Ben Freeth
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Nqobizitha Khumalo
Monday 01 June 2009
BULAWAYO - The United Nations Office for
the Coordination of Humanitarian
Affairs (OCHA) on Friday issued a new and
revised US$718 million
humanitarian Consolidated Appeal (CAP) for
Zimbabwe.
The international body in the new report released on Friday
said the
humanitarian situation in Zimbabwe deteriorated sharply after the
launch of
the 2009 CAP in November 2008.
"The country-wide cholera
outbreak and spike in food insecurity during the
lean season aggravated an
already difficult socio-economic environment of
hyper-inflation and
collapsed basic social services," the OCHA report said.
"The humanitarian
response provided under the CAP 2009 so far has
contributed to saving lives
by containing the cholera outbreak, providing
food and agricultural
assistance to vulnerable populations, and supporting
vital social services
including health, water and education at a critical
time, despite enormous
operational difficulties."
OCHA said in spite of the positive impact of
the humanitarian response and
initiatives by the inclusive government of
President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the
international community remains relatively
cautious.
It said in the
face of rising needs reflected in the increased requirements
to scale up the
response to the country's humanitarian crisis, the donor
response to the CAP
2009 has been below average with US$246 million or 34
percent of revised
requirements funded as of May 26.
"In view of the changing context, a
total of US$718 million is required for
the revised CAP. Considering the
changes in the country's context and needs,
the Humanitarian Country Team
(HCT) has adapted the objectives to the
following; save and prevent loss of
lives by assisting vulnerable groups,
support government efforts towards
stabilisation of the population in acute
distress and of the social services
capacity to deliver quality essential
services," OCHA said.
The world
body said this was a critical moment to support humanitarian
efforts in
Zimbabwe.
"The magnitude of the economic decline and erosion of sources
of livelihood
is such that it is unlikely the humanitarian needs in the
country will
lessen in the short term. Humanitarian partners - including the
government
of Zimbabwe, regional partners and the humanitarian and
development
communities - must work more closely than ever to ensure that
needs are met
through the implementation of the programmes contained in the
current
revision."
OCHA in the report said the launch of Short-Term
Emergency and Recovery
Programme (STERP) has paved the way for the country's
rehabilitation.
STERP according to OCHA requires a total of US$18,4
billion until end 2009
but only US$400 million has been pledged in credit
lines by African
governments as of April 2009 and STERP remains
under-funded, threatening the
country's efforts at recovery.
A
summary of the new appeal says six million people have limited or no
access
to safe water and sanitation in rural and urban areas while 600 000
families
will require key agricultural inputs for the 2009/10 planting
season.
OCHA said 1,3 million people are living with HIV/AIDS,
including 133 000
children under the age of 14 while there are 1,5 million
orphaned and
vulnerable children, including over 100 000 child headed
households. -
ZimOnline
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Zimbabwe's MDC party demanded
the resignation of the central bank governor
and attorney general on Sunday,
saying their continued tenure was sowing
conflict and division in the new
unity government with President Robert
Mugabe's Zanu-PF.
Last
Updated: 4:39PM BST 31 May 2009
The parties are at odds over the fate
of Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana,
who are both allies of Mr
Mugabe.
The MDC has been highly critical of the two men, blaming Mr Gono
for
fuelling hyperinflation through printing money to shore up Mr Mugabe's
past
governments, while accusing Mr Tomana of presiding over the prosecution
of
rights and opposition activists.
Mr Mugabe last week said Gono
would not go, but the issue has been referred
to a regional body for
arbitration.
Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary-general and finance minister,
told
journalists that about 1,000 party delegates attending an annual party
conference had passed a resolution that Mr Gono and Mr Tomana
resign.
Mr Tsvangirai had earlier told party members that failure to
resolve
outstanding issues would affect the credibility of the new
government as
Western countries continue to withhold critical funds,
demanding more
reforms.
Zimbabwe has suffered a decade of economic
collapse and political tensions,
but the formation of the new government has
raised hopes of recovery.
The party, formed in September 1999, says
hundreds of its members have been
killed in political violence by ZANU-PF
supporters and on Sunday said it
would continue to mobilise for elections,
expected once a new constitution
has been written.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=17195
May 31, 2009
By Pindai
Dube
BULAWAYO - Respected Zimbabwean economist, Eric Bloch, one of the
advisors
to central bank governor, Gideon Gono, says the embattled banker is
a genius
who should be allowed to continue to head the bank. Bloch said
Gono's
removal as governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) would not
be in
the interests of Zimbabwe.
In an interview with The Zimbabwe
Times in Bulawayo on Sunday, Bloch said it
would be unfortunate if the
governor was forced to step down now.
"As one of his advisors, I don't
agree with anybody who says Gono should
leave the central bank because if he
does so, it will unfortunately be
contrary to the interests of Zimbabweans,"
said Bloch
Bloch, who has been critical of the previous Zanu-PF
government's economic
policies, described Gono as genius who still had a lot
of programmes to
complete.
"The man is a genius," Bloch said, "and
there are a lot of things he needs
to work on before he leaves the central
bank
Bloch absolved Gono of any wrongdoing as governor, saying whatever
he did at
the RBZ was under the direction the Zanu-PF
government.
"Gono is being condemned for the wrong reasons because
whatever he did under
the Zanu-PF government, he was being forced to do,"
he said.
Gono has been accused of causing the final collapse of
Zimbabwe's economy by
continuously printing cash, thus triggering
unprecedented inflation.
He has also been accused of financing President
Robert Mugabe's violent
presidential election campaign in June last year.
Separately the governor
has openly admitted to raiding private foreign
currency accounts without
permission and using the funds. The central bank
has since failed to
reimburse the funds.
Gono is the personal banker
and a close ally of Mugabe. He is said to be
closely related to the First
Lady, Grace Mugabe. They both hail from the
Chikomba District of Mashonaland
East.
Addressing mourners on Monday last week at a funeral service for
the late
Peter Gono, elder brother to the RBZ governor, Mugabe said
pointedly that he
could not sacrifice one of his most ardent supporters
merely to please
western governments.
Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa, another leading Mugabe ally and Zimbabwe's
security chiefs have
also condemned ongoing calls for Gono's ouster.
Joseph Chinotimba, deputy
chairperson leader of the Zimbabwe National
Liberation War Veterans'
Association (ZNLWVA) weighed at the weekend to say
his association would
summarily dislodge the 300 plus remaining white
commercial farmers from the
land if the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) insisted on Gono's removal from the
central bank. Chinotimba
also sits on the board of advisors to the RBZ
Govenor.
In response,
the mainstream MDC has insisted that Gono must leave as his
continued tenure
at the central bank is blocking the disbursement to
Zimbabwe of much needed
aid from the West.
