http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
24 December 2009
A farming family in Manicaland has been forced
to flee their home on
Christmas Eve, after violent threats from a group of
farm invaders.
Manda Farm's Ray Finaughty, his wife and three children
are all safe after
fleeing their home on Thursday afternoon. The family was
given three hours
to pack their belongings and leave, after increasingly
violent intimidation
by a group of youths over the last few days. Finaughty,
who owns the
productive tobacco and chicken farm in Rusape, Manicaland
province, has been
stopped from feeding his animals or tending his tobacco
plantation. He and
his family were also briefly held hostage within their
home on Thursday
morning, before being forced to flee to safety.
The
President of the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), Deon Theron, told SW
Radio
Africa on Thursday that a top Reserve Bank employee, Winnie Mushipe,
has
been trying to seize the farm since 2007. Finaughty has been in and out
of
court since then trying to keep his land, with Mushipe accusing him of
refusing to leave the 'state owned' property. The case was eventually
dismissed in 2008, but fresh charges were once again brought forward in May
this year, in a case that has been ongoing.
Finaughty meanwhile was
one of more than 70 commercial farmers who took the
government to the human
rights court of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC), over the
land grab campaign. Last year the SADC ruled last
year that the land grab
was unlawful, and ordered the Mugabe government to
ensure the protection of
farmers and their rights to their land. But the
ruling has been openly
flouted, and land invasions, taking place under the
guise of so called land
'reform', have intensified this year.
The CFU's Theron said on Thursday
there is no way of moving the country
forward if the rule of law continues
to be so publicly dismissed. He
explained that police in Manicaland have
refused to aid Finaughty, dubbing
the land invasion a 'political' matter.
This same excuse has been used by
police across the country, meaning the
majority of farmers have no help in
the face of continued
harassment.
This incident comes in the midst of ongoing threats against
more than 100
farmers, whose land has been targeted for forced takeover by
mainly ZANU PF
loyalists and many other well connected beneficiaries. In the
past week, a
recently widowed farmer's wife was given 24 hours to leave the
farm she
shared with her husband, who had been killed in a car accident just
days
before. Theron explained that at least another two farmers have come
under
siege this week alone, with former lands minister Didymus Mutasa
believed to
be behind one of the attacks.
"Things remain very tense
and the tragedy is that these farmers can't even
produce crops for the
country, which they really want to do," Theron said,
alluding to the fact
that Zimbabwe, the former 'bread basket' of Africa, is
still so heavily
reliant on food aid.
The ongoing land attacks have also left tens of
thousands of people
unemployed, as farm workers and their families have also
been forced to
leave the properties along with their employers. The General
Agriculture and
Plantation Workers Union (GAPWUZ) has said more than 60 000
people have been
left destitute as a direct result of the land grab
initiative this year
alone. The workers have often been the silent victims
in the land grab
campaign, a plight that GAPWUZ has highlighted in the
documentary 'House of
Justice'. The film explains how farm workers have
faced horrific abuse,
including beatings and torture, at the hands of land
invaders. The film also
appeals to regional leaders within SADC to
intervene.
But there has been no effort by either the unity government or
by SADC to
stop the attacks that are having such far flung implications for
the
country.
http://changezimbabwe.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2597&Itemid=2
Written by Makusha Mugabe
Tuesday, 22 December
2009
It is an indictment of Zimbabwean journalism that not less
than five news
websites, including the zimguardian, the Voice of America,
The Zimbabwe Mail
and Harare Tribune have all carried the story.
Even
the Chronicle in Bulawayo reported it as if it was factual that Biti
proposed this tax. But it is not clear who started the
story.
NewZimbabwe.com which wrote the story on Biti launching an
academic report
that proposed the tax seems to have got it right. They
reported that he
launched a report by academics.
They even provided a
link to download the report which showed that it was a
proposal by this
group of academics.
The full list of the academics who proposed it is
given below.
But the Zanu PF propaganda website www.talkzimbabwe.com then went and wrote:
"Finance Minister Tendai Biti has a new plan to raise funds - taxing those
Zimbabweans who are living abroad.
"Minister Biti unveiled the plan
in a national reconstruction report
unveiled by Biti at a seminar at
Manchester University, England, recently" -
cut-paste journalism at its
worst.
The truth is that this was an independent report published by The
University
of Manchester's Brooks World Poverty Institute.
The
"research" was carried out by a team of academics and policy experts,
"by
accessing Government and policy documentation as well as talking to
policy
makers" according to their own Press release.
It was launched by Dr Biti,
Zimbabwe Minister of Finance at a public lecture
at The University of
Manchester on 11 December as we reported here.
Biti himself said: "Of
course I haven't proposed any such a tax.
"The report I launched is an
independent academic report. I have no
influence on it's crafting nor does
the same bind government .
