http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011
12:13
BY NUNURAYI JENA
CHEGUTU — A former cop has accused
Mines and Mining Development minister
Obert Mpofu of grabbing his farm after
gold deposits were found on the land.
The former cop, Bernard Bhunu
Garamukanwa, who claims to be in hiding,
accuses Mpofu of trying to forcibly
push him off his farm following the
discovery of gold, in a wrangle that has
sucked in President Robert Mugabe
and two more Zanu PF
ministers.
Garamukanwa alleges that a named minister led an invasion
of the farm by
Zanu PF youths and another one (name supplied) intercepted
letters sent to
Mugabe alerting him about the invasion.
In a
letter to Mpofu, Garamukanwa said he had given the mines minister a
letter
that was addressed to Mugabe detailing the manner in which the
ministry had
handled the alleged invasion.
However, the former cop says he was
shocked that Mpofu was said to have an
interest in Bermeyside Farm in
Chegutu.
“It’s now a shocking surprise that you, the minister is said
(sic) to have
an interest in that mining venture,” reads a letter dated May
27 2011.
“It means the non-compliance with the provisions of the Act
Chapter 21:05,
by the Mining Board was meant to provide you with the
opportunity to protect
your interest.”
Garamukanwa said he was
provided with information by people at the two
companies that were alleged
to be leading the farm invasion.
The ex-policeman, who claims to be
related to Mugabe, said he felt cornered
and could be left without a choice
“but to release your name (Mpofu) and
other political heavyweights involved
in this mining venture with Indians to
the President
(Mugabe)”.
But Mpofu described Garamukanwa as a lunatic, saying he
had not seen any
letter written by the former cop.
“He is a
lunatic, I don’t think he knows what he is talking about,” the
minister shot
back.
Mpofu said he was on leave and would only return to work
tomorrow.
Garamukanwa said he had gone into hiding as the invaders
made it impossible
for him to stay on his farm and he feared for his
life.
“The invaders have put my life in danger. they no longer want
me to move
freely on my farm,” he alleged.
“They no longer want
me to have anything to do with that part of the farm,
although the Mines and
Minerals Act says the property is mine.”
But a Mashonaland West
Ministry of Mines official, who requested anonymity
said there was nothing
wrong in somebody being given mining rights inside
someone’s property as
long as it is done according to the law, with the
consent of the farm owner
in writing.
According to the Mining Act, in the event of a dispute
between the farmer
and the miner, the matter should be referred to the
Administrative Court for
arbitration although mining supercedes
agriculture.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:56
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI
A fresh conflict is looming within the unity government,
amid indications
that the coalition may not meet the deadlines set for
holding of elections.
The partners last week drew up an electoral roadmap,
with tentative dates
set for a referendum and possible elections, but
already it looks like these
will be missed.
According to the
proposed roadmap, the referendum should be held in November
and if all goes
according to plan, an election will be held next August.
But Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, secretary-general of the MDC said the
timeframe for
the holding of elections was process specific and everything
depended on the
referendum.
“The November date is based on that the drafting of the
constitution would
flow smoothly and it will be adopted without any
disagreements and this is
highly unlikely,” she
said.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga said a second all stakeholders conference
was due to
be convened after the completion of the draft and again some
disagreements
could be expected.
She pointed out that already
people like Vice-President John Nkomo were
denouncing devolution in favour
of decentralisation, while it was clear that
a number of provinces wanted
devolution.
“The making of the constitution is based on consensus of
the three parties
(Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC) and any disagreements will derail
the process,” she
said.
As it is, Misihairabwi-Mushonga said, the
parties were yet to agree on the
template to be used for the collation of
data.
She also said holding a referendum in November, at the height
of the rainy
and farming season could prove to be a logistical nightmare and
everyone was
silent on the issue of resources.
On the holding of
elections, she said those coming up with the next August
date were not
factoring in that little government work took place between
December and
January and this meant that the date for elections would be
pushed further
back.
“We lost the whole of last year arguing whether we will hold
elections this
year,” she said. “But some of us had already said it was not
possible to
hold elections this year. I do not want to be drawn into that
again.”
Two months ago the negotiators came up with the roadmap, but
reports suggest
that Zanu PF was not happy with some of the details and its
negotiators,
Nicholas Goche and Patrick Chinamasa were subjected to
tongue-lashing.
The party, which has been obstinately calling for
polls this year, failed to
hold its politburo meeting last week, a meeting
which could have given
pointers on Zanu PF’s feelings towards the latest
efforts to have an
electoral roadmap.
Hardliners within the party
claim there is no need for an electoral roadmap,
as it is already contained
in the GPA, which created the inclusive
government.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:55
BY NUNURAYI
JENA
CHINHOYI — MDC-T was yesterday forced to abandon its district
elections
after violence erupted between two factions.
Chinhoyi
is one of the five districts where elections were postponed until
after the
April party congress held in Bulawayo following some
disturbances.
Three people were seriously injured after violence
broke out at Chinhoyi
Hall where the elections were being
held.
Two factions known as Zvinguruve, which reportedly backs former
organising
secretary Elias Mudzuri and Zvipani, that supports secretary
general Tendai
Biti were accused of igniting the violence.
Eddy
Kadewere (Zvipani) and Martha Mataruse (Zvinguruve) were vying for the
district chairperson’s post. Some victims of the violence filed a complaint
with the police claiming that they were attacked by two
councillors.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is expected to address
a rally in the town
next week and there were rumours that it could be
cancelled because of the
disturbances.
MDC-T deputy publicity
secretary Tabitha Khumalo referred questions to party
spokesperson Douglas
Mwonzora.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:54
BY NQOBANI
NDLOVU
Zapu has admitted that it has failed to make an impact
more than two years
after it was revived and its leadership has called for a
propaganda blitz to
raise the party’s profile.
The Dabengwa-led party
broke away from Zanu PF in 2008 citing unfulfilled
promises made in the 1987
Unity Accord.
