Zim Standard
BY WALTER
MARWIZI
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday said he was
cautious about an
alliance with Simba Makoni because he did not know what he
stood for,
officials close to him told The Standard.
Tsvangirai
is expected to meet today more than 200 MDC candidates in
the forthcoming
elections in Harare, to brief them on the party’s election
strategy and its
stance on the Makoni element.
After the meeting, he is expected to
announce how the party viewed the
"Makoni formation" of Zanu
PF.
But officials close to Tsvangirai pointed out the MDC leader,
knee-deep in the political trenches since 1999, said he would not take a
stand on Makoni’s group until he knew what they stood for.
Sources said Tsvangirai’s problem with Makoni stemmed from the former
cabinet minister’s insistence that there was nothing wrong with Zanu PF, but
"something wrong with (President Robert) Mugabe".
Tsvangirai’s
position, on the other hand, was that there was
"everything wrong with the
entire system" which had to be changed from top
to bottom.
Tsvangirai's spokesperson. Nelson Chamisa said: "This is a Zanu PF
split,
Now there is the Mugabe Zanu PF formation and the Makoni Zanu PF
formation.
All we can say is that a weakened Zanu PF presents an opportunity
for us -
it means their rigging machine has been severely weakened."
Welshman Ncube, the secretary-general of the Arthur Mutambara faction
said
his formation had not entered into an agreement with Makoni, although
there
were reports that some of its officials were keen to work out a deal
with
Makoni.
Ncube said: "Arthur Mutambara was endorsed at our national
council
meeting held on 2 February. That decision has not been
reviewed."
Well-placed sources in the Makoni formation said
yesterday the former
finance minister would not fight a lone battle. He
would have candidates all
over the country contesting under the
Mavambo/Qhathula/ New Beginning
banner.
There were reports
yesterday that senior Zanu PF officials had
approached the Makoni camp after
it was discovered the Zimbabwe constitution
did not allow for floor
crossing.
Sources said the politicians had entered into a strategic
alliance
with heavyweights in Zanu PF that could possibly result either in
Joyce
Mujuru or Dumiso Dabengwa becoming the Makoni formation’s first and
second
Vice- Presidents.
There were unconfirmed reports a
number of Zanu PF heavyweights would
soon start campaigning for Makoni to
win the 29 March presidential poll
against Mugabe.
But this
arrangement could change in the event the MDC agreed to back
Makoni, The
Standard was told.
Meanwhile, teams of the Makoni formation were
dispatched to the
provinces last week to start identifying candidates for
the council,
parliamentary and senatorial constituencies.
There
were indications that among those to be selected for Harare
could be
Margaret Dongo, Dzinashe Machingura, and Ibbo Mandaza.
Mandaza, in
charge of administration in the Makoni campaign, could
stand either in Mbare
or Mt Pleasant. He still had an option to fight it out
with Zanu PF and MDC
in Mazowe.
In Masvingo, another key Makoni strategist, Kudzai
Mbudzi, in charge
of operations, had been earmarked for Masvingo
West.
In Mutare, prosecutor Levison Chikafu was slated for a Mutare
seat
with Edgar Tekere tipped to contest a Senate seat under the Makoni
banner.
The selection process was underway in the other provinces
but party
sources said Makoni’s candidates would not be fielded in
constituencies
where either MDC or Zanu PF candidates, dubbed "friendly
forces", were
taking part.
These "friendly forces" were
politicians who were either openly or
secretly supporting the Makoni
campaign. Matabeleland was one such area with
many "friendly forces", it
reported yesterday.
Zim Standard
By Vusumuzi
Sifile
AN unusually large number of newly-formed fringe
political parties
have emerged since the beginning of the year, all
promising to turn around
Zimbabwe’s fortunes once elected to
power.
In the past month, leaders of the United Democratic People’s
Constitution (UDPC), Zimbabwe Integrated Party (ZIP), Voice of the
People/Vox Populi (VP) and the Zimbabwe Development Party (ZDP) knocked at
The Standard doors to announce their arrival on the political
scene.
All the parties have, somewhere in their manifestos, symbols
depicting
fingers.
The Christian Democratic Party (CDP) was
launched in Harare recently.
It is led by William Gwata. The Zimbabwe
Progressive People’s Democratic
Party (ZPPDP) has been advertising its
manifesto in this newspaper over the
past two months.
Except
for Kisinoti Mukwazhe, the president of ZDP, the leaders of all
the other
parties have no known political background. Mukwazhe is a former
Zanu PF
member. He was defeated in the Zanu PF primaries for Masvingo
Central in the
2005 elections.
In September 2004, he called for the indigenisation
of the name of the
country’s currency, changing it from Dollar to Ivhu
(soil).
While all the party leaders insisted there were genuine,
there is some
suspicion in some circles they could be are part of a grand
plan by Zanu PF
to create the impression of a healthy multi-party
system..
This, say analysts, would make Zanu PF’s victory more
genuine if the
main opposition, Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
boycotted the
election.
But in separate interviews, the new
parties’ representatives said they
were entering the elections, even if they
are yet to be officially launched.
Mukwazhe said his ZDP was formed
in December 2006 and spent last year
laying the groundwork for its
campaign.
"Our delay is strategic," he said. "In fact, it was
deliberate. We
want to launch a surprise attack. If you look at African
opposition parties
that ended up in power, you will realise that only those
launched just
before an election were successful."
Despite the
"strategic delay", the party still has no offices. Its
structure so far has
only three members: Mukwazhe, his deputy, Jansen
Mudzadzavara, and
organising secretary, Facemore Museza.
UDPC leader Tasunungurwa
Mhuruyengwe said a "struggle starts any time;
it doesn’t need years of
preparation".
"I know there is limited time," said Mhuruyengwe.
"But it would be
stupid for me not to participate. The trick is to use a
different approach,
that has not been used by the other
parties."
Mhuruyengwe, an army deserter, would not explain his
"different
approach".
The party is still to register with the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
The party’s leadership currently
comprises Mhuruyengwe, who claims he
was jailed for two years for desertion
from the army.
Vox Populi president and secretary general,
Moreprecision Muzadzi said
the party was formed in January 2006 by
Zimbabweans living in Botswana and
South Africa. Muzadzi said their
membership was drawn mostly from members of
Pentecostal
churches.
The ZIP chairperson, Fanuel Zimidzi, said he was not even
aware of the
existence of a party with a similar name.
The
first ZIP was formed by mathematics professor Heneri Dzinotyiwei
over a
decade ago. It started off as a pressure group for the involvement of
rural
Zimbabweans in the decision-making process for their development.
Zimidzi appeared unaware of a number of key issues on the current
political
landscape, raising doubts about his political credibility.
Apart
from the new parties, there are oldrt ones rising up from their
slumber as
election draw closer.
The Zimbabwe People’s Democratic Party
(ZPDP), led by Isabel
Shanangurai Madangure, has bounced back on the
internet, with a colourful
website.
Although it was not
immediately possible to contact Madangure or any
of the party’s leaders,
information on the party’s website indicates that
ZPDP "is focusing its
efforts on developing its capacity to provide
Zimbabweans with a viable
opposition choice in 2008".
The leader of the African National
Party, Egypt Dzinemunenzva, a
perennial loser in all presidential and
parliamentary elections, says this
year his party "means business".
Dzinemunenzva has, since 1995, been among
presidential candidates, and
always contests by-elections.
Since independence, only few
opposition parties have been able to
mount a meaningful challenge to Zanu
PF. There was PF-Zapu,, led by Joshua
Nkomo. In the 1985 parliamentary
election, the party retained most of the
seats it had won in the 1980
election.
In the 1990 election, Edgar Tekere’s Zimbabwe Unity
Movement (ZUM)
scored well in the presidential election, where Tekere lost
to Mugabe but
was generally said not eto have been disgraced.
In 2000, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) provided the
stiffest
challenge to Zanu PF, winning 57 seats.
