http://news.radiovop.com
07/08/2010 07:33:00
Harare, August 07, 2010 -
Themba Mliswa who was freed on bail on Friday has
been re-arrested for
attempted murder charges.
Mliswa who was freed on US$ 1000 bail by a
Harare magistrate was immediately
rearrested.
Family members said
they never got a chance to see him on Friday and did not
know of his
whereabouts, although sources suspected he was back at the
notorious Matapi
prison.
Police officers from the Criminal Investigation Department (CID)
Homicide
Section could be seen milling around at the Harare magistrates
court on
Friday.
Sources on Friday had already raised fears police
were planning to re-arrest
him.
Mliswa was arrested more than a month
ago after launching a stunning attack
on police commissioner Augustine
Chihuri accusing him of being corrupt.
Police then went overdrive and
started pulling out old cases some dating
back to nearly a decade
ago.
Each time he was granted bail, police would move in to arrest him
and was
kept incarcerated for more than a month while fresh cases kept
coming
through.
Mliswa's continued incarceration is reminiscent of
the way police and the
system kept in jail the likes of Roy Bennett and
Jestina Mukoko only for
them to be cleared by the courts.
http://news.radiovop.com
06/08/2010
13:31:00
Harare, August 07, 2010 - Former Finance Minister and Zanu
(PF) politburo
member, Simba Makoni says he will challenge President Robert
Mugabe and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai again for the country's
presidency if
elections are called in 2011.
Makoni who now leads the
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) told Radio VOP that he is
busy building up his
party structures and will be ready for elections even
if they were to be
called "tomorrow."
"When the elections are called we will be ready and we
are building a party
now," said Makoni.
"We are not going to deny the
country and its citizens that right to elect a
leader who they believe in
and trust. When the elections are called we will
participate ...with the
objective of offering Zimbabweans a genuine
alternative to the MDC PF that
we have at the moment."
"Today we have a child born out of rape. The
leadership we have is
incompetent, impotent and they are always fighting
each other all the time
and the country continues to suffer and the only
solution would
be an election and we don't need a new constitution to have an
election,"
said Makoni.
He said the constitution making process
currently taking place under the
leadership of parliamentarians is "an
entirely unnecessary, wasteful and
unproductive exercise."
Describing
the process as yet another gravy train, Makoni said, "It is very
badly
organised and a process that is badly organised is unlikely to yield a
good
result. There is too much focus on the material benefits of people
particularly the members of the parliament."
He said the outcome of
the process is likely to bear a heavy footprint of
Zanu (PF) and its beliefs
because people were not being given the
opportunity to freely express
themselves at outreach meetings.
"We are likely to end up with a Zanu
(PF) constitution which will be cheated
on the country because of the
manipulation of the outreach programme. It's
almost inevitable that we will
have a draft constitution which does not
reflect the views of the broad
majority of the people of Zimbabwe. The only
solution is to have a new
election,"said Makoni.
He added that instead of the country focussing its
energies on a deeply
flawed process, which although needed for good
governance of the country, it
should concentrate on putting in place minimum
requirements for a free and
fair election.
"It was not the
constitution that defeated the people in June 2008, it was
the
administration. Mugabe and Zanu (PF) deliberately went out to subvert
the
will of the people in March and June 2008. So our focus
should be on what are
the minimum requirements needed to have a free and
fair election," said
Makoni.
He added, "We need an independent commission staffed by people
with
credibility, competence and integrity and that commission should be
well
resourced."
An independent electoral commission headed by
Namibian based judge, Simpson
Mutambanengwe, has since been put in place but
is yet to start work due to
lack of resources.
Makoni who holds a PHD
in Chemistry and once headed the Southern Africa
Development Community
(SADC) said the country is still on auto pilot as was
the case since
November 2007 when the Zimbabwean dollar plunged after
government's decision
to award war veterans compensatory gratuities.
"There is nobody running
the country. It's on auto pilot. The economy is
running itself, things are
happening in spite of the problems that the
government is facing. There has
been no policies. The government announced
the dollarisation of the economy
but the people of Zimbabwe had dollarised
it as far back as 2007, so there
is nothing new," said Makoni.
However, Makoni is being viewed by critics
as a traitor and western puppet.
http://www.mg.co.za/
JASON MOYO | HARARE, ZIMBABWE - Aug 07 2010
16:46
Ahead of a summit of regional leaders later this month, South
African
President Jacob Zuma is pushing to secure an agreement in Zimbabwe
for fresh
elections in 2011.
And there is already much to suggest a
new election campaign is on the
cards, as the leaders of Zimbabwe's two main
parties step up the rhetoric
and hit the campaign trail.
This week
Mac Maharaj, part of Zuma's task team on Zimbabwe, began a second
visit to
the country in as many weeks, a sign that Zuma is looking to step
up the
pressure.
Maharaj confirmed to the Mail & Guardian he was holding
meetings in Harare,
but declined further comment. He met leaders of the two
MDC factions, Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, on
Tuesday.
Zuma wants to go to the SADC summit in Windhoek, in just over a
week's time,
with "at least some kind of timetable" for elections, one
Zimbabwean
government official said.
With the region's patience with
Zimbabwe's endless feuding near-exhausted
many are anxious to see an
election that produces an undisputed result.
