http://www.radiovop.com/
13/03/2011 10:54:00
HARARE,
March 13, 2011- The top six leaders of Zimbabwe's fragile unity
government
are set to hold a crisis meeting next week in a bid to prevent
the collapse
of the GNU following the arrest of a senior cabinet minister
and the ousting
of the Speaker of Parliament this week, according to The
Sunday Times of
South Africa.
Quoting government insiders the paper said President Robert
Mugabe, his
co-vice-presidents Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo, Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai and his two deputies, Thokozani Khuphe and Arthur
Mutambra, were
expected to convene an emergency gathering to tackle problems
in the GNU
which erupted following dramatic events that left the government
in turmoil.
Energy and Power Development Minister Elton Mangoma, a senior
MDC-T
official, was arrested on Thursday on "criminal abuse of office"
charges.
Police said Mangoma had flouted tender procedures in a $6-million
fuel deal.
Mangoma will stand trial at the High Court on March 28. On Friday
he was
taken to the notorious Harare remand prison. The minister was
arrested at
his offices and initially detained at Harare central police
station before
being transferred to Braeside police
station.
Magistrate Mishrod Guvamombe said Mangoma would have to apply
for bail at
the High Court because he had no jurisdiction to preside over
the matter.
Chris Mutangadura, the chief law officer in the Attorney
General's Office,
served the indictment papers in court showing charges
under the Criminal law
(Codification and Reform) Act and Procurement
Regulations.
The state has lined up six witnesses to testify against
Mangoma, including
his permanent secretary Justin Mupamhanga.
On the same
day Mangoma was being arrested, the Supreme Court made a ruling
that
nullified the election of Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo, who also
belongs to the premier's party.
The two incidents angered Tsvangirai
who on Thursday confronted Nkomo - the
acting president while Mugabe was
away in Ethiopia - over the issue. The
prime minister also slammed judges
over the Moyo issue. His spokesman Luke
Tamborinyoka confirmed that his boss
met Nkomo, but could not reveal details
of the meeting. "The prime minister
met the acting president yesterday
(Thursday) over the arrest of the
minister and discussed the issue," he
said. "However, I cannot disclose any
details to the media."
Insiders said Tsvangirai grilled Nkomo on
Mangoma's arrest until the latter
revealed that he was "out of the
loop".
"Tsvangirai asked Nkomo why Mangoma had been arrested and also why he
was
not consulted on the issue. Nkomo was at sixes and sevens but it appears
Mugabe had authorised Mangoma's arrest without consulting anybody," a senior
government official said. "Nkomo sounded vague and seemed unaware of what
was really going on. It looks like it's a plot by Mugabe and those very
close to him."
Government officials said the next few days would be
decisive in determining
the fate of the GNU. Tsvangirai is also expected to
deal toughly with Mugabe
at their usual meeting tomorrow (Monday). Besides,
cabinet is expected to
hold an extraordinary session soon to discuss the
fate of the GNU. There
were fierce clashes in cabinet on March 1 over the
issue of the inclusive
government and outstanding Global Political Agreement
(GPA) issues.
Tsvangirai told business executives in Harare on Thursday
that there were
too many problems in the unity government and he was
frustrated although he
wanted to stick it out and fight. However, he later
said he was mulling
pulling out of the unity government. He said he was now
pushing for a "clean
divorce" with Mugabe. But MDC secretary general Tendai
Biti later said the
party was not in the process of "serving divorce papers
on Zanu-PF".
http://www.radiovop.com
13/03/2011 13:20:00
HARARE, March
13, 2011- Opposition activists in Zimbabwe have said that they
were forced
out of their homes and beaten for refusing to support President
Robert
Mugabe, claiming that the attacks are 'state sponsored,' as the
police
arrested those who complained, instead of helping them, Britain,s Sky
News
reported.
Their claims come amid growing international concern about
renewed political
violence in Zimbabwe.Barnabas, an activist speaking from a
'safe house' in
Harare, said: " They broke my arm and started hitting me
along my spine with
a metal stake."
Shingai, another opposition
activist said: " They came with petrol to my
house and threatened to burn me
along with my family, but instead they just
beat me until I was
unconscious."
