Zim Online
Fri 14 July 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe President
Robert Mugabe has turned down a request by
his first Vice-President Joseph
Msika to retire due to ill-health, ZimOnline
has learnt.
Authoritative sources on Thursday said Msika - who has not felt well
since
last year but has publicly insisted he will remain in office - had
wanted to
quit his government job at the end of the year, a move that would
inevitably
intensify infighting in the ruling ZANU PF party and the
government over
Mugabe's succession.
If Msika were to go whoever is appointed to
his post, especially if
that person is former parliamentary speaker Emmerson
Mnangagwa, would
significantly alter the balance of power in ZANU PF and
strongly challenge
second Vice-President Joice Mujuru to succeed
Mugabe.
"He (Msika) told us that the President (Mugabe) had advised
him that
if he were to step down that would spark volatility in ZANU PF with
former
ZAPU members also sucked into the succession battle, fighting over
Msika's
job," said a source close to the family of the
Vice-President.
The source did not want his name
published because he was speaking
without the blessings of either Msika or
his family.
It was not possible to get a comment on the matter from
Msika with a
secretary in his office saying he was out of the office on
business.
Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba was also not available
for comment.
Our source said the family of the ailing Msika had
pressured him to
quit active politics over fears the strenuous routine of
his work could only
help worsen his deteriorating health.
Msika
is said to have met Mugabe a few days before the President went
to attend
the African Union summit that was held in Gambia last month. He
asked his
boss for permission to retire from his government job but remain
ZANU PF
vice-president but Mugabe said he would want some time to think over
Msika's
request.
The source said: "Msika later said the request had been
turned down
after Mugabe returned from Gambia. "The President felt that he
(Msika) was a
stabilising factor in both the government and the (ruling)
party. He is now
spending most of his time at home and will probably just
remain a figurehead
vice-president until Mugabe lets him go."
According to our source, Msika, who earlier this was in South Africa
for
treatment reportedly for some abdominal ailment, has not been regularly
reporting for work even when he was acting president when Mugabe was away in
Gambia.
Msika became vice-president following the 1999 death of
former ZAPU
leader and pioneer of Zimbabwe's 1970s struggle for
independence, Joshua
Nkomo.
Nkomo had been one of Mugabe's two
vice-presidents under a 1987-unity
deal that saw ZAPU swallowed by ZANU
PF.
The merger of the two political parties followed major
differences
that saw Mugabe send a crack battalion of North Korean-trained
soldiers in
Zimbabwe's Midlands and Matabeleland provinces ostensibly to
crush an armed
insurrection against his rule.
But the army
ended up killing at least 20 000 mostly innocent
civilians in the two
provinces dominated by the minority Ndebele ethnic
group that supported
Nkomo.
Ironically Nkomo died in office after Mugabe barred him from
retiring
because of similar concerns his departure could destabilise the new
united
ZANU PF and the government.
At present most analysts
recognise Mujuru, who is the wife of powerful
former army general Solomon
Mujuru, as the front runner for the top job when
both Mugabe and Msika step
down as expected in 2008.
The succession battle in ZANU PF however
remains far from over with
party insiders saying Mnangagwa, ditched by
Mugabe at the eleventh hour last
year in favour of Mujuru, remained a strong
contender for the top post.
But the departure of Msika - a former
ZAPU vice-president - would add
a new dimension to the succession question
with former members of that party
fighting among themselves to take over his
post which under the unity
agreement should be reserved for former members
of the defunct party. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 14
July 2006
HARARE - Energy Minister Mike Nyambuya has rejected
demands by
President Robert Mugabe's brother-in-law, Sydney Gata, for Z$95
billion
(about US$1 million) as compensation for the loss of his job as
executive
chairman of the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA),
authoritative
sources told ZimOnline.
Gata, accused of running
down ZESA, was last month pressured by
Nyambuya to give up the powerful post
of executive chairman of the
near-bankrupt national power utility and forced
to accept the less
influential job of non-executive chairman.
Sources said Gata, who is married to Mugabe's sister Ntombana, had
also
demanded seven motor vehicles, including a Z$25 billion sport utility
Toyota
truck, as part of what would have been a ground-breaking compensation
package in Zimbabwe's corporate world.
The package however
appears to have fallen through, at least for now
after Nyambuya - under
whose portfolio ZESA falls - sometime last month
wrote to Gata informing him
that he was not going to sanction the hefty
package.
Nyambuya -
a former army general who unlike previous energy ministers
has shown little
fear of Gata - is also said to have turned down
recommendations by the
former executive chairman that one of the many
executive directors at the
power company, Cletus Nyachowe, be appointed
chief executive officer of a
restructured ZESA.
"The Minister has come down hard on Gata,
telling him that the
Ministry of Energy shall work out his package and that
he will be advised
once it is ready," said an official at the energy
ministry, who did not want
to be named.
"He (Nyambuya) also
told Gata that he would get only three cars from
the seven he had demanded,"
added the official.
Both Gata and Nyambuya were last night not
available for comment on
the matter.
ZimOnline was also unable
to establish last night whether Mugabe, who
seems not to have come to the
aid of Gata in his tussle with Nyambuya, will
accept that his brother-in-law
be given less money.
Under Gata's charge, ZESA has grappled a
perennial financial crisis
that analysts blame on mismanagement and failure
to adhere to principles of
good corporate governance.
The
loss-making parastatal, which Gata at one time ran single-handedly
after
Mugabe had fired the entire board except his brother-in-law, is a
classic
example of how Zimbabwe's key infrastructure and institutions are
crumbling
after years of economic crisis and mismanagement.
Because of its
unending financial problems, ZESA has failed to expand
generation capacity
at its power plants and Zimbabwe looks set to be the
worst affected by a
power crisis expected to hit southern Africa by 2008.
Energy
experts have predicted the region will face an acute energy
deficit in about
two years' time, which for example, will see the Southern
African Power Pool
of neighbouring countries that have supplied 35 percent
of Zimbabwe's power
requirements unable to continue doing so because of
rising demand in their
domestic markets. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 14 July 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwe junior doctors went on strike on Thursday demanding
better
salaries and working conditions.
The strike action by doctors
brought business to a standstill at
Parirenyatwa and Harare Hospitals in the
capital Harare yesterday with the
two government-run hospitals turning away
hundreds of patients seeking
treatment.
Administration
officials at Parirenyatwa told a ZimOnline news crew
that they were only
attending to emergency cases at the hospital. Similar
scenes of chaos were
also being reported at Mpilo Hospital and United
Bulawayo Hospital in
Zimbabwe's second biggest city of Bulawayo.
The president of the
Hospital Doctors Association, Kudakwashe
Nyamutukwa, said the doctors downed
their tools after the government failed
to address their long-standing
grievances over salaries and working
conditions.
"In line with
the ever spiraling inflation levels, doctors are
demanding periodic reviews
of their salaries. The current gross salary of
Z$57 million is not in line
with the stature and nobility of the profession.
"Doctors, like any
other professionals, are demanding car loans so
that they can have access to
their patients who require their help. Doctors
feel that the current $50
million for car loans is a mockery," said
Nyamutukwa.
Zimbabwe
is going through an unprecedented economic recession which
has seen
inflation shooting to over 1 000 percent. The consumer rights body,
the
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe says an average family of six now needs $68
million a month to survive.
The junior doctors, who vowed not
to return to work until their
grievances were addressed, are also demanding
that the government issue them
with "certificates of good standing" to allow
them to seek employment
outside the country.
Lovemore
Mbengeranwa, the chairman of the Health Services Board that
oversees the
welfare of doctors, refused to comment on the latest strike
action by
doctors referring questions to the Ministry of Health.
Deputy
Minister of Health, Edwin Muguti said he was not aware of the
strike action
by junior doctors.
"Who told you that they are on strike? I don't
know about it," said
Muguti.
Zimbabwe's public health sector,
once the envy of many developing
nations, has virtually crumbled after years
of under-funding and
mismanagement. Equipment is largely derelict in the
state hospitals many of
which do not have essential drugs, because of a
critical shortage of foreign
currency to import supplies.
A
massive brain drain as doctors and nurses seek better paying jobs
abroad has
only helped exacerbate the situation at state hospitals, which
remain the
only source of health services for more than 80 percent of
Zimbabweans. -
ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 14 July
2006
BULAWAYO - A lawyer representing a Zimbabwean black farmer
embroiled
in a bitter dispute with ruling ZANU PF party chairman John Nkomo
has
accused the police of defying a High Court ruling ordering them to leave
the
property.
The police moved onto Volunteer Farm, owned by
businessman Langton
Masunda, last week after State Security Minister Didymus
Mutasa, who is also
in charge of land reform, withdrew a land offer letter
which was issued to
Masunda four years ago.
But Masunda
appealed to the courts to remain on the property.
Last Friday, High
Court judge Francis Bere, reversed Mutasa's order
withdrawing the letter of
offer to Masunda. The judge also ordered Nkomo and
the police not to
interfere with "the applicant's (Masunda) occupation and
use of the land
allocated".
Bulawayo lawyer Vongai Majoko, said the police were
still camped at
the farm, a week after Justice Bere's ruling making it
virtually impossible
for Masunda to resume operations at the
property.
"Despite two High Court judgments that we hold, the
police are still
at the farm but their presence is not required. The courts
have ruled that
my client should return to the property," Majoko
said.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena could not be reached for
comment on
the matter last night.
Political observers in
Zimbabwe say the long-running property dispute
between Nkomo and Masunda has
clearly brought to the fore how senior
government officials have used their
influence and power to muscle out
individuals from the best farms after
driving away former white farmers six
years ago. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 14 July
2006
HARARE - At least 128 National Constitutional Assembly (NCA)
members
who were arrested on Wednesday for demonstrating in Zimbabwe's major
cities
without permission from the police were still in police custody last
night.
A lawyer representing the NCA, Alec Muchadehama, told
ZimOnline that
the protesters were likely to appear in court
today.
"There are slim chances that they will be taken to court
tomorrow.
Although some were released last night (Wednesday), 128 people
were still
being detained at Harare Central Police Station," said
Muchadehama.
In Zimbabwe's second biggest city of Bulawayo, the NCA
said five
people were still being detained by the police.
In
the eastern city of Mutare, NCA lawyer, Trust Maanda, said the
police had
indicated that they were planning to arrest more people who had
participated
in the illegal protests.
NCA chairman, Lovomore Madhuku yesterday
threatened to organize more
demonstrations to force the police to release
the demonstrators in Harare,
Mutare and Bulawayo.
"That is the
only language they (police) understand, so we'll go to
the streets again if
they are not released by mid-day tomorrow," Madhuku
told ZimOnline
yesterday.
Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi scoffed at the NCA
threats to
unleash fresh protests if their members are not immediately
released.
"They marched without permission, so let them face the
wrath of the
law," said Mohadi.
The NCA is a civic group that
is fighting for a new, democratic
constitution for Zimbabwe.
At
least 400 NCA members were arrested last Wednesday after they
demonstrated
in the country's five major cities over worsening economic
conditions in
Zimbabwe. Many of the demonstrators were however later
released by the
police. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Fri 14 July
2006
JOHANNESBURG - Three South African civic groups that recently
visited
Zimbabwe say they will seek audience with President Thabo Mbeki to
pressure
him to act to help resolve that country's deepening economic and
political
crisis.
A 12-member delegation from the three groups
- Anti-Eviction Campaign
of South Africa, Anti-Privatisation Forum and
Abahlali base Mjondolo -
Durban, returned home this week after spending 10
days in Zimbabwe.
