Campaign to boost sales of the Zimbabwean using useless currency wins top award at Cannes Lions advertising festival
http://uk.reuters.com/
Wed Jun 24, 2009 5:04pm
BST
UNITED NATIONS, June 24 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe appealed to the
world on
Wednesday for a "financial stimulus package" for its devastated
economy,
saying lack of foreign support imperiled a recovery plan drawn up
by the
unity government.
Addressing a U.N. conference on the global
financial crisis, Vice President
Joice Mujuru said no conditions should be
attached to such a package.
The southern African country says it needs
$10 billion to rebuild
dilapidated infrastructure and ease 90 percent
unemployment.
But a three-week tour of the United States and Europe by
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, who shares power with President Robert
Mugabe, has
yielded mainly promises of aid only when Zimbabwe creates a
democracy and
improves human rights after what critics say was Mugabe's
repressive rule.
Since the new unity government took office in February,
inflation has fallen
rapidly from its once astronomical 200 million percent
after an effective
dollarization of the economy.
Mujuru said lack of
access to financial resources had hit the country's
agriculture and social
services, threatening attainment of U.N. anti-poverty
Millennium Development
Goals.
Fluctuating commodity prices has slowed down mining and lack of
investment
has hurt businesses, decreasing tax collection, Mujuru
said.
"This situation is now seriously undermining progress by our
inclusive
government ... to turn around our economy," she said. "The lack of
external
support now threatens the success of our short-term economic
recovery
program."
"I therefore take this opportunity to urge the
international community to
support Zimbabwe, by providing the country with a
financial stimulus package
to enable us to mitigate and offset the economic
and financial crisis," she
told delegates from more than 100
countries.
Such packages should be designed to fit the priorities of
recipient
countries, Mujuru said, adding: "As an honest broker, the U.N.
system should
be the first to take a stand against conditional aid."
(Reporting by Patrick
Worsnip; editing by Mohammad Zargham)
http://af.reuters.com
Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:43pm
GMT
* Tsvangirai secures promises, but not enough funding
* Under
pressure to make Mugabe more flexible
* Could take the blame for economic
troubles
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE, June 24 (Reuters) -
Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
tour of Western powers has
yielded scant funds and put him under mounting
pressure to persuade unity
government partner Robert Mugabe to agree to
reforms to secure foreign
aid.
Tsvangirai winds up a three-week trip to the United States and
Europe on
Thursday with a bag full of promises that they will only come to
Zimbabwe's
economic rescue when it creates a democracy and improves human
rights after
decades of what critics say was Mugabe's repressive one-party
rule.
Some analysts say Tsvangirai can capitalise on their demands to
push Mugabe
to become more cooperative in the new unity government which
faces the
increasingly urgent task of salvaging the African nation's ruined
economy.
Others say he could be the scapegoat if Zimbabwe does not get
the cash it
needs and the economy collapses further.
Although still
rivals, both Mugabe and Tsvangirai have to work together and
are running out
of time after promising millions of Zimbabweans a new era of
political
cooperation would ease their hardships.
Their credibility hinges on
whether they can secure the $10 billion needed
to rebuild pot-holed roads,
bare hospitals, dilapidated schools and ease 90
percent
unemployment.
"It's true that the prime minister did not get the money
the government
badly needs or even what he may have expected," said Eldred
Masunungure, a
professor of political science at the University of
Zimbabwe.
"It's true that he got more words and promisory notes than
cash. But
Tsvangirai can use the demands for political reforms that he got
all round
on this trip to press President Mugabe and (his party) ZANU-PF to
concede on
outstanding reforms."
At the start of his trip, officials
in Tsvangirai's party suggested he could
raise between $700 million and $1
billion from Western donors, but he has so
far managed just over $200
million -- most of which is going to NGOs -- not
the government, a sign of
lingering mistrust.
Zimbabwe, once a regional breadbasket, has secured
about $1 billion of
credit lines from Africa.
POLITICAL
TENSIONS
Efforts to persuade foreign countries their money will be safe
in Zimbabwe
have become a politicised and strategic
issue.
Tsvangirai's critics in Mugabe's camp have been waving his failure
to win
over Western leaders to pour money as a sign that he is an
ineffective
leader.
"What does he have to show us after previously
boasting that the MDC has
wealthy friends and that he has the key to their
cash vaults?" wrote one
columnist in a government newspaper.
Some of
Mugabe's supporters have even suggested that Tsvangirai had used the
government-sponsored trip to privately raise funds for his Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC).
Such accusations, rejected by Tsvangirai,
can only raise tensions in the
fragile new government formed in February
after months of post-election
deadlock.
Analysts say while it was
unclear how Mugabe would respond to the mounting
foreign pressure to free
the media, reform the judiciary and the military,
Tsvangirai could now be
blamed if the economy completely collapses for lack
of aid.
During
decades of animosity most critical eyes focused on Mugabe. Tsvangirai
was
generally free of scrutiny. Now he has to deliver to Zimbabweans who
want
relief -- urgently.
"There is a limit to which he can now continue
blaming things on the past.
If he fails on his own promises, he will be
called to account on that," said
Lovemore Madhuku, chairman of political
lobby group National Constitutional
Assembly.
"I am sure we are going
to see a lot of that because people are struggling,
and things are not
moving fast enough for many people."
Tsvangirai has no choice but to work
with old foe Mugabe.
In a desperate bid for aid, Tsvangirai told his
Western hosts there was no
longer any systematic political violence in
Zimbabwe, despite repeated
warnings that ZANU-PF arrests of MDC activists
could undermine the
government.
Tsvangirai learned he would also be
held accountable after leading rights
watchdog Amnesty International said
serious human rights violations
persisted.
Besides the United States,
Tsvangirai also visited Denmark, Germany, Norway,
the Netherlands, Britain,
France, Sweden and Brussels, seat of the European
Union. He is expected to
end his tour in France on Thursday.
Many Western countries imposed
sanctions on Mugabe's ZANU-PF government over
charges of human rights
abuses, vote-rigging and its seizures of white-owned
commercial farms for
redistribution to blacks without paying compensation.
Mugabe, 85, and in
power since independence from Britain in 1980, says
Zimbabwe's
once-prosperous economy has been wrecked by sanctions and his
land policy is
aimed at correcting colonial injustices.
John Makumbe, a veteran
political commentator and Mugabe critic, said the
president would have to
eventually back down.
"In my view, Mugabe and his people may delay the
reform process here and
there. But at the end of the day they have no choice
because they need
foreign aid to get the economy going and Tsvangirai can
capitalise on their
lack of co-operation," Makumbe said.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=18756
June 24, 2009
By Farayi Maruzani, MDC
Secretary for International Affairs, UK and Ireland
I WAS baffled at the
Southwark Cathedral last Saturday.
Thousands of people booed their leader
in an unprecedented move of defiance
and intolerance. The people in there
stopped Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai midway through his speech and
started chanting that 'Mugabe must
go'.
I went out of the hall at
that time to answer the call of nature but some
MDC supporters followed me
up the corridors and pulled my jacket. They
demanded to know why the MDC UK
leadership had 'failed to advise Tsvangirayi
properly'.
As I started
to respond a group of other youths wearing 'vigil' attire
started singing
around me: 'Tsvangirai usaite fun fun nevanhu' (Tsvangirai,
don't play games
with the people.)
I left the cathedral grounds and I made an early trek
to the venue of the
dinner that evening. At the hotel I had a one-to-one
discussion with Prime
Minister about what he had said at the cathedral and
his views about Mugabe.
He explained that Mugabe is committed to the deal
but does not trust him. He
said the sporadic attacks on people and farm
invasions were the brainchild
of remnant forces who want to see the failure
of the inclusive government
because they know that the success of the
transitional government means
their death.
He said these people were
in the minority and they will shortly fizzle out.
The acts of banditry were
not sanctioned by government but by some criminal
gangs sponsored by
hard-line remnants in Zanu-PF.
The same happened in 1980 when remnants of
the Rhodesian security forces and
Selous Scouts and Pfumo Revanhu continued
to brutalise people until 1982
when Smiths' hard-line remnants stole
aeroplanes from Thornhill Air Base to
Apartheid ruled South Africa. They did
not want the will of the people to
prevail but they fizzled out. They also
planned to assassinate Mugabe in an
operation code named 'Operation Quartz'.
They were against Mugabe becoming
the new Prime Minister of
Zimbabwe.
So what was behind the cathedral defiance to Tsvangirayi by his
supporters?
The area of contention was the way Tsvangirayi says things
about Zimbabwe
dictator Mugabe and how he seems to have downplayed human
rights abuses in
Zimbabwe, giving information which if picked by the home
office would
devastate asylum applications and put at risk the ability of
those who fail
to regularise their stay to claim benefits, housing, get jobs
and live
normally in Britain.
Some people want to bring their
families to the UK which is only possible if
they get asylum something they
feel is being threatened by Tsvangirai's
statements. Many Zimbabweans
expected Tsvangirai to actually come and assist
them to get asylum by
demonising Mugabe and painting a bleak future for the
inclusive
government.
