http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News, Politics
WITH the
military increasingly involving itself in campaigning for President
Robert
Mugabe and Zanu PF, the July 31 elections are shaping up to a fierce
battle
between multitudes of Zimbabweans demanding change and the army
defending
the status quo.
Report by Brian Chitemba/Clayton Masekesa
Mugabe
and Zanu PF have activated their paramilitary campaign strategies
through
the Joint Operations Command (Joc) — which comprises the army,
police and
intelligence chiefs — in a bid to retain power. The military
rescued Mugabe
in 2008.
However, the fresh deployment of the military — persistently
reported in the
Zimbabwe Independent for more than a year so far — has now
created tensions
within the party as some senior officials, particularly
Vice-President Joice
Mujuru, are becoming uncomfortable with the active role
the army commanders
are playing in Zanu PF’s affairs.
The Independent
understands Mujuru has been complaining in several meetings
with Mugabe
about the take-over of the party by military chiefs now
dictating the pace
of events, while imposing their preferred candidates in
constituencies
during the recent chaotic primary elections.
In a recent meeting with
Mugabe, Mujuru reportedly launched a candid attack
on army generals for
their role in primary elections in areas like Bikita
West where former
Reserve Bank senior staffer Munyaradzi Kereke was involved
in fierce battle
with his ex-colleague Elias Musakwa and in Mberengwa where
Zanu PF
spokesperson Rugare Gumbo lost to July Moyo. There are also many
other
constituencies where the army played a critical role during
primaries.
Gumbo is aligned to a faction led by Mujuru, while Moyo is a
close ally of
Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. Most senior army
commanders, including
Zimbabwe Defence Forces General Constantine Chiwenga,
have close relations
with Mnangagwa. Gumbo has petitioned Mujuru protesting
over alleged
irregularities and vote rigging in the primaries.
The
military has ensured that there are more than a dozen Zanu PF candidates
in
the elections with security backgrounds.
The imposition of preferred
army-backed candidates is said to have prompted
Mujuru to confront Mugabe
after the primaries to question the role of the
military in Zanu PF’s
internal affairs and the party’s election campaigns.
Sources said Mugabe,
however, shot down Mujuru’s protests reminding her that
they were still in
power, courtesy of the role played by the army in the
2008
elections.
“Mujuru is not happy with the military’s involvement in the
party affairs
because the army chiefs, mainly those who sit in Joc, are more
aligned to
Mnangagwa, which has a bearing on the Mugabe succession issue,”
said a
senior Zanu PF official this week. “The generals are accused of
imposing
candidates, for instance, in the Kereke case in Bikita West.
Chiwenga
reportedly ordered Kereke to be allowed to contest primaries after
the
politburo had blocked him.”
As reported widely in the Independent
over the past year, the army has
vastly deployed senior commanders and key
military units across the country
in a bid to rescue Mugabe in the do-or-die
elections.
The military chiefs have abandoned their plush offices at
Defence House in
central Harare to join “Boys on leave” to campaign in the
provinces for
Mugabe.
Brigadier-General David Sigauke has been
deployed in Mashonaland West while
Major-General Douglas Nyikayaramba
replaced Brigadier-General Charles
Tarumbwa, who manned Manicaland in the
2008 disputed elections.
Major-General Engelbrecht Rugeje is busy in
Masvingo, while Retired
Major-General Victor Rungani is co-ordinating
campaigns in Mashonaland East.
Vice Air-Marshal Titus Abu Basutu is in
Matabeleland South and
Brigadier-General Sibusiso Moyo in the Midlands.
Brigadier-General
Sibangumuzi Khumalo is campaigning in Matabeleland North,
while Colonel
Chris Sibanda is working in Bulawayo and Retired Air Commodore
Michael
Karakadzai covering Harare.
Brigadier-General Etherton Shungu
is in charge of Mashonaland Central.
As the elections approach, some
senior army commanders are becoming more
brazen in their approach and are
openly campaigning for Mugabe and Zanu PF.
Army chief-of-staff (general
staff) Major-General Martin Chedondo, who has
vowed to defend Mugabe’s grip
on power, last week told a platoon commanders’
course graduation in Nyanga
that soldiers should rally behind Mugabe and
drive out the “few remaining
whites”. He warned soldiers against supporting
the MDC-T, branding the party
“an enemy of the country”.
Chedondo said: “I want to urge you to vote for
our President Robert Mugabe
and Zanu PF. Your votes should help us with the
numbers to get rid of whites
who are sell-outs.
“As soldiers, we are
not ready and will not allow bringing back the whites
because they have been
calling their friends from outside the country to
impose sanctions that are
hurting us right now.”
Chedondo, a fierce Mugabe loyalist, accused the
MDC-T of being an agent of
the West before ominously declaring that
Zimbabwe’s future lies squarely in
the hands of the army. This confirmed a
widely held view that the next
elections will be a battle between the army
and multitudes of Zimbabweans
demanding change.
Military commanders
are falling over each other to back Mugabe while vowing
to block MDC-T
leader Morgan Tsvangirai from taking over even if he wins the
election.
Chiwenga has gone on a whirlwind tour of the country’s 10
provinces holding
a series of meetings with war veterans and military
commanders to order them
to campaign for Zanu PF. Chiwenga’s wife Mary also
joined the campaign trail
urging female soldiers and wives of army personnel
to rally behind Mugabe
and Zanu PF as they were “chosen by
God”.
Prisons chief Retired Major-General Paradzai Zimondi has ordered
his
sub-ordinates to vote for Mugabe, while police chief
Commissioner-General
Augustine Chihuri has also openly declared allegiance
to Zanu PF. Air
Marshall Perence Shiri on Tuesday also joined the fray,
saying “do not force
us to do that which we did not want to do” as criticism
of security forces’
involvement in elections grows.
Senior army
commanders, particularly Nyikayaramba, Major-General Trust
Mugoba and
Chedondo, have vowed to retain Mugabe and Zanu PF in power at all
costs,
pitting the military against the people on July 31.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News, Politics
THE
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission Zec)’s state of preparedness for the polls
continues to be in doubt as the electoral body has not secured any funds,
leaving it with a lot work to do in the remaining 19 days before the July 31
general elections.
Report by Owen Gagare
A senior Zec official
said yesterday the electoral body had not yet trained
polling and presiding
officers, although constituency election officers have
been
trained.
The official said Zec was in such a tight corner that it was now
asking to
pay service providers after government releases the
money.
Zec also does not have enough vehicles and is depending on the
Central
Mechanical Equipment Department.
“The situation is very
difficult because the money is just not there, so we
have to be innovative,”
said the official.
“We have been talking to some service providers to
provide their services on
credit and some of them have been
understanding.”
Because of cash problems, Zec has engaged a local company
to print ballot
papers on credit. The company will print more than six
million ballot
papers. Finance minister Tendai Biti says there is no money
for elections.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News,
Politics
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s increasing health frailties were
exposed again
yesterday when he was driven in a Ford Ranger sport utility
vehicle (SUV)
for a 200-metre distance instead of his usual stroll to greet
over 7 000
party supporters at Nzvimbo Secondary School in Chiweshe for the
first of 10
nationwide star rallies he is set to address ahead of elections
on July 31.
Report by Paidamoyo Muzulu
Mugabe’s failing health has
created anxiety in his Zanu PF party and
constantly disrupted government
business as he frequently flew to Singapore
for medical attention in a bid
to extend his 33-year. Mugabe, who was
accompanied by his wife Grace,
climbed into the back of the truck with the
aid of a mobile staircase and
his minders to wave to his supporters.
While Mugabe in a 50-minute
address spoke about the need for a violent-free
elections, his wife Grace,
made a stinging personal attack on MDC-T leader
Morgan Tsvangirai describing
him as a “philanderer” who wasted time
gallivanting with girlfriends
atexotic beaches instead of formulating
policies that help improve the lives
of the generality of Zimbabweans. For
the first time in election campaigns,
the first lady told party supporters
that other political contenders such as
Tsvangirai should stop dreaming
about getting into the State House as her
husband was there to stay.
“President Mugabe has been consistent in his
messages about empowering the
people unlike others who spent their time
going to exotic beaches with
different girlfriends. Those who dream about
power should continue dreaming
but we are at State House to stay,” she
said.
Grace described Tsvangirai as a leader who only upholds personal
interests
rather than daddressing people’s concerns.
In his address,
Mugabe admitted these elections would be tough considering
the closely
fought 2008 polls where Zanu PF survived narrowly survived
defeat.
“This is going to be my first stop in the long journey
throughout the
country reminding people who we are, especially after 2008
when we seemed
like we had forgotten about our history,” Mugabe
said.
Zanu PF lost two parliamentary seats in Mashonaland Central to the
MDC-T in
2008 elections, marking the first time the party lost a seat in the
province
since independence in 1980.
“Let’s not make the same mistake
of 2008. We should be wary of puppet
political parties that are seeking to
reverse the gains of independence,”
Mugabe said.
Mugabe said Zanu PF
does not want another coalition government claiming that
the MDC-T sabotaged
the party’s policies, such as agriculture and the
presidential scholarship
scheme, through its control of Treasury.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News, Politics
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, today
responded to first lady Grace Mugabe’s description of the premier as a
“philanderer who wasted time in salacious exotic beaches instead of
formulating policies that help improve the lives of the generality of
Zimbabweans.”
Said Tamborinyoka: “Of all the people, Grace Mugabe is
not qualified to
comment on the prime minister’s morals because she
destroyed the marriage of
an otherwise honourable first lady that we
had.
“The philanderer the prime minister knows of is one president who
fell in
love with his secretary whilst his legitimate wife was dying of a
kidney
ailment. It is sad that Grace is taking us down this route during an
important election where we should be talking about our manifesto, issues
and programmes that address the people’s interests rather than
name-calling.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
THE MDC led by Professor Welshman Ncube is launching the party’s
manifesto
in Mashonaland East province. Also in attendance are coalition
partners Zapu
who are represented by their president Dumiso Dabengwa and his
deputy Emila
Mukaratirwa. Dabengwa has pledged support for the MDC even
beyond this
election.
Elias Mambo
“The people of Zimbabwe have
never enjoyed peace since 1980 but with this
coalition we hope a time shall
come when we shall enjoy fruits of
liberation,” Dabengwa said. Dabengwa also
expressed his happiness that the
launch is taking place in Chikomba, the
home district of his best friend,
the late former army commander Solomon
Mujuru.
“I came because Mujuru wanted change in Zanu PF and it will now
take place.
Wherever he is he should know that I am still fighting for that
change”.
Also present is United Movement for Democracy which has also
pledged its
allegiance to MDC leader Welshman Ncube.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News, Politics
ZANU PF’s
perennial divisions along factional lines were further reflected
this week
in the decision-making politburo debate over the controversial
candidacy of
former Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono’s advisor Munyaradzi
Kereke whose
bid to represent Bikita West constituency in the next general
elections has
left a trail of bitter clashes among party bigwigs.
Report by Faith
Zaba
The issue has been conflict-ridden since Kereke, who had been
campaigning in
the area for a long time, was recently left out of the
party’s official list
of candidates for primaries by the politburo — which
eventually expelled him
on Wednesday — as he had not been a party member for
five consecutive years.
After he was initially blocked, Kereke reportedly
sent chiefs to appeal to
party leaders on his behalf. Resultantly, he
trounced his rival Elias
Musakwa, although the result was
contested.
A dispute then ensued, leading to both Musakwa and Kereke
filing their
nomination papers with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission to
stand on the
Zanu PF ticket.
Although it initially appeared Zanu PF
would allow the two candidates to
stand on its ticket, the party moved to
endorse Musakwa as its official
candidate for the general elections.
Pressure was then piled on Kereke by
senior party officials to withdraw but
he refused, leading to the politburo
intervening on Wednesday and resolving
to expel him.
Zanu PF insiders told the Zimbabwe Independent yesterday
the Kereke issue
dominated the politburo debate on Wednesday amid factional
clashes.
Sources said there was heated debate over whether Kereke should
be allowed
to contest on a “parallel candidate” platform on the Zanu PF
ticket or be
expelled from the party to run as an independent.
The
sources said Zanu PF officials aligned to Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s
faction demanded Kereke must withdraw or be fired. Since he had already
refused to do so, Mujuru’s camp pushed for his expulsion and prevailed amid
resistance from the Mnangagwa faction. The Mujuru group argued Kereke must
be dismissed because he was insubordinate, while the Mnangagwa faction said
he should be allowed to run as a parallel candidate since he was popular on
the ground.
