Parliament, executive must respect the judiciary - Chidyausiku

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Reagan Mashavave
Monday, 10 January 2011 15:20

HARARE - Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku on Monday called on the executive
and parliament to desist from hearing or commenting on matters that are
before the courts saying the two arms of government should respect the
judiciary’s constitutional role.

Officially opening the 2011 legal year, Justice Chidyausiku said the three
arms of government, the judiciary, executive and the legislature must
respect each other’s constitutional sovereignty.

Debate has been raging in the country whether or not the legislature and the
executive have the right and mandate to hear and comment on matters that are
before the courts.

Parliament last year said it had the right to hear matters before the courts
in their parliamentary portfolio committee hearings as it is entitled to do
so.

This was after Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Patrick
Chinamasa had refused to appear before a parliamentary portfolio committee
of Mines and Energy over the Shabanie Mashava Mines (SMM) saga saying the
matter is before the courts.

Justice Chidyausiku, however, said it is inappropriate for parliament or the
executive to deliberate on matters that are pending before the courts.

“It is equally inappropriate for Parliament, in plenary or committee, to
deliberate on matters that are pending before the courts and are yet to be
determined,” Justice Chidyausiku said.

“It is inappropriate for members of the Executive to communicate to the
Judiciary their legal opinions on matters that are pending before the
courts.”

Home Affairs co-minister Theresa Makone last year wrote a letter to the
Attorney General, Johannes Tomana asking the top government lawyer to act on
fake offer letters that are being used to evict the remaining white farmers
off their land.

The letter was copied to Chinamasa and Justice Chidyausiku.

Justice Chidyausiku lamented the low remuneration of the judicial officers
who are now under the Judicial Services Commission established last year.

He said serious consideration must be made to source money from the
corporate world to contribute in improving the salaries of judicial officers
as well as equipping and resourcing the courts as “judicial officers cannot
deliver when and if they are not well equipped to do so.”

“The fact that the national purse cannot fund the Judiciary to acceptable
levels admits of debate. Consequently serious consideration should be given
to enlist assistance from the corporate world and other well-wishers to
contribute, through a trust fund, towards the funding of the Judicial
Service,” Justice Chidyausiku said.

“The contributions, through a trust fund will ensure the insulation of the
Judiciary from the benefactors.”

The Law Society of Zimbabwe vice president, Tinoziva Bere said the creation
of the trust fund must only be a stop gap measure but said it is the
responsibility of government to ensure that the judiciary is well resourced.

“The danger of not remunerating judicial officers properly is two-fold. One,
you make them susceptible to bribery and other corrupt practices and two,
you run the risk of constantly losing competent judicial officers who will
be seeking greener pastures and that tends to reduce the quality of judicial
officers,” Bere said.

“The country must take full responsibility for the proper resourcing and
payment of the needs of the judiciary and it must never be left to
benefactors donating to the judiciary.”

Bere said the LSZ welcomes the establishment of the Judicial Services
Commission (JSC) saying the organization will continue to lobby the
legislature and the government for the judiciary to be truly independent.

On the debate on the issue of commenting on matters that are before the
courts, Bere said there were cases that attract people’s attention and when
the people need to be informed,uch cases must be treated in a manner that
allows people to be informed and for the right of the people to debate
freely as enshrined in the constitution.

“We have observed that the most topical  issues that affect members of the
public always generate a lot of debate and that concern must always be
balanced by the right of  the people to  be informed and the right of the
people to debate issues openly and to express their opinions freely which is
guaranteed by the constitution,” Bere said.

Chidyausiku Bemoans Judges Poor Salaries And Rise In Crime

http://www.radiovop.com/

10/01/2011 18:37:00
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Harare, January 10, 2011 - Zimbabwe’s Chief Justice has lamented the poor
working conditions for the judges and bemoaned the high levels of
criminality in the country.

Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku on Monday described the working conditions
for Zimbabwe judges as embarrassing.

“It is not a secret that the conditions of service of judges and other
judicial officers are embarrassingly low,” Chidyausiku said during the
official opening of the 2011 legal year at the High Court which was attended
by army, police and prison chiefs and other senior government officials.

The Chief Justice bemoaned the poor working conditions for magistrates and
other judicial staffers who despite being transferred to the newly created
Judicial Service Commission from the Public Service Commission have not
realised a simultaneous improvement in their conditions of service.

“The members remained on the low levels of remuneration that treasury had
budgeted for them as employment costs for that year,” said Chidyausiku.

The Chief Justice lamented the high number of criminal cases presided over
by the High Court.

“The increase in the number of criminal trials comings to the High Court is
a cause for concern as it tends to indicate that the levels of criminality
in the country is rising instead of decreasing,” said Chidyausiku.

Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa has made public his
concern for the Judges poor salaries. In 2009 Chinamasa together with
Finance Minister Tendai Biti held a meeting with the country’s Judges where
he undertook to improve the services of the country’s judiciary.

“The High Court was busy, with more cases having been filed during 2010 as
compared to 2009. For example, 186 criminal trials were set down during 2010
as compared to 115 during 2009," Chidyausiku said.