"I personally think a citizen tax is not
practical. In any event there
should never be taxation without
representation"
The full list of the academics who proposed it is given
below: Former senior
permanent secretary Dr Tendai Bare a Commissioner in
the Public Service
Commission of Zimbabwe. She has also directed programmes
at the Commonwealth
Secretariat in London.
Dr Blessing Chiripanhura
holds a PhD in Economics and has worked at the
University of Sheffield and
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trades Unions.
Beth Chitekwe-Biti is currently
completing a PhD degree in Urban Development
and Planning at the University
of Manchester. She is the Founder and
Director of Dialogue on Shelter and
sits on the Secretariat of Shack
Dwellers International.
Dr Fay Chung
holds a DPhil from the University of Zimbabwe and worked in the
Ministry of
Education in Zimbabwe in various capacities including as
Minister of
Education before joining UNICEF as Chief of Education. She moved
to UNESCO
before returning to Zimbabwe.
Dr Tapiwa Magure holds a degree in
medicine, an MA in Public Health and an
MBA. He has worked in the health
ministry in Zimbabwe and is currently the
Executive Director of the National
AIDS Council.
Lance Mambondiyani is currently completing his PhD in
Finance at the
University of Manchester. He has worked in the finance sector
in Zimbabwe in
various capacities and is an investment analyst for an
international
consulting firm.
Dr Jeannette Manjengwa is the Deputy
Dean of Social Studies at the
University of Zimbabwe where she also lectures
in Environment and
Development at the Centre for Applied Social Sciences.
She has worked in
education and in the Ministry of Environment and Tourism
of Zimbabwe.
Dr Innocent Matshe holds a PhD in Agricultural Economics
from The University
of Manchester and currently lectures at the University
of Zimbabwe's
Department of Economics.
Dr Ngoni Munemo holds a PhD in
Political Science from Columbia University.
He is currently Assistant
Professor of Political Science at Williams College
in the USA.
Dr
Sobona Mtisi holds a PhD from the University of Manchester and is
currently
a Research Fellow in Water Governance at the Overseas Development
Institute.
Mike Nxele works at the International Telecommunications
Union in Geneva.
With a background in Human Resources Management he was
Human Resources
Director for the Posts and Telecommunications in Zimbabwe
before joining the
UN in Nairobi and Geneva.
And Dr Desire Sibanda
who holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Bath
and is currently
Permanent Secretary for Economic Planning and Investment
Promotion in
Zimbabwe. He has worked in the Zimbabwe Civil Service and
ZIPAM.
Lead
author is Dr Admos Chimhowu from The Brooks World Poverty Institute at
The
University of Manchester.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
24 December 2009
Thousands of travellers were still facing
long delays at Beitbridge border
post, as immigration officials failed to
cope with the huge number of
people, trucks and cars.
The delays have
been caused mainly by the high number of Zimbabweans, based
in South Africa,
travelling home for the Christmas and New Year holidays. At
least 12 000
individuals and 4,000 vehicles are passing through the
Beitbridge border on
a daily basis.
According to our Bulawayo correspondent, Lionel Saungweme,
the border
requires a staff complement of at least 400 people, but only 120
officers
are currently manning it. Beitbridge is the busiest inland port of
entry in
sub-Saharan Africa and handles a huge volume of commercial traffic
destined
for countries such as Zambia, Tanzania and the
DRC.
Saungweme, who visited the Plumtree border post on Wednesday, told
us the
situation there was also chaotic. Queues were close to 2km
long.
'The problem is they give first preference to commercial
transporters ahead
of people. At this time of year people should be cleared
first. I think
government needs to speed up the one-stop border project,'
Saungweme said.
The one-stop border, such as the one that was opened at
Chirundu between
Zimbabwe and Zambia recently, allows faster and more
efficient movement of
cargo and people.
Meanwhile, a South African
home affairs official, was arrested for allegedly
taking a bribe from a
Zimbabwean at Beit Bridge border post.
Reports from South Africa quote a
senior police office, Superintendent Vish
Naidoo, saying the man was
arrested after a Zimbabwean laid a complaint to
the police about the
official soliciting a bribe from him on Wednesday
night. Police recovered
2000 Rand and a fake 100 Rand note when the official
was
arrested.
Superintended Naidoo encouraged other people to follow in the
footsteps of
the
http://news.iafrica.com
Thu, 24 Dec 2009 12:06
A home affairs official was
arrested for allegedly taking a bribe from a
Zimbabwean national at Beit
Bridge border post in Limpopo, police said on
Thursday.
Senior
Superintendent Vish Naidoo said the man was arrested after a
Zimbabwean laid
a complaint to the police about the official soliciting a
bribe from him on
Wednesday night.
When the official was arrested, police recovered R2000
and a R100 fake note
on him.
He would face a charge of
corruption.
