The Zimbabwe Situation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/

By Associated Press, Published: August 3

HARARE, Zimbabwe — At least 14 people were killed after a minibus crashed in
Zimbabwe, the second deadly accident involving an overcrowded bus in the
southern African country in recent days, state radio reported Wednesday.

Police spokesman Oliver Mandipaka said the minibus carried nine more
passengers than its licensed capacity. State radio said the bus burst a rear
tire on Tuesday and overturned twice about 120 miles (195 kilometers) east
of the capital, Harare.

Tuesday’s crash brings to 33 the number of passengers killed in bus wrecks
in the country in three days.

On Saturday, 19 people died when a rear wheel of their 16-seater bus broke
off. Police reported 29 people had crammed into that vehicle.

Most of the dead were members of a religious group from the same Harare
suburb of Hatcliffe. They were headed for a church meeting, survivors said.
Several of those killed had also lived on the same street and two
neighboring families mourned the loss of 10 relatives in the same crash
Saturday.

Bus accidents are common in Zimbabwe, blamed mostly on poor maintenance in
the troubled economy, worn tires, speeding and overcrowding. Some 200 people
died in bus crashes last year, according to the official road traffic safety
board.

Economic reforms under the nation’s shaky coalition led to eased import
taxes on the minibus, known locally as the kombi.

Chaotic private kombi services have clogged roadsides, streets and parking
lots across the country since the collapse of the country’s main 80-seater
public bus services. Drivers and abusive passenger marshals, or touts, wage
turf wars to garner business.

Drivers are often poorly qualified and bribes of $150 can obtain a driver’s
license.

Minibuses routinely pack two or three people beside the driver, six over
three seats and more crouched in the entrance, aisle and luggage area.

Transport Minister Nicholas Goche warned bus operators this week he won’t
hesitate to cancel their permits if safety rules are still flouted.

Zimbabwe heads toward a two-day national holiday next week when traffic
accidents peak. The Easter break earlier this year cost a record 78 lives on
roads and highways.

Zuma going nowhere

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Nkululeko Sibanda, Senior Writer
Wednesday, 03 August 2011 13:31

HARARE - South African President Jacob Zuma will remain facilitator to the
Zimbabwe crisis despite strenuous moves by Zanu PF to have him removed as
mediator, Sadc has said.

Zanu PF is said to be campaigning for Zuma’s ouster saying after assuming
chairmanship of the Sadc Troika organ on politics, defence and security, he
cannot continue as mediator.

President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF feels that Zuma and his facilitation team
are being too hard on the 87-year-old leader and his party and are now busy
campaigning for his removal as facilitator at the forthcoming Sadc summit
set for Angola this month.

But Sadc executive secretary, Tomaz Augusto Salamao told the Daily News
yesterday that Zuma would continue with his role.

“The new circumstance in which President (Jacob) Zuma will take over the
chairpersonship of the Organ on Politics,

Defence and Security Co-operation at the forthcoming Sadc summit in Angola
does not, in any way, affect his role as the facilitator in the Zimbabwean
issue at all,” said Salamao.

“The fact that he takes up a new role as the chairperson is not an issue at
all. Sadc gave him a mandate which he is still seized with and he will have
to continue carrying out that mandate.”

The Sadc official, who prepares the agenda for Sadc summits, equated Zuma’s
situation to the one in 2008 when former South African president, Thabo
Mbeki chaired the regional bloc while also mediating in the Zimbabwean
crisis.

“Why do people raise issues when there is no need to? There is nothing new
in this whole issue. In 2008, former South African president, Thabo Mbeki
chaired Sadc while he was still the mediator in the Zimbabwean problem."

“Why does it have to change now? The fact that President Zuma will chair the
organ is a mere coincidence like it has been with other coincidences such
as the one I have alluded to (that of Mbeki). It does not change anything at
all,” Salamao said.

Moves have been underway to push for Zuma’s replacement with Zanu PF arguing
that a situation where Zuma would double as the facilitator and also the
chair of the Sadc Troika would compromise his work.

This is seen as a ploy to push Sadc into appointing a facilitator who is
likely to have a soft spot for Zanu PF.

The state media was yesterday awash with the plot to oust Zuma with an
unnamed “government” source believed to be a Zanu PF strategist being quoted
as saying: “The facilitation team cannot suddenly assume status after the
elevation of the facilitator to the Troika chairmanship.

“The Sadc Summit is the one that has the mandate of appointing the
facilitator who in turn will appoint his own facilitation team. There are a
number of scenarios here, which Sadc may consider to deal with this matter.

“The first scenario is for Sadc to decide on whether he (President Zuma) can
serve as facilitator at the same time being the Troika chairman.

“The second option is for Sadc to allow President Zuma to undertake the two
roles, but recusing himself when Zimbabwe is being discussed by the Troika.
Another scenario that Sadc may consider is for President Zuma to postpone
(assuming) his (Troika) chairmanship and continue as the facilitator to
Zimbabwe’s inter-party dialogue."

“If all these options fail, it means Sadc will have to go back to its
tradition where facilitators are appointed from retired Presidents.”

Zanu PF was comfortable under Mbeki’s mediation, as he seemed to lean
towards them against the MDC.

The former South African president, often criticised by the MDC and civic
society critics for his quiet diplomacy, was largely believed to be close to
Mugabe.

However, his successor in both ANC and the mediation process, Zuma has in
recent times taken a brazen approach and no nonsense attitude bordering on
confrontation when dealing with Mugabe and his party officials.

Zuma and his mediation team have repeatedly put it to Mugabe and his Zanu
PF party that it will not be possible to have elections this year without
the necessary reforms.

The South African president has argued that the environment is not conducive
to take the country to the polls but Zanu PF has kept on pushing. However
Zuma, backed by Sadc wants to see the completion of the constitution-making
process, drawing up of a roadmap to elections and implementation of the GPA
in full before any talk of an election can be entertained.

After its Summit in Livingstone, Zambia, the Sadc Troika issued a damning
statement attacking Mugabe for his failure to fully implement the tenets of
the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

The Troika communiqué was met with a fierce response from Zanu PF with the
likes of political turncoat Jonathan Moyo accusing Zuma and Sadc of plotting
to effect regime change in Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe is expected to top the agenda at the Sadc summit.

At the last summit held in Johannesburg, South Africa, the regional grouping
ordered the country’s political parties to agree to an electoral roadmap
towards free and fair elections and implement the GPA in full.

Salamao said his office is in the process of finalising the agenda of the
summit.

The MDC has however disclosed that it is would be pushing Sadc to discuss
the threat by the military to a free and fair election in Zimbabwe.

The party’s national council is said to have given its leader, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, to push for a resolution on the issue at the
Luanda summit.

The summit is once again expected to deliberate on the failure by the
political parties to implement the agreed election road map.

Zim adjusts aid appeal by US$73mln

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Edward Jones Wednesday 03 August 2011

HARARE – Zimbabwe requires an additional $73 million in humanitarian aid
this year due to increased food needs for the most vulnerable groups in the
country even after the government said it expects a better harvest,
according to United Nations agencies.

The U.N. humanitarian country coordinator Alain Noudehou said yesterday aid
agencies had reviewed the country’s humanitarian needs and were now
appealing for $488 millionin 2011, up from the initial $415 million.

Zimbabwe is a former major regional agricultural producer but the troubled
southern African state has struggled to feed itself since President Robert
Mugabe embarked on his controversial drive to seize white-owned commercial
farms in 2000, which knocked farming production.

We are well aware that globally, we are competing for resources with dire
humanitarian situations like the drought in the horn of Africa and the
crisis in the Middle East (and) North Africa,” Noudehou said yesterday.

“We therefore appeal for the continuous support of the donor community to
address these needs that are clearly articulated in the Zimbabwe CAP
(Consolidated Appeal Process) 2011.”

Noudehou said the country had not achieved its desired food security levels
after a mid-season drought destroyed crops in southern and south-western
Zimbabwe.