According to a memo to Zapu card-carrying members
signed by secretary
general Raphael Mguni, the party’s “propaganda
information department needs
oiling.”
Mguni in the two-page
letter said the party was failing to garner nationwide
support because its
information department was not visible.
“A perception has been
created in some quarters that the work which our Zapu
leadership does is not
visible or at least not visible enough; an
insinuation even that some in the
leadership have fallen asleep on the job,”
read part of the
memo.
Methuseli Moyo, the Zapu spokesperson confirmed that the memo
was penned by
Mguni.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:53
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
ZANU PF factions are reportedly fighting for the control of
the party’s
publicity and commissariat departments, which they believe will
be crucial
in deciding President Robert Mugabe’s successor.
Sources said
the Emmerson Mnangagwa faction is determined to control the
information desk
currently led by the Solomon Mujuru camp through the party’s
spokesperson
Rugare Gumbo.
The camp, said the sources, roped in controversial
former Information
minister Jonathan Moyo after realising the importance of
the party’s
information department in the succession matrix.
They
said it has also “recruited” war veterans’ leader Jabulani Sibanda, who
had
virtually camped in Masvingo and currently behaving like the Zanu PF’s
de
facto political commissar.
“The Mnangagwa faction wants Moyo, whom
they know is very eloquent, to
undermine Gumbo and by extension the whole
Mujuru faction by pretending to
be speaking and writing on his personal
capacity and yet expressing party
positions,” said one of the
sources.
Moyo’s political forays are said to have also angered the
Minister of
Information and Publicity Webster Shamu, who is also Zanu PF’s
political
commissar.
Sources said Shamu recently ordered the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation
(ZBC) not to quote the former minister to check his
growing political
influence.
Shamu, who last week announced the
beginning of Zanu PF’s restructuring
exercise ahead of elections, possibly
next year, is seen as a Mugabe
loyalist.
Sources said he sprung into
action after releasing that Sibanda was already
preparing the ground for
Mnangagwa loyalists to grab influential posts.
Shamu, through his aide who
answered the phone, yesterday said he does not
give interviews to
journalists over the phone.
ZBC spokesperson Sivukile Simango
referred questions to the national
broadcaster’s CEO Happison Muchechetere,
who could not be reached for
comment.
However, Moyo’s appearance
on ZBC TV has not been as frequent as it used to
be.
Sibanda
yesterday claimed he did not belong to any faction. He said he only
supported Zanu PF and Mugabe.
“What they are saying is nonsense,”
Sibanda said. “I don’t have a substitute
president.”
The
relationship between Gumbo and Moyo has shown signs of strain
lately.
The Tsholotsho North MP rejoined Zanu PF with ease after he
was expelled in
2005 when he stood as an independent candidate in the
Tsholotsho.
He was fired after he was fingered as the chief architecture of
the
so-called Tsholotsho Declaration in 2004, which was meant to topple
Mugabe
and replace him with Mnangagwa.
Sources said Moyo’s
comments in the public media had courted the ire of the
Mujuru faction which
sees a ploy to wrestle the party’s information and
publicity department from
Gumbo, Mnangagwa’s long-time political rival in
the Midlands
province.
Last month, the Mnangagwa faction outwitted the Mujuru camp
when it managed
to send Moyo as a Zanu PF representative, to South Africa
for the Sadc
summit ahead of Gumbo, the official party
spokesperson.
Asked to comment on the allegations, Moyo was abusive
saying: “You are mad,
goodbye.”
Gumbo could not be reached for
comment yesterday but he was recently quoted
in the media as saying Moyo
must wait for the next congress if he wanted to
speak on behalf of the
party.
Power struggles between Mnangagwa and Gumbo are not
new.
In 2005, Mnangagwa allegedly backed former ZBC journalist
Makhosini
Hlongwane who wrestled the Mberengwa East constituency from
Gumbo.
Last year, Gumbo and Mnangagwa clashed over who was senior in the
Midlands
province.
Both claim to be the “godfathers” of the
province.
But according the party’s constitution, Gumbo is number 11
while Mnangagwa
is on 12.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:57
BY NQOBILE
BHEBHE
BULAWAYO — The Botswana government has admitted that it is
selling cattle
suspected to have the contagious Foot-and-Mouth Disease (FMD)
to Zimbabwe.
The neighbouring country is culling 45 000 herd of cattle but
says those
found to be in “a good state will be sold to
Zimbabwe”.
According to reports, Assistant Minister of Agriculture
Oreeditse Molebatsi
told farmer organisations that 120 cattle had already
been sent to Zimbabwe
as a trial.
He said the decision was taken
after a realisation that 45 000 cattle had
been infected and if all of them
were slaughtered there would no market for
the meat.
“Since the
number increased from 23 000, we found it fit to sell to
Zimbabwe,”
Molebatsi was quoted as having said.
“They have a population of
around 15 million people and a very few cattle so
they could consume such
quantities of meat.”
The south western parts of Zimbabwe have been
hit by FMD outbreaks in the
past.
Botswana has always blamed its
own frequent outbreaks on the free movement
of cattle between the two
countries.
Obatolu Ushewokunze, the director of Zimbabwe’s Department
of Veterinary
Services could not be reached for comment.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:51
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
A leading human rights campaigner and researcher has
warned Zimbabwe against
exporting diamonds from Marange in defiance of the
Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme (KPCS) saying this would prejudice
the country of
millions of dollars in revenue.
The warning comes after
the Minister of Mines and Mining Development Obert
Mpofu vowed to export the
gems from Marange in Manicaland province despite
lack of consensus on the
matter at a KP meeting held in the Democratic
Republic of Congo (DRC) last
month.
“We will continue to export (diamonds) from Mbada, Marange
Resources
including Anjin which is now ready to export and all the new mines
that will
commence production in the Marange area,” Mpofu told the DRC
meeting.