"We encourage people to follow in the footsteps of the man
who reported this
official to the police. This is the most effective way to
root out
corruption," said Naidoo.
http://www1.voanews.com
The
agreement was reached after Kunonga filed an urgent application in High
Court appealing a recent decision censuring him for using police to disturb
services of the rival Anglican Church group on recent Sundays
Sandra
Nyaira | Washington 23 December 2009
With Christmas religious
observances fast approaching Zimbabwean police have
agreed not to interfere
with the services organized by the Anglican Church
of the Province of
Central Africa, which has long been at loggerheads with
ousted Bishop
Nolbert Kunonga, a close ally of President Robert Mugabe.
The agreement
was reached after Kunonga filed an urgent application in High
Court
appealing a recent decision censuring him for using police to disturb
services of the rival Anglican Church group on recent
Sundays.
Lawyers representing the Anglican Church of the Province of
Central Africa
sought relief in Harare High Court last week, obtaining the
ruling against
the former bishop from Justice Tedious Karwi. Kunonga then
lodged his urgent
application which was heard by Justice Ben
Hlatswayo.
Kunonga argued the opposing Anglican church group has not
cited him but the
police as a respondent in the application heard by
Karwi.
At the hearing in Hlatswayo's chambers, both parties to the
dispute and
police representatives met and agreed that the services led by
new Anglican
Bishop of Harare Chad Nicholas Gandiya should not be
disturbed.
Registrar Mike Chingori of the Gandiya formation told VOA
Studio 7 reporter
Sandra Nyaira that Gandiya's parishioners hope the police
will keep their
word this Christmas weekend. But Bishop Alfred Munyani
insisted Kunonga is
still in charge of the church and its properties despite
the consent decree.
Kunonga clashed with his Anglican superiors of the
Province of Central
Africa over issues ranging from the human rights record
of the Mugabe
administration to the question of the ordination of
homosexuals, and was
dismissed. But he and his loyalists have refused to
relinquish control of
church properties.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, December 24, 2009 - The
troubled Anglican church members are likely
to have a not so religious
Christmas as parishioners from Bishop's Nolbert
Kunonga and Sebastian Bakare
who have been fighting for the control of the
church brace for a tussle for
the right to conduct church services on
Friday.
The
parishioners started the fight on Wednesday evening when a group of
parishioners from Bakare's side stormed the Anglican Central Cathedral
Church and started singing and dancing playing church hymns loudly in the
car park.
The parishioners were clad in black. Those from Bishop
Bakare's side have
not been able to use the church located just next to
parliament building
despite the existence of a High Court order declaring
the church premises
open to both sides and different
intervals.
"We are not going to fear anyone except God, this is the
house of God and we
have a right to be here," said of the parishioners as
they walked to the
cathedral. We shall be here tomorrow and worship and
praise the lord into
Christmas day."
But Kunonga's faction is
unlikely to sit back and watch. Kunonga is usually
seen these days holding
meeting in the car park facing Ambassador Hotel with
other church members.
It is the same car park that the defiant Bakare
faction members took their
song and dance.
The police has been harassing members of the Anglican
Church belonging to
Bakare barring them from using church premises around
Harare.
Over the past two weeks members of Harare's Anglican community
have been
subjected to harassment by riot police officers who came in to
disrupt
services.
The police recently disrupted Anglican Church
services and assaulted
worshippers.
In Mbare, Kuwadzana, Tafara,
Warren Park, Budiriro, Glen View, Belvedere,
Hatfield and Marlborough, riot
police locked the doors of churches to keep
worshippers out.
The
disruptions, engineered by ousted Zanu-PF-affiliated Anglican bishop
Nolbert
Kunonga, is in contemptuous breach of a High Court judgement by
Justice Rita
Makarau, who ruled that the churches were to be shared between
the Church of
the Province of Central Africa (CPCA) and the breakaway
Anglican province
set up by Kunonga, the former Bishop of Harare.
Kunonga was
excommunicated and estranged from the Anglican Church worldwide
after he
broke all ties with the Church of the Province of Central Africa
(CPCA). He
claimed to have withdrawn the Anglican Diocese of Harare from the
CPCA, a
move which experts say is legally impossible.
Kunonga had fierce run-ins
with an interim administration led by Bakare,
which was set up to replace
him.
The interruptions had stopped momentarily after the diocese of
Harare
elected Dr Chad Gandiya as the new bishop of the diocese, even though
Kunonga had attempted to scuttle the consecration and enthronement of the
new bishop in the courts.
After Gandiya was installed, Kunonga
disengaged from the tussle with the
CPCA, but resumed the disruptions two
weeks ago.
As a result of these disturbances in the church, many
concerned members of
the church particularly those from Bakare's side have
rented alternative
spaces to use as places of worships. Several weddings
have been disrupted by
the Kunonga faction members. They have also gone on
to lock churches when
ever they are due for use by the Bakare sect. One
classical example is the
Greendale Anglican Church located at the corner of
Samora Machel and
Rhodesville Avenue which has been locked for services for
5 weeks after
Kunonga's sect failed to raise enough numbers to congregate a
church
service.