Nearly 1.7 million Zimbabweans need food assistance this year, according to
the U.N.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti said last week in a mid-term budget review that
Zimbabwe's production of maize grain would rise this year to 1.45 million
tonnes from 1.32 million tonnes last year. The country requires about two
million tonnes of maize per year.

Zimbabwe’s economy is recovering after a decade of collapse mainly blamed on
Mugabe’s policies. The octogenarian leader blames the collapse of Zimbabwe’s
once brilliant economy on sanctions by the West he says were meant to punish
him for seizing white farms.

The agriculture sector has also rebounded with small-scale farmers having
increased production thanks to more donor support in procuring seed and
fertilizers and the abolishment of Grain Marketing Board’s monopoly on grain
trading, which has improved prices.

Noudehou said the 2011 CAP had so far received $142 million, about 32
percent of the total needs. -- ZimOnline

Video footage exposes ZANU PF manipulation of food

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news030811/video030811.htm

By Lance Guma
03 August 2011

Drought and a chaotic and often violent land reform exercise have all contributed to food shortages in Zimbabwe since 2000. In recent years, the shortages have been severe and given ZANU PF the opportunity to "punish" those members of the public, especially in rural areas, who have not supported Robert Mugabe’s party.

SW Radio Africa has obtained video footage containing the testimonies of people who have suffered from the manipulation of food distribution in the country and its effects on rural populations. Even with a coalition government in place, a village head is seen in the footage, organising those gathered according to their village name. It is in these lines that beneficiaries are sorted using pre-supplied lists.

A villager who was denied food was asked to explain why he was not getting any: “As MDC (supporters) we are told to first buy US$5 (ZANU PF) cards in order to get food,” he explains. Asked if he had bought the card he told the interviewer he had not been able to do so. Another villager is asked about the harvests in the area and if they were good enough to see them survive.

“You can get a good harvest if you get fertiliser and other farm inputs. As MDC (supporters) we are not given maize seeds. We can’t even buy on credit. When maize seed comes it is shared among ZANU PF people only,” he explains. Another person interviewed explains what happens in his village.

“When donor food comes and it is shared, they, ZANU PF, invite each other without our knowledge. It can be maize, groundnuts or bean seeds. They give it to each other there. They write down each other’s names as ZANU PF supporters only.” Asked if the donors know this, the villager says “yes they already know.”

ZANU PF Member of Parliament for Muzarabani Edward Raradza, for example, is taking advantage of this situation. In a video clip SW Radio Africa released in June he tells a meeting in his constituency that any opposition members will not get food.

“If we hear that he (headman) allowed MDC to hold a meeting in this place. Tell some of them (MDC) that we will bring projects and food and for them to benefit they should come back home (to ZANU PF). They know that even in Parliament we tell them. I am saying this here and if the MDC people are not here go and tell them that MP Raradza Edward has said so.”

This week United Nations (UN) aid agencies said Zimbabwe requires an additional US$73 million in humanitarian aid this year due to increased food needs for the most vulnerable groups. Alain Noudehou the UN humanitarian country coordinator is quoted by the Zimonline news website saying they were appealing for US$488 million in 2011, up from the initial US$415 million.

Several other reports have shown that ZANU PF continues to manipulate the supply and distribution of government-subsidised grain and the registration of recipients for international food aid. Groups like Human Rights Watch have in the past made the point that “International aid agencies must devote greater resources and attention to preventing the manipulation of recipient lists.”

From bread-basket to basket case: Land seizures from white farmers have cost Mugabe's Zimbabwe £7billion

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Robert Mugabe's family now control 39 seized farms
Food production dropped 70% in former British colony
UN says Zimbabwe needs 1/2billion in aid this year

By Gerard Hunt

Last updated at 5:54 PM on 3rd August 2011

Redistribution? The family of President Robert Mugabe now control 39 farms seized from white farmers

Zimbabwe's policy of seizing white-owned farms and handing them over to black workers has cost the country £7billion in lost production over the past decade, it has been claimed.

The extent of the agricultural collapse in the former British colony - once famed as the 'bread-basket of Africa' - emerged hours after the UN said it needs half a billion dollars in humanitarian aid this year.

Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, and his family now own 39 farms which had been seized from their white former owners, said the Commercial Farmers' Union in Harare, the country's capital.

Hundreds more have been 'stolen' from experienced white farmers and given to black workers and veterans of the war of independence - many of whom have little knowledge of farming.

Union chief Deon Theron said food production had slumped by 70 per cent in Zimbabwe since President Mugabe began his policy of seizing white-owned farms in 2000.

Mr Mugabe has always said that the land seizures were needed to correct colonial imbalances and that beneficiaries would get only one farm.

Prior to the introduction of the policy, whites controlled about 70 per cent of Zimbabwe's arable land despite make up less than 1 per cent of the country's population.

His officials have not yet commented on the union report, or the claims of farms in Mugabe family ownership.

Anger: President of The Commercial Farmers Union of Zimbabwe Deon Theron says that Mugabe's policies are destroying the country's agricultural industry

'If the aim of the land reform was to evict whites and replace them with blacks, then it can be deemed a success'

Deon Theron, head of Zimbabwe's Commercial Farmers' Union

Mr Theron blamed the land seizures for food shortages and the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy over the past decade, saying it had destroyed the country's tax base.

'If the aim of the land reform was to evict whites and replace them with blacks, then it can be deemed a success,' Mr Theron said.

'However, if the aim was that it should benefit the majority and not only a chosen few, then it has been a failure.'

His report was issued just hours after the UN appealed for more cash for Zimbabwe, saying the country needed almost half a billion dollars in humanitarian aid this year.

Aid coordinator Allain Noudehou said 1.7 million Zimbabweans needed food hand-outs.

Displaced: This 2002 photo shows a group of Zimbabwe white commercial farmers having their group photograph taken at the Mutorashanga Country Club, before meeting a government deadline to vacate their farms

Zimbabwe used to produce enough to feed itself and even to export but this was no longer the case, according to Mr Theron

He estimated that production of maize, a staple food largely grown by small-scale black farmers - the people supposed to gain most from land reform - is this year estimated to be just 50 per cent of 2000 levels.

Cotton, seen as a cash crop for small-scale farmers, has fallen by 45 per cent, said Mr Theron, while tobacco, one of the country's main export earners and previously dominated by large-scale white farmers, has declined by 50 percent.

Wheat, beef and dairy production had effectively collapsed, he added.

Mr Theron said land had become a tool for dispensing political patronage and named five other close allies of Mr Mugabe whose families have taken control of at least five farms each.

After years of economic meltdown, Zimbabwe abandoned its currency in 2009 and now uses the US and South African money.

During the colonial era, much of the best land in the then Rhodesia was reserved for white people - a situation that President Mugabe vowed to reverse during his guerrilla war against white minority rule during the Seventies.

Zimbabwe needs $100 million for the referendum but cannot raise $32 million for food

http://www.insiderzim.com/

Wednesday, 03 August 2011 07:01

Zimbabwe, which has been battling to fund the Constitutional Select
Committee tasked with drafting the country’s new constitution, will need
$100 million for a referendum to get the people’s opinion on the
constitution before it can hold fresh elections.

At the same time the country cannot afford to feed 164 000 households who
require food assistance. It requires $32.4 million but will only contribute
$18.7 million with the balance coming from donors.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the government would need an additional
$180.1 million this year, including the $100 million for the referendum. The
balance of the money would be broken down as follows: $35.2 million for
student support; $30.9 million for international and regional community
obligations and foreign travel; $7.2 million for support to security areas
and $6.8 million for war veterans welfare.

The Constitutional Select Committee (COPAC) was supposed to complete its job
more than a year ago but was bogged down by lack of cash. It is now expected
to complete its job in October.

A referendum has to be held three months after COPAC completes its report
but this is entirely up to the executive. Legal experts within COPAC say,
however, the referendum is a mere formality, and therefore an unnecessary
expense, because the new constitution is being drafted by the key political
parties so everyone will be campaigning for a Yes vote.

