Mugabe promises cash, cars for Zanu PF

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

 

 

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

 

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday promised to secure funding and cars for Zanu PF candidates, a few hours after senior politburo members were locked in a vicious clash over fundraising for the cash-strapped party.

Brian Chitemba

Mugabe told a central committee meeting that money and vehicles would soon be distributed in provinces to accelerate the party’s campaigns, although he did not say where the resources would come from since Zanu PF is broke and has been surviving on bank overdrafts.

Listen to President Mugabe’s speech below:

However, senior Zanu PF officials told Zimbabwe Independent yesterday the money, expected in the country today, was sourced from “well-wishers” in China and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mugabe stressed the resources would not be adequate to cater for everyone but should be shared equally without favouritism.

Zanu PF has been receiving donations from the Chinese who recently delivered graders and excavators, while Equatorial Guinea strongman Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo reportedly gave Mugabe about US$20 million for the presidential agricultural input scheme last year.

President Robert Mugabe jokes with Zanu PF Secretary for Adminstration Didymus Mutasa as they enter the party’s Conference Centre.

This comes as Finance minister Tendai Biti insisted yesterday there is still no money to fund general elections.

Meikles boss John Moxon donated 550 cars to Zanu PF worth about US$14 million. Meikles seems to have been given mineral concessions in return.

Sources said Zanu PF’s precarious financial position sparked a fierce bust-up between Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Mines minister Obert Mpofu during a politburo meeting on Wednesday after the latter accused the former of trying to scuttle their efforts by masterminding a plot to arrest him and two other ministers in the fund-raising committee using the Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc).

President Mugabe addressing delegates

Mpofu, Transport minister Nicholas Goche and Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere, who are part of the fund-raising team, recently survived raids and arrest by Zaac whose officials suffered a severe political backlash.

The fundraising committee is led by Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Part of the delegates in attendance

Sources said Mujuru effectively accused Mpofu of “being a thief” as she furiously defended herself in front of Mugabe who remained quiet during the vicious spat.

From left, Politburo members Francis Nhema (partly obscured), Emmerson Mnangagwa, Sydney Sekeramayi and Nicholas Goche

 

 

 

 

Mugabe hypocrisy exposed

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

HARDLY three weeks after President Robert Mugabe invoked the Presidential
Powers (Temporary Measures) Act to amend the Electoral Act and give effect
to his proclamation of the July 31 election date, he exposed his open
hypocrisy by claiming he strongly dislikes ruling by decree.

Staff Writer

Addressing the Zanu PF central committee meeting in Harare yesterday, Mugabe
said he wanted elections by the end of this month to elect a new parliament
because he did not like ruling by decree.

“We need a parliament which makes laws because at the moment it’s the
president who makes decrees,” said Mugabe. “I don’t want that, it’s not a
nice way of making laws. The harmonised elections will be held on July 31
but the opposition (MDC formations) argues the date in court because they
say it’s too soon. They want more time for what? We don’t see any basis for
postponing elections; we can’t postpone elections for selfish reasons.”

Mugabe’s claims stink of hypocrisy considering that he used a presidential
decree on June 13 to make changes to the Electoral Act while parliament was
still sitting.

Mugabe was criticised for using a presidential decree to amend electoral
laws in violation of Section 157(1), which states that only an Act of
Parliament can be used to make amendments.

His unprocedural proclamation and unilateral amendments of the law were
described as unconstitutional and illegal, although the Constitutional Court
endorsed his moves in its ruling on the election date appeal yesterday.

Zanu PF rigging machinery in overdrive

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

THE high turnout in recent Zanu PF primary elections has raised suspicion
that President Robert Mugabe and his election fixers are planning to use the
figures as evidence of purported overwhelming support for the party to
justify their grand plot to rig the upcoming general polls.

Brian Chitemba

Zanu PF has repeatedly claimed that it would win the elections after the
March 16 referendum citing a record turnout in its strongholds despite its
failures.

Even if it is pretending that all is well in its camp, accusations of
rigging and irregularities in Zanu PF primaries are rife with over 100
candidates contesting the internal polls.

This also comes as Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said his office had
unearthed a rigging plan by Zanu PF where the party wants to register over
50 000 police officers, although the country has about 38 000 police
officers.

Fears that Zanu PF is using the claimed high voter turnout in primary
elections as a precursor to stealing general elections stemmed from
constituencies such as the Mberengwa senatorial seat where July Moyo got
over 19 000 votes against Rugare Gumbo’s 14 000.

Questions have also been asked about Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa’s
wife, Auxillia, who unbelievably garnered over 17 000 votes in the
Kwekwe-Chirumanzi senatorial constituency.

The 2008 elections voting pattern shows that regardless of the high number
of registered voters, only 35% of eligible voters on average cast the ballot
in Mberengwa, proving the majority of the electorate was not participating
in polls.

But in the primaries, Moyo and Gumbo’s numbers totalled over 33 000, meaning
more people voted in primaries than those who voted in the March 2008
elections.

But questions have arisen over the sudden jump in numbers of purported Zanu
PF supporters in Mberengwa where demographic features show that the area is
sparsely populated.

The turnout in Mberengwa is also questionable as the primaries were held on
a Tuesday when most people were busy at work compared to the 2008 general
elections which were held on a public holiday.

Zanu PF insiders say even Gumbo believed the figures were doctored in favour
of Moyo, as preliminary results had shown that the latter had lost. Gumbo
has lodged a complaint.

Zimbabwe Democracy Institute director Pedzisai Ruhanya said there was so
much chaos in the Zanu PF primaries.

“After the Zanu PF primaries, I went out for some field research in Masvingo
and Midlands provinces to interrogate the voting trends and methods used in
order to extract information and get explanations on the purported huge
turn-out. This is what I got: Zanu PF provided four pieces of bond paper to
each voter to write the name of the preferred candidate for MP, councillor,
senator and provincial council representative,” he said.

“There was a single ballot box for these four votes. Instead of writing the
four names on each paper for the respective candidates, the majority of
voters wrote just the name of the MP four times, meaning that there was one
person four votes, hence the inflated figures for MPs.

“In Mberengwa East, for instance, Zanu PF forced people to participate in
the election. During counting of votes, 700 papers were written Cumming
Hove, the MDC-T candidate in that constituency.

This is how shambolic the process was. The outcomes are so distorted for
analytical purpose. However, one could simply divide the total number of
voters by four to get some indication of the people who voted in a
particular constituency.”

Ruhanya added: “Zanu PF disqualified the winning candidate in Zvishavane and
imposed a coloured candidate arguing that MDC-T has fielded a white
candidate so it was better for them to have a coloured. This led to massive
defections in that area.”

Political commentator Godwin Phiri believes the figures were meant to
predetermine the outcome of the make-or-break polls set for July 31.

“Zanu PF is creating fictitious figures to prepare the nation for ghost
voters who will be used to steal the elections,” he said.
The voting figures fiasco was also evident in the March referendum where a
record 3 259 454 voted, shattering the previous record of 3 046  891 set in
the 2002 presidential election.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) initially projected a voter turnout
of close to two million before the figures astronomically increased to over
three million, making the referendum voting the highest turnout in any poll
since Independence.

Pertinent questions were raised after an analysis of figures released by
Zec, which indicated that although Harare recorded the highest votes with
515 000, Manicaland recorded 418 000; Zanu PF strongholds namely Mashonaland
Central recorded 342 000; Mashonaland East 397 000; Mashonaland West 342
000; Masvingo 304 000; Midlands 394 000, with Bulawayo and the Matabeleland
provinces recording a low voter turnout.

Another analyst, Chamu Mutasa, said: “I have serious questions with such a
turnout for primaries and the referendum. It’s worrying why Midlands
recorded a high turnout while in other constituencies the turn out did not
exceed a couple of thousands. It just goes to show that there is a glimpse
of what these guys (Zanu PF) are planning to do. Their rigging machinery is
already in place.”

Phiri agreed saying there is a need for vigilance to ensure that the people’s
vote is not “stolen by the calculator”.

Bulawayo-based political observer Melusi Nyathi noted that the mayhem at
Zanu PF headquarters as candidates appealed and demonstrated against the
primaries results while others filed papers to stand as independents was
proof the party was in turmoil and will do anything to hold on to power.

Grand coalition talks on

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

THE two MDC formations were in the past 48 hours reportedly trying to step
up negotiations for a grand coalition as they battle to keep alive talks
ahead of elections to be held on July 31.

Staff Writer

Whilst there have been conflicting statements from the two parties led by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Professor Welshman Ncube, it is
understood that MDC-T could have tabled an offer to the MDC for
consideration on Wednesday.

MDC-T sources said the two MDCs were trying to put fillers towards each
other with a view to quickly cobble up a coalition.

Meanwhile, President Robert Mugabe yesterday challenged party members to
think outside the box and come up with innovative ways of campaigning while
desisting from hate speech.

Addressing the Zanu PF central committee yesterday, Mugabe urged party
candidates to dwell on issues of substance rather than just sloganeering.

“We must go down to the people. Rallies, yes, but let us learn the most
effective way of campaigning. It is talking to the people. We should not
just shout pasi (down) with MDC but we must narrate why Zanu PF is a better
party; the achievements of the party. We must be methodical in our strategy,
we must explain how we will correct things as a party, instead of just
shouting, pamberi ne (forward with) Zanu PF, pasi ne (down with) MDC,”
Mugabe said.

Mugabe to launch campaign today

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will today launch the Zanu PF manifesto at Zimbabwe
Grounds in Highfield, effectively signalling the official start of campaigns
ahead of general elections slated for July 31 after the Constitutional Court
ruling on appeal yesterday.

Report by Owen Gagare

The three main political parties, Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC, will slug it out
in the short campaign period – which appears tailor-made for President
Robert Mugabe who is battling with old age and ill-health — on the current
political and socio-economic issues but with different choice of subjects
and thrusts.

The Zanu PF election manifesto and campaign is based on the theme
Indigenise, Empower, Develop and Create Employment, while MDC-T will
campaign mainly on the platform of job creation and MDC on devolution of
power.

Zanu PF has been pushing for well-connected locals to seize control of
foreign-owned companies under its controversial 51%-49% ownership threshold
which has left the party divided due to differences over interpretation and
approach of the policy.

So far 59 community share ownership schemes and several employee share
trusts have been launched countrywide under the controversial programme,
which the party claims will empower previously marginalised communities
despite rumblings of discontent over the process.

Zanu PF pushed through the enactment of the Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Act in 2007 and started implementing it in 2010 despite
resistance from the MDC formations which said the process was ill-advised
and elitist.

The programme has however run into serious problems and has widened cracks
within Zanu PF as one faction is demanding implementation of an equity
model, while the other wants a sectoral and mixed approach, which includes
supply side arrangements.

The programme has been tainted by allegations of corruption, patronage and
bribery after a controversial deal worth US$1,7 billion, involving Zimplats
(US$971 million), Mimosa (US$550m), Anglo-American (US$142m), Pretoria
Portland Cement (US$27,8m) and Caledonia (US$30m).

Zanu PF leaders believe, indigenisation, combined with the land reform
programme it embarked on from 2000, will deliver the victory it desperately
needs for survival.

Recent opinion polls say Zanu PF has recovered since 2009 and might scrape
through to victory even though it looks neck-and-neck with the MDC-T. The
MDC and other smaller parties hold the balance.

The MDC-T campaign is built around its economic blue print Jobs Upliftment
Investment Capital and the Environment (Juice) which has been modified into
Agenda for Real Transformation (Art). The party is expected to launch its
manifesto in Marondera on Sunday.

MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai believes the policy will create a million
jobs by 2018 and says he is confident of victory as it battles to keep grand
coalition talks alive.

Juice is driven by a number of policies, among them, creating sustainable
jobs and small to medium enterprise (SME) development, entrepreneurship,
formalising the informal sector, enhancing skills development, sector
specific job creation potential, creating an enabling environment for
inclusive economic participation and respect for property rights and the
rule of law.

Upliftment and poverty reduction as well as the creation of a safer and more
stable macroeconomic and financial system are part of the policies.

Zanu PF has scoffed at Juice, saying indigenisation and economic empowerment
are more important than job creation.

However, MDC-T believes that as a direct result of Juice, it will create a
million new jobs in the first five years of its rule, while the economy will
grow at average rate of 8% per annum between 2013 and 2018.

The party says Juice will also result in macro-economic stability anchored
by single digit inflation, deepening and strengthening the role of SMEs,
domestic savings mobilisation, normalisation of Zimbabwe’s international
relations, infrastructural development and a US$100 billion economy by 2040.

The MDC led by Welshman Ncube, which has launched its economic policy
Access, Control, Transformation, Initiative, Organisation, New Technologies,
Sustainability (Actions), focusing on harnessing the country’s vast natural
and human resources for reconstruction, is basing its campaign on devolution
of power.

The party believes access to resources, power and justice; control of
destiny and welfare; transformation of communities and strengthening
livelihoods of Zimbabweans; initiative for wealth, job creation and
organisation of all public institutions to effectively deliver services,
among other things, are the answer to the country’s economic problems.

Its policy framework proposes the reconstruction of the country into a
developmental state, utilising the vibrant human capital and natural
resource base.

After relatively succeeding in campaigning for devolution in the new
constitution, the MDC has decided to push its campaign on that issue now
resonating in other provinces, mainly Manicaland, besides Matabeleland and
Midlands. The MDC will launch its manifesto on July 21 in Binga.

Zanu PF militarises its structures

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

THE just-ended Zanu PF primary elections have seen more than a dozen
candidates with military backgrounds winning the right to represent the
party in general elections in which President Robert Mugabe is seeking an
outright victory as part of his political survival strategy.

Elias Mambo

Zanu PF has been militarising its structures since the party lost the 2008
elections and some reports say it has replaced its defunct district
coordinating committees with the military, which is co-ordinating the
grassroots structures.

Serving and retired military personnel, police and members of the Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) threw their hats into the ring and won in
the chaotic primary elections last week.

Former Zanu PF Masvingo provincial chairman Retired Colonel Daniel Shumba
will represent the party in Masvingo Central, Retired Major-General Mathias
Tongofa (Chivi North), Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube (Makokoba), Retired
Major Lungisani Nleya (Bulilima West) while senior police officer Ronald
Muderedza will contest in Buhera Central.

Retired Colonel Hubert Nyanhongo is vying for Nyanga North, Assistant
Commissioner Oliver Mandipaka, who is still serving, will represent Zanu PF
in Buhera West, Retired Colonel Claudius Makova (Bikita West), war veteran
Joseph Chinotimba (Buhera South) and former Security attaché at the Zimbabwe
Embassy in London Winnie Mlambo is seeking to represent the party in
Chipinge East.

Since Independence in 1980, the security sector, particularly the military,
has played a significant role in the political and electoral affairs of the
country.

Key positions in Zanu PF’s commissariat department are already occupied by
security personnel. In 2010, Air Vice-Marshal Henry Muchena retired from the
Air Force of Zimbabwe and joined the party where he is working with former
CIO director-internal Sydney Nyanhongo.

The militarisation of Zanu PF, bringing it more under the control and
direction of security actors, has shaken senior leaders who believe the
increasing number of people with security backgrounds occupying high
positions could destabilise the party and alienate it from voters.

Intelligence and Zanu PF insiders say the movement of security personnel
into the party is a well-calculated plan to militarise Zanu PF structures
and prepare for the takeover of the party by a Joint Operations Command
cabal plotting to succeed Mugabe.

Concourt upholds elections date

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

THE Constitutional Court (ConCourt) ruling yesterday upholding the July 31
election date was met with jubilation by the Zanu PF’s highest
decision-making body outside an elective congress, the central committee
whose members ululated and sang a revolutionary song doing the famous zora
butter dance.

Paidamoyo Muzulu

Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa made the announcement at the Central
Committee meeting last night. Closing the meeting, President Robert Mugabe
said the judgement “should give us a real impetus, a real push because
elsewhere, there is dismay, down heartedness and disappointment” over the
ruling.

Mugabe said the party should take advantage of the “sorrow” and
“disappointment” to consolidate its support base to win the make-or-break
elections.

The Constitutional Court (Concourt) yesterday unanimously dismissed the
consolidated application by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Industry
and Commerce minister Welshman Ncube to extend the poll date from July 31 to
either August 25 or August 12, 2013.

The MDC formations’ leaders filed the applications last month seeking an
extension of the poll date in line with the Maputo Sadc summit to get more
time for implementation of agreed outstanding reforms.

Delivering the Concourt’s ruling after a full day sitting, Chief Justice
Godfrey Chidyausiku said the general elections should proceed on July 31 as
proclaimed by President Robert Mugabe in a June 12 government gazette.

“The court unanimously concludes that the applications should and are hereby
dismissed with no order to costs. The elections should proceed on July 31 in
terms of the proclamation by the president of Zimbabwe in compliance with
the Concourt order earlier issued,” Chidyausiku said.

This was reminiscent on the 2002 elections. A day before the 2002
presidential election, Chidyausiku dismissed Tsvangirai’s application
challenging unilateral amendments to the Electoral Act by Mugabe by decree.

Advocates Lewis Uriri and Thabani Mpofu, who represented Tsvangirai and
Ncube respectively yesterday, failed to convince the Concourt why their
clients had not approached the court with an application to change the poll
date soon after its May 29 ruling.

Deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba said: “It seems there was a deliberate
choice by the applicants on how they wanted to have the poll date changed by
delaying approaching the court after the judgement. Whether wrong or not why
did they not seek a variation of the date before the process of a
proclamation?”

Malaba said everyone should have known that if the president had to work
within the timeline of the judgment, proclamation was to be done before June
15.

Mugabe’s lawyer Terrence Hussein said the ruling was welcome, especially
considering that it was a unanimous. “We think the court came to a correct
decision and we can now move on as a country,” Hussein said.

However, the MDC-T dismissed the Concourt’s decision as pre-determined and
politically motivated.

MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said the court had not applied its mind to
critical issues such as the mandatory 30-day voter registration chaos,
skewed access to the media and security sector reforms.

“What the Concourt has done is to subordinate clear constitutional
provisions to a date decided by an individual (Mugabe). It’s a tragic
ruling,” said Mwonzora. MDC spokesperson Nhlanhla Dube said: “It was the
kind of judgment that Zanu PF would have wanted because it is the only party
which would want to hold elections in a chaotic environment.”

Both parties however said they would respect the court’s decision even if it
was bad and participate in the polls.

The Concourt’s decision brings to finality the poll date debate and signals
intensification of political party campaigns after the sitting of the
Nomination Court last week.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti insists there is still no money to fund
elections and he would meet principals next week to discuss funding issues.

Politburo tackles elections rigging

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

THERE were fireworks at a charged Zanu PF politburo meeting on Wednesday as
bigwigs debated internal poll rigging which rocked the party’s chaotic
primary elections last week amid revelations of ballot stuffing and
thievery, it has emerged.

Faith Zaba

In a forthright engagement, senior party officials expressed outrage in the
politburo over what they described as “massive rigging” and “blatant
corruption” the manner in which primaries for the National Assembly, senate
60 female slots to be filled in through proportional representation and
local government structures were conducted ahead of general elections on
July 31.

Apart from primaries and rigging, the politburo discussed funding issues,
amid clashes between Vice-President Joice Mujuru and Mines minister Obert
Mpofu.

Politburo officials said senior party leaders warned of a repeat of the 2008
bhora musango strategy (internal sabotage) –– which President Robert Mugabe
apparently fears so much –– by losers and disgruntled members if they do not
deal with the matter.

The politburo rigging debate spilled into the central committee meeting
yesterday as party chairman Simon Khaya Moyo, who also heads the Zanu PF
national election directorate, admitted the primaries were chaotic.

Sources, who attended the meeting at which candidates for the National
Assembly, senate and women slots were introduced to the central committee,
said Moyo apologised for irregularities during primaries.

“We made a mistake; next time we should hold these primaries a month in
advance,” Moyo told the central committee. “We only realised that there was
no money to fund the primaries, hence we had to ask the provinces to raise
resources.”

After Moyo’s presentation, Mujuru reportedly said: “You have it for
yourselves. The truth hurts.”

Sources said there was palpable in both the politburo on Wednesday and
central committee yesterday as Zanu PF officials digested the outcome of
chaotic polls.

Fearing a repeat of the bhora musango, which saw party supporters voting for
legislators and not him in the March 2008 elections, Mugabe told central
committee members to unite ahead of the watershed elections.

“The duty that we all have now is to ensure that those who opposed us (in
primaries) will support us,” said Mugabe, officially opening the central
committee meeting.

“You will have to sit with them individually and talk to them and work out a
common strategy so that there is no bhora musango. Let us win them over. We
must go into these elections united. Our organs must now assist the process
of uniting people by appealing to those that lost to become supporters of
those who won so that we all support the national struggle in unity with
everybody else. United we are stronger.”

Mugabe pleaded for unity amid signs of deepening divisions and infighting in
the aftermath of acrimonious primaries. Some of the problems that
characterised the primaries held last week on Tuesday and Wednesday included
controversial disqualifications, re-admissions through the backdoor,
imposition of candidates, poor logistics, shortage of ballot papers,
attempts to run-away with ballot boxes, delayed announcement of results and
allegations of rigging.

The primaries left a trail of divisions and bitterness, creating room for
internal sabotage which could wreck Mugabe and his party’s desperate
survival plans.

There are already initiatives to ensure disgruntled candidates who filed
nomination papers as independents withdraw from the race.

Eight out of the 12 losing candidates, who had filed to contest as
independents last Friday, have withdrawn. However, prominent lawyer Jonathan
Samkange (Mudzi South), Daniel Garwe (Murehwa North) and Marian Chombo
(Zvimba North) are among the independents five remaining independents.
Munyaradzi Kereke will run in Bikita West as a “parallel candidate” against
Elias Musakwa.

Politburo insiders said Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo, who has
petitioned the party leadership over what he described as “massive rigging”
in the Mberengwa senatorial seat primaries which he lost to July Moyo,
bitterly complained at the politburo and demanded thorough investigations
into the fiasco as failure to do so would destroy the party.

Moyo is a key strategist in Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa’s faction,
while Gumbo is major ally for Mujuru.

“One of the most vocal people was Gumbo who demanded the party must not
sweep under the carpet the irregularities and rigging uncovered during the
primary elections,” said an insider.

“He pointed out that inflated figures, which were seen in some
constituencies like in his case, could spell disaster for the party during
elections. Gumbo said if anything, the party should learn from this and
improve its approach to these issue in future elections. He said the party
must assess the situation carefully and deal with it squarely.”

In an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent yesterday, Gumbo, who had
initially wanted to call for a re-run in Mberengwa West, said he had decided
to allow the results to stand in the interest of the party’s survival.