Freedom of worship is enshrined in the
Constitution of Zimbabwe.
Kunonga is a known Zanu-PF supporter and is
the only clergyman in Zimbabwe
to be slapped with a travel ban by the United
States of America, joining
President Mugabe and other government and party
officials, on allegations of
human rights abuses and the break down of law
and order.
He is a beneficiary of government's land
redistribution programme.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, December 24, 2009 -
Tormented Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
transport manager, Pasco
Gwezere on Thursday said he felt great after
regaining his freedom following
his two months detention in prison.
Gwezere, who was detained at
Chikurubi Maximum Prison, walked out of prison
on Wednesday night after the
Supreme Court confirmed a bail order granted by
High Court Judge Justice
Charles Hungwe.
In his first interview at Avenues Clinic in
Harare where he sought
medication examination and treatment, Gwezere told
Radio VOP that he felt
relieved to regain his freedom and joining his
family.
"I feel great having suffered under state security agents. I
suffered much.
Those guys (state security agents were brutal," said Gwezere
who was
checking in at the hospital.
Gwezere was abducted in October
by state security agents and accused of
stealing firearms from Pomona Army
Barracks One Engineers Support Regiment
Armoury.He was also accused of
undergoing military training at Soroti Camp
in Uganda as part of a plot to
topple President Robert Mugabe's government.
But the charge was dismissed by
a Harare Magistrate court for lack of
evidence.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
24 December
2009
Harare - Harare City Council has no capacity to collect
garbage from
households despite collecting monthly refuse charges from the
people, town
clerk Dr Tendai Mahachi has said.
Dr Mahachi made the
remarks during a review meeting of the Cabinet taskforce
on cholera on
Monday as the Libyan government donated a consignment of drugs
and water
treatment chemicals to mitigate the spread and recurrence of
cholera.
He said council was owed US$30 million in unpaid refuse fees
because
residents were protesting the non-delivery of the
service.
Libyan Ambassador to Zimbabwe Mr Taher Elmagrahe said the drugs
and
chemicals were part of the US$850 000 assistance package by the people
of
Libya to Zimbabwe. The drugs and chemicals would be distributed to all
health centres across the country.
"We will continue to give. This
consignment is from the people of Libya to
the people of Zimbabwe," he
said.
Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo said Ambassador Elmagrahe
should
convey to the government of Libya the message of appreciation from
the
people of Zimbabwe.
"Tell your people that the people of Zimbabwe
are happy and appreciate the
kind gesture," he said.
However, despite
efforts by other organisations to assist, Harare City
Council is far less
prepared to deal with cholera as garbage remains
uncollected in all suburbs.
Council has delayed the acquisition of refuse
trucks preferring to buy the
plant and equipment in January next year by
which time the mounting refuse
could result in a cholera outbreak.
"Our fleet is heavily depleted. We do
not have vehicles to cover the whole
of Harare. We expect delivery of refuse
trucks by end of January," he said.
Government Ministers present were not
amused by the lack of urgency and
seriousness on the part of Harare City
Council.
Energy and Power Development Minister Elias Mudzuri felt
Mayor Muchadeyi
Masunda or his deputy, Councillor Emmanuel Chiroto, should
have attended the
meeting to understand the political imperatives driving
the programme.
Media, Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu was
equally unhappy
saying the city management lacked
seriousness.
Environment and Natural Resources Management Minister
Francis Nhema said the
city should introduce spot fines for refuse dumping
and wondered why council
had stopped the practice when it seemed to be
paying dividends. He said
council should ban the open selling of meat and
fish on the streets adding
that fish from Chivero had been condemned as a
health hazard.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
Thursday 24 December 2009
HARARE -
Uncertainty over Zimbabwe's future political direction is holding
back
efforts to revive the country's economy that was once one of the best
performing in Africa, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on
Wednesday.
Biti cited incessant squabbling over implementation of the
global political
agreement (GPA) that gave birth to the country's coalition
government and
instability in the mainstay farming sector as the two main
obstacles to
achieving economic recovery.
"The uncertainty over the
global political agreement is affecting the
performance of the economy,"
Biti said at the launch in Harare of the
government's three-year economic
recovery blueprint that comes into effect
next month.
"If it was not
for the uncertainty over the GPA we would easily achieve
growth rates of
11-15 percent over the next three years," he added.
The power-sharing
government of President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai
has done well to stabilise Zimbabwe's economy and end
inflation that was
estimated at more than a trillion percent at the height
of the country's
economic meltdown last year.