The men said many of the people living in Mbare, an area
which has long been
a stronghold of the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), on the
outskirts of Harare, have been forced to flee their
homes since the
beginning of the year.However, this slum community has
undergone a dramatic
political conversion in recent weeks, with posters of
Mugabe plastered over
every building, as it is not safe for the people to
support the MDC, in the
wake of recent incidents.
Local opposition
councillor Paul Gorekore said: " If you support the MDC,
they come after you
and beat you," adding that even if people say that they
will join Zanu PF
(Mugabe's party) they are still beaten to ensure their
support."
The
present situation in Mbare is similar to the one in 2008, when Mugabe
used
force and violence to emerge victorious in the elections.
The MDC fears that
Mugabe has similar plans to pursue the same strategy in
the next election,
which could be held later this year.
http://www.radiovop.com
13/03/2011
10:57:00
LONDON, March 13, 2011- A United Kingdom based political
think tank says it
is time the mainstream Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) change its
political strategy through a process of "regeneration" for
it to regain
public trust and keep the fight for democracy
alive.
Speaking at a human rights and democracy conference organized by
the
Commonwealth Scholarship Commission in London on Saturday, Dr Leo
Zeilig,
Assistant Director of the Commonwealth Policy Studies Unit said the
MDC
needs some form of regeneration to put itself in a better stand which
will
allow it to continue the fight against President Robert Mugabe and Zanu
PF.
"I am far too critical of the MDC because it failed to act in 2008
when it
should have. Thats when Zimbabwe had its moment to remove Mugabe.
Zimbabwe
now faces a crisis of the MDC," said Zeillg who has worked in
Zimbabwe and
the SADC region without explaining what the regeneration will
entail.
He has researched and written widely about African politics and
history. His
books include Revolt and Protest: Student Politics and Activism
in
Sub-Saharan Africa and Africa's Lost Leader: Patrice Lumunda. He has also
worked as a freelance journalist in Zimbabwe during the disputed
presidential election in 2002 and was arrested several times in the
process.
"Mugabe spoke about the redistribution of land and local wealth
as a
political selling point but what did the MDC do, they were stark in the
old
talk of respecting property rights and in the process gave Mugabe the
ability to survive. The answer in Zimbabwe now lies in the regeneration of
the MDC or the emergence of another movement from elsewhere," said
Zeilg.
The conference also highlighted many other problems that Zimbabwe
still
faces, with many participants drawn from various universities across
the
United Kingdom suggesting that the solution to Zimbabwe's problem lies
in
the people themselves.
"The dictatorship in Africa is a structure and
its not easy to remove them
but the solution lies with the people of
Zimbabwe. They have to learn to
free themselves because nobody will but
themselves," said Onyekachi Wambu
who works with the African Foundation for
Development (AFFORD).
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/
Today, 05:57 am
AFP Godfrey
Marawanyika
Zimbabwe last week won its biggest foreign investment in
a decade with a
$750-million steel deal, but that left other firms even more
confused about
the rules of business in the troubled nation.
The
agreement gives India's Essar Group a 54-percent stake in the mothballed
state steel firm Zisco, in a deal worth 12.5 times the total foreign
investment recorded in Zimbabwe in 2009.
But the deal contravenes
Zimbabwe's new equity law, which requires locals to
hold majority stakes in
major companies. Officials have tip-toed around the
contradiction, but it's
not the first time the new rule has been waived.
In September,
pan-African banking group Ecobank Transnational was given the
green-light to
acquire 70 percent of Zimbabwe's Premier Bank, following a
$10-million
capital injection.
Other companies now wonder how or if the law,
vociferously defended by
veteran President Robert Mugabe, will apply to
them.
"Many people are worried about the execution of the law or how it
would be
applied," said Kojo Parris, a South African investor.
"There
is need for clarity on how the law would be applied or how exemptions
would
be applied."
The law requires locals to own 51 percent stakes in major
firms, a rule that
indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere defended
during an investment
conference.
"We believe as government we were
getting a raw deal from foreign firms,
especially from mining sector,"
Kasukuwere said.
When Zimbabwe's unity government took office two years
ago, officials
confidently predicted a surge in foreign investment, which
until now has
proved elusive.