Sources said Mujuru’s long-time rival, Mnangagwa and his
key ally Josiah
Hungwe fought in Kereke’s corner to convince other politburo
members to
allow the businessman to contest because of what they described
as his
“immense grassroot support” in Bikita West.
Sources said
Mnangagwa and Hungwe warned the party’s top leadership of a
possible “bhora
musango” (internal electoral sabotage) in Bikita West if
Kereke was forced
to withdraw or expelled.
Kereke’s allies said he enjoyed the support of
several traditional chiefs in
the area as well as the backing of some senior
army commanders who have been
pushing for popular candidates to contest in
the elections to ensure a Zanu
PF victory in parliamentary and presidential
polls.
“Mnangagwa told the politburo party officials should not confuse
the
negative perception out there about Kereke and the reality on the ground
where he has popular grassroots support. Mnangagwa and Hungwe’s argument was
that a decision to expel Kereke could cost the party the Bikita West
parliamentary seat,” said a politburo insider.
However, sources said
Mnangagwa and Hungwe’s arguments were dismissed by
others who felt Kereke
should be expelled.
“Politburo members wanted to understand how Kereke
ended up contesting in
the primary elections in the first place when he had
been disqualified and
also how he filed nomination papers on a Zanu PF
ticket. The nomination
papers were signed by the Masvingo chairperson
(Lovemore Matuke) and
(Edmund) Mhere (the Masvingo provincial secretary for
administration) who
said they acted under instructions from some top
people.”
Matuke is now facing disciplinary measures over the issue
although he acted
on senior army commanders’ orders.
Fresh
controversy over the issue erupted after State Security minister
Sydney
Sekeramayi and Mujuru, who were initially singled out as having met
chiefs
from Bikita West and given their nod for Kereke to enter the primary
election race, distanced themselves from that saying they never met any
chiefs over the matter.
“After a long debate, which lasted more than
an hour, it was the President
(Robert Mugabe) who moved the motion to expel
Kereke from the party. The
president even went as far as saying he is
willing to lose that one seat if
it came to that. He went further to say
even if Kereke wins the elections,
he will remain expelled from the party,”
said a senior politburo member.
Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo
yesterday said the Kereke issue dominated
debate at Wednesday’s politburo
meeting.
Gumbo said the politburo resolved to expel Kereke from the party
for
insubordination. “We took a long time debating the Kereke issue,” said
Gumbo. “People wanted to understand what happened. Kereke was told after a
politburo decision disqualifying him not to contest as it is said that he
only joined the party last year in October, although others had proposed a
waiver.
“It was the provincial executive that told him to contest.
Matuke and Mhere,
who signed the nomination papers, will be brought before a
disciplinary
hearing for going against a politburo decision. If he withdraws
from the
elections, his expulsion will be lifted.”
However, in an
interview with the Independent yesterday, Kereke vowed not to
withdraw from
the race although he refused to comment on his expulsion.
“I don’t
comment on politburo matters,” said Kereke. “What I am doing is
focusing on
what is happening on the ground and on my campaign in order to
deliver
Bikita West, which is what I will do.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News,
Politics
THE Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) faces a litmus test when
it conducts
the controversial two-day special voting starting on Sunday
across the
country ahead of crucial general elections on July
31.
Report by Elias Mambo
According to Section 81A of the
Electoral Act, special voting is conducted
at least 16 days before the
actual day of polling to allow people who would
be on elections duty to cast
their ballot in advance.
These may include members of the uniformed
forces and election officials.
Postal voting for people working at Zimbabwe
missions abroad is also done at
the same time.
Zec said more than 80
000 applications for special voting have been
processed and requisite
logistics are in order.
Zec chairperson Justice Rita Makarau this week
said of the 120 000
application forms issued for special voting, 87 316 had
been returned to Zec
with the police accounting for 69 222; Zec officials 15
954; Zimbabwe Prison
Services (ZPS) 2 000 and Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA)
140.
However, for the first time in Zimbabwe’s history, members of the
uniformed
forces and other security apparatus will not cast ballots at their
camps,
but at 209 Zec-designated polling stations.
“Special voting is
conducted in a polling booth like the one set up for the
general elections
and it will be supervised by Zec officials following the
same procedures,”
said Makarau. “Polling stations will be at schools and
some centres, not
barracks and police camps as some of you claim.”
President Robert Mugabe
and his Zanu PF party have in the past been blamed
for manipulating special
votes for the uniformed forces to win elections.
However, Makarau this
week re-assured political parties that there would be
no rigging through the
controversial special voting system, amid widespread
fears the ballots would
be tampered with.
“The ballots are transported from polling stations to
the chief elections
officer and thereafter to the ward in tamper-proof
envelops that will be
sealed in the presence of election agents who are
entitled to sign on the
seal,” she said.
Makarau also said political
party agents are entitled to be present when the
tamper-proof envelopes are
opened.
Suspicions have already been raised as Zimbabweans are
questioning the
number of police officers set to vote this
weekend.
Zanu PF has been stepping up its election campaign with the
army, police and
prison services embarking on a massive recruitment drive to
aid the party to
win the do-or-die polls.
Government sources told the
Zimbabwe Independent recently that secret hiring
by ZNA, ZPS and the police
were underway in defiance of the Public Service
Commission freeze on
recruitment.
MDC-T secretary for defence and security Giles Mutsekwa said
the recruitment
drive was “suspicious” and aimed at boosting Zanu PF’s
chances in the
elections.
“This is a deliberate attempt by Zanu PF to
recruit as many people as
possible to boost their chances of winning the
next elections. What Zanu PF
is not aware of is that those people do not
support them.
“Those are desperate people seeking employment and won’t help
the dying
party’s chances to win the elections,” Mutsekwa said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News, Politics
A
high-powered Zanu PF delegation has begged party “rebels” to withdraw from
contesting as independents in the general elections and support
party-endorsed candidates who won primaries despite widespread complaints of
rigging and voting irregularities, it has emerged.
Report by Brian
Chitemba
The team led by the party’s secretary for administration Didymus
Mutasa,
director of the commissariat department Retired Air Vice- Marshal
Henry
Muchena and officials from the President’s Office have since met
Daniel
Garwe (Murehwa North), Marian Chombo (Zvimba North) and prominent
lawyer
Jonathan Samkange (Mudzi South) to ask them to withdraw from
parliamentary
polls. Sources said the candidates refused to bow to pressure
and insisted
that they will contest the polls as independents.
In
Bikita West, businessman Munyaradzi Kereke, who was expelled from the
party
on Wednesday by the politburo, will run as an independent against the
party’s preferred Elias Musakwa.
The meetings were prompted by
President Robert Mugabe’s appeal while
addressing Zanu PF’s central
committee last week that party members should
do all they can to convince
those who lost primaries to support those who
won. Some of the problems
which characterised the primaries included
controversial disqualifications,
re-admissions through the backdoor,
imposition of candidates, poor
logistics, shortage of ballot papers,
attempts to run-away with ballot
boxes, delayed announcement of results and
allegations of
rigging.
Zvimba North parliamentary candidate Marian Chombo was adamant
she would
contest the July 31 elections as an independent against her
ex-husband
Ignatius Chombo, Local Government minister. Marian, told the
Zimbabwe
Independent this week that her ex-husband was employing underhand
tactics to
frustrate her by holding rallies about 100 metres away from
hers.
“Zvimba North constituency asked me to stand as an independent
candidate but
if I win the elections I will hand the seat to Zanu PF,” said
Marian. “If
Chombo is allowed to go it alone against an MDC-T candidate, the
seat will
be lost. I am campaigning for President Mugabe and I am positive I
will win
the seat. Marian also revealed that her ex-husband had demanded
that she
stops using the Chombo surname but she insisted she was still a
Chombo by
marriage.
“Chombo has been threatening my supporters that
they will lose their farms
if they don’t vote for him. But I am convincing
voters that their vote is
their secret and they should not be intimidated
into voting for a candidate
who never visited the constituency since
2008.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News,
Politics
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono has allayed
fears of a
hurried return of the now defunct Zimbabwe dollar saying
prospects for the
re-introduction of the local currency are medium to long
term.
Report by Taurai Mangudhla
Gono yesterday told the Zimbabwe
Independent the country and the business
community should not panic as the
move remains no more than an aspiration
that is still at consultation
stage.
He said discussions had been held between his office and President
Robert
Mugabe’s office on the return of a local currency, whose name may not
necessarily be the Zimbabwe dollar. He also said the local currency will
only come back after an enabling macroeconomic environment has been
created.
Gono said among the agreed preconditions needed are sustainable
macroeconomic stability, accumulation of adequate foreign exchange reserve
buffers to the Sadc regional target of three months and rehabilitation of
infrastructure.
Mugabe understands the local currency, Gono added,
will only return upon
restoration of confidence in economy generally and in
the banking sector in
particular and alignment of various pieces of
legislation and administrative
systems so that they complement each other
prior to its re-introduction,
together with appropriate pre-education and
wide consultations.
“The above pre-conditions can be feasibly attained in
the medium to long
term, and only then has the president directed that we
can as monetary and
fiscal authorities, timely devise ways of re-introducing
the local
currency,” Gono said.
“Additionally, the local currency
according to the wishes of His Excellency,
would be required to circulate
alongside the basket of currencies which are
currently legal tender in
Zimbabwe and the public will be free to pick and
use a currency of their
choice for transactions purposes.”
The central bank chief said sustained
stability of the re-introduced local
currency will also be contingent upon
the accumulation of adequate assets
from the country’s resources, notably
gold, to enable the currency to be
fully gold-backed. To achieve this, Gono
said, government would need to
purchase adequate stocks of gold from miners
in order to build its bullion
reserves.
Last week, Mugabe said the
Zimdollar will eventually return but not
immediately.
Debate on the
return of the local currency comes as banking sources indicate
Finance
minister Tendai Biti is on the verge of gazetting a statutory
instrument
which will, among other things, seek to demonetise (stop use of)
the
Zimbabwe dollar.
As reported by the Zimbabwe independent last week,
sources said Biti wanted
to gazette the legal instrument and demonetise the
defunct local currency.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News, Politics
IN a
desperate move to garner votes in the July 31 polls, aspiring Zanu PF
MPs
went on a door-to-door campaign collecting identity documents to
register
potential voters in their respective constituencies to beat the
Tuesday
voter registration deadline.
Report by Brian Chitemba
The move
which was used mainly by Zanu PF candidates in urban areas such as
Harare
and Bulawayo, was seen as a ploy to mobilise voters based on fear of
a
battering in cities that are regarded as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
strongholds.
It emerged this week that the candidates went on a
last-minute rush to lure
supporters to register as voters while some
resorted to importing potential
voters from outside their
constituencies.
“Candidates embarked on a door-to-door campaign enticing
unregistered
residents to give them photocopies of IDs and other documents
so they could
register us. The potential MPs were in a rush to make sure
they maximise on
the number of registered voters in their constituencies
before the closure
of the voters’ roll on Tuesday,” said Dorothy Moyo, a
Harare resident.
Some of the aspiring legislators took to social networks
such as Facebook
and WhatsApp to invite their unregistered friends to
surrender their
identity documents which were taken to voter registration
centres by the
candidates.
One of the WhatsApp messages seen by the
Zimbabwe Independent read:
“Comrade, are you a registered voter? Please give
me your documents so I can
register you to vote in my constituency. I need
every vote in my area
because every vote counts.”
This came as
aspiring urban voters had nightmares to register as the
Registrar-General’s
officers allegedly employed delaying tactics to
deliberately frustrate the
electorate. By the closure of the 30-day
mandatory voter registration
exercise on Tuesday, thousands of people
struggled without success to get
registered because the process was moving
at a snail’s pace while long
queues of prospective voters remained stagnant.
A survey this week showed
at the RG’s office in Highfield, only 66 people
out of several hundreds were
registered from opening of the centre at 7am up
to 2pm, implying that only
10 people were being registered per hour, leaving
thousands
disenfranchised.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News,
Politics
ZANU PF central committee member and parliamentary candidate for
Bulawayo’s
Makokoba constituency retired Colonel Tshinga Dube says his
party’s failure
to effectively resolve long-standing concerns in
Matabeleland, including the
1980s Gukurahundi massacres, remains a sore
point for people in the region.
Report by Herbert Moyo
In an
exclusive interview with the Zimbabwe Independent in Bulawayo last
Saturday,
Dube bemoaned failure to address the Gukurahundi and
marginalisation
protests saying he had warned his colleagues this would cost
the party
support in the elections.
