10 MDC MP's arrested at Ministry of Finance

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21444

August 19, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - A group of parliamentarians belonging to the mainstream Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
was yesterday arrested.

The MPs were arrested at the Ministry of Finance offices in Harare while
waiting for a meeting with the Ministry's secretary, Willard Manungo.

The MPs were detained at the Harare Central Police Station facing charges of
conduct likely to cause breach of the peace.

Harare lawyer, Tafadzwa Mugabe, who was representing the ten MPs, confirmed
the arrest.

"They are being charged with conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace
and are detained at Harare Central. It is still unclear what exactly
happened," said Mugabe.

The ten are Pishai Muchauraya, Prosper Mutseyami, Cephas Makuyana, Margret
Matienga, Felix Mafa, Simon Hove, Piniel Denga, Amos Chibaya, Shepherd
Madamombe and another one whose identity could not be established.

The Zimbabwe Times spoke to one of the arrested MPs, Pishai Muchauraya, who
gave an account of their arrest.

"We had gone to the Ministry of Finance offices to see the secretary for
Finance Manungo because we wanted to understand why a directive not to
release our cars was given to a garage which was supposed to supply us with
cars under the parliamentary scheme," said Muchauraya from his detention
cell at the Harare Central Police Station.

"We had been told by the garage that they can not give us the cars because
Manungo's office had issued the directive. We did not see the secretary for
finance, he was said to be in a meeting with donors and we were asked to
wait for him in the boardroom but after a few minutes seven heavily armed
police officers arrived and arrested us."

Several MDC parliamentarians have over the past few months been arrested on
the party describes as trumped up charges in a move seen by the party as an
attempt to whittle down its slender parliamentary majority. Three MDC MPs
have so far been convicted and sentenced to lengthy jail terms but have
since appealed. Several other MDC MPs are facing various charges. Most
recently the Deputy Minister of Indigenisation and Youth Development,
Thamsanga Mahlangu, was arrested on charges of stealing war veteran Joseph
Chinotimba's phone. He is out on bail and will stand trial later this month.

Chinotimba has meanwhile said he will sue Mahlangu for $19 million for
business lost while he was denied use of his phone.

Under Zimbabwean law, a Member of Parliament loses his or her seat if
sentenced to a jail term of more than six months.

Meanwhile three parliamentarians representing the MDC led by Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara were expelled from Parliament Wednesday at the
insigation of their party.

Independent candidates removed from media commission list

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
19 August 2009

The transparency of the appointment of commissioners to the Zimbabwe Media
Commission (ZMC) has been put under the spotlight again after two
candidates, who had passed the first round interviews, have allegedly been
removed from the final list to pave the way for ZANU PF loyalists.

After days of bitter complaints from ZANU PF about the process of choosing
nominees to sit on the ZMC it has now emerged that the shortlist of 12
candidates has been sent to Robert Mugabe for final selection. Although the
list sent to Mugabe has not yet been made public, it is reported that Chris
Mutsvangwa, a Zanu-PF activist and former ambassador to China, has been
included, despite not having been on the first list that was released to the
media two weeks ago.

Lawton Hikwa, a Dean at the National University of Science and Technology,
has also been included on the list submitted to Mugabe, although his name
was not on the original shortlist. However, publisher Roger Stringer and
broadcast journalist Douglas Dhliwayo, who had passed the first selection
process, have allegedly been removed from the list.

It is understood that none of the candidates chosen have received any
official communication and they have not even been told how they scored in
the interviews. When contacted for comment Stringer told SW Radio Africa on
Wednesday: "I am concerned about the transparency of this whole process and
concerned that all this information is apparently being reported, when no
official communication has been made to the candidates."

Meanwhile, the Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo has said the list
published by journalists two weeks ago soon after the interviews, were 'not
the official one.' He told Zimonline website: "What happened was that there
were two lists, one from the panel of human resources experts and another
from Members of Parliament. From both lists, there were nine candidates who
had made it and the three remaining candidates had to come up after
discussions and collations. That is when Chris Mutsvangwa's name ended up in
the list of the final 12."

Speculation is rife that political pressure played a huge part in including
Mutsvangwa, as ZANU PF had accused the selection committee of bias in favour
of the MDC. This was after several ZANU PF allies, like former chairman of
the Zimbabwe Media and Information Commission Dr Tafataona Mahoso, failed to
impress the parliamentary selection committee.

From the list of 12, Mugabe is expected to select nine people to sit on the
newly constituted Zimbabwe Media Commission.

On Tuesday the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights called on the Speaker of
Parliament to clarify to the public the process of selection of the four
national commissions. This was after the state media reported that the
selection process of the Zimbabwe Media Commission, the Electoral
Commission, the Human Rights Commission, and the Anti-Corruption Commission
had been put on hold and that a system of "proportional representation" of
the three political parties will be used to establish these commissions.

There has also been an outcry from media organisations when it was revealed
that candidates to sit on the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) would
be drawn up from the list of remaining candidates who failed to make it for
the media commission positions. It's reported that six nominees will be
chosen to sit on the BAZ which regulates the operations of the radio and
television industry.

Mutsvangwa now on ZMC shortlist

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21365

August 18, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Zanu-PF activist and Zimbabwe's former ambassador to China, Chris
Mutsvangwa, has found his way onto the list of nominees for the contentious
Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC).

Mutsvangwa's name is now among twelve candidates whose names have been
submitted to President Robert Mugabe by the Speaker of Parliament Lovemore
Moyo, who chairs the Standing Rules and Orders Committee (SROC).

Mugabe is expected to select only nine candidates from the shortlist for
appointment to the ZMC.

A list of the candidates submitted to Mugabe and seen by this reporter this
week shows that Mutsvangwa and Lawton Hikwa, the Dean of the National
University of Science and Technology (NUST) Faculty of Communication and
Information Science have now been included on the list submitted to Mugabe.

Media reports Initially indicated that Mutsvangwa and Hikwa had failed to
make it onto the hotly contested list of eighteen candidates shortlisted for
both the ZMC and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ).

Perusal of the new list reveals that Roger Stringer, a publisher who created
the academic publishing programme at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and
Douglas Dhliwayo, a broadcast journalist were sacrificed for Mutsvangwa and
Hikwa who had initially failed to make it onto the list drawn to shortlist
the candidates.

Other candidates on the ZMC list include Miriam Madziwa-Sibanda, Godfrey
Majonga, Chris Mhike, Millicent Mombeshora, Wabata Munodawafa, Henry
Muradzikwa, Nqobile Nyathi, Useni Sibanda, Matthew Takaona and Rino
Zhuwarara.

Also dropped from the initial BAZ nominees is journalist Vambe Jirira, who
has been replaced by Geoffrey Chada, the former executive director of the
Zimbabwe mass media trust who is now the deputy director of the Scientific,
Industrial Research and Development Centre (SIRDC).

Moyo and President of the Senate, Edna Madzongwe, who his deputy on the SROC
also submitted six nominees for the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe
(BAZ). They include Godfrey Chada, Vimbai Chivaura, Mabaso Clemence, Susan
Makore, Benson Ntini and former journalist and publisher Kindness Paradza.
President Mugabe is expected to trim down the nominees to three.

Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo yesterday denied that the list he
submitted to Mugabe was tempered with.

"Nothing was reversed and nothing was changed," said Moyo.

The State media has in recent weeks carried report alleging that a team of
human resources experts that drafted the questions and MDC interviewers
failed all candidates perceived to be sympathetic to Zanu-PF while passing
pro-MDC applicants. Last Sunday the state-run Sunday Mail suggested that the
three principals to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) namely President
Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai could recommend their nominees to the ZMC and the BAZ.

However, media reform bodies and rights groups have voiced concerns around
recent developments in relation to the establishment of various national
commissions as provided for in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe and the
Inter-party Political Agreement (IPA), and the manner in which the process
has been reported in the public media.

Harare to review citizenship law

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Simplicious Chirinda Wednesday 19 August 2009

HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's office has said Zimbabwe's unity
government will review a controversial law used to strip hundreds of people
of their citizenship and right to vote because they were once citizens of
other countries or because their parents were once foreigners.

A top Tsvangirai aide, Gorden Moyo, said the Premier's office was working on
a policy document on the citizenship law that will be submitted to Cabinet.
He said changes to the law were necessary to enable thousands of Zimbabweans
who lost their citizenship or who have acquired citizenship of other
countries to participate in national affairs.

"All we are saying is that let's discuss about these issues," said Moyo, a
minister of state in Tsvangirai's office. "There are a lot of children who
were born out of the country and acquired citizenship of their resident
countries but they are also Zimbabweans who have lost their citizenship
because of the dual citizenship law."

Zimbabwe bars dual citizenship, while a 2003 amendment to the Citizenship
Act tightened the law by requiring Zimbabweans who were once citizens of
other countries or whose parents were once foreigners to formally renounce
that "foreign citizenship" in order to qualify for Zimbabwean citizenship.

The law saw hundreds of Zimbabweans removed from the citizenship roll, in
what Tsvangirai's MDC party said was a ploy by President Robert Mugabe and
his ZANU PF party to whittle down its support.

Most of those affected by the law were white Zimbabweans of European origin
or black workers on white-owned farms whose parents migrated from
neighbouring countries and who largely supported the MDC.

Moyo said the proposed changes to the citizenship law were part of wider
efforts to restore the rights of an estimated three million Zimbabweans or a
quarter of the country's 12 million people living in exile and to encourage
them to participate in the recovery of the country.

"We are working on a policy document that is going to increase the
participation of Zimbabweans in the diaspora in the economy and other
spheres," he said. "We are still on the discussion stage but the policy is
going to deal with issues such as the remittances of investments,
repatriation of skills, refugees, restoration of voting rights and the
citizenship question."

Tsvangirai, whose MDC party formed a power-sharing government with President
Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party in February, has called on exiled Zimbabweans
to return home to help rebuild the country.  - ZimOnline

New cholera outbreak 'almost inevitable' in Zimbabwe

By Godfrey Marawanyika (AFP) - 5 hours ago

HARARE - Cholera will almost certainly hit Zimbabwe again, after 4,200
people died over the last year, the United Nations warned Wednesday, saying
less than half the humanitarian aid needed has been raised.

The United Nations in June asked donors for 718 million dollars to fight the
disease and stave off hunger, but officials told reporters that less than
half that amount has been given.

Zimbabwe's health ministry last month declared an end to the deadly cholera
epidemic that swept the country over the past year, killing more than 4,200
people and infecting nearly 100,000 people.

The UN Children's Fund said Wednesday that the nation's crumbling
infrastructure made another outbreak almost inevitable, especially when the
rainy season begins in November.

"Another cholera outbreak in the country is almost inevitable. We must work
together with the government to prevent another outbreak which we see
coming," said Peter Salama, the UNICEF chief in Zimbabwe.

"There is a deterioration of infrastructure in the country and Zimbabwe has
not made progress in improving this infrastructure. This will expose people
to another cholera outbreak again."

A cholera epidemic erupted last August as post-election violence swept
Zimbabwe, with worsening public infrastructure and hospital closures adding
to chronically overburdened sewer systems and water shortages.

The diarrhoeal disease thrives in places without proper sanitation. While
deadly, the disease is easily preventable with clean water and proper
sewage.

Zimbabwe's power-sharing government, formed in February, is trying to raise
more than eight billion dollars over three years to revive public services,
including repairs to sewage lines that leak through populous neighbourhoods.

More than two billion dollars (1.4 billion euros) has been promised so far,
but mostly in loans from China and Africa meant to revive local industry.

Western donors are still reluctant to offer direct support to the
government, offering humanitarian aid instead while demanding that President
Robert Mugabe undertake greater reforms to respect human rights and curb
political attacks.

But humanitarian aid is lagging behind the needs, according to the UN
humanitarian coordinator in Zimbabwe, Augustino Zacarias.

"Although Zimbabwe is not facing armed conflict, humanitarian threats such
as food shortages and the outbreak of diseases such as cholera pose a
significant challenge," he said.

"Sadly, only 44 percent of Zimbabwe's appeal of 718 million had been raised
by the end of July."

Six million people have little or no access to safe water and sanitation,
the main driver of the cholera outbreak, the United Nations says.

An estimated 2.8 million Zimbabweans need food aid, while 1.5 million
children require support to access education. The nation's problems are
worsened by the high incidence of HIV, which infects 15.6 percent of adults.

Zimbabwe has suffered chronic food shortages since Mugabe began chaotic land
reforms nine years ago, but the crisis worsened dramatically as cholera
swept the nation.

Zimbabwe inflation quickens, crisis persists

http://www.reuters.com

Wed Aug 19, 2009 11:45am EDT

* CSO attributes increase to food prices

* UN says humanitarian situation "remains serious"

* 2.8 million people still require food aid

By Nelson Banya

HARARE, Aug 19 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's inflation rose to 1 percent
month-on-month in July from 0.6 percent in June, figures released by the
Central Statistical Office showed on Wednesday, as a new unity government
battles for aid to fix the economy.

Zimbabwe saw hyperinflation reach 231 million percent last July until the
unity government formed by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai adopted the use of multiple currencies to replace a worthless
local currency.

But although supermarket shelves which were emptied when Mugabe ordered
price cuts in 2007 have largely restocked with imported goods, most people
cannot afford to buy goods due to low levels of income.

Government workers, who form the bulk of the employed, earn an average $150
and struggle to pay for food, transport and accommodation.

The government is facing rising pressure from state employees, with doctors
boycotting work and demanding wage increases, while teachers have threatened
to strike when the new school term starts in September.

The CSO attributed the July increase to a jump in transport costs and the
price of food and non-alcoholic beverages.

"The month on month food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation stood at 0.23
percent in July 2009, gaining 1.49 percentage points on the June rate
of -1.26 percent," the CSO said.

The government has made economic recovery its top priority but Western
donors, seen as key in funding reconstruction, are demanding broad political
and economic reforms before providing aid.

The southern African country experienced a severe humanitarian crisis last
year, highlighted by a cholera outbreak which killed almost 4,300 people
from nearly 100,000 cases.

On Wednesday, the UN resident humanitarian co-ordinator Agostinho Zacarias
warned that the crisis was far from over.

"Other areas of vulnerability also need to be urgently addressed as
Zimbabwe's overall humanitarian situation remains serious," Zacarias said at
a ceremony to mark the first World Humanitarian Day in Harare.

"Projected needs ... include an estimated 2.8 million in need of food aid at
the peak of the 2009/10 lean season." (Reporting by Nelson Banya)

Zuma to open Harare Agricultural Show

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21417

August 19, 2009

By Ntando Ncube

South Africa President Jacob Zuma will next week visit Harare where an
official says  he is scheduled to  open the annual Harare Agricultural Show
on Thursday, August 27  as well as to meet the three leaders of the
government of national unity.Zuma's visit will become his first to Zimbabwe
since his inauguration as President in May.

During the visit Zuma will meet with leaders of Zimbabwe's power sharing
government in an effort to resolve  the outstanding Global Political
Agreement (GPA) issues before he steps down as the Southern African
Development Community (SADC) chairman in September.

"Yes the President will be visiting Harare for the Agricultural Show there,"
the official said. "Of course, he will not allow Mugabe to parade him in
front of everyone and say this is my friend."

"I understand Zuma will take this opportunity to meet with will all the
principals to try to resolve all the out standing issues."

He referred further questions to Zuma's official spokesperson Vincent
Magwenya.

Efforts to obtain a comment from Magwenya failed as he did not answer his
phone.

The official said the visit was in response to an invitation from the
Zimbabwean government, but an official state visit was not yet on the cards.

In preparation of Zuma's pending visit President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara were
scheduled to meet Tuesday to tackle a series of issues which remain
unresolved since the power-sharing government was set up after bitter and
protracted negotiations. The meeting failed to take place due to Mutambara's
absence.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai met but they did not discuss the outstanding political
issues as had been expected.

"The President and the Prime Minister met, but they could not discuss the
outstanding issues because the full compliment of political principals was
not there. Instead, they discussed administrative issues and other matters
pertaining to the day-to-day running of government." Tsvangirai's spokesman
James Maridadi said

Another bus accident kills 11

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21353

August 18, 2009

HARARE - Eleven people died on the spot on Monday night in yet another road
traffic accident. The 11 perished at the 83 kilometre peg near Banket, along
the Harare-Chinhoyi highway.

This brings to a total of 79 the number of people who have lost their lives
from major road accidents inside one month.

The accident occurred Monday night when a ZUPCO bus collided head on with a
CAM twin-cab truck near Banket.

Assistant Inspector Mazivisa Chikosha of the Zimbabwe Republican Police
said, "The accident occurred when the driver of the CAM truck attempted to
overtake a T 35 truck which suddenly stopped behind a stationary lorry
forcing the driver on to the oncoming lane where he collided with the ZUPCO
bus which was traveling to Harare."

He said on impact the ZUPCO bus overturned and pushed the CAM truck into a
ravine. It was carrying seven passengers.

All those who were travelling in the CAM truck perished. The seven have so
far been identified as members of one family who were travelling from a
funeral.

Meanwhile the Mashonaland West Provincial Civil Protection taskforce is said
to have visited the site of the accident.

The team led by Governor Faber Chidarikire, announced that assistance will
be offered to the bereaved families to cover funeral costs.

Chidarikire said it was saddening to note that the accident had happened
while the nation was still mourning the loss of lives in recent road
accidents.

"We are really saddened by these bus accidents. A lot of lives are being
lost," he said

A total of 39 passengers perished when the Mhunga they were travelling on
was involved in an accident along the Harare-Masvingo highway on August 2,
while another 17 lives were lost in the Musanhi bus disaster in Mt Darwin on
August 9. Another 12 people died in a commuter bus accident near Rusape on
August 4.

Zimbabwe's ZANU-PF and MDC Trade Barbs Ahead of S. African Mediation Session

http://www.voanews.com

     
      By Blessing Zulu & Jonga Kandemiiri
      Washington
      18 August 2009

Zimbabwe's long-ruling ZANU-PF and the former opposition Movement for
Democratic Change are trading charges and countercharges in the run-up to
mediation later this month by South African President and Southern African
Development Community Chairman Jacob Zuma, who has been called upon to try
to resolve lingering troublesome issues.

Political sources said hardliners in both parties are driving the
discussion, complicating matters. ZANU-PF through the state-controlled
Herald newspaper on Thursday accused the MDC of trying to use the Global
Political Agreement - signed in September 2008 and the basis of the
power-sharing government - to oust President Robert Mugabe.

The MDC formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai seized on the
acquittal this week of its director general, Toendepi Shone, on charges of
perjury as proof that prosecutions of more than a dozen MDC lawmakers - some
already convicted - have been conjured up. The MDC says ZANU-PF is
manipulating the justice system to erode its House majority.

A crisis meeting of the three unity government principals was called off
Monday as Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, head of a rival MDC
formation was unable to attend. That meeting has been reset for Monday,
three days before Mr. Zuma's mediation.

Johannesburg-based international relations expert David Monyae told reporter
Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the burden is on the
leadership of Zimbabwe's unity government, not President Zuma, to make
power-sharing work.

Elsewhere, sources in the Mutambara MDC formation SAID house speaker
Lovemore Moyo has unseated three members of parliament expelled by the
party. They said Moyo wrote to President Mugabe yesterday advising him of
the vacated House seats.

The party expelled Abdenico Bhebhe, Njabuliso Mguni and Norman Mpofu for
misconduct, then demanded that the speaker remove them from their house
seats.

Reached for comment, Speaker Moyo said the issue was still under discussion.
He said if any action is taken he will inform the concerned parties first.

Political analyst Farai Maguwu of the Center for Research and Development in
Mutare, the Manicaland province capital, told reporter Jonga Kandemiiri of
VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the party will likely replace the expelled
members with hand-picked loyalists.

Some Zimbabwe Nurses Join Doctors in State Hospital System Strike

http://www.voanews.com

     

      By Sandra Nyaira
      Washington
      18 August 2009

Nurses at Harare Hospital today joined resident doctors in Zimbabwean state
hospitals on strike demanding increased salaries and allowances. Nurses at
Harare's Parirenyatwa Hospital and the two main hospitals in Bulawayo were
said to have initiated a slowdown action.

The walkout by Harare Hospital nurses obliged the institution to close down
its casualty and outpatient departments, and senior doctors attended only to
emergency cases.

Patients continued to be turned away from all state hospitals. Experts have
expressed fear that the widening strike could hinder the country's ability
to respond to the H1N1 influenza pandemic which has spread in South Africa,
or to a new cholera epidemic.

More than 4,200 people died of cholera in Zimbabwe between late 2008 and May
of this year. The epidemic coincided with a walkout by medical staff and a
state hospital shutdown.

Health Minister Henry Madzorera has appealed to the doctors to return to
work saying the gains made in recent months restoring the health care system
are at risk.

Health Services Board Executive Chairman Lovemore Mbengeranwa told the House
Committee on Health that most of the doctors' grievances were being
addressed and that they would soon be on the job again. But the Hospital
Doctors Association challenged his statement.

Association President Brighton Chizhande told VOA reporter Sandra Nyaira
that the Health Services Board and government are not committed to resolving
the dispute.

Chief Executive Itai Rusike of the Community Working Group on Health said
the government should negotiate the return of the doctors to alleviate the
plight of poor Zimbabweans who cannot afford to seek medical care in costly
private clinics.

Biti fined for failing to report 'accident'

http://www.zimnetradio.com

By LAMECK SIBANDA
Published on: 18th August, 2009

HARARE - Persecution of senior MDC officials continued yesterday with the
charging of Minister Of Finance Tendai Biti for not reporting an accident.

Biti was on Monday fined US$20 after he was involved in an accident and
failed to report to police within 24 hours.

Sources close to the investigations yesterday confirmed this and said
Minister Biti paid an admission of guilt fine at Avondale Police Station.

He was issued with a receipt number 7804214A, under a police Z69 form. The
accident occurred on July 13 at 11pm in Kambanji after the minister - who
was driving an official silver Mercedes Benz registered with the CMED on
number PL 2809 and civilian number ABG 2420 - hit a bridge barrier along
Outspan Road, between Geydan and Milanzi Roads.

The official vehicle was damaged but he did not report to the police. "The
minister did not stop after the accident and neither did he make a report to
the police as stipulated by the Road Traffic Act Chapter 13.11," police
sources said yesterday.

The accident was, however, reported 25 days later, on August 7 this year
after officials from the CMED demanded a police report when Minister Biti
wanted the vehicle repaired.

Police then charged him for failing to report the accident within the
stipulated time frame.

It is understood that police tried on several occasions after he made the
report to get him to sign a statement but these were unsuccessful up until
Monday this week.

He was then asked to pay an admission of guilt fine. Investigations carried
out so far have revealed that after being involved in the accident, the
minister drove the vehicle to his home before it was towed to CMED
workshops.

Shiri assassination attempt - two jailed

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21357

August 18, 2009

By a Correspondent

BINDURA - Two men whose false report to the police led to the arrest of
three MDC activists in connection with the alleged attempt on the life of
the commander of the Air Force of Zimbabwe, Air Marshal Perrence Shiri, have
been jailed for three months each for perjury.

Dzingai Moyo, 61, and Gibson Maingano falsely reported to the police that
Alexio Tembo, Nesbert Chauraya and Withus Masunda, who are MDC members in
Bindura, Mashonaland Central Province, were suspects in the attempted murder
of Shiri on December 13, 2008 near Pote Bridge in Mazowe.

The three, who were severely tortured upon their arrest, spent months in
remand prison until they were released and later acquitted due to lack of
evidence.

"These suspects (Tembo, Chauraya and Masunda) were arrested and placed in
custody over these allegations. The suspects were subsequently released, but
the damage had already been done," Bindura magistrate, Miriam Banda said.

"A clear message should be sent out to society that such blatant lies and
story-spinning will not be acceptable, especially when they affect innocent
people's lives.  A short term of imprisonment will meet the justice of this
case," she said.

Hundreds of MDC MPs, officials and supporters have in recent years been
arrested and imprisoned on trumped-up charges.

US$1 billion to dualise main highway

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21385

August 19, 2009

HARARE (PANA) - Zimbabwe's unity government on Monday said it had secured
US$1 billion to transform the country's main highway, running from the South
African border in the south to the Zambian border in the north into a dual
carriageway.Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said the 1 000-kilometre road,
the busiest in the country, would be developed by different private
investors on a build, operate and transfer basis in 200-kilometre segments.

"The dualisation of the Beitbridge-Chirundu highway is set to commence any
time soon as government has already identified a number of investors to
kick-start the project," he said.

Calls for the dualisation of the road have grown louder in recent months
after a series of deadly accidents, including one in March which claimed the
life of Tsvangirai's wife. The Prime Minister sustained slight injuries.

The road links most southern African countries to South Africa, the region's
economic hub, and mainly serves as a trade route.

"Investors will roll out the project so that at least we can be able to cope
with the increased traffic volumes and also reduce carnage on the highway,"
Tsvangirai said.

Years of under-investment have left most Zimbabwean roads in a bad state.

The Zimbabwe government said it would introduce toll fees for the use of its
major highways to raise funds to improve the country's dilapidated road
network.

Makeshift tollgates have been erected on all the country's highways and they
are levying motorists.

The government said the money would be ploughed back into the country's
highways, which years of under-investment have largely turned into death
traps.

Increasing road accidents, including a bus crash this month which killed 40
passengers, have been partly blamed on the poor state of the country's
roads.

Under the toll fee programme, funds raised will be used to upgrade the
highways, in some cases dualising them.

Transport Minister Nicholas Goche said investors had been lined up to
undertake the project on a build, operate and transfer basis.

All vehicles, including foreign registered ones, will be required to pay the
toll fees which vary from US$1 to US$5.

Only government vehicles and those belonging to social services such as
ambulances and fire brigades would be exempted from paying a toll.

Rebel MDC MPs kicked out of parliament

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

      19/08/2009 00:00:00
     by Lebo Nkatazo

THREE rebel MDC MPs were likened to a cancer on Tuesday as they were finally
thrown out of parliament.

Nkayi South MP Abednico Bhebhe, Bulima East legislator Norman Mpofu and
Njabuliso Mguni of Lupane East all ceased to be MPs after the Speaker of
Parliament Lovemore Moyo notified President Robert Mugabe that their seats
had become vacant following their expulsion by their party.

Moyo had been given an ultimatum by the MDC to eject the MPs from parliament
by Tuesday or face a police complaint of corruption.

The Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma said: "The Speaker has written to
notify the President and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission of the existence
of vacancies in the respective constituencies by virtue of their expulsion."

Khumalo Senator David Coltart, a senior member of the MDC led by Arthur
Mutambara, liked the three legislators to a cancer - saying they were
defying the party's elected officers at every turn.

He said: "We clearly have a cancer within our party and when you have
cancer, you have two choices: either you don't operate and let it spread
throughout the whole body, and it will kill you ultimately, or you try and
deal with the cancer and root out that cancer.

"It can still kill you after you have rooted it out, but at least you have a
chance of survival.

"We have leaders who were elected at a congress that they (the three MPs)
attended and voted at themselves, ironically which I didn't attend or vote
at, and it is not time yet for our new congress and that leadership should
be respected, that democratic process should be respected."

Coltart pointed to a long history of defiance by the MPs, including
attending meetings in Botswana with Moyo before he was voted Speaker of
Parliament. It is claimed they received financial inducements to back his
candidature for Speaker - defying their party position to vote for Paul
Themba Nyathi.

"We have not asked for our members to be attending political meetings with
members of other political parties damning our leadership," Coltart said of
the rallies the three MPs are said to have organised, at which they railed
against their leaders.

Some of their rallies were attended by officials from the MDC faction led by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a disciplinary committee heard last month.

Coltart added: "If they believe that our party has deviated so fundamentally
from our founding principles, well then they have a democratic right to
resign and join another political party and that is what they should do.

"But as long as they want to remain within the party, the right thing to do
is to fight for those issues within the party, not to go publicly, not to
side with people from other political parties in criticising our party but
to conduct a vigorous constructive critical debate within the party to
ensure that those issues are addressed."

The three MPs lost their High Court application to bar the Speaker from
kicking them out of parliament last Friday. They have now appealed to the
Supreme Court.

Biti: Next Monetary Move Likely to Be Rand Adoptio

http://www.voanews.com

      n

      By Blessing Zulu
      Washington
      19 August 2009

One day after Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono urged the
reintroduction of the sidelined Zimbabwe dollar, Finance Minister Tendai
Biti told Parliament that the country's next monetary move is more likely to
be the adoption of the South African rand.

The Zimbabwe dollar was abandoned in April but has remained in use to make
change for bus fares owing to a scarcity of small-denomination U.S. dollar,
rand and other bills.

Some informal traders also make change in Zimbabwe dollars. In such uses the
going rate of exchange is 3 trillion Zimbabwe dollars to 50 U.S. cents,
local sources said.

Biti told the House Committee on Budget Finance and Investment Promotion
Tuesday that the advice of monetary experts will be sought on the advantages
or drawbacks of joining the South African rand union which includes Namibia,
Lesotho and Swaziland.

Biti said the Zimbabwe dollar was unlikely to come back soon, adding that
even if it did it would probably have to be pegged to the rand.

Gono proposed reintroducing the local dollar by backing it with gold
reserves, saying adopting the rand would entail too many legal
complications.

Economist Luxon Zembe, a former president of the Zimbabwe Chamber of
Commerce, told reporter Blessing Zulu of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that
the country would be best served by adopting the rand as its monetary unit.

Economists and political analysts said the currency debate is likely to
cause more friction in Zimbabwe's fractious national unity government.
President Robert Mugabe has said he would like to see the Zimbabwean dollar
back in full circulation.

Reached by VOA, former finance ministers Herbert Murerwa and Samuel
Mumbengegwi declined to comment.

But Simba Makoni, a former finance minister, presidential candidate and
leader of the newly formed Mavambo or Dawn party, told VOA that so-called
randization is the best way forward as the use of multiple hard currencies
is complicating life for ordinary Zimbabweans.

Matombo wins international award

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Lizwe Sebatha Wednesday 19 August 2009

BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Union (ZCTU) president Lovemore
Matombo has won an international award recognising "his courage to defend
the rights of impoverished workers" despite the arrests, beatings and
torture he has faced at the hands of the police.

Matombo was last week named winner of the 2009 Courage Award by the
International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and the International Labour
Organisation (ILO) Worker Group.

The ZCTU leader has previously been arrested, beaten and tortured by the
country's police for leading protests over low pay and the worsening poverty
faced by the majority of the workers because of inadequate monthly wages.

In 2006 Matombo and several ZCTU leaders incurred serious injuries including
broken limbs while others are said have suffered some permanent disabilities
after their protest for better pay and access to anti-retroviral drugs was
brutally broken down by the police.

Western governments and local human rights groups condemned the torture of
the ZCTU activists but President Robert Mugabe publicly backed the police
for ill-treating the unionists who he accused of plotting to topple his
government.

A three-member team of ILO lawyers arrived in Zimbabwe last week to
investigate the assault and alleged torture of the labour union's
leadership.

"On behalf of ZCTU, I am encouraged and humbled by the award recognising the
efforts of the ZCTU in pushing for decent salaries and respect for the
workers rights," Matombo told ZimOnline on Monday. "The ZCTU will continue
lobbying to restore the dignity of Zimbabwe workers."

Civic society organisations, in congratulatory messages to Matombo, said the
Courage Award he won is "befitting honour for the bravery of the ZCTU leader
in the face of arrests and beatings" whilst defending workers rights.

"Matombo's bravery and commitment have not gone unnoticed. The citation of
the veteran trade unionist came as no surprise as his sacrifices over the
years have put him on the map as one of the most resilient advocates for
workers' rights the world over. We encourage him to keep the train of
freedom until the rights of all workers in Zimbabwe are upheld and
protected," Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition noted in its congratulatory
message. - ZimOnline

Zimbabwe's Crisis Coalition Soon to Publish Unity Government Scorecard

http://www.voanews.com

     

      By Jonga Kandemiiri
      Washington
      19 August 2009

The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, an association of Zimbabwean civic groups,
will soon publish an assessment of the country's national unity government's
first six months in power under the somewhat skeptical title, "Can apples be
reaped from a thorn tree?"

The subtitle refers to what is termed an "inclusive, exclusive and elusive
government."

Crisis Coalition sources said the report will examine critical areas where
the unity government in its analysis has come up short, such as human rights
and the rule of law.

Publication at the end of this month will be timed to coincide with a
September summit of the Southern African Development Community in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Programs Manager Pedzisai Ruhanya told reporter
Jonga Kandemiiri of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that the report considers
whether the government has lived up to the September 2008 Global Political
Agreement.

Ruhanya said the report also highlights government successes, such as in
reopening the country's schools, closed in 2008 amid political chaos and
economic meltdown.

Bulawayo Council set to battle army barracks

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
19 August 2009

The Bulawayo City Council is battling to recover over US$500 000 owed by
several government departments and has threatened to cut off water supplies,
including those at the Imbizo military barracks. Bulawayo Mayor Patrick
Thaba Moyo told Newsreel on Wednesday that their council had passed a
resolution to cut water supplies to any individual or organization that was
3 months behind their payments and that this was their last resort.

But several councilors in the city, who spoke to our correspondent Lionel
Saungweme, expressed reservations that the council would be able to carry
out its threat to cut supplies at the army barracks. Many times before
central government has intervened and put pressure on the council. The
country's inclusive government is struggling to raise money to finance its
recovery programme with analysts blaming unresolved political issues for
scaring potential investors and donors.

Mayor Moyo however refused to accept this excuse saying each government
department that owed them money had received a budget allocation from the
Ministry of Finance. The problem he feels is that council is viewed as a
soft spot and the departments don't prioritize settling their bills with
them.

Residents in several towns, including Harare, have complained that service
charges and rates pegged in foreign currency, and demanded by local
authorities, are beyond their reach. Harare's Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda
meanwhile was heavily criticized for agreeing to the purchase of an
expensive Mercedes Benz vehicle for his use while council is struggling to
provide adequate services. The residents association suggested the money
could have been better used purchasing refuse collection vehicles.

Free DStv ride over in Zimbabwe

http://www.thetimes.co.za

Moses Mudzwiti Published:Aug 19, 2009

ZIMBABWEAN television viewers are queuing to sign up for DStv now that their
pirated "free-to-air" channels have been blocked.

a.. Zimbabwe has only one television station, which is owned by the state.
Its single channel beams heavily censored programmes, and devotes a lot of
airtime to paying homage to President Robert Mugabe and other liberation
heroes.

Predictably, those who could not afford DStv used pirate receivers.

The system, known as WizTech, enabled them to watch nearly all DStv
programmes free.