That's where the fire is mostly coming from.
I
understand the problems faced by asylum seekers in the UK. They live as
second class citizens. I understand and their grievances against the party
but I must also say that it is undemocratic to silence anybody from airing
their views and this includes everyone, king or pauper, rich or poor, prime
minister or asylum seeker. It is, therefore, very unfortunate that people at
the cathedral Saturday afternoon decided to silence someone from airing his
views.
Tsvangirayi was supposed to be allowed to finish and answer
questions about
all our grievances and his relationship with Mugabe and we
decided to deny
him his democratic right to do so.
But he managed to
do that at the dinner in the evening. Most people who
attended the dinner
now back what he is doing unconditionally. This is so
because we allowed him
to speak and we asked him all the questions we had
and as usual he did not
disappoint.
A young lady asked Tsvangirayi what he will give her if she
takes his advice
and go to Zimbabwe. She said she is looking after five
people. Tsvangirai
said that he was inviting people to Zimbabwe not to give
them things but for
them to give something to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a
"non-runner" state and
nothing can be taken from it.
The problem is
that we want someone to do the work but not ourselves. We
want to go there
when Zimbabwe roads are all tarred by someone, when clinics
are working and
when schools and universities are flourishing. We want God
in heaven to
offer Tsvangirayi the personnel to sort the country for us then
we fly back
just to enjoy. We have been wired to look up to donors and
foreign leaders
like Mbeki and Bush to sort our problems for us.
I was born in Buhera
South at Muzokomba Clinic. The clinic was built by
donors. My father and
mother survived on food donated by foreign donors. I
grew up doubling breast
feeding and donated powdered milk which was donated
to the Ministry of
health by the European Economic Community in Brussels,
Belgium. When I was
one year old I started feeding on donated cereals from
the department of
Social Welfare at Murambinda Growth Point.
I received free medical
immunisation and I do not even know where all those
vaccines came from. My
mother does not know who donated the vaccinations
that saved my life either.
From the age of two to seven I had food at
feeding points and we ate very
highly nutritious porridge donated by Kellogg
Foundation based in London. At
the age of seven I went to Primary School.
Here again there was popular
mahewu donated by the Red Cross Society whose
Headquarters are in Geneva,
Switzerland. That was my main diet. The water
that all the school children
drank was wholly pumped and piped to school by
donors who provided the funds
to DDF.
I had this donated mahewu for seven years at Primary School. I
then went out
to secondary school. The secondary school was started by
missionaries but
all the important building like the laboratory, the
administration block and
dormitories were built by funding donated by the
Japanese government. The
equipment and chemicals in the laboratory were also
donated by the Japanese
Embassy in Harare using funds from
Tokyo.
After this I went to the University of Zimbabwe. The donors paid
my fees and
payout. There were many other students whose fees were paid by
donors, both
local and international ones. We preferred foreign donors to
local ones
although The Harare City Council was actually a better donor than
some
foreign sponsors at UZ.
After graduation I went to work but
there again my office and all the safes,
vehicles, tents, were donated by
UNICEF. All the fuel I used was donated. My
salary and the salaries of my
eight subordinates came from donors. Even my
boss's salary was paid by
donors.
Then Mugabe became a problem in Zimbabwe.
We started
looking up to George Bush, Tony Blair, Kofi Annan and Thabo Mbeki
to sort
Mugabe out. Instead of joining mass action and final pushes we hid
in our
houses and looked out through the windows to see if someone was on
the
streets when demonstrations were called. We decided to run away from the
country and plan to go back when Mbeki, Obama, Bush and Blair have sorted
Mugabe and the country. I am not the only one like this.
There are
many like me.
Many, as evidenced by some of our comments at the
Cathedral. We have a
warped thinking that someone must do the work and I
must go there to enjoy.
Someone must sort the sewerage pipes in Chitungwiza
before I set foot there.
Many are like this.
The Prime Minister is
saying; let us build our country together. Let us
together fight for our
freedom. Let us not be selfish. People inside
Zimbabwe want their clinics to
function and he wants to deliver. The quality
of lives of people must
improve. But all the skilled workers are gone.
Unless sacrifices are made
then clinics wont open and services won't be
delivered and cholera will
worsen. He is doing the correct thing and he is
not selling out.
The
Prime Minister said that groundwork is being prepared for free and fair
elections with international supervision in the next 18 months. The choice
is yours. If you want to assist rebuild you country this is the time. We
need to make a clean break from depending on donations to doing our own
things.
Those who are out of step are being left behind as we
continue to journey
towards or freedom.
http://af.reuters.com/
Wed Jun 24, 2009 1:00pm
GMT
HARARE, June 24 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe began hearings on Wednesday
on a new
constitution to comply with a power-sharing deal and usher in
elections.
President Robert Mugabe formed a unity government in February
with arch-foe
Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime minister, after disputed
elections last year
and agreed to write a new constitution within 18
months.
Zimbabweans hope a new charter, replacing one inked in 1979,
before
independence from Britain, will strengthen the role of parliament and
whittle down the president's powers, and guarantee civil liberties and
political and media freedoms.
If the any constitution is adopted
after a referendum, elections could
follow but Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) may agree to defer the
vote to a later date.
The constitutional process had appeared to be
derailing after ZANU-PF
legislators sought to delay hearings because they
said they were not
prepared.
But on Wednesday members of parliament
held separate meetings with civic
society groups, churches and political
parties in the country's 10 provinces
to identify delegates to would attend
a major conference next month.
"The constitution-making train is leaving
station and I want you to be on
board," Douglas Mwonzora, who co-chairs a
parliamentary select committee
coordinating the process, told hundreds of
delegates attending a hearing in
Harare.
Up to 5,000 delegates will
attend a national stakeholders' conference in the
capital in July choose
members for various committees that will travel
around the country
soliciting people's views on the constitution.
Civic groups want to
ensure politicians do not have an undue influence on
the process to push
their own agenda at the expense of the people.
Mwonzora said all draft
documents, including those produced by churches, the
MDC and lobby group
National Constitutional Assembly would all be
considered.
ZANU-PF has
requested that a draft agreed between it and MDC in 2007 be used
as the
discussion document.
The draft was never used because ZANU-PF and MDC
were bitterly divided on
the timing of its adoption. Mugabe had sought to
have it adopted after last
year's elections while the MDC had wanted it used
before those elections.
The official Herald said in an editorial that
using the 2007 draft would
save money.
Zimbabwe's new administration
has struggled to get aid from sceptical
Western donors who are pressing for
more political and economic reforms.
Harare says it needs up to $10 billion
to fix an economy shattered by a
decade of recession.
"The
constitution making process is taking place in an environment of acute
resource constraints," Lovemore Moyo, speaker of parliament, told foreign
diplomats.
"We call upon you ... to lend your support to this
process." (reporting by
MacDonald Dzirutwe)
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
24 June
2009
The MDC and ZANU PF parties, who entered into a coalition government
4
months ago, are heading for a potential clash over the framework for a new
constitution. Robert Mugabe has told his ZANU PF Central Committee this week
that the inclusive government will come up with a new constitution, in line
with the widely criticized Kariba Draft document. On Tuesday the MDC however
issued a statement saying they will reject any attempts to have this draft
adopted as a roadmap. 'The MDC believes in a truly people-driven
constitution-making process where the unfettered will of the people must be
reflected,' their statement read.
Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa
reports that a provincial all-stakeholders
conference was held in Harare on
Wednesday at the Rainbow Towers hotel in
the morning. Present was Masvingo
MP Tongai Matutu the Chairman of the House
Legal and Procedural Committee in
Parliament and Nyanga North MP and lawyer
Douglas Mwonzora, among others.
Representatives from civil society,
students, churches and labour unions
were also there. But Muchemwa says top
officials from the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) boycotted the
meeting, although they sent
representatives to observe proceedings.
Under the process, a series of
provincial hearings will lead up to a
National All-stakeholders Conference
in July this year. After that 70 teams
from each province will hold 3
meetings per ward and come up with reports
that are forwarded to what is
called a 'provincial thematic committee'. This
committee will then forward
its recommendations to the parliamentary team. A
draft constitution is
expected in February 2010 and a further month will
pass while it is debated.
A referendum is expected to be conducted 3 months
after the debate is over,
meaning a new constitution is only likely some
time in July
2010.
Groups like the NCA and the recently launched Democratic United
Front (DUF)
are opposing this parliament controlled process. DUF for example
was
distributing pamphlets in Harare during the stakeholder's conference,
accusing MP's of abusing the Global Political Agreement and its provisions,
to marginalize ordinary people. Mike Sambo, the national coordinator, told
Newsreel there are many parties and interest groups who are not in
parliament and their views will not find a voice under the current process.