The MDC said the removal of Gono from the helm of the
Reserve Bank was a
matter of procedure and was not in any way driven by
personal vendettas as
now alleged by the governor and his supporters
May 31, 2009 RESOLUTIONS OF THE MDC 9TH ANNUAL
NATIONAL CONFERENCE 31 May 2009 CONFERENCE: NOTES, acknowledges, celebrates and hails the party for surviving ten years
of brutal dictatorship, violence, repression and emasculation by an autocratic
predatory state, FURTHER HAILS, celebrates, acknowledges and is indebted to the people of
Zimbabwe for supporting and standing with the Party and for remaining firm in
resolute in the fight for democratic change in Zimbabwe, MOURNS, be mourns, remembers and celebrates the lives of our departed giants,
heroes and heroines including Tichaona Chiminya, Talent Mabika, Trynos Midzi,
Learnmore Jongwe, Gift Tandare, Isaac Matongo, Susan Tsvangirai, Tonderai Ndira,
Better Chokururama, Machiridza, Remius Makuwaza, Nicholas Mudzengerere, and many
others whose blood and bravery continues to water the tree of our struggle, RECOGNIZES and acknowledges the roots of our movement, our umbilical cord to
the struggle for national liberation in Zimbabwe, our mandate being fulfilling
the unfinished business of the national liberation struggle. ACKNOWLEDGES and recognizing the further maternity of our movement and
struggle from the National Working People’s Convention of February 1999, and
indeed the preceding struggles led by the workers through the ZCTU, the Student,
Women and Constitutional movements, CELEBRATING the importance and achievements of democratic mass resistance and
protests, and the landmark positioning of March 11 2007, September 13 2006 and
the Final Push of 2003 and other protests in the history of our resistance and
struggle, EQUALLY AWARE of key historic signposts of our struggle including the
February 2000 Referendum, the orgy land reform related violence, the barbaric
operation Murambatsvina, the treason trial of the Party President, REGRETTING the split of the Party in October 2005 but very much cognisant of
the powerful, broad and dangerous domestic and regional forces that were behind
the same, FOREVER INDEBTED to the capacity of the Party to regroup, rebuild, refocus
and re-strategize after the split and celebrating the great Congress of March
2006 and the centrality of this Congress’s resolutions, FURTHER COGNISANT of the key role and strategic importance of the Party’s
ROADMAP, developed in May 2006 and its instrumentality as a tactical
compass, ACKNOWLEDGING the dialogue that the Party engaged in and recognizing the same
as a fulfilment of the Congress Resolutions of 2006 and the ROADMAP, GRATEFUL to the people of Zimbabwe for delivering the March 2008 election
victory against tyranny and a totally unequal electoral framework, APPLAUDNIG the correctness of the decision to boycott the 27 June sham and
violent “event” RECOGNIZING the strategic obligation of executing the GPA and participating
in the Transitional Agreement, GREATLY CONCERNED with the continued existence of outstanding issues on the
GPA, the reproduction of toxic issues and the slow levels of delivery by the
Transitional Government, NOW THEREFORE it is
resolved, 1.Conference restates the founding goal of achieving and attaining
genuine democratic change through peaceful and non-violent means and remains
committed to its core values of social justice, equality, equity, freedom,
solidarity and transparency. 2.Restates its commitment to the crafting by Zimbabweans and for
Zimbabweans, of a new people-driven Constitution. 3.Calls on the Transitional Government to take on board concerns by
civic society on the process and ownership of the Constitutional making process
initiated in terms of the Global Political Agreement. 4.That the Party shall actively participate and mobilize actively in
the Constitution making process and furthermore shall; a.Work with civic society in reaching some
understanding on the process b. Develop urgently its own Constitutional
positions and principles. 5.Restating commitment to the Congress Resolutions of 16 – 19 March
2006 and the ROADMAP of May 2006, Conference resolves that a genuinely free and
fair election must be held at the conclusion of the Constitution making
process. 6.Concerned with the plight of victims of political violence and the
absence of a legal framework for the programme of National Healing or
Transitional Justice Conference, resolves that the Inclusive Government
vigilantly and urgently addresses the issue of welfare of victims, the National
Framework of National Healing and Transitional Justice. 7.Noting the reference of GPA outstanding issues to SADC, Conference
calls for the immediate convening of an Extra-Ordinary Summit of SADC to
urgently deal with the outstanding issues. 8.Aware of the conflict and divisive effect of the unresolved issues of
the Attorney General and the Reserve Bank Governor. Conference calls that in the
national interests, Johannes Tomana and Gideon Gono must resign forthwith. 9.Whilst acknowledging progress made in some areas by the Transitional
Government, Conference calls on the Transitional Government to address the
issues of deficit of performance in the following areas: i. The absence of any legislative reform
agenda ii. The slow pace of media reform iii. Continued high and multiple tariffs by State
bodies and parastatals iv. The slow implementation of the Government 100
Day Plan v. The continued deployment of the military in
villages vi. The existence of militia and ‘ghost workers’
on the government payroll 10. Concerned and frustrated by the failure of State institutions to
transform and adapt to the new order and in particular the lack of a paradigm
shift on the part of a few individuals in State Security institutions,
Conference resolves that the Transitional Government must move urgently to
ensure that Institutional and paradigm Transformation in our State Institutions
and more importantly that the National Security Council must meet urgently in
terms of the law. 11. Noting the high levels of corruption in Government and public
institutions including Local Authorities. Conference resolves for the
appointment of all Commissions in particular the Anti-Corruption Commission and
further calls on the Transitional Government to strengthen governance and
transparency through appropriate legislation at all levels of the State. Conference commits itself to God and the suffering people of Zimbabwe this
Sunday the 31st of May 2009.
29TH - 31ST MAY 20009, HARARE SHOW GROUNDS,
HARARE
http://www.universityworldnews.com
31 May
2009
Issue: 0030
The United Nations Children's
Fund, Unicef, is working to resurrect
water and sanitation provision at
Zimbabwe's oldest university, Minister of
Higher and Tertiary Education Stan
Mudenge has announced. The University of
Zimbabwe was shut indefinitely in
February because of fears of a cholera
outbreak arising from lack of clean
water.
Mudenge told the House of Assembly on 13 May that eight of
Zimbabwe's
nine state-run higher education institutions - that had also
closed
following a crippling lecturer strike and lack of learning materials
- were
now open. The University of Zimbabwe was the only institution still
not
operational.
The provision of clean water and sanitation at
the Harare-based
institution is part of the new inclusive government's
ambitious 100-day plan
championed by former foes President Robert Mugabe and
Morgan Tsvangirai, the
Movement for Democratic Change leader who is now
Prime Minister of the
shattered Southern African country.
"The
problem at the University of Zimbabwe is running water," Mudenga
said.
Neither the Zimbabwe National water Authourity nor the Harare City
Council
were able to provide clean water.
"Of the boreholes we dug at the
university, six of them are dry and
five are full of water but that water is
mixed with sewage, it is
contaminated water and it cannot be used for
drinking," he said. "To open
the university under such circumstances is
actually irresponsible and would
lead to a cholera outbreak or some other
epidemic diseases."
Strapped for cash, the government approached
Unicef which agreed to
help and has been drilling six boreholes. Once
running water was restored
and sewerage systems unblocked, the university
could open - within weeks,
Mudenge promised.
Unicef's help is
the first confirmed to an institution of higher
learning since most agencies
and donors withdrew from Zimbabwe during the
height of an oppressive
clampdown by Mugabe on all forms of democratic
opposition to his
rule.
The UN agency's effort to prevent further spread of the
deadly cholera
epidemic, that took hold in Zimbabwe last year, came as the
Zimbabwe Red
Cross announced the country was heading towards 100,000
infections. The
preventable disease has already killed 4,283
people.
Fears of cholera prompted the new government make the
provision of
clean water at the University of Zimbabwe a priority in its
100-day plan,
which started on 28 April.
Included on the higher
education 'to do' list of the plan are to
provide water and sanitation at
the University of Zimbabwe, complete the
National University of Science and
Technology library, construct the Lupane
State University administration,
conduct a needs analysis and recruit staff.
It has been confirmed that yet another farmer in the Kwekwe area situated in
the Midlands is being harassed and intimidated. Three days ago the mechanic on the farm was beaten on the nose and the
perpetrators also attempted to burn him with hot porridge and stuff a dead rat
in his mouth. It seems incredible that these invaders will stoop to such abhorrent
behaviour to oust a family that gave up the bulk of their farm, currently
working a fraction of the land, and has peacefully co-existed with 53 families
who were resettled on the land in 2002. It is not these families who are at war with the Grove family, it is a local
Kwekwe lawyer, Martin Makonese of Makonese and Partners who is heading this new
onslaught. The case has been reported repeatedly to the police, who have not responded.