“The increase in the number of criminal trials coming to the High Court is a
cause of concern as it tends to indicate that the levels of criminality in
the country are rising instead of decreasing.”

Last year the Supreme Court received a total of 31 constitutional
applications with 25 of the cases not ready for hearing while five were
heard and one was withdrawn, Justice Chidyausiku said.

“About fifty percent of the constitutional applications filed in the Supreme
Court, were referrals from the magistrates’ courts across the country
wherein white farmers mainly are resisting their eviction from gazetted farm
land,” Justice Chidyausiku said.

SA extends Zimbabweans' permit deadline to March 31

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

10/01/2011 00:00:00
    by IRIN

SOUTH Africa has announced it will not deport illegal Zimbabwean immigrants
until at least March 31 after extending a deadline for them to regularise
their stay.

Rights groups estimate there is an estimated 1,5 million illegal Zimbabwean
immigrants living in South Africa, but only 275,000 had applied for work and
business permits between September 1 and the December 31 deadline last year.

"There will be no deportations until the end of March," said Ricky Naidoo,
spokesman for the South African Department of Home Affairs.

The lull in deportations will give the department time to process more than
275,000 applications for permits received so far. The process has been
delayed by Zimbabwe’s slow pace of issuing passports to its nationals.
"We are trying our best to complete the adjudication process in the next few
weeks," Naidoo said.

The South African government relaxed its requirements as the December 31
deadline approached and now awaits a variety of outstanding documents,
including passports, to process the applications.

Zimbabwean migrant rights organisations in South Africa, such as the
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF), and People Against Suffering, Suppression,
Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), expressed their appreciation.

"They [the South African government] even accepted applications with just
birth certificates and, in some instances, not even that," said Braam
Hanekom of PASSOP.

The two NGOs are helping migrants who have applied for permits to obtain the
required documents. The biggest problem was getting a Zimbabwean passport.

ZEF's Gabriel Shumba estimated that at least 100,000 applications for South
African permits had been submitted without passports.

Naidoo said South Africa had offered to help the Zimbabwean government issue
the passports, but refused to comment on whether the offer had been
accepted.

By the end of last week, 42,779 applications had been finalised and
approved, 10,166 were awaiting review, and 222,817 were awaiting
adjudication.

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabwean migrants could face deportation from
South Africa, "as only about a sixth of the estimated Zimbabwean irregular
migrant population applied for legal status," the International Organization
for Migration (IOM) said in a statement.

"There are an estimated 1.5 million Zimbabweans living in South Africa, many
of whom migrated as a result of the social and economic unrest in Zimbabwe
in recent years."

The organisation has reception centres for refugees at the Beitbridge border
crossing from Zimbabwe to South Africa and in Plumtree, the main border
crossing between Zimbabwe and Botswana, and is on standby to provide free
transportation to deportees.
With support from local and international bodies, IOM has prepositioned
non-food items including tents and blankets.

ZEF's Shumba said inadequate publicity about the regularisation process and
lack of information on the requirements had deterred many Zimbabweans from
applying.

Employers had also often been reluctant to provide letters of employment for
fear of persecution. "The home affairs [department] assured these employers
that there will be no action taken against them a bit too late," Shumba
said.
"Most Zimbabwean migrants work part-time, it was difficult for them to
establish full-time employment," Hanekom noted.

Nevertheless, Zimbabweans migrants could still apply for asylum, he said.
"The application will provide them a temporary asylum seeker’s status until
their interview to establish whether they qualify - this can take up to two
years."

He noted that asylum applications by Zimbabweans had a dismal record, "95
percent of them get rejected, but it can still get you some time."

In the past 10 years, as hyperinflation, and social and economic problems
have rocked Zimbabwe, more and more Zimbabweans have sought refuge in
neighbouring South Africa, the most economically advanced country in the
region.

Ncube will still need Mugabe to replace Mutambara as DPM

http://www.swradioafrica.com

by Irene Madongo
10 January 2010

Welshman Ncube may now need to work closely with Robert Mugabe to remove
Mutambara from representing his party in the inclusive government (IG) in
the near future, a constitutional expert has said. This weekend Ncube
successfully took over Mutbamara as head of the MDC-M, and his next conquest
could be an official position in the IG.

The IG is made up of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Robert Mugabe and
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara. It comes to an end in February 2011,
but it has been predicted that it is likely to roll-on afterwards

At his election, Ncube said Mutambara will continue to represent the party
as Deputy Prime Minister in the IG. However on Monday, Dr Lovemore Madhuku,
chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly, said that Ncube made
this announcement only because he has no choice, and his ultimate goal is to
completely remove Mutambra from the IG scene.

Madhuku’s previous prediction on the future of Mutambara has so far been
correct. When speculation was rife that the MDC-M would immediately recall
Mutambara from the IG if Ncube became leader of the party, Madhuku argued
that this was not possible even if the party wanted to as Mugabe alone had
the power to discharge the DPM.