But the director of the Mutare- based Centre for Research
and Development
(CRD) Farai Maguwu, who attended the same meeting, said
diamonds that are
traded secretly, as Zimbabwe intends to do, were
undervalued and would
benefit third parties as opposed to the
producers.
“In the absence of a clear agreement, Marange diamonds may
continue to be
traded secretly, thereby prejudicing the economic interests
of Zimbabwe,”
Maguwu said.
Maguwu said a closed door meeting of
key stakeholders, held after Mpofu’s
speech in DRC, agreed that Mbada and
Marange Resources should be allowed to
export diamonds but disagreed on the
continuing monitoring of compliance of
the two mine sites by the
KPCS.
However, KPCS chairperson Mathieu Yamba of the DRC, issued a
notice, known
as the “Second Yamba Text” endorsing the exports of diamonds
from the two
mining sites.
This resulted in the emergence of
fault lines in the Kimberley Process with
South Africa, Namibia and Angola
being vocal in supporting Zimbabwe’s fight
against supervised
exports.
However, the US and European Union (EU) want to continue the
supervision of
production and exports of the diamonds. All these countries
are campaigning
for the monitoring of gems from Marange.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:50
BY
KHOLWANI NYATHI
Zimbabwe’s three governing parties last week
concluded a roadmap that
effectively ruled out elections before mid-next
year.
One of the negotiators speaking on condition of anonymity said the
provisions in the roadmap could even push the polls to 2013.
The
roadmap is a result of long running negotiations between Zanu PF and the
two
MDC formations under the watchful eye of South African President Jacob
Zuma’s facilitation team.
For many, the roadmap was a welcome
breakthrough as it ended the uncertainty
over the date of the next elections
that President Robert Mugabe appeared
determined to have this
year.
President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara have been handed the document that
will serve as
the country’s time table to an election whose result will not
be contested.
But for Jonathan Moyo, Zanu PF’s self-appointed spin
doctor and service
chiefs who had openly removed the gloves in their push
for elections before
the end of the year, the conclusion of the roadmap
represents a crushing
defeat.
The soldiers, through the
Manicaland based 3 Infantry Brigade commander
Brigadier General Douglas
Nyikayaramba, demanded that elections be held this
year arguing that the
inclusive government had failed to work.
Moyo, who is now infamous
for his ever-changing political positions
maintained that the roadmap was
another attempt by Western imperialists to
advance their illegal regime
change agenda.
The former professor of political science turned
politician argued that if
elections could not be held this year, they must
be held in 2016.
“It is now clear in the national interest that the
next harmonised general
election must be held this year in 2011, failure of
which it should be held
in 2016 and not at any time in between,” Moyo wrote
in one of the articles.
“The current Sadc (Southern African
Development Community) focus on the
so-called election roadmap, which Morgan
Tsvangirai takes to mean elections
in 2012 or even in 2013 as understandably
suggested by Cde Patrick Chinamasa
is untenable not least because these
suppositions are based on the fallacy
that the 2008 election was disputed,
when the fact is that it was
inconclusive.”
Moyo claimed that
“apart from being retrogressive, the current focus on the
election roadmap
undermines the GPA (Global Political Agreement) and the
constitution of
Zimbabwe both, which have clear election benchmarks that
make for better
election roadmap than what’s being negotiated as part of a
GPA that was
negotiated and signed on September 15, 2008.”
Roadmap signposts
Sadc,
through its point man on the Zimbabwe crisis, President Zuma, put its
foot
down and ensured that the parties adopted a roadmap that stipulates
clear
timeliness for the next polls.
These signposts include the adoption
of a new constitution, extensive media
and electoral reforms. Analysts said
the adoption of the roadmap was a blow
to Moyo, the securocrats and
hardliners in Zanu PF who looked determined to
see the collapse of the
inclusive government.
Zanu PF’s disappointment
Zanu PF supporters were
also desperate for the elections to be held under
the present conditions,
which would still allow for the party to use it’s
tried and tested methods
of voter intimidation and rigging.
However, Trevor Maisiri of the
Africa Reform Institute, a Harare- based
think-tank warned that the
celebrations could be premature as Zanu PF always
had something up its
sleeve.
“I do not think that the issue of not holding elections this
year is really
a victory against Jonathan Moyo or Zanu PF per se,” he
said.
“I think it’s a temporary set-back on their intended plans but
it must not
be seen as having totally derailed the plans that the party has
or anything
intimated by Jonathan Moyo.”
Maisiri said Zanu PF
would not give up a position without having a strategy
to mitigate its
losses.
“In essence Zanu PF could have given up on its position for
elections in
2011 based on two enforcements.
“Firstly, it could
have been read as a direct confrontation with Sadc, whose
report has
glaringly indicated that there are some pre-electoral processes
that need to
be undertaken prior to the actual election itself.
“Secondly, Zanu PF
could have given up as a way of ensuring that there is
some insinuation of
victory on the part of those who are in opposition to
its preferences in
handling the election roadmap.”
Besides, Maisiri said, the election
roadmap had loopholes that might still
give Zanu PF an advantage in
determining the date of the next elections.
He said the roadmap was
too reliant on the constitution-making process where
there were no
guarantees that it could be successfully concluded.
Mugabe in the
past has warned that if the proposed new constitution is
rejected by the
people, the heavily amended Lancaster House charter will be
used to organise
the next polls.
Maisiri said the failure by the parties to agree on
security sector reforms
might also complicate the path to free and fair
polls.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:59
BULAWAYO —Organ on
National Healing and Reconciliation co-Minister Moses
Mzila Ndlovu has
accused Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of opening old
wounds after he
described those who left the mainstream MDC as rebels.
Last month, Tsvangirai
told the children of the late MDC vice-president
Gibson Sibanda that “it was
never an intention of their father to rebel
against the
people.”
The MDC-T leader was welcoming Sibanda’s two children Thandi
and Mbuso who
joined his party at a rally in Bulawayo.