People rejected the last draft constitution in 2000 but though it had been
drafted by a constitutional commission it was opposed by the Movement for
Democratic Change and the National Constitutional Assembly.

The NCA is likely to oppose the new constitution but it will have a tough
fight on its plate as its main ally the MDC is now part of the constitution
drafting team and its leader is the country’s Prime Minister.

India's Essar to invest up to $4 bln in Zimbabwe: minister

(AFP) – 4 hours ago

KWEKWE, Zimbabwe — India's Essar Group plans to invest billions in an iron
ore processing plant, Zimbabwe's Industry Minister Welshman Ncube said on
Wednesday at ceremony marking the re-opening of a steel company.

Set to cost $2-4 billion (1.4 - 2.8 billion euros), the plant will be
located in Mwenezi in southern Zimbabwe, and seems to indicate a softenning
attitude to foreign investments.

"This investment qualifies as an investment of the decade for Zimbabwe," the
minister said during a ceremony marking the handover of assets in now
defunct Zisco steel to India's Essar in the mining town of Kwekwe in central
Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe also attended the ceremony and encouraged
"the kind world" to invest in Zimbabwe after years of threatening to banish
foreign companies from operating in the crisis-plagued country.

"We say, ?come, don't be afraid'," Mugabe said at the ceremony, inviting
foreign investors to come to Zimbabwe "as friends not as exploiters".

Parastatal Zisco steel was one of Africa's largest iron ore producers before
collapsing three years ago at the height of the country's economic crisis.

Essar agreed in March to buy the government's 54 percent stake in Zisco for
$750 million.

The firm re-opened Wednesday under the name New Zimbabwe Steel, which is
expected to produce 2.5 million tonnes of steel a year in Kwekwe.

The new investment in Mwenezi is India's latest push into African
investments, the minister said.

India and China are locked in a new scramble for African resources and are
at an advantage in countries like Zimbabwe where western investors are
reluctant to tread.

President Mugabe has threatened to take over foreign mining companies, under
new equity laws that compel foreign investors to sell majority stakes to
black Zimbabweans.

Zimbabwe's economy has shown signs of recovery since Mugabe and long-time
rival Morgan Tsvangirai formed a unity government to end bloodshed in the
wake of failed presidential elections in 2008.

Once decimated by hyperinflation, the economy has stabilised since 2009,
when the government abandoned its worthless local currency and allowed trade
in US dollars.

Zimbabwe Revenue Authority Demands More Taxes From Poorly Paid Teachers

http://www.voanews.com

02 August 2011

Union sources said Revenue Authority officials are visiting schools and
demanding that teachers account for all of the so-called incentive payments
they have received from school associations since 2009

Gibbs Dube | Washington

The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority is demanding that teachers who received
supplemental pay from school development associations report such income and
pay taxes on it, infuriating teachers unions and Education Minister David
Coltart.

Union sources said Revenue Authority officials are visiting schools and
demanding that teachers account for all of the so-called incentive payments
they have received from school associations since 2009.

They said Revenue Authority officials have indicated they are reviewing
teachers monthly earnings for the past two years and will send them bills
for additional taxes.

Union representatives said they have asked the Ministry of Education to
intervene and are also engaging the Revenue Authority in a bid to halt the
exercise.

It was not clear how the authority proposes to tax teachers who were paid in
kind – for instance buckets of maize, goats and other kinds of food and
livestock.

Education Minister Coltart said the Revenue Authority was ill-advised in its
initiative as incentives are considered nontaxable gifts derived from school
associations. “If it thinks that this is a long-term source of income, they
are mistaken,” Coltart said.

Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe General Secretary Raymond Majongwe
said the attempt to tax teacher incentives is nonsensical.

Scorning the Revenue Authority initiative, Majongwe said tax collectors
"must go to teachers who were given a bucket of potatoes and say give us
five sweet potatoes and those who received chicken and also demand a few
chicks because they must be seen to be dealing with this thing in a uniform
manner.”

The government recently boosted civil service salaries with the lowest paid
workers now earning US$253 a month, well below the poverty level of US$502
for a family of five.

Grace abused funds say Chinese monks

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/

The Chinese volunteers who helped Grace Mugabe set up her so-called
'children's home' here have pulled out, citing disagreements with President
Robert Mugabe's wife, The Zimbabwean can reveal.
03.08.1110:34am
by John Chimunhu

The Chinese Bhuddist monks vehemently objected to Grace's alleged abuse of
aid funds to transform the project into a luxury lodge and for-profit
commercial farm instead of a modest orphanage.

The alleged abuse of funds and changes to the original construction plan are
said to have thrown the project several years behind schedule.

“I can confirm that we are no longer working with Mrs Mugabe at Iron Mask
Farm,” Li Wang, one of the volunteers still in Zimbabwe told The Zimbabwean
this week.

“Our agreement with her was that we would build simple houses to take care
of children living on the streets. That was all changed and they have now
built luxury lodges for VIPs to enjoy themselves at weekends. Mrs Mugabe
also seems to be more interested in farming.”

In one of the publicity documents for the orphanage seen by this newspaper,
Grace confirmed breaking ranks with the Bhuddist monks but claimed that this
was because the monks wanted “something very modest” and were “impatient
with the slow and meticulous progress” being made.

Hasty adoption

Under pressure from the Chinese government, which has been bankrolling the
project for nearly 10 years, Grace hastily 'adopted' 15 infants from Harare
Hospital in suspicious circumstances and launched the orphanage at a lavish
ceremony officiated by her mother on July 13.

The so-called adoption has raised eyebrows as no formal procedures were
followed. Grace herself claimed at the launch that the children had all
mysteriously been abandoned by their mothers at birth. Enquiries by this
newspaper at the Department of Social Welfare, which processes applications
for adoption of children, showed that Grace had not lodged any application
and had not been interviewed by a social welfare officer as required by the
law.

The country's adoption laws state that for anyone to adopt strangers, they
must be vetted by welfare officers, who may require financial records of
applicants and are supposed to inspect the home where the children will be
accommodated.

Mothers disappeared Officials at Harare Hospital refused to discuss how they
handed over the 15 infants to Grace without government authorisation. They
also failed to explain how the mothers of the children had suddenly
disappeared after giving birth.

Apparently, none of the cases of abandonment was reported to the police and
there is no record of efforts being made to track down the mothers using the
addresses they gave when they were admitted into the hospital to give birth.

A nurse suggested that the children might have been left by women who failed
to pay hospital fees and could not walk away with the children. Adoption of
young undocumented children is sensitive as there are thriving rackets
involving the sale of stolen children, especially by Chinese who sell the
children to Europe for about 4 500 euros each.

An incognito visit to the farm by this reporter last week showed luxury
houses at various stages of construction. In all, there were 30 houses,
eleven of which had been completed. The completed houses have five bedrooms
each, with en suite bathrooms and expensive furniture and facilities only
rivalled by those found in five star hotels.

Nestling in the shadow of the Mbuya Nehanda mountain, which locals claim is
sacred as it is always raining in the area, Iron Mask farm was seized
violently and without compensation by Grace in 2003. It is on the other side
of the mountain from Foyle farm, also seized violently by the Mugabes and
renamed Gushungo Dairy Estate.

Security in the area is very tight. Workers and locals claimed that people
who criticize Grace's plans are known to 'disappear' in the Mbuya Nehanda
mountain.

Maize production

Publicity documents at the farm show that Grace intends to use only 50
hectares for taking care of children and 1 200 hectares for commercial
farming. Officials at the Grain Marketing Board confirmed that Iron Mask
farm provides the largest deliveries of maize in the whole of Mashonaland
Central province.

Official plan documents show that Grace intends to build schools, a hospital
and university at the farm. Mugabe and his wife are blamed for the national
crisis that spawned orphans and street children, problems which they now
purport to want to solve.

Mugabe drew an angry reaction from children's rights groups recently when he
claimed to be unaware of the violence, sexual abuse, hunger and general
suffering of children on the streets.