"Zuma wants to go into the
SADC [summit] having made real progress towards
setting an election
timetable. Zanu-PF and the MDC agree that's the only
way -- the question is
whether it's possible in a year," a government
official said.
A SADC
diplomat in Harare said that while the MDC might win any free
election
leaders doubt that Tsvangirai has gathered enough influence and
authority
during his time in government to win the backing of security
forces and
ensure stability should he win.
The coalition government has brought in
some reforms. Three new
commissions -- to run elections and to monitor human
rights and the media,
with new newspapers being licensed -- are steps
towards a fresh poll. But
the road to free elections remains a long
one.
Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara said holding an election before
comprehensive reforms will only produce another contested outcome and a
further stalemate.
"[What is] key is the quality of elections -- not
when they're held," said
Mutambara, who met members of the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) last
week. "There's no point in rushing into
elections that will be challenged."
ZEC member Bessie Nhandara says the
commission needs at least a year to
clean up the voters' roll.
A
report by a rights group found 70 000 registered voters aged well over
100.
Reports of intimidation against teams running a constitutional
reform
exercise show that the culture of violence that has plagued past
election
campaigns is still present.
An interparty committee designed
to encourage healing and reconciliation has
never really got off the ground
and many in the countryside remain
traumatised by the violence of 2008, when
the MDC says hundreds of its
supporters were killed and thousands more were
displaced.
Mutambara appears to be the only member of the coalition not
readying
himself for an election.
Apart from stepping up his standard
anti-West rhetoric, Mugabe has gone to
unusual lengths, risking ridicule by
appearing in the ankle-length white
robes of an apostolic sect that has
traditionally supported him.
Tsvangirai has launched a series of rallies,
telling supporters that real
change will happen only if his party secures a
full electoral mandate.
"We cannot continue to have this mule-powered
government, as it is not doing
much," he told a rally at the
weekend.
Tsvangirai said the SADC intends sending a team to Zimbabwe
within two weeks
to discuss ways of ending disputes over senior
appointments.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by TONDERAI KWINDINI
Saturday, 07
August 2010 12:37
HARARE - Zimbabwean civil society organisations have
called on the Southern
African Development Community to set minimum
conditions for a free and fair
election as Zimbabwe's squabbling leaders
fail to find common ground on
outstanding issues from the Global Political
Agreement (GPA).
A delegation of civil society representatives will next week
travel to the
Namibian capital, Windhoek to pressure regional leaders to
consider pushing
for free and fair polls to resolve Zimbabwe's political
impasse. "African
leaders must draw concrete plans to prevent
state-sponsored violence in
Zimbabwe's elections planned for 2011," said
Dhewa Mavhinga, the Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC) regional coordinator
in a statement.
The CZC, a coalition of more than 40 civic organisations,
demanded that SADC
and the African Union (AU) ensure that Zimbabwe fully
complies with SADC
Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections,
including
impartiality of electoral institutions. They also want Zimbabweans
living in
the diaspora to be allowed to participate in the vote. More
crucially, the
grouping also wants the regional and continental bodies to
facilitate
technical support to the newly appointed Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission
(ZEC).
Zimbabwe's inclusive government recently appointed an
independent electoral
commissions led by Namibia based High Court Judge,
Simpson Mtambanengwe. The
Zimbabwean on Sunday could not establish whether
the commission has resumed
work or allocated a budget. The move by the civil
groups is aimed at
preventing a repeat of the poll violence that engulfed
the country in 2008
which left hundreds of people dead and thousands more
displaced.
Several programmes of action agreed too under the GPA such as the
writing of
a new constitution which will lead to next year's elections,
national
healing and security sector reform are running into several
problems as
fundamental differences between the country's main political
parties
surface. The constitution making process has been affected by
intimidation
and threats of violence directed as members of the public by
mainly Zanu
(PF) supporters.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by MARCUS TAWONA
Saturday, 07 August
2010 18:08
MUTARE - Participants at a media workshop here last week
criticised the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Cooperation (ZBC) for allegedly
fuelling tensions
across the country through hostile propaganda such as the
Chimurenga music
jingles that extol the 'virtues' of President Robert Mugabe
while
denigrating other political leaders.
They expressed concern at
reports that while the state-owned broadcaster
insisted on airing pro-Mugabe
propaganda it was refusing to air adverts
meant to raise awareness among
members of the public about the ongoing
constitutional outreach
exercise.
"The public media still adopts a hostile of reporting towards
MDC-T, civic
society and groups deemed to be opposed to President Mugabe's
policies. The
jingle is not promoting the interest of Zimbabweans but is
fuelling tension
among people," said Reason Gande, a resident from Sakubva
suburb.
Another Mutare resident, Maxwell Kapungu, called for
depoliticisation and
reorientation of ZBC staff if the broadcaster was to
become a public news
and information outlet.
Some participants said
they had long stopped watching local television
opting instead to subscribe
to South African television, while others vowed
they would continue to
boycott paying license fees to the ZBC until the
broadcaster improves
programming.
The workshop was organised by the Media Monitoring Project
Zimbabwe.