But unending squabbles between Mugabe's ZANU
PF party and the MDC of
Tsvangirai as well as the coalition government's
inability to secure direct
financial support from rich Western nations have
held back the
administration's efforts to rebuild the economy.
The
MDC accuses Mugabe of flouting the GPA after the veteran leader refused
to
rescind his unilateral appointment of two of his allies to the key posts
of
central bank governor and attorney general.
Mugabe has also refused to
swear in MDC treasurer Roy Bennett as deputy
agriculture minister and to
appoint members of Tsvangirai's party as
provincial governors.
On its
part ZANU PF insists it has done the most to uphold the power-sharing
deal
and instead accuses the MDC of reneging on promises to campaign for
lifting
of Western sanctions on Mugabe and his top allies.
A meeting on Wednesday
between Tsvangirai, Mugabe and deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara who is
third signatory to the GPA failed to reach agreement
on the outstanding
issues, with the three leaders saying they would refer
all outstanding
matters to party negotiators. - ZimOnline.
http://www1.voanews.com
Ambassador Ray said Washington is ready to engage President Mugabe
in a
rational and mature discussion of how to restore not only bilateral
relations but also Zimbabwe's prosperity and international
stature
Blessing Zulu | Washington 23 December 2009
United
States Ambassador to Zimbabwe Charles Ray has urged the leaders of
the
fragile national unity government in Harare not to cling to the past and
to
develop trust in order to restore Zimbabwe's prosperity and
position.
Ambassador Ray said the United States is ready to engage
President Robert
Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur
Mutambara in a serious discussion of bilateral re-engagement
which could
expand the areas in which Washington is prepared to provide
aid.
Confirmed as ambassador by the U.S. Senate in August, Ray presented
his
diplomatic credentials to President Mugabe earlier this
month.
Soon after, the state-controlled Herald newspaper, close to Mr.
Mugabe's
side of the power-sharing government of national unity, declared
itself
"encouraged by statements made" by Ray following his one-hour meeting
with
Mr. Mugabe.
According to the Herald, the envoy said the talks
went "exceptionally well,"
and he expressed to the president his "commitment
to working with everyone
to restore the country to prominence and
prosperity."
Relations between Harare and Washington were often tense and
chilly over the
past decade as U.S. officials vocally criticized the Mugabe
government's
record on human rights. Ray's immediate predecessor James McGee
had brushes
with police when he visited hospitals treating victims of
political violence
during the tumultuous 2008 elections, and President
Mugabe once angrily
declared that the previous U.S. ambassador, Christopher
Dell, could "go to
hell."
As recently as July, Mr. Mugabe lashed out
at U.S. Assistant Secretary of
State for Africa Johnny Carson, accusing him
of being condescending in a
brief meeting on the margins of an international
gathering.
President Barack Obama recently described President Mugabe as
a "dictator"
and his administration has maintained targeted sanctions
imposed on him and
many other senior members of his long-ruling ZANU-PF
party.
In an interview with VOA Studio 7 reporter Blessing Zulu, Ray said
the
Harare power-sharing leadership must develop relations of mutual trust
and
reach decisions that "send clear signals that in fact things have
improved."
Ray added: "The more people cling to historical symbols and
dwell on the
past the less progress there'll be made."
Regarding the
U.S. targeted sanctions which President Mugabe has described
as illegal,
demanding they be lifted, Ray said that "there's probably been
too much
focus on sanctions as a factor in the relationship.
"In my meeting with
President Mugabe, I said essentially that I believe in
engagement and
dialogue, that we all need to sit down and rationally and
maturely discuss
with each other ways to restore, not only our relations,
but more
importantly to restore Zimbabwe to the position it once held."
http://www1.voanews.com
Movement
for Democratic Change Chief Whip Innocent Gonese filed the proposed
legislation to amend the draconian legislation which among other provisions
seriously restricts public assembly rights
Patience Rusere |
Washington 23 December 2009
A senior legislator of Zimbabwe's Movement
for Democratic Change has
proposed the significant revision of the country's
much-maligned Public
Order and Security Act often referred to as POSA, and
the reforms are
expected to be debated early next year, political sources
said Wednesday.
Movement for Democratic Change Chief Whip Innocent Gonese
filed the proposed
legislation to amend the draconian legislation which
among other provisions
seriously restricts public assembly
rights.
The proposed amendments would redefine "public demonstration" so
as to
exclude meetings in closed venues such as halls, and union
meetings.
The new language also reduces the number of days advance notice
that
organizers of a public gathering are obliged to give
police.
Gonese could not immediately be reached for
comment.
Pretoria-based Zimbabwe Exiles Forum Executive Director Gabriel
Shumba, a
human rights lawyer, told VOA Studio 7 reporter Patience Rusere
that POSA
should not just be amended but taken off the books entirely.
http://www1.voanews.com
Nelson
Chamisa, spokesman for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC says
the MDC
hopes those differences can be resolved by mid-January 2010
James Butty |
Washington, DC 23 December 2009
Nearly a year since
Zimbabwe's coalition government was formed, an official
of Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai's party said while there has been
improvement in
atmosphere, major differences still remain.
