http://www.timeslive.co.za
Jun 5, 2011 11:50 PM | By I-Net Bridge
Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change says it has reached an
agreement
with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party to dilute the powers
of
Zimbabwe's army and state security chiefs.
President Jacob Zuma is
expected to read Mugabe the riot act at this week's
Southern African
Development Community summit as regional leaders step up
efforts to bring
the impasse in Zimbabwe to an end.
The SADC summit is expected to discuss
how a free and fair election can be
achieved.
Zimbabwe's army and
security chiefs are blamed for holding up progress in
Zimbabwe's path to
recovery. Some, including Tsvangirai, suggest that the
army is running the
country behind the scenes.
The international community blames Mugabe for
running down the economy with
populist policies that have led to
impoverishment and unemployment of nearly
80%.
The country has been
run by a coalition government since disputed
presidential polls in
2008.
MDC secretary-general and Finance Minister Tendai Biti said last
week that a
breakthrough was made on security reforms after Zanu-PF
negotiators, led by
Patrick Chinamasa, relented on their hold on the army
and other security
services.
"We demand that our service chiefs abide
by the laws of Zimbabwe and there
has been an agreement on the issue of
service chiefs, but I cannot comment
on the matter before we go to the
summit," said Biti.
The MDC reportedly forced through a clause to the
effect that service and
army chiefs must accept the outcome of the next
election.
SADC-brokered talks between parties led by Mugabe and
Tsvangirai and
appointed Zuma as mediator.
Mugabe has fallen out of
favour with other SADC leaders, most of whom are
opposed to early elections
this year.
"The MDC will call on the SADC to help end all-state sponsored
violence in
Zimbabwe. It is this that poses the greatest threat to peace and
tranquility
in Zimbabwe," Biti said.
MEDIA RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AfriForum
6 June 2011
Zimbabwean farmers win legal battle in North Gauteng High Court
While white farmers in Zimbabwe are still facing persecution and oppression, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria ruled in favour of three Zimbabwean farmers today in the case dealing with the seizure of Zimbabwean assets in South Africa.
The case concerned an application brought by the Zimbabwean government last year to reverse the seizure of Zimbabwean assets in Cape Town by farmers who were assisted by AfriForum.
The legal battle started after the Tribunal of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) had ruled in November 2008 that Zimbabwe’s land-reform processes had been racist and illegal and that farmers ought to have been compensated for their farms.
The protocol introduced by the Tribunal makes provision for the registration and enforcement of the Tribunal’s orders in the member countries of the SADC.
Based on this protocol, AfriForum assisted three farmers, Louis Fick, Richard Etheredge and the late Mike Campbell, in having the ruling of the SADC Tribunal registered at the North Gauteng High Court.
Shortly after the ruling had been registered, the farmers seized three properties of the Zimbabwean government that were no longer used for diplomatic purposes.
In July last year, the Zimbabwean government instituted a series of court applications to have the seizure of its properties and the registration of the SADC’s Tribunal reversed.
AfriForum’s legal representative, Willie Spies, who acted as the farmers’ attorney, said in a statement that the door was now open for the sale of Zimbabwe’s properties in Cape Town that AfriForum seized last year.
“The ruling is of historic significance. For probably the first time in international legal history, a court has ruled that the assets of a country guilty of human rights violations must be sold at public auction,” Spies said.
“Arrangements will be made without delay to have the properties sold at public auction,” he added.
Meanwhile, AfriForum has learned that an 87-year-old farmer from Gweru, who is a South African citizen, will be sentenced on 13 June 2011 after he had been arrested and charged for not leaving his farm voluntarily.
If he is found guilty, his sentence could include two years’ imprisonment in a Zimbabwean prison. Several calls to the Department of International Relations in Pretoria and the South African embassy in Harare by his family to request humanitarian assistance were unsuccessful.
AfriForum is investigating the possibility of taking legal action against the South African government in this regard.
Submitted by / For further information:
Willie Spies
Legal representative
AfriForum
Cell: 083 676 0639
E-mail: willie@hurterspies.co.za
Leané du Plessis
Head: Media liaison
AfriForum
Cell: 082 418 8508
E-mail: leane@afriforum.co.za
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
6
June 2011
Continental powerhouse South Africa is allegedly prepared to go
it alone to
deal with Zimbabwe, if the regional bloc SADC decides to
‘insulate’ Robert
Mugabe.
Zimbabwe will be discussed at a SADC summit
to be held in Johannesburg on
Saturday, where President Jacob Zuma is
expected to present his electoral
roadmap for Zimbabwe.
It is hoped
the SADC bloc will endorse this roadmap, as well as the earlier
Livingstone
Troika report which called on Mugabe to end the violence,
intimidation and
harassment of his political opponents.
There are fears though that after
the fanfare in Johannesburg is over,
Mugabe will simply go back to Harare
and refuse to implement the roadmap, as
he has been doing with the Global
Political Agreement.
‘SADC has lacked a robust enforcement mechanism of
dealing with Mugabe’s
intransigency in the last 10 years. The region is sick
and tired of dealing
with the Zimbabwe crisis and there are people in the
ANC who believe this
has to come to an end,’ a source close to the
facilitation team told us.
SW Radio Africa is reliably informed that
powerbrokers in the ruling African
National Congress want the Zimbabwean
issue dealt with ‘once and for all.’
‘Already there is talk that South
Africa is ready to dump Mugabe and his
ZANU PF party should they decide to
derail plans to hold free and fair
elections. They insist South Africa has
the capacity to deal with Mugabe
bilaterally,’ our source said.
When
ZANU PF demanded the removal of Zuma’s International Relations Advisor,
Lindiwe Zuma, from the facilitation team, South Africa was ready to
retaliate by releasing a damning report on the 2002 presidential election
report which was compiled by generals from that country.
‘If SADC
fails to enforce the implementation of the roadmap, South Africa is
saying
they will go it alone because their country is the one most affected
by the
never ending crisis in Zimbabwe,’ our source said.
He added; ‘They are
also in possession of damning reports from the 2002 and
2008 presidential
elections and they are using them as bargaining tools to
force ZANU PF to
toe the line. All parties to the GPA will sign this
roadmap, but enforcing
it is where things will fall apart.’
http://www.monstersandcritics.com
Jun 6, 2011, 8:51
GMT
Harare - Police confirmed Monday that an explosive device had
detonated
early Sunday at the home of Tendai Biti, finance minister in
Zimbabwe's
coalition government and pro-democracy leader Morgan Tsvangirai's
right-hand
man.
The explosion shortly after midnight blew a hole more
than half a metre
diameter in the precast concrete perimeter wall of Biti's
home in the
affluent Harare suburb of Glen Lorne.
Officials of
Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change said Biti was not
at home when
it went off.
'I can confirm a report was made yesterday afternoon,' said
police spokesman
Wayne Bvudzijena. 'I don't have further details at the
moment.'
MDC organizing secretary Nelson Chamisa said, 'These are terror
tactics and
antics of instilling fear,' while a statement issued by the MDC
linked the
detonation to verbal attacks on Biti in the last week by Mugabe
and members
of his hierarchy.
Biti was accused of attempting to stir
up civil servants and creating 'a
threat to national security' by refusing
to increase their salaries.
Since Biti took over the finance portfolio at
the start of the power-sharing
government in February 2009, he has limited
civil service salaries to about
200 US dollars a month, saying that the
state was broke and could not afford
pay hikes.
Bombs since 2002 have
been set off at the offices of a critical newspaper
and destroyed its
printing presses, and also to destroy the offices of a
private radio
station, and each incident has been blamed on Mugabe's
ZANU(PF) party,
military officers and the secret police.
The MDC and human rights groups
have reported a steady rise in violent
incidents and intimidation since the
beginning of the year, and describe it
as a traditional pre-electoral
pattern by ZANU(PF).