No other opposition party
had performed so well since independence.
There have been
unconfirmed reports that the proliferation of new
parties this time around
may part of an intelligence ploy to create the
impression of a multiplicity
of opposition parties.
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
BULAWAYO – Industry and International Trade minister,
Obert Mpofu’s
re-election bid suffered a major blow after his rival won a
High Court
appeal against his endorsement as Zanu PF’s candidate for the
Umguza
parliamentary seat.
Mpofu is among several Zanu PF
heavyweights who allegedly declared
themselves unopposed in the party’s
ongoing primary elections.
Last week, the primary elections were
thrown into disarray following a
flood of complaints with some disgruntled
candidates resorting to the
courts.
Others directed their
complaints to the party’s presidium, which met
on Thursday to review their
cases.
On Friday, Mark Mbayiwa, a former army major who is accusing
Mpofu of
masterminding the disappearance of his curriculum vitae (CV)
leading to his
disqualification, won a provisional High Court order setting
aside the
minister’s endorsement.
Bulawayo High Court judge,
Justice Nicholas Ndou, directed that the
respondents, including Mpofu, the
Zanu PF Umguza district coordinating
committee, the provincial elections
directorate and Zanu PF commissar Elliot
Manyika, should be served with the
papers.
"I was horrified to learn that the MP for Bubi-Umguza
(Mpofu) was the
only candidate," Mbayiwa said in his founding
affidavit.
Job Sibanda of Job Sibanda & Associates represented
Mbayiwa in the
case.
In a similar development, Justice Ndou on
Wednesday also declared the
results of the Zanu PF primary elections in
Insiza South null and void
following allegations of
irregularities.
Charlton Sibanda, a war veteran, went to the High
Court after he was
disqualified from the primary elections in unclear
circumstances.
The poll was won by Zanu PF’s Matabeleland South
provincial
coordinating committee member, Patrick Hove.
In his
ruling, Justice Ndou observed that Sibanda’s disqualification
did not
conform with the "rules of natural justice."
Sibanda and Mbayiwa
also want the sitting of the Nomination Courts for
their respective
constituencies to be delayed until their cases are
finalised.
Environment and Tourism minister Francis Nhema lost a similar case in
the
High Court when the Zanu PF primary elections began a fortnight
ago.
A re-run of the primary elections for the Shurugwi North
parliamentary
seat was ordered after his rival, Fenet Mbengo complained that
he was
unfairly disqualified.
President Robert Mugabe postponed
the sitting of the Nomination Courts
from last Friday to this week amid
reports his party’s primary elections had
been disrupted by Simba Makoni’s
decision to enter the presidential race.
On Tuesday, the former
finance minister and Zanu PF politburo member
announced he would challenge
Mugabe for the presidency, warning that many
party members would join
him.
Zanu PF commissar Elliot Manyika announced they were
considering the
extension of the primary elections to allow for an audit of
the chaotic
exercise.
Last week, Zanu PF’s commissariat was
forced to withhold the names of
candidates who had won primaries countrywide
after supporters protested
against the alleged imposition of
candidates.
Zim Standard
BY
SANDRA MANDIZVIDZA
MUREHWA — A disgruntled woman successfully
took her domestic dispute
into the political arena by challenging her
estranged husband in the Zanu PF
primary elections in Musami
district.
Jennifer Chirenda is a very happy woman after she
defeated Eric
Jonasi, the Zanu PF chairperson of Musami.
A
source close to the family said disagreements leading to the divorce
in 2004
started when Jonasi, a member of an apostolic sect, decided to marry
a third
wife.
This infuriated Chirenda, the second wife, who had not
expected him to
marry another wife. She was determined to teach him a
lesson, like any woman
scorned.
She decided to take him on
head-on in his favourite game: politics.
In 2006, she challenged
him for the post of councillor in their
district but lost narrowly to
him.
But undeterred, she did her political homework thoroughly and
challenged her him again last week in the ward 13 party
elections.
This time she beat him 512-162 votes, setting tongues
wagging in
Murehwa.
Regis Chikwekwe, a deputy information and
publicity secretary for
Musami district, confirmed the election results,
saying the contest had
generated excitement in the district.
"Naturally, when ex-wife faces former husband, people are bound to
notice,
even if they are estranged," said Chikwekwe.
But some of Jonasi’s
supporters alleged she could have been propelled
to victory by MDC youths
who managed to take part in the Zanu PF primary
election.
They
said the youths might have been keen to humiliate her former
husband, a
councillor for more than 20 years.
Shortly after the elections,
held at Musami business centre, a group
of youths who took part in the
election rushed to a waiting MDC vehicle,
where celebrations
started.
"We are now afraid that these youths voted for Chirenda so
they could
beat her come election time. They knew that if Jonasi won, MDC
would not
stand a chance — that’s why they voted for Chirenda," said one of
Jonasi’s
supporters.
But Chikwekwe dismissed the MDC’s role in
Chirenda’s victory.
"Those who voted were Zanu PF members. It’s
possible that members of
the MDC were just passing by," said
Chikwekwe.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani
Ndlovu
BULAWAYO – A NUMBER of aspiring candidates and political
parties might
fail to take part in the elections next month after the
Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission set what were described as "exorbitant"
registration fees.
Last week President Robert Mugabe postponed by a
week the sitting of
the Nomination Courts to accept aspiring candidates
after political parties
complained they had not been given enough time to
prepare.
The courts will now sit on Friday this week. But several
opposition
parties said the fees set by the ZEC might force candidates to
withdraw from
the race.
According to the fee schedule seen by
The Standard, a political party
will need at least $30 billion to register
210 candidates for the House of
Assembly and 93 for the Senate.
Candidates in both the House of Assembly and Senate elections will pay
$100
million each while those vying for the presidency will pay $1
billion.
Council election candidates will not pay
anything.
Abednigo Bhebhe, the deputy spokesperson for the Arthur
Mutambara
faction of the MDC, complained that, moreover, the fees were
announced late.
"It is clear Zanu-PF wants to ambush the
opposition," said Bhebhe. "It
is also meant to ensure that we don’t campaign
extensively as we won’t be
able to raise money to print campaign
material.
"Zanu PF knows it is the only party on the safe side
because it can
abuse taxpayers’ money."
Paul Siwela, who
launched his Federal Democratic Union on Tuesday and
will participate in
presidential and parliamentary as well as council
elections, said the delay
in the announcement of the fees "raised eyebrows".
The spokesperson
of the Morgan Tsvangirai faction of the MDC, Nelson
Chamisa, said the fees
were calculated to reduce the election challenge to
Zanu PF.
"It’s meant to drain the resources of progressive individuals and
opposition
parties, considering the financial resources required," said
Chamisa.
A political analyst in Bulawayo, Jethro Mpofu, said
the government was
trying to cripple its opponents financially to gain an
unfair advantage.
"(President) Mugabe dug into his bag of tricks to
catch the opposition
MDC napping by disturbing and hindering its efforts to
go deep into the
rural areas and campaign, given the little time left before
the polls," said
Mpofu.
Zimbabwe holds presidential,
parliamentary and council elections on 29
March. ZEC officials were not
available for comment on Thursday as they were
said to be busy with the
voter registration.
Mugabe, who has ruled the country since
independence in 1980, is
seeking a sixth term of office despite the economic
crisis that critics
blame on his damaging policies.
Zanu-PF and
the two formations of the MDC are currently selecting
candidates for the
elections, the biggest in terms of human and financial
resources and
logistics..
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
EFFLUENT into Harare’s water bodies and drinking water
has not been
"independently tested" for the past week after Environmental
Management
Agency (EMA) workers downed tools over better pay last
Tuesday.
The Standard was told this posed great danger to Harare
residents
drinking water from the taps..
EMA monitors effluent
discharged into the country water bodies as well
as conducting verification
tests on the quality of drinking water.
EMA workers said the strike
had compromised the quality of Harare’s
drinking water as discharges into
water bodies were not being monitored.