“It is only Mugabe who can either force him to resign or dismiss him, if he
is not happy with his performance. The GPA is not the Constitution and is a
separate arrangement. So, Mutambara is likely to complete his term in the
inclusive government,” he said last month.

On Monday Madhuku said: “Welshman Ncube is clearly aware that at a legal
level there is no way he can force Mutambara out of the inclusive
government. So this idea of saying he will remain, and then there might be a
reshuffle, I think he wants to play his way by either persuading Mutambara
himself to voluntarily resign or have or have an agreement with the
President to get Mutambara out.”

Madhuku said it would be highly likely that Ncube could persuade Mugabe to
drop Mutbambara. For this favour, Ncube would in turn side with Mugabe
against Tsvangirai in the IG Madhuku explained.

He said already Ncube is already showing he will side with Mugabe, such as
this weekend when he backed ZANU PF calls for the removal of sanctions
against Mugabe and his inner circle.

Our Harare correspondent who attended the MDC-M conference this weekend
confirmed that Ncube called for the removal of the sanctions on Mugabe.

Efforts to get a comment from Ncube were not successful.

Mugabe Must Go, Tsvangirai's MDC A Hypocrite - Ncube

http://www.radiovop.com/

10/01/2011 10:56:00

Harare, January 10, 2011 – The new president of the smaller Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party, Welshman Ncube, on Sunday said President
Robert Mugabe should go and labelled the mainstream MDC a bunch of "pseudo
democrats and hypocrites".

Ncube who will be the party's president for a five year term, told hundreds
of his party supporters at the end of a three day congress that saw him
assuming the reins of power from Arthur Mutambara that over-stayers in power
like Mugabe were the reason why Zimbabwe was failing to progress.

“To those who refuse to hand over power to a new generation of leaders,
those who think that they are born to lead, we say we are going to organise
against you and we tell you that the people of Zimbabwe will reject you in
the next election,” said Ncube to the applause of his supporters.

“While we acknowledge your contribution to the liberation of the country we
want to tell you that you have negated those values you fought for by
remaining in power.”

He described Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s larger MDC party “pseudo
democrats” and “hypocrites”. Ncube said, “We refuse to be intimidated, we
refuse to be cowed by your lies and your head mentality even if you are
supported by your friends in the media.”

Turning onto the Global Political Agreement (GPA), which he helped
negotiate, Ncube said his party will work to ensure that it is fully
implemented as agreed.

He also said his party will insist that the constitution making process be
completed and be a true reflection of the democratic aspirations of the
people of Zimbabwe.

“It must restore political freedoms, freedom of speech, media freedom and
the right to campaign freely before any election can be held,” said Ncube.

The former University of Zimbabwe professor also called for the removal of
sanctions which he said are stifling the growth of the Zimbabwean economy.

“We affixed our signature to the GPA and agreed to unconditional removal of
sanctions because they are affecting the democratic growth in Zimbabwe
because they are giving Zanu (PF) an excuse to continue trampling of the
freedoms of the people of Zimbabwe, Zanu (PF) is using them as a shelter,”
said Ncube.

Ncube also took time to pay tribute to Mutambara saying he had shown the way
by passing on the button to him, something that many political leaders in
Zimbabwe were failing to do.

Mutambara called for unity in the party, tasking the newly elected party
members to address the concerns raised by a group of disgruntled members led
by Joubert Mudzumwe.

“This is a great party and we should never let it collapse,” he said. “I
received a petition from our national chairman, who is not here and it is
important that their issues be addressed.”

Mudzumwe had threatened a split, saying he would only recognise Mutambara as
leader, with deputy speaker of parliament, Nomalanga Khumalo being his
deputy.

Frank Chamunorwa, who had been nominated for the chairmanship made way for
Edwin Mushoriwa, who replaces the late Gibson Sibanda. Chamunorwa was
eventually made deputy chairman.

Priscilla Misihairabwi Mushonga succeeded Ncube as the secretary general,
with Paul Themba Nyathi coming in as the new treasurer general.

National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration co-minister Moses Mzila
Ndlovu and Theresa Marimazhara will deputise Mushonga and Nyathi
respectively.

About 4 250 delegates attended the congress from across the country, with
Masvingo also in attendance. Masvingo had been the most volatile, with some
delegates from the province threatening a boycott.

In the petition, the disgruntled members called for the suspension of the
congress until their demands, which included the auditing of the party’s
books and the suspension of the Bulawayo youth assembly and the Chitungwiza
executive of the women’s assembly were addressed.

They claimed that Ncube manipulated the nomination process and kept the date
of the congress secret.

Zim Resumes Passport Processing

http://www.radiovop.com

10/01/2011 10:55:00
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Harare, January 10, 2011 - The issuing of new passports by the Registrar
General’s office resumed Monday, more than a week after a mysterious fire
damaged the national passport processing data base at KG6 in Harare on New
Year's Eve.

Multitutes of desperate Zimbabweans thronged the registrar general's offices
at Makumbe building, the documentation processing complex in Harare on
Monday.