Euromoney, the financial services group
behind last week's conference, still
ranks Zimbabwe as among the riskiest
destinations in Africa, alongside
countries like Somalia and the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
While the economy began growing again in 2009 after 12
years of contraction,
the fragile unity government has yet to win over
investors, due largely to
conflicting messages from Harare.
Economic
ministries are now under the control of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai,
who has relentlessly pitched the country to investors.
The security
apparatus remains firmly under the control of Mugabe, who
snubbed the
investment confab, held one week after he threatened to seize
firms from
western countries that maintain an asset freeze on him.
Despite the mixed
signals, 250 potential investors came to Harare last week,
representing
mainly banks, mining and retail companies.
Capital-intensive businesses
like mining and manufacturing have generally
shied away from new investments
in Zimbabwe, while retail and services have
proved more willing to jump in,
especially from neighbouring South Africa.
South African retailer Pick
and Pay has increased its stake in local stores
from 25 to 49 percent. South
Africa's Spar has also expanded its presence,
while international banking
group Investec has upped its stake in OK
Zimbabwe stores.
"Investors
in the basic consumer sector such as those in retail always do
well in
economies that are coming out of a crisis," said Ritesh Anand,
managing
director of pan-African fund manager Invictus Investment.
Jonathan
Chenevix-Trench, founding partner of British investment group
African
Century, told AFP the key to riding out the risk was to plan for the
long
term.
African Century has bought 25 percent shares in Zimbabwe's Stock
Exchange
and London-listed National Merchant Bank.
"When investing
Zimbabwe you must have long-term plans," he told AFP. "I
personally welcome
the indigenisation policy as everyone needs
predictability. The key thing
about the law is trust."
http://www.timeslive.co.za
Mar 12, 2011 3:55 PM | By ZOLI MANGENA
Zanu-PF
hardliners are lobbying the party's leadership and their allies in
government to ensure Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is charged with
criminal contempt of court for slamming Supreme Court judges over the
nullification of Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo's election.
Top
party officials told the Sunday Times there was a push by Zanu-PF hawks
for
Tsvangirai to be charged with a similar offence as his exiled MDC-T
party
treasurer Roy Bennett.
"We are lobbying our senior leaders to ensure that
Tsvangirai - who claims
to be an advocate of the rule of law - to be charged
with criminal contempt
of court," a senior Zanu-PF official said. "What he
said yesterday
(Thursday) is shocking and clearly disrespectful and
contemptuous of judges.
He must be charged."
Another Zanu-PF official
said his party wanted to ensure the Supreme Court
arraigned Tsvangirai. The
highest court of appeal has powers to charge
suspects with contempt of
court.
Tsvangirai slammed Supreme Court judges for their ruling on Moyo
which
dethroned him as speaker of the House of Assembly. The premier
described the
judges as "politicians masquerading as judges" and "willing
appendages of
Zanu-PF".
"Today, the Supreme Court handed down a
judgment reversing the lawful
election of Honourable Lovemore Moyo as the
Speaker of Parliament. The fact
of the matter is that the election of the
speaker was lawful and legitimate,
a fact confirmed by the election officer
and Clerk of Parliament Austin
Zvoma in his affidavit filed in court,"
Tsvangirai said.
"What is common cause is that parliament is a separate
body, with its own
rules and regulations and the courts should not interfere
with other arms of
the state, namely the legislature."
Tsvangirai
further said: "We will not accept the decisions of some Zanu-PF
politicians
masquerading as judges. Zanu-PF is trying to use the courts to
subvert and
regain what it lost in an election."
Constitutional law expert Professor
Lovemore Madhuku said: "I don't want to
comment specifically on Tsvangirai's
statements but criminal contempt of
court is an offence which scandalises
the court. It happens when one in his
criticism insinuates the court is made
up of individuals with improper
motives or who are not fit to be in those
positions."
Attorney General Johannes Tomana said on Friday he did not
wish to respond
to Tsvangirai's remarks because they were
"political".
"The reason why there are courts is to ensure they interpret
the law and
administer justice. A normal society must discourage attacks on
the courts
and judges because that creates anarchy and mayhem," he
said.