“The tragedy of this sad incident is that it divides the party, the people
and impacts negatively on the forthcoming harmonised elections,” said Gumbo.

“We have agreed as a party though to say it’s now water under the bridge and
to look forward. We have said let us not fight because we have a common
enemy and a major election ahead of us. We will now be campaigning for the
MPs and provincial councils. I will have to go back to the people and
encourage them to look ahead and vote for Zanu PF.”

EU insists on free, credible elections

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

THE European Union says it will not back down on its demands for free and
credible elections to ensure a transition to democracy even if it means
member states lose business opportunities in post-election Zimbabwe.

Herbert Moyo

EU ambassador to Zimbabwe Aldo Dell’Ariccia told the Zimbabwe Independent
last Friday that the bloc is unfazed by reports that it has lost lucrative
business opportunities in Zimbabwe and other African countries due to its
rigid insistence on democratic values and respect for human rights.

Reports say China has profited immensely due to its hands-off approach to
political issues compared to the EU’s reluctance to do business with
countries not observing democratic norms.

“There are so many European investors who stand ready to do business with
Zimbabwe but at the moment the lack of transparency and commitment to
implementing measures that Zimbabweans themselves agreed to in
Sadc-facilitated agreements is the biggest deterrent,” said Dell’Ariccia.

“We do not negotiate our principles for the sake of business opportunities.”

Dell’Ariccia conceded that some progress had been made by the coalition
government by passing the new constitution but expressed the EU’s concern at
the failure to implement the entire elections roadmap as agreed.

“All the agreed reforms must be implemented so that there is a credible
election that reflects the will of the Zimbabwean people. When that happens,
we will lift all remaining targeted measures and work with whichever
government comes to power.”

Dell’Ariccia appeared to accept that the EU would not send election
observers and monitors saying “they will follow Sadc and the African Union
(AU)’s lead”.

“We stand ready to be guided by the AU and Sadc on the outcome of the
elections. Under normal circumstances, the EU sends a monitoring team at
least six months before elections. We would not accept an invitation to
monitor elections at short notice.”

Dell’Ariccia also dispelled recent state media reports suggesting the EU had
lost faith in the MDC-T and was preparing to work with Zanu PF following the
publication of a document titled Quick Policy Insight- Zimbabwe’s 2013
General Elections: A genuine wind of change authored by the EU’s Policy
Department.

“The paper in question is simply a collection of newspaper articles put
together for the attention of the EU parliament. It simply summarises what
newspapers have written and does not therefore reflect an official position
on any of the Zimbabwean parties,” Dell’Ariccia said. According to the
paper, “Zanu PF lacks democratic roots but the MDC has, for its part, done
little to prove its trustworthiness”.

The paper concludes that rather than asking who is in power, “international
analysts might want to put a stronger focus on how to actually improve
Zimbabwe’s political culture and institutions”.

Mugabe, perm secretaries in charge

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and permanent secretaries are now officially in
charge of government operations until the inauguration of a new
administration after the July 31 polls as it emerges that the outgoing
coalition government’s Tuesday cabinet meeting was the last scheduled
sitting before elections, government sources have said.

Paidamoyo Muzulu

Mugabe reportedly told his colleagues that the decision was meant to give
ministers time to campaign ahead of the polls.

However, Mugabe can always summon the cabinet on an ad hoc basis if “the
need arises,” the source said.

The development points to Mugabe’s insistence on holding elections without
reforms demanded by the MDC partners in the inclusive government and Sadc at
last month’s regional bloc summit in Maputo, Mozambique.

Mugabe used Tuesday’s cabinet meeting to bid farewell and wish good luck to
those contesting in the polls.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Finance minister Tendai Biti skipped
the meeting as the MDC-T intensified its electioneering in Matabeleland and
Masvingo provinces ahead of this weekend’s official launch of the party’s
manifesto.

A source said Chief Secretary to President and Cabinet Misheck Sibanda last
week informed permanent secretaries that cabinet had officially come to an
end.

Sibanda also told the permanent secretaries they need to develop the
national economic blue-print that will be debated by the next government.

“We were told that secretaries are now running the ministries and government
departments until a new government is elected,” said the source.

The ministers’ mandates were curtailed by the expiry of parliament’s term on
June 28 midnight and now simply play a ceremonial role.

Another source added: “Secretaries were clustered into groups to develop the
economic blue-print for the country which will be debated and adopted by the
incoming government after elections.”

The coalition partners seem resigned to the fact that general elections will
be held on July 31 as their members filed nomination papers at the
Nomination Court last Friday.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has been rolling out preparations for
elections despite a series of political and legal disputes which
characterise the electoral process.

Why grand coalition failed

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

THE mooted grand coalition to challenge President Robert Mugabe’s grip on
power suffered a stillbirth, mainly because of disagreements over allocation
of parliamentary seats, leadership structure and power sharing should it win
the polls.

Paidamoyo Muzulu

The coalition was being mooted by the MDC-T, MDC, Zanu Ndonga, Zapu and
Mavambo/ Kusile/ Dawn (MKD) following their collaboration in opposing Mugabe’s
unilateral proclamation of election dates without implementing outstanding
reforms.

MKD and Zanu Ndonga withdrew their presidential candidates as a sign of
their commitment to the mooted coalition and also in the hope of speeding up
the negotiation process.

However, the grand plan came to a crashing halt last Friday after the MDC
and Zapu leaders filed nomination papers to contest the presidential polls.

Sources said talks involving MDC-T secretary-general Tendai Biti and his
colleagues Jameson Timba and Elton Mangoma; the MDC pair of Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Paul Themba-Nyathi; MKD leader Simba Makoni, Zapu’s
Dumiso Dabengwa and Reketayi Semwayo of Zanu Ndonga collapsed over power
sharing as the MDC formations refused to compromise on their demands.

“The two MDC formations failed to agree on allocation of local authority
seats, National Assembly members and the drawing up of party lists for the
senate, women’s quota and the provincial councils,” said the source.

“The MDC demanded 30% of all contested seats under the coalition – a
condition which MDC-T strongly disagreed with saying it was only ready to
concede between 10% and 15% of all seats,” the source said.

Talks of a coalition started when the two parties were already at an
advanced stage of conducting party primaries, leaving them with a headache
on how to ask their candidates to withdraw in favour of the coalition’s
approved list.

They were further thrown into disarray when MDC-T deputy president Thokozani
Khupe said she was not ready to step aside for MDC leader Welshman Ncube
because she had been elected by congress, amid speculation he had been
offered the vice-presidency in the proposed grand coalition government.

MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said: “MDC-T welcomes any unity of purpose
and collaboration of all progressive forces to get rid of dictators and the
party is mindful that in the talks, equalising the unequal is a form of
gravy injustice.”

Ncube said Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had not invited him to form a
coalition although he has seen media stories on the issue.

Parties hit by funding problems

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

BARELY a month before elections, most political parties are struggling to
fund their campaigns resulting in some of them forcing candidates to source
own funding.

Staff Writer

It emerged that despite Zanu PF’s push for early elections, the former
liberation movement is in serious financial problems together with the
MDC-T, MDC and Zapu, among others.

With elections widely expected on July 31 as proclaimed by President Robert
Mugabe, Zanu PF is failing to pay its workers and postponed primary
elections as the party could not finance logistics for the internal polls.

Party insiders told the Zimbabwe Independent that the top military brass,
which ran the primaries, ordered participating candidates to mobilise
resources.

Aspiring National Assembly members, senators and provincial council members
were pushed by the military to contribute US$90 each while local authority
aspirants had to part with US$10 to pay for primary election voting
material.

“This is how bad the situation is because even though we have been told that
campaigns will be in full swing after the launch of the manifesto on Friday
(today), it will be difficult to roll out the programme for many aspiring
candidates due to lack of resources,” said a senior party official.

This comes as Manicaland provincial governor Christopher Mushohwe reportedly
sent a begging bowl to white commercial farmers who survived the chaotic
farm invasions.

Mushohwe held a meeting with the white farmers at the Golden Peacock Hotel
recently where he reportedly asked them to help fund Zanu PF’s election
campaign, failure of which would result in them losing their farms.

Other top Zanu PF officials are also busy arm-twisting businesspeople to
help finance the election campaign to ensure Mugabe remains in power,
sources say.

Since 2009, the party has been reportedly relying on an overdraft with a
local bank which amounted to US$5 million in February 2012.
The party is reportedly too broke to kick-start the election campaign,
although it received 550 vehicles from businessman John Moxon for its
election campaign.

Things are also not rosy for the MDC-T, which is failing to pay party
members’ promised allowances for their role in the primary elections.
Party officials said they were owed between US$200 and US$400, which should
have been paid by June 24, but no explanation has been given from deputy
treasurer Elton Mangoma.

Party members were each promised US$50 for accommodation, US$10 for food and
US$10 for airtime for the period they were engaged in the primaries.

“It shows that the party is broke,” said a source. “There is no money and I
am sure top officials are scrounging for cash to sponsor campaigns. Maybe
the situation will improve next week after the launch of the campaign
programme on Saturday (tomorrow) at Rudhaka Stadium in Marondera. Otherwise,
there will be a disaster if things don’t change,” said a source.

The MDC led by Industry and Commerce minister Welshman Ncube is also not in
a stable financial position with candidates having been instructed to
finance themselves.

The candidates had to source their own funding to print fliers and posters.

“We are preparing for elections, but there is no money. However, candidates
are trying by all means to mobilise funds because it’s now clear that
elections will go ahead on July 31,” said a top party official.

Zapu, which failed to settle a US$15 000 outstanding rental bill, is also
broke.

The Zimbabwe Development Party led by Kisinoti Mukwazhe last week went to
the Constitutional Court in a desperate move to try and compel government to
release US$1,5 million to fund its campaign. The application was dismissed.

Zanu PF and the MDC formations were allocated US$5 million in the 2013
national budget, which they shared proportionally according to the number of
legislators each party has in parliament.

The Political Parties Finance Act provides for funding of political parties
by the state provided the party meets the threshold of 5% of the vote.

Zanu PF, MDC-T fail democracy test

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

Zimbabwe’s two main parties that appear to be like oil and water, Zanu PF
and the MDC-T, recently conducted primary elections which seem to have been
scripted from the same manual.

Herbert Moyo

Once the dust had settled on the chaotic and often delayed primaries,
allegations of internal violence, vote rigging, intimidation and imposition
of candidates arose, with some losing candidates filing their papers at the
Nomination Court last Friday as independents or a party having two
candidates as was the case with Zanu PF in Bikita West and MDC-T in Mutare
Central.

While the developments would not have surprised observers who have regularly
followed electoral processes in Zanu PF, it is events in the MDC-T which
have become a talking point as the party has been campaigning for change and
a different political culture.

Last Saturday, MDC-T Manicaland provincial chairperson Julius Magarangoma
abandoned all protocol and took to social media to attack the “snakes, cups
and kitchens within the party who went out to openly rig elections and in
some cases even impose candidates in Buhera West and Chipinge Central”.

This was in reference to the “kitchen cabinet”, MDC-T leader Morgan
Tsvangirai’s inner circle comprising people often accused of making
unilateral decisions.

Magarangoma’s outburst was followed by a similar attack on the party by
other senior colleagues, including outgoing Magwegwe MP Felix Magalela
Sibanda and aspiring Makoni Central candidate Grace Kwinjeh.