President Robert Mugabe,
Prime Minister Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara held a
mutually respectful end-of-year joint news
conference Wednesday raising
hopes of progress in the coalition government.
But Nelson Chamisa,
spokesman for Prime Minister Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change
said the MDC hopes the remaining issues can be resolved by
mid-January
2010.
"What is clear is that the delay we have witnessed in terms of the
implementation of the GPA (Global Political Agreement) has not been helpful.
We would have wished that the issues be resolved, but that has not happened.
We have spent almost a year talking about talks," he said.
Prime
Minister Tsvangirai who earlier this year temporarily withdrew from
the
coalition government, said Wednesday he was optimistic the remaining
issues
would be resolved by the new year.
Chamisa said those outstanding issues
include the case of MDC deputy
agriculture minister-designate Roy
Bennett.
"Most of the critical issues that were raised, issues to deal
with the
reserve bank governor and attorney general in terms of their
appointment,
the issue of the swearing in of Roy Bennett who is our
minister-designate
for deputy agriculture. Mr. Mugabe has refused against
the will and spirit
of the inclusive government and global political
agreement to swear in
Honorable Mr. Bennett," Chamisa said.
He said
the MDC also has other outstanding issues to resolve, including
national
security institutions and their respect to the office of the Prime
Minister.
During Wednesday's joint news conference, President Mugabe
said the Zimbabwe
economy was improving, which he attributed to the fact
that the inclusive
government must be working.
Chamis said while the
direction of the inclusive government was good, the
spirit was not
satisfactory.
"It's important that we move away from the stabilization
paradigm, from the
stabilization economics to growth economics. We are not
yet there. We are
just trying to stop the hemorrhage," he
said.
Chamisa said the MDC believes that in order to focus on growth
economics
there needs to be fraternity and confidence building.
He
said if the outstanding issues are not resolved by mid-January, the MDC
would seek the intervention of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC).
Chamisa said he believes SADC's new point man President Jacob
Zuma of South
Africa is starting in the right direction.
"We do
appreciate the effort of South Africa because it has breathed a fresh
sense
of objectivity and unbiased interrogation of issues. And we hope that
this
attribute will continue. It will be good for Zimbabwe, it will be good
for
the region and indeed the continent," Chamisa said.
He said the MDC wants
to resolve the problems of Zimbabwe within the borders
of Africa. But
Chamisa said the effort should not just be empty slogans.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By
Violet Gonda
24 December 2009
Dr Lovemore Madhuku, the chairman of the
National Constitutional Assembly
(NCA), has said the solutions in helping
Zimbabwe improve should not depend
on the resolution of outstanding issues
in the unity talks. He said it is
more important to fight for the opening up
of democratic space.
Giving a review of the past year Madhuku said 2009
was a mixed bag of both
positive and negatives for Zimbabwe. The civic
leader said there was
progress on the economic front, where the adoption of
the multi-currency
system brought some stability and relief to people. He
said the main
political rivals seem to have found a way of working together
and there is
some progress there.
"But on the negative side there is
not much progress in terms of the broader
agenda of the past ten years. The
past five to ten years required us to get
to a very different Zimbabwe -
very democratic, free, prosperous and so on,
but we are very far away from
that."
Madhuku warned: "The signals in 2009 were such that we might see
the current
politicians wanting the status quo, which we have now, to be a
permanent
feature of our political system and that is a very negative
development."
In February this year ZANU PF and the two MDC formations
formed the
inclusive government, but the full implementation of their Global
Political
Agreement has been hampered by bickering over outstanding issues.
Crisis
negotiations over the deadlocked issues adjourned this week and are
expected
to resume in January. While it has been reported that 16 out of 27
issues
have been resolved, there is still no movement on the really key
issues,
such as the swearing-in of MDC official Roy Bennett; the
appointments of
Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General
Johannes Tomana, the
swearing in of provincial governors, and a number of
other issues.
It remains to be seen to what extent these issues are going
to be dealt
with. At a joint press conference with his partners in
government in Harare
on Wednesday, Robert Mugabe showed he has no intention
of doing anything
about some of the issues in dispute. For example, he said
the appointment of
an individual should not derail the work of the coalition
government saying:
"This huge Government of three parties yotadziswa
naTomana?"
One of our listeners wrote in and made the point that there is
a real chance
that the two MDC formations could be swallowed up by ZANU PF,
saying they
felt that Tsvangirai was being deceived and was too quick to
accept half
measures.
The listener wrote: "Even at school, if one got
16 out of 27 there would not
be much cause for celebration especially if the
student/s avoided compulsory
questions i.e. Gono, Tomana and Bennett as well
as provincial governors.