"I can't respond to what (Tsvangirai) said because he was talking
politics
and I don't talk politics. If you want a response on that call
(Justice)
Minister (Patrick) Chinamasa." Repeated efforts to get a comment
from
Chinamsa failed.
Tsvangirai also said the Supreme Court's ruling
reflected the current state
of the judiciary. "This decision is a clear
reflection of the state of
affairs on the Bench ... (which) has largely
discredited itself by becoming
a willing appendage of Zanu-PF. Dubious
decisions have been made in this
era."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Fungi Kwaramba
Saturday, 12
March 2011 13:30
HARARE - Instead of dualising roads the government of
Zimbabwe s that it is
going to start modernizing and maintaining of the
existing roads, as this
is cheaper.
Speaking at the Euromoney Conference
last week, Minister of Transport and
Communication Nicholas Goche admitted
the country’s roads were indeed in bad
shape, but said there was no money
for the dualisation of the
Harare-Beitbridge road and the Bulawayo-Harare
road.
“The dualisation of roads is too costly so we have started the
modernisation
and maintenance of the existing roads,” said Goche. The
minister has in the
past been accused of allocating the largest chunk of the
toll gate fees to
his Mashonaland Province.
He said the government was
looking for partners to undertake the dualisation
of Nyamapanda road, which
links Zimbabwe with Malawi, and the
Harare-Chirundu road which links the
country with Zambia and the DRC.
Roads in Zimbabwe are in bad shape and the
Harare-Masvingo road is infamous
for fatal accidents. Although road
construction workers are currently
working on the busy highway progress has
been at a very snail pace owing to
cash constraints.
http://www.timeslive.co.za
Mar 12, 2011 4:02 PM | By
VLADIMIR MZACA
The Inkululeko Yabatsha School of Arts (Iyasa) is
embarking on a world tour
that will take it to three continents.
The
theatre company will first visit Austria and then other European
countries
such as Germany, the UK, Serbia, the Czech Republic and France.
"Our tour
starts this week in Europe, where we will spend five months," said
the
director of the group, Nkululeko Dube.
The group will then tour China and
Japan, and Mexico after that. "It is
going to be a year-long tour. We will
be performing at festivals, fringe
shows and at times we will be working
with Zimbabwean embassies abroad on a
number of projects," Dube
said.
Iyasa is taking 12 members on tour. "Ever since the global economic
recession a few years back, arts have been affected. Arts groups had fewer
shows abroad and had to take fewer members on tour because of costs," he
said. There were fewer jobs in the arts industry and fewer public
programmes. Most Zimbabwean arts groups depend on foreign shows for
financial survival in the form of tours and donor funding.
With
things improving, the team will be showcasing its 2011 production,
Streets
of Africa, with the show premiering in Vienna. "It is meant to show
the
world how things are done in the streets of African countries. The
streets
of Bulawayo are not any different from the streets of Johannesburg,
but they
are different from those of London, Berlin and other European
cities. Our
show is an hourlong musical portraying the hustle and bustle of
town
life."
The show will come to Zimbabwe after 12 months and then it will be
taken to
South Africa and Swaziland.
The tsunami sweeping
everything before it after the Japanese earthquake made a haunting picture but
the Zimbabwean image of the week for Vigil supporters was Tsvangirai storming
off to complain to Mugabe about the arrest of MDC Minister Mangoma – only to
find that the old man had tottered off to some AU meeting to defend fellow
tyrants Gaddafi and Gbagbo. Foreign investors gathered in Harare to hear
Tsvangirai tell them of Zimbabwe’s wonderful economic potential were left
wondering what was going on: they had already been snubbed by Mugabe who chose
instead to attend a politbureau meeting to decide how the government could steal
their money.
We were not surprised
that ZBC did not report either the Japanese earthquake or Tsvangirai’s angry
outburst. The contradictions abounded: Tsvangirai inviting investors while
bemoaning the violence, corruption and compromised judiciary – and at the same
time telling a Financial Times journalist how ‘humane’ Mugabe is (see: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/mar12a_2011.html#Z17
– Dinner with the FT: Morgan Tsvangirai).