The delegation, which sneaked into the country
without notifying the
Harare authorities of their intentions, said they
visited most major cities
in Zimbabwe during their stay assessing the plight
of ordinary people as
well as the effects of last year's clean-up campaign
that left at least 700
000 people homeless.
In a report back
meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa yesterday, the
groups said Mbeki must
intervene to help end the suffering of millions of
Zimbabwe reeling under a
repressive political environment and a severe
economic crisis.
Nopasika Mboto, the head of the delegation to Zimbabwe, said they were
appalled at the worsening economic crisis in their northern
neighbour
"We saw a lot of things, which we feel President Mbeki
must be
notified about. We went to Zimbabwe not as a political party, but as
social
movements to assess the situation on the ground.
"We
were shocked by the state of repression, the lawlessness,
unemployment,
shortage of fuel and electricity and low salaries," said
Mboto.
Human rights groups have often accused Mbeki of treating President
Robert
Mugabe with kid gloves after refusing to publicly censure the veteran
Zimbabwean leader over human rights abuses.
The Harare
authorities have in the past barred and deported several
foreign groups,
among them the Congress of South African Trade Unions
(COSATU) from the
country accusing them of interfering in Zimbabwe's
internal affairs. -
ZimOnline
Reuters
Thu Jul 13,
2006 4:55 PM BST
[-] Text [+] By Cris Chinaka
HARARE (Reuters) -
President Robert Mugabe said on Thursday his government
was "very worried"
about the economy, but predicted Zimbabwe would ride out
an escalating
crisis he blamed on former colonial ruler Britain.
The southern African
country is mired in its worst problems since Mugabe
came to power at
independence in 1980, with chronic shortages of food, fuel
and foreign
currency fuelling government fears of possible popular unrest.
Zimbabwe's
economy has shrunk by more than a third during a recession which
has lasted
for eight years, with inflation running at a world record of more
than 1,180
percent and unemployment estimated at about 70 percent.
In an
interview with a group of journalists, Mugabe rejected charges
Zimbabwe was
in trouble due to state mismanagement, bad governance and human
rights
abuses -- blaming instead what he called illegal sanctions championed
by
London.
Although Britain had the highest number of foreign companies
operating in
Zimbabwe, Tony Blair's government had isolated the country's
economy over
Harare's seizures of white-owned farms for redistribution to
black
Zimbabweans, he charged.
Asked whether he was worried about
constantly rising consumer prices which
have left many Zimbabweans
struggling and increasingly angry, Mugabe said:
"Sure, very
worried."
"But this is because of the circumstances in which we are, ...
circumstances
of an economy under siege, an economy which should have had a
political
environment to protect it from the action of our enemies led by
Britain,
imposing sanctions on us," he added.
Mugabe said his
government could have imposed a state of emergency to
protect its economy
from what he calls sabotage from both domestic and
Western opponents, but
had not done so because this would have sent a "wrong
political
signal".
"We decided to soldier on ... seeking assistance from our
friends," he said.
Mugabe said although Zimbabwe's key agriculture output
had been lower than
expected over the last few years due to drought and
economic factors, he
expected production to rise on the back of better
preparations by both
farmers and the government.
"We expect therefore
2007 to be a good year," he said, adding, "inflation is
now going down,
starting a new turn."
Zimbabwe would emerge from the crisis stronger, and
politically more
independent, said the 82-year-old Mugabe, who remains at
loggerheads with
the country's beleaguered opposition in a political
standoff that shows no
sign of ending.
FinGaz
Nelson Banya
DEPUTY
Industry and International Trade Minister Phineas Chihota promised to
use
his influence to facilitate the expeditious issue of fuel and sugar
import
and export licences to a Harare woman in return for an agreement to
enable
him to buy a residential property at a bargain price.
The licences, for
the importation and local distribution of petroleum
products and the export
of sugar, whose local supply has been tenuous due to
government price
controls, are some of the most sought after government
documents because the
trade is very lucrative. The licences have been the
subject of heated
debate, amid charges of influence-peddling by senior
government and ruling
party officials.
The fuel sector, where influential ZANU PF politicians and
their henchmen
have been minting it, has always been susceptible to
corruption. In
September 2004, 60 fuel companies believed to be owned by
ZANU PF
politicians through their proxies abused US$268 million which they
had been
allocated for fuel procurement by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
through the
foreign currency auction system. Only this year ruling party
politicians
exploited glaring policy loopholes that allowed them unfettered
access to
fuel at ridiculously low prices to buy millions of litres of fuel
for
on-selling on the thriving black market.
Chihota is locked in a court
dispute with Sarudzayi Nhundu over the abortive
sale of a $50 billion (at
the then market value) Borrowdale house after the
latter cancelled an
agreement of sale, saying the deputy minister had not
kept his end of the
bargain as he failed to produce the lucrative licences.
Chihota took the
matter to the High Court in February in an urgent
application to have the
cancellation of the sale set aside. The case is,
however, now set to be
heard as an ordinary action.
He contends he did not breach any condition of
the contract entered into
with Nhundu on January 25 2006. Nhundu cancelled
the agreement on January 30
2006 and says this was because Chihota had not
honoured his side of the
bargain - issuing the two licences within five
days.
"I do not accept the cancellation of the agreement by the first
respondent
(Nhundu) as there is no basis for such cancellation. The
agreement is still
binding and I am willing to perform my part. I have not
in any way breached
the terms of the agreement.
"In any event, the letter
of cancellation does not make any reference to the
fact that I had breached
the contract in any way. The cancellation is
therefore wrongful and I do not
accept same," Chihota argued in his
application.
In her opposing
affidavit, Nhundu claims Chihota had undertaken to use his
influence to
ensure she got the two licences as part of the deal.
"The negotiations
culminated in an agreement that was premised on two
pillars. The first
pillar was that the applicant (Chihota), being the deputy
Minister of
Industry and International Trade, had undertaken to give first
respondent
two licences, namely one for buying and selling sugar and the
other for
buying and selling petroleum.
"The second pillar was that the purchase price
was pegged at $28 billion, a
low price considering the property prices that
were being quoted at that
time. The fact was that the issuing of licences by
the applicant to the
first respondent meant, in effect, that first
respondent would use the $28
billion as the initial capital and would make
much more money by buying and
selling sugar and petroleum. "That fact
induced first respondent to agree to
sell the property on that condition
precedent. We believe that applicant is
probably aware that the property is
worth more than $28 billion and that is
the reason why he is insisting on
the agreement that has been cancelled.
"On February 5 2006, applicant
attempted to increase the purchase price to
$30 billion but the offer was
rejected by first respondent," Nhundu deposed.
Nhundu said she 'reluctantly'
signed the agreement of sale, as Chihota was
still to honour the verbal
agreement to issue the licences.
FinGaz
Njabulo Ncube
THE United States of America, which has been
critical of the Zimbabwean
government over human rights issues in the
country, this week attributed the
violent incidents in the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) to the ruling
ZANU PF's alleged long history of
using force to settle political scores.
While condemning the brutal
assault on pro-senate MDC legislator, Trudy
Stevenson and four other members
of the rebel faction of the opposition
party, the US embassy in Harare
described the attacks as a reminder of the
violence that "has stalked
Zimbabwean politics in recent years."
The comments by the US government are
likely to attract vitriol from
Zimbabwean government propagandists who were
quick to accuse the MDC of
being a violent party.
Relations between
Washington and Harare have been badly strained by a
diplomatic standoff
since as far back as the late 1990s.
Washington has slapped sanctions on
President Robert Mugabe and his ruling
elite, whom it accuses of bad
governance and alleged human rights abuses.
Harare has dismissed the
allegations and in turn accused Washington of
working with opposition
parties to topple President Mugabe's government.
"It is important to note
that political standards of conduct in Zimbabwe
have been eroded by years of
organised assaults on opposition figures, the
independent media, judges and
civil society," said the US embassy. "The
moral rot is deepest in ZANU PF,
which has been responsible for the vast
majority of the offences. Few, if
any, of the perpetrators of these acts
were ever punished. If it proves true
that MDC supporters were behind the
attack on Stevenson, it would be a sad
testament of the extent to which the
ruling party's desperate tactics have
institutionalised political violence
in Zimbabwe," the embassy
added.
Stevenson and her group, according to the police and pro-senate
spokesman
Gabriel Chaibva, were attacked last Sunday by a gang aligned to
the Morgan
Tsvangirai camp.
The main MDC leader vehemently denied the
allegations.
Timothy Mabhawu, the Tafara-Mabvuku legislator and several MDC
youths, have
been arraigned before the courts for the brutal attack on
Stevenson and four
others.
The US said it was encouraging that the MDC,
which it described as the
principal victim of political violence in
Zimbabwe, had moved quickly to
investigate the Stevenson
incident.
Tsvangirai's camp has appointed an independent internal committee
to
investigate the assault on the Harare North legislator. The committee is
headed by advocate Happias Zhou.
"The US reiterates its call on the
ruling party to negotiate with its
domestic political opponents in good
faith and to make the reforms needed to
bring an end to the crises its
misguided policies have wrought on a once
prosperous and democratic nation,"
said the US embassy.
FinGaz
Kumbirai
Mafunda
ZIMBABWE will have to fork out US$35 million ($15 trillion at the
black
market rate) on grain imports to cover a widening food deficit at a
time
when the country is grappling with depleted foreign currency
resources.
In a maize production update released recently, the Food and
Agricultural
Organisation (FAO)'s Global Information and Early Warning
System on food and
agriculture (GIEWS) said its remote sensing estimates
indicate that although
Zimbabwe experienced a relatively good 2005/06
agricultural season, its crop
harvest is far below consumption
needs.
Agriculture Minister Joseph Made in May claimed that the country,
which has
constantly grappled with food shortages since 2000, had produced
enough
maize to feed its nationals.
But in yet another censure of the
increasingly paranoid administration of
President Robert Mugabe, the UN body
trashed Harare's ambitious estimates
amid growing pressure for the
government to make an international food
appeal.
The grim projection by
FAO brings to four the number of credible
international forecasters who are
disputing Zimbabwe's crop harvest figures.
The United States Department of
Agriculture, FEWSNET and the European Space
Agency's Global Monitoring for
Food Security Project disputed the government's
crop statistics, putting
their forecasts at between 900 000 and 1.1 million
tonnes. The crop
forecasters charged that the untenable foreign currency
crisis had spawned
agricultural input shortages while newly resettled black
farmers lacked
expertise to produce enough maize.
FAO, which leads international efforts in
the fight against hunger,
attributed the poor crop to the shortage of key
inputs such as fertiliser
and seed whose importation was hampered by scarce
foreign currency
resources.
"Overall maize and cereal production
prospects look favourable compared to
last year's drought-affected output of
about 550 000 tonnes for maize.
However, it is unlikely to reach the
official government forecast of 1.8
million tonnes announced earlier last
month," FAO said in a candid
statement. "FAO's current forecast for 2006
points to maize production
within the range of 1 to 1.2 million
tonnes."
Zimbabwe has an estimated 1.8 million tonne annual grain requirement
at an
average consumption of 150 000 tonnes per month. A further 500 000
tonnes
are required to maintain strategic reserves.
Nonetheless, FAO said
crops such as millet and sorghum, on which fertiliser
is normally not
applied in Zimbabwe, did well in the just ended agricultural
season.