Facebook post lands man in court

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Court Writer
Wednesday, 03 August 2011 14:00

BULAWAYO - Vikas Mavhudzi, the first man in Zimbabwe ever to be prosecuted
in connection with a Facebook posting, is set to stand trial today in
Bulawayo.

Mavhudzi made history when police arrested him in February for posting a
message on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Facebook page, allegedly
encouraging him to emulate popular revolts in Egypt and Tunisia.

He is facing subversion charges after allegedly suggesting that Tsvangirai
should imitate history-changing events in North Africa where long-time
dictators in Egypt and Tunisia fell to street protests.

“I’m overwhelmed, don’t know what to say PM. What happened in Egypt is
sending shockwaves to all dictators around the world. No weapon but unity of
purpose. Worth emulating, hey,” Mavhudzi is alleged to have posted on
Tsvangirai’s Facebook page.

Prosecutors say the 39-year-old Mavhudzi suggested to Tsvangirai “the taking
over or attempt to take over the government by unconstitutional means or
usurping the functions of the government”.

Mavhudzi languished in remand prison after his arrest as prosecutors argued
that the threat of an Egyptian- style revolution was real.

He was later granted bail by the High Court.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter became effective tools
to mobilise against dictators who kept a strangle-hold on conventional media
in their countries.

In Egypt and Tunisia, where dictators muzzled the media, young activists
rose triumphantly against their regimes using these powerful new media
tools. Locally, the new media tools have become a hazard for people like
Mavhudzi, as the state widens its crackdown to social networking sites.

While social networking sites have become popular in urban areas, the
majority of Zimbabweans who stay in rural and farming communities have no
access to such new media.

But that has not stopped the Zimbabwean government from being on the edge
since the revolts in North Africa.

Inside Chipangano: hungry thug reveals Mugabe’s violent secrets

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Youthful Chipangano militia member, Nyasha, eagerly awaits his next
assignment in terror. His commanders are delighted with the role he played
in a successful and very bloody attack on MDC supporters at the Tendai
Savanhu base in Mbare and expect him to do the same again soon.
02.08.1104:37pm
by Chief Reporter

The quietly spoken young man is not what you expect from a foot soldier in
President Robert Mugabe's reactivated Chipangano militia, an army of trained
thugs.

It has unleashed a brutal effort to secure the Zimbabwean leader's
re-election in the next poll.

In a frank interview, Nyasha (not his real name) reveals how recruits were
drilled in military tactics and political indoctrination at the notorious
nearby Zanu (PF) base - contradicting the party's assertion there is no
military instruction at the site.

Nyasha described how, fuelled on "rations" of marijuana and beer, youth
brigades were sent on "community service" - a euphemism for vicious attacks
on MDC supporters and their presidential candidate, Morgan Tsvangirai.

The gangs are led by Tendai Savanhu and Amos Midzi, the Harare Zanu (PF)
chairman, in a carefully co-ordinated campaign of political violence.

Throughout our meeting at a secret location in Ardbennie, Nyasha’s eyes
darted nervously and his voice often dropped to a whisper.

He had no doubt his comrades would kill him if they knew that he had
disclosed their secrets, but nonetheless admitted to beating his victims
senseless with clubs. He has also petrol bombed an MDC activist's home in
Mbare and said others had killed MDC activists with axes and knives and, on
one occasion, by burning down a house with its occupants inside.

Nyasha is no mindless thug, and does not even support Mugabe or his Zanu
(PF) party, he is articulate and intelligent, but has been unemployed for
eight years since leaving school.

He makes no apologies and said his motivation was purely financial.

For what Nyasha calls "a job well done" - usually a weekend rampage,
stopping people and ordering them to show Zanu membership cards, and
attacking suspected MDC followers - each receives the equivalent of $15.

"I have to survive,” he said, “it’s hunger pushing us into all this. What
can we do?"

His biggest payday - just $30 - came recently when he helped mobilise
thousands to the signing to the anti-sanctions petition and prevented
Tsvangirai from addressing an MDC rally at a Glamis Arena.

Nyasha said he was given fitness training, drilled in gun-handling and
military strategy and taught to follow orders unquestioningly by the
commanders and lectured in pro-Zanu thinking and anti-MDC and anti-white
propaganda.

The camp is the brainchild of Savanhu. "We see him when he visits to check
on our progress," said Nyasha. "He tells us that it is our patriotic duty to
remove anyone who hindered the progress of Zanu (PF). It was coded language,
but we knew he meant the MDC.”

He believes there are eight camps in Mbare used by thousands of recruits,
who likely have been told, as Nyasha has, they finish "community service"
after the polls.

"I used to dream of being a doctor," he said. "But in this country you no
longer select a career - you take anything you can. I was desperate and I
took this.

"We are allowing ourselves to be used for money, and we know that Zanu (PF)
will drop us if Mugabe wins."

Asked how he would vote in the presidential poll, he sat back and smiled for
the only time in the interview.

"It's obvious, isn't it? I'm an MDC supporter. I'll be voting for Morgan
Tsvangirai. This country has been ruined by Mugabe."

Return of import duty ill-timed

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Diana Chisvo, Business Writer
Wednesday, 03 August 2011 09:28

HARARE - The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe (CCZ) says government’s decision
to restore import duty on basic commodities is ill timed as local industry
is operating way below capacity.
The consumer watchdog said there was still heavy reliance on imports as
local industry could not meet demand, adding that CCZ was also not consulted
in the decision making.

“Industry needs to increase its capacity utilisation and this also means
that agriculture needs to be fully viable because it feeds industry,” CCZ
executive director Rosemary Siyachitema said.

Siyachitema said the Finance ministry should have first evaluated local
industry capacity before implementing duty.

“The ministry should have waited till end of year to monitor industry the
announcement by Minister was premature,” the CCZ boss said, adding that
industry will struggle to offer competitive pricing for their goods
resulting in price increases.

In his mid-term fiscal policy review last week, Finance Minister Tendai Biti
said the import duty, scrapped in 2008 to ease food shortages, would be set
between 10 and 25 percent.

Biti said this restoration was necessary to protect local industries and
also improve local supply of goods.

“If local industries are protected they can help alleviate unemployment
rates in the country,” he said.

Biti said the move would also help the country achieve the projected 9, 3
percent economic growth rate this year.

However, Siyachitema said the local industry still faced many challenges
among them financing and shortages of raw materials, which affected
production levels.

“The money in banks is not enough for recapitalisation and the industry
sector in Zimbabwe is not yet strong enough to sufficiently undertake the
production of commodities,” she said.

“Zimbabwe does not yet have the infrastructure to fully cater for the
country’s demands and needs to turn around and recapitalise before this can
fully be implemented” she said.

Siyachitema said the imposition of the duty will put more pressure on
consumers who are currently struggling to make ends meet.

“The consumer will bear the weight in this transition. The impact of the
duty will be felt by the consumer and they are the ones who will pay
grossly,” she said.

“We are not convinced that industry is ready. A few commodities prices have
already gone up for example cooking oil,” Siyachitema added.

“The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe expects price increases of basic
commodities in the coming months,” she said.

According to the Industry and Trade ministry, local industry is currently
operating at 47 percent capacity utilisation and requires over $2 billion to
fully capitalise.

Meanwhile, economist John Robertson said the development will have no
inflationary effect if the country stops importing goods and local producers
offer competitive prices.

“Local producers need to offer prices that are affordable to local
consumers,” Robertson said.

“We will have to wait and see how inflation will be influenced,” he said.

Women Seeking Justice Face Archaic Rules and Discrimination

http://www.ipsnews.net

By Nyarai Mudimu

HARARE, Aug 3, 2011 (IPS) - The four armed robbers who gang raped her may be
serving time for their crimes, but six years later justice has turned out to
be a myth for Mildred Mapingure.

"No post-exposure prophylaxis for HIV was administered to me and there was
no ‘morning-after pill’ to prevent pregnancy. I was tossed from office to
office, meanwhile I was silently praying I was not pregnant," Mapingure told
IPS from her rural home in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe.