“I have said it over and over again that we
have failed to address these
issues (Gukurahundi and marginalisation),” said
Dube. “A lot of unpleasant
things happened here. Somebody who was not
affected might just say it was a
war while those who were affected will call
it by a different name.”
Dube said he had proposed that the National
Organ on Healing and
Reconciliation should work with chiefs from the region
in organising rituals
of reconciliation and “pardoning each
other”.
“We are not even touching the nerve centre of the problems.
People may smile
at you, but deep down they still retain a lot of hatred.
Until we have that
apology made, people will continue to harbour
grievances.”
The Zanu PF arm of government has repeatedly refused to
entertain any public
discussions and calls for compensation for victims of
the conflict and
killings which President Robert Mugabe described as a
“moment of madness”.
Mugabe recently blamed government forces for the
murders, claiming they
acted beyond their mandate.
Government set up
a commission of inquiry to look into the atrocities in
Matabeleland headed
by Justice Simplisius Chihambakwe in 1983, but the
findings were never made
public.
The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace (CCJP) said that
over 20 000
victims were killed during the conflict.
The CCJP report
recommended a national reconciliation process; proper burial
for the victims
and compensation for those affected, as well as accelerated
development for
the affected regions.
However, Zanu PF is hesitating on these
recommendations claiming the dark
chapter ended at the stroke of the pens
when Mugabe and the late Joshua
Nkomo signed the Unity Accord in December
1987.
The Gukurahundi episode has, however, continued to haunt Zanu PF in
elections with the party only winning all seats in the Matabeleland
provinces in 1990 and 1995 in the absence of any formidable
opposition.
However, since the MDC came onto the political scene, Zanu PF
has had
nightmares in Matabeleland, failing to win any seat in Bulawayo
since 2000
and getting a handful elsewhere in the volatile
region.
Dube also suggested that his party’s persistent liberation war
rhetoric is
not in sync with young people’s aspirations as they are more
concerned about
getting an education, jobs and a decent
life.
“History is a good subject for people to know where they came from,
but I am
not one of those people who want to make people live in the past,”
said
Dube.
“Young people’s aspirations are shaped by their present
circumstances; so,
it would be a mistake to pre-occupy them with the history
of the liberation
struggle which happened more than 30 years
ago.”
Dube, who lost the 2008 elections to MDC-T vice-president Thokozani
Khupe,
said he was confident of winning the Makokoba seat saying the MDC-T’s
“poor
record of delivery in the coalition government had exposed its
incompetence”.
“In the past, Zanu PF would be blamed for all the problems
as it was the
sole governing party, but the MDC-T has had its own
shortcomings which were
exposed during the government of national unity
where its ministries all
fared badly,” Dube said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News,
Politics
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai says although intimidation and
open political
violence have declined, the fear factor is still lingering in
the three Zanu
PF strongholds of Mashonaland provinces.
Report by
Elias Mambo
The Mashonaland provinces have denied Tsvangirai victory in
previous
elections by overwhelmingly voting for Zanu PF. In an exclusive
interview
with the Zimbabwe independent on the sidelines of his campaign
trail in Zanu
PF’s stronghold of Mashonaland Central, Tsvangirai said his
supporters are
still being intimidated and reminded of the horrors of the
2008 disputed
elections that shook President Robert Mugabe’s grip on
power.
“Zanu PF is employing discreet methods of intimidation in an
attempt to
frustrate our supporters,” said Tsvangirai.
“I have been
around this province since morning but what I have seen are
tactics to stop
our supporters from attending our rallies so as to deny us
victory in the
forthcoming elections. But I am warning Zanu PF supporters
that things have
changed and since everyone wants change, we are going to
win,” he
said.
Tsvangirai had to change his “walk past programme” at Guruve centre
after
his supporters were arrested.
“The president (Tsvangiriai) had
to go and rescue about 40 supporters who
had been arrested at Guruve centre
for wearing party regalia and singing
while waiting for his team to arrive,”
said Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke
Tamborinyoka.
At Mvurwi business
centre, Tsvangirai could not address a scheduled rally at
the stadium after
Zanu PF supporters hastily organised ball games inside the
venue to thwart
the gathering. The rally was eventually held at an open
space near Mvurwi
vegetable market, some 300 metres away from the stadium
with only seven
police officers separating the rival party supporters. The
same intimidation
tactics were employed in Glendale where Zanu PF supporters
encircled the
stadium in which Tsvangirai was addressing supporters chanting
party
slogans.
Even though MDC-T had secured police clearance to hold the
rally, Zanu PF
supporters deliberately occupied the venue five hours before
Tsvangirai was
scheduled to address his supporters at midday, effectively
blocking MDC-T
supporters from assembling.
MDC-T supporters, who
started trickling into the venue around 8am, were
shocked to find two
netball and three soccer teams of Zanu PF youths and
women donning party
regalia preparing to play matches inside.
“This is shocking because we
have a police clearance to use the venue but
Zanu PF decided to have ball
games here forcing us to hold our rally at this
open space,” said MDC-T
organising secretary Nelson Chamisa.
Tsvangirai has been telling his
supporters at every rally in Mashonaland
Central that voting for Zanu PF and
Mugabe is setting the country backward.
“If you want progress then vote
for MDC but if you want the economy to go
back where it was in 2008 then
vote for Zanu PF and Mugabe,” he said.
“What will Zanu PF do which they
have failed to do in the past 33 years?”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News, Politics
ALTHOUGH
the new constitution grants political rights to prisoners, the
country’s
estimated 17 000 inmates would not be allowed to vote in the July
31
elections as the time left is inadequate for the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (Zec) to put in place logistics required for them to cast their
ballot.
Report by Hazel Ndebele
Zec chairperson Justice Rita
Makarau told the Zimbabwe Independent on
Tuesday that the country’s inmates
would not be able to vote.
“As Zec, we acknowledge that Chapter 4,
Section 4.18 of the new charter
states that every Zimbabwean has the right
to vote,” said Makarau. “However,
we do not have mechanisms for prisoners to
vote in this year’s elections. We
have already started engaging with
relevant stakeholders to enable prisoners
to vote in future. There are many
things involved before allowing prisoners
to vote, which is why, as Zec, we
are saying they will not be able to vote
now, but in future.”
Makarau
added that voting is a process which includes voter education and
voter
registration.
“It is not a matter of us just walking into prisons and
letting them cast
their votes during elections.
“Others are serving
20 years in prison; who are they going to vote for?
Political parties would
have to campaign in prisons and this needs
security,” she
said.
“Prisoners have to be educated on the political environment outside
prison,
therefore, all this cannot be done within the short time
left.
“For one to register as a voter, one needs to secure an identity
card and
establish the ward or constituency he/she belongs to, and inmates
had to go
through all the required processes in the short time given to be
able to
vote.”
Zimbabwe’s second round of voter registration
commenced on June 19 and ended
on July 9, and with the general elections set
for July 31, those who did not
register will not be able to cast their
ballots.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 11, 2013 in Elections 2013,
News, Politics
MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora on Friday responded to
first lady Grace
Mugabe’s attack on Prime Minister Morgan saying she was an
“embarrassing
simpleton who dwelt on the trivial when Zimbabwe was
burning”.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
Grace had made a stinging personal
attack on MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai
describing him as a philanderer who
wasted time in salacious exotic beaches
instead of formulating policies that
help improve the lives of the
generality of Zimbabweans.
“Mrs
Mugabe’s comment reflects the capacity of this first lady. She is an
embarrassing simpleton and we are happy that she now has only 18 days to
leave State House,” Mwonzora said.
Mwonzora added that the first lady
will not be missed as “she was not a
blessing to Zimbabwe at
all”.
The first lady told over 7 000 party supporters that other
political
contenders such as Tsvangirai should stop dreaming about getting
into the
State House as her husband President Robert Mugabe was there to
stay.
“President Mugabe has been consistent in his messages about
empowering the
people not like others who spent their time going to exotic
beaches with
different girlfriends. Those who dream about power should
continue dreaming
but we are at State House to stay,” she said while
addressing a rally at
Nzvimbo Secondary School, Chiweshe in the Zanu PF
heartland of Mashonaland
Central province.
Grace took the podium soon
after her husband had finished his 50 minute
speech which focused on
reminding Zimbabweans to hold dear the values of the
liberation struggle and
keep wary of imperial forces who seek to reverse
independence
gains.
The Nzvimbo rally was the first star rally in a series of 10
nationwide
planned by Zanu PF ahead of the July 31 elections.
Grace
donated food stuffs to the elderly in Chiweshe which comprised 10
tonnes of
mealie-meal, 10 tonnes of sugar beans, two tonnes of table salt
and 560
boxes of cooking oil.
She operates a children’s home and a private school
in Mazowe within the
province.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 11, 2013 in News,
Politics
THE Election Resource Centre (ERC) says the just-ended voter
registration
exercise was fraught with logistical problems resulting in many
people
failing to register to vote.
Elias Mambo
ERC, a
non-partisan electoral institute supporting democracy stakeholders,
said:
“The combined civil and voter registration provided an opportunity for
prospective voters to acquire new and lost identification documents;
register to vote and inspect the voters roll. However the process itself was
fraught with logistical and technical challenges which impeded the
registration of all prospective registrants.”
The mandatory 30-day
mobile voter registration exercise was conducted by
Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (Zec) from June 10-July 9, but the ERC said
challenges including
general lethargic service, inadequate voter education,
inaccessibility of
registration centers, inconsistent application of
provisions for voter
registrationand limited publicity, among many others,
scuttled the entire
registration process.
“ERC observers also noted a combination of
unprofessional conduct and
disturbing lack of urgency by certain
registration officials resulting in
long winding queues at various centres
throughout the country.”
“Lessons from the previous voter registration
process must in future inform
Zec that the provisions for continuous voter
registration in Zimbabwe must
run parallel to a similarly continuous voter
education process.”
Meanwhile the MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti,
this week, called for an
extension of the mobile voter registration
exercise, claiming that at least
300 000 prospective voters in Harare alone
have been denied the right to
participate in general elections.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in Elections
2013, News
THE Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) has called on the
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (Zec) to extend the mobile voter registration
exercise
as the massive under-registration of urban and young voters will
deprive
these groups the opportunity of exercising their democratic
rights.
Zesn’s findings come after it conducted a demographic analysis of
the voters’
roll on all 5 890 169 names on the voters’ roll from all 1,964
wards and 210
constituencies compared to the official 2012 Census data from
the Zimbabwe
National Statistics Agency.
“The analysis by Zesn shows
the under-registration of eligible voters in
urban wards with approximately
750 000 missing urban voters and under
registration of youth voters in urban
and rural wards with approximately 400
000 missing young voters,” Zesn,
adding that “these youth voters are only 5%
of registered voters compared to
20 % in the Zambian election held in 2011.”
Failure to address this
issue, according to Zesn, might seriously undermine
the credibility of the
whole electoral process. Zesn found a significant
disparity between
registration rates in urban and rural wards with
registration in urban wards
at 67.94% and those in rural wards at 99,97%.
For urban voter registration
rates to be comparable with rural registration
rates another 750 000 urban
voters must still be registered.
The analysis also revealed a number of
discrepancies between census data and
registered voters across all age
groups. For instance there are
approximately 831 482 people in the age group
40-49 years. However it is
worrying that the voters’ roll reflects
1,250,989 registered voters in this
age group.
Zesn noted that in the
age group 80 years or more which according to census
data has an estimated
population of 155,653, while the registered voters of
the same group are 343
187, some of whom are as old as 114 years old.
This over registration of
elderly voters in urban and rural wards
demonstrates that approximately 250
000 names of individuals who are likely
to be deceased, whose names have not
been removed from the voters’ roll.
Zesn also lamented Zec’s failure to
provide updates of the mobile voter
registration exercise for the period
June 10 to July 10 saying the last
updates were for the period from April
29 to May 19.
“Thus, it is not possible to assess the final state of
voter registration.
The official registration figures showed a total
5,890,169 registered
voters, as at 19 June 2013,” said Zesn, adding that
“the true registration
rate is likely lower because clearly names of
deceased persons remain on the
roll.”
This situation would only have
been exacerbated by the just ended mobile
voter registration period because
of the distribution of registration
centres, with the majority located in
rural areas which reinforces the
inequitable access to voter registration
already reflected on the voters’
roll.
Zesn’s analysis, which is
based on the 2012 Census shows that about 18,24 %
of eligible voters are
between 18 and 22 (those who became eligible since
the 2008 elections) but
just 2,39 % of registered voters are in this age
group – one ninth of the
desired number. Similarly, estimated eligible
voters between 23 and 29 are
22, 97 % according to the 2012 Census, but
registered voters in this age
group are just 11, 7% or half the desired
number. At the same time, census
data shows that 5,5 %- of estimated
eligible voters are between the ages of
70 and 80 while 5,82% of registered
voters are 80 years or older.
The
Network notes with concern that registration of young people in Zimbabwe
is
not only well below 2012 Census estimates it is significantly lower than
registration rates in other African countries for recent elections.
Registration of young voters (under 25) is more than 10% less in Zimbabwe
than comparable countries such as South Africa (16.5%), Kenya (16.86%) and
Zambia (20,61%). It is our view that for registration rates for youth
voters to approximate the 2012 Census another 400 000 voters aged between 18
and 29 need to be registered. – Zesn.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in
Business
FIDELITY Life Assurance CEO Simon Chapereka (SC) talks to the
Zimbabwe
Independent business reporter Taurai Mangudhla (TM) on the likely
impact of
the impending elections on his company and gives an update on
specific
strategic projects.
Below are excerpts:
TM: The
country is now in an election period and all the attention is on
what is
happening on the political field. What is the likely impact of these
elections on your business?
SC: In terms of the issue of elections,
everything hinges on uncertainty and
once the uncertainty has been removed,
we believe, a number of issues
affecting industry will be addressed. For
example, the issue of liquidity
and issues of business
goals.
Actually, it is a good thing for us if the elections are held, the
sooner
they are held the better.
TM: From your past experience, what
has been the trend for your business in
terms of performance around
elections?
SC: Obviously, if you take 2008, for instance, because of the
violence, I
think a number of our partners withdrew to protect themselves,
but this time
it has been relatively peaceful and we have not yet recorded
such issues. We
have not had anyone saying they can’t work with us. So, if
this environment
continues to exist, it’s a huge plus for
Zimbabwe.
TM: Turning to specific projects, what is the likely impact of
delays at
your Southview Park high-density residential stands project on
group
performance?
SC: It will not affect our performance because we
have not built into
Southview in our budgets for this year. What has
happened, of course, is
these are pre-sales and we will realise the sale
into our books when we have
delivered and we are delivering basically a
finished product which we will
then bring into account.
TM: What
reasons have been given for the hold-up and are you not concerned
about this
delay?
SC: I think we are not unduly concerned with the time it has taken
because
it is reasonable given that we are talking about ground development
of
around 6 000 housing units. That’s a massive investment. So the city
fathers
have got to ensure that they have looked at it from every angle
because the
houses are expected to last for the next 100 years.
TM:
What has been the payment pattern especially with the delays?
SC: When
people go to Southview Park, they see the land and they know they
are
talking to a developer of repute, you only need to go to Manresa and see
what we can do. Individuals have not changed, but housing funds and
co-operatives have indicated that they will participate once we start
developing the area, that’s why we are expecting a huge uptake once we have
started.
TM: Still on the Southview Park project, how many stands
have you sold so
far?
SC: We have sold about 582 on installments of
over five to 10 years and that’s
over US$1 million.
TM: During your
annual general meeting, you spoke about partnering a South
Sudanese company.
Would you care to shed some light on the nature of the
investment?
SC: We are talking about a 50-50 joint venture to exploit
the opportunities
in that market.
TM: What is the name of the
company?
SC: The company is called National Insurance Company of South
Sudan.
TM: In terms of your seed capital, how much are you looking at for
the
project?
SC: The investment which we want to put in there is in
terms of IT, and the
human resources; so we are talking about US$1 million
for computers and
vehicles.
TM: How soon do you expect returns from the
investment in South Sudan?
SC: If everything goes according to plan we
should expect returns by next
year. Now we are establishing the system,
sourcing the business and ensuring
everything is in place.
TM: Still
on new investments, you have previously spoken about establishing
a micro
bank and how the group expects it to be a game-changer.
SC: Yes, from a
point of view that our major competitors are the banks, they
have access to
large deposits because they are deposit-taking whereas ours
is basically
limited to the funds we are collecting from our premiums — our
own lending —
so, you then find we can’t meet the demand. I think we are
only meeting 20%
of our demand. So, basically, it will help us do so, but
you can understand
that the Microfinace Bill, which is before parliament,
hasn’t gone to
senate. Once it has gone, it will have an impact on the terms
for new
licensing.
TM: Do you have the resources to start the micro-finance
business, given the
capital requirement stands at US$5 million?
SC:
Yes, we do, and if you go to our balance sheet you will see that we have
got
more than US$4,5 million. We will use internal resources.
TM: Does it
mean you are abandoning previous considerations to move into
established
banks?
SC: Look, while that was considered, we will have a problem if we
deal with
already established businesses because they had their own
overheads and if
we get in we get stuck and in terms of re-aligning, we
would clear the debts
overnight whereas if we are fresh, we start from a
clean sheet.
TM: You have spoken about a group rationalisation plan, what
targets are you
looking at in terms of impact on performance?
SC: The
rationalisation will actually result in a savings of up to 20% on
expenses
incurred; so, we actually have a reduction of business expenses as
opposed
to fee increase which obviously will have an impact on the bottom
line.
TM: Is your staff going to be affected by the strategic
decision?
SC: The staff has been re-assigned in terms of the expanding
business and
re-alignment.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in Business
ZIMBABWE’S hope
for a 5% annual economic growth buoyed by agricultural and
mining sectors is
fading away as the country’s decisive elections draw
closer with analysts
saying the target is unattainable.
Report by Hazel Ndebele
Despite
the usual lack of policy stability and other challenges that have
spilled
into 2013 from previous years, the general elections, which are set
for July
31, are a major setback for Zimbabwe’s economic performance, with
visible
signs of slowdown apparent across key sectors.
The mining sector has been
affected by erratic power supplies, policy
instability and capital
constraints with gold production registering a 2,73%
year-on-year decline to
1 081,93kg in April 2013 while small-scale producers’
contribution to total
gold production declined by more than 25% between
March and April
2013.
In agriculture, tobacco deliveries missed the Tobacco Industry
Marketing
Board’s 170 million kg target for 2013 to close the season at 160
million
kg.
Economist Takunda Mugaga told the Zimbabwe Independent
this week the country’s
economic performance is expected to continue slowing
down further from the
Medium Term Plan’s average 7,1% annual target on
account of reckless
political statements being made by the
executive.
“The economy will further sink with Mugabe’s mantra of pulling
out of Sadc
slowing trade movements between Zimbabwe and its trading
partners,” he said.
“The targeted 5% economic growth is unattainable
considering everything has
come to a standstill and lines of credit are to
dry up completely as we
approach July 31. This is expected to continue
beyond the next three
months.”
Economist Eric Bloch also said: “I
don’t think as a nation we will be able
to attain 5% economic growth by the
end of the year because after the
elections, it will take time for the
economy to improve in consideration of
the liquidity crisis the country is
in.”
“It is important for the economy to have free and fair elections.
The
business community is looking forward to the new government and policies
which will boost economic recovery greatly needed and craved for by all
Zimbabweans.”
He said banking sector deposits would further decrease
due to fear of going
back to the Zimbabwean dollar.
Bloch’s remarks
follow similar remarks by the African Development Bank
(AfDB)’s May 2013
Zimbabwe Monthly Economic Review that Zimbabwe’s economic
slowdown is mainly
a result of uncertainty around the process and outcome of
elections with the
current liquidity crunch being among the signs of stress.
According to
the regional bank, broad money supply declined from 33,4% in
March 2012 to
10,5% in March 2013 largely due to declining long-term
deposits, after
deposit maturities were withdrawn from the formal banking
system instead of
being rolled over.
“The withdrawal of long-term deposits may be
attributed to factors that
include uncertainty around the post-election
business environment. On
monthly basis, banking sector deposits have
declined influenced by low
average disposable incomes, individuals’ and
corporates’ reduced capacity to
save and weak confidence in the formal
banking system,” AfDB said.
The latest AfDB report said Zimbabwe was in
debt distress with arrears to
most creditors continuing to
accumulate.
The economic review notes that net credit to government has
been increasing
due to pre-election government spending such as funding for
the referendum,
elections and voter registration, among others. Net credit
to government has
increased from US$153,2 million in February this year to
US$170,6 million
and is most likely to increase again.
Figures
released by the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency two weeks ago
indicate
the country’s trade deficit will worsen to over US$3 billion by the
end of
this year after the balance of trade in the four months to April
widened to
US$1,6 billion as the country’s reliance on imported goods and
services grew
against declining exports.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI)
president Charles Msipa said many
businesses in the manufacturing sector are
still in crisis or in intensive
care due to the country’s suffering
economy.
“Political stability is an essential pre-condition for an
environment that
fosters business and economic growth. As CZI, we are
calling for peaceful
and credible elections,” he said.
Analysts say
the manufacturing sector desperately needs investment given its
failure to
embrace new low-cost production.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in News,
Politics
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s threat last Friday to pull Zimbabwe
out of Sadc if
the regional body continues to put him under pressure to hold
free and fair
elections is impractical and in any case likely to be resisted
by citizens
due to the bloc’s immeasurable importance in the country’s
survival and
development.
Report by Brian Chitemba
Analysts
say apart from immense economic benefits that Zimbabwe derives due
to its
integration to Sadc, Mugabe is ironically still in office due to a
power-sharing deal brokered by the regional body in September 2008 which saw
the formation of the inclusive government after his re-election claim was
widely rejected due to violence and intimidation.
Mugabe claimed to
have won the June 2008 presidential run-off which his
rival Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai boycotted after a reign of terror
perpetrated by the
military and Zanu PF militias on the country in their
survival
bid.
Mugabe seems to have conveniently forgotten, analysts say, that Sadc
is the
same organisation which, by brokering the Global Political Agreement
(GPA),
which rescued and restored legitimacy on him following accusations of
gross
human rights abuses and election rigging.
Mugabe told Zanu PF
supporters last Friday Zimbabwe could pull out of Sadc
due to what he
described as “stupid things” done by “ordinary, stupid and
idiotic people”
within the regional bloc.
“Sadc has no power,” Mugabe said. “Let it be
known that we are in Sadc
voluntarily. If Sadc decides to do stupid things,
we can pull out.
“For now we have a Sadc that has good sense. Although
from some quarters
there was a stupid, idiotic woman saying elections cannot
be held by July
31. Did such person ever think as an independent country we
would take such
utterances which were stupid and idiotic?”
Mugabe’s
ranting, analysts said, was cheap rhetoric from an old and tired
politician
who seems to have run out of options to ensure political survival
except
desperate measures.
Academic Kudakwashe Chitofiri said Mugabe’s
utterances were “mere
politicking” because Zimbabwe depended on Sadc for
economic survival and
other things.
“The only thing these utterances
have managed to do is to further alienate
Zanu PF and Mugabe from South
Africa in general and the African National
Congress in particular, as well
as other countries in the region,” said
Chitofiri.
“Isolation from
Sadc means isolation from the AU and basically we will be a
lone ranger with
no semblance of legitimacy.”
The threats stemmed from a tough Sadc stance
on Mugabe’s unilateral
proclamation of election dates last month under the
guise of complying with
the July 31 election controversial deadline ordered
by the Constitutional
Court.
Sadc has been insisting that Zimbabwe
only holds elections after necessary
reforms were implemented to pave way
for free and fair polls.
However, Godwin Phiri, an analyst, said Mugabe’s
words should not be taken
lightly given that he seems to have the courage of
his convictions and a
record of acting on his threats.
“We have seen
some really ridiculous, ad hoc decisions and policies being
made even at
funerals in the past, which have left the country isolated,”
said
Phiri.
“I would not be surprised if Mugabe and Zanu PF attempted to pull
out in
order to force the regional body to accept their electoral
skullduggery. It
would be a suicidal move but with Zanu PF you can expect
anything, including
suicide. This is a party that is prepared to cut its
nose in order to spite
its face.”
In 2003, Mugabe unilaterally pulled
Zimbabwe out of the Commonwealth after
the organisation extended the
country’s suspension from the group following
rampant human rights abuses
and lack of democratic reforms.
In a surprise move, Mugabe angrily pulled
out, saying Zimbabwe did not need
the Commonwealth because it had “Sadc and
the African Union (AU) as our
mentors, not the Commonwealth”.