Registrar General Tobaiwa Mudede last week announced the process had been
set to resume on Monday saying that engineers rectified the problem that
started the fire.

Mudede's office was in the past days only issuing temporary travelling
documents for emergency travel.

Prominent political analyst, John Makumbe said the mysterious halt in the
issuing of passports could have been deliberate and politically motivated.

This was on the heels of a recent refusal by the country to accept an offer
from South Africa of a passport processing machine capable of churning out
4000 documents per hour.

“There are elections this year. They don’t want these people resident in the
Diaspora to come to Zimbabwe and vote because they know the implications of
that for Zanu (PF). It is very clear. You do not have to be a rocket
scientist to know that it is the Zimbabwe government sabotaging the whole
process,” said the University of Zimbabwe political science professor.

Boost for Zimbabwe's Education Sector Results in Texts

http://www.voanews.com

Peta Thornycroft | Johannesburg 10 January 2011

When Zimbabwe schools re-open Tuesday, younger scholars will find they have
text books for the first time in many years.  A record 13 million text books
are being delivered to Zimbabwe’s primary schools.

Education minister David Coltart said the massive text-book order, a record
for Zimbabwe, was made possible by donations, mainly from Scandinavian
countries and Germany.  The contract for printing the books was carried out
in Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Coltart said in 2011 he will invite tenders for text books for five core
subjects in secondary schools.  He says the books will be distributed in
2012.

There are more than 7,000 schools in Zimbabwe, and Coltart says many of them
have dilapidated infrastructure.  He praised Finance Minister Tendai Biti
who awarded the education sector 34 percent of the recent national budget,
the highest percentage for any sector.

Biti is a member of the Movement for Democratic Change.  Coltart is a member
of the smaller MDC faction.  The education minister said his ministry
received $469-million, with $432-million for salaries, leaving little to
repair schools or provide teaching materials.

Since the inclusive government came to power nearly two years ago, Coltart
said the education ministry has rehired 17,000 teachers.

Zimbabwe used to have one of the best education sectors in Africa.  Last
year the United Nations said Zimbabwe had a 96-percent literacy rate, a
statistic questioned by Coltart.

Zimbabwe’s renowned former education minister Fay Chung says the literacy
rate will only be accurately measured in a few years time and will reflect
the collapse of education in the past decade. "Literacy is something that
measures the past, because you are looking at people who left school four of
five years ago,” Chung said. “It does not measure the exact present."

Coltart is in the United Kingdom meeting key British ministers.  He said the
Britain wants to assist Zimbabwe’s children, but needs reassurance that any
funds donated to the education sector would not be diverted to youth
militias or other organizations that promote tyranny.

Zim Human Rights Group Sets Up Peace Committees

http://www.radiovop.com/

10/01/2011 10:59:00

Bulawayo, January 10, 2011 - A Bulawayo based human rights organisation is
facilitating the formation of multi party peace liaison committees to deal
with election related violence cases.

Zimbabwe Victims of Organized Violence Trust (ZIVOVT) has already started
facilitating meetings between the country’s main political parties in
Bulawayo on the setting up of the peace liaison committees aimed at dealing
with politically related cases before, during and after elections.

Bekithemba Nyathi, the ZIVOVT coordinator, said the formation of the
multiparty liaison committees followed reports last week of changes to the
country’s electoral laws.

The special police liaison and investigation committees in provincial
centres would work with the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission to deal with
intimidation and violence cases during elections.

“But the focus of ZIVOVT and the liaison committees should be to force Zanu
(PF) to comply with democratic principles to ensure violence free elections.
The committees should address the Zanu-PF culture of violence and
intolerance,” Effie Ncube, a Bulawayo based analyst noted.

Zapu spokesperson, Methuseli Moyo noted that the “ZIVOVT agenda is a
plausible move that should be supported to stop the election related
violence in the country.”

Movement for Democratic Change spokesperson for the Arthur Mutambara
Faction, Edwin Ndlovu said: “The idea is noble and any sane person would
support it to stop Zanu(PF) violence.”

ZIVOVT was formed last year with an aim of assisting victims of politically
motivated violence in Zimbabwe. The organisation is chaired by Patience
Nabanyama, the wife of the Patrick Nabanyama who was abducted in 2000.

Meanwhile MDC-T Councilors were on Sunday arrested on allegations of
threatening the resort town’s mayor Nkosilathi Jiyane.

Jiyane a close confidant of Local government, Minister Ignatius Chombo
resigned from MDC-T recently claiming that he was being harassed by party
leaders in Matabeleland North province. He now runs Victoria Falls Town
Council as an independent mayor, but has strong links with Zanu (PF).

Ward Five Councillor Chiliwende, Ward 10 Councillor Makoti and Councillor
Nyoni of Ward Six were arrested by police on allegations of threatening
Jiyane before disrupting a residents’ meeting at Chinotimba Community Hall
on Thursday which the mayor was addressing.

Police allege the three MDC-T councillors were also leading a group of
youths who stopped the meeting and threatened Jiyane with death.