It is illegal to terminate a pregnancy in Zimbabwe unless the ‘pregnancy
endangers the life of the mother and/or is a result of unlawful penetration
(rape)’, according to the Termination of Pregnancy Act. And abortion is only
allowed in the first trimester.

When Mapingure realised the inevitable had happened two months after being
raped, prosecutors rushed the application for a termination of pregnancy
order through the Chinhoyi regional magistrate’s court in Mashonaland West.

But long court delays resulted in the order being granted when she was eight
months pregnant. Mapingure had no option but to give birth.

Four years later, and with the assistance of the Zimbabwe Women Lawyers
Association (ZWLA), she has sued government for 52,000 dollars for wrongful
birth and child maintenance.

"Until now, I am still waiting to hear the outcome of my case. And as my boy
is growing up, his needs are also increasing. I am unemployed and not
married but am still expected to provide for him. I haven’t paid this term’s
school fees," said Mapingure.

She declined to discuss her feelings for her son at length, insisting she
loved him despite the circumstances surrounding his conception.

But Mapingure’s case is not the only one of failed justice in this southern
African country.

Director of ZWLA, Emilia Muchawa, told IPS that for anyone to access justice
in Zimbabwe, resources and family support are paramount.

"In any jurisdiction, adequate finances are key for one to access court
justice. In Zimbabwe, it is even more difficult for women to access justice
because women neither have those resources nor do they have access to free
legal aid. Courts are far-spaced making it worse for women seeking to get
justice for whatever wrong they have suffered," she said.

She said the few brave women who have approached the courts for justice are
hardly represented, while the men they seek justice against have legal
representation because they can afford to hire lawyers.

"Court procedure and court language are a hindrance to women in Zimbabwe,
the majority of whom are less educated than men. We have received reports of
women who have been turned away at the entrance, before they have even
lodged their cases, by mere court guards," Muchawa said.

Women are required to go to a magistrate’s court for maintenance order
applications, the distribution of a deceased’s estate, custody and
guardianship of minor children, and protection orders. Divorce and property
distribution is done at the High Court

"After being turned away for simple things like court dress code (for
wearing jeans, slacks, short dresses), most women never come back again. And
because the courts are far removed from the general populace, bus fare
becomes a hindrance," said Muchawa.

She said a woman’s family had to be supportive but, because of cultural
beliefs and a conservative upbringing, most women face resistance when they
seek justice through the courts.

In May a law officer in the Attorney General’s office, Wallen Chiwawa,
accused his wife (whose name cannot be published because of a court order)
of infidelity and physically tortured her.

However, ‘after a dialogue between their families’ she withdrew the charges.

"The case of Chiwawa’s wife is a good example of how women are pressurised
by their families or communities to let culprits off the hook. Because of
the docility of women, cultural pressures have presided over injustices they
suffer mostly from these same families," said Muchawa.

Deputy Minister for Women’s Affairs Fungayi Jessie Majome, who is also a
member of parliament and practicing lawyer, told IPS that court procedures
and court officials who "carry patriarchal baggage remain a challenge for
women who use courts to seek justice."

"Babies and children are not allowed in court. And most women who seek
justice at the courts have suckling babies or toddlers whom they can’t leave
alone," the deputy minister said.

She said she once represented a physically abused woman who ran away from
her husband with her twin 10-month-old babies.

"She was not allowed in court with her babies as she sought a protection
order. And this is just one woman who had me as a lawyer. What happens to
the rest of the women like her?" asked Majome.

Besides that, women are required to pay administration fees to obtain
protection orders in Zimbabwe. And in a country where, according to the
World Bank, 96 percent of people are unemployed, this is difficult.

A protection order application form consists of 17 pages and an applicant is
required to make four copies of it. The cost of photocopying that document
and the additional five-dollar duty stamp ensures that legal protection for
abused women remains a pie in sky, said Majome.

She said some court officials, including magistrates, are also a hindrance
to women seeking justice.

"In early 2000 I handled two cases of a teenage girl and middle aged woman
who had been raped and fell pregnant. The magistrates who heard the cases
separately kept delaying granting (the) termination orders.

"The Termination of Pregnancy Act gives magistrates exclusive discretionary
powers to order termination and I think sometimes these powers are abused to
serve personal beliefs and convictions at the disadvantage of the affected
women," she said.

But she said government plans are at an advanced stage to set up a family
court that would be sensitive to women.

Director of women’s rights organisation Musasa Project, Netty Musanhu, said
despite receiving training some court officials are gender insensitive.

"You will hear the presiding officer chastising a woman during a (domestic
violence) trial (saying) ‘I have no time for tears.’ That alone can ensure
women don’t come to court seeking justice," said Musanhu.

Research conducted by Women and Law Southern Africa (WLSA), an organisation
dealing with human rights, showed that women are frustrated by financial,
geographical, cultural and social factors in using the higher echelons of
the courts.

"Problems emanate from the structure and nature of (the court) system in its
form. Maintenance matters, domestic violence and administration and
distribution of deceased estates remain the major points where women seek
justice," said WLSA national coordinator Slyvia Chirawu.

ZEC should fix voters’ roll

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

An election watchdog has said the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) should
be tasked with cleaning the shambolic voters roll and not the
Registrar-General's Office which has in the past deliberately manipulated
the list.
03.08.1109:14am
by Staff Reporter

The partisan Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede insists that that the voters
register is clean even though it contains names of 132,540 people more than
90 years-old, a total of 16,828 names on the roll were for people born on
January 1, 1901.

The list of potential voters used in Zimbabwe’s previous 2008 parliamentary
and presidential elections contained “at least” 2 million fictitious voters.

ZESN says the Registrar General should have nothing to do with the cleaning
of the voters register for the next poll, the head of the Harare-based
institute said.

"We believe the Registrar General must be relieved of responsibility for the
establishment of a new voters roll," ZESN chairman Tinoziva Bere said.
"Voter registration must be conducted by ZEC."

He said the voters register was in its current shambolic state because of
the current RG. "They need to be taken out completely," he said.

One of the reasons for the establishment of the ZEC was to remove the
execution of the elections from the hands of civil servants and place it in
the hands of a professional body independent of government control. This was
meant to do away with the recurring accusations of partisanship and polls
manipulation on the part of the Registrar-General's Office.

In past elections the Registrar-General's Office undertook voter
registration, compiled the voters roll and supplied staff for the ZEC. These
activities were roundly slammed by civil society actors, including ZESN.

The proposal is likely to hit a brick wall given that Zanu (PF) is already
baying for the dismissal of the current head of the ZEC, Justice Simpson
Mutambanengwe, on allegations that he sympathises with the MDC.

Technology-shy Mugabe dazzled by Chamisa-Laptops

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/

03/08/2011 11:31:00 FELUNA NLEYA

HARARE - President Robert Mugabe yesterday unexpectedly warmed up to the
MDC-T at the launch of the e–government computer programme spearheaded by
Information Communication Technology (ICT) minister Nelson Chamisa,
describing him as a “supersonic minister”.

The youthful, but sharp-tongued Chamisa sourced over 300 laptops and
printers and donated part of the consignment to the country’s top six in the
inclusive government — President Mugabe, his two Vice-Presidents John Nkomo
and Joice Mujuru, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Deputy Prime Ministers
Thokozani Khupe and Arthur Mutambara.

This, Chamisa said, was part of his ministry’s result-based management and
e-government programme.

Zimbabwe’s computerisation system has been mothballed for over decade owing
to the unavailability of power mainly in rural schools, where the gadgets,
most of which were donated by President Mugabe throughout the country under
the Presidential Schools Computerisation Programme, have been gathering
dust.

President Mugabe handed over the computers and printers to his immediate
lieutenants in the shaky coalition.

Hailing the fruits of the programme, President Mugabe described the
outspoken Chamisa as a “supersonic minister”, whose initiative was set to
improve government operations.

President Mugabe was quoted on the ZBC website saying: “Changing the mode of
government operations through e-government will enhance government’s ability
to provide services to its citizens and stakeholders in an efficient and
effective way.”

Meanwhile, Chamisa, the youngest minister in the inclusive government at 33,
said the scheme was part of an ongoing thrust to enable government leaders
to familiarise and transform the country towards information communications
technology (ICT).

“Gone are the days when it used to be fashionable to carry suitcases of
papers in the corridors of government offices. We have to move with the
times and be on the ICT platform,” said Chamisa.

“We want everyone to access documents online which also includes birth
certificates, government information and also parliamentary information
online.” The rest of the Cabinet received their computers and laptops
yesterday, Chamisa said.

The programme will also cascade down to deputy ministers, Public Service
commissioners, Health Services Board and all heads of ministries including
principal directors in critical offices. - NewsDay

Rural communities left out

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/

The Principal Director in the Ministry of Media and Information for rural
services, Regis Chikowore, last week painted a gloomy picture of the lack of
information in rural areas.
03.08.1107:06am
by Fungai Kwaramba Harare

People living in these communities are not getting information because there
are no newspapers or mobile vans to deliver up to date news about the things
going in their country.

Chikowore, who was speaking on the side-lines of a meeting organised by
UNICEF, said that the ministry was hamstrung by capital constraints.

“We do not have a single mobile van. We used to be able to take news to the
people and provide platforms to watch the cinema,” said Chikowore.

Soon after independence the government of Zimbabwe used community newspapers
to educate people who were not exposed to the conventional methods of
communication, but this is no longer the case as the ZIANA community
newspapers have been reduced to propaganda by Zanu (PF).

“We are worried by the situation as we do not have the infrastructure to
make sure that people in the rural areas learn about what is really going
on,” said Chikowore.

Rural communities in Zimbabwe are often marginalised and left out of current
affairs.

Calls for the government to introduce community radio stations have so far
been ignored and Chikowore once again justified the delay by saying that it
was important to first establish whose interests would be served by the
issuance of the licenses.

Miners forced to buy Zanu (PF) cards

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Zanu (PF) militants forced workers at the targeted Mimosa Platinum Mine here
to buy the unpopular party's membership cards at extortionate prices, The
Zimbabwean has learnt.
02.08.1104:42pm
by John Chimunhu

According to security guards at the Oreti mining compound which houses
contract workers for the mine, the militants, armed with spears, axes and
other home-made weapons, accused the workers of rejecting President Robert
Mugabe's party and voting for the MDC-T in the last elections.

They claimed it was an offence to vote for anyone other than the discredited
dictator accused of ruining Zimbabwe through violence, graft and bad
policies.

“We were rounded up in the evening and told to buy the cards or be killed,”
said Mavurawa Chitsvare, a security guard contracted to the mine by Midlands
Security.

Chitsvare said the militants were led by a local Zanu (PF) chairman
identified as Mapako from the neighbouring Mafala village.

“They sealed off all the roads to the compound and ordered everyone to a
meeting to buy cards. The cards cost one dollar but we were forced to pay
three dollars as 'punishment' for not supporting the party,” Chitsvare said.

Zvishavane has become an MDC-T stronghold because of the presence of mine
employees who have refused to toe Mugabe's line.

Mimosa mine has become the target for Zanu (PF) sharks, who are also
demanding to be given service and supply contracts. The officials have
threatened to blacklist the mine in similar fashion to what they have done
to Zimplats, which has become the target of verbal attacks by Mugabe and his
cohorts.

The local Zanu (PF) MP, Obert Matshalaga, demanded and was awarded a
contract to supply cleaning services to the mine. Defence Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa has also been active in the area. Last year, he surprised many
when he decided to officiate at the handover of a school built by the mine.

Mine management had decided to invite Education Minister David Coltart to
open the school but were advised that the function would be disrupted by
militant Zanu youths in the area. Sources said the officials were told that
an MDC minister was not welcome in the area.

The bankrupt Zanu (PF) has taken to forcing villagers around Zimbabwe to buy
party cards in an attempt to bolster its coffers.

No end to Air Zimbabwe pilot strike in sight

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
3 August 2011

The Air Zimbabwe pilots strike entered its sixth day on Wednesday with no
end to miseries for travellers, amid reports that talks between management
and pilots fell apart on Tuesday.

SW Radio Africa is reliably informed the pilots say they are going to
continue with the strike until they’re paid all outstanding salaries and
allowances.

The latest strike has crippled the state-run carrier with all domestic,
regional and international flights cancelled. The airline’s regional manager
for the UK and America, David Mwenga told SW Radio Africa there was some
progress in the negotiations between management and the pilots.

Mwenga said he hoped the two sides could reach a satisfactory agreement
before the end of the week. This is the second time in a month that the Air
Zimbabwe pilots have gone on strike demanding payment of their outstanding
salaries and allowances.

SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon Muchemwa said negotiations between
management, the striking pilots and cabin crew had broken down, with both
sets of crews demanding to be paid before going back to work.

Staff at Air Zimbabwe have yet to be paid their June and July salaries. A
source said that the pilots and cabin crew were complaining that they just
wanted to be heard, because they ‘are not only underpaid but overworked’ as
well.

“The management at Air Zimbabwe should know all this undermines safety and
the pilots pretty much sympathise with the passengers for the inconveniences
caused by the endless strikes,” the source added.

The strike has left hundreds of passengers stranded on all its regional and
international routes. Air Zimbabwe operates a daily Harare-Johannesburg
route, a twice-weekly flight to London and a weekly flight to Beijing as its
only international routes.

Some Zimbabwean Ministries Not Reporting to Prime Minister Tsvangirai

http://www.voanews.com/

02 August 2011

Zimbabwe's power-sharing government has been shaken by disagreement and
divisions since its launch in early 2009 under the terms of the Global
Political Agreement signed in late 2008

Jonga Kandemiiri | Washington

Signaling divisions within Zimbabwe's chronically troubled unity government
according to some observers, five ministries headed by ZANU-PF ministers
have not been submitting monthly progress reports this year to Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, who leads the dominant formation of the former
opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

Some see the failure by ministries to file reports as defiance of Mr.
Tsvangirai.

Ministries concerned include Foreign Affairs, headed by Simbarashe
Mbengegwi, Media and Information, under Webster Shamu, Lands, under Herbert
Murerwa, Tourism headed by Walter Mzembi, and Home Affairs, headed by
Co-Ministers Kembo Mohadi of ZANU-PF and Theresa Makone of Mr. Tsvangirai’s
own MDC formation.

Monthly reports from the country's 36 ministries help the prime minister
ensure that the government’s work program for the year is on track.

Minister of State Jameson Timba, a senior aide to Mr. Tsvangirai, played
down the issue, blaming bureaucracy for the delays in submission.

Zimbabwe's power-sharing government has been shaken by disagreement and
divisions since its launch in early 2009 under the terms of the Global
Political Agreement signed in late 2008. The country embarked on power
sharing under the auspices of the Southern African Development Community as
a way out of the political impasse left by elections which left hundreds
dead and President Robert Mugabe's legitimacy in question.

MDC will only attend burials of genuine heroes

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Everson Mushava, Staff Writer
Wednesday, 03 August 2011 13:56

HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC will only attend burials of
what it believes to be genuine heroes while boycotting of those with
questionable credentials, Douglas Mwonzora, the party spokesperson has said.

Mwonzora told the Daily News yesterday that while his party recognised the
role played by the fallen heroes, it resents the practice of turning the
national shrine into a Zanu PF property.

The MDC spokesperson said his party, which has in the past boycotted other
national events, will attend this year’s heroes and defence forces’
celebrations at the national shrine as it is a national event which no one
should monopolise.

“Zanu PF may want to convert it (heroes day) into a party day.

“We will give them space and free manifesto to lie to the people that the
MDC is against the war of liberation. The liberation was a just war, just
like the war we are fighting after independence to get rid of oppression by
our black brothers from Zanu PF,” said Mwonzora.

Mwonzora said they respected the heroes and this year they will go and put
flowers on the tomb of the “unknown soldier” as an honour to those who
deserved to be there but could not find their space.

“We want to take our space as a political party and government that the MDC
is a political fact and is made up of genuine Zimbabweans. We want to take
our space at national events,” said Mwonzora.

Mwonzora took a swipe at Zanu PF for monopolising national events and
unilaterally seeking to determine the status of a hero on partisan lines.

The party stands accused of conferring hero status to undeserving heroes,
using them as a platform to propagate hate speech against its enemies and
furthering its political hegemony.

Mwonzora added that there were a lot of heroes who were not buried at the
national shrine simply because they were not Zanu PF members or had fallen
out with the party, but deserved to be there.

He singled out the leader of Zanu Ndonga, Ndabaningi Sithole, Zanla
commander Noel Mkono, and Henry Hamadziripi who is credited for coming up
with the name Zimbabwe.

Late Vice President Nkomo’s Statue Sparks Fresh Debate

http://www.radiovop.com

Annahstacia Ndlovu, Bulawayo, August 03, 2011 - The controversial late Vice
President Joshua Nkomo's statue in Harare has sparked fresh debate with the
former freedom fighters from Zipra saying the place where the statue was
placed have negative political connotations.

The debate comes amid plans to replace a similar statue in Bulawayo which
had to be pulled down last year after the family objected on the grounds
that they had not been consulted and that the statue did not befit the
status that their father had.

The family, however, was unable to do anything about the statue of the late
vice president who died in 1999 which was erected Karigamombe centre in
Harare's central business district.

National chairperson of ZIPRA Veterans, Rtd Col Ray Ncube, told Radio VOP in
an exclusive interview that since 1984 the name Karigamombe was coined in
line with Gukurahundi atrocities, meaning that the ZAPU leader has been
defeated.

Zapu and Zanu (PF) had joined together through the unity accord agreed to in
1997.

“The name Karigamombe is in very bad taste in Matabeleland because it
implies that the bull has been defeated. We would then prefer that the
statue is erected to a very convenient place which does not have that
connotation or something that belittles the late ZAPU leader."

“We would prefer that they continue to look for a better place as we believe
that there are many places that could accommodate that statue in Harare,”
said Rtd Col Ncube.

He said that there are several cites on Samora Machel Road that can
accommodate Nkomo’s statue, adding that the statue could be erected at the
entry point of Samora Machael Road that leads to Bulawayo Road.

Meanwhile the government of Zimbabwe resumed work on the controversial
statue of the late vice president in Bulawayo.

Thandi Nkomo-Ibrahim, the daughter of the Vice President, told Radio VOP in
an exclusive telephone interview that her family, Joshua Nkomo Foundation
and government of Zimbabwe were working on the statue that is likely to be
complete by the end of this month as they had failed to meet the deadline of
Heroes Day which will be commemorated next week.

The statue was pulled down last year in September after the family objected
that it did not capture the exact attributes of the late vice president and
that they were not consulted or involved in the project. However the family
was unable to stop the erection of a similar statue at Harare's Karigamombe
centre, which the family also say they had no input into.

“This time around we have been consulted on the re-erection of the statue in
Bulawayo and the constructors are going to work on the agreed size of the
pedestal," she told Radio VOP.

She said that after wide consultations with the family, the government of
Zimbabwe agreed to mount the statue on a high pedestal that befits the
street statue of his father.

“As you know that there are different types of statues and for our father,
the pedestal that is going to be re-erected will befit the size of the
statue and street. “After adjusting the pedestal to befit Dr Nkomo’s statue
the constructors are going to retain the statue that was brought down,”
added Nkomo-Ibrahim.

The statue is currently kept at National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe
in Bulawayo.

Vice President Nkomo died on July 01 1999 in Harare at the age of 82 and was
laid to rest at the National Heroes Acre in Harare.

However, the controversy on the erection of the statue at Karigamombe Centre
in Harare will continue to haunt the family. Nkomo Ibrahim said they had no
say in the erection of the statue in Harare.

“We as a family...had no say because the Nkomo issue has been turned into a
national issue and it is the reason why the Foundation ended up bowing to
that decision..." she said.

Zim Donates HIV Paediatric Drugs

http://www.radiovop.com/

Annahstacia Ndlovu, Bulawayo, August 03, 2011 - The government of Zimbabwe
is currently donating paediatric antiretroviral drugs to neighbouring
countries due to the low uptake of drugs in the country while there are
thousands of adults on waiting list.

National Aids Council, information officer, Orinando Manwere, confirmed to
Radio VOP that Zimbabwe was currently donating drugs to countries were there
was a high up take of paediatric antiretroviral drugs like South Africa and
Botswana.

He said that in Zimbabwe there is a low uptake of paediatric Antiretroviral
Treatment Therapy (ART) because children under the age of 16 need parental
consent to go for testing.

“We have noted that parents are not keen or well prepared on taking their
children for HIV testing and we have to do a lot of advocacy to educate
parents on the need to take their children for testing so that they access
the drugs as the quantity of drugs we have is not in tandem with the uptake
of drugs.

“We have enough stock of ARVs for children," he said.

He said there was a long waiting list for adults because they were
voluntarily going for HIV testing.

He said they had started a programme of identifying HIV positive children
which had resulted in 250 being put on ART at Chitungwiza Hospital. The
parents of these children had joined the advocacy team where they were
educating fellow parents with HIV positive children in an effort to fight
stigma.

According to UNAIDS report on the Global AIDS epidemic 2010: of the 33.3
million people living with HIV globally, 2.5 million are children under 15
years of age and an estimated 370 000 children were newly infected with HIV
in 2009. Further it is estimated that more than 1000 children are newly
infected with HIV every day.

A 2010 report on Universal Access programme notes that more than 90 percent
of HIV infections in children result from mother to child-transition where
the virus is passed from mother living with HIV to her baby during
pregnancy, child birth, or breast feeding.

Children living with HIV get sick more severely than adults. They may
experience the same common paediatric infections and common infections in
HIV positive children include ear, sinus infections, pneumonia, urinary
tract infections, skin diseases and meningitis. In developing countries in
particular, diarrhoea and respiratory illnesses are common in HIV positive
children.

In Zimbabwe, the uptake and coverage of the prevention of mother-to-child
transmission services has been scaled up since 2001, with HIV prevalence in
antenatal clinic attendances shown to be 25 percent in 2002, then 21,3
percent in 2004.

Prisoners shave with broken glass

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Prisoners across the country are shaving with broken glass while female
inmates continue to use rags as sanitary pads because of a lack of
resources, the founder of a recently-formed Zanu (PF) aligned NGO has said.
03.08.1107:08am
by Jane Makoni

Zimbabwe Youth and Women in Action Director, Mai Pangwayi, made the
announcement at the launch of the NGO in Marondera Town Recreation Park on
Saturday.

Pangwayi, who is also founder of the Early Bird Education Centre, told more
than 50 Zanu (PF) supporters that: "Living conditions in the country's
prisons remained deplorable and inhumane, despite the formation of the
inclusive government two years ago.

Life in prison is hell as basic commodities such as clothing, blankets,
washing soap, food and required detergents were not available.

Imagine inmates using broken glass to shave while females have resorted to
using dirty blankets and tree leaves as sanitary pads. As caring members of
the community we should be sensitive to the plight of inmates and generously
donate towards their welfare in cash and kind".

The NGO plans to source resources from well-wishers and give them to inmates
around the country.

Tsitsi Sekeramayi was appointed patron to the NGO. She urged people to feel
for serving prisoners as they were also human.

"Remember prison inmates are human and badly need your support," she said,
adding that she planned to approach the Zanu (PF) National Commissar,
Webster Shamu, to seek his assistance.

Pangwayi promised training for inmates to help them become responsible and
self-reliant citizens.

"The inmates would be taught skills such as soap and detergent making," she
said.

I only eat traditional foods: Grace Mugabe

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/

President Robert Mugabe's wife Grace has confirmed that she has been in poor
health for several months.
03.08.1110:11am
by John Chimunhu

In a statement to mark her 46th birthday on July 23, Grace claimed her hip
had been dislocated five months ago while she was working out in her gym.

