http://www.telegraph.co.uk
President Robert Mugabe is in hospital in
Malaysia after an operation on his
prostate.
By Peta Thornycroft
7:27PM GMT 16 Jan 2011
Mr Mugabe, who will be 87 in February had medical
examinations while on
holiday in Malaysia earlier this month. He returned
home to Harare but his
prostate suddenly flared and he has returned to Kuala
Lumpur for the
operation.
Diplomatic sources in both Harare and South
Africa said this was a "serious"
operation and Mr Mugabe was ill, but within
his Zanu PF party there is
confidence he will return home within a week and
recover fully.
Mr Mugabe, now in a troubled inclusive government with the
Movement for
Democratic Change has had remarkable health so far.
Last
month at the annual Zanu PF conference he said he would lead his party
in
fresh elections later this year.
Morgan Tsvangirai, now MDC prime
minister in the coalition government says
elections should only be held when
substantial political and legislative
reforms and a new constitution are in
place.
Mr Tsvangirai easily beat Mr Mugabe in the first round of the last
presidential elections in 2008, but pulled out of the run off after Zanu PF
killed more than 160 of his supporters.
http://www.radiovop.com/
17/01/2011
11:29:00
Gweru, January 17 2011 - Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has
warned
chief executive companies of foreign- owned companies that they will
be
forced to reveal their stance on sanctions on Zimbabwe live on radio and
risk losing 90 percent of their shares if they refuse.
The minister
said the shares will be sold and used to fight sanctions on
Zimbabwe to
go.
Mnangawa who was speaking at a victory celebration for Zanu (PF)
Member of
Parliament in Chiwundura, Kizito Chivamba at the weekend, said his
party was
investigating foreign owned companies in support of
sanctions.
“We are in the process of rounding up CEOs of all foreign
companies
operating here and we will ask them if they support sanctions or
not," he
said. “Those who will indicate that they do not support the
sanctions will
be asked
to go live on national radio and tell the country
and the rest of the world
that their company does not support sanctions.
Those who will indicate that
they support sanctions will leave us with no
option but to put punitive
measures against them. One of the options
available is to take over 90
percent of their shares and use them to
generate money that will be used to
finance the fight against sanctions,”
said Mnangagwa who is widely known as
crocodile “ngwena” in Zanu (PF)
circles.
There are over 500 foreign companies operating in the country.
The exercise
has already started in the lowveld and Bulawayo where Zanu (PF)
officials
have visited some foreign owed companies.
“Zanu (PF)
officials visited my company last week and left a questionnaire
which they
said I should fill and submit to the Zanu (PF) provincial
headquarters
before the 29th of January 2011,” said a CEO of a Bulawayo
based foreign
company who refused to be named for fear of victimisation.
Zanu (PF) has
accused Britain, America and their allies of imposing economic
sanctions
against Zimbabwe. However the two countries have denied the
charges
insisting that only personal restrictions were imposed on
individuals in
Zanu (PF) who were responsible for funning and aiding
violence against
opposition supporters during the past elections.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
17 January 2011
South African President Jacob Zuma’s
facilitation team is expected in Harare
this week, to reportedly engage
parties in the Global Political Agreement
and nail down details of a road
map towards free and fair elections.
SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon
Muchemwa said the facilitation team is
expected in Harare either Monday or
Tuesday. The team, comprising Charles
Nqakula, Mac Maharaj and Lindiwe Zulu,
is to meet with Zimbabwe party
negotiators as two of the principals to the
unity government, Robert Mugabe
and Morgan Tsvangirai are still on their
annual leave.
Online news reports say Mugabe is in hospital in Malaysia
after an operation
on his prostate and might be off work for a couple of
weeks.
President Zuma has in the last few months pressed the three
principals to
come up with and implement a roadmap ahead of elections likely
to be held
late this year or early next year.
The South African
leader has expressed concern at the speed of the
implementation of the GPA,
impressing upon Mugabe, Tsvangirai and his deputy
Arthur Mutambara the need
for them to agree on the roadmap to solve the
current political
crisis.
SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that Zuma is likely to
present leaders
in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) with a
roadmap, during
a Troika summit which is likely to be held in February. The
SADC troika is
expected to play a central role in creating conditions for
free and fair
elections in Zimbabwe.
“There is going to be an African
Union summit in Ethiopia next week and on
the sidelines of that, SADC
leaders will most likely be briefed by Zuma on
his latest mediation efforts.
I think this is the reason why Zuma wants his
team in Harare to gather as
much information from the parties,” a source
told SW Radio Africa on
Monday.
Zuma is however said to be pained at the slow pace of the
implementation of
the outstanding issues in GPA, something which his
international relations
advisor Lindiwe Zulu agreed with. Zulu told SW Radio
Africa last year that
Zuma wanted the issues to be implemented as soon as
possible.
Zulu confirmed that the principals had agreed that the roadmap
was important
and that they would start consultations on the way forward as
soon as
everybody was back from their holidays. There are reports that when
the
principals meet for their first time this year, high on the agenda would
be
the electoral roadmap.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
17 January
2011
Jobert Mudzumwe, who was the National Chairman of the MDC-M before
its
congress nine days ago, has accused the new executive led by Welshman
Ncube
of sending over 20 party youths to forcibly take a party vehicle from
his
house.
Speaking to SW Radio Africa on Monday Mudzumwe said “there
were about 20
youths who were sent to my place to collect a wrecked vehicle,
which I have
actually parked at my place in Masvingo.” He said his 4 year
old son Thierry
was home alone and was harassed into handing over the keys
to the “broken
down car.”
“The head of the engine is down because the
mechanic was trying to fix it.
It was placed in the bedroom of one of my
eldest sons, Proud, who was not
there. So they threatened this young boy
saying ‘give us the keys to this
car’ and the little boy said ‘no, you
cannot take this car because my father
and mother are not around,” Mudzumwe
said.
Mudzumwe, who is also the General Secretary of the Commercial
Workers Union,
said he is based in Harare and his wife was at the Great
Zimbabwe University
in Masvingo at the time. He said his 4 year old son
eventually gave in to
the threats and took the keys from wardrobe to give to
the menacing youths
milling outside.
“The proper channel to follow
would have been to come to me and say ‘Mr.
Chairman we want the vehicle’. I
would have done a proper handover. There
was no way I was going to refuse to
give them that wreckage,” Mudzumwe said.
He said the same youths went to
the home of Masvingo province chairman
Robson Mashiri and forcibly took a
Madza B22 from his house. The Madza B22
is also said to have been a ‘broken
down car’ which Mashiri is said to have
spent US$1200 of his personal money
repairing at the Mazda Motor Spares
garage. Mudzumwe meanwhile said will not
resort to violence in resolving the
matter and he has already started the
process of taking the matter to court.
Nhlanhla Dube, the newly appointed
national spokesman of the MDC led by
Welshman Ncube, was a guest on Behind
the Headlines on Monday. He told the
programme that Mudzumwe was lying about
the alleged hiring of thugs to
retrieve the party vehicles. He said both
Mudzumwe and Mashiri had lost the
right to use the vehicles having lost
their positions in the party after the
congress.
“The party simply
sent a couple of drivers to go and retrieve the vehicles,”
Dube told the
programme.
Asked if the retrieval of the vehicles was done peacefully and
with the
consent of Mudzumwe and Mashiri, Dube said “absolutely, nobody was
touched
violently, nobody was touched physically, they were handed over
peacefully
and we took it as their understanding that those vehicles did not
belong to
them individually.”
NB: To listen to the full interview
with Nhlanhla Dube, the newly appointed
national spokesman of the MDC led by
Welshman Ncube, tune in to Behind the
Headlines with Lance Guma.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
17 January
2011
A decision on whether Zimbabwe will be allowed to resume full
diamond
exports is expected this week, amid reports that the Mines Ministry
is going
ahead with two auctions soon.
A meeting of the international
diamond trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process
(KP), was set to get underway
on Monday, to discuss amendments to a proposed
agreement on Zimbabwe. Last
year, KP members failed to reach consensus on an
agreement that would see
full exports resume with KP certification. That
original agreement was also
rejected by Zimbabwean authorities who
threatened to sell the diamonds
without approval.
Earlier this month, Deputy Mines Minister Gift
Chimanikire said that the KP
had given Zimbabwe the green light to go ahead
with two diamond auctions. He
claimed that the KP had said this in a letter,
but he has not produced the
letter so far. Meanwhile a KP spokesperson has
been quoted as saying that no
decision has been made, and that the watchdog
group was still waiting for
consensus from KP members of the proposed
agreement.
The state-owned mineral marketing agency in Zimbabwe is
reportedly making
preparations for two diamond auctions, despite there being
no official
decision from the KP. Alan Martin from civil society group
Partnership
Africa Canada, told SW Radio Africa that the government is
actually free to
have an auction, and that the only issue would be exporting
the stones after
they are sold. He said that exports have been suspended
until the KP makes
an official decision.
“Right now no diamonds from
(Chiadzwa) can be exported,” Martin said,
calling the issue a “grey-zonal
area for the KP.”
Zimbabwe was suspended from trade in 2009 over human
rights abuses at the
Chiadzwa alluvial diamond fields, where the military
has been accused of
violence, forced labour, smuggling and murder. The KP,
which was started to
end the trade in blood diamonds, has resisted pressure
to ban the country
completely. Instead, the group continued its lenient
treatment of the
Zimbabwe situation, which critics have warned is a serious
threat to the
credibility of the global diamond trade.
http://www.radiovop.com/
17/01/2011 17:31:00
Sanyati,
January 17, 2011 - Members of the Zimbabwe National Army and the
Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) were at the weekend spotted here
distributing free farm inputs where they were turning away suspected
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters.
Villagers at
Sanyati growth point told Radio VOP that the Maguta team
comprising soldiers
and CIOs led by a Colonel Dube and one Chimombe
(soldier) were in charge at
farming inputs distribution centres in the area.
They said Colonel Dube
addressed villagers at each of the distributing
points and insisted that the
fertiliser and maize seed was only for Zanu
(PF) card carrying
members.
“Colonel Dube is telling us that we should produce Zanu (PF)
party cards
which are five years old for us to get the inputs “said the
villagers who
declined to be named.
MDC has since appealed to
regional and international blocs complaining about
the abuse of national
farming inputs by the Zanu (PF) party.
http://www.radiovop.com/
17/01/2011
11:21:00
Bulawayo, January 17, 2011 - A group of soldiers went on
rampage in the
border town of Plumtree, Matebeleland Province early hours of
Sunday beating
up residents in revenge after their colleague lost in a fist
fight against a
civilian.
This comes just a week after a group of
soldiers also went berserk in Jerera
Growth point in Zaka in Masvingo
Province beating up civilians.
Chaos erupted in Plumtree town centre
after a junior army officer based at 3
Brigade barracks located just outside
the border town and one resident got
involved in a fist fight over a woman
at a night club.
“The junior army officer was beaten up thoroughly and
started bleeding
profusely. After gaining conscious he rushed to the army
barracks and
brought seven of his colleagues who started beating everyone on
site
including those drinking beer in night clubs,” said one of town
resident.
“There were shouting “musoja haarohwi” (soldiers don't get
beaten).
Contacted for comment Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) Matebeleland
region
spokesperson Evance Mapanzure said “we are yet to receive a report on
this,
but the culprits will be punished”.
Two years ago soldiers from
the same Matebeleland Province went on rampage
beating up villagers after a
similar incident happened.
The soldiers who were based at Bomb Range
Training Camp in Esigodini caused
terror at Ntabende Shopping Centre in
revenge breaking into shops, looting
goods worth thousands US dollars before
severely assaulting villagers.
http://www.radiovop.com/
17/01/2011 17:32:00
Masvingo,
January 17, 2011 - Hundreds of villagers from Masvingo North
constituency
were left to soak in the rain while waiting to be addressed by
Zanu (PF)
secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa who had another
engagement at
Mutimurefu prison in the area.
The people which had gathered for a tree
plantation ceremony included
children from the Reformed Church of
Zimbabwe-run Copota School for the
deaf, dumb and blind, as well as school
children from nearby schools.
Zanu (PF) central committee member Clemence
Makwarimba, who is the chief
executive officer of Masvingo Rural District
Council, ordered the villagers
to stay put in the open despite the
torrential downpour.
“The rains have come but let’s ignore them. We will
go ahead. Border Gezi
youths should see to it that no-one moves from where
they are seated,”
Makwarimba said.
And as the downpour became heavier
and heavier, Mutasa went ahead with his
long speech, and ordered people not
to move. “I am going to deliver my
speech despite the rains, just listen,”
said Mutasa.
By this time the crowds who were now drenched from the rain
could not take
it any longer and in a pandemonium took cover under trees and
in a nearby
tent provided for the VIP guests, making so much noise that
drowned Mutasa's
speech.
Mutasa however, went ahead with his speech
and blasted the coalition of
nongovernmental organisations for campaigning
for sanctions on Zimbabwe to
stay.
Zanu (PF) youths broke into dance
singing: “Team Team ndikusetere team,
Chingotongai Makadaro", a popular Zanu
(PF) jingle which is played every day
by the state owned Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation as soon as Mutasa
finished reading his speech. The
youths gyrated in front of Mutasa, Tertiary
Education Stan Mudenge, Governor
Titus Maluleke and other party officials
who were sitting in a
tent.
But some of the villagers interviewed afterwards said the
politicians took
them for granted.
“Apart from forcing us to come
here, they have taken us for a ride. They
could have temporarily halted the
programme and resume after the rain had
stopped. This is abuse. The school
children are very wet and without
jerseys. They are trembling from the
cold,” said a villager.
Zanu (PF) chairman Lovemore Matuke defended the
move to go ahead with the
rally.
“We have a very senior party
official in the province, and you wanted us to
call off the function? What
if the rains did not stop? After all, freedom
fighters in the liberation
struggle endured this for you and me,’ Matuke
said.
http://www.afrik-news.com/
Monday 17 January 2011 / by
Alice Chimora
In Zimbabwe, children as young as 5 would, as of February,
be subjected to
national service training as part of efforts by ZANU-PF to
reorient the
young about Zimbabwe’s "revolution, pre-colonial political
systems,
colonialism, wars and the post-colonial state."
A massive
number of 30,000 patriotic youths are projected to be trained
annually in a
country where the term "patriotism" means unwavering support
for the
87-year-old veteran leader, Robert Mugabe, and his political party,
ZANU-PF.
Youth Development, Indigenization and Empowerment Minister
and former secret
service agent from ZANU-PF, Saviour Kasukuwere, is
spearheading the project
that has been heavily criticized. Critics argue
that the project is a
desperate effort to foster ZANU-PF propaganda by the
coercion of innocent
minds.
In the past decade, polls in the southern
African country have been
characterised by violence and intimidation,
spearheaded by aggressive youth
militias. And many suspect that the
"patriotic" training of the youth is
being reinvented in preparation for
possible elections before the end of the
year.
The concept paper,
entitled "National Youth Service Training Programme,"
targets people under
the age of 35, and is scheduled to be forwarded to the
country’s cabinet
next week. A first enrollment is planned for February
countrywide.
Reads part of the 48-page document: "All youths from
pre-school, in school
and out of school, and under the age of 35 will
participate in the
programme. Our target is to produce 300,000 youths
annually. The ministry
will use its staff from head office, provincial,
district and ward youth
officers under the department of youth development
to reach out to schools,
churches, clubs and communities."
In
preschool, teaching would focus on the national flag, anthem and cultural
dances, while primary schools would cover the “liberation struggle and
legacy,” physical fitness, the role of youth in peace and national
development.
Further up the education sector at secondary schools,
students are expected
to continue physical fitness training, conflict,
provision of external
facilitation, case studies and role plays, and
debates.
With the projected figure of 30,000 per year, simple deduction,
according to
analysts, shows that should elections be held in 2013, tens of
thousands of
people would be at the mercy of ZANU-PF’s propaganda machine,
adding to
thousands of youths already trained by the former ruling
party.
By end of the programme, the youths are expected to “explain the
history of
Zimbabwe from pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial era;
identify with
national values of tolerance, discipline, respect and
patriotism.”
“The evolution of the Zimbabwe political systems is better
articulated by
people who are involved in the struggle for the establishment
of the
Zimbabwean independence so as to articulate grievances, strategies
and
linkages . . . ,” reads the paper.
Green Bombers
However,
other political groupings have lashed out at the proposed programme
with
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC saying the idea is “ridiculous,
laughable and incredible.”
Said National party spokesperson, Nelson
Chamisa, “You cannot introduce
ZANU-PF propaganda by coercion to innocent
minds … We will not allow ZANU-PF
to have their way. All Zimbabweans must
oppose this. We must not support
this bizarre arrangement.”
He said
Zimbabweans would not stand by and watch “ZANU-PF do what Hitler did
to
Germany and other countries.”
Political commentator Methuseli Moyo said
the move was a “scheme by ZANU-PF
to force onto young Zimbabweans its
mentality, which is undesirable anywhere
in the world.
“They will say
they want to instill nationalism, but the fact that we were
born
Zimbabweans, speak indigenous languages and eat our traditional food
means
that we were born patriots. There is no need to take people to
patriotism
lessons,” he said. "They want to capture the mentality and
brainwash
people."
The first center, the Border Gezi training camp in Mount Darwin,
about 90 km
north of Harare, was set up in 2001.
The youth brigade
camps have churned out several thousand graduates, who
have come to be
popularly known as "Green Bombers", because of the color of
their
uniforms.
The youth training centers, dubbed “Border Gezi” institutes,
are infamous
for producing a crop of youths who were accused of unleashing
violence on
innocent civilians during the last elections.
http://www.rnw.nl/
Published on : 17 January 2011 - 12:09pm |
“We were
forced to leave our communal areas where we could sustain ourselves
and were
dumped on large pieces of land which we cannot afford to utilise.
Now the
government is threatening to take back the same land,” fumes Kundai,
a
beneficiary of Zimbabwe’s land redistribution programme.
By Nkosana
Dlamini, Harare
Kundai is one of Zimbabwe’s black farmers given land
seized from whites by
the government. They now run the risk of losing it
back to the government
again because they're failing to make productive use
of it. Like many
others, Kundai struggles every day to till hectares of land
using an
ox-drawn plough.
Warning
Until now the threat of
re-redistribution has been just that - a threat. But
recently it was
revealed that Agriculture Minister Herbert Murerwa had
given a farm back to
a white farmer after it's new black beneficiary had
failed to utilise
it.
“I want to warn all those who are not taking us seriously that we
will
repossess their farms if they do not do anything on them, expecting
everything from the government,” Murerwa told a local online
newspaper.
The white farmer cannot be named for fear of victimisation by
liberation war
veterans, a militant section of President Robert Mugabe’s
support base who
spearheaded Mugabe’s violent land grab at the turn of the
century.
Farm machinery
The majority of poor land beneficiaries say
the government has failed to
fulfill its promises to supply them with the
machinery needed to till large
tracts of farmland.
“They will never
improve if there is no capital injection or resources,”
said Kindness
Paradza, a former legislator from Mugabe’s party, who is also
a
farmer.
Large quantities of farm machinery sourced in 2008 through
Zimbabwe’s
Reserve Bank were distributed mainly to Mugabe’s top allies
within the
government, the judiciary and the military. They were given
tractors,
harvesters and diesel power generators while the ordinary farmers
without
powerful connections got ox driven carts and hoes.
Seeds,
diesel, fertilisers and other chemicals were also given freely to
some
black farmers in an effort to boost agricultural produce. The problem
is
that the top officials who benefited never took farming seriously. They
would resell the chemicals and diesel on the black market for a quick
buck.
Zimbabwean banks have also refused to give loans to poor black
farmers, most
of whom lack the expertise and capital to work the land on a
commercial
scale.
Secret lease deals
Now, the government wants the
black farmers who did receive support to
plough back their profits into
farming.
Following threats by the government, some land beneficiaries
have entered
into secret lease deals with the former land owners. But this
has sparked
fury within Mugabe’s regime, which is at pains to convince the
world the
land re-distribution programme has been successful. The
"fast-track" land
seizure campaign that began in 2000 was marred by
violence, murder, theft
and arson.
Out of more than 6000 white
farmers in Zimbabwe in 2000, less than 400 still
occupy their land.
Zimbabwe’s economy is said to have shrunk by 50 percent
following the
destruction of agriculture, the mainstay of the Zimbabwean
economy.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
16
January, 2011 10:27:00 VICTORIA MTOMBA - NewsDay
Jaggers
Wholesalers and Jaggers & Trador’s furniture and other accessories
are
set to go under the hammer on Thursday and Friday this week after Delta
Beverages successfully sued the two companies in a bid to recover a $443 795
debt.
Delta successfully sued Jaggers Wholesalers (1st respondent)
and Jaggers
Trador (2nd respondent) in a case heard by Justice Lavender
Makoni in
October last year.
Justice Makoni ordered that “1st and 2nd
defendant pay to plaintiff the
amount of $443 795,79 plus interest at the
rate of 16% per annum from
September 1 2010 to a date of payment in
full.
“1st and 2nd defendant pay plaintiff cost of suit on a legal
practitioner
and client scale.”
The deputy sheriff in Harare has
since last week been advertising goods
belonging to the two companies that
are set to be auctioned to members of
the public.
“Duly instructed by
the deputy of Harare, we shall sell by public auction
the following (see
list below) to the highest bidder at Jaggers Msasa on
January 21 and 22,”
reads part of the advert flighted by the deputy sheriff
during the course of
last week.
Some of the items to be sold include fridges, freezers,
ironing boards,
television stands, rocking chairs, computer stands, beds,
mattresses, coffee
table sets, forklifts and trolleys among other
goods.
Recently the High Court ordered Jaggers Wholesaler to pay $1,4
million debt
it owes CBZ Bank Limited plus interest arising from a $3
million overdraft
facility the company received from the bank two years
ago.
Jaggers Wholesalers began experiencing problems soon after Cecil
Muderede, a
local businessman and farmer, acquired a controlling stake in
the firm in
April last year.
Muderede gained a controlling stake in
the wholesale after buying out a
major shareholder Metcash Africa, a South
African company through his
investment vehicle Borlscade Investment Pvt
Ltd.
Muderede, who also took over the whole Jaggers workforce, has been
failing
to pay salaries on time since last year.
Last year in April
the wholesale closed down 11 branches out of the 52
branches it had in the
country as a cost-cutting measure.
Some of the affected branches include
those in Chipinge Chitungwiza,
Graniteside, Mutoko, Filabusi and Bulawayo.
http://www.radiovop.com
17/01/2011
11:20:00
Karoi, January 17, 2011 - There was chaos and drama at Karoi
hospital at the
weekend when health officials dumped patients in a scramble
to get free
fertilizer donated by President Robert Mugabe.
Even those
without land went to queue for the free fertiliser while patients
were left
unattended for nearly three hours.
However, junior nurses among them
trainees were left out after the hospital
administrator Tapera Mukorera
demanded that those with offer letters could
be assisted.
‘’Its
unfortunate that there are conditions being imposed by these officials
although everyone must benefit from this free input scheme.‘’ said a
disgruntled junior nurse.
However, the fertiliser was not enough to
go around the 200 staff members as
the hospital was only allocated 27
bags.
Meanwhile a Karoi prison officer-in charge Supt Christine Manhivi
has come
under fire again from her subordinates on suspicion that she
diverted free
fertilizer under Presidential inputs scheme
here.
Sources at Karoi prison claim at the weekend that Manhivi who is a
war
veteran abused her authority last week on Thursday when she diverted the
fertilizer that was meant for the Karoi prison.
Prison sources told
Radio VOP reporter at the weekend that both Karoi and
Hurungwe prisons had
two tonnes of the fertilizer allocation each.
‘’When we asked her why it
was taking long to have the fertilizer delivered
to our station, she
explained that our delivery had been delivered to
Hurungwe prison although
it had its own allocation. We are suspecting that
she could have diverted
our fertilizer for personal use,’’ said an officer.
Manhivi could not be
reached on her mobile phone at the weekend as it went
on unanswered. She is
still yet to face an internal probe after she diverted
four tonnes of
fertilizer in October last year.
http://www.radiovop.com
17/01/2011 11:23:00
Harare, January
17, 2011 - Prominent human rights lawyer and Zimbabwe
Election Support
Network (ZESN) board chairperson Tinoziva Bere has been
elected the new Law
Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) president.
Prior to his elevation Bere of Bere
Brothers Legal Practitioners based in
Mutare was LSZ’s vice president since
2009 and a councillor and committee
chairperson since 2001.
Lloyd
Mhishi a councillor representing Harare and a partner with Dube
Manikai and
Hwacha (DMH) is the new Vice President. Mhishi is also law
lecturer at the
faculties of law of both University of Zimbabwe (UZ) and the
Midlands State
University (MSU).
Bere replaces Josephat Tshuma who led the Law Society
in drafting a Model
Constitution for Zimbabwe.
Speaking to RadioVOP
Bere said, “I stand on a platform built by many
remarkable leaders, it is a
solid platform and with the help of the 10
leaders that are the Council and
the full complement of the secretariat as
well as an independent legal
profession, I cannot fail...I am both excited
and humbled.”
“In
addition it would be good if besides the statutory and practical
independence we enjoy as a profession could extend to financial independence
during my term. I also believe it is possible to improve effectiveness and
efficiency at the Secretariat level and for Council oversight to be more
effective,” he said.
Bere is also a part time university lecturer in
Business Law, Company Law
and Ethics and Professionalism as well as a
recognised human rights
activist. He is a past winner of the Zimbabwe Human
Rights Lawyer Award
after organising interventions to offer legal assistance
to victim of the
Chiadzwa Diamond Fields human rights violations and for his
courageous and
successful defence of Farai Maguwu (a diamond activist
persecuted by the
authorities between June and September 2010).
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Chengetai Zvauya
Monday, 17 January
2011 14:44
HARARE - ZANU PF national chairman, Simon Khaya Moyo
insists that elections
are to be held this year, after the referendum,
likely to be held in
September, even though the unity government is yet to
come up with a
position on the polls.
In a telephone interview
this week Moyo said the Constitutional making
process must be speeded up to
enable them to complete their work early
leading to the elections to resolve
the power sharing agreement governing
the country.
''We made the
resolutions at our Mutare Conference in December last year
that we are going
for elections this year, and our commissariat team has
been deployed in the
country's provinces mobilising for our support and we
know that we are ready
for the elections and it is the MDC party which is
now chickening out of the
elections because they have lost the support of
the people,'' said
Moyo.
"They (MDC) want to continue to hide under the cover of the Global
Political
Agreement (GPA) to delay the elections. As a party we say lets
finish the
constitutional making process expeditiously and have elections
which we
shall win overwhelming.
The GPA has time limits and it is
very clear that we must finish the
constitutional work and move to the
referendum to be followed by elections
and we believe this can be done this
year and the MDC knows it too but they
are afraid of elections because they
will be relegated to the political
dustbin,'' said Moyo.
Moyo's
sentiments chime with President Robert Mugabe's views as he has
declared
that he was fed up with working with Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and
the smaller faction of the MDC in the inclusive government
and wants to end
the GPA by holding elections this year.
There is confusion surrounding
the timetable for holding elections with the
MDC saying the elections
should be held after the outstanding issues
within the GPA are resolved and
a road map leading to the elections is
drawn in consultation with all the
parties involved.
The business community last year added their voice and
argued that early
elections will likely disrupt the economic growth the
country has been
experiencing for the past two years.
This view was
also supported by the Vice- President Joyce Mujuru, who
encouraged the
business community to forward their views to the political
leadership of the
country.
http://www.voanews.com/
Peta Thornycroft | Johannesburg 17
January 2011
Zimbabwe Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku last week
warned the executive to
desist from trying to interfere with the judiciary.
Judge Chidyausiku’s
remarks, at the opening of the 2011 legal calendar, has
caused concern in
Zimbabwe’s legal fraternity as many say the public does
not regard higher
court judges as impartial.
Lawyers say Judge
Chidyausiku’s remarks about judicial independence are
controversial because
in their view the independence of the judges has been
severely compromised
in the past decade. They cite a number of issues
including appointments of
judges well-disposed to President Robert Mugabe
and his ZANU-PF party, and
defiance of court orders.
But in particular they say judicial officers
have been compromised by being
granted fully equipped, profitable, and
tax-free farms since Mr. Mugabe
began awarding white-owned farms to ZANU-PF
supporters in 2000.
Zimbabwe lawyer Arnold Tsunga is also director of the
International
Commission of Jurists’ Africa program. He says right from the
start it was
clear the dispossession of the farms would be contested in the
courts.
"When the Government of Zimbabwe expropriated these farms, it did
so without
compensation and it took over farms without consent of owners, so
you find
it is disputed land that must be subject to judicial arbitration,"
said
Tsunga.
Tsunga says the free distribution of productive farms,
including
improvements and equipment, damaged the independence and
impartiality of the
bench.
"It is very consistent with the strategy
of beginning to give them assets,
disputed assets, like expropriated land,"
he said. "So all this was a
consistent strategy to undermine the
independence of bench."
Since 2002, when the previous chief justice and
some of his colleagues
resigned after being threatened by Mr. Mugabe’s
supporters, all but one
judge of the Supreme Court, which also sits as the
country’s constitutional
court, have been given free white-owned
farms.
Justice Wilson Sandura, who has been a judge for 27 years, was one
of a full
bench of five Supreme Court justices who in 2001 ruled farm
seizures were
illegal. He refused to accept a farm. In recent years he has
not been
assigned to cases involving land or political issues.
High
Court judges occupying farms regularly hear cases on disputed land.
Judge
Chidyausiku said in his speech most constitutional matters brought to
court
in 2010 were land cases, which he said all fell away last November
after the
Commercial Farmers Union lost its appeal to the constitutional
court on
evictions of white farmers.
The lawyers representing the union say they
learned they would be charged
with contempt of court if they asked judges
who were beneficiaries of land
to recuse themselves from the trial.
A
former University of Zimbabwe lecturer, Derek Matyszak, says the assets on
the farms that provide extra income or perks for judges were never taxed.
He adds that granting the farms and accompanying assets to judges violated
the constitution.
"The manner in which judges are remunerated is set
by the constitution, and
the remuneration of judges and the reason why it is
in the constitution is
that remuneration of judges has to be done in a
manner which does not affect
their impartiality," said Matyszak. "Obviously,
if the judges are going to
be beholden to the executive for their income,
then this is going to affect
their impartiality ... when judges are handed
out farms, this is basically a
job perk, and it contravenes the
constitution."
Matyszak says as the judges’ farms are now state-owned
land, their continued
occupation is vulnerable to what he described as the
"whims" of the
executive.
Lawyers say most orders arising from
high-court cases involving political
rights and land have not been executed
for the past 10 years.
Last month nine Zimbabweans won a case at the
Southern African Development
Community Tribunal - the region’s court of last
resort. They pleaded they
had won cases in the High Court in Harare for
compensation from the
government, following assaults by the police and
members of the army, but
compensation was never paid.
The Tribunal
which sits in Namibia ruled the Zimbabwe government had
breached the SADC
treaty by failing to ensure its High Court orders are
executed.
Tsunga says that after 2000, Mr. Mugabe sent out a message
to the judiciary
that the politicians are in control of the
judiciary.
"The defiance of court orders has really become an emblematic
problem in
Zimbabwe," added Tsunga. "So the culture of defying court orders
is a
culture that has become an entrenchment of impunity and is directly
linked
to the political process of 2000 when Mugabe was trying to undermine
the
judiciary."
Analyst Matyszak says until 2000 Zimbabwe’s judges
enjoyed a well-earned
excellent reputation. But he says this reputation
became seriously
tarnished when judges failed to challenge what he says were
severe
violations of the law perpetrated by Mr. Mugabe’s
government.
"The ZANU-PF led government has actually blatantly violated
various
provisions of the constitution and has completely ignored various
provisions
of other legislation, and that is a definite shift in the manner
in which
ZANU-PF is operating," he said.
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai gives a press conference in
Harare to announce the reshuffling of
ministers belonging to The Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party, 23
Jun 2010
AFP
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai gives a press
conference in
Harare to announce the reshuffling of ministers belonging to
The Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party, 23 Jun 2010
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai says the appointment of judges since the
September 2008 multi-party political agreement undermines the inclusive
government established in terms of that agreement.
The most
controversial appointment came last year when Judge George
Chiweshe, former
chairman of the election commission, was elevated to Judge
President of the
High Court, with powers to decide the allocation of cases
before the
court.
Judge Chiweshe delayed release of the result in the 2008
presidential
election for five weeks and failed to condemn the violence
mostly against
supporters of then presidential candidate Morgan
Tsvangirai.
About 160 people were killed and thousands were injured and
evicted from
their homes and villages in the worst electoral violence in
Zimbabwe for
more than 20 years. Independent humanitarian organizations say
the violence
was overwhelmingly perpetrated by Mr. Mugabe’s
supporters.
In opening the High Court year, Judge Chidyausiku also called
for private
donations for the courts and suggested this money could be used
to boost
salaries and repair court buildings. He says in some instances,
court
buildings have become a health hazard.
Attempts in the past
week to reach ZANU-PF justice minister Patrick
Chinamasa and the office of
the secretary for justice by mobile and landline
telephone were not
successful.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondent Monday 17 January
2011
HARARE – A number of Zimbabwean financial institutions have
missed a 31
December 2010 deadline to meet minimum capital thresholds set by
the central
bank, ZimOnline has learnt.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) sources said only 20 of the country’s 24
financial institutions were
in compliance with the prescribed minimum
paid-up capital requirements as of
the end of last year.
“A number are still under-capitalised and may be
forced to close or seek
strategic partners if they are to remain
operational,” said a central bank
source, who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
He refused to disclose which institutions were under
stress.
RBZ governor Gideon Gono is expected to announce the outcome of
the
financial sector recapitalisation programme when he presents his 2011
monetary policy statement later this month or in February.
The RBZ
requires commercial banks to have a minimum capital threshold of
US$12.5
million.
The failure by the financial institutions to meet the new RBZ
capitalisation
requirements rekindles debate as whether or not the country
is over-banked.
Analysts say that with its small population, Zimbabwe
only requires a
minimum of five and a maximum of 10 banks.
The
country currently has more than 40 financial institutions that are
scrambling for a shrinking cake.
Consultant economist John Robertson
said mergers would be the way to go for
the financial sector.
“The
hopes are that several mergers will bring the total number to a figure
more
in line with the size of the Zimbabwe economy, but growth rates for
this
sector are expected to remain modest in the immediate future,” he
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Tobias Manyuchi Monday 17 January
2011
HARARE -- The Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) market
capitalisation has hit
past the psychological 4 billion market
capitalisation mark on the back of
purchases by foreign investors, latest
statistics from the bourse show.
The bourse hit US$4.143 billion last
Tuesday up from US$3.9 billion, later
surging to US$4.149 the following
day.
The surge in trade is as a result of foreigners whom, for the better
part of
last year had been deserting ZSE have returned to the market buying
script
over the past quarter which, but which has continued during the first
month
of the year.
During the first quarter of last year foreign
investors deserted the ZSE the
after fears of the governments controversial
empowerment law.
Under the empowerment regulations foreign-owned
businesses operating in
Zimbabwe, including banks, mines and factories will
be forced to sell
significant stake to locals by March 2015.
The
encouraging improvement in foreign investor sentiment comes against the
backdrop of a recent report by Netherlands-based Amstel Securities which
labelled the ZSE the worst performing bourse in the sub-Saharan
Africa.
Amstel said the Zimbabwean bourse declined by 7.5 percent between
January
and July last year compared to robust performances by other African
markets
such as Kenya and Uganda that grew by more than 40 percent over the
same
period.
Concerns over Zimbabwe’s fragile coalition government
have also lurked over
the country’s economic horizon.
Constant
bickering between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai has undermined efforts to restore confidence in an economy
pummelled by a 10-year political crisis. -- ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga Monday 17 January 2011
THE cat is out of
the bag. The MDC congress held last weekend has delivered
for the tribal
supremacists and the anti-democrats the result they dreaded
most and as
expected, they have come out guns blazing.
The attack on the MDC
following its congress raises three fundamental
issues. It puts a spotlight
on the unresolved ethnic issues, the one-party
state ideology and the
adherence to peaceful and democratic transference of
power.
The
Ethnic Debate: debate on issues of tribe is shunned in Zimbabwe and yet
it
dominates our local politics. The tribal sentiments expressed over the
election of Welshman Ncube attest to this. It is revealing that there is now
a growing consensus in the stables of Shona supremacist that the fact that a
Ndebele is president of a political party means that the party is
regional.
Interestingly, the fact that the MDC-T and Zanu PF have Shona
leaders makes
them national. Is the verdict, therefore, that a Ndebele
cannot as a matter
of fact be considered for President in Zimbabwe? And that
therefore those of
Ndebele descent have been disqualified from a national
leadership contest?
One-Party State Ideology: the second issue that
arises from the
post-congress debate is the role and relevance of ‘third
parties’ and the
emerging reasoning that Zimbabwe is not a multi-party
system but is, in
reality, a contest to replace Zanu PF with another
party.
The Zimbabwe democratisation political script has been
fundamentally flawed
in that it is a versus Mugabe script and not
necessarily a creation of
multi-party free world. We are focused on the
removal of Mugabe and not on a
creation of an alternative political system
with alternative value systems.
We, as a nation, are bound in this
romantic myth of a little girl who is
waiting to be saved from a monster by
a knight in shining armour and
unfortunately it can only be one ‘knight’ in
shining armour and not
knight(s) in different shades. Anything that does not
conform to that
romantic image we hate and despise.
For a long time
we have continued to romanticise the year 2000, where a
united movement
almost delivered the ultimate victory. We all secretly still
yearn for that
period even though the current reality demonstrates that the
conditions and
circumstances that prevailed in 2000 do not exist. We also,
unlike what we
publicly profess, have not embraced the concept of
multi-partism, we sadly,
in our actions, are in fact zealots of a one-party
state ideology which
seeks to remove Zanu PF replacing it with another
party.
The year
2000 was not only miraculous but an aberration, never to be
repeated. The
coming together of all democratic forces to deliver a NO VOTE
response to
the referendum was magical. This came exactly after two decades
of general
disorientation and the trauma of the Gukurahundi.
In what we, in the
born-again movement call a ‘vuselela’ (a revival/a
rebirth), the NO VOTE
campaign inspired a confidence in the Zimbabwean
people that just perhaps,
it was possible to dislodge Zanu PF. The nation
was therefore divided into
two camps, those for Zanu PF and those against.
For some in the frontlines
of that referendum, we know that the vote was
simply an anti-Mugabe vote and
less about the constitution.
The violence that followed that referendum
shifted the power dynamics, to
try and ignore the impact and the rupture
that violence had on that unity is
to live in cuckoo land. It is that denial
of that shift that perpetuates the
anger against parties that refuse to fit
the 2000 mode.
Since the MDC split in 2005, an epitaph or obituary is
written on the MDC.
Opinion polls are conducted all to justify the issuance
of burial orders.
After the 2008 elections, we all were put into political
dustbins, if not
political museums. Ironically, the very same party today
continues to
dominate the Zimbabwean political discourse.
Is it not a
paradox that a party so allegedly insignificant, a party so
unlikely to
impact on the future politics of Zimbabwe can dominate political
debate? The
only explanation for such behaviour is that the obsession is
driven by our
inability to understand a different script, a script that does
not make
Zimbabweans a choir with one song, but a script that says it is in
our
difference that we find our strength – celebrating our diversity.
It is
tragic that a public service career one once admired and is a part of,
is
now dominated by a group of people who have no shame in giving blatantly
false figures of congress delegates to mislead a nation. How it is possible
for someone who attended that event to continue to perpetuate a falsehood of
1,000 delegates is not only sad but frightening.
Any journalist worth
their salt only needs to check with the accommodation
venues where delegates
from outside Harare and Chitungwiza were
accommodated. In fact, Harare
Polytech alone had over 1,800 delegates, with
Belvedere, HIT, YWCA, ZWB and
Adelaide accommodating the rest. As is the
norm in all political parties,
delegates to congress are specified and
determined by political parties. The
MDC National Council resolved that
congress would have a total of 5,200
delegates.
To seek to extrapolate the MDC’s nationwide support base to
the number of
delegates at congress is pure madness. The lie that delegates
were not fed
when we had three professional caterers is the limit of gutter
journalism.
No single delegate slept outside, no-one went hungry and there
were no
fights. In fact, all journalists were properly accredited and
treated with
the utmost respect, unlike other congresses we have
observed.
Transfer of power: the third and final myth dismissed at the
MDC congress
was the notion that it is impossible in Africa, let alone in
Zimbabwe, to
experience a civilised, dignified and descent transfer of
power. It is
surprising that those who over the years have claimed to be
true democrats
now describe the change of leadership as a humiliating
experience.
Instead of applauding Arthur Mutambara, he is now being
portrayed at most as
a victim, and at worst as a weakling. Is it our belief
now that had there
been a change of leadership from Mugabe to Tsvangirai in
2008, that act
would have been humiliation for Mugabe? If so, why then are
we against those
that sought to protect Mugabe’s honour through beatings and
the maiming of
people?
If the election of Welshman Ncube is now being
described as a boardroom coup
or a demonstration of a power-hungry
individual who has always harboured
presidential ambitions, why then should
we have a problem with those in Zanu
PF who believe that any election that
does not produce a leadership from
those that held the gun in the liberation
struggle is illegitimate or
treasonous?
We should, therefore, now
accept the notion that it is a crime to aspire or
to participate in a
leadership contest unless the incumbent have voluntarily
relinquished
power.
The political world is a moral terrain; you can’t demand from
others what
you can’t do in your personal sphere.
Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga is the Secretary-General of the Movement for
Democratic Change party led by Welshman Ncube.
No one disputes the fact that we have
huge potential. The only question is
how do we unlock that potential and
exploit it for the benefit of all
Zimbabweans in the long term? Perhaps we
should start by outlining our
potential as a country.
Our
greatest asset is our people; Zimbabweans are, by nature, easy going,
pleasant people who are open and welcoming. They are also hard working and
innovative, that is why, despite decades of lousy government and bad
policies, we have survived and resilience has to be one of our main national
characteristics. We are also generally well educated and have a great deal
of experience and an established knowledge of what can be
done.
Then we have our resources – we have perhaps half of the
worlds readily
available platinum reserves, a quarter of the worlds reserves
of chrome,
billions of tonnes of coal and iron ore. We are a major source of
nickel and
asbestos and a number of other minerals. In the field of gold and
diamonds
we are the 6th largest gold producer in the world and are rapidly
becoming a
major diamond producer. We have the immediate potential to
attract many
billions of dollars in foreign investment in the mining
industry if the
conditions are right.
In agriculture we have
the land and water plus ideal growing conditions for
many crops and
livestock products. In the past we have been the third
largest producer and
exporter of flue cured tobacco, one of the largest
producers of white maize
in the world and a major producer of fruit, sugar,
tea and cotton. At one
stage we were the largest exporter of beef in Africa
and were totally self
sufficient in pig products, poultry and milk. Although
the agricultural
industry has been almost destroyed in the past decade, its
potential remains
intact.
In tourism we have the Victoria Falls and some 9 million
hectares of
world-class game reserves. We are the hunting capital of the
world and our
variety of climates and countryside make us a great tourist
destination.
While tourism has been growing worldwide and southern Africa
has enjoyed
rapid growth in recent years – reaching a million foreign
tourists a month
in 2010, Zimbabwe attracts virtually none. But everyone
recognises that if
conditions are right and our reputation as a safe and
inexpensive
destination is re-established, then our potential in this field
is huge.
Added to the above you have Zimbabwe at the heart of the
SADC region – a
region that is now growing as fast as the Asian Tigers have
been growing for
the past 20 years and you get a picture of just what this
country could be
like if we can unlock our potential. In industry, we could
become a major
player, supplying the region with a wide range of consumer
goods and
services.
We are already the regions largest source
of road transport services and
could become a major rail and pipeline hub.
Our schools and universities
could become an attraction for students and
graduates from all over the
world and especially the central African States.
Our engineers and
accountants and medical services could also become centers
of excellence
that would serve the entire sub region. After South Africa we
have the most
advanced banking system in the region and this could provide a
base for the
country becoming a regional financial hub, especially now that
we have
virtually no restrictions on the movement of
funds.
So why are we stuck in this pothole and unable to get out
and start to
realize this potential? It starts with politics. So long as we
have this
dysfunctional government and no consensus on the way forward, the
uncertainty that prevails at present will remain. The uncertainty over who
will be in charge and hold power in the State is a very real issue. The
business community is afraid of a return of the days when we had
hyperinflation, price control and no rule of law to speak of. They are
afraid that radicals such as Kasukawere will be able to dictate policy and
events and that his threats against all foreign and white owned business
will materialize.
So long as government is locked in a
struggle for ascendancy and nothing
else, we simply cannot make progress and
that is why the Zuma road map to
the next election is so critical. This must
be close to finality and we
should get sight of it soon if JZ is going to be
able to report progress to
the AU summit at the end of the
month.
Once this issue is dealt with, then we must face all the
other constraints.
But that is not as difficult as it might seem at first.
We are very
resilient and there is a huge reservoir of goodwill and human
capital just
waiting for the right conditions. Like the dramatic changes in
monetary
policy that were adopted in 2009, key policy shifts will unlock
this
potential very rapidly. Adopting regional currencies and the US dollar
as
the means of exchange and lifting price and exchange controls swiftly
filled
supermarkets and restored value to work and incomes. Other policy
shifts
would have a similar, if less dramatic response. What are
they?
Firstly we have to restore the rule of law and the
independence and
professionalism of our Court system. People have to know
that their rights
and property will be protected and the laws of the country
will be applied
and enforced. Would that be difficult – hardly, a dozen new
appointments to
key positions would change the situation
overnight.
Then we need to assure investors of all kinds that
their rights to control
and manage their assets in Zimbabwe will be
protected in perpetuity. This
means treating all who have permanent
residence in Zimbabwe equally and
those who invest from outside the country
with every protection that they
might expect in any other sane country. This
might require revoking some
laws and regulations but not much more, it’s
really a matter of commitment
by the State and then confidence that we mean
business.
We must resist the temptation to play with the macro
economic fundamentals
and stay the course of fiscal and monetary reform,
discipline and stability.
This should not be difficult given the nasty
experiences of the recent past.
We must deal with our debt overhang and bite
the bullet on our parastatals
and corruption in high
places.
We must repair our infrastructure and energy systems as
well as our
educational and medical system. We must welcome home anyone who
is tired of
struggling in foreign countries and wants to resume their lives
in Zimbabwe.
We must make that possible with job growth and opportunities.
We must
restore and respect the rights of all who are citizens by birth or
adoption.
Is that too much to ask? It seems so simple really but
that is all it would
take and we could then fly. Backed by a democratic
system that was open and
accountable and saw regular changes in leadership,
Zimbabweans could then
really plan for the future and instead of using their
innate abilities to
simply survive; they could start to build
again.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo 17th January 2011
The Youth Forum is deeply depressed by recent media reports that the
Ministry
of Youth Development, Indigenization and Empowerment led by
Savior Kasukuwere
has decided to introduce a new structure for the
National Youth Service that
will see preschool and kindergarten kids
being roped into the already
controversial program. While we welcome
the idea of national service in the
proper context, it is the motive
behind this new structure and the manner in
which it has been designed
that worries all concerned citizens. Worse still,
the timing of his
initiative smacks of an ulterior motive.
The
National Youth Service Training Centers, or “Border Gezi” training
institutes
as they are popularly known, are infamous for producing a
crop of youths that
have unleashed unwarranted violence on innocent
and unsuspecting civilians.
It is this violent history and nature of
the service that raises questions on
the current motive by the
notorious Minister’s motives on tapping our young
brothers and sisters
into such atrocious systems before they even reach
double-digit
pronounced years. Having someone indoctrinated with such
violent
thoughts, as has been the norm, from a tender age will only lead
into
more disastrous consequences for our beloved nation that is
still
struggling to recover from past experiences of violence
like
Gukurahundi and the post March 2008 election violence. How will
the
community in general and parents of such children be able to
control
and guide them judging on what has so far been produced by
such
institutions?
While the idea of teaching young children on
national matters like the
national flag, national anthem, coat of arms and so
on is not a
terrible idea, it is the manner in which Minister Kasukuwere
intends
to do it that is puzzling. We are of the strong conviction that
such
issues can be handled well by the current pre-school teachers as
part
of the pres-school curricula as opposed to a national program aimed
at
brainwashing the little ones. Instead of coming up with a costly
and
brainwashing program, the ministry should be looking at ways
of
incorporating such important education and knowledge into the
current
primary and pre school curricula as well as inculcating such
values
and education into the kids from their friendly environs and not
some
dreadful institutions.
While it is important for the youths to be
taught on the history of
the country especially the armed struggle that got
us independence and
freedom from colonialism and racial discrimination, we
should not be
overly obsessed with such issues to the extent of forgetting
that the
nation also has a future. The designing of the National Youth
Service
program should take into account the history of the nation as well
as
the current state and future of the country. It is only after
training
the young men and women of the country on the country’s current
state
and the nature of global politics, the HIV/AIDS pandemic,
economic
empowerment and other such issues that we can expect the country
to
move forward.
It is also disturbing to note the clandestine and secrecy
manner in
which such an idea can be crafted considering there are a lot
of
institutions and organizations that deal with youth issues. In
crafting
such an important national program, such organizations that
have the
necessary experience in dealing with young people should be
given a voice as
they have a stake in the implementation of such
programs. Organizations that
quickly come to mind include Child Line,
Girl Child Network and a host of
other youth-oriented organizations
like the Youth Forum. Such organizations
have vast experience in
dealing with issues and will add value to the design
of the youth
service program. Involving such organizations will also help
in
ensuring that the program is not designed to serve some political
party
interests but national interests. This is very vital for the
program to be
accepted by the youths as it has been, from its
inception, been serving some
party interests and his has turned he
program into being skeptically viewed
by its intended beneficiaries.
The Youth Forum, as a platform for youth
voices, the intended
beneficiaries of the program, would like to make the
following
recommendations to the ministry:
First and foremost, they must
involve the youths themselves in
drafting the new program, this can be
achieved by consulting
organizations that represents various youths interests
as major
stakeholders in the program
Come up with laws and regulations
that will ensure that matters of
national value are taught to young children
in classes both at primary
level and preschool level instead of taking this
kindergarten kids to
some raining institutions.
Contract non-partisan
experts to come up with the curriculum for the
training institutions so as to
make these institutions credible to all
stakeholders.
Ensure that
participants at these institutions are taught in other
areas of life that are
of serious importance to the nation like
HIV/AIDS, economic empowerment and
entrepreneurship and other areas of
life.
--
Youth Forum
Information and Publicity