Several companies have been fined for
polluting the city’s water supplies.
A laboratory technician with
EMA, who requested anonymity, said the
situation had been aggravated by
Harare council’s serious shortage of
chemicals to treat drinking
water.
"Zinwa purifies and does its own tests," said a laboratory
technician
with EMA. "As EMA we do our own independent verification of the
water
because there is no way Zinwa can tell residents that the water is not
clean, when they are the culprits."
There are fears there could
be an outbreak of water-borne diseases
because EMA is not monitoring
companies and individuals discharging effluent
into the city’s water
system.
Last year, Harare was hit by an outbreak of cholera and
diarrhoea,
which killed over 10 people.
Another technician said
there were times when their verification
process established that water
brought for testing by Zinwa had been
declared "unclean".
"There are times when they send to us unclean water and our results
have
confirmed this," he said.
Zinwa public relations manager, Marjorie
Manyonga, dismissed the
workers’ claims., saying Zinwa and the council’s
health department always
monitored and tested the quality of drinking water
in the city.
"I can assure you the water is clean and safe for
drinking," she said.
"The agency only monitors discharges into water
bodies."
EMA tests water from rivers, dams and drinking water at a
laboratory
at Zinwa complex at KGIV in Harare. It was the national quality
laboratory
before it was put under EMA last year.
The workers
went on strike after management failed to honour an
arbitration award
reached between EMA management and employees, represented
by Gibson Mushunje
of the Zimbabwe Electricity and Energy Workers Union
(ZEWU) on 3
January.
The award gave the least paid worker about $30 million a
month
backed-dated to last October.
"Bearing in mind that the
adjustment is for October, November and
December 2007, when the known
poverty datum line (PDL) for October 2007 was
around $26 million, an
adjustment of the rate for the least paid grade from
$4 501 000 to $27
million a month for October and $30 million a month for
November and
December 2007 would be fair and reasonable adjustments," reads
the award
signed by an independent arbitrator, Mr N. Mukwehwa.
The lowest
paid worker at EMA, which falls under the Ministry of
Environment and
Tourism, is paid $4,5 million a month.
Mushunje said it was
criminal for the ministry to pay "slave salaries"
to its
workers.
"This money is not even enough for a single trip to work.
This is
criminal," said Mushunje.
Environment and Tourism
Minister Francis Nhema could not be reached
for comment.
Zim Standard
By our
staff
UNIDENTIFIED men, believed to be State security agents,
last week
picked up a newspaper vendor and locked him up at State House, for
defying a
"directive" not to sell private-owned newspapers along Borrowdale
Road.
The road leads to President Robert Mugabe’s
mansion.
The vendor, who was selling The Standard, The Zimbabwe
Independent and
a number of South African newspapers, was detained for hours
at State House,
The Standard was told.
The vendors’ harassment
comes hardly two weeks after the vendors were
given a 1 February deadline to
leave the road "as they were selling
newspapers that attack President Robert
Mugabe".
Points from which vendors are "banned" include the corners
of
Churchill-Borrowdale Roads, Sam Levy’s Village and Borrowdale- Harare
Drive.
The vendors said last week the alleged agents drove a black
car
without number plates and asked for the government-owned Herald
daily.
When told the paper had not been delivered, they shouted
abuse at the
vendors.
Zimpapers has failed to provide its
titles on the streets on time
because of a sharp decline in newsprint
supplies.
This has left vendors with only The Zimbabwe Independent,
The
Standard, and the South African newspapers – all distributed by Munn
Marketing.
Nicholas Ncube, Munn Marketing operations manager
confirmed the
harassment of vendors.
"One vendor was picked up
at Borrowdale primary school on Sunday and
they took him to State House
where he spent some hours," he said.
Ncube said he went to
Borrowdale police station to make a report on
the harassment of vendors and
when he told the officers of agents moving in
a black car without number
plates and terrorising vendors, the officers said
they had "no capacity" to
deal with the agents.
Police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka said he
was not aware of that
report.
"I have checked with Borrowdale
police station and they are not aware
of that report," he said.
The Zimbabwe Independent and The Standard, the country’s remaining
independent newspapers, have been critical of Mugabe’s rule in the wake of
declining living standards and hyperinflation - unprecedented in a country
outside a war situation.
Yesterday morning the black car, a
Toyota Yaris, was back, this time
with number plates (AAW9286).
The sight of the car sent the vendors scurrying for cover.
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
BULAWAYO — THE Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) provided strong
evidence last week it was
ill-prepared for the 29 March elections: it was
still searching for offices
in Bulawayo.
ZEC was struggling to secure office space for its
officers less than
48 days before the harmonised Presidential, House of
Assembly, Senate and
local authority elections.
ZEC is
responsible for almost all the logistics for the elections;
preparations
should have begun last year.
It emerged last week that its 13
officers and clerks in Bulawayo
province were squashed into four offices at
the Mhlahlandlela government
complex, raising questions about its
independence.
According to a letter written by ZEC to council on 28
January, the
commission said it was "desperately" looking for accommodation
"so that it
can have some form of independent operation".
Initially, it asked the council to lease to it the former Art Gallery
building, which also houses the Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (MZWP)
Trust.
The request was turned down on the grounds that the
council planned to
create office space for its housing and community
services department.
But the council had to reconsider the matter
on Thursday when the ZEC
wrote back to plead for temporary accommodation
during the election period.
"ZEC is appealing to at least be
authorised to use the offices for its
district functions during the election
period as from the 1st of February to
the 30th of March," read the
letter.
The full council meeting only gave in to the plea on
condition the
commission paid "market-related" rentals.
The
government has dismissed concerns by the West and local civic
groups that it
has no capacity to hold the elections without outside
support, saying ZEC is
not fully-funded.
Last year the government allocated $209 trillion
for the harmonised
elections but observers say the money would not be
enough, considering the
inflationary environment.
ZEC says it
will be setting up an average of four polling stations in
each ward as the
synchronised elections will be ward-based.
In the past, voters
could cast their votes at any polling station in
their constituency.
Zim Standard
By Makaita
Mupare
BULAWAYO — Government hospitals have been hit by a
serious shortage of
anti-diarrhoea drugs at a time when major urban centres
are experiencing an
upsurge in cases of water borne diseases, it has been
learnt.
Since late last month, Bulawayo has drastically reduced its
daily
water allocations to residents, citing lack of funds to buy water
treatment
chemicals.
The Harare city council has also blamed
frequent water cuts on erratic
electricity supplies from the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa).
Residents are resorting to
water from unprotected sources, sparking an
increase in diarrhoea
cases.
A survey at Bulawayo’s two referral hospitals, Mpilo and the
United
Bulawayo Hospitals (UBH) last week revealed that patients suffering
from
diarrhoea were being told to buy drugs from private pharmacies as the
hospitals’ stocks were dry.
Sources at the two institutions
told The Standard that stocks of
nalidixic acid, a commonly used in the
treatment of diarrhoea were fast
running out, forcing the authorities to
reserve them for "critical cases".
"I have been to Mpilo hospital
several times, only to be told that
there are no drugs," said a
Barbourfields resident.
"They only gave me a prescription, so I
could look for the drugs at
pharmacies in town but I don’t have the money
because I am unemployed."
There was no respite for residents at the
city council’s 19 clinics,
which are usually well-stocked with drugs. In a
recent report on the
diarrhoea outbreak, the council’s health, housing and
education committee
said municipal clinics were running out of essential
drugs.
"Drugs play a crucial part in the management of patients yet
the
supplies remain erratic," the committee said. "There is a poor supply of
all
external applications, dressings, suture material and infection control
material and antibiotics levels are very low."
Lindiwe Mlilo,
the Mpilo chief executive officer and her UBH
counterpart, Nonhlanhla Ndlovu
refused to comment.