“That was
a very strong and insensitive word to use,” Ndlovu said. “For some
of us who
are victims of Gukurahundi, we know what the word rebel connotes,
especially
when you are a Ndebele-speaking person.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:49
BY BLESSED
MHLANGA
KWEKWE — A serious food shortage is looming in Silobela
in the Midlands
province with the authorities warning that villagers are
left with only five
months’ supply of grain.
Some wards reportedly have
less than two months supply of grain because of
poor
harvests.
Anadu Silulu, the Silobela MP on Friday held a meeting with
officials from
the Grain Marketing Board (GMB) who said they had sent 31
tonnes of maize to
the area to deal with the crisis.
GMB sells a
50kg bag of maize for US$16, a price that is beyond the reach of
many poor
villagers.
Hazvinei Gangai, the GMB deport manager told Silulu that
government had
issued a directive that grain must be moved to Silobela to
deal with the
emergency.
“We have grain selling points in the
area and have been selling grain to the
villagers following the directive to
provide relief,” Gangai said.
The Zanu PF losing candidate in the
last elections, Douglas Tapfumanei said
government must intervene before
villagers are forced to exchange their
livestock with food from greedy
dealers.
There are also reports that some villagers are resorting to
eating wild
fruits and roots.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:44
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
A consultant hired by the National Aids Council (NAC) to review
Zimbabwe’s
response to the Aids pandemic has recommended a review of the
Sexual
Offences Act to deal with “homosexuality and prostitution in a
pragmatic
way.”
The law in its present form criminalises
homosexuality and prostitution.
Zimbabwe, which is predominantly
Christian, also considers both practices
alien.
But the study
carried out by the consultant who cannot be named for
professional reasons
encourages Zimbabweans to be open-minded about
homosexuality and other
sexual practices if the pandemic, killing thousands
of people every week, is
to be brought under control.
The same document calls for the review
of the Zimbabwe National Family
Planning Council Act so that “contraceptives
should be made available in
schools,...stipulates placing condoms in hotels,
night clubs and beer
halls.”
The recommendation on condoms in
schools, first reported in The Standard,
has sparked a fierce debate but it
is likely to be paled by the suggestion
that the country must have a relook
at its anti-sodomy laws.
Men having sex with other men (MSM) have
been singled out along commercial
sex workers as some of the most vulnerable
groups in HIV transmission in
Zimbabwe.
A recent study on the
modes of HIV transmission in the country indicated
that MSM accounted for 4%
of new infections and 0,4% for female partners of
MSM.
Commercial
sex workers account for 1,4% of new infections.
The Zimbabwe National
HIV and Aids Strategic Plan (ZNASP) also calls for “a
review and update of
the national regulatory framework to reflect the latest
developments in the
HIV situation and response to the epidemic.”
NAC said the consultant
was hired to review all the Acts, declarations and
protocols that deal with
the fight against HIV and Aids.
The council says it is not actively
advocating for the recommendations, such
as the decriminalisation of
homosexuality, but would encourage debate around
the
issues.
Tapuwa Magure, the NAC CEO said the organisation was yet to
consider the
recommendations and come up of with a position, especially on
the
controversial issues such as placing condoms in schools and
homosexuality.
“We hired a consultant who made those recommendations
but we have not yet
sat down to go through them as an organisation so we
currently do not have a
position regarding them,” he said.
“We
however believe that all populations, be it the disabled or prisoners,
should have access to interventions and as a country, we are doing well in
this regard.
“It was a bit premature to present those
recommendations to the media but we
will be having a position in due
course.”
The country’s HIV prevalence rate in adults currently stands
at 13,1% and is
considered to be among the highest in the
world.
President Robert Mugabe once labelled homosexuals as worse
than dogs and
pigs.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai also angered
civic groups last year when he
strongly spoke against
homosexuality.
Zimbabwe has also resisted calls to provide prisoners
with condoms despite
widespread reports that inmates engage in sexual
activities. South Africa is
the only African country that has decriminalised
homosexuality.
‘Gays forced underground’
Gays and Lesbians
of Zimbabwe (GALZ) said the criminalisation of
homosexuality and the
prevailing homophobic climate was driving most gay
people
underground.
“Service providers such as doctors and nurses also tend
to develop negative
attitudes when dealing with LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Trans-gendered)
people as a result of lack of information,” GALZ
said.
“In terms of HIV prevention this is serious, particularly as
GALZ is the
only organisation in Zimbabwe providing services specifically to
the lesbian
and gay community; and very few other HIV/Aids organisations
even consider
MSM/ women having sex with women (WSW) in their intervention
work.”
Zimbabwe has no data for sexual minorities, but studies done
in Botswana and
Malawi among other regional countries estimate that HIV
prevalence among MSM
is between 20% to 33%.
The studies also
concluded that the risk of men acquiring HIV during
unprotected receptive
anal sex is 10 times higher than during insensitive
anal sex or unprotected
vaginal sex with a woman.
GALZ said while HIV/Aids issues were being
“heterosexualised” in Zimbabwe,
minority groups were even more at risk of
contracting HIV through anal sex
and some MSM had female partners thus,
expanding the HIV network.
“The right to health should be accorded to
everyone regardless of sexual
orientation, gender, sex or creed,” GALZ said
in response to the
recommendations by the NAC
consultant.
“Decriminalising consensual same sex practise will reduce
fear, stigma and
discrimination as it has to be accompanied by education,
trainings and
sensitisation of all stakeholders including the
police.
“Availability of information and proper protective barrier
methods for MSM
will go a long way in preventing further new infections
among MSM who do
contribute to the generalised epidemic in Zimbabwe (and)
reduction of sexual
networks or multiple concurrent relationships among
these groups through
education and empowerment without fear or persecution
(can help).”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:42
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
THE Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and
Integration (ONHRI) is
still to develop a programme for psycho-social
support and trauma
counselling for victims of political violence, two years
after it was set
up.