An MMPZ official, Rungano Muza, said the objective of the
workshop was to
get views from people about the ongoing constitution reform
programme and
current media operations in the country.
http://www.mg.co.za
RAY NDLOVU | BULAWAYO, ZIMBABWE - Aug 06
2010 17:06
Zanu-PF is forging ahead with plans to seize foreign-owned
firms operating
in Zimbabwe, with Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere
threatening some 9 500 companies with closure after they
failed to meet a
June deadline to submit proposals on how they will cede a
51% stake to black
Zimbabweans.
Following an uproar in March over the
harsh law, Kasukuwere made revisions,
giving companies until the end of June
to comply.
Some 480 firms have so far submitted proposals to the
indigenisation
ministry and Kasukuwere is understood to be "in the process
of sending out
legal notices" to force compliance.
He said: "If the
companies don't comply within 30 days, we will cancel their
[trading]
licences. They will also appear before the courts."
Under Kasukuwere's
direction, Zanu-PF youths in the Matabeleland region have
been told to grab
mining companies that have closed or scaled down their
operations.
Foreign-owned firms affected by the Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment
Act include the Standard Chartered and Barclays banks
and mining giants
Impala Platinum, Rio Tinto and De Beers.
Zimplats,
owned by South Africa's Impala Platinum group, has stalled the
construction
of an underground mine and dam in Zimbabwe until the compliance
issues are
finalised.
The indigenisation law requires foreign firms in Zimbabwe with
an asset
value of $500 000 or more to cede 51% of their shareholding to
locals within
five years.
In response, Royal Dutch Shell and British
Petroleum have already announced
the withdrawal of their Zimbabwean
subsidiaries and are selling their
assets.
Investor wariness has
affected the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE), which
since March has lost
$1-billion. A ZSE official has linked "the depressed
stock market activity
to the uncertainty caused by the indigenisation
regulations".
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Corespondent Saturday 07 August
2010
HARARE - Zimbabwe will next Wednesday officially launch the
sale of its
diamond stocks, Mines Minister Obert Mpofu announced on Friday,
ahead of a
visit to the country by Kimberely Process (KP) monitor Abbey
Chikane.
Chikane is due in Harare tomorrow on a mission to certify
diamonds from the
controversial Marange diamonds field in eastern Zimbabwe
in line with a
decision by the KP last month to allow trade in rough gems
from the southern
African country.
A meeting of the Kimberley Process
(KP) in St Petersburg, Russia on three
weeks ago agreed to allow Zimbabwe to
export diamonds from Marange.
Mpofu said: "The launch of the diamond
sales will be made on Wednesday.
President Robert Mugabe will be the
guest."
The minister said buyers from around the world have submitted
their bids to
government for the 4.5 million carat diamond stock pile that
industry
experts say could fetch as much as US$1.7 billion for cash-strapped
Zimbabwe.
Under the agreement reached between the KP and Zimbabwe,
Harare will be
allowed to conduct two supervised exports of rough diamonds
from the Marange
production by September.
Chikane, a South African
diamond executive, is expected to visit Zimbabwe
during the week beginning
September 6 to certify the second supervised
export.
The KP
Monitoring Committee will use a report compiled by review mission
that will
include Chikane to formulate a position regarding future exports
after the
two initial sales.
Chikane has in a previous report compiled in June
given the Marange
operations a clean bill of health, saying Zimbabwe has met
KP mining
standards and was "on track" to start trading in rough
diamonds.
Zimbabwe has been sitting on its diamond fortune since the KP
that regulates
the world diamond trade last November banned exports of the
Marange stones
following reports of gross human rights violations and
smuggling by soldiers
guarding the alluvial mines.
The Russia meeting
came after an earlier KP meeting in Israel in June failed
to reach consensus
on recommendations by Chikane that Zimbabwe be allowed to
export the Marange
gemstones because the country had met all conditions set
by the
regulator.
At the meeting in Israel most African nations - excluding West
African
states - as well as India and Russia rallied behind a Chikane's
recommendation to allow Zimbabwe to sell its precious stones.
But the
United States, Australia and the European Union raised the red flag
over
concerns that the southern African country had not met the minimum
requirements of the KP.
Human rights groups had also piled the
pressure on the KP to maintain the
diamond ban, publishing several reports
to show that abuses and other
illegal activities were still taking place at
Marange.
However a compromise deal was cobbled up in Russia as Mugabe
threatened to
export diamonds without KP approval, a move that could have
destabilised the
world diamond industry given Zimbabwe's huge vast stocks. -
ZimOnline.
http://www1.voanews.com
Sponsored by African-American Congressman Donald Payne and some
35 other
representatives, the legislation aims to retune sanctions to
reflect
political changes such as the national unity government installed in
Harare
in early 2009
Blessing Zulu | Washington 06 August
2010
Legislation that would update the United States approach to
targeted
sanctions on individuals and firms in Zimbabwe was tabled this week
in
Congress under the name of the Zimbabwe Renewal Act of
2010.
Sponsored by African-American Congressman Donald Payne of New
Jersey and
some 35 other representatives, the legislation aims to retune
sanctions to
reflect political changes such as the national unity government
installed in
Harare in early 2009 to resolve an acute crisis following
contested and
violent elections in 2008.
Gerald Lemelle, executive
director of Africa Action which has been
advocating such a modification of
the Zimbabwe sanctions regimen, commented
in a statement that "this is a
promising day for everyone who supports
democracy and development in
Zimbabwe." He called the legislation "a major
step forward for the people of
Zimbabwe."
Sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and other top figures of
his ZANU-PF
party and related companies were put in place with the 2001
Zimbabwe
Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, known as Zidera.
The
law cited human rights violations and the breakdown of the rule of law
in
Zimbabwe. But there have been calls in the past year for a U.S. policy to
shift gears to reflect changes on the ground. The new law calls for
establishment of a multi-donor human rights trust fund and support for
crucial sectors like education, health care and agriculture.
The
legislation also calls for the U.S. Treasury to forgive bilateral debts
owed
by Zimbabwe.
Nonetheless, the new act will maintain sanctions on
individuals deemed to be
continuing to undermine the democratic transition
in the country, and will
review and update existing sanctions to reflect
further developments.
Africa Action Campaigns Director Briggs Bomba told
VOA Studio 7 reporter
Blessing Zulu that he hopes t7he act will be passed
quickly by the House and
be reconciled with a Senate version to be signed
into law.
Some political analysts say Zimbabwe under President Mugabe
continued
dominance is not a candidate for relaxation of sanctions, arguing
that he
has been intransigent in negotiations with his governing partners,
in
particular Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his former opposition
Movement for Democratic Change.
Relations between Harare and
Washington, perceived to be on the mend over
the past year and a half since
the unity government was installed in Harare,
took a sudden turn for the
worse this week following hostile remarks by
President Robert on Sunday and
comments Tuesday by U.S. President Barack
Obama questioning his
leadership.
Mr. Mugabe triggered a diplomatic row when he castigated the
United States
and other Western countries in remarks at the interment of his
sister Sabina
at National Heroes Acre in Harare. President Mugabe told the
West to "go to
hell" for what he maintained was its interference in
Zimbabwean political
life.
U.S. Ambassador Charles Ray and his German
and European counterparts walked
out in protest. Summoned by the Foreign
Ministry for an explanation, the
diplomats said Mr. Mugabe had insulted
their governments.
President Obama focused on Mr. Mugabe in a forum on
Africa saying that the
Zimbabwean president had come to power in the
national liberation process,
but today was not serving the Zimbabwean people
very well.
http://www1.voanews.com
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries President Joseph
Kanyekanye said timber
firms are receiving 40 megawatts of electricity
through the Zimbabwe
Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company, a
ZESA unit
Gibbs Dube | Washington 06 August 2010
Zimbabwe's
Federation of Timber Industries has started importing electricity
from the
Southern African power grid to meet its power needs amid
intractable
problems at the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority or
ZESA.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries President Joseph Kanyekanye
said timber
firms are receiving 40 megawatts of electricity through the
Zimbabwe
Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company, a ZESA
unit.
Kanyekanye said other heavy industries including mining firms have
engaged
ZESA to set up similar deal under which companies pay the foreign
power
supplier directly for the electricity passed through the
system.
He told VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that this facility will
ensure
constant power supplies as ZESA struggles to meet domestic demand.
"Timber
producers pay upfront for the electricity they need and we believe
that will
help augment times when there is insufficient power," he
said.
ZESA spokesman Fullard Gwasira said a number of industries are
looking
abroad for power.
But Energy and Power Development Minister
Elton Mangoma said the government
has not yet authorized private companies
to import electricity directly to
meet their requirements.
ZESA is
currently producing 1,100 megawatts compared with a national
requirement of
2,000 megawatts. It is also importing electricity from
Mozambique and Zambia
to meet general requirements.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Corespondent Saturday 07 August
2010
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC-T has called on
Zimbabweans
should spare a thought for "real change" heroes who died
fighting
dictatorship and oppression since 1980 as the country remembers its
illustrious sons and daughters who contributed to its independence and
development.
Zimbabwe marks Heroes Day and Defence Forces Day on
August 9 and 10,
respectively.
The commemorations have however been
monopolised by President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU PF which takes the events as
party activities.
The MDC-T led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said
on Friday that the
Heroes holidays must be used to remember both the
contributions of those who
waged the 1970s war of independence and the
struggles of post-independence
activists who demanded "real change" from the
new black leadership.
It said while Zimbabweans remembered the role
played by the late "Father
Zimbabwe" Joshua Nkomo and others like Herbert
Chitepo, Josiah Tongogara,
Ndabaningi Sithole, Edgar Tekere, Lookout Masuku,
Jason Ziyapapa Moyo, Sheba
Gava and Mayor Urimbo, they should not lose sight
of the contributions made
by post-independence heroes who chose to resist
oppression.
These included Isaac Matongo, Talent Mabika, Tichaona
Chiminya, Thabitha
Marume, Tonderai Ndira and Joshua Bakacheza, the party
said.
"On Heroes' Day next week, Zimbabwe must also spare a thought for
the heroes
of real change: those who lost life and limb as they sought to
complete the
unfinished business of our liberation struggle," the party
said.
The MDC-T reiterated its call for a review of the process of
bestowing
national hero status, demanding a non-partisan selection
process.
"We demand an all-inclusive, credible and legitimate body of
eminent persons
to determine and confer hero status. Our national shrine
must not be
bastardised by parochial, partisan political interests," it
said.
Under the current system, a group of men and women from ZANU PF's
Soveit-style politburo cabinet has the sole right to decide who qualifies
to be a hero or not.