Vigil supporters
could observe the same strange unreality here in the UK. A well-informed debate
on Zimbabwe in the House of Lords, compassionate and thoughtful, ended in a
nebulous cloud of ill-founded hope. Speaking for the government, Lord Howell
condemned the increasing violence and spoke of ‘highly sinister developments’.
He said the role of SADC as guarantors of the Global Political Agreement will be
a key to the future of Zimbabwe and went on to say ‘we are encouraged by the
recent increased diplomatic activity in working to create an environment
conducive to holding free and fair elections’. He went further in an interview
with the Voice of the People in which he said ‘SADC is already playing a
remarkable role which is closely related to the hands on approach that South
Africa is playing’. (https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/mar11_2011.html#Z13
– Top UK govt officer and former Mandela lawyer urges Zim to respect rule of
law).
Lord Howell gave no
details and the Vigil sees no evidence of this ‘remarkable role’. Any
‘remarkable role’ played by SADC is more likely to be of the type played by
Gaddafi in Northern Ireland.
The Vigil noted the
comment in the debate by Baroness Bonham-Carter: ‘As major providers of aid to
Zimbabwe and to its neighbours, the people of the United Kingdom – and, indeed
the EU as a whole – have a right to expect serious engagement on these issues’.
Vigil supporters want to see the British government and the EU in general take
the gloves off and put pressure on SADC to force Mugabe to honour his
undertakings. We believe that they should withhold aid to SADC governments if
they do not meet their obligations to Zimbabweans.
Other
points
·
Vigil team members
Dumi Tutani and Luka Phiri featured in interviews on the internet this week.
Dumi gave an interview to a US radio station in Portland Oregon which also
featured Jenni Williams of WOZA – check: http://kboo.fm/node/27088. Luka was interviewed on a video
documentary by Antonio Cardoso which includes footage of the Vigil – Check: www.vimeo.com/acardoso/zimbabwevigiluk.
·
Glad as always to
have Beverley Mutandiro with us. She led the Vigil in prayer and singing. She
said how singing releases stress and talked to us about the virtue of patience
(Hebrews 11 /12).
·
Supporters came from
far and wide today. Angeline Mukoti caught the overnight coach from Edinburgh
and was returning home overnight. She plans to come again next week. Anna
Mutunzi came from Newcastle and had to leave her new baby (born premature) in
others’ care. Gladys Mapanda joined us from Cardiff and took care of the
register and merchandise. Sandra Madenyika once more brought her three young
children from Sheffield. Her children plus David Kadzutu’s sons David Jnr and
Jones (newly arrived from Zimbabwe) were a great help handing out flyers and
selling the Zimbabwean newspaper.
For latest Vigil
pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check http://www.zimvigiltv.com/.
FOR THE
RECORD: 138 signed the
register.
EVENTS AND
NOTICES:
·
The Restoration of
Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s
partner organisation based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil
to have an organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s
mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through
membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in
Zimbabwe.
·
ROHR North London general meeting. Saturday 19th March from 2 – 6 pm. Venue:
Tottenham Chances, 399 High Road, Tottenham N17 6QN. Station: Seven Sisters.
Buses 123, 149, 259, 349, 341, 476 towards Tottenham – third stop. Contact: V
Chengaose 07956586377, Bernard Hukwa 07835323174, Ruby Chitiyo 07886998102, B
Nyahwa 07534905348, Velempini Moyo 07960863128, P Mapfumo 07932216070.
·
ROHR Manchester
Vigil. Saturday
26th March from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Cathedral Gardens,
Manchester City Centre (subject to change to Piccadilly Gardens).
Contact: Delina Tafadzwa Mutyambizi 07775313637, Chamunorwa Chihota
07799446404, Panyika Karimanzira 07551062161, Artwell Pfende 07886839353,
Charles Nenguke 07925146757, P Mapfumo 07915926323/07932216070 or P Chibanguza
07908406069. Future demonstrations: 30th April, 28th May.
Same time and venue.