Observers say that suspicion for the blast is likely
to fall on supporters
of President Robert Mugabe, and will also heighten
tensions between him and
Tsvangirai in the run-up to elections, whose date
is the subject of fierce
contention between the two groups.
http://www.sabcnews.com
June 06 2011
,
6:09:00
Shingai Nyoka, Zimbabwe
A bomb that exploded at the home
of Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Tendai
Biti's residence has cast a shadow
over the upcoming extra-ordinary SADC
summit which will be held this weekend
on the sidelines of the SADC East
Africa Community and Common Market for
Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa)
tripartite summit. The summit will
discuss the political crisis in Zimbabwe
and implementation of a roadmap
that will pave the way for free and fair
elections.
No one was
injured in the blast but SADC is likely to come down strongly on
Zimbabwe's
political leaders for failing to curb violence in that country.
Biti
believes the incident confirms the violent nature of Zimbabwe's
politics
which has continued despite strong condemnation from SADC leaders.
He
said: "This is meant to intimidate us, but we have been in the struggle
for
a long time and we will remain in this struggle until the people of
Zimbabwe
are free."
No arrests have been made yet and police spokesperson Wayne
Bvudzijena could
not confirm whether the attack was politically motivated.
He, however,
questioned why the report had only been filed yesterday
evening, 15 hours
after the blast.
Violence was a key issue in both
the global political agreement and at an
extraordinary Troika summit held in
Livingstone, Zambia in March this year.
Since then, President Robert Mugabe
has sent party envoys throughout the
SADC region on a diplomatic offensive
ahead of the summit but analysts say
this recent incident will likely weaken
his position.
Political analyst Ibbo Mandaza said: "It's unfortunate it
is happening at
end of the summit and it cannot ignore it. It will impact
negatively on
Mugabe even if there is no evidence that the state was
responsible.
Detractors will want to point fingers at the state."
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Tonderai Kwenda, Chief Writer
Monday, 06 June
2011 15:45
HARARE - South African President Jacob Zuma is concerned
about the resurgent
violence in the country, more so now that there is an
element of public
involvement, a sure spark to public revolts similar to
those in North Africa
and the Arab world.
Zuma and Sadc recently
warned that the situation in Zimbabwe might
degenerate into chaos similar to
events in Egypt, Tunisia and now Libya.
South Africa will this week host
a Sadc extra-ordinary summit at which the
Zimbabwe crisis will be
discussed.
Zuma’s special adviser on international affairs Lindiwe Zulu,
who is also
part of a three-member Zimbabwe facilitation team, told the
Daily News from
a funeral wake of South African apartheid icon Albertina
Sisulu yesterday
that the Sadc appointed facilitator remains worried about
violence in
Zimbabwe.
“The violence is a concern and will always be a
concern to the facilitator,”
said Zulu adding that Zuma will use the
opportunity provided by next week’s
summit to present his assessment of what
is happening in Zimbabwe.
“He has been worried and his report at the last
troika meeting reflects that
but he remains confident that the systems that
are being put in place by
Jomic will be able to deal with these
issues.”
Zulu said for its part the facilitation team also made up of ANC
stalwart
Marc Maharaj and former Security minister, Charles Nqakula would
like to see
the relevant law enforcement bodies co-operating more with Jomic
in
investigating incidents of violence.
“We have been engaging Jomic
to look at ways of strengthening its role in
terms of financial support to
get to and investigate incidents when they
occur as well as the necessary
manpower to help it carry out its mandate.”
Asked what happened to the
troika proposal that the body be strengthened
with an outside monitoring
group, Zulu said the facilitation team is so far
happy with the “different
committees dealing with different issues” that
Jomic has put in place to
deal with the various issues arising among
political parties.
“But if
the situation (violence) persists then there will be a need to
strengthen
Jomic,” said Zulu.
Zulu said this week's summit is a very important step
in Zuma's quest to
find a solution to the more than a decade long Zimbabwean
crisis, which
resulted in the country's economy taking a deep whose scale
was last seen
during the 1930s Great Depression.
The crisis also saw
millions of desperate Zimbabweans flocking to South
Africa in search of
greener pastures. At one point the influx led to
xenophobic attacks on
Zimbabweans and other nationalities in 2008.
“The summit is important for
the facilitator since he did not get an
opportunity to present his report in
Namibia.
This will be an opportunity for him to present his report the way he
sees
things in Zimbabwe and will seek the understanding of his regional
counterparts to help him solve the crisis.”
Zuma gave a
no-holds-barred assessment of the political situation in
Zimbabwe in his
report to the Sadc Organ Troika Summit held in Livingstone
in
March.
He drew reference to the events happening in North Africa and the
Arab as he
emphasised why it is now important for the region to deal with
the
Zimbabwean crisis decisively.
“Before the political raptures of
North Africa and the Arab World which
affected Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, the
Republic of Zimbabwe was pretty much
a focal point of the international
community.
“Once the dust settles in those countries either way, there is
no guarantee
that the world will not return back to its favourite pastime,”
Zuma said.
“The developments on the Northern part of our continent should
impress upon
all of us within the Sadc region about the need and importance
of resolving
the Zimbabwean impasse speedily and in a way that will not just
justify the
Sadc region but also that would be acceptable to the entire
world.”
The African National Congress (ANC) leader, who has been
mediating in the
Zimbabwe crisis for a long time now, also expressed
impatience with
Zimbabwean politicians for failing to implement agreed GPA
issues.
“We have been engaged in a process of mediating since the
establishment of
the GPA in January 2009 and we have not made much
progress.
As Sadc we need to redouble our efforts in finding a permanent
and lasting
solution to the challenges that Zimbabwe faces,” said Zuma
adding that “it
is time Sadc must speak with one voice in impressing to all
parties
concerned that this situation can no longer be tolerated.”
In
the same report, Zuma said the calls for an early election were an
“unfortunate side track” and “counterproductive.”
“We must dissuade
all parties from thinking that they can hold elections in
the prevailing
atmosphere that is characterised by violence, intimidation
and
fear.”
Turning onto the discussions involving the country's three
political parties
over a crucial roadmap to an election, Zulu said the
representatives of the
three GPA parties have concluded the negotiations and
signed a document.
“The meetings went very well and the negotiators have
signed off the roadmap
document from the Cape Town meeting. Now the report
will go to the
principals and they will raise objections if they are any
before the
facilitator presents it to the Sadc summit which will make it a
binding
roadmap to elections in Zimbabwe,” said Zulu.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Jun 6, 2011 11:13 AM | By South
African Institute of Race Relations
No fair referendum or election can be
held in Zimbabwe on the basis of the
current voters’ roll, according to a
report published by the South African
Institute of Race Relations (the
Institute).
The report, written by Professor R W Johnson, breaks new
ground by providing
a detailed analysis of the Zimbabwe voters’ roll, as it
stood in October
2010.
The Zimbabwe Government has long been at pains
to keep the content of the
voters’ roll under wraps, but Johnson has
nevertheless succeeded in getting
and studying it. His evaluation shows why
Zanu-PF prefers to keep the roll
confidential.
Notes Johnson: “Though
life expectancy in Zimbabwe has dropped to 45 years,
the voters’ roll, as it
stood in October 2010, contains the names of:
- Roughly 1 490 ‘new’
voters (never previously registered) aged over 100;
- Some 41 100 voters
(some new and some earlier listed) aged 100 or more,
which is four times the
number of centenarians in Britain;
- About 4 370 new voters over 90 years
old; and
- A total of some 132 500 such nonagenarians.”
The voters
roll also has roughly 16 800 voters who not only share the same
date of
birth — recorded as 1st January 1901 — but were also toddlers at the
time
that Cecil John Rhodes died in March 1902. All of them are now more
than 110
years old.
The roll also lists about 230 new voters under the voting age
of 18. In
October 2010, many of them were under ten years old while one was
a baby and
quite a number were aged two.
To make matters far worse,
the current roll is also based on the 2008 voters’
roll, which contains
about 2.5m names too many, given Zimbabwe’s probable
population
size.
“This phantom vote is more than enough to settle the outcome of any
election,” Johnson notes.