There have also been reports from State House sources that Grace was not
eating well – and had been confined to a diet of traditional foods and
Chinese herbs normally prescribed for people living with serious illnesses.

“I don't eat much,” Grace said. “I only eat to keep body and soul together.
I might have many cooks in my house and if I were somebody else I would eat
anything (sic) all day but I watch what I eat.”

She said she was now on a diet of traditional foods such as sadza made from
rapoko, pumpkin leaves, cowpeas and home-made popcorn. Grace also claimed
that she was too busy to eat and only had one meal a day.

The woman whose shopping escapades at Harrods Department Store in London
before she was slapped with a travel ban are well documented, claimed that
she sewed all her clothes and even designed her own shoes.

She and her family are understood to have circumvented the travel ban by
bringing in top designers from Europe, especially France, to take their
orders.

During a 2009 United Nations conference, Grace attracted the attention of
the French paparazzi when top Parisian shoemakers and clothes designers were
seen making a beeline to her hotel room to take orders. One of the
shoemakers was later invited to Harare.

“I don't wear anything from Harrods,” Grace claimed. “My clothes are
different because they are my own designs. If you look at my clothes, they
have no labels because I make them myself. When I hear people talking about
how expensive (my clothes) look, I know it is because they are envious and
would like to buy those clothes for themselves but do not know where I get
them. I laugh and won't tell them.”

Meanwhile, Grace says she has finally attained her lifelong goal of getting
a university degree – from a Chinese university. Some years ago, Grace tried
to get an English degree from a top British university but flunked dismally.

‘Set trial date for Grace’s case’

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Court Writer
Wednesday, 03 August 2011 15:50

HARARE - A magistrate has given the state until end of this month to set a
trial date for South African drivers that allegedly fleeced First Lady Grace
Mugabe of $1 million in a botched trucks deal.

The drivers’ lawyer says the real deal is between Grace and Chinese
businessman, Ping Sung Hsieh, whom the state is struggling to extradite from
South Africa.

Trial for the drivers was postponed last month because the state argued it
wanted Hsieh to be part of the proceedings.

Magistrate Shane Kubonera yesterday granted another request by the state to
postpone the case to August 29 when the state hopes to have successfully
extradited Hsieh.

Kubonera said he would grant the drivers’ request to be handed back their
passports if the state failed to furnish a trial date on August 29.

“The state must note that if the accused aren’t furnished with a trial date
on the next remand date, the court will consider releasing accused persons’
passports,” said magistrate Kubonera.

The South African drivers are Cassim Jee Bilal, Henry Radebe, Samuel Baloyi
and Sydney Sekgobela. They are being charged with fraud.

Beatrice Mtetwa, the drivers’ lawyer, argues that Zimbabwean officials are
holding the drivers as bait to capture Hsieh. Hsieh allegedly entered into
the trucks’ deal with Grace, while the four drivers were only messengers
sent to deliver the consignment, Mtetwa argues.

Grace was allegedly represented in the deal by her personal aide, Olga
Bungu, her top aide.

Allegations are that Grace, through Bungu, transferred $1 million to Hsieh
for the purchase of haulage trucks. The businessman failed to buy the trucks
and instead sent the four men with old trucks.

Mtetwa says the “hostage” taking of the drivers was unfair on the part of
her clients who were in dire need of their passports to travel to South
Africa for various family issues.

Bilal, for example, told the court at the last appearance that he
desperately needed to return to South Africa to attend to his sick wife.

“We cannot stay for that long in Zimbabwe because life for us in this
country is very difficult. We are not working, we have no money and we are
not able to see our families,” said Bilal.

The South Africans were arrested in February this year after they delivered
three trucks and three trailers to Grace's orphanage in Mazowe.

Bilal’s wife is set to undergo a heart transplant and is currently
hospitalised in South Africa, according to the defence lawyer.

Bilal has offered to surrender his Toyota Fortuner vehicle that he brought
to Zimbabwe to transport the three truck drivers back to South Africa as
assurance that he would return for trial once Hsieh was successfully
extradited.

Disharmony in Zimbabwe cricket

http://www.timeslive.co.za

Firdose Moonda | 03 August, 2011 17:23

Zimbabwean cricket has been flung into disarray on the eve of its return to
test cricket.

Convenor of selectors, Alistair Campbell, has criticised wicket-keeper
Tatenda Taibu for sowing discord in the set up after Taibu alleged that a
lack of professionalism and funds was damaging the game.

The wicket-keeper batsman also said that not much had changed since
self-imposed test hiatus almost six years ago and administrators were
“struggling to run cricket well.”

“I disagree with the timing of what he said and I don’t think he has done
himself or Zimbabwe cricket any favours,” Campbell said to reporters on
Wednesday. “I don’t think he fully understands the fall-out from this.”

Campbell came out in defence of the administration and said he would speak
to Taibu after his outburst and the pair were seen exchanging words on the
outfield of the Harare Sports Club after the team’s practice session on
Wednesday. They held conversation for 15 minutes, each gesturing
emphatically and parted company without shaking hands and with Campbell
looking less than satisfied.

Taibu is likely to keep his place in the starting XI despite his comments.

With 24 Test caps, Taibu is the most experienced player in the current
squad. He is only one of three players that took the field the last time
Zimbabwe played in a test match five years ago. He spent time in Namibia,
South Africa and Bangladesh, but returned home in 2007.

That was during the worst period of cricket in the country, following
Zimbabwe’s voluntary withdrawal from test cricket in 2006. Domestic cricket
ground to a halt and club facilities were left to degenerate.

In 2009, cricket got back on its feet with the return of former players such
as Heath Streak and Grant Flower to the coaching structures and the securing
of sponsors for the domestic competitions. Now, they believe they are ready
to return to the top tier.

“This is obviously big for us,” Taibu said. “Personally, I enjoy test
cricket and other guys in the changeroom have also been craving for it.”

Despite their inexperience in this format, Taibu said the number of
first-class games and recently completed tour matches against a strong
Australia A showed that Zimbabwe have grown as a cricket nation. “I was
pleased to see the guys show some maturity in the tour matches and put in a
good performance. We know that we have some players we can rely on.”

Zimbabwe’s opponents, Bangladesh, are also returning from to test cricket
after a prolonged absence. They have not played a test in 14 months, because
of scheduling and look forward to a return to the place where they first won
a test away from home.

“We will obviously have to adjust to the conditions but we have no reason to
be nervous,” Shakib al Hasan, the Bangladesh captain said. “Test cricket is
the format where you show your class, your discipline and your mentality.
For me, it is the ultimate form of the game, there’s no doubt.”

Zimbabwe Vigil Statement on ROHR

An attempt is being made to hi-jack the Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR). This organisation was set up by Zimbabwe Vigil founder member Ephraim Tapa in 2007 on behalf of the Vigil as its organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe to reflect the Vigil’s mission statement in a practical way.

The profile of ROHR has grown such that it is now attracting the interest of donors and this seems to have prompted a small group of people to try to take over the organisation. ROHR has consequently expelled Stendrick Zvorwadza, Grace Mupfurutsa, Ronald Mureverwi and Edgar Chikuvire. The Zimbabwe Vigil does not recognise these four individuals as representing our sister organisation ROHR.

The Vigil continues to recognise Ephraim Tapa as the President of ROHR. He says press releases and emails from the group of four should be disregarded. Mr Zvorwadza is not the spokesperson for ROHR.

Officers of ROHR in Zimbabwe are the National Chairperson Ray Muzenda (+263762272485) and the Secretary-General Tichanzii Gandanga (+263774444134), a man widely respected for his personal sacrifices for the liberation struggle. (He was abducted on 22^nd April 2008 and forced to lie down on the road and then his abductors drove over his legs four times.)

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk

Correction - Harare cops charged with brutality

Harare is the name of a suburb of Khayelitsha ........ which is located just outside Cape Town where I currently live!!!! So the police referred to are South African Police and story has nothing to do with Zimbabwe. Do you see what caused my amusement?

14 die in 2nd crash of an overcrowded bus in Zimbabwe in recent days