He said they want the new constitution to address social and economic rights
including what he called 'attacks on the working class.' The group says it
will participate in the process but 'under protest'.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
24 June 2009
The
United Kingdom government announced on Wednesday that it will be giving
a
total of $100million (£60m) to Zimbabwe, in humanitarian support in 2009
and
2010. The announcement was made by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
when
he pledged an additional $8 million (£5m) for food security and
educational
textbooks, during a meeting with Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai on
Monday.
The UK's International Development Secretary, Douglas Alexander,
said: "Our
£60 million package will provide support directly to Zimbabwe's
poorest
people. Our assistance has already helped one million people in
Zimbabwe get
access to clean water and has enabled two million to grow more
food, as well
as helping get the worst cholera outbreak in the country's
history under
control."
"The new inclusive Zimbabwean Government
presents a real opportunity to
help the Zimbabwean people and to support
economic, political and social
reform. We stand ready to provide more
support should we see further
progress towards reform." The UK said the
funds will be channelled through
non-governmental organisations and the
United Nations.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tsvangirai winds up his three
week long
re-engagement and fundraising tour in western countries this week,
with a
final visit to France. The Prime Minister has reportedly raised
$150million,
mostly in humanitarian aid, but this is much less that the more
than $8
billion the coalition needs to rebuild the country, over a five year
period.
Furthermore, western governments have insisted that aid pledges
will go
through specific NGO projects and not directly to the government.
They say
full developmental aid will only be given when the Zimbabwean
government
shows proper democratic reforms. Most of the promised aid will be
in the
form of humanitarian assistance in areas of health and
education.
Economists such as Tony Hawkins say the aid pledges provide
little comfort
for the government, which faces a growing financing problem.
He says
frustrated civil servants are demanding a return to "proper
salaries" to
replace the existing $100 a month allowance being paid to all
public
servants. "These allowances absorb almost a third of projected
revenue of
$880m. In May, revenue was estimated at $60m and it is estimated
that by the
end of this month the Treasury will have raised less than 35 per
cent of its
revenue target for the whole year."
Hawkins says the
situation is exacerbated by wage awards in the private
sector, where workers
are being paid more than double their public service
counterparts.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai told reporters in London this
week that the money
pledged so far is sufficient to support basic services
like health,
education and food production. He said there have been
significant changes
in Zimbabwe since the formation of the unity government
in February, adding:
"As a society, we were near death, and we have come
back to life."
From France 24, 24 June
Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on
Tuesday he had formed a
working relationship with Robert Mugabe and saw
scope for the long-serving
president eventually to make a dignified exit
from power. Tsvangirai joined
a unity government with rival Mugabe in
February to end a political and
economic crisis. Mugabe has ruled the
southern African country since
independence from Britain in 1980 and critics
say he has ruined a once
prosperous nation. "It's too early to say I trust
him wholly, but where we
differ, we differ respectfully," Tsvangirai told an
audience after a speech
in London. "I'm prepared to work with him for the
good of the country,"
added Tsvangirai, who said in 2007 he had been beaten
at a police station
after he was arrested at an anti-Mugabe rally. Asked
whether Mugabe might
make a "dignified exit", Tsvangirai said the transition
process provided a
platform for him to go quietly, adding that Mugabe had
the chance to restore
his legacy as a founding father of
Zimbabwe.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai have agreed on an 18-month timetable
for political
reforms, with a referendum on a new constitution to be held in
little over a
year. Tsvangirai is on the final leg of a tour to Europe and
the United
States to drum up cash from Western donors, but the trip has
yielded only
small contributions towards the $10 billion Zimbabwe says it
needs to
rebuild its shattered economy. Most donors are choosing to channel
money
through charities or UN agencies rather than give it to a government
where
Mugabe still wields influence. Tsvangirai said the money received was
sufficient to support basic services like health, education and food
production. "I think it's quite substantial," he told reporters. Tsvangirai
said Zimbabwe had made huge strides since the unity government was formed in
February. "Zimbabwe has become a totally different place, a significantly
better place, in the past four months," he said. "As a society, we were near
death, and we have come back to life."
That echoed comments from
the minister for economic planning who told
Reuters on Tuesday that
Zimbabwe's economy had turned around, with
employment and industrial
capacity use doubling and once record-breaking
inflation under control. But
back at home, Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change party said police
were arresting its legislators and
senior party members, while public media
had increased hostile reporting to
discredit and undermine the prime
minister. Senior MDC official Tapiwa
Mashakada said Southern African leaders
could meet next month to mediate in
what the party says are continued
violations by Mugabe's Zanu PF of a
political pact signed last year.
Zimbabwe remains subject to Western
sanctions. Britain denied Zimbabwe's
mines minister a visa for a mining
investment conference in London, angering
Zanu PF. Tsvangirai said he hoped
sanctions could be removed if Zimbabwe
proved it was committed to political
reform. "Eventually sanctions must be
removed. It would be
counter-productive to punish progress," he
said.
http://www.sabcnews.com
June 24
2009
, 7:11:00
Muntu Lukhozi, London
Zimbabwe's
Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, says that the unity
government provides a
good opportunity for President Robert Mugabe's
dignified political exit.
Addressing diplomats and political experts in
London, Tsvangirai said it
would be in the Mugabe's interest to grab this
opportunity with both
hands.
"For now the support we have received on this tour has been
sufficient
to consolidate the government in terms of it's delivering in
education and
health, water, sanitation and those are the basic
services."
Tsvangirai says the new government has provided the
platform for
Mugabe's exit. "If there was no inclusive government, there was
no way
Mugabe would have a dignified exit. This gives him two possibilities,
to
restore his legacy as the founding father of Zimbabwe, and secondly to
allow
for the transition to take place without allowing the country to slide
back
into chaos."
Re-engagement with international
community
Tsvangirai says his whirlwind visit to London is about
re-engagement
with the international community, but the sanctions against
Zimbabwe remain
in place. While some feel this visit didn't yield what he
had hoped for -
there are calls for some understanding.
Chatham
House's Thomas Cargill says: "I think it's true that the Prime
Minister has
a big hill to climb, and a lot of work to do to convince people
outside
Zimbabwe and certainly in the UK that this government of national
unity is
meaningful and can deliver the kind of reforms that are so
desperately
sought by Zimbabweans." Tsvangirai has urged Zimbabweans in
Diaspora to take
their skills back home where they are much needed.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
Wednesday 24 June
2009
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party
said Tuesday that it
expected regional leaders to meet next month to discuss
problems bedevelling
Zimbabwe's power-sharing government.
The South
African Development Community (SADC) brokered last September's
power-sharing
agreement between the MDC and President Robert Mugabe's ZANU
PF party that
led to formation of a unity government last February.
The regional bloc
is guarantor to the agreement and promised to review the
pact six months
after formation of a unity government between Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, who heads a smaller
MDC faction. The
government has been in office for about five months.
MDC acting secretary
general Tapuwa Mashakada told ZimOnline that the party
had referred what it
regards as "ZANU PF's insincerity in implementing the
power-sharing
agreement and a fresh crackdown on MDC members" to the SADC,
adding that a
regional summit could take place by early next month.
"We expect another
meeting soon to discuss the outstanding issues. I am
informed that the
meeting might be called in early July but I don't have the
actual dates,"
said Mashakada said, speaking moments after a meeting of the
MDC national
executive in Harare to discuss problems and developments in the
unity
government.
The MDC accuses Mugabe of insincerity because the veteran
leader - who still
wields immense power - has refused to fire controversial
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono and Attorney General Johannes
Tomana who he
appointed to their posts without consulting his coalition
partners as
required under the power-sharing agreement.
Tsvangirai's
party also says Tomana and the police have intensified a
crackdown against
MDC officials and activists which has seen several of the
party's
legislators arrested and charged in court.
The courts have convicted some
of the MDC legislators but the party insists
they were framed as part of a
drive by Mugabe to whittle down its
representation in
Parliament.
Tsvangirai did not attend Tuesday's meeting of the MDC
executive council as
he was yet to return from a tour of Western capitals to
try to raise
financial support for the unity government.
The United
States and its European Union allies visited by Tsvangirai
promised more
humanitarian support for Zimbabwe but held back on direct
financial support
until Harare implements more reforms and acts to uphold
human
rights.
Meanwhile the MDC national executive resolved to oppose plans by
ZANU PF to
have a draft constitution known as the Kariba Draft used as the
working
document in writing anew constitution for Zimbabwe.
The
Kariba Draft was prepared by ZANU PF and MDC representatives well before
formation of the unity government. It has remained secret, while civic
society groups have said they will mobilise Zimbabweans to reject use of the
document as the foundation of a new constitution. ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Andrew Moyo
Wednesday 24 June 2009
HARARE - Last year's decision by China
and Russia to block United Nations
(UN) sanctions against Zimbabwe paved way
for power-sharing negotiations to
continue leading to formation of a unity
government in the African country,
Beijing's top diplomat in Harare said on
Tuesday.
The drive to rally the UN community against President Robert
Mugabe and his
old government flopped after Beijing and Moscow, allies of
the Zimbabwean
leader, vetoed a United States-sponsored draft resolution for
the Security
Council to impose an arms embargo on Zimbabwe as well as visa
and financial
sanctions on top government officials.