The land dispute is set to be heard in the Bulawayo Supreme Court after Makonese
lost his bid to have it heard in the Kwekwe courts. TAKE ACTION Please call (or sms) Martin Makonese and point out to him
that his actions are unlawful, that they violate the recent SADC Tribunal ruling and that they
also violate the Global Political Agreement signed on the 15th
September. As always, please be very polite and calm when making
your calls. Work: +263-55-22784/5 Home: +263-55-23696 Cell phone: +263-11-203958
From The Sunday Independent, 24 May
Peta Thornycroft
Tendai Biti, the
Zimbabwean finance minister, has ring-fenced Gideon Gono,
the central bank
governor. In a long and petulant letter to Morgan
Tsvangirai, the prime
minister, this week, Gono accused Biti of
"persecuting" him and his family,
and of "externalising" money when he was,
until February, a partner of
Harare law firm Honey and Blankenberg. As news
of the letter spread, it
sparked laughter and fury. "What a bloody cheek,"
said a mine owner who had
to shut down because Gono did not pay for gold he
was forced to sell to the
central bank. Gono raided foreign currency
accounts, even those of
humanitarian agencies, using the money to pay bills
and to import tractors
for Zanu PF cronies. "Why is he whinging?" said a
businessman who was locked
up for three days for sending a few thousand
rands to South Africa to import
spares for his engineering company. Biti was
distressed by the letter. "When
I heard about (it), I was so cross I thought
I could easily go back to my
law firm and practise," he says. "Then I said:
'I will not do that, I have
done so much work and there is a lot of trust in
me as an individual, even
though I am not an economist.' I can't take this
country back by four or
five months. I will not be diverted, I have a job to
do."
The waiting
room in Biti's sixth-floor suite at the "new" government
building, with its
wide, empty corridors, dodgy lifts and little furniture,
is full. "I don't
work there, it's bugged," he says, gesturing towards the
minister's office
as he moves to a side room with no decorations, whispering
when he talks of
sensitive matters. A portrait of President Robert Mugabe,
the same one that
is on the wall of almost every office in Zimbabwe, looks
down at him. Biti
glances at it, smiling: "I am going to put pictures of
former finance
ministers in here," he says. They will include Simba Makoni,
who was forced
out in 2002 by Mugabe for wanting to devalue the currency,
and Chris
Kuruneri, who was locked up for a year before being acquitted on
charges of
"externalising" millions of dollars to build houses in Cape Town,
as well as
two more emasculated by Gono's takeover. Everyone in Zimbabwe who
could -
including Mugabe - "externalised" forex. Gono was the biggest trader
and the
market knew when he was on the streets with trillions of Zim
dollars,
because its value would plunge.
"On my first day," Biti says, "I had
absolutely no idea. I thought of going
to the law firm, and then I phoned
Patrick Chinamasa (the justice minister),
who I knew from (SADC)
negotiations. So I went to his office across the
street, and he brought me
here and I was given the latest minutes, standing
right here in this very
room, and they said I have to pay salaries. So I
said: 'How much?' I was
told US$30 million and we had $2m. So I said: 'What
is the deal about
salaries?' I was told, oh, the (Reserve Bank) bank has
printed US dollar
vouchers, so employees were going to be given vouchers. I
said that cannot
work, the bank cannot print US dollars. We managed, that is
one of the
biggest achievements. I can't tell you how, but there was no
outside help.
The other thing I quickly realised was that we needed a policy
because
business was crying out." Sworn in on a Monday, he recalls: "We
worked so
hard, and by Thursday the first draft of the emergency recovery
and
stabilisation plan was ready. I called the (closed) stock exchange to
this
room and said: 'You guys will not get out of this room until you assure
me
you will open.' So we opened the stock exchange on the 19th. I am looking
at
legislation, reforms of the central banking act, state enterprises,
privatisation, tax administration, tax collection.
"If you are
domiciled in Zimbabwe for more than 180 days a year, then you
are obliged to
pay tax. Seven percent of gross income is direct taxes, PAYE
and corporate
tax. VAT is now 42 percent of monthly income, from 3 percent
in February, so
there is consumption, an economy we ought to be taxing, but
few are employed
and civil servants are on untaxed allowances ($1 000 a
month). By July civil
servant allowances will be converted to salaries and
we will collect taxes
with our threshold of $150, the same as South Africa.
Private sector
employers who are paying up to $300 a month to employees are
not paying us
taxes. It's laxity. Last year was the worst in our history,
the Zimbabwe
dollar was moribund, employers executed innovative ways of
paying employees,
fuel coupons, food hampers. Now fuel coupons don't work.
Food is in the
shops, but the tax-free mentality is still there. We have to
quickly get it
from 7 to 60 percent." Biti is deeply frustrated with the
West, which
"obsessively" refuses to give aid, beyond humanitarian, even
though he has
effectively ring-fenced Gono and the "toxic" Zanu PF breaches
of the
political agreement are being whittled away. "The West is being
unscientific
and ahistorical," he says. "If this experiment fails, we have
no cheaper
alternative, no cheaper option. I speak as one who knows. The
only thing the
struggle has not done to me is kill me. I can write a guide
book on Zimbabwe
prisons. If the West doesn't come in, the price of undoing
the mess will be
much higher, like Liberia, Sierra Leone. Look at the cost
of Somalia… how
will anyone ever reconstruct Somalia?"
Biti gasps, laughs, perhaps in
surprise, when asked why Zimbabwe, with an
economy the size of Bloemfontein,
needs a central bank, especially since it
doesn't even have its own
currency. Er, well, you see, um, it is still the
bank of last resort, it
supervises our banking sector. Fidelity (the mint),
which used to print
money, now also has the key business of assaying gold,
which it can no
longer buy as in the past, but the bank has a role. Monetary
policy is not
dead, it is just constrained." Perhaps he hadn't thought about
closing the
central bank, but his eyes gleam like a lizard about to stick a
fly. Gono
doubled the staff in five years to 1 200 with fantastic perks.
"That's an
administrative issue," Biti says. "Rationalisation will happen."
He adds:
"The MDC is not talking about sanctions," but most say travel bans
against
Zanu PF and others are not going away any time soon. Senator Richard
Luga of
Indianapolis wrote asking about 'sanctions' on two banks (Zimbank
and Agri
Bank), and I said lift them as a matter of urgency." The two banks
serve
communal and small-scale farmers in particular. While Gono forced
banks to
remit 50 to 60 percent of overnight deposits to the central bank,
Biti says
he will drop that to between 5 percent and 10 percent. "Open a
bank account,
get a credit card - they work. I lived off my Zim credit card
at the spring
(IMF) meeting. Zimswitch is back." The madness of Zim's
economy is that
unless debts are pegged in US dollars, all Zim dollar debts,
bonds,
mortgages and overdrafts are wiped out. Gone.
From The Sunday Standard (Botswana), 31 May
By Gowenius
Toka
Plans by Botswana government to draw electricity from Mozambique
through
Zimbabwe's existing electricity supply infrastructure, will help
revive the
latter's economy, in more ways than one. This follows successful
negotiations between Botswana and Mozambique, through the Ministers of
Minerals, Energy and Water Resources of the two countries recently, Dr
Ponatshego Kedikilwe and Dr Salvador Namburete, to the effect that
Mozambique, through its power facilities, assist Botswana with firm power
supply up to a level to be agreed in the near future. In addition, it was
also proposed that Mozambique facilitates the conclusion of a Power Purchase
Agreement from its 50MW Natural Gas Fired IPP Power Plant. Kedikilwe said on
his return from Mozambique recently, that all things being constant, it is
expected that the arrangement between his government and the Mozambique
government "enables us to acquire more than sufficient electricity supply
between 2009 and the year 2013, when the Morupule B Power Station would be
commissioned". Mozambique currently supplies Botswana with 70MW, but it is
intended that upon finalization of discussions, it should be escalated to
120MW. Furthermore, Mozambique is embarking on a huge hydropower development
programme, which will translate in the development of Cabora Bassa North
(1250MW), Mphanda Nkuwa (2400 MW) and other projects which in total are
expected to generate up to (6030MW).
