URGENT – 30.12.04
Proposal for external structures/Zim
citizens/ex-citizens/permanent residents to get involved in 2005 election
Inspection of
the Voters Roll in preparation for the 2005 General Election is apparently
scheduled to begin on Monday 3 January and to end on Sunday 16 January,
after which the Voters Roll will be closed – ie no further additions can be
made for this election. These two weeks
are a crucial period in preparation for the election.
It is proposed
that ALL ZIMBABWE CITIZENS, EX-CITIZENS AND PERMANENT
RESIDENTS go to their nearest Embassy during that
period (or whenever the exercise occurs, if different from the date we have
been given on good authority) and request to inspect the Voters Roll and make
sure their name appears. (They may even be returning to Zimbabwe
in time for the election, in any case!). It is VITAL that potential voters have
their names on the roll, and MDC is still pushing for citizens and permanent residents in the
Diaspora to be given their constitutional right to vote.
“Constitution
of Zimbabwe
Schedule 3.3
Qualifications and disqualifications for voters
1)
Subject to the provisions of
this paragraph and to such residence qualifications as may be prescribed in the
Electoral Law for inclusion on the electoral roll of a particular constituency,
any person who has attained the age of eighteen years and who-
A) is a citizen of Zimbabwe; or
B) since the 31st December 1985 has been regarded by virtue of a written law as permanently
resident in Zimbabwe;
Shall be qualified for registration as a voter on the common roll.”
If their name
does not appear on the roll, or if they are not allowed to inspect the Voters
Roll for whatever reason, they should protest as officially and vociferously
as possible, and preferably refuse to leave the premises until they have been
allowed to inspect the roll.
This exercise
will be most effective if organised by a committee/task force/whatever – ie
everyone should preferably choose the same day/time, and go prepared to dig in
and not budge until a great deal of media coverage etc has been accessed.
Citizens/residents
outside have the advantage over us, as the police in your countries of
residence are most unlikely to arrest you and will certainly not torture you,
beat you, etc. provided you remain within the law – so you can stand your
ground without fear. PLEASE - STAND
YOUR GROUND ON BEHALF OF MILLIONS OF ZIMBABWEANS AT HOME WHO CANNOT STAND OUR
GROUND, FOR THE CERTAINTY OF BEING BEATEN, ARRESTED AND POSSIBLY
TORTURED. YOU CAN STAY INSIDE OR
OUTSIDE THAT EMBASSY FOR DAYS, WEEKS OR EVEN MONTHS!
PLEASE – PLAY
YOUR PART IN OUR STRUGGLE!! THIS PART
CRIES OUT FOR YOU! THANK YOU. CHINJA!
SOKWANELE
Enough
is Enough
Zimbabwe
PROMOTING NON-VIOLENT
PRINCIPLES TO ACHIEVE DEMOCRACY
We have a fundamental
right to freedom of expression!
(www.sokwanele.com)
Fifth Day of Christmas: The Great Food Robbery
Sokwanele Reporter: 30
December 2004
The ultimate, overarching corrupt act by the
individuals who govern this country is to use their political power to deprive
Zimbabweans of their right to access food. It is a calculated evil, cynically
done in full knowledge of the consequences for those who will suffer and die.
But within this over-arching corruption of policy there exist many petty,
private acts of corruption intended to benefit not ZANU PF, but the individuals
who perform them.
Wherever there is an inadequate supply of any
essential product, there will always be those prepared to take advantage of
other people’s needs. This now occurs in Zimbabwe with such sickening frequency,
at every stage of the process of securing the food supply, that one wonders if
there is any morality remaining in the country. Private corruption occurs in
the production of food through privileged access to inputs – to land, irrigation
equipment, capital, seed, fertilizer, draft power and transport. It occurs
again in the marketing of food produce to wholesale suppliers, the withholding
of food stocks to induce price rises, and the retail selling through favoured
individuals. At every step it favours the already privileged and the party
faithful, putting unearned millions into their pockets, while forcing the
ordinary person, the previously much-vaunted “povo”, who have now been
forgotten, to exhaust their meagre resources to acquire the bare minimum or if
they have none, to starve to death.