Chinese
ambassador to Zimbabwe Yuan Nansheng said had the US proposals
passed
power-sharing negotiations that were taking place in neighbouring
South
Africa could have collapsed because the sanctions resolution would
have
banned UN member countries from allowing representatives of Mugabe's
ZANU PF
party into their territory.
"The veto by China and Russia has provided a
good foundation for the
formation of the inclusive government," said
Nansheng in his last briefing
to reporters before leaving Zimbabwe to take
up a new diplomatic post in
Suriname.
Yuan said: "SADC and the
African Union (did) not wish to see the resolution
through. China and Russia
wanted to create a good environment for Zimbabwe.
He added, "China and
Russia vetoed the US proposals in line with the SADC
and African Union
position. I do not think the inclusive government would
have been
established if Russia and China had not vetoed the US resolution."
While
negotiations between ZANU PF and the then two MDC opposition
formations
would have most likely continued at another venue, sanctions
would have
certainly hardened Mugabe and his lieutenants and make them less
inclined to
agree to have their grip on power diluted through coalition
government with
their former foes.
There was also likelihood that pro-Mugabe military
commanders could have
ordered a crackdown against the MDC, which they would
have blamed for the
sanctions because of its perceived close ties with
Western governments.
Meanwhile Yuan praised Mugabe's "Look East" foreign
policy for helping
strengthen relations between China and Zimbabwe but he
urged the Harare
authorities to also pursue relations with other
countries.
"The look East Policy ensured the strengthening on friendship
between the
two countries. It does not mean when you adopt a Look East
Policy you
exclude relationships with others. Zimbabwe should also promote
relations
with other countries," he said.
Zimbabwe has since 2000
promoted an aggressive "Look East" policy premised
on the need to find new
trading partners and markets after traditional
investors from Western
nations turned against Harare in protest over Mugabe's
human rights abuses,
repression against political opponents and violent
land-grab programme. -
ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=18687
June 24, 2009
By Our
Correspondents
HARARE - Zimbabwe's two vice Presidents, Joseph Msika and
Joice Mujuru,
almost quit President Robert Mugabe's Mugabe government in
protest at his
decision to include favoured politician Oppah Muchinguri in
the cabinet in
February.
Sources in the Zanu-PF politburo revealed
this week that Msika, elderly and
ailing, and Mujuru fiercely resisted plans
by President Mugabe, first, to
allocate a non-constituency seat to
Muchinguri and then a cabinet post in
the inclusive government.
The
two are said to have threatened to quit if Mugabe went ahead with his
plans
to include Muchinguri, long regarded as a Mugabe favourite, in the new
government after she lost her parliamentary seat in the March 20008
elections.
Muchinguri (51) served as Minister of Women's Affairs,
Gender and Community
Development from 2005 to 2009. Previously she was
governor of Manicaland
Province.
She is said to be now gunning for
the position of vice-president of Zanu-PF,
challenging incumbent Mujuru.
Muchinguri is said to have the backing of
Defence Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa, a rival of Mujuru's husband Solomon
Tapfumaneyi Mujuru. Solomon
Mujuru, the wealthy former commander of the
Zimbabwe National Army is an
influential figure in Zanu-PF.
The Zimbabwe Times sources said in
challenging Mugabe's decision to appoint
Muchinguri to the cabinet, Msika
and Mujuru argued that she could not play a
role in the new government since
she had lost her parliamentary seat in
March 2009. President Mugabe warned
his ministers before that election that
whoever lost their constituency was
not guaranteed to return to cabinet.
His proposal to appoint Muchinguri
despite her loss is said to have
therefore infuriated his two top
lieutenants. Muchinguri lost to the MDC's
Trevor Saruwaka in Mutasa Central
Constituency in Manicaland.
"Msika and Mujuru were livid and made it
clear they would quit if Mugabe
went ahead with plans to appoint Muchinguri
into the new government," said a
politburo member. "The President
immediately retreated after realizing the
two were serious."
In fact
the inclusive cabinet includes a number of Zanu-PF ministers who
lost their
seats in Parliament in 2008. They include Patrick Chinamasa, the
party's
chief negotiator during the talks which culminated in the signing of
the
Global Political Agreement in September 2008. All ministers representing
the
breakaway faction of the MDC, including party leader Deputy Prime
Minister
Arthur Mutambara were also defeated at the polls.
Mugabe's special regard
for Muchinguri goes back to the liberation struggle
in Mozambique in the
1970s. She was a personal assistant to Zanla commander
Josiah Tongogara, who
died in a car crash on the eve of independence in
1980.
Muchinguri
survived the fatal accident that killed the popular guerilla
commander.
"If anyone tries to remove President Mugabe from power we
will march in the
streets and we are prepared to remove our clothes in
support of his
candidature in next year's election," Muchinguri said at
Zanu-PF
headquarters in 2006.
After he failed to appoint Muchinguri
to cabinet, Mugabe appointed her to
the Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee (JOMIC) which supervises
the operations of the inclusive
government.
The sources say Muchinguri was so bitter with this turn of
events that she
now wants to challenge Mujuru at the Zanu-PF special
conference to be held
at the end of the year.
"Battle lines were
drawn after Muchinguri realized Mujuru had thwarted her
appointment into
Cabinet and the friendship between the two has turned
sour," said one
source.
Muchinguri was instrumental in canvassing for Mujuru's bid to
become vice
president ahead of Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2004. Now she is said
to be aligned
with Mnangagwa. Both Muchinguri and Mujuru (54) saw active
service with
Zanla, the armed wing of ZANU in Mozambique during Zimbabwe's
liberation
struggle.
"During the women's league congress, Joice
Mujuru is going to be denounced
for allegedly working with (Morgan)
Tsvangirai's party and for furthering
the political interests of her husband
instead of those of the party," The
Independent newspaper reported last
week.
http://www.voanews.com
By Blessing Zulu
Washington
23 June
2009
The news that British authorities denied Zimbabwe Mining
Minister Obert
Mpofu a visa to take part in a London conference on the
sector has sharpened
divisions within Zimbabwe's unity government as Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai nears the end of a Western tour.
Sources
in the ZANU-PF party of President Robert Mugabe said party
hardliners were
urging Mr. Mugabe to call Mr. Tsvangirai home, but that
support for that
position was limited.
But Britain's enforcement of European Union travel
sanctions on Mpofu, a
ZANU-PF member, has angered those in the longtime
ruling party who say Mr.
Tsvangirai has been raising funds that will go to
non-governmental
organizations not to the power-sharing
government.
They also say Mr. Tsvangirai has allowed ZANU-PF ministers
traveling with
him to be slighted by Western leaders including U.S.
President Barack Obama,
who refused to receive ZANU-PF Tourism Minister
Walter Mzembi with Mr.
Tsvangirai on June 12 in Washington.
Mpofu is
especially controversial among human rights activists because he
dismissed
reports of mass killings by the armed forces in the Marange
diamond fields
in Manicaland province.
Rights activists say more than 200 died as troops
shot suspected diamond
poachers.
Britain has not uniformly applied EU
sanctions, though: it waived sanctions
to grant visas to Foreign Affairs
Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi and
Tourism Minister
Mzembi.
Following the mining conference in London on Friday, Mr.
Tsvangirai urged
investors in all sectors to consider ventures in
Zimbabwe.
Tsvangirai spokeman James Maridadi told VOA reporter Blessing
Zulu that Mr.
Tsvangirai also met with British members of parliament and
other officials
Political analyst Glen Mpani said ZANU-PF must institute
sweeping economic
and political reforms if it is to realistically expect
sanctions to be
lifted.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
24 June
2009
Concern is being raised over the future of media freedom in the
country, as
two new media laws, which are set to replace the controversial
Access to
Information and Privacy Act (AIPPA), are said to be the brainchild
of media
'hangman' George Charamba.
The draconian AIPPA, which has
been used by Robert Mugabe's regime to
strangle media freedom, will fall
away and instead make room for the
proposed Freedom of Information Act and
the Media Practitioners Act. It's
understood that the Media Practitioners
Act will outline procedures for the
regulation of journalists, while the
Freedom of Information Act will
regulate access to information and privacy
issues.
The proposed laws are currently being crafted by the unity
government, and
will be placed before Parliament for adoption. The acts were
apparently
agreed upon at the recent media conference held in Kariba last
month, which
was a coming together of the country's most notorious media
'hangmen'. The
event was boycotted by the majority of independent media
groups, who
therefore have had no say in the drafting of the new laws. Of
most concern
however is the apparent involvement of ZANU PF's George
Charamba, who is
said to be the brains behind the formation of the new
acts.
The chairperson of a parliamentary portfolio Committee on Media,
Information
and Communication Technologies, Gift Chimanikire, has admitted
that the
introduction of the laws is a 'compromise', saying in recent
interviews that
"what we are working on is not the ideal
situation."
