http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=26456
January 12, 2010
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Peter Michael Hitschmann, the Attorney General's
star witness
seriously undermined on Tuesday the State's case against MDC
treasurer-general, Senator Roy Bennett.
Bennett, who has not been
sworn in as deputy Minister of Agriculture since
February 2009 because of
his court case, stands accused of illegal
possession of weapons of war with
the intention of committing insurgency,
sabotage, terrorism and
banditry.
The prosecution completely self-destructed in the High Court as
Hitschmann,
its star witness, turned out to be a witness who didn't see
anything.
Hitschmann, a Mutare based arms dealer, lined up by the AG as
one of the key
witnesses in the high profile trial of Bennett, completely
shredded the AG's
case to pieces, professing ignorance of the State's
alleged plot mounted by
Bennett and him to create a military cell with a
view to toppling President
Robert Mugabe, working in cahoots with
Bennett.
Bennett, who was named deputy Agriculture Minister last February
but who was
arrested shortly before the new Zimbabwe Cabinet was sworn in,
faces charges
of being found in possession of military weapons with the
intention of
committing insurgency, sabotage, terrorism and banditry. The
charges are
punishable by a death sentence or life in
prison.
Hitschmann, who prior to the trial of Bennett indicated he was
not willing
to be a State witness on account of evidence being extracted
from him
through torture back in 2006, was therefore a reluctant witness
when put on
the stand by Attorney General Johannes Tomana. The AG is
personally leading
the State case against Bennett.
But Hitschmann
turned the tables on Tomana on Tuesday, seriously
embarrassing the top
government law officer.
Asked by Tomana during cross examination how he
knew Bennett, Hitschmann
said: "Yes, I know him. I first saw him on
television and later when he was
at a public gathering addressing party
supporters."
Bennett, looking immaculate in a dark blue suit, struggled
to stifle giggles
as Hitschmann testified in the High Court.
Tomana
then asked Hitschmann about emails which the State claims were
gleaned from
his laptop; e-mails which the State claims reveal the plot by
Hitschmann and
Bennett to commit terrorism.
Hitschmann completely disowned the
e-mails.
"None of the contents were retrieved from my laptop in my
presence or in the
presence of my legal counsel," Hitschmann said. "I don't
know where they
came from."
Hitschmann, a German-born Zimbabwean, has
already served a two-year prison
sentence in connection with the alleged
plot, having been accused of trying
to create a military cell to topple
President Mugabe.
A member of the army testified against him and around a
dozen weapons,
mostly automatic firearms, and piles of ammunition were
submitted as
evidence in court in Mutare. The same weapons were presented in
court before
the Bennett trial adjourned last month. Hitschmann testified
that the six
weapons that the State brought as evidence in the trial were
not his. He
said he was miffed by the AG's assertions that the weapons
belonged to him.
Hitschmann swore Bennett never discussed with him any
plot to purchase
weapons. Hitschmann swore under oath that the charges
against Bennett were
false. Hitschmann completely contradicted the State
case during
cross-examination.
And for a prosecution witness, this
was unprecedented. Why would the AG make
up a story that contradicts his
witness? Bennett's lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa
had an answer.
"That is an
army-procured statement. What legal basis is there to change it
to a
witness's statement? The statement was made when he was an accused
facing
conspiracy charges. During that time the prosecution did not indicate
that
he had acted in common purpose with the accused."
Then there another
twist in the trial - the prosecution applied to impeach
their own witness on
the grounds that his testimony in court contradicted
his original statement
which he gave to the police under duress back in
2006.
Justice
Chinembiri Bhunu, will make a determination Wednesday whether
impeachment
procedure requested by the AG against Hitschmann can proceed.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own correspondents Wednesday 13
January 2010
HARARE - Zimbabwe's High Court will decide today
whether to allow the
prosecution to impeach its star witness in the treason
trial of a top aide
to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a bizarre twist in
a case that has
stoked up tensions in the country's fragile unity
government.
Justice Chinembiri Bhunu will make a ruling whether the state
followed court
rules and procedure when it moved Tuesday to impeach Peter
Hitschmann, the
chief witness in the trial of Roy Bennett, a top official of
Tsvangirai's
MDC-T party.
The state accuses Bennett of plotting to
overthrow Mugabe and that he
supplied Hitschmann, a registered arms dealer,
with cash to buy weapons to
be used to assassinate the veteran
leader.
But when Attorney General (AG) Johannes Tomana yesterday called
in
Hitschmann to testify the arms dealer distanced himself from a statement
that the state says he made upon his arrest in 2006 and which implicates
Bennett in the alleged plot to murder Mugabe.
Hitschmann, who last
year publicly declared he was not going to testify
against Bennett claiming
the police tortured him into signing the statement
implicating the MDC
politician, also disowned some of the weapons police say
were found at his
Mutare home and were part of the arsenal to be used in the
assassination of
Mugabe.
Tomana, who took over prosecution of Bennett from his juniors
saying the
matter was highly sensitive, immediately sought court permission
to impeach
Hitschmann for non-cooperation.
"Impeachment procedures
are meant to deal with an accused witness clearly
showing he is unfavourably
indisposed to the state case in favour of the
defence," Tomana told the
court.