Instead of removing these 2.5m fictitious
entries, the Registrar-General, Mr
Tobaiwa Mudede, an outspoken Zanu-PF
supporter, has added more than 360 500
new voters to the current roll. Yet
many are far too old or too young to
merit inclusion.
“If experience
is any guide, phantom ‘voters’ are likely to vote early and
often in the
next Zimbabwean poll,” Johnson cautions.
The state of the Zimbabwean
voters’ roll is also a vital issue at this time.
For President Robert Mugabe
seems intent on ignoring the Global Political
Agreement (GPA) of September
2008, which requires a new constitution
approved by referendum before any
general election can take place.
Says Johnson: “Instead, Mr Mugabe seems
intent on cheating his way back to
untrammelled power by pushing for quick
elections later this year, based on
the current constitution and a voters’
roll so defective as to boggle the
mind.
“Mr Mugabe is no doubt
hoping for South African and SADC support for his
proposal. But President
Jacob Zuma has done well to date in keeping Mr
Mugabe to the terms of the
GPA. Between them, he and the SADC have the power
to put an end to Mr
Mugabe’s plan.
“The SADC needs to remember this when it meets again in
South Africa on 11th
June 2011 to help lay down a road map to democracy in
Zimbabwe.”
Johnson’s report, entitled Preventing Electoral Fraud in
Zimbabwe, has been
published by the Institute and is available on its
website at
www.sairr.org.za .
June 6th, 2011
By R.W. Johnson – May 2011 – South African Institute of Race Relations
Download the report here (7.7MB)
Executive Summary
The primary objective of Zimbabwe’s coalition Government, born of the Global Political Agreement (GPA) of September 2008, was to lay the foundations for free and fair elections. The GPA itself only emerged after the elections of March-June 2008 in which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) won a parliamentary majority.
This was then followed by a presidential election campaign of such surpassing violence that the MDC candidate, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, withdrew rather than expose his followers to further brutality. After some pressure from Zimbabwe’s neighbours in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the GPA was signed. This allowed President Robert Mugabe to remain in power with Mr Tsvangirai as Prime Minister. The GPA called for a new constitution and new elections which would resolve Zimbabwe’s decade-long crisis.
This arrangement necessarily entrusted an utterly key role and mandate to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC). This was problematic, for the ZEC has major credibility problems due to its past use as a politicised and partisan tool of the ruling Zanu-PF Government. Hence, if fresh elections are to work, the credibility and capacity of the ZEC will be pivotal.
Over the years numerous reports have been compiled and submitted to the electoral authorities about the grave deficiencies of the voters’ roll, itself the responsibility of the Registrar-General of Elections, Mr Tobaiwa Mudede, a self-acknowledged Zanu-PF die-hard. On the sole occasion when any notice was taken of these exposés – the last report by the Zimbabwe Electoral Support Network (ZESN), a network of civil society organisations – the ZEC merely referred the problem back to Mr Mudede. This, of course, resulted in no remedial action.
This Report sets out the detailed problems with the latest version (as of October 2010) of the voters’ roll. It also suggests why some members of the ZEC are unfit to sit on a body which is currently the most important institution on which a democratic future for Zimbabwe depends.
The Report also suggests that Mr Mudede cannot be the right man for the post of Registrar-General, for he has been largely responsible for the defective voters’ rolls used in elections since 2000 and for the extremely flawed electoral processes witnessed in these polls. Any serious attempt to give Zimbabwe a free and fair election requires his replacement by a properly neutral civil servant.
The three parties in the current Zimbabwe Government – Zanu-PF, MDC (Tsvangirai) and MDC (Ncube) – have been and still are negotiating a Road Map to free and fair elections. The GPA requires that there must first be a new constitution, approved by a popular referendum. However, it would be difficult for a credible referendum to take place without a new voters’ roll.
To be sure, current legislation caters for such a possibility in theory, but in practice a referendum held when there is such controversy over phantom voters would be bound to be challenged. The earliest conceivable date for presidential and parliamentary elections following a proper referendum would be 14th June 2012. Any difficulties in negotiation either at the level of the three negotiating parties, or at the level of the SADC, can only delay this date further.
The Road Map is supposed to be endorsed soon by the SADC, by which time all contentious issues are supposed to have been settled. It is hoped that the present Report will assist in this process. However, the issues raised in this Report are not susceptible to last-minute fudges or minor alterations.
They are not only fundamental but also require time. To draw up a new voters’ roll from scratch will require months of work and considerable organisation and expenditure. A new Registrar-General needs to be appointed and to work himself into his job, and a new set of personnel for the ZEC will need to do the same. If the Road Map is to succeed at all, these issues must be confronted and dealt with right away.
Foreword by Beatrice Mtetwa
Currently negotiators from all three of Zimbabwe’s main political parties are engaged in trying to devise a Road Map to free and fair elections under a new and democratic constitution. This is, for all Zimbabweans, the holy grail. Zimbabweans had hoped that they were entering such an era at independence in 1980 but history has shown us that the struggle for freedom is not won all at once but has to be the object of a longer and more continuous struggle. But we have always known that we would not achieve the democratic future we want until there could be truly free and fair elections in Zimbabwe. The first and foremost essential ingredient for that is a properly drawn up voters’ roll – and this should be a document in the public domain, easily accessible not only to political parties but to members of the general public.
Both our South African Development Community (SADC) neighbours and partners and Zimbabwe’s Parliament have all agreed that a reliable and accurate new voters’ roll must be drawn up. Yet in Zimbabwe even this is no simple matter, as this Report shows. Nor has it been at all easy for many years now for anyone to gain access to the voters’ roll: all manner of obstacles have been placed in the way. Having experienced the problem first hand when I dealt with many election petitions after the 2000 parliamentary elections, I have personal knowledge of these difficulties. Happily, the author of this Report, Bill Johnson, has been able to gain access to the current voters’ roll as it existed in October 2010 and here at last is a proper analysis of it. As will be seen, it leaves us with no doubt that only a really new voters’ roll, drawn up from scratch by a truly independent and impartial organisation, can provide a basis for a democratic future.
We also need to ensure that in Zimbabwe both the post of Registrar-General of Elections and positions on the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission are held by truly impartial and fair-minded people, with no political or partisan bias of any kind. Despite all our travails in Zimbabwe, we have many such people at home and many more in the diaspora. Although we long for a democratic and peaceful outcome which will enable the millions who have left to return home, while the current situation continues it is vital that Zimbabweans in the diaspora should also be enabled to vote, in just the same way that the South African courts have determined that the franchise should be extended to South Africans abroad.
I commend this Report and all those whose efforts have made it possible. In some cases there are people who have devoted years of their lives in trying to make public the data which is in it. It is a signal service to the people of Zimbabwe that this work has been done. It is my fervent hope that this report will be taken seriously not only by the political parties and Parliament but also by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Bridget Mananavire and Everson
Mushava
Monday, 06 June 2011 15:52
HARARE - Police boss Augustine
Chihuri has warned that killers of policeman
Petros Mutedza would die by the
sword.
Days later, a dozen residents who say they were randomly
picked in Glen
View, limped into court on Friday, with some exhibiting fresh
wounds after
thorough beatings in police custody that lawyers have described
as torture.
Gun butts were part of the weapons used by the police as they
revenged the
stoning to death of one of their own, according to lawyers
representing the
residents.
The swift, harsh response to the crime by
the police has left human rights
defenders who have struggled for years to
push the police into doing their
work alarmed at the selective application
of the law.
Glen View residents are living in fear.
“An avoidable
and unjustifiable death must be mourned and condemned, no
matter who the
victim may be, as every human life is precious,” said
Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights (ZLHR) in its condolence message to
Mutedza’s
family.
The organisation, which groups over 200 human rights lawyers
countrywide,
said subsequent events which had emerged and are still ongoing
were
shocking.
“Indiscriminate abductions, arrests and detention,
alleged torture and
brutality of detainees in police custody, and denial of
their fundamental
and constitutionally-protected rights (such as access to a
lawyer of choice,
family, food and urgent medical attention) have been
documented since the
time of the initial outbreak of violence,” the group,
whose members are
representing the residents, said.