The revelation comes at a time when civic groups are
reporting an upsurge in
cases of intimidation and violence, which they blame
on the widening rifts
between MDC-T and Zanu PF.
Last week the
organ, a creation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), ran
adverts in
the media seeking to recruit a consultant to develop a programme
to promote
healing, reconciliation and integration of victims of conflict.
“In
order to lay a stable foundation for sustainable reconciliation, peace
building, reconstruction and development, ONHRI wishes to develop a
framework to provide support to citizens to recover and rebuild themselves,
their families, their communities in their psychological, mental health well
being, spiritual as well as in physical terms,” read the advert in
part.
Activists last week said the organ had been hijacked by
“politicians who
want to buy time”.
The Zimbabwe Election Support
Network (ZESN), a coalition of 30 civic
organisations, in its report for May
and June expressed alarm over
widespread harassment of MDC-T supporters by
Zanu PF activists in the
country.
At times, it said, MDC-T
supporters were force-marched to Zanu PF meetings.
“In light of these
observations, ZESN encourages political parties to
seriously consider the
spirit and letter of the GPA to promote national
healing and reconciliation
and not further divide people along political
lines,” ZESN
said.
To fill the void created by the organ’s inaction, charity
organisations are
trying to fill the void.
A local counselling
unit last week said it was giving psychological support
to an average of 200
victims every month since the 2008 elections.
Some victims still come with
injuries they sustained around that time, said
a senior official with the
unit.
“There is slightly an increase in people coming for counselling
but on
average we record 200 cases a month,” said the
official.
She said the majority of victims came from political
hotspots such as Chaona
in Chiweshe in Mashonaland central province, Mutoko
and Mudzi in Mashonaland
East province.”
5 550 violence
victims assisted
The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance (ZCA) says it has
assisted over 5 550
victims in the past three years.
Useni
Sibanda, the ZCA coordinator attributed the huge number to the fact
that
Zimbabwe never promoted healing since the pre-independence era,
Gukurahundi
atrocities and the latest election violence.
The churches are running
community healing dialogue meetings and “healing of
the memory” where
victims share their experiences with each other.
“We refer to the healing of
the memory programme as ‘positive vomiting’
because you find out that people
are relieved when they speak about the
nasty things that happened to them,”
Sibanda said.
Sibanda blasted the organ for its “very slow pace”
while victims continued
to suffer in silence.
He called on
government to enact an Act of Parliament that would put in
place a framework
for national healing that would allow free participation
of civic
organisations.
Sibanda said: “Most of our activities are stopped by
police due to the
sensitive nature of the subject”.
Thousands
more need urgent trauma support
Rashid Mahiya, the national director of
Heal Zimbabwe Trust said thousands
of people were traumatised and needed
support urgently.
“They are failing to cope, some lost breadwinners
and children witnessed
their parents being beaten to death,” he said.
“Communities are traumatised
out there.”
The trust has assisted
105 families since last June by providing counselling
services.
Mahiya believes the organ’s operations were hamstrung
by political parties
that saw violence as the only way to win an
election.
The organ is represented by Vice-President John Nkomo (Zanu
PF), the
co-Ministers of State in the Organ for National Healing,
Integration and
Reconciliation Moses Mzila-Ndlovu (MDC-N) and Sekai Holland
(MDC-T).
Holland conceded that the organ’s work was behind schedule
but said they
were working on a “water-tight policy document” that forbids
violence and
hate language.
This document will be presented to an
all stakeholders’ conference in
September.
“We don’t need to be
rushed because we need people to understand what we
want to achieve,” she
said.
“Our job is not rushing where there is violence but to
sensitise Zimbabweans
about the importance of peace and
reconciliation.”
But Sibanda said the organ either had no capacity or
was unwilling to assist
the victims.
Christian Alliance has
already covered Matabeleland, Midlands, Masvingo and
Manicaland and parts of
Mashonaland provinces.
An estimated 20 000 people died in
Matabeleland and Midlands in the 1980s,
when President Robert Mugabe sent
the North-Korean trained Fifth-Brigade
ostensibly to track down dissidents
in the two provinces.
MDC-T claims that at least 200 of its activists
were murdered during the
2008 elections.
Just like the
Gukurahundi massacres, the MDC-T points a finger at Zanu PF
and state
security agents.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 12:56
BY OUR
STAFF
GOVERNMENT and British tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten have
cracked the whip
at Hwange Colliery Company Limited (HCCL) by firing nine
board members in a
major restructuring exercise at the coal miner.
The
move is expected to be confirmed at a meeting of shareholders next
month.
The August 3 Annual General Meeting (AGM) comes after an
earlier indaba on
June 30 was adjourned to give shareholders more time to
restructure the
company.
At the June 30 meeting, government
representative, Valentine Vera and van
Hoogstraten agreed that the meeting
had to be adjourned.
Government has 37% stake in HCCL while van Hoogstraten
controls over 31%.
Of van Hoogstraten’s shareholding, around 27% is
on the Zimbabwe register,
the remainder on the UK and South African
registers.
Although all names of the new board members could not be
obtained,
Standardbusiness is reliably informed that lawyer Farai
Mutamangira,
Shingirayi Chibanguza, Ian Haruperi and Emmerson Mnangagwa Jnr
would be in
the new look board mandated to formulate policies for the coal
miner.
Chibanguza, Haruperi, and Mnangagwa Jnr are van Hoogstraten’s
representatives on the board.
Mutamangira would represent the
government. The lawyer has represented
government before in its fight to be
allowed to sell diamonds from Marange.
Van Hoogstraten confirmed the
appointments on Thursday.
“I would expect the new board to comprise
of four government nominees, my
three nominees and three independent
directors plus the managing director
Fred Moyo.
“I would expect
government (as the major shareholder) to nominate the
chairman,” he
said.
Currently van Hoogstraten has three representatives on the
board.
HCCL has a primary listing on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange
(ZSE) and a
secondary listing on the London and JSE
exchanges.