Although Vice President Joice Mujuru and central bank governor
Gideon Gono
have previously spoken out against dependence on grain imports
which gobbled
US$135 million in 2005 saying they were taking money meant for
other
developmental projects such as building of bridges, dams and
electricity
generation, the UN body said the crisis-sapped country will once
more devote
scarce hard currency earnings to replenish its grain
stocks.
"Thus for the total Zimbabwean population of 11.75 million, the
preliminary
estimate of maize import requirements for 2006/07 marketing year
(April/March) is put at about 300 000 tonnes, about one-fourth of the level
of the previous year," FAO said in its findings.
Gono says producing
enough grain will help in reversing Zimbabwe's deepening
economic crisis,
which is marked by shortages of basic commodities and high
prices.
The
food agency however warned that Zimbabwe, which is in the throes of a
seven-year-old economic crisis, could fall short of footing the import bill
because of declining foreign currency revenues.
"Commercial import
capacity is limited by the continuing downward trends in
export earnings
from main crops such as tobacco and cotton, although this is
offset by
rising metal export prices as well as official and unofficial
remittances
from the large number of Zimbabweans living outside the country
estimated at
over three million."
Although in April the government vetoed the UN food
agency from scrutinising
Zimbabwe's crop harvest, GIEWS said its analysis
was based on images
distributed by FAO/ARTEMIS and based on the Decadal
Rainfall Estimates
generated by the Climate Prediction Centre (CPC) of the
US National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
At the time of
the blockade Zimbabwe, which is under international censure
because of an
alleged democracy deficit, said it would not allow
multilateral
organisations to carry out crop assessments because it is a
sovereign
state.
Zimbabwe, which is in its sixth year of food shortages which affected
more
than four million people last year, is battling a critical shortage of
fertiliser and crop seeds - a situation largely blamed on low inflows of
foreign currency to import raw materials.
Prior to the decimation of the
farming sector and at its peak, Zimbabwe's
agriculture sector accounted for
about 16.5 percent of gross domestic
product, 33 percent of foreign exchange
earnings and 26 percent of
employment.
Critics say the serious grain
deficit is largely a result of President
Mugabe's controversial land
redistribution programme under which he seized
productive land from whites
and gave it over to landless black peasant
farmers who lack the necessary
expertise and financial resources.
In spite of sufficient rainfall received
this season, the government has
failed to give the new black landowners
skills training or financial and
farm inputs support to maintain production
on the former white-owned farms.
But the Zimbabwe government blames its
perennial food shortages on drought.
FinGaz
Chris
Muronzi
THE state-run Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) has paid
legal bills
running into billions of dollars for chairman Charles Nherera
since the
beginning of his high profile corruption trial that has sucked in
three
government ministers.
Sources close to the case told The
Financial Gazette this week that ZUPCO
deputy chairperson Chipo Dyanda
sanctioned the payment of the bills to
Mandizha & Company Legal
Practitioners, a law firm representing Nherera.
According to sources, Dyanda,
who last year illegally commandeered an Isuzu
vehicle meant for senior
management at ZUPCO, ordered the acting chief
executive, Godfrey Mawarura,
to pay $3 billion at the beginning of the trial
and to meet all legal costs
that would accrue during the course of the
trial, which began in May.
It
was not clear at the time of going to press whether Nherera would refund
the
company.
Legal experts said the arrangement reflects the state of corporate
governance at the company.
Joseph Mandizha of Mandizha & Company
refused to comment, citing
attorney-client privilege. Nherera dismissed the
reports as lies, while
Dyanda refused to comment.
"Your sources are
always lying to you. I can't comment on that because I am
unable to talk
now," said Nherera.
In a letter dated May 4 2006, Mandizha & Company
demanded $800 million
deposit and an additional $3 billion from
ZUPCO.
"As entitled to the board chairman, the indications are that we are
going to
be in for a lengthy trial. Mr Shah may need another day to complete
his
evidence. Cross-examining him may take two or three sittings. The effect
of
this has been to necessitate our requesting an interim deposit for our
services and those of our advocate. To that end, please be so kind as to
furnish us with a deposit of anything in the region of $800 million at your
earliest convenience," read the letter to Mawarura.
Another letter dated
June 14 2006 addressed to Mawarura claimed an
outstanding $400 million
balance of the initial deposit.
"Herewith a revised and itemised bill for
Advocate Phiri. Please settle it,
together with $400 million balance of the
deposit, not later than 19 June
2006. Our own bill will follow hopefully in
the course of next week," read
the letter.
Nherera is facing allegations
of demanding a US$51 000 bribe from
businessman Jayesh Shah in return for
the awarding of a tender for the
purchase of buses by ZUPCO.
Local
Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, Policy Implementation Minister
Webster
Shamu and Deputy Information Minister Bright Matonga's names have
been
mentioned in the trial.
FinGaz
Nelson
Banya
NICHOLAS van Hoogstraten's quest for an additional 28 percent share
of
Rainbow Tourism Group (RTG) has suffered a setback after an arbitrator
threw
out his claim for the contested shares.
Retired supreme court
judge Justice Nick McNally, who was appointed
arbitrator in the case in
which van Hoogstraten's Messina Investments
Limited was seeking to have some
252 million RTG shares allotted to Barclays
Nominees after the hospitality
group's $80 billion rights offer,
re-allocated to Messina, dismissed the
claim.
"The claim is dismissed in its entirety, with costs. The claimant is
to pay
the costs of the 1st to 11th respondents. The costs of the arbitrator
are to
be borne as to half each by the claimant and the 1st respondent,"
McNally
ruled, in a decision handed down on June 30.
Van Hoogstraten,
known for his mercurial temperament, has however told The
Financial Gazette
that he will not rest until he gets the shares, which he
says were
"raudulently allocated to Barclays Nominees by RTG directors."
The
controversial businessman, a significant shareholder in RTG, made an
audacious, but ultimately futile, attempt to vote out board chairman Ibbo
Mandaza and CEO Chipo Mtasa at the company's April annual general
meeting.
At the core of the dispute is a series of "underwriting agreements"
entered
into prior to the September 2005 rights issue, which had a poor 42
percent
take-up rate. Official documents listed CBZ Holdings and Syfrets
Corporate
and Merchant Bank as joint underwriters. Both institutions had
equal $40
billion limits to their underwriting responsibilities.
CBZ, on
the other hand, had a cession agreement with Messina, which was
effectively
a sub-underwriter to the scheme. CBZ passed on the unsubscribed
shares it
was allocated as underwriter to Messina. Syfrets placed the
unsubscribed
shares with Barclays Nominees who, in turn, had an agreement
with Nuvision
Holdings for the transfer of the shares.
Messina, however, claims that only
half of the rights issue needed cover as
significant shareholders in RTG,
including government, had committed
themselves to following their
rights.
"It was known to the parties that risk cover was required for only
half of
the rights issue because; pursuant to the underwriting agreement,
claimant
(Messina) had deposited an amount of $57,5 billion with CBZ as a
guarantee
in respect of its underwriting obligation and as cover for any
excess shares
over the $40 billion.
Other shareholders including the
government and the claimant had agreed and,
as such, were obliged to follow
their rights amounting to nearly $15 billion
worth of shares.
"Cover of
the other half of the rights issue was therefore not necessary
from the
point of view of risk but only as a fulfillment of stock exchange
requirements," Messina contended in its claim.
The ZSE demands 100
percent underwriting cover. As it turned out, the RTG
rights issue failed to
garner more than 42 percent support from
shareholders, leaving 58 percent
for the underwriters.
McNally found that Messina had no claim for priority
over the unsubscribed
shares.
"Since Messina was at no time offering more
than 50 percent underwriting, it
must have appreciated that another
underwriter would have to be involved.
Second, and in any event, it knew
from September 15 or very shortly
thereafter, as a shareholder receiving the
circular to shareholders of that
date, that the co-underwriters were Syfrets
and CBZ. It made no protest.
"Accordingly I find that Messina had no priority
over Syfrets in relation to
their respective duties to take up unsubscribed
shares," McNally said.
FinGaz
Njabulo
Ncube
MORGAN Tsvangirai, who leads the dominant faction of the Movement
for
Democratic Change (MDC), has slammed politically motivated violence
within
the opposition after last week's assault on Harare North legislator
Trudy
Stevenson and other officials from the rival MDC
faction.
Tsvangirai, whose faction is blamed for orchestrating the attack
and has
instituted an internal inquiry into the incident, warned his
supporters to
shun violence, saying the ruling ZANU PF would jump at the
opportunity to
further weaken the opposition.
"ZANU PF cherishes a
society in which violence dominates political activity.
Avoid being dragged
into the ZANU PF violence trap. Avoid the use of force
as a means to resolve
disputes. Violence is a sign of weakness, so expose
political fraudsters and
ZANU PF plants bent on causing trouble among the
people," said Tsvangirai.
"ZANU PF and Mugabe must explain how a person can
be attacked by a mob at a
meeting the police had sanctioned and at which
they were present. As
provincial chairpersons, you must watch out for
dangerous political games
designed to tie us and force us to focus
internally."
"Let me emphasise
the fact that our colleagues who left the party after
October 12 are not our
enemies. We must work together with them, just as we
do with other activists
in the broad democratic movement, within the
framework of our differences
and passions. Our problems are with Mugabe and
ZANU PF," he
said.
Tsvangirai was speaking after meeting his camp's provincial
chairpersons and
organising secretaries to put final touches to a proposed
national
resistance programme, expected to be rolled out in the next few
weeks.
At the evaluation meeting at Harvest House, Tsvangirai told officials
drawn
from the party's 12 provinces that the democratic resistance was still
on
and dates for the rollout of the programme of mass action would be
announced
"soon" after consultation with other democratic forces in
Zimbabwe.
"We are on our own. All indications are that we have to slog it out
alone
before we can expect any assistance from elsewhere. I am ready to lead
the
people into that decisive era that shall thrust us into a new
epoch.
"Strengthen the structures right to the last hamlet and growth point.
Knit-up the weak ends and plug possible fissures. Assure the local leaders
that the nation is fully behind them in this endeavor. A resounding public
expression of discontent with the status quo, reverberating beyond the hills
and the valleys of our bleeding nation, shall nudge ZANU PF and Robert
Mugabe out of the crust of political denial and drag them, screaming and
kicking, to a negotiating table," said Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai spoke as it
emerged yesterday that police had arrested his
faction's Bulawayo chairman
Reggie Moyo and deputy secretary general Morgan
Komichi in Hwange,
Matabeleland North, for allegedly organising or
addressing unauthorised
meetings in their respective provinces.
The opposition leader said his camp
was discussing with civic society
partners the roadmap and other critical
political alternatives.
"Let us keep our eyes on the ball, let us target the
goal. I know we shall
win, save our country and restore the rule of law. The
MDC leadership is
ready for a comprehensive rollout effort," he added.
FinGaz
Rangarirai
Mberi
WHETHER or not June's inflation slowdown should really be listed in
the
"good news" column is the question that central bank governor Gideon
Gono
and Finance Minister Herbert Murerwa will seek to answer when they
present
their next policy statements.
State media and their usual
coterie of commentators have already made up
their minds on the question,
cheering the 8.9 percentage point fall in June
numbers as the turn in
inflation that many had prayed for. But with the
Zimdollar taking a new
battering this week and fuel prices adding fresh
bite, there's little to
suggest anybody has been jumping over the bushes in
excitement since the new
inflation data came out of the Central Statistical
Office on Monday.
The
eternal optimists say the slowdown - the first since March last year -
is,
according to one report, "a refreshing trend" that should be "embraced".
