http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012 10:28
By Patrice
Makova
President Robert Mugabe yesterday said he is still traumatised by
losing the
2008 election to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai especially in
Manicaland,
a province from which most guerrillas in the 1970s liberation
war came from.
He was speaking at his 88th birthday celebration
bash in Mutare attended by
thousands of his supporters excluding his wife
Grace and daughter Bona.
Sixty cattle were slaughtered to feed the
crowd.
“I am not happy that 20 out of the 26 seats in Manicaland
voted MDC-T,” he
said. “It was a shock. I did not understand what had gone
wrong,” said
Mugabe who attributed the loss to divisions within his
party.
The war was mainly fought from bases in Mozambique which
borders Manicaland
hence a huge number of guerrillas came from that
province. Mugabe said he
was shocked to lose the 2008 elections to
Tsvangirai’s MDC-T, as he had
taken it for granted that Zimbabweans
overwhelmingly supported him and Zanu
PF because of its liberation war
credentials.
He said the electorate also punished Zanu PF for
imposing candidates who
were easily beaten by MDC-T candidates. An estimated
60 cattle were
slaughtered to feed guests at the lavish party which
resembled election
campaign rally.
An estimated 60 cattle
were slaughtered to feed guests at the lavish party
which resembled an
election campaign rally. Top government officials and
other VIP’s were
treated to a sumptuous three course meal at two local
hotels, while the
ordinary people scrambled for food at a nearby teachers
college.
Four huge birthday cakes depicting natural resources
in Manicaland were on
display at the centre of the stadium where they were
guarded by up to 10
state security agents.
The bash was
estimated to have cost US$500 000 but other media reports say
the party
could have cost up to US$1 million. Most Zimbabweans are
struggling to
survive due to economic problems and diseases such as typhoid
and HIV and
Aids. More than 80% of the people survive on less than a dollar
a day.
Thousands of villagers in the countryside are surviving on one meal a
day
supplied mostly by international charitable organisations.
But
what surprised many was the noticeable absence of the First Lady, Grace,
at
such as important event for the Mugabe family. But Mugabe, only
accompanied
by his two sons, Robert Junior and Chatunga and Vice-President
Mujuru,
downplayed his wife’s absence.
He told the gathering that the
First Lady was away in Singapore where she
accompanied daughter Bona who is
doing her studies in the Far East. Vice
President John Nkomo could also not
make it to the feast as he was said to
be too ill to
attend.
Thousands of people donning Zanu PF regalia, the new
Gushungo label and
school uniforms packed Sakubva stadium in Mutare to get a
glimpse of the
ageing leader and a chance for free food and
entertainment.
Mugabe kept guests waiting for several hours,
arriving at the venue of the
celebrations shortly after 1 pm to a rousing
welcome by his supporters.
There were chaotic scenes and a near
stampede as security struggled to
control the crowd as Mugabe walked round
the stadium to greet ordinary
people seated on the
terraces.
Speaker after speaker took the opportunity to declare
their loyalty to
Mugabe by denouncing his main rival, but partner in
government, Tsvangirai
of MDC-T. guerrillas came from that province.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012
11:16
BURMA VALLEY — Fifty-three illegal settlers, who claim to be A1
farmers,
were last week served with eviction notices to vacate the two farms
they
occupied during the chaotic land invasions.
The
settlers, who invaded Burma Park and Lot 2 of Burma Valley in 2000, were
ordered to leave the two farms by the end of April this year. For a long
time, the settlers have been defying government orders to vacate after they
were offered alternative land elsewhere.
Officials from
the Ministry of Lands in Mutare said Burma Park was not
suitable for A1
farmers because it is a water catchment area. They said
people would cause
massive siltation of Nyamakari River and speed
desertification of the whole
of Burma Valley.
The farm was therefore recommended for A2
resettlement and allocated to five
beneficiaries. But the settlers are
accused of disrupting farming operations
by moulding bricks; stealing the
fence and other valuable property belonging
to the A2
farmers.
Daniel Kaswa, who is representing the families, vowed not to
vacate the farm
arguing that they were instructed by a spirit medium to stay
put. Mutare
District Administrator, Simon Sigauke, confirmed to The Standard
that the
families were served with eviction letters.
“Yes, I can
confirm that the families were served with the eviction letters
and they
were given up to 30th April 2012 after they have harvested their
crops. We
will act on them if they refuse to vacate,” said Sigauke. “As of
now, I
cannot pre-empt what action we will take. We have allocated them
another
land elsewhere but, they are refusing to go. We will deal with the
situation
when the time comes.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012 11:21
BY PATRICE
MAKOVA
THE scandal surrounding the alleged misappropriation of US$1,5 million
meant
for the purchase of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s official
residency
has taken a new twist with information emerging that the money was
a loan
which the premier is supposed to repay.