Now
that Sadc is insisting on the same things as the Commonwealth
demanded ––
particularly adherence to the Harare Declaration – Mugabe is now
contradicting himself by threatening to leave the regional bloc even if
analysts say that would be unrealistic and unsustainable.
Analysts
say, in any case such a decision, given that Zimbabwe is integrated
to the
region, cannot be legitimately made by Mugabe alone but by
Zimbabweans
through a referendum or some other consultative process.
Unlike the
Commonwealth, which is a grouping of former British colonies and
has no
direct economic benefits, Sadc is critical with more than three
million
Zimbabweans holed up in neighbouring countries after fleeing the
economic
meltdown caused by Mugabe’s bankrupt policies mainly since 2000.
Zimbabwe
is a landlocked country and largely depends on ports such as Durban
in South
Africa, Walvis Bay in Namibia, Beira and Maputo in Mazambique and
Tanzania’s
Dar es Salaam for its vital imports.
Analysts say pulling out of Sadc
could lead to Zimbabwe re-negotiating trade
pacts and deals for usage of the
ports with individual countries in Sadc,
something which could prove
economically disastrous.
Political commentator Blessing Vava dismissed
Mugabe’s Sadc pullout warning
as an “empty threat” saying Zimbabwe has no
capacity to go it alone in
political and economic terms.
He said
Zimbabwe cannot afford further isolation, especially in the region,
because
member states depend on each other on economic and security issues.
“Pulling
out of Sadc is different from the Commonwealth in many aspects,”
Vava
said.
“If you look at how the regional bloc is structured, Zimbabwe
cannot afford
to survive without Sadc and its neighbours in particular. For
instance our
economy is indirectly sustained by countries in the region
mainly South
Africa from where most our food is imported. Besides, South
Africa is
Zimbabwe’s biggest economic partner and the region is our source
of economic
and security survival as a nation.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013
in News, Politics
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai have launched
their parties’ manifestos, signalling the official
start of electioneering
for polls on July 31, which look set to be a close
call as they are likely
to follow established voting trends, with Zanu PF
winning in its rural
strongholds and the MDC-T prevailing in urban
areas.
Report by Elias Mambo
Current trends show that the MDC led
by Professor Welshman Ncube, which has
formed an alliance with Dumiso
Dabengwa’s Zapu, might win significant seats
in Matabeleland and Midlands,
coming in-between the main parties as the
power broker.
After the
launch of campaigns, the three main parties and an avalanche of
fly-by-night
political outfits, which normally emerge from the woodwork
during election
years, have all entered the home stretch with just over two
weeks left
before poll day.
Zanu PF was the first out of the block launching its
manifesto in “the
cradle of mass nationalism” — Highfield — as the party
tried to rejuvenate
its dwindling support base.
It was in Highfield,
where Zanu PF was formed, that Mugabe was welcomed by
huge crowds of
Zimbabweans on the eve of Independence in 1980. It was also
in Highfield
where the late veteran nationalist Joshua Nkomo was given a
house by Herbert
Chitepo to organise his meetings.
Judging by policies being propagated by
different political parties for the
forthcoming elections, there is now a
pragmatic shift in the electorate’s
expectations as people are no longer
interested in mere speeches and
sloganeering, but issues which put food on
their tables.
As a result, Zanu PF is mainly campaigning on the
indigenisation platform,
MDC-T on job creation and MDC on devolution of
power which it hawks as a
potential panacea to problems of
over-centralisation and inclusion of the
marginalised masses in mainstream
economic programmes and development.
While in Zimbabwe policy issues are
still not the ultimate game-changer,
even if they help in defining the
identities and programmes of parties, the
United States presidential debates
last year gave a glimpse of how
policy-based political campaigns make a
difference rather than political
leaders engaging in name-calling and
character assassination.
With political violence and intimidation
relatively low compared to previous
elections, policy issues are slowly
coming to the fore even though parties
are not able to competently
substantiate their claims and explain how they
will achieve their
objectives.
The Zanu PF manifesto, themed Indigenise, Empower, Develop
and Create
Employment, outlines 22 key goals set to define the party’s
policies over
the next five years, while the MDC-T manifesto is based on job
creation,
uplifting of the economy and defending the
constitution.
MDC-T says it will create one million jobs in the next five
years if voted
into power.
“The biggest challenge that confronts our
economy today is unemployment,”
reads the party’s manifesto launched in
Marondera last Sunday.
“The MDC-T policy — Jobs, Upliftment, Investment
Capital and the Environment
(Juice) — is our plan to create jobs and build a
strong growing economy.”
Zanu PF has promised to create more than two
million jobs through the party’s
indigenisation and empowerment
initiatives.
“The initiatives will create 2,265 million jobs across key
sectors of the
economy and contribute to export earnings, food security and
to the fiscus
among many other benefits,” reads Zanu PF’s
manifesto.
Ncube’s MDC emphasises in its election manifesto, which will
be launched on
July 20 in Binga, revitalisation of industry to create jobs
as companies
have collapsed after decades of economic mismanagement although
its campaign
is based on devolution of power.
The party has already
launched its economic policy Access, Control,
Transformation, Initiative,
Organisation, New Technologies, Sustainability
(Actions), focusing on
harnessing the country’s vast natural and human
resources for
reconstruction.
It believes access to resources, power and justice;
control of destiny and
welfare; transformation of communities and
strengthening livelihoods of
Zimbabweans; initiatives for wealth, job
creation and organisation of all
public institutions to effectively deliver
services, among other things, are
the answer to the country’s economic
ills.
After relatively succeeding in campaigning for devolution in the
new
constitution, the MDC has decided to push its campaign on that issue now
resonating, mainly in Manicaland, Matabeleland and Midlands.
At the
launch of MDC-T’s manifesto, Tsvangirai said his party is faced with
a task
to right the wrongs done in the 33 years Mugabe has been in power.
“As
demonstrated in our agenda for real transformation (Art) of governance,
we
have plans to tackle the ills of this nation after 33 years of bad
governance, corruption, primitive accumulation by the elite, lies and
deception,” Tsvangirai said.
Zanu PF’s campaign is generally based on
the themes of independence,
sovereignty, respect for the values and ideals
of the liberation struggle,
patriotism, employment, housing and economic
prosperity.
The party harks back on claims of past achievements, such as
the attainment
of Independence, the signing of the Unity Accord between Zanu
PF and Zapu,
the land reform programme, education, health, gender
advancement and
security policies.
However, political analyst
Pedzisai Ruhanya, who is also the Zimbabwe
Democracy Institute director,
said the Zanu PF manifesto compares poorly to
the MDC-T’s blueprint centred
on jobs.
“Zanu PF’s indigenisation message is not as attractive as the
land reform
and cannot be compared to the jobs agenda which will drive the
MDC-T,”
Ruhanya said. “MDC-T is cruising on the jobs campaign and this has a
bearing
on the common people. The jobs agenda is appealing to the electorate
because
people want food on their tables, not promises of company shares
which seem
unrealistic.”
Ruhanya said this election will be fought on
real issues precisely because
of where the country is coming
from.
“The country is coming from near-collapse where we witnessed
hyperinflation,
decay of the health sector, education and state institutions
as a result of
authoritarian administration,” Ruhanya said. “Voters will
shun policies that
will fly them back into the past, so parties have to
consolidate their
policies so as not to reverse economic gains made after
the 2008 disputed
elections.”
Jabusile Shumba, another political
analyst, said the next election will be
decided by practical policies that
will bring food on the table of the
common people and dismissed the
indigenisation and empowerment programme as
“pie in the sky” for the
majority of Zimbabweans.
“People will be enticed by policies that seek to
resolve the effects of
economic decline and political meltdown Zimbabwe
faced in the past decade,”
Shumba said.
“However, Zanu PF is in a fix
because for most communities, indigenisation
and community share ownership
schemes are pie in the sky. They cannot hold
it and enjoy it.
“The
programmes remain campaign gimmicks meant to win votes for the Zanu PF
party. The whole idea is a lipstick of corporate social responsibility which
companies have been doing even before this law was introduced, but it won’t
work.” Shumba said.
However, opinion polls say Mugabe and Zanu PF
have recovered since 2008
precisely due to land reform and indigenisation
policies, although continued
food shortages due to farm seizures and
corruption rocking company
take-overs seem to diminish the purported gains
on the programmes.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in Opinion, Politics
What a
way to launch an election campaign: calling a senior official in the
office
of the South African president who is doing her best to help Zimbabwe’s
recovery a “street woman”, simply because you don’t like the fact that she
is urging parties to keep to what they promised five years ago in the
GPA.
This is sovereignty gone sour. What is redeeming is that the
majority of
voices in response seem to have repudiated such language and
recognise only
too well the role South Africa is playing in putting the
country right.
It is a shocking situation that a decent woman with a
liberation struggle
background should be subject to the offensive and
prejudiced views of a
cantankerous ruler.
It is good to watch this
hostility backfire. Women of all stripes have
joined forces to transfer
their votes to parties that believe in the
equality of the sexes.
Well
done Zanu PF. Now we know what you really think about women. Another
own
goal!
Girl power
She could afford to turn the other cheek as
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga
responded in kind: “A man fails to insult
other men at the recent Sadc
meeting in Maputo, but has the temerity to
insult a woman from South Africa.
“He is saying Zulu is a prostitute
because he says she lives on the streets.
After the Sadc meeting in Maputo,
he went and coiled in his hotel room, but
now wants to insult and abuse
women.”
Ouch! Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
indeed.
Serial losers
What was also enlightening at the weekend
was the decision by Zanu PF to
launch its manifesto in Highfield. It wasn’t
the nationalist event the
former ruling party was hoping for. The numbers
didn’t begin to match the
reception given to Robert Mugabe on his return
from Mozambique in 1980. Most
were bussed in from Mbare’s flea and vegetable
markets.
And Highfield is no longer the nationalist citadel it once was.
Since 2000
it has been in the possession of the MDC-T. Mugabe always votes
there as an
act of solidarity. Let’s see if he can sustain his record of
losing the
constituency in every election since then!
Still teething
33yrs on
Muckraker was amused by Simon Khaya Moyo trying to excuse his
terrible
performance in the Zanu PF primaries.
The party struggled to
find ballot boxes, resorting to cutting up cardboard
boxes and pieces of
paper. How could SK get away with this level of poor
preparation and
incompetent management?
This is the party that has been in power for 33
years but continues to
believe it is indispensable to the nation? It
couldn’t, as they say,
organise a pi**-up in a brewery.
SK said that
once the voting started they “realised” they didn’t have
sufficient funds
for the administration of the primaries.
Remember only too recently Zanu
PF also “realised” there were hundreds of
ghost workers in the civil
service.
Why did it take so long for them to wake up to this reality when
newspapers,
including this one, revealed the extent of the ghost-worker
epidemic several
years ago. They were all born on the same day and worked in
the same
ministry.
Sword of Damocles
Then Zanu PF threw
another gift in the MDC-T’s direction. President Mugabe
said a return to the
Zimdollar was not immediately on the cards, giving
credence to the view that
it soon would be.
If there’s one thing that unites the nation it is the
threat to return to
the currency that impoverished millions of people.
Muckraker some years ago
urged Zanu PF to promise to return to the Zimbabwe
dollar.
It was a sure election loser for Zanu PF. Mugabe and his gang
simply can’t
resist these unproductive nationalist impulses.
The
MDC-T needs to spread the word: If it wins, Zanu PF will bring back the
old
currency. Watch this space.
Chinese at it again
While Mugabe was
speaking in Highfield, media reports stated the Chinese
were busy handing
out T-shirts supporting President Mugabe and Zanu PF.
Zanu PF spokesman
Rugare Gumbo, however, dismissed the media reports saying
the regalia had
been donated to the party by the First Family which “used
its own money to
rescue the party after it pleaded financial constraints”.
So it seems the
Mugabes are more well-heeled than the revolutionary party.
It’s probably the
sanctions’ fault, we presume.
Brings to mind the last days of the reign
of Mobutu “King of Zaire” Sese
Seko who would on occasion “donate” money to
fund the operations of his
cash-strapped government.
The Chinese
would do well to stop interfering in Zimbabwe’s internal
affairs.
Back home in Hong Kong citizens were carrying Union Jacks ––
British
flags –– with placards saying “Chinese colonists get out”.
This
was to commemorate the transfer from British to Chinese rule in
1997.
Nice to see the Chinese authorities getting the reception they
deserved.
They should be addressing the needs of their citizens instead
of trying to
win elections for Zanu PF.
Selective amnesia
Upon
assuming her position as police spokesperson, Charity Charamba claimed
police do not selectively apply the law nor target MDC-T
members.
However, the police’s actions have spoken much louder than her
words with
senior officers ordering their subordinates and their next of kin
to vote
for Zanu PF with the sanction of dismissal hanging over their
heads.
Charamba’s refrain when asked on such inconvenient issues is to
profess
ignorance or claim to be “looking into it”.
However, when
Solomon Madzore says his party will retaliate to Zanu PF
provocations
Charamba springs to life claiming to be “disturbed” by the
comments which
she said should be condemned by all “right-thinking and
progressive
peace-loving Zimbabweans”.
Strangely Charamba is not “disturbed” when
self-professed war veterans like
Jabulani Sibanda or army commanders
threaten war if Zanu PF loses the
elections.
Defect to North
Korea
Zanu PF is once again up to its old tricks in collusion with ZBC
with
stories of alleged defections of MDC-T members to the “revolutionary”
party.
This time the so-called defections took place in Bulawayo’s
Makokoba
constituency with the new converts citing unfair treatment as the
reason for
changing parties.
The defectors, we are told, said they have
seen that the MDC-T is a failure
and it is only in Zanu PF that they can
find policies which are for the
development of their communities.
A
gleeful retired colonel Tshinga Dube, the Zanu PF House of Assembly
candidate for the constituency, welcomed the defectors saying they had
finally “seen the light” by deciding to re-join the party.
Muckraker
has a feeling the good colonel will discover they were busy
winking in the
dark after the people of Makokoba have their say at the
polls.
Take
the hint
Finally we were amused by the front page picture in NewsDay’s
Saturday
edition featuring policeman–cum politician Oliver Mandipaka,
President
Mugabe and his wife Grace.
Headlined “Grovelling cop”, the
picture shows Mandipaka attempting to
schmooze with the Mugabes with a wide
grin which, unfortunately, is not
reciprocated by the latter.
Amai
Mugabe conspicuously has her hand close to her mouth and nose as if to
relay
a message.
All we can say to Cde Mandipaka is take the hint, get a
mint.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in Comment, Opinion
I HAVE an
abiding admiration for the brave people of this country who saw it
fit to
fight, in whatever form, against settlerism and colonialism. There is
a
certain dignity in refusing to live under the bondage of
foreigners.
Candid Comment with Brian Mangwende
There are those
masses who assiduously set out to resist settler supremacist
racism, and
then there are those, like the late Joshua Nkomo, James
Chikerema, George
Nyandoro, Ndabaningi Sithole, Robert Mugabe, Eddison
Zvobgo and many others,
who more robustly opposed the system.
There are those brothers and
sisters in our neighbouring countries, like
Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique,
Tanzania and many more who gave us moral and
material support as well as
sanctuary during our trying times. Not to forget
those in the East who gave
us weapons with which to fight the enemy and
those in the West who were
sympathetic to our cause and supported it.
Then there are those who saw
it fit to take up arms and bring some measure
of equilibrium against the
settlers’ fighting machinery. Many died in the
process, but not in
vain.
The dignity that comes with self-determination and self-rule is
sometimes
worth dying for. This creed continues even in post-colonial times,
in the
event that a country is seized by selfish elites and tyrannical
oligarchs.
I take my hat off to all those who made it possible for us to
be
independent.
But independence and freedom are not necessarily
mutually inclusive. They
are two very distinct ideals that are often
conflated. It’s possible to be
independent without being free.
Not
everyone who fights for national liberation from colonists necessarily
wants
for that liberation to evolve to freedom for the people. Some fight
simply
to seize power for themselves, and they will fight tooth and nail
against
the very people they purport to have liberated to ensure that
liberation
does not metamorphose to freedom.
When a section of those who purport to
have brought about liberation use all
sorts of means at their disposal to
thwart people’s quest for freedom you
have a new and unanticipated
outcome.
All too often former liberation movements resort to oppression
to suppress
the same people they claim to have liberated. Africa is replete
with such
dispensations.
We have, in Zimbabwe, a few individuals who
have re-written contemporary
history in a bid to idealise themselves. These
people claim to have
single-handedly liberated Zimbabwe. These individuals
have supplanted the
people’s most inalienable right to elect their own
leaders and have
arrogated to themselves the right to choose who will rule
Zimbabwe.
Given, it matters a lot what role one played in the liberation
of the
nation, but that role does not confer on that individual or
individuals, the
right to choose for the people who will rule Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe is not a
personal property of anybody. It belongs to all of us who
live in it.
As Frantz Fanon said in one of his works: “No leader, however
valuable he
may be, can substitute himself for the popular will!”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in Opinion
THE launch
of the Zanu PF election manifesto by President Robert Mugabe in
Harare last
week exposed his party’s policy bankruptcy and his own critical
lack of
content reflected by his brazen resort to threats, insults and an
exhausted
nationalist discourse centred on rhetoric about sovereignty and
independence.
Opinion by Pedzisai Ruhanya
What came out
clearly is Zanu PF’s lack of a sound campaign platform and a
flawed foreign
policy premised on an outdated concept and understanding of
sovereignty.
Mugabe badly spoiled a grand occasion to outline his
party’s policies by
hurling insults at Sadc facilitation team leader and
South African President
Jacob Zuma’s international relations advisor Lindiwe
Zulu using
undiplomatic, demeaning and hate language.
The public
expectation was that the president would outline critical policy
issues that
would convince citizens to re-elect him and his party in the
coming
elections on July 31 given his awful record of superintending a
corrupt and
authoritarian public administration for over three decades.
Instead of
courting both the domestic and international publics to back his
party and
what it stands for in the next election, Mugabe did everything to
scare away
supporters and sympathisers as he faces crunch elections by
displaying
irrational aggression which has always been part of his style,
but is now
overused and repulsive.
By threatening to pull out of Sadc while
attacking its mediation team,
especially Zuma’s key envoy, Mugabe was
telling voters that his party was
prepared to sever ties with our neighbours
and with the country’s leading
trading partner, South Africa, despite the
fact that it helped in restoring
political and economic normalcy in Zimbabwe
in the past five years.
The important question to ask is: how will
Zimbabwe do business with the
rest of Africa if it has no diplomatic and
business relations with Sadc,
South Africa in particular?
What kind
of investment climate is Mugabe promoting and how will he create
employment
which Zanu PF, through its manifesto, says is an important
issue.
Unemployment is part of the legacy of Zanu PF’s 33 years of
economic and
political assault on the state and its citizens?
It
becomes clear that due to old age and lack of foresight, Mugabe is
sacrificing the future of the country and its people by attacking friendly
regional countries that have been assisting Zimbabwe to move out of the
economic and political quagmire that he triggered.
Put simply, Zanu
PF’s manifesto is premised on fears of losing power,
arrogance and a failure
to acknowledge that Zimbabweans want a future
centred on domestic economic
and political stability as well as sound and
cordial international relations
with other countries.
Given some level of economic, social and political
stability brought about
by the inclusive government that was mainly made
possible by regional and
international goodwill, the country needs further
consolidation on all these
fronts and not a slide-back to autocracy and
economic meltdown.
Political party policies that will secure support as
the country prepares
for decisive elections should therefore offer a package
of economic and
political stability to millions of disparate and desperate
young people who
have no jobs, health insurance and are failing to pay for
their education.
Messages of hope, love and a prosperous future are what
Zimbabweans expect,
not hurling insults on our neighbours and threatening to
pull out of Sadc as
if the country belongs to a political party or to a
clueless and corrupt
oligarchy run by geriatrics.
A critical analysis
of the Zanu PF 108-page election manifesto entitled The
People’s Manifesto
2013, Taking back the Economy, Indigenise, Empower,
Develop and Create
Employment, exposes contradictions worsened by Mugabe’s
ranting.
In
the globalisation and regional integration era, how does a country’s
economy
grow and later on create jobs through investment drives for millions
of
unemployed citizens when the leader of a political party that wants to
retain power preaches isolation and fights with its biggest economic partner
for starters?
The Zanu PF manifesto says that its policies for the
next five years are
guided and motivated by what it calls the people’s goals
such as
independence, sovereignty, unity, security, respect for the values
and
ideals of the liberation struggle, patriotism, gender equality, respect
for
the elderly, which is a euphemism for respecting Mugabe and his aging
crew,
economic prosperity, education for all as well as freedom and
democracy,
among other things.
What is clear from these goals is that
they are just dreams and ideals that
the 33 years of Zanu PF and Mugabe’s
incumbency have nullified through their
behaviour and policies. The party
had promised this before and failed to
deliver.
For instance, how can
Zanu PF talk of freedom and democracy when by its
behaviour since 1980 it
has abundantly shown that it does not respect the
fundamental civil and
political liberties of the citizens by numerous acts
of egregious human
rights violations, including the Gukurahundi massacres,
Murambatsvina and
violence associated with the sham 2000, 2002 and June 2008
elections.
Zimbabweans cannot believe that a party that does not
allow transparent
contests for power internally can promote the same at the
national level.
The party’s primary elections were a clear demonstration of
its lack of
internal democracy and order.
One of the reasons Zanu PF
is grappling with a vicious succession battle is
lack of internal democracy
and freedom for members to choose and renew their
leaders.
Worse
still, the fielding of Mugabe as the presidential candidate at 89 and
after
he has been at the helm of the party leadership since 1977, clearly
shows
the authoritarian nature of both the party and its leader.
Simply put,
the goals of Zanu PF policies and the actual policy
pronouncements are a
cocktail of contradictions, some that are easily
nullified by 33 years of
bad governance and most recently by Mugabe’s
outburst at the launch of the
election manifesto.
Unlike in the past elections in 2000 and 2002, where
the emotive and
legitimate land reform issue was a solid manifesto item in
Land is the
Economy, the Economy is Land (despite its simplistic
appreciation of the
economy), this time around the indigenisation policy is
less attractive,
particularly given that it is riddled with contradictions
and corruption
which Mugabe even acknowledged in a birthday speech in March
this year.
Zanu PF argues the ideological meaning of indigenisation and
empowerment
arises from the historical fact of the country’s independence
that is linked
to the liberation struggle. However, empty ideologies that
fail to
empirically empower people broadly while creating clienteles would
not
assist millions of people without jobs and food on their
tables.
While it is not disputed empowerment initiatives are attractive
and could
realistically change the lives of people if well executed, what is
clear is
only a small group of connected party officials and selected people
outside
the party have so far benefitted from this policy. For ordinary
people in
the countryside and villages, as well as townships, it is
difficult to talk
of the benefits of these elite programmes such as
community share ownership
schemes. What is the meaning of a share to a
villager in Muzarabani, Binga
or Mwenezi unless it translates into something
which uplifts their
conditions of life and well-being?
The manifesto
also talks of the achievements in the areas of health,
education and the
dollarisation of the economy.
The two areas of health and education, in
particular given our high literacy
levels, could have been success stories
if Zanu PF’s failed economic
policies of the past decade had not nullified
these great foundations. So,
this is just idle talk about what could have
been given the collapse of
health and education facilities.
Some of
the proposals such as the US$3 billion economic infrastructure
programme
which aims to rehabilitate the existing national power grid,
upgrade the
transport sector, water supply and sanitation as well as water
storage are
sound initiatives, the current failures in these areas can be
put squarely
on the Zanu PF regime’s doorstep.
What is clearly missing from the Zanu
PF manifesto is the relationship
between these policies and the political
regeneration of the party. There is
need for a symbiotic relationship to
avoid contradictions that hurt the
economy and the broad institutional
renewal of the state.
Zanu PF’s economic policy embraces liberal market
values, but in an
authoritarian political set-up. It is about marketisation
without
democratisation. These open contradictions and dishonesty in Zanu
PF’s
manifesto ahead of elections will not assist the country to move
forward in
a world that is changing fast.
Ruhanya is the director of
Zimbabwe Democracy Institute.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in Opinion
Among the many
operations which could contribute to a substantive recovery
and growth of
Zimbabwe’s presently fragile economy would be value-addition
to many of the
country’s high quality primary products.
The Erich Bloch
Column
Much of the produce that can be forthcoming from the agricultural
and mining
sectors would be of exceptionally high quality, internationally
favoured and
in demand, whether exported in unprocessed, primary condition,
or enhanced
by industrial value-addition.
It is irrefutable that
Zimbabwe has the potential to produce considerable
quantities of
agricultural produce of an extraordinarily high quality,
including cotton,
tobacco, and diverse foodstuffs, but most of that produce
is disposed of in
initial form, devoid of any value-addition.
