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Arms cache suspects formally charged
March 11, 2006.
By Tagu Mkwenyani
Harare
(AND) SIX Zimbabwean accused of conspiring to posses weapons
for the purpose
of banditry, among other things, have finally appeared in
court in the
eastern body town of Mutare.
This happened after their lawyers had
launched an urgent high court
application seeking to declare their continued
detention from Monday
illegal. Under Zimbabwean laws, suspects can only be
detained for not more
than 48 hours before they are formally charged in the
courts. The accused:
Peter Hitschmann, an ex Rhodesian soldier, Mutare North
MP Giles Mutsekwa,
Knowledge Nyamhuka, Thando Sibanda all members of the
opposition MDC and two
policemen, Wellington Tsuro and Edwin Chikutye
appeared before Fabian
Feshete.
Four of the suspects told the
magistrate that they had been severely
tortured by security agents who tried
to extract confession from them at
Adams Barracks in Mutare. Nyamhuka,
Sibanda, Tsuro and Chikutye's lawyers
noted the security agents had used
money rubber bands to strangle their
testicles.
They also
revealed that they had been beaten up and forced to admit
involvement in the
case. But in what is a strange turn of events, the prime
suspect, Hitschmann
said he had no problems with the police and said he no
longer required any
legal representation. Earlier his lawyers had alleged
that the ex-Rhodesian,
who the state says implicated the others, had been
severely
tortured.
According to the state outline, the accused are charged
with
conspiracy to possess weapons for the purposes of insurgency, banditry,
sabotage and terrorism. The charges arise from Section 10 of the Public
Order and Security Act (POSA). The state claims that the group conspired to
assassinate President Mugabe when he came to the city to celebrate his
birthday two weeks ago.
Reads the state outline: " To achieve
this, the group agreed to spill
oil on Christmas Pass highway when the
motorcade would be approaching, so
that the motorcade would slip and get
involved in an accident.'" The state
also says that the accused also "
agreed to throw tear smoke canisters in
the tents where the 21st February
Movement celebrations were going to be
held so as to cause panic,
disturbance to ordinary people in attendance".
Mutsekwa, who is the MDC
shadow secretary, did not have any complaints to
make against the
police.
The accused will remain in custody until March 15. However
their
lawyers will argue in the superior court on Monday that the continued
detention of the accused is illegal. It emerged today that the state may
find it difficult to successfully prosecute that accused because Hitschmann
is a licensed firearms dealer and a hunter. One of the lawyers handling the
case said: "All the guns are licenced. I don't see the state succeeded if
the law is applied correctly. Hitschmann has even helped the Department of
National Parks, Wildlife and Management."
AND Zimbabwe
Suspects in Arms Case
Held Incommunicado, Central Figure Linked to Zimbabwe Police
VOA
By Patience Rusere
Washington
10 March
2006
|
|
Interview
With Chris Ndlovu 
Listen
to Interview With Chris Ndlovu
Interview
With Trevor Manhanga Listen
to Interview With Trevor Manhanga
Interview
With Itai Zimunya Listen
to Interview With Itai Zimunya
Lawyers representing opposition members accused in connection with an arms
cache authorities say was found in eastern Zimbabwe have asked the high court in
Mutare to order police to produce their clients, being held incommunicado, for
arraignment.
State media have reported that the alleged arms cache, including at least one
AK-47, other small arms, and thousands of rounds of ammunition, was intended for
use in an attempted uprising. An obscure foreign-based group called the Zimbabwe
Freedom Movement was said to have financed and organized the alleged
conspiracy.
But the Zimbabwean political opposition and outside observers have charged
that the government of President Robert Mugabe, fearing a popular revolt with
food and fuel scarce nationwide the economy in tatters, has conjured up a coup
in the making as a propaganda exercise and to further weaken a deeply divided
opposition party.
Several of those held are officials of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change in eastern Manicaland province. The lawyer for Manicaland MDC Youth
Chairman Knowledge Nyamuka, one of those held, said his client had been expected
to appear in court Friday to face charges under the Public Order and Security
Act. But police failed to produce Nyamuka, saying further investigation was
necessary.
Also detained are Giles Mutsekwa, the member of parliament for Mutare North
and the opposition's spokesman on defense issues, Manicaland MDC treasurer Brian
James, and local MDC activist Thando Sibanda. Sources close to the case said
Mutsekwa had been arrested in Harare and brought to Mutare, 260 kilometers to
the east.
It could not be determined whether former MDC member of parliament Roy
Bennett, now MDC Manicaland chairman, was among the opposition members held.
Bennett spent nine months in prison in 2004-2005 serving a sentence imposed by
the ruling party-controlled parliament for shoving a minister during a heated
debate.
Some 16 people in all were said to be detained in various police stations in
Mutare, among them members of the national police force and the army. Sources
said army investigators were also involved. The murky case opened Tuesday with
reports by state media that arms and ammunition had been seized at the Mutare
home of one Peter Hitschmann, said to be a former member of the Rhodesian armed
forces before the 1980 shift to black majority rule, and to have served in
police units since then.
For more on efforts by lawyers to obtain the arraignment and release on
bail of their clients, reporter Patience Rusere of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
spoke with Mutare attorney Chris Ndlovu, who is representing the detained
opposition members.
More details emerged about Peter Hitschmann, the former Rhodesian army member
who authorities say had a cache of military arms and ammunition at his Mutare
home. Mutare sources said they were surprised by the allegations that Hitschmann
was at the center of a plot to overturn the government of President Robert
Mugabe.
One prominent Mutare resident who has known Hitschmann for many years is
Bishop Trevor Manhanga, head of the Evangelical Fellowship of Zimbabwe. He
told reporter Rusere that he was aware that Hitschmann worked with local police
in patrolling the nearby border with Mozambique on the lookout for "border
jumpers."
For another perspective on Hitschmann, Patience spoke with Itai Zimunya,
a Mutare-based advocacy officer for the Crisis Coalition of Zimbabwe, who
related what he knew about Hitschmann and what people in Mutare were making of
it all.
Former cops arrested as probe into arms find widens
March 11, 2006
By Andnetwork .com
TWO
ex-policemen have been arrested in Harare and numerous police and
army
uniforms and rounds of ammunition recovered as investigations into the
arms
cache found in Mutare this week intensify.
Several other
suspects have also been picked up for questioning in
Mutare, in connection
with the case.
The Herald understands that one of the two suspects
was stationed at
Harare Central Police Station while the other was from
Support Unit. They
had, however, resigned from the police
force.
Although details of the two former policemen were still
sketchy, it
was strongly believed that they were linked to ex-Rhodesian
soldier Peter
Hitschmann, who was arrested in Mutare on Monday.
It was also feared that there could be more suspects still at large
who are
in possession of guns, rounds of ammunition, army and police
uniforms.
The two suspects were arrested this week and police
recovered the
uniforms, about 350 000 rounds of ammunition and some
magazines for AK47 and
FN rifles, which were fully loaded with rounds of
ammunition.
The uniforms and rounds of ammunition were recovered at
the suspects'
homes. No guns were found. They are still detained at Harare
Central Police
Station for further investigations.
According to
the police, investigations in Mutare, where they arrested
Hitschmann, led to
the arrest of the two ex-policemen in Harare. They are
expected to be taken
to Mutare for further investigations.
Manicaland provincial police
spokesperson Inspector Joshua Tigere
yesterday confirmed that more suspects
had been picked up for questioning in
connection with the case.
Hitschmann was arrested together with the MDC Manicaland provincial
youth
chairman Knowledge Nyamhuka.
Another MDC activist, Thando Sibanda,
was arrested when police picked
up Hitschmann, who had been under
surveillance for the past year.
Some top MDC officials, including
Mutare North MP Giles Mutsekwa and
former Chimanimani MP Roy Bennett, were
arrested on Wednesday in connection
with the case.
Mutsekwa is
MDC shadow minister for defence.
MDC Manicaland provincial
treasurer Brian James and a white farmer,
whose name was not given,
reportedly implicated the three, all of whom have
links with the former
Rhodesian forces.
The suspects were linked to the so-called
Zimbabwe Freedom Movement, a
shadowy group of ex-Rhodesians.
The group claims to have members within the law enforcement agents,
and
drawn from ex-Rhodesians and war veterans.
The cabal is alleged to
have come up with a list of targeted
individuals whom it wanted to eliminate
and consequently cause confusion and
mayhem in the country.
Police said the group had also claimed that it had other bases in
Masvingo,
Gweru and Bulawayo. Mutare had been used as the group's
headquarters.
A high-powered 600cc motorbike - registration
number 43CD90 - was
discovered hidden at Hitschmann's house.
43CD is the number of the Italian Embassy in Harare and police believe
Hitschmann used the motorbike with diplomatic plates to ease his movements
to and from Chimoio in Mozambique where the so-called Zimbabwe Freedom
Movement has a bank account.
The arms - which were recovered at
Number 33 Arcadia Road, Tiger's
Kloof in Mutare - were an AK-47 rifle with a
folding butt, four FN rifles,
seven Uzi guns, four .303 rifles with
telescopic sights, 11 shotguns, six CZ
pistols, four revolvers, and a set of
Siemens radio communication systems,
including a base station and hand-held
radios.
Police also recovered thousands of rounds of ammunition of
different
calibres, 15 tearsmoke canisters and 20 flares.
Hitschmann was arrested on Monday at a Nando's Chicken takeaway outlet
in
the company of Sibanda, an MDC activist who is also a former member of
the
police special constabulary, and Nyamhuka, the MDC provincial youth
chairman
for Manicaland.
Hitschmann is believed to have recruited ex-members
of the Rhodesian
army as well as police force - some of whom are senior
members of the MDC
and former legislators - to work towards the opposition
party's agenda of
illegal regime change in Zimbabwe.
Source :
Herald
Directions, Please?
My wife and I went to a dinner party the other night - nothing
unusual
about that except it was 300 kilometers from home and we had to
contend
with a river in flood. To get there we had to go quite far south of
the
usual turnoff to the farm, which meant that we could use a low
level
bridge to cross the river. The normal road was closed because of the
water
level.
To get to the farm we needed good directions and the farmer told me
that
this turn off was about 12 kilometers after a certain junction and
just
"after two big muddy puddles". Anyway we got lost in thick Mopani veld
and
with the help of another local farmer eventually found the turn off
and
arrived - a bit late, but still in time for a very pleasant evening.
The
key was those "two muddy puddles"!
Another young couple from two
farms away drove through the short cut and
then waded the river. She changed
at the house and he sat through the meal
in damp trousers. It was a superb
evening - we all sat in the garden,
light came from a clear moon in a
star-studded sky and we did not even
need jerseys.
You need to know that life goes on in Zimbabwe - sure we have inflation
at
record levels, we have two million internally displaced people (a
UN
euphemism for homeless internal refugees), we have very little food
and
hundreds of thousands of people are dying. This morning I heard of
one
estimate that ten per cent of the IDP's have died since Murambatsvina
-
that is 200 000 people, most from malnutrition and exposure.
There
is growing anger in the country; I hear it on the street, at dinner
parties
and in business. Anger that the economic collapse is now
threatening
everyone. Anger that the authorities, despite the fact that
they have been in
power for 25 years seem not to even understand what is
happening - let alone
find solutions. Anger that food aid is still being
managed so as to make the
population subservient to the regime. Anger that
the UN is such a hopeless
organisation - unable even to find the courage
to call a halt to the genocide
we see every day.
Anger that the world seems to take it for granted that they can do
little
about tin pot regimes like ours that have defied globally accepted
norms
of governance and all human rights for years. I saw an analysis today
that
put Zimbabwe at the bottom of a table listing the degree of
freedom
enjoyed by its population.
This past week bread has hit
nearly Z$100 000 a loaf, the US dollar is
trading at 220 000 to one and official inflation approaches 800 per cent
-
27 per cent in February alone. The real rate of inflation must be
double
this but the impact is severe whatever figure you adopt. Gideon Gono
and
Herbert Murewa went off on a futile trip to Washington to talk to the
IMF
- I suspect they hardly got past the doorman.
They were told
politely that despite paying US$209 million (Z$46 trillion)
to the Fund
(equal to 42 per cent of our 2006 budget), they would continue
to suspend our
voting rights and access to the Fund - as I said two weeks
ago, they will not
even reopen their office in Harare. However what I
found particularly
disgraceful was that they suggested that if we paid the
balance of our
arrears (nearly another US$100 million) they might
reconsider. Reconsider
what? There is absolutely no chance that we will
ever get access to IMF
resources (or any other significant assistance for
that matter) until we get
our democracy back on its feet and start
behaving like human
beings.
There was no mention of the suffering caused here by these
payments - the
forced shortages of all basics. No mention of asthmatics
unable to get
their medical supplies, no mention of the hardship of students
who must
now pay up to Z$100 million a semester for a college education. No
mention
of hospitals without food and disinfectant. No mention of the tens
of
thousands who must cross the Limpopo every week now to seek refuge
in
South Africa.
The cry on our streets and in the villages is show us the way, give
us
directions, what do we have to do to get rid of this collection of
goons
who have so totally messed up our country? What is the road map back
to
sanity?
The Mbeki, Zanu, Mutambara road map would have us accept
that all we have
to do is ditch Mugabe, allow Zanu PF to form a national
unity government
and then institute the required reforms to get the
international community
to let us get on with our lives and start rebuilding
the country. The
problem with that sort of road map is that it leaves the
thieves in charge
of the cash box. It puts the criminals in charge of the
legal system and
the law courts; it does nothing to restore our fundamental
rights and
freedoms. It simply whitewashes the tombstones and allows Mbeki et
al to
bury the evidence.
The alternative is the MDC road map - force
Zanu PF to concede they have
failed and must come back to the negotiating
table where they lost their
way. Ask at an all stakeholders' conference
representing all sectors of
Zimbabwean society what we must do to get back to
the right road and how
to get there. We are lost and must find our way back
to the road and the
only way to do that is to agree on a new constitution and
a transitional
mechanism to get us there in the next 12 months or so. Then,
once we get
to our destination we can hold elections under international
supervision
and whoever wins that election can form a new government and
start the
country on the road to recovery and eventual
prosperity.
It's clean, legal, democratic and free and fair. I know who
would win that
election and so do you, and so do Zanu PF and Mbeki. That is
why the
invitation to this particular dinner party must be accompanied by
some
considerable persuasion. I think we are about ready for just
that
eventuality and if you could see the armed police on street corners
you
would know that those currently in charge are as nervous as you can be
and
still be standing and not sitting on the nearest loo!
They know
the Army is restive, the Police dissatisfied and the people
angry. What they
do not know is how to get out of the mess they are in and
it is time we told
them and told them in clear unequivocal terms that
their day is done. The
arms cache charges against the MDC are so obviously
fabricated that they are
laughable. What is no laughing matter is what
they are doing to the lives of
those they target in their desperation to
find their own way out of the
Mopani they are in.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo 11 March 2006
When inflation reaches
782pc
From The Daily Telegraph (UK), 11 March
So Zimbabwe's inflation hit 782 percent last month according to
government
statistics released today. It went up from 613 percent in
January. In
reality, of course, it's far higher according to most private
sector
accountants, and is way above 1,000 percent and climbing. This is the
highest inflation in the world. Second on a list put together from various
international inflation sites is Iraq at 40 percent. South Africa stands at
4.5 percent, and Zambia at 19 percent. The reality of hyper inflation is
beyond the telling of it. Zimbabwe should now be close to meltdown but no
one is sure how that will play out as not since the collapse of Zaire ten
years ago (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) has the world seen this
kind of financial chaos. And yet Zimbabweans are so well behaved that if
people are feeling panicky they are not showing it and are going about their
business among the creaking infrastructure peacefully.
Excerpts From – “Gold
Forecaster – Global Watch” - For the week ended 10th March
2006
goldseek.com
From time to time we have commented on the dire
situation in Zimbabwe. We
are a-political, non-racial and unbiased in our work. But we call a spade, a spade! In that spirit, we comment on the human
tragedy reaching the pits in Zimbabwe at present.
In common with all other countries,
Zimbabwe is defined by a line around a piece of land on
the map. Within that area the government
can do what it likes and be free from any fear of interference from
outside. From the bread basket of
Africa where one Z$ equaled one
U.S.$ to this:
Interbank
Exchange Rate Interest
rates 07/03/06 Inflation
rates
ZW$ 99,201.58 per US$1 Overnight 700% C.P.I. 57175.6
Interbank
632.8% M-O-M
18.6%
Y-O-Y 613.2%
Is what Mugabe and his policies have
achieved. Over the last three decades,
the present government has embarked on a programme that has resulted in the
destruction of the economy and the financial well being of the country. The path to this end has been unimpeded by
outsiders, with some shouting foul, but taking no real action. Today the country enjoys a rising level of
unemployment, presently 85+%.
Approximately, four million people are facing starvation, due to the
results of the purging of the working class by AIDS leading to insufficient
workers to harvest, to shortages of working capital, alongside the ‘grabbing’ of
white owned farms [extremely well run and productive]. At worst, these farms now either don’t
function because they have been abandoned or produce so little as to be wholly
inadequate to supply even their own nation.
There have been good rains this year so there should be a decent harvest,
but the policy of taking productive farms off white farmers has resulted in the
turning of Zimbabwe from an exporter of food into a recipient of
food aid from relief agencies.
Now the next move, which as a precious metals
publication concerns us, is the proposed new policy of taking half the
Zimbabwe mines, at least, to the government, an
effective nationalizing of them. The
mines most affected are Impala and Anglo Platinum, together with
Acquarius.
Zimbabwean Minister of Mines Amos Midzi made the
statement that the cabinet had approved draft proposals requiring mining
companies to surrender 51% of their assets to the government and/or
indigenous groups, depending on the commodity. The government would pay only for
26% and the remainder would be a “free carry.”
Midzi said alternative foreign investors had been identified to take up
the equities in current mines if external shareholders did not co-operate. Whilst this may appear on the surface to be
pure theft, with the [forced] acquiescence of the mines and their shareholders,
that word could not apply, surely?
We have asked how they intended to pay for the
equity portion they actually intended to pay for, in past issues. We can only answer in line with how they
paid part of the I.M.F. bill of $210 million.
They simply took it off Anglo Platinum and others and issued them with a
promissory note [issued in the U.S.$ - surprisingly as in the past it was in the
Z$] to pay them back sometime in the future.
We expect the mines inside Zimbabwe to be issued with the Z$ payment for that
balance of the shares they pay for. At
the present rate of acceleration in Zimbabwe’s inflation, they need only wait a year or two
and they will be able to pay the price offered to the mines with one banknote,
printed on one side only. But then
again I suppose it is not pure theft if you are paid something for it, even if
that payment is worthless?
The responses of these mines
are:
Anglo Platinum Anglo Platinum (AngloPlat), noted “with
concern” Zimbabwe’s proposal that the country’s mining law be amended to allow
the state to hold 51% of all platinum operations in the country, AngloPlat said.
AngloPlat has almost all of its platinum mines
in SA, but is developing the Unki platinum project in
Zimbabwe.
AngloPlat
had spent U.S.$20m developing surface infrastructure including a dam and roads
at the Unki project and was in the process of sinking a shaft, The feasibility
study had put the mining operation at 120000 tons a month, with no grade or
metal production from the mine forecast.
Subject to project sanction, the Unki mine would achieve first production
in 2008. The effect of the draft
proposals would be less acute for AngloPlat than other platinum miners, as Unki
was still at the project stage
Implats
“We believe the proposal is not in the best interest of developing a platinum
industry in Zimbabwe, and we believe the percentage figures and
ownership methodology are not consistent with previous discussions”. The
proposal would render Zimbabwe’s
existing platinum mines and any expansions “uneconomic”, Implats chief financial
officer David Brown said. Asked whether the
Zimbabwe government’s latest proposals would cause
Zimplats to freeze a previously reported U.S.$2 billion expansion programme,
Brown said it would be premature to discuss such a move because Implats did not
believe the outcome would necessarily follow the proposals.
The second-biggest platinum miner, Impala
Platinum, has an 86,7% stake in Zimplats and a 50% stake in the Mimosa mine,
while Aquarius Platinum holds the other 50% in Mimosa.
Aquarius Platinum CEO Stuart Murray said the group’s
joint-venture, Mimosa platinum mine, was in the midst of a U.S.$14 million
expansion programme, and Aquarius had no intention of halting that expansion.
Metallon Group head of corporate affairs Nonkqubela Maliza
said Metallon did not believe the proposals would go through in their current
form. If they did, it would be disastrous for
Zimbabwe’s economy. However, Metallon Gold had already
allocated 30% of its assets for indigenous partners, and was in negotiations
with potential partners, Maliza said.
[Metallon Gold owns five mines in
Zimbabwe and two exploration projects. It is the
country’s biggest gold miner.]
If the mines do not acquiesce we would expect
the new shareholders to be Chinese [?] and they would pay only for the portion
they receive. One more step in the
transfer of power to the East if that happens.
It has to be said that both Impala and Anglo
Platinum are sufficiently large to weather this storm without affecting current
income. This is simply a blot on their
future prospects.
As we said some months ago, any
Zimbabwe assets on their Balance Sheet should be deemed
of zero value to them. We hold to that
until proved by a different reality.
The Zimbabwe's Pastors forum launched in South Africa
March 11,
2006.
By Andnetwork .com
JOHANNESBURG (AND) - Zimbabwe
has become so unbearable that even men
of God have followed the route of
many to the City of Gold. The Zimbabwe
clergy in South Africa have formed an
advocacy organisation to look into the
problems faced by more than two
million Zimbabweans living in the country.
Founding Chairperson of
the Zimbabwe Pastors Forum (ZPF), Pastor
Steven Chiadzwa addressing the
invited guest said, The Zimbabwe Pastors
Forum is an organisation formed by
Christian ministers joined together to
create a platform and network for
service and advocacy.
"We long for a new dispensation of
stability, peace and progress in
Zimbabwe. Today the country stands at a
crossroads. Although there have been
so many attempts to address the
country's challenges, the future remains,
for the majority, bleak. There is
nothing to inspire hope and confidence.
"As servants of God we
are called upon to serve our brothers and
sisters in Zimbabwe and in the
Diaspora. It is paramount that Christians
join hands in seeking an urgent
solution to the current crisis. ZPF is a
non-partisan organisation. It is
composed of ministers, pastors and
religious leaders from a variety of
Christian denominations," said Chiadzwa.
The 'Zimbabwe Pastors
Forum' acknowledges that the challenges facing
Zimbabwe today are complex in
their nature.
"From the wisdom of past experience we have
learnt that the situation
in Zimbabwe today demands, firstly, a sense of
urgency in looking for
solutions. There is the issue of ownership of the
Zimbabwe vision. We have
reached the stage whereby as Zimbabweans we must
accept that we are
ultimately responsible for the destiny of our
country.
"Any initiatives to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis must
be guided by
principles and values of negotiation and cooperative decision-
making. This
demands a spirit of acceptance of one another and tolerance.
These
initiatives must project a sense of coherence, purpose and clarity of
vision. Zimbabwe has little to benefit from tentative, marginalistic
solutions crafted by opportunistic leaders, and also from reactionary
opposition critics," added Pastor Chiadzwa.
However the
Pastor noted with concern over Millions of Zimbabweans who
have since fled
their country in search of a better life after Operation
Murambatsvina left
more than 700 000 people homeless.
"Millions of Zimbabweans are
today scattered all over the world and
most of them languishing in poverty
of unprecedented dimensions, yet
Zimbabwe, in terms of natural resources
endowments, is one of the wealthiest
countries in the region and the
world.
"Yet daily, an estimated one thousand Zimbabweans cross
the Limpopo
border into South Africa, many of these young, educated and
able-bodied
people. As they arrive in South Africa, their home country loses
their human
resources, which worsens the economic deterioration there. This
deterioration brings with it moral degeneration and a general disintegration
of society that must be halted now. A sense of unity of purpose, confidence
and progress must be restored. As the Book of Proverbs in the Bible says
'without a vision, the people will perish'," Chiadzwa said
Pastor Chiadzwa went on to say that his organisation will join hands
with
the South African Council of Churches on the 25th of March 2006 in
organizing a civic dialogue between South Africans and Zimbabweans in
Hillbrow.
Bongani Nyathi the Chairperson of the Progressive
Teachers of Zimbabwe
in South Africa applauded the formation of the Pastors
Forum saying: "This
is a positive development in the fight of democracy in
Zimbabwe. At least
the Pastors like Bishop Pius Ncube and a few individuals
are joining hands
with the suffering Zimbabwean and through their prayers
Zimbabwe would be
served".
Zackeus Chibaya the
Secretary for Cross border Association of
Journalists an Independent
organization for Exiled Journalists said the
Zimbabweans living in Diaspora
they really need the Pastors' intervention.
"Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora are traumatized, depressed, rejected and
they really need people to
who understand their language and culture for
guidance and counseling in
copying with their adopted situation," said
Chibaya.
The new organisation was officially launched today at the South
African
council of churches Chapel at Khotso House.
By Magugu
Nyathi
Hard task to heal MDC
rift
From The Weekender (SA), 11 March
Some believe Arthur Mutambara is too immature to reunite
Zimbabwe's
opposition
Jonathan Katzenellenbogen and Dumisani
Muleya
Harare - Recently elected leader of one of the factions of
Zimbabwe's
divided opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Prof
Arthur
Mutambara, will have an uphill task to unify the main opposition
after the
rival camp's congress next weekend. Founding MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai's
faction, battling for control of the party with Mutambara's
camp,
emphatically rejected talks with their rivals for the first time on
Friday.
The Tsvangirai camp said it would not work with Mutambara. The fight
over
the name of the party and its properties is currently under way.
Tsvangirai's
spokes-man, William Bango, said Mutambara had no mandate to
lead a
reunification of the MDC. He said he was not part of the MDC and his
comments were thus inconsequential. "He has no locus standi and capacity to
lead the so-called reunification," Bango said. "He tried to enter the MDC
through a platform we don't recognise." Nelson Chamisa, spokesman for the
Tsvangirai faction, said they believed Mutambara was irrelevant to the
party. "He has an inflated ego. He appears to think that he is the only one
who has a legitimate right to lead the MDC," Chamisa said. "He must join MDC
structures at branch level and rise through the ranks instead of trying to
impose himself as a leader from nowhere." Some regard Mutambara with
suspicion and also claim he is politically immature.
Mutambara, a
former Rhodes scholar, robotics engineer, Standard Bank
director, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration consultant, and
McKinsey consultant,
parachuted into Zimbabwean opposition politics to lead
a faction of the MDC
two weeks ago by talking tough. He threatened to tackle
President Robert
Mugabe's regime head-on and remove it from power. Mutamabra
said he wanted
to unite the MDC, which was split last October by a dispute
over a
controversial senate election. Describing Tsvangirai as a "national
hero",
Mutambara called for unity and cohesion in the opposition. "All the
democratic forces in Zimbabwe need to engage each other," he said. "We need
to unite. A reunification framework and strategy must be established
immediately." However, with the Tsvangirai faction congress next week,
Mutambara's agenda of reuniting has so far come unstuck because his
potential allies have spurned his olive branch. Mutambara's acceptance
speech and his first two press conferences were received with mixed
reactions. His attempt to dramatically shift the MDC's ideological position
by sounding extremely anticolonial and anti-imperialist only drew parallels
with Mugabe.
Some said he failed to link his past with his
present to launch himself onto
the political battlefield in style. He was a
fiery student activist during
his University of Zimbabwe undergraduate days.
They also say he has failed
to show his political agenda, policies and
vision, though he has promised an
economic blueprint in two weeks. Although
some Zimbabweans applauded him for
trying to reunite the MDC, they say he
lacks negotiating skills and the
necessary charisma. They say he approaches
politics like a business
consultant. This, they say, might be an indication
of his grasp of
realpolitik. But those who support him say his solid
academic credentials
and international exposure will give him a soft landing
into Zimbabwe's
cut-throat politics. They also say he is a bright future
prospect in a
country desperate for a new generation of democratic leaders.
Asked why he
chose to dump a safer, secure and more fulfilling life in the
US and SA,
where he currently stays, and works for the turbulent Zimbabwean
political
arena, he said: "What is top of Maslow's hierarchy of needs? It's
self-actualisation. I'm going beyond that, there is a higher stage called
self-transcend, leaving a legacy. A 100 years from now, 50 years from now,
what will be the Mutambara legacy? I don't care about what I benefit as an
individual. I am trying to self-transcend, go beyond self and leave a
legacy." Given the odds that face his entry into the turbulent Zimbabwean
politics, he will need more than what he already has to achieve the
"self-transcend".
Bulawayo water crisis to persist
March 11, 2006
By Andnetwork .com
THE
water shortages that have stalked Bulawayo since July last year
look set to
persist this year following reports that the city's five major
supply dams
are only 70,42 percent full with only a few weeks remaining
before the end
of the rainy season.
The BCC public relations officer, Mr
Pathisa Nyathi, said in an
interview last night that the situation remained
precarious, noting that
only Insiza Dam, where a limited amount of water can
be drawn at any given
time, had received significant inflows this
season.
"The water situation is still far from improving and that
is the
message we have to put across," Mr Nyathi said.
"It is
only Insiza Dam, which is now over 70 percent full that has
received
significant inflows. But that does not mean anything to us because
we use
gravity to draw water from Insiza, which means that we are limited
and until
a pumping system is installed, the inflows will not mean
anything."
According to the latest statistics on water
inflows, Insiza Dam, which
is the biggest, now holds 113,4 million cubic
metres of water after it
received inflows of 44,9 million cubic
metres.
Inyankuni has received the least inflows of 3,4 million
cubic metres
and holds 23,9 million cubic metres, while Lower Ncema, which
dried up last
year, recorded water inflows equivalent to 8,6 million cubic
metres.
Upper Ncema now holds 10,4 million cubic metres of water
after it
received inflows amounting to 13,1 million cubic metres and
Umzingwane Dam
has recorded inflows equivalent to 9,4 million cubic metres
bringing the
volume of water at the dam to 10 million cubic
metres.
In percentage terms, Insiza is 70,4 percent full, Inyankuni
(29,61
percent), Lower Ncema (46,7 percent), Umzingwane (22,5 percent) and
Upper
Ncema 23 percent.
Last week councillors urged the Zimbabwe
National Water Authority to
speed up the connection of the idle Mtshabezi
Dam to Umzingwane Dam to
prevent the water crisis that hit the city last
year from recurring.
Contributing to debate during a full council
meeting, the councillors
who toured the dams last month said the water
situation remained critical
following poor inflows, especially to Umzingwane
Dam.
The Executive Mayor, Mr Japhet NdabeniNcube, told the meeting
that the
construction of a 33kilometre pipeline to link the idle Mtshabezi
Dam to
Umzingwane Dam was the only immediate solution to the water crisis
available
to council.
"I think the immediate solution is
connecting Mtshabezi Dam to
Umzingwane Dam and I understand an Environmental
Impact Assessment Study for
the project is being carried out," he
said.
Last year, three of the city's fivesupply dams - Umzingwane,
Lower
Ncema and Upper Ncema - dried up, forcing council to introduce a
strict
water rationing regime that sought to reduce daily consumption from
an
average of 145 000 cubic metres to 90 000.
Source :
Chronicle