“We have arrested the three councillors for threatening the mayor with death
and have since launched a manhunt for the other party members who were
involved in this scuffle,” said Matebeleland North police spokesperson Trust
Ndlovu.

Last month Chombo came to Jiyane’s defence after MDC-T councillors
threatened to fire him accusing him of incompetence. The Minister in turn
accused the councillors for bringing internal party squabbles into local
governance issues. MDC-T wanted to replace the mayor with a former
commercial farmer Larry Cunnings.

One of the major fall-outs between the mayor and his party councillors was
his decision to go against a council resolution to suspend the acting
treasurer, Thabani Khumalo and the acting accountant, Mehluli Sibanda. The
two were suspended last year for the disappearance of about US$23 000 by a
creditor clerk who is on the run.

Chinese To Take Over Mawere Business Empire

http://www.radiovop.com/

10/01/2011 18:35:00

Harare, January 10, 2011 -The Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa told a
parliamentary committee on Monday that the Shabanie Mashaba Mines (SMM)
owned by South African businessman Mutumwa Mawere are now the property of
the government of Zimbabwe but its revival remains hold up because it wants
an investor exclusively from China.

Chinamasa appeared before the Energy and Mines Committee of parliament to
testify on the role he played in the subsequent specification of Mawere and
his companies through the use of the Prevention of Corruption Act and
Reconstruction Act.

Chinamasa said the companies were now the property of the government after
it converted the loans that it extended to SMM into equity following his
failure to repay them.

“SMMZ is now owned 76 percent by the Government of Zimbabwe and 24 percent
by SMMH, a company also owned 100 percent by the Government of Zimbabwe
through ownership of Bearer Warrants held by AMG Global Nominees on
Government’s of Zimbabwe’s behalf,” said Chinamasa.

“Cancellation of the Specification Order on Mr Mawere has absolutely no
effect on the Reconstruction of SMMZ. The assets and liabilities of SMMZ
will be dealt with in terms of the Approved Scheme of Reconstruction for
SMMZ and not in terms of the Prevention of Corruption Act though there may
be need to enquire into the circumstances leading to the de-specification of
Mr Mawere and find out as to whether this was as a result of the
investigator’s recommendations,” said Chinamasa.

In answering questions from the members of the committee on how exactly the
government eventually managed to become the sole shareholder of SMM,
Chinamasa said negotiations were done with an England based company Turner
and Newell  PLC which is the original owner of the business.

“We hold the share certificates given to us by T an A, they are with us, the
company now belong to us,” said Chinamasa with his customary bravado.

“Mr Mawere is not the owner of SMM and he should not pretend to be one.” The
members of parliament also asked Chinamasa why SMM mines have not yet got an
investor despite pronouncements by government that it was looking for one.

In his response Chinamasa made a startling revelation.

“The Administrator was directed by a cabinet committee that he was going to
have no other investor other than one from the east and that investor had to
be from China. That was because of the sanctions imposed on the country. We
could not have an investor from a country that is not friendly to Zimbabwe,”
said Chinamasa.

He however maintained that the only way to save the mines which employs
about 5600 workers and benefit indirectly about 60 000 people was to find an
investor for the company.

At its peak the company was producing about 12 000 tonnes of asbestos fibre
a month translating into a 10 percent contribution to the national purse. It
was however reduced to paltry earnings and a production level of just about
1000 tonnes a month by the time business grounded to a halt.

According to Chinamasa, SMM’s state indebtedness stands at a total of $ 115
million dollars. This is broken down as state assistance in financial loans
through the Reserve Bank Of Zimbabwe and direct loans.

Others are comprised of money owed to state-controlled enterprises such as
the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA), Zimbabwe Electricity Supply
Authority (ZESA) and the Minerals Marketing Corporation of
Zimbabwe (MMCZ).

More councillors and MDC youths arrested

Monday, 10 January 2011

Three more Victoria Falls councillors and five MDC youths have been arrested
bringing nine the number of MDC members in police custody at Victoria Falls
Police Station.
Paulos Chilewete, councillor for ward 5 in Victoria Falls was arrested last
week on Thursday.  The other three councillors; Bernard Nyamande of ward 1,
Nkululeko Nyoni, ward 9, Taruvinga Makoti, ward 10 and the five youths were
arrested on Sunday. The nine are facing charges of disrupting a public
council meeting at the resort town’s community hall last week.  However, a
date on when they will appear in court has not been set as the Victoria
Falls police officers are saying they are waiting for instructions from
above on how they should handle the matter.

Meanwhile, Elson Mutonhori, the MDC Masvingo South secretary was on Saturday
morning abducted at gunpoint by Major – General Engelbert Rugeje and one
Major Toperesu at his Renco Mine home. Rugeje and Toperesu who were driving
an unmarked white Mitsibishi truck took Mutonhori to the Rock Motel in Chivi
some 100 km away, where they interrogated and intimidated him until
midnight.  Mutonhori was asked why he had worn an MDC T-shirt during the
festive season. The Rock Motel is owned by Gapare who is a Zanu PF
supporter. Mutonhori was released in the early hours of Sunday. Mutonhori
made a report was made at Renco Mine Police Station.