A person is either conferred hero status or not
depending on their perceived
support for Zimbabwe's revolution - often a
proxy for their support of
Mugabe.
The Heroes Acre has turned into an
exclusive shrine for Mugabe's loyal
supporters, some of them with
questionable histories and even criminal
records.
Anyone who has
crossed paths with the Zimbabwean strongman - no matter how
much they
contributed to the country's liberation from British rule - would
never
dream of being interred at the national shrine.
The MDC-T said the new
system should recognise that heroes are born every
day and should not be
confined only to those who actively participated in
the country's war of
independence or have links to ZANU PF.
Zimbabwe's National Heroes Act
stipulates that the conferment of hero status
should be the prerogative of
Cabinet.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by The
Zimbabwean
Saturday, 07 August 2010 10:30
"This is the first of
meaningful development coming from our own children
whom we educated in
hardships," said an ecstatic Monday Musoro pointing at
two Brahman bulls
donated to him and several other people in Bikita by a
development
association, Chinoera.
Chinoera was initiated by a group of former
University of Zimbabwe (UZ)
students as a way of ploughing back to the
communities in which they were
brought up.
"My cow produces 15 litres of
milk every day. I drink tea with milk every
day and keep some of the milk to
have it with sadza for lunch. Besides I had
a bumper harvest last year
because I used manure from my cattle pen. My
first born child is doing his
sixth form at Mandadzaka and I expect to send
him to university next year,"
said Mercy Machokoto.
"I plough other people's fields with my cattle and get
some money for a
living. We have for a long time been ignored by politicians
in terms of
development projects. We don't mind as we now concentrate on
animal rearing
and farming crops such as maize, millet and rapoko. We also
grow vegetables.
"
"I used to live in poverty but now my life has
improved as I have managed to
build a two roomed house," she
added.
Chinoera was born in 1981 when former UZ students came together to
form the
Bikita Education Association. It comprised Paramu Mafongoya,
Foreman Foto,
Anthony Gori, Walter Mutsauri and Claudious Maredza.
As a
way of helping the community, which helped them attain education, the
group
resolved to help temporary teachers in Bikita who had failed O Level.
"We
travelled in the area every weekend to teach the temporary teachers the
various subjects that they had failed. Professor Mazuru Gundidza and Chris
Rambanepasi provided us with transport," said Sessel Zvidzai, a founding
chair of Chinoera.
In 1994, Zvidzai came up with rudimentary surveys on
issues to do with
poverty prevalence in Bikita. He realised that projects
done since 1980 to
empower people always failed. His analysis showed the
projects lacked
social cohesion. Rabbit, fishery and poultry projects that
had been started
in Bikita had not done well. It was discovered that a high
proportion of
the people had strong religious beliefs in Zionism and the
Apostolic faith
and did not eat pork or rabbit meat.
"Participants in the
various projects lacked involvement in deciding on the
relevant projects to
improve their lives. Most of the projects were embarked
upon without any
ground rules or governing instruments like the
constitution. In 1994 I
formed Chinoera, which had embarked on cattle
fattening, ostrich keeping,
orchard and and seed development projects. We
also set up a
constitution."
The other founding members Onesmo Muridzo, Joshua Munatsi and
Tomupeyi
Mukanyi decided that we concentrate on cattle rearing in order to
empower
the community with draught power. The lack of draught power was the
major
cause of poverty among the people in Bikita.
The group approached
Heifer International with a project proposal for
Chinoera. The project
proposal was endorsed by church leaders Bishops
Harmony Masuka, Zebert
Mutingwende and Simon Mureruswa as well as
traditional leaders Chiefs Budzi,
Mukanganwi and Mazungunye.
Satisfied with the positive impact the project
would make on rural
communities, Heifer International donated 172 Brahman
heifers and 15 Brahman
bulls to Chinoera.
The cattle were distributed to
86 families with each family getting two
heifers and a bull per village.
Each member signed an agreement to pass on
two calves to the next needy
family. Groups A to Z were formed. Group A
received the first
donation.
To date, Group A has passed on an equal number of cattle it
received from
Heifer International to groups B, C and D. More cattle were
later donated
to other groups in Mupamaonde and Silveira because Chinoera
had succeeded in
rearing cattle and giving people draught power. Poverty and
diseases
associated with malnutrition like kwashiokor were gradually
declining in
Bikita.
This was so because people could now plough their
fields on time. They also
had ready organic manure from the cow dung hence
an improvement in their
yields.
Chinoera had a district committee
responsible for assessing how the projects
were being run. It also taught
the people skills to start and manage other
projects like rearing of
livestock such as sheep, goats and pigs.
Now Chinoera has become a platform
for national healing since people from
various political parties meet, share
and interact on development projects.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 06 August 2010 12:24
Shame Makoshori,
Chief Business Reporter
EMBATTLED State-run grain procurement agency, the
Grain Marketing Board
(GMB) urgently requires US$14, 7 million from Treasury
to settle outstanding
payments for grain delivered by farmers between June
19 and July 30 this
year. This week, the State granary, which depends on
government handouts to
settle deliveries from farmers, issued an urgent plea
to Finance Minister,
Tendai Biti to release the money.