"Given that these are
potentially lucrative ventures, from a commercial
point of view, we felt
that Botswana could take advantage and explore the
potential to invest in
the projects and for generating revenue in order to
enhance our economic
diversification programme," said Kedikilwe, adding that
all power from the
said projects will be exported. For this reason, the
Botswana Minister
pointed out that rehabilitation of Zimbabwe's existing
electricity supply
infrastructure remains the only feasible transit vehicle
for wheeling power
across to Botswana. To this end, technical teams from the
two countries
electricity authorities, Botswana Power Corporation (BPC) and
Zimbabwe
Electricity Authority (ZESA) have been assigned to evaluate the
technical
transition capacity limits on some key high voltage transmission
lines in
Zimbabwe. It emerges that, in addition to evaluating the technical
transmission capacity on some key high voltage transmission lines in
Zimbabwe, it has also been agreed that BPC and ZESA evaluate the Bulawayo
Coal fired Power Station with a view to bringing it back into full
operation. Upon completing the stipulated evaluations, the two teams have
been given the express instruction to report by the end of this week (end of
May, 2009) to the Ministers of the two countries with recommendations
regarding cost, capacity and sustainability. Speaking at a Press briefing
early this week, Kedikilwe intimated that every possible means will be
explored to ensure that where feasible, Botswana injects its resources,
provided it is our best interest.
Although in the case of
rehabilitating Zimbabwe's existing electricity
supply infrastructure for
conveying power from Mozambique across to
Botswana, a lot of money will have
to be injected, Kedikilwe pointed out
that subject to the outcome of the
study by the Technical teams, Government
might entertain what was described
as "Prior to Purchase" arrangement with
the Zimbabwean government. In that
case, Botswana would make a commitment to
her northerly neighbour to the
effect that she will require and therefore
pledge to purchase a certain
amount of power upon production by Zimbabwe,
thus motivating them to
resuscitate their transmission lines at own cost but
assured of cost
recovery and attendant benefits accruing from such an
arrangement. Basing on
a similar logic, "It is against this background that
we have previously
stated our intention to offer supplying coal which
Botswana has in
abundance, for stimulation of the Bulawayo Coal Fired Power
Station, upon
completion of its rehabilitation, in exchange for
electricity." Thus, over
and above relaying electricity from Mozambique
across to Botswana, Zimbabwe
would enjoy the unfettered latitude to light
and warm her citizens, whilst
at the same time powering the economy. On
account of the experience Botswana
had when Eskom South Africa had problems
of power shortage, the Mozambique
option as well as cooperation with
Zimbabwe could afford the country peace
of mind.
Comment from Business Day (SA), 25 May
Paul Whelan
For nearly
a decade, the South African press and its columnists beat up on
former
president Thabo Mbeki over the crisis in Zimbabwe. They were less
vocal
about a Human Sciences Research Council report last year that
suggested
elements of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) were
undergoing military training. For SA's patriotic newspapers were
conscious
of a more disturbing problem: that SA's undermanned, sickly and
perhaps less
than neutral defence force was in no shape to take on a
peacekeeping role,
let alone a serious outbreak of fighting, in our
next-door neighbour. Here
is a crucial factor in Mbeki's policy towards
Zimbabwe. Other factors were
also underplayed or overlooked. For instance,
the start of President Robert
Mugabe's farm invasions was also a time when
Mbeki automatically got his
way. In one interview, he dismissively asked how
he was expected to stop
things happening in another country. The ugly events
broadcast on TV created
no pressure on him at home or abroad. He did not
need to say there was no
crisis. As Mugabe went from bad to worse and
international outrage grew,
this approach could not work. Now to admit there
was a problem would mean
having to take action, and Mbeki was well aware of
another stumbling
block.
Mugabe enjoyed strong support in the African National Congress
(ANC) and the
Southern African Development Community (SADC). SA's military
back-up was
unreliable and the political will to impose western-style
sanctions on a
former struggle ally was absent. The Presidency had no answer
to the calls
to do something - except to assure everyone that quietly,
behind the scenes,
Mbeki was using diplomacy. This innocent enough escape
was soon labelled
"quiet diplomacy" . Intended only to fend off charges of
inaction, these
words suggested Mbeki was "handling" a brother and comrade
and could settle
everything peaceably. No one asked what Mbeki was using
quiet diplomacy for.
Was it to rein in Mugabe's tyranny, or to get him to
stand down? Was it to
bring the MDC to power? Was it to uphold universal
human rights? No South
African government could have seriously contemplated
such objectives.
Diplomacy unsupported by coercion cannot achieve them. The
Zimbabwe crisis
for Mbeki was about the direction of SA's foreign policy.
His prime aim was
to preserve SA's security and regional stability. That
meant keeping out the
west and avoiding any action that divided the
ANC.
For Mugabe's desperate faction, the matter was simpler: power at all
costs.
The despot threatened publicly that the MDC would never govern and
must have
said the same to Mbeki in private. Powerless before naked power,
Mbeki's
only option was to persist in trying to confine the fallout to
Zimbabwe. He
kept SA's borders closed (at least technically) and never
wavered from
lending Mugabe full diplomatic support. No wonder a common
accusation is
that Mbeki was Mugabe's lackey or that the two are cut from
the same cloth.
Both views are wanting. While Mbeki is a proud son of Africa
and a dedicated
foe of neocolonialism, he is also every inch a politician.
Mbeki had the
authority to disembarrass himself of the Zanu PF leader, if
only
rhetorically. Jacob Zuma did so immediately after his election at
Polokwane.
What stopped Mbeki doing so earlier? It is not because as South
African
president, and later as SADC mediator, he could not take sides. It
cannot be
explained away as incurable stubbornness. And it is faintly absurd
to
suggest that it was purely out of sympathy for Mugabe. Maintaining the
regional status quo involved a major domestic benefit for Mbeki. As his
problems with Zuma and his union allies deepened at home, it kept a
like-minded, post-liberation opposition from coming to power on his
doorstep. Domestic and foreign policy are never separable. How SA's new
president acts over Zimbabwe will depend, just as it did with Mbeki, on how
he reads the situation at home.
There was much discussion at the Vigil about the forthcoming visit to the UK of Morgan Tsvangirai. We have been informed by MDC UK that he will be addressing a meeting in Kent as Prime Minister of Zimbabwe and not as leader of the MDC. He is said to be keen to engage with all Zimbabwean groups in the UK. The date apparently set for the meeting is Saturday, 20th June. We are sorry that some of us will not be able to attend because we have the Vigil on a Saturday. But no doubt many Vigil supporters will go to the Tsvangirai gathering.
There was some debate at the Vigil about questions they should put to him:
- Why do MDC people on the ground in Zimbabwe feel let down?
- Why have we not heard any member of the GNU talk about the starving prisoners?
- How can anyone invest in Zimbabwe when there is no rule of law?
- If there is no security, how can Zimbabwe hope to feed the 80% of its population on food aid?
- Why is nothing being done by Parliament to ensure a free press etc?
- Do you want us to come home?
The Vigil is not surprised at the situation. Here is an extract from our diary of four months ago (31/01/2009).
Most people who stopped to talk to us seemed well-informed about developments and no-one was surprised the Vigil was continuing. Certainly, our supporters turned out in unprecedented numbers and few of them had any confidence that the deal would work, given Mugabe’s failure to honour his undertakings in the power-sharing agreement of last September.
We expect to see Morgan in London soon on a begging mission. We believe there is a lot of support for extra humanitarian assistance but that he will face an uphill battle to get serious economic aid. The UK and the US have already made clear that they will wait and see before committing real money. In other words they will have to be satisfied it will not drain into the hands of the Mugabe cronies. This means the new government will have to prove a willingness to respect the rule of law: we do not believe that Zanu-PF has any idea what that means.
We accept that there may be secret understandings between the parties that we don’t know about. Indeed, the bewildering policy flip-flops by the MDC would suggest that this is the case. But how do we know? Anyway, when Morgan comes to London we at the Vigil will still be protesting outside the Embassy with our banners ‘No to Mugabe. No to Starvation’ and ‘End Murder, Rape and Torture in Zimbabwe’. If he drops by the Embassy it will be the nearest he has come to us in our 6+ years here.
We want Morgan to convince us that things have changed.
It was good to be joined by Kudaushe Matimba (formerly of the Bundu Boys) who spoke to us about the situation of Zimbabwean musicians (he was upbeat). Thanks to Ruvimbo Claire Maneya and Effie Hicks for their help in setting up the Vigil.