Hundreds of senior MDC officials, supporters, friends and relatives of Ruth
Rufaro Kavhunika on Saturday attended her burial at the Warren Hills
cemetery in Harare. Kavhunika, 43, was the councillor of Harare’s ward 2 and
MDC committee member for Harare province.  She died last week on Thursday
after a short illness. She leaves behind two children aged 15 and 13 years.

Senior officials who attended the burial were; the MDC Harare provincial
chairperson, Senator Morgan Femai and his provincial executive, Harare
Mayor, Muchadeyi Masunda and his deputy Emmanuel Chiroto, Harare MPs and
councillors.

Together, united, winning, ready for real change!

--
MDC Information & Publicity Department

Power Generation in Zimbabwe

http://zimbabwefood.blogspot.com/2011/01/zimbabwe-power-company.html

Monday, January 10, 2011
Zimbabwe Power Company
New Year Message from

Chairman of Zimbabwe Power Company

1700 hours 8th January 2011

I address this message to users of electricity in Zimbabwe and all other
stakeholders who may be interested.

Recent Status of Generation in Zimbabwe

Over the Christmas period the country experienced a much improved
availability of power. All six units at Kariba were working as were five of
six units at Hwange and Munyati Power Station was generating between 20 and
40 MW. In addition, with much of industry taking a well deserved break,
there was additional power on the grid for those customers on line.

Shortly after Christmas one of the, larger, units at Hwange was lost due to
failure of certain components. On the 28th of December we had to take out a
unit at Kariba for two weeks of routine maintenance. On the night of the 5th
January we had to take out a second unit at Kariba which twins with the unit
already under maintenance. These two units share a transformer on which
components had to be replaced - this was planned for this period.

In summary customers will be experiencing excessive load-shedding in
contrast to the Christmas period, as there has now been a sharp drop in
generation just as industry is coming back to work.

Looking ahead over the next two weeks. Every effort is being made to bring
the unit lost at Hwange back to service during this weekend. The fifth unit
at Kariba should be on the grid on Monday with the sixth returning to
service by mid-January. This should bring the country back to a “normal
load-shedding regime” by the middle of the month.

Looking ahead this year

It is important to advise customers of the realities at Hwange Power
Station. The supply out of Hwange remains fragile in spite of significant
progress having been made to stabilise supply during 2010. We still need to
undertake major works on: the raw water supply line from the Zambezi River,
work on the two large raw-water reservoirs at the station is underway;
urgent and significant work will be undertaken during the first quarter of
this year on the Ash disposal system (a new specialised pipeline has been
ordered and is under manufacture). Further to this, the units themselves at
the station need ongoing work to optimise their output. To assist us with
this “project related work” as well as to train and mentor staff at the
station we have engaged a blended team from India and Zimbabwe under the
management of WAPCOS – a highly respected Indian-based organisation in the
energy field. This team will be on-station early in February. We are
optimistic that there will be a consistency in supply out of Hwange Power
Station by the end of the first quarter 2011 followed by a gradual increase
through the year.

Kariba Power Station should remain at full capacity except for the isolated
occasion when the station is forced into “sudden shut-down” due to exogenous
shocks which can occur on the grid – these can emanate from the region or
sudden failure of local transmission lines.

All three Small Thermal stations (Harare, Munyati and Bulawayo) will be
brought back into service during the first quarter of this year. The cost of
generation from these stations is high due to both the distance from the
coal fields and, in some cases, the need to use higher quality coal. As a
consequence power from these stations can only be sold to those companies
who have dedicated power lines and who are willing, and able, to pay the
higher tariff. However this additional power will help boost the economy and
create additional employment in the process.

Beyond 2011

It is important to note that once we have achieved stability in supply and
optimised our present installed-capacity the supply of electricity will
still remain below demand. Ongoing efforts are being made to increase the
importation of additional power from the region by our sister company,
ZETDC. But there is a regional scarcity. In addition our economy will grow
and hence demand for electricity. The only way to close this demand-supply
gap is to build extra generation capacity, which will take at least three
and a half years from the time funding has been secured.

ZPC’s planning and preparation are well advanced such that its can approach
relevant investors and/or partners in pursuit of adding capacity at Hwange
Power Station (top priority as a “base-load” station) and Kariba (to add to
“peaking demand”). We have the full and emphatic support of our ultimate
shareholder to secure investment for the generation sector. In addition we
plan, over the next two years, to retrofit the Small Thermals in a bid to
increase the energy sent out and lower the costs.

In Closing

I take the opportunity to thank the entire staff of ZPC for their
commitment, hard and long hours of work during 2010 – most often with
constrained resources. Particular gratitude is extended to those who worked
over the Festive Season – day and night. I also extend a note of thanks to
our Ministry for their candid, progressive and demanding support.

I thank all our customers for your patience and understanding. I encourage
you all to keep paying for the units of electricity that you use. In
addition please could we all take all possible measures to reduce our
usage – it is good for your pocket and for the Nation

Best Wishes

The Board and management of ZPC are determined to stabalise and increase the
generation levels in 2011 to well above those levels achieved in 2010.