Government must
also dig deeper into its depleted coffers to fund a
programme to distribute
grain to millions of impoverished people currently
in dire need of food
relief following poor harvests from the 2009/2010
farming season.
At
least 70 percent of Zimbabwe's 12 million people are estimated to be
living
below the poverty line and are in need of urgent grain to avert
starvation.
The United Nations Development Programme said last week
Zimbabwe remained in
a state of chronic vulnerability and its humanitarian
crisis could worsen
despite the formation of a power-sharing government 16
months ago to tackle
the country's long running socio-economic crisis.
On
Wednesday last week, the GMB said while the targets announced by Biti
when
he presented the Mid-Term Fiscal policy review statement were
achievable,
government should bankroll the payment of maize already
procured.
Government has instructed GMB to restock the country's
strategic grain
reserves by 80 000 metric tonnes.
"Treasury released
US$2,7 million for grain payments to farmers a fortnight
ago. Funding for
deliveries made between June 19 and July 30 of 53 249
tonnes valued at
US$14, 7 million is now overdue and urgently required," GMB
corporate
communications manager, Matilda Zemura said on Monday.
"We have since
appealed to Treasury for funding to ensure that farmers are
paid timeously
for their produce to enable them to prepare for the next
farming season,"
she added.
She said farmers, who had previously resisted releasing grain to
the GMB,
had started selling their crop following the recent adjustment of
prices to
US$275 per tonne from US$265 per tonne.
The upsurge in
deliveries brought cumulative grain stockpiles to 58 826
metric tonnes as at
July 31.
Zemura said this figure was 500 percent higher than deliveries made
during
the same period last year.
GMB has earmarked 35 000 metric tonnes
of maize for distribution to
drought-prone regions of the country which did
not harvest much this year.
"An elaborate plan to distribute maize to deficit
areas is now in place,"
Zemura said.
"Treasury has since been advised of
the money required for grain
distribution to deficit areas as well as for
grain procurement," she added.
Friday 6 August 2010
Prime
Minister and Head of Government Right Honourable Morgan Tsvangirai has described
the late Chief Kaisa Ndiweni as an embodiment of natural leadership and an
unwavering custodian of the values and virtues of the Zimbabwean
tradition.
In a statement Prime Minister Tsvangirai said, "It is with
great sadness that I learnt of the passing of Chief Kaisa Ndiweni yesterday.
Chief Ndiweni was an embodiment of natural leadership and an unwavering
custodian of the values and virtues of our tradition. He was eloquent, open
minded and true to his word and deeds and knew no political figures but
Zimbabweans."
The Prime Minister said the chief’s death was not only a
loss to the Ndiweni family, but to the nation of Zimbabwe as a whole. The Prime
Minister has called upon the Ndiweni family and the Nation as a whole to
celebrate an illustrious life of honesty and exemplary leadership well lived by
Chief Ndweni.
"On behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe and on my own
behalf, I express my heartfelt condolences and join the Ndiweni family not in
mourning but in celebrating an honest and exemplary life well lived," said the
Prime Minister.
In Manicaland province, violence continued throughout the
province with known state security agents using three identified vehicles. At
ClearWater tea estate in Chipinge Central on Wednesday, the MDC ward 7
chairperson, Naison Mlambo Madzangata was abducted by Zanu PF youth and war
veterans, led by the ward 7 Zanu PF chairperson David Mwatinda. A vehicle was
sent into the estate to rescue him before much harm was done to him.
In
Chipinge West, a vehicle with MDC supporters advising people that the Copac
meetings had been suspended in the province, was pursued by a truck load of
rowdy and weapon-wielding Zanu PF youth and war veterans forcing the people to
scamper for safety. However, one of the MDC youth, Tsvakei Muzhambi was captured
and assaulted. He fractured his leg in the process. The Zanu PF supporters then
drove the vehicle for a while before puncturing the tyres and stealing the spare
wheel.
Yesterday, at Christina Dairy, people who gathered for a Copac
meeting unaware that the meetings had been suspended in the province were
assaulted by Zanu PF supporters. The MDC ward chairperson for the area, Pepertua
Pedzisai (48) was assaulted and had her arm fractured during the
assault.
The Zanu PF youth and war veterans proceeded to Christina
primary school where they again assaulted a male teacher and fractured his arm
as well. The teacher, who is disabled and has an artificial leg, was assaulted
on allegations that he is an MDC supporter.
The vehicles used in the
abductions, assault and torture activities have been identified as
follows:
White Nissan Hard body, double cabs
Reports from Manicaland have revealed that the situation is
tense and people are living in fear. In Mashonaland Central, three MDC youth who
were facing trumped-up charges of threatening a Zanu PF supporter, Chenai
Makarau at a rally, today appeared before a Bindura magistrate. One of them was
acquitted while the other two were made to pay US$20 fine or spend ten days in
jail.
--
MDC Information & Publicity
Department
Harvest House
44 Nelson Mandela Ave
Harare
Zimbabwe
Tel: 00263 4 793 250
--
Together to the end, marching to a new
Zimbabwe
The Changing Times is the official mouthpiece of the Movement
for Democratic Change.
http://www.mg.co.za/
CHENJERAI HOVE: COMMENT - Aug 07 2010
18:32
Such 'airport observers' judge the freedom and fairness of
the ballot from
the luxury of the nearest hotel bar
They came,
were chauffeur-driven to expensive hotels, they ate and drank,
closed their
eyes, and off they went, to the airport, chauffeur-driven,
overweight with
Mugabe presents in their bags, dancing their farewells with
purchased
airport dancers carrying messages of solidarity in the struggle
against the
people.