Lawyers talked of
indiscriminate arrests, including taking family members
hostage.
Mutedza’s death has come as manna to President Robert
Mugabe’s Zanu PF ahead
of a Sadc summit this week where the party hopes to
convince regional
leaders that the MDC is a violent party.
“It is
always MDC-T’s strategy to brew trouble before summits dealing with
Zimbabwe
as a way of painting a negative picture about the political
situation in the
country,” said Zanu PF spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo.
Police say Mutedza was
stoned to death at Munyarari bar in Glen View 3 as he
tried to disperse MDC
activists who were braaing and drinking alcohol.
The MDC says Mutedza was
attacked by ordinary patrons.
Lawyers and rights groups, while condemning
the death of the officer, say
police have turned Glen View into a mini-war
zone leaving residents
terrified.
They say justice has become a
casualty as a result.
“We also condemn the politicisation of the matter
as this may influence
investigations, thus compromising the court’s decision
as well as heighten
the polarisation of Zimbabwean societies,” said
Zimrights, a grassroots
rights organisation.
Human Rights
Organisations say the police action shows how the law is
selectively applied
in Zimbabwe given outstanding cases that the police has
refused to
investigate.
“ZLHR therefore strongly urges the ZRP and the Attorney
General’s office to
quickly and impartially investigate and prosecute
respectively and be seen
to investigate and prosecute all cases of grave
human rights violations,
including previous extra-judicial executions across
the political divide,
without fear or favour in order to reassure the public
that one human life
is not more important than another,” said
ZLHR.
The Harare Residents’ Trust (HRT) in its condolence message for
Mutedza said
police was exhibiting double standards.
“Inspector
Mutedza’s death came at a time when a man claiming to be a leader
in Zanu
PF, Namion Chirwa, in Mbare is reportedly terrorising residents for
allegedly refusing to vacate their houses to pave way for identified Zanu PF
youths,” the organisation said.
“Failure by police to deal decisively
with this issue will continue to
impact negatively on their neutrality in
cases of political violence.
Residents deserve peace, security and
protection from political
persecution,” said Precious Shumba, HRT
coordinator.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
06/06/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
POLICE Commissioner Augustine Chihuri has vowed the ZRP will
not support
individuals promoting the agenda of “imperialists” in Zimbabwe –
a
thinly-veiled attack on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T
party.
"Anybody trying to bring in foreign ideas will have the shock of
their
lives, we don't support them," Chihuri said in comments published in
the
state-owned Herald newspaper on Monday.
"The ZRP will not be part
and parcel of those people who promote the agenda
of imperialists. Those
roaming around the country, promoting such ideas, we
won't support
them.”
Chihuri’s comments follow similar noises from army generals who
have vowed
not to salute “sell-outs” – a label which has been attached to
the MDC-T by
supporters of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF
party.
The reluctance by military and police chiefs to embrace the
possibility of a
change of government at the next elections has heightened
concerns in the
MDC-T, which has been calling for security sector reforms
before elections
now expected early next year.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
06 June
2011
Leaders in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are
again
coming under pressure to, once and for all, deal with human rights
abuses in
Zimbabwe, ahead of a key regional meeting this
weekend.
Zimbabwe is set to be discussed on the sidelines of the upcoming
Free Trade
Area summit involving SADC, the Common Market for East and
Southern Africa
(COMESA), and the East African Community (EAC). The summit
will get underway
in Johannesburg on Friday, and SADC has indicated that an
extraordinary
session on Zimbabwe will also be held.
Leading human
rights group Amnesty International is now set to spend this
week lobbying
key SADC embassies, diplomats and South African officials
ahead of the
Summit, calling on the regional bloc to ensure peaceful
elections in
Zimbabwe. The group’s Zimbabwe research team will be putting
pressure on the
key officials to ensure that SADC does not backtrack on its
unprecedented
acknowledgment of serious human rights violations in Zimbabwe.
Leaders
from SADC’s security organ, the Troika, in March served ZANU PF and
Robert
Mugabe with a stern rebuke for failing to reform, as stipulated by
the SADC
endorsed Global Political Agreement (GPA). The Troika, after a
summit in
Livingstone, Zambia, released a strongly worded communiqué,
denouncing
partisan violence and human rights abuses. The SADC grouping also
insisted
on key reforms ahead of a future election, listing an election
roadmap as
the key towards real change.
This position, dubbed the ‘Livingstone
Position’, was then meant to be
endorsed by a full summit of SADC leaders
last month. But Zimbabwe was not
included on that’s summit’s agenda, because
South African leader Jacob Zuma,
the regional mediator in Zimbabwe, could
not attend.
It is widely hoped that this upcoming session on Zimbabwe
will now pick up
where the SADC Troika left off, and set out a clear path
towards a peaceful,
free and fair poll.
Amnesty International’s
Zimbabwe researcher, Simeon Mawanza, told SW Radio
Africa on Monday that his
team’s lobbying efforts will include demands for
SADC to speak out publicly
against ongoing human rights violations in
Zimbabwe. He said the
‘Livingstone Position’ was a strong, belated position,
that SADC needs to
follow through on.
“We are expecting SADC to stick to the Livingstone
Position and not water it
down in any way. Critically though, they need to
ensure an end to human
rights violations before an election, or else
Zimbabwe will be at risk of
another bloody poll,” Mawanza said.
The
Amnesty International team will be calling on SADC to put pressure on
Zimbabwe to end arbitrary arrests, harassment and intimidation of human
rights activists. SADC will also be urged to ensure that Zimbabwe's airwaves
are opened up, including the licensing of community radio stations. Mawanza
meanwhile explained that the de-politicisation of Zimbabwe's security forces
will also be high on Amnesty International’s demands, in order to ensure
that peaceful conditions are set for a future election.
Skepticism
however does remain over the path SADC will follow, with the
regional bloc
historically refusing to take any meaningful action in
Zimbabwe. The
grouping has in the past repeatedly shown allegiance to Robert
Mugabe and
his ZANU PF party, by allowing the dictator to retain his brutal
grip on
power. SADC also last month dissolved the regional human rights
Tribunal,
rather than be forced to take action against Zimbabwe’s contempt
of that
court.
This weekend’s session on Zimbabwe should now prove if SADC’s
loyalties lie
with the region’s human rights, or with protecting
Mugabe.
http://www.radiovop.com/
5 hours 8 minutes ago
Harare, June
06,2011 - President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party has said
raising of
money for the anticipated polls will not be problematic as the
money can be
sourced from “everywhere” including from continental
organisations such as
SADC and the African Union across the globe, the party
national chairman
said.
Simon Kaya Moyo, Zanu (PF) national chairman said the issue of
polls can be
delayed any further since Zimbabwe was not a poor country. The
statement by
Moyo is at variance with that of the Finance ministry which has
said it does
not have funds to sponsor an election as well as to increase
teachers’
salaries.
"Zimbabwe is not a poor country, and we don't
have poor friends either,”
Moyo said. “We can always, SADC to start with is
a guarantor of Global
Political Agreement so as the African Union , being
guarantors they must
ensure that these elections take place and the monies
would be raised. We
are saying there is money everywhere.”
Moyo’s
comments comes at time when his party is demanding that elections be
held
not later than this year, while Prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
party---MDC has demanded for real reforms.
According to the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission, the country would need $400
million to hold joint
polls. However, finance minister Tendai Biti say’s
the country cannot
afford to hold any elections this year citing funding
constraints.
South African President, Jacob Zuma who is the mediator
of the inter party
talks has also demanded for minimum guidelines to be met
before the country
holds any polls.
http://www.radiovop.com
9 hours 16 minutes ago
Harare, June 06, 2011 –
The militant Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
(PUTZ) has called for a
crippling strike on 21 June if the government fails
to award civil servants
promised salary hikes.
Raymond Majongwe, the secretary general of
PUTZ, said the strike was
imminent after government negotiations last
Wednesday failed to put an offer
on the table.
