Police ban ‘radios’ in Zimbabwe

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Outrage over Mudenda’s appointment as Human Rights chairperson

http://www.swradioafrica.com




By Tichaona Sibanda
19 February 2013

The appointment of Jacob Mudenda as chairperson of the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission has been followed by a barrage of criticism directed towards the
principals in the GPA.

Mudenda is a former ZANU PF governor for Matabeleland North and served in
that capacity during the period when over 20,000 people were killed in the
region by the North Korean trained 5th Brigade.

His appointment to head the commission has provoked an angry response from
rights campaigners. Opponents said the move will further discredit an
inclusive government that has been on a relentless crackdown of members of
civil society organisations.

Social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter saw a deluge of comments,
with many expressing shock and condemning the latest development.

Gabriel Shumba, chairperson of the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum, told SW Radio
Africa’s Hidden Story program that Mudenda’s appointment symbolizes what is
wrong with the inclusive government.

He added that it diminishes the credibility of the human rights system and
casts a shadow upon the reputation of the commission as a whole.

‘The fact he was the governor during the Gukurahundi troubles will infuriate
those who tried and failed to seek justice for their loved ones who died,’
Shumba.

Our correspondent Lionel Saungweme told us the appointment of Mudenda,
implicated in the Gukurahundi atrocities by his association with ZANU PF,
has become a huge concern to many people in Bulawayo.

‘Most people here are demanding he be removed as chairperson saying his
elevation to that post would damage the integrity and reputation of the
rights commission.

‘The people in Bulawayo are asking how on earth is he going to look
objectively at human rights issues when he has made a career out of
oppressing the masses during his stint as governor,’ Saungweme said.

In 2009 SW Radio Africa also exposed the fact that Mudenda is involved,
along with many other ZANU PF officials, in illegal hunting scams.

In 2004 Tourism Minister Francis Nhema granted a lucrative hunting
concession to Mudenda, without going to tender.

War vets admit Mugabe controls diamond sector

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
20 February 2013

A statement by Zimbabwe’s war vets has supported long held beliefs that it
is Robert Mugabe who controls the output of the country’s diamond fields,
with fears money from the gems will fund ZANU PF’s election campaign.

The war vets said this week that they want cash, as well as mining rights at
the Marange based Chiadzwa diamond fields, saying they had applied for
mining licences through the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC).

The war vets’ representatives, Shadreck Makombe and retired major-general
Richard Ruwodo, were addressing a Parliamentary Portfolio committee on
Defence and Home Affairs on Monday. Ruwodo said their efforts were being
stalled by “a lot of politics” in the Ministry of Mines, which appeared
‘reluctant’ to give them licences.

“We have met ZMDC, went to Marange, identified the place we wanted, did all
the paper work and signed a non-disclosure agreement and the papers were
physically moved to the Ministry of Mines where they have been bogged down,”
said Ruwodo.

He then went on to state: “We were told that if we wanted to extract coal it
was
okay but with diamonds you have to see his Excellency, the President.”

Numerous reports on the situation at Chiadzwa have pointed the finger at the
Mugabe regime, which has been accused of controlling who mines there and
where the profits go. Finance Minister Tendai Biti has repeatedly stated
that the national treasury is not seeing any remittances from the Chiadzwa
mines, despite the billions of dollars the area is said to be worth.

A recent report by the international human rights monitor, Partnership
Africa Canada (PAC), accuses the regime of stealing an estimated US$2
billion worth of diamond proceeds since 2008.

“Marange’s potential has been overshadowed by violence, smuggling,
corruption and most of all, lost opportunity,” the PAC report said, adding:
“The scale of illegality is mind-blowing” and has spread to “compromise most
of the diamond markets of the world.”

Mugabe however has never been directly linked as the man in charge, and the
comments by the war vets have strengthened calls for tough legislation to
ensure the diamond sector is transparent.

The PAC’s Alan Martin told SW Radio Africa that it is not surprising that
Mugabe controls what is happening, saying their research has indicated this
before. He said there is serious political interference in the diamond
fields, with worrying consequences.

“The areas in Zimbabwe’s government with any powers, are in the hands of
ZANU PF, like the mining sector. Nothing has indicated that there is any
political will by them to make the mines beneficial for Zimbabweans,” Martin
warned.

Zimbabwe police vow crackdown on 'illegal' rights groups

http://www.timeslive.co.za/

Reuters | 20 February, 2013 15:57

Zimbabwe police say they will crack down on rights groups that operate
illegally and distribute false information to discredit President Robert
Mugabe’s party before elections expected later this year.

Rights groups in the southern African country say they are under attack from
a police force they have long accused of trying to silence opposition to
Mugabe’s nearly 33-year rule.

Police on Tuesday stormed the offices of election-monitoring organisation
Zimbabwe Election Support Network in the capital Harare, seizing documents,
radio receivers and mobile phones.

Last week there were raids on a group that documents and reports on cases of
political violence. Activists say the raids amount to intimidation ahead of
possible presidential and parliamentary elections later in the year.

Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba told reporters on Wednesday the raids
were lawful and would lead to arrests.

“These lawful searches are not an onslaught on civil society but we act on
information to unearth criminal activities. We already have evidence at hand
which will definitely amount to arrests,” Charamba said.

“Certain NGOs...are engaging in political processes to the detriment of
state security and the stability of this country.”

Some unregistered human rights groups were deploying monitors across the
country to gather information, mainly at political rallies called by Mugabe’s
ZANU-PF, Charamba added.

Rights organisations say their work in rural areas, where the ruling party
has traditionally enjoyed support, is mostly to do with educating voters and
increasing human rights awareness.

ZANU-PF says the NGOs are agents of Western powers seeking to turn voters
against a party they accuse of mismanaging a once promising economy and
using violence to retain power.

Many rural areas have no access to state radio, which enjoys a virtual
monopoly. But rights groups have distributed free radio receivers that allow
villagers to tune in to independent stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe from
outside the country.

“They are trying to build up cases against certain parties to discredit the
forthcoming elections. They are targeting ZANU-PF and not the other
parties,” said Charamba.

Zimbabwe will hold a referendum on March 16 on a new constitution agreed to
by Mugabe and rival Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change
after a protracted draft-making process delayed by bickering and lack of
funding.

The referendum is to clear the way for general elections.