The restructuring exercise at HCCL would claim the scalp
of board chair,
Tendai Savanhu at the helm of the ZSE listed company since
2006 and Fortune
Chasi who has been with the board since
2003.
There won’t be a place for CFI group corporate communications
director,
Prisca Mupfumira, ex-central bank senior manager Thandiwe Mlobane
and lawyer
Shingai Israel Mutumbwa on the board.
Three board
members—Thabani Ndlovu, James Nqindi and Rosemary Sibanda—who
were retiring
and eligible for re-election won’t be available for
selection.
Sources said on Friday a new notice would be released
announcing the trio’s
unavailability for selection. A notice in the annual
report said the trio
was retiring and available for
re-election.
The other board member, Alpheus Motampe Ngapo who is
retiring has already
indicated that he won’t be available for re-election.
Ngapo, general manager
for Arcelor Mittal’s Vereening Works, has been on the
board since July 2007.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011
12:35
A United States science law expert says Zimbabwe is ready to
establish its
first internationally recognised innovation technology
entrepreneurship
centre after a Zimbabwean lecturer at the National
University of Science and
Technology (Nust) completed a Fulbright research
fellowship in the US.
“The Nust-Innovation Technology Centre (ITEC) will be a
platform from which
to gather information about new
innovations.
“Then strategic decisions can be made to approach the
owners of those
innovations and explore possibilities for collaborative
research agreements
to bring the innovation in,” said Professor Stanley
Kowalski, director of
the International Technology Transfer Institute at the
University of New
Hampshire’s School of Law.
Kowalski mentored
Zimbabwean lecturer Aleck Ncube during the latter’s time
as a Fulbright
fellow in the United States, where they discussed the concept
of ITEC. If
formed, ITEC would be the first full-fledged Technology
Transfer Office
(TTO) in Zimbabwe.
He visited Zimbabwe under the auspices of the
World Intellectual Property
(WIPO) Developmental Agenda for Developing
countries.
He conducted lectures on Patent Information Searches and
Patent Databases.
Professor Kowalski was also one of the keynote speakers at
Harare’s recently
held African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation
(ARIPO) week-long
workshop that attracted representatives from 16 countries
in Africa.
Kowalski said while in the US, they had held meetings with
international
foundations and institutions that expressed interest in
helping Zimbabwe
become a knowledge-based economy.
“It has worked
in other countries like Brazil and India. There is a lot of
interest in
developing countries, including promoting women to get
involved,” said
Kowalski.
During his stay in the US, Ncube worked with various
universities and
institutions working on the subject and hopes to work with
other
institutions of higher learning to develop a network that would take
Zimbabwe towards a knowledge economy.
“Zimbabwe is a small
country. We do not want a situation where one
university is doing its own
thing and another university doing its own
thing, so we said we need to
establish this innovation center at Nust with
branches in other
universities… All these universities are coming up with
patentable
products,” Ncube said.
Ncube said they met with officials in the
Ministry of Science and Technology
Development and are working with the
ministry to formulate a national
intellectual property policy for Zimbabwe
as the country lags behind
countries like Rwanda and Kenya.
Nust
established a technology park, Technopark, which has developed several
innovations for industry including a timing device for monitoring pay phones
and a nanotechnology processor for purifying water. — ZimPAS©.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 12:58
BY KUDZAI
CHIMHANGWA
TOBACCO deliveries at the country’s three auction floors
have substantially
declined as most small-scale farmers have sold their crop
amid fears that
the 170 million target set at the beginning of the selling
season may not be
achieved.
The slow deliveries have also raised
concern that this year’s selling season
could be the shortest and the
Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (Timb)
won’t be extending the
auctions.
A visit to the country’s three main auction floors
showed minimal activity
as only a few farmers could be seen delivering their
crop.
On Thursday 142 461 kg went under the hammer compared to 255
192 kg last
year.
Of the tobacco sold on Thursday, 71 735 kg were
sold at Tobacco Sales Floor
(TSF) at an average price of US$2,96; 22 160 kg
at Millennium Tobacco Floors
at an average price of US$3,02 while 48 566 kg
were sold at an average price
of US$3,17 at Boka Tobacco
Floors.
Tobacco experts say most farmers had delivered the crop to
the auction
floors early anticipating high prices, as offered last
year.
A graphic analysis by the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association shows
that last year,
the auction season commenced with average prices pegged at
US$2,50 on day
one before shooting to US$3,61 per kg by day
six.
However, this year tobacco prices slumped from US$2,50 on day
one to US$2,30
by day four as small-scale farmers besieged the floors in
anticipation of
favourable prices that had been obtaining at the start of
the selling season
in 2010.
Similarly, on day 55 of this year, a
peak of 1,1million kg had been
delivered at the floors while only 328 000 kg
had been sold during the same
day last year, a factor which industry players
have attributed to the
increase in the number of auction floors this
year.
Timb chief executive officer, Andrew Matibiri told
Standardbusiness that the
170 million kg mark would be achieved as this was
based on estimates.
“The season is still ongoing and there is
tobacco at the farms. It is not an
issue of optimism but this is all based
on available estimates,” said
Matibiri, adding that it was too early to
anticipate when the selling season
would come to an end.
A few
commercial farmers have been delivering tobacco at Boka Tobacco Floors
and
TSF as most small-scale farmers have returned to the farms to replant
the
crop for next season.
Meanwhile, Boka Tobacco Floors is in talks with
Timb to facilitate the
auctioning of burley tobacco. Between 700 and 1 000
tonnes of burley tobacco
are expected to be auctioned this
year.
Although growing burley tobacco carries less overheads, the
crop is not
preferred by most small-scale farmers as prices are not as
favourable as
those offered for flue-cured tobacco.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 12:47
BY NQOBILE
BHEBHE
A human resources consultancy firm, Industrial Psychology
Consultants (IPC)
has warned that pegging salaries against the poverty datum
line is “suicidal
and a sure way to bankruptcy.”