Zim Standard
By Bertha
Shoko
ZIMBABWE will be submitting its bid yet again to the Global
Fund to
fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria in response to the funding
body’s call
for proposals, despite a failed previous round grant application
by the
Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM) last year.
The CCM,
responsible for coming up with proposals to the Global Fund,
had last year
applied for about US$74 million for TB and malaria
interventions.
The Global Fund turned down this application for
"technical reasons".
After the Global Fund turned down Zimbabwe’s Round 7,
senior officials in
the Ministry of Health cried "foul" and attacked the
Global Fund for being
"politically motivated".
They also
accused the Global fund of failing to disburse in time funds
approved in
previous rounds.
There had been unconfirmed reports that Zimbabwe
would this year not
be applying for Round 8 because some members of the CCM
felt that it would a
futile exercise. They argued the Global Fund had become
the "politicised".
But now, The Standard understands that Zimbabwe
will again be applying
for funding and that members of the CCM, including
prominent HIV activist
Lynde Francis, will be meeting on 14 February to
deliberate on this issue.
In an interview last week, chairman of
the CCM and Minister of Health
and Child Welfare, Dr David Parirenyatwa,
said the country would
"definitely" be seeking funds from the Global Fund in
Round 8.
Parirenyatwa said the 14 February meeting had been
scheduled to give
CCM members a chance to discuss and agree on what to
"include and exclude"
in Zimbabwe’s grant application.
"We hope
to finalise everything on that day but there is no doubt that
we will
definitely be giving it another try," Parirenyatwa said.
Health
experts and HIV activists said they hoped the proposals the CCM
intended to
submit would effectively communicate the plight of Zimbabweans,
especially
where access to HIV treatment is concerned.
Chairman of the
Zimbabwe Doctor¹s for Human Rights, Dr Douglas
Gwatidzo, urged the CCM to
"carry the voice of the suffering people".
Gwatidzo said by coming
up with a proposal with a "human face" the
Global Fund board would be "moved
and touched to reach out to the people of
Zimbabwe".
Said
Gwatidzo: "Even though political reasons may be the cause for
Zimbabwe’s
denial of funding in past rounds, I want to challenge members of
the CCM to
consult widely before this meeting and work on a proposal that
tells the
story of how much poor Zimbabweans really need this funding.
Dr
Gwatidzo said in the HIV grant he would like the CCM to apply for
funding
for HIV that ensure that there are enough test kits, reagents and
monitoring
equipment such as CD4 cell count machines.
He said it was important
that the HIV grant proposal include
nutritional support and the availability
and affordability of Anti
Retroviral Drugs (ARVs).
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
THE United Kingdom has introduced tough civil penalties
for business
employing illegal migrant workers in a move that could affect
hundreds of
Zimbabweans working in that country.
The new
measures, described by the Home Office as the "biggest
immigration shake-up
for forty years" are aimed at tackling illegal
immigration to the UK which
is a popular destination for Zimbabweans,
fleeing economic ruin in their
motherland.
Many Zimbabweans have been staying and working in the
UK illegally and
have sent the funds they earn back home to support
struggling families.
The measures will compel businesses to source
their migrant labour
through legal means.
Failure to do so will
attract severe penalties.
The measures, which became effective this
month will enable employers
to check on the status of the workers and also
allow the Border and
Immigration Agency (BIA) to deal with non
compliance.
"Under a new system of civil penalties, employers who
negligently hire
illegal workers could face a maiximum fine of 10 000 Pounds
for each illegal
worker at the business. If employers are found to have
knowingly hired
illegal workers they could incur an unlimited fine and be
sent to prison,"
the British Embassy said in a statement.
BIA
has been conducting operations against illegal workers in UK amid
reports
that it removed 22 000 people from UK in 2006. A number of
Zimbabweans have
also been affected by the deportations.
In the next 12 months, the
agency is expected to introduce tougher
measures which include complusory ID
cards for foreign nationals.
An Australian style Points based
system to make sure only workers with
the skills to benefit Britain’s
economy.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
VIOLENCE in the Anglican Church’s Harare diocese
continued last week
when some members of the Mothers’ Union tried to evict a
priest aligned to
the former bishop of Harare, Nolbert Kunonga, from a
church-owned house in
Glen View.
Church members said the priest
in charge at St Andrew’s Church in Glen
View, Matthew Zifoti, was forced out
of the house after he allegedly told
them: "I am not your
priest."
Sources said most of the parishioners at St Andrew’s
support the
recently ordained Bishop Sebastian Bakare as acting
vicar-general of the
diocese.
The women allegedly pulled down a
fence and broke down a door and
forced Zifoti out of the house.
High Court judge Justice Charles Hungwe recently ruled that Kunonga’s
diocese could not exist at law outside the constitution of the Anglican
Church of the Province of Central Africa (CPCA).
But the police
ordered Zifoti to remain in the house and arrested the
women.
Over 200 parishioners followed their colleagues to the police station
and
demanded they too be arrested.
The police later released the whole
group and remained with five
senior members of the Mothers’ Union, whom they
are charging with public
violence.
The five are identified only
by their surnames: Musekiwa, Muzondo,
Pasikwavaviri and Gombakomba. They
were scheduled to appear in court on
Friday. They were brought to Mbare
magistrate’s court after it had already
closed.
The case was
postponed to tomorrow.
Mike Chingore of Chingore & Associates,
representing the five women,
confirmed the charges.
"They have
pressed public violence charges against them and they will
appear in court
on Monday," he said.
In the evening of the same day, unknown people
broke into St Andrew’s
Church warden Farai Jombe’s car and stole a radio,
distributor and battery.
Gombe, who was still to report the matter
to the police, said he
suspected it was the work of people aligned to the
Kunonga faction.
"When I arrived from Mbare court there were three
thugs who tried to
prevent us from praying in our church but went away after
police
intervention," he said.
"And a few hours later, around 8
PM, three people broke into my car;
the coincidence is too
much."
Zifoti and Kunonga could not be reached for comment
yesterday.
Last weekend, unknown people tried to block the
ordination of Bishop
Bakare as acting vicar-general of the diocese at the
Cathedral in Harare.
Bakare, also the acting bishop of Harare, was
later ordained at the
City Sports Centre during a colourful ceremony
attended by thousands of
Anglican parishioners from throughout the
country.
Zim Standard
BY
NDAMU SANDU
ZIMBABWE’S battered industries need a staggering
US$2 billion to
recapitalise after last year’s price blitz, a business
leader said last
week.
Callisto Jokonya, Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president
told Standardbusiness the massive
injection, coupled with supportive
policies, would provide a lasting
solution to the crisis confronting
industries.
"We need
friendly policies and once they are in place the world will
open up," he
said, adding the world supports friendly policies.
Jokonya said
businesses could negotiate economic integration "with our
friends in the
world" once the environment was conducive for business
operations.
Businesses have been choked by price controls,
weakening their
viability. Prices have to be approved by the National
Incomes and Pricing
Commission (NIPC). The commission has been taking its
time to approve price
increases due to a shortage of staff.
Last year, the government ordered all businesses to slash prices of
goods
and services by half, in what was seen as a populist move that left
shop
shelves empty.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe then came up with a
loan facility in
which businesses would access cheap funds for restocking.
Under the Basic
Commodities Supply Side Intervention (BACOSSI), businesses
accessed loans at
a concessionary rate of 25 percent per annum.
Jokonya said BACOSSI was a short-term measure and the huge capital
injection
would be a lasting solution to industries’ woes.
He said business
needed supportive policies such as the removal of
price controls and the
availability of foreign currency for raw material
imports.
In
his January 2008 monetary policy announcement, RBZ governor Gideon
Gono said
BACOSSI must not be seen as a permanent feature of monetary policy
interventions.
"Instead, this facility was meant to act as an
emergency
shock-absorber to foreclose the possible collapse of companies
which could
not be able to restock their production systems or retail
outlets," Gono
said.
He said BACOSSI would run through to 30
June. As at 8 January US$13.5
million and Z$18.6 trillion had been disbursed
to companies under the
facility.
Gono said as a result of
BACOSSI, major suppliers of basic commodities
have seen capacity utilization
improving from as low as 10 percent to 65
percent.
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
BULAWAYO — Bulawayo city council is threatening to evict
Premier Bank
from its suburban premises for setting up its business in an
area not
designated for banking.
The threat is the culmination
of a legal wrangle that has been raging
since last year, with the bank
appealing to the council for a year in which
to relocate its office from the
affluent Suburbs residential area.
But in December the council
slapped the bank with an Enforcement and
Prohibition order "for
non-compliance with the Regional Town Planning and
Country Act", which
prohibits the setting of banks in a residential area.
The council’s
acting director of engineering services, Simela Dube
said the bank
apparently bought the premises from an unnamed organisation
that was also
operating from the area illegally.
In a letter to the city council
dated 1 January, the bank said it
needed time to find an alternative site
and carry out renovations.
"We would like to assure you that we
want to maintain our investment
in Bulawayo and to continue participating in
the development of the city,"
the bank said.
"Consequently if
our site is currently irregular, we would like to
correct this situation as
quickly and as amicably as possible."
But councilors shot down the
appeal, saying the bank had not
demonstrated any urgency in looking for
alternative accommodation.
Property development in Bulawayo has
slowed down due to the country’s
economic crisis.
Zim Standard
BY NDAMU
SANDU
VINCENT Chidatsi sells juice cards under a tree in Kwame
Nkurumah
Avenue, his "office" for the past five years.
He forks
out at least $10 million a day in bus fares to and from
Chitungwiza.
"The money I spend on a day is increasing almost
daily but the money I
get is not increasing at that rate," he
said.
Sithabile Matimba is a receptionist in the Graniteside
industrial
area. She has worked for the same company for 10
years.
Her $100 million a month salary barely covers the basics:
she needs
$176 million a month for transport from Mabvuku to
Graniteside.
"I have to look for money for rent and food. I have to
supplement my
income through the sale of maputi at work," she
said.
Chidatsi and Matimba are among Zimbabwe’s unhappy
millionaires, who
have watched in disbelief as inflation ravaged the
purchasing power of the
Zimdollar.
While the central bank tried
to enhance convenience by introducing
higher denominated notes to ease
citizens’ woes of carrying bags of cash,
there is a danger the victory is
phyrric.
Only last month, central bank governor Gideon Gono
unveiled $10
million, $5 million and $1 million notes, as a stop-gap measure
to ease
people’s pain of carrying large bags of cash.
But as is
the norm in a hyperinflationary environment, the prices of
goods and
services are rising at an astronomical pace.
Since June 2006,
Zimbabwe has been in hyperinflationary mode, with
month-on- month inflation
consistently at over 50 percent over six months
A one-way trip from
Epworth into the city cost $700 000 in December,
but is now $4 million. A
loaf of bread now costs $3 million from $700 000 in
December.
Analysts say the high inflation - 26 000 percent in November,
according to
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe figures, and 150 000 percent in
January according
to the International Monetary Fund forecast – has reduced
the value of the
currency.
"In the world the top percentile of rich people are
millionaires but
here beggars on the streets are millionaires," said Dr
Daniel Ndlela, an
independent economist.
In hypeinflationary
conditions, a central bank prints larger notes to
ease the burden of
carrying sackfuls of cash.
Zimbabwe has joined the crusade of
doling out larger denominated
notes. The $10 million note, introduced last
month, is the largest note, not
only in Africa but in the world, which
analysts say is embarrassing.
"We are the most ridiculous people,"
said Ndlela. "There is no
currency in Africa that is measured in
millions.".
Hyperinflation has not only rendered useless the
nominal value of the
currency, but has whittled down the value of the
people’s labour. .
Analysts say the introduction of large
denominations, though a good
step in enhancing convenience, will not tame
inflation.
"Fundamentally, the introduction of higher denominated
notes is a good
step in terms of enhancing convenience," said David
Mupamhadzi, group
economist at the Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group. "But it
cannot be used as a
substitute to tame inflation."
Mupamhadzi
proposes a radical policy shift which might be painful, but
is "a necessary
cure" for the ailment.
He says there is need to open up the market
to curb price distortions
driving inflation.
"Although it is
going to be painful, we need the pain for future
benefits," he
said.
In a hyperinflationary environment, governments often try to
disguise
the true rate of inflation through suppression of publication of
money
supply statistics, or inflation indices.
Zimbabwe has
been no exception and the November inflation figures were
only released less
that two weeks ago, not by the Central Statistical
Office, but by the RBZ
when it announced its monetary policy statement.
Governments under
hyperinflation can effect price and wage controls to
disguise the true rate
of inflation.
In June last year, the government ordered businesses
to slash prices
of all goods and services by half in a populist move that
emptied the
shelves.
Businesses are still to restock to
pre-June levels, notwithstanding
cheap funds doled out by the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe to companies for
restocking.
Matimba is worried
that if a solution is not found "as a matter of
urgency bags (of money)
would bounce back".
Dr Ndlela said: "If the authorities refuse to
change the currency, and
assuming these guys will be there in August, we
won’t be able to pronounce
our money."
Zim Standard
Comment
A number of politicians in Zanu PF have challenged
President Robert
Mugabe’s leadership since 1975. Some did it with subtlety,
others openly.
So far, none have succeeded, either in a free and
fair election, or by
means beloved of all politicians: subterfuge, intrigue
and duplicity.
It would be unfair to state categorically that all
have failed because
Mugabe is a past master of all these methods. Neither
would it be accurate
to say they failed because he had "right" on his
side.
Many would ascribe his survival to a mastery of the art of
patronage
and influence-peddling.
Most who have challenged him
had legitimate reasons, mostly related
with his style of leadership, which
has always tended to be dictatorial.
There has also been his
glaring failure to respond positively to
ordinary people’s concerns about
the true, material meaning of our
independence. While he harped on the
victories, people worried about hunger,
health, jobs, freedom and
happiness.
But one thing must be certain by now, even to Mugabe
himself. The
discontent with his leadership is now so intense even he must
know a climax
is imminent.
Simba Makoni’s challenge, the latest
in the last few years, is
poignant in its clarity. He says he shares the
people’s agony over,
generally speaking, the emptiness of our
independence.
Mugabe has often erred in concentrating on the
achievement of
independence, rather than on the aftermath of the struggle.
There were
dreams, promises, pledges, undertakings and solemn commitments to
give the
people a place in the sun, after the 15-year struggle in which
nearly 30 000
people died.
In reality, only a few people now
live off the fat of the land. Most
are desperately poor, living on less than
a US$1 a day. The communal areas,
where Mugabe’s party has traditionally
enjoyed massive support, have been
turned into a wasteland.
Neither the chaotic land reform programme nor the recent distribution
of
tractors, combine harvesters nor ploughs to the party faithful has made a
dent on the poverty there.
Like Simba Makoni and those who
stand behind him in his challenge,
many of the people in the rural areas
know, in their heart of hearts, that
Mugabe has failed to deliver on his and
Zanu PF’s promises. It is time for
him to bow out, gracefully, if
possible.
He, of all people, must appreciate that to stubbornly
cling to power
when he has clearly outlived his people’s welcome would be
dangerous, not
only for himself as an individual, but for the country
too.
He may count among his successes in the power stakes his
victories
over Ndabaningi Sithole, Edgar Tekere, even Joshua Nkomo and
Eddison Zvobgo.
But he cannot believe himself to be invincible.
Like all of us, he is fallible. Like all other political parties in
the
world, his party is fallible but would survive without him, as the
communist
parties of China, Cuba and the former Soviet Union, have survived.
He may not believe, as some of his critics seem to believe he does,
that he
is Zanu PF and the party is Robert Mugabe. But the stubbornness with
which
he refuses to let go of his seat suggests he is utterly incapable of
conceiving of the party without him or he without the party.
Yet the prime concern of everyone in this great country is its future.
With
Mugabe and Zanu PF at the helm, the future is dark, empty. Whether
Makoni
can make a difference may be a mute questsion. What is clear is that
under
Mugabe there is no future at all.
Zim Standard
Sunday Opinion By Bill
Saidi
HERE is a quotation from a book, Presidential
Elections:
"All political strategies are worked out within a
framework of
circumstances which are in part subject to manipulation, but to
even a
greater degree are ‘given’.
"Needless to say, this fact
of life also applies to the strategies of
aspirants to the Presidency, who
must construct extremely complex plans of
action within the context of
hundreds of thousands of relevant
circumstances, most of which are beyond
their control."
I love the use of the word "manipulation", the
stock-in-trade of the
consummate politician. Most of the above can be pared
down to this: do what
you can to win, no matter what it takes.
This is all about the US elections in November, which always make me
wind
back to a lovely, middle-class residence in a suburb of San Francisco,
where
my hostess shared my dislike of the front-runner, Richard Nixon.
As
soon it was announced on TV that the president, seeking a second
term, was
about to speak, my hostess dashed out of the lounge, one of her
children in
tow.
"I can’t stand that man," she said.
So, there I
was, alone with Nixon, in this plush lounge, abandoned by
my hostess.. The
lawyer-politician was already mired in a scandal of
prodigious political
proportions.
I paid scant attention to what Nixon said. I had met
him nine years
earlier, on a rain-soaked night at the little airport in
Lusaka.
The late Richard Hall, my editor at The Central African
Mail, had been
tipped off about Nixon’s stopover from South Africa, where he
had been on
holiday.
In 1960, he had lost to John F. Kennedy,
later the victim of an
assassination in Dallas, Texas.
I
couldn’t get a word out of Nixon: Apartheid? South Africa?
Sharpeville? He
had nothing to say.
So, here I was, in his own country, where he
was president, seeking a
second term with the cloud of Watergate hanging
over him.
I have always wondered how my career would have developed
if I had
succeeded in squeezing water out of the rock that was Nixon’s
reticence: "I
am going to make history — just you wait and see. I’m going to
make history
as president."
Nobody would forget that, not after
what Nixon did to the US
presidency.
US presidential elections
are mostly about money and glitz. It’s the
ultimate display of the essence
of everything American — loud, open,
expensive, honest (sometimes) and
dishonest (also sometimes) and often
silly.
The razzmatazz of
the primaries, although a hallmark of what US
democracy is all about, is so
steeped in "manipulation", there are critics
who believe, ultimately, it is
the candidate with the largest pockets who
wins.
Comparing that
with any number of African elections is grossly unfair.
For us, the money is
not the centre-piece. Often it’s the party with the
levers of power, as in
Kenya’s recent elections.
Mostly, however, it is the party — as in
Zimbabwe —-with the capacity
to instill pure, naked fear into the voters’
hearts, which reminds me of a
quotation from Cold Comfort Confronted, the
book by Guy and Molly
Clutton-Brock: "Your real offence is turning yes-men
slaves into independent
human beings."
A distinguished
lawyer said this to members of the society which the
couple, along with
others, including the Mutasas, had formed.
After the 2000
parliamentary elections, Zanu PF could have — and might
have — said this to
the Movement of Democratic Change. It was the first
time, in 20 years of
independence, that so many millions had voted against
Zanu PF.
Everything the party has done since then is designed to ensure it
doesn’t
happen again. The pure, simple truth is that as long as Robert
Mugabe is
alive, no other party can take over the government — at least, not
through a
free and fair election.
If the MDC couldn’t succeed in 2000, during
which millions had been
turned from yes-men and women into "independent
human beings", Simba Makoni
can hardly expect to achieve that
goal.
Yet there is always history to be reckoned with. To many
un-restructured, un-reconstituted Zanu PF leaders, the often-quoted examples
of the fall from power of Kenneth Kaunda and Kamuzu Banda would never apply
to Robert Mugabe.
In Goromonzi in 2006, his party did not
unanimously endorse his
presidential candidature, whatever spin he and his
supporters tried to put
on the events.
Makoni’s declaration,
although shrouded in suspicion, is another
indication that Mugabe has lost
it — the magic touch which made him a
virtual shoo-in in every
election.
Kaunda and Kamuzu (wherever his spirit is) must be
commiserating with
Mugabe: not even he can stop the march of
time.
* saidib@standard.co.zw
Zim Standard
reflections with Dr
Alex T Magaisa
WHEN Zimbabwean superstar
Oliver Mtukudzi sings, most people listen.
One of his recent songs,
Vachakunonokera, is a poignant reminder of the
folly of lying idle while
waiting for an inheritance.
It is unwise to wait for elders to pass
on, so that you can inherit
from them. Trouble is, they may never leave the
inheritance to you or,
worse, might even outlive you.
Where
they do leave something, you might be one of many beneficiaries.
This could
result in a battle for the package. Instead, says Tuku, one must
just work
hard.
There are many in Zanu PF who have spent decades waiting to
inherit
President Mugabe’s mantle. But some have passed on while in the
queue. Many
others are still waiting. Simba Makoni is one of those who have
been
waiting. But on Tuesday 5 February 2008, he decided he could wait no
more.
Few disagree it is a brave decision. Around this time last
year, this
column featured some thoughts on the perils of pursuing change in
Zanu PF:
why, despite the failure of the national leadership to take the
country
forward, there seemed to be no visible desire to change things from
within.
Were they really all cowards or "Mugabe’s wives" as Margaret Dongo
once
said? The biggest impediment, it was argued, was the fear of failure
and
consequent loss of privileges. Change agents in Zanu PF were discouraged
by
the lack of or at the very least, lukewarm support from those around
them.
So what, then, has changed?
Makoni stated in his
announcement that he had consulted "extensively
and intensively" both within
and outside Zanu PF: his bid was inspired by
the warm encouragement he
received. That is a positive development in the
politics of Zimbabwe — the
mere confirmation of the fact there are in Zanu
PF people who share the
desire to change.
But having come out openly, it is to be hoped
those friends of Makoni
of sufficient seniority, will follow suit. It is
understandable that
negotiating the path out of Zanu PF, can be hazardous.
But their unequivocal
backing of Makoni would give confidence to an
understandably curious and
sceptical public.
Never far away
from the scene, conspiracy theorists have predictably
woven the theory that
Makoni’s bid may be one of Zanu PF’s gimmicks.
Not long after the
announcement, Zanu PF apologists were already
sharpening their daggers. This
reaction was predictable: Makoni was a
Western agent.
In their
strange world, any one challenging Mugabe is an agent of the
West.
They have used these against everyone else, including
Tsvangirai. But
these are the same people who spent years massaging their
relationships with
the West. The same people shun local colleges and
universities and instead
send their children to Western
institutions.
They shun local banks and deposit ill-gotten gains in
the West. Yet
they have the nerve to tell the population there is something
distasteful
about the West.
There is even an attempt to find
Makoni guilty by association, in the
suggestion that he is related to
Tsvangirai by virtue of some marital
circumstance.
Besides the
fact that the so-called relationship did not seem to
matter when Makoni was
a "loyal" Zanu PF cadre, these same accusers
conveniently overlook that
there are at least four members of the Mugabe
clan in Parliament and
government. But the idea is to paint Makoni with the
same "mutengesi"
(sellout) slur used so effectively against Tsvangirai.
Zimbabweans need to
judge for themselves, on the basis of what the man is
offering.
They are intelligent enough to reject his plans if they discover that
he is
no more than a charlatan. But apologists of those that have landed
them in
abject poverty cannot, surely, be trusted with the job of judging on
their
behalf.
There has been the argument that Makoni is simply an
opportunist,
attempting to reap where others sowed long ago. This is a view
coming mainly
from the so-called pro-democracy forces in politics and civil
society both
at home and in the Diaspora. Many of these have, for years,
called upon Zanu
PF politicians to see sense and join the people to fight
against the
mismanagement of the country. Here is someone generally
considered senior
and respectable, who has decided to heed that call.
Suddenly, he is called
an opportunist. "Where was he all along?", they ask.
It is an understandable
question but it also requires some
perspective.
Who, really, in politics is not an opportunist? Is
not politics about
identifying and exploiting opportunities? Is it not the
case that this breed
of humans (politicians) generally thrives on
opportunities?
But the biggest irony is that many of those that use
the ‘where were
you?’ argument have for years been pilloried by Zanu PF on
exactly the same
tired basis — ‘where was he/she during the liberation
struggle?’, Zanu PF
always asks when it seeks to denigrate and marginalise
someone. Sooner or
later, the world will be told that Makoni was studying at
university and
never went to the bush during the struggle. All this and more
just days
after decades of being called ‘Comrade’!
People are
right, of course, to ask questions. But it seems useful,
rather than to rely
on speculation, that serious debate focuses on the
issues that he puts on
the table. His affability and the perception that he
has the oomph factor is
only a small percentage of the package. To this end
the nation awaits
Makoni’s ideas and plans for the country. Change is
certainly
important.
Empty rhetoric of the "revolution" does not bring food
to the table.
Makoni needs to urgently outline his agenda, so that when
people debate,
they do so less on his personality but more on the substance
of what he has
to offer.
The Makoni factor and the way it has
been widely and positively
portrayed both within and outside the country, is
a sure sign of how the
world is ready to embrace new faces, beyond the MDC,
in the struggle to
resuscitate Zimbabwe. The infantile attitude and approach
of the two MDCs
and the selfishness of its aspiring MPS who seem to be
mainly concerned with
matters of their own stomachs has shown however the
opposition forces have
begun to take people for granted. Makoni cannot fight
this battle alone. Nor
can he do it with only his Zanu PF
colleagues.
He needs to form a broad alliance and capture and
consolidate the
potential votes currently wasted on the divided MDC, while
winning the
hearts of the pro-reform voices from Zanu PF.
Makoni has hinted at the idea of a government of national unity, which
suggests an interest in a broad-based regime, not a traditionally divisive
"winner-wakes all" system.
Makoni faces formidable obstacles,
not least the risk of isolation by
fcolleagues that have pledged to support
him. But if there is anything
Makoni can bank on, it is Mugabe’s memory.
Mugabe does not forget easily,
especially those that have "betrayed him".
Therefore, it is likely he will
know and remember all those around Makoni,
even if they choose not to come
out. He might maintain strategic silence but
when the deed is done, he will
be sure to pounce on them. They cannot,
therefore, pretend any longer not to
be backing Makoni. It’s in their
interests to help Makoni secure the
Presidency. As Tuku says in another
song, chekumirira hapana. Surely, there
is nothing to wait
for.
* Dr Magaisa is based at The University of Kent Law School
and can be
contacted at a.t.magaisa@kent.ac.uk or wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
Zim Standard
Sundayview by
Job Sibanda
THE 2008 harmonised presidential, parliarmentary,
senatorial and local
government elections will be held against a backdrop of
a terrible and
worsening situation economically, socially and politically.
The elections
come at a time when Zimbabwes inflation is inching inexorably
towards the 30
000 % per annum rate.
That this is a record in a
country not at war is now common cause.The
elections come at a time when
shortages of everything and anything you can
think of are the order of the
day. They come at a time when the population
exhibits surprise at finding
any type of commodity available in shops than
exhibit such surprise at not
finding such commodities. Food, medication, raw
materials for industries,
water, and money are commodities that citizens of
other countries take for
granted, and rightly so. Not in Zimbabwe!
These shortages are
unprecedented, and instead of abating, are getting
worse with each day that
passes. The result of this is that all negative
traits associated with a
State in decay — dishonesty, despair ,despondency,
disease and corruption —
have permeated all facets of life in Zimbabwe
today.
Both the
urban population and our rural folk have suffered the brunt
of these
negative traits. Corruption, the worst of the lot, has become a way
of life
for a significant proportion of our population. Like cancer, it has
spread
its unwelcome and unwholesome tentacles to virtually every facet of
our
lives. Like the talons of an eagle with a meal in its grasp meal, it
will
not let go. Everybody knows somebody somewhere who has engaged in a
corrupt
act. For a country like ours, this is sad, if not tragic. It should
not be
so.
Zimbabwe is endowed with enormous wealth both in terms of
the minerals
underneath its soils and more importantly its human resources
who walk and
work on its soils. Anywhere else in the world, with such
resources, Zimbabwe
would be a shining star. Zimbabwe almost became a star
in the not too
distant past. Sadly, it never got to shine as brightly as it
could have, or
rather should have, because before that flickering star
attained its full
glow, the embers within it were doused. The opportunity to
rise and shine
among other nations was thus lost. It should not have been
so.
On the social front,a quarter of our population, in order to
escape
these man-made and preventable problems at home, have sought solace
and face
in neighbouring countries, Europe, Australia, America and
Canada.
They are now economic refugees. They use all sorts of
tricks, guile,
deception and chicanery to escape free Zimbabwe. What a
shame! Once there,
some engage in crime to keep body and soul together.
Others do menial jobs
shunned by the locals.This despite the fact that some
of our exports are
highly qualified professionals. Yet others, both men and
women, people who
left promising careers and proffesions, engage in the
oldest profession
known to man, in foreign lands. It should not have been
so.
Many adult people in the diaspora left the motherland with
heavy
hearts because they left behind spouses and beloved offspring. Some of
these
spouses and children, despite effort, have failed to join those who
left.
Others still, perhaps because of distance, and time, have found
comfort in
the arms of locals, or other diasporians in similar situations to
their own.
Many divorces have ensued. A significant number of a whole
generation of
children therefore have been forced to live under the care and
guidance of a
single parent. Sociologists are better placed to tell us
whether this is a
positive development for the country or not. It is
submitted, respectfully,
that that this new phenomenon of a significant
number of children growing up
without both parents will spew previously
unheard of social problems in the
not too distant future. We wait and see.
It should never have been so.
Some spouses and partners of those
who left have themselves been
forced into the arms of new partners.The
result is that the AIDS scourge
will continue in its destructive path,
mauling and felling a substantial
number of our people. It is sad, and real.
It was never meant to be so.
Educational costs for our children at
primary and secondary
schools,and also tertiary colleges are prohibitive.
Education should be a
right of every child,not a privilege of the
monied.Many children have been
forced to abandon studies because of such
prohibitive costs.All the positive
gains of our early independence in
education will dissipate faster than the
time it will take to read this
article to the end,if nothing is done about
this.This can not be what it was
meant to be.
Many factories have closed.Many others down-sized
their
workforce.Thousands of workers lost their livelihoods.A man who loses
his
livelihood first,loses his decency next.That is what our workers who
lost
their jobs have been reduced to—they have been robbed,through no fault
of
their own,of their decency.A man without decency is a dangerous man,both
to
himself and to society.Such man is easy to manipulate.On the promise of a
meal,or a free T-shirt,or a few dollars,he will toyi-toyi for hours on
end,to no particular end.The leadership of the country is guilty of
manipulating some of our brothers and sisters on the pretext that they care
for them.Politics,especially the quest for leadership, was never meant to be
so mean and cruel.
People are in despair.Everyone in the street
wears a long face.Men and
women are despondent.Stress levels are high,which
makes it easier for
disease to set in.Life was meant to be lived and enjoyed
in many different
waysIn Zimbabwe today,life expectancy has shrunk to 37 for
men and less for
women.No,it was never meant to be this way.
On
the political front,we are isolated.We are without any genuine
friends
regionally,continentally and internationally.Our neighbours are
tired of our
apparently never-ending problems.They just but tolerate us.We
have become
the laughing stock and the butt of crude jokes.We are humiliated
for no
other reason than that we are Zimbabwean.Suddenly it is a curse to be
Zimbabwean.Again i say,it was never meant to be so.