Loughty Dube, the chairman of the Zimbabwe chapter of the
Media Institute of
Southern Africa (MISA), told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday
that "there is no
more time for compromises." He said the unity government
has a small window
of opportunity to implement real reforms, and that
missing that opportunity
could be 'disastrous'. Dube expressed concern over
Charamba's involvement in
the formation of the new laws, and added that
media role players such as
MISA crucially need to be involved in any
formation of media regulatory law.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
24
June 2009
Deputy Mining Minister Murisi Zwizwai has denied there were any
killings in
the eastern Marange diamond fields last year, telling a meeting
of the
Kimberley Process in Namibia on Wednesday that claims were a result
of
'unsubstantiated reports'.
There have been widespread accounts of
killings in the Chiadzwa area, which
has been the centre of controversy
since last October when the army was
called in to disperse thousands of
illegal diamond hunters. But Zwizwai told
Wednesday's meeting of the
Kimberley Process, the international scheme to
curb the sale of 'blood
diamonds', that the situation in Marange had been
brought under
control.
"Contrary to allegations in the media, nobody was killed by security
forces
during an operation at Marange, where about 30,000 people descended
onto the
alluvial mining field," Zwizwai told the 200 delegates at the
conference.
"These people comprised of cunning, die-hard illegal diamond
diggers,"
Zwizwai said. "This compelled government to conduct a special
operation to
flush out the illegal diamond miners and to bring order and
sanity to the
area."
The government had originally, illegally, seized
the Chiadzwa diamond claim
in 2007, and set off a diamond rush when it
encouraged locals to help
themselves. But the arrival of the army last year
resulted in violence and
murder, after the area was sealed off with military
roadblocks and troops.
Accounts from survivors of the military onslaught
detailed the killings,
speaking of machine-gun attacks by helicopter and
armed attacks by troops on
the ground. Civilians in the region also reported
that anyone attempting to
enter Chiadzwa was arrested and often tortured and
killed.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have said that about 5,000
people were
arrested during the army operation, with three quarters of them
showing
signs of having been tortured severely. The MDC has also claimed
that
hundreds of people were buried in mass graves "to hide the regime's
murderous activities," and that the soldiers sent to 'guard' the fields had
become illegal diamond dealers themselves.
Human rights groups have
called for Zimbabwe's suspension from the Kimberley
Process, over claims of
forced evictions and other abuses in Marange. The
World Federation of
Diamond Bourses in April banned the sale of diamonds
from Marange, but
Kimberley has resisted taking a tough stance.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=18702
June 24, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - The days of National Healing, Reconciliation and
Integration
Minister Gibson Sibanda as a cabinet minister are
numbered.
He has ceased to be Member of Parliament following his failure
to secure a
parliamentary seat within the constitutionally stipulated three
months from
his appointment as minister. Sibanda became a cabinet minister
in February
as a non-constituency Senator and was required, in terms of the
Constitution, to secure a parliamentary seat by May 19, or he would forfeit
his cabinet post.
There had been anxiety within the breakaway faction
of the MDC led by Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara over how to resolve
the predicament of its
deputy president, Sibanda, and secure a seat for him
in Parliament.
The crisis has defied solution and Sibanda is now required
to vacate his
ministerial office.
The root cause of the party's
dilemma was the failure of its entire
leadership to win parliamentary seats
in the elections held in March 2008.
They were then appointed cabinet
ministers in February in terms of the
Global Political Agreement signed by
the parties in September 2008. Special
non-constituency seats were set aside
in the Senate and in Parliament in
order for them to be eligible for
ministerial positions.
The Mutambara faction immediately exhausted its
allocation of
non-constituency seats. It allocated a parliamentary seat to
its president,
Mutambara, who is now Deputy Prime Minister. Then it
allocated its two
senatorial seats to Welshman Ncube and Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga - the
party's secretary general and deputy,
respectively.
Sibanda, who lost his parliamentary seat in Bulawayo's
Nkulumane suburb to
Thamsanqa Mahlangu of Tsvangirai's mainstream MDC, was
left high and dry.
Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma was quoted in the
press on Monday as
saying the Constitution was categorically clear on the
provision relating to
the peculiar circumstances that Minister Sibanda finds
himself in.
"You just need to read the Constitution; it is self
explanatory," said
Zvoma. "He can no longer continue attending parliamentary
sessions without
regularising that.
"He could only attend
parliamentary proceedings during the three-month
period within which he was
then supposed to secure a seat."
If Sibanda has no place in Parliament
now, after expiry of the deadline, he
cannot legally serve as a government
minister. Sources within the
Mutambara-led MDC say the party tried to
circumvent the sticky problem by
seeking to appoint Mangwe Member of
Parliament, Edward Mkhosi, as governor
and resident minister for
Matabeleland South Province to vacate his
parliamentary seat and make way
for Sibanda.
In terms of the Global Political Agreement signed between
Zanu-PF, MDC-T and
MDC, when a constituency falls vacant, the party holding
that seat can
nominate a successor to fill the vacancy.
Sibanda's
predicament is not without precedent.
In 2002, Minister Sithembiso Nyoni
of Zanu-PF failed to secure a
parliamentary seat within the stipulated
period when she found herself in
similar circumstances.
She was
forced to relinquish her ministerial post until she finally secured
the
parliamentary seat.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondent
Wednesday 24 June 2009
JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwe's temporary
political stabilisation following
formation of a unity government in
February has neither stopped nor slowed
new arrivals of Zimbabweans in South
Africa, a Johannesburg-based
non-governmental organisation (NGO)
representing refugees and migrants has
said.
The Consortium for
Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CORMSA) said in a
recent report that
similar levels of migration should continue for the next
two to five years,
and could rise if the power sharing government between
President Robert
Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai collapsed.
But CORMSA urged
South African authorities not to restrict migration into
the country, adding
this would hamper the country's development because most
migrants were
self-sufficient bringing in skills and resources that
generated
jobs.
"We will find no answers to South Africa's problems by halting
migration,"
said CORMSA.
"As such, migration is not a threat to South
Africans' economic or physical
security. Managed properly, it could lead to
investment, job creation and a
more productive economy.
"To realise
this end, we need to move beyond the deceptive goal of sealing
off the South
African border."?
CORMSA has urged newly installed South African
President Jacob Zuma to
prioritise the security of all people resident in
the country and work
closely with civil society to avert a repeat of the
suffering and deaths
experienced last year.
The NGO which brings
together refugee and migrant workers service providers
in Africa's economic
powerhouse said as shown by the May 2008 xenophobia,
South Africa could not
protect the migrants within its borders which could
make it struggle to
recruit the people it needed.
South Africa - the continent's most
prosperous country - hosts millions of
immigrants from other African
countries among them an estimated two million
Zimbabweans who have fled
their home country because of political violence
and hunger after a
decade-long economic crisis, critics blame on Mugabe's
controversial
policies.
The unity government is yet to convince rich Western nations
that the
southern African country is firmly on the path to genuine reform
for them
give it much needed financial support to resuscitate its shattered
economy. - ZimOnline
http://www.ft.com
Published: June 24 2009 20:35 | Last updated: June 24 2009
20:35
Morgan Tsvangirai is putting on a brave face. In search of the
financial
support Zimbabwe needs to recover from years of catastrophic
misrule, he has
spent three weeks shuttling between western capitals. He has
been warmly
welcomed at the highest levels. Yet he returns to Harare with
little to show
for it.
He has raised $150m in humanitarian aid. But
none of this will be channelled
through government. This leaves him with the
impossible choice of cutting a
slender budget and facing industrial action,
or raising taxes from
businesses suffering diminishing returns. Worse, Mr
Tsvangirai's efforts to
persuade global opinion that President Robert Mugabe
has accepted change - a
prerequisite for aid - is costing him the support he
has won back home
during many tough years in opposition.
Sadly, this
was inevitable. Mr Tsvangirai is courageous. He has been
battered, jailed
and robbed of election victory. There is no doubt that by
agreeing to serve
as prime minister under the man responsible for many of
his woes, he hoped
to save his country. Yet good salesmanship alone was
never going to convince
opinion of Mr Mugabe's good intentions.
Foreign donors are confronted
with a difficult calculation. If they continue
to withhold financial
support, Mr Tsvangirai will inevitably fail to
transform Zimbabwe's
fortunes. He could emerge a much diminished figure. Yet
there is no
guarantee he will succeed in marginalising Mr Mugabe, even with
a
multi-billion-dollar rescue package.
To be fair, there have been
improvements in the months since the coalition
government was formed.
Dollarising the economy has halted hyper-inflation.
There are more
provisions in the markets and a cholera epidemic has been
stalled.
Businesses are finding it easier to operate.
Yet on the evidence so far,
Mr Mugabe is still very much in control, using
the cover of the coalition to
rehabilitate his ruling Zanu-PF. His thugs are
still hounding Mr
Tsvangirai's supporters and invading farms. Even Gideon
Gono, the architect
of Zimbabwe's economic collapse, is still in place as
governor of the
central bank. And while Mr Tsvangirai was pleading for
Zimbabwe, state media
were ridiculing him back home.