“Saka hanzi Grace Kwinjeh ndiye adyiwa, hanzi hondo yedu yahwinhiwa, hoooo
tahwina. (So they say Grace Kwinjeh has lost and we have won the war — is
that so),” Kwinjeh, who actually suggested the name MDC in 1999, posted on
her Facebook wall.

“I went into politics at the tender age of 19. I have lived through seasons
and I sit back to watch this one with keen interest,” she said, adding that
she will resist all attempts to push her out of “the party I formed, neither
will I be provoked to leave the party that I love so much, have worked so
strenuously for”.

Such accusations coming from founding members and high-ranking officials
like Kwinjeh and Magarangoma have had analysts questioning whether there are
any real prospects for a democratic dispensation in Zimbabwe when the two
biggest parties cannot even manage peaceful and credible internal elections.

Analysts say if the main parties are not democratic internally and not
committed to democratic processes, the likelihood of democracy taking root
in national politics is slim.

They say it is also pertinent to ask if any of the parties would still have
the moral high ground to cry foul after the outcome of the polls given the
way they conducted their own primaries.

If anything, analysts say, the whole primaries charade has shown Zimbabwe is
yet to develop a democratic culture and even with the advent of the new
constitution the situation proves there is still a long way to go.

The major political parties must take the lead in embracing democratic
values to allow credible internal elections before they can do the same on
the national stage.

Zanu PF and the MDC-T have been found wanting as they were often quick to
protect high-ranking officials from democratic competition during the
primary elections.

MDC-T showed its undemocratic tendencies when it resolved that its 12
standing committee members would be unopposed, ensuring they circumvented
the democratic process.

As if that was not enough, the party brought in “rebels” from the Welshman
Ncube-led MDC like Nomalanga Khumalo, Abednico Bhebhe, Njabuliso Mguni and
Norman Mpofu who were all given free passage into the party primaries,
fuelling divisions within the party.

Analysts ask if members of the standing committee are indeed the backbone of
the party, why then should they be shielded from internal scrutiny,
competition and renewal? If anything, contesting elections is the best way
of proving that they are the trusted party leaders they claim to be, they
say.

Political commentator Blessing Vava said the controversy over the primary
elections in both parties have clearly demonstrated that “democracy is still
an alien idea in Zimbabwe’s political system”.

“Clearly, the will of the people is not the one that prevailed in most cases
in both parties as there were instances of imposition of candidates,
rigging, violence, vote buying and unfair disqualification of candidates who
posed a threat to those favoured by the parties’ hierarchy,” said Vava.

Vava said in the aftermath of disputed primaries bhora musango (internal
sabotage) could affect both parties given the number of disgruntled
aspirants who thronged the Nomination Court last Friday to file their papers
to contest as independents.

In Zanu PF the list of independent candidates includes suspended Manicaland
provincial deputy chairperson Dorothy Mabika (Chipinge Central), Marian
Chombo (Zvimba North), Daniel Garwe (Murehwa North), Richard Mavhunga
(Marondera Central), Rumbidzai Mujuru (Chikomba Central), Shylet Uyoyo
(Bikita South) and Jonathan Samkange (Mudzi South).

Sitting MDC-T MPs Samuel Sandla Khumalo and Sibanda are among those who
opted to stand as independents to contest the Pelandaba-Mpopoma and Magwegwe
constituencies respectively after losing in primaries they claim were
rigged.

Political analyst Godwin Phiri said the primary elections fiasco reflected a
crisis of leadership in both parties and blamed both Tsvangirai and
President Robert Mugabe for allowing a culture of rigging and manipulation
to take root in their parties.

“The problem lies squarely on the shoulders of the leadership of the parties
who should have done better in ensuring transparency in the electoral
processes. Otherwise the country will have a perpetual problem in addressing
issues of democracy if the major political parties are struggling to
demonstrate a commitment to these ideals within their own institutions,”
said Phiri.

Magarangoma scoffed at suggestions that the MDC-T problems can be resolved
through dialogue with the party leadership, saying he had “developed a
hoarse voice trying to speak about these issues through official channels”.

“I am a senior (MDC-T) member and I have spoken to everyone who matters and
no one listens because they are the very people who are guilty of corrupting
internal democratic processes,” said Magarangoma.

Given these shenanigans, analysts say it is difficult to imagine how
political parties, which have failed the internal test of democracy, can
move the country along the path to credible, free and fair national
elections which reflect the general will of Zimbabweans.

MDC-T national council to decide on Dangamvura-Chikanga candidate

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

THE MDC-T national council will this week decide who will represent the
party in the House of Assembly elections for the Dangamvura-Chikanga
constituency between Housing and Social Amenities minister Giles Mutsekwa
and human rights lawyer Arnold Tsunga after they both filed papers at the
Nomination Court in Mutare last Friday.

Clayton Masekesa

MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora told the Zimbabwe Independent both
aspiring candidates promised to withdraw from the race after a decision to
be made at the council meeting set for today.

Mutsekwa and Tsunga were supposed to square off in primary elections, but
they were postponed twice as the pair alleged intimidation and violence
against their supporters.

Both Mutsekwa and Tsunga have complained against the internal process of the
MDC-T’s electoral college.

“Yes, we have allowed them to file their nomination papers under one party
because the primary elections for the constituency were postponed twice,”
said Mwonzora.

“The MDC leadership will soon have a meeting and come up with a way forward.
The MDC-T president Morgan Tsvangirai will do a special selection of the
candidate to represent the constituency and we hope that we will come up
with the candidate before election time.”

Mwonzora said Mutsekwa and Tsunga had written sworn affidavits stating that
they would abide by the party’s decision.

“The party leadership will have a consensus and one of them will have to
step down. These people are important in the MDC-T and the one who would
have been told to step down will have a place in the future government,”
explained Mwonzora.

The handpicked candidate will clash with Zanu PF’s Mike Duru in general
elections slated for July 31.

Mudede deliberately disenfranchises voters

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

WITH the mandatory 30-day voter registration ending on Tuesday, thousands of
potential voters are still battling to acquire identity documents to enable
them to register, sparking fears that many will be disenfranchised through
the deliberate tactics by the Registrar General (RG)’s Office.

Hazel Ndebele/Carlos Vieira

Since the beginning of the week, the RG’s Office was a hub of chaotic scenes
as unregistered voters scrambled to get birth certificates and IDs after
they were turned away from voter registration centres in their respective
wards.

Thousands of aspiring voters besieged the RG’s Office as early as 4am but
many were left frustrated as only a maximum of 500 people were being served
per day. Others slept in queues to be among the 500 lucky ones.

“I am going to queue till tomorrow because I desperately need a birth
certificate so that I can get an ID and register to vote,” said Tendai
Shumba on Wednesday afternoon. “Luckily I stay in the Avenues so I will go
and have my supper and come back.”

Observers say the drama surrounding the chaotic registration exercise was a
deliberate ploy by Zanu PF appointees at the RG’s Office to frustrate the
urban electorate largely viewed as MDC-T supporters.

In sharp contrast to the voter registration in urban centres, the process
has been going on smoothly in Zanu PF’s rural strongholds.

Over 500 women organised by the Women’s Trust marched to the RG’s Office and
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission on Wednesday morning to hand in a petition
on behalf of women frustrated by the voter registration process.

The petition claimed that out of every 10 women, only six managed to
register as voters and demanded that there be separate queues for women to
register, with preference being given to pregnant women, breast feeding
mothers, the elderly and women with disabilities.

How Zanu PF keeps Harare South

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News, Politics

BY all accounts the heat scorching Harare was unusual for the morning on
June 15 in the middle of winter.

Herbert Moyo

But then again the media has been going on about global warming suggesting
climate change and in any case this is Zimbabwe where many things defy the
norm, especially in the political arena.

The sweltering heat is as strange as my early morning excursion to Amsterdam
Park – a place with an interesting name during these frenzied times of
liberation struggle discourse and reclaiming everything taken from “our
ancestors”.

Amsterdam Park (which has nothing to do with the Netherlands) is not the
kind of name you expect for a new suburb project by sons of the soil in our
dear land won after a bloody protracted war of liberation.

But such are the contradictions of post-colonial Zimbabwe.

The contradiction assumes a dramatic dimension when one considers that
Amsterdam is a name given by war veterans to one of their projects conceived
in the name of “empowerment and indigenisation of our resources”.

Despite the menacing contradictions, I brave the steaming heat and head for
Amsterdam on the outskirts of Harare along the Masvingo road. It is an
undercover trip aboard one of the commuter omnibuses hired from Harare’s
Copacabana taxi rank to ferry war veterans and their supporters to a
mushrooming settlement.

After a short trip, we get there and parked next to a huge pit almost a
kilometre long teeming with sand poachers. I count about five trucks almost
filled with sand which will be sold to various construction concerns.

A group of men sit on a rock right on the edge of the pit clad in colourful
Zanu PF regalia, including the increasingly visible tee-shirts with party
leader, President Robert Mugabe’s signature emblazoned across the chest and
back.

They briefly look up and conclude we are of no consequence before resuming
their game of draught along with the sharing of opaque beer popularly known
as “scud”.

At this point, we are joined by Andrew Ndlovu, an ex-Zipra fighter who
together with the notorious Chenjerai ‘Hitler’ Hunzvi and Anna Paradza (both
deceased) set up the Magamba eChimurenga Housing Trust in 1998 and acquired
this part of Amsterdam Park from a company called M.B Ziko to fulfil their
quest of developing low-cost housing scheme for their members.

I am standing close enough to Ndlovu to hear him whisper “this area is part
of the stands that should have been allocated to beneficiaries but it has
become a massive pit because of these misguided party functionaries”.

This is the closest I will ever get to hear Ndlovu criticising Zanu PF, a
party that has prided itself of its close ties with war veterans.

But even if Ndlovu will not speak out, some other people of less repute are
not so circumspect. I am quickly to learn that the settlement was developed
by people bussed in by Zanu PF in defiance of a High Court order which had
prevented Magamba eChimurenga from developing their stands from 1999 to
2009.

It is said that after the caveat was lifted in 2009, the war veterans tried
and failed to evict Zanu PF’s illegal settlers and eventually sought relief
granted at the end of last year.

But not even Zanu PF’s new found resolve after the controversial Jealously
Mawarire application to let the law take its course is enough to sway these
squatters.

After all, they say they boost the numbers in the party’s quest to retain
the Harare South parliamentary seat, one of the few urban constituencies it
has managed to win ever since the MDC first took the country by storm in the
2000 elections.

That is why Ndlovu and his team are here today – June 15 under the sizzling
heat.

After some dithering they persuaded the police to assist them explain to
these squatters that they must move. A 4X4 double cab vehicle drives up and
is followed shortly after by a truckload of riot police details.

At this point a small crowd of about a 100 people gathers at the edge of the
dump and one smartly dressed man makes the move to begin his address flanked
by Ndlovu.

He is a representative of M.B. Ziko, the company that sold this part of
Amsterdam Park to Magamba eChimurenga.

After 40-odd minutes before the gentleman hands over the floor to Ndlovu,
one thing emerges: the squatters must move with immediate effect.

But then again these are party people and they are key to Zanu PF victory in
the next elections. One burly man with Mugabe’s image punching the air with
his fist takes to the floor and tells the war veterans and M.B. Ziko only
Zanu PF can decide their fate.

“We are not going anywhere,” he shouts. “Zanu brought us here and they are
the ones who will tell us what to do.”

Ahead of the next general elections, it becomes clear their presence is part
of Zanu PF’s strategy to retain Harare South.

The applause from other squatters is cut short by a police officer who
emerges from behind Ndlovu to tell the rabble-rouser he must save his
comments because this is not a political rally.

Ominously chastised, the man and his fellow squatters fall silent and the
programme moves on to the last stage and this is where the war veterans move
into the settlement to officially allocate stands to the rightful
beneficiaries.

At this point the police depart.

The operation seems simple enough. Ndlovu’s trusted lieutenant Freddy
Mhlanga knocks at each door and tells the occupants, “we are here to inform
you that you are illegally occupying somebody else’s stand and you should
move. If you want one for yourself you should come to our offices to discuss
the matter”.

A woman clutches her child and ponders the next move. The aggressive burly
man and his colleagues watch us from their “offices” complete with Zanu PF
and national flags flapping in the wind.

They are not going to have any of this. They advance and the man grabs
Mhlanga by the collar. “Hu-war vet hwako hawushandi pano (being a war
veteran doesn’t work here),” he says.

“We will only be removed by Zanu PF.” All hell breaks loose as back-up
arrives in the form of two pick-up trucks with drunken party activists
chanting party slogans and our delegation comprising mostly women scatters.
Sensing danger and incapable of self-defence, I take to my heels and
disappear into thin air.

Hours later, Mhlanga tells me via a phone call that the police returned to
restore order at the site.It then dawns on me that the presence of
“squatters” in Harare South is part and parcel of Zanu PF’s election
strategey This might as well be the story of how the next elections would
nationally be decided – by fair means or foul.

Time running out for villagers facing eviction

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in News

TICK-TOCK goes the clock as villagers and small-scale gold miners in Manzou
area in Mazowe wait with bated breath for police to effect a June 15
deadline to evict them to pave way for the expansion of the First Family’s
business ventures.

Faith Zaba

The villagers are being evicted to allow for the expansion of Manzou Game
Reserve, situated close to the recently established Amai Mugabe Junior
School in Mashonaland Central, which also belongs to President Robert Mugabe’s
family.

However, Mashonaland Central governor, Advocate Martin Dinha has denied
claims the villagers are being relocated to expand the Mugabe family’s
business ventures but says the evictions are being done to allow for the
resuscitation of Manzou Game Reserve and the establishment of Nehanda
National Monument.

He says the Department of National Museums and Monuments declared it a
national heritage site in 2006.

But villagers and small-scale gold miners insist the looming eviction is
meant to accommodate the Mugabes’ projects and testify to the ceaseless
threats for them to vacate Mbuya Nehanda Farm, commonly referred to as
Nehanda Village, about 20 kilometres outside Harare.

About a month ago, the remaining 69 villagers and about 30 small-scale
miners were told to vacate the area by June 15.

The small-scale gold miners and villagers face a bleak future, as there is
simply nowhere else to go.

In February last year, heartrending scenes were witnessed when another group
of villagers was evicted from Mbuya Nehanda Farm, formerly Arnold Farm, in
Manzou by police armed with truncheons and accompanied by dogs from their
family plots, which they were allocated under the chaotic land reform
programme.

The families were dumped at Lazy Farm and Blagdon Farm in Concession. The
first wave of evictions was in 2009, when some of the families were ordered
to vacate the farms to make way for Grace Mugabe’s orphanage.

The remaining families and small-scale miners have been resisting the
evictions and some say they are not willing to relocate to Concession
because of the poor soils at the two farms they are being moved to.

What worries the residents is the area they are being relocated to has not
been serviced. It has no roads, no toilets or running water –– a recipe for
an outbreak of diseases during the rainy reason.

Enock Mandaza, whose family was among the 98 households forced to relocate
to Lazy Farm last year, bemoaned the appalling living conditions, which they
have had to endure during the past year. The Mandaza family was forced to
abandon its comfortable dwellings to live in shacks at Lazy Farm.

Mandaza said: “My family was forced to move last year in June to Lazy 7 farm
along the Concession Road between Ceasar Mine and Concession. We are a large
family of 17 kids; this includes my siblings and orphaned cousins.

“For two months between June and August we slept in the open. But now we
live in plastic shacks. Imagine how cold we were during this winter, which
saw temperatures dropping at night.”

Mandaza added: “We were not even compensated. We had built huts and
two-roomed homes. We lost all that. We lost our land and now we have to do
with 20/40 metres plots where we were moved to. What do you do on such a
small piece of land?”

Grace Mugabe had reportedly initially promised to compensate the villagers
but has since passed the responsibility to the Mazowe Rural Council, which
has no money and has pledged to pay the evictees through land.

Mandaza said it would be difficult for them to build new houses if they were
not compensated financially. Mandaza is among the 30 miners working for the
two small-scale mining companies in the area whose future looks bleak if
they are evicted from the area.

When Zimbabwe Independent visited one of the small-scale gold mines, for a
second the miners thought the news crew had come to evict them. While most
of them were in the underground shaft, a few could be seen pounding stones
and “rocking” to select the gold.

Pondai Murungweni said if the mines are closed, he would be forced to go
back to Domboshava where he worked as a gardener.

“This for me is now my source of living and I am able to feed my family from
the little that I get. But if they take this away, I will have no choice but
to go back to gardening,” he said.

On a good week, the miners earn about US$50 each and US$3 or nothing on a
bad one.

Twenty three-year old Norman Nyamvura said: “I have six brothers and
sisters, two of whom are going to primary school. I am the breadwinner in
the family. I feed the kids and my parents. I also pay their school fees. If
they move us from here, I don’t know what I am going to do. I can’t go back
to Mt Darwin and just sit at home while the family starves.”

Tawanda Munemo, who is married with two kids, said: “Besides my family I
also have to look after my mother. Even though it is tough living out here,
I at least make some money to feed my family and now they want to take it
all away.

“We are trying to earn an honest living mining gold legally, not going into
illegal gold panning. We do underground mining, as is recommended by EMA
(Environment Management Agency). Why can’t they just let us be? Do you think
we enjoy living like this? We are just trying to make a living for our
families.”

The Mugabe family has been linked to several farms in the country that were
grabbed from white commercial farmers during the chaotic land reform
programme.

In 2008, High Court Judge Justice Ben Hlatshwayo lost a farm to the Mugabes
before he was compensated with another one. Former Standard Chartered Bank
chief executive Washington Matsaira also lost his Nyabira farm to Grace
Mugabe.

The First Lady recently grabbed 1 500 hectares from Interfresh Holdings
which housed the Mazowe Citrus Estate to expand her orphanage and further
her development projects.

It has been widely reported that the Mugabe family and their relatives own
more than 10 farms, something which taints the land reform progamme executed
under the banner of decongesting rural areas and empowering the landless
majority.

Most of the good and well-equipped farms were grabbed and given to senior
Zanu PF leaders, including ministers, politburo and central committee
members, and top civil servants as well as party supporters.

Airzim fares raise viability questions

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in Business

ZIMBABWE’S national flag carrier Air Zimbabwe (AirZim) recently slashed
fares for its regional and domestic routes, raising questions about the
viability of the move at a time when the airline is struggling to avoid
collapse.

Hazel Ndebele

The current pricing promotion, which is running concurrently with an
extensive restructuring and transformation exercise, is widely seen as an
attempt to lure back customers who had conveniently switched to other
airlines.

A snap survey by businessdigest indicates people travelling to Bulawayo and
Victoria falls have in the recent past resorted to flying as it is much
cheaper and faster compared to driving long distances.

For instance, flying to Bulawayo from Harare is mere US$105 for a return
ticket compared to up to US$80 return ticket on a luxury coach.

Hospitality companies with operations in Bulawayo and Victoria Falls like
African Sun Ltd and Rainbow Tourism Group recently said AirZim’s presence in
the domestic market and the latest promotion has improved business for their
hotels.

While the traveling public is benefitting from the promotion, the question
remains whether or not AirZim will get anything out of the move in the long
term.

In an interview, AirZim spokesperson Shingai Taruvinga this week said the
company’s load factor had improved significantly following the fare
reduction.

“The promotion has so far been successful hence we have doubled our domestic
frequencies. We want the public to always consider flying as their best
means of transport,” said Taruvinga.

“Most importantly we want everyone to get used to flying and get to
experience the efficiency and reliability of the airline as we are leaving
on time for all our flights as compared to the past so that our customers do
not hesitate to travel with us.”

Analysts however say the reduction of fares will instead sink AirZim into
the financial doldrums further. AirZim has a strangling US$190 million debt.

Aviation sources who requested not to be named said the two airbuses which
the company leased are more than 20 years old and generally more expensive
to maintain.

The sources added fuel consumption was high in older planes, increasing
costs for an airline keen on clawing back market share.

A price penetration strategy, a source said, seems perfect on the surface
but internally the airline usually suffers the consequences in the form of
recurrent losses.

According to information gathered by businessdigest, of the two Airbus A320s
that have recently been added to AirZim’s fleet, only one has recently
undergone safety inspections and certified to operate on regional routes
such as Harare-Johannesburg.

Before the over 20 year old planes were acquired, AirZim acting chief
executive officer Innocent Mavhunga was quoted saying most of the airline’s
aircraft had recently been grounded over safety concerns with most of the
planes feared to be past their sell by date.

Mavhunga said it costs US$410 000 a month to lease the two planes. It is
understood that the national airline is leasing its Embraer jet with a South
African company and is paying US$258 000 per month at a minimum utilisation
of 120 hours per month.

Air Zimbabwe’s new board chairman Ozias Bvute said the nation should not
worry too much about the issue of debt.

“We would like the airline to do well and that is what we will look towards;
the debt becomes secondary,” he said.

“In terms of money we are technically bankrupt, but the commitment of our
major shareholder and technical skills are better than most other airlines
in Africa.”

Addressing journalists recently, Bvute said the airline, which recently
resumed its traditionally viable Harare-Bulawayo-Victoria Falls and
Harare-Johannesburg routes, had taken a position to send its workers on
forced leave until the company’s performance improves.

“We are not in a position to conduct retrenchment. We have put people on
temporary leave. We are currently traveling to South Africa and the domestic
routes so it would not make business sense to have a full staff complement
to service these few routes. We have asked our staff to go on leave,” he
said.

Bvute said the recent introduction of the two Airbuses had reduced
operational costs by 45% for the company.

Speaking of the readiness of the airline for the United Nations World
Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) which will be co-hosted by Zambia and Zimbabwe
from 24-29 August, Taruvinga said they have increased flexibility throughout
the region and beyond Africa.

“We are ready for UNWTO and we will very soon resume the
Johannesburg-Victoria Falls flight to cater for those who want to travel
from South Africa for the event,” she added. “For this event the airline
will be able to promote tourism and be a catalyst for economic growth, this
is a unique marketing opportunity for the country.”

Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) CEO Karikoga Kaseke said the slashing of
flight fares is a re-entry point for the airline. “When you want to re-enter
a market you cannot enter with high costs.

However, they must re-brand the airline, people might just go because they
are charging cheap prices and not because of the services therefore they
must re-assess and re-brand themselves,” he said.

“In the past Air Zimbabwe was winning prizes year in year out but this was
because they had stiff competition from other airlines as 38 airlines were
coming into the country in 1996,” he said
“The government is killing the airline by protecting it, this will only make
the airline relax instead of thinking of innovative ways to improve their
service and new ways of marketing their product.

Competition is good for any airline that is worth flying.”

According to Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA) report for the period ending
December 31, 2012, challenges at the national airline severely affected the
market share of the airline which dropped from 8,8% to just about 0.7% in
last year.

This resulted in other airlines taking advantage to increase their market
share.

Biti set to demonetise Zim dollar

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in Business

Finance minister Tendai Biti is on the verge of gazetting a statutory
instrument which will, among other things, seek to demonetise (to withdraw a
currency from further use) the Zimbabwe dollar, businessdigest has
established.

Chris Muronzi

Sources this week said Biti wanted to gazette the legal instrument and
demonetise the defunct local currency, which was abandoned in 2009 after
hyperinflation reduced the unit to a worthless piece of paper, forcing
government to allow the use of multi-currencies.

The sources said banks were, however, worried by Biti’s lack of consultation
on the long winding matter.

“Banks and the central bank itself were not consulted on the matter and
banks have basically resolved to let him do as he pleases,” a banking source
said.

Although this would put closure on the matter, outstanding issues of the
value of the Zimbabwean dollars stuck in banking systems remain a far cry.
The move by Biti also allays fears that the Zimbabwe dollar could make a
comeback after Zanu PF, at its congress last year, resolved to bring back
the local currency.

Sources said Biti’s move could also raise the spectre of insurance companies
liabilities and all other outstanding debts being brought up. It was,
however, not clear who was going to fund the demonitisation.

Attempts to reach Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono at the time
of going to print proved fruitless as he was said to be out of the country
since last Friday and only expected home end of next week.

Treasury last year was yet to determine the exchange rate to use in settling
payments of Zimbabwean dollar account holders.

A committee comprising officials from government and the Bankers’
Association of Zimbabwe was set up to work on the requisite details and
modalities to operationalise the process. Initial projections said funds for
the demonetisation programme were estimated at US$6 million.

When reached for comment this week, Biti said a formula to calculate
indebtedness was being worked on.

He said although the need to have an exchange rate formula had been
necessiated by a court ruling in labour disputes dating back to the Zimbabwe
dollar era, the same formula would also be applicable in all instances of
indebtedness.

“All indebtedness will be calculated on the basis of the same formula,” he
said. But Biti would not be drawn to say if he would gazette a statutory
instrument.

A source said banks had a series of meetings facilitated by Ministry of
Finance officials this week to thrash out the issue.

The demonetisation of the Zimbabwe dollar would effectively end its role as
a unit of account, medium of exchange and store of value and reduces the
country’s currency regime to a dual currency system anchored on the South
African rand and the United States dollar.

The new myth of a rising Africa

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in Opinion

AFRICA’S image and that of her people has often been the subject of heated
debate in media circles.

Opinion by William Muchayi

More often, the narrative that has shaped the image of this vast and
populous continent is by others for Africans.

For long, the continent has been viewed by foreigners as a photo-opportunity
to illustrate victimhood and desperation.

Images of emaciated children, with pot-bellies, fending off flies from their
faces and women with flat breasts due to hunger are all meant to depict the
degree of helplessness that characterises the lives of the people of this
continent.

The African continent in this old narrative is stark in a vicious cycle of
poverty and conflict with no end in sight.

This old narrative viewed as stereotyping Africans has of late come under
challenge from proponents of the new narrative who seek to give positive
trends and underlying successes by Africans.

Evangelists of the new narrative are usually Africans writing their own
discourse for their own people.

The new narrative aims to articulate the history, vision, philosophy and
aspirations of Africans, who for long, claims to have been inaccurately
portrayed in the media on the global stage.

By so doing, Africans define themselves as opposed to being defined by
others; they shape their story contrary to having it shaped by others; and
articulate their agenda to be heard on the international arena.

Proponents of the new narrative have been energised by the story of the
“rising” Africa backed by Western institutions like the International
Monetary Fund (IMF), which projects that growth south of the Sahara is
expected to surge to 6,1 % in 2014, well ahead of the global average of 4%.

As The Economist’s piece pointed out recently: “Over the past decade, six of
the 10 fastest growing countries were African.” The list of some of the
so-called fastest growing African economies is headed by Angola, Congo,
Ethiopia, Lesotho, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania.

How far have Africans been able to articulate their narrative and how loud
are their voices?

To what extent is the international audience prepared to listen to this new
narrative and has it changed Africa’s image? The new narrative can only hold
if Africans become self-sufficient and be able to sustain themselves without
depending on others for survival.

Africa’s dependence on foreign aid has not helped in her quest to articulate
this new narrative.

Over the past 60 years, Dambisa Moyo notes, Africa received at least US$1
trillion of development-related aid from developed countries.

This figure amounts to roughly US$50 billion of international assistance
being received by Africa each year. Ethiopia, which is heralded as one
“rising” African state, has more than 90% of her annual budget made up of
donor funding.

The same also applies to Malawi whose economy is unsustainable without
foreign aid yet the two countries are paraded in international media as
African success stories.

Most African leaders attend to international conferences not to contribute
to discussions carried out at such forums, but to beg for aid which rarely
reach its recipients.

Given this disturbing scenario, it therefore means the agenda pursued by
most African states is dictated by foreigners (donors) since he who pays the
piper calls the tune.

Africa’s voice can only be heard and listened to when she is able to stand
on her own without need for support from outsiders.

Since when have beggars been privileged to become choosers and to influence
policy on the international arena? Dependence on foreign aid chokes Africa’s
voice, thus robbing her of influence which makes her narrative weak.

The continent’s misery to an extent is self-inflicting although external
forces play a part in complicating the situation. Most African governments
are corrupt and the practice deprives the continent of the much-needed
revenue to uplift its people’s lives.

A study by the African Development Bank (AfBD) and the Global Financial
Integrity, reveals that from 1980-2009, Africa has lost US$1,2 trillion to
US$1,4 trillion in illicit financial outflows, or dirty money, like
corruption, tax evasion, bribes and other criminal challenges.

This figure, as Obadia Ndaba argues, is more than three times the total
amount of foreign aid received in the same period. It therefore implies that
Africa does not necessarily need foreign aid if she manages her resources
properly.

The same AfDB report says that South Africa, Africa’s largest economy, has
lost US$170 billion in net resources over a period of 30 years in illicit
outflows.

Nigeria, Africa’s second largest economy, is reported to have lost over
US$400 billion to oil corruption alone since independence in 1960 from
another report in 2012.

South Africa lost US$103 million in the fiscal year 2011-2012, up from
US$38,5 million in 2001-2010, according to The Real State of the Nation
report by the government.

Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy recently reported to
parliament recently that millions of dollars in royalties paid by diamond
firms in eastern Zimbabwe have disappeared.

One firm, Mbada Diamonds, which works with in partnership government, says
it has paid US$293 million in taxes over four years, but Treasury is
reported to have just received US$80 million in total during the 2011-2012
period, with the remainder unaccounted for.

The chairperson of the parliamentary committee, Edward Chindori-Chininga,
mysteriously died in a road accident less than a week after tabling the
findings of the committee in what many suspect to be elimination by those
involved in the murky world of diamond dealings.

The resource drain from Africa over the past 30 years, Professor Mthuli
Ncube, chief economist and vice-president of the AfDB argues, is almost
equivalent to Africa’s GDP and is holding back Africa’s lift-off.

This spiral web of corruption sucks the continent’s wealth, leaving her
unable to sustain the livelihood of her people, but reduces them to beggars.

Once they are reduced to paupers, they are robbed of a voice and influence
at home and on the international stage which in turn influences their
ability to articulate their issues.
The narrative of a rising Africa might suit a clique of the African elite
and Western chief executive officers, but it won’t do anything to improve
the lives of ordinary Africans.

The image of an African man with a mobile phone does not in any way reflect
a rising Africa at a time the continent grapples with rising unemployment,
deplorable living conditions, with the majority of the population living on
less than a dollar in a day.

It is a narrative peddled by the African elite and their foreign partners
who benefit from the discourse at the expense of ordinary Africans.

Poor governance compound Africa’s plethora of problems. In spite of the
continent’s vast economic wealth, the continent is still the poorest on the
planet.

The African Progress Panel, headed by former United Nations
secretary-general Kofi Annan, reveals that secret mining deals and financial
transfers, corruption and weak leadership, have immensely contributed to the
impoverishment of the continent. The report gave the example of the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is estimated to possess in excess
of US$24 trillion under its soil, but is reported to be the poorest country
in the world according to the UN Human Development Index.

According to the same report, the DRC lost US$1,4 billion in secret deals as
well as from five underpriced ventures involving top government officials in
partnership with foreigners.

The report noted that “the figure was equivalent to double DRC’s health and
education budgets combined”.

The African Progress Panel’s 2013 African Progress Report at the World
Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town recently concluded that Africa is
losing more through illicit financial outflows than it receives in aid and
foreign direct investment.

Foreigners collude with the African elite to drain the continent’s wealth
taking advantage of weak and corrupt regimes through trade mispricing,
misrepresentation of export and import values along other illicit outflows
costing the continent US$38,4 billion and US$25 billion respectively between
2008 and 2010.

Foreign companies operating in Africa are also involved in this plunder of
the continent’s resources. As noted by the report, “activities of these
companies are characterised by extensive use of offshore registered and low
tax jurisdictions”, and that “these arrangements come with weak public
disclosure and extensive opportunities for tax evasion”.

The myth of Africa’s rise, peddled by the African elite and their foreign
collaborators, comes from a straightforward interpretation of high growth
rates and increased foreign investments in parts of the continent, without
taking into consideration the continent’s dependence on the extractive
industry as opposed to manufacturing.

In The Myth of Africa’s Rise, Rick Rowden highlights how Africa’s rising
evangelists “don’t mention manufacturing, or its disturbing absence, in
Africa”.

A recent UN report shows that manufacturing has stagnated across most of
Africa and has even regressed in 23 African countries. As Patrick Smith,
editor of Africa Confidential argues, “there is a lack of value added on the
African side”.

Parselelo Kantai observes “what is happening on the continent is a new era
of massive extraction, catalysed mostly by Chinese domestic demands”.

The continuous looting of Africa’s wealth by outsiders in collaboration with
the African elite will continue for generations and as long as the trend is
not stopped, Africa will remain poor.

Muchayi is a political analyst who can be contacted on wmuchayi@gmail.com

Elections should retire Mugabe

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in Opinion

THE coming general elections are of great significance in that they could
decisively address a range of national questions, among them President
Robert Mugabe’s long overdue political retirement, a possible slide back to
authoritarian rule and the country’s economic and social issues.

Opinion by Pedzisayi Ruhanya

While the benefits of the inclusive government are contested, the apparent
economic and political stability brought by these parties working together
are too apparent to ignore.

The introduction of the multi-currency system in the economy and constant
calls for people to shun political violence and embrace peace by political
principals assisted to bring modest economic recovery and consequently the
availability of goods on the shelves and restoration of order in social
service delivery.

Ironically, it was Mugabe’s failed political and economic policies that had
reduced Zimbabweans to beggars.

The MDC parties’ involvement in a coalition government was therefore
undeniably critical in the stabilisation of the economy and state politics.

They were magnanimous to share state power with a leader of a political
party that was responsible for both the economic and political meltdown in
the country and the killing of their supporters.

Thus the choices in the next elections could be simple and clear for those
who want to wrest power and for the generality of Zimbabweans who were
reduced to penury — importing basic items like salt, sugar, bread and milk
from neighbouring countries such as South Africa and Botswana.

It is either people vote to move forward on the path of economic, social and
political stability or to slide back to authoritarian governance replete
with repression, poverty, food shortages and spiralling unemployment.

Things could become far worse if the talk of bringing back the defunct
Zimbabwe dollar materialises after the polls.

These are some of the hard issues Zimbabweans should ponder before they vote
albeit under intimidation, empty promises and tired slogans which have
proved vacuous for over a generation now.

There is also need for voters to critically examine all the dark historical
epochs that Zimbabwe experienced under the 33 years of Mugabe’s leadership
such as the Gukurahundi massacres, the 2000, 2002 and 2008 violent elections
and the horrendous Operation Murambatsvina in 2005 to see if such a regime
deserves to remain in charge of national affairs.

The recurrence of such gross human rights violations could be a cause for
citizens to make hard decisions as to whether the Zanu PF political cabal
deserves to remain in power given its atrocious record.

Across the world, regimes with such records have been voted out of power
overwhelmingly by citizens who wanted to move their nations forward. In
Zimbabwe, a white racist and oppressive regime was replaced by a black
government which has now, unfortunately, perfected the art of repression and
committed equally heinous crimes during its reign.

Mugabe’s frailty, as age catches up with him with months left before he
turns 90 and fears of ill-health, could also be the rationale for
Zimbabweans to peacefully retire him through the ballot in the forthcoming
polls.

Surely, why should Zimbabweans continue to trouble and burden such an old
man by demanding state responsibilities when it is clear he can no longer
cope with the hectic schedules and rigours of running a modern government?

To those who will vote for Mugabe, they should ask themselves what can he do
now which he failed to do in 33 years, especially when he is frequently
visiting the Far East on health grounds. Why should people continue to elect
a leader whose health situation is in doubt and who fuels the situation by
keeping it a secret?

What guarantee is there that Mugabe at 89, if re-elected into power, will
finish his constitutional term of five years at 94? Zanu PF leaders involved
in the constitution-making process put a section in the new constitution
which says if he is incapacitated, retires or dies, he will be replaced by
someone from his party — a departure from the previous provisions — clearly
anticipating that he might not even finish his term.

Those who will vote for Mugabe should seriously consider the fact that they
could be indirectly be voting for someone they are not sure would be able to
finish his term as feared by Zanu PF officials.

Given Mugabe’s old age and ill-health, it would be like Zimbabweans would be
asked by Zanu PF to vote indirectly for Vice-President Joice Mujuru or
Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa or whoever is likely to take over if
Mugabe does not finish his term for one reason or another.

Under such circumstances, citizens should exercise their right to vote in
this election wisely and the only reasonable thing to do is to retire the
president through the impending ballot in order to avoid unintended
consequences of electing indirectly people who have not submitted themselves
to the presidential election.

The political retirement via the electoral process could also be an
opportunity for Zimbabweans to assist Zanu PF to address its explosive and
uncertainty-ridden succession issue. The party has shown that it has no
succession plan to replace Mugabe, and this is dangerous for the future of
the country.

While it could be difficult to have a democratic breakthrough in an
electoral authoritarian regime such as Zimbabwe, it is possible that
credible, free and fair elections — in the unlikely event they would be
such — could provide opportunities to consolidate the gains of the past five
years in the area of economic affairs. A slide-back to the repression and
economic ruin could be disastrous.

The next elections offer Zimbabweans an opportunity to move the country
forward by consolidating the economic and political gains of the past five
years, built on the basis of whatever remains of the achievements of the
past.

The gains of the new constitution, no matter how flawed it is, in the areas
of civil, political and economic liberties as captured in Chapter 4 and
security reforms principles guaranteed in the supreme law in Section 208,
are critical advances that cannot simply be discarded by voting for those
wantonly violated them in the past.

However, those who are fighting for democratic change should be cautioned
that if elections remain a non-competitive sham and an occasion to smash
opponents of the incumbent and his party, they should be rejected as a
criterion for democracy.

However, if elections cause significant governance changes, they may be a
sign of the presence of some democratic practices in the polity.

This means that the on-going voter registration should be rigorously
monitored and the voters’ roll must be credible so that there is no
opportunity to rig the outcome.

It also means every citizen, especially the democratic contingent, should
sweat for the victory they want; they won’t be any freeloading.

We must remember a state is governed democratically if governmental office
is allocated on the basis of competitive, free and fair elections.

The idea of administering credible polls that offer citizens varied choices
in an environment where civil liberties are not violated are characteristics
that all democracies have in common and that non-democratic forms of
government lack.

This is the message the Zimbabwe Election Commission (Zec) and the
Registrar-General, the two institutions responsible for administering
elections, should get loud and clear.

The political shenanigans of the past polls, especially the sham 2008
election, administered by the majority of the secretariat in the current
Zec, would not be acceptable by anyone except those who benefit from such
electoral thievery and thus must be avoided. All eyes will be on Zec.

Despite stolen elections in the past, Zimbabweans have constantly chosen
peaceful elections to elect their leaders and determine their future. This
is because elections are a barometer for defining democracy, if not
manipulated.

So our next leaders must be chosen through fair and honest elections in
which candidates freely compete for votes in a process allowing for an
unrestricted exercise of universal suffrage.

For the sake of the country and future generations, and to salvage whatever
remains of his legacy, Zimbabweans must retire Mugabe in the next elections
and give him time to enjoy in retreat what remains of his otherwise long
life.

Ruhanya is director for Zimbabwe Democracy Institute.

Mzembi deserves some kudos for a change

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in Opinion

What can we say about Didymus Mutasa. He seems to have honed his faux pas
skills into an art.

By The MuckRaker

His latest pronouncement is that he doesn’t understand why the MDCs would
want media reform when they already own a batch of newspapers.

“There are a lot of newspapers that are anti-Zanu PF,” Mutasa blustered.
“That is where the MDC parties should demand reform of the media.”

That is not what the GNU had in mind in 2008 when the issue of media reform
was first raised. The private press is owned by its publishers and other
private-sector investors. It is therefore likely to reflect a range of
views.

The state media on the other hand which should reflect a diversity of views
doesn’t. Instead it reflects the views of the former ruling party which is
seeking to recover lost ground by abusing its grip on the public media.

In any country purporting to be a democracy the public sector is that sector
owned on behalf of the public so it can open up the media to a variety of
views and thereby enable voters to make an informed choice at the ballot
box. This is all set out in the Sadc Grand Baie principles and norms for
elections which ministers should be familiar with.

If Mutasa is having a problem grappling with this complex issue, he can
write to Muckraker seeking clarification. We will put him straight!

Safeguarding interests

Speaking of partisan media the Herald on Tuesday carried a large portrait of
Dr Paul Chimedza. The paper omitted to mention that Chimedza is chair of the
Zimpapers board of directors and Zanu PF candidate for Gutu South.

His picture appeared in the paper because the Zimpapers board had resolved
that all political advertising will only be published in its newspapers in
the last two weeks before polling day.

The board had taken the decision, we are told, to safeguard the company’s
business interests as political advertising tends to crowd-out all
commercial advertising during the election season.

So why doesn’t Zimpapers expand its content to meet the need? Or is this a
confession that many political advertisers (Zanu PF in particular) in the
Herald or Sunday Mail don’t pay!

Whatever the motive is, it smacks of a concerted attempt by Zimpapers to
shut out political adverts by parties opposed to Chimedza’s party.

Frills of fancy

There then followed a series of fanciful claims which the media community
know perfectly well are divorced from reality. The group will continue “to
report fairly on all political activities in the country and provide
balanced and well-sourced news articles on all political articles”.

This is of course exactly what civil society had been pressing the state
media to do since the inception of the GNU in 2008.

“The board reiterates its newspapers’ editorial independence,” the advert
said, “which is guided by integrity, fairness and balance in its coverage of
news as well as robust analysis and commentary.”

Excuse us while we have a good chuckle. Does Chimedza and his acolytes
actually believe this –– because nobody else does!

Zimpapers editors are guided by an editorial charter whereby they agree to
uphold the code of ethics and the principles of journalism as espoused in
the country’s laws and statutes. These include the national interest and
public benefit.

It doesn’t say what the national interest is or what their “mores” might be.
Perhaps they are a board secret!

Suddenly ‘occupied’

We have some idea how the two-week window will operate. Advertisers are
likely to be told all the space has been occupied! The board says that given
its shareholding structure, “the company is neither a state-owned parastatal
nor state-controlled”.

No, but editors are not free to say what they think and columnists have to
toe the state line without question. Generally they are lickspittle
mouthpieces for Zanu PF. That’s what everybody thinks isn’t it? And why didn’t
the Herald disclose who the person in the picture was? So much for ethics!

Kudos for a change

When we get an opportunity to say something encouraging about the government
we will do so. In this respect we should record how hard and constructive
Tourism minister Walter Mzembi is working on the UNWTO project.

And he is not getting much support from his colleagues in government. To
help him out Alpha Media Holdings is running a media campaign to promote the
UNWTO project ahead of the General Assembly.

It will run under the theme –– “It’s our time, showcasing Zimbabwe’s Seven
Wonders”. At least the Zambians and our hospitality sector are coming up to
speed on the project. In response to criticism that the Victoria Falls
airport was falling behind, it was never meant to be on time for the
assembly, Zimbabwe’s officials say.

Brand ambassadors hosting the event include Oliver Mtukudzi, Shingi Munyeza,
Ozias Bvute, Douglas Mboweni, Peter Ndlovu and Tawanda Nyambirai.

Baffour’s match

Muckraker has found a newspaper even more grovelling in its posture than
Baffour Ankomah’s New African.

It is called New Era and is based in Namibia. Its editor, Chrispin Inambao,
recently conducted an interview with President Mugabe.

This is what to expect: “Your Excellency, this interview will be incomplete
if I don’t bring in at least one question on the First Lady Amai Grace
Mugabe. What is the favourite dish among possibly many prepared specifically
for you and your children by Amai Mugabe?”

So now you know the sort of thing Namibians can look forward to reading! And
it will have at least one customer in Didymus Mutasa (The answer was fish).

But it actually gets worse. “Your Excellency, I know you are a very busy
person and I’m really honoured and humbled to meet such a great African
spokesman.”

Yuk! Really lickspittle stuff from the Mahoso School of Revolutionary
Claptrap. And when Mugabe replied: “We are really great friends with Sam”,
he meant Sam Nujoma, not Uncle Sam.

Empire Strikes Back

On the subject of Uncle Sam, the Zimbabwe state media seems to be up in arms
over the fact that President Barack Obama “stuck his nose” into Zimbabwe’s
affairs during his recent visit to South Africa.

This is really silly. Here is a deeply troubled country on South Africa’s
doorstep where President Jacob Zuma heads a mediation exercise and the US
president is supposed not to say a thing about it! Please, who dreams up
this nonsense?

Of course he is going to say something. He has a responsibility to do so.
Zimbabweans certainly expect the visiting US president to speak up on issues
of governance and human rights.

By the way, it was at the University of Cape Town in 1966 that Bobby
Kennedy, the president’s (JFK’s) brother, made one of the great speeches of
his career in defence of freedom.

Convenient victim

We were interested to hear that a Sadc Parliamentary Forum mission was
briefed by Zuj on harassment and attacks on journalists.
The Sadc PF team was in the country for five days on an assessment
mission.Among those journalists attacked by MDC-T officials, we are told by
the Herald, was our reporter, Herbert Moyo, who was subject to a severe
assault at Harvest House.

