The Zimbabwe Situation

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http://www.washingtonpost.com

By Associated Press, Published: March 9 | Updated: Saturday, March 10, 1:07
AM

HARARE, Zimbabwe — A government-sponsored tour of Zimbabwe’s diamond fields
has failed to persuade human rights activists that mining abuses have
stopped, or that miners are being open about what they earn at the
internationally criticized fields, activists said Friday.

Farai Maguwu, who has documented murder, torture and forced labor in the
Marange diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe, was among the activists who just
returned from the tour. On Friday, he said rights abuses continue, and that
people report police and soldiers beating them at roadblocks on suspicions
of illegal diamond mining.

Others on the tour said government agents tried to keep them from seeing too
much.

Shamiso Mutisi, of Zimbabwe’s Kimberley Process Civil Society Coalition,
joined the tour and on Friday called for improvement in accounting of
diamond production. He said there is little transparency on how many
diamonds are produced.

The world’s diamond-regulating body, the Kimberley Process, in November
allowed Zimbabwe to sell its diamonds on the world market despite concerns
by rights groups that human rights abuses still persisted at the Marange
fields.

Human Rights Watch has accused Zimbabwean troops of killing more than 200
people, raping women and forcing children to search for the gems in Marange
fields.

Maguwu told The Associated Press on Friday that they were “not given the
opportunity” to talk to villagers so as to ascertain the extent of rights
violations.

“Human rights abuses continue to take place. We want this to stop
completely,” he said.

Mutisi also raised concerns over health issues and noted a “lot of dust
emissions and the possibility of water contamination” in the area.

An international group monitoring blood diamonds, Global Witness, last month
cited fears that loyalists of Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe were using
diamond revenue as an “off-budget cash cow” instead of rebuilding the
shattered economy.

Mugabe’s party has denied hoarding any diamond revenue.

Mugabe has called for elections this year to end a fragile three-year
coalition with the former opposition of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

The coalition was formed after disputed and violence-plagued elections in
2008. Independent rights groups blamed the violence on the police and
military and Mugabe party militants.

The finance ministry, controlled by Tsvangirai’s party under the
power-sharing deal, was this year promised $600 million for treasury from
diamonds which it says is well below the potential diamond income.

The group also said unspecified amounts of Zimbabwe’s diamond earnings were
being stashed away in tax-free havens of Mauritius, Hong Kong and the
British Virgin Islands, and could be used to finance violence and
intimidation in the proposed elections.

Diamond concessions have been allocated to several companies linked to
Mugabe’s party under questionable circumstances, Global Witness report said.

A close Mugabe ally and former top air force officer was given a 25 percent
stake in one of the largest diamond firms, Mbada Diamonds, with no auditing
to show who benefited from diamond sales.

African Commission prepared to consider application for reinstatement of SADC Tribunal

The escalating campaign to reinstate the international court of the SADC Tribunal after its suspension by the SADC Heads of State in May 2011 has seen an important breakthrough this week.

The African Commission has made a preliminary ruling to be seized of a formal complaint lodged with it on behalf of Zimbabwean farmers Luke Tembani and Ben Freeth.

The complaint relates to the decision of the SADC Summit to suspend the SADC Treaty Tribunal, which in a series of rulings had held the Government of Zimbabwe in breach of the SADC Treaty and other international law obligations.

In response to the application lodged by Namibian lawyer Norman Tjombe, the Commission advised this after its 11^th Extra-Ordinary Session in The Gambia last week, inviting further submissions.

“The African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) is the organization charged with ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights throughout the African Continent. It also interprets the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights and considers individual complaints of violations of the Charter,” explained Tjombe.

In the letter to Tjombe, Dr Mary Maboreke, secretary to the ACHPR, wrote that the Commission had “considered your complaint and decided to be seized of it.” She said “the matter had been registered and referenced.”

This latest legal challenge follows an urgent application submitted by a legal team led by Jeremy Gauntlett, SC, a leading South African advocate, to the SADC Tribunal in April 2011.

The application asked for an order that would ensure the SADC Tribunal would continue to function in all respects as established by Article 16 of the SADC Treaty.

It was the first time in legal history that a group of heads of state was cited by an individual as the respondent in an application to an international court.

Both applications were filed on behalf of two dispossessed Zimbabwean commercial farmers, Ben Freeth (41), formerly of Mount Carmel farm, the son-in-law of the late Mike Campbell, who initiated the original farm test case with the SADC Tribunal, and Luke Tembani (75), formerly of Minverwag farm.

However, at the SADC Extraordinary Summit of Heads of State in Namibia on 20 May 2011, it was agreed that the Tribunal would be dissolved, pending a review in August 2012.

Consequently, individuals in all 15 member states no longer have access to the internationally respected court after being denied access to justice in their own countries. Disputes between the states themselves also now cannot be adjudicated.

Between 2007 and 2010, the Tribunal ruled on 20 cases that included disputes between citizens and their governments as well as cases between companies and governments.

“The move by the Heads of State of SADC last year to suspend southern Africa’s highest human rights and international law court, the SADC Tribunal, sent shock waves throughout the human rights and legal community in the region and internationally,” said Freeth from Harare.

“We cannot have governments paying lip service to human rights and the rule of law while at the same time dictatorially destroying institutions of justice. That can only lead to more poverty in our impoverished continent. We have to challenge our governments on this,” he said.

Freeth and Tembani’s legal team has two months to make further submissions, after which the Commission will proceed with deliberations on the admissibility of the complaint.

“We believe this will result in significant pressure to ensure that the SADC Tribunal is allowed to resume operations for the benefit of all victims of injustice and the abuse of power in southern Africa,” said Freeth.

“I was previously a successful commercial farmer and was respected in our community,” said Tembani. “Now I am poor through no fault of my own. All I want is justice - and in Zimbabwe justice has left me.”

Advocate Gauntlett, who is senior counsel in the matter before the Commission, commented that it was “unprecedented” for the African Commission to be considering a human rights matter regarding the actions of 14 governments.

Luke Tembani (75), a successful black commercial farmer, took his case to the SADC Tribunal in June 2009 after the farm he bought in 1983 was sold by the Agricultural Bank of Zimbabwe in 2000 without any court hearings.

In August 2009, the Tribunal ruled that the repossession and sale of Tembani’s farm to recoup an outstanding loan during a period of soaring interest rates - to which the bank was unable to put an exact figure - was illegal and void.

The court noted that Tembani’s proposal to sell of a viable section of the farm to cover the debt had been turned down by the bank. The judges ruled that he should remain on his farm where he had built a church and a school which provided free education to 321 pupils.

In defiance of the Tribunal ruling, Tembani and his family were evicted two months later and Tembani’s two primary school-going children were forced out of school. Following the collapse of the Zimbabwe dollar, all of Tembani’s savings were eroded and he is now struggling to feed his family and educate his children.

In October 2007, after exhausting all legal remedies under domestic jurisdiction, the late Mike Campbell filed a case with the Tribunal contesting the acquisition of his farm which had been transferred legally in 1999 with a certificate of no interest from the Zimbabwean government.

In March 2008, 77 additional Zimbabwean commercial farmers were granted leave to intervene. Interim relief similar to that given to Campbell on December 13, 2007 was granted to 74 of the farmers since three were no longer residing on their farms.

Eight months later, on November 28, 2008, the Tribunal ruled that the land reform programme was racist and unlawful and that the Zimbabwe government had violated the SADC treaty by attempting to seize the 77 white-owned commercial farms. In response, Lands and Land Reform Minister, Didymus Mutasa said the government would not recognise the ruling.

Statement by the SADC Lawyers Association following the decision of the SADC Extraordinary Summit to extend the suspension of the SADC Tribunal - 20 July 2011

Implications of the decision to review the role, functions and terms of reference of the SADC Tribunal 4 November 2010

SPT-Zimbabwe Update No.4. March 2012: The Shadow of Elections

Solidarity Peace Trust

SPT-Zimbabwe Update No.4. March 2012: The Shadow of Elections
9 March 2012

By Brian Raftopoulos - Solidarity Peace Trust

SPT - Zimbabwe Update A great tragedy of the Mugabe regime has been the deconstruction of national institutions, which some analysts have mistaken for a 'radicalised state.' In effect Zimbabweans have witnessed a destructive form of vanguardist politics in which a particular party has claimed the right to speak for the majority and in so doing has turned its back on the establishment of stable, functioning national institutions, through which the generality of Zimbabwean citizens could hold those in power to account. In the process, on the one hand, the messaging from the most arrogant section of this elite has increasingly been couched in terms of a priestly imposition of a selective dogma, dressed in a nationalist cloth that provides precious little cover for most of the population. Additionally, through control over the centralised structures of coercion in the country, key members of the security sector have spawned informalised structures of violence that threaten once again to mar the prospects for a generally acceptable election outside of a fuller implementation of the GPA.