“The outcome of the
National Joint Negotiating Council (NJNC) meeting is
profoundly
disillusioning and does not help the long suffering teachers to
manage their
hopes. After investing deep trust in unending negotiations, our
degrees of
freedom are now limited and the only option left is to dialogue
through a
strike,” said Majongwe.
In April, President Robert Mugabe promised civil
servants a salary hike
premised on the proceeds of the sale of Marange
diamonds but nothing has
come to fruition.
Majongwe said if
parliament approved a US$98 million loan for the
construction of a Defence
College, “surely the same parliament can approve
another loan for reviewing
civil servants salaries.”
“The immediate risk facing us is the exclusion
in the 2011 mid-term budget.
The nation should know that teachers shall go
on strike from 21st of June if
Poverty Dictum Line indexed salaries are not
deposited into their accounts.
They shall walk from the bank to the battle,”
he said.
Finance minister Tendai Biti is under fire for allegedly
thwarting salary
increments for civil servants. However Biti is adamant that
the government
is technically broke.
President Mugabe has allegedly
ordered Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to
direct Biti to avail funds to
pay civil servants. Biti is on record as
saying he has not received a cent
from the sale of diamonds. On Saturday
night unknown assailants threw a bomb
at his residence in Harare as pressure
mounts on him to open the
government's purse.
http://www.radiovop.com
5 hours 6 minutes
ago
Harare, June 06, 2011 - The Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC-T) party has defended its Secretary
General Tendai
Biti who is the Finance Minister in the inclusive government
for resisting
to randomly release funds from the treasury to Zanu (PF)
officials as the
party’s strategy to bring accountability and sanity in the
use of tax payers’
funds.
Zanu (PF) is accusing Biti of sabotaging by
underfunding some government
departments. Since taking over the finance
ministry in 2009 Biti has pursed
tough cost cutting measures and in the
process starving powerful sections
such as the military of easy
cash.
Zanu (PF) has also been accusing Biti of ignoring the agricultural
sector
which the revolutionary party uses for garnering support from the
unfortunate rural folks.
“(Vanga vajaira kudya mari sembwire mbwire.
Makamboonepi vanhu
vanotungamirira nyika vari mundege). They were used to
squandering public
funds through travel. Minister Biti has vehemently
resisted to
unconditionally dish out funds the way Zanu (PF) used to do
before we (MDC)
came on board. They were used to spend and enjoy public
funds like nobody’s
business. Biti has said no to non accountability of
using tax payers’ money.
Every cent released from the treasury since we
entered into this coalition
government is being accounted for and this has
not gone well with Zanu
(PF),” MDC National Organising Secretary Nelson
Chamisa said.
Chamisa said Zanu (PF) had refused to bring transparency in
the Marange
diamond field.
“On the issue of civil servants’ salaries
we have said let's see who is in
Marange diamond fields and bring the
proceeds to the treasury so that we pay
our civil servants, but what did our
partners say. We have not yet
established who is doing business in Marange
except knowing that there are
some Chinese companies whose back ground is
not known, and all this was and
is being done for the purposes of stealing
public funds,”Chamisa added.
MDC believes that the bombing of Biti’s
residents at the weekend is linked
to Zanu (PF) threats and complaints over
his tough stance on releasing funds
to departments which Zanu (PF) views as
critical to its political advantage.
Last week President Robert Mugabe
gave Biti an ultimatum to give civil
servants a salary increase saying the
issues was now a security threat.
The security sector which used to back
President Robert Mugabe’s rule is
part of the group which Mugabe said should
be given more incentives. The
department had become used to lavish funding
under the veteran leader’s
previous Zanu (PF) government and has publicly
accused Biti of depriving
funds in what some commanders’ claim is a ploy to
weaken and destabilise the
security forces.
http://www.radiovop.com/
10 hours 35 minutes ago
Harare, June 06, 2011 – The National
Constitutional Assembly NCA has
dismissed the mainstream Movement for
Democratic Change led by Morgan
Tsvangirai (MDC-T) from being a member
following its participation in the
parliament led constitution.
“The
resolution, which was unanimous, was made at the NCA’s National
Consultative
Assembly meeting held at the NCA’s Headquarters in Harare
(Sunday). The
decision was made after the realisation that the MDC-T’s
participation and
involvement in the COPAC (Constitution Select Committee)
process is in
total deviation from the principles and vision of the NCA,
whose vision is a
new democratic people driven constitution,” reads the
statement.
NCA
has been condemning the parliament led constitution since its inception
two
years ago arguing that the supreme law of the country should be
spearhead by
an independent body. It has embarked a No Vote Campaign for the
referendum
on the new constitution.
The move, to expel MDC-T and other civic
organisations which participated in
the government led constitution making
process from NCA was adopted by NCA
Taskforce on Sunday.
In an
interview with Radio VOP on Monday NCA spokesperson Madock Chivasa
said they
were yet to formally inform MDC-T and other organisations which he
said
expelled themselves from NCA because of taking part in the parliament
led
constitution making process and defaulting meetings.
“Yes I can confirm
that development but I want you to know that it’s not
only the MDC-T which
has expelled itself but several organisations which
were affiliated to the
NCA. We have not yet officially informed these
organizations of their
expulsion as the decision was reached at yesterday
(Sunday) but we are going
to write to them very soon.
It was also noted that the MDC-T had not been
attending NCA Taskforce
meetings since 2009.
MDC-T at the weekend
admitted that the ongoing constitution making process
was flawed and
promised to rewrite a perfect one when they get into power, a
statement
which NCA dismissed as 'nonsensical'.
“Who told them that they will get
into power any time soon and who are they
to tell people that a constitution
will be rewritten? As NCA we insist that
politicians should not dictate who
when and how a constitution should be
written. For how long has MDC-T been
in politics and not getting the chance
to rule the country and what
guarantee do they have that they will get into
power soon?”Chivasa
questioned.
The meeting which endorsed the expulsion of MDC-T from NCA
was attended by
the NCA Taskforce, Provincial Chairpersons, and constituency
representatives.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Thelma Chikwanha, Staff Writer
Monday, 06 June 2011
15:09
HARARE - Three days after President Robert Mugabe launched a
vitriolic
attack on Finance Minister Tendai Biti, there was an attempt on
the fiery
MDC secretary general’s life after an explosive device was thrown
at his
Glen Lorne House yesterday.
Biti was not at home when the
suspected bomb exploded in his yard very early
yesterday
morning.
Suspiciously, the police officer who guards Biti’s house had not
reported
for duty for five days prior to the attack – heightening
speculation that
rogue elements within the security sector were at the heart
of the attempt
on the senior MDC official’s life.
However, there was
an armed guard at the premises who reported for work in
the morning but
after the explosion. Ministers are supposed to be under
24-hour police
guard.
Contacted by the Daily News yesterday, police spokesman for Harare
Inspector
Andrew Phiri said: “We did not receive that report. Check with Hon
Biti
where he made that report”.
The explosive device, which was
possibly thrown from a moving vehicle or
planted in the garden, went off
just at the minister’s boundary wall,
partially damaging the wall.
As
tension rises in the inclusive government, as shown by Biti’s recent
clashes
not only with Mugabe, but also with the country’s securocrats, the
stage is
set for an explosive summit when Sadc meets in Johannesburg this
coming
weekend to try and resolve Zimbabwe’s worsening political crisis.
The
attack on Biti comes after a policeman was murdered in Glen View last
week,
with police saying he was attacked by MDC supporters, while Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai’s party insists that the death was the result of
a pub
brawl.
On Friday, Biti is said to have clashed with Mugabe during a
stormy National
Security Council meeting, over the Zanu PF leader’s attacks
on the minister.
This apparently agitated two of the service chiefs in
attendance – who
accused Biti of disrespecting and undermining
Mugabe.
The securocrats also later ganged up with Mugabe to issue Biti
with an
ultimatum to raise the salaries of civil servants’ — claiming that
the issue
was now a national security matter.
When a Daily News crew
arrived at Biti’s home, part of the wall was covered
in what appeared to be
black soot, suggesting that the explosive device used
could have been a
petrol bomb.
Pieces of stone were scattered all over the residence as
well as outside the
adjacent road. The explosion also damaged flowers
outside the house.
There was a gaping hole in the ground where the bomb
landed, suggesting that
the explosive was very powerful.
Biti’s
gardener, Gift Kaseketa, who lives at the minister’s house, said he
heard a
loud explosion at around 1am yesterday.
“I heard something like a gunshot
and rushed out of the house. When I got
outside I did not see or hear any
movement. Maybe they (the perpetrators)
had already gone. However, I did not
check outside the gate because I was
scared. The policeman who guards the
house was not there,” Kaseketa told the
Daily News.
MDC organising
secretary and Minister for Information Communication
Technology Nelson
Chamisa said: “We have received a report of the
unfortunate incident. We
understand that the police are now dealing with the
matter. It was an
attempt to cause something and it damaged part of the
durawall,” Chamisa
said before referring all enquires to the MDC’s
information
department.
In a statement the MDC said: “The MDC does not take this
attack lightly
given that there have been increasing criticisms and verbal
attacks on Hon
Biti lately. On Friday, Robert Mugabe and the service chiefs
reportedly
issued an ultimatum to Hon Biti to review civil servants’
salaries saying
the issue was now a threat to national security.
“The
ultimatum comes at a time when Mugabe has launched an attack on Hon
Biti,
blaming him for all the financial problems facing the
country.
“Neighbours said the incident happened an hour after midnight
when they
heard the blast, but were too afraid to come out. Gift Kaseketa,
who was at
the house said when he came out in the night, he did not see
anyone, and
neither did he hear any sound of a vehicle. He said he was only
able to see
the dent left by the detonator in the morning”.
The MDC
believes that Biti is being targeted for his strong and principled
stand
against Mugabe and his hardliners.
On Saturday, Chamisa told supporters at a
rally in Highfields that Biti was
being targeted for thwarting the orgy of
looting in the country by top Zanu
PF officials.
“We have asked that
money from the diamond fields go to the treasury to
improve the welfare of
the people of Zimbabwe, but Zanu PF is reneging. We
ask: who is mining in
Chiadzwa? All you hear are names – all Chinese
companies.
“Our
problem is we have mineral resources that we can use to improve
salaries for
civil servants, build schools, clinics, hospitals, roads and
improve the
general living conditions of the people, but Zanu PF does not
intend to
share the national cake.
“Hon Biti blocked the paths they used to siphon
funds from the government
for personal use, so they are feeling the pinch,
and are furious at him and
the MDC,” said Chamisa.
This is not the
first time that the MDC secretary general has had his life
thrreatened. In
July 2009, Biti received a live bullet and a written note
enclosed in an
envelope addressed to his Harare home.
The note that accompanied the 9mm
bullet advised Biti to “prepare your
will.” No arrests have been made in
connection with the matter.
Mugabe also accused Biti of usurping his
presidential powers and retarding
development in the country when he met
traditional leaders last week. The
octogenarian leader further accused Biti
of unnecessarily tightening his
purse strings for projects such as
agriculture and elections.
Following the death of the policeman in Glen
View, more than a dozen
residents were arrested and charged with
murder.
The MDC denies any involvement in the heinous crime and has
dismissed the
arrests as a ploy by the police and Zanu PF to portray it as a
violent
party.
The party, viewed as the weaker partner in the Global
Political Agreement
(GPA), has since raised serious concerns around the
persecution of its
members with Sadc.
On Saturday, thousands of
people were discouraged from attending the MDC
rally in Highfields due to
the presence of heavily armed police.
Tsvangirai also failed to attend
the rally after police gave the MDC
stringent rules to follow during the
rally.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Reagan Mashavave, Staff
Writer
Monday, 06 June 2011 15:35
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai failed to address what was billed
as a star rally on Saturday
after the police instructed him not to mention
anything negative about
President Robert Mugabe, a spokesman for his party
has
claimed.
The rally failed to live to its billing after only a handful
of people
attended, amid heavy police deployment.
“The police wanted
the leadership not to denigrate political rivals, in
other words Prime
Minister Tsvangirai was called to speak only good about
President Mugabe
when in fact this was an MDC rally,” said Mwonzora.
He, however, did not
provide the Daily News with a copy of the police
instruction as his phone
subsequently became unreachable.
Police spokesperson Andrew Phiri
yesterday queried Mwonzora’s claims but he
did not elaborate.
If
Mwonzora’s claims are true, then this would mark a new high on police
trying
to shield Mugabe from criticism by rivals.
Police have previously
arrested dozens of MDC officials, including MPs and
ordinary villagers for
undermining Mugabe’s authority after making negative
comments about the
87-year-old strongman.
Armed police details maintained a high presence at
Machipisa shopping centre
and at the venue of the rally. Police patrolled
streets on foot armed with
guns, truncheons, while water cannon vehicles
were parked at various points.
The MDC says six of their supporters were
beaten and attacked by Zanu PF
supporters at Machipisa shopping centre,
although no-one was arrested.
Mwonzora said Tsvangirai and the MDC were
now pushing harder for security
sector reforms following the weekend
incidents.
He said the contentious subject on security sector reforms
will take centre
stage at the Sadc extra-ordinary summit in South Africa on
June 11.
Mugabe has already said he would not agree to security sector
reforms.
“The PM is very unhappy at the police’s behaviour and was
surprised the
amount of suppression could get this far,” said
Mwonzora.
“The issue of political suppression of the MDC by the police
headed by
Augustine Chihuri will now have to be discussed as a matter of
urgency at
the Sadc summit. We will be pursuing that item on the agenda with
vigour,”
he said.
Mwonzora said the police had instructed Tsvangirai
to denounce violence at
the rally “as if he had encouraged it in the first
place” and that the
premier must report any presence of hooligans at the
venue of the rally.
He said the MDC, despite facing difficulties to hold
rallies across the
country, would continue to insist on political
rights.
“If police orders are unjust, unfair and unreasonable people have
a positive
duty to disobey. We call upon the police commissioner-general,
Augustine
Chihuri to examine the political and legal consequences of these
unlawful
orders,” Mwonzora said.
Mwonzora said the orders by the police
to Tsvangirai and the MDC were weird
considering that their party leader was
the “Prime Minister of the Republic
of Zimbabwe, the president of the MDC
and the winner of the first round of
the presidential vote in 2008”.
http://www.mineweb.com
Close on the heels of South
Africa's diamond regulator permitting imports of
rough diamonds from
Zimbabwe, the diamond industry in Surat is urging the
Indian government to
follow suit.
Author: Shivom Seth
Posted: Monday , 06 Jun
2011
MUMBAI -
India, the world's largest diamond processing
market, is in a bind. The
country that imported close to $7.5 billion in
rough diamonds last year has
not been able to shake off the embargo on the
import of diamonds from
Zimbabwe. Traders maintain that this has left the
door wide open for more
imports into China.
In a bid to crackdown on
reports that conflict or blood diamonds are being
smuggled into India and
laundered there, the Indian government had earlier
blocked the import of
roughs from Zimbabwe. The decision was a major blow to
India's diamond hub
in Surat, which at one point, was the biggest importer
of Zimbabwe stones
and had predicted high growth in 2011.
Zimbabwe reportedly has a
stockpile of over six million carats. The diamonds
from the country have
come under an international embargo after both the US
and EU opposed the
unilateral decision taken in March 2011, by Kimberley
Process chairman
Mathieu Yamba to allow Zimbabwe to export its diamonds.
As the crackdown
by Indian officials continue, the start of June saw India's
directorate of
revenue intelligence arresting two diamond traders for
allegedly smuggling
$2 million worth of Zimbabwe diamonds into Surat that
did not have the
requisite Kimberley Process certification.
In a bid to end the impasse,
several rough diamond buyers have urged the
Indian government to accept the
import of stones from Zimbabwe's Marange
mines. They have pointed to reports
that South Africa has also authorised
dealers to take stones from the
controversial Marange mines.
Officials of the Surat Rough Diamond
Sourcing India Limited (SRSDIL), which
is a special purpose firm formed to
source rough diamonds from African
countries, have said that the Indian
government needs to initiate action
immediately since a further delay could
see India losing out on the Marange
stones to China and Russia.
The
consortium has also alluded to reports that suggest that Zimbabwe will
use
revenue from its Marange diamond fields to repay China's Anhui Foreign
Economic Construction Group which is building a military training facility
and a defence college.
Growing concern
What has also raised
concern among Indian diamond trading houses is the news
that a Chinese
company, Anjin Investments Private Limited, has become one of
the biggest
diamond miners in Zimbabwe.
As of end-April 2011, Anjin had produced 1
million carats of diamonds from a
mine in eastern Zimbabwe. Anjin, which
started mining in October last year,
is the second Chinese mining company
operating in the Marange area.
The Zimbabwe government has said that it
has sold $313 million worth of
diamonds produced by two companies in Marange
since last year. There are
five firms with licences to operate in Marange,
two of them are Chinese.
According to Ashokbhai Muddal, a diamond
sightholder in Mumbai's Zaveri
Bazaar, ``The annual output from the Marange
field has already crossed $2
billion worth of roughs, with the government
promising more mining space
whenever needed,''
``Clearly, China is
taking control of diamond mining in Zimbabwe. At this
rate, Surat traders
and export houses in India will have to depend on
Chinese traders for their
rough supplies,'' Muddal said.
Analysts estimate that China, India, Hong
Kong, Taiwan and Japan currently
account for 19% of the $65-$70 billion
global diamond jewellery sales. They
have forecast that demand from Asian
nations is set to rise to 31% from
2015.
``The Zimbabwe ban has
ensured that the world's biggest diamond cutting and
polishing centre in
Surat is being forced to face rough times. Indian
diamantaires have to look
to China. This has been weighing heavily on us,''
said diamond exporter
Tirodimull Shah.
He added that the Indian government's decision to ban
imports had resulted
in rough prices appreciating by 30% in 2010 and leading
to an acute shortage
in the global market.
Chandrakant Sanghavi,
chairman of Sanghavi Exports, a big diamond trading
house added that Chinese
companies have been getting direct supplies of
roughs from Zimbabwe, whereas
Indian export houses and traders have to abide
by the government's
stay.
``This deadlock has created a difficult situation for many
diamantaires. The
strong support from China may also undermine the interest
of Indian
diamantaires in the Kimberley Process meetings,'' he
added.
Zimbabwe's Mines and Minerals minister Obert Mpofu, who paid a
visit to
Mumbai at the start of June, is said to have had informal meetings
with few
of the leading diamantaires from Surat and Mumbai.
Revenue
for China
Reports indicate that Zimbabwe's Defence College is being built
by the
Chinese in a controversial deal with the government. The Zimbabwe
government
is to use revenues from its Marange diamonds to pay the Chinese
government's
Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Group for constructing a
defence
college.
China's Export-Import Bank is to provide Zimbabwe with a
$98 million loan
while the construction group is to recoup its expenses with
diamond proceeds
from Anjin Investments. The deal also stipulates that
Zimbabwe will pay a
0.5% management fee to the Chinese.
Reports further
indicate that Zimbabwe has mortgaged diamonds worth $100
million to the
Chinese in exchange for the construction of the Defence
College. Albrecht
Conze, the outgoing German envoy to Harare, has dismissed
the Chinese
investment and has termed it `exploitation'.
He has been quoted as saying
that Germany was concerned about the way the
Chinese were conducting
business in African countries. ``Most of the
agreements signed by China will
buy out the whole world's raw materials and
block other countries from
having access to these raw materials,'' Conze
reportedly said.
http://www.ft.com
Published: June 6 2011 03:57 | Last updated:
June 6 2011 03:57
From Kate Hoey MP.
Sir, Robert Mugabe is 87 and
lives in the past, as his rants against British
imperialism show. Michael
Holman (“It is time for Britain to start talking
to Mugabe”, May 30) seems
also to be living in the past.
The days are long gone when Zimbabwe’s
future could be stitched up through
behind the scenes contact by go-betweens
from the British government.
Zimbabwe’s future must be decided by
Zimbabweans, most of whom are under 30
and born after independence. They
have made their democratic will very
clear, and it is to them that Mr Mugabe
and the geriatric leadership of
Zanu-PF have shut their ears.
Morgan
Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic Change speak for Zimbabwe
now and
our dialogue should be with them. And if Mr Holman thinks white
commercial
farmers are a good thing for Zambia, why does he think they are a
bad thing
for Zimbabwe?
Kate Hoey,
Chairman, All-Party Parliamentary Group
for Zimbabwe,
Houses of Parliament, UK
BILL WATCH 22/2011
[6th June
2011]
Both Houses of
Parliament have adjourned after this week’s special
recall:
The House of
Assembly until Tuesday 14th June
and the Senate until
Tuesday 5th July
Parliament
Recalled to Consider Chinese Loan Agreement
An early recall
to both Houses of Parliament to sit on Tuesday 31st May interrupted the
adjournments of the House of Assembly [to
14th June] and the Senate [to 5th
July]. The recall was in terms of
Standing Orders which give the Speaker of the House and the President of the
Senate the power to order a recall if they have been requested to do so by the
[State] President and if they are satisfied that the “public interest” so
requires. [House of Assembly Standing Order 187, Senate
Standing Order 194.]
[Comment: There can be little doubt that the public
interest required legislators to get back to work, now that most of them are
once again available for normal Parliamentary duties. The Houses had adjourned because the majority
of members were to be involved in the Thematic Committee stage of the
constitution-making process. But by 26th
May the Thematic Committees had been reconstituted and reduced in size,
resulting in most legislators being released from Thematic Committee
obligations.]
Reason for the Recall The Clerk of Parliament said
on 26th May that the recall was for both Houses to deal with multilateral
agreements and protocols, and Bills currently before Parliament. But, it turned out that the real reason for
the recall was to get both Houses to approve a Chinese loan of US$98 million for
the construction of the National Defence College – and the sitting took place
while a high-level Chinese military delegation was in the country. Although the Houses conducted some other
business [see below for details], no
other agreements or protocols were presented and only one Bill was taken further
– the Minister of Finance’s Deposit Protection Corporation Bill, which was
passed by the House of Assembly with amendments. Both Houses have again adjourned to the dates
of their previous adjournments.
Approval of Chinese Loan Agreement
Purpose of Loan: to construct a National Defence
College.
Terms of Loan Agreement: The agreement provides for a loan in Chinese currency equivalent to
US$98 million. It was signed by Minister of Finance Tendai Biti on 21st March,
but an agreement of this sort has to be approved by both Houses of Parliament,
otherwise it is not valid. This is a
“concessional” loan, with interest at 2% per annum. There is a “grace period” of 7 years during
which only interest is payable.
Thereafter the loan must be repaid in 26 twice-yearly instalments over
the next 13 years. Other noteworthy
aspects of the agreement include:
· State’s Diamond Revenues to be Used to Service Loan Article 9 in effect requires
the Government to ensure that its income from the Sino-Zimbabwean Anjin joint
diamond-mining venture at Chiadzwa will be dedicated to making payments due
under the loan agreement – to actually draw on the loan the Government must
first enter into an agreement “to
establish an escrow account to secure the payment and repayment of the Facility
with the revenue of the Zimbabwe side’s benefits from Anjin Investment (Pvt)
Ltd.”
· Preferential Treatment for Chinese Goods and Services Article 2.5 of the Agreement
states that “goods, technologies and
services” purchased with the proceeds of the loan must be “purchased from China preferentially and
also from Zimbabwe where this will benefit the Project and End-User” – the
End-User being the Ministry of Defence.
Debate in the Senate: The loan agreement was
presented by the Minister of Lands and Rural Resettlement on behalf of the
Minister of Defence. Only one Senator
asked questions and the agreement was then approved.
