http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 10:47
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has angered hardliners in his
fractious party by
supporting recommendations by his deputy, Joice Mujuru,
to shelve the
controversial indigenisation law and set aside plans to hold
elections this
year as the succession issue heats up in Zanu PF, The
Standard is reliably
informed.
Authoritative sources said
hardliners in the party and members of the
Emmerson Mnangagwa faction were
furious that Mugabe dumped the idea of an
early election in favour of
Mujuru’s recommendations that polls should not
be held early for the good of
the still fragile economy.
Mujuru, who is battling against Mnangangwa to
succeed the 86-year-old
leader, made the recommendations before the party’s
Mutare conference last
month following consultations with the business
community.
The sources said Zanu PF hardliners and the Mnangagwa faction
pushed for an
early election before the party’s conference last
December.
Although the Mutare conference resolved to hold elections this
year without
fail, Mugabe heeded Mujuru’s advice after coming under immense
pressure from
South African President Jacob Zuma.
Zuma in his
capacity as the Southern African Development Community (Sadc)
mediator in
Zimbabwe is demanding extensive reforms to enable free and fair
elections to
be held in the country following the inconclusive 2008 polls.
Just before the
conference, Mugabe who has ruled Zimbabwe for the past three
decades had
vowed that elections would be held before June this year with or
without the
new constitution.
He, however, made an unusual about-turn after meeting
with Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara soon
after the conference,
telling the nation that elections would be held after
the crafting of the
new supreme law.
“Hardliners are furious that he
dumped all they had agreed on in Mutare in
favour of Mujuru’s
recommendations,” said one source.
“When Zanu PF went to the conference,
they had two main things: Early
elections and pushing the indigenisation
agenda but talk of both slackened
after Mugabe listened to Mujuru’s
advice.”
Government has since frozen the controversial indigenisation law
after
admitting that it is discouraging the badly-needed foreign
investment.
Political observers last week said it was highly unlikely
that polls would
be held this year, especially with reports emerging that
the new
constitution can only be finalised later in the year.
By
adopting Mujuru’s recommendations, said another Zanu PF source, the
Mnangagwa faction feels that the octogenarian leader has “anointed” her to
takeover after his departure.
“The notion was strengthened further
when Mujuru attended the swearing in of
a Brazilian woman President, Dilma
Rousseff last week,” said the source.
The source said Mnangagwa’s faction
believes that it is better placed to
take over from Mugabe if elections were
held soon when “it still has control
of most of the party’s
provinces.”
As Mujuru and Mnangagwa tussle for Mugabe’s post, sources
said, a new and
ambitious faction, led by a senior army official, has
emerged and is waiting
in the political wings for its chance.
“There
is a top army official who calls himself Zim2, meaning he is next in
line to
take over when Mugabe finally leaves office,” said one source.
“It is not yet
clear if he is still supporting one of the two presidential
aspirants but
the fact that he is calling himself Zim2 entails he has his
own
ambitious.”
Mugabe is referred as Zim1 by virtue of being president of
the country.
Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said the party was guided
by the Global
Political Agreement (GPA), signed by Mugabe, Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara three years ago, as far as
the
holding of elections was concerned.
He denied that Mugabe had
changed his mind on early elections.
“We, as Zanu PF, are guided by the
GPA that there should be the crafting of
a new constitution followed by a
referendum and then elections,” Gumbo said.
“But what we also said is
that if there is dilly-dallying, we will look at
other means, which means we
look at holding elections without that
constitution.”
Gumbo however
could not confirm or deny if there were some Zanu PF members
who were
agitated by Mugabe’s sudden change of heart.
“I don’t know,” he said.
“There might be some difference of opinion in the
party regarding elections
but overally, as I said we are guided by the GPA
and we are very clear on
that.”
When Mugabe elevated Mujuru to vice-president in December 2004, he
appeared
to have anointed her as his successor by saying she was destined
for higher
office.
But relations between the two appeared to have
cooled after reports linking
Mujuru to a faction in the party pushing her to
take over from Mugabe
surfacing.
Mujuru is the wife of former army
chief General Solomon Mujuru who has
remained highly influential in
government and military circles.
Mugabe had in the past attacked members
of his inner cabal jostling for the
presidency, saying some were consulting
traditional healers under the cover
of darkness to enhance their
chances.
The veteran ruler is on record declaring that there was no
vacancy for the
presidency and last month’s Zanu PF conference chose him as
its candidate
for the next polls.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 10:45
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
ZIMBABWE Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) chairman Godwills
Masimirembwa faces arrest over his alleged mishandling of diamond-related
funds in a case that has sucked in controversial Minister of Mines and
Mining Development Obert Mpofu, documents in our possession
show.
Masimirembwa is accused of prejudicing Canadile Miners (Pvt) Limited of
US$300 000 by ordering the company to pay money to Messrs Farai Mutamangira
and Associates for services the law firm did not render.
Canadile
director Lovemore Kurotwi has since written to the officer
commanding
police’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Serious Fraud
calling for
investigation into the matter.
“I hereby register a complaint against Mr
Godwills Masimirembwa (the
chairperson of ZMDC) for having prejudiced the
company of US$300 000 by
ordering the company to pay that amount to Messrs
Farai Mutamangira and
Associates,” reads part of the letter dated 8 January
2011.
“I request that this matter be thoroughly investigated.”
The
letter was also copied to police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri,
deputy commissioner general (crime) and the Anti-Corruption
Commission.
CID spokesperson Augustine Zimbili could not confirm or deny
that police had
received the letter.
“If you had phoned me earlier I
would have been able to verify it for you,”
said Zimbili on Saturday. “I am
not in the office today.”
Mutamangira’s legal fees statement, which is in
our possession, also states
that the law firm did not do any legal work for
Canadile.
Kurotwi and five ZMDC executives are currently facing charges
of
fraudulently acquiring diamond mining claims in
Chiadzwa.
Canadile’s licence to mine diamonds in Marange was withdrawn by
government
last year when the charges surfaced.
In a letter dated
August 30, Mpofu wrote to the chairpersons of ZMDC, the
Minerals Marketing
Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) and Marange Resources
ordering them to
promptly pay the legal fees to Mutamangira.
Mutamangira and Associates
are Mpofu’s personal lawyers.
“Please note that the ACR and KPCs issues
are affecting all your
institutions, without the services of the attorneys,
the process registered
to date would have been difficult to achieve,” wrote
Mpofu.
“Your institution shall bear your one third (1/3) share of the
bill
presented and payment of the same be forwarded to the account details
furnished.”
But in hand written instructions Masimirembwa, who was
de-registered as a
lawyer after helping himself to money entrusted to him by
clients, ordered
ZMDC and MMCZ to pay US$150 000 each while Canadile was
told to fork out
US$300 000.
The money was deposited into Mutamangira
and Associates’ Standard Chartered
Bank Avondale Branch, account number
8700209467001.