The AG said he had presented to court the statement by Hitschmann
- which
the gun dealer disowned - only as proof that the witness had changed
sides
in favour of the accused.
He said: "We are not presenting these
statements as evidence but we want to
prove to this honourable court that
Hitschmann is proving to be a favourable
witness to the accused (Bennett).
What we want to prove is the existence of
the statements and whether the
witness was aware of them."
However prominent Harare lawyer Beatrice
Mtetwa, acting for Bennett in the
matter, accused Tomana of flouting
impeachment rules and of relying on
statements and evidence obtained "under
traumatic and unfriendly"
circumstances - a reference to claims by
Hitschmann that he was tortured by
the police.
The state's case
against Bennett hinges on proving that guns and other
weapons found at the
home of Hitschmann were intended for use to assassinate
Mugabe and that they
were bought with money supplied by the MDC man.
But Hitschmann was found
not guilty of treason in an earlier ruling by the
High Court which also
found that some of the weapons seized from the
firearms-dealer were lawfully
in his possession.
Bennett faces a possible death sentence if found
guilty, a scenario that
could trigger collapse of Mugabe and Tsvangirai's
shaky coalition
government. - ZimOnline
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, January 13, 2010 -
Some civic society members and Movement for
Democratic Change supporters on
Tuesday took the bull by its horns and faced
rowdy war vets who had
attempted to disrupt a constitutional thematic
meeting, telling them that
Zimbabwe belonged to everyone including those who
did not participate in the
liberation war that brought about Zimbabwe's
independence in
1980.
War veterans on Tuesday had attempted to disrupted a
constitutional thematic
meeting and threatened to beat up civic society
members attending the
meeting at Rainbow Towers Hotel.
Major Cairo
Mhandu, a war veteran chairing the meeting, started chanting
Zanu PF
slogans while raising a clinched fist, protesting to the idea that
the
meeting start with a prayer. This situation did not go well with the
other
thematic members who fiercely complained leading to the clash.The war
vets
began chanting slogans and singing revolutionary songs.
The war veterans
argued that they fought for Zimbabwe and had the right to
dictate what they
wanted at the thematic meeting. "We do not want
civilians to contribute
to our affairs..." shouted the war veterans.
The civic society and MDC
supporters advanced to the top table to face the
chair Mhandu and other
three war veterans and told them that Zimbabwe was
not theirs
alone.
"You are crazy, this country belongs to us all and this time we
are not
going to tolerate you. We are in a new Zimbabwe different from what
you used
to do in the previous years," said a youthful guy from the
MDC.
The havoc was calmed by ZANU-PF chairman for the Parliamentary
constitution
select committee, Paul Mangwana who was quickly summoned to
intervene.
"Cdes the liberation of Zimbabwe is not about the
political parties, because
there were many people who died during the war
for this country who were not
Zanu PF only," said Mangwana. "Zimbabwe is not
for Zanu PF but a country for
Zimbabweans. Let us desist from party
sloganeering during this process and
debate meaningfully for we are crafting
a constitution for the generations
to come. I don't want to hear any noise
and let's stick to business. I am
ordering that the meeting should start
without either a prayer or anything
else," said Mangwana before ordering
self styled war veteran Joseph
Chinotimba to "shut up" and obey to his
directive.
Chinotimba was not part of the war veterans' thematic
committee but had
jumped in after hearing that his colleagues were engaged
in a dispute.
The parliament select committee on the Constitution
formed 17 thematic
committees comprising members from different
organizations and back grounds.
The members who are being trained will be
responsible for gathering people's
views on the new constitution of
Zimbabwe, which will see fresh elections in
the country, which has battled
with political and economic stability for the
past decade.
Addressing
delegates from the civic society who were gathered for the
training
programme that will go for consultations on the constitution on
Monday,
Justice Ben Sathlayo said there shall be no political party
sloganeering or
wearing of political party regalia during the whole
constitution making
process by out reach members.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Wednesday,
January 13, 2010
By Felex
Share
Schools opened for the first term yesterday with most teachers
reporting for
duty, but insisting they will only conduct lessons after
getting formal
communication on how much they will be earning from their
unions.
Civil servants, including teachers, last week demanded a US$600
monthly
salary.
A survey by The Herald in and around Harare showed
that teachers reported
for duty but were awaiting the outcome of yesterday's
meeting between
Government and civil servants' representatives over
salaries.
"As you can see, we are here but we are not going to teach
until we are told
what to do by our leaders from our unions.
"What we
want is an increment and it is high time Government does something
for us
before it's too late," said a teacher at Zimbiru Secondary School in
Domboshava.
At most schools in Goromonzi and Seke, teachers reported
for duty, but said
they would conduct lessons only after Government
increased their salaries
Most teachers in Harare said they were
considering staying at home until the
Government awarded them adequate
salaries.
At Kuwadzana and Mufakose high schools, teachers reported for
duty but said
they would be in a position to teach after Government
announced a salary
increment.
"We will just come and sit in here
until Government pays us decent salaries.
I am earning US$150 a month and I
have to pay bills amounting to about
US$500; how does Government expect us
to survive?" said a teacher at
Kuwadzana High School.
At Mabelreign
Girls' High School, lessons began in earnest with teachers
saying they would
teach as long as parents paid them incentives.
Progressive Teachers'
Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Mr Raymond
Majongwe yesterday confirmed
his members had reported for duty, but were not
conducting lessons and urged
them to continue reporting for duty while their
representative bodies mapped
the way forward.
However, Mr Majongwe said although it was too late to
engage the Government
in negotiations since the 2010 National Budget had
already been presented,
they wanted Government to address their plight for
the benefit of the
children.
"Government must realise the importance
and urgency of solving our problem
now . . . We have gone for more than a
decade without meaningful salaries
and we cannot continue like this," said
Mr Majongwe.
Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe president Mr Lovemore Mufamba
said they had been
patient for a long time and only a salary increment
agreeable to them would
motivate them to conduct lessons.
"To our
members, we are saying we have waited for the whole year and we want
nothing
short of an increment this month," said Mr Mufamba.
Parents and teachers
in rural areas have called on the Government to scrap
incentives by paying
the educators adequately.
Teachers in rural areas argued that the
incentives had created inequalities
in the education sector as it benefited
only those in urban areas.
"We are failing to raise school fees so where
does one think extra money to
pay teachers would come from? It is
Government's sole responsibility to pay
teachers not communal farmers like
us," said Mrs Memory Makusha of
Goromonzi.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Simplicious Chirinda Wednesday 13 January
2010
HARARE - Zimbabwe's Agriculture Ministry on Tuesday reported a
fresh
outbreak of anthrax in some parts of the country.
Veterinary
Services director Stewart Hargreaves told ZimOnline that his
department has
recorded fresh reports of an outbreak of the deadly livestock
disease.
"There has been an outbreak over the past two weeks. The
outbreak has been
recorded in Chegutu, Karoi, Kadoma and Chinhoyi," said
Hargreaves. "The
situation is under control, there is no need to panic
because anthrax is a
common disease. It's in the soil."
While
Zimbabwe experiences periodic outbreaks of anthrax especially during
the
rainy season veterinary experts say the high incidence of outbreaks in
recent years is partly fuelled by lawlessness and chaos in the farming
sector where hardliner supporters of President Robert Mugabe have continued
invading farms.
"The disease is made worse by the constant movement
of livestock on farms
because of continuing invasions," the Commercial
Farmers Union said in a
statement last week. The union represents the
country's few remaining white
commercial farmers.
Anthrax is a
soil-borne disease that infects livestock and can easily spread
to people if
they eat meat from infected livestock.
The disease is normally recorded
during the rainy season when sprouting
grass brings out the bacteria from
soil.
The anthrax outbreak comes at a time Zimbabwe's government is battling
to
rebuild the national herd that was severely depleted by droughts and a
chaotic land reform exercise that began a decade ago. - ZimOnline
http://www1.voanews.com/
A
Harare training session for outreach workers was disrupted by war veterans
singing revolutionary songs and demonstrating despite instructions from
organizers not to engage in partisan displays
Irwin Chifera, Brenda
Moyo & Gibbs Dube | Washington 12 January 2010
Zimbabwe's
constitutional revision process hit another small bump Tuesday as
a training
session in Harare for outreach workers was disrupted by
liberation war
veterans singing revolutionary songs and demonstrating
despite instructions
from organizers not to engage in such displays of
partisanship.
VOA
Studio 7 correspondent Irwin Chifera reported from Harare that the 1970s
war
veterans also changed slogans of the former ruling ZANU-PF party of
President Robert Mugabe, injecting an overtly political note.
But
constitutional outreach worker Melissa Ndlovu of Bulawayo told VOA
Studio 7
reporter Brenda Moyo that the process is going well.
Elsewhere, the
Zimbabwe National Students Union or ZINASU has split into two
factions, one
backing the constitutional process led by a select
parliamentary committee,
the other opposing it.
The newly-elected ZINASU leadership headed by
Joshua Chinyere said it will
mobilize 300,000 students to take part in the
process, with hundreds already
recruited to urge students to contribute
their views on the constitution.
ZINASU Spokesman Mfundo Mlilo told VOA
Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube that the
organization resolved last month in an
annual congress to fully involve
itself in in the constitution-making
process to protect the right of
Zimbabwean students to education, among
other fundamental issues.
But a rival ZINASU formation led by former
president Clever Bere said it
does not support the current constitutional
revision process.
The grouping's spokesman, Blessing Vava, contended that
this position was
adopted last year in cooperation with the National
Constitution Assembly,
which leads the opposition to the constitutional
redrafting process, and the
Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, the main
trade union confederation.
http://www1.voanews.com
ADB Southern Region Operations Director Abdirahman Beileh urged
the
so-called inclusive government in Harare to adhere to the unity pact and
embrace sound macro-economic policies
Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington
12 January 2010
A senior official of the African Development Bank
said Tuesday that Zimbabwe
is on the right track to economic recovery, but
to achieve continued
progress the the Global Political Agreement for power
sharing must be
implemented in full.
In an exclusive interview with
VOA, ADB Southern Region Operations Director
Abdirahman Beileh urged the
so-called inclusive government in Harare to
adhere to the unity pact and
embrace sound macro-economic policies.
Due in Harare this week for
meetings with government officials, Beileh said
the bank has begun to make
market-interest-rate loans to Harare under its
Fragile States Facility. But
he said full lending can only resume once
Zimbabwe has cleared arrears of
US$400 million. The country owes hundreds of
millions more to the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
"Zimbabwe indicators point
that there is a fragility element and therefore,
they have been getting
funds that are put aside for fragile states," Beilah
told VOA Studio 7
reporter Ntungamili Nkomo. "The country has a lot of
arrears and we have to
discuss with them how they can be funded."
He said while Zimbabwe has
further to go, the future is bright if the
government respects the unity
agreement and pursues sound macro-economic
policies.
Since its
inception in February 2009, the unity government has been troubled
on a
regular basis by disagreements between President Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF and
the Movement for Democratic Change of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai over
alleged breaches of the power-sharing agreement.
The ADB sent a team of
experts to Harare in May to work with government on
macro-economic
stabilization, public finance, policy development and the
rehabilitation of
infrastructure, among other tasks.
Bulawayo-based economist Eric Bloch
said Harare is doing many of the right
things, but non-fulfillment of the
GPA remains a major concern.
http://www1.voanews.com
PM Tsvangirai's party said the divisive issue of continuing
takeovers of
white-owned commercial farms under the guise of land reform
might be added
to the other outstanding issues under discussion in
Harare
Blessing Zulu | Washington 12 January 2010
The Movement
for Democratic Change formation of Zimbabwean Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai said Tuesday that it may ask the Southern African
Development
Community to intervene to halt farm invasions in the country.
The party
said the divisive issue of the continuing takeovers of white-owned
commercial farms under the guise of land reform might be added to the other
outstanding issues under discussion between the Tsvangirai MDC and the
former ruling ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe.
The smaller
MDC formation of Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara is also
involved in
the talks, but Mr. Tsvangirai's former opposition party and
ZANU-PF are the
main protagonists in the long-running dispute.
The outstanding issues
include Mr. Mugabe's unilateral appointments of the
attorney general and the
central bank chief in late 2008, following the
signature of a Global
Political Agreement for power sharing but before the
unity government was
put in place in February 2009.
The latest wave of takeovers of about 150
remaining white-owned commercial
farms is said to be directed by ZANU-PF
ministers, ZANU-PF aligned militia,
the Defense Forces and the Zimbabwe
Republic Police. Before Mr. Mugabe
launched land reform in 2000 there were
more than 4,000 white-owned farms
which formed the backbone of the key
agricultural sector.
Attorney General Johannes Tomana says the farmers
being targeted are those
who have resisted eviction. Tomana and the ZANU-PF
side of the "inclusive"
government have disregarded a decision in favor of
scores of the farmers
issued by the Southern African Development Community
tribunal in late 2008.
Tomana denied that the latest farm takeovers are
fresh invasions.
A report by the General Agriculture and Plantation
Workers Union says more
than 66,000 farm workers have lost their homes since
the government was
formed 11 months ago and are struggling for
survival.
Mr. Tsvangirai and Mutambara have tried to end the takeovers
through an
inter-ministerial committee and the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation
Committee established to oversee GPA compliance, but to
little avail.
Spokesman Nelson Chamisa of Mr. Tsvangirai's MDC formation
told VOA Studio 7
reporter Blessing Zulu that the latest invasions are of
serious concern and
have the effect of discouraging much-needed foreign
direct investment.
Minister of State Didymus Mutasa in Mr. Mugabe's
office said an MDC appeal
to SADC will make no difference as land reform
will continue.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Lizwe Sebatha Wednesday 13 January
2010
BULAWAYO - A serious shortage of fertilizer has hit Zimbabwe's
farming
sector sparking fears of another poor harvest in a country that has
experienced acute food shortages for most of the past decade, a farmers'
organisation said on Monday.
Zimbabwe Farmers Union (ZFU) vice
president Berean Mukwende told ZimOnline
that Ammonium Nitrate (AN)
fertilizer - a key requirement in maize
production - is scarce in the
country and urged the government to urgently
import some to avert
disaster.
"Ammonium Nitrate fertilizer is in short supply in the country
and if no
measures are put, farmers risk producing poor yields," Mukwende
said,
adding; "The crops are at wilting stage and the challenge that farmers
are
faced with to protect their crops is the shortage of the Ammonium
Nitrate
fertilizer."
Agriculture Minister Herbert Murerwa was
unavailable for comment on the
matter.
Another poor farming season
would have devastating effects on the country
which has been hoping for
better fortunes after years of poor harvests
blamed on poor policies by
President Robert Mugabe's previous administration
which dragged the country
into endless food shortages since the turn of the
millennium following the
veteran leader's controversial farm seizure
programme.
The chaotic
and often violent land reforms which started in 2000 displaced
established
white commercial farmers and replaced them with either
incompetent or
inadequately funded black farmers resulting in dramatic fall
in food
production.
Mugabe, who says the land reform exercise was necessary to
correct a
colonial land ownership system that reserved the best land for
whites and
banished blacks to poor soils in arid regions, denies his land
reforms are
to blame for hunger in Zimbabwe that was once a regional
breadbasket.
The veteran leader instead blames poor weather and Western
sanctions he says
have hampered importation of fertilizers, seed, and other
farming inputs. -
ZimOnline
http://www.businessday.co.za/
STEPHAN HOFSTATTER
Published: 2010/01/13
06:29:06 AM
CIVIL rights group AfriForum launched an urgent application
in the North
Gauteng High Court yesterday to protect the property rights of
South African
farmers facing land seizures in Zimbabwe.
The
application is the first step in trying to get a key Southern African
Development Community (Sadc) tribunal ruling on property rights registered
in SA.
A successful outcome this week could pave the way for farmers
whose
properties were seized without compensation to attach assets in SA
belonging
to the Zimbabwean government, AfriForum's legal representative,
Willie
Spies, said yesterday.
The Sadc tribunal in Windhoek has ruled
that Zimbabwe's 2005 constitutional
amendment allowing the seizure of
white-owned farms without compensation
violated international law. Last
June, Zimbabwe was ordered to pay evicted
farmers and protect the property
rights of those still on their farms, but
Harare does not recognise the
decision.
AfriForum wants the Sadc ruling enforced in SA. But to cite
Zimbabwe as a
respondent it must first get permission from the North Gauteng
High Court,
which could then direct a summons to be served via diplomatic
channels.
Acting Judge Neil Tuchten questioned his jurisdiction in the
matter
yesterday, prompting AfriForum to request a postponement to present
more
detailed heads of argument, Spies said. The case was set down for
today.
Continuing farm invasions undermine the credibility of Zimbabwe's
2008
power-sharing agreement , hampering efforts to raise reconstruction
funds.
South African farmers in Zimbabwe had hoped a North Gauteng High
Court
settlement in November and a bilateral investment protection treaty
signed
soon after would halt evictions.
The treaty only protects
tenure rights of existing and future investments,
but the court settlement
between the Department of Trade and Industry and
farmer Louis Fick bound the
South African government to honour the Sadc
ruling.
Fick, a South
African citizen farming in eastern Zimbabwe, who was a
co-applicant in the
Sadc tribunal case, faces up to two years in jail for
defying an order to
vacate his farm. He is also a co- applicant in the
current case.
The
bilateral treaty appears to offer little protection to existing South
African investments in Zimbabwe. Yesterday, Zimbabwe's commercial farmers'
union said three farmers forced to abandon their properties in December and
January were covered by the treaty.
AfriForum said Zimbabwe had
stepped up it s "land-grabbing programme" since
the treaty was signed,
prompting a request to the South African government
to use its provisions to
protect their property rights. "But the South
African government has
indicated (the treaty) first has to be ratified by
the Zimbabwean Parliament
before this can happen."
Farmers' union AgriSA estimates 500 South
Africans have lost properties in
Zimbabwe since 2000, when President Robert
Mugabe launched his controversial
land reforms.
Farm seizures have
been blamed for Zimbabwe's meltdown, the destruction of
investor confidence
in property rights and the disruption of its
agriculture- based
economy.
But a recent study by a SA- based think-tank shows there have
been gains,
including improved livelihoods for thousands of smallholders
resettled from
crowded communal areas, and good yields reported by some
commercial farmers
on redistributed estates.
hofstatters@bdfm.co.za
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
13/01/2010 00:00:00
THE
inclusive government faces the prospect of a debilitating civil service
strike after negotiations over salary increments ended in a deadlock on
Tuesday with unions rejecting as an insult the Harare administration's offer
of US$236.
The government indicated it could afford US$236 per month
for the highest
paid workers who would include Permanent secretaries but the
offer was given
short shrift by unions representing civil
servants.
Most civil servants are currently paid between US$155 and
US$180 and unions
are demanding a minimum of between US$500 and US$600 with
effect from
January.
Public Service Association President, Cecilia
Alexander and Zimbabwe
Teachers' Association (ZIMTA) head, Tendayi Chikowore
confirmed the
stand-off describing the government offer as
inadequate.
"The talks didn't go well because of what Government offered.
It was a
paltry increment which we felt is an insult to civil
servants.
"Government offered us far below what we expected even for an
ordinary
citizen. It is a mockery to the civil servants who have endured
poverty for
a long time," Alexander told the state-owned Herald
newspaper.
Teachers, who want a minimum monthly salary of US$600, have
already
threatened to go on strike if their wage demands are not met while
the rest
of the civil service is also considering a job action if conditions
of
services are not reviewed in line with the country's poverty datum
line.
Figures released by the Consumer Council of Zimbabwe show that a
family of
six now needs about US$500 to survive each month.
Zimta
President, Tendayi Chikowore said the association is now consulting
its
members before deciding on the next course of action.
Finance Minister
Tendai Biti said on Monday civil servants salaries have
already been
approved by Parliament through the 2010 National Budget.
"Changing the
approved budget would translate into breaking the law, which
we will try by
all means to avoid," he said.
Minister Biti allocated US$600 million of
the US$1.4 billion National Budget
to cover the civil service salary bill
for the whole year.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Lloyd Gumbo
13 January
2010
Harare - NEGOTIATIONS between Government and civil servants'
representatives
on salaries under the National Joint Negotiating Council
ended in a
stalemate yesterday after the Government offered US$236 for the
highest paid
worker, which the unions have rejected.
Permanent
secretaries are the highest paid civil servants followed by
principal
directors.
In separate interviews after the meeting which lasted about
two hours,
Public Service Association president Mrs Cecilia Alexander and
Zimbabwe
Teachers' Association president Mrs Tendayi Chikowore confirmed the
deadlock
and called for a joint Press conference today on the way
forward.
They described the increment offered by the Govern-ment as
paltry and an
insult to the civil servants.
Teachers and the majority
of civil servants are currently earning between
US$155 and US$180 a month
depending on grade.
Unions representing civil servants went into
yesterday's meeting demanding a
minimum salary of between US$500 and US$600
with effect from this month.
Recently, civil servants threatened to down
tools if their salaries were not
reviewed upwards in line with the Poverty
Datum Line.
The PDL is estimated at around US$500.
"The talks
didn't go well because of what Government offered. It was a
paltry increment
which we felt is an insult to civil servants," Mrs
Alexander said last
night.
"Government offered us far below what we expected even for an
ordinary
citizen. It is a mockery to the civil servants who have endured
poverty for
a long time."
She wondered how the Government expected
their members to survive on such
figures, which were a far cry from those in
the private sector.
"Government continues to widen the gap between civil
servants and the
private sector. Civil servants deserve to send their
children to school but
Government has continued to devalue our service. How
can Government offer
US$236 to its highest paid employee?" queried Mrs
Alexander.
Mrs Chikowore said the Government offer was most likely to be
rejected by
the workers they represent.
She said it was now up to the
workers themselves to come up with a way
forward.
"Government has
rejected our proposals that we sent to them and their
increment is
insignificant.
"We are spreading the word on what Government has offered
to our unions
before we address a Press conference tomorrow
(today).
"We represent workers and we feel it's high time Government
rewards them for
their patience and endurance," Mrs Chikowore
said.
Efforts to get a comment from Government's representative in the
negotiations, Mr Prince Mupazviriho, were fruitless as his mobile phone was
not reachable last night.
Mr Mupazviriho, who is the permanent
secretary in the Ministry of Youth
Development, Indigenisation and
Empowerment, is the team leader on the
Government side while Mrs Chikowore
represented workers in the Apex Council.
On Monday Finance Minister
Tendai Biti said salaries had already been
approved by Parliament through
the 2010 National Budget.
Minister Biti allocated US$600 million of
the US$1,4 billion National Budget
to cover the civil service salary bill
for the whole year.
The bill will gobble up 63 percent of the Budget for
about 236 000
Government workers.
"Parliament has already approved
the civil servants' salaries through the
National Budget in terms of the
law," said Minister Biti.
"Parliament is mandated by the law to approve
the Budget as part of their
oversight role over public finances and they
determine what we spend.
"Changing the approved budget would translate to
breaking the law, which we
will try by all means to avoid."
At the
moment, Minister Biti said, there was no little room for manoeuvre
unless
there "is sponsorship of some sort otherwise if the salaries are to
continue
coming from Treasury alone then we will not be able to change
much."
http://www.namibian.com.na
13.01.10
By: JO-MARÉ DUDDY
ZIMBABWE will honour its US$40
million power deal with Namibia as long as
its Hwange power station has
enough capacity, but will no longer import
electricity from other sources to
supply NamPower with 150 megawatts every
day, the country's Energy Minister,
Elias Mudzuri, said yesterday.
Speaking to The Namibian from Harare,
Mudzuri confirmed a report by the
independent news agency ZimOnline that he
had ordered the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa) to stop
exporting energy to Namibia from
any other source but Hwange.
That does
not mean that Zimbabwe will cut Namibia off completely, he
stressed. When
Hwange has power, Namibia will get it, he said. "Like today.
Hwange has
enough power, 370 megawatts. So Namibia gets its share," Mudzuri
said.
Since 2007, when NamPower and Zesa entered into a nearly N$300
million
agreement to refurbish Hwange in exchange for 150 megawatts for
Namibia
daily, there have been times when the power station was completely
"shut
down" though, he told the newspaper.
Zimbabwe then had to import
the necessary power from the Cahora Bassa
hydroelectric plant in Mozambique,
only to export it to Namibia again.
"I was importing it at six cents (a unit)
and exporting it at 2,7 cents. I
ran up arrears of hundreds of millions,"
Mudzuri said.
In future, all power exported to Namibia must therefore come
from Hwange,
and only from Hwange.
"The deal was for Hwange only," he
said.
The ZimOnline report, posted by newswires including the Namibia Press
Agency
(Nampa), sent shock waves through the local energy sector yesterday
morning.
Mines and Energy Permanent Secretary Joseph Iita told The Namibian
he was
totally unaware of the report, but that he would be "extremely
surprised" if
Zimbabwe cut power to Namibia. NamPower Managing Director
Paulinus Shilamba
was equally in the dark when approached by The
Namibian.
Shilamba later spoke to the paper again, saying that no-one he had
contacted
in Government or at Zesa had any knowledge of such an arrangement.
Neither
did the Zimbabwean High Commissioner to Namibia, Chipo Zindoga."We
are still
receiving power from Zesa, 150 megawatts, 24/7," Shilamba said,
slamming the
ZimOnline report as damaging and alarming.
Zesa last year
agreed with the Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) to invest
US$8 million in
the rundown Bulawayo thermal power station, also in exchange
for power.
Mudzuri told The Namibian the same arrangement that applied to
Namibia would
also apply to Botswana. As NamPower will now only receive
power from Hwange,
the BPC will only receive electricity from Bulawayo.
NamPower's Chief
Operations Officer, Bertholdt Mbuere ua Mbuere, told Nampa
the agreement
between the local power utility and Zesa is a commercial one,
and that the
cancellation of such an agreement would carry penalties.
Addressing the media
last month, Shilamba said the first half of 2010 "will
be critical for
Namibia as Eskom will be hosting the 2010 World Cup. "We
have pledged our
support to Eskom and will honour that commitment in all
respects, including
the expectation to optimise local resources and ease the
burden on Eskom,"
he said.
http://www.radiovop.com
Gutu, January 13, 2010- A
chief here has declared a two weeks of mourning
for his dead father during
which villagers will not be allowed to attend
their fields and has also
demanded a payment of R 20 per household as
donations towards the funeral,
threatening those who fail with eviction from
the area.
Chief
Phineas Makore is a staunch Zanu PF supporter.
Some villagers have since
taken the matter to their legislator Professor
Mkonoweshuro who assured them
that they will not be prosecuted.
“I told them last week that they will
not be prosecuted for not donating. I
assured them that we will not just
watch while their rights are being
violated,” said the lawyer.
“We
were forced to go with groceries at the funeral and each household was
ordered to bring at least 20 kgs of maize and R20 or US$ 2," said a
villager. He said those who failed had been threatened with eviction from
the area.
“Known Zanu PF youths who were terrorizing us during
election time were sent
to collect the money from every member of the
society. They were taking
villagers' chickens if they failed to give cash.
We just did that because we
were afraid but we do not have money and we did
not expect to be forced to
contribute for the burial. It is even shocking
that we shall not be working
in our fields as the next two weeks were
declared weeks of mourning,” said
Salatiel Musarurwa.
“I am
mourning my late father, I have nothing to tell the press, I am sorry
I am
just out of the mood to comment,” said Chief Makore to Radio VOP.
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=11971
By Moses Muchemwa
Published:
January 13, 2010
Bulawayo (ZimEye) – Over 100 families aligned to
Zanu-PF have been evicted
from Tshabalala Sanctuary – a Bulawayo City
Council farm following a court
order to remove the illegal
settlers.
The families were allocated pieces of land by Zanu-PF official
in Bulawayo,
Lilian Kandemiri under a haphazard land reform
programme.
Council rangers and police descended on the settlers Monday
and Tuesday,
torching their houses and destroyed crops.
The illegal
settlers were ferried to various destinations where they were
dumped by
council authorities.
The farm was not acquired by President Robert
Mugabe’s regime for
resettlement and remained council
property.
Council was granted an order to evict the squatters by the High
Court
towards the end of last year.
During the eviction, council
officials were seen loading the illegal
settlers and their belongings in
council trucks. They were reportedly dumped
along Solusi Road.
“Gogo
(Lilian Kandemiri) was taken by the police in the morning after she
was
given a court order of eviction. She is in police custody now,” said a
settler who preferred anonymity.
“We don’t understand why our homes
are being destroyed. She told us that
this was her land which she was given
by Government but we are shocked to
hear that the land is within council
jurisdiction.”
“Our livestock and crops would be left unattended here as
the owners are
forcibly removed from the land. It was going to be better if
the council
could bear with us until we harvest the crop, then we would
vacate this
area,” she said.
Some of the illegal settlers came as far
as Chinhoyi while others were said
to be from Gwanda.
“We thought the
land was hers and she sold me a stand here about a year ago.
I have been
living here ever since but now I have nowhere to go,” she said.
Another
illegal settler said: “That lady should compensate us because she is
the
reason our homes are being destroyed today. I want my money with which I
bought land from her.”
Local authority officials also erazed the home
of Kandemiri, which the
settlers regarded as the
“headquarters”.
Zanu-PF embarked on the chaotic land reform programme in
2000 and grabbed
farms from white commercial farmers, destroying the
country’s backbone of
the economy – agriculture.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Mutumwa Mawere Wednesday 13 January
2010
OPINION: Michael Jackson (MJ) is gone and yet his memory lives
on. We all
observed the global response to MJ's death and if he were to rise
from the
dead he would be pleasantly surprised by the surge in his
popularity.
Although we all know that death is inevitable, we all would
like to be
remembered for something. Some would like to be remembered
through their
natural creations i.e. children while others stake their claim
on heritage
through their actions.
I was born in country called
Rhodesia and I was taught that colonialism
diverted, distorted and
undermined an orderly native African civilization
and
progress.
History records that by the end of 1894, the territories over
which the
British South Africa Company (BSAC), a company incorporated under
the laws
of England in which Rhodes was the principal promoter, had
concessions or
treaties that were privately negotiated at his instigation
comprising an
area of 1 143 000 km² between the Limpopo River and Lake
Tanganyika which
collectively was called Zambesia after the Zambezi River
flowing through the
middle.
In May 1895, the name of the territory
was officially changed to Rhodesia
reflecting Rhodes' popularity among the
white settlers who had been using
the name unofficially since
1891.
In 1898, the southern part of the Zambezi was designated Southern
Rhodesia
and the designation North-Western and North-Eastern Rhodesia were
used from
1895 for the territory which later became Northern Rhodesia, then
Zambia.
It's common cause that Rhodes and his associate Alfred Beit
played a
critical role in the affairs of BSAC and Rhodesia. Rhodes died on
26 March
1902 and Alfred Beit on 16 July 1906.
Alfred Beit was the
eldest son and second of six children of an affluent
Jewish trading family.
He was born and brought up in Hamburg, Germany.
Rhodes was born in 1853
in Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire, England. He was
the fifth some of
Reverend Francis W Rhodes who was a Church of England
vicar.
At 16 he
left for South Africa to join his brother because his family and
not the
imperial office thought the hot climate would improve his asthmatic
condition.
Beit made his first fortune in property speculation in
Amsterdam before
being dispatched by his employer, Jules Porgès & Cie,
the Amsterdam diamond
firm where he developed a talent for examining
stones.
Beit and Rhodes never married and did not have any children but
left
enduring legacies.
Many of us believe that the true purpose of
life is to reproduce and to
leave successor generations with an inheritance.
We all want to live forever
if not in flesh but through our
successors.
In 49 years of his existence on earth, Rhodes managed to
leave traces that
he once lived and some of his artificial children
(companies) are still in
existence, albeit, under the control of people not
related to him.
We all want to own things and be permanently attached to
material things but
human life does not give us the permanency that would
permit ownership of
property.
When we talk of African heritage, there
are many who believe that it should
be exclusively reserved for capturing
the experiences of native black
people.
Some would say, for example,
that land and minerals should and must belong
to indigenous people while
others would see in the contribution of Rhodes
and Beit an extension and
fulfillment of God's promise to Africa.
The two gentlemen were not born
in Africa but managed to expose African
minerals to the world and in so
doing attracted the kind of human capital
that was necessary to find and
exploit God's creation, minerals, for the
promotion of human
development.
Inheritance plays a critical part in human development and
in encouraging
accumulation of wealth. We work hard in life fully knowing
that that there
is nothing we will take with us when we die.
The only
comfort is that the law provides a framework for inheritance so
that our
preferences in life can be respected in terms of passing on
property,
titles, debts and obligations.
The rules of inheritance differ between
societies and have changed over
time.
When Rhodes died in 1902, it
was Beit who assumed control of his enormous
estate.
Beit had to step
in to help control the estate and it is not so obvious that
had the estate
been placed under the control of Rhodes' own natural family
it would have
been secure and enduring.
After his death, it was Rhodes' trusted
associates and friends who invested
in keeping the flame of his legacy
glowing.
Beit also never married and had no children. He died at Tewin
Water in
Tewin, Hertfordshire after seeing a rapid deterioration in his
health.
Like Rhodes, Beit used his wealth to pursue as a private
initiative Rhodes'
dream of creating a British empire in new territories to
the north of South
Africa by obtaining mineral concessions using a carrot
and stick approach.
Beit needed Rhodes who used his connections with the
British government's
local representatives, the British Commissioners, to
cut deals that would
then provide the required moral security and
ideological justification for
franchising resources to enterprising
individuals like Beit.
Without people like Beit, with financial
engineering expertise, imperial
expansion would not have extended beyond the
Limpopo River.
Rhodes held a view that the Colonial Office should not
interfere with his
project. He wanted to benefit from the protection of the
Colonial Office
without any financial obligations to the Imperial
Administration.
He had a model that was cash liquid and through him the
project was
self-financing.
Rhodes' companies and agents cemented
these advantages by obtaining many
mining concessions, as exemplified by the
Rudd and Lochner Concessions.
No one can doubt that Rhodes' model ensured
that he would even in death
decide how his wealth was to be administered and
deployed.
Both Rhodes and Beit's wills were instructive. They were more
philanthropic
in death than what they were perceived to be in
life.
Would Africa been better off without people like Rhodes and Beit?
This is a
question that we need to answer honestly and frankly.
As we
continue the debate in 2010, hopefully we will be able to negotiate a
model
that should work to secure Africa's future.
Rhodes' model was premised on
private initiative that ensured private wealth
accumulation fully knowing
that in life even rich people cannot fully
exhaust the wealth they generated
through enterprise.
Rhodes left a legacy that has seen more than 4 500
people being educated
through the Rhodes scholarship initiative.
We
need to begin documenting the impact of Randlords on Africa so that we
can
better appreciate the kind of mind that informed their actions.
To the
extent that the efforts of Rhodes and Beit produced wealth that
remains
unimaginable in most native minds, we have a lot to learn from their
experiences and the choices they made.
How many of us would write a
will that seeks to benefit people we despise in
life or are not related to
us? - ZimOnline