Our question is: Should the Herald not have spoken to Moyo before repeatedly
citing him as a victim of MDC-T harassment? We don’t doubt the harassment
but the Herald has a duty to check facts with the victim which it did not
do.

The same goes for Zuj. In the Herald’s case they were simply having their
daily go at Morgan Tsvangirai. In the case of Zuj they lifted other reports.

Blithering blue lights

A columnist in the Cape Times says nothing better symbolises the culture of
entitlement that pervades the ruling party in South Africa than the blue
lights brigade which he calls “a stepping stone to a banana republic if ever
there was one”.

The columnist, Dave Marrs, was celebrating the move by the Western Cape
government to gazette draft regulations criminalising the abuse of the blue
light motorcades and sirens on the province’s roads.
Readers of this column will know we have also expressed opposition to the
wailing motorcades, not least because they waste precious resources and
often expose drivers to assault.

Tsvangirai, when he first came into office, sought permission for his own
motorcade.

We are totally opposed to any such abuse of power and would urge the MDC-T
to define their priorities in a more public-friendly way.

Thirty-three years on Zim still yearns for freedom

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in Opinion

THIS week Zimbabwe commemorated the 14th anniversary of the death of one of
its greatest heroes of the liberation struggle, Joshua Mqabuko Nyongolo
Nkomo.

Opinion by Dumisani Nkomo

As years go by, Nkomo proves through his legacy way after his death that he
was indeed a hero.

A hero leaves a lasting legacy which impacts posterity and shapes collective
destinies of generations to come.

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 1987 when he 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 Nkomo, PF Zapu and its
armed wing the Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (Zipra), 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 nationalists, 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 5th
Brigade, he was left with no choice, but to save the people through the 1987
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.

He was a nationalist at heart and in practice. He truly believed that
Zimbabwe belonged to those who lived in it whether Shona, Kalanga, Venda,
Sotho 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.

PF Zapu was not a Ndebele party as has been popularly postulated by old Zanu
propagandists. It included the likes of Samuel Parirenyatwa, Josiah
Chinamano, Joseph Msika, Amon Jirira and Willie Musarurwa.

Nkomo was one of the greatest nationalists Africa has ever had, who also
contributed to the independence of other African countries such as South
Africa and Angola — as Zipra forces fought side by side with Umkhonto
weSizwe and MPLA guerillas in the late 1960s and 1970s 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 the Soviet-backed PF 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 a deadly 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 minister in a government headed by a
man who was a junior in the struggle.

Nkomo 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, in The Story of My Life he all too often referred to
African leaders who confused their personal interests with those of the
nation “and subsequently believe this”.

In the book, Nkomo 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 and others fought for.

Nkomo is Habakkuk Trust CEO and spokesperson of the Matabeleland Civil
Society Forum. He writes in his personal capacity. E-mail:
dumisani.nkomo@gmail.com

Settling the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe ’s debts

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in Opinion

Over many years, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) accumulated a debt,
exceeding US$1,1 billion, mainly as a consequence of the pre-Government of
National Unity (GNU)regime pressurising it to undertake numerous activities
generally beyond the normal functions of a central bank.

Column by Eric Bloch

The central bank should be the lender of last resort and be engaged in
monetary policy, oversight and supervision of commercial banks and other
financial institutions, and management and control of national monetary
reserves.

However, prior to 2009, government repeatedly imposed other innumerable
costly obligations on the RBZ, resulting in the vast accumulation of debt,
that the bank was unable to service and fund those obligations.

Included in the mammoth indebtedness of RBZ is sovereign debt of US$452,6
million, US$439 million of domestic debt, non-resident institutional debt of
US$110 million, and central bank lines of credit amounting to US$80,2
million.

A significant portion of the domestic debt is owed to the private sector, to
a considerable extent in consequence of RBZ having “expropriated” foreign
currency receipts of exporters and the private sector during the
pre-multicurrency era without the lawful possessors of such funds receiving
compensation for the funds they involuntarily had to “surrender” to RBZ.

The RBZ has recently been seeking to address the diminution of its
mountainous debts by disposing of diverse business interests and other
assets non-compatible with central bank functions.

It has also energetically engaged in restructuring its operations to accord
with its central bank functions, resulting in retrenchment of numerous
personnel, and thereby significantly reducing its operational costs.
However, none of this has yet enabled RBZ to reduce its indebtedness to so
many private sector enterprises and other former legitimate possessors of
foreign currency.

One of the major consequences of the expropriation of export and other
private sector currency receipts was to compound the immense illiquidity of
business already severely eroded by the massive hyperinflation of 2008.

Many manufacturers, mining houses, tourism ventures and others were
emasculated by RBZ’s failure to release their legitimate funding receipts,
and that contributed to the enormous economic decline prior to the 2009 GNU
and has also been the greatest constraint on the country’s economic upturn.

The GNU told RBZ to stick to normal central bank functions and leave all
other responsibility to appropriate arms of government. The Minister of
Finance Tendai Biti has stated that government is now poised to take over
the entire RBZ’s US$1,1 billion debt.

In order to do so, government intends parliament to promulgate the RBZ Debt
Relief Bill in September or October, 2013, (when the post-elections new
parliament comes into being).

This intent is emphasised in a Letter of Intent to the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) for the implementation of an IMF Staff Monitored
Programme which is to be key to the drive for a stable and growing economy.

It is government’s intention that the RBZ Debt Relief Bill will prescribe
the establishment of a governmental Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to house
RBZ’s non-core assets and liabilities.

However, as constructive as these governmental intents may be, the state of
near bankruptcy of the fiscus is such that the prospects of the SPV being
able to effect rapid total settlement of the debts (and thereby restoring
operational viability for many private sector enterprises, and achieving
consequential meaningful economic growth) are remote in the extreme.

That can only happen if appropriate, dynamic and constructive measures are
concurrently pursued by government and the SPV, with guidance and
authoritative advice by the IMF Staff Monitored Programme.

One measure, which could be economically beneficial and be pursued without
delay, would be for the state to issue interest-bearing, tradable Treasury
Bonds, with Prescribed Asset status, in settlement of the RBZ indebtedness
(which settlement should also include equitable interest for the period
since when the private enterprises’ funds were taken into RBZ possession).

If such Bonds were to be issued, the recipients could realise their
much-needed financial resources by trading the bonds with insurance
companies, pension funds, and other institutions that are subject to being
possessed of decreed value of Prescribed Assets.

In addition, recipients of the Treasury Bonds should be enabled to use them
to effect any payments due by such Bond-holders to government. Holders of
those Treasury Bonds should also be enabled to use them to effect any
payments as are, or will be, due by such Bond-holders to Government.

The bonds should be valid for usage to pay Income Tax, Capital Gains Tax,
Withholding Taxes, Customs and Excise Duties, Value Added Tax and P.A.Y.E,
and other debts the private sector may have with the Fiscus.

Treasury may be fearful that according bonds acceptable status for
settlement of liabilities to the state would be markedly prejudicial to its
already grossly inadequate cash inflows.

However, such fears should be allayed and countered by recognition that the
attendant restoration of operational viability to the beleaguered private
businesses will markedly enhance the economy, and such enhancement would
result (over and above many other national benefits) in significantly
greater generation of direct and indirect taxation and other revenue inflows
to the Fiscus.

Moreover, the long overdue fulfillment by government of its undertakings to
assume the RBZ indebtedness, and to effect settlement, will be a marked
contribution to a restoration of business confidence and will create some
private sector confidence in government credibility.

This will also accord potential investors a degree of enhanced perceptions
of investment security.

All of those side-benefits would contribute in part to the extensive
economic recovery greatly needed and craved for by all Zimbabweans.

Nkomo’s legacy: Who is he to you, me?

http://www.theindependent.co.zw/

July 5, 2013 in Opinion

It is that time of the year again when we remember and celebrate the life of
Zimbabwe’s founding father, nationalist and former vice-president of
Zimbabwe, Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo.

Opinion by Mlamuli M Nkomo

In life and death, Nkomo’s name has dominated political discourse in the
country with everyone claiming a share of this larger-than-life figure.

This year’s commemorations come at a time when the nation is preparing for
elections due at the end of the month.

To fully understand Nkomo, one has to look at the amount of energy different
sectors of society are putting to honour his legacy.

In Nkomo, one gets a figure that is respected across the political spectrum.
Ibhetshu likaZulu, Mthwakazi Youth Resolutions, Friends of Zapu, Zanu PF,
MDC, MDC-T, Zapu and Mthwakazi Liberation Front are all now singing from the
same song book! Such is the nature of society’s contradictions. Friend and
foe find each other in honouring the legacy of this man.

Who is Nkomo to me and you?′ He is a fighter, comrade, revolutionary, father
of the nation, peacemaker, uSeka Thandi (father of Thandi) and many other
things.

At times he was also a humourous man. Legend has it that in 1987, responding
to critics that he had sold out by uniting with Zanu PF, he asked the people
of Kezi: “Bantu beKezi, ngingalithengisa ngemalini licake kangaka? (People
of Kezi, how much would I sell you for when you are so thin?”

However, Zanu PF wants to use Nkomo’s legacy to blackmail people into
believing that a vote against the party is unpatriotic and goes against the
spirit of Father Zimbabwe. There are some among us who still believe that
they are obliged to vote for Zanu PF because “uMdala wasitshiya khonapha
(the old man left us here)”. To them voting for another party will be an
ultimate betrayal of the values of Nkomo.

On the other side of “nationalist” Zanu PF, we have secessionist movements
like Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) and Mthwakazi National Party (MNP) who
hold divergent views on the future of Zimbabwe. While Zanu PF was
commemorating Nkomo in Bulawayo, MLF was holding its own commemorations in
Johannesburg, South Africa. Imagine US President Barack Obama and the
Taliban sharing a hero or mentor.

Colleagues in the MDC formations are always at pains to argue that their
movements are actually inspired by the values of the late vice-president.
They go on to argue that the name of their party is superfluous; they are
actually Zapu, the organisation synonymous with uMdala.

Then we have the revived Zapu led by Dumiso Dabengwa. This outfit has gone
an extra mile in having a slice of Nkomo. Their branding is around Father
Zimbabwe, their membership card and party documents have the image of Nkomo
prominently displayed. Zapu claims its legitimacy on protests of failure by
Mugabe to honour an agreement he made with Nkomo in the Unity Accord of
1987.

Surely, Simba Makoni’s Mavambo/ Kusile/ Dawn has some nice words for Nkomo
as well.′What is Nkomo to you and me? I think Nkomo is a mirror. We all see
ourselves through him and in him. Nkomo serves to renew that humane spirit
that all of us have.

Thirty-three years after Independence the nation has not yet tasted freedom.
The majority of the people still live in poverty. Many more people have lost
their lives in political violence.

In Nkomo, everyone gets a chance to renew their faith in a just, fair and
free country. We long for freedom that Nkomo fought for. Nkomo suffered
before and after Independence — this fact gives us courage to soldier on in
spite of the difficulties.

The figure of Nkomo reminds us that we cannot fight a struggle based not on
racial, tribal or any other prejudice. The struggle should be fought on the
basis of values and principles.

In Nkomo, we see our own capacity to lead fairly and to lead with a vision.
In him we see the human qualities of love, compassion and humility that we
can renew.

Sadly, these values are lacking among the five candidates vying for the top
position during this year’s election.

Nkomo is a civil society and political activist based in Johannesburg. He
studied at the University of Zimbabwe and the University of the
Witwatersrand. He can be contacted on mlamulin@yahoo.co.uk