One of our supporters Brightmore Mundandanda went to sign on at the immigration centre at Croydon for the first time. He was immediately sent to detention in Dover. We phoned the Zimbabwe Association for advice and they informed us that several people have been detained but the duration of the detention is short. Apparently the Home Office does not have enough facilities at Croydon and other immigration centres to process all the Zimbabwean applications for asylum. If you hear of anyone detained keep an eye on it and, if it stretches beyond a few days, contact the Zimbabwe Association.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/
FOR THE RECORD: 186 signed the register.
FOR YOUR DIARY:
· ROHR West Bromwich launch meeting. Saturday 6th June from 1.30 – 5.30 pm. Venue: West Bromwich Town Hall, High Street, B70 8DT. Contact: Pamela Dunduru 07958386718, Rejoice Moyo 07884126754 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 / 07932216070
·
ROHR
Bournemouth general
meeting. Saturday 6th June from 1.30 – 5.30
pm. Venue: East Cliff Reformed Church, Holdenhurst Road,
BH8 8AW. Come in numbers
lets make it our Zimbabwean Day soon after Africa Day. Zimbabweans lets Roooooh
together in this Struggle for ROHR. Contact: Mike Mhene 07774521837, Abigail
Nzimba 07917458873 or Gift Pfupa 07909831158
ROHR
Liverpool general
meeting. Saturday 6th June
from 1.30 – 5.30 pm. Venue: Prescot Lodge, 52-56 Prescot
Road,
Liverpool L7
0JA. Contact: Desire
Chimuka 07917733711, Anywhere Mungoyo 07939913688 0r Patrick Kushonga
07900857605
· Service of solidarity with the torture survivors of Zimbabwe. Friday 26th June from 7 – 8 pm. Venue: Southwark Cathedral. This is the 8th year the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has marked UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture. For more information, visit: http://www.hrforumzim.com.
· Zimbabwe Vigil Forum. Saturday 27th June at 6.30 pm. Upstairs at the Theodore Bullfrog, John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HL.
· Zimbabwe Vigil Forum. Saturday 25th July at 6.30 pm. Upstairs at the Theodore Bullfrog, John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HL.
· Zimbabwe Association’s Women’s Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays 10.30 am – 4 pm. Venue: The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre, 84 Mayton Street, London N7 6QT, Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest underground: Finsbury Park. For more information contact the Zimbabwe Association 020 7549 0355 (open Tuesdays and Thursdays).
Vigil Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=17173
May 31,
2009
By Jakaya Goremusandu
THE debate over remarks by
Samuel Sipepa Nkomo suggesting an imaginary
theory to slice Zimbabwe into
tiny territories is, to put it mildly, based
on a puerile and careless
intention to divert attention from pressing
national issues that urgently
require Zimbabwe to rise from its own ashes.
Nowhere in the MDC policy
documents, private and public positions or even
the party constitution is
there a plan now or in future to dismember
Zimbabwe into little pieces
reflecting the supposed various ethnic
demographics of the country. Over the
past two centuries, Zimbabweans have
developed a common blood among
themselves through inter-marriages, other
indelible links and complex
kinships.
The MDC was born out of a vibrant civic movement, initially
calling for
comprehensive political and economic reform, none of which
anchored itself
on a secession agenda, or a separate geographical autonomy
arrangement. The
party mirrored a strong national sentiment for inclusion -
away from the
divide-and-rule tactics and the arrogance of
Zanu-PF.
The subjunctive mood at the time knew no tribal or ethnic
boundaries, hence
the election of Gibson Sibanda, Welshman Ncube,
Fletcher-Dulini Ncube, Esaph
Mdlongwa, Paul Temba Nyathi, David Coltart -
all Ndebeles - to the majority
of top leadership positions in the party. At
no time was the issue of
Matabeleland a main building block of this
comprehensive initiative, nor was
there any need to brand the new party
supporters, their views and their
motivations, according to their
ancestry.
It is common cause that when Mzilikazi and his warriors landed
in what is
today Zimbabwe, escaping the wrath of their Zulu kinsmen for
whatever crimes
they had committed in KwaZulu and barely 30 years before
whites colonized
the country, they did not bring along their women and
children with them as
they headed north, raiding and plundering.
They
raided villages north of the Limpopo, pillaging for food and taking
women
hostage as sex slaves, domestic workers and wives. These women bore
children
and enabled the warriors to start new lives and new families. They
raised
offspring, needless to say, totally without any pure Zulu blood in
them.
No Zimbabwean Ndebele person today can honestly claim to be
totally free of
the blood of the pre-1850 indigenous people they found north
of the Limpopo
at the time. It therefore does not make sense for anyone to
push for an
agenda that promotes the separation of Zimbabweans on the basis
of some
mischievous assumption that their ilk carries a completely separate
identity: genetic, biological or otherwise.
In case Nkomo may not
know, which is highly unlikely, there is, in fact, no
tribe called the
Shona. The word was a bastardized version of Mzilikazi's
warrior derision of
the indigenous people whom they referred to as the
AmaSvina, just as
foreigners, especially non-Ndebeles from Zimbabwe in South
Africa are
unkindly called AmaKwerekwere today.
Acting on the advice of the
Ndebeles, white hunters, missionaries and
fortune-seekers, including
Frederick Courtenay Selous - called the
indigenous people Mashuna, that is,
the people of Mashunaland. The word was
widely then used to define the
various clans whose language was made up of
related dialects: the Korekore,
the Zezuru, the Karanga, the Kalanga, the
Ndau and the Manyika.
The
key dialects of Shona are Kalanga, Karanga, Korekore, Manyika, Ndau and
Zezuru. The Kalanga were cut off from the main concentration of the Shona
people by the invading Ndebele. Their speech shows considerable influence
from the Ndebele language, which now distinguishes Kalanga from the rest of
Shona dialects. Kalanga is, for instance, the only Shona dialect to have the
"l" sound; the rest of the Shona dialects have "r" only.
The word
"man" is "murume" in Zezuru, Manyika and Karanga. In Kalanga it is
"n'lume",
while in Ndebele they call a man "indoda".
In November 2003 Gerald
Chikozho Mazarire prepared a paper, "Who are the
Ndebele and the Kalanga in
Zimbabwe?" for the Konrad Adenuer Foundation's
Project on 'Ethnicity in
Zimbabwe'. He states in the paper that there is
very little known about the
Kalanga before the year 1800.
He says: "In conclusion the Ndebele and
Kalanga are different people with
entirely different origins, language and
culture as has been demonstrated
above. Their experiences however have of
late come to be shared more often
than not this has given rise to a common
imagined identity of belonging
among other things to Matabeleland. This
imagined identity is however unique
in its ability to appreciate and
acknowledge differences between the two
cultures."
Zimbabweans with a
good memory will recall that when Gibson Sibanda told a
rally in Binga late
2005 that his breakaway MDC group had moved away from
the mainstream MDC to
fight for a separate state of Matabeleland, such
utterances cost him and the
faction, dearly. A few days later, Sibanda was
confronted by, among others,
Joseph Msika at Bulawayo airport and was
advised to retract the statement
and that he was misguided to talk about a
separate
Matabeleland.
Ordinary party supporters were left speechless by Sibanda's
views in Binga,
for that matter, and this weakened the group's support
substantially in
Matabeleland North and Bulawayo - as shown by the results
of the 2008
council, parliamentary, senatorial and presidential elections in
which
Sibanda and almost the entire leadership of the Arthur Mutambara led
MDC
lost dismally. That they now stand in the forefront of Zimbabwe's
politics
of national unity is testimony to the wicked machinations of former
South
African president, Thabo Mbeki.
For the avoidance of doubt, the
Daily Mirror of November 8, 2005, quoted
Sibanda - while campaigning for the
controversial 2005 Senate election - as
saying: "Ndebeles can only exercise
sovereignty through creating their state
like Lesotho, which is an
independent state in South Africa and it is not
politically wrong to have
the state of Matabeleland in Zimbabwe."
