The Zimbabwe Situation

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
21 January 2013

A massive explosion ripped through a house in Zengeza 2 in Chitungwiza
Monday afternoon, instantly killing five people and injuring others, police
said.

Police Inspector Daniel Badza from St Mary’s police station told SW Radio
Africa the blast occurred just after 3pm and killed 4 adults and one minor.

He said they are yet to establish what caused the explosion that destroyed
eight other houses along Mbaura street in the surburb.

‘We are busy with our investigations and its still early to pinpoint the
exact cause of the explosion. We have officers on the ground scurrying to
the area to establish what happened,’ Inspector Badza said.

Job Sikhala, the former MP for St Mary’s, said his house is more than 2km
from the street where the explosion took place, but it was so huge it shook
his house. He said he believed that the house belonged to a tradional
healer, who is known to have kept gas cylinders.

‘From what I hear from people in the area, the owner of the house which was
apparently obliterated by the blast, belonged to this n’anga, who is well
known in the area,’ Sikhala said.

Jabulani Sibanda threatens MDC supporters in Chipinge

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
21 January 2013

War vets leader Jabulani Sibanda has told MDC-T supporters in Chipinge that
they will be killed if they vote against ZANU PF in the forthcoming
harmonized elections.

The MDC-T says Sibanda has been based in Musikavanhu for the last three
days, forcing villagers to his meetings. He has promised he will unleash
violence against anyone who supports the party led by Prime Minster Morgan
Tsvangirai.

Pishai Muchauraya, the party spokesman in Manicaland, confirmed that the war
vets leader had been intimidating their supporters with the object of
spreading fear.

Muchauraya, the MDC-T’s Makoni South MP, accused Sibanda of lying to the
villagers that he had the capability to monitor how the villagers will vote
in the election.

‘He has ordered all headmen and chiefs in the district to write down names
of people whose ages range from 15 to 60 and also state which party they
support,’ he said.

According to Muchauraya, Sibanda claimed that all villagers in the district
will be issued with numbers by the chiefs that they will present to ZANU PF
people who will be monitoring people as they come to vote.

‘Sibanda says they will use the numbers to see who has voted against ZANU,’
Muchauraya said.

The MP however rubbished the claims, suggesting Sibanda belongs to the ‘wild
west’ where things were settled using the laws of the jungle.

‘This is just a gimmick by Sibanda to intimidate our supporters. He has no
capacity whatsoever to dictate how voters will cast their votes, once inside
a polling booth.

‘He preached the same message in 2008, but ZANU PF lost the election and
they will lose again this time using the same strategy,’ Muchauraya said,
adding that an election campaign needs to be done in a free and democratic
manner.

‘Electioneering should not be done under threats and intimidation.
Intimidating people is itself, of course, the highest manifestation of
dictatorship,’ explained Muchauraya.

Meanwhile police in Chivhu arrested an MDC-T official on allegations of
waving his party symbol to a senior police officer.

Reports said the MDC deputy district chairperson for Chikomba West, Patrick
Chipo Gwini, was arrested in Chivhu and was detained for about four hours.
He was charged and was ordered to report again to the police.

The official said police allege that he provoked a Superintendent Mutasa by
waving the open palm MDC salute at him. Gwini denies the allegations
claiming the police were after him, after he accused them of being partisan
at a recent meeting of political parties.

Elephant calves back in Zim wild

http://www.iol.co.za

January 21 2013 at 06:14pm
By SAPA

Harare, Zimbabwe - An animal welfare group says five baby elephants held in
captivity in western Zimbabwe for shipment to zoos in China have been
returned to the wild.

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said Monday
the calves were taken to a state-run national park over the weekend where
they will undergo “rehabilitation and integration” with existing elephant
herds. The babies' real mothers could not be traced.

State parks and wildlife officials agreed on their release, the group said,
and “the capture of wild animals for zoos or similar habitats, irrespective
of location” is expected to be stopped.

Four baby elephants were flown to China in November. Conservationists said
the calves suffered extreme stress separated from family groups on the
36-hour journey to China and one died later. - Sapa-AP

Elephants still being held to fulfil Chinese wildlife order

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
21 January 2013

There is concern for the fate of at least two elephants still being held in
Zimbabwe for future export, to fulfil an order placed by China.

The animals are being held in Victoria Falls, according to the Zimbabwe
Conservation Task Force (ZCTF). They are part of an order that was only part
filled with the export of four baby elephants to zoos in China late last
year. One of those elephants has since died.

Another five elephants, four of which were destined for China, were this
weekend transferred to the Umfurudzi National Park after they were released
from bomas they were being held in, at Hwange National Park. The animals had
been captured and removed from their family herds ahead of being exported.
But the National Parks authorities, following the intervention of the
Zimbabwe NSPCA, decided the group would be rehabilitated at Umfurudzi
because they “had grown too big” and were too used to the bomas.

The animals now face a three month rehabilitation period.

ZCTF chairman Johnny Rodrigues, told SW Radio Africa on Monday that this
victory is bittersweet, because it doesn’t change the fact that orders for
animals are still being placed and fulfilled. He said that there are still
animals being held, including the two elephants in Victoria Falls. He said
that orders for another 48 elephants have already been placed by
international countries, and the cash strapped government would be
fulfilling these demands.

“I praise the people that were involved in having the animals released, but
I believe there is hidden agenda. There are still animals being held,”
Rodrigues said.

He said the government is already committed to fulfilling China’s order,
because they have been paid.

“I admire all the people that did so much to save them (the five released
elephants), but there are another 48 elephants on order to be exported,”
Rodrigues warned.

He added: “It is frightening when we exploit something that is our heritage
and export them to another country. We are going to get a High Court order
to prevent authorities from doing what they are doing.”

Elephant death prompts action against UN tourism conference

The meeting is set to take place in Victoria Falls in August. But the recent exportation of four baby elephants to China, along with ongoing human rights abuses, has resulted in a public backlash against Zimbabwe’s hosting of the international conference.

“Human rights in Zimbabwe is at an all time low, as is their protection of the environment and wildlife. The Zimbabwe government recently exported 4 young elephants to China, using inhumane methods to transport them and complete disregard for CITES laws. One of the young elephants has died and there are allegedly more young elephants waiting to be exported. The Zimbabwe Government has a long and distasteful record with regards to its treatment of its wildlife and its people. It is only with boycotts and sanctions from people across the world that the message of this unacceptable behaviour can be clearly communicated to them,” the petition reads.

Bleak future for Zim tourism

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Richard Chidza, Staff Writer
Monday, 21 January 2013 11:44
HARARE - With the world agonising on whether to attend the United Nations
World Tourism Authority (UNWTO) jamboree slated for August in Zimbabwe and
Zambia, operators say the country’s wildlife sector stands at the precipice.

In a statement last week the Save Conservancy Trust (SVC)said the world is
unsure whether to smile, look away or cry.

“With January being the most important month of the year for the marketing
of hunting safaris the current impasse is a recipe for disaster: no hunting
permits, no overseas clients, no SVC income, collapse of the SVC, no
community benefits now or ever — huge diplomatic fallout, dire consequences
for Zimbabwe’s tourism,” the Trust said.

“The world is in dismay as Zimbabwe allows the destruction of its tourism
jewel.”

Whilst the political will for the solution has been repeatedly expressed,
the actual progress on the ground is non-existent.

The SVC is simply being blackmailed into submission by National Parks who
have since refused to issue hunting permits for 2012 and now also for 2013,”
the statement added.

Following the failure by a Zanu PF politburo committee to resolve the
impasse, government has since moved and formed a committee headed by deputy
premier Arthur Mutambara to find a solution to the troubles bedevilling one
of the world’s biggest wildlife sanctuaries.

The SVC said the failure by tourism authorities particularly the department
of parks and wildlife to act or its negative actions, have often been to the
detriment of private and national wildlife.

Natural Resources minister Francis Nhema and his Tourism counterpart Walter
Mzembi both from Zanu PF have been at each other’s throat over the wildlife
sanctuary saga.

Mzembi, fronting Zimbabwe’s quest for a successful co-hosting of the tourism
extravaganza with Zambia has argued that the negative reports being
generated by the so called indigenisation drive in the wildlife sector are
working against his efforts.

Zanu PF factional fights pitting vice president Joice Mujuru and Defence
minister Emmerson Mnangagwa fighting to succeed Mugabe have also been blamed
for the chaos in the Save Valley.