Our State
President can not address the United Nations without our
Minister of
Informartion crying sabotage,because the Presidents address was
muffled and
nobody heard him.A few short years ago,everybody would have been
eager to
listen to the President.The same President causes consternation
among a
section of other Heads of State,for merely receiving an invitation
to attend
a summit of global heads of States and governments.That same
President can
not visit certain capitals of the wold.We know he says he does
not care,but
can anyone say with a straight face that it was meant to be so?
ZANU PF,with Robert Mugabe at the helm,are responsible for the mess we
find
ourselves in.We have been used and abused by them for far too long.They
have
taken us for granted for such a long time that we now need to say to
them at
the forthcoming polls:"adios amigos.Thanks for nothing over the last
seven
years"But, truly speaking,Bob and Co.are heroes of the liberation
struggle.Heroes should not overstay their welcome.They should know when to
let go or risk humiliation.That time to let go,for Bob and Co,.is now.A
nation should not have to reject its founding fathers through a
plebiscite,but it shall be done.However,it was never meant to be
so.
Victory over ZANU PF at the forthcoming polls is not only
achievable,but a certainty.ZANU PF created this cesspool of horse dung we
are in.There is no way they can pull us out.They have no capacity to do
so.That is why you find inertia and paralysis on their part in finding
solutions to the myriad of problems facing this great nation.To be
victorious over ZANU PF needs co-ordinated and concerted effort.They have
been in power 28 years now and have perfected the art of survival.Every
registered voter needs to go out and cast their ballot.ZANU PF thrives in a
situation where there is voter apathy.All patriotic people,everybody and
anybody who loves this country and wants to see it attain its glory of the
past,needs to go out there and vote. The country needs your help.You can
give that help by voting..Its time to get moving.
*Job Sibanda
is a lawyer at Job Sibanda and Associates law firm
'I will not run to South Africa like other teachers'
A few days before
schools opened, our headmaster must have wondered
what the situation would
be like. The last term of 2007 was the most
difficult for our school
managers.
All headmasters and teachers want better results from
grade one up to
upper six classes.
The drive and quest to
achieve this has been and continues to be
compromised by the massive exodus
of competent and experienced teachers to
South Africa.
Teachers, like all civil servants in our country, have been ignored by
the
present government to unacceptable levels. Last term, we had schools
going
the entire term with one Maths or Science teacher for forms one to
six.
In primary schools, five to seven undeclared vacant posts
were the
order in most urban schools, especially here in
Matabeleland.
Classes were then combined, leaving one teacher with
as many as 60
pupils. Can one effectively mark 60 essays in one
night?
Cases of one teacher purported to be on sick leave being
seen selling
foreign currency, with hordes of rowdy youths, became
common.
Others crossed in droves into South Africa where they took
anything
from farm jobs, building, general hands to domestic
workers.
If you voice your concern you are labeled unpatriotic. You
are told
you belong to the MDC. Those in Zanu-PF seem to be content with
anything?
When a parent gets $12 million, with a chicken costing
$17 million,
what do you expect? From $12 million, how does one feed, clothe
the family,
pay rent and school fees? This is simply inhuman.
Teachers are expected to be smart, committed and motivated?
In
terms of patriotism, our teachers, nurses, policemen, solders and a
host of
civil servants are unmatched. It is the bigwigs who are unpatriotic,
selfish
looters. Even under colonialism it never reached this level.
Those
of us who still trudge day in and day out are doing so because
of pride and
the realization that God knows we are serving humanity.
I can’t
sink so low to be seen cleaning toilets in Pretoria to get the
Rand. Never.
I would rather die of hunger.
If I do that then those responsible
for my plight will feel
invincible. They can make us miserable but one thing
they cannot destroy is
our sense of pride and resolve to stay put until this
once proud nation
regains its rightful place in Southern
Africa.
Shelter, education and health have become a pipe dream 27
years into
independence. God is watching. Our God is awesome but very just.
In the
fullness of his own time, he makes all things beautiful.
Teachers are not in this unenviable plight by their own making; it’s a
deliberate malicious strategy to destroy their spirit and sense of humanism
for unproved political allegiance to the MDC.
As we move
towards elections, the tormentors would rather see all of
us off to South
Africa and re-staff our schools with unliberated minds.
They know
that a nation is enlightened by teachers, hence this
unprovoked onslaught.
When you get a paltry salary then the community looks
down on you. These
guys are masters of political manipulation at any cost.
You can
fire us from these jobs and even take us to graves but as long
as God keeps
this nation ticking, people will be enlightened in one way or
another.
Firing or killing, judgment day will come. We are not surviving on
salaries.
God is keeping us alive. I, for one, won’t go down South.
Odrix
Sithole
Pelandaba,
Bulawayo.
-----------------
Who is the best presidential
candidate?
WHICH of the presidential nominees
is real? Makoni, Mutambara,
Tsvangirai and Mugabe are all vying for the same
post but who is the real
contender here?
I think Makoni and Mutambara (surprises and
miracles excluded) are
both after destroying the winning chances of the
other two candidates.
Makoni is rather late to launch a real
campaign. What if he campaigns
for the MDC’s Tsvangirai? That could stun
Mugabe and end ten years of
horror. Seriously, Mutambara needs more
"grassroots" support. If he is
confident of his capacity, why not then
formulate another name for his
group.
Mutambara’s candidature
is weak and may not be realistic. If anything,
it is divisive and
self-defeating.
Mugabe’s candidature is equally riddled with
pitfalls. It is not even
certain that his party wholeheartedly endorsed him.
Dumiso Dabengwa may
prove that to us soon.
Mugabe is no longer
a clear presidential candidate but we all know
soon what he does. There is
only one presidential candidate with a clear
mandate from his party and the
people, and that is Tsvangirai.
I think for him victory is certain.
Splitting the MDC votes will give
an advantage to Zanu PF.
Owen Mandisodza,
Harare
-------------------
Fed up with excuses
I AM so
fed up with claims that the forecasted poor harvests in
Zimbabwe are due to
fuel shortages, among other reasons.
I grew up in the rural
areas and we never used diesel in our
farming but we still delivered bumper
crops to the GMB.
Blaming the fuel shortage would suggest
that everyone in
Zimbabwe owns a commercial farm. In any case, statistics
have always shown
that peasant farmers produced more food crops than
commercial farmers before
the land reform.
By the way,
how many tractors are operational in the country? I
suggest we stick to
basics — the country just needs sufficient seed and
fertiliser. Real farmers
know how to deal with draught power as they have
always done before land
reform.
lancelot,
Randburtgh,
RSA
---------------
Clarifying TOM role in Zimbabwe
I refer to the
recent article ‘Rock
the votè’ gigs head for South Africa I would like to
submit a correction for
your readers, regarding the reference to the
International Organization for
Migration (TOM) in that
article.
You may be aware that TOM has been working in
Zimbabwe since
1985 providing technical support to the Government of
Zimbabwe on migration
management issues.
In regard to the
aforementioned article, 1 would like to bring
to your attention that TOM
does not currently have figures relating to the
number of Zimbabweans in the
diaspora. Currently there are no accurately
verified figures that depict the
extent of the Zimbabwean diaspora. It is
within this context that TOM, in
partnership with the Government of
Zimbabwe, is embarking on an initiative
that will among other things, seek
to build the capacity of the government
to manage migration (including the
formulation of a migration management
policy), integrating migration in such
national planning endeavours as
national censuses, poverty assessment study
surveys, Millennium Development
Goals and the Zimbabwe Economic Development
Strategy.
The
project will also attempt to quantify and better understand
the Zimbabwean
diaspora. The information and insights gained from the
diaspora initiative
would facilitate the formulation of policies and
programmes for national
good,
Marcelo Pisani
Chief of Mission,
International Organisation for Migration