Although the Daily Mirror was a
daily newspaper, it took the group's
official spokesman, Paul Themba-Nyathi,
speaking perhaps on Sibanda's
behalf, 10 days to undertake some damage
control, through the Zimbabwe
Independent by merely saying: ". not only is
the allegation untrue, it also
appears to be a deliberate attempt by the
newspaper to fan ethnic tensions
in the MDC and the country as a
whole".
Back to Sipepa Nkomo.
It is true that Nkomo may be totally
unaware of the founding documents and
the main spirit behind the MDC as he
is a recent arrival at the
organization, notwithstanding his meteoric rise,
even after with Welshman
Ncube in October 2005 and returning to rejoin
Tsvangirai early in 2006.
Tsvangirai must, therefore, be excused if he
found himself completely
surprised by Nkomo's utterances in Lobengula this
week. It appears they were
meant to camouflage some unclear agenda to steer
himself away from dealing
with pressing water problems of Bulawayo, an
assignment Nkomo must undertake
as a matter of urgency under his
Johnny-come-lately political leadership.
Nkomo has known problems of
political credibility, given the corrupt
activities for which he was forced
to resign from the Mining Industry
Pension Fund where he was chief executive
in 2000. He miraculously escaped
proper prosecution and possible conviction,
given the abundance of published
evidence that could easily have nailed him.
He was still in court over the
same case as recently as 2007. Nkomo's
credibility issues also arise from
his dismal performance at Associated
Newspapers of Zimbabwe, publishers of
The Daily News, a newspaper which he
arguably assisted then Information
Minister, Prof Jonathan Moyo to destroy
within months of Nkomo's taking over
as chief executive officer of the
company.
Nkomo became minister by default at the last in February
Minister after MDC
president Tsvangirai was arm-twisted into dropping Eddie
Cross from his
line-up of cabinet ministers through a campaign about
representation of
Ndebeles orchestrated in online publications, especially
The Zimbabwe Times.
In Lobengula this week Nkomo decided to speak about a
matter that does not
concern his constituents in order to occupy them with a
mundane agenda at a
time when 90 percent of those people are without work;
they have no food;
inadequate medical care; no school fees; and no access to
their democratic
rights because of Mugabe's dictatorship - which they
rightly think are
priorities at the moment.
A separate state,
federalism, devolution or outright secession is a warped
theory which has
been spontaneously rejected time and again by the people of
Matabeleland and
elsewhere in Zimbabwe. Older Zimbabweans will remember a
party led by Chief
Kayisa Ndiweni before and after independence in 1980
which put up a spirited
campaign for a federal state.
The party failed to obtain even a single
seat in Parliament.
Bulawayo resident Paul Siwela has spent much of his
adult life campaigning
for a federal state in which Matabeleland could
achieve what is in his mind
a form of self-governing status. Siwela and his
team have never won an
election either, whether on the city council or for
the national
legislature. The people in this area dismiss him outright, with
some even
suggesting that he could be mentally unhinged,
allegedly.
The argument for Ndebele separateness or quasi-autonomy is not
only common
currency among a few die-hard black tribalists in Matabeleland.
White
Rhodesians always had a fondness for the "manly" and "loyal" Ndebeles,
who -
according to eminent Zimbabwean historian Terence O Ranger - they
contrast
with the "treacherous" Shona.
After the 1980 election,
writes Ranger in his book Voices from the Rocks, p.
253/4, some
Bulawayo-based ex-Rhodesians found it intolerable that
Matabeleland whites,
together with the Ndebeles were to be under the rule of
the "Shona" and
Harare. A pertinent example is that of Bulawayo dentist Dr
Frank Bertrand
who in 1981 was prosecuted and convicted for pandering to
some strange
fantasies designed to hive-off Matabeleland from Zimbabwe by
force.
Bertrand found himself embroiled in a fantastic conspiracy,
which never
excited the Ndebele people, when he went to Entumbane Hills to
appeal to the
spiritual powers of the late Princess Violet Khumalo whose
powers Bertrand
thought could be used to induce former Zipra fighters to a
rebellion.
Violet was a direct descendant of Lobengula, being a
grand-daughter of
Famona, the daughter of Lobengula.
Many Zimbabwe
have probably forgotten about Bertrand, but for the record, he
told the
court: "We had tried all the orthodox techniques. We had failed. So
I tried
to obtain the help of Princess Violet to obtain the state of
Matabeleland."
For his trouble Bertrand ended up in jail. Ndebeles,
presumably including
Sipepa Nkomo, hardly recognized or noticed his
efforts.
New Zimbabwe.com, the website that exclusively carried the Nkomo
proposal,
quoted the water Resources Minister as saying the proposal had the
backing
of Tsvangirai and his mainstream MDC party.
The Lobengula MP
told a constituency meeting on Monday that the MDC would be
championing the
proposals when the country draws up a new constitution. No
other MDC
official has so far independently confirmed Nkomo's allegation.
It is
arguable that Tsvangirai would be the last person to argue for
separate
development, given that his grandmother "MaTshuma" was an Ndebele
in Buhera.
Many may be unaware that two wards, together with their chiefs,
in Buhera
North have been a natural home for Ndebele people since the late
1940s. The
story is that they were moved from Lalapanzi, north-west of Mvuma
to make
way for a white commercial farm. When the trucks that were taking
them
further south ran out of fuel near what is called Gwebo Business Centre
today, they were dumped there and told to negotiate for asylum among the
local villagers.
That is how they came to be permanently settled
there.
Equally arguable is the fact that Tsvangirai has proved himself
that he is
not a tribalist. Five, out of seven, senior members of the
inaugural
leadership of the MDC in February 2000 had Ndebele ancestry. They
were the
vice president, secretary general, treasurer-general, organizing
secretary
and information and publicity chief. No tribal balance-sheet was
used here
to determine the type of leadership for the party. They were all
Zimbabweans
with a mandate to direct the affairs of an alternative political
party,
regardless of their places of family origin.
It is the same
leadership, acting under secretary general Welshman Ncube,
that deserted
Tsvangirai in October 2005 to form a breakaway MDC party,
which they later
invited Arthur Mutambara to return to Zimbabwe and lead,
with quite
predictably disastrous consequences.
Unless the situation has changed so
radically, there is no way Tsvangirai
can agree with Sipepa Nkomo that the
country be parceled out to various
groupings. Even Tsvangirai himself, a
descendant of the Ndau-Msikavanhu-Save
clan, with roots along the Save River
in the far south-east of Zimbabwe,
could easily find himself without a
territorial claim if the Nkomo plan were
to become
reality.
Zimbabweans have long moved away from ethnic out-bidding,
score-settling and
traditional tribal identities, common two centuries ago.
The people cannot
be seduced by the Nkomo idea - even if it may still appeal
to some, today.
The idea is totally unnecessary and an unmanageable
proposition.
Above all, it is not the policy of the MDC, contrary to
Nkomo's claim.
"Here, we cry that we are marginalised," Nkomo told his
constituents on
Monday. "The time is now to talk about regional
governments."
But, truly speaking, Nkomo did do too badly in Harare. He
landed the top job
of chief executive officer of the wealthy Mining Industry
Pension Fund.
After he screwed that one up he miraculously landed the even
more powerful
post of executive chairman of ANZ. He screwed that one up as
well. Meanwhile
he had built a business empire of his own right in the
centre of Harare. Now
that he is back in Bulawayo, after he abandoned his
family in the capital
city, he complaints about being marginalised
there.
Jonathan Moyo, hailing from the same Tsholotsho District as Nkomo,
did not
perform too badly in Harare either. In quick succession he
spearheaded
government's constitutional amendment campaign in 1999, then
took charge of
Zanu-PF's election campaign before landing the most
influential job of
Minister of Information.
He virtually became
Mugabe Number Two. He was in charge of Zimbabwe
Newspapers, the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation, Ziana and the Community
Newspapers Group. He
appointed the nation's editors and influenced the
content of the main
newspapers; that was apart from writing a regular and
vitriolic column of
his own under the pen-name Nathaniel Manheru.
Far from being marginalised
in Mashonaland, Sipepa Nkomo and Moyo, in fact,
marginalised many in both
Mashonaland and Matabeleland. The fact that the
majority of Zimbabweans have
poor memories does not mean that their victims
have all also forgotten.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Monday,
June 01, 2009
Business
Reporter
ZESA consumers will start receiving electricity bills reflecting
amounts
based on actual meter readings by end of this month.
Zimbabwe
Electricity Transmission and Distribution Company has been
experiencing
problems within its meter reading section resulting in
customers receiving
estimated bills instead of actual bills since the
inception of foreign
currency billing in February this year.
In a statement, the power utility
said it was working towards improving the
situation and in the absence of
bills, customers were urged to pay average
bills based on their actual
bills.
The power utility has since dispatched meter readers and June
bills will
reflect amounts due based on actual meter readings.
The
company secured motor cycles for efficient and effective meter
reading.
Meanwhile, customers can pay up to US$30 for high-density
suburbs and US$40
for medium and low-density areas every month starting
February until actual
bills are received.
Zesa reversed all foreign
currency domestic bills for January and encouraged
customers to read their
own meters and present their readings to their
nearest ZETDC customer
service centres for actual bills.
Customers have been for some time
complaining of the poor services being
offered by Zesa while the company was
blaming consumers for not paying up
bills.
Zimbabwe generates power
at Kariba South Hydro-Electricity plant and Hwange
Thermal Power
Station.
Kariba produces 750 MW when operating at full capacity and
Hwange generates
about 900 MW.
However, due to the recurrent
breakdowns and coal shortages, Hwange is
producing less than 250
MW.
South Africa's power utility Eskom, cut electricity exports to
Zimbabwe
owing to recurrent breakdowns at its power station.
http://www.herald.co.zw
Monday,
June 01, 2009
Herald Reporter
THE death of four soldiers around Chiadzwa
diamond fields recently was not
related to illegal diamond mining but
misconduct, the Zimbabwe National Army
has said.
In a statement
yesterday, army director of public relations
Lieutenant-Colonel Overson
Mugwisi said investigations into the misconduct
were underway.
"The
two reported incidents involving our soldiers that took place in the
Chiadzwa area are related to misconduct, which the army is investigating,"
he said.
"The deaths are not related to illegal diamond mining or any
other nefarious
activities in the area," said Lt-Col
Mugwisi.
Following the publication of the story of the death of the four
last week,
there had been speculation the four could have been involved in
diamond
deals.
Two were found shot under unclear circumstances two
weeks ago. They have
since been identified as Private Gurure and Private
Tshuma.
The other two died in suspected murder and suicide and are Lance
Corporal
Musonza and Sergeant Pfavai.
Last week police said
investigations to ascertain the causes of the deaths
were in
progress.
Private Gurure and Private Tshuma's bodies were found lying
about 400 metres
from a base established by security agents deployed to
bring order to the
diamond fields about a fortnight ago.
Both Gurure
and Tshuma had guns in their hands.
In the second incident, Lance
Corporal Musonza and Sergeant Pfavai were part
of a detachment manning a
roadblock between Mutare and Chiadzwa.
It is alleged that Lance Corporal
Musonza and Sergeant Pfavai were involved
in a heated argument.
Lance
Corporal Musonza is said to have been disarmed by Sergeant Pfavai. He
was
given back his rifle a few hours later and then threatened to shoot his
colleague manning the roadblock.
Lance Corporal Musonza allegedly
shot Sergeant Pfavai, who died instantly,
before turning the gun on himself.
He died on the spot.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Mutumwa
Mawere Monday 01 June 2009
OPINION: The challenges and
opportunities that Africa faces and offers can
only be addressed and
unlocked if a genuine attempt is made to bridge the
knowledge, capital and
execution gaps that exist partly because of the
colonial legacy and more
significantly because of an inherent inability of
many Africans to embrace
and celebrate the seemingly insignificant progress
that has been witnessed
in pre and post-colonial Africa.
I was not surprised that in response to
my challenge ahead of Africa Day
commemorations on 25 May, Joram Nyathi,
deputy editor of the Zimbabwe
Independent, chose to personalise the
initiative by describing it as:
"Mawere's 'points of light' exercise in
escapism".
This is a predictable and typical response of Africans to any
public
discourse. The initiative is a self-standing one and should,
therefore,
attract its own candid assessment without invoking my name. The
choice of
the title is instructive as it seeks to undermine the entire
project as an
exercise in futility.
In Nyathi's mind, any attempt to
profile the lives and exploits of Africa's
sons and daughters is a form of
escape from confronting the reality of
history. However, it must be accepted
that the reality of the post-colonial
African experience has produced
outstanding people in many fields of
endeavor and it would not be correct to
characterise such exploits as any
form of escapism.
The role and
place of role models in human civilisation can never be in
doubt. The
importance of showcasing the best and brightest is, therefore,
self-evident.
Human beings are influenced and inspired by others.
Nyathi makes the
point that the reality of African history paints a dark
picture to the
extent that it is irrelevant how many points of light can be
identified. He
observes that the dark hand of neo-colonialism, among other
factors, has
helped to undermine the African promise.
He concludes without offering an
alternative that the "points of light"
initiative is not the way forward, if
anything, it is condescending,
completely retrogressive and
escapist.
Nyathi is not convinced that raising the canvass of African
achievers will
add value to the nation-building project on the continent.
Rather he
contends that such an initiative represents "surrender" when
African success
stories are paired with the success stories of other
nations. He makes the
point that: "But the very idea of listing our own
heroes smacks of a return
to negritude politics, the black is beautiful
matrix. In other words, when
the West boasts about its heroes, we can also
show them that we have our
own, that Africa is the cradle of humankind that
Egypt was the home of
science or that Jesus was black, etc. Is this a source
of hope or escapism?"
It is evident to Nyathi that an African can only be
a black person which
represents a viewpoint that may not be shared by all
people who classify
themselves as African. Another viewpoint that Nyathi may
not subscribe to a
viewpoint that embraces and celebrates the achievements
of all the people of
Africa irrespective of their race, class religious
beliefs, and gender.
It must be accepted that Africa has produced
world-class brands and
outstanding personalities. Such brands anchored by
Africa's rich mineral
resources include: De Beers, Anglo American
Corporation, Gold Fields etc.
The diamonds that led the late Cecil John
Rhodes to establish De Beers were
made by God and hidden in the country's
belly. There may be an argument that
the diamonds belong solely to the
people who are fortunate to live in the
area in which they are found while
forgetting that more is required to
identify and exploit such
resources.
Should Rhodes, for example, be included on the list? There is
no doubt that
Nyathi would argue that he should not. It is common cause that
Rhodes lived
in Africa and benefited from the colonial dispensation and in
fact he
represented what may be described as the most unacceptable face of
colonialism and capitalism. His success and that of many of his fellow
Randlords can easily be reduced to a direct consequence of unjust
colonialist policies.
One can argue that if Rhodes never existed, a
company like De Beers would
have been formed anyway. In fact, it may be
simplistically argued that by
Rhodes setting up De Beers he deprived black
South Africans of a real
opportunity. However, it is important to
acknowledge that no one can be
deprived of something that they do not see or
hold. The diamonds in question
were hidden and needed capital and knowledge
to identify and exploit them.
The effort to convert a resource that is
resident in the geology of a
country into a commodity that can be exchanged
for cash requires an
investment. However, knowledge and capital without the
resources will not
produce a commodity that can be exchanged for
value.
Africa's points of light need not exclude anyone who has added
value to the
African cause. In identifying such individuals one has to
appreciate that
they need not be saints but it is important that we attempt
to identify an
aspect of their lives that should be
celebrated.
Nyathi also has a problem with the expression "a point of
light". He makes
the point that: "There can be no better homage to the
concept of Africa as a
dark continent than to see only irregular "points of
light" out of thousands
of its sons and daughters trained at great expense
to the taxpayer. I would
have thought that it was in Europe, the US and
Canada and Australia that
Africa's emigrant workers represented as points of
light!"
