’s
indebtedness.
In particular, there has been fierce opposition to
declaring Zimbabwe a highly indebted poor country (HIPC), despite the fact
that it is exactly that.
But the issue is not about whether to
declare Zimbabwe a highly indebted poor country or not. Zimbabwe has already
been declared a crisis country, a fragile state, a failed state, and a
low-income country under stress among others. These declarations do not
resolve anything.
Specific policy, legislative and economic governance
measures are needed. While there have been some legislative changes, such as
the Public Finance Management Act, these have not been enough to remove the
debt albatross.
A host of reforms are urgently needed, including the
creation of a strong and well supported Treasury; the establishment of a
robust parliamentary oversight mechanism with a greater role for portfolio
committees responsible for national accounts, budget and revenue generation;
and, the construction of a developmental democratic state that prioritises
good economic governance. Together these reforms will allow the government
to design and implement a sustainable debt management and relief
strategy.
Given Zimbabwe’s levels of socioeconomic distress, activists
and civil society organisations maintain that the repayment of external debt
should not be given any priority until a proper national debt audit has been
carried out, which will show whether any of the debt is odious and
illegitimate.
A debt audit
Side by side with this, there is a
strong view that neither debt cancellation (while desirable) nor new loans
(which are necessary) should be extended unless the loan contraction and
debt management legislation and processes are thoroughly reviewed - so it is
imperative that the debt audit is carried out now.
There is also an
urgent need to pinpoint any odious debt and then cancel it either because
the creditors provided loans in the knowledge that the money would not be
used in the legitimate national interest or simply because they are
un-payable.
The Doctrine of Odious Debts, although it is now more than 70
years old, helps to bring clarity to today’s complicated Third World debt
situation, where innocent Southern citizens end up paying while corrupt and
negligent borrowers and lenders get away scotfree.
While the global
South makes compelling moral arguments to cancel its foreign debts, it also
possesses an indisputable legal case because the overwhelming majority of
these debts are odious in law.
“If a despotic power incurs a debt not for
the needs or in the interest of the State, but to strengthen its despotic
regime, to repress the population that fights against it, etc., this debt is
odious for the population of all the State.” (Alexander Sack,
1927).
Finally, there is need for an imaginative and sustainable debt
clearance strategy, which combines re-negotiating repayments ¬ including
negotiating a rescheduling of and a moratorium on some repayments ¬ to
enable the accumulation of resources to repay legitimate debts as well as
systemic policy and legislative reform to support the new debt management
framework.
Once these actions are taken, Zimbabwe may not need to become
part of the HIPC initiative in its classic form – especially as evidence
from Zambia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uganda among others, does not provide
a necessarily favourable picture of the impact of HIPC on debt
relief.
Conclusion
The debt burden is the biggest albatross around
Zimbabwe’s neck. It stands in the way of Zimbabwe’s economic recovery and
long-term economic development. Its resolution requires domestic leadership
and political will to reform policy, legislation and practice.
In
addition, the international community needs to be creative and supportive –
realising that economic stabilisation is still in its nascent stages,
recovery is still characterised by ‘jobless growth’ and key social sectors
are still recovering from a decade-long malaise.
The un-payable debt
needs to be cancelled, thereby offering Zimbabwe a fresh start, under new
economic governance rules, with brighter prospects.
The huge resource gap
facing Zimbabwe requires it to strategically invest all of its rich natural
resources, including diamonds, gold, and platinum, into national economic
recovery and long term development and not to mortgage the resources of
future generations to repay huge debts that were acquired under questionable
circumstances. – This was first published by OSISA (www.osisa.org)
Democratic transition has not
occurred in Zimbabwe - in spite of the fact that President Robert Mugabe and
his party lost elections in 2008. 12.08.1108:02am by TAKAWIRE
MUSAVENGANA
The reason is clear. The security sector, which for the
past decade or so has been running government affairs with Mugabe and others
acting as a civilian facade, has not allowed the will of the people to
prevail.
The so-called Global Political Agreement did not facilitate
power sharing, but rather the retention of power by Mugabe, including a
steady supply of political oxygen and a veneer of ‘legitimacy’, which he
desperately needed in the aftermath of the March/June 2008 election
period.
Like the 1979 Lancaster House Constitution, the GPA was
negotiated by political elites and is a reflection of the bargaining power
of the parties involved. It is neither global nor reflective of the will of
the 2,265,292 voters who participated in the presidential, parliamentary and
local government elections of March 2008.
Great pain
It is not
an accident that ZANU (PF) ended up controlling the ministries responsible
for defence, intelligence and prisons. A nominal share of the ministry
responsible for policing – Home Affairs – was secured by MDC-T at great
pain.
The state security sector remains opposed to – and has actively
sought to undermine – the coalition government and maintain its own grip on
power.
Ever since ZANU (PF) started losing its electoral hegemony in the
early 2000s, Zimbabwe has been under subtle military rule, with the Zimbabwe
Defence Forces operating much like a liberation army embedded in a ZANU of
the 1970s.
In independent, 21st century Zimbabwe, elements of the
state security sector still seem to subscribe to the view espoused by Mugabe
back in 1976 – when he was the leader of ZANU and its liberation movement,
the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA), and not President of
the Republic of Zimbabwe – that “our votes must go together with our guns.
After all, any vote we shall have shall have been the product of the gun.
The gun which produces the vote should remain its security officer – its
guarantor. The people’s votes and the people’s guns are always inseparable
twins.”
This overtly partisan and politicised approach is just one of the
defining and troubling characteristics of Zimbabwe’s current civil security
relations and the larger criminal justice
system.
Insubordination
Other concerns include the security
sector’s insubordination to legitimate civilian authority, selective
application of the law to punish non-ZANU (PF) voices, the accumulation of
resources by a small politico-military elite through illicit exploitation of
national resources, the militarisation of public institutions, and
state-sanctioned violence and disregard for basic human rights.
These
issues highlight the urgent need for change. Through covert and open
interference with the democratic process, the state security sector has
become the most potent threat to human security and democratic transition in
Zimbabwe – and will continue to be so unless it is radically
reformed.
The images and discourse of violence that have dominated
Zimbabwe’s polity for the past decade are in stark contrast to the
jubilation and spirit of reconciliation of April 1980 when Mugabe took
office as the leader of the newly independent state of Zimbabwe. So
promising were Mugabe’s first steps and the accompanying rhetoric that in
1994 – despite the Matabeleland massacres – the former colonial power, the
United Kingdom, appointed him honorary Knight Grand Cross in the Order of
Bath (only to strip him of the title in June 2008 when his true dictatorial
self had emerged for all to see).
One party state
But
unbeknown to many, a violent and repressive one-party state was under
construction and reconstruction in Zimbabwe. As publicly acknowledged by
Mugabe himself in his ‘degrees in violence’ speech, ZANU (PF)’s (and
Mugabe’s) propensity to resort to violence to resolve political differences
and achieve political ends is neither new nor recent.
Since the early
years of independence in the 1980s, ZANU (PF) and its government have
enjoyed a monopoly of violence. Against this background, today’s resurgent
politico-military and economic complex, which is underpinned by violence and
intimidation, has to be understood in terms of the undying desire by Mugabe
to be life president, and by ZANU (PF)’s quest to establish a one party
state in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe’s security sector – comprising state security
agencies such as the military, police and intelligence as well as non-state
security structures, including war veterans and the ZANU (PF) youth brigades
of the 1980s and youth militias of the 2000s – has long been a willing and
effective midwife to ZANU (PF)’s political ambitions.
In the first
decade of independence, Joshua Nkomo’s PF ZAPU bravely stood up to and
temporarily foiled ZANU (PF)’s one-party ambitions but paid a heavy price.
By 1987, PF ZAPU had been violently battered into submission and forced to
sign a Unity Accord, which effectively signalled the death of the party.
Constitutional Amendment No. 7 then created an all-powerful executive
presidency, which marked the beginning of the end of the country’s nascent
but promising democracy and, according to Welshman Ncube, turned Mugabe –
the only occupant of that office since its creation – into a 'myopic little
village tyrant' .
Under the ‘united’ but largely unchanged ZANU (PF),
Zimbabwe became a de facto one party state, effectively combining brute
force, and the selective use and manipulation of the law to maintain its
hegemony. The same scorched earth policy was to be used against the MDC two
decades later culminating in the GPA in 2008. - Takawira Musavengana is the
Human Rights and Democracy Building Manager at the Open Society Initiative
for Southern Africa in South Africa. His forthcoming publication is
entitled: The Case for a SADC Parliament: Old Wine in New Bottles or an
Ideal Whose Time Has Come?
Zimbabweans have opened their own chapter of
Shake The Tree Movement (SMMT) – a continental organisation that seeks to
fight corruption and bad governance in Africa. 12.08.1105:28pm by
Mxolisi Ncube
According to Noel Behane, who is the organisation’s
Interim President for its newly-formed Zimbabwean chapter, the organisation
has attracted more than 2000 members since it was formed and is already
scouring public institutions and political parties, where it has unravelled
a number of corrupt activities that it wants to expose.
“Our
movement’s main objective is to shake dictatorship and corruption that is
affecting Africa, Zimbabwe included,” Behane told The Zimbabwean. “We are
targeting these two scourges - dictatorship and corruption, at all levels of
institutions of our society.”
Besides Zimbabwe, the organisation,
which was founded by Kenyan George Luchiri Wajackoyah has chapters in Kenya,
Ghana and neighbouring South Africa.
“We formed the Zimbabwean
chapter after wide consultations with Wajackoya. We intend to engage with
government, all political parties, civil society and the people of Zimbabwe
to fight corruption, which has reached a very critical level in this country
and needs to be urgently addressed,” added Behane. “We are currently
gathering statistics from relevant sources, including Transparency
International, on research previously done on the same issue and TI founder
- Peter Eigen is giving us great support.”
The disclosure that MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai and his
Zanu-pf counterpart, Robert Mugabe have reached a deal on the diaspora vote
(The Zimbabwe Mail12/08/11) has to be treated with a pinch of
salt.
It is pre-mature to celebrate the agreement that will see the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) compiling a report with recommendations
on whether or not Zimbabweans abroad could vote in the next
polls.
The timing of the “deal” as SADC is due to meet Monday with the
Zimbabwe crisis on top of the agenda could be interpreted to mean a tactical
move by Zanu-pf to soften SADC’s stance in the aftermath of the raid on the
House of Assembly by suspected supporters of Robert Mugabe amid growing
pressure for security sector reforms and a probe on human rights abuses
including Gukurahundi genocide, diamonds massarcres and torture
camps.
Should it be finally adopted, the D-vote (Diaspora Vote) would
very pivotal in providing the final push to end the dictatorship in
Zimbabwe. Therefore, why would Mugabe agree so easily to the D-Vote which
could see him becoming a pensioner within 30 days of presidential elections
should he be still a candidate?
There are many possibilities. One is
that Mugabe and his allies may have finally embraced change as inevitable,
but it would be very naïve to assume that possibility when dealing with
Zanu-pf.
Alternatively, by agreeing to the D-Vote subject to ZEC
recommendations, Mugabe could be using Robert Greene’s strategy 33. In his
book, The Concise 33 Strategies of War, Profile Books, London, 2008, Robert
Greene says strategy 33 entails dominating while seeming to
submit.
“To follow the passive –aggressive strategy, you must seem to go
along with people, offering no resistance. But actually you dominate the
situation. You are noncommittal, even a little helpless, but that only means
that everything revolves around you. Some people may sense what you are up
to and get angry. Don’t worry - just make sure you have disguised your
aggression enough that you can deny it exists” Greene says (p
183).
Mugabe seems to be using this strategy in the Diaspora Vote deal
until we are proven wrong
We have been down this road before. For
instance, after inviting the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme Review
Mission to Zimbabwe from 9-14 August 2010 to assess the situation in the
diamond fields, the Government placed a lot of hurdles for the team such as
the non-availability of senior officials and politicians due to the
country’s public holidays from 9-10 August (Heroes Day and Defence Forces
Day respectively); attempts to prevent a planned and authorised flyover by
the review mission team of the Chiadzwa area and incidents of surveillance
and intimidation of interlocutors. These challenges “limited the ability of
the review mission team to fully implement its mandate” the KPCS said in its
report.
Similarly, Mugabe has in the past consented to an Anti-Corruption
Commission but it has not worked due to lack of resources including office
space and funds and the Human Rights Commission is in a similar
situation.
It remains to be seen if the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
will be able to discharge its mandate since Zanu-pf hardliners with help
from ZBC are campaigning for the removal of the ZEC Chairman Retired Chief
Justice Mtambanengwe, which leaves the Diaspora vote deal hanging in the
balance.
A few minutes after
starting this letter, I kept hearing the sound of something hard hitting my
roof. At first I thought it was one of the little tree squirrels that have
taken up residence on my roof this winter. When the days became shorter and
colder one squirrel arrived and settled in. Every morning, soon after the sun
touched the roof, the little Tsindi set off on its rounds. Leaping from the
roof onto low hanging branches of an Avocado Pear tree, scampering along
the wall and running nimbly along lichen covered Msasa branches. This
was the morning patrol: the squirrel inspecting its territory.
Throughout the day the squirrel was busy, running backwards and forwards,
chasing off a challenger and then courting a female. Clicking, chattering
and chirruping, they chased each other over the roof and it wasn’t
long before they were carrying leaves to a nest they built under
a protected overhang near a gutter. Inevitably the squirrels grew
bolder as the days passed: sunbathing on the roof, fiddling around on
the lawn, a bushy tail flicking seductively at my exasperated dogs
who stood quivering below. The dogs were taunted to distraction until
this week one little squirrel met its end. Another one remains,
and probably babies too, but the frenzy overhead is distinctly muted so
I knew that wasn’t the cause of the noise on my roof.
After one
distinct crack on my roof which was just too close for comfort, I went
outside to investigate and soon spotted the young teenage boy. Perhaps
thirteen or fourteen years old he had a catapult in his hand. His weapon was
home-made: a forked stick, a strip of bicycle inner tubing and a pocketful of
stones. I called out to him immediately to stop throwing stones. Instead
of getting the expected reaction of giggling and running away, the youngster
stared straight at me, a look of arrogance and defiance in his eyes. Perhaps
he’d been watching the English kids looting, I thought. Pointedly he put a
stone in the catapult, lifted his arm and aimed. ‘No!’ I shouted, pointing
a finger at him. The youngster stared at me for a few long seconds, before
dropping his gaze and walking away.
After watching the horrific
looting, burning and rampaging of youngsters in England, it has been very
hard not to compare their behaviour to that we have regularly seen in
Zimbabwe in recent years. Here they call it political and the perpetrators
get away it but behind that Emperors cloak it is plain and simple criminality
and everyone knows it. It doesn’t matter where it is happening, who
the victims are or why; the adjectives and emotions are the same:
selfish, senseless, barbaric.
For the first time in eleven years we
got a taste of how it must have felt for our family and friends outside the
country. To watch from afar and to feel so helpless. Our hearts go out to
people who have had their property destroyed and burnt, their assets looted
and their homes lost. We know how you feel, we empathise and hope that
justice and compensation will be swift.
For eleven years we’ve been
waiting for justice and compensation but they have not come and it continues
to be a festering wound in our nation. As a country we cannot heal while
people who looted, raped, tortured, murdered and burnt still walk free
amongst us. We know who they are, what they look like and even where they
live but the Police say ‘it is political’ and they do nothing. How different
Zimbabwe could be if the perpetrators of crimes were held accountable
and punished for their actions. And so, while the squirrels
scamper overhead and winter draws to an end, we watch, we wait and always
we hope. Until next time, thanks for reading, love cathy Copyright � Cathy
Buckle 13 August 2011. www.cathybuckle.com