The poverty datum line
(PDL) is set at US$500 a month, an amount way above
what most government
workers get.
IPC, in its report titled: “Are Zimbabwean employees
underpaid? An Analysis
of Salary Trends” said: “its total madness to want a
PDL linked minimum wage
for a country slowly recovering from years of
economic decline.”
“The major area of conflict between labour and
business has been the issue
of salaries.
“Labour wants better
remuneration while employers are saying they can’t
afford the salaries
requested.
“The bottom line is while labour would want employers to
peg salaries to the
PDL that model is suicidal.
“If you pay
salaries beyond your means it’s a sure way to bankruptcy. No
normal business
is able to pay more than what they are producing” reads part
of the
report.
The consultancy firm added that the assumption being made by
labour is that
employers are making a lot of money, hence the call for
improves wages.
IPC also said labour and business should desist from setting
minimum wages.
The report said until there is credible productivity
data the NEC
negotiations should just be stopped as they are not helping any
of the
protagonists.
According to IPL, the only viable
remuneration option available for Zimbabwe
is for the social partners to put
productivity at the centre of our
remuneration policies in both the civil
service and in the private sector.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10
July 2011 11:39
By Nevanji Madanhire
While I was busy
recovering from a chest infection picked up in a police
cell, my deputy
Walter Marwizi ably filled up the gap by writing a
scintillating
piece.
Last time I had a brush with the Law and Order section of the CID I
wrote
glowingly about how I had been treated by the CID operatives who dealt
with
me, but not this time. I am not going into the merits and demerits of
the
case which is being handled by our learned friends in the legal
fraternity.
They say in Latin parlance the case is sub judice so it cannot
be discussed
in the press.
But do I have any gripes with the way
I was treated this time? Yes, I do.
I was picked up round mid-morning
together with Loud Ramakgapola (he is now
notorious at the CID and the
magistrate courts for his unpronounceable
surname) our human resources
manager. We voluntarily walked to the
detectives’ car; I was not handcuffed
or bundled into the car. (One day I
will fundraise for the CID so operatives
can drive decent cars.) What struck
me as I was driven to Harare Central was
the bon-homey atmosphere in the
car. Everyone greeted me by my first name as
if I was their long-lost
friend.
But tellingly one of them said
he hoped his name was not on the BBC already;
they were aware of the power
of the media and the long arm of the
international justice system in which,
when the endgame comes, they will
have to account for their
deeds.
It was a cold mid-morning when Rama and I were asked to join
our colleague
Patience Nyangove who had been picked up earlier. The room
where we were to
spend the rest of the day was as cold as a mogue; soon we
were freezing. We
discussed with a bit of wry humour what it would be like
in the cells if it
was so cold in a mere room.
So far so
good.
When I was growing up I was notorious for my dribbling wizardly
at soccer;
all the defenders dreaded me. So it was surprising that the
reason for my
misery at Law and Order was the unfortunate use of the word
“notorious” in
reference to a senior member of the police force. My
reporter, who had
written the story in question, surely had not affixed that
prefix to the
name of the senior detective; I had!
In my previous
encounter with Law and Order I was not subjected to the
ordeal I had to
suffer that afternoon. One of the police details brought
immaculate white
forms into the room which had to be filled in; they called
it
profiling.
They asked me everything about myself; I jumped out of my
seat when they
asked my father’s first name. I told them my father was long
dead but they
didn’t care. I told them my father’s first name was 14224
thinking that
number might ring a bell. The officer was too young to have
recognised that
that was my father’s force number when he was still alive
and serving in
police force.
They asked me about my best friends
and where I hang out with them. My
lawyer protested saying that was too
intrusive. I asked if I could call my
friends and tell them I was giving
their names to Law and Order but I was
denied this favour. So I reluctantly
gave them the names. Later when I was
released and told my friends about it,
I lost them.
Could it be sheer coincidence then that when I went to have
a haircut on the
Sunday after my release at my favourite hangout one of them
was there? The
profiling was scary to put it mildly and I hope my erstwhile
friends will
not be watched as they have their own haircuts!
At
sunset it was clear one of us was not going home for the night; obviously
it
was me for having let the word “notorious” go to print! But detaining me
did
not make sense unless it was a vindictive way to exact revenge. In my
previous encounter with Law and Order it had been established beyond any
shadow of doubt that I wasn’t the kind of “musungwa” who would
abscond.
Very interestingly, the chapter I was being charged under
had been the same
I had been arraigned for last December and as everyone
knows by now that
clause in our constitution has been challenged as
unconstitutional and is
being reviewed at the Supreme Court.
So,
there was no way I was going to take the bolt when I knew with a great
degree of certainty that no conviction would be secured. I was not going to
run away over a case I knew was a definite dud. But I was locked up anyway.
Luckily my colleagues Patience and (what’s-his-name--again?) Ramakgapola
were let go to enjoy the comfort of their homes.
But why was this
made a criminal case when it is clearly a civil matter?
When an individual
in a state organ is defamed or slandered he should
consult his lawyers who
would ably advise him on the way forward; it is his
legitimate right to seek
recourse. He or she shouldn’t use state machinery
to fight back or to exact
vengeance; that is illegal. It was plain this is
what was at play
here.
I have now been criminalised and my profile painstakingly
recorded in a
similar manner the “axe killer” of the 1980s was profiled.
Now I am being
stalked wherever I go and my poor former friends have also
been criminalised
for a crime they never committed.
Everyone
earns their notoriety; for me it was because of my dribbling
wizardry. But
others may earn theirs by abusing state organs for personal
revenge.
Tragically when this happens the notoriety does not stick only on
the
individual concerned but on the whole state organ whose name is brought
into
disrepute by such acts.
What CID Law and Order needs to do is to
clean its act by reaching out to
the community, especially to journalists in
a well-thought out public
relations campaign so it can shed its “notorious”
tug. Arresting and
throwing journalist into filthy cells doesn’t make it
less notorious but
instead reinforces its stigma.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:38
Tafataona
Mahoso has an obsession with monitoring and regulating media; this
is what
he has been doing since he was appointed to chair the infamous Media
and
Information Commission.
In the early years of the new century, when the voice
for change was
becoming increasingly robust, Mahoso earned notoriety for
censuring
newspapers that openly criticised the then-ruling Zanu PF
party.
Under his direction several newspapers were closed, most
notably the Daily
News and The Tribune. Now that a number of new players
have been licensed –
and they are effectively doing their job of reporting
issues as they are
rather than in the blinkered manner of state-controlled
newspapers –
Mahoso is a worried man.
He is aware of the power
of the broadcast media and knows the consequences
for his party if that area
is opened up, particularly now with elections
impending next
year.
He would want to use the powers dubiously vested in him by his
political
handlers to deny more players a licence. As chairman of the
Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) board — a position other parties to
the Global
Political Agreement contest — he has cooked up spurious reasons
for refusing
to license more players.
He claimed last week before
the parliamentary portfolio committee on Media,
Information and
Communication that his organisation had neither the capacity
nor the
expertise to license new broadcasters because of funding
problems.
But why should Mahoso see the lack of monitoring and
regulation apparatus as
the main obstacle to licensing new players when the
rationale behind opening
up the airwaves is, in the first place, to give
divergent schools of thought
a voice? Why does he want to monitor and
regulate when the letter and spirit
of opening up media space is to give
people freedom of speech and freedom to
access information from a
multiplicity of sources?
Mahoso is failing to shed his image as a
partisan control freak and does not
deserve to be at the helm of BAZ. We
need somebody there who the media can
respect.
If the basic
freedoms that the GPA seeks to guarantee are to be enjoyed by
the generality
of our people, change is urgently needed.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 10 July 2011 11:37
By
Alexander Rusero
My father is one among many Zimbabweans who
participated in the liberation
struggle but never got anything from it. In
fact, he went to his grave a
proud man that, despite his hero status being
unknown, unclaimed and
unrecognised, he did something so meaningful at a
national level; being
involved in the quest to liberate and defend his
birthright.
He was among many who languished in the Smith-regime jails like
Hwahwa and
Connemara in the early 1960s only to be slapped with a Prohibited
Immigrant
(PI) status never to set his foot in Salisbury again as the
ultimate prize.
As persistent and stubborn as he was and determined to see
a free Zimbabwe,
he persevered by later helping young freedom fighters cross
the border for
recruitment and training in Mozambique.
Later on
he worked at State House as an electrical maintenance artisan
between 1988
and 1990, but never attempted to charm President Mugabe, whom
he saw every
day, with his remarkable liberation history. I do not know
whether in his
grave the old man is still proud to have liberated Zimbabwe,
because in my
own understanding the liberation doctrine has been hijacked
and personalised
to the extent that only those who belong to Zanu PF are
considered to have
meaningfully participated in the struggle.
That is wrong and I
believe that Zanu PF should not personalise the
liberation struggle.
Everyone who witnessed the horrific events of the war
all took part in one
way or the other.
Firstly, our mothers who delivered the gallant sons
and daughters who fought
in the liberation struggle, are the first in the
order of real heroes for
without them the revolutionary project could not
have succeeded. The same
mothers had to encourage their sons and daughters
to soldier on until
Zimbabwe was free. Mothers had to bear the brutality of
the Smith regime
including torture as they were the first suspects and
primary targets of
Smith’s soldiers in their war against the guerilla
forces. It is alleged
that my own grandmother was forced to eat a whole
bunch of bananas by
Rhodesian soldiers upon being suspected of carrying the
bananas for the
“terrorists”, when in actual fact she was taking them home
after harvesting
from her own garden.
Zimbabwe was liberated by
everyone who witnessed the struggle. Of course
there are our fathers, the
real brains behind the war. Our fathers toiled
under the heartless Smith
regime but out of all the turmoil they managed to
keep the Zimbabwean dream
alive by motivating the fighters. Some had to be
taken to “Keeps” or
concentration camps where they were “taught” how to
discourage their sons
and daughters from involvement in terrorist and
banditry
activities.
Whenever the Heroes Day is commemorated, has this been
ever taken into
account? Truly the liberation struggle was never solely a
Zanu or even Zapu
show. Our brothers and sisters were also at the
battlefront, sacrificing
their lives for the sake of liberating
Zimbabwe.
Then there were the war collaborators, the “Chimbwidos and
Mujibas” whose
sole duty was to keep the revolutionary spirit awake by
singing all night at
the “Pungwes”. Without them the revolutionary morale
would have died thereby
prolonging the years of colonial subjugation and
suffering. Our historians
have a great task to rewrite our history before it
is too late.
We cannot ignore the role of the students, many of whom
were expelled from
the University of Rhodesia because of their revolutionary
activities. These
are the very same people who returned at independence and
picked our
educational system from where the erstwhile coloniser had left.
Without them
the country would not have developed to the level it is
today.
Credit should also be given to the Zimbabweans who lived in
the Diaspora at
the time. These are the people who lobbied sympathy and
understanding to the
international community by presenting the Zimbabwean
story from a Zimbabwean
perspective. Without them the Lancaster House
Conference, the ultimate
panacea to the Zimbabwean problem, would not have
been called for.
Mention should also be made from our African
colleagues, among them Zambia,
Mozambique and Tanzania. These provided the
training ground for the
liberation fighters, to the extent of risking
destruction of their own
infrastructural development. Several battles of
independence were fought in
these countries, thousands of kilometres away
from Zimbabwe.
Finally, the culture of declaring one a hero after
death should be stopped.
It is high time people are given accolades while
they are still alive. The
idea of a few people gathering to decide upon the
hero status of a person
should stop. Real heroes are known dead or
alive.