http://www.newzimbabwe.com
25/12/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
SIX members of the same family were killed
late Monday in a car crash that
claimed 8 lives near Chivhu, pushing the
death toll on the roads to a
staggering 127 in ten days.
Police say
the awful statistics represent a 100 percent increase in
fatalities compared
to the same period last year.
The Chivhu accident involved a commuter
omnibus that veered off the road and
flipped over, killing 6 people on the
spot.
Two died on arrival at St Michael Hospital in Furtherstone, where
14 injured
were receiving treatment, state radio reported.
It was not
immediately clear what caused the driver to lose control of the
vehicle.
The accident came barely 24 hours after the single deadliest
crash yet this
festive season that killed 18 people in Mutare late
Sunday.
Police say a lorry overloaded with 63 fresh produce farmers
veered off the
road and overturned several times, killing 17 passengers on
the spot.
One person was pronounced dead on arrival at the Hauna District
Hospital.
The crash has since been declared a national disaster, and all
victims were
identified on Tuesday.
Last year, a total of 147 people
were killed while 1, 304 others were
injured during the Christmas festive
period.
Police say given the mounting carnage, they anticipate this
year's holiday
to be the deadliest in recent memory.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
By Gift Kugara 4
hours 35 minutes ago
BULAWAYO - MDC president Prof. Welshman
Ncube has dismissed state media
reports which claimed he insulted Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai while
praising President Robert Mugabe.
The
state media report titled: “Ncube salute President’s leadership”
published
in the Sunday Mail and then re-published by a rogue UK website,
claimed that
Ncube poured out his admiration for President Mugabe, saying he
has far more
superior leadership qualities compared to Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
The article contained statements attributed to Ncube as it
read in part:
Speaking to journalists after a rally in Gweru, Prof Ncube
described
President Mugabe as a principled person who exhibited remarkable
leadership
qualities while Mr Tsvangirai flip-flopped.
He said handing
the presidency to the MDC-T leader was similar to “giving a
cyclist the
responsibility of driving a bus”.
“There are those who say we should remove
(President) Mugabe and replace him
with (Mr) Tsvangirai. There is a lot of
work to be done in Government,” he
said.
“Imagine what would happen if he
got into office. He would probably open a
file and fail to understand what
it is all about. Driving a bus requires a
class one driver’s licence. You
cannot say so and so has experience in
cycling, let us give him a bus to
drive! He lacks principles. One day he
says this and the next morning he
says something different.”
Prof Ncube vowed to continue representing the
interests of the grassroots.
“He (Prime Minister Tsvangirai) has called me a
village politician. Yes, I
am a villager who represents the wishes of his
fellow villagers.
“If Prime Minister Tsvangirai thinks he belongs to royalty
then let him go
to England and stay there.”
Deliberate fiction
But
Prof Ncube has dismissed the article calling it deliberate fiction.
Below was
his subsequent response;
“I have just finished reading the Sunday mail story
entitled ” Ncube salute
President’s leadership.” Only in their dreams will
the Sunday mail editors
and journalists ever find me saluting Mugabe’s
leadership.
It will never happen in real life. They can dream as much as they
want and
as many times as they may go to sleep, but every time they wake up
they will
find me believing and saying that Mugabe’s leadership of this
country has
been one nightmare of an unmitigated disaster in just about
every respect.
“Just about everything in that story is false and a deliberate
fictitious
concoction. I never said at the rally or the post rally interview
I did with
a group of about 5 journalists. Even the things I am quoted as
having said
about Tsvangirai are patently false.
It’s difficult to
understand why the Sunday mail is so desperate to find an
endorsement of
Mugabe from me. They are wasting their time. It will never
come from me
except as fiction!,” Ncube wrote on his social network
portal. - Zimeye
http://www.voanews.com
Emilie Iob
December 25,
2012
JOHANNESBURG — In South Africa, the Christmas Eve Mass was the
occasion for
refugees from all parts of Africa to get together and express
their belief
in a better life, despite the difficulties many face in finding
their place
in South Africa.
The benches of the little Central
Methodist Church in downtown Johannesburg
are a patchwork of nationalities.