Food production by wealthy white commercial farmers
has all but ceased. In their place we were promised that the landless thousands
would grow our food, supplemented by reinvigorated communal farmers whose lands
would be decongested. But instead we find it is the rich and powerful, who
already had well-paying jobs or ran their own businesses, who have started
producing on farms they have acquired using their political and sometimes
military muscle. Not only have they seized the land and stolen much of the
equipment on it, they have also appropriated finance capital, seed, fertilizer
and draught power intended for the small-scale settlers. Those “povo” and even
war vets who managed initially to acquire land have been unable to access the
inputs necessary to become productive. Some are now being driven off the land,
often again for the benefit of the already wealthy.
But what is even more shocking, if it is still
possible to be shocked in Zimbabwe, is that frequently those privileged “A2
farmers” have conspired to make themselves even richer by secretly exporting
produce which is desperately needed in Zimbabwe. In 2003 we discovered maize
being exported by powerful individuals to get foreign currency at the same time
that donors were bringing food into the country to feed the starving. In 2004
there are others who were given free assistance and contracted by SeedCo to
produce badly needed seed maize. Instead of delivering the product back to Seed
Co, they have secretly exported it. Some of these are senior government
officials, ministers, MPs, even a judge, who know full well the importance of
fulfilling a contract, and the urgency of promoting the recovery of food
production in Zimbabwe. But will they be brought to account? Hardly. Under
this regime they are untouchable, protected by the police and the judiciary who
are themselves complicit.
And finally we have had corruption at
distribution. In 2002 and 2003 when the only sure supply of maize and mealie
meal was the black market, supplies were delivered to the homes of senior party
officials, ministers, Politburo members and ZANU PF councillors. Invariably
these individuals sold at black market prices, making their own tidy profits
while the people sweated to eke out a pathetic existence. Throughout the
country we have repeatedly seen maize delivered only to certain compliant
millers, mealie meal made available only to shops owned by ZANU PF supporters,
and free handouts to those prepared to vote for the ruling party.
And so, those who gave us Willowgate, the
Government Housing Loan scam and the looting of the War Victims Compensation
Fund, have now given us the Great Food Robbery. Corruption is robbery; it is
perpetrated by governments and it is perpetrated by individuals protected by
governments. And it spells disaster for the people of Zimbabwe.
Day 6: 31st December 2004
The
article Sokwanele features tomorrow provides a typical account of a middle class
pensioner's existance in Zimbabwe today. As awful as Ida's experience is, things
are much worse for lower income pensioners.
Sixth Day of Christmas: The Silent Suffering of Pensioners
Sokwanele
Reporter: 31 December
2004
It is difficult to imagine the
plight of a pensioner in Zimbabwe today.
If you have not visited a retired person recently or if you don’t have an
elderly relative whom you are supporting financially, there is no reason why you
should be aware of the desperate straits to which many have been reduced. Though even to watch an elderly person
desperately scanning the shelves of the local supermarket to find just one or
two affordable necessities (or having reached the pay desk, to start putting
back some of the pathetic assortment of items in the basket) is surely to have a
glimpse of the painful and tragic reality.
It is all the more tragic in that most suffer in silence rather than
seeking charity. Some have committed
suicide rather than ask for help.
Take the
case of Mrs Ida Jakes (not her real name of course but a real situation
nonetheless). Ida is 73 years old and
has been a widow for 19 years. She lives
by herself in a tiny one-bedroom cottage
in an unpretentious sheltered housing complex providing basic accommodation at
subsidized rates.
Ida’s late
husband devoted 25 years plus of his working life to the Railways, and when he
died in 1985 she received quite a decent widow’s pension. Enough, with the annual rail pass, to take a
short holiday by the sea in South Africa occasionally. She sold the house in 1991 for the equivalent
of £ 21,000, which she invested wisely
when she moved to the housing complex.
Then
ensued the political chaos that began in the year 2000 and the melt-down of the
Zimbabwean economy, with the most dire consequences, not least for pensioners.
By 2002 it was apparent not only to Ida but to her daughter and son-in-law (who,
fortunately for her, live nearby) that she could no longer come out on her
meager pension and the income from her modest investment. Overcoming her mother’s natural reluctance to
receive “charity”, the daughter and son-in-law started to give her small gifts
of food and cash from time to time. As
time has gone by, and with run-away inflation peaking at something like 620 per
cent, the level of financial assistance necessary has increased
steadily.
In 2004
Ida’s pension is Z$ 5,000 per month (the equivalent of 33 pence in the UK or 3
rand 80 cents in South Africa). To put
it into context in Zimbabwe, a loaf of bread now costs Z$ 3,500 and a litre of
milk Z$ 6,600. So her monthly pension
buys a loaf of bread and less than half a litre of milk! Eggs are quite beyond her reach at Z$
12,000 a dozen.
In March
2004 Ida fell and broke her wrist. Her
daughter took her to hospital but the hospital authorities would not accept her
Railways medical card and refused to admit her except on payment of Z$ 3 million in cash. On a Saturday evening the daughter and
son-in-law had to call on all the friends they had to put together the cash to
have Ida admitted and treated. Two days
later on her discharge from hospital they had to make good a medical debt the
equivalent of £ 400 or R
4,500.
In June
Ida was diagnosed as diabetic and in need of regular doses of insulin. Her
eyesight deteriorated due to glaucoma and the diabetes and she needed eye drops
and new spectacles. Her life savings,
including the proceeds of sale of the house sold in 1991 for the equivalent
of £ 21,000, were now worth £ 50 or R.
5,500. She withdrew all her savings and
this paid for the first few insulin injections.
Ida
continues to receive her monthly pension of Z$ 5,000 plus a modest contribution
from one charitable organization towards the cost of her insulin and needles and
a little help from another which settles her (already subsidized) rent. But putting all her slender income together
it in no way covers her regular living expenses let alone the mounting medical
costs. Her family covers the growing
deficit. They do so gladly, and they are
pleased that they have the means to do so – though their resources are not
unlimited either, and the financial strain of supporting Ida is showing on them
too.
Of course
Ida is one of the lucky ones. She has a
caring family living close by who are willing and (so far) able to cover her
living expenses, sparing her the humiliation of abject poverty. But many, many are the pensioners who do not
have loved ones who either know their plight or have the resources to come to
the rescue.
An even
greater number of elderly people receive no pension at all …
Day after
day they suffer in silence.
Day 7: 1 January
2005
Our article on New
Year's day tells of the wide range of people who survive with the assistance of
a feeding scheme in a major city.
daily mirror
Old guard may cost Zanu PF poll: analysts
From Nkululeko
Sibanda in Bulawayo
issue date :2004-Dec-30
POLITICAL commentators in
Bulawayo are unanimous that the ruling Zanu PF
could have shot itself in the
foot and risks losing next year’s
parliamentary polls in Bulawayo,
Matabeleland North and South provinces if
it goes ahead with the new
guidelines it set on Tuesday to select candidates
for the 2005
showdown.
In separate interviews conducted in the City of Kings, the
commentators said
shutting out young politicians could spell doom for Zanu PF
– a party that
has just undergone vigorous restructuring throughout the
country.
Zanu PF’s political commissar Elliot Manyika issued a statement,
saying:
“Provincial executive members, national consultative members and
central
committee members are the only party members eligible to stand as
party
candidates in the 120 constituencies countrywide.
“Outgoing Members
of Parliament who do not meet the above criteria and have
no disciplinary
cases against them are eligible as well.”
But the commentators said the party
should have allowed a fusion of young
and old blood to contest the primary
elections, arguing that during the 2000
general elections, Zanu PF’s old
guard lost ground to the MDC in Bulawayo,
Matabeleland North and
South.
The opposition snatched about three-quarters of the seats.
Gordon
Moyo, the executive director of Bulawayo Agenda, said the new
guidelines were
only meant to protect the old guard.
Said Moyo: “The problem with the new
Zanu PF guidelines is that they are
meant to protect those people that took
part in the liberation struggle only
while
it is not paying attention to
winning seats in the forthcoming elections.
“The party has made sure that all
those people who have been wallowing in
the political wilderness are brought
back into the political spectrum
through the back door and also protect them
from any kind of challenge from
the young Turks.
“These are tired
politicians. They make empty promises and belong to the
political archives.
They have lost elections – even within the party,” Moyo
said.
He said that
as a party that recently celebrated 31 years of existence, the
ruling party
should bear in mind that cheap tricks boomerang.
Max Mnkandla, of the
Zimbabwe Liberators Platform Initiative (ZLP), echoed
the same
sentiments.
“These new guidelines can only help create a split in the ruling
party and
that is a plus for the opposition as it will be able to capitalise
on the
in-fighting in Zanu PF,” Mnkandla said.
He added that the
“survivors” would enter into the battlefield with the
MDC – if its stance
changes – knowing fully well that their chances of
losing are
high.
Lawrence Mashungo, of the National University of Science
and
Technology, said the guidelines were to appease the old guard who, in
turn,
protect President Robert Mugabe’s political interests.
“Should the MDC
participate in the elections next year and should the
conditions for those
elections be made free and fair, then the ruling party
is in for a routing in
Matabeleland,” Mashungo said.
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2004 10:27 AM
Subject: Mugabe's nephew
charged with espionage
Mugabe's nephew charged with espionage
CHIYANGWA
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----
•
Chiyangwa alive, to appear in court - report
• Fears for Chiyangwa as he
fails to appear in court
• Chiyangwa said dead, family says he is
'fine'
• Mugabe's nephew held for espionage in Zim
• Chiyangwa
held by secret service
• Chiyangwa acquitted
• Chiyangwa seeks
discharge as trial ends
• Inside Chiyangwa's mansion
• Detective
trailed by 'hitmen' after Chiyangwa threat
• Controvercy as Chiyangwa
trial opens
• Muponda: 'My arrest was political'
• 18 cars
recovered from Chiyangwa
• Chiyangwa threatens journalist with
death
• Chiyangwa facing more charges?
• Chiyangwa
arrested
• Msika warns Chiyangwa
• Chiyangwa threatens cop in
court
• Chiyangwa implicated in ENG scandal
• Zanu PF bids to oust
Msika
• ENG directors charged with fraud
By Staff Reporter
Last
updated: 12/30/2004 03:24:39
PHILLIP Chiyangwa is alive although a bit
slimmer, according to his family,
and has appeared in court charged with
selling official State secrets to
foreign agents.
The state-run Herald
newspaper finally broke a two-week information blackout
on the Chinhoyi
legislator's whereabouts on Thursday morning with a banner
headline 'Spy ring
smashed'.
"A spy ring allegedly involving flamboyant businessman and
Chinhoyi
legislator Phillip Chiyangwa and three others has been smashed," the
paper
said.
Chiyangwa's appearence before a Harare magistrate late
Wednesday afternoon
ended days of rumours that he had suffered a stroke, was
in a coma or dead
after being tortured by Zimbabwe's secret
agents.
Chiyangwa and his three co-accused have now been handed over to
the police
after state security agents from the Central Intelligence
Oerganisation
satisfied themselves that there was a breach of the Official
Secrets Act.
President Robert Mugabe's nephew, Chiyangwa, and the other
men appeared
separately before the same magistrate Peter Kumbawa. They were
expected to
appear in court again on Thursday.
Zimbabwe's
ambassador-designate to Mozambique Godfrey Dzvairo, Metropolitan
Bank company
secretary Tendai Matambanadzo, and Zanu-PF external affairs
director Itai
Marchi were brought to court in leg irons before Kumbawa asked
the guards to
unshackle them.
The Herald, although not revealing the details of the
charges, said Dzvairo,
Matambanadzo and Marchi may already have pleaded
guilty and been convicted,
with only sentencing still to come, but other
reports said there were
defence efforts to change the pleas.
It is
understood that the four have been charged under Section 4 of the
Official
Secrets Act. This section is the lesser of the two sections that
deal with
passing on confidential State information.
Section 4 deals with those who
pass on information which they have acquired
or been told in confidence to
unauthorised people. They face up to 20 years
in jail on conviction, but the
judge or magistrate can impose a fine instead
of the prison sentence or as
well as the jail term.
The harsher section 3 applies to those who first
acquire the information by
active spying, and those convicted face up to 25
years in jail without the
option of a fine.
Chiyangwa, who was dressed
in a black casual outfit, a jersey and sandals,
had an opportunity to chat
with his wife and relatives before the court
proceedings began, the Herald
said.
"He could be seen whispering to his wife and daughter whom he said
had just
arrived from abroad following rumours that he had died. In an
apparent
attempt to raise his spirits, some of the relatives could be
overhead
jokingly telling Chiyangwa that he had lost weight during the period
he was
in detention," the paper said.
There was however, less glamour
for Matambanadzo, Dzvairo and Marchi when
they were brought to court in leg
irons clad in khaki prison garb.
The Herald says they "appeared jittery
and continually glanced around the
packed courtroom".
Magistrate
Kumbawa ordered that the leg irons be removed before proceedings
could
commence.
"It’s not proper that they be brought to court in leg irons.
Can you go back
and remove the chains?" he said.
The prison officers
complied with the order and immediately unshackled
the
accused.
Mugabe allies charged in Zimbabwe spy case
Thu Dec 30, 2004 10:59 AM GMT
HARARE
(Reuters) - Zimbabwean authorities have charged four men including senior
figures from President Robert Mugabe's party with selling state secrets to
foreign agents, the official Herald newspaper has reported.
The report on Thursday ended an official silence on the arrest of flamboyant
businessman Philip Chiyangwa, a senior member of Mugabe's ruling ZANU-PF party,
which local private media first reported nearly two weeks ago.
The Herald said Chiyangwa appeared in court on Wednesday charged with
breaching the Official Secrets Act.
Zimbabwe's new ambassador to neighbouring Mozambique Godfrey Dzvairo, ZANU-PF
external affairs director Itai Marchi and Tendai Matambanadzo, an official at a
local commercial bank, also appeared on the same charges, it said.
Wednesday's court proceedings were closed to media and the public. The men's
lawyers were not immediately reachable for comment on Thursday, when the four
were due back in court.
Chiyangwa, a ZANU-PF legislator and the party's chairman in Mashonaland West
province, was arrested in January 2004 on charges that he had interfered with a
fraud probe and threatened a policeman investigating the case.
Chiyangwa was later cleared of the charges, which his lawyers said were
linked to feuding within the ruling party over who should succeed Mugabe,
expected to retire in 2008.
The succession row has seen the suspension of seven top ZANU-PF officials.
They are accused by the party of convening a secret meeting to push for
Speaker of Parliament Emmerson Mnangagwa's candidacy for the post of party
vice-president, seen as a stepping stone to the top job.
The party post subsequently went to liberation war veteran Joyce Mujuru, whom
Mugabe went on to appoint for a similar job in government.
© Reuters 2004. All Rights Reserved.
‘Chiyangwa tortured’
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date
:2004-Dec-30
ZANU PF legislator for Chinhoyi, Phillip Chiyangwa was
allegedly blindfolded
and tortured by his captors while in detention until
his final appearance in
court yesterday – a fortnight after he went missing –
a Harare Magistrate’s
Court has been told.
The businessman’s lawyer,
Canaan Dube, said this when his client appeared in
court on charges of
contravening provisions of the Official Secrets Act.
Through Dube, Chiyangwa,
who is also the party’s Mashonaland West provincial
chairman, claimed he was
kidnapped and detained under humiliating conditions
until his appearance in
court yesterday.
Dube told the court that the legislator was blindfolded and
moved from place
to place, detained in solitary confinement with no toilet
facilities,
subjected to intimidation, threats and interrogated for
hours.
“He was moved from place to place where it was stinking of human
urine. He
is a hypertension patient, a condition known to the captors,” Dube
claimed.
“His health seriously deteriorated due to the ill-treatment to the
extent
that he suffered a mild stroke which was confirmed by Dr Mangwiro and
a
government doctor (Dr Mandishora), who both recommended he be
hospitalised,
but the captors ignored.”
Dube further alleged that since
Chiyangwa was kidnapped, he was persistently
denied access to his
lawyers.
Lloyd Mhishi and Selby Hwacha assisted Dube.
Soon after Chiyangwa
lodged the complaints, Morgen Nemadire, of the Attorney
General’s office,
partly read allegations against the legislator, before
Kumbawa cleared the
court.
Because of the national security nature of the allegations, the
press,
relatives and the public were not allowed to hear the
circumstances
surrounding the charge.
After the court proceedings,
Chiyangwa’s lawyers told The Daily Mirror the
case had been adjourned to
today when he is expected to apply for refusal of
remand.
The legislator
arrived at the Harare Magistrates’ Courts clad in a T-Shirt,
black sweater, a
pair of synthetic pants and a pair of black sandals, under
heavy security
guard and appeared at ease.
Meanwhile, banker Tendai Matambanadzo, Zimbabwe’s
ambassador to Mozambique
Godfrey Dzvairo and Itai Marchi, also appeared in
the same court yesterday.
The three appeared in court clad in prison garb
with leg irons. But before
proceedings kicked off, Kumbawa ordered the leg
irons be removed.
Kumbawa then ruled that since the initial remand was held
in camera, it was
only logical to continue the case in camera as it was a
national security
matter and in accordance with the laws of the
country.
Chiyangwa, whose case was yet to be heard, seized the opportunity
and walked
out of the courtroom to hug and kiss his loved ones under the
watchful eye
of state security agents who thronged the court
building.
Back in court, Kumbawa said: “During the first appearance of the
accused, it
was ruled that the matter be heard in camera because of the
nature of the
case. Today it has to proceed in camera, unless there are any
changes.”
But Dube objected: “We want to know the basis why the matter be in
camera.
We were not in court when our clients were first brought here. We do
not
know whether there was a certificate to justify why the matter must be
in
camera.”
Kumbawa was not amused by Dube’s remarks and questioned why he
was not
informed about the decision to hear the case in camera when he
took
instructions to defend the accused persons.
“Are you saying when you
took instructions you were not told about this
issue? As lawyers we get
instructions before taking up cases. We are not
like n’angas who just use
divine powers,” Kumbawa added.
In his response, Dube said since his client’s
arrest about a fortnight ago,
he was denied access.
Nemadire later
explained that the State had invoked provisions of the
Publicity Restriction
Act, which bars hearing of national security matters
in public.
The trio’s
case continues today.
Zimonline
Top ZANU PF official accused of espionage detained at military
camp.
Thur 30 December 2004
HARARE - Ruling ZANU PF party provincial
chairman and top businessman,
Philip Chiyangwa, arrested by state secret
agents two weeks ago allegedly
for espionage is now being detained at a
military camp just outside Harare.
Intelligence sources told ZimOnline
that Chiyangwa was now being held at One
Commando Regiment Barracks along
Airport road after spending more than a
week at the secret service Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO)'s torture
chambers at Goromonzi, less than
80 km east of Harare.
The camp, which is the headquarters of Zimbabwe's
elite One Commando
brigade, is also the location of the military's torture
chambers. Two
independent journalists, Ray Choto and the late Mark
Chavhunduka, were
severely tortured there about six years ago after
publishing a story
claiming that some top commanders had been arrested for
plotting a coup.
The body of the late Congolese President Laurent Desire
Kabila was also kept
at the same camp for several weeks after his
assassination three years ago,
while Harare and Kinshasa claimed he was still
alive.
"He (Chiyangwa) is now a guest of the military at One Commando
barracks.
From there we expect him to be brought to court between now and
next week,"
said one source, speaking anonymously.
According to the
source Chiyangwa, accused over espionage together with a
coterie of senior
ZANU PF officials and other individuals linked to the
party, may not have
been the ring leader of a group that is alleged to have
supplied intelligence
information to British and Israeli spies.
Zimbabwe's ambassador to
Mozambique, Godfrey Dzvairo; ZANU PF deputy
security officer Kenny Karidza,
party external affairs director Itai Marchi
and banking executive Tendai
Matambanadzo are also being detained by the CIO
over the same espionage
charges.
"From what has been deduced from interrogations so far
indications are that
although he might be the most prominent of the group but
he was probably not
the leader," the source said.
The other four
people accused with Chiyangwa appeared in court on Christmas
eve but the
Press and relatives of the accused were barred from the
hearing.
ZimOnline.
Zim Online (SA), 30 December
Government official forces church to cancel
Christmas donation
Matabeleland South - An insistence on observing political protocol saw
orphans and poor villagers at Insiza here in Matabeleland South province lose
out on a chance to get some food and clothes to brighten their Christmas. A
ceremony to hand over the gifts sourced from well-wishers by the Methodist
Church in Zimbabwe was cancelled at the last minute after the local ruling Zanu
PF party Member of Parliament (MP), Andrew Langa, declared nothing be given to
the needy villagers unless he was there. The church had planned to give out
books, medicines, crop seeds and mealie-meal to the needy here two days before
Christmas. It is now holding back the gifts until it can arrange a date
convenient to Langa when he can be present to allow the handing over of the
goods. Church social worker Sheba Dube, told ZimOnline, "we had to call off the
event because at the last minute we got a message that the MP (Langa) said that
nothing should be distributed unless he was there." She said the church had also
planned to host a Christmas party for orphans in this impoverished district soon
after handing over the gifts but that also was cancelled thanks to Langa. "We
were planning to have a Christmas party for the orphans because some of them
were not going to be able to have a party like everybody else," Dube said.
Hundreds of villagers and orphans who had turned up for the Christmas party and
to receive gifts had to return home hungry and empty handed, according to Dube.
The cancelled gift ceremony is not the first setback for the church's
philanthropic attempt in Insiza. Two months ago the church tried to hand over
books and medicines to a local traditional chief. But the chief declined to
receive the goods saying the church should have gone through the government
district administrator. The church was only able to give out the goods after the
administrator had given permission that it could do so. Langa, who is also
government deputy Minister for Transport and Communications, could not be
reached for comment.
Daily Mirror, 30 December
Bennett’s lawyer complains over inhuman treatment
Clemence Manyukwe
Jailed Chimanimani Member of Parliament (MP) Roy Bennett’s lawyer has
written to prison authorities voicing concern over alleged inhuman treatment her
client is being subjected to at Mutoko Prison, where the legislator is serving a
one-year sentence. Harare lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, of Kantor and Immerman law
firm, complained that when she visited the prison, she opted not to see Bennett
as the lawmaker was dressed in prison garb which exposed his body. "I was unable
to visit Mr Bennett because… he has been issued with prison garb that exposes
his buttocks and private parts. As a female lawyer you can understand my
difficulty in visiting him both from a cultural and humanitarian perspective,"
read part of Mtetwa’s letter, which is contained in a Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights (ZLFH) press statement calling for an urgent resolution of the
legislator’s matter. Bennett is serving time in prison after a Parliamentary
Privileges Committee found him in contempt of Parliament for the May 18 incident
in which he assaulted the Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs,
Patrick Chinamasa, who is also the Leader of the House, during a debate on the
Stock Theft Bill.
Zimbabwe Prisons Service spokesperson, Elizabeth Banda,
could not comment on Mtetwa’s letter yesterday, saying she was on leave.
However, apart from Mtetwa’s concerns, in its statement, the ZLHR complained
over delays by the High Court to deliver judgment in Bennett’s case that was
heard as an urgent matter last month. "On the 1st of November an urgent
application was heard by the High Court seeking the release of Hon Bennett
pending the determination of the appeal and review as lodged with the High
Court. Notwithstanding, the fact that the Speaker of Parliament issued another
certificate purportedly ousting the jurisdiction of the court, the matter was
heard on the 9th of November 2004, on an urgent basis. Judgment was reserved and
to-date the judgment remains with no cogent reason for such a delay has been
proffered," added the statement from the legal practitioners’ body, which is led
by Arnold Tsunga. Notwithstanding the court’s throwing out the Parliamentary
Speaker’s second certificate, the court obliged with his first one on October 26
not to hear the case, arguing that it was also being heard in the House.
The Herald
Inadequate capital injection hampers ZMDC’s efforts to revive closed mines
Business Reporter
EFFORTS by the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) to
revive its closed mines have been hampered by funding constraints, the Herald
Business has learnt.
The State-run mining corporation was forced to
close or offload several of its loss-making mines over the past 10 years due to
a hostile economic climate and falling prices on the international market.
ZMDC chief executive officer Mr Dominic Mubayiwa says plans to
resuscitate the closed mines and others operating at below capacity had failed
to take off in 2004 due to under-funding.
"As a parastatal, capital is a
major constraint and our activities should be internally funded.
"As a
result we failed to implement some of the ideas to revitalise our mines due to
capital constraints," said Mr Mubayiwa.
However, he said ZMDC would
remain committed to ensuring that all closed mines under its wing were reopened,
adding that projects initiated in 2004 would be completed in 2005.
"We
are continuing to conduct due diligence in some mines which need our attention
and we are not only targeting closed ones but also mining entities which are
failing to realise their full potential," he said.
The corporation has
been allocated $3 billion of the $52,6 billion, which was allocated to the
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development in the 2005 National Budget.
Mr
Mubayiwa said although the allocation is inadequate, the corporation would
continue with its strategy to acquire big mining entities that have a potential
of adding economic value to its existing portfolio.
The ZMDC portfolio
includes Messina Trading Development Corporation (MTD, which is under its
Mhangura wing), Lomagundi Smelting and Mining, Kamativi Mine, Elvington Gold
Mine, Sabi Gold Mine, Lynx Mine and Mhangura Copper Refinery.
Kamativi
Mine was closed down in 1994, Sabi Gold Mine in 2000 followed by Madziwa Nickel
Mine while Connemara Gold Mine and Elvington ceased operations in 2003.
"The reasons for the small allocation are understood and we want to
ensure that this small allocation must be used wisely in respect of new national
mine policy," he said.
In the past ZMDC failed to recapitalise owing to
poor viability and heavy debts.
The corporation was also hit by the fall
of mineral prices on the international market.
Cost reduction measures
were introduced in 1999 to counter the fall of prices, but this failed to bear
fruit because the corporation was already in a heavy loss-making situation.
The country has been losing millions of dollars following the closure of
strategic mines due to inadequate funding and foreign currency shortages.
The mining sector contributes about 4 percent to Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) and it is projected to register a positive growth of 7,5 percent next year
after recording an estimated growth of 11,6 percent in 2004.
Its
contribution to the GDP and foreign currency generation is also expected to
significantly increase in 2005 due to the changes in the national mine policy.
The recovery of the sector is mainly underpinned by the significant
increases in output of gold, nickel, platinum and palladium.
|
The Telegraph - India
Zimbabwe look to prove a point |
|
Dhaka: The Zimbabwe cricket squad, led by
wicketkeeper Tatenda Taibu arrived here Thursday for their first Test series
since they were banned from playing Tests for six months by the ICC.
Zimbabwe didn’t have Test status for tours by
Australia and England following two massive losses to Sri Lanka in May. They
hosted Australia and England for limited overs matches only.
The Zimbabweans will play two Tests against the No.
10-ranked Bangladesh, who haven’t won a Test since gaining full membership of
the ICC in 2000. The tour will open with a warm-up match between Zimbabwe and a
Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in Chittagong on Saturday. The first Test starts
there on Thursday and the second Test in Dhaka from January 14. Five one-day
Internationals will follow the Test series.
Bangladesh are coming off ODI and Test series losses
to India, but have been buoyed by an upset win in the second of three
one-dayers.
The Zimbabwean’s arrival was delayed by two days
because of flight disruptions in India following last weekend’s tsunamis, which
killed more than 77,000 people in south and south-east
Asia. |
Winners and losers in ... Zimbabwe
Friday December 31,
2004
The
Guardian
It was a good year for ... Robert Mugabe
Aged 80 and in office
for 24 years, Robert Mugabe further consolidated his power in 2004. He pushed
aside challengers within his Zanu-PF party and installed non-threatening
vice-presidents.
He saw fresh legislation passed which increased restrictions on the press and
human rights groups and gave him new powers over elections. Fit and spry, Mr
Mugabe is well placed to lead his party to victory in parliamentary elections.
So secure did he feel that he left this week for his traditional January
holiday at Malaysia's Langkawi Island, despite the devastation caused by the
tsunami to neighbouring islands in the Andaman Sea.
It was a bad year for ... almost everyone else
Beset by food
shortages, inflation that averaged more than 200% and unemployment of more than
70%, most Zimbabweans struggled in 2004. The economy declined for the fifth
consecutive year for a cumulative loss of 40% in GDP. According to Unicef life
expectancy was 33 years and HIV/Aids has infected 25% of the population. An
estimated 3,000 people died of Aids each week and there are about 1 million Aids
orphans.
More than 3 million of the country's 13 million have left.
Coming up in 2005 ... elections
In parliamentary elections in
mid-March, Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF is set to defeat the main opposition led by
Morgan Tsvangirai (above right) because it controls all aspects of the poll -
from drawing up constituency boundaries to vote-counting. Zanu-PF is expected to
win more than enough seats to alter the constitution.