Nhema is reported to belong to the Mnangagwa faction while Mzembi is said to
side with Mujuru.

“Conservancies at large have suffered from actions of the department of
parks rather than enjoyed its support, whilst the ministry of Environment
(under Nhema) manoeuvres in the background.

“How does a willing SVC engage on its many community participation proposals
with unresponsive government departments?” the Trust queried.

Two weeks ago, Germany ambassador to Zimbabwe, Hans Gnodtke warned that his
country and other European countries may boycott the UNWTO summit in protest
over the decimation of the SVC some of whose properties are protected by
Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs).

SVC said a Zanu PF-aligned group now known as the “Masvingo 37” is on the
rampage while government watches.

“What is the goal for refusing hunting permits for the SVC and other
conservancies?

“A group called the “Masvingo 37”, already multiple beneficiaries from the
land redistribution programme, are holding investors to ransom and demanding
a stake under a murky policy called “Wildlife-based land reform.”

“The “Masvingo 37” has stated that their interest is not in conservation or
active participation “we want cash” is the recorded demand.

They are actively engaged in poaching and bush meat trade as we write,” the
statement said.

Report: Zimbabwe Army Bartering Diamonds For Arms

http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/

21.01.13, 09:48

Zimbabwe's Deputy Mines Minister has leveled serious accusations at the
nation's armed forces, accusing it of colluding to trade the country's rough
diamonds for weapons, Rough and Polished reports. Gift Chimanikire of the
Movement for Democratic Change Party said that the nation was not earning as
much as it should for its rough diamonds, because instead of being sold on
the open market, they are being bartered for arms.
The diamond company doing the most mining activity in the Marange region,
Anjin, is owned by China and the Zimbabwean Army in a 90%-10% split, and it
is difficult to account for the dollar value of the army's share of the
gems, since they are traded for weapons, according to Chimanikire. The
Deputy Mines Minister said that as of 2 years ago, Anjin had amassed 5.8
million carats of rough diamonds that were not brought to tender in Harare.
Chimanikire recommended a change in the way diamonds were sorted in the
country in order to quash corruption, according to Rough and Polished. The
Deputy Minister criticized Zimbabwe's practice of sorting diamonds at the
country's International Airport and advocated for the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority to audit transactions where the diamonds are produced to begin
with.

Mugabe Buries Deputy Nkomo, Urges Peaceful Zimbabwe Poll

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, January 21, 2013 - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe on Monday
buried his deputy, John Nkomo, whose death from cancer has underscored
concerns about the 88-year-old leader's own health problems and succession
plans.

Mugabe, who has been in power for more than three decades, is seeking
another five-year term as president after his Zanu (PF) party chose him as
its candidate for elections due this year despite fears he is battling
prostate cancer.

Making no reference to his own health, Mugabe called for peaceful elections
and praised Nkomo, who died last week, as a man of principle who worked to
foster political reconciliation between rival parties.

The southern African country has a history of violent and disputed
elections, including one in 2008 that led Mugabe and arch rival Morgan
Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to form a compromise
unity government.

Mugabe told thousands of mourners at a Harare shrine to heroes of Zimbabwe's
independence struggle that the best tribute to Nkomo would be a smooth
election.

"Peace, unity and harmony should prevail in the country if we desire to move
forward," he said in the hour-long address.

The Heroes' Acre speech was interrupted by heavy rain and a power cut to the
public address system - a reminder of the economic woes that have bedevilled
the former British colony since Mugabe's seizure of commercial farms in
2000.

Africa's oldest leader, who normally uses such platforms to attack his
opponents, sounded conciliatory and urged Zimbabweans to bury "petty
personal differences" over politics.

Despite the soothing words, critics say Mugabe is not doing enough to
control militant Zanu (PF) supporters, some of whom booed Tsvangirai when a
cabinet minister acknowledged his presence before Mugabe's address.

Rights groups on Friday condemned what they called an escalating campaign
against ZANU-PF critics ahead of elections, which could be held by
September.

The civic organizations, including church and legal groups, said there was a
"well-calculated and intensified" assault on rights activists, journalists
and artists through slander, intimidation, raids, arrests and prosecutions.
Reuters

Focus on new charter ignores other reforms in GPA

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
21 January 2013

While the Constitution drafting team sets to work preparing the final draft
of a new charter agreed to by the government principals last week, debate
over what was agreed and what it means for the country’s elections has
intensified.

As the political parties celebrate an agreement after three years of
bickering, the other key reforms stipulated by the Global Political
Agreement (GPA) have slowly faded into the background and elections have
become the one thing government appears to be concerned with.

McDonald Lewanika, Director of the Crisis Coalition, told SW Radio Africa
that other reforms stipulated by the GPA, that are essential to ensure a
credible poll, have been sidelined and elections are now the focus. He
explained that at least one important reform, the Constitution, has finally
been completed.

“Of course the other reforms that are critical for us to hold free and fair
elections have been sidelined as people focused on this long running episode
of the Constitution making process, which I think is unfortunate. But from a
political psychology point of view, the Constitution was the biggest prize,”
Lewanika said.

He added: “I have to agree with those who say we need to hold on opening the
champagne bottle, because the definitive process that is supposed to take
place which is the referendum, we do not yet know when that will be. And we
have no date for elections either.”

The deadlock had been caused by ZANU PF’s refusal to stick to the July, 2012
draft that their negotiators signed, insisting on many changes that they
claimed represented the will of the people.

The MDC formations at first refused to make any more changes, saying they
had already compromised enough. They even wrote to the SADC appointed
mediator, President Jacob Zuma, calling on him to intervene.

At a press conference after the agreement last week, Robert Mugabe said: “We
shall after the actual completion of the draft constitution, be making a
proclamation as to the way forward and then we will stipulate our roadmap
and state when the referendum will be held. And that will indicate also when
our elections will be forthcoming.”

“We” meant the principals, and this has been strongly criticised by the
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), who are advocating for a NO vote on
the new charter. NCA spokesman Madock Chivasa told SW Radio Africa that the
exercise has been taken over by three people, after wasting lots of time and
money.

“We have always been against this process saying that the politicians should
not write the constitution. So what has happened now is they have finally
handed it over to their principals who then finally agreed on the contents
of the constitution,” Chivasa explained.

He added: “What it means is that we now have a Constitution that has been
written by political leaders. The contents of the draft are based on what
ZANU PF was demanding and what the three principals wanted. As the NCA we
believe this is totally unacceptable after wasting so much time and money.”

In terms of a timeline, COPAC co-chairman Douglas Mwonzora, has said he
expects the final drafting to be completed within a week or by the end of
January at the latest. Presentation to parliament in February would be next,
followed by a referendum in late March or early April.

But according to the state run Herald newspaper, the new agreement “means
the President could immediately call for elections anytime after the new
Constitution has been adopted.

The paper quotes Paul Mangwana, the ZANU PF co-chair in COPAC, as saying:
“The forthcoming elections will have no timelines in the new Constitution
because those elections are not going to be determined by the new law”.

Constitution deal waives election timelines

http://www.herald.co.zw

Monday, 21 January 2013 00:00

Lloyd Gumbo Herald Reporter
THE draft Constitution has waived timelines within which President Mugabe
can call for elections.
This comes amid indications that leaders of political parties may cut on the
timelines on Constitution-making that were provided in the Global Political
Agreement as efforts to hold polls gather momentum.

Copac co-chairpersons Cde Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana (Zanu-PF) and Mr Douglas
Mwonzora (MDC-T) said the new provision had been arrived at because they did
not know when the Constitution-making process was going to be completed.

This means the President could immediately call for elections anytime after
the new Constitution has been adopted.
“The forthcoming elections will have no timelines in the new Constitution
because those elections are not going to be determined by the new law,” said
Cde Mangwana.

“The date will be proclaimed by President Mugabe anytime after the
referendum.
However, the elections to follow will be guided by the new Constitution that
requires that Parliament should be dissolved 30 days before expiry of its
term.”

Added Mr Mwonzora: “This draft does not provide for when the elections are
going to be held for the forthcoming polls only. This election will be
declared in terms of the Global Political Agreement where the President and
the Prime Minister will have to analyse certain things that need to be done
and then the date for the elections will be declared. They can do this soon
after the completion of the referendum.”

“This was tactical because we didn’t know when the new Constitution was
going to be completed. It was difficult to provide for the election
timelines in the new Constitution for that reason.”

The current Constitution provides that the elections should be held within
90 days after the President’s proclamation of poll dates.
Mr Mwonzora said the draft provided that future elections would be declared
in the last month of the presidential term.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, he said, was expected to conduct voter
education while the Constitution-making process was underway.
He said there were clauses in the draft Constitution that were supposed to
be incorporated into the Electoral Act in the event that the new
Constitution was adopted.

Cabinet, he said, was supposed to quickly sponsor the exercise soon after
the adoption of the new Constitution to expedite the process leading to the
holding of the elections.

Mr Mwonzora said it was likely that the referendum would be held towards the
end of March or early April.
Cde Mangwana said after receiving the draft from the drafters today, they
would then take it to Parliament together with their report of the whole
Constitution-making process.

Parliamentarians, he said, would just comment on the draft but would not
change its contents.
“After that, the President will then make a proclamation calling for the
referendum. The Select Committee will also embark on a nationwide massive
public awareness programme so that the nation can understand the contents of
the draft.

“After that we will then go to the referendum. The GPA says there should be
three months between the publication of the draft and the referendum.

“However, it is up to the Principals and President Mugabe to set the date.
My own estimation is that we could have the referendum at the end of March
or early April,” said Cde Mangwana.

After the referendum, he said, the draft would be brought back to Parliament
for formal adoption and again the legislators would not change its contents.

The Bill would then be sent to the President for his assent.
It is at that stage that the President can then proclaim election dates.
MDC president Professor Welshman Ncube said PM Tsvangirai was asked by the
principals to engage ZEC so that they can say when they will be ready to
conduct the referendum.

“Once ZEC advises the Prime Minister of how fast they can do the referendum,
the PM will then report back to principals. The President will then be
guided by ZEC on when referendum could be held.

“The GPA requires that there should be three months between publication of
the draft and the referendum but the parties in Government can agree to
shorten the period.

“The most important thing is for ZEC to tell us when they can conduct the
referendum. We agreed that the timing of the elections will be decided after
the referendum,” said Prof Ncube who is also the Minister of Industry and
Commerce.

‘Draft constitution: Hold onto champagne bottles’

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Richard Chidza, Staff Writer
Monday, 21 January 2013 11:51
HARARE - Negotiators to Zimbabwe’s recently agreed draft constitution are
fearing that Zanu PF might pull another Houdini act and derail the
democratic reform process.

Regional Integration minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga said they were
now on tender hooks awaiting the politburo decision.

President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, Industry minister
Welshman Ncube and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara brought the
four-year-long heckling on Zimbabwe’s new charter to a seemingly positive
end on Thursday last week after endorsing the draft constitution.

In an interview with the Daily News at the weekend, Misihairabwi-Mushonga,
Ncube’s party lead negotiator warned Zimbabweans saying they needed to “hold
onto their champagne bottles.”

“For some of us, who have been through the torturous journey of
back-and-forth negotiating, we are on tender hooks and would like it if
people would just keep quiet for a moment.

“Remember we celebrated after the July 18 signing but what happened
afterwards took everyone 100 steps backwards. Zanu PF still has to go back
to its politburo and anything can happen,” Misihairabwi-Mushonga said.

She was referring to Mugabe’s astonishing party stunt in which the former
guerrilla movement somersaulted denying it had signed the agreed draft.

What followed was another half a year of negotiations but not before Zanu PF’s
supreme decision-making body outside congress spent 60 hours “editing the
draft”.

The party went on to produce its own version of the draft and tried to force
it down the throats of Zimbabweans. The two MDC formations in the shaky
coalition government stood their ground until last week’s landmark
capitulation by Mugabe.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga refused to comment on whether on the last day of
talks, Zanu PF negotiators had once again almost capitulated to the party’s
internal factional fights that are threatening to boil over.

“In as much as I would like to tell you the juicy things that happened, the
time is not now. Let us wait until we have delivered the constitution. When
everything is signed and sealed. Munotibhururusira shiri (you will destroy
everything), with the stories you write,” said the Regional Integration
minister.

“It will not serve any purpose now. We have things we might want Zimbabweans
to know, some very interesting things but please not now,” she said.

Insiders told the Daily News that Mugabe’s party negotiators had tried to
pull another back flip stunt after agreeing to devolution demanding
re-negotiation late on Wednesday.

“After agreement was reached Chinamasa early in the day, (Patrick, Justice
minister and Zanu PF lead negotiator) came back and demanded to re-negotiate
on devolution. He had received a call from one of the party’s faction
leaders.

“The other parties refused and walked out. Overnight Chinamasa realised
there was no going back. He then called for an early morning meeting of
negotiators at which he confirmed Zanu PF’s agreement with its earlier
decision on devolution so the report on negotiations was subsequently
presented to the Principals,” an insider told the Daily News.

Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, programmes manager, Nixon Nyikadzino said
there had not been much change to the July 18 draft accusing Zanu PF of
deliberately dragging the process.

“Zanu PF just wanted to drag the process. The party is not ready for
elections and as always, they seem to have got their wish,” Nyikadzino said.

Election lobby group, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) in a
statement last week expressed concern over the idea of political parties
having the final say once again.

“It will result in more negotiations. Principals represent their parties and
so taking the draft to political parties again could be duplication of
effort,” the statement said.

Zimbabwe Not On AU Summit Agenda

http://www.radiovop.com/

Addis Ababa, January 21, 2013 - The Zimbabwean crisis does not feature
anywhere on the agenda of the Africa Union Summit which begins here on
Monday, despite that it remains a crisis, Den Moyo, Co-ordinator of 21st
Movement Free Zimbabwe Global Protest.

Moyo said in a statement that the only available press report last year
about the AU and Zimbabwe was stating that this was the second year running
that Zimbabwe had not featured in AU discussions, with officials saying
Zimbabwe was no longer considered a “critical issue”.

This year again the SADC executive secretary, Tomaz Salamao, is quoted
saying that leaders meeting for the AU summit in Addis Ababa would only set
a date for a Zimbabwe Summit.

"Other reports are talking about a proposal to dispatch an AU Council of
Elders, possibly including retired presidents, Kenneth Kaunda and Jerry
Rawlings," said Moyo.

Kaunda is 89 and was Zambia's first President from its independence in 1964
to 1991. Rawlings is a former coup leader who was later elected President.

"What force they have to bring to bear on Mugabe, if he decides to continue
with his intransigence, is questionable," said Moyo.

"The chairmanship of outgoing AU chairman, Benin President Thomas Boni Yayi
has been a waste of time on the Zimbabwean issue, and the fact that he
stopped over in Harare to debrief President Mugabe at the end of his
chairmanship, suggests that President Mugabe is well aware of what will be
going on at Addis Ababa next week, unlike his rivals," added Moyo.

"The AU's own report about Dr Yayi's meeting with President Mugabe is quite
telling: President Robert Mugabe reportedly assured him of peaceful and
friendly elections in Zimbabwe this year, yet Mugabe has not fulfilled the
SADC conditions for peaceful elections, and SADC has not reported to the AU
on the Zimbabwean process."

An interesting aside was the two leaders' differences on Western
intervention in Africa, which exposed Mugabe's fears.

Dr Yayi explained the AU’s decision to seek NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation)'s intervention in Mali, which President Mugabe was not only
unhappy about, but, which his party portrayed as an uninvited French
invasion.

Dr. Yayi said, if the rebels had occupied Bamako it would not only be
catastrophic for Mali and the sub-region, but the whole world.

“It is a matter of terrorism, it is difficult for us and I think the right
way is to request for the assistance, military assistance, from NATO.”

Mugabe would rather the terrorists have overrun the Bamako government while
waiting for and African force that was not expected to be ready until
September.

Dr Yayi said, African countries were now ready to assist Mali after the
French intervention, although military intervention was the last resort for
Africa.

“The right way was to ask for assistance from NATO. We are ready to go to
Mali to help our brothers,” he said.

Zim Diaspora Petitions Zuma

http://www.radiovop.com

Johannesburg, January 21, 2013 - Zimbabweans in the Diaspora has called on
President Jacob Zuma of South Africa to take tangible actions, including a
SADC Peacekeeping Force before the Zimbabwean referendum, and for such a
force to remain in Zimbabwe until after the elections.

Saddened and concerned about the continued suppression of freedoms by the
Mugabe regime, which has waged a war against its own people in the run up to
another election that is threatening to be violent, the 21st Movement Global
Free Zimbabwe Movement has said gross violations of human rights are
continuing in Zimbabwe unabated.

The latest example is the arrest and harassment, including refusal of bail,
for human rights activists, Leo Chamahwinya and Okay Machisa, both of the
Zimbabwe Human Rights Associations on clearly trumped up charges.

"We are hopeful that you Mr. President, a man who respects human life and
dignity, will be at the forefront to stop the scourge that continues to
consume our nation.

"We are hopeful Mr. President that you will continue to stand on the side of
the suffering masses, and stop further persecution and loss of innocent
lives," they said in a petition to be presented to South African Embassies
this weekend and next weekend.

The petition states that Zimbabweans had placed their trust in President
Jacob Zuma, the people of South Africa and the family of Southern African
countries under SADC to help stem the loss of limbs and life in Zimbabwe
urgently.

"We are hopeful Mr. President that you will continue to stand on the side of
the suffering masses, and stop further persecution and loss of innocent
lives," they said.

The chairman of the 21st Movement, Den Moyo, also urged all Zimbabweans in
the Diaspora to join the protest on Saturday and next weekend to help send a
clear message to Zanu (PF) that it cannot get away with hoodwinking the
international community that it is undertaking democratic reforms, when it
is not.

He also urged President Zuma to advocate for the protection of the people's
vote by allowing international observers to monitor the elections in
Zimbabwe in line with SADC guidelines.

Indigenisation will cause banks to divest, executive says

http://mg.co.za

18 JAN 2013 00:00 - JASON MOYO

With Zimbabwe's largest foreign investors having fallen in line with the
country's indigenisation policy, the question banks now face is increasingly
how – no longer if – Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere will localise
their ownership.

Foreign-owned banks that would be affected are Barclays, Standard Chartered,
Standard Bank's Stanbic, MBCA – which is partly owned by Nedbank, and
Ecobank.

However, some banks are unwilling to sell and are threatening to leave the
country if forced to comply. A senior bank executive said this week that
international banks would pull out if they lost control of their business.
International banks would not allow their brands to be used in institutions
in which they did not have control, he said.

"A mine's assets are in the ground and its ability to extract resources.
These can be quantified. But a bank's asset is its brand. Once control of
the local bank is lost, that bank simply ceases to be part of the recognised
global brand and public confidence vanishes, resulting in failure of that
bank," he said.

Officials in the empowerment ministry involved in structuring the deals for
banks say one of the strategies being mooted is to force banks to put up
money to fund black businesses and farms as well as to sell shares to
locals.

Kasukuwere last year rejected Standard Chartered's proposal to sell only 10%
of its local operation.

Empowerment regulations
Boosted by his success in forcing large mines to give up controlling stakes,
Kasukuwere this week dared foreign banks to either comply with empowerment
regulations or leave.

"We have the money, we can pay for their [foreign banks'] assets,"
Kasukuwere said.

Last year, the banks found a shield in central bank governor Gideon Gono and
Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who both came out strongly against
Kasukuwere's threats.

The row calmed as Kasukuwere turned his sights on mines. Now that that
sector is completely indigenised, he is turning his attention to the banks.

"I would like to encourage other companies, particularly in the banking
sector, to comply with our national laws as noncompliance will no longer be
tolerated," Kasukuwere said at the signing ceremony of the Zimplats
empowerment deal last Friday.

"Defiance and arrogance will not be tolerated as companies must respect the
law and desist from provoking the state. There will be no sacred cow spared,
no stone unturned to ensure that the policy is fully implemented," he said.

Fast-track land reform
A year ago, there was scepticism in business circles as to whether mining
giant Zimplats would sell 51% of its business to locals, with some
predicting a compromise would be reached on a lower threshold.

Speculation among bank executives has now turned to how the banks will be
indigenised and many are looking at how the empowerment deal with financial
services provider Old Mutual was structured for clues as to how financial
services may be treated. As part of the Old Mutual deal, the company set
aside a total of 25%: 10% for staff, 9% for pensioners, 2.5% for a
"youth-development fund" and 3.5% for black investors. It also had to spend
money on a low-cost housing estate and a government-administered national
housing fund. Insiders at Old Mutual said negotiations would soon resume on
the remaining 26%.

At the centre of Zanu-PF's pursuit of foreign banks is the belief that they
deliberately refuse to fund farmers resettled under its land-reform campaign
and emerging black businesses.

Before the launch of "fast-track land reform" in 2000, 80% of all bank
lending went into agriculture, according to a report last year by the
African Development Bank. Farm loans now account for only 22% of all bank
lending, the report said.

Hit by a liquidity crisis because of a poor performing economy, banks have
little in reserve and are reluctant to lend money to farmers who have no
title to put up as security.

Mugabe revives Gaddafi's United States of Africa dream

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

Zimbabwean president claims a continental bloc united under one figurehead
is needed to move Africa into global superleague

David Smith, Africa correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 21 January 2013 14.16 GMT

The muscular display of power and pageantry at the inauguration in
Washington may be watched by envious eyes around the world. Not least among
those who yearn to build another USA – the United States of Africa – under a
single president.

Such was the dream of Muammar Gaddafi, a quixotic project that appeared to
have died with the Libyan dictator but has now been rekindled by the
Zimbabwean president, Robert Mugabe.

Speaking in Harare after meeting Benin's president, Thomas Boni Yayi, who is
the outgoing African Union (AU) chairman, Mugabe argued that a figurehead is
needed to move Africa beyond regional blocs and into the global superleague.

"Get them to get out of the regional shell and get into one continental
shell," he was quoted as saying by the state-owned Herald newspaper.

"The continent of Africa: this is what we must become. And there, we must
also have an African head. He was talking of the president of Africa. Yes,
we need one. We are not yet there.

"This is what we must go and discuss, but we must also discuss the issues
that divide us."

The AU holds its latest summit this week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Mugabe,
88, warned that Africans are not as united as was expected by the founders
of the AU's predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, half a century
ago.

"We really have not become integrated as an African people into a real
union," he said. "And this is the worry, which my brother has, and the worry
I have; the worry perhaps others also have. That we are not yet at that
stage which was foretold by our fathers when they created this
organisation."

The founding fathers had a vision of a continent united politically,
economically and culturally, he added. "We are not there yet. As we stand
here people will look at us, as me anglophone, him francophone, you see.
There is also lusophone, but we are Africans first and foremost. Africans,
Africans. Look at our skin.

"That's our continent, we belong to one continent. We may, by virtue of
history, have been divided by certain boundaries and especially by
colonialism. But our founding fathers in 1963 showed us the way and we must
take up that teaching that we got in 1963. That we are one and we must be
united."

A United States of Africa spanning Cape Town and Cairo was proposed by
Gaddafi in 1999 as a way of ending the continent's conflicts and defying the
west, but it failed to secure enough support from his African counterparts.
Some suspected that Gaddafi wanted the job for himself – a charge that
Mugabe is hardly likely to dodge.

There is a case for challenging borders that were drawn up by European
imperialists and which continue to inhibit travel and trade. But critics say
the notion of uniting 54 countries with their thousands of languages and
ethnicities is currently untenable. In fact some parts of Africa have been
moving in the opposite direction and seeking local autonomy. Economies are
moving at very different speeds.

Lindiwe Zulu, international relations adviser to South African president
Jacob Zuma, said: "I don't foresee a single United States of Africa with a
single president because we are so diverse politically and otherwise. It is
very desirable in the long term but I don't see it any time soon. There is a
lot more to be done. We are still agonising over sovereignty."

She added: "When you call for one president, you are calling for ministers
to serve under them, one parliament and one legislative process. There are
too many things that divide us on political, social and economic levels. We
need to have a common agenda and approach to human rights and development
before we can talk about one president. We need to deal with democracy on
the continent and leaders who think beyond themselves."

Richard Dowden, director of the Royal African Society, said: "The idea that
one government could rule the whole of Africa at this stage is silly and
unworkable. They need to build from the bottom economically rather than
imposing a notion of unity from the top down; it's absurd.

"It is a dream of totalitarian fantasists, not the people. Africa is
becoming increasingly local. I'm in Kenya at the moment and the forthcoming
election is all about ethnic arithmetic."

Lions, hyenas terrorise Hwange village

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

21/01/2013 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

VILLAGERS in the Jambezi area of Hwange district say they are being stalked
by lions and hyenas which have killed nearly two dozen cattle.
The animals escaped from the Hwange National Park through a broken fence and
have been roaming through the neighbouring communities, destroying
everything in their path.

Jambezi councillor Timothy Dumulomo Tshuma said they had notified the Parks
and Wildlife Authority, but had only been promised training on how to handle
the animal threat.

Tshuma said in an interview on Sunday: “In Mbizha, one villager lost three
cattle in his kraal. The man was tending to his field; heard some rumble of
noise, rushed home and found lions inside his kraal feasting on his cattle.
He could do nothing.”

He said he had heard accounts of how young boys herding cattle were sent
scampering by lions which then attacked their herds before hyenas scrambled
for left-overs.

He went on: “The villagers have created groups to guard their livestock.
They now walk around armed with axes. We always advise villagers to be extra
cautious.

“The greatest problem is that our villages are next to the game park, and
with the fence damaged, it’s difficult to control these animals because they
escape and wander into populated areas sourcing for food.”

Last year, elephants killed two people within a week in Jambezi. The
elephants were met by scared villagers who threw sticks and stones at them
trying to chase them away, unknowingly provoking them in the process.

Mutare sitting on health time bomb

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Monday, 21 January 2013 11:08
HARARE - Clearly, this is their dirty little secret. They need to survive.

Often staying for more than a week — sleeping side by side with vagrants on
shop verandas at Sakubva Bus Terminus, rural vendors who travel to Mutare to
sell wares end up relieving themselves in drains, backyards, roadsides and
alleys, and bathing only their privates under cover of darkness.

Come mornings, they are busy selling vegetables and fruits to locals, who
are yet to lift the lid off the life fruit and vegetable producers live when
they come with their merchandise to Mutare from faraway places such as Honde
Valley.

Women constitute the bulk of these traders who have to endure tough
conditions to either feed households they lead or supplement their husbands’
paltry earnings.

With council’s health department denying travellers, vagrants, rank
marshals, vendors, drivers, conductors and guards usage of toilets at night
at the 24-hour terminus, the city is sitting uneasily on a health time bomb.

Sakubva, apart from hosting the city’s main fruit and vegetable market, is
also a transit route.

Traffic from across the country as well as to and from neighbouring
Botswana, Mozambique and South Africa pass through here.

One of the vendors, Susan Chiwaya, says they sleep three nights a week on
average at the market to sell-off their wares.

We travel in groups of relatives and we have to stay together, otherwise our
husbands would not allow us to come,” she said.

She said while there are people in Sakubva Township who offer rooms at a $1
per night per individual, the collective nature of their travelling and
living conditions make it difficult.

“If other members of the group feel they cannot afford it then you will have
to put up in the open — out of comradeship. We watch over each other.
Everyone is a witness,” she said.

“We sometimes return home ill and remain in bed for days. We also worry
about the health of our families because we are never too sure of what
diseases we catch here,” she said.

Some of the women however, bath and wash their clothes at the toilets at
Sakubva Stadium, whose perimeter has all but collapsed hence the easy
access.

Council senior health and hygiene officer Matthew Dukwa said council was too
resource-constrained to open toilets round the clock as that would require
hiring more cleaners.

“It would have been ideal (to have the toilets open) but it is not tenable
due to manpower and security issues,” Dukwa said.

Dukwa said it was illegal to sleep at the terminus, which had no
accommodation facilities. He blamed out-of-town fruit and vegetable vendors
for extending their stay in the city and putting up on shop verandas.

Law society refocuses

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Gugulethu Nyazema, Staff Writer
Monday, 21 January 2013 11:48
HARARE - The Law Society of Zimbabwe (LSZ) says it is refocusing on its
fundamental role of regulating the legal profession after years of tackling
President Robert Mugabe’s government over democratic and other civil rights
issues.

This comes as the decades-old institution has often been accused by the
Harare administration of dabbling in politics over its socio-politic
inclinations and programmes.

“LSZ is now back to its traditional role. It has not been easy, but we are
pleased that the improving environment has released us from over-commitment
to human rights and rule of law,” association president Tinoziva Bere said
in the 2012 and year-end report.

“One of my major priorities… was to improve the financial stability and
independence of the society. The ultimate aim was to ensure the LSZ budget
is centrally financed by members. This I believed would strengthen the
independence of the legal profession,” he said, adding this objective had
been met.

To this end, the Harare-based institution was refocusing on strengthening
its governance structures, financial position and other issues or functions
by restructuring its full-time secretariat.

Other priorities, included the provision of effective member representation,
taking an active role in the legislative agenda, increase media visibility
and publicity as well as realisation of social intercourse, and member
engagement.

With one of the outgoing executive’s major goals being to clear the backlog
of cases through an enhanced case management system and 100 percent spot
checks on all distressed firms, Bere also hoped to make an impact on
Zimbabwe’s law-making processes, improve the quality of lawyers standing
before courts and those in the advocates’ chambers.

Crucially, the LSZ must be a leading champion of the rule of law,
independence of the legal and judiciary sectors as well as effective manager
of its programmes, and resources through the judicious application of its
business ideals.

“It has made it possible for us to strengthen the profession from its centre
starting with its governance structure and process its secretariat… its
fiscal processes that ensure efficient and prudent resource utilisation,
intensified discipline processes both historical and futuristic… retaining
and re-skilling the profession,” the prominent Zimbabwean lawyer said.

While the legal organ was keen on achieving the highest possible standards
by having a computerised case management system and other strategies, it has
also drawn up an ambitious training programme for the upcoming year under
its continuing legal education programme for lawyers, and other related
parties.

Meanwhile, the LSZ has also co-opted Precious Chakasikwa of Kantor and
Immerman — in line with its gender policy and — as a fourth councillor for
Harare.

Striking farm workers evicted

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Chengetayi Zvauya, Parliamentary Editor
Monday, 21 January 2013 11:22
HARARE - Twenty evicted families at Mara Farm in Goromonzi South
Constituency are being soaked by rains as the police are denying them entry
into the farm to collect their belongings.

The Daily News visited the farm last Thursday and witnessed the farm-workers
ordeal.

This reporter saw armed police manning the farm, patrolling the farm
preventing workers from accessing shelter from the pounding rains.

MDC Member of Parliament for Goromonzi South, Greenbate Zvanyanya Dongo,
managed to address the workers who are living in the forest which is near
Mara Farm.

The families, who were evicted last Monday, claim that since Edward Dube
acquired the farm in 2005, he had been underpaying them.

The evicted workers claimed Dube kicked them out after they demanded their
dues.

Most of the labourers who are foreigners have no alternative accommodation
are now surviving on the benevolence of workers from neighbouring farms who
are assisting them with food and water.

The former workers said they could not access food or water from their
previous workplace after they were told not to enter the farm.

A court order granted by Justice Hlatshwayo last November ordered the
workers to vacate the farm.
Some of the workers said they had been working on the farm since 1985 under
former white farmer Arthur Hale.

Armed police tried to stop the meeting between Dongo and the farm workers
saying it was an unauthorised meeting but the meeting prevailed after Dongo
produced his parliamentary identity card.

“I did not know there were armed police officers at the farm, they are
threatening these defenceless workers. I was approached by the workers to
help.

“They need food, clothes and tents for their upkeep during this rainy
season. I am going to seek a meeting with Dube to find out why he has
evicted these workers during the rainy season without paying them,” said
Dongo.

Olery Njiri leader of the displaced farm workers related the problems they
are facing following their evictions from the farm.

“We are having problems of shelter and food as we have not been paid our
money by Dube. Our children are not going to school. My family was
threatened last year in May when I asked Dube to pay our salaries, and he
framed up charges that I had stolen his maize,” said Njiri.

Dube defended the eviction of 20 families from Mara Farm just outside
Epworth claiming they no longer worked for him and he had obtained a court
order to kick them out.

Dube, who is into dairy farming, said the families had continued staying at
his property after he advised them to leave. He also claimed the families
remained defiant even after he showed them the eviction order.

Dube said the farmer workers were in contempt of a court order.

“These workers should vacate my farm as the High Court ruled. The presence
of the police is to help me to enforce the court order. They are making a
lot of allegations trying to defame my character but I am on the right side
of the law as I am the legal owner of the farm who has terminated their
working contracts,” said Dube.

Zanu PF abusing churches

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Chengetayi Zvauya, Parliamentary Editor
Monday, 21 January 2013 11:56

HARARE - A 95-year-old church leader commanding a million-plus followers has
crossed swords with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC, which accuses
him of undermining the party amid concerns that Zanu PF is abusing churches.

The MDC is denouncing Paul Mwazha, leader of the massively-followed African
Apostolic Church, for allegedly propping President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF
in his sermons.

Mwazha is on an evangelical crusade countrywide.

He torched controversy with MDC leaders in Mashonaland East Province last
week when addressing a multitude, allegedly urging people to vote for
President Robert Mugabe.

Mwazha says he is neutral and the allegations are hogwash.

MDC councillor for Ward 1 Archibald Mudimu, however, said Mwazha’s open- air
sermon at Munyawiri Secondary School in Chinamhora was full of anti-MDC
sloganeering.

“He has held two meetings in Goromonzi West and we know that he has been
preaching against our party leader Morgan Tsvangirai telling his church
members to vote for Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe in the elections,” said
Mudimu.

“We don’t want him any more in our area as he is preaching politics,” said
Mudimu.

African Apostolic Church general secretary Richard Juru denied that Mwazha
was preaching politics at the crusades but was praying for all national
political leaders.

“We pray for our inclusive government leaders that is President Robert
Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and other cabinet ministers.

“Maybe some of the political leaders are feeling that they are being left
out, but we don’t segregate against anyone as we don’t want to be engaged in
politics. But there is nothing wrong if we pray for President Mugabe because
he is the national leader,” said Juru.

“I invite you to our church sermon and you can hear for yourself prophet
Mwazha preach and hear whether he is segregating against Prime Minister
Tsvangirai,” he said.

As the country enters the campaign season ahead of general elections,
Zimbabwe’s political parties have gone all out to woo voters found in
churches.

Mugabe, his deputy Joice Mujuru and a host of his party officials have been
frequenting church services mainly for the apostolic faith in a bid to hook
up voters in this hugely popular movement.

While generally a fan of controversial Nigerian preacher and “miracle man”
TB Joshua, Tsvangirai has also been on a whirlwind drive to associate with
churches.

In partnership with some churches, he was recently on a tour of the country
meeting grassroots people in a programme dubbed prayer rallies.

Despair arising from deep seated poverty and unemployment – two signs of the
failure of the coalition government– has forced millions to turn to churches
for hope.

Largely a Christian country, Zimbabwe has seen a mushrooming of different
types of churches.

From prosperity gospel powerhouses such as Emmanuel Makandiwa’s United
Family International Church to small groups congregating under trees,
churches are taking centre stage in Zimbabweans’ lives.

With elections possibly less than six months away, Zimbabwe is likely to see
an intensification of churches playing a leading role in voter mobilisation.

The MDC Today

http://www.mdc.co.zw

Monday, 21 January 2013
Issue - 503

The following is an extract of an interview where the Secretary General Hon
Tendai Biti spoke on what JUICE is all about and what the people of Zimbabwe
should expect once it is translated into reality. In this particular extract
Hon Biti focuses on the need to expand the national cake so that all
Zimbabweans can benefit from it and not just a few in Zanu PF.

Hon Biti: The starting point is to recognize fundamentally that Zimbabwe is
a very small economy, less than 3% of the entire SADC economy with a mere
budget of US$3.8 billion and Southern Africa’s 3rd smallest economy after
Lesotho and Swaziland, nominal GDP about US$11 billion so the cake is very
small.

The challenge is how do we expand the cake. The point of departure between
MDC and Zanu PF is that Zanu PF starts from the starting point that let’s
distribute this tiny economy which is a rat, lets distribute this tiny rat
to over 14 million people.

The MDC’s position is that fundamentally, let’s expand this economy, let’s
have supply side reform that expands the cake so that it becomes an
elephant. And in that way, we can have more economic players than when you
have a tiny population participating.

The problem we have with current Indigenisation Programme to the extent that
it’s not nationalisation as nobody is getting shares for free. You have to
buy them. And in a situation where the per capita income of the average
Zimbabwean is US$370.00, and in a situation where 85% of the people are
living below the poverty datum line it means only a very few people, a tiny
elite can afford to buy shares in Barclays bank, Zimplats, so the Zanu PF
model becomes predatory accumulation from the rich to the rich its not
empowerment its an elite predatory transfer.

The Last Mile: Towards Real Transformation!!!

David Coltart replies

I am keenly aware of that and have never been an apologist for the racist policies of the Rhodesian Front and would never want to be part of a system which sought in any way, directly or indirectly, to bring the horrors of that system back in any form.

However, I now have a few questions for him. Who are these people and how have they been elbowed out? He is talking in the plural and so the onus is on him to spell out who these people are. The only person at present who has been mentioned is Givemore Makoni. I would like to know who else has been or will be affected.

Whilst I do not argue for a second that it took a long time for black Zimbabweans to be drawn into cricket (something we see in South Africa today 20 years after the end of apartheid with pitifully few black players in both their cricket and rugby squads) and that it was difficult for black players to learn the game and be recognised even post independence, we must still ask the question whether the person allegedly affected had the skills to play for Zimbabwe.

But is that true or just a cover? Makoni says that in 1988 he went to under 15 trials which accordingly to my calculations means he was born in 1973, that is after Bruce Makovah, born in 1969, and after Ethan Dube, born in 1970. Both of the last two gentlemen played cricket at provincial and national level, something Makoni never did.

Henry Olonga and Pommie Mbangwa were both born in 1976 and both went to Government schools. Whilst they had three years less of racial discrimination to contend with they clearly were not discriminated against when it came to selection for Zimbabwe.

Why was Mr Makoni discriminated against if they weren’t or was he just not good enough? I am not in way disputing that black players had tremendous and unfair obstacles to overcome but can we truthfully say that that was the reason Makoni didn’t play provincial or national cricket? In other words was he in fact “blocked” from selection as suggested?

But there is a second question that Robson Sharuko must answer — even if we accept that Mr Makoni should have played for Zimbabwe but for racial discrimination is he in fact being “elbowed out of their sporting structures because they were victims of racial prejudice”? I would answer that question for him as follows.

There must be a reason for this and it has nothing to do with race or historical racial discrimination. Related to this can we say with absolute honesty that the system employed in Zimbabwe Cricket is working well? Our performances on the field over the last year certainly do not indicate that.

Secondly Mr Makoni is not the only person in sport in Zimbabwe who will not be able to keep his position as convener — for example Austin Jeans, the well known sports doctor, was convener of the triathlon national selection panel, and he too will no longer be able to be convener.

Jeans is white so it has nothing to do with race, but everything to do with a consistent national policy which is in the national interest and consistent with international best practice. Triathlon Zimbabwe, like Zimbabwe Cricket, will have to apply to the SRC to have him approved as a selector.

There are two final questions I have for Robson Sharuko. Is it right that a policy which is clearly in the national interest, and designed to improve Zimbabwe’s sporting performance, should be blocked by spurious and baseless arguments that somehow they perpetuate racism?

Are black Zimbabweans racists?

http://www.politicsweb.co.za

Vince Musewe
21 January 2013

Vince Musewe says his country's politicians want all things Western, but are
quick to speak against the West

African politicians are a strange breed indeed, quick to condemn and shout
against colonialism and imperialism, but slow to shed their personal
colonial comforts.

It is always a dangerous occupation to generalize. As Mark Twain once said;
"All generalizations are false including this one". However, I think the
above issue needs to be explored, simply because it has been quite
intriguing for me, to talk to black Zimbabweans about the past and how it
has affected their thinking today. I therefore ask for my readers'
indulgence in advance, lest I generalize, an inevitable consequence of the
subject matter discussed herein.

Growing up in the then Rhodesia was never easy for us blacks. I remember my
high school days where, despite having an excellent education, I was
traumatized by the overt racism that I experienced from fellow white
students at a certain private school just outside Harare. I only realized
this later on in my life that, I was continually abused verbally and
emotionally. The word "kaffir" ended up not meaning much to me, because I
heard it so many times.

I stopped reacting negatively to it, and began to even laugh when I was
called that. The lie that blacks are inferior was repeated to me so many
times for six years, that I began to believe it. Even after independence,
the Zimbabwe's corporate sector was fraught with racist practices that held
back blacks while accelerating the promotion of whites. That too I
experienced during my articles in Harare. I guess our older generation of
Zimbabweans also had similar experiences. You end up accepting those things
you can't change and focusing on those you can.

I do not necessarily hate whites today, but I detest white racism or any
traces of a superiority complex they may display. It's simply a myth.
However, not all whites are racists.

Despite the above, the older generation of Zimbabweans appreciates how the
‘murungu' was organized. Wages were always paid on time, properties and
roads well maintained or developed, infrastructure worked, medicines were
available, street lights always on, rubbish was collected on time every
time, drinking water was safe and so on. It stops there, because there is
nothing sweeter than freedom and liberty even without the comforts of the
colonialist.

We must admit though, that whites are more organized, good at planning and
management, and they also have the technology that we need to develop our
country, something we cannot take away from them. All you have to do to
prove this today, in Zimbabwe, is to visit a black managed farm and compare
it to a white managed one. It's chalk and cheese, as they say.

There is a tendency among some of us to detest all whites, because of our
history. This is more evident among those blacks who suffered terribly under
colonialism and the liberation struggle. Those black Zimbabweans who
participated in the liberation struggle bore the brunt of white hate and
violence. I am therefore, the least qualified to judge how they feel today.
Speaking to some of them, they still hate whites to this day, because of
suffering they caused in order to protect white economic advantage. I
understand where my brothers and sisters are coming from.

That granted, I think they, however, still acknowledge that whites certainly
did have a hand in developing Zimbabwe, albeit to their selfish ends. There
was absolutely no justification for their selfishness. In my opinion,
Rhodesian whites were rather slow to react to a changed environment after
independence, and did not acknowledge blacks as equal partners by
incorporating them in the economy, especially the agricultural sector. It
was a case of separate but equal development.

This has afforded our erstwhile politicians, an excuse to take radical
steps, which have been catastrophic for everyone. South African whites in
the agricultural sector must learn from this. The quicker South African
blacks are incorporated into this sector as owners and not mere workers, the
better off everyone will be in the long term.

Zimbabwean blacks benefited tremendously from education provided by white
missionaries, but Rhodesian education policy towards blacks was racist and
can never be defended. I have learnt, for example, that it was most
difficult to become a black doctor. This was simply because the Smith regime
would not accept that.

Instead, the British assisted a significant number of blacks to become
doctors, by providing them with scholarships to study abroad. Therein lays
the dilemma: Rhodesian whites were crudely racist, while the British were
more accommodating towards the aspirations of black Zimbabweans. Despite
their colonial baggage, the British were therefore "better" whites than
white Rhodesians. But is there a term such as a better racist? Hmm I
wonder.

On the political front, it is evident that there is an overt abhorrence of
whites, but one needs to understand the dynamics that have led to this
phenomenon. I will not delve into it here, but suffice it to say that, to
some extent, Mugabe's experience with, and opinion of, the British has been
"institutionalized "in Zimbabwe.

This may have has created a misconception that all blacks hate whites, which
is not necessarily the case. You will hear stories of some good deeds done
towards black Zimbabweans by whites, and we ought to give credit where it is
due. The British for example, still give considerable aid to Zimbabwe today,
and so do a lot of other European countries and America. In fact, they seem
more concerned about our social underdevelopment than our own black
politicians! How bizarre, but not surprising at all.

The cacophony we hear today about indigenization and the drive to take over
white owned companies for me, is driven more by political desperation than
by the absolute hate of whites. What always amazes me is that, our
politicians here speak against everything white, but can be seen jumping
into British or German manufactured cars, love Scottish whisky and British
tea, adore Italian suits and Swiss made watches? They want all things
Western, but are quick to speak against the West. For me that is the
contradiction of it all. I always ask myself that: if these guys really hate
whites or the west so much, why do they love what whites make and like to
emulate how they live? Mental slavery- perhaps?

But as we all know, African politicians are a strange breed indeed, quick to
condemn and shout against colonialism and imperialism if that is going to
earn them political power, but slow to shed the personal material comforts
and benefits they derive from their former masters. Talk about being
authentic!

I therefore conjecture that; some black Zimbabweans still hate what some
whites did to them in the past, but in my opinion, black Zimbabweans in
general, do not necessarily hate whites with the obsessive passion that we
see "you know who" showing at political gatherings, before he is whisked
away in his German made limousine, or his French Alouette helicopter. Hmmm
how ironic.

Asikhulume! (Let's talk !)

Vince Musewe is an economist based in Harare. You may contact him on
vtmusewe@gmail.com

Zimbabwe Freedom Fighters Also Committed Evil Atrocities

The Chimurenga war left too many bloody memories that still haunt many to this day. The sad part was that the villagers were the ones who faced the music as they served as the sea for the Freedom Fighters who deemed themselves the fish. Their side of the story always landed them in danger from either of the fighting sides. In a lot of ways, they remained victims of the war in both sides regardless of what they believed as the true cause to root for. Today, they still remain victims of elections through gruesome punishments in case they choose not to vote for Zanu PF. Their suffering continues even though the regimes have changed.

Freedom Fighters wanted full commitment and support because they were fighting for the liberation of the black person against the obnoxious colonial system. The Rhodesia Front on the other side was fighting a war to defend the system that had given them sovereignty and control over the native populations. Both sides had a common hunting ground. The villages were the war front where they hunted and killed each other. Cases of deflected blows and stray bullets or fierce retribution after losing some team members to the enemy or as a way to punish the villagers to comply with the demands of either side were common. Many atrocities were committed and yet no side claimed full responsibility. The propaganda machinery made it easier for either side to push blame on the sought enemy yet no one knew exactly who had done what among the vulnerable villagers. The only known evidence was when the villagers were rounded up to witness a retribution exercise.

The RF used advanced military hardware, Dakota planes, land mines, Selous scouts and cavalry teams as they roamed and bombed lots of places and villages to the extent of reaching even Chimoio and Nyadzonya in Mozambique. Of course some have maintained that the Mozambique bombings were an inside job by some selfish Zanu PF leaders who actually disclosed the finer details in exchange for rewards. Those still living have varying facts about this issue and the truth still remains to emerge. The hunt for “terrorists” and innocent villagers in refugee camps was an obsession driven by fear of loss of control over a place that they had come to consider as home. Rhodesians were not willing to surrender their grip on farms, mines and factories. Thousands of lives were therefore lost that way and there was no looking back. Simultaneously, acid or poison could be sprayed on water holes or abandoned clothes and left for desperate or unwary Freedom Fighters to help themselves and they would die from that sulfuric acid eating their flesh.

On the Freedom Fighters side, their anger was manifested whenever they felt betrayed by the masses. They had to send a clear message through instant but gruesome justice that gave villagers permanent injuries, excruciating pain and disfigurement. Reported sellouts were punished before fellow villagers and there were no consequences. With such gruesome punishments, villagers towed the support line easily as fear and trauma ruled their environments. Of course some used that opportunity to bring their hatred and jealous on fellow villagers whose names they tendered to the freedom Fighters for atrocities to take place to their pleasure and satisfaction. Many incidents were reported of villagers turning against each other and using Freedom Fighters’ anger for justice to be invoked. It became more or less like an eye for an eye as many lived in fear of each other.

In an unprecedented probate on some of the acts of magandanga during the war as committed against their own blood, some former Rhodesian soldiers have disclosed pieces of hair-raising atrocities that are supported by gripping images. On December 3, 1975, a terrorist gang cut off the ears, nose and chin from Chikombe Mazvidza of Kandeya Tribal Trust Land in Mount Darwin. They then forced his wife to cook and eat the flesh. A burning ember was thrust into his mother’s genitals and two other locals were also assaulted. His five children and 60 villagers were forced to watch. Some were burnt in their mud and dagga huts. Some lost their upper lips, ears or eyes. And at another, Anna, an innocent woman of Mt Darwin district, had her upper lip pulled with a pair of pliers and hacked off with a bayonet by “terrorists”. All the said acts were part of a retribution exercise meant to silence them from coordinating with Rhodesia front Forces.

Upon news reaching the Freedom Fighter that so and so had been seen to be coordinating or selling out their whereabouts to Rhodesia Front forces, the Freedom Fighters would be quick to descend on the named culprits and perform “justice”.

Some participants in the war confirm that such acts happened so many times as the Freedom Fighter were too angry with the situation and wanted the povo to support them.. In light of the seriousness of the war, where cooperation was not forthcoming or where their lives were exposed to danger, they took to their heels, sought cover and then made concerted efforts to return for a purging ceremony. Such a ceremony was also meant to instill fear among the villagers so that they could empathize with the cause of the Freedom Fighters.

While the Freedom Fighters committed such atrocities, those in the Rhodesia front were not saints either. Like they say when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers. Where the Rhodesia front Forces felt betrayed by the villagers as they nefariously supported the Freedom Fighters during night times, they also swooped on the same villagers and did their own forms of justice. Some were arrested and detained as some were shot and killed in broad day lights.

The RF side believes that “ZPF was running a “terror” war and the brutality was committed by way of design. In their previous attempts at incursions in the late 60s and early 70s early reporting by some communal people and farm workers made extended stays in areas too risky. At that time the RG Security Forces had very high levels of success in their anti-incursion operations. The support of the locals for the insurgents could only be reliably forced by terror tactics – as we all well know the rule of fear is far stronger than the rule of love. In his own words Mugabe has “degrees in terror” and still relies on this form of support from the general population of Zimbabwe.

There were a few of us from Internal Affairs and single reps from some of the other RG Services. Our mission was to “educate” some of the operational personnel in the services on the approach to be made to various senior members of the tribal community especially the vakuru of the Tribal Authority and of course the nangas and svikiros (spirit mediums) who held great sway of opinion in all the so called “Shona” areas. Unfortunately we were all stood-down and the function was passed to members of the military. One of their brain-waves was to produce the booklet “Anatomy of Terror” which was distributed far and wide. It was one of the greatest propaganda blunders ever committed in a terrorist war : all that was achieved was the distribution of the very message Mugabe was trying to disseminate with his terror machine and that was “If you do not support us fully we will kill you and your family in the worst possible manner”. Information to the SF from that time reduced to a trickle and much of our war effort had to transfer to external operations.

Initially many of the atrocities were committed willy-nilly just to instill fear and trepidation. Once the fear was established then the commitment of the locals came close behind by forcing their support rather like a schoolboy involves all those around him in having a drag on his cigarette to commit them to the “crime”, get them on sides as an accomplice and prevent their future reporting of the incident. This system still operates well with Mugabe’s members of the “gravy-train” – they all involved in the kleptocracy. Unfortunately we in the old RG security forces found the situation frustrating and there were many occasions when force was used to gain information when we were sure the individuals concerned knew more than they were relating (“andizivi, andioni”). Of course the natives were in a very invidious position as they always knew that all they would get from us was some slaps and kicks but this was far preferable to the loss of ears, noses, tongues, eyes or even the entire family. We simply could not match “fear for fear”. The Terror War was difficult to repel, a fact worth remembering in all walks of life and one which is best understood by Mugabe himself.

It is probable that well over 20,000 people were killed by the “liberation forces” (ZANLA and ZIPRA) in their establishment of Fear. Another similar number perished in the Gukuruhundi in Matebeleland (I happened to be there too !!) and of course many more hundreds of thousands have now been forced back to a subsistence form of lively-hood, a state of means that Mugabe maintains they should “be proud of”. This is highly debatable but I have to say that looking at the consumer society we have here in the industrial World I do wonder whether he is right.”

Zimbabwe's Forgotten Generation

http://thinkafricapress.com

Underfunded, under-resourced and disrupted by recent political and economic
unrest, Zimbabwe's schools may have left a generation uneducated and
unskilled.

21 JANUARY 2013 - 10:12AM | BY BERNARD CHIKETO

Mutare, Zimbabwe:
Over recent years, political turmoil and economic collapse in Zimbabwe have
received plenty of attention and coverage. At the same time, however, a
crisis in the country’s once well-regarded education sector has been
developing more quietly, even though its implications could be as
significant for Zimbabwe’s future.

Amidst national unrest, teaching was disrupted from 2006 to 2009, and with
few mechanisms to help pupils catch up or re-take years, when they returned
thousands found themselves unable to gain a meaningful education. Also
underfunded and under-resourced, in 2011, a tide of schools recorded a 0%
pass rate in national ordinary (‘O-level’) examinations. Now, Zimbabwe faces
the serious challenges of dealing with a damaged education system in which
thousands of pupils are at higher levels than they can cope with, and a lost
generation of young people many of whom were left unskilled and uneducated.

School’s out: Pamela’s story
Pamela Mudzingaidzwa, now 20, is one of the young Zimbabweans who missed out
on the education she expected and had long hoped for. “I carried my parents’
hope”, she recalls to Think Africa Press.

But despite excelling in the early years of her schooling, by the time she
sat for her O-levels in 2010, she had lost all hope. “After four years of
irregular learning during which l was just being pushed along and not ready
to sit for an exam, l changed schools to retake my classes.” Against
Zimbabwe’s education policies which do not allow for second-chance
education, Pamela explains, she moved to Mutare to stay with her sister and
enrol in another school.

“But it only became worse. I was placed in a condemned class…Teachers did
not show up so much that some of us would sneak into other classes to learn.
Some pupils would abscond a whole week and no-one would even care.”

Unsurprisingly, Pamela left school having failed her exams. Nevertheless,
she sees herself as one of the lucky ones compared to some of the rest of
the generation that missed out on an education. After leaving school, Pamela
was afforded a vocational training opportunity and is now studying catering.
“If l didn’t have a caring family l was going to be working 15 hours a day
as a housemaid”, she says.

Forgotten pupils
Not all can hope to be as fortunate however. A UNICEF report notes that an
estimated one million children do not have access to schools or the
resources to improve their knowledge and skills. Similarly, data from the
Ministry of Education, Sports, Art and Culture (MoESAC) reveals that between
2000 and 2008 more than 2 million children and young people failed their
O-levels or dropped out aged 13.

As well as insufficient funding, amidst the country’s political and
socio-economic crises, Zimbabwe’s schools lost part of 2006, the entirety of
2007 and segments of the 2008 and 2009’s academic years. UNICEF found that
94% of rural schools were closed by 2009, with pupil attendance plunging
from over 80% to 20%. Over 3 million skipped fundamental steps, and without
the opportunity to retake years, pupils were simply pushed to higher grades
and forms regardless of their mastery of previous levels.

When teachers returned in 2009, after the establishment of a coalition
government, they encountered pupils who had skipped as many as three levels.
It is not surprising then that the national pass rate for O-Level exams in
2009 was a mere 19% – a significant drop on the 72% pass rate enjoyed in the
mid-1990s.

A ‘Rapid Assessment of Primary and Secondary Schools’, funded by the
European Commission and conducted by the National Advisory Board in 2009,
confirmed that the decline in quality of education was due to a lack of
teaching and lack of sufficient learning materials.

Furthermore, a primary school teacher at a rural school in Manicaland told
Think Africa Press how he has 4 levels in his class in which no-one is at
the appropriate level. He is expected to help each group catch up, but not
all teachers possess the appropriate skills to teach infant concepts
successfully.

Catching up
The government has made a few minor attempts to repair the system, including
revising the policy prohibiting second chance education. Development charity
Plan International is exploiting this to get children back into school –
particularly girls who often lose out when families favour the education of
their brothers. According to Willard Nengomasha, Plan International’s
Learning Advisor, around 420 girls have so far been taken back to school in
a pilot programme in the town of Chiredzi.

A study by MoESAC also led to the implementation of the Performance Lag
Address Programme (PLAP). This initiative submits pupils to a diagnostic
examination to establish their “last point of mastery” then helps them catch
up to where they should be. Singling out English and Mathematics, PLAP
dedicates time to revisiting the syllabus and targeting concepts that have
proven persistently difficult for neglected pupils to catch up on.

However, the scheme has been implemented with mixed success. Many secondary
school timetables are failing to accommodate the programme, which requires
teachers to go out of their way to work with children. Furthermore, UNICEF
claims that up to 25% of teachers do not even meet the minimum teaching
qualifications MoESAC demands.

Prioritising education
PLAP is an ambitious programme which hopes to remedy the problem in just 3
years – but this may be too little too late for the thousands who have been
completing (and often failing) O-levels since 2006. Furthermore, the
programme will not be available to those sitting their national examinations
in the near future, for fear of interfering with their preparations and
learning of the syllabi.

However, if successful, the model could also be extended to non-formal
training settings and vocational training institutions. In this way, those
who have missed out could eventually also benefit from the programme.

But perhaps the underlying issue that needs to be overcome is an ingrained
government mentality which fails to recognise the importance of education.
MoESAC chief David Coltart has gone on record complaining that the unity
government has failed to make education a priority, scathingly remarking
that Zimbabwe’s education crisis was being perpetuated by officials
“spending three times more money on globetrotting compared to education”.
For Zimbabwe to build a better future, the government will need to address
both its current education crisis as well as cultivate longer-term
appreciation of the importance of education.

Five die in house explosion in Zengeza 2 Chitungwiza