The worshippers come from various
countries: mostly Zimbabwe, but also
Malawi, DRC, Mozambique, Nigeria... It
is the most cosmopolitan church in
the country, and one which has a long
tradition of hosting migrants and
refugees.
Bishop Paul Verryn, who has been preaching in the church for 15
years, says
having a congregation made mostly of refugees and migrants is
special in
that most of them experience deep suffering, and his sermons aim
to tackle
just such problems.
"Many of them face issues of identity.
Many of them face issues of
legitimacy. Many of them face issues of esteem.
They come from a place where
they've been humiliated, and they try to
recover," Verryn explained. "And so
it's to a natural fact, speak a word to
that kind of situation that's not
flippant, and that's not quick and easy
answer but that enables to recognize
the validity of some of those
feeling."
As the Mass finishes, dozens of people lay down in the corridor
outside the
chapel. Men, families, couples of all ages will sleep there yet
again
overnight, among some 800 people who will spend the night in the
church.
The Central Methodist Church has long had an open policy towards
immigrants.
Just a couple of years ago, there were thousands - mostly from
Zimbabwe -
streaming into the church for refuge. Some people have spent 10
years there
because they have nowhere else to go.
Nkosana has been
sleeping in the church for two years. He came from Malawi
to look for his
father, who left home to emigrate to South Africa, but has
not been heard
from since. Nkosana does not have a stable job and says the
church is his
only option, but he is getting tired of struggling.
"Now, I can say
things are hard to me, that's why I'm living here because I
don't have money
to pay rent. Last year I was thinking that maybe I should
go back to Malawi
to my country, because here I'm suffering," said Nkosana.
A land of
immigration, South Africa also has the reputation of having a
tough policy
regarding immigrants and the protection of its borders. Five
years ago, a
wave of violent attacks across the country targeting immigrants
left over 60
people dead. A fragile peace remains, but the situation is
always tense as
52 percent of South Africans live below the poverty rate.
Tendai Mtukwa
comes from Zimbabwe and has migrated to South Africa to finish
her studies.
She says people like her from Zimbabwe suffer prejudices, but
that this is
not unique to South Africa. "I think generally, any country
would be hostile
to foreigners. But I think for Zimbabweans, it is
particularly hostile. It's
a label, it's a very hostile label, sometimes I
myself have to try to blend
in like a local," she explained.
And Mtukwa also believes the
relationship between South Africans and
immigrants is getting better. "It's
better, because there is no violence at
the moment, so the relationship has
improved," she said.
Despite the challenges, immigrants still see South
Africa as a land of
opportunity. According to the last census, over 2
million foreigners live in
the country - number that has doubled in the last
10 years.
http://www.israelidiamond.co.il
25.12.12,
09:22
Steve Allen | Dreamstime.com
Zimbabwe is
about to inaugurate a massive diamond center where multiple
activities
relating to the diamond industry, from trading to teaching, will
take place,
Rough and Polished reports. Construction of the $20 million
Zimbabwe Diamond
Technology Center in Mount Hampden, near the capital of
Harare, has been
ongoing for the past two years and is almost complete. The
center's chair
Lovemore Kurotwi confirmed that the center will be in use in
half a year's
time.
The new facilities have the potential to make a huge contribution to
the
country's economy, potentially creating up to 40,000 new jobs on site.
The
complex will include a diamond processing college and insurance firms,
as
well as all the functions generally attributed to a diamond trading
center.
The center may be a harbinger of prosperity to Zimbabwe, but there
are
lingering fears that powerful groups with the political and military
establishment of the country will take an active role in the center and
exploit it for economic and ideological reasons, according to Rough and
Polished.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com
Gibbs
Dube
24.12.2012
Political analysts say it is unlikely that Zanu PF
will punish Mines
Minister Obert Mpofu for suggesting that Zimbabwe should
improve its process
of declaring national heroes, instead of leaving it to
President Robert
Mugabe’s inner circle.
Professor John Makumbe of the
University of Zimbabwe doubts that Mpofu will
land in trouble for telling
mourners during the burial of soccer legend Adam
Ndlovu at the weekend in
Bulawayo that “this issue where heroism is asked
for or requested is a big
problem”.