They point to Gono's predictions that 1200 percent will be as high as
inflation goes, saying the latest numbers show that his prediction was not
half as off-the-mark as the governor's critics had made it out to be when it
came from Seoul in May.
In fact, one sassy commentator suggested
Zimbabweans had got so used to bad
news that they couldn't recognise good
news when they saw it - resulting in
them ridiculing the new inflation
numbers as they did.
The pessimists are not convinced though, and one told
The Financial Gazette
yesterday: "We know good news, and an 8.9 percent fall
to 1184.6 percent is
not it; it's not even a trend yet. Convince me this
will continue such that
we are back in double digits by next year at
least."
That's where the rub is, especially for Gono. On one hand, he will
need to
urge caution among the optimists, lest they get carried away and, as
happened while inflation was sliding from its previous peak of 623 percent
in January 2004, raise expectations that some wonderland of economic
recovery and prosperity was waiting just round the bend.
As inflation
rose higher in April last year, Gono suddenly found himself
having to manage
the fallout from the lofty expectations that had been built
in the 2004
inflation slowdown. He had to face tough questions - perhaps the
bitterest
to take of which came from ZANU PF itself - as to whether his
turnaround
strategy was still a practicable project, or whether it was some
pie-in-the-sky. He would have learned his lessons, and will likely decline
any adulation that the usual band of fickle optimists and praise singers may
be tempted again to heap upon him - even for this most negligible of token
slowdowns.
Apart from taming any false optimism, Gono will on the other
hand need to
convince the hoards of hard-nosed pessimists that the economy
has not been
damaged beyond repair. It's a tough task, given recent remarks
by President
Robert Mugabe virtually denying the existence of any economic
crisis.
According to President Mugabe, his critics behave as if "Zimbabwe
needs
rescuing". Clearly, Gono thinks it does, which is exactly why he has
been
raking the planet - Russia today and Korea the next - for investment,
or for
lines of credit to at least hold back the economy from tipping over
the
edge.
Both Gono and Murerwa will seek in their statements to keep
hope alive, even
though they both realise that trying to whip up hope merely
by talking can
no longer hack it if such talk is not backed by bold policy
that can clean
up at least even a third of the mess.
Convincing Zimbabwe
that the government is not really in denial, and that it
accepts that there
is indeed a crisis that it is working hard to solve, will
be weighing on
both Gono and Murerwa now as they prepare their statements.
For Gono,
lowering his inflation targets could form part of that acceptance,
while for
Murerwa, it could be more visible - as it could come in the form
of
confirmation of a supplementary budget. Whatever they decide to tell
Zimbabwe, they should caution that it will be a while before inflation does
indeed feature as "good news".
FinGaz
NO politician is worth killing or dying for. The Financial
Gazette said as
much in its editorial of April 8 2004 titled Nip Zealotry In
The Bud. I
couldn't agree more. Yet political violence remains one of
Zimbabwe's
biggest curses. And curses, like chickens, usually come home to
roost. In
Zimbabwe's case they are doing just that in their
thousands
I will be the first to admit that separating fact from fiction
can be a tall
order where politics - particularly Zimbabwean politics known
for its
grotesque distortion of the truth - is concerned. But the estimated
1 000
lives reportedly lost to an orgy of political violence, which was
characterised by wanton destruction of private property, abductions, maiming
and rape since 2000, bears testimony to this.
It is quite disturbing that
1000 people met abrupt, brutal and tragic deaths
at the hands of political
murderers. Words cannot possibly described the
permanent emotional scars
suffered by those who lost their loved ones to
such madness or those that
were disenfranchised. To say the trauma will
haunt them for life is an
understatement of significant proportions. It is
like saying the sea is wet!
Not to talk of the seeds of hatred, frustration
and anger that are sown
among the country's citizens.
Some would say this figure (1 000 deaths) is
contestable as some of the
reports might be coming from dubious sources bent
on political point
scoring. Be that as it may, there is no denying that even
a single death due
to political violence is one too many. Political violence
perpetrated by
whomsoever as witnessed last week when Movement For
Democratic Change (MDC)
legislator, Trudy Stevenson was left for dead after
being savagely attacked
by thugs who preliminary police investigations have
linked to Morgan
Tsvangirai's faction, cannot and should not be admissible
for whatever
reason.
Pictures of a maimed Stevenson and Linos Mushonga
were a visible reminder of
Zimbabwe's terrible violent political culture in
its starkest form. I was
shocked by the sheer brutality and purposeless
sadism of those political
attack dogs that were unleashed on Stevenson and
Mushonga.
I know that ZANU PF will kick up a stink over my next observation.
But it is
a cold hard fact. There is no gainsaying it. Violence of this
nature, which
has poisoned the country's political life, has its genesis in
growing
intolerance, confrontation and hatred for compromise. This is a
culture
which can be located in the ruling ZANU PF which over the years has
been
arrogant enough to think that it is the only capable political force in
Zimbabwe with a God-given right to rule.
Nobody needs any reminding of
the political zealotry and extremism of ZANU
PF's lap dogs - the vicious
Youth Brigade and of late the graduates of
Border Gezi Training centres -
who operate under the auspices of an
irresponsible cabal of senior officials
of the ruling party. Their reign of
terror that spawned an orgy of violence,
intimidation and systematic
bullying of political opponents to ensure that
ZANU PF loses as little as
possible politically through the stifling of
democratic space and the
expansion of pluralism in the political sphere, is
well documented. That is
how the genie was let out of the bottle. Something
bad was allowed to happen
simply because the untouchable ZANU PF was
involved. But now it cannot be
stopped.
This partly explains why over the
years Zimbabwe has - despite the ordinary
citizens' quest for a situation
where those losing elections smile and shake
hands with the victors - failed
to hold what can be termed as untainted,
indisputable, free and universal
elections. Thus the rash of brutal and
savage murders have not only
attenuated voter enthusiasm but public
confidence in the country's electoral
system as well, turning the whole
notion of universal adult suffrage (right
to vote) upside down.
It is not difficult to see why. Political violence
usually flares up during
or in the run-up to election time. Particularly
from 2000, Zimbabweans have
grown used to bloodshed during election time.
This was the situation with
the 2000 Parliamentary poll and the 2002
Presidential election. Of course
the situation was relatively calm during
the 2005 Parliamentary election.
There was minimal confrontation even as
politicians were girding their loins
for high political stakes. But it would
be naive to read much into that. It
was an exception rather than the norm
which had nothing to do with political
maturity. In any case, one swallow
does not make a summer!
Sadly this deadly poison - the lack of respect for
human life - has been
seeping through the moral fibre of this country and is
now rubbing off the
opposition as well. Hence the hurt or be hurt, kill or
be killed mentality
now pervading the opposition. This, for want of a better
expression, is
frighteningly insane. This is something you don't just see in
a country
whose democratic achievements were hard to come by such as
Zimbabwe. Indeed,
this kind of barbarism is unheard of in the civilised
world. And it has to
be nipped in the bud before it spreads like the cancer
that it is.
The most disappointing thing is that in some cases where
perpetrators of
political violence are known, no indictments have come down
for the
culprits. Even where the courts of law have ruled that perpetrators
of
violence who wrongfully deprive others of their liberty are liable to
punishment, the culprits have been let off the hook for political reasons. A
case in point is the 2000 murder of Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika of
the MDC allegedly by Joseph Mwale of the CIO, Tom Kainos "Kitsiyatota"
Zimunya, Webster Gwama and America Mudzvinyiriri. Yet we are told that all
Zimbabwean citizens enjoy equal protection under the law! Unfortunately dead
men tell no tales. Otherwise they would relate the heart-rending horror
stories of their suffering at the hands of the political attack
dogs.
Granted, politics is fluid and anything can happen. But why stall even
where
there is incontrovertible evidence of these politically-motivated
heinous
crimes? Does this have anything to do with the side of the violent
political
divide to which the culprits belong?
But what kind of society
is this where holding different political views not
only earns you hostility
and hatred but can also lead to tragic
consequences? Who said consensus of
opinion is a virtue in politics anyway?
People should always be free to
agree to disagree because democracy has no
limits especially where citizens
are not breaking the law. That is if, as we
are made to believe, Zimbabwe
itself is a free society in which every
citizen enjoys personal
freedom.
In other words, people should be allowed to organise freely on the
basis of
their own political convictions. It is called freedom of choice and
association to which each and every Zimbabwean should have an inviolable
right. And the bigoted and brutal who maim, rape, kill, beat or destroy
somebody's property because they hold political views that are different
from theirs are in violation of that right. They are denying others the
freedom of choice and association. And they do not deserve that freedom
themselves.
Ideally, these culprits that fan political violence should be
brought to
account, political party affiliation notwithstanding. But then
again this is
Zimbabwe, where political goings-on are stranger than fiction,
and I wouldn't
bet on it. There are political sacred cows and Zimbabwe knows
only too well
to which political party they belong.
- email: gg@fingaz.co.zw
FinGaz
Vote Muza
UNFAIRNESS or injustice are aspects of life that we
wish we could avoid but
these we encounter one time or the other in our
lives because they seem to
exist as a result of other factors that we have
no control over.
Thus the lives of most serious lawyers are dedicated to
fighting injustice
at all levels of society so that harmony, a thing we all
cherish can be a
permanent feature of human life.
The situation that
lawyers find themselves in is similar to that of medical
practitioners who
devote their lives to saving human life - a task that in
itself is made
difficult by the rigid dictate of nature that requires the
mortality of
mankind. I have been reminded to write an article about the
cruelty of life,
and the apparent weakness of law to wipe out this malady
because of a story
that was recently narrated to me by a professional
colleague.
The story
goes like this: A few weeks ago, a forlorn looking client
approached this
colleague in search of legal advice after his family had
suffered a double
tragedy.
According to this client, so I was told, his late father had through
a
seemingly reputable company in Harare subscribed for a funeral
policy.
Obviously the intention for seeking such important assistance was to
be
indemnified in the event of death, and to lessen the burden on the
surviving
family members who would not need to pay much for funeral
costs.
Unfortunately while the first disaster was a nature's thing - an event
that
was inevitable, the second calamity was a man-made incident - itself a
result of greed and selfishness on the part of the funeral insurance
company.
The deceased had for five years paid monthly premiums in terms
of his
insurance policy and at all times, his payments had been timeous. It
then
happened that he fell sick and was hospitalized for two months and
during
his hospitalization and eventual death he defaulted on his
premiums.
Obviously one reason that caused the failure to timeously settle
his monthly
premiums was because he had channeled his resources to medical
expenses.
Upon his death, the funeral insurance company was approached to
assist the
deceased's family at the greatest hour of need but what
transpired was not
only cruel, but appears to have been illegal as
well.
Relying on an obscure clause hidden in the intricate web of legal
jargon of
the insurance contract, the company refused to indemnify the
insured.
Its defense was that the insured had violated a special condition of
the
contract by failing to pay for the two months before death. In an
attempt to
convince the insurers, family members volunteered to pay in full
all
premiums that had gone unpaid but their efforts were in vain as the
insurers
appeared firm in their desire not to help.
To add insult to
injury, the policy was declared cancelled; inquencequencial
and all sums
paid for the five years were declared forfeited. As a result
the bereaved
family, a victim of the cruelty and insensitivity of the greed
of an
insurance company left empty handed and ended up meeting the funeral
costs
from their own pockets.
As I said earlier, this story is hearsay, but it is
hearsay coming from a
credible source that is a professional colleague. In
my belief, the
unfortunate experiences of the family described above are not
unique to them
alone but many individuals out there have enriched insurance
companies
without being paid a cent under the flimsy justification of breach
of this
or that condition.
Obviously both moral and legal questions arise
from this sad story.
Starting with the moral part? Does it accord with common
reason that the
insurer can enrich itself and refuse to assist a dead
client's family during
time of mourning on the basis of a breach capable of
being remedied? My
answer to this is a loud NO! I think many people, just
like me would find
such conduct repugnant to not only commercial ethics, but
to the moral rules
that must bind any normal society like ours.
On the
legal part, it would appear that the conduct of the insurer was in
flagrant
violation of the Insurance Act (Chapter 24:07). In terms of this
act an
insurer of a funeral policy is only entitled to cancel and forfeit
premiums
where the insured has defaulted after an official of the company
was send
personally with a reminder. Cancellation is also permissible where
it is
preceded with a written notice alerting the defaulter to the need to
honor
payment. If indeed this process was not followed as I am reliably
informed
then the cancellation and forfeiture of premiums was woefully
illegal and
the victim of this smart fraud can sue for specific performance.
By their
nature, insurance contracts are generally very detailed and those
who craft
them seem to find pleasure in using fine print that will
discourage average
people from having the patience to scrutinize each and
every detail. Due to
an inherent human weakness people rush to sign
contracts without fully
understanding them only to indulge in hue and cry
when they belatedly
discover how they committed themselves to unreasonably
oppressive
agreements.
I place the blame on all local lawyers in private practice who
have not
actively other than in human rights matters, indulged in public
interest
litigation. Lawyers must be courageous enough to challenge even for
free
certain institutions or laws that are unreasonable so that justice can
prevail over oppression and cruelty. The case discussed above is a typical
example of a matter that is suitable for taking as service to the public who
might be experiencing untold cheating by wealthy unscrupulous insurance
companies.
It is unfortunate that most of these victims are poor people
who do not have
the means to challenge rich corporate organizations which
organizations use
financial muscle in the event of being challenged to
frustrate the rights of
innocent members of the public. Therefore it only
takes unflinching
dedication and a high level of passion for justice by
legal practitioners to
challenge oppressive practices by such organizations.
- e-mail:
gutulaw@mweb.co.zw,
website: www.gutulaw.co.zw
FinGaz
(The Geoff Nyarota
Column)
Geoff Nyarota
HASTINGS Kamuzu Banda left his country as a
young man to acquire education
abroad. He returned to his country in 1962
after an absence of 40 years,
spent in the United States and the United
Kingdom.
He assumed power as Prime Minister of the new Republic of Malawi
in 1963.
When Malawi was declared a one-party republic in 1966 he became
president.
Five years later, he declared himself president for life.
At
the time of his return Banda had become a virtual foreigner in his own
country, so totally dissociated from the lives of ordinary Malawians. He
founded the formidable and much feared women's league, Chitukuko Cha Amai
MuMalawi. In Zimbabwe Zanu-PF also established a women's league but it did
not become quite as powerful as its Malawian counterpart.
With the help
of the equally fearsome Youth Brigade, Banda ran a repressive
police state.
Dissent was not in any way tolerated. Malawians were required
to carry a
membership card of his Malawi Congress Party, to be presented in
random
inspections by the police.
In Zimbabwe, the Green Bombers have become an
equally awesome instrument of
state control, enforcing the mandatory
carrying of a Zanu-PF membership
cards in the rural areas, especially during
election campaigns and the
distribution of relief food.
Banda's order of
priorities was somewhat askew. While millions of Malawians
wallowed in
abject poverty he created such monuments to his own eccentricity
as the
Kamuzu Academy, modeled on the famous Eton College of England.
At the
Malawian academy, the children of the rich and the politically
well-connected were taught Latin and Ancient Greek by expatriate classics
tutors. They were punished severely if they were caught conversing in
indigenous Chichewa or Chinyanja within the well-manicured school
grounds.
On his return to Malawi, Banda no longer spoke his native Chichewa
and, as a
result, Malawians had to endure, for the next 31 years, the
indignity of
their Head of State addressing them in English through an
interpreter.
Malawians never tire of relating the ordeal of one such
interpreter in the
early days of Banda's rule.
"Before I arrived back
home to rescue you," Banda waxed lyrical while
warming up to what was a
popular theme in the early days of the
life-presidency, "you Malawians were
suffering."
The interpreter rendered this into the most appropriate
Chichewa.
"Yourself included, Mr Interpreter" the President chuckled
menacingly.
Not unexpectedly, the more politically astute among his
compatriots began to
voice disenchantment with the rule of His Excellency,
the Life President,
the Ngwazi, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda - as he was now
officially called - and
woe unto any journalist who failed to recite this
full title on radio or in
a newspaper story. Banda reacted to the voices of
discontent viciously.
His political rivals, such as Kanyama Chiume, were
exiled while others such
as Dick Matenje and Dr Attati Mpakati were killed,
their bodies allegedly
thrown to the crocodiles of the Shire River. The more
fortunate were merely
imprisoned in the wilderness of Mikuyu Prison, far
away from the nearest
habitation.
It is believed that Banda accumulated a
mind-boggling US$320 million in
personal assets during 31 years of one-party
rule. The extent of the wealth
accumulated by President Robert Mugabe of
Zimbabwe over 26 years in office
has eluded estimation.
After he lost the
democratic elections of 1994, Banda died in a hospital in
South Africa on
November 25, 1977. He was rumoured to be 101 years old. His
death
certificate stated that he was 99 years old. Going by his death
certificate,
Banda contested, quite unbelievably, for a new term of office
at the very
ripe old age of 96.
While, unlike Banda, Mugabe is the epitome of bilingual
eloquence in English
and his indigenous Shona, certain elements of his
administrative style are
straight out of the Banda manual on
presidency.
Hundreds have disappeared while thousands have died for political
reasons in
the period after independence, the worst case being those
massacred during
the Gukurahundi atrocities in Matabeleland.
The most
remarkable disappearance, without trace or plausible explanation
thereafter,
was that of Rashiwe Guzha in 1990. She was the girlfriend of
former CIO
director, Eddison Shirihuru. The slayings of MDC activists
Tichaona Chiminya
and Talent Mabika as well as a number of white farmers in
2000 were
particularly tragic.
The most remarkable similarity between Banda and Mugabe
is that both got to
know their people when they were already ensconced in
State House.
After he trained as a school teacher at Kutama Mission, close to
his
village, Mugabe secured his first teaching job at Dadaya Mission near
the
Midlands mining town of Shabani, now Zvishavane.
From Dadaya, the
young Mugabe crossed into South Africa, where he enrolled
for a BA degree at
Fort Hare.
On his return to Rhodesia, Mugabe taught briefly in the Midlands
before he
journeyed to Northern Rhodesia, where he became a lecturer in a
teacher
training college. He then crossed the continent to the west coast
where
Ghana had attained its independence.
In 1961, he returned to his
country and settled in Salisbury for the first
time. He became a school
teacher at Highfields Community School under the
late Josiah Chinamano, the
former PF-Zapu vice president. Mugabe also became
heavily involved in
nationalist politics.
How a product of Fort Hare became a teacher at
Highfields Community School
is a mystery. This was a school more notorious
for the delinquency of its
pupils than it was famous for their academic
achievement. The curriculum was
more vocational - metalwork, carpentry -
than academic.
Goromonzi High, Fletcher, Gokomere, St Augustines, Dadaya or
his own Kutama
would have done anything to recruit a teacher as eminently
qualified as
Mugabe.
Because of his involvement in politics Mugabe was
arrested in1964. He was to
remain in political detention continuously for
the next 10 years. On his
release in December 1975, he remained in Salisbury
for only three months,
while he and Edgar Tekere finalized plans for their
dramatic escape into
Mozambique.
Mugabe finally returned to Salisbury on
January 27, 1980, triumph staring
him in the face. A little under three
months later, on April 18, he became
Prime Minister of the Republic of
Zimbabwe.
Strictly speaking, therefore, Mugabe gained a working knowledge of
the
Harare and the Zimbabwe of the 1980s when he was already Prime Minister.
His
background in this regard was similar to that of Banda who assumed the
leadership of a country from which he had been exiled for 40 years,
arguably, with rather detrimental long-term results, in both cases.
While
no man is omniscient, the calibre of some of the heroes endorsed by
Mugabe
for burial at the Heroes' Acre suggests either a general ignorance of
the
backgrounds of some of the people who now surround him or a growing
distance
between him and the people he leads. My own personal philosophy is
that one
does not necessarily have to be a real hero in order for one's
remains to be
interred at the National Heroes' Acre. This is not necessarily
in reference
to the former minister of information, Dr Tichaona Jokonya, who
died in
mysterious circumstances in a hotel room two weeks ago.
Incidentally, a
member of Jokonya's extended family confides that, far from
the late
minister's overnight accommodation in the luxury hotel being booked
on the
spur of the moment on that fateful night, as suggested by ministry
officials, the Rainbow Towers Hotel had become Jokonya's second
home.
This suggests, ipso facto, that the chief government spin-doctor,
George
Charamba, may have been more than a little economical with the truth
on this
very sensitive matter.
The Jokonya marriage had apparently hit
the rocks, with poor Mrs Winfreda
Jokonya hanging in there, as many of our
African women are wont to do, "for
my children".
I have had to censor
much of the verifiable information that was put at my
disposal about the
former minister's marriage since the day he was caught in
flagrante delicto
in the company of a female member of staff in the office
at the then
Ministry of Youth Sport and Culture.
Saying of the Week
From this
week, a saying of the week will be appended at the end of this
column. The
statement will be selected on the basis of its brilliance, wit,
sheer
eloquence, poignancy or, occasionally, its patent idiocy.
Zimbabwe's
Ambassador to South Africa, Simon Khaya Moyo, has the honour this
week of
launching the section by providing readers with an insight into the
quality
of representation which we are getting from our man in Pretoria.
The
inaugural saying of the week is extrapolated from his message of
condolence
on the occasion of the death of Dr Jokonya: "He was indeed as you
know, a
personal friend of mine of many years and we were related in the
most
affectionate tone at all times." (The Herald, Thursday June 29,
2006)
Bakithi!
(Readers may submit suggestions to: gnyarota@yahoo.com)
FinGaz
Geoff Nyarota
I
ENCOUNTERED a most bizarre experience last week when I spent four days in
the presence of a clansman in a distant land without once sitting down to
ask about the welfare of his family, as is the custom of the Manyika people
of eastern Zimbabwe.
From Thursday to Sunday I attended the same
conference as two leading
political opposition figures from Zimbabwe in
Aspen, a luxury resort up in
the picturesque Rocky Mountains in Colorado, an
hour out of Denver by
commuter plane.
Professor Arthur Mutambara,
president of the breakaway faction of the
opposition Movement for Democratic
Change, his secretary for legal affairs,
David Coltart, and I were guests at
the week-long Aspen Ideas Festival
organised by the Washington DC-based
Aspen Institute.
I attended in my capacity as one of the 21 fellows of the
institute. Members
of the diverse group of fellows, who are selected by the
institute's staff
and board, "are young, action-oriented leaders, chosen for
their leadership
and accomplishments". While at 55 I no longer feel that
young, I did not
protest at my nomination.
My compatriots, Mutambara and
Coltart, on the other hand, were invited to
make presentations before the
thousand-strong gathering of leading
government, corporate, academic, media
and entertainment figures. We Aspen
Fellows have no say in the selection of
presenters and other delegates and I
must say I was mildly surprised to see
the names of my fellow Zimbabweans on
the final list of participants two
weeks before the event.
I immediately contacted Coltart in Bulawayo to point
out that Mutambara was
wrongfully described in the conference programme as
the president of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change of Zimbabwe,
which quite clearly
he is not. Coltart immediately responded and concurred.
He gave an
undertaking that he would advise the conference organisers of the
correct
status of Mutambara in the Zimbabwean opposition movement. If he did
pursue
this undertaking, his intervention must have been too late. Mutambara
was
presented at the conference as the president of the opposition
MDC.
The festival attracted the likes of former US president Bill Clinton,
former
US secretary of states, Madeleine K. Albright and Collin L. Powell,
former
associate justice Sandra Day O'Connor of the Supreme Court of the
United
States and Allan Greenspan, former chairman of the board of governors
of the
US Federal Reserve System. Also in attendance were distinguished
Ghanaian
economist George Ayittey, who is president of the Free Africa
Foundation,
Benjamin C. Bradlee, vice president-at-large of the Washington
Post,
Academy-winning filmmaker, director and producer, Sidney Pollack,
controversial former Harvard University president, Larry Summers and the
crowd-pulling black evangelist Bishop T.D Jakes, who mesmerised the largely
white audience.
When I said to Coltart that Bishop Jakes should be
invited to Harare to pray
for Zimbabwe, the Member of Parliament for
Bulawayo asked if the founder and
head of Potter's House, a multiracial and
non-denominational church with 30
000 followers, had any following in the
country as he had never heard of
him. I assured him the bishop had a
following in Zimbabwe. I personally know
of Zimbabweans who have made the
pilgrimage to pray with Bishop Jakes in
Dallas, Texas.
My consummate
curiosity about how Coltart and Mutambara came to be the only
Zimbabwean
delegates attending the Aspen Ideas Festival was short-lived.
I was
introduced to Elliot Gerson, the Aspen Institute's vice president for
seminars and public programmes. He professed a long-standing close
friendship with Mutambara and the rest fell into place. Mutambara shared a
platform with Ayittey on Tuesday addressing the weighty subject of "How to
put Africa back on the right track." Coltart, meanwhile spoke on Wednesday
on the subject of "Southern Africa in 2006: a report card". I arrived on
Wednesday evening and therefore, missed the presentations of my compatriots.
Up to the time of writing, my efforts to obtain a copy from them were in
vain. The organisers said transcripts of all presentations would be
available only in three weeks time.
For me the highlight of my four days
at Aspen was my initial encounter with
Mutambara, which occurred over the
lunch hour on Thursday. Once I spotted
him I rushed over to him, preparing
to embrace him like a long lost brother,
which he is in a way. We last met
over lunch at Harvard early in 2005 when
he visited the States from South
Africa. On Thursday he merely stretched his
right hand and I had to be
content with the proffered manual greeting.
The first copy of my new book,
Against the Grain, Memoirs of a Zimbabwean
Newsman, which was launched in
South Africa last week had arrived two days
before my departure for
Colorado. I retrieved a copy and proudly presented
it to Mutambara. Eyes
lighting up he seized the book with both hands and
asked if he could browse
through.
I was not to see the copy again until 24 hours later. I sat high
behind
Mutambara in the auditorium during the Thursday afternoon sessions.
As
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor argued with Justice Stephen G. Breyer, who
was
associate justice for the Supreme Court under the Clinton
administration, on
"The Independence of the Judiciary" and as United Nations
undersecretary
general for Communications and Public Information, Shashi
Tharoor, spoke
spiritedly on the "Global threat of terror" Mutambara
remained glued to the
book. So did he when the effervescent Bishop T.D.
Jakes spoke on "Religion
in America" and when Pollack and television writer,
producer and director,
Norman Lear spoke on "Television, Cinema and American
Values".
I next met Mutambara over lunch the following day. He amazed me when
he
announced that he had gone through the book. I understand he is a
voracious
reader. He said he had sacrificed attendance of the evening
sessions as well
as most of his sleep that night.
"I spotted two factual
errors," he duly informed me. "Joshua Nkomo did not
go to Fort Hare and
George Nyandoro and James Chikerema remained with Nkomo
when ZANU was
launched in 1963."
On that note he turned on his heel and briskly walked
away. That is the last
time I ever spoke to the man who could be the next
President of Zimbabwe.
Each time I approached him, thereafter, he quickly
excused himself and
departed. On the second occasion I pointed out to him
that it would be
highly irresponsible for us to meet so far away from
Zimbabwe and to part
ways without having invested a few minutes in a
discussion on our
beleaguered country.
On Sunday morning I phoned his
hotel. I left a message on the voice mail for
him to call back. By the time
I checked out of my own hotel at 1.00 he still
had not responded. I
discovered at Denver Airport that Mutambara had caught
a Washington DC-bound
flight before my own arrival from Aspen en-route to
Boston. On Tuesday I
received a communication via email inviting "All
Zimbabweans" to attend a
meeting to be addressed by President Mutambara of
the MDC in Atlanta. At the
time of writing I am mulling over whether I
should invest time, a return
Boston-Atlanta airline ticket and overnight
hotel accommodation to listen to
a future President of Zimbabwe who did not
have time for the customary
exchange of Shona greetings with a clansman he
met up in the Rockies, even
if he disagreed with him on certain fundamental
political issues.
Part of
Zimbabwe's current crisis arises from gross arrogance and
intolerance on the
part of President Mugabe.
Back in Aspen on Friday I was somewhat intrigued
that 352 pages of hard work
over three years was so easily reduced to an
offhand "I spotted two factual
errors!"
FinGaz
Comment
CELEBRATED
English dramatist and poet William Shakespeare, whose work has
timeless
quality, once said that a wink is as good as a nod to a blind
horse. He said
this hundreds of years before the birth of independent
Zimbabwe. There is a
long time lag between when he said it and when the ZANU
PF government came
to power. He therefore did not have the majority black
government in
mind.
But the timelessness, relevance and aptness of that observation in
relation
to the Zimbabwean government of today can never be in doubt. Indeed
many
critics now feel engaging the government is like engaging in a dialogue
with
the deaf. Suffice to say this has been a costly shortcoming for
Zimbabwe.
The ZANU PF politicians making up the government - the authors of
the
political and socio-economic mess the country is stuck in - have had so
much
criticism levelled against them that they have eventually developed
thick
skins. They are impervious to criticism. They hear but they do not
listen.
Neither do they care.
Examples abound. But what immediately comes
to mind is the criticism over an
alleged poor human rights record which
heightened during visits to Zimbabwe,
first by UN special envoy Anna
Kajumulo Tibaijuka and later by UN Assistance
Coordinator Jan Egeland in the
aftermath of the widely condemned Operation
Murambatsvina. The government
dismissed both UN officials as liars and
hypocrites. Zimbabwe has also
attracted widespread criticism over political
violence and intimidation of
political opponents, especially during the
run-up to elections.
Not only
that but it has also received a lot of flak over the tragedy of its
over-emphasis and focus on fighting shadows of long departed ghosts of
imperialism and neo-colonialism at the expense of economic development. In
this regard, the government has failed to realise that while the war of
liberation remains a defining chapter in the history of Zimbabwe, it is no
longer going to be a rallying point for the future. It is of the past. And
while there is nothing wrong with being proud of the past, there is
something terribly wrong with living in it. The ZANU PF government therefore
stands accused of forcing Zimbabwean life to be frozen at the point of
liberation.
However, the most severe criticism and expression of
disapproval of
government actions by the international community was over
the controversial
land reform programme in which Zimbabwe is widely seen as
a country with
scant regard for the rule of law. And it is pertinent to note
that contrary
to implausible claims by the government, the international
community has not
been opposed to the land reform per-se. It opposed the
form, style and
approach which, to all intents and purposes, was chaotic,
unsustainable and
lacking in transparency. Land was allocated through the
patronage of
politically influential groups.
If anything the
international community in fact acknowledged that it was
critical for
Zimbabwe to address historic injustices and inequality through
the land
reform initiative. It however emphasised that a careful balance
should be
struck between legal security and economic flexibility in order to
provide
the optimum opportunity to achieve the objectives of the agrarian
reforms.
Thus it insisted on the need for transparency, respect for the
rule of law,
poverty reduction, affordability and consistency with
Zimbabwe's wider
economic interests. That is why the United Nations
Development Programme
(UNDP) in 2000 came up with an initiative to review
the violent and
disruptive fast-track land reform programme. The UNDP, which
had pledged
technical assistance if government were to accept its initiative
based on
the principles of the 1998 Land Conference held in Harare, was
convinced
that its proposed programme would fit Zimbabwe's land reform
implementation
capacity and allow for independent monitoring of the
situation in the
commercial farming sector.
The government, which to this
day vehemently denies that there is a crisis
in Zimbabwe despite
overwhelming evidence to the contrary, would not hear of
it. Driven by its
obsession with revolutionary mantras and hatred for the
West whose dead hand
is holding back socio-economic progress, the government
rejected the UNDP
initiative. And to add insult to injury, it instead
amended the Land
Acquisition Act to allow it to allocate land without giving
owners the right
to contest the farm seizures. In the words of the
government this was meant
to ". . . bring finality to the land reform
programme . . ." It did all but
bring finality to the exercise because
illegal, disruptive farm occupations
are still going on up to this day.
Thus relations with the international
community hit an all-time low. And
since then, although government does not
want to admit it, commercial
agriculture, which accounted for an estimated
40 percent of the country's
exports and upon which the collapsing
agro-industry was dependent, has been
going to hell in a handbasket.
At
the risk of speaking too soon, we believe that for now, the land reform
exercise has failed and was instead a prelude to economic disaster. It has
neither achieved black economic empowerment, reduced poverty nor added value
to the economy. If anything, it has ruined agricultural production and the
national economy. The agrarian reform initiative has slipped on so many
banana skins because it was based on political expediency where government
paid no due regard to its long-term effects. And unless government begins to
listen to the voice of reason and start to address the strategic mistakes
with regards the land reform, there are no silver bullets or magic potions
that can fix the mess anytime soon. And in terms of economic prosperity
Zimbabwe will remain a could-have-been-that-never-was.
Certainly no war vet
Hezvo Wezhira,
Harare
EDITOR - Yep, Daniel Shumba is not an ex-combatant. He took
advantage of the
army and ZANU PF to go into business.
It appears one
of your reporters is trying by all means to improve this
guy's image. He is
a selfish and uncaring person. When you write your
stories remember that the
public knows most of these people. In any case
your stories come from the
people.
-------------------
Chombo does not give a hoot
Revive The
Economy , Harare
EDITOR - Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo is
one person who does
not care a hoot about what the people say. The man has
no integrity
whatsoever.
His ministry is in a shambles. The so-called
housing schemes he is supposed
to be implementing are a volcano of highly
flammable corruption. It's sad to
hear comments that Tendai Savanhu
represents ZANU PF. I am sure Sekesayi
Makwavarara represents Chombo!
So
we have a ZANU PF commission running the City of Harare. The popularly
elected Harare mayor, Elias Mudzuri, tried and failed to fire Town Clerk
Nomutsa Chideya because Chombo viewed Mudzuri's actions as politically
motivated. What about now?
Chideya has been suspended before an appointed
inquiry team tables its
findings, a process which is in clear violation of
the Urban Councils and
Labour Acts. One interesting thing here is that
Savannhu recently said the
decision to suspend Chideya came from outside.
What outside? Chombo is the
outside and strangely enough, Chombo wants
Savanhu's views yet the man has
clearly stated that he is not part of the
decision to suspend Chideya.
Now William Nhara and his ZANU PF Harare
Province have joined in the circus.
Nhara and Savanhu are obviously on one
side and Chombo is alone on the other
side. So we have deducted divisions in
ZANU PF.
------------------
Poor Joseph!
Walter Manamike,
Harare
EDITOR - Minister's incompetence. What vocabulary can be used to
describe a
minister who does not know when to avail agricultural inputs to
farmers and
also does not put or have a proper payment system in place for
deliveries
made to the national grain silos?
The very minister who
yesterday failed to provide fertiliser and other
inputs makes loud calls for
grain to be delivered to the Grain Marketing
Board. He still hopes to meet
his target of 1.4 million metric tonnes of
grain. Because he can not pay for
deliveries, the minister must not cry foul
when middle men who can pay step
in.
Poor Joseph Made has failed to grasp the real picture. If he were a lotto
number or a horse I would regard him as a scratched horse in the cabinet
reshuffle being mulled by Gushungo. This one will not run the race. I watch
television, read newspapers and every time the minister who is responsible
for the provision of our food comes into the limelight, we hear of logistics
that will be put in place to quickly disburse the inputs or is it the
payments for deliveries made? We are
tired.
-----------------------
This is a British problem
Mordecai
Mutiswa Betera , United Kingdom
EDITOR - It is not that Benjamin Mkapa
should or should not mediate between
Britain and Zimbabwe, but with what
effect. It is unlikely that Mkapa -
unless one is mistaken - will stand by
President Mugabe and say "Iam
Spartacus, too".
Once one voice of
criticism of President Mugabe's policies has been made by
a Tanzanian of
international stature - notably the UN envoy on
Murambatsvina - the next
logical thing is for another to be added.
President Mugabe needs to be aware
of the danger of being elbowed into
reversing his policies because of this.
We hope and pray that someone from
within the British establishment will
visit Zimbabwe - not to praise
President Mugabe but recognise the value of
his endeavours and also point
out where improvements may be made. It is a
British problem.
---------------------
Disturbed by Ken Mufuka's
articles
Mai Mhizha, Harare
EDITOR - I enjoy reading your paper, but
am quite disturbed by Ken Mufuka's
articles (Letter from America). I spent
many years in America and have
numerous black friends there.
Please,
before publishing some of these, kindly check for accuracy of
content, and
relevance. The last thing we need right now is division in any
form. For
those who don't have first-hand information, these articles can be
taken
literally and God knows what effect they would have, especially on our
younger generation. As a matter of interest, is Mr Mufuka still in America?
If so, when does he plan to come back
home?
------------------------
Bosses get away with murder
Andy Moyo,
Harare
EDITOR - I feel so sorry for the ex-Sagit employee. Workers in
this country
are not protected by law as any employer who is arrested on
labour matters
will have failed to cultivate connections with the ruling
party.
The RBZ needs to put its act together. If a bank executive steals
from his/
her own company or own clients he/she must be held accountable and
arrested.
Employees have been fired by the same executives for being privy
to bosses'
illegal deals.
The Labour Court has not delivered justice to
workers. Today the executives
live in 20-roomed houses, drive posh cars and
run their own business
acquired using ill-gotten money.
On the other
hand, ex-employees can hardly afford a meal per day. Trust
Bank, Century
Bank, Royal Bank and Sagit Finance were run like backdoor hair
salons.
Executives were accused of fraud but were never prosecuted. Where is
justice?
Government is concentrating on politics leaving business to
criminals. The
RBZ needs to urgently address these anomalies and bring all
culprits to
book. Executives have abused their positions and workers. We
can't have a
situation where workers suffer while corrupt bosses live it
up.
---------------
Splitting hairs on MDC split
Francis Mangwendeza,
Harare
EDITOR - I find the people who comment on the Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC) split to be splitting hairs. The real issue is that
the MDC executive
vote on the senate elections went against popular
sentiment.
Morgan Tsvangirai read that situation and acted in the way he
did and is
still popular as a result of that. This continued cry for
democracy and the
educated elite respecting this or that principle is not
democratic in itself
if that observation of principle goes against popular
sentiment.
They should learn from ZANU PF and how the issue of "leadership
democracy"
and popular politics has affected it and reduced its
popularity.
-----------------
It's not ZANU PF's right to decide my
status
Frederick Grant, United Kingdom
EDITOR - I read your paper
online regularly, and am impressed with its
content and context. I am a
Zimbabwean, whether ZANU PF likes it or not, as
it is not their right to say
who is a Zimbabwean and who isn't.
That is something that nature herself
decides, and she decided that I and
the previous four generations of my
family be born in the country known
today as Zimbabwe - "house of stone".
This is one house of stone that is
made from the softest stone on
earth.
I have had my citizenship of my country denied me by ZANU PF and
Tobaiwa
Mudede. Who are they to decide whether I am a citizen in the country
of my
birth? I don't care what their reasons are, as worldwide, and I
suspect in
international law as well, a person born in any country is a
citizen of that
country and even governments do not have the right to
rescind what is a
person's right under international law.
A right is not
a gift from a government, it is something to which people are
entitled no
matter what. I am therefore a Zimbabwean citizen, whether ZANU
PF or Mudede
like it or not. I don't take orders from governments anyway, as
they are
meant to govern, not rule.
Where do some of these ZANU PF chefs' parents come
from anyway? Are
Zimbabweans sure that they are bona fide citizens of
Zimbabwe? Some research
on their citizenship status may just unearth some
surprises, and if they are
found not to be bona fide citizens, do the nation
a favour and make whatever
findings your research may unearth
public.
----------------
More to Trudy assault than meets the
eye
Charles Frizell, UK
EDITOR - I was shocked to read of the attack
on Trudy Stevenson. She is a
personal friend and I was her electoral agent
in the 2000 general elections.
It was Trudy who gave refuge to me and my
family in her house the night we
had a mob at the gate of our house in
Christon Bank. I have spoken to
friends in Harare, and the consensus of
opinion is that there is more to
this attack than meets the eye.
The
outside world has no idea of how low the ZANU PF government and its
henchmen
will stoop in their desperate attempt to cling to power despite
their
rejection by the overwhelming majority.
For example, there was the recent
attempt to frame MDC legislator Roy
Bennett who was forced to flee for his
life to South Africa. To me and to
many others, this barbaric attack bears
all the signs of being yet another
false flag operation by the embattled
regime.
We know that they will do absolutely anything to sow discord among
those who
oppose them as they loot and destroy the country. Unfortunately
the wider
world does absolutely nothing but impotently wring their hands.
But then,
there is no oil in Zimbabwe.
Mail and Guardian
Harare, Zimbabwe
13 July 2006
12:21
A leading Zimbabwean rights group on Thursday demanded
the
"immediate release" of 220 protesters arrested across the Southern
African
country as they marched to press for a new
Constitution.
"Lawyers will be seeking the immediate release
of the activists
because they are being held by police illegally ... they
did nothing that
constituted public disorder," Ernest Mudzengi, a senior
official of the
National Constitutional Assembly (NCA), told Agence
France-Presse.
"Right now our lawyer is at Harare police
station to seek
freedom of these people... two other lawyers are in Bulawayo
and Mutare," he
said.
Police pounced on Wednesday when
about 1 100 marchers took to
the streets in the capital, in Bulawayo, the
country's second southern city,
and Mutare, in the east on the border with
Mozambique.
The NCA marchers are demanding that Zimbabwe
re-write its
Constitution, which has been amended at least 17 times since
independence
from Britain in 1980 and which the group said continued to
enforce President
Robert Mugabe's stranglehold on the
country.
The NCA, an umbrella body of 109 civil rights
groups, said the
demonstrations were "part of the ongoing campaign for a new
Constitution
that can help Zimbabwe out of the current political, social and
economic
crisis."
Police arrested 125 marchers in Harare
alone, some mothers with
babies, the NCA added.
In
Bulawayo 83 marchers were arrested while 12 others were
detained in
Mutare.
"The marchers did not endanger national security in
any way ...
the law does not compel us to seek from police permission to
march," said
Mudzengi.
Zimbabwe's tough security laws
prohibit marches and political
gatherings without police
clearance.
Mudzengi was adamant that the foreign-funded NCA
would continue
to organise peaceful protests to help "bring to an end the
political and
economic crises caused by an undemocratic
framework".
Police said they would charge the protesters for
"obstructing
traffic". -- AFP
News24
13/07/2006 15:25 -
(SA)
Harare - A Zimbabwean security expert who had been in police
cells since
March for allegedly plotting to overthrow President Robert
Mugabe's
government had been denied bail for a third time, said reports on
Thursday.
Michael Hitschmann was arrested along with four officials from
the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change and four police officers after
detectives found what they said was a cache of arms at his house in the
eastern city of Mutare.
The police accused Hitschmann - who turned
out to be a registered arms
dealer - and the rest of the group of planning
acts of sabotage, including
plotting to spread oil on a Mutare road so that
Mugabe's fleet of cars would
skid after he visited the city for his birthday
celebrations.
Judge Musakwa 'dismisses the bid'
The charges
against the other eight suspects had now all been dropped, but
Hitschmann
was still in cells in the border city.
According to reports, last week,
Hitschmann applied for bail again from the
high court, citing the failure of
the prosecution to try him as promised in
June.
But, judge Joseph
Musakwa dismissed the bid. The judge said: "I am not
satisfied that the
postponement of the trial is a new factor that warrants
Hitschmann's
admission to bail."
State media alleged that Hitschmann was an
ex-Rhodesian soldier.
But, people insisted that he never fought on the
side of the white minority
government during Zimbabwe's war for independence
because he had been taken
out of the country by his parents who opposed the
war on religious grounds.
Sapa-dpa
Trocaire, Ireland
against state
brutality
13 July 2006
Zimbabwe today is essentially a
police state
with nearly every facet
of life controlled by the government
or its
agents. The military, police, and
party faithful operate outside the
laws
of the country with violence and torture,
repeatedly abusing civil
and human
rights.
Part of Trócaire's work in Zimbabwe is to
promote the development of an open
and vocal civil society to challenge the
ruling elite. Trócaire partners
ZimRights have been active in assisting
ordinary citizens who have suffered
abuses at the hands of the police and
military. ZimRights is a grass-roots
organisation registered in 1993 to
enable communities to take up human
rights issues and seek effective and
accountable representation.
One case due before the courts is that of
Elson Zanza, accused of robbery.
Members of the police force tortured Elson,
a young mechanic who lives with
his mother in the suburbs of Harare. On 29
March 2006 he was accused of
stealing a TV and a home theatre and arrested
when police called to his
home.
"I was about to have my morning
shower," he told Trócaire "when my mother
told me that some police officers
wanted to speak to me. They barely allowed
me put on my clothes before
taking me downtown on a bus to Harare Central
Police station." Elson
witnessed one of the police officers speaking to the
man whose television
set was reputedly stolen and an envelope being passed
from the man to one of
the officers. While Elson is a member of the
opposition party the Movement
for Democratic Change, he doesn't believe his
arrest was politically
motivated.
When they arrived at the police station Elson Zanza was
whisked to a room
without being registered at the front desk of the police
station. The room
was empty and he was handcuffed. He was forced to squat
with his arms over
his knees while an iron rod was placed between his legs
and arms and he was
suspended between two desks. The officers repeatedly
beat him on the soles
of his feet using a sjambok (a type of whip). His
pants were removed and he
was ordered to squat. The police tied his private
parts with a short string
attached to a brick and he was forced to stand up.
He fainted as a
consequence of this brutal and callous torture which
resulted in
excruciating pain for Elson. Three months after the visit to the
police
station he still walks with a stick and suffers trauma as a
result.
Elson Zanza lives in Kambuzuma and the police who made the arrest
were from
a different precinct and had no authority in the area. Neither had
they a
search warrant although they entered his home and searched his
bedroom. When
he asked the police when the goods had been stolen, they
couldn't answer
him.
The morning of his arrest, the police wouldn't
reveal to his mother the
police station where he was being brought. She
spent a frantic morning
calling to police stations in the area to no avail.
When Elson was released
without charge he was left in the city centre
without sufficient money to
get him home. With the assistance of strangers
on the street, he contacted
his brother who hired a taxi to take him
home.
ZimRights have taken on the case of Elson Zanza, pressing for him
to obtain
justice. It will depend on the criminal prosecutor. His case has
already
come before the courts but the police officers failed to show up. If
he is
not successful, he will take a civil proceeding with the help of
ZimRights
to the courts. However, a conviction in a criminal procedure will
greatly
assist his civil case.
Elson hasn't worked since the day he
was arrested and he has received some
counselling with the help of Zim
Rights. "I have nothing to lose by taking
this case," he said "I want
justice and I want to see these men put behind
bars for what they did to
me."
New Zimbabwe
By Staff
Reporter
Last updated: 07/14/2006 02:21:47
MORGAN Tsvangirai, leader of a
faction of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
insists his plans for mass anti-government protests
are not
stillborn.
The former trade unionist has been under pressure to live up
to his promise
made in March that he would initiate "a cold winter of
discontent".
Political commentators took his statements to mean the
planned protests
would fall within Zimbabwe's winter season, which is about
to end.
However, Tsvangirai's supporters have insisted the reference to
winter was
just a euphemism.
Addressing MDC provincial leaders this
week, Tsvangirai said: "As leaders in
your provinces, you are aware that we
are now putting final touches to our
resistance programme. I am happy to
note that we are on course.
"Your challenge is ensure that the minimum
numbers we expect to come out are
ready. Strengthen the structures right to
the last hamlet and growth point.
"Knit-up the weak ends and plug up
possible fissures. Assure the local
leaders that the nation is fully behind
them in this endeavor."
He added: "As we discuss these crucial matters,
let us be frank and open
about our state of preparedness in order to make an
informed decision on the
timing of the action."
The MDC, previously
seen as the biggest threat to President Robert Mugabe's
26-year rule, now
lies divided with two leaders and competing structures.
Former university
student leader, Arthur Mutambara, now leads the other
faction.
Last
week, an MP aligned to Mutambara was attacked by Tsvangirai's
supporters in
the most serious intra-party violence since the party split
last year.
Timothy Mubawu, the MDC legislator for Mabvuku who is in
Tsvangirai's camp
has been arrested for providing funds to a group of youths
who attacked the
country's only white legislator, Trudy Stevenson.
Tsvangirai has
dismissed the attack as the work of infiltrators.
He said: "Zanu PF and
Mugabe must explain how a person can be attacked by a
mob at a meeting they
have sanctioned and at which they are present. As
provincial chairpersons,
you must watch out for dangerous political games
designed to tie us and
force us to focus internally."
From PBS Frontline/World (US), 27 June
Who did you leave behind in
Zimbabwe?
I left behind my wife who had stood by me in the entire three
years of my
[prison] ordeal. I left behind loving parents who were
traumatized, who were
also victimized, who were also tortured as a result of
my arrest. I left
behind a family, brothers and sisters and nieces and
nephews that had just
been born from my brothers and sisters. And I left
them in a precarious
situation because they never had a home to live in. The
only home we had, we
lost it as a result of the 2001 arrest. One of my
colleagues I was arrested
with had his house burned down when the news came
out on state television
that we were making indications on the grave. And
the reaction of people
around this area was to go and destroy his home. When
my father saw that, he
made a decision to sell the house. He sold the house
for ZW$600,000, and he
was looking toward buying a house in a different area
so that if the house
does get burned down, at least he doesn't lose anything
because he's already
sold the house.
Unfortunately for my father,
that very same week that he sold the house, the
price of standard houses
went up nationally. They went up to ZW$800,000 and
so he was looking for a
house to deposit with just ZW$600,000. Two or three
weeks later, houses are
ZW$1.2 million. A month later, houses are ZW$5
million. Sometime later,
ZW$20 million, ZW$25 million, until they were at
ZW$45 million. Today, the
same standard house that my father sold for
ZW$600,000 you can only buy it
for ZW$150 million and up. And what has
happened to the ZW$600,000? It has
been washed away by inflation. Where it
was a fortune, all of a sudden it
has become change in the pocket. So this
is how our family lost our family
home. And that's something that is going
to be heavy on my shoulders because
I will have to work hard to make
contributions so that we will be able to
buy a house where our parents can
retire. They are old, and as we speak, my
father is very sickly and he's a
worried man.
How do they feel
about you being in South Africa?
I must say that they are happy that
I am safe and that nothing bad is going
to come to me again. So they have a
peace of mind; they know at least our
son is somewhere there, our brother's
somewhere there, he's out of all these
things. In African culture we have a
saying that says, "The word of an old
man does not fall on the ground for
nothing." My father had warned me,
"Don't get involved in politics; I know
you are concerned about the youth.
You love the nation so much, but I just
wish that you wouldn't get yourself
involved in politics." And I said,
"Father, if it means for me to die, I'll
be proud to die fighting for my
country. I'll be happy to die trying to help
my fellow brothers and sisters
in Zimbabwe." That's what I told him at that
time. And he said, "OK, I wish
you well, but I'm going to lose you very
soon." And he did almost lose me.
And I have to live with that. The one
thing that worries him the most is
that he sees and knows that when he dies,
I might not be there to bury him.
I would love to be there when my father
passes. I'd really love to be there
to lay him to rest because he's been a
great man in my life and I am what I
am because of the way he nurtured me.
Will you be able to go back,
now that your father is sick?
I will to go back. It's inside my heart
to go back, but I cannot. Because
once I step on Zimbabwean soil, the
government will be coming on me with
gnashing teeth like a lion. There are
many people out there that wish me
dead.
Why do people want you
dead?
They want me dead because I exposed the truth at the end of the
day
concerning the murder of Cain Nkala. They know that if an investigation
is
to be instituted in a free, democratic Zimbabwe, they will be arrested
and
justice is going to be effected on them, and they know it's not going to
be
nice. Just as it wasn't nice on me. The government and Zanu PF know that
I
am an effective man on the ground. Once I start working, I'm just amazing.
I'm fearless when I get to work. So they know once I come, Matabeleland is
going to be something else. I will reach out to those youth and I will show
them the light and I will make sure that they revolt against the government.
That they know.
Tell us about Sazini Mpofu [the other person
charged in the murder case].
Sazini Mpofu is a colleague of mine;
he's a friend and we were arrested
together. He is an orphan, the first-born
son to his parents. At the time of
our arrest, he was the father figure in
his family, the breadwinner and the
only one that really gave guidance to
the family. When we got arrested and
appeared on national television news,
some war veterans and Zanu PF gathered
around outside his home. They looted
the property and then burned the house
down. When we heard that, we were in
prison and I didn't like what I saw in
Sazini's life in those times. He was
worried stiff for the suffering of the
children and that they didn't have a
home anymore. And if you were to see
him, he's a strong man and very
masculine. But he crumbled and cried like a
baby, day and night. It affected
him. I'm happy that I was there by his
side, comforting him. I was grieving
also inside, but I had the strength to
comfort him, sort of like council him
and give him hope that don't worry,
there's going to be a day that
everything is going to be set right. Let's
pray together; things are going
to work out one way.
Where is he now?
Sazini is back in
Zimbabwe; he is rebuilding his home, trying to scrounge
here and there to
rebuild his family and unite his family. ... his brothers
and sisters were
all scattered around some with relatives, some with
friends. So he's trying
to make the family reunited again.
Is he safe there?
He is
not safe. He's doing it because there is no one else who can do it. I
must
be honest with you, one way or another, the MDC have failed Sazini
because
we would have expected that maybe they would have chipped in and
assisted
him while we were still in prison. They did help here and there,
but they
did not rebuild the house. So that just is proof enough that there
is really
no one who could take the onus upon themselves to rebuild Sazini's
house.
When was the last time you talked with him?
I
last spoke to Sazini, it must be three, four months back. And that is when
he had just arrived from here and he just told me how he had managed to
cross the borders and that now he thinks he's in a place where he's safe and
how he has got himself people who are willing to assist him. We talked at
length. He said, "If this time they don't kill me, then that's my luck
because I'd rather die doing something for my family; then I'll know I'll
earn the forgiveness from all of them." And I said, "OK, I respect that,
man, but just whatever you do be careful. Try by all means to be evasive."
He said he would do his best. And until now, nothing has happened to
him.
So he's back in Bulawayo. You're from Bulawayo - what is it
like?
Bulawayo is a very beautiful city. It is the second-biggest
city in
Zimbabwe; it is the tourist capital of Zimbabwe. It has a lot of
beautiful
cultural scenery, a cosmopolitan atmosphere, if you like. It is a
place
where the skies are blue. And it is a former home of kings. We call it
the
City of Kings. It's a nice, nice place. The roads there are wide; the
city
is vastly built. And the people in Bulawayo, they are warm, welcoming
people. They are people who have been brave enough to come out of the
suffering that they've endured from the Zanu PF government for the past 25
years. And they are a people who are determined; you can see it in them as
they walk the streets. And Bulawayo is a melting pot for the Matabeleland
politics. Because a lot of people that have stood their ground and raised
voices about Matabeleland - the Gukurahundi massacres - have been born in
Bulawayo, bred in Bulawayo, grew up in Bulawayo. This is where archbishop
Pius Ncube is based - a fearless anti-Mugabe cleric. He has condemned the
government in all the evil it has done on the people of Zimbabwe and on the
people of Matabeleland to be specific. He has been a voice that the
government has failed to quiet.
to be continued...
From The Herald, 13 July
Herald
Reporter
The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) will buy eight
passenger trains, 64
inter-city coaches and 11 locomotives from China to
cope with the increasing
demand for rail services. Zimbabweans are now
opting for inter-city and
commuter trains following hefty increases in fares
by bus operators. This
has resulted in overcrowding on trains, thereby
compromising the safety of
passengers. NRZ public relations manager Mr
Fanuel Masikati said the
parastatal was also refurbishing its inter-city and
urban commuter train
coaches. "The programme, which is part of NRZ's
transformation, is aimed at
revitalising passenger train services in the
country. Commuter train coaches
are currently being refurbished in order to
increase their carrying capacity
from 100 to 155 passengers per coach, a
development which should immensely
benefit the urban commuters by reducing
overcrowding on the commuter
trains," Mr Masikati said. NRZ, he said, was
also installing lighting
systems in both inter-city and urban commuter
trains and repairing
vandalised seats. "The refurbishment is meant to meet
internationally
recommended standards, as is the case in other developed
rail systems. The
NRZ is endeavouring to keep abreast with the demands of
the modern day
travelling public which expects a service that is
commensurate with the new
technology available," said Mr Masikati.