Debate in the House of Assembly: The debate in the House
lasted two hours but the agreement was eventually approved. The Minister of Defence made a long speech
justifying the establishment of the National Defence College [NDC] but said very
little about the terms of the loan. MPs
from both MDC formations objected to the short notice given to members to study
the agreement – most of them had only seen it that morning – and complained
about being asked to rubber-stamp it; also queried was how such a large loan
would be serviced when the country’s external debt is already $7 billion and
civil servants were not getting properly paid.
MPs also complained that Chinese companies habitually brought in
materials and labour from China, prejudicing local suppliers and workers. The Minister of Defence in reply said it was
a very cheap loan and stressed the low interest rate of 2% and the generous
grace and repayment periods. Minister of
Finance Biti took no part in the presentation of the loan agreement nor in the
debate.
Comment: Despite some resistance to last-minute rubber stamping
and despite MPs querying misplaced priorities and the country’s capacity to
service the loan, the debate in Parliament did not fully reflect the outrage
that people have been publicly expressing about this deal, nor did it probe the
purposes to which the NDC will be put.
Public concern has focused on the diversion of diamond receipts from far
more pressing needs, on the fact that the NDC will benefit an elite few rather
than the struggling general population, and on reports that the complex will
include VIP recreational facilities and medical facilities – in contrast to the
lack of health facilities for the general population – and a “techno-spy
centre”.
Adverse Report by Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC]
on Indigenisation
Amendment Regulations
On Wednesday the Deputy Speaker told the House of
Assembly that the PLC had returned an adverse report on the
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment
(Amendment) Regulations gazetted in SI 34/2003.
[Note: The regulations, and GN
114/2011 gazetted the same day, have been widely criticized as unconstitutional
and ultra vires. See summary in Bill
Watch 15/2011 of 1st April.]
The PLC also reported adversely on SI 30/2011
[Marondera Clamping and Tow-away By-laws] and SI 52/2011 [Harare Waste
Management Amendment By-laws].
What an adverse report from the PLC
means: A PLC adverse report on a statutory
instrument states that the PLC considers all or part of the statutory instrument
to be inconsistent with the Constitution and therefore invalid. An adverse report does not, however, nullify
the statutory instrument – although it may ultimately result in its repeal. The procedure laid down by the Constitution
[Schedule 4, paragraph 8] is as
follows: the Senate must consider the report and decide whether or not the
statutory instrument is in conflict with the Constitution. [Note:
As the Senate does not have the legal expertise that the PLC has, this is likely
to be a party political decision, although the issue is a legal one.] If the Senate disagrees with the PLC and
decides the SI is constitutional, that is the end of the matter – the SI
stands. If the Senate agrees with the
PLC and passes a resolution that the SI is inconsistent with the Constitution,
the responsible Minister [in this case Youth, Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment
Minister Kasukuwere] has the right to ask the
House of Assembly to resolve that the statutory instrument should not be
repealed. If the House does not pass
such a resolution within 21 sitting days after the Senate’s resolution, the
President must repeal either the whole statutory instrument or the
offending provision. [Note: A “sitting day” is any Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday or Friday that is not a public holiday, whether or not
Parliament actually sits.]
[Note: If proceedings on an adverse report in the
Senate and House of Assembly do not result in the repeal of the SI or the
offending parts of it by the President, the SI can still be challenged in the
Supreme Court by interested parties.
Although the Supreme Court is not obliged to reach the same conclusion as
the PLC, a well-reasoned PLC adverse report will obviously be of value to anyone
applying to the court to invalidate an SI or any of its provisions on the ground
of inconsistency with the Constitution.]
Other Parliamentary Business
Conducted
Senate The
Senate sat on Tuesday only, for 1
hour 23 minutes. It did not deal with
either of the two Bills on its Order Paper – the Small Enterprises Development
Corporation Amendment Bill and the POSA Amendment Bill. Before the discussion of the Chinese loan
agreement, there were brief contributions to the debate on the thematic
committee report on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [electronic
version of report available] and the
debate on the motion on the achievements of the inclusive
government.
House of
Assembly The House sat on Tuesday, until 5.48 pm, and Wednesday,
until 3.50 pm. The debate on the Chinese
loan agreement on Tuesday afternoon was followed by the Second Reading of the
Deposit Protection Corporation Bill.
This Bill provides for the establishment of a Deposit Protection Corporation and Deposit
Protection Fund to provide for the compensation of depositors in failed
financial institutions; this will replace the existing compensation scheme.
Minister Biti’s presentation was so persuasive
that there was no debate after his explanatory speech. The Committee Stage was concluded on
Wednesday when the House approved amendments proposed by the Minister to clauses
36 and 37 of the Bill and its First Schedule.
The Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC] cleared the amendments the same
afternoon with a non-adverse report and the amended Bill received its Third
Reading. It was then transmitted to the
Senate, where it joins two other Bills already passed by the House. [Electronic version of Bill available.]
Members’
Question Time Questions raised in the House of Assembly on
Wednesday included:
Lifespan of GPA Deputy Prime
Minister Mutambara said that the GPA has no specific termination date and that
its termination depends on the creation of conditions for a free and fair
election, including a new Constitution and related reforms; it could not,
however, last beyond the life of the present Parliament, which would expire
after five years in
2013.
Housing for Relocated Chiadzwa
Residents
The Minister of National Housing and Social Amenities, MDC-T’s Giles Mutsekwa, revealed
that he had not been made aware of developments concerning the provision of
housing and social amenities for persons relocated from the Chiadzwa diamond
fields.
Problems in Banking
Sector
The Minister of Finance said that the Government could not and would not
bail out failed banks. At the same time
it had the duty to protect bank depositors, not only in the case of Renaissance
Merchant Bank currently in the news, but also by improving regulation of the
whole financial sector. [The next day RMB was placed under
curatorship by the Reserve Bank.]
New Parliament Building Awaiting
Funding
The Minister of Public Works said that all plans for the new $110 million
complex on the Harare Kopje site were ready but there was no funding; work on
the site could commence within 45 days of funding becoming
available.
Update on Acts and
Bills
Acts of 2011
Gazetted to date
[Electronic versions available.]
· Zimbabwe National
Security Council Act (No. 2/2011)
· General Laws
Amendment Act (No. 5/2011)
[Note: Acts Nos. 1,
3 and 4/2011 have not been gazetted.
They are in the pipeline; see below.]
Bills Passed and
Awaiting Presidential Assent and/or Gazetting as Acts [Electronic versions available.]
· Criminal Laws
Amendment (Protection of Power, Communication and Water Infrastructure) Bill
· Attorney-General’s
Office Bill
·
Energy Regulatory Authority Bill
Bills in Parliament [Electronic versions
available.]
House of Assembly
· National Incomes and
Pricing Commission Amendment Bill [awaiting Second Reading].
Senate
Three Bills now await Second Reading:
· Public Order and
Security [POSA] Amendment Bill
· Small Enterprises
Development Corporation Amendment Bill
· Deposit Protection
Corporation Bill [transmitted from House
of Assembly 1st June].
Bills Gazetted and
Awaiting Presentation in Parliament –
None
Bills Being Printed for Presentation in Parliament
[electronic versions not available – texts not yet
released]
· Electoral Amendment
Bill [to be presented by the Minister of
Justice and Legal Affairs]
· Human Rights
Commission Bill [to be presented by the
Minister of Justice and Legal Affairs]
· Older Persons Bill
[to be presented by the Minister of
Labour and Social Services]
Bills Referred for Drafting after Approval in Principle by
Cabinet
· State Enterprises
Restructuring Agency Bill
· State Enterprises
and Parastatals Management Bill
· Zimbabwe Investment
Authority Amendment Bill.
Government
Gazette
The Gazette dated
3rd June only became available today. No
Bills or Acts are gazetted, only local authority by-laws: Gokwe [SI 65 – road traffic and other offences], Redcliff
[SI 66 – rents and charges], Epworth [SI 67 – supplementary charges], Zvishavane
[SI 68 – rents and charges].
Requests for electronic versions that have been offered should be
emailed to veritas@yoafrica.com
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied