http://www.independent.co.uk/
Finance Minister
suspends British branch as Zimbabweans in exile are accused
of 'bleeding
movement dry'
By Alex Duval Smith in Harare and Archie
Bland
Thursday, 31 December 2009
The overseas offices of
Zimbabwe's opposition face a "huge" corruption
problem, with £57,000 missing
from the British branch of the Movement for
Democratic Change alone,
according to a senior official of the cash-strapped
party.
In
February the MDC joined an inclusive government with Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF, and is dependent on the activism and support of up to 4 million
Zimbabweans who have left the country in the past 10 years.
The MDC's
treasurer-general, Roy Bennett, said yesterday that the British
branch -
second only to the South African office of the party in
importance - had
been suspended in the wake of what Mr Bennett describes as
a problem the
party faced "everywhere".
Mr Bennett, 52, said that although a formal
instruction had yet to be given,
all other overseas branches would be
disbanded. He said that MDC branches
across the world faced rogue elements.
"They are bleeding us," he said. "I
would hate to know the amount of money
that has been raised by Zimbabweans
in exile purporting to represent the
MDC. They have used the MDC name and
pocketed the money."
The UK and
Ireland provincial executive has been suspended pending an
investigation
into what the MDC Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, described as
"shocking"
financial irregularities in a November letter announcing the
action.
But UK-based MDC officials yesterday played down the claims,
insisting that
any financial irregularities under its supervision were not
the result of
corruption. "It's more to do with the way the money was
remitted to Harare,"
said Jeff Sango, chairman of the MDC in the South-east
of England. "The
people who were supposed to make the investigation should
come here and do
that investigation. There is no evidence right now. It is
only an
allegation."
The MDC has about 800 active members in the UK.
According to UK-based
officials, about 70 per cent of funds raised from
members - including via
the sale of £70 membership cards - are sent back to
Zimbabwe, with the rest
used to cover administrative costs. But the MDC in
Harare says that the
British branch failed to submit adequate financial
reports.
Mr Biti also noted "extensive bickering" in the UK and Ireland
branches of
the party. His younger brother Stanford, a vehement critic of
the British
party organisation, is alleged to have pelted members of the
executive
committee with eggs.
The former opposition party is trying
to convince highly educated
Zimbabweans abroad to return home. According to
Zimbabwe's finance ministry,
the diaspora sent home £100m in remittances to
relatives in 2009 - about the
same amount as the European Union gave in aid.
But repeated calls by the
Prime Minister, the MDC's leader, Morgan
Tsvangirai, for the return of
teachers, nurses, doctors and business people
have met with reluctance, amid
scepticism over the progress of the inclusive
government. Earlier this year,
Mr Tsvangirai was booed when he addressed
hundreds of Zimbabweans at
Southwark Cathedral in London.
The MDC was
established 10 years ago. In March 2008, it won a slim majority
in the
parliamentary election, but Mr Mugabe, who has held power since 1980,
disputed the outcome of the presidential poll. Zanu-PF launched a campaign
of violence, and Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the June 2008 presidential
run-off. Mr Tsvangirai became Prime Minister under an agreement brokered by
South Africa that has yet to be fully implemented.
Nevertheless, the
economy has improved and supermarkets this Christmas were
well stocked with
goods. Soon after the MDC entered government, Tendai Biti
halted inflation
by abolishing the Zimbabwe dollar, previously printed at
will to fuel Mr
Mugabe's patronage system. Now the South African rand and US
dollar are
used.
A new round of negotiations is under way between Mr Tsvangirai's
MDC,
another faction of the party, and Zanu-PF. Sticking points include key
jobs
and Mr Mugabe's refusal to swear in Mr Bennett, a white farmer, as
deputy
agriculture minister. But European diplomats said yesterday that the
MDC has
begun lobbying them to lift some of the targeted sanctions against
companies
close to Mr Mugabe's regime.
The MDC's surprise move is
likely to be greeted by expatriates with
particular scepticism, as the
removal of sanctions tops Mr Mugabe's agenda.
Some 40 companies and 172
individuals are barred from trading with and
travelling in the European
Union.
Most European diplomats say their minimum requirements for the
lifting of
sanctions would be progress on the drafting of a new
constitution,
ultimately leading to free and fair elections.
Moves to
advance the constitutional process top the MDC wishlist and an
election
campaign will require funding. Mr Bennett said: "Raising that money
is going
to be a priority. In all my time as treasurer, I have only ever
managed to
mobilise 12 vehicles for party canvassing work. Zanu-PF has 12
vehicles in
every district, at least."
He said accusations that the MDC is funded by
the British Government are
unfair. "I have never seen a single penny from
Britain to fight the
democratic struggle. Politics is about money, and we
are down to relying on
a poverty-stricken people to try to replace a
government that has taken full
control of everything."
The MDC is
tight-lipped about its funding, which is believed to come largely
from
members of the business community who do not wish to be identified
while Mr
Mugabe is in power. European embassies admit only to providing the
MDC with
trainers and bursaries for courses in subjects such as
international
relations.
£57,000
The sum the MDC alleges has gone missing from
its British branch.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=26253
December 30, 2009
By
Owen Chikari
MASVINGO - Tourism and Hospitality Minister Walter Mzembi's
survival in the
Cabinet hangs in the balance after war veterans and Zanu-PF
supporters here
resolved to recall him because there are more senior Zanu-PF
politicians in
the province to replace him.
Mzembi is the only
Zanu-PF cabinet minister who was excluded from the party's
central committee
during the party Congress held in Harare in December after
the Masvingo
provincial executive dropped him for allegedly being the sole
supporter of
the candidature of Vice President Joyce Mujuru while the rest
of the
provincial executive supported former Manicaland governor Oppah
Muchinguri.
At a Zanu-PF meeting held here Tuesday, December 29, some
war veterans and
Zanu-PF supporters proposed that Mzembi be recalled from
cabinet "through
proper party procedures".
"We are going to recall
him back because we feel he is too junior to be in
cabinet", said Ezera
Muchiya a war veteran.
"There are several senior party cadres who deserve
to be in cabinet more
than Mzembi. If as a party here we have decided to put
other people in the
central committee ahead of him it shows that he is too
junior."
The meeting which was hurriedly convened by some party
supporters opposed to
Mzembi also resolved to whip into line all legislators
who do not support
the Lovemore Matuke led Provincial executive.
"All
party MPs from this province should know that they are from Masvingo
hence
they should respect the resolutions of the provincial executive," read
the
resolution in part.
The Masvingo Zanu-PF provincial executive clashed
head on with Mzembi after
the legislator opposed the candidature of
Muchinguri during the nomination
of candidates to be appointed into the
presidium.
The Masvingo party provincial executive later rescinded its
earlier decision
to endorse Muchinguri and replaced her with Mujuru after
pressure was
exerted by the national leadership of the party.
Mzembi
is also accused within Zanu-PF of accompanying MDC president Morgan
Tsvangirai to Europe early this year. Tsvangirai is Prime Minister in the
government of national unity.
War veterans and some Zanu-PF party
supporters accuse Mzembi generally of
being a sellout and specifically an
MDC-T supporter.
Mzembi has no kind words for those who are seeking to
recall him.
"I was appointed by the President and after all if there is
anyone who wants
to recall me he should come from Masvingo South where I was
elected," he
said.
"It is unfortunate that I am responding to this
because some of those people
are misguided and have nothing to do besides
walking on the street.
"Tsvangirayi is the Prime Minister of this country
and no one should label
me an MDC-T supporter for accompanying him to
Europe. I was on government
business and even the President knows
that."
If Zanu-PF supporters here manage to recall the minister from
cabinet it
will be the first action of its kind to take place in the
country.
Zanu-PF Masvingo provincial chairman Matuke yesterday refused to
comment on
the developments.
"If people decide to recall someone from
a high office then we know
democracy is prevailing in the country," was all
he said.
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=11613
By Tonderai
Garisayi
Published: December 31, 2009
Eight farmers in
Zimbabwe's Rusape area are now under a list of commercial
farmers targeted
for violence, ZimEye has learnt.
".all hell is loose in Rusape they have
kicked off 2 farmers AND already
(the) first guy, about 3 weeks ago." a
farmer sent a message Wednesday at
1018Hrs.
Another farmer by the
name of Ray Finaughty was violently forced off his
farm on Christmas day by
a Reserve Bank female official who made first
verbal threats before forcing
the farmer off his land within 3 hours. The
farmer had for years assisted
the Rusape peasant community giving them free
fertilizer and professional
services at no cost. The source revealed that
Finaughty was targeted because
of his political beliefs.
At the time of writing, the police had not
acted against the illegal
removal. In Zimbabwe, a High Court order is
required to permit a removal and
in such cases, reasonable ample time is
given to allow for the farmer to
leave in an orderly and respectable way.
However, Finaughty was told to
leave within 10 minutes.
Countrywide,
a total 152 are now under imminent threat of losing their
properties to
politicians belonging to President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF
party. The
attackers have also included high profile civil servants who are
members of
ZANU PF.
http://www1.voanews.com
The
state-run Herald newspaper reported that Industry Minister Welshman
Ncube
said international media pressured Nestlé to terminate a supplier
relationship with a dairy company controlled by the family of President
Robert Mugabe
Patience Rusere & Sandra Nyaira | Washington 30
December 2009
A South African activist group has taken aim at
Industry Minister Welshman
Ncube for reportedly blaming the decision by
multinational food maker Nestlé
to suspend operations in Zimbabwe on the
international media.
The state-controlled Herald newspaper on Tuesday
reported that Ncube said
South African, British and U.S. media had
campaigned to pressure Nestlé to
terminate a supplier relationship between
its Harare processing unit and a
dairy company controlled by President
Robert Mugabe's family. Gushungo Dairy
Estate is controlled by Grace Mugabe,
the president's wife.
People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression
and Poverty, or Passop,
said Nestlé has the right to choose the companies
with which it does
business. The company terminated the relationship with
Gushungo in October
after coming under fire from human rights activists in
South Africa and
elsewhere.
That drew a backlash from ministers of
Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF party who tried
to force Nestle to buy milk from
Gushungo, leading Nestlé last week to
announce that it was suspending
operations in the country. Ncube said late
last week that a solution had
been reached for Nestlé to purchase Gushungo
milk through a cooperative, but
Nestlé said it had not reached a decision as
to resuming operations and was
"examining conditions" in Zimbabwe.
VOA was unable to reach Ncube on
Tuesday or Wednesday to confirm his
reported comments and seek a response to
Passop's criticism.
Ncube is the secretary general of the Movement for
Democratic Change wing
headed by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara.
Passop Chairman Braam Hanekom told VOA Studio 7 reporter
Patience Rusere
that boycotting goods of companies doing business with
ZANU-PF is the most
effective way to promote democratic change in
Zimbabwe.
The government meanwhile said it will hold a second
international investment
conference in February hoping to attract scarce
capital to the country.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said the so-called
Friends of Zimbabwe Summit,
as the event is being described, falls under
Harare's effort to step up
re-engagement with the international
community.
Biti said the unity government involving Mr. Mugabe's ZANU-PF
and the MDC
formations led by Mutambara and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
is seeking
partnerships, in particular to rebuild or expand the country's
worn-out
infrastructure, notably water and sewage systems and roadways. The
electric
power grid is also in need of a major overhaul and
modernization.
Economist Prosper Chitambara of the Labor and Economic
Research Institute
told VOA Studio 7 reporter Sandra Nyaira that the
February conference, like
one held in October, may not yield much in the way
of investment as the
government has yet to win the confidence of global
investors.
http://www1.voanews.com/
The MDC
year-end statement said the party was disheartened that victims of
political
violence and other crimes committed during the 2008 elections have
not yet
been compensated
Jonga Kandemiiri | Washington 30 December
2009
Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change formation headed by
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai issued a year-end statement Wednesday
saying it hoped all
the so-called outstanding issues troubling its
power-sharing with the
ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe could be
resolved in the opening
days of 2010 - but a ZANU-PF response was not
encouraging.
The MDC statement said the party was disheartened that
victims of political
violence and other crimes committed during the 2008
elections, which gave
the Tsvangirai MDC formation and a rival grouping led
by Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara a parliamentary majority, had not
been
compensated. The statement said such compensation should be addressed
in
2010.
The former opposition party said it will focus on the
proposed
constitutional revision in 2010 to make sure the new basic document
is
people-driven.
MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa said his party also
wants to work hard to weed
out corruption in local authorities as well as
the central government.
Responding, ZANU-PF Deputy Spokesman Ephraim
Masawi said that as far as the
former ruling party is concerned there are no
remaining outstanding issues
other than Western targeted sanctions, which he
said the MDC must work to
have lifted. Masawi said the question of replacing
Reserve Bank Governor
Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes Tomana, as
demanded by the
Tsvangirai MDC, is not on the table.
http://www1.voanews.com
A gang of
six armed robbers hit a Stanbic Bank branch in Chegutu, outside
Harare, on
Tuesday, making offf with $US,266000, 150,000 South Africa rand
and 34,000
Botswana pula in cash
Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington 30 December
2009
Zimbabwe police say the festive season has been marred by armed
robberies
across the country, the latest being a heist at a Stanbic Bank
branch
Tuesday in Chegutu, a satellite town outside Harare, the capital,
where
gunmen made off with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of hard
currency.
Officials said the six robbers took $US266, 000, 150,000
South Africa rand
and some 34,000 Botswana pula for an equivalent total of
about $US285,000.
They said on Wednesday that the perpetrators remained at
large.
Co-Minister of Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa of the Movement for
Democratic
Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai told VOA
that armed
robberies have surged since the holiday season began.
He
said police have mobilized in search of the gang of six men which looted
the
Chegutu bank, whose manager sustained a gunshot wound. Mutsekwa said the
mixed hard currency monetary regimen adopted by the government early this
year has helped to encourage such stepped-up criminal activity.
The
Matebeleland region in the west of the country has been one of the
hardest
hit. Police sources said gunmen hit a supermarket and a nightclub in
Gwanda
last week, making off with hundreds of thousands of dollars in
cash.
Mutsekwa told VOA Studio 7 reporter Ntungamili Nkomo that the
police will
crack down hard on crime, but the Home Affairs minister warned
banks and
businesses to take steps themselves to bolster their internal
security.
"There has been a surge recently in robberies, where banks and
individual
businesses have been targetted," he said. "Police are out in full
force ...
but businesses should also be careful in handling their own
cash."
Though bank robberies are not as common in Zimbabwe as in
neighboring South
Africa, their frequency has increased in recent years. A
Kingdom Bank branch
in Harare lost US$200,000 to gunmen in February, though
the bank robbers
were later apprehended by the authorities.
Another
armed gang stormed a Barclays Bank branch in Bulawayo in July and
seized
more than US$100,000.
http://www.capetimes.co.za/?fArticleId=5299535
December 31, 2009 Edition
1
Stanley Gama Foreign Service
HARARE: Police in Zimbabwe have
launched a massive manhunt for four South
Africans believed to be behind a
bank robbery 100km from Harare in which
about R2 million was stolen on
Tuesday.
Six heavily armed men stormed a Stanbic Bank, in the farming
town of Chegutu
and shot and injured the branch manager. They then forced
him to open the
bank's vault, stole over US$270 000 (about R2m). and sped
away towards
Harare in two vehicles.
But the "mastermind" of the
robbery, a Zimbabwean, who is, ironically, a
branch manager of a rival bank,
made one dumb mistake.
He used his own car in the robbery and was traced
through its number plates.
He was arrested by a crack team of detectives
from the country's Criminal
Investigations Department (CID) Homicide
section. That led to the arrest of
a second Zimbabwean involved in the
robbery and put police on the trail of
the four South Africans.
They
are believed to have immediately boarded buses to South Africa with
their
share of the loot. Only about R444 000 is believed to have been
recovered
from the Zimbabweans.
Police said the mastermind of the robbery had
revealed that he hired the
four South Africans. They added that all police
stations up to Beitbridge
had been alerted but so far the South Africans not
been caught. Police in
Zimbabwe have yet to explain how the robbers went
through at least three
police checkpoints on their way to Harare after the
robbery.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Thursday,
December 31, 2009
Herald
Reporters
POLICE have arrested two suspects believed to be part of the
six-man armed
gang that raided Stanbic Bank's Chegutu branch on Tuesday
morning.
The gang made off with US$266 000, R150 000 and 34 690 pula in a
heist in
which the bank's assistant manager was shot and
injured.
Deputy chief police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Oliver
Mandipaka
yesterday confirmed the arrest of two members of the gang on
Tuesday night
in Harare.
The arrest comes amid calls by Bankers'
Association of Zimbabwe president Mr
John Mangudya to its members to tighten
security in order to secure
depositors' hard-earned money.
An
undisclosed amount of money believed to be part of the cash stolen from
the
bank and one of the getaway cars has been recovered.
"Barely a few hours
after the robbery, detectives have successfully pursued
the case with
limited and constrained resources leading to the arrest of two
suspects last
night (Tuesday)," said Chief Supt Mandipaka.
He said soon after the
robbery, detectives launched a manhunt for the
suspects.
Chief Supt
Mandipaka said the owner of the recovered vehicle had since been
identified
as investigations continue.
Preliminary investigations had established
that the vehicle had been stolen
for purposes of committing the
offence.
"At the moment, we cannot disclose the amount of money recovered
and the
type of vehicle as investigations are still continuing," said Chief
Supt
Mandipaka.
He said the net would soon close in on the other
suspects still on the run.
"Full-scale investigations are in progress and
just like our 2010 theme, it
is in the spirit of the police that we will
strive to ensure that our
citizens and visitors are protected, secure and
safe," he said.
The police's theme for 2010 is "Your safety and security
is our concern".
The gang, which used two get away cars - an Isuzu KB
twin-cab truck and a
Peugeot 406 - also looted cash, cellphones and other
valuables from clients
in the banking hall.
BAZ president Mr Mangudya
yesterday stressed the need to secure depositors'
hard-earned cash from such
criminals.
"All that is required is to ensure that the public work well
with the police
to ensure that the criminals are brought to book. We also
need the law
enforcement agencies to ensure that we do not lose depositors'
hard-earned
money," he said.
"We are encouraging banks to improve on
our security. It is their
responsibility to secure depositors' hard-earned
deposits," Mr Mangudya
said.
A number of banks have fallen victim to
armed robbers this year among them
Barclays and Kingdom.
Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri is on record as urging
financial
institutions to intensify their security to thwart and reduce
cases of armed
robbery.
In May this year, he urged business and the banking sector to
install
adequate security at their premises.
"Armed robberies are
quite rife especially these days. I feel that the
business community should
do more in terms of security.
"They should try by all means to ensure
that their premises are quite secure
. . . We want robbers to fail
especially in the banks," he said then.
He made the comments after a
five-man armed gang hit Kingdom Bank's
Graniteside branch in Harare.
Sokwanele is pleased to announce that we have launched a
constitution resource on our website. We hope that this online information
system will provide users in Zimbabwe and in the diaspora with an simple way to
familiarise themselves with the details of the current constitution, and with
forthcoming drafts towards a proposed future constitution. Zimbabwe's new constitution, when it is finally enacted into law, will shape
all of our futures, define our fundamental human rights, provide limits on
political powers, outline rules shaping the police, defence forces, prisons and
public services ... and more. The constitution-making process encompasses all Zimbabweans. We encourage all
Zimbabweans, no matter where they are in the wo rld, to take part in the
critical task of interrogating and thinking about the laws that will define all
of our futures and establish the rights of Zimbabweans everywhere. Zimbabweans will be asked to vote on a new draft constitution when it is
finally ready. The public outreach programme, intended to gather the views of
the people, is scheduled to start early in the new year. The outreach timeframe
below comes via a recent Veritas mailing: We all have a right to add our voices to this process, and we have a right to
reject any document that fails to live up to our expectations. So it is
important that Zimbabweans are informed about what the documents and drafts say,
and that we all think carefully about the rights and standards we want enshrined
in our future constitutional law. Sokwanele's online constitution resource aims to help Zimbabweans become more
informed, and it offers a platform for comment and debate as well. The tool
currently draws information from three key documents: the Constitution of
Zimbabwe (at 13th Feb, 2009), Amendment 19, and the Kariba Draf! t Constitution.
This is just the start: the information system will be developed to include more
voices, more drafts proposing future changes, and a wider selection of thoughts
on the constitution as we go forwards. We hope that the comments system will
gather the views of Zimbabweans everywhere and help to develop a rich source of
information and insightful opinion. The resource provides audiences with a variety of ways to explore critical
documents. We have simplified the process of accessing information from long
legal documents by breaking the nitty-gritty detail into maneagable relevant
chunks. Visitors to our site can explore the content of these documents by
filtering through clearly defined sections, or by finding areas of interest
flagged by 'key phrases', or by using a special predictive search tool. The system enables users to compare and contrast the different approaches to
constitutional law - as they appear in different texts - by filtering on and
displaying entries on related topics right next to each other on the sc! reen.
In other words, users can easily and quickly see exactly how the Kariba Draft
Constitution differs from the current Constitution of Zimbabwe (for example) on
a section by section basis. We invite people to give an anonymous personal 'approval rating' to sections
of the law by awarding stars to entries (1 star reflects a damning public
approval rating of "rubbish", while 5 stars is a high scoring "excellent"). The
final average score for each entry will give an approval rating for the way the
law has been dealt with in each document. Our online system has a section that
highlights which entries have the highest ratings and it also flags those that
score low in our audiences opinion. Visit www.sokwanele.com/zimbabweconstitution
to explore the constitutional law as it currently is today, and to see what the
Kariba Draft Constitution has to say about the shape of our future. Be informed
of both the st! rengths and weaknesses accross different texts; look carefully
at the detail and consider the implications that detail has for all of us as we
go forward; think about what's missing and what you would like to be
included. Be involved and be aware. Get ready to discuss and debate. Above all, prepare
to vote in the referendum from an informed perspective.
Sokwanele : 30 December
2009
Comment from Foreign Policy (US), 24 December
Why the U.N.-sanctioned system that's supposed to ensure that
gemstones
aren't mined at gunpoint is backfiring
By Greg
Campbell
It's a safe bet that most of those surprised with diamond
jewellery over the
holidays did not pause long, if at all, to consider where
their new
gemstones came from. "Santa's elves" is a good enough answer for
most
people, and even those who are aware that some diamonds have been known
to
come from African war zones may not have given the matter much thought
this
year. "Conflict diamonds," also known as "blood diamonds," are rough
stones
mined at gunpoint by slaves and prisoners for the enrichment of those
holding the weapons. They were a cause celebre at the beginning of the
decade, when human rights groups exposed the role of diamonds in conflicts
in Sierra Leone and Angola, but in recent years the issue has largely fallen
off the radar of socially conscious western consumers. That's not because
the situation has improved.
The sordid business of blood diamonds
was believed to have ended with the
adoption in 2003 of the Kimberley
Process, a UN-sanctioned agreement between
75 countries that import and
export diamonds, diamond industry leaders and
nongovernmental organizations.
Its mission is to certify that diamonds on
sale at the corner jeweler did
not arrive there at the expense of murdered
and mutilated Africans. When
controversy was stoked anew in 2006 with the
Leonardo DiCaprio movie Blood
Diamond, the industry simply pointed to the
existence of the Kimberley
Process to convince moviegoers that conflict
diamonds were an old problem
that had already been solved.
Unfortunately, that's not the case. In
theory, all countries that are
signatory to the Kimberley Process agree not
to import or export conflict
diamonds; the origins of the diamonds are
"verified" through a set of
simple-sounding procedures. Producing countries
export their diamonds in
tamper-proof packages accompanied by a certificate
guaranteeing that the
stones did not come from conflict zones (this assumes
that robust internal
controls exist in producing countries). The Kimberley
Process monitors
compliance through peer reviews, statistical analysis and
site visits;
countries found to be in violation of the agreement can be
expelled or
suspended, meaning they can no longer export their diamonds to
any of the
agreement's member countries.
The reality is
different. According to recent reports by NGOs, including
Global Witness,
Partnership Africa Canada and Human Rights Watch, blood
diamonds are still
circulating freely and smuggling remains rampant. Some of
the worst
countries in the diamond business, such as Sierra Leone, Angola
and the
Democratic Republic of Congo, can't account for where as many as 50
percent
of the diamonds they export originate, making their status as clean
gems
highly questionable. Meanwhile, Cote d'Ivoire, the only country
considered
to be the source of "official" conflict diamonds due to rebel
control of its
northern diamond mines, has expanded its production since it
was placed
under UN sanction in 2004, meaning the rebels are finding willing
markets
for them somewhere.
Not only does the Kimberley Process in its
present form seem powerless to
stop conflict diamonds, but its policies may
even be encouraging the illegal
trade to flourish. "A lot of governments
have been happy to use the
Kimberley Process as a fig leaf of
respectability, so they can say, 'OK,
look we're doing something,'" says
Elly Harrowell of Global Witness, one of
the NGOs that first raised the
issue of conflict diamonds a decade ago. "A
lot of people, especially in the
public, seem to think it's case closed."
Zimbabwe provides the
perfect illustration of the problem the Kimberley
Process was created to
address, as well as the difficulties in fulfilling
that mandate. Since 2006,
when diamonds were discovered in Zimbabwe's
eastern Marange fields, the
country's police and military have engaged in
systematic human rights abuses
for their personal enrichment. According to
an investigation earlier this
year by Human Rights Watch, rotating garrisons
of soldiers order civilians
to dig diamonds at gunpoint. Miners are beaten,
women are raped, and
children are forced into labor. To secure the diamond
fields and clear them
of unlicensed independent diggers (who, according to
the report, were
initially encouraged by President Robert Mugabe's
government to help
themselves to the stones), the military conducted a
scorched earth operation
that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of
civilians. The diamonds are
smuggled into neighboring Mozambique and onward
to other countries where
they can be exported under the cover of a Kimberley
Process certificate,
meaning they are then perfectly clean in the eyes of
the
world.
Both Human Rights Watch and a Kimberley Process investigative
team that
visited Zimbabwe in July considered the situation a clear
violation of the
agreement. Both recommended the country be suspended.
Instead, it was given
a grace period to clean up its act. Rather than
addressing a serious
problem, this response from Kimberley Process
administrators laid bare the
system's weaknesses. Primary among them is a
lack of political will to
punish a country that condones violence and
smuggling within its diamond
industry. Such a failure is not only a massive
blow to its credibility, but
puts the entire process in jeopardy. If there
are no consequences to
violating the Kimberley Process, what incentives do
other nations have to
comply?
Nicky Oppenheimer, the chairman of
De Beers, the world's largest diamond
company, wrote diplomatically in a
Bloomberg op-ed last week that he would
have preferred more "decisive
action" on Zimbabwe from the Kimberley
Process: "Providing confidence about
where these special symbols that mark
moments in our lives come from, is
integral to their enduring value." Even
former supporters of the Kimberley
Process have become critics. "The whole
point of the Kimberley Process was
to make sure that diamonds were clean,
that they're not hurting people,"
says Ian Smillie, the former director of
the NGO Partnership Africa Canada,
which is credited as one of the driving
forces behind the establishment of
the Kimberley Process. "When you see
serious human rights abuses taking
place in diamond fields then surely it's
a no-brainer [that something is
wrong]."
Despite the criticism, there is widespread agreement that
Kimberley can -
and must - be fixed. NGOs are calling for the inclusion of a
human rights
provision to address problems like those in Zimbabwe. They want
to do away
with the consensus decision-making process in which it's possible
for a
single vote to veto important changes. And they've suggested the
creation of
a secretariat to provide independent oversight of reports and
statistical
analysis. All eyes are on the incoming Kimberley Process
chairman from
Israel to tackle these challenges. Meanwhile, other groups,
including Human
Rights Watch, are focusing on the one group that has so far
been capable of
spurring change: consumers. Last month the organization
called for a boycott
of Zimbabwean diamonds. It was the threat of a boycott
that inspired
Kimberley's creation in the first place, and such threats
still strike fear
into the heart of the diamond industry.
As Jon
Elliott, Human Rights Watch's Africa advocacy director, explains:
"We're not
naïve enough to think we're going to solve the problem overnight
but we do
think that unless there is pressure from consumers through the
industry
supply channels, we're not going to make significant progress. For
his part,
Smillie seem less hopeful. He resigned from the Kimberley Process
in May in
frustration over what he called the system's "collective
impotence." In his
letter of resignation, he wrote: "There is a basic truth:
when regulators
fail to regulate, the systems they were designed to protect
collapse ... In
this case, the diamond industry, which means so much to so
many, is being
ill served by what has become a complacent and almost
completely ineffectual
Kimberley Process." Until changes are made, holiday
buyers beware.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
31/12/2009 00:00:00
by
Gilbert Bere
“I do not like heroes; they make too much noise in the
world” acknowledges
one street vendor.
Almost three years after the
Anglo-Ndebele war of 1893, the Zimbabwean
people rose again to fight the
white settlers in 1896.
The causes of the Shona and Ndebele wars of
liberation were many and varied
but language was one of them, especially on
the part of the Ndebele who
objected to the deployment of Shona-speaking
police officers in
Matebeleland.
Understandably the language issue
was a crucial cause on the part of the
Ndebele but unfortunately the
white-settlers either, did get it, or chose to
play it down.
The
people of Matebeleland’s objection of Shona-speaking police officers in
the
region was based on a founded principle as pointed by Weedon who sums
thus:
“Language is the place whose actual and possible forms of social
organisation and their likely social and political consequences are defined
and contested.”
As such, the Ndebele people understood that language
is the vehicle for
socialisation and that, through it, the individual
becomes self-aware and
learns the culture of his/her society.
For the
next 90 years of colonial rule language was used to divide the
people of
Zimbabwe.
Colonial education did not try to bring social cohesion by
teaching Ndebele
and Shona at national rather than regional
level.
Thus socialisation between the major two tribes in Zimbabwe was
only limited
to quite rudimental level, leaving the English language to play
the unifying
factor.
It is sad for me to always turn to the English
language whenever I want to
speak to my kith-and-kin from
Matebeleland.
Ironically, I am not a product of the settler regime but of
President Robert
Mugabe’s post-independence government.
If only the
regime in Harare had demonstrated leadership on this pivotal
issue, a new
Zimbabwe could have been created with a united populace as
opposed to the
current situation where everything has to be seen within a
Shona and Ndebele
perspective.
This is why I take great exception to President Mugabe and
his Zanu PF
lieutenants. Thirty years after independence, the Government has
done very
little to bring the country’s main ethnic tribes (the Shona and
the Ndebele)
together.
In fact the two main indigenous languages are
still being taught on a
tribal/regional basis and no-one in Zanu PF has
realised how divided the
people of Zimbabwe remain; nor do they understand
how language can actually
bring us closer together as Zimbabweans.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=26246
December 30, 2009
By
Takarinda Gomo
AS the curtain falls on the year 2009, and people, the
world over, embrace
2010, Zimbabwe had its fair share of trials and
tribulations.
At the end of 2009, a damning Report chronicling an orgy of
violence and
rape perpetrated on a large scale and targeting MDC-T
supporters has been
published by an Aids lobby group called Aids Free
World.
Entitled "Election to Rape", the report makes sad reading. It
provides a
rendition of testimonies by 70 survivors of a campaign of rape
perpetrated
by youth militia and war veterans working exclusively for
Zanu-PF for a
period of five months in 2008.
Women affiliated to MDC
were abducted, beaten and gang-raped. They were also
told exactly why it was
happening to them, the report says, adding "These
were not random acts of
rape and violence."
Rape qualifies under "Crimes against Humanity" when
committed as part of a
widespread attack.
The report acknowledges
that Zimbabwean authorities were unlikely to do
anything about the rapes,
and further criticizes South Africa for failing to
reign in President Robert
Mugabe.
South Africa is the only country in the southern African region
that is a
signatory to the United Nations War Crimes Court Treaty and passed
"universal jurisdiction" laws that permit prosecution of war crimes
committed elsewhere.
Numerous other findings by local and
international Non-Governmental
Organizations (NGO's) bear testimony to these
crimes. The perpetrators are
basking in the succor of Zanu-PF. However, as
true as the sun will rise
tomorrow, the following historical narrative will
show that the long arm of
the law will certainly catch up with
them.
The same invincibility, bravado and impunity exhibited by Nazi
leaders,
during the holocaust of the Second World War are being witnessed in
Zimbabwe.
Adolf Hitler, the German Chancellor, better known as the
"Fuhrer" together
with his top Nazi lieutenants, never dreamt that their
power would come to
an end.
History seems to be repeating itself as
Zanu-PF in general, and President
Robert Mugabe in particular, actually
believe they will rule forever.
Perhaps it is high time to remind
perpetrators of these heinous crimes of
murder, mayhem and gang-rapes of
what happened to Nazi war criminals that
committed Crimes against Humanity
during the Holocaust and were brought
before the International Military
Tribunal (IMT).
Soon after the end of the Second World War (1939 - 1945),
on August 8, 1945,
Britain, USA, Russia and the provisional government of
France entered into
an agreement establishing the IMT, to put on trial Nazi
war criminals.
The Tribunal was invested with powers to try and punish
persons who had
committed Crimes against Humanity; War Crimes; and Crimes
against Peace.
The indictment charged defendants with Crimes against
Peace by planning,
initiating and waging of Wars of Aggression, which were
in violation of
international treaty agreements and assurances.
Thus
the judgements passed by the Nuremberg Tribunal introduced into
international law, and into practical life, a new and extremely grave
criminal act - Crimes against Humanity.
The principles adopted at the
Nuremberg Trial, later became the cornerstone
of further development of
international law, as the youngest law discipline.
The Nazi leaders who
went on trial at Nuremberg had carried out orders from
Adolf Hitler, who
exercised a strong domination on close associates, partly
because of his
persuasive, if not hypnotic powers, and partly by reason of
Hitler's
amiability in high office.
No saint or statesman lost his life or freedom
at Nuremberg. All the men who
went to prison, or mounted the gallows, were
willing, knowing and energetic
accomplices, in a vast malignant enterprise.
They were all there for valid
moral and technically perfect legal
reasons.
Punishment is said to be effective if, and when, the one being
punished
accepts that indeed he/she has done something wrong, and expresses
remorse.
In the case of Nuremberg, the 21Nazi tried had their own
perceptions varying
from acceptance and repentance, to total defiance and
hostility.
Albert Speer, who was the Reich Minister of Munitions and
Armaments, served
20 years without remission. He walked out of Spandau
Prison, Berlin at one
minute past midnight on a Friday, 30 September
1966.
Speer confided to his lawyer:
"About the Jews, my conscience
is troubled, deeply troubled. This is a
burden for which nothing can ever
free me. I was not a hater of the Jews.
But when I joined the party, it
means, of cause, that I was in fact,
subscribing to Hitler's anti-Semitic
ideas. I have deep feelings of guilt
because of what was done, although I
was not personally involved in the
extermination, nor did I know of them.
But, after all, I was part of the
leadership.. I ought to have known, to
have made it my business to find
out." (Albert Speer - Victim of Nuremberg
by William Hamsher 1970 p274)
On the eve of the Nuremberg executions, the
ever-cunning Herman Goring,
founder of Gestapo, escaped justice by
committing suicide. He left a defiant
suicidal note for the Allied Control
Council:
"I would have no objection to being shot. However, I will not
facilitate
execution of Germany's Reichmarshall by hanging. For the sake of
Germany, I
cannot permit this. Moreover, I feel no moral obligation to
submit to my
enemies' punishment. For this reason, I have chosen to die like
the Great
Hannibal." (Balwin Aleck 1994)
Equally defiant was Field
Marshal Keitel who was sentenced to death.
Mounting the gallows, his famous
last words were:
"More than two million soldiers went to their death for
the fatherland
before me. I now join my sons."
But Joachim von
Ribbentrop, Reich Foreign Minister was more remorseful and
these are his
last words:
"My last wish is that German realizes its destiny and that an
understanding
be reached between East and West. I wish peace to the
world."
Fritz Sauchel, Hitler's Plenipotentiary for Labour Mobilization
who also
mounted the gallows, only thought of himself right to the very end.
These
were his last words:
"I am dying an innocent
man."
Hitler himself, his chief propagandist Dr Joseph Goebbels and
Heinrich
Himmler all escaped justice by committing suicide. According to
Albert
Speer, in the end, Adolf Hitler was certainly mad, because he did not
want
Germany to survive defeat. Hitler wanted to destroy Germany's basis of
life.
Those sentenced to death at Nuremberg were executed in the early
hours of 16
October 1946 in the old gymnasium of Nuremberg. Their bodies
were
subsequently cremated in Munich and ashes thrown into an estuary of the
Tsar
River.
Those sentenced to imprisonment were transferred to
Spandau Prison in
Berlin. The last of the prisoners, Rudolf Hess committed
suicide in August
1987.
That justice was served at Nuremberg is
beyond doubt, although there can be
valid arguments pertaining to the
severity of the sentences.
In fact, Nuremberg has become the genesis of a
totally new legal order that
no longer permits gross violations of human
rights.
Nuremberg has sent signals to rogue leaders who abuse their
citizens with
impunity.
In Zimbabwe Gukurahundi (the Storm),
Murambatsvina (clearing the trash), the
rape cases against mainstream MDC
women and the murder of over 200 MDC
supporters in the election violence of
2008, are all Crimes against
Humanity.
The perpetrators should know
that, one way or the other, they have to face
justice.
The ghost of
Nuremberg is coming to Zimbabwe.