Zuma envoy back in Harare

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Own Corespondent Thursday 05 August 2010

HARARE -President Jacob Zuma's envoy Marc Maharaj arrived in Zimbabwe on
Tuesday for the second time in as many weeks as the South African leader
steps up his mediation efforts ahead of the Southern African Development
Community meeting in Namibia.

The SADC meeting is scheduled to take place on August 16. Zuma, the bloc's
official mediator in Zimbabwe, is expected to brief the summit on the
problems bedeviling the Harare unity government.

Maharaj arrived in the country Tuesday, diplomatic sources said yesterday,
adding that the South African envoy was yet to secure any meetings with
Zimbabwe's top political leaders.

The sources said that although last week he managed to meet the three
principals, nothing was concluded.

Lindiwe Zulu, spokesman for the team appointed by Zuma to facilitate
dialogue in Zimbabwe confirmed the visit by the veteran ANC stalwart, but
could not disclose the purpose of the visit.

"Maharaj is the best person to comment on that, since he is in Zimbabwe,"
Zulu said. "This is his second visit there and is a follow up to his last
visit."

Maharaj was appointed alongside Zulu and Charles Nqaqula, by Zuma to
facilitate the interparty talks between the two factions of MDC and ZANU-PF.

Since the setting up of the inclusive government last year, the three
parties have haggled on key appointments of key government officials in
government which has strained the pact.

No comment could be obtained from both Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
President Robert Mugabe's offices last night. - ZimOnline.

Zim increases tobacco output

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Own Corespondent Thursday 05 August 2010

HARARE - Zimbabwe has sold more than 100 million kilogrammes of tobacco
since February or more than double the quantity sold over the same period
last year, in yet another sign of recovery in the farm sector a decade after
President Robert Mugabe launched his controversial land reforms.

The southern African country, which was once a breadbasket of the region,
has since 2001 experienced acute food shortages while tobacco farming, its
greatest single foreign currency earner, shrank because of Mugabe's chaotic
and often violent drive to seize land from experienced white farmers for
redistribution to blacks.

But the Tobacco Industry Marketing Board (TIMB) said on Wednesday that 108
million kilogrammes of tobacco worth US$318 million have been sold since the
opening of the marketing season in February.

Fifty-eight million kilogrammes of tobacco worth US$173. 8 million were sold
during the comparative period last year.

There are 51 000 growers registered to deliver their crop to the auction
floors this marketing season or almost double the 28 000 that registered in
2009.

Until farm seizures began in 2000, large-scale white tobacco growers and
growing numbers of black farmers produced more than 200 million kilograms of
tobacco each year, helping to create thousands of jobs and earning the most
foreign currency for the country than any other sector.

The tobacco marketing season is scheduled to end within the next 80 days
with more tobacco expected to have been delivered before then. The sector is
expected to register a 19 percent growth by year-end, up from the initial 10
percent forecast.

News of impressive performance in the tobacco sector comes weeks after the
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) announced that Zimbabwe's troubled
agriculture sector was showing signs of recovering from Mugabe's decade-long
land seizure drive.

FAO reported a slight increase in maize output from 1.2 million tones in the
2008/09 season to 1.3 million tonnes last year.

The southern African country, which was once a breadbasket of the region,
had since 2001 experienced acute food shortages and had to rely on foreign
food handouts to feed itself.

But Zimbabwe will still require humanitarian assistance including food aid
this year, with UN officials on Tuesday launching an appeal for US$478
million in support for the country.

The latest is $100 million more than the initial appeal launched last
December which was targeted to run until last April.

The UN officials said Zimbabwe continued to face underlying political and
economic challenges despite relative stability since formation of a unity
government last year, adding that the revised appeal was necessary because
of increasing requirements for the health, food and agriculture support.

At the peak of Zimbabwe's crisis in 2008, aid agencies fed half of the
country's population. - ZimOnline.

New Chill Over US-Zimbabwean Relations as Presidents Mugabe, Obama Trade Barbs

http://www1.voanews.com

Mr. Obama said Harare must signal that much more convincing reforms are
being implemented in Zimbabwe before Washington will consider lifting travel
and financial sanctions on Mr. Mugabe and his inner circle

Blessing Zulu | Washington 04 August 2010

Relations between Harare and Washington, perceived to be on the mend over
the past year and a half, appeared as strained as they have in some time
following hostile remarks by Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe at a funeral
Sunday in Harare and comments Tuesday by U.S. President Barack Obama
questioning Mr. Mugabe's leadership.

Vituperative comments by Mr. Mugabe on Sunday triggered a diplomatic
incident when he castigated the United States and other Western countries in
remarks at the interment of his sister Sabina at National Heroes Acre,
Harare.

President Mugabe told the West to "go to hell" for what he characterized as
interference in Zimbabwean politics. This led U.S. Ambassador Charles Ray
and his German and European counterparts to walk out in protest. Summoned by
the Foreign Ministry for an explanation, the diplomats said Mr. Mugabe had
used insulting language.

President Obama focused attention on Mr. Mugabe further Tuesday in calling
Zimbabwe's plight untenable.

"I'll be honest with you," the American president said. "I am heartbroken
when I see what has happened in Zimbabwe."

In a White House meeting with a group of young Africans, Mr. Obama added:
"Mugabe is an example of a leader who came in as a liberation fighter and -
I'm just going to be very blunt - I do not see him serving his people."

Mr. Obama said Harare must signal more convincing reforms are being
implemented before Washington will consider lifting travel and financial
sanctions on Mr. Mugabe and his inner circle.

A spokesman for Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party called Mr. Obama's criticism
"hogwash." Rugare Gumbo accused the West of causing the suffering of
Zimbabweans by imposing sanctions over the past decade.

Sydney Chisi, one of the three Zimbabweans attending the White House youth
forum, said Mr. Obama's remarks were on target, adding that Harare invited
sanctions by engaging in gross human rights abuses.

Zimbabwe Constitutional Outreach Officials of MDC Stage Boycott Over Arrest

http://www1.voanews.com

Independent civil society monitor Tadziripira Khumalo said many
constitutional outreach team members are failing to stand up to those
disrupting public meetings for fear they may be arbitrarily arrested

Patience Rusere and Jonga Kandemiiri | Washington 04 August 2010

Constitutional revision outreach meetings in Zimbabwe's eastern Manicaland
province ground to a halt on Wednesday after outreach team members from both
formations of the Movement for Democratic Change halted work to protest the
arrest of a rapporteur from one of the MDC groupings on a charge of public
indecency.

The arrest of Kudakwashe Munengiwa of the MDC formation led by Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara followed an altercation with supporters of the
ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe, MDC sources said.

Manicaland MDC sources said ZANU-PF Senator Oriah Kabayanjiri of for the
Uzumba-Maramba-Pfungwe constituency threatened Munengiwa for making a video
recording of the harassment and intimidation of members of the public at an
outreach meeting in Chipinge West by war veterans and other ZANU-PF
supporters.

MDC sources said Kabayanjiri has been taking over public outreach meetings,
among other tactics launching into long prayers that highlight ZANU-PF's
positions as to what should be in the new constitution.

Following Munengiwa's arrest Wednesday morning, about 70 outreach officers
launched a protest boycott.

Independent civil society monitor Tadziripira Khumalo told VOA Studio 7
reporter Patience Rusere that many outreach team members are failing to
stand up to those disrupting meetings for fear they may be arbitrarily
arrested.

Elsewhere in Manicaland, the MDC formation of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai said four of its members were pursued by suspected agents of the
Central Intelligence Organization who then confiscated their car.

Makoni South legislator Pishayi Muchauraya says the four went to inform
Chipinge West villagers that a public meeting had been postponed. When they
left the village they were followed by men in dark glasses, one bearing an
AK-47 assault rifle. Muchauraya said the four abandoned their vehicle and
fled on foot.

Elsewhere, a Tsvangirai MDC legislator accused ZANU-PF lawmakers of delaying
the establishment of a website to allow the millions of Zimbabweans outside
the country to comment on the constitutional revision.

Deputy Chairwoman Gladys Gombani Dube of the parliamentary select committee
in charge of the revision process said the governing political parties -
ZANU-PF and the two MDC formations - reached agreement on the website
following long negotiations. She said the site for comment by the diaspora
should be accessible within days.

Meanwhile, select committee Co-Chairman Douglas Mwonzora said the Finance
Ministry made funds available to pay drivers and technicians who had
threatened to strike over non-payment of allowances. Mwonzora told reporter
Jonga Kandemiiri that the drivers and technicians should start to receive
their payments late Wednesday.

Basic Living Costs for Zimbabweans Increase 1.2 Percent From June to July

http://www1.voanews.com

Consumer Council Executive Director Rosemary Siyachitema said the increase
in basic living costs was driven by higher beef and cabbage prices

Gibbs Dube | Washington 04 August 2010

The Consumer Council of Zimbabwe said Wednesday that the cost of living for
low-income urban dwellers went up 1.2 percent from June to July as a basket
of essential goods rose in cost from US$481.11 to US$486.92.

Consumer Council Executive Director Rosemary Siyachitema said the increase
in the cost of living resulted from higher beef and cabbage prices. Beef
prices went up 69 cents a kilogram while cabbage rose 30 cents a kilo.

Siyachitema said the consumer cost index continues to be inflated by
utility, education and health costs.

She told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that beef prices are likely to
remain high due to a dwindling stock of cattle in the country. "The national
cattle herd was almost decimated by drought in the late 1980s and as such it
has been very difficult to raise enough slaughter stock," Siyachitema
explained.

Southern African Regional Envoys Expected in Harare Ahead of Namibia Summit

http://www1.voanews.com

The MDC statement quoted Mr. Tsvangirai as saying his party continues to
object to unilateral decisions made by President Robert Mugabe, declaring
that he is 'just a partner' in the national unity government in Harare

Blessing Zulu 03 August 2010

A team from the Southern African Development Community is expected in Harare
in the next two weeks to review progress by the Harare unity government in
resolving troublesome issues ahead of a SADC summit meeting in Windhoek,
Namibia, later this month, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai disclosed
Tuesday.

In a statement, Mr. Tsvangirai said the main concern for his party is the
resolution of outstanding issues related to the 2008 Global Political
Agreement for power sharing, including the swearing-in as deputy agriculture
minister of of Roy Bennett, a senate member and treasurer of Mr.
Tsvangirai's formation of the Movement for Democratic Change, and more
generally questions of consultation and consensus in governance and
decision-making.

The MDC statement quoted Mr. Tsvangirai as saying his party continues to
object to unilateral decisions made by President Robert Mugabe, declaring
that "He is just a partner in government."

Mr. Tsvangirai also complained about the continuing broadcast by state radio
and television of musical spots praising Mr. Mugabe and ZANU-PF, saying the
airing of such jingles is toxic and jeopardizes power sharing.

Meanwhile, sources said South African President Jacob Zuma Tuesday sent
envoy Mac Maharaj back to Harare barely a week after he traveled to the
Zimbabwean capital for consultations. Maharaj met Mr. Tsvangirai Tuesday
morning and was also expected to meet President Mugabe and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara.

The flurry of activity comes ahead of the Southern African Development
Community summit, but SADC Executive Secretary Tomaz Salomao said it is too
early to discuss the mission of the regional group.

Political analyst Trevor Maisiri said the Tsvangirai MDC is likely to be
disappointed again by SADC, arguing that there is little the party can do to
resolve the issues troubling the power-sharing government.

Time due for Welshman “Karigamugabe” Ncube to arise

http://www.zimeye.org/?p=20361

By Ephat Sam Dangarembga

Published: August 5, 2010

(ANALYSIS)Since the birth of Zimbabwe’s main opposition party 11 years ago,
noone in this labour driven grouping has emerged who has been able to bridge
the gap between a hostile Mugabe, and the powerful Western powers. No, no no
no, not even our favourite prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai has had the
calmness, tact and diplomatic ability to use simple words and with them calm
the raging fury of the west.

The smaller MDC splinter faction eaten up by credibility over its leader the
professor of Robotics Arthur Mutambara’s loud mouth and condescending
approach now has a chance to choose between life and death, a bridge and an
abyss  – a choice to bring in a new leader with fresh ideas, or to continue
to be dragged behind like a sack full of rotten maize cobs.

Called on to comment yesterday (Tuesday) Mutambara refused to comment on the
matter and shouted back:

“Ah don’t call me again on the same subject. Are there no development
issues, washaya zvekunyora here (have you run out of things to write
about?),” he said before terminating the call.

Ncube however spoke out freely:

““We … took a position that we were not going to demean ourselves again.
Later, the national executive took a position that all members would be
available for posts, regardless of whether they were from Matabeleland,
Manicaland or any part of the country.

“At that meeting Gibson Sibanda stood up and said there is nowhere in the
Bible where it is written that people from Matabeleland should be eternal
deputies.”

Ncube said Mutambara had done very well in Government and he had
re-organised the party after the 2008 harmonised elections.

He said if there was a change of leadership in the party, it did not mean
that those who lost leadership positions, including Mutambara had done
badly.

                         Who shall Karigamugabe be?

The late father Zimbabwe Joshua Nkomo was brought down by Mugabe in 1987
bringing to shore for Mugabe the title “Karigamombe” – ‘He who felled the
bull(Nkomo)’ – . As a turn of events’, as history always gives all of us a
chance, the time has now come for someone who will successfully bring down
Mugabe himself. Who shall our esteemed Karigamugabe now be? Morgan
Tsvangirai? Simba Makoni? Daniel Shumba? Emmerson Mnangagwa?

Who is it who can calm the angry Western powers with just just one sentence
from his lips? Indeed we saw last year how a very bitter feud between Robert
Mugabe and multinational company Nestle’s western armies was dealt with
within minutes by a quiet Welshman Ncube as he whispered a few words that
the western powers immediately honoured:

“It was proposed that milk produced by Gushungo would be purchased through a
cooperative arrangement involving Dairiboard, and that Nestlé would purchase
raw milk from the cooperative for an arms-length relationship with
ushungo”  – THIS WAS THE END OF IT ALL!

We have also seen the booming of companies within the past few months and
especially of late a British investment company choosing to throw a whole
$25million into Mugabe’s laps.

Foreign connection needed

How can Zimbabwe’s battered economy be rebuilt? Will it ever be rebuilt
unless there is foreign energy? That energy cannot come from Europe or
America because of their damaged past with which it will be always be seen
as colonial interference. Could it be true that the time has come for the
old Zulu empire to be rebuilt just like the old Roman Empire has now been
restructured, that is, the robust and powerful European Union?

Within the last two years, we saw Zimbabwe begin to use the South African
rand as its main currency. Within the same 24 months, we also all of a
sudden saw a marriage of two great families across the river Limpopo – that
of Jacob Zuma and Welshman Ncube.

 The former Ian Smith government was destroyed by South Africa, not by
Britain. Yes, indeed now Britain has changed direction and is now seeking
the opinion of South Africa in this matter. Only America remains making
futile attempts as they continue to throw fists onto brick walls. Moreover,
Zuma has already pledged his and his party’s allegiance to God Almighty by
declaring “ANC will rule until Jesus comes!”  – eternally irrevocable words
spoken by a wise man.

Why Welshman Ncube?

Well, you may ask me why Ncube? You may want to consider and ponder all I
have said above and after that you can criticise me all the way, but as you
throw daggers at me, please do remember that I have never met Ncube anywhere
in my life and do not intend to even be know by him at all. What I want is
to see is a fresh Zimbabwe coming out of the muddy waters it fell into 15
years ago.

[DISCLAIMER: The opinion expressed in this article is not necessarily the
opinion of the ZimEye publication, nor of its editors]

UK-based Zimbabweans to hold indaba on new constitution

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com

04 August, 2010 11:37:00    By ZDDI

THE Zimbabwe Diaspora Development Interface (ZDDI) is hosting a consultative
meeting on Diaspora participation in the Zimbabwe national constitutional
reform exercise on Saturday, 7th August at the London Metropolitan
University.

The public meeting will provide Zimbabwean community groups and individuals
in the UK with an opportunity to map out and discuss the key issues they
would like to see included in the draft constitution that will emerge from
the current public outreach process being led by the Constitutional
Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) in Zimbabwe.

The weekend gathering represents the first opportunity for Zimbabweans in
the UK to formally discuss their views on this most important national
exercise. It follows on the coattails of statements by the two Deputy Prime
Ministers, Ms Thokozani Khupe and Prof Arthur Mutambara on recent visits to
the UK encouraging Zimbabweans to feed their views into the ongoing COPAC
public outreach process.

Speakers from outside the UK will include senior officials from the human
rights advocacy group Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, Pedzisayi Ruhanya
(Programmes Manager) and Dewa Mavhinga (Regional Coordinator), who will be
accompanied by Arnold Chamunogwa of the Youth Agenda Trust.

Zeb Manatse, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Constitutional Consultation UK, a
coalition of Zimbabwean community groups in the UK, will speak on the state
of the national constitutional consultative process which aims to gather the
views of Zimbabweans in the UK for onward submission to COPAC.

However, the main purpose of the public meeting is to provide a platform for
Zimbabwean groups and individuals to express their views on the
constitutional reform exercise and to identify the main themes and issues
that should inform the Diaspora's submission to the COPAC process.

ZDDI coordinator, Msekiwa Makwanya said: "The consultative meeting is meant
to be a barometer for gauging the UK Diaspora's views on the new
constitution. As Zimbabweans we do not want to miss this opportunity to put
our issues on the national agenda and so we encourage fellow Zimbabweans in
the UK to come forward and express themselves freely."

* The meeting will be held between 12pm-14:30pm at Stapleton House, Room
SH209. Address: 277-281 Holloway Road  London N7 8HN.  (1minute from
Holloway Tube Station; Buses 43, 276, 273)

* Places are limited and are available on a first-come first-served basis,
so please arrive early to gain entry into the meeting. For further details
or enquiries, please email Chofamba Sithole on
info@zimdiasporainterface.org.

Zanu supporters assault senior cop

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by Mxolisi Ncube
Wednesday, 04 August 2010 17:27

KWEKWE - A senior police officer here is nursing 10 stitches on his
forehead, after he was attacked by suspected supporters of President Robert
Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party two weeks ago.

Junior police officers in this small Midlands town told The Zimbabwean that
Superintendent Richman Madiro, already in the radar of Zanu (PF) terror
gangs after continuously repelling their attacks on the MDC in the district,
was severely beaten by two men and left for dead at his Redcliff home on
July 25.

Madiro is the acting officer commanding of Kwekwe district, after taking
over from Chief Superintendent Phineas Muhedzikwa, who was suspended last
year for allegedly raping a junior female officer who was based at Redcliff.

"Since taking over the district, he has been very professional and has not
allowed any political violence, telling us to arrest all those who threaten
political violence on other people, regardless of which party they belong
to. Most of the Zanu (PF) supporters here have been arrested in the
 process," said a junior officer based in Kwekwe.

"However, this has not been taken lightly by Zanu (PF) officials and
activists in the district, who have accused Madiro of being an MDC activist.
They have been heard on several occasions threatening to deal with him."

The two men are said to have visited his home claiming that they wanted
US$50 from someone who purportedly lived in the same house. When Madiro told
them he did not know such a person, they attacked him with a hammer.

"They beat him on the head and all over the body and left him for dead. He
received 10 stitches on the forehead after the assault and what worries us
is that these two men, both Zanu (PF) supporters, are still roaming the
streets despite a report having been made on the day of the assault.

National police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena could not be reached for comment
at the time of going to print, as his phone rang without answer, but the
junior officers said that the incident was entered as Crime Register number
69/07/2010 at Redcliff police station and reported on July 25.

Three Student Activist Appear in court

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by The Students Solidarity Trust
Thursday, 05 August 2010 06:12

A Harare magistrate has ordered that the trial of eight University of
Zimbabwe (UZ) student activists should start on the 23rd of August without
fail. The eight were appearing in court for routine remand hearing this
morning. It is the state's case that on March 29, the eight student
activists attended an illegal gathering outside Parliament Building in
Harare with the intention of breaching public peace. Today's appearance was
the fifth after they were charged under the Criminal Law (Codification and
Reform) Act  and granted bail on March 31.Joshua Chinyere, James Katso,
Temptation Tazviinga, Tinashe Hlatshwayo, Tinashe Chisaira, Culvern Mungiri,
Sydney Chisuko and Chikomborero Mukwaturi were arrested when University of
Zimbabwe (UZ) students demonstrated in the streets of Harare on 29 March.
The students were demonstrating against the slow pace in the implementation
the Global Political Agreement (GPA) particularly reforms in the education
sector.

The Students Solidarity Trust (SST) is concerned with the slow pace of
justice delivery in the country. The inclusive government should move fast
to clear the backlog in our courts. The human resources component in the
judiciary sector must the increased to meet the demand. Justice must be seen
to be done!

Cholera strikes diamond fields

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by Tinashe Warikadwa
Wednesday, 04 August 2010 22:06

HARARE - More than 78 people have been admitted to hospitals in Mutare
following an outbreak of the highly contagious cholera epidemic in the
militarized Marange diamonds fields.

According to the Deputy Minister of Local Government Sesel Zvidzai the
Government of Zimbabwe has received reports of the outbreak that has
affected mostly children for the past three days.

"We have received information of an outbreak of cholera in Marange and we
are
taking measures to curb the disease along with the Ministry of Health. The
disease outbreak started two days ago and at least 78 people have been taken
to hospital, mostly Mutare General Hospital," said Zvidzai.

According to the minister, the biggest challenge that the government is
faced with is that the area where the disease outbreak was reported is
highly sensitive and difficult for Non Govermental Organisations to
penetrate.

"The biggest challenge in the area is the presence of the army, and we will
therefore put up camps outside the security area so that people can access
health facilities quickly in order to curb the spread of the disease," said
Zvidzai.

The disease has, according to the minister, not yet claimed any lives, but
has caused panic among the villagers who are yet to be resettled after the
government took over the area following the discovery of diamonds.

We want our money back: business

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Caroline Mvundura Wednesday 04 August 2010

HARARE - The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries on Tuesday called on the
central bank to reimburse millions of dollars in hard cash garnished from
private companies at the height of the country's economic crisis.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), seen as the voice of
business in Zimbabwe, said if the cash-strapped Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) was unable to pay back cash it seized from foreign currency accounts
(FCAs) of private firms then the should consider tax rebates for affected
companies as a repayment option.

"The money that the RBZ owes companies must be returned," Kanyekanye told
journalists in Harare.

He added: "It is money that is owed and it needs to come back. It is a
little bit difficult to quantify it. I will leave that to the RBZ. But given
the outcry out there, that must be substantial. It is nice to get the money
back. There is nothing wrong in giving tax credits in lieu of outstanding
payments."

Kanyekanye said companies were struggling to raise working capital from
commercial banks and many have pleaded with the CZI to ask the RBZ to pay
back the money it took from the firms so they could use it to boost
operations.

RBZ governor Gideon Gono unilaterally seized millions of dollars from FCAs
belonging to private firms and non-governmental organisations, including a
US$ 7, 3 million from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria, that was meant to fight disease among the poor.

Gono is blamed by economists and the International Monetary Fund of
compounding Zimbabwe's crisis through quasi-fiscal activities that saw the
RBZ pump millions of dollars into financing newly resettled black farmers,
most of them supporters of President Robert Mugabe's previous regime who
have however failed to produce enough food to feed the nation.

For example, Gono provided foreign currency to purchase tractors, motor
cycles, combine harvesters, generators and small farm implements that were
handed for free to black farmers by Mugabe just before elections in March
2008, in what analysts said was a clear attempt by the Zimbabwean leader to
curry favour with a disgruntled electorate.

Huge debts incurred by the RBZ - including money seized from private FCAs -
helped push the national debt to US$7, 6 billion, an amount the CZI and
analysts say must be tackled urgently to create an enabling environment for
companies to operate and the economy to grow.

"The current debt overhang being experienced by government is an impediment
to accessing foreign financing especially from multilateral institutions,"
said Kanyekanye.

"It is therefore imperative that the issue of debt be resolved. It is an
important issue that must be dealt with as a matter of urgency to unlock
much needed foreign direct investment," added the CZI president.

Gono was no immediately available for comment on the matter. -- ZimOnline.

 

Abundant mine in Zimbabwe bears the "blood diamond" stigma

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/

By Jan Raath Aug 5, 2010, 3:06 GMT

Harare - It may be a spring of wealth that almost at a stroke could end the
economic despair of Zimbabwe, but the sprawling Chiadzwa diamond field in
the east of the country is more likely a deadly bear trap.

Chiadzwa, is regarded as the richest diamond find of the century. Over the
past nine months, rudimentary mining only in one small area of the field has
reportedly yielded 4 million carats, worth around 2 billion US dollars.

But human rights groups have labelled the gems that originate from the mines
'blood diamonds' because of the strong-arm actions of the government of
President Robert Mugabe to secure the 66,000-hectare field from illegal
miners.

The military and the secret police holds the area and what happens in and
around it in a grip of fear and silence. The issue of rampant diamond
smuggling, alleged by soldiers deployed to protect the area, has been taken
up by the Kimberley Process (KP), the world watchdog on blood diamonds used
to finance wars.

On Monday, the body is to send a mission to Zimbabwe to test its compliance
at Chiadzwa. The visit comes just weeks after the KP lifted a ban on exports
from the diamond field, allowing two consignments to be sold.

The ban was imposed after a brutal crackdown by the army in in mid-2008 on
exports after a brutal crackdown by the army to drive out around 35,000
illegal diamond diggers, in which some 200 people were reportedly killed.

'Zimbabwe has had many months to address the concerns that have arisen in
Chiadzwa,' says Annie Dunneback of Global Witness, one of the civil society
groups that form part of the KP.

'For us, progress should be evidence of an end to human rights abuses and
the very negative role that the military is playing. They should be
protecting the area, not running syndicates,' she told the German Press
Agency dpa.

Soldiers have been accused of involvement in syndicates that work alongside
illegal diggers in mining and selling Chiadzwa gems.

In May, local civil rights researcher Farai Maguwu handed a visiting KP
monitor a military briefing leaked to him on the situation at Chiadzwa.

The document reported the murder of an illegal digger by a soldier, cases of
armed robbery and other 'gross indiscipline' by the army deployed around the
diamond field. It also detailed an increase in illegal panning by diggers in
league with soldiers and observed that troops were faced with inadequate
food and allowances.

The document appeared to confirmed human rights groups reports, and
contradict the government's assertion that the diamond field was completely
under control with no human rights or criminal abuses by the army.

Maguwu was promptly arrested, and held in police cells for 40 days, often
semi-naked on bitterly cold winter nights, and denied medication and access
to lawyers. Only the intervention of a High Court judge saw him freed on
bail, on a charge of 'publishing information prejudicial to the security
forces.'

'You won't find anyone who will tell you what's going on on the ground at
Chiadzwa now,' says one lawyer in the nearby city of Harare, asking not to
be named for fear of victimization.

'After what happened to Maguwu, everyone is frightened.'

In the dingier areas of central Harare, slick young men juggling mobile
phones openly offer diamonds for sale to passers-by.

John Chimunhu, a reporter on the local weekly, The Zimbabwean, said he posed
as a buyer and was led inside a guarded police compound to meet a supplier
whom, he said, was a senior policeman. No deal took place because the
officer was out, according to Chimunhu.

Trust Maanda of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights said the organization had
represented about 1,500 of the illegal diggers who were brought to court in
Mutare.

'They were beaten with baton sticks, sjamboks (heavy whips) and many had dog
bites, he said. People had terrible injuries. There were many broken limbs.'

'They didn't bring anyone to court,' Maanda said.

A report by New York-based Human Rights Watch, based on interviews with
survivors, said about 200 diggers were murdered in cold blood, often from
helicopter gunships, an their bodies dumped in pits dug by the illegal
diggers.

'Its going to be very difficult to find out if anything is going on,' said
an official of another of the KP human rights organizations, requesting
anonymity.

'They can sweep everything under the carpet, remove all the illegal diggers,
put the soldiers guarding the area on best behavior and shut down the
smuggling while we are there, and then let it all out when we are gone.'

FEATURE: Zim’s home-based-care gamble

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Chris Anold Msipa Thursday 05 August 2010

HARARE – At Mavise village, 170 km south of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare,
Tambudzia Zinyere recalls how one day, two years ago, the three men
approached her homestead.

Two of the men, she had never seen before but the third she was sure she had
met before. But, for the man’s emaciated and sickly features, she could not,
from the distance, immediately tell who he was.

As the visitors drew closer and as Zinyere could see more clearly who the
third and sickly man who appeared to walk with the support of his colleagues
was -- the earthen pot she was holding slipped from her grip and crushed to
the ground. Zinyere said the shock was just too much for her to handle.

The sickly figure was her husband Samson Chemhere who had left the village
three years before to go to Harare to look for work. He never returned –
until the two strangers brought him back.

“They said he was their friend. He had been discharged from Parirenyatwa
(Group of Hospitals in Harare) and was to be on home-based care,” said the
23-year old Zinyere, now a widow.

Samson had left the village a tall, heavily built and handsome man. The
gaunt and sickly figure lying on the reed mat where his friends from the
city had put him was more than enough Zinyere needed to know what disease
was, to use the rural parlance, eating her husband.

Nightmare

Having witnessed other families in the village care for their
HIV/AIDS-afflicted relatives, Zinyere knew that her husband would need help
in simple tasks like bathing, feeding or attending the call of nature. But
that was the least of her worries.

Zinyere’s biggest nightmare, as she put it, was just how and where to get
the various nutritious foods that, according to a list attached to Samson’s
medical papers, he was to be fed regularly to help boost his immune system.

“I could not buy that kind of food,” she said, “what I only managed to do
was to feed him on chicken meat for the first couple of days (then there was
no more chickens to slaughter).”

Zinyere, who had single-handedly fended for their two sons, Tawanda (five
years old) and Farai (three), for the three years that Samson had been away
in the city said she tried hard to provide for her children and sick
husband, selling fish and home-made peanut butter to raise cash to buy food.

But in crisis-hit Zimbabwe of 2008 – the year her sick husband returned to
the village – Zinyere’s labours simply could not raise enough. Or on the
good days she made enough money from her vending business, she could not
find food in the shops or medicines at the nearest government hospital.

“My children and I managed to survive on wild fruits, which everyone had
resorted to in the villages. But he couldn’t,” she said. “He died last
 year.”

Home based care

It was a sad ending to a story that – sadly -- you will encounter many times
over across Zimbabwe, as public hospitals continue to discharge more
HIV/AIDS patients into the care of relatives under a home-based-care scheme
that once worked – but barely does after a decade of acute recession that
left many families too poor to provide for the sick.

In a largely conservative and christian society such as Zimbabwe, caring for
sick family members is more second nature than duty to many.

But the formation in 1989 of Zimbabwe’s first HIV/AIDS support group by
Auxilia Chimusoro -- the first Zimbabwean to go public with her HIV-positive
status – quickly catapulted home-based-care for the sick into one of the
country’s foremost devices against the scourge.

Chimusoro’s HIV/AIDS support groups, there are now hundreds of such groups
across the country, helped to train family and community members to give
care for the infected, allowing hospitals to discharge AIDS patients into
the hands of relatives they knew were well able to look after the sick.

The government quickly embraced the home-based-care idea seeing in it a
cheaper way to relieve pressure on public hospitals that were by the early
to mid-90s were already showing signs of decay and collapse after years of
under-funding and mismanagement.

For sometime home-based-care worked for HIV/AIDS patients just as it had
been one of the primary means to care for mental patients and those with
terminal conditions such as cancer and hypertension over the years.

Economic meltdown

But HIV/AIDS continued to kill more breadwinners fell ill or died, leaving
child-headed families unable to care for themselves let alone sick
relatives. Then came Zimbabwe’s economic meltdown that left the publics
health sector on its knees and families too poor to provide for the sick.

By the time Zinyere’s ailing husband returned to the village two years ago,
home-based-care – like the public health delivery system -- had virtually
collapsed, with families short of food to feed themselves let alone sick
relatives requiring special diets.

The exodus of the best skilled or trained Zimbabweans to neighbouring
countries in search of jobs also saw not only nurses and doctors leaving the
country but some of the community based health workers that had been the
backbone of home-based-care.

All this at a time HIV was wrecking havoc killing about 3 000 people every
week while the number of orphans was estimated at nearly a million.

Caregivers

Without enough adequately trained or experienced caregivers in communities
and families, the home-based-care is a shadow of its former self. Many
home-based patients are known to skip treatments because either there was no
one to fetch drugs from the hospital for them or there was no one at home to
ensure they took the medicines.

For example, Zimbabwe’s biggest referral centre, Parirenyatwa Group of
Hospitals, is concerned that some home-based patient might not stick to
treatment plans that it insists patients collecting drugs from the hospital
must be accompanied by someone who will ensure that they actually take the
medication at the prescribed times.

“We insist that (HIV) patients should be accompanied by someone when they
come for treatment. The other person is meant to monitor the patient’s
intake of the medicine,” said hospital group public relations officer Jane
Dadzie.

But Dadzie admitted it was all hospital authorities could do. Once out of
the hospital gates it is back to home-based-care  -- and whether patients
will stick to prescribed times for taking drugs is anybody’s guess! -
ZimOnline.

Mayor’s statements mischievous and malicious…