I wish you all, users of electricity and the staff of ZESA as a whole, a
safe and fulfilled 2011.

R. Maasdorp

Chairman ZPC (chairmanZPC@gmail.com)

COPAC teams begin working on new constitution

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
10 January 2010

The formal process of compiling data collected from the constitutional
outreach program started on Monday with over 70 technicians and 210
rapporteurs gathering in Harare for the two week exercise.

The Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC) has set September 30 as the date
to hold a referendum to choose a new constitution for Zimbabwe.

Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa told us rapporteurs and technicians, to be
housed in various hotels spread across the capital will start putting
together the data that was gathered during the outreach programs.

All data gathered during the outreach program was stored in laptops, voice
recorders and video cameras. It has been held under lock and key at a bank
in Harare to ensure maximum safety, after concerns were raised over the
possibilities of it being tampered with.

‘The correlation of the data will be compiled province by province. It will
be edited and reproduced in a sizeable form to make it easy for the thematic
committees to work on the information. The committees’ specialise in a wide
range of issues, such as human rights, elections and the justice system.

‘With the help of legal experts in constitutional affairs, the committees
will then draft a constitution, which will first be sent to Parliament
before it is submitted to the people in a referendum,’ Muchemwa added.

A new constitution is part of a power-sharing agreement between Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC and Robert Mugabe's ZANU PF party. The two parties,
including the MDC-M now led by Welshman Ncube were brought together in a
unity government in February 2009. It was meant to end months of
confrontation after the violent elections in 2008.

The new constitution is expected to lead to fresh elections perhaps during
the first half of 2012. Zimbabwe still uses the Lancaster House Agreement
adopted prior to independence nearly 30 years ago. This has been amended 19
times since 1980.

Harare Council, Zanu (PF) Clash Over Foreigners Shop Licenses

http://www.radiovop.com/

10/01/2011 18:38:00

Harare, January 10, 2011 - Harare council and Zanu (PF) are at loggerheads
over the demands by the party’s officials that the local authority should
stop issuing shop licenses to foreigners with the mayor Muchadeyi Musunda
insisting that he would not interfere in that matter.

Masunda wrote a scathing letter to Zanu (PF)’s Harare province and the Mbare
Residents and Ratepayers Association (MRRA) after their threats to force out
mostly Chinese and Nigerians who now dominate the city’s small to medium
enterprises.

Jaison Pasadi, the Zanu (PF) provincial chairman and MRRA spokesperson
Elizabeth Bwanya who also leads the Mbare Chimurenga Choir told council that
shop licenses must be reserved for locals.

But Masunda has shot back in a letter seen by Radio VOP saying: “there is no
law that entitled anyone to get rid of foreigners operating in the city
centre and replace them with supporters of any political party or interest
group.

“There is no provision in the Urban Councils Act for the city council to
‘override the by-laws’ in order to empower the people.

“The city council is the designated local authority with the responsibility
to run the city in the interest of all its stakeholders.”

The mayor’s letter came amid reports that some youths believed to be Zanu
(PF) supporters were going around the city demanding “protection fees” from
foreign business people.

The extortionists are allegedly demanding up to US$20 000 per individual
shop owner.

Masunda said businesspeople must be careful as council was the only body
permitted to collect license fees.

Zanu (PF) is currently pushing its controversial indigenisation programme
that seeks to “empower locals” by making sure that they take control of
foreign owned companies.

The policy has been condemned by a cross section of society as harmful to
the economy, which is still battling to recover from a decade of decline.

Masunda said his council was determined to restore the rule of law in Harare
and allow businesses to flourish.

He said even President Robert Mugabe cannot interfere in the day to day
affairs of the council.

Residents furious at Minister’s latest ‘abuse of power’

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

by Irene Madongo
10 January 2010

Residents in Harare are furious over reports that Local Government Minister
Ignatius Chombo has suspended councillors probing land corruption charges
against him.

Chombo shocked Zimbabweans last year when the staggering amount of property
he owned was revealed in his divorce case. In addition to properties in the
capital, he has interests in several farms, mines, hunting safari lodges in
other parts of the country and in South Africa. Skeptics say there is no way
a former university lecturer could have acquired such richness on his
salary.

In 2010, Harare City Council launched a committee to investigate allegations
that he illegally grabbed land in Borrowdale and Avondale. The committee was
headed by councillor Warship Dumba.

However the Mayor of Harare City Council Muchadeyi Masunda confirmed that
Dumba and another committee member Casper Takura, had been suspended and the
pair have sought legal action. Masunda was not in a position to give details
for the reason for their suspension, but it’s been reported that Chombo is
claiming they abused Council funds on a trip to Kariba.

Combined Harare Residents Association chairman, Simbarashe Moyo, on Monday
said residents in Harare feel the Minister is abusing his powers to silence
the investigation against him. He said, “This is a clear case of
victimisation. Because how can it be so coincidental that the people who are
investigating someone end up being suspended over some trumped up charges?”

Moyo went to say, “This is just a way of trying to get back to councillors,
trying to silence them, trying to make sure they don’t proceed with the
investigation they have been carrying out.”

Masunda says it is inevitable that residents would come to the conclusion
that the suspended councilors were being harassed, considering they were
part of the committee investigating the Minister for misconduct. “In a
normal situation, the Minister would refrain against taking any actions, and
let someone else look into it, and let the law take its action,” he said.

The CHRA says, in addition to sending a petition to the Prime Minister about
Chombo’s alleged misconduct, it has presented the details of Chombo’s
misconduct to the police. “Towards the end of the year we even wrote a
letter to the police advising them to even arrest the Minsiter because we
have overwhelming evidence of what he has done,” Moyo said.

Zimbabwe man recovering after beating in SA

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
10 January 2011

A Zimbabwean man who was severely beaten at his country's consulate in Cape
Town last week, is recovering from his injuries, and has laid assault
charges against the consulate's head of security.

Robert Nzara laid the charges on Saturday after the beating, which took
place while he was trying to pick up his new passport last Wednesday. He
alleges that the Zimbabwean head of security, James Ketelo, handcuffed him,
struck him several times over the head with a baton, before leading him away
to a local police station.

Police released Nzara, but told him not to return to the consulate that day.
Nzara did return, apparently because he needed to collect money from his
brother, and he was once again handcuffed before being struck over the head
repeatedly.
“He (Ketelo) asked the other security guy to pass him the baton. I was
beaten on the head more than eight times… I fainted and fell down,” Nzara is
quoted by the Cape Times newspaper as saying. “I can’t believe I’m still
alive.”

Nzara’s account was corroborated by Guy Kaniki, a 29-year-old Congolese
security guard from the consulate, who worked with Ketelo. Kaniki told the
Cape Times that he lost his job after releasing Nzara from the handcuffs,
when he realised the severity of the beating.

“He was seriously beaten. He (Ketelo) was doing it as if he was trying to
kill him. People were screaming and everyone came to try and stop him. I
opened the handcuffs and told him to run," Kaniki said.

Kaniki said Nzara was doing nothing wrong, and was demanding his passport in
a restrained manner. Kaniki said Ketelo was returning with a handgun when he
decided to free him.
Nzara said that when he returned the following morning, Ketelo told him to
go to the police station and sign an affidavit apologising to the Zimbabwean
government.

He allegedly said he could make it difficult for Nzara to return home and
could dig up information about his family in Zimbabwe. He also allegedly
said Nzara would not receive a passport if he did not co-operate. Nzara is
now applying for refugee status.

Ketelo in turn has denied having used excessive force on Nzara, and denied
carrying a handgun. He said Nzara was drunk and threatened to attack
officials with a gun.

“I grabbed him and we struggled. Intentionally or unintentionally he clapped
me in the head.
I tried to neutralise him with the baton stick,” Ketelo is quoted as saying
by the Cape Times.
Ketelo admitted to having fired Kaniki for freeing Nzara from the handcuffs,
saying he had abandoned his duty.

Zim health survey to draw on blood samples

http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/

Eyewitness News | 2 Hours Ago

It’s a public survey with a difference: Zimbabwe’s National Statistics
Agency has announced it will be asking for blood samples from households as
part of this year’s health survey.

The samples will be used to work out new HIV prevalence rates, but
researchers could meet with some resistance from the public.

The agency has published advertisements in the national press urging the
public to comply with the demographic and health survey, which is being
conducted with help from several donor groups.

The blood samples will be anonymously tested for HIV.

A local Unicef spokesperson was not able to give more details on Monday.

Zimbabwe has one of the world’s highest HIV rates, with around one in seven
believed to be HIV positive.

Swine Flu Kills Two

http://www.radiovop.com/

10/01/2011 18:39:00

Masvingo January 11, 2011 -A resurgent bout of swine flu also known as H1N1
virus, detected in Mushandike Resettlement area, a few kilometres out of
Masvingo town along the Masvingo-Beitbridge highway, has killed two people
and left dozens hospitalised, a senior health official has confirmed.

Provincial Medical Director in the Ministry of Health, Dr Robert Mudyiradima
said the outbreak, the second in less than two months, had been triggered by
Zimbabweans working in other countries who had come for the Christmas
holidays.

“There has been a resurgent outbreak of the disease, our tests confirmed.
But we believe it is another bout as we eradicated the disease the last time
we had an outbreak. “Two people, a child and elderly woman, have since died
while others are quarantined at Masvingo General Hospital. We believe the
disease was imported by Zimbabweans working in other countries who had come
home for the festive season," Mudyiradima said.

The last swine flu outbreak was detected in the Ngomahuru area, about 30
kilometres west of Masvingo.

Mudyiradima said the situation is under control as their health teams are
camped in the area and will only leave after being satisfied that the
disease is gone.

Bill Watch Special of 7th January 2011 [Mines Portfolio Committee Meeting 10th January]