The expression "point of light" was chosen for different reasons
than what
Nyathi thinks. Human beings are privileged in that they can leave
a legacy.
Each human being makes a difference to life. There must be point
in each
human life but what is undeniable is that in life some individuals
have more
impact on life than other people. It is only through the actions
of human
beings that the future is shaped.
South Africa may be
smaller in size to countries like the DRC and Nigeria
but with a white
population of 5 265 300 and over 1 500 000 households
residing in South
Africa, it is the largest and most developed African
economy. The reasons
behind the country's economic success must be
understood properly if the
model is to be replicated by other African
states.
What explains
South Africa's economic success story? Is it solely a result
of
apartheid/colonialist policies? Is it a result of the mineral wealth? Can
the DRC, for example, develop without the involvement of whites? Why has it
not been possible for countries with small white populations in Africa to
chart their own development agenda? Should Africans continue to blame the
past for the lack of progress on the continent?
What were the dreams
of our forefathers? I should like to think that they
dreamt of a progressive
and inclusive Africa. They must have dreamt of an
Africa free from poverty,
corruption, and disease. Whose obligation is it to
make Africa the kind of
continent that we want to see?
If white settlers who chose Africa as a
home could build a little Europe in
Africa why has it been possible for the
natives to be the change they want
to see. There can be no doubt that the
colonial experience gave a good head
start to white Africans. However, it
must be accepted that there are many
white people who have chosen Africa as
a home after the end of colonialism
and yet have struck it rich. The
continent continues to offer rewarding
opportunities to non-whites like
Chinese and Indians who were not part of
the colonial experience and yet the
main reason often used for lack of
advancement in Africa is that of white
colonialism.
During the post-colonial/apartheid era, white Africans have
continued to
prosper under black administrations. More importantly the
disturbance, for
example, of less than 5 000 white farmers in Zimbabwe has
produced a less
than desirable outcome. What is remarkable is that it is
black Africans who
are electing to vote with their feet than white Africans
who see nothing in
common between them and Europe.
There can be no
doubt that former President Nelson Mandela is a "point of
light". He could
have chosen to be a bitter populist but history compelled
him to look deeper
in his soul to rise above the personal injuries that he
suffered and
endured. He understood that any attempt to focus exclusively on
the past
would not produce food on the table of South Africans.
He also had to
acknowledge that South African citizenship was not
indivisible. South Africa
is a Republic and one must accept that there is
only one class of
citizenship. White and black South Africans are equal
before the law. By
accepting the universality of citizenship, South Africa
has managed to
attract more people who are willing to give up their
birthrights for South
African citizenship.
South Africa has benefited from the creativity of
its entire people
including the new citizens. Africa's future will and must
be shaped by all
who can add value to the conversion of its resource
endowments to tradable
goods and services. Such effort will require not just
the input of people
who are born in Africa but people who may have the
resources, capital and
knowledge that black people, who are in the majority,
may not have.
I have no doubt that Nyathi will qualify as a "point of
light". By choosing
to share his knowledge, I have no doubt that future
generations will benefit
from the knowledge that our generation was seized
with matters more
important than our personal welfare or stations in life.
The conversation
must continue but to decide not to participate in the
identification of
Africa's brand ambassadors i.e. "points of light" is one
form of escapism
that must be avoided.
When I started reading
Nyathi's article, I was encouraged that he at least
started the
identification process and then surrendered. What is remarkable
is that his
list excludes white Africans.
When one looks at the people responsible
for producing goods and services
that dominate African markets as well as
those responsible for generating
foreign currency, it is evident that white
people including those that are
not African are involved in the supply chain
process. It is, therefore,
important to recognize all the people who add
value to the African
experience lest we forget to celebrate the contribution
of those that are
critical in bringing light to life irrespective of their
race, class, gender
or religious beliefs.
It would, therefore, be a
sad day if we chose not to listen to the whispers
of the future and not
dwell with the ghosts of the past. There is nothing
one can do to change the
past but there is a lot that we can do working
together to better understand
what has kept Africa going and what is
required to expand the "points of
light" so that Africa's daylight can offer
more hope than the dreams that we
share during the night.
We need to know more about the people that we may
classify as Africa's
enemies. By investing in the knowledge on the lives of,
for example, the
Randlords we should be able to know that it is possible for
anyone to scale
the heights if we choose to be less cynical and skeptical of
any initiative
that can bring more light to the issues that often blind us
as we seek for a
better life for all Africans. - ZimOnline
http://news.bostonherald.com
By Benjamin Bell
Sunday, May
31, 2009 - Added 43m ago
This June, we are told, there will
be space aliens in Cambridge.
The tale of these interplanetary travelers
began in the fall of 1994, many
time zones from the Charles River, when John
E. Mack, the late Pulitzer
Prize-winning Harvard psychiatrist famed for his
controversial UFO writings,
took a trip to southern Africa.
Mack was
looking into a claim by 60 elementary school children in Harare,
Zimbabwe,
that an oval-shaped silver spacecraft had hovered above their
playground one
day.
What's more, the kids said, a strange being some 4 feet tall,
dressed in a
black uniform, with black eyes the size of rugby balls,
approached them,
while a similar being stood atop the alleged
UFO.
There was talk of empathetic chit-chat, and Mack said 12 of the
children
gave consistent accounts of the event, leading him to believe it
was not a
case of mass hysteria.
"Something strange happened to the
group of children that left them with the
impression some form of sentient
life cared about the Earth and cared about
the environment and even cared
about the children," said Will Buech, a board
member of the John E. Mack
Institute in Cambridge.
He said telepathic communication reportedly took
place between the children
and the being during the 5- to 10-minute
encounter. Now, 15 years later, the
episode is still being
investigated.
On June 12, the Mack Institute will present an unfinished
film called
"Encounter in Ruwa: The Ariel School Sighting," a compilation of
interview
footage shot by Mack and new footage by a New York-based
filmmaker, Randall
Nickerson, 42.
Mack was killed by a drunken driver
in London in 2004.
"I have more research to do, but there is a lot of
corroboration that tells
me something did happen," Nickerson told the Herald
by e-mail.
"It does make one think for sure and ask what we are, as a
young species,
possibly unaware of."
Naturally, there are plenty of
people who doubt the incident occurred.
Among the doubters is Robert
Sheaffer, 60, a 32-year veteran of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and
author of the book "UFO Sightings: The
Evidence."
"The bottom line is
that there is no evidence," he said of the case. "We don't
know what . . .
pressure may have been placed on the children to tell the
stories the way
they did."
Sheaffer said it's possible that the children, who had been
left alone,
decided to pull a prank. He conceived of a scenario in which the
older kids
in the group convinced the younger ones to go along with the
"sighting,"
which was taken to the next level when the authorities became
involved.
Nickerson says the film, which he hopes to complete later this
year, will
feature interviews with some of the now-adult witnesses who are
scattered
around the globe.
It will be up to viewers to decide
whether the truth is out there.
"Encounter in Ruwa: The Ariel School
Sighting" will screen June 12 from 7 to
9 p.m. at 38 Cameron Ave.,
Cambridge. Information at johnemackinstitute.org.
bbell@bostonherald.com
This is one brave family, but look deeper. What is left is the undoubtable fact that Mugabe is still calling the shots. Tsvangirai must not ignore this. If this had stopped then it would show that the sponsors of the unity government want it to work. They don't. They just want Mugabe to stay.
David Ashton, Bathurst, Australia
I sympathise with their plight, but I can't help but think that its not worth risking their lives for, especially that of their kids. They should get out of the country, if they can, though their cause is just.
Dan, Winchester, England
The Sadc are not solving any problems in Zimbabwe... where is a coup when you need one? How long can Mugabe continue like this? I have lived in Africa, it's never good to be there and not feel wanted. These people are Zimbabwean, living in a country that does not want to recognise their citizenship.
James, England, UK