On January 5 2011, Canadile’s lawyers Chikumbirike and
Associates legal
practitioners wrote to Masimirembwa threatening to take
legal action against
the disgraced lawyer.
“However please note that
you, in your personal capacity are responsible for
the misdirection of the
amount due to Canadile Miners (Pvt) Ltd, and
therefore liable for any
consequences that follow,” said the letter.
The letter said Masimirembwa
disbursed the money from the mining firm and
yet Canadile did not feature in
Mpofu’s instructions.
“In our view, you were on a frolic of your own. The
fact of the mention of
the instruction to Marange Resources (Pvt) Ltd does
not distract from this
position,” said the lawyers. “Marange Resources
(Pvt), is a shareholder of
Canadile Miners (Pvt) Ltd, (50%).”
They
argued that Marange cannot give authority for the disbursement of such
an
amount, which it is a mere 50% equity holder.
They added that company
transactions are not conducted through shareholders
of a company but through
its board of directors.
Canadile had a board comprising of five directors
appointed by Core Mining
and Mineral Resources (Pvt), on one hand, and
another five from Marange
Resources (Pvt) Limited.
Efforts to get a
comment from Masimirembwa and Mpofu were fruitless
yesterday.
The
High Court has since barred Mutamangira from representing the ZMDC and
Marange Resources because of the firm’s alleged interests in the two mining
companies.
Justice Susan Mavangira last week also said Mutamangira
and Associates
should not be allowed to present the two companies in the
matter after the
same law firm prepared and commissioned affidavits of their
clients.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 11:28
By Chipo
Masara
Passing through Gweru in the wee hours of 2010 Christmas
morning, I couldn’t
help but notice the dirt that now enfolds the once
vibrant and neat town.
Gweru just happens to be the one city I fell
completely in love with during
my younger years as I constantly visited some
very dear friends of mine. It
was the one place that always managed to bring
me an overwhelming sense of
peace, a feeling I would want to attribute to
the cute set-up in an
evidently well-run town filled with so much positive
energy. That was years
ago.
2010 presented me with a
rather different Gweru, one that is engulfed in so
much filth I could have
sworn I was in a different town altogether. And come
to think of it, Kwekwe
wasn’t quite as neat as I have always known it to be
either and neither is
Mutare and Harare, but I would have to say Gweru tops,
considering how neat
the town used to be.
But just why is there so much litter lying
around in our country? Is it
because the city councils are not doing enough
to correct the situation? Or
is it that the law enforcers are being lenient
or negligent of their duties?
Looking back, I would like to think
that the hardships that the country went
through (before the establishment
of the coalition government finally
brought a semblance of normality) had a
lot to do with much of this uncaring
attitude that a lot of Zimbabweans are
currently exhibiting. In the rush to
find ways to put food on their tables
and take care of their families when
the prevailing circumstances deemed
this near-impossible, most of us simply
stopped caring about those things
that we would like to brush off as
“little”, yet another misconception if
you ask me because issues that
ultimately have something to do with our
health should never be considered
“little”!
The issue of
littering and the need to clean up the country is one that has
already been
overemphasized but sadly still remains a major concern,
propelling us to
keep talking about it, hopefully until everyone realises
one simple fact:
littering destroys the environment and highly endangers our
health.
I know people would, more than anything, like to blame it
all on the city
councils for not providing enough litter bins and for not
collecting refuse
as often as they should. Whether or not the city councils
are doing their
job is a question that can best be answered by the
rate-payer, but one thing
for sure, the council can only do so much, the
rest lies with us.
I can tell you that I walk along Kaguvi Street in
Harare every morning
during the week on my way to work and almost on all
these days I pass along
some elderly women clad in overalls and equipped
with hard brooms cleaning
up the streets. When I walk along the same street
at lunch time however,
there wouldn’t be much sign of any cleaning having
gone on just a few hours
earlier as the street would once again be infested
with litter.
I really think it is about time we faced facts, Zimbabweans are
serious
litterbugs and unless something is soon done about this, the country
will
completely lose the little appeal that it has left. It is about time we
once
again instilled in ourselves, our families and associates a sense of
cleanliness. It is about time we found the act of littering extremely
embarrassing because it is an act that serves to portray you as one
ignorant, negligent and uncaring person, traits that we should all try to
shy away from. Even something as little as a bubblegum wrapping should be
thrown in a litter bin as when left lying around it translates into filth
and filth is not nice!
Have you ever noticed just how a dirty
home attracts flies which cause a lot
of diarrhoeal diseases that culminate
in a lot of endless visits to the
doctor’s? And good doctors tend to be
expensive meaning many people may find
themselves succumbing to the many
diarrhoeal diseases. What this means is
that dirt is rather costly,
something that could well be avoided if we could
all just come to appreciate
the advantages of a clean environment. Wouldn’t
it be lovely if we could all
just make it a point to never let trash escape
our cars or our
homes?
But because we are always going to have people who simply
refuse to see
reason or are so hooked on their old ignorant ways, there
might be need for
the responsible authorities to put in place stiffer
penalties. Many
Zimbabweans do not even realise that littering carries a
fine of US$20,
mostly because most have littered so many times and gotten
away with it. May
be if the Zimbabwean police can be on a closer look out
for offenders, it
could also greatly help ease the problem.
The
city councils indeed should do their job, after all people are
sacrificing
ridiculous amounts from their hard-earned money paying the
rates; it would
only be fair if those services could actually be offered.
Furthermore, there
is genuine need for more litter bins to be placed around
towns, that way
people would surely find it embarrassing to be seen
littering when a bin is
so close by.
We could also arrange or do more to encourage clean-up
campaigns as these,
besides cleaning up our surroundings, have the power to
make people
conscious of the dirt and the need to also make efforts to
maintain the
clean environment.
The litter in Zimbabwe is an
eyesore and unless the situation is awarded due
attention, things will only
get worse and before we know it, our country
will be rated among the
dirtiest in the world (if it isn’t already). I truly
hope that by the end of
2011 we will have made considerable strides towards
reclaiming our status as
a beautiful rainbow nation that we can be proud to
be associated with. Let
us all come together and say an emphatic NO to
littering, it begins with you
and me.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 11:16
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
RESIDENTS of Mbare’s Jourburg Lines last week toasted a
borehole, bringing
hope that the risk of water borne diseases would be
reduced.
The borehole, which the Harare City Council and its partners drilled
some
time ago, only started operating on Tuesday, amid an outbreak of
illnesses
the residents feared could be
cholera-related.
The residents recently sent a distress call
following a spate of cases of
people suffering from severe stomach pains,
vomiting and diarrhoea.
More than 20 families were affected raising fears
that the infamous 2008
cholera outbreak had revisited the
community.
“I feel very relieved,” Miriam Munyukwi (63)
said.
“For me, the borehole brings memories of the safer village
wells and I
believe it will reduce our exposure to the diseases caused by
the dirty
water from the taps.
“We will now drink the borehole
water and use the tap water for cooking and
laundry.”
Munyukwi’s
two grandchildren were among those treated for stomach pains at
Mbare
Polyclinic in the past two weeks.
Like most victims, the six-year-old
boy and four-year-old girl complained of
stomach pains and passed watery
stools for days, eliminating chances of
cholera which kills within hours if
not treated immediately.
The Mbare cases were referred to Beatrice
Road Infectious Diseases Hospital
where the victims were
examined.
Tests for cholera turned out negative. The disease is
caused by bacteria
called Vibrio Cholerae and spreads fast in unhygienic
conditions.
Among other symptoms, the disease presents itself with watery
diarrhoea and
sometimes vomiting.
It is contracted through intake
of contaminated water and food.
“We suspected cholera because the
water we have been getting from the taps
looks dirty and is smelly,” Charity
Ruka said.
“If examined with the naked eye, the water sometimes looks
green in colour
and stains clothes when used for laundry.
“My
family resorted to buying drinking water from supermarkets long ago but
not
everyone in this community can afford that.”
Munyukwi said even the
Aquatabs tablets given to her by a donor organisation
could not adequately
“purify” the water.
A substantial amount of green to greyish
particles would sit at the bottom
of the bucket everytime the tablets were
added to the water.
Mbare residents have reason to fear a resurgence
of the deadly cholera
because their suburb was among those hardest hit by
the 2008 outbreak that
killed nearly 4 000 people
countrywide.
Samuel Mapurisa, the Jourburg Lines Residents’ Committee
chairperson said
although they were happy about the new borehole, more
needed to be done to
protect residents of one of Harare’s oldest residential
areas.
“We believe that the unclean environment is playing a role in
all this,”
Mapurisa said.
“There is a lot of uncollected rubbish
lying around the suburb and we are
exposed to health hazards even more in
this rainy season.”
Despite the city’s weekly garbage collection,
mounds of litter are found at
almost every corner of this part of
Mbare.
Flies could be seen buzzing around both on the rubbish piles
and in water
puddles forming in the potholed roads.
Mapurisa said
they also suspected that the water delivery system had broken
down and
sewerage was leaking, leading to contamination of the water.
Environmental
Management Authority publicity manager Steady Kangata said
poor waste
management practices contribute to outbreaks of water borne
diseases
including cholera.
“At EMA, we urge all authorities to timeously
collect refuse, clear illegal
dumps and timeously repair burst sewer pipes,”
Kangata said.
“Residents should also timeously report these
environmental hazards to
authorities so that they can be attended to
urgently.
“As for Harare, it sits on its catchment area so all the
industrial and
domestic pollution is washed into Lake Chivero, the source of
drinking
water, exposing all of us to health risks.”
Although
health officials allayed cholera fears, the Harare Residents Trust
urged
council to upgrade standards in the area to avoid a likely outbreak.
“The
HRT insists that to safeguard the health of residents living under the
current squalid living conditions in Jourburg Lines, relevant authorities
should urgently address the issue of overcrowding, dilapidated water and
sewerage reticulation infrastructure and improve service provision,
especially refuse collection,” reads part of a statement by the residents’
organisation.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 11:08
BY
SILAS NKALA
BULAWAYO — A Zimbabwean-based in Canada has come to the
rescue of a disabled
King George IV Children Centre pupil who uses his feet
to eat and write by
donating a wheelchair.
Munashe
Chikuvanyanga’s plight was brought to light by The Standard in
November last
year and it spurred Gokwe-born Davison Haraan to mobilise 239
wheelchairs
that are set to benefit disabled children at the special needs
school.
Haraan works for the Community Living Toronto (CLT), an
organisation which
caters for disabled and disadvantaged children in the
Canadian capital.
CLT offered Haraan 239 second-hand wheelchairs, which were
no longer needed
at the centre after he presented Chikuvanyanga’s
plight.
Last week, he presented one of the wheelchairs to the
15-year-old boy at
King George.
Haraan who was accompanied by his
wife Thoko Ndlovu said he could not bring
all the wheelchairs at once
because of logistical and financial challenges.
“I managed to bring one
specifically for Munashe, whose crisis was revealed
in The Standard,” he
said.
Perseverance Hadebe, the King George principal expressed
gratitude for the
donation noting that most of his students came from
disadvantaged families.
Haraan also pledged to assist Chikuvanyanga pay
school fees for the whole
year and make arrangements to have the remaining
wheelchairs shipped to
Zimbabwe soon.
King George IV has a
maximum enrolment of 300 disabled pupils from
pre-school to Form
IV.
The school faces various challenges such as shortages of
stationary and
wheelchairs for the children and staff
members.
Children pay US$200 per term and US$45 tuition at the
school, amounts which
are above the reach of many, according to the
teachers.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011
11:07
BY KHOLWANI NAYTHI
A potential referendum on a new
constitution and another round of hotly
contested elections will be upper
most in the minds of the majority of
Zimbabweans this year as they still
yearn for the Promised Land.
The unity government formed by
Zanu PF and the two Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) formations two
years ago is up for review next month according
to the Global Political
Agreement (GPA).
For political expediency President Robert
Mugabe now claims the provision
that allows for the revision of the GPA
means the end of the coalition.
However, the wily politician who also
celebrates his 87th birthday next
month is being forced to eat his words
with South African President Jacob
Zuma — the mediator appointed by the
Southern African Development Community
(Sadc) to bring the Zimbabwe parties
— insisting on a clear roadmap for the
polls.
The Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission has said that it does not have enough
money to hold
credible elections.
The parliamentary committee leading the drafting
of the new supreme law has
indicated that a referendum can only be held in
September making elections
this year doubtful.
So 2011 may stand
out in the history books as the year when Zimbabwe adopted
a new
constitution to replace the heavily patched up Lancaster House
document in
use since independence in 1980.
But ruling out the polls now will be
a fatal mistake because Mugabe can
never be predicted moreso when he says he
is no longer happy being part of
the coalition.
The call for
early elections is also linked to the never-ending battle to
succeed Mugabe
from within his party.
Postponing elections to next year or even 2013
will likely re-energise the
Zanu PF factions to push for the octogenarian’s
retirement as he may not
have the energy to take the party forward when he
edges closer to 90.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the MDC-T
leader will not have the same
headaches when his party holds its congress in
May.
Tsvangirai’s backers have successfully fiddled with the MDC-T
constitution
to ensure that he stays in power.
The former trade
unionist will however still have to deal with factional
fighting in his
party that is likely to intensify as the congress draws
near.
On the
other hand veteran nationalist Dumiso Dabengwa’s credentials would
come
under a severe test as a new round of elections becomes
inevitable.
Political bickering will continue in the unity government
until fresh
elections are held.
The coalition is expected to
continue implementing a raft of reforms meant
to prepare the country for
free and fair elections even though Mugabe may
need constant prodding from
Zuma and regional leaders.
All eyes will also be on the performance
of the Zimbabwean economy in 2011
after two successive years of positive
economic growth.
Finance minister Tendai Biti has predicted that the economy
would grow by
9,3% but that would largely depend on the stability of the
inclusive
government.
Zanu PF’s threats to seize companies whose
countries maintain a
travel-and-assets freeze against President Mugabe’s
cronies are some of the
factors that might weigh down on the fragile
economy.
The European Union will meet this month to review the
Zimbabwe sanctions and
chances are high that the embargo will remain because
Zanu PF has refused to
implement any reforms promised in the
GPA.
Labour unrest is likely to continue in 2011 as Zimbabwe’s
industry tries to
find its feet in a dollarised economy.
The
fight for the Marange diamonds will continue to provide more intrigue
with
court cases centred around ownership of the mining claims.
Zimbabwe will also
continue to fight for the right to sell its diamonds on
the world market
amid strong opposition from countries that believe the
heavy presence of the
security forces compromises the Kimberley Process
principles.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 11:06
BY
MUGOVE TAFIRENYIKA
GOODRICH Chimbaira, an executive member of Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara’s MDC and former Zengeza East legislator has
been sucked into a
messy church land grab scandal following the purchase of
a residential stand
from him by a soldier.
The matter came to
head when the soldier Maxwell Mutangi, who is stationed
at the army
headquarters at KG6, through his wife Tsungirirai Kamangira
bought stand
number 31512 Unit H in Chitungwiza from Chimbaira for US$3
500.
Chimbaira allegedly claimed that he owned the stand and
received the money
in cash in July 2010 last year.
But Mutangi
says he got the shock of his life when Chimbaira’s church —
Gospel of God
Church — told him it owned the stand. The church has since
blocked him from
developing the property.
“I bought stand number 31512 in Unit H from
Chimbaira for US$3 500 which I
paid in cash but I have since encountered
problems with some people claiming
to be members of an apostolic sect in the
area who have stopped me from
developing the property because they say
Chimbaira stole their property,”
Mutangi narrated his
ordeal.
“In fact they refilled the foundation that I had dug and
destroyed my
building materials worth US$1 200 which included bricks and
cement and
threatened me with death if ever I set foot there
again.
“We even went to Makoni police station where he agreed to
reimburse me but
up to now he hasn’t.
“It looks like he is a
crook and I am contemplating reporting the matter to
the police to recover
my money because I have so far lost almost US$6 000
for a stand that is
proving to be non-existent,” he said.
Information gleaned from
sources close to the goings-on in the church show
that the former MP was
working hand-in-glove with senior members of the
church to corruptly auction
church land behind the back of the rest of the
congregation taking advantage
of their ignorance of council matters.
Some members of the church have
decided to block the development of the
stands.
“We had trusted
Chimbaira as our son since he was a councillor in 2004 to
take custody of
our land and interests in council as a church but he has
turned against us
conniving with the church secretary general Zebron
Nengomasha and senior
pastor Cephas Mashiri to steal from us,” said a church
member who wanted to
remain anonymous.
The church elders said they had since enlisted the
services of Zanu PF
youths to stop anyone who wanted to develop their
property without
permission.
Contacted for comment Chimbaira
refused to discuss the issue saying he does
not own any private property in
the form of stands and that it is council
that sells stands not
him.
Nengomasha also denied working with Chimbaira or giving him his
blessings to
auction church land insisting the allegations were machinations
of church
members opposed to his leadership.
But information
obtained from the municipality’s department of housing shows
that the former
legislator owns a vast piece of land in Unit H and that
stand number 31512
is part of his property which was sold to Kamangira.
“Chimbaira owns
stands in unit H and that stand is indeed his.
“I however cannot tell
whether he acquired the stands corruptly or not but I
can confirm that the
Gospel of God church owns some stands in Unit H,” said
Chitungwiza town
planner Jonathan Dembetembe.
The department of housing confirmed the
stand is registered under Kamangira’s
name.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 11:05
BY GODWIN
MUZARI
THE Manicaland tour of Rooftop Promotions-produced play,
Rituals, was cut
short on Wednesday after the entire outreach team was
arrested and detained
at Cashel Valley Police Station for two
nights.
The team was accused of triggering political
commotion at Nedziwa Business
Centre where they had staged the play and was
charged with criminal
nuisance. Eight artists, a driver and a tour manager,
were all taken to
Cashel Valley Police Station just after staging the
play.
Among the incarcerated were talented actors and actresses that
include Chipo
Bizure (who played Eve in Studio 263), Zenzo Nyathi (known as
Mzambani in
Amakorokoza), Silvanos Mudzvova, Mandla Moyo, Joyce Mpofu and
Rutendo
Chigudu.
According to Rooftop Promotions marketing
manager Tafadzwa Muzondo, there
was no clear charge when the artists were
detained over Wednesday night and
the police only levelled criminal nuisance
charges against the team on
Thursday, which saw them spending their second
night in cells.
However, the team was released on Friday afternoon after the
prosecution
department at Mutare Magistrate Courts ordered the police to
compile a full
docket after which the case would proceed by way of
summons.
The Rituals team is being represented by Cosmas Chibaya
under instructions
from Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights.
The
play had been staged in 16 parts of Manicaland and four shows had to be
aborted following the team’s detention. The Rituals national tour proceeded
to Masvingo yesterday.
Rooftop Promotions founder and producer
Daves Guzha was furious over the
arrest and detention of his team saying it
had come as a surprise because
the play had been cleared by the Board of
Censors and they had police
clearance to stage the play in many parts of
Manicaland.
“It is sad that our artistic work in promoting national
healing and
reconciliation, through a play that has been seen by the Organ
on National
Healing, Reconciliation and Integration and has been approved by
the Board
of Censors, is being thwarted like this,” lamented
Guzha.
One of the accused actors, Mudzvova, said the incident was an
unfortunate
attempt to silence the voice of the arts when the aim of the
tour was to
educate people on how they can get over their harrowing
political
experiences.
“The police tried to coax us into paying a
fine for a crime we never
committed and as artists we took a collective
stand to let the law take its
course because we are not criminals but
professionals doing our job,” he
said.
Rituals, which is also
available on DVD, has been on a national tour since
last year and the team
intends to cover all the provinces.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 11:03
BY NDAMU
SANDU
LOAN shark, Frank Buyanga is off the hook as police who were
investigating
the property magnate say he has no case to
answer.
Buyanga caused a stir last year after he was accused
of running an illegal
lending scheme where those who wanted to borrow money
from his company would
sell their properties and surrender title
deeds.
They would repurchase their properties after six
months.
At least 50 owners alleged that they were
duped.
Chikandiwa’s affidavit is in response to an urgent application
by one of the
complainants, Irene Chiwara for rescission of judgement and
repossession of
her property.
In the application Chiwara attaches
Chikandiwa’s affidavit dated November 24
2010 which says investigatiors were
“canvassing fraudulent transfers of many
complainants’ immovable properties
and included falsified rates clearance
certificates, capital gains tax
certificates and falsified powers of
attorney to pass transfer and documents
lodged with the Registrar of Deeds”.
Chikandiwa, who could not be
reached for comment last week, is now disputing
the contents of the
affidavit saying it was forged.
The move will jolt Hamilton Property
Holdings to enforce the agreement and
evict those who have failed to
repurchase their properties at the expiry of
a six months window period
agreed last year.
In August, the 50 complainants and the AG’s office
struck a deal in which
the “victims” would pay Buyanga and get their
properties back in six months.
Buyanga’s lawyers, Wilson Manase of
Manase & Manase Legal Practitioners told
The Standard on Wednesday that
“they are in the process of reviewing various
property purchases to bring
closure to the case.
“Those who have repurchased the properties will
get their title deeds back
and for those who haven’t, we will enforce the
agreement,” Manase said.
But Chris Mutangadura, a chief law officer
at the Attorney General’s office
said the case is still pending as they are
still to review the contents of
the docket.
Buyanga has in the
past said property baron, Nicholas van Hoogstraten, a
close President Robert
Mugabe ally, is his friend, mentor and advisor.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 11:01
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI
WELSHMAN Ncube yesterday rose to the presidency of the smaller
faction of
the MDC, but it is in southern African politics where he might
have the
biggest influence yet.
Ncube has been described
as a boardroom tactician and a schemer, but his
stock seems to be on the
rise among leaders of southern African states and
that could prove to be his
strongest points.
Former American ambassador to Zimbabwe,
Christopher Dell, despite his
disparaging comments on Ncube, noted that he
was an important player and
highly valued by South Africa.
“But
he is useful to many, including the regime and South Africa, so is
probably
a cross to be borne for some time yet,” Dell said of Ncube in a
diplomatic
cable leaked by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.
During
negotiations to end the Zimbabwe crisis, former South African
president,
Thabo Mbeki is reported to have applauded Ncube, saying he had
worked and
negotiated more sincerely than others.
The negotiations led to the
formation of the inclusive government.
But the ace in Ncube’s pack is
undoubtedly his relationship with South
African president, Jacob Zuma. The
two are in-laws following the marriage of
their children two years
ago.
Ncube is usually coy about his relationship with Zuma, but
others claim his
newfound courage to contest for the MDC-M presidency has
the backing of the
South African leader.
But the former
university lecturer disputes that, claiming that Zuma is a
professional who
has earned both the respect of Zanu PF and MDC-T.
“Like any family we discuss
and share ideas on politics, but these are
private discussions,” he said in
an interview last year.
A political analyst, Effie Ncube said while
Ncube had a closer ear and
better access to Zuma, he expected the newly
elected party leader to
maintain a professional relationship with the South
African leader.
“They are both professional and should be able to
separate their personal
lives from their professions,” he said. “Country to
country relations should
not be limited to their personal
lives.”
The political analyst said Ncube’s clout in South Africa had
long been
established as he had worked with a number of organisations in the
neighbouring country.
“He worked with many organisations there
and he certainly will have an
effect,” Ncube said. “He worked on setting up
a curriculum for returnees in
South Africa from the 1980s right through the
1990s.”
An analyst, who declined to be named, conceded that Ncube was
bound to have
an influence on how Zuma and other regional leaders will treat
Zimbabwe as
he was viewed as a sober leader.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011
11:00
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
THE attractiveness of the mighty Victoria
Falls, one of the natural wonders
of the world, is under threat if Botswana
goes ahead with its planned
extraction of large volumes of water from Chombe
River for use in its
interior, a cabinet minister has
said.
This would affect foreign currency inflows for both
Zimbabwe and Zambia
pumped in by tourists who throng the falls annually to
witness the “smoke
that thunders.”
Botswana has notified
other southern African countries of its intentions to
abstract some 30 cubic
metres from the Chombe River where it meets the
Zambezi River for a planned
irrigation scheme in the Pandamatenga area and
for domestic water
supply.
The Minister of Water Resources Development and Management,
Samuel
Sipepa-Nkomo recently told parliament that Zimbabwe was considering
Botswana’s
submission.
He, however, noted the project might have
serious repercussions on Victoria
Falls, the largest curtain of water in the
world, which is
1 708 metres wide.
“They have notified us because
the Zamcom (Zambezi Watercourse Commission)
agreement requires them to do
that and we are now considering their
submissions,” said
Sipepa-Nkomo.
“Though more studies may be necessary, it looks like 30
cubic metres is a
lot of water which might deprive the attractiveness of the
Victoria Falls.”
Remarkably preserved in its natural state, Victoria Falls
inspires visitors
as much today as it did to David Livingstone in the
1860s.
The falls and the surrounding area have been declared National
Parks and a
World Heritage Site, thus preserving the area from excessive
commercialisation.
The local people call it “Mosi-oa-Tunya” — the
smoke that thunders.
Presently, Victoria Falls’ World Heritage Site
status is at the centre of
huge furore following the construction of a
restaurant in the rain forest.
The National Parks and Wildlife Authority of
Zimbabwe partnered with
Shearwater and constructed a new development within
the core zone of the
Victoria Falls World Heritage Site.
During
the festive season, more than 14 000 tourists visited the Victoria
Falls
rainforest while major hotels and lodges were fully booked.
Sipepa-Nkomo said
Mozambique had also notified Zimbabwe of its intention to
construct Mphanda
Nkuwa Dam which is set to generate some 2275MW of
electricity for the
country.
The dam site, which is on the Zambezi River, lies between
Cabora Bassa dam
and the City of Tete in Mozambique.
“This
project is an advantage to Zimbabwe because we can import more power
from
Mozambique,” Sipepa-Nkomo said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011
10:59
“The SAZ is concerned by the obvious gap and lack of a coordinated
approach
to dealing with technical barriers to trade (TBTs), substandard
imports as
well as absence of statutorily recognised national standards,”
Gadzikwa
said.
“It has therefore become clear that the
proposed National Quality Policy and
Act has to specifically address these
glaring gaps and inadequacies in the
system.
Various
ministries, including the Agriculture and the Industry and Commerce
portfolios oversee the quality of both locally produced and imported
products.
Acting Industry and Commerce permanent secretary Norman
Chakanetsa said the
ministry was concerned about the quality of products
coming into the
country. He said some unscrupulous business people were
taking advantage of
the shortage of food products over the years to bring in
poor quality
products.
“We are working on introducing compulsory
standards for certain specified
products,” Chakanetsa said.
“We
do not have testing laboratories for quality control and we currently
rely
on voluntary testing by such institutions as SAZ, private laboratories
and
consumer councils.
“So, what we currently have are voluntary
standards which are difficult to
enforce and that is the reason why we want
to introduce compulsory
standards.”
He said basic commodities and
pharmaceuticals will be prioritised under the
compulsory standards schedule.
When the list of specified products has been
formulated, Chakanetsa said
government would use its analysts and contract
SAZ, consumer organisations
and private laboratories to monitor standards.
There would also be a
surveillance mechanism involving the testing of
products on the shelves.
Both government and independent organisations
currently do not test products
found on the shelves.
While SAZ for example only tests products
brought to it by clients intending
to import, the government sends
specialists to assess products intended for
export.
Chakanetsa
however said although worrying, the South African chicken imports
were not a
serious issue as the reworked birds do not pose a health hazard.
He
said the chickens were also cheaper and government could not stop their
importation as they covered gaps left by the local industry.
He added
that government also currently relied on the services of exporting
countries’ standards frameworks which are stronger than those in
Zimbabwe.
“We have been working with such organisations like the
South African Bureau
of Standards and the South African National
Accreditation System but we now
want to be proactive so that we double
check,” he said.
“The framework we are developing will also apply to
our exports; they too
have to meet set standards. We are also working on a
Consumer Protection Act
which will harmonise the various Acts currently
being applied to achieve a
more co-ordinated approach. An overarching
regulatory authority too will
help improve the situation,” he said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011
10:58
BY JENNIFER DUBE
GOVERNMENT does not have a reliable
monitoring mechanism to ensure that
imported food and alcoholic beverages
items are safe for human consumption,
exposing consumers to harmful
substances, officials admitted last week.
The shocking
admission followed government’s ban on the importation of
chickens supplied
by a South African company that has admitted selling
recycled chicken to
major supermarkets.
Supreme Poultry was accused of treating chicken
that had overstayed in
supermarket fridges with chlorine and injecting them
with brine — water
saturated or nearly saturated with salt for use as a
preservative — before
being repackaged and sold with a new expiry
date.
Some of the chickens found their way to Zimbabwe to compensate
for the
serious shortage of poultry products in the
country.
Zimbabwe also imported poultry products from as far as South
America.
The collapse of the local manufacturing and agricultural
industries has
forced the country to import most of its food
products.
Greedy retailers, aided by corrupt officials have taken
advantage of the
country’s porous borders to smuggle food including
genetically modified
(GMOs) products, which are
illegal.
Investigations by The Standard revealed that most of the
potatoes and
tomatoes sold at vegetable markets around Harare were smuggled
from South
Africa, which allows its farmers to grow
GMOs.
Counterfeit alcoholic spirits are also sold by some established
retailers
with a major brewer claiming that the country was “swamped with
imported and
non-compliant spirits, beers and coolers in the form of sachets
and various
bottles similar to non-alcoholic drinks.”
Eve
Gadzikwa, the Standards Association of Zimbabwe director general said
although her organisation was not a regulator, they were alarmed by the
influx of the uncontrolled imports.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 10:55
By
NQOBANI NDLOVU
BULAWAYO – Water shortages in the country’s second city
have been blamed on
collapsing infrastructure at the city’s water treatment
plants despite the
recent decommissioning of two major supply
dams.
The city water woes have been blamed on dwindling water levels
at the city’s
five supply dams that resulted in the local authority
decommissioning
Inyankuni and Umzingwane dams late last
year.
According to the latest council report on the water situation, the
dilapidated infrastructure at the water treatment plants is causing constant
machinery failure, forcing the authorities to pump inadequate water to
residents.
“The treatment works continued to struggle to produce
enough water to meet
the city’s demands,” reads the report in
part.
“Ncema Waterworks can only produce 39 000 cubic metres per day
against a
design capacity of 81 000 cubic metres per day whilst Criterion
Waterworks
could only produce 95 000 cubic metres against 180 000cubic
metres per day.
“This is attributed to dilapidated filter beds and
clarifiers.
“A few will be rehabilitated under the Infrastructure
Development Bank of
Zimbabwe loan facility,” the report
added.
Council says the rehabilitation of the collapsing infrastructure
at the
water treatment plants is going to cost over a US$1million, a figure
that is
going to eat into coffers of the struggling local
authority.
The local authority has introduced a water shedding schedule
to conserve the
little water remaining at Insiza, Upper Ncema and Lower
Ncema dams.
Under normal circumstances, the city consumes 150,000 cubic
metres of water
daily, but has been receiving just under 70,000 cubic metres
since
controlled water cuts were introduced last year.
The region's
consistently low rainfall in the last few years has led to
dwindling water
levels in the city's dams.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 10:53
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
SOME people suspected to be Zanu PF supporters are reportedly going
around
harassing shop owners in Harare, with claims that sums amounting to
thousands of dollars are being demanded from the helpless
entrepreneurs.
Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda yesterday said
he received reports that some
people last week approached some shop owners
demanding as much as US$25
000 claiming to be acting on behalf of the
city.
These purported license fees are way above the city’s which average
$500 for
the whole year.
Masunda said the imposters are reportedly
moving from shop-to-shop
threatening the owners, mostly Indians, telling
them that their licenses
would not be renewed if it turned out that the
directors are not
Zimbabweans.
“I have also received reports that
council officials are denying non-citizen
shop owners’ licenses,” he said.
“Shop operators have also been forced to
produce the form CR14 which gives
details on the directors of the business.”
This comes at the back of threats
by Zanu PF Harare province structures that
foreigners running shops in the
city would be dispossessed of the businesses
and replaced with party
supporters.
Led by district coordinating chairman Jaison Pasadi, the Zanu
PF supporters
have since approached the City Fathers demanding that they
flout council
by-laws to empower locals.
Among others, Chinese and
Nigerian nationals run several shops in the city
where they sell clothes,
electricals, and household merchandise as well as
hair and beauty
accessories.
Citizens of Indian origin also have a significant presence
in the country’s
small scale sector.
Masunda said foreign shop owners
were granted licenses after satisfying town
planning and health
requirements.
The council requires all applicants to produce documentary
evidence that
they are entitled to operate a business in Harare before
issuing them with a
license.
Applicants’ choice of premises also has
to be permissible to their intended
business and these premises should
address health concerns by having
ablution facilities for both the clientele
and workers.
“As the City Fathers, we have a town planning and a
licensing mandate,”
Masunda said. “We are not interested in who people are
in partnership with,
there is no law that compels us to look into
that.”
He urged shop owners not to give anyone any money but to refer all
demands
to the City Treasurer’s Department and also his office so they could
be
looked into.
ENDS
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 10:49
BY
RUTENDO MAWERE
GWERU – Government has ruled out substantial salary
increments for health
professionals anytime soon saying it still has to meet
some pressing
commitments.
Henry Madzorera, the Health and Child
Welfare delivered the morale-sapping
news during a tour of the Gweru
Provincial Hospital last week.
“We know about the need to improve the
salaries and give workers more
money,” Madzorera said.
“We are moving
towards that but we have not reached the desired stage.
“When we reach
the desired stage our grading system will be corresponding to
the salaries
and will be happy.”
Finance minister Tendai Biti set aside US$1,4 billion for
civil service
remuneration in this year’s budget, almost twice the US$773
million
allocated last year.
But government has remained mum on
salary increments. Salaries for health
professionals are determined by the
Health Services Board.
Madzorera said government was committed to
improving the working conditions
of health professionals.
He said
government also wanted to pay the workers on its own rather than
relying on
donors who cannot pay all the employees top up salaries.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 11:32
BY
KUDZAI CHIMHANGWA
AS regionalism is rapidly taking centre stage in
various countries’ trade
relations, it should not come as a surprise that
many Southern African
countries are in line for substantial economic
benefits accruing from such
arrangements.
South African Trade and
Industry minister Rob Davies recently stated that
the Southern African
Development Community (Sadc) region is adopting a more
unified front in
negotiations with the European Union (EU) over Economic
Partnership
Agreements (EPAs).
But there are doubts that Zimbabwe is ready to derive
any benefits from the
new dispensation.
Although the country has
witnessed a modicum of economic stability and
growth due to the use of the
multi-currencies since February 2009,
economists insist that this
development is insufficient for Zimbabwe to
leverage on.
The EPA
negotiations between the EU and Sadc began in 2004.
EPAs have been signed
between the EU and African states with the express
intention of building an
economic framework, which will stimulate rapid and
broad based economic
growth in order to contribute to the effective
reduction of
poverty.
A final agreement between Sadc states and the EU could possibly
be reached
by mid-year.
The economic partnership agreements will
inevitably have an effect on
Zimbabwe as the new economic dispensation will
affect the region’s trade
policies and regimes.
However, concerns
have been raised over the EPAs due to the massive
subsidies that European
governments provide for their industries and
farmers, a factor which could
lead to trade imbalances skewed in favour of
Europe.
The Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries has in the recent past made calls
for the government to
extend the negotiation time frame to protect industry
from an influx of
European goods.
Economist Eric Bloch contends that should the EPAs come
into force,
Zimbabwe, although disadvantaged by low productivity, will
indirectly
benefit.
“There will be spill-over advantages in terms of
infrastructure
developments, improvements in the energy sector, water
distribution as more
trade occurs on a regional basis,” Bloch
said.
But he added that there would be a need for a tectonic shift
towards
policies aimed at attracting investment.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011 11:30
BY
JENNIFER DUBE & NDAMU SANDU
FORMER Air Zimbabwe chief executive
officer, Peter Chikumba says he had
succeeded in keeping the airline afloat
and is proud to be the first boss to
leave office
voluntarily.
Chikumba, who left after four years at the helm, said
the fact that the
airline itself was still flying should be regarded as a
success in the wake
of multiple challenges besetting the national
carrier.
“I feel that while there were challenges that beset the company
not in
isolation but as a country and to a great extent as a continent,
there is
something to be said about success and that is a fact that today,
we still
have an airline flying,” he told Standardbusiness on Tuesday last
week.
Chikumba left the airline last month after he and the airline
agreed to part
ways.
He said his exit from the airline “is a decision
I made not to renew my
contract.”
“I take pride in the fact that I
have set the record for being the first
chief executive officer to complete
a full term in office and Zimbabweans
should feel good and obliged when time
comes to pass on from the Moses
generation to the Joshua generation,” he
said.
In the Bible, Moses took the Israelites from Egypt into the desert
and
Joshua made sure that they reached Canaan.
Since independence, the
airline has had nine bosses and eight of them were
fired, pushed out or
“resigned to pursue other businesses”.
“Looking ahead, I am confident
that Zimbabwe still has committed people who
can now take AirZim out of the
desert into the Promised Land.”
Chikumba has in the past said the airline
was like a patient in the
intensive care unit who needs to be taken first
into a ward and then
discharged.
While Chikumba is convinced he did
his best at the airline, workers and
board members feel otherwise.
“Even
if he wanted to renew the contract there was no way the board would
accept
that as Chikumba had failed in his mandate to run the airline,” a
board
member said on Thursday.
A National Airways Workers’ Union representative
said on Thursday: “We are
very happy with his departure. It was long
overdue; the shareholder should
have taken this route long
back.”
They said despite leading prayers at meetings his actions were
nowhere near
godliness.
To justify his strong words, the
representative cited the AirZim labour
unrests, saying when 409 people were
served with retrenchment notices last
year, 18 of them died of
stress.
He said survivors and their families suffered as they had been
robbed of
breadwinners.
The workers are also not happy with
organisations that gave excellence
awards when the company was deteriorating
under his influence.
“The damage that man brought to the company will
take long to cure,” said
another union leader.
Chikumba said there
was need for objectivity in measuring his success or
failure at the
airline.
“As for judging success I think the other three
perspectives—customers,
shareholders and internal players—would be the best
as long as such
judgement is professional and we can all benefit from,”
Chikumba said.
The workers said Chikumba treated them like his little
children, making them
whisper things he would have told them in meetings
into each other’s ears.
They alleged that he would for example announce
the date of salary payments
in a meeting and order them to whisper the date
into each other’s ears.
Chikumba said he had told workers at his farewell
meeting that “life does
not begin and end at AirZim and we should never be
in the habit of burning
bridges”.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011
11:22
By Charles A. Ray
If you flew from Johannesburg,
South Africa, to Harare or Victoria Falls in
Zimbabwe, took a limo to your
hotel, played a round or two at the local golf
course and then left, you’d
be forgiven for thinking that the country is not
only normal but actually a
nice place for a golfing vacation.
Golf has been played in this
landlocked country in Southern Africa for more
than 100 years, since the
arrival of European settlers in the 19th century.
The first golf course was
constructed in the provincial town of Bulawayo in
1895, just two years after
the city was founded by the British. In short
order, golf courses followed
colonial settlements across the length and
breadth of the
land.
Today, there are more than 50 golf courses in Zimbabwe, from
Mutare near the
Mozambican border, to Harare the capital, to Victoria Falls
in the far west
near the borders with Zambia and Botswana.
During
the economic meltdown of the late 1990s, when hyperinflation eroded
the
value of the local currency, and with the political violence
accompanying
elections in 2007 and 2008, there was a slight decline in the
ancient game.
Some golf courses fell victim to the land seizures that began
in the
mid-1990s.
International golfers, including those from neighbouring
African countries,
avoided Zimbabwe’s courses for several years.
World-famous Zimbabwean golfer
Nick Price, for instance, has reportedly said
he would not return to his
native country until Robert Mugabe, the country’s
leader since independence
in 1980, is no longer
around.
Zimbabwe’s political situation remains chaotic and uncertain,
despite the
establishment of a coalition government that included the ruling
Zanu-PF
party and the two opposition parties: MDC-T, led by Morgan
Tsvangirai, and
MDC-M.
But with the stabilisation of the economy
through dollarisation — or
establishment of a multi-currency economy and
abolishment of the Zimbabwean
currency in 2009 — golf has come back with a
vengeance.
Not, mind you, that it ever went away. Some of Zimbabwe’s
golf courses, like
Royal Harare Golf Club, located near the centre of the
city and adjacent to
State House (Mugabe’s official residence and office),
did not suffer during
hyperinflation because of access to funds in offshore
accounts, and the fact
that their proximity to Mugabe’s seat of power
ensured continual power and
water supply.
Golf in Zimbabwe is a
unique experience. With its varied and exotic
landscape, the views adjacent
to, and sometimes incorporated into, golf
courses are unlike those in any
other place in the world. Unusual rock
formations, such as those found at
the Ruwa Country Club in Ruwa, can become
part of the hazards a golfer has
to negotiate.
In addition to the scenery, animal and bird species in
Zimbabwe can also
become part of the game. At Leopard Rock Golf Course, in
Mutare on the
Mozambican border, it is not unusual to find a pack of baboons
sitting in
the grass just off the green, watching you try to sink that
30-foot putt.
At Elephant Hills in Victoria Falls, along with
warthogs grazing near the
green, golfers often have to halt play while
elephants cross the fairway,
and if a ball is hit into a water hazard, it is
prudent to forgo attempts at
retrieval, lest you disturb a sleeping
crocodile. The same holds true of the
high grass of the rough; cobras are a
common hazard, making balls in deep
rough a case of “take the penalty and
forget about that ball.”
There’s still a lot of 19th-century English
customs associated with golf in
Zimbabwe, from the ninth-hole tea break that
is obligatory to a strict dress
code on most courses.
If you’re a
traveling golfer, looking for an unforgettable experience,
forget about the
politics and pack those clubs. Make Zimbabwe your next
stop.
Ray is
the US ambassador to Zimbabwe.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011
11:19
By Mutumwa Mawere
What will Africa be like in 2050
when we complete the first half of this
century dubbed the African century?
Whose business is it or should be to
shape Africa’s
future?
Changing what our future looks like ought to be the
business of our
generation and yet as each day passes we look to others to
do what we can
and should do in our interest to make tomorrow a better and
brighter day for
all.
We hope and trust others to do what we are
not willing to do in our own
self-interest to make the difference that we
want to see in Africa.
During the colonial era, we all knew what was wrong
and what time it was. We
are now in control and yet the invasion of Africa
by outsiders who see more
promise in its relatively unexplored and yet to be
exploited belly than its
majority inhabitants suggests that in 2050 it is
not unimaginable that the
Chinese investors of today, for example, will be
given marching orders by
the living generation of Africans who will find
cause to blame the
foreigners for their lack of progress.
When
the generation of 2050 looks back at our generation, what will they say
about us? We have the privilege of writing our own story through actions and
yet in many African states the preoccupation is on political issues rather
than matters that inspire others to scale the heights of
progress.
Imagine the future without your input.
That future
should have no relevance to you and yet many of us would want to
be alive
without asking ourselves what precisely is the purpose of life if
at the end
of the day we make no difference to the environment we live in.
Is the future
someone else’s business? It is and should be the business to
all who have a
stake in it. That makes all of us stakeholders.
On January 7 2011, I woke up
imagining what the future holds for Africa. As
a Zimbabwean-born African, I
could only start by imagining what my
motherland would look like in
2050.
Will it be a country dominated by indigenous persons? What
would the mining
sector look like? What would be the ownership structure of
land? Who will be
the drivers of economic and political change? Will the
current political
institutions be still alive in 2050 or will they sink into
followers than
drivers as Unip and Malawi Congress Party have done in Zambia
and Malawi,
respectively?
Who will control the economic
landscape? Will the brain drain be converted
into a resident brain
trust?
What would be the state of Zimbabwean schools, hospitals,
roads, prisons and
all the institutions we generally associate with progress
and civilisation?
In the case of Zimbabwe, the last 30 years of independence
have produced a
toxic mind that regards politics as the key driver of
change. It is not
uncommon for people to refer to others as, for example, a
Zanu-PF or MDC
person as if political parties are capable of owning people’s
minds.
To the extent that political institutions and the individuals
who drive them
are accorded a different status in society, it is natural
that many will
look to politicians to drive the agenda for
change.
What we do know is that the current players in the Zimbabwean
political
drama will all have expired in 2050 and yet it will be the case
that people
will seek to attribute the lack of development to the actions
and choices of
a few powerful people.
If one were to ask the
question of who most inspires Africans, I have no
doubt that the likely
response would be the names of political actors.
We forget that politicians
are human beings like all of us. They are
incapable of solving another
person’s problems without the means being
created by others. The political
market produces intangible outputs.
Therefore, it is difficult to
measure the effectiveness of political actors
but we generally associate the
impact of human development indicators to
have a relationship with the
actions and choices of politicians.
The behavior of African
politicians is no different from the universal
behavior of political actors.
Their business is to stay in power for as much
as possible in as much as the
business of an entrepreneur is to remain in
business for a long time if not
to eat into the market shares of
competitors.
Any small-scale
entrepreneur will tell you that his/her ambition is to be
the biggest and
yet in pursuing such an objective it must be accepted that
the interests of
others may be injured or destroyed in the process.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Monday, 10 January 2011
11:18
Government last week banned the importation of South African
chickens
following reports from that country that some producers who are
also
supplying the Zimbabwean market were recycling expired
chickens.
Reports said the chickens were thawed for 24 hours
at room temperature
before being treated with chlorine to reduce bacterial
load and then
scientifically tested to determine levels of micro-organisms.
They were then
injected with brine before being repackaged and sold with a
new expiry date.
If this revelation had not come from the
supplying country — South
Africa —Zimbabweans would never have known what
they have been consuming.
In a country where food shortages have been
an issue in the recent past, it
is easy for food importers to exploit the
country’s food security
vulnerability.
And because Zimbabwe has
experienced food shortages manifested in the empty
supermarket shelves of
yesteryear, it is easy for government to throw
caution to the wind and allow
wholesale imports of substandard food to give
to the world the impression
that all is well.
But the ban on the recycled chicken should not be
used as a red herring.
Instead, authorities should investigate to what
extent unscrupulous
exporters and importers of consumables have been able to
bring into the
country food that is not fit for human
consumption.
Investigations indicate that chicken is not the only
substandard food
Zimbabweans have been forced to consume in the recent past.
Medicines and
beverages — alcoholic and non-alcoholic — have been known to
fall short of
rigorous standards. There has also been the importation on a
large scale of
GMO foods.
There is a serious business side to the
issue of food imports. In our skewed
business environment it has become
cheaper to land imported foodstuffs than
to buy locally produced ones. What
has this done to our local industry and
its ancillary
businesses?
Two issues are therefore at stake: Our people’s health
and the survival of
various sectors of industry.
Government
should urgently address this worrying development before we read
of cases of
sickness or worse because the required vigilance has broken
down.