Southern African leaders, who promoted the
power-sharing deal, are failing
to ensure that Mr Mugabe keeps his end of
the bargain. So long as this is
so, and there is no clear endgame for his
rule, the case for rescuing the
government with aid will be weak.
Campaign to boost sales of the
Zimbabwean using useless currency wins top award at Cannes Lions advertising
festival A campaign to boost sales of the Zimbabwean, a newspaper that attacked Robert
Mugabe's regime by using the troubled country's almost worthless bank notes to
make billboard adverts, has won the top award in the outdoor category at the
Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival. The campaign to promote sales of the newspaper, which is published in the UK
and South Africa, used the Zimbabwean currency as an advertising medium on
posters and billboards to raise awareness of the dire state of the country under
Mugabe. Straplines used in the poster campaign included "Thanks to Mugabe this money
is wallpaper", "Z$250,000,000 cannot buy the paper to print this poster on",
"It's cheaper to print this on money than on paper", and "Fight the regime that
has crippled a country". The ads, by South African agency TBWA/Hunt/Lascaris/Johannesburg, won the
Cannes Lions Grand Prix award for outdoor advertising. The Zimbabwean campaign
also won a gold lion in the media category. The agency said one of the most "eloquent symbols" of the state the country
is in, with rampant inflation, was to use the Zimbabwean currency. The newspaper faces a 55% "luxury import" tax to get copies into Zimbabwe, making it
unaffordable to most locals. To get more copies of the paper into the hands of Zimbabweans it has to be
subsidised, which is done by raising awareness and sales outside the
country. The Zimbabwean newspaper, which carries the slogan A Voice
for the Voiceless, targets the more than one million Zimbabweans who live in
the UK and two million who live in Southern Africa, mainly South Africa and
Botswana. Wilf Mbanga, the founder, editor and publisher of the Zimbabwean, lives in
Britain after being forced to leave Zimbabwe when he was branded an enemy of the
people. He has
written for the Guardian's Comment is Free blogging website. UK ad agency DDB London won a bronze lion at Cannes in the outdoor category
for a campaign for Harvey Nichols in Bristol.
From the SILVERDOCS website:
This year’s SILVERDOCS Sterling Award for a World Feature goes to MUGABE AND THE WHITE AFRICAN directed by Lucy Bailey and Andrew Thompson, which explores, through the lens of a 74-year-old white farmer, Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s deeply controversial land seizure program, which intended to re-distribute white-owned farmland. The director will receive $10,000 cash.
The Jury noted: “The three of us on the International Jury have very different backgrounds, sensitivities and outlooks. But all three of us were totally unanimous in our verdict. Our chosen film displays a moral conviction which grew from the vision behind it, became an integral part of the trusting relationship between the contributors and the filmmakers, and that powerfully elevates a resonant story to a global stage. We want to commend the filmmaking team for the physical risks they took in their relentless pursuit of this story, and for having the wisdom and humility to simply give their characters the freedom to intimately express anguish, doubt and resolve.” (Link to SILVERDOCS website).
Read more about this documentary on our earlier blog here: “Mugabe and the White African”
Archived blogs on Mount Carmel Farm
http://online.wsj.com
JUNE 24,
2009
Tentative signs of progress in Zimbabwe could and
should pave the way for
private investment.
By JAMES A. HARMON | FROM
TODAY'S WALL STREET JOURNAL EUROPE
Zimbabwe is tentatively emerging from a
decade of international isolation.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is
currently on a tour of major capitals to
drum up support for his fragile,
yet promising, four-month-old unity
government.
During his visits to
Washington, Brussels, Berlin and London, Mr. Tsvangirai
has been asking for
more development assistance. The response has been
variations on a theme:
"We support you in your struggle for democracy but
need to see more progress
before any real money is forthcoming."
International donors are wary because
Robert Mugabe -- who systematically
destroyed his country's economy to stay
in power and whose lieutenants have
arrested and beaten Mr. Tsvangarai
several times -- remains president.
Mugabe's thugs are also still in place,
looking over Mr. Tsvangirai's
shoulder.
Yet despite this imperfect
political deal, Zimbabwe has made significant
progress in just a few months
that provides signs of hope for the future.
The worthless Zimbabwean dollar
has been scrapped as of June 1, and the U.S.
dollar and South African rand
are now legal tender. This helped eliminate
Zimbabwe's hyperinflation, which
is now effectively zero, compared to
billions of percent between mid 2008
and January 2009. Dollarization,
combined with new rules allowing exporters
to retain their foreign exchange
instead of having to convert into
Zimbabwean dollars at official rates,
instantly made more businesses
profitable. This also has diminished the
ruling party's patronage machine
and reduced the policy-making clout of the
central bank governor, Gideon
Gono, an old Mugabe comrade. An emergency
budget has allowed civil servants
to start receiving their salaries again,
and has begun to restart essential
services.
The man primarily responsible for these positive steps is
Tendai Biti, the
new finance minister and longtime deputy to Mr. Tsvangiari.
What's more,
other capable, decent people have replaced Mugabe's yes-men in
most of the
critical ministries, such as energy and power development,
education and
health. Although the government is short on supplies and
materials, it has
reopened schools and hospitals and has put food and other
commodities back
on once empty store shelves. It has also identified and
prioritized
investment goals in key areas of power generation and
transmission,
education, health and infrastructure.
These moves have
caught the attention of international donors, and they have
opened the door
a crack toward normalization. Zimbabwe will receive some
additional
humanitarian aid from the World Bank, Britain, the U.S. and
others to get
schools and clinics running again. But nearly all of this
money will remain
outside government channels. For the donor community to
open the aid
floodgates to budget support, debt relief and major
reconstruction funds
will require much more political progress.
Perhaps more important for
Zimbabwe's long-term economic revival, private
investors are also taking
notice of a possible turnaround. Despite the
global economic crisis, there
is still considerable foreign capital --
including in my own fund, which
specializes in portfolio investment in
publicly listed companies in the
developing world -- ready and willing to
invest in Zimbabwe's future.
Capital is already starting to flow again into
mining of gold, platinum and
diamonds, and the market capitalization of the
stock market, with 80 listed
companies, is up 127% since March. Fund
managers and foreign CEOs are
visiting Harare and Bulawayo, the
second-largest city, again.
But for
significant private money to come, investors will need more
confidence that
the reforms are irreversible and that political change is
gaining momentum.
Putting an end to land seizures, clarifying land ownership
and protecting
private property would be crucial steps in that direction.
Mugabe starved
his country when he seized farmland from those who knew how
to farm it and
redistributed the land to partisans in his Zanu-PF Party.
Aside from the
immediate economic consequences, the move also sent an
alarming signal about
his lack of respect for property rights.
Similarly, the restoration of
the rule of law is essential. Zimbabwe's
courts will once again need to be
independent, and the once-professional
police will have to be
de-politicized. Lastly, the water and power
infrastructure must be rebuilt.
This is a prerequisite for the country's
once-vibrant farms and factories to
reopen and become sources of jobs and
economic growth.
If Prime
Minister Tsvangirai and his team can accomplish these ambitious
steps, both
public and private money will come. Donors and investors are
understandably
cautious given the risks and inevitable setbacks ahead. Yet
the progress
that has been made in just the past four months should give us
all a reason
to take a serious look at Zimbabwe's opportunities.
Mr. Harmon is
chairman of the Caravel Fund and served as president and chief
executive of
Export-Import Bank of the United States during the Clinton
administration.
FROM THE
ZIMBABWE VIGIL Press Statement from ROHR
ZIMBABWE – 24th June 2009 Restoration of Human Rights
(ROHR) Zimbabwe is deeply disturbed by a vicious, hate-fuelled and
well-orchestrated campaign by some UK-based Zimbabwean online newsites aimed at
discrediting ROHR Zimbabwe as an organisation and the personal integrity of
Ephraim Tapa, its President. Chief among these are Nehanda Radio, Zimdaily and
ZimEye. Articles on these newsites have accused ROHR Zimbabwe and its President
of masterminding a spontaneous response from Zimbabweans to the Zimbabwe Prime
Minister, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai’s call for Zimbabweans in the diaspora to ‘come
back home’. ROHR Zimbabwe and its leadership wants to disassociate itself from
these malicious accusations as they are baseless and outright falsehoods. We
also want to state categorically that at no time did the organisation agree, let
alone set an agenda to ridicule or disrupt the Southwark Cathedral meeting. Mr
Tapa was not even at the meeting. We therefore dismiss the accusations with the
contempt they deserve. Why did the people boo the Prime Minister?
Watching the online video clips, it is clear to see that the PM is loudly
applauded at one point followed by a somewhat subdued reaction as he continues
his speech, finally to be greeted by a spontaneous, deafening chorus of
‘Chinja!, Chinja! Mugabe must go!’ Truly this was not the work of Mr Ephraim
Tapa or ROHR Zimbabwe and neither was it the work of its sister organisation,
the Zimbabwe Vigil. To suggest so is to pour contempt on the conscience of the
people of Zimbabwe whom we so respect. To launch this
campaign on so little evidence mean that elements in the Zimbabwean UK Diaspora
must feel very threatened by us as our message continues to reasonate with not
only those in the Diaspora but also the wider constituency within
Zimbabwe. The issue
is that Zimbabwe is still not safe to return for those who fled persecution and
are in need of international protection. ROHR Zimbabwe and the Zimbabwe Vigil
does not apologise to anyone for our principled stance that ‘Mugabe Must Go’,
our demand for democracy and justice, respect for the rule of law and the
Restoration of Human Rights. It is
interesting that groups like the Vigil and ROHR who are kept busy by real
activism don’t have the time or inclination to decampaign other groups.
ROHR and its President have
been accused of many other crimes in a campaign that dates back to 2007, when
the MDC-UK & I Executive, then led by Ephraim Tapa, was dissolved
unconstitutionally. At NO time was Mr Tapa ever EXPELLED from the MDC
Chairmanship and for the record, he actually declined to stand the second time
he was requested to do so. Then, the call was for the Party to uphold its
founding principles – constitutional democracy, transparency, accountability and
justice for all. The ROHR President continues to cherish those values and,
unlike some who have started glorifying Mr Mugabe with the advent of the
inclusive government, continues to fight for GENUINE CHANGE. Whilst engaged in
this struggle for human rights and notwithstanding his right to do so, Mr
Ephraim Tapa does not for now have plans to seek any political office within any
political party. And contrary to misleading theories being peddled by those who
seek to detract from him, Mr Tapa harbours no rancour or vendetta against anyone
within the MDC family. The call NOW is for the
inclusive government to address human rights concerns, uphold the rule of law
and mete out justice to all those who perpetrated human rights abuses, including
Robert Mugabe and his cronies. In its quest for these ideals, ROHR Zimbabwe has
managed to create in three years a respectable national and international
profile. Mindful of the suffering of Zimbabweans, ROHR Zimbabwe filed a lawsuit
against Gono to remove cash withdrawal limits, mounted successful demonstrations
in demand for justice and democracy, buried and cared for victims of the 2008
Mugabe terror campaign, provided basic necessities to vulnerable groups such as
orphanages, the displaced, and disadvantaged school children, to name a
few. We have registered a prominent
presence in defence of human rights as we continue to operate legally in
Zimbabwe, South Africa and the United Kingdom. It seems ROHR Zimbabwe has become
the victim of its success. ROHR Zimbabwe runs offices in
Zimbabwe, employs staff, runs programmes and assists on humanitarian causes, and
like any other organisation, it needs money to do this. As a membership based
organisation, ROHR Zimbabwe depends mainly on the support of its membership.
Monthly subscriptions are decided and managed as per its constitution and
members reserve the right to vary this and determine the direction of the
organisation. As an international organisation, ROHR Zimbabwe operates within
the legal framework of host countries.
Membership is open to the willing and those who join do so of their free
will. ROHR Zimbabwe is not a refugee
or asylum organisation – it does not have the power to regularise anyone’s stay
in any given country. We believe that those in need of international protection
can only base their claims on their personal / activist profiles. The 1951
Geneva Convention provides that individuals can be recognised as refugees if
they establish a “well-founded fear of prosecution on grounds of race,
nationality, religious, ethnical, political opinion or membership of a social
group who are outside the country of their nationality and are unable or, owing
to that fear, unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country”.
We are however aware that ROHR Zimbabwe members, their staff, supporters and
activists have been persecuted under the Mugabe regime and still continue to
face persecution, along with other human rights defenders, under the inclusive
government. Therefore, whilst membership of ROHR Zimbabwe or participation at
the Zimbabwe Vigil may be helpful, it is important that those who join us do so
for what we do: defending and restoring human rights in Zimbabwe and not
otherwise. ROHR Zimbabwe will continue to
stand by the people of Zimbabwe whatever it takes and will not allow itself to
be distracted by hate-filled individuals hiding behind the facade of gutter
journalism. ROHR Zimbabwe will never be silenced, especially not by merchants of
hatred, jealousy and disunity. For SW Radio Africa’s
broadcasts featuring the Vigil and ROHR’s position on what happened at the
meeting at Southwark Cathedral on Saturday, 20th June, please check
SW Radio’s Archives: Newsreel on Monday, 22nd June and Diaspora
Diaries on Tuesday, 23rd June – www.swradioafrica.com. (http://www.swradioafrica.com/news220609/zimuk220609.htm) From the information Department
of Restoration of Human Rights (ROHR) Zimbabwe Restoration of Human
Rights (ROHR)
Zimbabwe is founded on the following objectives: · To educate and
encourage Zimbabweans to stand together and demand that their human rights
issues be addressed · To encourage active
participation of Zimbabweans in governance issues including their constitutional
rights · To work closely with
other organizations that share the same objectives and values nationally,
regionally and internationally 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
Hi, Dr. E. here again tonight, introducing guest voice Mr. Ed Warner,
geologist with twenty-six years in exploration geology, including subsurface
geology combined with “bright spot”, AVO and 3-D seismic, Offshore Gulf Coast,
Michigan Reef Trend, Sacramento Basin and western Kansas Morrow play, and Jonah
Field. He is a Libertarian and deeply involved in better outcomes for Zimbabwe.
As you will see at end of his article, dictators across the world use the same
time-honored scam about elections to retain power, just as seeming took place in
the recent ‘election’ in Iran. The similarities between Mugabe and Ahmandinijah
are startling. Disclosure: Mr. Warner is a colleague and friend of many years. CRY ZIMBABWE I have been an eyewitness to the entire decline of that country. I found articles across the newspaper world so misleading so as to confound
me. One sub-headline quotes Robert Mugabe as blaming the British for his
country’s economic collapse… Mugabe being quoted as saying…“I cannot sleep with
a clear conscience if there is any cheating.” (In Focus: Suffering in the
Wrecked Economy of Zimbabwe, by Angus Shaw, Assoc. Press.) [There was no
analysis of this quote, as though blindly accepted.] The last [many] months demonstrate that America and the Media live in a
vacuum, utterly ignorant of African governance. I’d like to speak truth to the media and governnment lies. In my work in
Zimbabwe, supporting wildlife conservation and the livelihoods of indigenous
people, this is what I have seen. In 1999, Zimbabwe was a thriving, budding democracy, the
fourth largest agricultural exporter in the world! A rising Black middle class
combined with the best race relations I have witnessed in my world travels. The
small white minority were the greatest entrepreneurs I’d met anywhere. Zanu-PF,
the communist revolutionary party of Robert Mugabe almost lost the 2000 election
to MDC the budding pro-democracy opposition. In order to stay in power, Robert played his last and only-hole
card: Twenty years earlier he had threatened to confiscate all ‘white’
farms, but failed to do so through benign neglect. In April, 2000, he pulled the
trigger. His “War Veterans” invaded [those] farms, murdered a few whites and
drove the rest out of their homes. 50,000 agricultural workers, all black,
protested. The great “Land Reform” had begun. In May, 2000, I interviewed War Vets on the 250,000 acre private wildlife
conservancy, Bubiana (subsequently destroyed by land invasions). They were
farmers and wanted more land to grow maize. The southeast low veldt where they
lived is a semi-desert, poorly suited to farming – perfectly suited to wildlife.
In time they would poach all the wildlife out of the once thriving private land
conservancies, and their crops would fail 5 of the 6 years since they
plowed the sand. Zanu-PF gave the commercial farms to their political cronies, generals and
higher-ups in the national police. The politicos expected to cut deals with the
white farmers to skim the profits. The whites refused to play ball, so all that
was left was to sell off the farm equipment for cash. Thus, the Zimbabwean agricultural economy collapsed. W
heat production dropped 90% in three years. This is “Gangster Government”
(Africa Unchained, George Ayittey) at its worst. Since then, whenever I’ve thought it could not get worse, it
has. In June, 2007, while I was there, I watched Mugabe enforce “price
controls” while his central bank created the worst inflations since 1922
Germany, by printing money and stealing foreign exchange as fast as they could.
The prices were rolled back by six weeks (400%) and the shelves emptied in
days. The price police would close a store, reset the prices and reopen the
store. Like as not, the police, army officers and politicians would be standing
in line, first to buy. Businesses went broke and the economy further collapsed.
Don’t believe me? I sat in a Harare shopping center in June, 2007 and watched it
happen. Robert Mugabe, Zanu-PF, the army and police have stolen
everything. They have converted their soon to be worthless Zim dollars
to U.S. and shipped it all offshore. I have purchased large quantities of Zim
dollars on the black market to pay for conservation efforts. I know of what I
speak. The world has stood by and done nothing. Why not? Southern
African governments cannot intervene. They are all Gangsters themselves, more or
less. I have had Ministers in Namibia tell me Robert Mugabe is doing the right
thing. “We will take back the white farms in our country someday.” Mbecki of South Africa is a thief. All of them are. It is cultural. They do
not understand the creation of wealth. They think you get rich by taking from
someone else. Why haven’t we stepped in? My friends, they are Black and they
have no Resources we covet. –The opposition has been beaten and murdered. The world could have intervened in Zimbabwe and set Africa on a
better course. Instead, we have sat back and watched an entire continent unravel
in a matter of years: Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone, Congo, Sudan and Kenya.
Robert Mugabe, for the moment is the worst of them. By sitting back
and doing nothing, the West insured that he will be neither the worst nor the
last. Following Mugabe’s thugs being confounded to discover they really did lose
the election, We now know that Gangsters will not give up power. The election was stolen.
SADC, the Southern African Development Community and the African Union, have
wrung its collective hands and done nothing substantive. Western governments decry the results and do nothing as well. The U.N. is incompetent to act, a bloated bureaucracy that feeds at the
public trough. Only military intervention will overthrow this government and no one has the
stones to do it. In lieu of invasion, I suggest complete embargo. Let the refugees out and
nothing in. Let the bastards sit in the dark with nothing to eat. Let them live
like their own people. To paraphrase Alan Paton: “Cry, the Beloved
Zimbabwe.” In Liberty,
Jun 23rd, 2009 |
I’m a Denver scientist and Director of the Sand County
Foundation. I have made a dozen trips to Zimbabwe since 1999 and, since 2000,
worked in community-based conservation there.
–Over three million black
Zimbabweans, the entire black middle class have left the country.
–Many
college graduates are working cleaning toilets in South Africa.
–Two million
Zimbabweans have died of AIDS. The average life span is 34
years.
–The population has dropped from about 14 million to maybe 10
million yet, Zanu-PF claim 5.9 million on the voter rolls in a country where the
average age is less than the voting age. You do the math.
–Religious hatred,
–tribal hatred,
–greed,
–gangsters
and
–irrational borders imposed by colonial powers…
– all fueled by guns
donated by Russia and the West during the cold war have led to the collapse in
Africa.
–they violated their own constitution and ran the election
runoff, not 21 days later, but 90 days.
–Enough time for them to viciously
attack their own constituency the majority of whom had finally had enough and
voted against Mugabe.
–Sure they attacked and murdered MDC politicians, but
mostly the sacked and burned Shona villages – their own people.
Ed Warner
AWARD-WINNING Zimbabwean singer, David Scobie, has unveiled his
long-awaited website, http://davidscobie.org/
He made the
announcement via his Facebook profile recently."The new website is finished and
we hope to get some interest in the old music again," says David.The multi-media
website features David's profile, discography, photos and singles released,
among other great features.
Visitors to the site can preview and
purchase his best selling 1981 album, "Cleaning Up!" for the first time in 28
years which features hit songs like Gypsey Girl, Taking The Easy Way Home, Maybe
Life Don't Care and On The Phone. The CD is also available for
download.Other albums will be available to preview and download in due course.
These include: Reborn (1983), Photograph (1984) and David Scobie Special Edition
(1989). These albums will be re-released on CD and downloads for
2009.
Brogue Music CDs are also available for purchase and download on
the site. Brogue is David's new music group (of two people). He teamed up with
Zimbabwean singer, Brigitte Rodrigues to form the group - producing Celtic
music. They have released two albums to date: Rhythm Of The Celts (2007) (which
has already gained silver disc status in UK and is very close to gold) and Girls
And Strong Whisky (2008).
Visitors can register for a newsletter to keep
up-to-date with tour dates, gossip and album release dates.Visitors to the site
are struck by its ease of use, especially as it includes all content areas that
are integral to David's brand. It has been designed to be the premiere
destination for all his fans.It is fresh, interactive, and of high quality
competing with all other big artist websites.David aims to reach his growing
fans through the site and other multimedia outlets available now.The highly
interactive site has already garnered tremendous interest and responses from
David's fans.The Guestbook, especially, has already attracted a lot of
attention.
Born in Dundee, Scotland, David was exposed to
traditional Scottish folk music from the age of six. His parents took him to his
first live concert held in Dundee where popular folk Duo "The Corries" blew
David away. In 1973 the Scobie family moved to Harare Zimbabwe. From the age of
ten, under the instruction of a close musical family friend, David began
learning rudimentary chords on a guitar his parents had bought him. In 1980
David, aged fifteen had a hit-single in Southern Africa called "Gypsey Girl".
The single was released in October 1980 and it went to No.1 in Zimbabwe that
November, staying there for the next four months. It was then released in South
Africa in April 1981 and it bounced up and down the Springbok charts for
nineteen weeks.
The single went Gold in both countries and David became an
over-night celebrity. His next single "Taking The Easy Way Home" was recorded in
April 1981 and by that June it had reached the Top Ten in both territories
again. He went on to release four albums.
From 1983 to 2004 he endured a
fruitful career in advertising jingles, producing and engineering. Over the
years David repeatedly earned Zimbabwe Advertising Awards for his efforts. In
1998, he staged two musicals and two comedy theatre productions to full houses
around the country.
David has teamed up with Brigitte Rodrigues producing
Celtic music and call themselves Brogue and they are now based near Edinburgh in
Scotland. http://www.broguemusic.com
PEACE
WATCH
[24th
June 2009]
Newsflash
Jestina
Mukoko Torture Case in Supreme Court Thursday at
9.30
On
Thursday 25th June, the Supreme Court will hear the case in which Jestina Mukoko
asks the court to
declare that the conduct of the State in abducting, detaining and torturing her
violated the Constitution, and accordingly to stop the criminal prosecution
against her permanently. This
being a constitutional matter, there will be five judges [Chief Justice
Chidyausiku, Deputy Chief Justice Malaba, and Judges of Appeal Sandura, Cheda
and Ziyambi]. Jestina’s case will be argued by distinguished South African
advocate, Jeremy Gauntlett. In
so important a case the court will probably reserve judgment after hearing
argument from the lawyers for both sides. It
may even be up to two to three months before its decision is handed
down.
Case
of First 4 Abductees Referred to Supreme
Court
In the High Court on
Monday Justice Uchena granted the defence request to refer to the Supreme Court
constitutional questions arising in the trial of Concillia
Chinanzvavana, Fidelis Chiramba, Violet Mupfuranhewe and Collen Mutemagau.
[These
are four of the MDC activists who were abducted and “disappeared” last October.
It was discovered just before Christmas that they had been held by State agents,
and after spending months in prison they were eventually given bail. All four
told their lawyers that while they were held incommunicado they were tortured.
Two weeks ago they were brought to trial on charges of recruiting for training
in insurgency.] The
criminal trial is indefinitely postponed pending the Supreme Court’s decision.
The constitutional questions raised are whether the abductees’ abduction and
kidnapping, physical treatment during detention and denial of access to legal
practitioners, violated their constitutional rights – and “whether as victims of
enforced disappearances they can lawfully be prosecuted … [whether they] can be
compelled to go to trial where their appearance at court was facilitated by a
criminal act of kidnapping or abduction authorised or sanctioned by the State or
officials of the State”. The Supreme Court is
unlikely to hear this case before they make their decision in the Jestina Mukoko
case, as the circumstances in both cases are so similar.
Other
Abductee Trials Likely to be Postponed
The Supreme Court’s
decision in the Mukoko case is likely to have a bearing not only on the
Concillia et al case, which has already been referred to the Supreme Court, but
also on the cases of the other abductees – all of whom have made similar
complaints that their constitutional rights were violated by illegal abduction,
disappearance, detention, mistreatment during detention, etc. If the Supreme
Court stops the prosecution of Jestina Mukoko, it is to be expected that the
prosecution of the other abductees, too, will be stopped. But an early decision
in Jestina Mukoko’s
case is unlikely.
Therefore, it is probable that the defence lawyers in the “Bomber Group” trial
due on the 29th June and the second “Recruiter Group” trial due on 20th July,
will seek
postponements until the Supreme Court’s decision in the Jestina Mukoko case is
out.
Magistrate
Refers Bail Blocking to Supreme Court
Section 121 of the
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act is the
section allowing the Attorney-General to block a court decision granting bail
for 7 days by merely indicating the State’s intention to appeal against the
decision. It has been used repeatedly in many recent so-called
“political cases”, e.g. the abductees and Roy Bennett. In the latest example,
when MDC-T Director-General Toendepi Shonhe was accused of perjury and granted
bail by a magistrate, his lawyer Alec
WOZA
demonstrations violently broken up
Peaceful Women of
Zimbabwe Arise [WOZA] marches in
Amnesty
International Visit
At the end of her visit
to Zimbabwe Amnesty International secretary-general Irene Khan described the
human rights situation in
Abductees
Defence Lawyer in Court
Human rights lawyer
Alec
Journalists
Covering Abductees Story in Court
The
Net
Beginning to Close in on Zimbabwean
Torturers?
Police officers and
State security agents responsible for torture in
Veritas makes
every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied.