http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 20:24
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has spent at least two months out of
the country in
the first half of the year, draining the little revenue
collected, in what
critics claim are needless trips.
A total of
US$25 million was set aside for government trips but observers
say the
amount will reach US$50 million if Mugabe continues on his foreign
escapades
with his bloated entourage.
Singapore and Malaysia seem to be the
president’s favoured destination as he
spent almost a month in January in
the Far East on his annual holiday.
Mugabe was again in Singapore in the
second week of February for almost a
week following an illness, which was
later claimed to be a cataract
operation.
Others, however,
maintain the president was afflicted with cancer and had
gone for
treatment.
At the time they were complaints that Mugabe’s frequent
trips were
paralysing the work of government, as cabinet meetings were not
being held
in his absence.
Mugabe then said if government work
was disrupted then they would have to
hold cabinet meetings twice a week,
however, a cabinet source said this had
not been done up to
now.
In March Mugabe was again in Singapore for five days for a
review of his
cataract operation.
Immediately the veteran leader
then attended the African Union Summit in
Ethiopia in March for two
days.
He was also in Zambia for the Sadc Troika meeting to discuss
Zimbabwe in
Livingstone Zambia.
In April Mugabe was in Singapore
again for four days this time to attend to
his ailing wife.
Then
Mugabe had left under a cloud as Grace’s illness had been a mystery
until
The Standard revealed that the First Lady had a hip problem.
A
staunch Catholic Mugabe at the end of April Mugabe was in Rome for the
beatification of Pope John Paul II.
Others however claim it was a
time for Mugabe to score brownie points on the
European Union at a time the
bloc had slapped him with travel sanctions.
In May Mugabe was in the air
again for two days attending the swearing in of
Uganda’s Yoweri
Museveni.
That same month he attended the swearing in of Nigeria’s
Goodluck Jonathan.
For eight days last month Mugabe was in Malaysia
for the Langkawi Smart
Partnership dialogue, another even which analysts
describe as little more
than a talk shop as the country is yet to reap
anything from it.
He was also in Namibia and South Africa for Sadc
summits in those two
countries and collectively he stayed for more than a
week.
Presently Mugabe is in Equatorial Guinea for an AU Summit and
as usual he
has a bloated delegation following him
A cabinet
source revealed that Mugabe’s trips had been discussed though
figures were
not disclosed.
The source revealed that when the president travelled,
he could draw as much
money as he wanted from treasury.
Within
the first three months Mugabe had spent half the budget allocated to
government travel activities in 2011.
This travel budget sums up
to $25 million - more than the government spends
for health care measures
for all its public servants.
Higher civil servants and ministers are
instructed to cancel all foreign
journeys if not urgently required.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 20:20
BY MOSES
MATENGA
MUTARE — Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was yesterday
forced to cancel a
tour of Chiadzwa at the last minute after he was
allegedly barred from
setting foot in the rich diamond mining
area.
Tsvangirai wanted to visit villagers displaced by the mining
operations as
part of his weekend tour of Manicaland
Province.
Unconfirmed reports said Manicaland governor’s
office had been given an
instruction by the Ministry of Mines and Mining
Development to bar
Tsvangirai’s tour because the PM had not been granted
permission.
Zanu PF supporters had also mobilised to disrupt the
premier’s tour. On
Friday Tsvangirai had told his supporters in Buhera that
he would visit
Chiadzwa.
“I am not visiting the mines but I am going to
visit the resettled people to
find out how they are surviving,” he said on
Friday.
But a source who was part of the PM’s delegation that
included Labour and
Social Services Minister Paurina Mupariwa and her deputy
Tracy Mutinhiri
said they wanted to assess the conditions under which the
villagers were
living.
“We have cancelled the intended meeting
with the resettled people in
Chiadzwa,” the source said.
“We are
informed that Zanu PF has mobilised to disrupt the meetings like
they did
during (Edgar) Tekere’s funeral.
“To avoid confrontations, we found
it fit not to go there.”
Zanu PF supporters heckled Tsvangirai when
he tried to address mourners at
Tekere’s Mutare home last month in another
demonstration of political
intolerance.
However, Tsvangirai’s
spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka yesterday evening tried
to downplay the
incident claiming the PM had no plans to visit the area.
“The PM had no plans
to visit Chiadzwa this time,” Tamborinyoka said.
“He was visiting the
vulnerable people in Manicaland and tomorrow he will
visit
Chisumbanje.”
Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu was
not answering his
mobile phone yesterday when The Standard sought his
comment.
Last year government barred MPs from the Mines and Energy
portfolio
committee from touring the diamond fields Chiadzwa on a fact
finding
mission.
There have been persistent reports that Zanu PF
officials are involved in
the smuggling of diamonds in the area and alleged
human rights violations.
Meanwhille, after a tour of irrigation
schemes, old people’s homes and
vulnerable children, Tsvangirai told this
paper that the trip had shown him
the extent of the collapse of social
institutions.
“I say that this is a ground evaluation of the extent
of degradation of
social institutions and also the need to work and
rehabilitate them,” he
said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011
20:26
BY MOSES MATENGA
MUTARE — Government did not discuss the
US$31 salary increment given to
civil servants, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai said.
On Friday, the Apex council which represents all government
workers in
salary negotiations announced the Negotiating Joint Council had
agreed that
the least paid civil servant will get US$253 a
month.
Tsvangirai told The Standard in an interview that he was
shocked to read
about the salary adjustments in the
newspapers.
He said the increment was not enough since it was still
far below the
poverty datum line (PDL), which is estimated at
US$502.
“What I can say is that US$31 is not adequate considering
that if you get
50% below the PDL, it explains how inadequate the increment
is,” he said.
“What I am aware of is that we were in the process of engaging
relevant
ministries on a wage that is at least 50% of the
PDL.”
The salary review came as a surprise since Finance Minister
Tendai Biti has
insisted that Treasury cannot sustain an increment at the
moment because
revenue inflows were depressed.
Biti and the
Minister of Public Service Eliphas Mukonoweshuro were not
available for
comment.
Meanwhile, teachers yesterday said they will suspend their
11-day strike to
consider the government’s offer of a pay rise that fell
nearly 90% short of
their demands.
The Progressive Teachers Union
of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) went on strike on June 22
to demand that the government
raise their salaries from the current $200 a
month to US$500 a
month.
Government late Friday offered teachers an average increase of
US$34, said
union leader.
“The award by government of an average
of US$34 dollars falls far short of
our expectations,” PTUZ president
Takavafira Zhou said.
“We will go back and re-strategise and get
ready to fight another day. There
are a number of issues that should be
addressed, including the issues of
transport and housing allowances,” he
said, adding that teachers would
return to the classroom on
Monday.
The strike was only partially observed as the rival Zimbabwe
Teachers
Association, which is aligned with veteran President Robert Mugabe,
had
discouraged teachers from joining the stayaway.
Many have
left the country to work overseas, while those who have remained
behind
often resort to moonlighting as small-time traders to supplement
their
pay.
Teachers also want a review of their housing and transport
allowance and the
removal of “ghost workers” from the government
payroll.
Zimbabwe has 105,000 teachers on the payroll, but Zhou’s
union estimates
only about 77,000 are working. Additional reporting by
AFP.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 20:09
By
Tatenda Chitagu
MASVINGO — There is nothing, it seems, permanent
about Masvingo’s fractious
political landscape.
In the absence of
the two late political giants, former Vice-President Simon
Muzenda and Zanu
Legal supremo Eddison Zvobgo, the province has been left
exposed, allowing
protégés of the Mujuru and Mnangagwa factions to fight
their wars
openly.
These two factions, it is commonly understood, are contenders
to the throne
in the event that President Robert Mugabe exits the political
stage and they
see the province with over 1,2 million people as crucial to
their plans.
But what is certain about the turbulent Masvingo turf is
that it has often
turned out to be a burying ground for Zanu PF heavyweights
who once thought
they were invincible.
When the Emmerson
Mnangagwa faction fell from grace following the Tsholotsho
debacle a few
years ago, the balance of power has over the years shifted in
favour of the
Mujuru camp. And the impact of this was felt in Masvingo.
Businessman
Daniel Shumba lost his position as Zanu PF provincial
chairman.
Former Governor, Willard Chiwewe, was to be relieved of his
duties after
serving only one term.
Lost and forgotten former
Masvingo governor, Josiah Hungwe, from the
Mnangagwa faction, who had been
in hibernating in the political wilderness
after relocating to Chivi, was
set to get a new lease of life as Chivi
Mwenezi senator.
Former
Chiredzi Council town clerk, Titus Maluleke, a Shangani, assumed the
governorship post. Other surprises were also to come when Mugabe appointed
politburo members.
Minister Stan Mudenge, believed to be the
“godfather” of the Mnangagwa
faction in the province, retained his seat in
the politburo.
Maluleke’s wife, Otilia, jetted into Zanu PF’s supreme
decision body, with
other members of their faction getting influential
posts.
Lucky members of the Mujuru faction who got in as a balancing
act like
Mavhaire got less influential posts.
Former army retired
major, Alex Mudavanhu, then Zanu PF chairman, failed to
contest for the post
after wilting under immense pressure from party
supporters in favour of the
late Vice-President Muzenda’s blue eyed boy and
former Gutu MP, Lovemore
Matuke. Matuke is linked to the “ruling faction”,
currently with the
reigns.
The winds of political change also buffeted across the Zanu
PF wings like
the women’s league, youth as well as the influential
constituency, the war
veterans.
Retired colonel Josphat Rupuwo
trounced former provincial war vets chair
Isaiah Muzenda in what the latter
viewed as coup, arguing that the elections
were held without his knowledge.
Muzenda claimed to be the provincial war
veterans chairman, although nobody
in the party recognises him.
Mujuru charm offensive pays
dividends
In a political comeback, and still trying to pick up the pieces,
those
linked to the Mujuru faction, as a way to keep close to the people,
have
engaged in an ambitious project which is endearing themselves with the
electorate.
Under the South East Growers Association (Sega) where
farmers are rewarded
for producing cotton, small grains, as well as bull
breeding programmes, the
faction is gaining ground slowly but surely,
fighting for their political
space.
Sega is said to be
Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s brainchild. Mujuru is the
national patron,
while Dzikamai Mavhaire is the provincial patron.
All the provincial
programmess are masterminded by Mavhaire and his close
ally, Walter
Mutsauri, former Bikita East legislator, as well as their
sidekicks in the
Mujuru faction here.
SEGA has brought senior politicians like the
Vice-President Mujuru and Zanu
PF chairman Simon Khaya-Moyo several times in
the province’s garnering
support for their faction’s candidates in several
constituencies.
The Zanu PF source said the balance of power was
tilting in favour of the
Mujuru faction which has made great inroads and
deeply penetrated the
province to get grassroots
support.
Jabulani Sibanda ups the stakes in the
province
One politician who denied links with any of the factions said
politicians
from the Mnangagwa camp had countered moves by the Mujuru group
by deploying
war veterans leader Jabulani Sibanda.
Sibanda’s
brief is reported to be to get traditional chiefs’ backing for
their
preferred candidates
“Jabulani Sibanda’s deployment to Masvingo is
not by mistake. Look at which
candidates in Zanu PF he is propelling. He is
on a mission to bolster
support for the ruling faction in the party. Some
may believe that he is
doing it on behalf of Zanu PF as a whole, which is
untrue,”said the source.
But Sibanda, in a recent interview, said he
was just making his
“revolutionary contribution” to Masvingo without fear or
favour.
On the surface, added the source, the jostling for
constituencies would
appear as a contest for constituencies by individual
Zanu PF aspirants, but
deep down, factionalism is at play as the two warring
factions in the party
tussle to get possession of the province.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 20:12
BY KHOLWANI
NYATHI
THREE new daily papers and two weeklies are perhaps the most
visible
development that can be attributed to Zimbabwe’s troubled unity
government
that was formed in 2009.
A year after the newly
created Zimbabwe Media Commision (ZMC) issued its
first licences to private
players, readers are now spoilt for choice as the
new entrants’ battle for
the market share.
Among those given licences is Alpha Media Holdings
(AMH) owned NewsDay,
which has given the country’s longest surving
publication, The Herald a good
run for its money.
Market watchers
say The Herald’s circulation has gone down drastically in
the past
year.
AMH also publishes The Standard and the Zimbabwe Independent,
which have
survived the country’s most turbulent times in the fight for
press freedom.
Another new publication that has made its mark is The
Daily News, which was
closed down in 2003 for failing to comply with
registration requirements
provided for in the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act
(Aippa).
ZMC was set up following the
amendment of Aippa by the inclusive government.
Takura Zhangazha, a
Harare-based media analyst said due to lack of
liberalisation of the
broadcast media, the rural-based citizens have not
seen an improvement in
the manner in which they access public information.
Print media has
limited reach compared to radio and in some instances
television.
The partisan Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)
still enjoys its
monopoly although the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe
(BAZ) recently
called for applications for commercial radio
licences.
Zhangazha agreed with veteran journalist Bornwell Chakaodza
that the
expansion of the print media has made a positive
impact.
“The major beneficiaries of this expansion have been citizens
of Zimbabwe
who can access more information on what is going on in the
country from what
are evidently different editorial angles,” Zhangazha
said.
“The opposition political parties and civil society
organisations have also
benefited in that they now have a number of
publications in which they can
have their issues and views published either
as stories, letters to the
editor or as editorials.”
Over the
years, the state media has become heavily partisan to an extent
that only
President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF received positive coverage.
even after
they joined the unity government, opposition leaders continue to
be vilified
and the state media has even gone to the extent of refusing to
take
advertorials from them.
However, Chakaodza said the growth of the
media industry had come with its
own challenges.
“Of course there
are bad sides to the print media freedom that we are
currently enjoying,” he
said.
“There is pressure on journalism ethics in a fiercely
competitive market in
the form of sensational headlines which do not reflect
the contents of the
stories.”
Chakaodza said this was a problem
that was evident in both private and state
controlled papers, which are
under pressure to maximise on circulation.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 19:33
BY
RUTENDO MAWERE
Gweru — A non-governmental organisation, Medicine San
Frontiers
(MSF-Holland) has started handing over Aids programmes, which it
has been
running in the Midlands for the past six years to the
government.
The centres are Mkoba One clinic, which has 2 891 patients on
first line and
second line drugs, including children, and Lower Gweru where
there are 2 768
patients.
MSF intervened in 2004 at the height of
Zimbabwe’s economic collapse, when
the health delivery system was almost at
a standstill.
Audrey van der Schoot, MSF- Holland’s medical programme
manager dispelled
fears that patients would be disadvantaged by the
handover.
“Due to the success of the HIV/TB programme and the current
capacity of the
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, MSF-Holland has
gradually started to
hand over programme activities in Gweru,” she
said.
“The Ministry now has the capacity to handle all the
patients.
“The main reason MSF-Holland got involved in Zimbabwe was
to assist the
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare to address the HIV
pandemic.”
She said the handover would be done gradually throughout the
year.
MSF will also continue to run its programmes on sexual and
gender-based
violence, laboratory services and support for patients on ARV
regimens.
It has also handed over all its PMTCT activities, adult voluntary
counselling and testing and the ambulatory feeding programme to the Ministry
of Health and Child Welfare.
Patron Mafaune, the Midlands
provincial medical director said government had
the capacity to take over
from “any NGO in providing Aids drugs.”
“When NGOs come to assist the
government, the government has exit plans and
as such we have always been
working as partners with MSF and I can assure
you that drugs will be
available to all those who need them,” she said.
Her sentiments were
echoed by Gideon Tsododo, the Gweru district medical
officer who said MSF
were getting the ARVs from government’s drug stores and
were just helping
with the implementation of a national policy.
“MSF was getting the
drugs from Natpharm and they were just assisting in
implementing the
ministry’s policy,” he said.
“The handover from MSF has also seen us
undertaking programmes to ensure we
have the human resources, so those who
need the drugs should not fear.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 20:28
BY OUR
STAF
THE Australian Embassy yesterday donated two boreholes worth $10
000 to
residents of Tafara, who have for long been affected by erratic water
supply.
The deputy ambassador, Shane Flanagan said his embassy saw it fit
to
construct boreholes for the residents because, due to aging
infrastructure
and a growing population, the residents could not access
clean water.
Senator for the area, Obert Gutu accepted the donation
saying the residents
were very grateful as they did not have adequate funds
to drill a borehole
for themselves.
Tafara is situated on high
ground and that means the old municipal pumping
system cannot push water for
the residents.
The residents thanked the embassy pointing out that
some areas had gone for
10 years without municipal water and were resorting
to unsafe wells.
The two boreholes will service 500 and 900 people
respectively, way above
the average of 250 per borehole.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02
July 2011 20:27
BY KHANYILE MLOTSHWA
BULAWAYO — Late Vice
President Joshua Nkomo’s son Sibangilizwe yesterday
claimed that his father
and President Robert Mugabe had an agreement to
rotate power among the
country’s regions.
Addressing about 250 people at an event to commemorate the
nationalist’s
death in Makokoba, Nkomo said his father confided in him that
the agreement
was meant to stop the country from splitting into
two.
“He told me that when the Lancaster House Conference had ended,
chiefs
summoned him and asked if at all the country should be returned to
blacks as
one entity or it should be returned under the pre-1923
arrangement,” he
said.
“He told me that he declined to answer
that question and told them that that
question could only be answered in the
presence of his colleague (Mugabe).
“My father said they agreed that they
will work together and have Zimbabwe
as one.”
He said the two had
agreed that if Mugabe’s Zanu PF got into power first if
will give way to PF
Zapu after a given time.
PF Zapu and Zanu PF merged in 1987 to end
atrocities that were being
committed by the 5TH Brigade that Mugabe deployed
in the Matabeleland and
the Midlands after independence.
However,
under the agreement only junior posts in the presidium have were
reserved
for former PF Zapu. Mugabe has refused to relinquish power.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 19:36
BY CHIPO
MASARA
Although the programme is evidently still at its infancy,
Miracle Missions,
in partnership with the Ministry of Environment and
Natural Resources
Management, Harare City Council and the Environmental
Management Agency
(EMA) among many other stakeholders, have managed to get
the “Anti-Illegal
Dumping and Anti-Littering” campaign off the
ground.
Zimbabwe is overwhelmed by serious waste management problems,
something that
has seen the country lose its aesthetic
value.
This can be attributed to the alarming economic decline the
country went
through for over a decade until the unity government finally
brought some
semblance of stability and growth.
But because
things are still far from getting back to normal in the country,
service
delivery is still largely incapacitated and as a result refuse
collection is
among the services that are still to be delivered by the
responsible
authorities.
Mounds of uncollected litter around cities have become a
common sight.
The city councils themselves, including Harare City
Council, have not
attempted to conceal the fact that they are finding the
waste management
task rather overpowering.
Unfortunately, there
are still many people in the country who carry around
with them the mindset
that the litter burden should singlehandedly be
carried by the
councils.
Such characters will go around throwing all kinds of litter
anywhere and
everywhere with the belief that it is the council workers’ job
to clean
after them.
Regrettably, more often than not, there will
not be any council workers to
come clean up the dirt.
And even if
there was, no sooner than the place would have been swept that
it becomes
infested with all sorts of litter again.
There is no doubt that
Zimbabwe is full of litter bugs.
This is the reason why Miracle
Missions, a local non-profit making
organisation working closely with the
Environment ministry, Harare City
Council, EMA and other organisations with
a heart for the environment, came
up with the anti-littering and
anti-dumping campaign that was launched in
May.
The campaign is
still confined to Harare for now.
Since most people tend to blame
their littering on the lack of sufficient
bins in the country, this campaign
is incorporating companies that are
providing bins with their company logos
on them, that are to be placed
around the city at an “affordable
fee.”
The programme, while providing more bins and better convenience
for the
public, gives the companies involved the chance to market their
brands,
making people conscious of their presence and the fact that they
support
public initiatives, which most potential customers are bound to find
appealing.
The campaign, themed “Together making a difference,” is
focusing at not only
arranging clean-up programmes but also at changing
people’s mindsets over
littering.
By the time the campaign runs
its course, it is hoped that people would have
become conscientised on the
negative effects of littering.
It is hoped people will begin to
understand that littering reduces the
quality of life, especially as far as
our health is concerned.
What is worth noting is that the various
cholera outbreaks that have plagued
the country in the past are linked to
littering.
Furthermore, the campaign is expected to make people
realise that cleaning
up the country is, especially at the moment, far too
big a job for be left
to councils alone.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 19:35
BY SILAS
NKALA
Bulawayo — Women in labour at a clinic in Gwanda are forced to
deliver their
babies on the floor as the institution does not have beds, an
official has
revealed.
Garanyemba Clinic in Gwanda South, which opened
its doors last year also
lacks office furniture and potable
water.
Maureen Chitanga, the sister-in-charge at the clinic told
members of the
Zimbabwe Unemployed People’s Association (Zupa) who donated
various items
that the institution was struggling to get
basics.
“We also have no stretchers or wheelchairs to carry those who
are unable to
move on their own,” she said.
“All the wards have
no curtains and that exposes the patients to passersby.”
The clinic
has maternity, male, female and the outpatient wings.
Chitanga said
the male and female wards also had no beds. Eight beds are
needed for all
the wards.
“We also do not have drug trolleys and file shelves. We
would appreciate if
somebody donated these,” she said.
Chitanga
said they only have 10 benches, which were donated by the Minister
of
Transport, Communication and Infrastructure Development, Nicholas Goche
recently.
Zupa donated 10 bags of cement, 10 dishes, four
20-litre buckets for
fetching water, 10 blankets, plumbing material for
water connection to the
clinic, cotton wool, gloves as well as some
clothes.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 19:34
BY OUR
STAFF
One of Zimbabwe’s key HIV and Aids interventions, the Expanded
Support
Programme (ESP) is winding up at the end of this year.
ESP has
been one of the key programmes in the scale up of the response to
HIV and
Aids in Zimbabwe, complementing efforts by the Global Fund and the
United
States government.
Having started in 2007 and with funding of up to
US$80 million to date, the
programme covered districts that were considered
to be most vulnerable to
the pandemic.
Its major objective was to
reduce the transmission and impact of HIV and
Aids in
Zimbabwe.
Patricia Darikwa, the ESP coordinator said they were
currently working on a
transition strategy that would indicate what will
happen to the different
programmes that were being covered under the
initiative.
She said the programme had been a major success,
especially during the time
when Zimbabwe’s health delivery system was on the
brink of collapse.
“The ESP helped retain the health workforce from about 30%
of establishment
in 2008 to about 70% in 2010 through its US$4,5 million
support for the
retention scheme for health workers,” Darikwa
said.
“The capacity of health workers to manage HIV and Aids related
illnesses has
improved in the 16 target districts and the ESP has
contributed to the
decline in HIV prevalence in the country to 13,6%,
according to 2009
estimates.”
At least 80 000 people have also
been put on anti-retroviral therapy (ART)
nationally.
Darikwa
said the programme had also helped avert new HIV infections through
improved
health seeking behaviour in communities.
“It has created an enabling
environment where HIV and Aids issues can be
discussed openly,” she
said.
“It also helped reverse some cultural barriers related to sex
and
reproductive health activities affecting communities, families and
individuals.”
The ESP was supposed to run for three years but it
was extended by another
two years.
It is funded by the United
Kingdom’s Department for International
Development, Irish Aid, Norway, the
Swedish International Development Agency
and the Canadian Development
Agency.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011
20:11
BY OUR STAFF
THE late deputy leader of Rhodesia’s Centre
Party (CP), Charles Lazarus’s
memoirs have revealed his unflinching support
for Zimbabwean nationalists
and black empowerment.
Lazarus, a prominent
human rights advocate died in March but there were no
efforts to honour his
legacy politically.
But the memoirs he wrote four years before his
death chronicle how he got
involved in politics and his struggles at a time
when the white population
was overwhelmingly against granting blacks
independence.
At its inception, CP was led by a Karoi farmer Pat
Bashford, who was
deputised by Lazarus.
“From the start to the
finish we lacked two essential ingredients: money and
white support,”
Lazarus wrote in the memoirs made available to The Standard
this
week.
“Ironically, I suppose I was politically at fault in drumming
up massive
black support.
“This was a great embarrassment to
those whites who intended to stand in the
next general
election.
“They protested to me that I was responsible for scaring
off potential white
supporters and I was removed as vice-president and
relegated to a ‘think
tank’. This consisted of about three or four others,
mainly academics.”
He led a team of lawyers, including Herbert
Chitepo and the former Chief
Justice Tony Gubbay in defending many ANC
detainees prior to independence.
He also defended Joseph Msika, Joshua Nkomo,
Enos Nkala and Akim Ndlovu,
among many others.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 20:15
BY OUR
STAFF
OVER the past few weeks the buzz word in political circles has
been
“roadmap”, However, few know what this guide entails and how it
affects the
country ahead of possible elections.
Sadc and
Zimbabwe’s coalition partners have agreed to have an electoral
roadmap ahead
of the elections, although Zanu PF is being obstinate,
claiming a blueprint
already exists in the Global Political Agreement and
there is no need for
another.
The Sadc brokered roadmap is divided into eight
parts and its objective is
to “find an uninterrupted path to free and fair
elections and the removal of
all impediments to the same”.
The
parties seem to have already agreed on some of the issues, including the
lifting of sanctions, a legislative agenda and commitments and
constitutional reforms.
Most of the key issues in media reforms
have been agreed upon except the
issue of hate speech, where the state
controlled media is supposed to
support government “programmes and desist
from attacking ministers
implementing such programmes”.
Zanu PF
and the two MDC formations are in disagreement over the appointment
of staff
to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
Election monitors and observers
were another sticking point, with the
parties failing to agree on who could
monitor or observe elections.
MDC-T wants election monitors from Sadc
and other African countries to be in
the country for a year, that is six
months before the election and half a
year after the polls have been
held.
MDC on the other hand called for the implementation of the Sadc
troika
resolutions made in Livingstone, Zambia, that three officers be
appointed by
the regional organ to the Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee
(Jomic).
Zanu PF on the other hand said observation of
elections should be in
accordance with the agreed amendments to the
Electoral Act.
Security sector reform a major bone of
contention
Security sector reform is another sticking point with both
formations of the
MDC demanding that security forces issue a public
statement, that they would
uphold the constitution in the lead up to a
referendum on the constitution.
But Zanu PF insists that this is not
an election matter and the two parties
have no right to direct the uniformed
forces to make public statements.
“We deny that there are serving members of
the military doing political work
and we invite evidence to be made
available,” Zanu PF’s position on the
politicisation of the military
reads.
“We protest to the use of the word demilitarisation. It is a
war term that
is not applicable even in the circumstances as
alleged.”
The parties also differ on the issue of violence, with the
MDCs calling for
an end to state sponsored violence, while Zanu PF claims
there is nothing
like that and that the parties provide
evidence.
The Public Order and Security Act (Posa) was also a major
bone of contention
with the MDCs agreeing that the Act should be amended,
but Zanu PF says it
wants to know the nature of amendments before
agreeing.
It also claims that all parties assented to Posa amendments
in 2007 and as
far as the party was concerned the law provided a “sound
legal framework for
regulating meetings and
assemblies.”
Regulate the spooks: MDC-T
State security has
remained a major bone of contention, with MDC-T saying
they wanted an Act of
Parliament to regulate the operations of the Central
Intelligence
Organisation.
The MDC led by Welshman Ncube on the other hand states that
CIO reform is an
election issue covered under Article XIII (I) of the
GPA.
The said article states that “State organs and institutions do
not belong to
any party and should be impartial to their
duties.”
But again Zanu PF opposed this and said the matter of the
CIO was neither a
GPA issue nor an election issue, but rather should be
addressed by the
constitution-making exercise.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 20:14
BY NQABA
MATSHAZI
FOR years now analysts have been talking of a post-Robert
Mugabe era, but
this has so far remained elusive, but now, in hushed tones,
the end of an
era talk has resurfaced and this begs the question on whether
it is again
premature, idle talk or harsh reality.
At the helm of
Zimbabwe for the past three decades, President Robert Mugabe’s
advanced age
has over the past years stirred a lot of debate on whether he
could go on as
leader, but he has so far confounded critics with his
continued stranglehold
on power.
The Zanu PF succession issue has haunted the country, with
politicians and
analysts speculating on who would succeed the octogenarian
leader, but they
have been left with more questions than
answers.
Mugabe recently revealed that he was the adhesive holding
the fractious Zanu
PF together, saying his party needed him now more than
ever.
This all but cast gloom on a post- Mugabe era, with some think-tanks
forecasting that the future without the veteran leader may be bleak and not
as bright as some might have hoped for.
With some high-ranking
security sector officials already pronouncing that
they will not salute
anyone without liberation war credentials, a pall
atmosphere has also been
cast on a future without Mugabe as leader.
A political analyst, Jack
Zaba says there might be “tremors” but was not
convinced that the country
would descend into chaos.
“The most likely victim of Zanu PF failure
in leadership renewal will be
Zanu PF itself, not the nation of Zimbabwe,”
he said.
“Of course there might be significant tremors to the
nation’s political
fabric, but I am still not convinced that the nation
would descend into
total chaos.”
Zaba said the power brokers in Zanu PF
had resigned themselves to having
Mugabe dying in power and like vultures
fight out what would be left of the
party.
He said an option for
the party was to close ranks and fight the common
enemy, that is parties
seeking to wrest power from it, or it will crumble
with the departure of
Mugabe.
Zaba said statements by top military officials were
anachronistic, as the
democratisation process across the world had seen the
army playing a much
lesser role in politics.
“Their efforts might
only go as far as propping Mugabe’s current incumbency,
and never beyond,”
he declared.
“The military might indeed be tempted to shield the next
person, who might
be non-Zanu PF, from taking over power.
“But it
also important to note that these securocrats are not so daft as to
easily
forget what happened in Ivory Coast, in recent months.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 20:37
BY
OUR STAFF
THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) has paid all the
retrenched workers and
giventhe remaining employees a normal salary
effective last month,
Standardbusiness was told on Friday.
RBZ
had up to Thursday to pay the last installment to the workers it
retrenched
early this year.
The retrenched workers had earlier been paid an
initial sum in January,
another payment was made in March with Thursday
being the last payment date.
The money to pay the retrenched employees is
said to have come from
Treasury.
In the financial year 2011, RBZ
was allocated US$32 million to meet its
operational needs exclusive of the
retrenchments.
So far Treasury has disbursed US$23 million in
tranches of US$15 million and
US$8 million.
Initially the bank
wanted to use proceeds from the sale of non-core assets
to pay off the
workers but the process failed to take off in time due to
logistical
constraints.
Last month, RBZ announced that seven firms where it had
interests would be
sold.
The sale of the assets would be
administered by the assets disposal
committee chaired by board member
retired Justice George Smith.
There was an oversight when the bank
asked for bids from financial advisors
and interested buyers. RBZ was
supposed to look for financial advisors to
evaluate the bids by prospective
buyers.
RBZ wants to sell its 58,75% stake in Tractive Power
Holdings; 70% in Tuli
Coal; 50% in Transload (Bio Diesel) and 64,9% in Astra
Holdings. It also
wants to sell its 65% shareholding in Sirtech, 100% in
Homelink and 100% in
Carslone Enterprise.
The bids are “open to
all Zimbabwean citizens, locally registered companies
as well as to
foreigners and externally registered firms subject to the
indigenisation
laws of the country.”
“In the case of individuals and corporate
bodies wishing to acquire any of
the assets under disposal, proof must be
submitted relating but not limited
to nationality and residency of the
bidder as well as demonstration of
ability to pay for the assets being
acquired,” RBZ said in May.
RBZ now has a staff compliment of 530 from
1600 it used to have before the
restructuring of the bank.
The
restructuring of the bank leaves the institution concentrating on its
core
business.
The bank was accused of quickening hyperinflation by
engaging in quasi-
fiscal activities.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011
19:53
By Dumisani Nkomo
A hero leaves a lasting legacy
which impacts posterity and shapes collective
destinies of generations to
come. One such hero is Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo
Nkomo. Sadly the contribution
of the late mercurial Father of Zimbabwean
nationalism and independence has
been blighted by propaganda, distortions
and outright omissions.
More
importantly, we have conveniently tried to forget that sad and tragic
chapter of his life between 1980 to 1986 when Father Zimbabwe was treated
like a refugee in the country which he fought for over 50
years.
Surely future generations will judge us for failing to
accurately tell the
history of this country without outlining the role of
Joshua Nkomo, PF Zapu
and its armed wing the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary
Army, which at its
peak was one of the best guerilla movements in
Africa.
If we are to commemorate and remember this great man with the dignity
and
respect befitting one of Africa’s finest statesman surely we have to
record
history as it is and not try to alter it to suit our political
whims.
With the impending decimation of the people of Matabeleland by
the Fifth
Brigade he was left with no choice but to save the people through
the
infamous Unity Accord.
Clearly, the accord, just like the
Global Political Agreement, was not ideal
but appeared to be the only
tenable solution to the problems in Matabeleland
and Zimbabwe at that time.
Joshua Nkomo was a nationalist at heart and in
practice. He truly believed
that Zimbabwe belonged to those who lived in it
whether Shona, Kalanga,
Venda, Suthu or Ndebele, black or white.
He was prepared to even
sacrifice his political career and ego in order to
maintain the unity of the
people of Zimbabwe. His sense of nationalism was a
leadership virtue which
glued various politicians of diverse backgrounds and
ethnic origins
together. Zapu was not a Ndebele party as has been popularly
postulated by
propagandists. It included the likes of Samuel Parirenyatwa,
Josiah
Chinamano, Joseph Msika, Amon Jirira and Willie Musarurwa.
Joshua Nkomo was
one of the greatest statesmen Africa has ever had, who also
contributed to
the independence of other African countries such as South
Africa — as Zipra
forces fought side by side with Umkhonto we Sizwe
guerillas of South Africa
in the late 60s in a demonstration of pan-African
solidarity.
He
exhibited his statesmanship when he refused to take to the bush after
losing the 1980 elections. In addition he had a clear understanding of
global politics because at that time Mugabe was the darling of the
international community and Zapu would have been isolated and the
possibility of support from its traditional partner Russia was not
guaranteed. The country would still be embroiled in civil war up to now. In
a rare show of magnanimity he refused to take up the post of titular
president and chose to be home affairs in a government headed by a man who
was a junior in the struggle.
This great man refused to revenge
and sought reconciliation at all times.
Even when he was in exile in London
in 1984, he spoke of his desire to come
back to rebuild Zimbabwe in spite of
the hate language and violence that his
opponents were spewing. Quite
correctly The Story of My Life that all too
often African leaders confused
their personal interests with those of the
nation “and subsequently believe
this”. In his book he also noted that he
believed that “Freedom Lies Ahead”
and today as Zimbabweans, we still yearn
for freedom as this is not the
Zimbabwe he fought for.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02
July 2011 19:52
Readers of this column are accustomed to reading the
informed opinion of The
Standard editor, Nevanji Madanhire, every
Sunday.
Since he took over as editor in March last year, Madanhire has
consistently
penned this column, offering commentary on a variety of matters
that affect
Zimbabweans in their various spheres of life.
However, today
this isn’t the case. As his deputy, I have stepped in to fill
the void after
his arrest and detention at Rhodesville police station last
week.
I will
start by explaining the sequence of events leading to this
unfortunate
occurrence which does not bode well for the entire journalism
fraternity.
As we sat in our Wednesday diary meeting planning news
stories for the week,
two men found their way into the Alpha Media Holdings
(AMH) reception
through deception.
One of them identified himself
as “Sekuru Makore”, a relative of The
Standard reporter, Patience
Nyangove.
Upon being told that Nyangove was in a meeting, Makore left
his mobile
number at the reception but remained within the vicinity of the
building
since he harboured sinister motives.
Shortly after the
meeting, Nyangove called the number and was delightfully
told by her
“relative” that he was not far off.
Soon the two men were back at the
front office where they told the reporter
that they were in no way related
to her, but were detectives keen to ask her
a few questions at the Harare
Central of the police station.
In less than 15 minutes, the
journalist was in an unmarked Mitsubishi
vehicle heading to the Law and
Order Section of Harare Central Police
Station.
In the past when
detectives arrested The Standard journalists, the process
normally took
longer but this was a swift operation that left us wondering
what on earth
was happening.
But we had however received warnings that something
unpleasant was about to
happen to the journalism fraternity.
Just
a few days ago a daily paper had suggested that the persecution of
scribes
was in the offing, championed by someone with what Shakespeare once
described as “vaulting ambition”.
Alarmed by the turn of events,
I made a quick call to Nyangove and was told
police were not happy with
reference she made to Chief Superintendent
Crispen Makedenge in connection
with the arrest of Jameson Timba, the
Minister of State in the Prime
Minister’s office.
I won’t get into the nuts and bolts of this since
the matter is before the
courts.
Before we could fully digest the
dramatic turn of events at our offices, the
detectives were back again. This
time they wanted the editor and also took
away the AMH human resources
manager, Loud Ramakgapola.
Judging from past experience we knew that
the three were in real trouble and
the rumoured persecution of journalists
had indeed begun. The editor, who,
ordinarily, should be concerned about
matters that are strategic to the
newspaper’s business, spent the day at
central police station before being
taken to Rhodesville where he endured a
nightmarish stay in a dark and dirty
cell.
With the winter at its
peak, you can imagine the hardship he went through,
which had a terrible
bearing on his health.
When we visited him on Thursday afternoon, it
dawned on me that somebody was
abusing his authority by shackling a man for
simply practising his
profession.
If there were genuine
complaints about a story, surely the complainant could
have pursued other
means besides incarcerating his victim.
These days we have a
well-functioning Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe
and the Zimbabwe Media
Commission, through which a complaint could have been
lodged. Unhappy with
these bodies, the complainant could have chosen to sue
the
paper.
By locking up journalists it was clear the dark days when
former information
minister Jonathan Moyo was frothing at the mouth
attacking journalists were
back.
Flashback to the period between
2000 and 2008. Here journalists were
regularly beaten up, harassed, arrested
and newspapers closed down.
Many journalists lost their livelihoods when this
happened.
Others were forced into exile where they took up menial
jobs as cleaners or
taxi drivers in a bid to raise incomes for their
families. These jobs were
not in their mind when they enrolled for a
journalism studies at Harare
Polytechnic, where Tafataona Mahoso was the
head of department.
Then Mahoso had not yet joined the notorious
Media and Information
Commission where he became an active player in the
banning of newspapers.
The Daily News, which recently returned to the
streets, was the major
casualty in the crackdown on the free press taken by
Mugabe’s government. It
had its printing press bombed before being forced to
shut down. There were
other newspapers, The Tribune and The Weekly Times in
Bulawayo which met the
same fate.
The closure of newspapers and
banning of a private radio station VOP
resulted in Zimbabwe being deemed the
worst place for one to be a
journalist.
But the consummation of the
Global Political Agreement brought a new lease
of life for the media as
several newspapers were licensed. The Standard’s
sister paper, NewsDay was
the first to hit the streets and has been a
roaring success.
The
establishment of the papers is an obvious bonanza to journalists who
were
unemployed.
It is at this time when journalists were beginning to
think that Zimbabwe
was on a path to correct the mistakes of the past regime
that The Standard
journalists were picked up by police on
Wednesday.
Madanhire, Nyangove and Ramakgapola are now out on bail
and the way the
matter unfolds will be closely watched by journalists, human
rights
activists and political parties who are alarmed by the way Zimbabwe
seems to
be sliding back to the era where one would never know whether it
was safe to
venture out.
All these signs point to one thing — the
proposed election which could
determine the fate of Mugabe and his protégés
who have ruled and abused this
country with impunity since
Independence.
But Mugabe and his stooges should be warned: harassing
journalists at a time
when Sadc has taken an uncompromising stance on Zanu
PF’s failure to abide
by provisions of the GPA amounts to committing
political harakiri.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 19:51
Outbursts by
Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba in which he proclaimed
the endless
rule of Zanu PF and for Robert Mugabe to rule until his death
has prompted
me to write this article. The article seeks to explain the
psychology behind
such reasoning and attitude and long term ramifications to
our
society.
This perception needs to be confronted and dealt with to avoid a
decayed,
directionless, and pariah society. It is a small fire which, if not
managed
and curtailed in time could lead to massive
deaths.
Apparently this attitude is not peculiar to Nyikayaramba
only, but many
individuals within the Zanu power structures. They are
convinced that they
should rule “until the donkeys grow horns” irrespective
of their continued
abuse of power and inability to deliver. It is inherent
in their psyche that
because they fought and liberated the Zimbabwean people
it is their
God-given right to rule and amass the wealth of Zimbabwe to
themselves
Looking at Nyikayaramba’s utterances, you get a sense of
arrogance, denial
and insecurity on his part.
To him Zanu PF
election loss is the end of the world. Note that this was the
same attitude
of the Rhodesians. Some ended up committing suicide and
drinking poison on
their farms when Robert Mugabe came to power. Rhodesia
was theirs and was
never to be given to the black man, especially a Marxist
Robert Mugabe. So
it is today, Zimbabwe is “theirs” and never to be given to
those who never
went to the battlefield.
The Rhodesians fought and oppressed the
people under the pretext of
protecting the nation from communism. Today the
same is happening; they
claim to be fighting imperialism when in fact they
are killing their own
people?
From Nyikayaramba’s utterances it
is my opinion that he needs to seek
medical advice and psychological
evaluation. There are certain ailments in
the developing world which we tend
to overlook, especially those related to
psychological problems like
depression, stresses, anxiety, panic disorders,
obsessive disorders and life
traumas. His utterances are typical of all
despondent authoritarian rulers
in the face of reality and are in denial of
the developing events around
them.
They become irrational in their assessment of things and
develop planning
paralysis and conclude that it can never happen as they
lock themselves in a
cul-de-sac waiting to pounce at any perceived enemy.
The enemy or witch
becomes anything from the very children whom you
“liberated” to your own
wife who nurses you. The witch is the West, the
opposition, “Murambatsvina
squatters,” and now Sadc.
We should
also not underestimate the traumas and abuses people experienced
in the
armed struggle. Post-War Traumatic Stress disorder is a reality and
has
proved to exist in military personnel from post wars of Sierra Leone and
Vietnam, years after the events.
It is unfortunate that at
independence “our liberators” were quickly
assimilated into the society and
promoted to influential positions without
undergoing some medical assessment
for any disorders as a result of the war.
It is sad that some who exhibit
such symptoms are now judges, counsellors,
ministers, parastal CEOs, public
prosecutors, senior police officers and
occupy various positions of
authority in our society, hence some of the
decay we now see in our society.
Zimbabwe, for all its great economic
potential, is in a mess, a reflection
of those who lead us, not sanctions.
It is important to attempt to
examine a person’s unconscious mind to
discover the hidden causes of their
mental problems and develop the
reasoning behind certain behavioral
tendencies.
It is hard to fathom or understand the psyche of someone
who burns another
human being, cuts someone’s buttocks, pushes wooden sticks
in a women’s
private parts and many other horrendous acts all in the name of
defending
his sovereignty.
The present day Zanu’s political
behaviour, including that of its
leadership, is a product of their past
traumatic experiences under the Smith
regime with the resultant opposition
namely the MDC exhibiting and
developing similar tendencies. We reap what we
sow and violence begets
violence.
Let’s nip the penchant of
bloodshed from our society before it’s too late.
The Rwanda story did not
start like a big fire, it started small, with the
state media stroking the
fires and utterances similar to that of our dear
comrade Nyikayaramba.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 02 July 2011 19:50
THE
decision by the government to award civil servants a salary increment
effective this month must be commended even though everyone is agreed that
it falls far short of expectations.
At their current salary
levels civil servants can hardly survive and have to
live from hand to
mouth. Their concerns are genuine and need to be looked
into with the
seriousness they deserve.
The lowest paid civil servant will
now get a basic salary of US$159, up from
US$128 a month.
Housing
and transport allowances have been pegged at US$50 and US44
respectively.
At face value these figures may appear measly but
it means more headaches
for Finance minister Tendai Biti who has maintained
that the government’s
purse is empty.
He has also complained that
the money generated from diamond sales is not
coming into the national
coffers.
Despite spirited attacks from Zanu PF leaders including
President Robert
Mugabe, Biti has remained steadfast that a hefty salary
increment for civil
servants was not possible without risking the reversal
of the economic gains
made by the inclusive government so
far.
The announcement by the government of an increment, though
largely
unsatisfactory to the unions, should be welcomed.
What
needs to be explained is where the money is coming from and whether
something can be done, further than this, to improve the plight of civil
servants.
One way of ensuring that the civil servants get a
better deal is to weed out
the thousands of ghost workers who are milking
the fiscus.
Most of these ghost workers are graduates of the Border
Gezi training camps
who were employed by the Ministry of Youth and Gender
Development to ensure
that they remain loyal to Zanu PF.
Without
these on the salaries bill, Biti may find it easier to please the
civil
servants.