On the other hand the countries of the West, through an increasingly problematic sanctions regime, have added to the political gridlock in Zimbabwe in the guise of being the arbiters of global human rights. In the face of the inconsistencies in the application of the 'right to protect' by the Atlantic emporium in contemporary global politics, this potentially noble project is in danger of being cast as yet another form of imperial arrogance.

At present the rush to elections by a beleaguered party of liberation must be set against this broader context, and the dangers that a rapid descent into a plebiscite are likely to bring upon Zimbabwean citizens. In a useful article in the Zimbabwe Independent 17^th February 2012 ('Zimbabwe: Elections in 2012 or GPA/GNU 11'), Ibbo Mandaza clearly spelt out the current dangers in rushing to the polls, pointing in particular to the persistent economic problems that marked the debacle of 2008, and the narrow interests of sections of the securocratic elite. My concern in this discussion will focus more on the regional and international dimensions of the current political challenges.

Since late last year the SADC mediation lost some momentum as the facilitator, President Zuma and his team were caught up in the internal problems of the ANC, the centenary celebrations of the South African ruling party, and the machinations of the election over the new head of the African Union. Thus the momentum and promise built up by the more critical position taken towards Zanu PF at the SADC summit in Livingstone in March 2011, lost some of its force as the year wore on. The intended meeting between the facilitator and the GPA Principals to discuss outstanding issues of the agreement has yet to take place, and the lull in the mediation has spurred Mugabe and those in Zanu PF keen on an early election, into renewed pressure for such an event.

It is therefore imperative for SADC to maintain their current stand on the implementation of the GPA before elections, as the regional body remains the major force with the diplomatic muscle to block the destructive rush to an election that the country is not prepared for. A key part of the Mbeki mediation from 2007 was that the Zimbabwean political parties and SADC retain control of the mediation process. In this regards he proposed that the 'principal task of the international community is to encourage and support the united effort of the people of Zimbabwe and leaders of Zimbabwe and to find a solution to their problems, at all costs avoiding any temptation to divide these people and leaders, regardless of the ways and means that might be used to foment such division.'

This basic proposition has continued to guide the Zuma mediation and the current SADC position. However it is imperative that the regional body ensures that the fight to protect the sovereignty of the region from destructive outside interference is matched by an equal determination to ensure the protection of the democratic and human rights in each of the countries in the region. This balance of imperatives was not always apparent in the Mbeki mediation, notwithstanding his important role in pushing the mediation through in Zimbabwe, and SADC has yet to ensure this dual mandate in the country. Pressure on SADC must be maintained to add new momentum to the facilitation process and ensure that the fatigue with the Zimbabwe problem inside the regional body does not lead to its willingness to accept minimal electoral conditions that do not meet the conditions set out in the GPA.

Another problematic factor in the Zimbabwe equation is the current role of the EU and the US. From the beginning of the mediation both these bodies were at best skeptical of the process and at worst cynical about its outcomes. Once the GPA was signed there was a largely luke warm response to the agreement, marked by a combination of humanitarian assistance and the continued use of the sanctions or targeted measures imposed in the early 2000's, to influence the outcome of the process, contrary to the content of the agreement and the official positions of the signatories of the parties and guarantors of the agreement. What could have been a moment at which the sanctions were, at least suspended as the basis for a broader political re-engagement, provided the pretext for a persistent contestation, and the lack of consensus between African and Western countries on this issue. Thus unlike the Kenyan agreement, negotiated by Koffi Annan with the full support of the Western countries, the Zimbabwean GPA has been bogged down by the continuing dispute between SADC, and the West over the implementation of the GPA.

Recently two important initiatives have attempted to move the debate on sanctions forward. Firstly a report by the International Crisis Group on the 6 February 2012 broadly advocated, amongst other recommendations, for a combination of a comprehensive review of the targeted measures and greater flexibility in its implementation, with the continued use of sanctions as a strategy. Similarly on the 17^th February the EU, in order to 'encourage further progress in the implementation of the GPA,' removed 51 individuals and 20 'entities' from the visa ban and asset freeze list, while also keeping the rest of the sanctions in place. The central problem with the approach taken by both these initiatives is that while there is an implicit recognition that pressure from the sanctions has not produced the broader political changes they had intended, and become counter-productive in the context of the GPA, the use of the sanctions remains a central part of the diplomatic approach of the Western countries towards the continuing problems of the GPA. This approach has been at odds with both the GPA and the SADC position, and ensured a persistent dissonance in the position of the regional body and the West over the matter. The major benefactor of this disagreement has been Zanu PF which has since 2009 wielded the sanctions issue as another example of the West's paternalist approach to African initiatives. In the broader context of the AU's marginalization in Libya and the Ivory Coast, this message has resonated strongly in the region.

It is instructive to compare the current period in Zimbabwean politics with that leading up to the Lancaster House agreement. One of the major factors that determined the transition to independence in 1980 was the convergence of pressures on the national forces from regional and international players in the 'Rhodesian Question' in the late 1970's. These included: the pressure from the South African Government on the Smith regime for a settlement in the context of the Apartheid regime's reformulation of its strategic interests at this time; the influence of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Lusaka in August 1979 in pushing the Thatcher government into not accepting the Internal Settlement and instead agreeing to a constitutional conference of all the major parties; and the decisive position of Front Line States and the Cuban Government in persuading the Patriotic Front to attend the Lancaster House Conference.

In the present context there is a much weaker alignment of regional and international forces. In particular there is a lack of a strong consensus between SADC and the Western countries, while the Commonwealth is no longer a key factor in the Zimbabwe negotiations. This lack of aligned pressure has allowed greater space for the obstructive forces in Zanu PF to operate, and played an important role in Mugabe's attempts to undermine the GPA and call for an early election. At this stage, notwithstanding the serious risks involved, it may prove a way forward for SADC, the EU and the US to agree to the following: Suspension of the sanctions on the basis of, and in recognition of, an agreed road map by the GPA partners, rather than waiting for a full implementation of the GPA; an agreement between the regional and international players that in the event of another failed election precipitated by the coercive forces in Zanu PF, the sanctions would be reintroduced with the support of SADC.

A continued stalemate over this issue is not likely to improve the prospects for a democratic transition in the country, and the growing concern on the continent over the West's disregard for continental institutions is likely to strengthen Mugabe's hand.

Rights reserved: Please credit the author, and Solidarity Peace Trust as the original source, for all material republished on other websites unless otherwise specified. Please provide a link back to http://www.solidaritypeacetrust.org

This article can be cited in other publications as follows: Raftopoulos, B. (2012) 'SPT-Zimbabwe Update No.4. March 2012: The Shadow of Elections', 9 March, Solidarity Peace Trust: http://www.solidaritypeacetrust.org/1150/spt-zimbabwe-update-no-4-june-2011-the-shadow-of-elections/

For further information, please contact Selvan Chetty - Deputy Director, Solidarity Peace Trust

Email: selvan@solidaritypeacetrust.org

Tel: +27 (39) 682 5869
Fax: +27 (39) 682 5869

Address:

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Tsvangirai says reforms essential before next polls

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
9 March 2012

MDC-T President Morgan Tsvangirai has said the reason his party is insisting
on reforms is to ensure ‘the security of the person, the vote and that the
people’s will is guaranteed before the next election is held.’

He castigated ZANU PF for the non-implementation of the 24 issues agreed in
the GPA, saying they regard reforms as ceding power.

Speaking in Harare on Thursday night at the launch of a party document
setting out conditions for a free poll, Tsvangirai said it was of paramount
importance to have a new constitution in place before elections.

Only a few booklets were available at the launch but copies will be sent to
party members, journalists, diplomats, civil society and non-governmental
organisations next week. The booklet will also be printed in digital form
(PDF) and distributed widely via the internet.