Documents in
possession of The Standard show that the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ)
suggested that the loan be dealt in one or two ways. The
first option was
for the loan to be taken over as part of government debt by
the Ministry of
Finance while the second option was for the loan to be
repaid directly by
Tsvangirai himself as the beneficiary of the house.
Authoritative
sources said Tsvangirai opted for the second option, meaning
that he would
have to find the money to repay the loan with interest and all
other
relevant charges.
Although Tsvangirai preferred to have the property
registered in his name,
the RBZ wanted it to remain a government house until
the loan had been fully
repaid.
The Prime Minister was accused of
engaging in “double dipping” after getting
the US$1,5 million from the RBZ
and an additional US$1 million from treasury
to buy and renovate the same
property at 49 Kew Drive in Highlands, Harare.
Tsvangirai however, scoffed
at the allegations on Friday.
“There is no case there. At the right
moment, the people concerned will
comment on the matter. Right now you may
continue on the wild goose chase,”
said the PM.
Information obtained by
The Standard shows that Police Commissioner-General,
Augustine Chihuri,
wrote to RBZ Governor, Gideon Gono, on July 20 2011,
seeking to know the
involvement of Finance minister, Tendai Biti, in the
release of the US$1,5
million. But the RBZ chief is said to have told
Chihuri that Biti was not
aware of the release of the funds.
Tsvangirai, using his close
relative and Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Germany,
Hebson Makuvise, is accused
of diverting part of the US$1,5 million to buy
properties in Chishawasha
hills and to invest on the money market. But
Tsvangirai’s close associates
insisted Tsvangirai was free to use the money
whichever way he wanted as
long as the loan was repaid.
“How many people secure loans from banks
to do certain projects, but use
part of the funds for other purposes?” asked
one close confidant of
Tsvangirai.
“It is also not unusual for an
individual to secure a loan from two banks to
do the same project. As long
as one repays the loan, there is nothing
amiss.”
The source claimed that
a large chunk of the money Tsvangirai got from the
RBZ as a housing loan was
still in a trust account.
‘Security chefs want PM nabbed for
fraud’
Members of the Joint Operations Command (JOC), mostly
security chiefs, are
said to be pushing for the arrest of Tsvangirai on
allegations of fraud.
Mugabe last week however, said the police should not
rush to take any action
before doing thorough
investigations.
Tsvangirai was now the only one to benefit from the
housing loan. A report
prepared by the Ministry of Finance shows that
Vice-President John Nkomo and
the two deputy prime ministers, Thokozani
Khupe and Professor Arthur
Mutambara also benefitted.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012
11:14
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
BULAWAYO’S water woes are set to end after
government secured about US$900
million from a Chinese bank for the
construction of the National
Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (NMZWP),
which has been on the cards for
over a century.
Minister of Water
Resources and Development Management, Samuel Sipepa-Nkomo,
said the
Export-Import Bank of China (Exim Bank) has extended US$864 million
to
government for the project to be constructed by a Chinese firm, China
Dalian
Company.
“We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the China
Daliam Company
to construct the dam,” said Sipepa-Nkomo. “The government is
now simply
finalising the government to government protocol because that
US$864 million
will be out of a credit line from the government of China.The
government is
finalising the protocol.”
The money will fund the
construction of the Gwayi-Shangani Dam, laying of a
450km pipeline from the
dam to Bulawayo, and another pipeline from the
Zambezi River to the
dam.
Sipepa-Nkomo said unlike in the past when the Zanu PF
administration only
talked about the project during election time, the unity
government was
committed to the completion of the
scheme.
Meanwhile, civic groups in Matabelelend region have launched
a campaign to
gather over one million signatures to be used to petition
government to
complete the long-awaited project.
The campaign,
titled “100 Years of A Pipedream”, was launched by Shalom
Project Trust, the
National Association of Non-Governmental Organisations,
Habbakuk Trust,
Intsha.com and some churches.
Bulawayo has faced perennial water
problems since independence.
Zim has the right to exploit water
from Zambezi River: Sipepa-Nkomo
Sipepa-Nkomo said Zimbabwe had
the right to exploit water from the Zambezi
River after the signing and
ratification of the Zambezi Watercourse
Commission. There were fears that
the NMZWP would not take off because some
of the countries that share the
Zambezi River with Zimbabwe had not ratified
the
commission.
Funding problems have been blamed for the failure of the
project to take
off. In 2005, a Chinese contractor, China International
Water Electrical,
abandoned the project due to lack of funding and moved
equipment off the
site.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012 11:13
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI AND JENNIFER DUBE
SEVEN MDC-T activists, who were recently
granted bail, will have their
freedom short-lived after it was revealed that
they will this week be
indicted on charges of murdering a police
officer.
This means they will have to return to remand prison. The
seven struggled to
get bail and were held in remand prison for nine months,
before the Supreme
Court gave them their freedom last week.
The
activists are part of a group of 29, who were arrested on allegations of
having participated in the murder of Petros Mutedza in Glen View last
year.
Charles Kwaramba, a lawyer representing some of the accused, confirmed
that
the MDC-T activists will be indicted on Thursday, meaning their bail
conditions will be revoked.
“When they next appear at the
Magistrates Court, their bail conditions will
cease, meaning they will have
to return to remand prison,” he said. Kwaramba
said the Magistrates Court
did not have jurisdiction over murder cases and
the trial would be starting
anew at the High Court, meaning that the
activists will have to re-apply for
bail.
Kwaramba said the Attorney General’s Office was likely to
argue against bail
on the basis that since the activists now knew of their
trial date, they
were likely to skip bail.
“But since they have been
given bail it demonstrates that they can be
trusted and the High Court
should grant them bail again,” Kwaramba said.
Meanwhile, close to 200
MDC-T activists were arrested in Matabeleland South
yesterday as they were
conducting some educational programmes in their
structures.
The party’s
organising secretary Nelson Chamisa said: “We are carrying out
countrywide
political education programmes on leadership and we had meetings
in
Matabeleland South.”
“Among those arrested are Beitbridge district
chairperson Daniel Mkhwananzi,
his deputy Elliot Chidzingwa and trainers
from our head office,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012 11:47
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
The Anti-Corruption Commission of Zimbabwe (ACCZ), for long
perceived to be
a toothless dog, has during the past few weeks arrested
several people
including a legislator and council officials on corruption
charges.
Its actions have raised hopes in the country,
plugged by rampant corruption,
that finally something is being done to rid
Zimbabwe of the scourge that is
spreading like
cancer.
Analysts have lauded the commission’s robustness and
zest but warned that
this could soon come to naught once influential
politicians started throwing
spanners into its work to cover up their dirty
tracks.
So far, the ACCZ dragnet has only managed to catch small
fish. These include
Chitungwiza Town Council clerk and housing director
Godfrey Tanyanyiwa and
Jemina Gumbo respectively; former Zifa chief
executive officer Henrietta
Rushwaya, St Mary’s MP Marvellous Khumalo and a
prosecutor Moffat
Makuvatsine.
The analysts said the commission’s
mettle would only be shown if they
arrested any one of the senior
politicians in President Robert Mugabe’s
cabal, accused of rampant
corruption since the country’s independence.
Such political
indifference on corruption has blighted the country’s
international image.
Zimbabwe is now ranked among the most corrupt nations
perched on number 145
out of the 186 countries listed on the Corruption
Perceptions Index released
last year.
Transparency International
Zimbabwe (TIZ) fears
that the commission’s work might be scuppered by lack
of political will to
tackle corruption in the country. TIZ executive
director, Mary-Jane Ncube
said the commission was further hamstrung by the
fact that it does not have
powers to prosecute those it would have arrested.
“Its success will
depend on the political will of the leadership, which we
are still to see,”
said Ncube.
“The commission does not have powers to prosecute. It has
to refer the cases
to the AG’s office (Attorney General) and prosecutions
would have to be
carried out with that office’s
consent.”
Anti-corruption commission must go for Big fish—
Mavhinga
Political analyst Dewa Mavhinga said ACCZ must make a
clear statement of its
commitment to anti-corruption by going for the “big
fish”. Through such a
bold move, he said, the commission would gain national
credibility.
“When that happens citizens will be convinced that the
ACCZ means business,
the arrests made so far are insignificant — they are
nothing to write home
about,” said Mavhinga.
There are several
high-profile corruption cases that were swept under the
carpet in the past
two decades involving very senior officials still serving
in the coalition
government.
The most notable cases are the War Victims’ Compensation
Fund scandal, Grain
Marketing Board scandal, VIP Housing fraud, the Harare
Airport Tender and
Willowgate scandal.
The culprits remain
untouchable years after the cases were exposed.
Political
interference might hinder ACCZ efforts — analysts
The commission
is mandated to secure the prosecution of persons guilty of
corruption,
theft, misappropriation, and abuse of power with the assistance
of the
police and other investigative agencies of the state through the AG’s
office.
Ncube said there was need to review the laws to give the
commission a full
mandate and capacitate it to enable it execute its duties
independently. The
commission does not have enough investigators to work on
cases.
“The ideal situation is for the establishment of a special
tribunal, with
the commission having its own magistrates and prosecutors so
that they can
see through all their cases,” said Ncube.
Zimrights
director Okay Machisa lauded the ACCZ’s efforts to stamp out
corruption but
also added that the commission must extend their efforts to
political and
business heavyweights that have become untouchables for a long
time.
“We want them to extend their arm to the political
heavyweights in
government whose corruption tendencies have been exposed in
newspapers and
other public forums,” said Machisa. “They must account for
the properties
that they acquired then and now.”
Analysts fear
that ACCZ could suffer the same fate as South Africa’s
Scorpions which were
disbanded when they started investigating powerful
figures. The Scorpions
were investigating President Jacob Zuma and then
National Police
Commissioner Jackie Selebi on corruption charges.
During that time
Selebi, who is now serving a 15-year jail term for
corruption, branded the
investigations of his alleged ties to organised
crime as a vendetta by his
enemies within the Scorpions and National
Prosecuting
Authority.
The Hawks, a unit set up to replace the Scorpions, does
not have the same
powers as their predecessor. “If there was political will,
the Scorpions
would have survived,” said Ncube. “We are still to see if we
have political
will here in Zimbabwe.”
Efforts to get a comment
from ACCZ chairman Denford Chirindo last week on
whether the commission had
the nerve to resist political interference were
fruitless as he was said to
be attending a funeral in Manicaland province.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012 11:28
BY
JENNIFER DUBE
A row has erupted between students and Chinhoyi University of
Science and
Technology (CUT) after the institution bungled up enrolment for
one of its
post-graduate courses.
CUT last month enrolled 26
students for its Post-Graduate Diploma in
Corporate Strategy Management
(PGDCSM), but terminated the contract two days
after commencing classes much
to the dismay of the students.
The students now accuse CUT of using
them in a fundraising gimmick. “We all
paid a compulsory registration fee of
US$20 and some also paid full tuition
fees of US$650 while others part-paid
the fees as the institution allows
this,” one of the affected students
said.
“We were happy to be told our applications had been successful.
But on the
third day of attending classes, we were told that the institution
was now
going to award us with a diploma on completion of the studies and
not a
post-graduate diploma as advertised, the reason being that we do not
qualify
for the latter.”
Although CUT refunded the students, they
claimed to have been greatly
inconvenienced, as they had to prioritise the
programme from the stage of
applying to attending class. Some of the
students said they had turned down
employment elsewhere to pursue the
programme. CUT spokesperson Musekiwa
Tapera said it was an advertising
error.
“It is true we advertised and accepted students for the
post-graduate
diploma, but a fundamental error we made was our failure to
specify that
applicants should be holders of non-business degrees,” Tapera
said.
“On realising this error, the CUT Senate, which is our academic
authority,
moved in quickly to rectify the situation for the good and
integrity of both
the programme and the university.”
He said the
university apologised to all those affected.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012 12:03
SOME
villagers in Gutu, Beitbridge and Kwekwe will next month receive aid
thanks
to a South Africa-based Zimbabwean journalist’s efforts. Care of the
Givers
(COTG) in March will distribute blankets, clothes, food packs and
wheelchairs to needy families.
A clinic in Ndahwi in Gutu and
Beitbridge Hospital are also set to benefit
from the donation. The
organisation will also introduce a ready-to-eat food
supplement called
Sibusiso, which is porridge-like substance, made in Malawi
whose ingredients
include groundnuts, soya oil, sugar, peanut paste, soya
protein, some
vitamins, minerals and vanilla flavour.
Josey Mahachi, the journalist
spearheading the project said: “Sibusiso food
supplement is good for people
with HIV and tuberculosis. It is also of
nutritional value even to those
without these two conditions.”
Mahachi is a television presenter of
the programme Click Africa on DStv’s
Africa Magic channel.
— Our
Staff
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012
15:10
JOHANNESBURG — A contract worker at Impala Platinum’s troubled
Rustenburg
operation in South Africa was beaten to death during an assault
on Friday
when he tried to go to work, police said.
The assault,
which left two other workers injured, underscores how far the
company is
from resolving a violent and illegal labour dispute that has
already seen at
least two other people killed and cost the world’s second
largest platinum
producer 80 000 ounces and counting in lost output.
“Another life
has been lost when a mine contract worker was attacked this
morning, he was
a Zimbabwean national,” said police spokesman Thulani
Ngubane. Ngubane said
two other workers were also injured in the same attack
in the early hours of
the morning. Implats said at least six workers had
been assaulted overnight
during attacks directed at those wanting to work.
The disruptions at
Implats’ Rustenburg operations, is a key reason behind a
23% spike in the
spot price of the white metal in the year to date.
The mine accounts for
about 60% of Implats’ output.
— Reuters
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012 14:45
BY NDAMU
SANDU
A row is brewing between the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and Time
Bank
directors amid allegations the regulator is deliberately frustrating
the
return of the bank.
The Chris Tande-founded bank was put under
curatorship in 2004 and had its
licence cancelled in 2006 leading to serious
court fights.
Time Bank prevailed after the Administrative Court
restored its licence in
August 2009. Information obtained from various
sources said that Time Bank,
RBZ and the bank’s former curator Tinashe
Rwodzi had entered an agreement
whereby there would be a handover of assets
to its former owners. The
handover of assets would also include the computer
system.
All of the bank’s assets were returned except the computer
system which is
under the custody of RBZ. Time Bank was told by the RBZ that
it had lost the
passwords to the computer system and a meeting in November
2009 tasked Time
Bank to finance the cutting of new passwords.
It
was agreed then that once the computer system was opened up, there would
be
reconciliation of assets against those provided by the curator. An audit
trail would be printed where the three parties would append their
signatures.
A computer expert was hired, opened the system and
put in a new password in
the presence of Time directors, the RBZ and the
curator. all the
information, including the audit trail was then
printed.
At the time of signing, the curator said he needed to
consult but has never
been forthcoming, Time Bank alleges. Time Bank and RBZ
are also haggling
over a US$15 million Memorandum of Deposit raised from the
PTA Bank.
The loan was disbursed through RBZ. On repayment, RBZ
charged the bank 70%
interest instead of 7%. RBZ went on to debit Time
Bank’s account with 63%
excess interest.
The matter was brought
before then governor Leonard Tsumba who said the bank
should regard 50% of
their claim as an asset on their book or as money owed
by RBZ until the
matter is finalised.
Time Bank says RBZ is now disregarding the case
in its verification of the
bank’s capital position. Time Bank further
alleges RBZ is unwilling to give
them a grace period while it resolves its
land dispute with government.
One of Time Bank’s assets, Watermount
Estate along Enterprise Road was
compulsorily acquired by government under
the land reform programme and
discussions are underway to resolve the
matter.
Chances are high the bank will be compensated and in the
meantime wants the
land to be an asset on its books. RBZ governor, Gideon
Gono said on Friday
it would be prejudicial for the central bank to make a
statement as Time
Bank had appealed to Finance minister Tendai Biti in terms
of the provisions
of the Banking Act (Chapter 24:20). Biti is yet to make a
determination.
“The Reserve Bank will, however, make an appropriate
announcement on the
status of Time Bank once the minister has made a
determination on the
matter,” Gono said.
In e-mailed responses,
Rwodzi said he was appointed as curator by RBZ under
the terms of which he
was required to report on all matters relating to that
curatorship to the
central bank.
“The terms of my appointment confer on me a duty of
confidentiality which I
must observe in respect of all matters relating to
that appointment,” he
said adding that he had reported to RBZ on all aspects
relating to the
handover of Time Bank of Zimbabwe Limited to its
owners.
“I am not at liberty to make any further comments,” he said.
Tande could not
be reached for comment on Friday as he was said to be
attending a series of
meetings.
‘Time Bank getting hostile
treatment from RBZ’
Time Bank insists RBZ is unfairly treating
them in light of the grace
periods given to banks. It says while some banks
were given close to three
years to be capital compliant, the RBZ is
overlooking the fact that it was
held by outstanding issues in which the
regulator is culpable.
“In all these, you can’t be expected to meet
RBZ requirements with these
outstanding issues,” an insider said.
“Secondly, how can you roll out
commercial banking when you don’t have a
computer system?”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012
14:37
President Robert Mugabe last week turned 88 and still continues to
refer and
dwell in the past when articulating both domestic and foreign
policy.
Traditionalism and conservatism work hand and glove in his mindset
to such
an extent that he still blames the country’s woes on his Western
foes. Any
form of change is regarded as a West-driven manifestation that has
no place
in his ideology. In short, history is part of Mugabe’s
mindset.
During a radio interview aired prior to his birthday, Mugabe
lashed out at
the current crop of African leaders whom he described as
sellouts. This was
in reference to the ousting of former Libyan leader
Colonel Muammar Gaddafi
by National Transition Council fighters in October
of 2011.
Mugabe blamed a number of African countries notably South Africa for
voting
in favour of UN Security CouncilResolution 1973 that authorised a
Nato-led
onslaught on Libya.
When he was asked to comment on the
Libyan crisis, Mugabe did not mince his
words and took a swipe at African
leaders while praising the founding
fathers of the the Organisation of
African Unity.
In typical fashion Mugabe described these leaders as
“united and principled”
unlike the new band of leaders. To Mugabe, Gaddafi
was betrayed by his
fellow African brothers who lacked vision and
pan-Africanist principles.
Neither was the late King Leopold 111 of
Belgium spared from the wrath of
Mugabe’s venom as he read a letter that was
addressed by the late king to
missionaries assigned to the Congo in the 19th
century.
While there was nothing sinister in Mugabe referring to the
past since much
injustice was perpetrated against Africans by the white
colonial masters, he
should not hoodwink the people by blaming every one of
the current problems
bedeviling the country only on the West. As an elder
statesman boasting more
than 50 years in politics, examplery leadership is
expected of him, not
spouting hate speech at every turn.
The
question for our President is: for how long shall Africans continue to
dwell on the past by blaming the West for all the evils and wrongs? While
this debate rightly takes cognisance of the role of the West in some of the
continent’s problems such as underdevelopment and colonialism, Mugabe seems
to be hoodwinking the people by continuing to pretend that the West remains
an obstacle to nationalism and pan-Africanism.
Most of his
pan-African comrades such as Kenneth Kaunda have passed on the
baton to new
blood, a feat that he has failed to follow. Neither has he
attempted to
groom a successor and his quest and greed for power will once
again be put
to the test since he has shown eagerness to contest the
forthcoming
elections.
Egocentrism has taken centre stage in the ageing autocrat’s
mindset to such
an extent that he fails to respect a democratically-elected
head of state,
Jacob Zuma, whom he dismissed as being biased towards the
mediation
The old man wants a “winners take all” situation and
anything that
contravenes his school of thought is perceived as
“outrageous”.To him
elections are the only way to solve the current impasse
bedeviling the
inclusive government, and the facilitator assigned by Sadc
has to abide by
what defines Zanu PF ideology and not vice versa.
As he
wines and dines with his kith and kin during his birthday party,
Mugabe
should be reminded that there are thousands of hungry children out of
school
as a result of the economic and political mess that he
orchestrated.
Blaming everyone else for his failures isn’t the
solution and Zimbabweans
definitely deserve better.
BY TERRY
MUTSVANGA CHARI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012
14:29
Impoverished North Koreans two weeks ago celebrated the birthday of
their
late leader Kim Jong-il in style. Kim died of a heart attack in
December
last year but that did not stop the reclusive nation from
congregating at
Kim II Sung Square in Pyongyang where they unveiled a bronze
statue of the
former “Dear Leader” and bestowed all kinds of adulatory
titles upon him.
They hailed him as a shining star, defender of the weak,
father of the
fatherless, among other titles.
Nearer home in
Mutare we had something similar yesterday when thousands
gathered to
celebrate President Robert Mugabe’s 88th birthday. Praise after
praise was
lavished on Mugabe who, just a few days earlier, had been
described by
bootlicking ministers as a “a tourist attraction, a centre of
tourism
development”, a pillar of our nationhood and as an educator par
excellence.
Mugabe, once described as Cremora (a Swiss milk
product) by Information
minister Webster Shamu, cut cake and his protégés
wined and dined as if
tomorrow would never come.
Like in North
Korea, the lavish scale of the feasting was in stark contrast
with the
fortunes of a country which has an unemployment rate above 80%. In
a case of
misplaced priorities, thousands of dollars were splashed on
expensive food,
accommodation and transport.
Some media reports suggested the bash
may have cost almost US$1 million.
With severe drought ravaging Manicaland,
Masvingo and Matabeleland
provinces, rampant HIV and Aids epidemic, typhoid
and shortages of drugs in
clinics, Mugabe should have, for once, foregone
this obscene extravagance in
sympathy of the many suffering
Zimbabweans.
His lavishness sends the wrong message to thousands of
civil servants
battling to get an increment and literally going to work on
empty stomachs.
It does the same to thousands of Zimbabweans who survive on
food handouts
from aid agencies.
Just before the bash, the public
media was awash with adverts, mostly from
loss-making parastatals and public
institutions congratulating Mugabe on his
birthday. Couldn’t that public
money be used for better purposes?
Such sheer recklessness indicates
disconnection between the president and
the common people; the gap is
getting too wide.
Quote of the week
"I will not agree to elections
without the reforms. The way forward is a
free and fair election, but only
predicated by a process which includes a
new constitution and the
implementation of those reforms that will result in
a credible poll.” PM
Morgan Tsvangirai on new elections.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012 14:24
Zimbabwe is a
beautiful country endowed with special gifts — both natural
and human. Among
these are minerals, wildlife, spectacular landmarks and
intelligent human
beings to mind them. Indeed, God must have loved Zimbabwe.
Few would doubt
that. The human resource aspect is particularly impressive
as great strides
have been made in that area to the extent that Zimbabwe has
become the envy
of many other nations.
One then wonders why such a country has been
left to stagnate and grind to a
painful standstill. A closer look reveals
that the country has endured
actions, moves, ideas, policies and inaction
(call them acts of commission
and omission) from its citizens that do not
befit such a supposedly educated
and enlightened nation.
Economic
sanctions aside, Zimbabwe suffers, despite protestations to the
contrary,
from an irresponsible educated elite. I know this is a bold
statement but it
is one that best describes Zimbabwe’s under-achievements in
a number of
spheres of life despite having Africa’s highest literacy rate.
The education
has benefited other countries and economies; those with the
means and
knowhow to tap it.
Take Zifa for instance; while Zambia’s Chipolopolo
have achieved the
seemingly impossible in winning the Africa Nations Cup
2012 edition, and
thereby becoming African champions, Zimbabwe’s Warriors
have developed
infamy for lining their pockets instead of scoring goals on
the field of
play. Instead of clearing the whole rubbish that is Zifa and
put up a
commission as Chombo would have done if it were a municipal
council, the
Sports Commission watches as Zifa patches old rags onto new
cloth.
If laundered, this cloth will look new, we are promised.
We are even made to
hope against reason that the Warriors will qualify for
Afcon South Africa
2013. What nonsense! —In the meantime Zimbabwean soccer
fans conveniently
steal the Zambians’ success for their own (through the
back door) declaring,
“they are our neighbours and brothers”.
Success-starved Zimbos cheered more
than the Zambians themselves. It has
become a joke in Zambia. No heads
rolled at Zifa.
None at
all. All Zimbabwean newspapers have carried write-ups on what can be
learned
from the Zambian experience. None has said the rubbish that Zifa is
and that
it must go.
The same is happening at Air Zimbabwe. The whole nation
of intelligent
people does not see anything amiss in celebrating the arrival
of Emirates,
as opposed to mourning the demise of the national carrier, Air
Zimbabwe.
This situation is still unfolding. Let’s see if Emirates will stay
after
being asked to indigenise. The more reason to kick-start Air Zimbabwe
instead of celebrating the arrival of Emirates!
Then there is the
Zimbabwe dollar. Anyone remembers it?—We are a nation
without its own
currency and we appear to be celebrating the fact that we
are using a
multiple-currency system as if the existence of the Zimdollar
would impede
that. We have always been a multi-currency system. Most
enlightened
countries are. What we are celebrating is the demonitisation of
the battered
and now buried Zimdollar. Banks have failed to pay the banking
public their
Zimdollar bank account balances.
Pensions have been wiped out.
Some among us have visited poverty upon our
people. The architects of such
mayhem are rewarded with extensions to their
employment contracts. They are
now toying with the newest toy, the 51%
indigenisation policy. Banks are
already teetering on the verge of collapse
in the multiple-currency era! We
will never get it right under the
stewardship of the same skipper who led to
the demonitisation of the
Zimdollar. Are we that short of skilled
personnel?
While Walter Muzembi (Tourism and Hospitality minister)
and Karikoga Kaseke
(Zimbabwe Tourism Authority) are busy trying to make a
success of the
co-hosting of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation
conference in
August next year, some of their colleagues in government are
putting
spanners in their works. They are unleashing farm invaders onto
tourism
establishments. No one in a position of power and responsibility
admonishes
them. No-one gets arrested. People power— We glorify this
lunacy!
The Global Political Agreement is another dysfunctional mess.
A government
of losers, winners and no-hopers cannot succeed. It’s a wrong
mix. Simple!
Each party is trying to get strategic advantage. It will never
serve the
nation as it is intended. Let’s move fast to a new workable
dispensation and
prove that we are an enlightened nation. You do not show
enlightenment by
stalling progress.
As a nation, we have tended
to celebrate national lunacy and
under-achievement by national leaders. We
ululate when they spew venomous
nonsense in the media instead of engaging
them meaningfully and proffering
solutions to national problems.
BY
LAITON MKANDAWIRE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 27 February 2012
12:05
Many years ago, parents used to advise their children that when
they lost
their way in the city they should approach a policeman or
policewoman for
direction; no one else would do for cities were infested
with dishonest
people.
What that meant was members of the police
force were honest people who could
be entrusted with our children. We knew
then that the role of the police was
to keep us safe and prevent anything
that might disturb the peace.
They were clean. It was wonderful to
visit any police camp and watch the
policemen go through their morning
drill. They were immaculate and their
camps were clean too. Every camp had a
gentleman policeman called the
provost marshal (provosita); he was a terror.
Children and wives of
policemen feared him. His purpose was to see to it
that the camp was kept
spotless. He had the power to hold daily inspections
(sipakisheni as people
called them). He meted out instant justice to women
who did not keep their
houses and yards clean.
The policemen and
women took this draconian cleanliness order out of the
camp; their uniforms
were always starched solid even if it meant the
policemen had to change
their walking gaits in order to keep them stiff. The
cleanliness of police
details back then was legendary.
Today just watch the policeman
sitting next to you in the kombi. His uniform
is weather beaten, his cap is
discoloured and his boots have not been
polished for ages and the soles are
gone. The only new thing is the black
cudgel he is holding. You woudn’t
advise your grade one child to approach
such a person for
directions.
The truth is that in the eyes of the public the role of
the police has
changed. The policeman is no longer the people’s friend; his
black baton
says it all. “Come close to me and I’ll wallop
you!”
Just read the newspapers. Daily there are reports of people
minding their
own legitimate business being beaten up by the police. Just
watch their
behaviour at the ubiquitous roadblocks. The purpose of
roadblocks used to be
to monitor badly behaved motorists and remove
defective vehicles from the
roads. In short, the roadblocks were to ensure
the safety of the travelling
public. But this purpose has been
perverted.
The policemen and women at the roadblocks are rude;
and the purposes of the
roadblocks are unclear. The people fear the
roadblocks instead of looking up
to them. In the past the travellers were
encouraged to tell the police any
misdemeanours that public transport
drivers did. Now the public is on the
side of the misbehaving drivers,
partly explaining the carnage on our roads.
At every roadblock
motorists have to pay large amounts of money to the
policemen, most of which
are bribes. If they are ticketed at all they are
not sure if the money they
pay will be used for the right purposes.
Recently commuter omnibus
operators protested the huge amou-nts they pay
daily to police in order to
remain on the roads. No member of the public
would like lawlessness on the
roads. They would love it if the police really
meant to enforce the law on
our highways because, too often, commuter
omnibus crews are a
menace.
They are rude and do not observe the highway code; so the
police have to
whip them into line. But they can hardly be doing this by
extorting money
from them.
During the 1970s war of liberation the police
force, then called the British
South Africa Police (BSAP) became a
paramilitary force. Policemen were
called up to fight the guerrillas in the
bush.
Their behaviour could no longer be distinguished from that
of career
soldiers. They put up roadblocks to flush out the enemy, or rather
perceived
enemies, especially young men who were pulled off the buses and
tortured in
front of other travellers. Everyone was accused of being either
a
“terrorist” or a “terrorist collaborator”. The police became the most
hated
arm of the uniformed forces mainly because they dealt directly with
civilians. Career soldiers were a lesser menace because they were often in
the bush fighting.
The paramilitary character of the police — a
legacy from the war — seems to
have continued in independent Zimbabwe. At
independence in 1980 the police
force ought to have been reformed from a
quasi-military outfit to a real
people’s force. This did not happen. Instead
every policeman became a member
of the riot squad hence the cudgels they
have to carry even when they are
only helping pre-school children cross the
road.
Granted, the police force should have a riot squad even in
times of peace,
because humans being humans they can disturb the peace for
very silly
reasons. Fans of losing football teams have been known to riot
and the
police have come in handy to restore order. But the riot squad has
to
maintain a subtle presence and then make a show of force when there is a
real threat of a disturbance of peace.
As it is, the police have
managed only to instil fear instead of confidence
into the people. This is
wrong. When people fear an institution, they gang
up against it and
eventually fight it not only in a physical way but also
mainly through
sabotage.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police should really make an effort
to restore
confidence in the people. Defending misbehaviour as the
Poli-ce-Commissioner-General did last
week in comments on roadblocks
doesn’t help anyone. The police should
investigate itself and if there
really are bad apples, they should be
flushed out. But, it would seem, the
problem is not about bad apples; it is
really about a bad culture that has
entrenched itself in the force.
The Police Act needs to be revisited
by everyone in the force and be
enforced according to its letter and spirit.
Partisan policing needs to be
got rid of; it doesn’t help the force itself
or the civilians. Criminality
increases when the police become partisan and
biased. In the Harare
high-density suburb of Mbare for example, the police
have protected an
outfit called Chipangano which has perpetrated acts of
gross criminality.
Now, no one knows if anyone who masquerades as a member
of Chipangano really
belongs to the shadowy group.
Recently
motorists in Mbare were being asked to pay parking fees by men who
claimed
to belong to Chipangano; this has spawned more criminals in the
suburbs.
Examples of partisan policing abound. Now is the time to reform
the force so
that it really works for the people.
BY NEVANJI
MADANHIRE