Chinese equip Mugabe with broadcasting gadgets ahead of elections

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com

Staff Reporter 20 hours 25 minutes ago

PRESIDENT Mugabe yesterday handed over a US$6,5 million digitised
state-of-the-art outside broadcasting van and satellite uplink equipment to
the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation management.
The equipment was donated by the Chinese government and part of it is first
of its kind in Africa. It enables a migration by ZBC from analogue to
digital broadcasting as mandated by the International Telecommunications
Union whose compliance deadline is June 15, 2015.
The Chinese donation came at a time when the ZBC has entered into a joint
venture agreement with MultiChoice Africa to form a company called GO-TV
Zimbabwe that will rollout digital terrestial television services.
Handing over the equipment at State House, the Head-of-State and Government
and Commander-in-Chief of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces thanked the Chinese
for the gift.
“I want to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to China and our
Chinese friends here,” said President Mugabe. “Teach us the road from
analogue to digitilisation. I hope it will not be a long road to travel for
our experts.”
President Mugabe said the equipment, boasting of latest broadcasting
technology, would immensely benefit the country.
“Some of the equipment has come to Africa for the first time,” he said. “If
we are the first, then we must beat our chests that Zimbabwe has done it.
Zimbabwe has done it because it has been looking east for some time.”
President Mugabe thanked the Chinese government for the donation and the
Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity for keeping abreast with the
latest technology, saying ZBC would not have acquired the equipment had the
ministry remained ancient in its thinking.
“We must throw our minds into the future. You must do some research. You
must listen more and be curious and inquisitive. We know longer live in the
old world. We live in a world in which technology plays a major part. If we
do not train our people in those areas we remain behind. Study technology.
Study science, make researches and have research centres right across.
Ministries must have research departments.”
Speaking at the same occassion, Media, Information and Publicity Minister
Webster Shamu revealed the ZBC/Multichoice’s GO-TV Zimbabwe joint venture
deal.
“We initiated partnership discussions with MultiChoice Africa, holding
several meetings that ended in deadlock largely over shareholding until
mid-January this year when we reached an agreement on a joint venture
company called GO-TV Zimbabwe to roll out a digital terrestial television
service starting with urban centres,” he said.
“Transmedia, itself a shareholder in GO-TV, would use proceeds from this
joint venture to expand the network to the rest of the country as per its
mandate.”
MultiChoice has successfully launched this technology (GO-TV) in Zambia,
Namibia, Kenya, Uganda and Nigeria. In Zimbabwe, it has been providing
satellite broadcast services through a franchise held by a local company,
Skynet.
MultiChoice holds a 60 percent shareholding in GO-TV Zimbabwe as it provides
funding, content, technology and training while Government has a 30 percent
stake through Transmedia and Skynet 10 percent.
“Another benefit for Transmedia is that it is now a co-franchise with Skynet
over satellite services, which entitles it to US$1,30 for every local
subscriber. That money is paid directly into Transmedia account and will be
used to expand transmission nationwide,” Minister Shamu said.
The roll-out plan begins with Harare, Bulawayo, Chitungwiza, Gweru, Mutare
and Victoria Falls.
Minister Shamu said the Chinese government was also “assisting us in other
areas, including radio-up link and a new printing press for Zimpapers.”
He said there were two parts to the digitalisation programme for the
country.
“That is the digitalisation of the ZBC studios and its electronic news
gathering side, and the transmission side to carry both radio and television
signals countrywide,” he said.
“We have made real progress on radio transmission which is currently at 80
percent national coverage largely funded from Transmedia resources. The
challenge remains television. However, we have floated a Special Formal
Tender for studio digitalisation.”
Minister Shamu said if the country was to meet the Sadc Broadcasting Digital
Migration cut-off date deadline, alternative financing models have to be
found. n Zimpapers, Minister Shamu said the publishing group remained a
leader in the industry both editorially and commercially.

New survey gives Zanu PF election edge

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

19/02/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

THE next elections will likely be a closely fought contest with President
Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party marginally edging Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC-T, a new survey has suggested.

Zimbabwe is set to hold fresh elections later this year to end the uneasy
coalition between Mugabe and Tsvangirai which was formed after violent but
inconclusive elections in 2008.

And a survey carried out in November last year by the Harare-based Mass
Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) has suggested that Mugabe, who has been in
power since independence in 1980, would marginally edge the contest.

Revealing the results Tuesday, MPOI researcher, Heather Koga, said Zanu PF
would likely win the Parliamentary elections with 33 percent of the vote
against 32 percent for the MDC-T.

“The survey results suggest that the forthcoming parliamentary elections
will be a closely fought battle between Zanu PF (33%) and MDC-T (32%), while
support for other political parties candidates such as Mavambo Kusile Dawn
and ZAPU approach zero (to the nearest whole number) with the MDC (Ncube)
seeming to be maintaining its 1% support level.”

Koga said about 30 percent of the 1,200 people interviewed had declined to
reveal which parties they would vote for.
“It must be noted that from the whole number of people asked during the
research 30% of the sample was not willing to reveal their political
affiliation. Given this we are not sure which political party these people
will vote for come the election day,” Koga told NewZimbabwe.com

MPOI also carried out another opinion survey for the United States-based
Freedom House last year which suggested support for the MDC-T had collapsed
from 38 percent in 2010 to 20 percent in 2012. By contrast, backing for Zanu
PF was said to have increased to 31 percent from 17 percent, over the same
period.

The Freedom House survey also suggested Mugabe would command the support of
31 percent of the presidential vote, compared to 19 percent for Tsvangirai,
an alarming prospect for the MDC-T whose popularity stood at a healthy 55
percent no more than four years ago.

Zanu PF commentators however, dismissed the survey as an attempt by the
MDC-T’s Western allies to shock the party out of a perceived complacency
with the survey’s lead researcher, South African academic Susan Booysen,
noting that: “Perhaps they (MDC-T) think they are crown prince that need
only wait for Mugabe to go for it to fall in their lap. This is a wake-up
call for them that there is no honeymoon.”

Tsvangirai said he would take note of the results and institute corrective
action.
“We take not of some of the observations and will take corrective measures
where they are necessary. We are a party that always looks at these issues
constantly,” he said.

“We don’t take people for granted by the way we constantly review our
performance in all departments.”
Meanwhile, Koga said the latest survey also showed that most Zimbabweans
wanted new elections to end the coalition government.