‘As a party, our participation in the next election will largely depend on
the implementation of security, media and electoral reforms. We’ve become a
laughing stock in the region where you have a government that is crafting
laws that control information rather than facilitate its dissemination,’
Tsvangirai said.

The Prime Minister emphasized that he will not sit down with Mugabe to agree
on a date for the polls until the conclusion of the constitution-making
process and the implementation of key reforms.

‘Zimbabweans want a peaceful election and not a war. That is what the people
of this country want and that is what SADC wants,’ he said.

COPACE, which is spearheading the drafting of a new charter, said the
proposed new draft is nearly complete. COPAC co-chairman Douglas Mwonzora
told journalists in Harare on Friday that the new draft will be adopted once
the committee is satisfied that the proposals have been done according to
its instructions.

’The proposals adopted by the Select Committee will form the draft new
Constitution. Once this document is in place, it will be translated into
vernacular languages and into braille. It will be widely publicised to give
all Zimbabweans an opportunity to familiarise with its contents before it is
taken to the Second All Stakeholders’ Conference,’ Mwonzora said.
Mugabe, who is yearning for an early poll, told traditional chiefs in
Bulawayo on Thursday that the Principals will soon meet and put a timeline
for the referendum. He warned that his party will not tolerate any delays
from its GPA partners.

“If there is any dragging of the feet, the party says no. If they want to
drag their feet on the constitution, there is a clause where parties can
withdraw from the GPA,” he said. However he said ZANU PF will not seek to
withdraw from the GPA.

GPA Was Never About Writing A New Constitution: - Mugabe

http://www.radiovop.com

Bulawayo, March 09, 2012- Zimbabwe’s Global Political Agreement (GPA) signed
in 2008 was never about writing a new constitution but about holding fresh
elections without violence before 2011, President Robert Mugabe has said.

This comes few days after the South African Foreign Affairs minister Maite
Nkoana-Mashabane insisted that Zimbabwe could only hold elections after the
completion of the constitution- making process.

“The GPA was never meant to be more than two years. The GPA was about ending
violence and holding fresh elections without violence and not holding new
elections with a new constitution.

“It was never about a new constitution. The main issue was about violence
and fresh elections without that violence,” Mugabe said during his address
while officially opening an annual chief’s conference held in Bulawayo at
the Large City Hall.

The Chiefs Annual Conference is held under the theme: ’Traditional
Leaders:-Realigning Culture and Traditions towards Dynamic Community
Development and Empowerment.'

Mugabe said his party is ready to pull out of the inclusive government and
hold fresh elections using an old government charter.

According to the power sharing agreement, the country will only go for polls
after the conclusion of the constitution making process which is however
behind schedule.

The process has been bogged down varying delays that Mugabe attacked as
deliberate.

Mugabe also attacked Europeans for trying to wipe out humankind and reverse
nature through homosexuality.

“I want to see the man who is able to make men present here to be pregnant
for nine months. The devil cannot do it. The Europeans want to destroy
nature and destroy humankind. Let us never, never ever accept
homosexuality,” Mugabe said.

He also took swipe at South Africa for failing to empower the black
nationals there through the land reform and indigenization, saying poverty
is rampant among the black population yet that country is reported to be
rich.

“People of Soweto are still poor. We do not know when their lives will
improve. Poverty in Soweto will never be alleviated through getting jobs. It
will only be alleviated through land and empowerment.

“They (blacks) do not have land because their country’s constitution did not
give them the right to land like our constitution. We included the issue of
land in our constitution in 1980.”

Meanwhile the demand for weapons by the traditional leaders has been
described by Zimbabwe People’s revolutionary Army (ZPRA) as a clear sign
that there is no security in Zimbabwe as we are heading towards
constitutional referendum and elections.

ZPRA Veterans Trust, chairperson, Besta Magwizi, told Radio VOP that the
traditional leaders were insecure because Zanu (PF) and MDC-T were violent
parties.

“When the traditional leaders begin to demand weapons, it is a sign that
they are insecure. They feel threatened by violent individuals more so when
we are focusing on development of constitution making process, the
referendum, possible the elections that need to be run in this country,”
said Magwizi.

“We therefore suggest that before these weapons are issued to the chiefs,
peace building and conflict transformation endeavours have to be instituted
expediently and be co-ordinated by the Ministry of Organ of National
Healing, Reconciliation and Integration through the various institutions
including ZPRA Veterans Trust,” added Magwizi.

“The other challenge is that the traditional leaders in Zimbabwe are now
showing their political alignment hence they know that there are few people
who will take the law into their hands and prove to them that they are
moving away from their cultural role in society,” said Magwizi.

It is also feared that the chiefs may not have enough knowledge on how to
use the weapons they are demanding.

Draft constitution 'nearly complete'

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

09/03/2012 00:00:00
by AFP

ZIMBABWE'S draft constitution could be completed within a week, including a
clause limiting presidents to two terms in a nation ruled by Robert Mugabe
for 32 years, a top official said Friday.

"It is difficult to give an exact date, but everything going well, by Friday
we should have a draft constitution," Paul Mangwana, co-chairman of the
constitutional committee, told a press conference.

He insisted that the term limits provision was not intended to target
Mugabe.
"The people said they want a president to serve for two terms and we will
respect that," Mangwana said.

Mugabe's Zanu PF party has fiercely opposed term limits for fear that it
could be used to block him from running for re-election, though it is
unclear that the clause would apply to previous terms.

Completing the draft would mark a crucial milestone toward elections to
replace a shaky unity government between Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, formed three years ago in the wake of a presidential run-off
that failed in bloodshed.

Once the document is out, it will be translated into major local languages
before being taken to a conference for public discussion. Parliament would
then debate the charter, which would finally need approval in a referendum.
That's not expected to happen before August, despite mounting pressure from
Mugabe for elections to be held this year.

Copac completes review of 18 chapters

http://www.swradioafrica.com

Harare, Friday, 09 March 2012

The review of 18 chapters of the proposed new draft Constitution by the
Constitution Select Committee of Parliament (Copac) is nearly complete.

Members of the Select Committee have been reviewing the proposals from the
drafters to ensure that they are in line with the instructions for drafting
that were given, based on the views of the people that came from outreach.

The new draft will be adopted once the Committee is satisfied that the
proposals have been done according to its instructions.

The proposals adopted by the Select Committee will form the draft new
Constitution. Once this document is in place, it will be translated into
vernacular languages and into Braille. It will be widely publicised to give
all Zimbabweans an opportunity to familiarise with its contents before it is
taken to the Second All Stakeholders’ Conference.

As this is a people-driven process, the purpose of the conference is to give
Zimbabweans, through their representatives, an opportunity to comment on the
draft before it is finalised and taken to Parliament for debate and
referendum thereafter.

The people’s views collected during outreach formed the basis for the
discussions around the proposed new draft. These views were collected during
outreach are contained in the national report which is still under
construction as it is about the whole process.

It is from this report that two important draft foundational documents, one
of constitutional issues and the other of constitutional principles were
derived.

In crafting the proposed draft, the drafters used these two important
documents as well as the gap-filling document produced by the Select
Committee with the assistance of its Technical Committee. This process
therefore guarantees that the people’s views will be contained in the new
draft.

Meanwhile, Copac has released the list of constitutional principles guiding
the Constitution-making process. These principles form the foundation of the
proposed new draft.

The following are the constitutional principles guiding the
Constitution-making process:

1. Supremacy of the Constitution
2. Recognition of Zimbabwe’s liberation, democracy, sovereignty of the State
and its people
3. Recognition of the principle of separation of powers
4. Recognition of land and natural resources as belonging to all Zimbabweans
5. The Constitution should contain mechanisms of redressing colonial
imbalances in the distribution of natural resources including land
6. The new Constitution must ensure the maintenance of unity, in diversity,
peace, stability, security and prosperity for all the people of Zimbabwe
7. Recognition of the rule of law, good governance and democracy
8. Recognition that power to rule and govern must be derived from the
authority of the people
9. The recognition of fundamental human rights
10. All organs of the State to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the
rights and freedoms spelt out in the Bill of Rights
11. Recognition of the principle of decentralisation
12. Recognition of the principle of devolution of power
13. Recognition of gender equality and gender mainstreaming in all spheres
of governance
14. The recognition of the rights of children, the youth, the disabled,
women, workers and vulnerable groups
15. The recognition of universal adult suffrage
16. The recognition of the importance of an electoral system that guarantees
regular, free and fair and effective elections that ensure adequate
representation of the electorate
17. Recognition of the importance of Bill of Rights by entrenching it in the
Constitution and justiciability
18. Recognition of the principle of checks and balances among the levels of
government and the Arms of the State
19. Recognition of the need for equitable resource sharing mechanisms
20. Recognition of the rights of racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic,
religious and political minorities
21. That the management of public finances should be informed by
transparency, responsiveness, accountability, responsibility, integrity and
equity
22. All Arms of State to uphold the principles of and good governance
23. Recognition of the principle of Constitutional transition and orderly
transfer of power
24. All Arms of State must uphold the Constitution, respect human rights, be
non-partisan and professional
25. The Constitution must recognise the diversity of languages, customary
practices and traditions and must seek to protect and promote these
26. The institution, status and role of traditional leadership, according to
indigenous law, shall be spelt out and recognised in the Constitution

–
MDC Information & Publicity Department
Harvest House

Information Minister summoned to explain defiance on media reforms

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
09 March, 2012

The committee charged with overseeing reforms agreed to by the coalition
government has reportedly summoned Information Minister Webster Shamu to
account for his refusal to implement media reforms, as ordered by the
principals.

It is not clear when Shamu is due to face the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee (JOMIC), but as of Friday he has three days left
until the deadline for the reforms, as announced by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai recently.

The Prime Minister told reporters that it had been agreed at a meeting of
the principals that Shamu had three weeks to reconstitute the boards of the
Broadcasting Authority, Mass Media Trust and ZBC.

These boards were declared unconstitutional as they were appointed
unilaterally and packed with ZANU PF officials loyal to Robert Mugabe. The
three political parties allegedly agreed they were to be reformed before
holding elections.

Tsvangirai has said the Information Minister was given a March 12th
deadline, which is next Monday, but so far there is no word or sign that
Shamu intends to comply with the order. This is the second time he has
ignored these instructions from the principals.

Political commentator Lameck Mahachi dismissed JOMIC’s gesture as a waste of
time, saying nothing will change, whether Shamu shows up or not.
“I don’t think he will show up. But if he does nothing will happen,” Mahachi
explained.

He said JOMIC has members from all parties, but ZANU PF takes advantage of
the other two parties as they control key institutions. He said the strategy
is that the police arrest you, the judiciary deny you bail and their media
mouthpiece puts a spin on the story.

SW Radio Africa has published a countdown to Shamu’s deadline from the
beginning, and it appears JOMIC may have noticed.

Mugabe presence leads to police assaults in Bulawayo

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
09 March, 2012

Scores of people were assaulted by armed police and removed from the
proximity of the ZANU-PF offices in Bulawayo early on Thursday evening,
after Robert Mugabe addressed traditional chiefs at a convention earlier in
the day.

SW Radio Africa correspondent Lionel Saungweme reported that the riot squad
had sealed off 6th Avenue Extension, also called Luveve Road, which connects
Bulawayo Central to the western suburbs. It’s believed this was due to
Mugabe’s presence at the ZANU PF offices at Davies Hall.

Saungweme said about 15 police officers in anti-riot gear assaulted innocent
people who happened to be near the ZANU PF building. There was chaos as many
ran for safety in different directions.

“What is worrying is that not only did police attack people, but ZANU PF
youths wound up joining in and beating people. Some were even thrown into
trucks and dropped off elsewhere,” Saungweme explained.

He said police assaults without provocation took place each time Mugabe went
to Bulawayo last year. It appears the police wait until the end of the day
when reporters have left, then start their abuses.

Earlier on Thursday, Bulawayo police officials had banned a march organized
by women from labour union, the ZCTU, who were forced to commemorate
International Women’s Day at their offices.

Organizers were told this was due to Mugabe’s arrival in town to address the
Chiefs Convention. The women had been threatened by police, who said riot
teams would be unleashed if they came close to Drill Hall where the chiefs
met.

No need for land audit: Mutasa

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Gift Phiri, Senior Writer
Friday, 09 March 2012 12:48

HARARE - President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF has said there is no need for the
proposed land audit ostensibly because there were no multiple farm owners in
Zimbabwe.

Minister of State in the President’s office Didymus Mutasa, who is also Zanu
PF administration secretary, told state TV on Wednesday that three land
audits he conducted had confirmed that the poor black masses were the major
beneficiaries, not the cronies named in several audit reports; and therefore
there was no need for another land audit.

Government has still not taken up an offer of $31 million from the European
Union to bankroll the planned land audit.

The European Commission in Zimbabwe has said the EU was ready to fund an
“inclusive, transparent and comprehensive land audit” but said no one had
come forward to claim the money.

But Mutasa said there was no need for another audit.

“On multiple ownership, when I was minister of lands, it didn’t exist at
all,” Mutasa said on the programme Economic Forum.

“We did investigation work to discover who might be the people owning two
pieces of land and as far as we were concerned, there was no one. I can give
you my example; my name is Didymus Mutasa it can be abbreviated into D.
Mutasa. I also got a nephew who is David Mutasa it can be abbreviated into
D. Mutasa.

“And when some onlooker sees that, he will say, ‘look at Mutasa, he has two
pieces of land.’ But if then you go further to look at the registration
numbers you will discover that they are not the same. But because they want
to rubbish our names, they will say ‘oh, Cde Mutasa has two farms.’”

Mutasa, who was vocal against multiple farm owners, insisted there were no
multiple farm owners in Zanu PF despite irrefutable evidence provided by
three government land audits and an independent probe by the CFU.

“I have seen there is D. Mutasa who owns Mt Compton, there is D. Mutasa who
owns another piece of land. So in essence the land audit that is being
called is not necessary,” Mutasa said.

“They will find exactly the same thing with the three audits that we took
when I was minister of Lands, nothing has changed.”

Despite Mutasa’s denial, the Commercial Farmers Union states that Mugabe and
his wife Grace, now own 14 farms, at least 16 000 hectares in size.

Residents cry foul over electricity disconnections

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Lloyd Mbiba, Staff Writer
Friday, 09 March 2012 15:09

HARARE - Following the massive disconnection of electricity by Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority Holdings (Zesa), residents have launched a
stinging attack on the power utility saying it is useless.

In snap interviews carried out by this paper in Harare yesterday, residents
cried foul that they were being disconnected while top government officials
owing Zesa huge amounts were spared.

Kumbirai Chitiyo, 31, of Ruwa lambasted Zesa for switching off electricity
to ordinary citizens while top government officials were not switched off.
These include Cabinet ministers.

“It is not fair that electricity is being switched off for us the poor
people. In places such as Borrowdale, where top guns who owe more than us
stay, there are no power cuts to talk about. What this means is that Zesa is
harassing us and taking advantage of the fact that we don’t have political
power,” said Chitiyo.

Kudzai Gore from Tynwald North said: “Zesa is burdening us because they are
charging exorbitant bills that do not tally with the electricity provided.
They are just abusing us so that they get money to cover the debts of
ministers and other government officials who owe them big monies.”

Elton Mangoma, the minister of Energy and Power Development told the
parliamentary portfolio committee on Mines and Energy two weeks ago that
Cabinet ministers, senior civil servants and MPs are bleeding Zesa dry by
refusing to pay electricity bills at their private properties.

He said they were using political muscle to avoid being switched off.

Some of the “big chefs” reportedly owing large amounts to Zesa include
Manicaland governor Christopher Mushohwe, whose outstanding bill is $145
000, and secretary for Energy and Power Development Justin Mupamhanga ($20
000).

Many government ministers’ bills reportedly range between $20 000 and $100
000 each with most of them having been accumulated at their farms,
businesses or private homes.

Zesa has embarked on a nationwide exercise to disconnect power supplies to
defaulting customers as part of efforts to recover $537 million owed to them
by industry and domestic consumers, a move the power utility says would
enable it to pay its creditors.

Jason Kautsa, 33 of Kuwadzana 3 blasted Zesa for shambolic billing.

“Zesa is becoming too corrupt for my liking. They changed the domestic
meters and put pre-paid ones but surprisingly we get bills of $400 or more.
On top of that they are switching off electricity for the poor people and
not the government officials who owe more than us. We demand that they treat
us fairly,” Kautsa said.

Another resident, Nyasha Chirwa said: “This is not fair. We are equal and
therefore should be treated equal. Zesa is now corrupt. There is need for
management change at Zesa.”

Ashwiln Chitembe of Avondale West said Zesa should do a top to bottom
approach when switching off electricity.

Zimbabwe – last to leave, never mind turning off the lights – they’re already off

http://www.mining.com

Oilprice.com | March 8, 2012

In the 32 years of his benighted rule, Zimbabwe’s President Robert Gabriel
Mugabe has done more damage to the country than its white-led minority
government ever did.

With the exception of the smuggling of “blood diamonds” the country’s
economy, once the “breadbasket of Africa,” resembles nothing so much as a
slow motion train wreck.

One of the foundations of modern nations’ economic prosperity are reliable
sources of power and here too, Mugabe and his Zimbabwe African National
Union cronies have managed to screw things up.

While the country has a peak electricity demand of about 2,200 megawatts, it
only produces 1,200 megawatts because its installed power generation
capacity cannot meet demand, which primarily comes from the Hwange Power
Station (HPS) and Kariba Power Station (KPS).

According to Mugabe, it’s because those pesky international sanctions scare
away potential investors and are a covert cover for the return of the
colonialist British.

So, in the meantime, what to do to meet the energy shortfall?

Why, import electricity from neighboring Mozambique, South Africa and the
Democratic Republic of Congo.

Here too the bankruptcy of ZANU-PF policies is evident, as last month
Mozambique’s government threatened to shut off electricity exports from its
Hydro Cabora Bassa dam if Harare didn’t pay its outstanding $90 million
debt.

But, a million here, a million there – at the same time that Maputo was
threatening to pull the plug, Zimbabwean Energy and Power Development
Minister Elton Mangoma informed the country’s legislature that the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) has run up a $1 billion debt in
un-serviced loans, imports on unpaid credit and the country’s investment in
a joint power project with Zambia, yet to be built. No doubt adding to the
politicians’ unease, Mangoma has stated that the troubled power utility has
no capacity to extend, much less alleviate, the outstanding debt.

So, what to do to return ZESA to financial health? On 22 February Mangoma
told a press conference that some customers have not paid their electricity
bills since 2009, noting, “ZESA has offered to customers a facility to
propose workable payment plans, regrettably some have chosen either to
ignore this facility or not to honor their payment plans, leaving ZESA with
no option except to withdraw supplies. Power disconnections are currently
being applied ‘wholesomely’ to ensure that all customer categories meet
their obligation of paying for service rendered. All customers currently in
arrears run the risk of disconnections” before salving the announcement
somewhat by stating that all disconnections will be done after a five-day
notice.

As for why these multitudinous miscreant scofflaws stopped paying their
bills several years ago, it might be noted here that ZANU-PF mismanagement
of the economy by July 2008 produced an inflation rate of to 231 MILLION
percent, according to Zimbabwe’s Central Statistical Office. Driven by
soaring food prices, the government abandoned the nation’s old currency
completely the following year. At the time that the Zimbabwean government
issued its data, the economy had imploded by nearly 50 percent over the
previous decade.

Could those Zimbabwean consumers had issues on their minds marginally more
pressing than paying the electricity bills?

Like buying food when bread’s price in July 2008 had risen to over $7,000 a
loaf?

But ZESA, showing impartiality, last month also disconnected the services of
three government Cabinet ministers. While Magoma declined to provide their
names to the press, citing confidentiality concerns, informed sources
identified the trio as Local Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, Manicaland
Governor Christopher Mushowe and Energy Permanent Secretary Justin
Mupamanga.

Their collective tab?

A mere $378,000.

So, where does Zimbabwe go from here?

Mugabe’s wrecking of the Zimbabwean economy can be squarely laid at his
policy for favoring political loyalty over expertise, as he showered
political office, land and favors on his ZANU-PF supporters. Crawling
through the bush with an AK-47 is one thing, farming another.

Compare Zimbabwe’s travails with neighboring South Africa, whose first black
president, Nelson Mandela, pursued instead a conciliatory approach to the
country’s white minority despite 27 years in prison at the hands of same.

Enough said.

In 1994 Mugabe was appointed an honorary Knight Grand Cross in the Order of
the Bath by Queen Elizabeth II. On 25 June 2008, Queen Elizabeth II
cancelled and annulled Mugabe’s honorary knighthood. But Zimbabweans may yet
have further traumas and/or a sunnier future in store. Last month Mugabe
revealed that his 15-year-old son, Bellarmine Chatunga, harbors presidential
ambitions. In a series of interviews in the state-controlled media, the 88
year-old Mugabe told his nation, “Bellarmine always says ‘I want to be
president’ and so on, but I say you must pass, you see, the President, your
father, how many degrees does he hold? Can you do that?”

No doubt the teenaged Bellarmine has profound ideas on how to salvage the
country’s economy.

And turn the lights back on.

And deal with an estimated 50 percent unemployment rate.

And an outbreak of typhoid in the capital Harare.

And if Junior needs help, he can always turn to Dear Old Dad. At his 88th
birthday on 21 February Mugabe jokingly told state radio, “I have died many
times. That’s where I have beaten Christ. Christ died once and resurrected
once. I am as fit as a fiddle.” The birthday celebrations for the
octogenarian were estimated to cost $1 million.

Source:
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Zimbabwes-Ongoing-Energy-Nightmare.html

By. John C.K. Daly of Oilprice.com

Mnangagwa anointmented Mugabe's successor by Chinese Generals

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com

By Staff Reporter 20 hours 34 minutes ago

Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa exchange gifts with Chinese Generals

HARARE - Chinese military generals visiting Zimbabwe have effectively stitched-up a bloodless Palace coup and enmeshed themselves in ZanuPF succession by anointing the Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa successor to Mugabe in an a secret pact rubber-stamped by the ageing leader and his security service chiefs, high level sources revealed.

Together with top security service chiefs, President Robert Mugabe, his Defence Minister and ZANU PF party’s secretary for legal affairs, Emmerson Mnangagwa met at a high level secret meeting in Harare and agreed a secret pact with Chinese military generals visiting the country for a military enforced transition in which the defence Minister will succeed Mugabe as the country's next leader prompting Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who got the wind from government sources to highlight the unravelling development in his Thursday briefing, The Zimbabwe Mail can reveal.

We can also reveal that the visit by the Chinese military generals which coincided with the National Annual Chiefs Conference in Bulawayo and their overwhelming endorsement of President Mugabe's candidacy for the next elections was all choreographed to appease the Chinese delegation.

China, meanwhile has promised military aid and a veto at the United Nations Security Council if Western countries try to frustrate the process.

Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, General Constantine Chiwenga has also hailed the secret pact.

China's Admiral Tong Shipping reiterated the need for the two countries to continue maintaining the existing excellent relationship.

“We should maintain this good relationship which dates back to the colonial era in Zimbabwe,” said the Admiral.

Among some of the earliest cadres trained in China at the School of Ideology in Peking (now Beijing) were the late General Josiah Tongogara and Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangira has said State security services chiefs will stage a coup if President Robert Mugabe does not win elections likely to be held this year.

“We have instead been told by a few individuals at the helm of these sectors that anyone other than President Mugabe, even if they win an election, will not be able to take up their mandate,” the MDC-T leader said.

For a long while, Emmerson Mnangagwa has already assumed a virtual presidency role as a member of the Joint Operations Command which was reportedly running the country in the run-up to the presidential elections runoff of 2008, according to a cable released by Wikileaks.

The cable says President Robert Mugabe was ready to concede defeat after the 29 March elections but he was persuaded to stay on by the JOC which then set in motion a violent campaign to get Mugabe re-elected.

The JOC comprised of the heads of the military services, police, and prisons, as well as Emmerson Mnangagwa, and Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono.

The dominant players appeared to be defence forces chief Constantine Chiwenga, police commissioner Augustine Chihuri, and Mnangagwa.

Air marshal Perrence Shiri was responsible for military operations and security in the northern part of Zimbabwe.

Army commander Philip Sibanda was in charge of the southern part of the country.

Two committees were formed to steer Zimbabwe toward the election.

The first was a campaign and logistics committee whose members included Patrick Chinamasa (justice minister), Saviour Kasukuwere (deputy youth minister), Nicholas Goche (labour minister), a representative of the Central Intelligence Organization and the military triumvirate of Chiwenga, Sibanda, and Chihuri.

This committee was responsible for voter mobilisation, food distribution, transportation, and fuel supply.

The second committee on information and publicity, chaired by Chinamasa, was responsible for controlling ZANU-PF's message in the state media and assuring that the Movement for Democratic Change did not have the same access to the media that it had before the March 29 elections.

Members in addition to Chinamasa included Webster Shamu (policy implementation minister), Chris Mutsvangwa (former ambassador to China), and Bright Matonga (deputy information minister).

Born in Zvishavane on 15^th September 1946, Emmerson Mnangagwa is perhaps the one figure in Zimbabwe to inspire greater terror than President Mugabe.

Beginning a career steeped in intrigue and violence with the bombing of a Masvingo train in 1965, he sat in jail through the earlier phases of the liberation war, serving the 10-year jail sentence he received for the bombing incident. On his release and subsequent deportation to Zambia, he studied law until 1976 when he returned to Zimbabwe.

On his return, he became Special Assistant for Security for the Office of the President and member of the ZANU National Executive in 1977, although it was not until 1980 that he was to attain his most momentous, and most catastrophic, position as Minister of State for Security, head of the CIO.

Mnangagwa is widely viewed to have orchestrated much of the Gukurahundi genocide of the 1980s, in which those deemed to be ZIPRA cadres or simply ‘dissidents’ – around 20 000 people, largely Ndebele – were brutally and systematically murdered by a specially-commissioned army unit, the Fifth Brigade. Revealing his aims in masterminding the Gukurahundi campaign to have been the annihilation of Matabeleland and the Midlands, Mnangagwa claimed at the time that his “campaign against dissidents can only succeed if the infrastructure that nurtures them is destroyed” and that he had the impunity to raze “all the villages infested with dissidents”.

In 1985, Mnangagwa headed the suppression of the report of the Chihambakwe Commission on the first years of the violence. Earlier this year, he was met with widespread condemnation for claiming that the period of Gukurahundi was now a “closed chapter”, which the MDC of Welshman Ncube stated to be “an insult to the victims of Zanu PF’s grand plan of exterminating the Ndebele people” and which ZAPU condemned as “provocative, irresponsible and not fit to be uttered by someone who knows for sure that 20,000 innocent people lost their lives at the hands of the Fifth Brigade”.

In 1989, he became Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, a position he occupied until 2000, alongside his year-long tenure as acting Minister of Finance in 1995. Defeated in the Parliamentary elections for Kwekwe Central in 2000, President Mugabe decreed that Mnangagwa become Speaker of Parliament instead. Despite another Parliamentary election defeat in the same constituency five years later, President Mugabe appointed him to the role of Minister of Rural Housing and Amenities. After winning the Chirumanzu-Zibagwe seat in the wake of the 2008 electoral violence, he ascended a year later to his current role of Minister of Defence.

As head of the Joint Operations Command, the high-powered body that directs the government’s military strategy across Zimbabwe, Mnangagwa is widely viewed to have coordinated ZANU-PF’s campaign of torture, murder, and repression that comprised the run-off election in 2008. Former Amnesty International Director stated Mnangagwa to have “openly admitted the army’s involvement” in the brutal run-off election campaign.

In 2010, Mnangagwa was reported, alongside Jonathan Moyo and War Veteran leader Jabulani Sibanda, to be planning “a massive genocide across all Mashonaland, Manicaland and Masvingo Provinces” which the three would unleash after the proposed constitutional referendum and upcoming elections.

He has been implicated in a number of coup attempts, in which he or others have given the appearance of hoping to unseat President Mugabe and insert Mnangagwa in his place. His reputed demotion to Rural Housing and Amenities Minister in 2005 has been claimed as punishment for his implication in the infamous ‘Tsolotsho’ coup attempt of 2004. Implicated in another coup attempt in 2009, Mnangagwa reportedly had his offices raided by CIO forces as a result.

Mnangagwa is also widely touted to be the richest politician in Zimbabwe, his powerful and often clandestine business network pervading much of the country and its recent history.

In 2002, Mnangagwa was named by the United Nations as a key player in the illegal exploitation of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s mineral resources, himself taking a cut of illegal transactions facilitated by him in Zimbabwe and recommended by the UN for travel bans and financial restrictions as a result.

These stand alongside the targeted sanctions placed upon him by the international community as a result of his role in the last decade of repressive government in Zimbabwe.

Also named in the UN’s report was Mnangagwa’s reputedly long-standing friend, John Bredenkamp. One of Britain’s richest men, Bredenkamp is a man whose history as a collaborator with Ian Smith’s pre-liberation regime sits ill with Mnangagwa’s reputed role in the liberation struggle. Bredenkamp reportedly helped the Smith regime “to purchase arms for its war against African nationalists”, and in 2006 was forced to flee Zimbabwe to escape possible arrest by the ZANU-PF government “on allegations of flouting exchange control regulations, tax evasion and contravening the citizenship act”.[9] Moreover, Bredenkamp was reported to have been “named as the main financial backer of the infamous Tsholotso indaba” and had “thrown his support behind Mnangagwa”.

Mnangagwa was also implicated in an illegal gold trading scandal in 2004, which led to ZANU-PF henchmen threatening to “shoot everyone” at the paper who had published the story and implicated Mnangagwa.

In 2009, Mnangagwa was implicated in a $37 billion foreign currency scandal as a member of the board of Treger Holdings. This followed a string of corruption allegations which had led to a ZANU-PF investigation in 2004 by virtue of his network of connections to Treger, Zidco (on whose board Mnangagwa sits), First Banking Corporation, and a host of other companies associated with ZANU-PF.[13] Mnangagwa’s faction of ZANU-PF reportedly owns a security company, Midsec, the premises of which were subject to a police raid in 2010 and the seizure of “an assortment of heavy guns, bombs, rifles, pistols and shotguns”.

Midsec forms a small part of an empire of companies reputedly seized from exiled Zimbabwean businessman, Mutumwa Mawere, by Mnangagwa in 2004.

Alleged to have been seized by Mnangagwa were “Zimre, the holding company of Nicoz Diamond, Fidelity Life Assurance, Fidelity Life Asset Management Company, Fidelity Securities, Fidelity Life Medical Aid Society and Zimbabwe Insurance Brokers”, alongside “AAM, Steelnet, Turnall, General Beltings, Tube and Pipe Industries, First Bank, Pigott Maskew, FSI, CFI Holdings, with its subsidiaries, Agrifoods, Victoria Foods, Dore and Pitt, Farm & City, Suncrest, Crest Breeders and Ross Breeders”.

Earlier last year, Mnangagwa reportedly took over formerly bankrupt wholesaler Jaggers, with branches in Harare, Chipinge, Chitungwiza, Graniteside, Mutoko, Filabusi, and Bulawayo.

Questions remain over his involvement in the Marange diamond fields, both financial and factional. Those aligned to the late Solomon Mujuru are alleged to want “to wrest control of the Marange diamonds from the faction aligned to Mnangagwa whose key figures are associated with the companies mining in the controversial area”.

In May last year, Mnangagwa was also implicated in a secret deal with the Chinese government for the funding of “a Mazoe based Military College”, “kept a secret for more than two years” and with the Chinese diamond mining company, Anjin, “believed to be the benefactor” of the deal.

In March 2010, Mnangagwa was faced with embarrassing allegations of extortion of white farmers in the Midlands province, “reportedly demanding as much as US$5 000 from each farmer so that Mnangagwa can “protect” them from eviction”. Reputed to own numerous farms himself, Mnangagwa has continued to threaten violent eviction of white-owned commercial farms through, by his own admission, the “spilling of blood”.

Despite being “taught to destroy and kill”, in 2010 Mnangagwa claimed to have “found God” and will allegedly “die in Christ” after having “found favour” in His eyes.

Alongside President Mugabe alone, Emmerson Mnangagwa stands as the deepest-rooted in the atrocities of Zimbabwe’s past. He remains the critical figure in ZANU-PF’s recent power struggles and a man widely touted for future presidency – all the more so after the death of his political arch-rival, Solomon Mujuru.

As the crocodile after which he is nicknamed, his part in Zimbabwe’s future, and the disastrous injuries it may inflict, lies in wait for the people who have so bravely suffered his historic attacks in the past. - plus Sokwanele

General Chiwenga hails China

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/

By Staff Reporter 08/03/2012 18:42:00

Zimbabwe Defence Forces Commander, General Constantine Chiwenga has hailed
the role played by China in thwarting attempts by Western countries to
impose United Nations sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2008 as punishment for
embarking on the land reform programme.

General Chiwenga was speaking at a dinner hosted for the Deputy Director of
the People’s Liberation Army General Political Department, Admiral Tong
Shipping in Harare Wednesday night.

General Chiwenga hailed the role played by China in assisting the country to
fight for its independence.

He said the major objective of fighting the colonial system was to attain
both political and economic independence yet when the country started
empowering its people through land ownership, the West imposed illegal
sanctions.

“However, the consoling developments were that China stood by us during the
hour of need on 12th July 2008 at the UN Security Council meeting when she
exercised her veto powers against the imposition of UN sanctions against
Zimbabwe under the sinister Chapter Seven which has been used to abuse
smaller and weaker nations endowed with resources,“ he said.

Admiral Tong Shipping reiterated the need for the two countries to continue
maintaining the existing excellent relationship.

“We should maintain this good relationship which dates back to the colonial
era in Zimbabwe,” said the Admiral.

Among some of the earliest cadres trained in China at the School of Ideology
in Peking (now Beijing) were the late General Josiah Tongogara and Defence
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.

China has continued supporting Zanu-PF at international fora, while Zanu-PF
also supports the One China-Two Systems policy.

Among those who attended the dinner were Commander of Zimbabwe National
Army, Lieutenant-General Phillip Valerio Sibanda and Commander of the Air
Force of Zimbabwe, Air Marshal Perence Shiri.

End-games: Mugabe feeds on lies and deceit - Analysts

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/

52 minutes ago

HARARE - President Robert Mugabe has entered into a reality distortion field
similar to that suffered by the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein because
his lieutenants are feeding him lies which are now influencing his decision
ahead of a crucial election.

These sentiments were echoed by Finance minister Tendai Biti during a New
Zimbabwe lecture series held at a local hotel on Wednesday, to discuss
whether the country was ready for elections which Zanu PF is pushing for.

Biti, who is also secretary general of the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, said Mugabe’s lieutenants were not doing him any favours by
telling him that he still had majority support.

“The belief that he will live forever is the one that is affecting Mugabe.
People surrounding him say to him you will beat Morgan Tsvangirai tomorrow,
let’s go for an election. This has made him enter what we call a reality
distortion field,” Biti said.

He added: “If you take Saddam Hussein, even when bombs were raining over
Baghdad because he was in reality distortion he kept on saying we will get
the infidels out as he was not in the reality field.”

Biti said the 88-year-old former guerrilla leader should come to terms with
reality that his powers where altered by constitutional amendment 19 which
brought about the inclusive government.

He said that schedule 8 of amendment 19 prevented him from determining the
future of the country without consulting Tsvangirai.

“Mugabe needs a reality check. I don’t think there has been a reality check.
Someone should give Zanu PF a little voice to say you are gone, you are
history, your time is up,” Biti said.

Biti also took a swipe on members of Zanu PF who are going about saying that
elections would be held with or without the approval of South Africa, Sadc
and the African Union (AU) who are the guarantors of the global political
agreement signed between Zanu PF and the two MDC formations.

“The people of Zimbabwe do not want an election that will create another
unsustainable Zimbabwe. Zanu PF was benefiting from this unsustainable
environment as they know that they will not win free and fair elections,”
Biti said.

Zanu PF has threatened to pull out of the inclusive government so that
elections are held this year with or without a new constitution contrary to
the regional bloc’s demands.

But Biti says that the constitution as well as a raft of reforms which Sadc
says must take place before any election are not a means to the end but will
lead to a sustainable Zimbabwe.

During his birthday celebrations held in Mutare last month, Mugabe said he
would call for an election this year with or without a new constitution and
the Sadc prescribed reforms, further straining relations with South Africa
President Jacob Zuma.

Earlier this week, South Africa foreign minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane told
her country’s Parliament that Mugabe no longer wielded control to
unilaterally call for an election without long-delayed reforms as required
by coalition partners and the region.

"The Global Political Agreement (GPA) envisages that an election in Zimbabwe
will only be held following the finalisation of the constitution-making
process," Nkoana-Mashabane said.

Mugabe’s Zanu PF party refuted Nkoana-Mashabane claims saying the decision
to hold an election was a preserve of the people of Zimbabwe.

Political scientist Ibbo Mandaza, who was a discussant at the lecture
series, said there was no way elections would be held this year in the
absence of a new constitution and the necessary reforms.

“The call for reforms before the holding of the next elections is not an MDC
agenda but the agenda of the people of Zimbabwe who do not want a farce
election like what was experienced in 2008. What Biti has said is the
feeling of 70 percent of the people in the country including even those in
Zanu PF, they know that there will be no elections this year,” Mandaza said.

Biti concurred with Mandaza. He took the opportunity to respond to Zanu PF’s
claims that his party was pursuing an illegal regime change agenda by
calling for reforms.

“There is nothing wrong with the regime change agenda as we will beat Zanu
PF at the ballot box. When the Smith regime was removed in 1980, it was
regime change and there was nothing wrong with that,” he said.

The MDC secretary general said people who still believe that Mugabe can pull
Zimbabwe out of the current calamity needs a reality check.

“How can someone seriously think about investing in a presidential candidate
who is 88 years old?” asked Biti.

Biti said the country needed a new constitution to guard against people like
Mugabe whom he said have abused the electorate over the past three
decades. - Daily News

The royal geographical society presents: “If Good Men do Nothing, Evil Will Prevail”

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Three remarkable people who have confronted repressive regimes in their
quest for justice and freedom will tell their stories at the Royal
Geographical Society in London on Wednesday 14 March at 19h00.
09.03.1201:42pm
by The Zimbabwean Harare

Ben Freeth

Ben Freeth MBE, a dispossessed Zimbabwean commercial farmer, fell foul of
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF government when he and his father-in-law,
Mike Campbell, challenged the ageing dictator in a regional human rights
court.

Freeth worked alongside Campbell, who had set up the highly successful Mount
Carmel farming operation and wildlife conservancy, and was a major employer
in the Chegutu district. Freeth’s wife generated further employment through
a women’s hand embroidery project.

The violent government-initiated land grab, which began in 2000, was
exacerbated by the relentless efforts of a senior Zanu PF member to take
over Mount Carmel farm. This eventually drove Campbell and Freeth to take
their case to the Southern African Development Community’s regional court,
the SADC Tribunal, in 2007.

Together with 77 other dispossessed Zimbabwean farmers, they won their
crucial landmark case the following year, capturing world headlines and
intensifying the anger of the failed regime.

As a result, the harassment and victimisation of the Mount Carmel farm
community escalated, culminating in the abduction and torture of Campbell,
his wife Angela and Freeth in the wake of the shocking 2008 election
violence.

Mike Campbell subsequently died as a result of the injuries he sustained but
his legacy lives on through the Mike Campbell Foundation, a UK registered
charity set up to promote justice within the SADC region.

Freeth was awarded the MBE in 2010 for services to the farming community in
Zimbabwe.

The award winning documentary, Mugabe and the White African is based on
their story.

Freeth is author of the book, Mugabe and the White African published in June
2011.

Dr John Sentamu

Dr John Sentamu, who was appointed Archbishop of York in June 2005, is the
UK's first black archbishop.

Born in Uganda, Sentamu was encouraged by English missionaries and teachers
to qualify as a barrister. He gained a law degree from Makere University,
Kampala in 1971.

He was appointed a high court judge in Uganda but was forced to flee to
Britain in 1974 after being involved in a case that resulted in the
imprisonment of one of President Idi Amin’s cousins.

Sentamu read theology at Selwyn College, Cambridge, where he gained a
master's degree and doctorate, after which he trained for ordination at
Ridley Hall, Cambridge.

Renowned for his outspokenness and missionary zeal, Sentamu is revered as a
fearless leader who has criticised President Mugabe’s regime for its
escalating human rights abuses and the deliberate withholding of food aid to
opposition supporters.

In December 2007, he captured the world headlines by cutting up his dog
collar during a BBC interview and announcing that he would not replace it
until President Mugabe was out of office.

Dr Paul Negrut

An eminent clinical psychologist, Dr Paul Negrut is founder and president of
the Emmanuel University of Oradea and Pastor of the Emmanuel Baptist Church.

Dr Negrut is revered internationally for his stand against the repressive
communist regime in Romania, for which he endured repeated interrogations
and constant threats to his life and that of his family.

To acknowledge his courageous contribution to the downfall of the Romanian
dictator, Nicolae Ceausescu, he was honoured with the title of Knight – The
Order of the Faithful Service, by the President of Romania in December 2000.

Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher honoured him with the “Torch
of Freedom” award at the Conservative Party Conference, Bournemouth, in
1990.

Dr Negrut has a PhD in theology and is internationally recognized as one of
the key Christian leaders in Europe. He has also spoken widely at churches
and conventions in the United States.

The three speakers will be introduced by Kate Hoey MP. Hoey was a member of
the first British Parliamentary delegation to Zimbabwe in 1990 and is
chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe.

Tickets cost £15. The tickets are nearly all sold…. phone The Mike Campbell
Foundation on 01795 842 341 or e-mail: info@mikecampbellfoundation.com

A DVD will be made of the evening. Cost £10

Education in Focus As Rural Schools Outperform Urban Institutions

http://www.voanews.com

07 March 2012

Maxwell Rafamoyo, director of the Education Coalition of Zimbabwe said the
quality of education provided by teachers to students in the country
generally needed to be enhanced

Tatenda Gumbo | Washington

The Zimbabwe Schools Examinations Council has released a report on secondary
school examination performances showing wide discrepancies between urban and
rural schools.

Urban schools fell far behind those in the countryside in the 2011 Ordinary
and Advanced Level examination calender. Only three schools in Harare and
Bulawayo fared well.

Harare’s ZRP High at fourth place made it into the top 50 best performing
schools at 'O' Level, while Bulawayo's John Tallach came out sixth and
St.Columbus at number 30.

Zengeza High, in Harare, was among the top ten best performers at 'A' Level,
taking number eight.

Schools in Manicaland and Mashonaland East provinces including Nyanga at
number one, St. Ignatius in fourth place in both 'A' and 'O' level and St.
Faiths in Manicaland province in the East, dominated the list.

Matabeleland North's Marist Brothers was 14th on the list and Mtshabezi
Mission in Matabeleland South at 35. Usher Girls High, from the same
province was at number 45.

Midlands and Masvingo were also counted with Chikwingwizha and Serima at
number nine and 20, respectively.

ZIMSEC officials say the 2011 results indicated a year-to-year increase in
pass rates coming from a low base after a decade of educational decline.

Education Minister David Coltart said he was still awaiting the official
results from ZIMSEC, telling VOA reporter Tatenda Gumbo the pass rate trends
have continued to change over the past few years.

"All that I can say is that there is a completely different work ethic in
most rural schools, children tend to be boarders there," Said Coltart.
"There tends to be much higher levels of discipline because they are in a
school environment the whole time."

Educationist Abbiot Moyo said people must focus on the daily challenges of
both urban and rural teachers. He said these issues needed to be addressed
urgently for the country's pass rates to improve.

Moyo observed that rural teachers live a different life "unlike teachers in
the city who have to look for part time employment in order to supplement
the meager salaries they receive".

Education advocates want an increase in funding to curb such disparities.

Maxwell Rafamoyo, director of the Education Coalition of Zimbabwe said the
quality of education provided by teachers to students in the country
generally needed to be enhanced.

MDC members exasperated by delay in bail application

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
9 March 2012

Twenty-six MDC-T members facing charges of murdering a police officer are
‘hugely exasperated’ at the delay in the High Court in ruling on their bail
application.

Defence lawyer Charles Kwaramba said: ‘At least they expected the delays
because we had warned them in advance that this could happen, having
experienced how the system works. Generally they are fine but knowing that
they are innocent, they don’t want to be where they are—behind bars,’
Kwaramba explained.

The bail application has been postponed four times this week. It will now be
heard before the trial judge on Monday. Justice Felistas Chitakunye removed
the application from her roll on Friday and ruled the matter should be heard
before the start of the court trial on Monday.

The group made a fresh bail application after they were taken back into
custody last week Thursday to join three other party cadres who have been in
custody since last year.

Back in police cells is national executive member Last Maengahama and his
two brothers Stanford and Lazarus. Stanford and Lazarus are part of a group
of seven who were granted bail by the deputy Chief Justice Luke Malaba just
two weeks ago.

The group included Mafikeni, Musarurwa, Phenias Nhatarikwa, Stanford
Mangwiro and Glen View Ward 32 Councillor Tungamirai Madzokere. This group
spent 9 months in custody and tasted freedom for less than a fortnight.

Spoilt kids

http://www.cathybuckle.com

March 9, 2012, 1:19 pm

Not for the first time, we see Zanu PF behaving like a bunch of spoilt kids
who can’t get their own way. They signed the GPA but now it doesn’t give
them what they want, they take not notice of it.

The Zanu PF spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo made the party’s position very clear
this week when he declared that elections can be held this year even without
political reforms. “South Africa can’t dictate to Zimbabwe, they are just
mediators,” he declared. In effect,‘You can’t tell me what to do. I will do
what I like’. It’s just the sort of thing adolescents say. When a political
party behaves like that, a party that has been in power for 32 years, people
are entitled to expect a more adult approach. However, when it comes to
responding to criticism, Zanu PF still answers with insults and abuse like a
spoilt child. In this instance the outbreak of teenage name-calling was
caused by South Africa’s Foreign Minister gently reminding Zimbabwe to
comply with GPA conditions. The Foreign Minister happens to be a woman and
in responding, Jonathan Moyo descended to the crudest kind of sexist
language referring to her as ‘This woman’ and telling her to shut up. “She
has no business whatsoever commenting on this thing,” he added. Moyo needs
to be reminded that Nkoana Mashabane is the Foreign Minister of South Africa
and as such deserves the same courtesy that Zimbabwean officials would
expect to receive. What’s more, foreign affairs are her business! Jonathan
Moyo’s behaviour towards the Minister is the worst example of childish
rudeness.

South African President Zuma is reported to be planning a visit to Zimbabwe
in the very near future ‘to discuss poll preparations’ with Mugabe amidst
what is described in the South African press as ‘the widening rift’ between
the two countries. In Zimbabwe the arrest of two South African journalists
in Odzi suggests that the partisan ZRP are, as usual, following the party
line which has become increasingly hostile to our next door neighbour. It’s
a lesson in how not to make friends and influence people!

Politics are behind everything in Zimbabwe. This week two officials of the
teachers’ union the PTUZ were arrested in Bulawayo for distributing T shirts
and newsletters. At first sight that story seemed to be another example of
the police being ‘over-zealous’. Then we recall that schools are used as
polling stations and teachers are employed as presiding officers. When an
official of the PTUZ was asked why he thought the police were arresting
their officials, he replied that the union’s newsletter was about to publish
a story revealing that retired head teachers are being re-hired. Nothing
sinister about that you might think until you realise that only those who
are known to be loyal Zanu PF supporters are being re-hired, even though
they may be well over 65. That way the polling stations will be staffed by
‘loyal’ presiding officers – loyal to Zanu PF of course.

Robert Mugabe has also made the ‘gay’ story a political issue and this week
a British Roman Catholic Cardinal played right into his hands. It was the
question of homosexual couples being married that got the Cardinal all riled
up, even though it was not church marriage being talked about. Much as he
hates the British, Robert Mugabe latched onto that piece of British news
with glee and declared his backing for the Cardinal’s views. And, once
Mugabe has spoken, his view is echoed by the party faithful. The Minister of
Justice, Patrick Chinamasa, this week condemned the International Criminal
Court as alien to Zimbabwean culture because it ‘glorifies gay rights’.
Human rights, gay or straight, is hardly a subject Zimbabwe can lecture the
rest of the world about. In my home area of UMP this week local people were
barred from their human right to earn a living. Instead the Chinese in the
area were given preferential treatment to mine Zimbabwe’s gold. ‘Zimbabwe
will continue to support China’ Mugabe says, ‘even if the west denounces
Asia.’ Is Mugabe’s support genuine – or is it just another opportunity to
take a childish dig at his ‘enemies’ in the west?

Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.

Government tour of Zimbabwe’s diamond fields fails to sway human rights activists