Most of the equipment - a satellite dish and a decoder - was brought in from
Botswana by cross-border traders.

WizTech also enables users to watch some European channels, such as France
24, without paying.

But, in the past few weeks, television broadcasters, including e.tv, have
managed to block the free-to-air pirate decoders. The SABC is expected to do
the same.

As expected, Zimbabwe's state media have been gloating about the end of the
free ride.

News of the blocking of free-to-air channels was this week met with glee by
the ZBC, which is in dire need of viewers. It even reported the blocking of
free-to-air television broadcasts.

On Saturday, DStv in Avondale, Harare, had to close its doors after a crowd
gathered outside.

Between Friday and yesterday, more than 700 people have reactivated their
DStv accounts.

Burial societies a barometer of economic growth

Photo: IRIN

Burial societies making a comeback

BULAWAYO, 19 August 2009 (IRIN) - On the last Sunday of every month, Zwodwa Mpika, 52, puts on her blue dress and matching brimless cap, the uniform of the burial society she belongs to, and sets off for the meeting.
 
She has rarely missed a gathering since her husband died in 2006, and her regular attendance has earned her the position of secretary of the Zibuthe Burial Society, located in Sizinda, a suburb of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city.
 
"I don't want this association to collapse, which could easily happen if I do not attend and pay my dues, because without it my late husband's funeral would have been little more than that of pauper [burial]," she told IRIN.
 
Burial societies, to which most low-income families in urban centres belong as an alternative to buying conventional funeral insurance, are beginning to show signs of revival after tottering on the brink of collapse in the country's decade-long recession.

"A conventional funeral assurance policy does not bring mourners to your funeral to mitigate grief and provide a resounding send-off," Zibuthe Burial Society chairman Ntandazo Banda told IRIN.

Zimbabwe's economic malaise has witnessed hyperinflation, shortages of basics foodstuffs that saw nearly 7 million people requiring food assistance in the first quarter of 2009, and an unemployment rate of more than 90 percent.
 
Burial societies charge monthly subscriptions of as little as US$5 per family and pay the funeral costs of their members, whether they were born in the city or are rural migrants; some even pay if the member comes from a neighbouring country like Zambia or Malawi. Local Zimbabwean traditions dictate that whenever possible the dead should be buried in their ancestral burial grounds at their rural home. 
 
Most burial societies in Bulawayo draw their membership from working-class Zimbabweans, unlike Zibuthe, whose membership consists of a small community of pensioners and a sprinkling of young families of Malawian origin.

"We are trying hard to breathe life into our society but people have little or no disposable income," Banda said. "We aim to preserve our unique burial traditions as Malawians, hence the small membership, but that does not bar other nationalities from joining us."
 
HIV/AIDS and hyperinflation

Before Zimbabwe's steep economic decline set in, most members could easily afford the monthly subscription of Z$20, but the society's problems really began when the official annual inflation rate began spiralling towards 230 million percent. "We had to battle to keep the society afloat," Banda said.

Members are slowly coming forward to update their subscriptions, and that is a good sign

The Kusile Burial Society in the neighbouring Bulawayo suburb of Tshabalala also experienced dwindling contributions and the society of 250 members almost collapsed, but "Members are slowly coming forward to update their subscriptions, and that is a good sign," Admiral Ncube, treasurer of Kusile Burial Society, told IRIN. 
 
Members defaulted on their dues because of financial hardships. "We barely had 30 fully subscribed members on our register at the end of last year [2008], with the rest unable to pay. Now, less than five are in arrears," he said.
 
The attempts by the government to reign in rampant inflation also came at a cost. "Our other major setback [apart from HIV/AIDS] was the central bank's decision to set an arbitrary exchange rate that almost wiped out the society's savings," Ncube said. In January 2009 Zimbabwe's central bank set a rate of Z$3 trillion to US$1.

Hyperinflation was cured when the government ditched the local Zimbabwean dollar in favour of foreign currencies, which has seen the US dollar, South African rand and Botswana pula officially come into local use.

"We also lost a lot of our members, who died of HIV/AIDS-related diseases, but that does not put us off from fulfilling our obligation to a member, despite the pressure it exerts on our savings," Ncube said.

About 15 percent of sexually active Zimbabweans between the ages of 15 and 49 are HIV positive, but burial societies, in contrast to the more conventional forms of insurance, do not require prospective members to undergo a medical examination.

Back to the good times

At the end of each year, municipal beer-gardens and council parks around the city used to host lively parties, thrown by different burial societies for their members ... I foresee those times returning

Ncube attributed the revival of burial societies to the rapidly increasing burial fees charged by the city's cemeteries, and the high cost of transporting a body to rural areas.
 
Pumulani Meko, chairman of the Kusile Burial Society, put it down to the greater financial stability being enjoyed since the adoption of multiple currencies, and was generally more optimistic.

"At the end of each year, municipal beer-gardens and council parks around the city used to host lively parties, thrown by different burial societies for their members to coincide with the annual shutdown by many firms and factories," Meko told IRIN. "I foresee those times returning." 
 

ICC Intercontinental Cup, Zimbabwe XI v Afghanistan at Mutare, Aug 16-19, 2009