Tsvangirai's ten months in government may be
credited with food in the shops
and less violence, the truth is that he has
given more help to Mugabe's
Zanu-pf than the people who suffered as a result
of supporting him. He has
done this by signing anything put in front of him
regardless of the
consequences. He will regret this"
Madhuku said:
"Our future should not be dependent on what issues that Mugabe
and
Tsvangirai have decided not to agree on." He predicts the talks will
continue and that at some point the politicians will say they have agreed,
even if they have not have solved any of the fundamental issues that they
put on the table.
"And that might require us to scrutinize both ZANU PF
and the MDC - to
scrutinize whether the so called talks, the so-called
deadlocks are worth
our efforts as a country," he added:
The civic
leader urged Zimbabweans in 2010 to look at all the issues from
all the
angles and not take a partisan outlook about the inclusive
government. He
said in 2009 close to half the pupils failed to write their 0'level
examinations because of unaffordable exam fees. "That is not acceptable and
we cannot in this case just blame some people, we should blame the entire
framework that is running the country, and ask if the government is
delivering."
Meanwhile, the National Constitutional Assembly has
reiterated that it will
not participate in the government sponsored
constitution making process. The
parliamentary select committee spearheading
the constitution making process,
said the public meetings on a new
constitutional draft will begin on January
12th 2010. But Madhuku said: "The
NCA is not part of this defective
constitution making process, so we will
not be in those committees."
The pressure group said it will continue
with its programmes of educating
Zimbabweans on the importance of a
constitution and 'why we should write it
in our own way'.
Madhuku
said they will not interfere with the government-led process but
will be
there to criticise the shortfalls of it and prepare the public to
reject any
constitution that is not acceptable to Zimbabweans. He said: "So
we are very
happy that they are starting, so that we get to the end of this
matter -
that is why we welcome the January meetings. We welcome them so
that we
close these chapters of politicians wanting to impose constitutions
and we
are urging Zimbabweans to reject them, that is what we will do."
http://www.apanews.net
APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe's power utility is sitting on
foreign debts
of more than US$465 million accumulated over the years for
electricity
imports and loans to rehabilitate the country's dilapidated
generation
infrastructure, APA learns here Thursday.
A report by the
parliamentary portfolio committee on mining and energy said
part of the debt
was US$98 million in arrears accumulated by the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA) on power imports from the Democratic
Republic of Congo,
Mozambique and Zambia.
"ZESA is experiencing huge foreign debt of US$465
million. The loans were
used to fund major capital projects e.g.
refurbishment of the Hwange Power
Station and the construction of the
inter-connectors," said the report seen
by APA.
Zimbabwe requires
US$2 billion for new equipment and to expand production at
the country's two
main power plants and ease shortages that have also
affected industrial
production and contributed to the economic crisis.
So far only US$51
million has been raised from the African Development Bank
(AfDB) for an
emergency rehabilitation exercise while the government
scrounges around for
more funding.
The AfDB loan would only be available in the second quarter
of 2010 because
of bureaucratic and political considerations by the lender,
which would
militate against efforts to improving electricity generation in
the
short-term.
The government is also said to have reached an
agreement with the Botswana
Power Corporation under which the company would
inject US$8 million to
revive the mothballed Bulawayo thermal power station,
which has not produced
electricity for nearly a decade.
The deal is
similar to the one agreed last year with Namibia's utility
NamPower, which
allowed the Windhoek-based company to invest US$45 million
to rehabilitate
Hwange in exchange for electricity.
The emergency rehabilitation plan
would see Zimbabwe's Hwange power station
ramping up generation to maximum
capacity of 750 megawatts while the 90
megawatt Bulawayo thermal power plant
will be restarted with help from
Botswana by June next year.
Hwange,
like Kariba hydro power station, has been dogged by ageing equipment
and
lack of funding to buy spares to revamp its units.
Any increase in power
output is good news for Zimbabwe, which has suffered
acute power cuts due to
falling generation capacity over the years and has
had to rely from ever
declining imports from its regional neighbours.
Internal generation
capacity from the main Kariba and Hwange power stations
as well as smaller
thermal stations is around 900 megawatt against demand of
around 2,270
megawatt during peak hours.
This leaves a huge shortfall of more than
1,300 megawatt during peak periods
which the country has to meet through
imports.
JN/daj/APA
2009-12-24
http://www.apanews.net
APA-Harare
(Zimbabwe) The Zimbabwean government will embark on a two-year
national land
audit, starting next year, according to a new development
blueprint obtained
by APA on Thursday.
It is hoped that the audit would lay the groundwork
for a more orderly and
equitable land redistribution programme following a
decade of chaotic land
grab by supporters of President Robert
Mugabe.