“68 percent of Zimbabweans of voting age were of the view that the country
is ready to hold elections,” she said.
“(Those) who said the country is not ready to hold elections by March 2013
suggested that the Inclusive government should continue indefinitely.

“The need to engage international observers (eg from SADC, UN, EU) to ensure
free and fair elections in the country was also a major suggestion.”

The coalition administration is credited with easing political tensions and
ending a decade-long economic crisis but further progress has been hampered
by constant bickering and policy differences between the parties.

A constitutional referendum has been set for March 16, with elections
expected later in the year although Tsvangirai suggested the polls may be
held in July.

Smaller MDC Faction Rules Out Coalition Talks

http://www.radiovop.com

Bulawayo, February 20, 2013- Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by
Professor Welshman Ncube says it will not engage in coalition talks with the
mainstream MDC -T.
In an exclusive interview here the MDC spokesperson, Nhlanhla Dube, declined
there had been such talks, adding they would never be anything like that in
the near future.

“It is our hope that this final clarification will put to rest the often
annoying and pushy attempts through public pontification for a coalition of
any shape, form or type by those who want an MDC -T success at our and the
people’s expense,” said Dube.

“This for us is a critical time in our pursuit of electoral success and
those who think they can distract our impetus in working diligently towards
a successful election outcome should now know that the game is up. Our
determination to succeed on the basis of principle, truth and
non-prostitution of our cardinal values of democratic change where the
masses are free to choose from a multiple of political parties their own
leader remains unflinching and undeterred. This for us is the very
cornerstone of democracy,” explained Dube.

He added that It has become crystal clear that due to feelings of inadequacy
in some quarters, certain elements have switched to panic mode and are thus
agitating for the so called coalition, which will never happen.

“History knows that we have tried this route before, history also records
that we went on a limb in attempting to find common ground with the MDC -T
in 2008, history further remembers that we came out of that attempt the
worse for wear, hence to us that was a lesson well learnt.

“We stand guided by the resolutions made at our last elective party congress
that we will visit every village, homestead, growth point, farm, and town,
climb every mountain and cross every river to explain our policies to
Zimbabweans and seek their vote and mandate. We have grown from being part
of a political party to the political party. We are emboldened by the
reality that since the last elections, we have grown bigger and better and
meaner,” said Dube.

Human rights sidelined in EU deal on Zim diamonds

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
20 February 2013

A ‘deal’ struck between Belgium and the UK over Zimbabwe’s diamonds could
see human rights in the country being sidelined, with Europe planning to
lift a Zim diamond blacklist after elections.

The details of this deal emerged after a meeting of European Union (EU)
diplomats in Brussels on Monday, where it was decided that 21 individuals
and one company would be removed from the bloc’s list of targeted sanctions
on Zimbabwe. This partial lifting came with assurances that the measures
will be totally lifted after a credible constitutional referendum.

Belgian foreign minister Didier Reynders also said that a block on European
trade with the Zim state run mining entity, the ZMDC, would be removed after
a credible election. He told press in Brussels on Monday that this would be
automatic a month after the poll, unless all 27 EU countries agree “the
elections have not been peaceful, transparent, credible or they have
reasonable grounds to believe ZMDC has been involved in activities
undermining democracy during the election.”

Belgium has been pushing for the measures against the ZMDC to be dropped
immediately, a call that has seen the country face criticism for putting its
economic interests in Zimbabwe ahead of human rights concerns. With the EU
now sanctioning the ‘diamonds-for-democracy’ deal, the European grouping is
facing the same criticism.

Tiseke Kasambala, the Africa Advocacy Director for Human Rights Watch, said
Wednesday that there are ongoing human rights concerns at the Chiadzwa
diamond fields.

“Our reports have highlighted the grave human rights abuses there,
particularly in 2008, where up to 100 people were killed. More recent,
credible reports by groups like Global Witness and Partnership Africa
Canada, have pointed to a lack of transparency and suggested that perhaps
the diamond proceeds will be used to fund abuses and repression ahead of
possible elections this year,” Kasambala told SW Radio Africa.

She added: “The EU is putting profits before principle in coming to this
kind of deal.”

She criticised the EU for making this deal and its decision on Zimbabwe’s
targeted sanctions, before real reforms have been made.

“We believe the EU should have look at the issues holistically, so look at
human rights reforms on the ground and at Chiadzwa and whether those have
taken place before, before coming up with this agreement,” she said.

She warned that the “EU has given Mugabe and ZANU PF free rein to continue
its repression of the people of Zimbabwe without addressing core issue of
accountability for past human rights abuses and a lack of human rights
reform.”

New twist to indigenisation scandal

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Wednesday, 20 February 2013 12:46
HARARE - Government ditched a private equity investment firm that
audaciously stitched the first Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Limited (Zimplats)
indigenisation deal before engaging Brainworks Capital, the Daily News can
reveal.

Fronted by managing partner Kura Sibanda, investment firm Top Harvest had
its mandate to advise government on the Zimplats deal withdrawn in 2011 by
then National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (Nieeb)
chairperson David Chapfika after receiving instructions from Indigenisation
minister Saviour Kasukuwere.

Chapfika was later to be replaced by retired lieutenant general Mike
Nyambuya, under whose leadership Brain Works Capital was hired to negotiate
the Zimplats deal on behalf of government.

Apparently, Top Harvest was terminated because the proposals it had put
forward were said to be unacceptable to President Robert Mugabe.

The deal involved a community ownership trust and vendor financing, which
Kasukuwere claimed then would be outrightly rejected by Mugabe.

And yet, Brainworks — which was hired without going to tender and entitled
to 4,5 percent commission of value for every empowerment deal — structured a
more-or-less similar deal, complete with the earlier maligned vendor
financing provisions.

“Kasukuwere said we are not going to pay for our resources because there is
no vendor, there is no vendor financing,” Sibanda told the Daily News from
Johannesburg.

“The minister said who is a vendor? We own our platinum 100 percent.
Curiously, the same platinum is now being vendor-financed.”

Kasukuwere was yesterday locked in meetings, but said over the weekend he
was “sick and tired of those who sit and look for mistakes.”

The Daily News understands self-exiled millionaire tycoon Mutumwa Mawere was
heavily involved in the Top Harvest deal and in February 2011 facilitated a
meeting between a Zimbabwe government delegation led by Kasukuwere with the
Royal Bafokeng nation in South Africa to discuss various issues including
mineral rights and benefit sharing with communities.

The Royal Bafokeng is a kingdom with 150 000 people covering 1 400 square km
that is part of a stretch of South Africa’s platinum belt.

Its empowerment model has managed to transform mineral wealth into social
stability, funnelling cash earned from its Royal Bafokeng Platinum Company
into a mini-sovereign wealth fund that provides cash for schools, clinics
and infrastructure.

Bafokeng and its capital, Phokeng, stand out as a beacon of success amid the
poverty of the platinum belt, where sprawling tin-hut shanty towns sit
alongside billion-dollar mines digging out the precious metal.

The Zimbabwe delegation apparently wanted Mawere to facilitate a study tour
of the Bafokeng nation, with a view to implementing a similar model back
home.

The Daily News understands Mawere facilitated the three-day visit, where Top
Harvest opened talks that culminated in the financial advisors being hired
to handle the Zimplats transaction.

Mawere’s Africa Heritage Society hosted a dinner at the Da Vinci Hotel in
Sandton for the delegation and a number of stakeholders, including mining
companies that have existing and potential interest in Zimbabwe.

The meeting was requested by Prince Mupazviriho, the permanent secretary in
the Indigenisation ministry, and was attended by Kasukuwere, Local
Government and Urban Development minister Ignatius Chombo and Mhondoro-Ngezi
MP Bright Matonga.

The delegation also included Gilbert Marange (Chief Marange), Samson
Katsande (Chief Nyamukoho), Stanley Wurayayi Mhondoro (Chief Zvimba),
Zamantuwa Mukwanazi (Chief Ngungumbane), Mtshane Khumalo, the deputy
president of the Chief’s Council and Brown Shopo (Chief Chivero).

Chapfika, Nieeb chief executive Wilson Gwatiringa and legal officer Theresa
Maguma also attended the meeting, together with five journalists from
various media houses.

Later, Top Harvest was given the mandate to negotiate and conclude the
Zimplats deal, but Mawere says Kasukuwere did not want Matonga involved in
the talks.

“Maybe it was because of their internal politics,” Mawere said from
Johannesburg yesterday.

Top Harvest also facilitated meetings between Kasukuwere and David Brown,
the CEO of Implats — which is Zimplats’ parent company.

Top Harvest was later to set up the first community share ownership trust
for Zimplats.

The South Africa-registered investment firm structured a community-based
empowerment model for the Mhondoro-Ngezi community.

But it was rejected by Kasukuwere ostensibly because government was
spearheading broad-based indigenisation and economic empowerment especially
aimed at empowering not only communities endowed with natural resources but
the whole nation.

Everything later unravelled when Brainworks came into the picture, clinching
the lucrative financial advisory role that allows it to pocket approximately
$45 million from the Zimplats deal as commission, with Top Harvest shunted
aside. - Gift Phiri, Political Editor

Indigenisation and Empowerment Scandal: Nyambuya hits back

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com

Staff Reporter 21 hours 1 minute ago

NATIONAL Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment board chairman Retired
Brigadier Mike Nyambuya has scoffed at claims that there was no transparency
in the manner the Zimplats indigenisation deal was done saying the
allegations were baseless.
In an interview yesterday, Nyambuya said the “onslaught” on the
indigenisation programme by some sections of the media were merely
unnecessary pronouncements by certain opponents of the broad based
empowerment initiative.
Under the indigenisation law, foreign owned companies are required to
turnover at least 51 percent of their shareholdings to black indigenous
Zimbabweans.
Last week, a local daily published a story headlined “Indigenisation under
threat” which potrayed that the empowerment drive had “turned out to be a
massive cash cow for well-heeled and politically-connected elites,” claiming
its “three months” investigation had unearthed “misrepresentation(s) and
grand looting.”
The paper said any arising disputes would be resolved by the British courts
while advisors to the transaction, Brainworks Capital had not been properly
appointed.
There were also comments in the media which created impression that the deal
would create debt for the country and was concluded outside the country’s
laws.
Contrary to the allegations, Nyambuya said the term sheet was a non binding
agreement and definitive adding “neither party therefore is bound by these
terms of agreement.”
“NIEEB and Zimplats will begin to engage through their technical legal teams
on the substantive and binding provisions of the indigenisation agreements.
In the meantime, the term sheet must be taken as a guiding document
confirming the agreement by Zimplats to comply with the indigenisation
laws,” he said.
Mr Nyambuya said Zimplats, by virtue of its status as a foreign owned
company had a legal obligation to sell 51 percent to indigenous Zimbabweans.
Impala Platinum, the world’s second largest platinum miners owns 87 percent
in Zimplats.
“So to say the transaction was done outside the laws is mischievous,” he
added.
Commenting on allegations that the Zimplats transaction would be subjects of
English courts, Mr Nyambuya said clause 28 of the pact states that the term
sheet will be governed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of
Zimbabwe. Mr Nyambuya said issues relating to vendor financing, a mechanism
that would be used to finance the transaction, cession and pledge will be
interpreted according to “English commercial law” not resolved in “English
Courts.”
This is because the bulk of Zimbabwe’s commercial law is interpreted using
English law. Sections 89 of the current law states that the law to be
applied in Zimbabwe shall be the law applicable at the Cape of Good Hope in
1891. At that time the law applicable at the Cape colony was a hybrid of
Roman Dutch law and English law. English law mostly governed mercantile law,
which is still the case to date.
He said Clause 27 states that any dispute arising out of the term sheet will
be arbitrated under UNCITRAL in London. UNCITRAL is the United Nations
Commission on Trade Law, considered a reputable and neutral dispute
resolution forum between private citizens and member states of the United
Nations. Zimbabwe is a member state of the UN and subject UNCITRAL by
consent.
On the appointment of Brainworks, Mr Nyambuya said the advisors’ mandate was
formalised through a letter signed by NIEEB on June 8, last year.
The appointment was “purely” based on merit and experience that Brainworks
had shown.
Prior to the appointment of Brainworks, NIEEB had sought services of CBZ
Bank, MMC Capital, Vunani Capital, Renaissance Financial Holdings, Capvest
Capital and Genesis Global Finance. Mr Nyambuya defended the vendor
financing instrument saying it was a more viable option. Even in South
Africa, most BBEs were financed through vendor financing.
In 2004, Implats offered 15 percent stake of Zimplats to indigenous
Zimbabweans for US$31 million then, but none of the interested consortium
successfully raised the money. “If we had not taken this route, the
transaction would not have sailed through,” he said. “However, any
Government agent is free to come up with an alternative.”
The indigenisation programme, now in full swing has seen creation of various
community share ownership schemes with companies donating seed capital for
developmental projects. Herald

MDC to revisit indigenisation deals

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

Wednesday, 20 February 2013 11:57

HARARE - Finance minister Tendai Biti (pictured) has promised a huge shift
in the country’s indigenisation policy if his MDC party romps to victory in
the forthcoming watershed poll.