African "airport election observers" are a strange phenomenon on
our
turbulent continent, in which serious election monitoring deficits stare
us
in the face in every country like starving babies in a drought. The
observers are more familiar with African airports than the electoral
landscape they are supposed to deal with. At airports they receive
presidential treatment, with chiefs of protocol from the observed government
even daring to give each one of the observers the elevated title of "Your
Excellency".
Their egos thus inflated, they are chauffeur-driven to
the most expensive
hotels where the only normal voters they access during
their "observation
visit" are waiters and bartenders employed for the
occasion at the hotel,
usually the Sheraton or Miekles, with prohibitive
prices for everything to
scare away any sane citizen and potential
voter.
The timing of the arrival of these respectable gentlemen and
ladies in suits
is also painfully interesting. Two or three days before the
elections, the
meticulously dressed men and women of goodwill arrive with
brand new
briefcases probably full of their own countries' old newspapers
alongside
some rusty accreditation documents authorised and issued by the
same
government they are meant to observe.
It is like criminals
arriving at the court house in presidential limousines,
guarded by the very
same police who arrested them. The trial becomes fake
and the police
institution a mere farce.
In today's Zimbabwe speculation is rife that
elections will take place in
2011, new constitution or not, even though a
new and democratically crafted
constitution is an urgent pre-condition put
on the table by the leadership
of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC).
Alongside other crucial conditions clearly stated in heaps of
documents for
the "unity government" to stick to, President Robert Mugabe
publicly accepts
the requirements in front of the SADC leadership, only to
throw them out the
window as soon as the leaders' presidential jets take off
from Harare
International Airport. No questions asked, no heated discussions
or even the
mildest reprimand. It's as if nothing was ever agreed and
signed.
Meanwhile, a few metres from the Sheraton, in which the so-called
election
observers are entertained with wine and women, militia camps
overflow with
new political victims waiting to be amputated before finally
being murdered
and dumped in the nearest stream or
forest.
Government-owned newspapers are awash with hate speech and the
latest
slogans proclaiming Mugabe "the supreme leader" who will rule
forever.
Peaceful demonstrators are teargassed in broad daylight in the
streets of
the big cities. From the air, militia camps and military bases
scattered all
over the country look like newly constructed villages of death
and
destruction. Senior army and intelligence officers have been deployed
long
back before the "airport observers" were even officially appointed by
"friendly" countries to observe from the Sheraton and other expensive
centres of Zimbabwean "hospitality".
In preparation for the 2011
elections Mugabe's dogs of war are already being
made ready. Without any war
in sight, his armouries are being re-stocked for
that clearly visible enemy
-- the voter. Mugabe wants sanctions to be lifted
so he can buy more
armoured tanks, the latest Migs, tonnes of bullets and
teargas canisters,
AK47s and millions of assault rifles.
Opposition activists will have been
eliminated long before any observers are
mentioned in the electoral
documents of the so-called independent Zimbabwe
Election Commission
appointed by The Supreme Commander, His Excellency, Head
of State and
Government, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Patron of
War Veterans
and Father of the Nation, The Dear Leader.
In their posh hotel rooms the
"airport observers" busy themselves with
preparations for the next official
briefing-cum-reception,
cum-dinner-or-lunch, courtesy of the intelligence
officers and chiefs of
protocol. Official speeches of welcome drench their
ears like summer
thunderstorms while intelligence chiefs order more imported
whiskies, wines
and caviar.
The observers are no longer shy to
forward their congratulatory messages to
the head of state for the
peacefully conducted, free and fair elections.
Their visit has been as
memorable as the elections, the result of which is
already clear for all
fair-minded people to see.
"Zimbabwean electoral authorities use too much
ink for voters to dip their
fingers in," some observers will bravely reveal;
the only fault they observe
in these elections, the results of which are
"absolutely credible beyond
reasonable doubt".
Thus, the reports the
"airport observers" generate in their countries on
their return do not go
beyond primary school children's classroom debates,
the sound and fury of
which do not even stir a mosquito.
I always wonder if these observers are
given rudimentary training in matters
pertaining to their grave missions and
moral responsibilities.
During one Zimbabwean election saga, some
constituencies recorded a turnout
of more than 120%, and the "airport
observers" were quick to clap hands for
a job well done by Mugabe's
personally appointed election commission. Under
such circumstances, with
such an alarming turnout, it would seem even cows,
donkeys and roosters
voted.
The only free and fair elections in Zimbabwe are those which have
not yet
been conducted or imagined. During election campaigns, Mugabe has
proved to
be one of the most foul-mouthed leaders on the continent. The word
"persuade" does not exist in his election vocabulary. I am reliably informed
that the vulgarity of his electoral language is surpassed only by President
Yayah Jammeh of The Gambia.
He will call his political opponents
"traitors", "puppets of the West",
"poodles of imperialist forces",
"political prostitutes", "mangy dogs",
"unpatriotic hooligans", "friends of
homosexuals", "tea-boys of the West",
"sellouts", "colonialist puppets",
"enemies of the state" and many
unrepeatable curses and insults.
It
seems the SADC electoral guidelines on democratic elections forgot to
include a clause on the necessity for courteous, polite language in the
campaign processes of Southern African states. In normal countries political
candidates who use vulgar, insulting language are penalised by
disqualification from the elections.
But in Zimbabwe Mugabe receives
thunderous applause when he calls the former
British Prime Minister, Tony
Blair, "a toilet" and former US ambassador
Christopher Dell, "hell", without
realising that he has a delegation in
those countries begging for money to
buy Chinese arms of war.
"There will be war if we lose this election,"
Mugabe said in the 2008
elections, without clarifying who the guns were
going to target. But the
observers ignored such outrageous language, which
eventually led to
political death, torture and pain among innocent citizens.
Zimbabwean
villagers now hate elections with a passion.
Election time
is torture time, a time for Mugabe and his foot soldiers to
harvest new
orphans, widows and widowers, new disappearances and
kidnappings, disfigured
and petrol-bombed corpses and mutilated survivors,
women's buttocks bruised
and mashed with heavy metal bars, a new hell on
Earth instead of a glorious
time to celebrate the right to choose dignified
leaders for a positive
vision of the land of their birth.
In Zimbabwe the law protects Mugabe
from being insulted by the voters, but
it does not protect the voters from
shameless presidential insults. Anyone
who insults the president risks
rotting in Zimbabwe's hell holes called
prisons, where so-called offenders
are tortured and starved to death before
secret, nocturnal burials in
shallow graves.
Somehow, African election observers and their colleagues
from abroad seem to
think an African election is free and fair if there is
"a little violence"
with a few hundred dead. Somehow, they condescendingly
tolerate "a little
barbarism", which they would not accept in Sweden or
Norway or Germany.
African leaders relish that attitude. It gives them
latitude enough to
eliminate the few real or imagined political opponents
who might cause them
many a sleepless campaign night.
Observers of
African elections should arrive at least six months before the
elections to
travel freely around the country to observe the build-up to
election day
without being led by the nose of protocol and intelligence
officers to
long-rehearsed election performances enacted to impress the men
and women
from "the airport".
After the elections they must stay for another three
or so months to observe
the aftermath. President Mugabe's Zanu-PF will
unleash violence way before
the election date and then lie in ambush during
the elections, only to
attack and murder their opponents after the
elections, win or lose.
The false tranquillity and peace on election day
is simply a mask worn to
hoodwink the observers, who monitor with their
hearts already boarding the
next flight before even the first ballot paper
is counted.
"Airport election observers" approve these tatters of
democracy simply
because they wear the same garments in their own
countries.
Chenjerai Hove is a Zimbabwean writer living in exile
Dear Family and Friends,
As Zimbabwe
commemorates Heroes Day, the official remembrance is
again dominated by Zanu
PF individuals. Every day we are bombarded
with Zanu PF propaganda on the
country's only television channel: big
breasted, big bottomed women wriggling
their bodies, waving their
fists and singing endless refrains in praise of
Zanu PF. We hear
nothing of heroes from other political parties; nothing of
the
thousands who have died in the last decade in the struggle for
good
governance, democracy and new leadership in our country. We
hear
nothing of the ordinary Zimbabweans who who are the real heroes
in
2010. This letter is for them, heroes of the last decade.
The
heroes are mothers and grandmothers who managed to keep homes
together and
families alive when shops were empty and there was no
food to buy. Women who
went to bed hungry, made meals from nothing
and kept hope alive.
The
heroes are our children who lost their childhood in the mayhem of
ten years
of political violence. Children who watched their families
being torn apart
as parents, siblings, aunts and uncles fled to the
Diaspora to escape and to
survive. Children who sat helpless,
hopeless outside closed schools. Children
who lost ten years of
education and as a result are without qualifications
and jobs.
The heroes are people in rural villages who have borne the
brunt of
political intimidation,
harassment and violence. Knowing
their every move is watched and
recorded. Knowing that if their name is not
on the "good" list of the
village leaders they will not get food, seed,
fertilizer. People who
continue to endure the most primitive of conditions in
homes which
are still without piped water, plumbing or electricity 30 years
after
Independence.
The heroes are the professionals: doctors, nurses,
teachers, and so
many more who have held their heads high, worked in the
most
appalling circumstances for miniscule wages, determined to
keep
giving of their skills which have held Zimbabwe together.
The
heroes are the ordinary workers who have toiled for the smallest
of wages,
wearing threadbare clothes, walking miles to work,
struggling through endless
power cuts, going for days, weeks and
months without water and coping with
years of not having garbage
collected.
The heroes are the activists
who have lost everything, and given
everything, to bring
freedom for
us all. Activists who are not in this massive government
we are groaning
under; activists who are not driving government cars
and earning
government
allowances but ordinary men and women who are brave,
determined,
driven.
The heroes are the countless men and women who
have worked tirelessly
from outside our borders. People who have given 10
years of their
lives to exposing events in Zimbabwe, speaking out,
lobbying
governments, raising money for people in trouble, giving
support,
encouragement and hope.
Happy Heroes Day to all of us,
whatever our race, colour, creed or
political persuasion. Until next time,
thanks for reading, love
cathy.