"The government will, during 2010, carry out the National Land
Audit. This
will cover 12,000 A2 farms, 108,000 A1 farms, 56,250 old
resettlement
schemes, as well as 6,000 small and large-scale commercial
farms," the
blueprint said.
Under the existing land reform programme,
former large-scale farms were
converted into A1 model farms for small-scale
subsistence farmers and A2
model farms for commercial medium and large scale
farmers.
Old resettlement schemes refer to pieces of land allocated to
subsistence
farmers before the advent of the land reform programme in
2000.
The audit would also see 4,000 A2 farms, 36,000 A1 farms, 18,750
old
resettlement schemes and 2,000 small and large-scale commercial farms
coming
under scrutiny in 2011.
Zimbabwe's power-sharing government
had earlier this year shelved plans to
carry out the audit because it does
not have the US$31 million needed to pay
for the exercise.
Mugabe's
programme to seize white-owned farmland for redistribution to
landless
blacks is blamed for plunging once self-sufficient Zimbabwe into
food
shortages after Harare failed to support black villagers resettled on
former
white farms with inputs to maintain production.
The audit is expected to
weed out top allies of Mugabe who grabbed most of
the best farms seized from
whites, with some ending up with as many as six
farms each against the
government's stated one-man-one-farm policy.
The audit is also expected
to facilitate the undertaking of an exercise that
would result in the
issuance of 99-year leases to A2
farmers.
JN/daj/APA
2009-12-24
http://www1.voanews.com
Christmas in Zimbabwe, in the past few
years, has been a bland affair
because of the economic and political turmoil
the country was experiencing,
but this year there is a real Christmas
feeling in the country.
Ish Mafundikwa | Harare 24 December
2009
Zimbabweans take Christmas very seriously. However, there was
little good
cheer for the festive season in the past few years. Now, the
country's
fortunes seem to be changing for the better since the formation of
the
national unity government, earlier this year, and the replacement of the
worthless Zimbabwe dollar by hard currencies. As a result, Zimbabweans are
looking forward to a merry Christmas and hoping for a happy new
year.
At a supermarket in downtown Harare, a choir is singing Christmas
carols.
The parking lot is packed with cars. Onias Katiyo is pushing a cart
full of
groceries towards his car.
"It's going to be a better
Christmas, in the sense that things are available
in the shops and the
prices are stabilizing," he said.
This time last year, Zimbabweans were
dealing with the highest inflation
rate in the world and chronic shortages
of the most basic goods. Shops were
almost empty and people had to get just
about all their needs on the black
market or cross the borders to
neighboring countries to stock up. Gospel
musician Stanley Gwanzura, known
as Pastor G, is one of the many who made
the trip.
"I remember
queuing for hours on the border between Botswana and Zimbabwe,
trying to
bring in some basic goods for Christmas which were not available
in the
shops," he noted. "So I can safely say this year is better because
foodstuffs are available, but I guess the buying power hasn't improved for
the person on the street."
Chipo Chashinya echoes Pastor G's
sentiments.
"The dollar just came in and not all of us were fortunate to
get it so
hopefully next year we'll be able to get more of the dollar," she
said.
Things may be looking up in Zimbabwe, but people here are very
aware that it
all depends on the fragile unity government staying intact.
Pastor G.
"We pray that it remains the way it is or even improves. The
fact that
people are talking and working together means that there is at
least hope
for this nation," he added.
Back at the parking lot,
Katiyo expects a lot of the government in 2010.
"We are hoping they will
come up with something so we have electricity,
clean water. We are looking
forward," he said.
Many Zimbabweans see the ending decade as a lost
decade. They all hope the
upcoming one will not be similarly wasted.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Gerry Jackson
24 December
2009
In breaking news we have just heard that the North American Defense
command - Norad - has been tracking Santa for over 50 years now and reports
that his journey around the world has begun. Norad is the US military
organisation that is responsible for the aerospace and maritime defence of
the US and Canada.
According to Norad, their tracking system works
because Rudolph the
Reindeers famous red nose gives off an infrared
signature similar to a
missile launch.
The bad news is that once
again the reindeer are refusing to land in
Zimbabwe - due to the ongoing
farm invasions where animals are being
slaughtered, and also because of the
high level of poaching.
They have serious concerns that they will either
be shot, speared or caught
in a poachers wire noose.
The 3 principles
in the unity government, Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai
and Arthur
Mutambara have been in closed door discussions with Santa's elves
all day to
try to resolve the situation. The elves want absolute assurances
that the
reindeer will be safe, but so far that has not been forthcoming.
Mugabe
has said he feels certain that neo colonialists have been persuading
the
reindeer to take this course of action in a deliberate attempt to
destabilise Zimbabwe, while Tsvangirai said the reindeer are completely over
reacting, just as Nestle have in shutting down their Zimbabwe operation.
Mutambara has said he enjoys eating reindeer meat.
We'll bring you
more on this story as it develops.