The Umguza lawmaker, businessman and Zanu PF politburo member
went on to say
that the whole of Zimbabwe declared Ndlovu a true national
hero, not a few
people in the Zanu PF politburo.
Makumbe, who is
expected to contest in the elections under the Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai,
speculates that
Mpofu is trying to get political mileage for Zanu PF in
Matabeleland ahead
of general elections to be held next year.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
24/12/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
LEGISLATORS should undergo medical checkups at least
once a year to avert
preventable deaths, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
said Monday while
burying an ally who died of heart attack.
Deputy
Agriculture Minister Seiso Moyo collapsed and died in Harare on
Friday after
briefly complaining of chest pains.
Colleagues rushed him to the Avenues
Clinic where he was pronounced dead on
arrival.
A postmortem revealed
that Moyo, who was legislator for Nketa and a senior
MDC-T party official,
died of a massive heart attack. He was laid to rest at
the Lady Stanley
Cemetery in Bulawayo on Christmas Eve.
Tsvangirai took the burial
opportunity to urge politicians to prioritize
their health.
“I have
noticed that Members of Parliament and politicians in general do not
have
time to rest as they spend most of the time working for the country,”
the
MDC-T leader said, urging lawmakers to take routine medicals.
Speaker of
Parliament Lovemore Moyo dispelled suspicions that his fellow
parliamentarian might have died of poisoning, saying an autopsy had
concluded that Moyo succumbed to heart attack.
He paid tribute to
Moyo, describing him as a hero who put service ahead of
self.
The
MP's burial was attended by thousands of people, including officials
from
Zanu PF, MDC and MDC-T, who all spoke highly of him. Civil society
members
also attended in large numbers.
“I knew that Moyo was strong, and that he
would bring development to the
region,” Tsvangirai added. “I ask the family
and all of you to be strong. We
all have to be strong and carry the load
that is ahead of us.”
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, a Zanu PF official,
also described the late Moyo
as a "selfless individual who worked with
everyone despite their political
affiliation."
http://nehandaradio.com
on December 25, 2012 at 3:14
pm
By Mutsa Murenje
A problem exists whenever there are
facts to be accounted for. Facts which
are plain to any politician of a
sound mind, a politician with an active
orientation towards what happens
around him as opposed to a passive one.
Being one such
politician, one with an active orientation towards what
happens in my
country and beyond, I have a point of view that I wish to
express not to my
immediate locality alone but also to other parts of the
country and world at
large.
For like the apostle Paul, I must carry the gospel of freedom
beyond my
village. I should always respond to the Macedonian call for aid so
to speak.
I am clear about one thing though: I do not only have strong
opinions but
also stronger arguments to back them up. Not only that, there
is a
possibility that the perspective I take in my publications may not be
very
popular but I don’t give a damn. I strongly hold that
perspective.
Everybody is entitled to their own opinion so I don’t seek
how popular a
particular opinion is. I speak the truth and work hard and
that’s all that
keeps me going. Hear me for my cause, keen reader!
A
tragic mishap happened. The anti-colonial leaders betrayed the struggle
for
independence and this is something that we, simply, cannot afford to
ignore
any longer. Like I have argued elsewhere, I maintain that oppression
remains
oppression no matter what the skin or ethnicity of the oppressor.
It
doesn’t become more palatable simply because one recognises their tongue
or
skin in the dictator. This is the poignant truth that should be made
known
with a straight face and without apology. Independence failed to bring
us
any closer to the realisation of freedom, equality, individual liberties
and
democracy.
For instance, we witnessed in Zimbabwe diabolical practices of
ethnic
cleansing targeted at white minority groups (during the illegal farm
invasions of the year 2000); Ndebele people, (during the infamous
Gukurahundi), for prior to the Unity Accord of December 22, 1987, Zimbabwe
witnessed gruesome atrocities against the Ndebele minority
group.