In like manner, the varied
minerals with which Zimbabwe is endowed are,
relatively speaking, only
minimally mined, and then are exported in their
raw state, instead of
undergoing any manufacturing processes which could
considerably enhance
their value. This includes, platinum, diamonds, gold,
ferrochrome,
palladium, nickel, copper and rhodium.
In the first five months of 2013,
Zimbabwe produced in excess of US$83
million of palladium, over US$274
million of gold, more than US$246 million
of platinum, approximately US$54
million of nickel, as well as diverse other
minerals, including diamonds,
and those considerable output values achieved
were notwithstanding a fairly
substantial decline of most mineral prices
during that
period.
However, almost without exception, these revenues were for the
minerals in
their raw state, without the enhancement of value through their
being wholly
or partially processed prior to export.
Among many
opportunities of value-addition to Zimbabwe’s primary products
are:
•Diamond cutting, polishing and manufacture of
jewellery.
•Smelting and processing of chrome
•Refining and
processing of copper, and manufacture of copper products;and
similarly with
many of Zimbabwe’s other minerals. In like manner, great
value-addition
could be given to innumerable others of Zimbabwe’s primaries.
For many years
textile and clothing manufacture was a key element of the
country’s
industrial production, servicing not only domestic consumer
demand, but also
very extensive export markets in the region and further
afield.
Concurrently, the economy considerably benefitted through
various food
processing operations, whereas now it is very dependent on
imports. Zimbabwe
also had a significant timber producing sector, mainly in
the eastern
highlands and in Matabeleland North but, to a very considerable
extent,
timber was exported without any substantive value-addition, which
could have
include production of furniture, door and window frames, doors,
flooring,
and much more.
Despite extensive production of textiles and
clothing, to a great extent
Zimbabwean cotton was not a key input. Many of
the manufacturers used cotton
imported from neighbouring countries, and
diverse other imported fibres and
fabrics.
To a great degree,
Zimbabwean cotton was exported in a primary state, and
this has consistently
been the case in respect of most other primary
products. Concurrently that
is so to an even greater extent, notwithstanding
that with the exception of
many minerals the extent of production of primary
products has declined
considerably, in tandem with the general economic
decline that prevailed
from 1997 to 2008.
However, as Zimbabwe pursues a much-needed,
considerably greater economic
recovery than has been achieved to date, one
factor that could extensively
contribute to such a recovery would be if,
concurrently with increasing the
production of primary products (as is
already happening in the mining
sector), it would vigorously pursue
extensive value-addition to those
products.
Doing so would generate
considerable opportunities of the much-needed growth
in employment
opportunities, with major economic benefits downstream of the
value-addition
enterprises, and progressively enhanced revenue flows to the
fiscus. But, if
that is to occur, government must cease its creation of
barriers to
value-addition, and instead, facilitate and incentivise such
operations.
The governmentally-created barriers are manifold,
including many instances
of highly prohibitive fees and taxes. One of the
prime examples of such
barriers was the recently announced annual fee
prescribed by the Ministry of
Mines and Mining Development in respect of
diamond beneficiation.
Initially, the fee was US$20 000 per annum, but in
2011 it was increased to
US$100 000 and then, with minimal responsiveness to
the intending diamond
beneficiation operators representations, in May, 2013
the annual fee was
reduced to US$50 000. At that level the licence fee
continues to be a major
hindrance to the establishment of viable diamond
processing entities. This
was convincingly contended by Richard Mvududu,
chairman of the Diamond
Beneficiation Association of Zimbabwe, who
highlighted that it was grossly
disparate with such fees charged by other
governments, such as ZAR5000 per
annum in South Africa and BWP100 per annum
in Botswana.
As a result, it is impossible for any Zimbabwean diamond
processing
operation to be internationally competitive, and hence such
operations are
effectively debarred from contributing any substance to
Zimbabwe’s economy.
The extent that government’s diamond licensing fees
are a deterrent to
Zimbabwe achieving economic well-being was demonstrated
by the president of
the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), when
he noted that in
Surat, India, in excess of 60 000 people are employed in
value-addition to
Zimbabwean diamonds. That is cataclysmic when in excess of
80% of Zimbabwe’s
employable population is devoid of formal sector
employment.
Yet another barrier to Zimbabwe’s economic wellbeing is the
total absence of
any export incentive being accorded to Zimbabwean
industries. Other
countries provide comprehensive export incentives to their
manufacturers. So
doing accords the export products significant price
competitiveness in the
countries to which those products are exported,
markedly lessening demand
for similar Zimbabwean products.
That
barrier is moreover intensified by the Zimbabwean fiscal authorities
imposing excessively high import duties on the manufacturing inputs required
by many of the country’s factories, as a result of which the Zimbabwean
produced goods cannot be price competitive, in the domestic market, against
goods produced in countries that give their manufacturers comprehensive
export incentives.
Similarly, the authorities recurrently fail to
facilitate Zimbabwean
industry access to the state-of-the-art technologies
which enhance product
quality, production efficiencies, and real
competitiveness against the
products of other countries.
At the same
time, endless hindrances are raised to foreign investment in
Zimbabwe, which
investment would provide the funding resources, technical
expertise, and
access to markets, which would stimulate value-addition to
Zimbabwe’s wealth
of primary products.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 11, 2013 in Opinion
Over the
past three years, Zimbabwe has been experiencing a transition.
Although
transitions are difficult, they are not impossible. Any government
that
wants to change the course of history needs to make difficult political
choices and work hard at implementing them.
Opinion by Leon Hartwell
Netherlands diplomat
Several analysts have written about the government
of national unity (GNU)’s
shortcomings and disappointments, especially with
regards to outstanding
issues in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that
have not been
implemented.
Zimbabwean politicians also sometimes talk
about the GNU as if it is a
“marriage of inconvenience” or more scornfully,
an “unholy trinity”.
However, failure to reflect on some of the processes
and important moments
since the formation of the GNU in 2009 would mean
failing to recognise that
Zimbabweans have shaped important values and
institutions that can be built
upon.
The economy has stabilised
partly as a result of dollarisation, but also
because of the formation of
the GNU. It signalled to businesses and
investors that there is the
potential for a more stable economic
environment. After years of economic
stagnation, the Zimbabwean economy grew
by more than 9% per year in 2010 to
2011 before it slowed down to 5% in
2012.
At a political level, the
GNU has exposed the main political parties to
several intense processes of
negotiation. Importantly, the GNU gave birth to
several new mechanisms and
institutions, including the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee
(Jomic) and the new constitution. Working on
developing these institutions
helped former enemies to become one another’s
opposition. As political
parties are moving ever closer towards the upcoming
elections, one hopes
that they will continue to respect and treat one
another as opposition
members.
The constitution-making process, especially over the past two
years, was
characterised by several moments that are worth mentioning. The
second
all-stakeholders conference in 2012 was a merry event. At the
opening,
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai danced
to
Oliver Mtukudzi’s music.
When Constitutional Affairs minister Eric
Matinenga opened the second
all-stakeholders conference, he stated that he
felt “a sense of political
tolerance” and argued that the Constitution
Parliamentary Committee (Copac)
draft was “a product of a collective
effort”. Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara emphasised that the new
constitution will be a matter of
“posterity”.
During their addresses
at the second all-stakeholders conference, Mugabe and
Tsvangirai both called
for “peace”. Near the end of his speech, Mugabe
stated: “Violence is
primitive and here I would like to speak to Zanu PF;
Tsvangirai is your
neighbour and to the MDC; Mugabe is your neighbour … Let
us shame our
detractors who think Zimbabweans cannot resolve their
differences without
resorting to violence.”
When the constitution was introduced in
parliament, Copac co-chairs Douglas
Mwonzora and Paul Mangwana cracked jokes
across the floor with one another.
They called each other “twins” and one of
them remarked that the
constitution-making process was a form of “national
healing”.
The fact is that Copac forced political parties, as well as
Zimbabweans,
into an intense conversation about the country’s past, present
and future.
One would like to believe that this has not been in vain and
that many of
these negotiation processes have fostered a culture of
compromise and
dialogue.
The above moments throughout the Copac
process stand out because it is in
stark contrast to the image of the
violence that characterised Zimbabwe in
2008.
Following the
referendum in which people overwhelmingly voted in favour of
the new
constitution, Zimbabweans now have new lenses to judge one another’s
conduct. The new constitution redefined the relationship between the state
and the individual. After Mugabe signed the Constitutional Bill into law,
Industry and Commerce minister Welshman Ncube remarked: “We finally have a
constitution that we can truly call our own … As we move forward to rebuild
our Zimbabwe, let the challenge be of ensuring that our political and
governance practices measure up to the letter and spirit of this supreme
law.”
In the preamble of the new constitution, it is written: “We,
the people of
Zimbabwe, are united in our diversity by our common desire for
freedom,
justice and equality, and our heroic resistance to colonialism,
racism and
all forms of domination and oppression.”
These values,
embedded in the new constitution, were created, not by one man
or one party,
but by many Zimbabweans for the benefit of all Zimbabweans.
Chapter 4 of
the new constitution consists of the Declaration of Rights.
Many of these
rights are well crafted, but they will not bloom by
themselves.
Constitutionalism goes beyond having a new legal
framework; it is about its
implementation.
Albie Sachs, an African
National Congress liberation hero and former South
African Constitutional
Court judge, argues: “It is easy to have beautiful
principles when they
aren’t being tested, but isn’t it when they are tested
that they really
matter?”
As Zimbabwe moves forward politically, so have relations with
the Western
world improved since 2008. In fact, many of the multi-party
processes,
including the constitution-making process and Jomic, have been
supported by
the Western world.
In recognition of the GNU’s
commitments and implementation of the GPA, the
European Union removed and
suspended a host of measures against a number of
top Zimbabwean officials
and the regional bloc said it would work with any
government formed as a
result of a free and fair election.
The United States also recently sent
a long-time friend of Zimbabwe,
American civil rights activist Andrew Young,
to deliver a strong message
from Secretary of State John Kerry: the United
States is ready to normalise
relations with Zimbabwe following free, fair
and credible elections.
When politicians fight with one another, it is
people who suffer. Today
Zimbabwe has an opportune moment to capitalise on
the momentum of the work
that it has done since 2009.
Many
Zimbabweans from across the political divide simply want liberty,
peace, and
economic prosperity. The power is within this government and the
next to
deliver this to the people by focusing on implementation of the new
constitution as well as by hosting free, fair and credible
elections.
Hartwell is a senior policy adviser at the Netherlands
embassy. He wrote
this article in his personal capacity and the views
expressed are his own.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in Opinion
Consider, if
you will, the following pre-election headlines and press
clippings:
Massive registration of voters by Zanu PF (The Zimbabwean
of June 14 2008);
Opposition now ‘mince-meat’ for Zanu PF (AFP, February
4 2008);
Mugabe bends law to retain power (Sapa-AFP (IOL), April 24
2008);
Zec admits voters’ roll ‘in shambles’ (The Standard, March 29
2008);
Opposition reveals rigging plot (Zimbabwe Independent, March 27
2008);
Zim court turns down opposition (Sapa-AFP (IOL), April 14
2008);
Zuma calls for more pressure on Zim (Cape Times (IOL), April 23
2008); and
Chaos mars Zanu PF primary elections in Bulawayo (Zim Online,
February 4
2008).
Both MDC factions have expressed surprise at the
announcement (of the
election date). “It’s an act of madness and arrogance,”
Nelson Chamisa,
spokesperson for the MDC-T told the AFP news
agency.
“At the moment the conditions in Zimbabwe do not allow for free
and fair
elections and so we are heading towards illegitimacy if we go ahead
with the
elections …” (Zimbabwe sets March date for poll, BBC News Online,
January 26
2008).
MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai said setting the
vote date … was illegal, but
“we will contest” (Commission sets Zimbabwe
run-off for June, USA Today
Online, May 16 2008).
The enactment by
President Robert Mugabe of Presidential Powers (Temporary
Measures)
(Amendment of the Electoral Act) Regulations summarises everything
that is
wrong with this election in particular and Zimbabwe in general
(Mugabe can’t
play God with us, The Standard March 27 2008).
Press clippings and
headlines of this ilk are familiar to anyone keeping
track of the media in
the build-up to Zimbabwe’s July 31 elections. However,
all these headlines
and clippings are extracted from press reports relating
to the elections of
2008, and not those of 2013.
Given the current brouhaha over the recent
announcement of the date of the
elections for 2013, claims of
unconstitutionality and the (mis)use of the
Presidential
Powers
(Temporary Measures) Act (PPTMA) to amend electoral legislation, it
is worth
remembering that Zimbabwe has trodden this path before.
At the beginning
of 2008, then South African president and Sadc facilitator,
Thabo Mbeki, was
mediating intense negotiations for democratic reforms ahead
of the elections
slated for that year. It was believed by Mbeki and the MDC
formations that
the reforms would be implemented ahead of the elections so
that the outcome
would not be disputed.
In the midst of this mediation, on January 25
2008, Mugabe shocked all
stakeholders by suddenly proclaiming the elections,
setting the date as
March 29. It was clear that the agreed reforms could not
be in place by
then. The announcement, anticipating the comments made in
regard to the
proclamation setting the 2013 election date, drew a furious
response from
the MDC formations, with Chamisa referring to the precipitate
date as being
a “slap in the face” for Mbeki — somewhat more refined, but
similar in
sentiment, to MDC president Welshman Ncube’s infamous comment
that the July
31 date effectively told Sadc to “f” off.
In 2008, the
use of the PPTMA to amend the Electoral Act also evoked
controversy.
Regulations promulgated by Mugabe on March 17 2008, purportedly
using the
PPTMA, changed the electoral law so as to allow police officers to
be
present in polling stations and to “assist” incapacitated voters.
Only a
few months before, parliament had amended the Electoral Act to
exclude
police officers from polling stations. Mugabe, a contestant in the
impending
poll then, thus overrode the explicit intention of parliament and
restored a
legislative provision, the removal of which parliament had deemed
would
enhance the democratic integrity of the election.
The use of the PPTMA to
amend electoral legislation is unconstitutional. The
constitution then, as
now, requires the electoral law to be made by “an Act
of parliament” and not
by presidential regulations. An urgent application in
this regard was
brought before the High Court ahead of the 2008 election,
challenging the
amendment by Mugabe. Justice Antoinette Guvava avoided
dealing with the
constitutionality of this use of the PPTMA. She dismissed
the application on
technical and procedural grounds.
In so doing, the judge replicated the
approach of the Supreme Court in 2002,
ahead of the presidential election of
that year. Then, Tsvangirai had
likewise challenged as invalid changes made
to the Electoral Act by way of a
regulation and not by an Act of parliament
as the constitution requires.
Justice Wilson Sandura, a lone voice on the
bench, agreed. Led by Chief
Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, the remainder of
the bench declined to
adjudicate upon the issue, citing a supposed
technicality. Even though
Tsvangirai was a contestant in the election, the
majority held that he had
no locus standi — that is that he had no interest
in the issue and thus
could not bring the application before the
court.
When Mugabe lost the first round of the presidential election in
2008, a
flood of illegalities followed, including the run-off election
itself. The
result of the first round was withheld. Using a tortured
interpretation of
Section 67A of the Electoral Act, which had not been
suggested by legal
counsel, and deploying a series of non-sequiturs, Justice
Tendai Uchena
declined to order the release of the results when an
application to compel
publication came before him.
Section 110 of the
then Electoral Act required that a run-off election be
held within 21 days
of the election, where no contestant achieved an
absolute majority (that is
50% plus one vote). When 21 days came and went
without the run-off, it was
argued that “the election” is not merely the day
of voting, but the entire
process up to and including the announcement of
the result — so the 21 days,
it was maintained, only commenced once the
result was announced.
Fast
forward to May 2013 and the new Constitutional Court (Concourt) orders
that
the next election must be held by July 31. The argument that “an
election”
means the entire process ending with the announcement of the
result, so
vociferously argued in 2008 by the Minister of Justice, Patrick
Chinamasa,
and others, is now forgotten. The meaning of “an election”
reverts to being
polling day, as it ought, rather than the entire electoral
period. As with
2008, there is an outcry that the date has been set before
reforms are in
place.
As with the 2008 presidential run-off, the date set is regarded as
unconstitutional by the MDC parties. The July 31 date allows insufficient
time for the constitutionally required 30-day intensive voter registration
period to be completed. It is uncertain if essential amendments to the
Electoral Act (such as those pertaining to proportional representation) can
pass through parliament in time, as once the election dates are announced by
the president, the new constitution bars any further changes to the
Electoral Act.
“No problem,” says Mugabe. Without warning to, or
obtaining the required
consent of cabinet, which he had met but a few hours
before, and without
consultation with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, as
the constitution
requires, Mugabe once more uses the PPMTA to amend the
Electoral Act so that
registration is now allowed to continue beyond the
sitting of the Nomination
Court, in order that the constitutional
requirement of the 30-day intensive
voter registration period can be met.
The amendments also include provisions
introducing proportional
representation into the Electoral Act — despite the
fact that the new
constitution specifically states that such provisions
shall be by way of an
“Act of parliament” and not presidential regulations.
The election date
is set by a proclamation made on the same day as the
regulations. An outcry
about the election dates follows. There is an
application to the
Concourt
about the use of the PPTMA to amend electoral legislation. The
judges
hearing the matter include Chidyausiku and Guvava, both of whom had
previously avoided dealing with the question of the constitutionality of the
use of PPTMA in this manner, and Justice George Chiweshe, whose past
judgments as to when elections must be held always seem to dovetail with
presidential preference.
As in 2002 and 2008, the judges dismiss the
application. The reasons for the
dismissal are yet to be given. But a
betting man will wager that when the
judgment is delivered, we will find
that the issue has not been dealt with
and the judges have precluded
consideration of the point on a technical,
procedural ground.
Thus,
it seems that all players — Mugabe, Zanu PF, the MDC parties, Western
countries, Sadc, governance NGOs, etc — are reciting the lines (though not,
apparently, from memory) written for them in 2008. And this is so, not
merely in relation to the date of the election, the use of the PPTMA, and
reforms. They are dutifully repeated in relation to bias in the media, the
voter registration process, accreditation of observers and the security
sector, allegations of rigging, vicious primary battles, fissures and
multiple candidacies, Zanu PF’s hubristic claims of inevitable victory, MDC
parties’ despondency, and party splits and pacts — as a glance at the press
headlines of 2008 will confirm.
Only the European Union has departed
slightly from the script, easing
restrictive measures against senior Zanu PF
officials, claiming that this is
a “reward” for what it claims are the
changes and progress in Zimbabwe’s
polity.
The next few months will
reveal whether the drama will continue to unfold
exactly as before, with the
penultimate act a descent into chaos and brutal
repression following a
Mugabe defeat and the denouement of a second global
political
agreement.
Matyszak is a lawyer and senior researcher with the Research
and Advocacy
Unit.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in Opinion
AS
Zimbabwe’s parties brace for mortal electoral combat, it is worth
reminding
ourselves of an earlier struggle that took place in the region
where there
was also an American presence inspiring and driving the process
of
change.
Editor’s Memo by Iden Wetherell
President Barack Obama
recalled this recent history as he couched his
address at the University of
Cape Town two weeks ago in the language of the
struggle in which he was
raised. Obama quoted at length Bobby Kennedy’s 1966
address on the same
platform and in the teeth of similar reactionary
repression.
Kennedy,
brother of a slain president, was the guest of Nusas, the South
African
national students union, and his soaring rhetoric had as its
framework the
movement for racial equality in the segregationist south.
This would not
have been lost on supporters of the anti-apartheid movement
of the 1960s,
especially student activists on the country’s campuses. But 47
years on, it
also served to connect Obama to the students of today and to
the struggle
for democracy in those African regimes that, like Zimbabwe,
deny their
people elementary freedoms of assembly, association and
expression.
Kennedy’s speech, of which a recording survives, inspired
a generation of
student radicals and saw their leaders severely punished for
inviting the
former US attorney-general to South Africa.
They were
banned from having any contact with other students.
Kennedy’s theme, as
relevant now as then, has remained a powerful statement
of commitment to
freedom. All small things amount to something big if given
the chance, he
argued. He was assassinated in 1968 while on the campaign
trail and was
thought likely to win the 1968 election.
Obama quoted him at length but
this is the central point.
“Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or
acts to improve the lot of
others, or strikes out against injustice, he
sends forth a tiny ripple of
hope, and crossing each other from a million
different centres of energy and
daring, those ripples build a current which
can sweep down the mightiest
walls of oppression and
resistance.”
Tony Leon in his Business Day column quoted Obama as
providing this warning:
“There are some who advocate for democracy only when
they are out of power.
Once in power they are ruthless in suppressing the
rights of others…
Government of the people by the people sets a single
standard for all who
hold power: you must maintain your power through
consent, not coercion; you
must respect the rights of minorities and
participate with a spirit of
tolerance and compromise; you must place the
interests of your people and
the legitimate workings of the political
process above your party.”
In that statement Obama had a message for us
all, and it is one that
cascades down the passage of time rippling out in
different directions. It
is very simply that democratic change cannot be
resisted indefinitely and,
as in Egypt which erupted as Obama gave his
address at UCT, it becomes part
of the inspirational process that speaks
truth to power.
As our election approaches we should remember that.
Already there are signs
that the electoral process faces formidable
challenges. Of particular
concern to those of us in the media is the way in
which the public media has
been unashamedly abused by the former ruling
party to advance its
exclusivist agenda. Radio and television transmission
have been usurped to
serve Zanu PF’s narrow electoral needs. Daily, a
torrent of poisonous
propaganda emanates from Pockets Hill which offers no
space to other
contending parties and views.
This is not only
unprofessional, it runs contrary to the agreement between
the parties signed
in 2008. If Zimbabwe is to have a resemblance of
democratic order it needs
to have media diversity so voters can make an
informed choice at the polls.
At present the only voice heard across the
land is that of President
Mugabe’s party.
While the new constitution outlaws hate speech,
Zimpapers’ publications
promote Zanu PF’s sclerotic cause while relentlessly
excoriating the MDC-T.
Obama’s warnings on the need for incumbent regimes
to maintain power through
consent, not coercion came at exactly the right
moment. That is a message
all should hear.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 12, 2013 in Comment, Opinion
NOW that
all political parties are geared for the general elections
scheduled for
July 31, it is time to assess the credibility and legitimacy
of the polls
Zimbabweans will be participating in as they seek to break an
over-a-decade
political stalemate triggered by disputed results since 2000.
The
Zimbabwe Independent Editorial.
Following the bloody June 2008
presidential election run-off and the
rejection of President Robert Mugabe’s
fake victory, the Global Political
Agreement (GPA), which led to the
formation of the current coalition
government, was signed to provide the
country with a respite to prepare for
fresh free and fair
elections.
The GPA was basically a roadmap to elections, with necessary
reforms and
signposts showing what needed to be done before peaceful and
credible polls
were held.
Throughout the four-year tenure of the
inclusive government, parties,
principals and Sadc leaders, via their
facilitator South African President
Jacob Zuma and their summits, battled to
implement the GPA reforms and the
attendant roadmap, although Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai lost the plot
and allowed Mugabe to defy demands for
reform while regrouping to subvert
the people’s will.
Sadc leaders,
guided by the GPA roadmap, Zuma and the regional body’s
principles and
guidelines governing democratic elections, did their best
until the very
last minute as shown by their recent Maputo summit where the
two MDC parties
tried to close the stable door after the horse had bolted.
Despite that
some reforms, particularly the new constitution, were delivered
by the
wrangling coalition government, some key issues were not addressed to
ensure
free and fair elections. The state machinery which organises or has a
bearing on the electoral process, including the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission, Registrar-General’s office, military, judiciary and public
media, remain intact, meaning the people accused of manipulating and rigging
elections remain in place.
Having been allowed off the hook, the
recidivist Mugabe started acting
unilaterally to force through elections on
his own terms. Thus on June 13 he
proclaimed July 31 as the election date
after a controversial Constitutional
Court (Concourt) ruling which demanded
polls be held by that date.
Events have shown clearly Zanu PF was behind
the dubious application which
led to the flawed ruling that will have a
far-reaching impact on the
electoral process and election
outcome.
Even though Concourt judges, who always rule in favour of Mugabe
before
every election, claimed his proclamation and amendments to the
Electoral Act
were proper, lawyers maintain they were unconstitutional and
illegal.
These aberrations, coupled with voter registration chaos and
disenfranchisement of thousands who were not registered, means this election
is fraught with illegalities that seriously threaten citizens’ rights to
freely and fairly participate in the democratic process.
Given how
messy the electoral process has been, it is clear the credibility
and
legitimacy –– naturally including the possible outcome –– of the
elections
has been badly damaged.