The MDC secretary-general says his party wants to “re-think” President
Robert Mugabe’s empowerment policies in statements that show a tense
election campaign.

It’s been a fractious — and occasionally controversial — campaign with just
a few months to go to the harmonised election with MDC presidential
candidate Morgan Tsvangirai in a statistical dead-heat with Mugabe in the
latest opinion polls.

Biti upped the ante at a weekend campaign stop at Mukandabhutsu and
Runniville shops in Harare East, playing to his core supporters with some
aggressive rhetoric about the incumbent’s indigenisation policy.

Essentially, he promised more pragmatism and less ideology, and shredded the
Zanu PF indigenisation policy is an elitist programme.

The lawyer-cum-politician said the MDC will revisit all agreements signed by
Zimplats, Mimosa, Unki mines which have exposed how only a few people
connected to Zanu PF are benefiting from the policy.

“The MDC is clear. The party of excellence will revisit and review all
clandestine and incestuous agreements made at night and in secret. We will
not legitimise such agreements,” Biti said.

“The MDC wants to know how many jobs each company will create. We want value
addition on our raw materials thus creating jobs. Let platinum be used to
make cars in our country, so that our children will have jobs in here.”

The 46-year-old made sure to touch one of Mugabe’s sore points — alleged
theft of diamond cash by Chinese mining firms linked to the military digging
for gems in the Marange fields, with whom the veteran leader has developed
an elaborate political and technological cooperation.

It’s become a tougher election than Mugabe would have liked.

“Right now, we do not know what is happening to our diamonds,” Biti said.

“We are going to audit all the diamond income, to trace where the money came
from and went to. We are watching these things. The people of Zimbabwe are
watching. White collar crimes will and cannot be hidden because there will
always be an audit trail,” he said.

As well as lambasting economic incompetence, Biti has accused Mugabe of
“rewarding the corrupt” hoping to benefit from the growing perception that
senior members of the Zanu PF leader’s administration have grown rich in
power while others are involved in diamond trading, protected by a justice
system that do the executive’s bidding.

But last month Mugabe was forced to suspend a Manicaland provincial
executive working on his campaign after details emerged that they could have
received bundles of money from a diamond firms.

The scandal was reported relentlessly on the pro-Mugabe State television
station and revived questions about some of the corrupt Zanu PF elite.

But for all the talk of seismic shifts —perhaps intended to make Zimbabwe a
more palatable option for businesses around the world — analysts caution
against making too much of Biti’ campaign speeches, particularly his
dismissal of Mugabe’s Indigenisation policy.

Biti said Zanu PF’s biggest failure was economic mismanagement and lack of
love, and said if the ex-majority party had listened to the cries of the
people, they would have invested in infrastructure that would see all the
people benefitting.

“In the last four years, I was in the cockpit as the Finance minister and I
discovered that it’s not difficult to run an economy, but you need the
correct ingredients,” he said.

“When managing the economy, the first ingredient is love. You must love your
people. You must know your priority. The people are saying we want schools
and you buy arms of war, which is a wrong order. When you buy vehicles and
build stadiums when people need housing then you are offside.”

Biti said the first step towards creating the one million jobs contained in
his party’s economic blueprint Juice, was to have foreign direct investment
(FDI), which encourages investors to capitalise on local industries.

“FDI does not come from China alone,” he said. “As MDC, we have friends the
world over, and we are proud of having all these friends. Some say Look
East, others say Look West but as MDC we look forward. We want every foreign
investor to come into our beautiful country.” - Gift Phiri, Political Editor

Zanu PF using smart violence in rural areas: Civic society

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Wednesday, 20 February 2013 12:17
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe's civil society groups say Zanu PF has resorted to
“smart violence” in rural areas as the country heads for a referendum and
watershed elections later this year.

The groups say it will be difficult for regional grouping Sadc, which
facilitated Zimbabwe’s power-sharing accord, to detect this new form of
violence.

Addressing journalists in Bulawayo on Monday, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
spokesperson Thabani Nyoni said Zanu PF has come up with a different form of
organised violence.

And it is different from 2008 elections where supporters of the opposition
were being physically attacked, he said.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition is an umbrella body for over a dozen rights
groups, churches and student movements.

“They now have a new and organised form of violence which includes going to
communities demanding identification cards and promising people food but
those identification cards are never returned so that people not aligned to
Zanu PF won’t be able to vote. Some are bringing truckloads of food to the
communities and bar those not aligned to their party from getting the food.

“You also hear some telling the communities that you will die from hunger if
you are not a member of our party. Some will tell you that you won’t benefit
from the indigenisation programme because you are not aligned to our party,”
said Nyoni.

He said arrests of political and human rights activists as well as the
disruption and banning of meetings organised by such activists using harsh
security laws continued unabated. - Pindai Dube

We have ex-military, CIO officials in our secretariat: Zec

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Wednesday, 20 February 2013 12:11
HARARE - The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) has admitted to the
long-held view that it is staffed with a militarised secretariat.

Addressing delegates at a workshop on conflict management in Harare
yesterday, Zec commissioner Bessie Fadzai Nhandara admitted some of the
electoral body’s employees were once employed by the army and Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO).

She, however, claimed they resigned when they joined the commission.

Nhandara did not provide any proof to back her claims, but said it was
impossible to sack them, likening it to “killing step children of a woman
you want to marry”.

“Some, not all of the members of our secretariat, came from the various
institutions you claim they came from but they left years back to join us,”
Nhandara said.

“Since then they have been accomplished administrators capable of doing a
diligent and professional job.

“In life we do not kill step children so a marriage starts on a clean slate
and by the same speaking the fact that we have formed a new Zec does not
mean that we should kill our children to start afresh — we will work with
them,” she said.

Nhandara said it is important to deal with issues at hand and how people can
move forward instead of dwelling on the past.

Civil society groups such as the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute (ZDI) and the
MDC formations say Zimbabwe’s chances of conducting a credible, free and
fair election remain slim because the Zec secretariat remains “problematic,
partisan, and militarised”.

They argue the relationship between most of Zec’s employees and army, whose
top brass regularly promises to subvert electoral outcomes should any other
candidate apart from President Robert Mugabe wins the election, does not
augur well for the polls.

ZDI says given the “partisan role of the security establishment in the
political and electoral affairs of Zimbabwe,” the capacity of Zec to deliver
a credible poll is very doubtful.

Meanwhile, Zec deputy chairperson Joyce Kazembe lashed out at Zimbabwe
Election Support Network’s Rindai Chipfunde-Vava’s presentation on the role
of civil society organisations (CSOs) in the prevention, management and
resolution of election-related conflicts.

Chipfunde-Vava had praised CSOs saying they played a very important role in
this regard and deserved to be given enough space to operate.

This did not go down well with Kazembe, who felt the presentation was
biased, accusing CSOs of being partisan and unpatriotic.

“Vava’s presentation was one sided because on the ground we have had
problems with their partisan nature and interference with our work,” she
said.

“I have found that some civil societies are not civil. They are not
patriotic and matriotic’ (sic) enough to work for the enhancement of peace.
Zimbabwe is where it is now thanks to the CSOs’ activities as they dance to
the whims of those western governments that sponsor them,” Kazembe said. -
Mugove Tafirenyika

Zimbabwe prison official says death sentences to be reviewed

http://www.washingtonpost.com

By Associated Press, Updated: Thursday, February 21, 2:42 AM

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe prison officials said Wednesday that they are
not in a hurry to engage the services of a newly-appointed hangman to
execute the 77 inmates on death row and will review their sentences.

Prison authorities want to give prisoners facing execution a “chance to
live,” official Huggins Machingauta said. He said all death sentences will
be brought before the cabinet of ministers for a review to commute them to
life.

“We are in no hurry to hang anyone. It is our wish and hope that they get a
reprieve,” Machingauta said.

The hangman’s post was vacant for about seven years since the previous one
retired in 2005. State media reported earlier this month that prison
officials said they found a new hangman.

A new proposed draft constitution endorsed by the country’s two main
political parties exempts women, men under 21 and those over 70 from the
death penalty. The charter, which will be put to a referendum on March 16,
only allows for the imposition of death penalty for cases of “aggravated
murder.”

Civic rights groups, however, want the “total abolition” of the death
penalty.

Edison Chiota, head of a prisoners’ rights group, Zimbabwe Association for
Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender, said Wednesday his
group is against what he called the selective way the law would be applied
under the new constitution.

“People are all the same without taking gender and age differences into
account,” Chiota said.

He said if Zimbabwe decides to continue with the executions it must adopt
international best practices of execution such as the lethal injection that
do not cause excessive pain.

Chiota said Zimbabwe uses the oldest method of hanging called “the long
drop” where the prisoner is made to stand on a trap door. The trap door is
opened for the noose to break or dislocate the neck.

“Hangings are outdated,” Chiota said.

A prison officer who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity
for fear of losing his job said he is still haunted by several executions he
witnessed in his 20 years of service at Harare’s Central Prison.

“The method is gruesome and inhumane, I wouldn’t recommend anyone to witness
it,” he said. “One only needs to read the log book in which the executions
are entered to have chills run down the spine.”

The officer said it was a “harrowing ordeal to have to accompany someone to
such a brutal end.”

Five MDC-T activists denied bail again

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
20 February 2013

High Court Judge, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, on Wednesday denied bail to five
MDC-T activists standing trial for the murder of a police officer in Harare
two years ago.

Defence lawyer Charles Kwaramba told SW Radio Africa that the judge ruled
once again that the five activists; Last Maengahama, Tungamirai Madzokere,
Simon Mapanzure, Yvonne Musarurwa and Rebecca Mafukeni, were a flight risk.

The five are part of the 29 MDC-T members who are facing charges of
murdering police inspector Petros Mutedza in Glen View in May 2011. The
MDC-T has dismissed the charges as ‘trumped-up’. The activists have been
held in remand prison since their arrests in 2011.

Their other colleagues, who include the party’s Youth Assembly President
Solomon Madzore, were granted bail by the High Court last year. Kwaramba
said they were now looking at lodging an appeal with the Supreme Court to
look at the plight of their clients.

‘If the others facing similar charges were granted bail, why not them. It
somehow surprises us that they keep being denied bail by the same judge who
granted the others their freedom,’ Kwaramba said.

NewsDay journalist released without charge

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Nomalanga Moyo
20 February 2013

Journalist Obey Manayiti, who spent a night in police cells after being
arrested for allegedly insulting a ZANU PF official, has been released.

Manayiti, an employee of the independent NewsDay newspaper, was arrested by
police in Mutare on Monday, and charged under the Criminal Law (Codification
& Reform) Act.

He was released without charge Wednesday, with the area prosecutor referring
the docket back to the police for further investigation.

Manayiti’s lawyer, Rangarirai Mubata, told SW Radio Africa that the
prosecutor also queried why only Mukodza’s statement had been recorded by
the police.

Mubata said it was obvious from the docket that Mukodza had a “bone to chew”
with Manayiti, considering that the reporter has been exposing the corrupt
activities involving Mukodza and other ZANU PF officials in Manicaland.

Last month, President Robert Mugabe was reported as having ordered police to
investigate fraud allegations involving more than $750,000 in diamond money,
in which Mukodza and five others were implicated.

Mukodza has since been suspended from his post as provincial youth chairman
for Manicaland on allegations of corruption, nepotism, provoking divisions
within the ruling party, as well as insubordination.

Manayiti recounted how Mukodza pursued him into a car, after the two had
exchanged greetings, threatening him with death. The reporter fled to the
police station where he intended to make a report.

However upon arrival, the police refused to file Manayiti’s report and
instead, arrested and charged him with criminal insult after Mukodza had
lodged an earlier complaint claiming the reporter had insulted him.

Zimbabwe’s media environment is one of the most tightly restricted in the
world with independent journalists constantly being harassed, physically
attacked, arrested and detained while doing their work.

A recent report by pro-democracy institute Freedom House indicates that many
were harassed while attempting to cover news events or sensitive political
issues such as the constitutional reform process, parliamentary hearings, or
the ongoing investigation into abuses at diamond mines.

Dozens of Zimbabwean journalists have fled the country in the past decade,
according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The country boasts
one of the largest numbers of exiled journalists in the world.

Last year, Freedom House ranked Zimbabwe 172 out of 197 countries, the worst
overall ranking in the southern Africa region. Zimbabwe.

The MDC Today

Zimbabwe to vote on a new draft constitution

MDC also hopes for elections in July

17 February 2013

Peta Thornycroft

For better or for worse, for richer, with a bit of luck, or for poorer, if
things go wrong again, Zimbabwe is in election mode for the next six months.
A government gazette was published on Friday confirming that March 16 had
been set aside for a referendum for a new constitution.
The referendum ought to be little more than a public rubber stamp for the
draft charter, as it was negotiated and agreed by the country's only
significant parties, the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations
and Zanu-PF.
But Zimbabwe is broke and Finance Minister Tendai Biti says there is no
money for any polls. He and Zanu-PF Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa have
approached the UN for help.
"Even if the money was in place now, and it is not, it is a massive task to
set up infrastructure for the poll," said an insider from the negotiating
teams that concluded the charter.
To make things a little easier though, for this referendum voters will be
allowed to use their ID document and so do not have to be registered as
voters.
They can also vote at any polling station in the country, which may mean
long queues in urban areas, where there have been massive population
increases in recent years, according to the recent census.
The early date for the referendum surprised everyone, including most members
of all three political parties who negotiated the draft charter, as well as
the South African mediators. It also surprised Zimbabwe election officials,
who will have to erect more than 9 000 polling booths; print more than 5
million ballots; recruit, train and transport more than 30 000 people for
polling day; and ensure that the pink security ink to prevent double voting
is imported in time.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said he hoped there would be simultaneous
presidential, parliamentary, senate and local government elections before
the end of July. "If Mugabe's position that we need a free and fair election
is a ruse, then he would have cheated me," he said.
Like many affected by Zanu-PF political violence in the last polls, he is
hoping for a July election date as there will be considerable international
attention focused on Zimbabwe then, just before a UN tourism summit at
Victoria Falls in August.
Many hope that the summit will make it more difficult for those who want to
attack MDC personnel.
Counting on a tourism summit to guarantee Mugabe won't again unleash his
thugs on the MDC is, however, a sign of desperation and a tacit admission
that the reforms of the security agencies - to make them politically
neutral - which were supposed to take place before elections, will not take
place.
The country is clearly not fully ready for elections in other ways too, but
Tsvangirai seems to have grown impatient.
Shortly after the unity government was sworn into power in February 2009,
negotiations began to establish new institutions to support democracy -
including democratic elections.
Retired judge Simpson Mutambanengwe was appointed in 2010 to lead the
Zimbabwe Election Commission. Some say he turned up for work so seldom, the
commission was run on a day-to-day basis by his deputy, Zanu-PF loyalist
Joyce Kazembe, a senior member of the old disgraced and partisan election
commission that deliberately delayed releasing results of the 2008 election
for five weeks - evidently to manipulate them.
Judge Mutambanengwe, in his eighties, resigned this week, citing health
issues.
Now many are scrabbling for a replacement retired judge who will satisfy the
two MDCs and Zanu-PF.
Reg Austin, the chairman of the new Human Rights Commission, quit in
December after two years of operating without legislation, offices, or
financial resources.
Eventually legislation emerged, which he said was deficient. - Independent
Foreign Service

Zimbabweans will be voting in a referendum

http://www.swradioafrica.com

Posted by admin on Wednesday, February 20, 2013

OPINION:
By Wilbert Mukori

On the 16 March 2013 Zimbabweans will be voting in a referendum. If they
THINK and BELIEVE the COPAC constitution is the DEMOCRATIC constitution they
were promised in the GPA, they must vote yes but if they think otherwise
then they must vote no.

My position is that the COPAC constitution is too weak and feeble to deliver
any basic rights, including the right to free and fair elections, with a
free media and free of violence.

Without even reading the draft constitution one can already see the upcoming
elections will not be free and fair; media is not free and the
infrastructure behind the violence in past elections is still there and
primed for action. These thing are not going to suddenly disappear the day
COPAC is enacted into law.

But what is it in the COPAC constitution itself that makes me say it is
rubbish?

A constitution is a social contract between each and every one of us to our
fellow countrymen and women alive, and yet to be born, to do unto each and
every one of them as we would want them to do unto us. To accord to them the
same rights, freedoms and liberties as we want them to accord to us – the
bill of rights.

We the people then brought in a third party, government –the super numeral
public servant – to supervise the implementation of this social contract
between the citizens and to perform other public duties like build roads and
schools.

We the people concede to government only such powers and authority we deem
necessary for it to perform its public functions for the common good. The
bulk of the constitution spells out the system of government, the limits of
its powers, the checks and balances, etc.

In a democracy the people retain the overall power over government and the
ultimate expression of this power is that the people elect, in periodic free
and fair elections, who will govern.

Mugabe and his cronies have amended, undermined and violated the word and
spirit of the Lancaster House Constitution and usurped the people’s power.
What we have in Zimbabwe is a de facto Zanu PF dictatorship. So instead of
the regime serving us the public; it has been us the people who have been
the servants, indeed slaves, to the tyrant and his cronies.

Mugabe and his cronies own farms, houses, mines, companies; they have taken
away our all rights, freedoms, our human dignities and hope; etc. All they
have ever done is take, take, take.

If evolution was not such a slow process, then Mugabe’s taking hand would
have become so big and powerful after all these years of taking this, taking
that, take, take; he would now resemble a jumping frog with three hind legs.

If this COPAC constitution is worth a candle then it must end this Mugabe
dictatorship and restore all the people’s rights, including the right to
free and fair elections, free of violence.

This COPAC constitution talks of, “Everyone has the right to life!” A
standard statement uplifted from any constitution; on its own it is but
empty words to please the fools.

But if one was to add a clause like: All public unrest and deaths other than
by natural causes will be subject to a full independent and public judiciary
inquiry. All those found guilty will serve a minimum and mandatory jail term
of five years for assault and thirty years for murder with no possibility of
a presidential pardon! Hah, even the nut case Chipangano thugs will sit up
and listen.

It is wilfully inadequate to saying the country’s security sector must act
“in an none partisan manner” which is all that COPAC says.

The umbilical cord tying Mugabe to these key state organs must be cut if
these institutions are to play their part in providing the checks and
balances of power demanded of them in a functioning and healthy democracy.
These are the reforms agreed in the GPA, the reforms Mugabe has stubbornly
refused to implement.

Implement the reforms and you will be dismantling the dictatorship brick by
brick, which is why Mugabe has refused. This COPAC constitution was written
knowing full well that reforms will not be implemented and therefore the
dictatorship was not to be dismantled, the very thing it was meant to do. So
clearly this COPAC constitution is rubbish.

When PM Tsvangirai says the COPAC constitution was a “compromise”; what he
means is Mugabe refused to implement the reforms necessary to restore our
basic rights and the MDC simply capitulated. “Pamareforms Mugabe akamba
zvachose; akatsvika madziro!”

Compromise! It was and still is not for Tsvangirai to bargain our most basic
and cherished rights, including our right to life itself, as if these rights
were mangoes for him to dispose of as he pleased! And by the same token; it
was and still is not for Mugabe to grant and deny these basic rights as if
they were sweets being given out to children!

So having failed to produce a constitution to guarantee us our rights PM
Tsvangirai now has to rely on Mugabe to keep his word and keep the peace.
Only an idiot would trust Mugabe to keep his promise and, worse still, would
hang the whole nation’s future on that spider’s thread!

The nation must be ruled by law and not by the whim of a dictator! Indeed
that is exactly what this whole exercise is about; to write the supreme law
of the land, the constitution. If there is a job worth doing right, this is
it. We can fudge it and adopt this COPAC rubbish but we will pay a heavy
price for it!

Whether or not COPAC will stop the violence is the big issue over which this
referendum will be decided. If you believe the violence will not happen then
vote yes! If, like me, you know the violence will happen if elections go
ahead without the reforms, then vote no.

Why has PM Tsvangirai and the MDC endorsed this COPAC constitution if it is
rubbish? That we can discuss some other day.

Good night!

Cultural imperialism an enduring threat to linguistic diversity

Emmanuel Ndlovu

Increasing cross border communication, trade and educational exchanges
between different parts of the world have dictated that world citizens
everywhere strive for competency in languages of wider communication such as
English. The fate of a language is closely linked to political power
dynamics. However, the purpose of this article is not to engage on a
pedagogy of politics and power but on how government can promote and protect
demographically weak languages through pro-active policies in order for them
to survive and thrive. The interconnectedness and diversity of the world,
travelling and world tourism, trade, marriage, sport and education have
dictated that individuals can no longer afford to think of themselves and
others in the primitive lenses of superiority and inferiority. Poor language
policy and planning has imbued linguistic minorities with ingredients for
self destruction. Disingenuous and disintegrative policies have condemned
indigenous minority languages to the traditional cultural domain of
anthology, song, theatre and rainmaking ceremonies.

The Sustainable Development in a Diverse World (SUS.DIV) Research Unit
estimates that there are between 5,000 and 7,000 different languages spoken
across the world today. Although it is difficult to ascertain the exact
number of languages because of the distorted distinction between languages
and dialects, language constitutes a vital cultural attribute used not only
for communication but in expressing the way individuals locate themselves in
relationship to others, the powers they accord to themselves and the powers
they stipulate to others. A total of 516 languages are considered to be
nearing extinction because they are spoken by just a few elderly people.
Africa alone has 46 severely endangered languages which are in the peril of
phasing out.

As the world celebrates the International Mother Language Day today on the
21st of February 2013, it is important to reflect on the importance of
language and understand why it matters more as a form of identity than a
medium of communication. Language is a cultural asset. It is much more than
a structured organization of consonants, vowels, phonemes and syllables to
formulate norms and verbs in order to convey meaning. Language is certainly
much more than what is signified by words. As a political tool, language is
often used to homogenize or distinguish groups of individuals in ways that
serve those in control of society. The diversity of languages in the world
and the different vitalities that languages command has important
implications for individuals and societies at large. The disappearance and
scarcity of unwritten and undocumented languages mean that humanity is
losing not only a cultural wealth but also important ancestral knowledge
embedded in indigenous languages. Essentially, people use language to
indicate social, historical and cultural allegiances, that is, which groups
they belong to and which groups they do not belong to.

It is the duty of government to come up with legislative policies that
protect and preserve indigenous languages. Archaic relationships between
policy and planning have however rendered many language policies
ineffective. Policies that recommend the use of minority languages in
education such as Kalanga, Sotho, Nambia and Venda, amongst others are
usually not accompanied by sufficient safeguards to reinforce them. The
marginalization of a language is the marginalization of a people. Minority
communities have over the daunting years faced an enduring challenge
marginalization and underdevelopment which has been characterized by a
systematic relegation of minority languages to cultural domains. As such,
their history is nothing other than the history of marginalization and
subordination to a centralized thinking process that alienates them from the
day-to-day decision making processes. While in the majority of instances
this has been happening with the sad and silent approval of the native
speakers of minority languages, such disintegrative language policies
contribute to a linguistic genocide. This has ensured the entrenchment of
inter-ethnic polarization and massively strengthened the political
domination of ethno-nationalist political groups in the decision-making
processes.

Well-planned and implementable language policies are needed to bolster the
ongoing efforts of speaker communities to maintain or revitalize their
mother languages and pass them on to younger generations. There is need to
elevate the status of previously unrecognized or unsupported minority
languages such as Kalanga, Ndau, Manyika and Shangani amongst others and
extend its use to new domains. Even bilingual road signs, advertisements and
other public notices can go a long way in elevating the status of minority
languages. On the other hand, being a member of a minority encourages
diversity as one must learn to thrive through becoming conversant in
languages spoken by the majority. Culture clashes have ensured in many cases
where primary school children have been taught in languages foreign to them
which they cannot comprehend a feature which has contributed to poor and
deteriorating education standards countrywide. The government needs to
support innovations to document and allow for the official use of minority
languages and for children to learn them in schools and colleges. There is
need for a power balance in the linguistic market place to ensure that all
citizens become engaged pro-active partners in a governing and development
process.

Emmanuel Ndlovu is the Advocacy and Programmes Manager for the Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association. He writes in his individual capacity.
Contact him: umanu.ndlovu@gmail.com