Stories of the Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda are clearly comparable
to what
happened in Matebeleland and the Midlands during what I will call
herein the
darkest period in the history of independent Zimbabwe; and urban
cleansing
targeted at poor people (during Operation Murambatsvina) in
2005.
The period before, during and after the parliamentary and
presidential
elections of 2000 and 2002 respectively also witnessed gruesome
atrocities
being committed against members of the opposition mainly MDC
supporters.
A substantial number of people lost their lives whilst scores
of women were
raped and hundreds of both women and men were beaten up,
tortured and had
their property destroyed. Talent Mabika, Tichaona Chiminya,
Trymore Midzi,
Matthew Pfebve are some of the people who lost their lives
during the
aforesaid period.
What of Patrick Nabanyama and many
others who disappeared on account of the
struggle for a free, just and
democratic Zimbabwe? We are still traumatised
by the unpleasant political
experience of the year 2008.
And we can only imagine how many refugees
and internally displaced persons
were produced during these sad periods. One
wonders how much goes unknown
because of our unseeing eyes and unhearing
ears!
Perhaps it’s true that “What the eye does not see, the heart does
not grieve
about” (Old English Proverb). Surely, we can’t afford to ignore
it any
longer.
What about the misery of many poorer people, and the
plight of so many women
and children and these destabilising increases in
academic and accommodation
fees at state universities? Need I say
more?
Poverty in Zimbabwe today is not only deprivation. It is according
to C.T.
Kurien deprivation for the many and affluence for the few. It is
quite
disturbing to note that a substantial number of people still benefit
from
the suffering of the many, the joy of the few being the sorrow of the
many.
Imagine all this happening 32 years after ‘independence’. In other
words,
livelihood is incompatible with the dictates of the system in place.
This is
so because one must either be with struggling people or with the
oppressing
government. There are no other choices.
The hour to decide
has indeed come. Under these circumstances, one has to be
moved by the
suffering of the people and therefore has to be one of them. As
for me, I am
very clear on where I stand on this critical issue. At times
this I do with
risky candour which to me is a sign of both moral and
intellectual
conviction.
I am wholly committed to promoting social change, problem
solving in human
relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people
to enhance
well-being. I will therefore work to save lives, reduce
suffering, improve
living conditions and maintain the inherent dignity of
the human person.
The intransigent and stubborn regime of Robert Mugabe
has just gone too far
and we simply can’t afford to ignore it any longer. We
want regime change.
And this we can only achieve if we are united. Unity is
the answer. This is
so ostensibly because it is the blood and marrow of any
struggle against
oppression.
I think, it is only, when we are so
dedicated and so united in our cause
that we can effect the greatest
results. As Martin Luther King, Jr put it
the other day; “There is amazing
power in unity. Where there is true unity,
every effort to disunite only
serves to strengthen the unity.”
The truth is that our mutual sufferings
whether black or white and Shona or
Ndebele have wrapped us all in a single
garment of destiny. What happens to
one happens to all and we gotta stick
together till the end.
And I want it known the length and breadth of our
country that if I am
stopped our work will not stop because what we are
doing is right. What we
are doing is just and the good news is that God is
with us.
If only we had justice and freedom then there is no doubt that
we would be
more than willing to go about the business of living. It is
criminal that we
should spend the most productive times of our lives
fighting for freedom
that by virtue of birth should be ours.
It is
criminal that our greatest minds live in perpetual fear of harassment,
assassination, imprisonment or exile. As people with hope and a people of
hope I believe our struggle must result in the re-birth of Zimbabwe, the
coming of her second independence which in effect will be her first
independence.
What we will endure in our struggle can’t possibly be
worse than what we are
enduring now. It is not hard to imagine why the road
will be long and
tortuous. We have much standing in our way. If the number
of the dead,
jailed and exiled points to lack of freedom, it also indicates
just how
determined we are.
In the words of James Baldwin: The price,
if we wait, if we do not set the
wheels of a complete revolution in motion,
will be too high. For this,
contribution is not motivated politically, but
rather, it’s motivated by the
need to begin to reclaim our dignity as
individuals living for and within
the truth.
I rest my case and may
God be with us in this struggle towards real
transformation. The struggle
continues unabated!