·
ROHR Manchester
meetings. Saturday
16th April: (committee meeting from 11 am – 1 pm, general meeting
from 2 – 5 pm). Venue: The Salvation Army Citadel, 71 Grosvenor
Road, Manchester M13
9UB. Contact: Delina Tafadzwa Mutyambizi 07775313637, Chamunorwa
Chihota 07799446404, Panyika Karimanzira 07551062161, Artwell Pfende
07886839353, Charles Nenguke 07925146757, P Mapfumo 07915926323/07932216070 or P
Chibanguza 07908406069. Future meeting: 14th May. Same times and
venue.
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace
page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
·
‘Through the
Darkness’, Judith Todd’s
acclaimed account of the rise of Mugabe. To receive a copy by post in the UK
please email confirmation of your order and postal address to
ngwenyasr@yahoo.co.uk and 0send a cheque for £10 payable to “Budiriro Trust” to
Emily Chadburn, 15 Burners Close, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 0QA. All
proceeds go to the Budiriro Trust which provides bursaries to needy A Level
students in Zimbabwe
·
Workshops aiming to
engage African men on HIV testing and other sexual health issues. Organised by the
Terrence Higgins Trust (www.tht.org.uk). Please contact the
co-ordinator Takudzwa Mukiwa (takudzwa.mukiwa@tht.org.uk) if you are
interested in taking part.
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside
the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00
to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The
Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:13
BY NQOBILE
BHEBHE AND NQOBANI NDLOVU
THE Movement for Democratic Change led by
Welshman Ncube says it will field
a candidate in the elections for a new
Speaker of Parliament and believes
both MDC-T and Zanu PF have no choice but
to vote with it.
This follows the dramatic ouster of the MDC-T
chairman Lovemore Moyo on
Wednesday and indications that a poll would have
to be conducted soon to
find a replacement.
The Supreme
Court ruled that Moyo’s election was unprocedural following a
legal
challenge by Zanu
PF MP Jonathan Moyo and two other MDC MPs.
In
2008, the MDC-T chairman beat MDC’s Paul Themba Nyathi to become the
first
Speaker who did not come in on a Zanu PF ticket since
independence.
He got support from three MDC MPs who went against the
party’s advice and
voted with MDC-T.
The MPs, Abednico Bhebhe (Nkayi
South), Njabuliso Mguni (Lupane East) and
Norman Mpofu (Bulilima)
subsequently lost their seats after they were
expelled from the
party.
Qhubani Moyo, the MDC organising secretary said the party
would soon meet to
choose a candidate for one of the top jobs in the unity
government.
“We are confident that we will win,” he said. “The other
two parties have no
choice but to support us.”
With just two MPs, the MDC
is the power broker in the hung parliament and
both Zanu PF and MDC-T have
admitted they cannot do without its support.
Zanu PF has indicated
that it would not field a candidate in the clearest
indication yet that it
would go with the original plan where it supported
Nyathi’s
candidature.
Ncube may not be in the mood to do Prime Morgan Morgan
Tsvangirai any
favours after the MDC-T leader refused to fight in his corner
in the battle
to remove Arthur Mutambara from the deputy prime minister’s
post.
Tsvangirai sided with President Robert Mugabe who refused to
swear Ncube in
as DPM after he ousted Mutambara as leader of the
MDC.
In November last year, Veritas, a parliamentary watchdog showed
that MDC-T
and Zanu PF’s voting strengths in the House of Assembly were
balanced at 96
members each.
But a number of MDC-T MPs may not be
able to vote because of a clampdown by
police.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:06
BY PATIENCE
NYANGOVE
CABINET ministers, MPs and Senators have given themselves a
hefty salary
increment of up to 200% while government has set a June
deadline to review
the remuneration of civil servants, investigations by The
Standard have
revealed.
Ministers started earning an average of US$2 300
in January before
deductions and take home about US$2 000.
For
the first two years of the unity government, ministers were paid an
average
of US$600.
The increase would come as a shock to the majority of the
poorly-paid civil
servants who are taking home less than US$200. Since last
year their calls
for a salary review have been rejected by the
government.
Civil servants are demanding a minimum salary of US$502
per month and had
expected this to show on their January 2011
payslips.
Efforts to establish whether President Robert Mugabe and
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai had also got an increment were
fruitless.
MPs who spoke on condition of anonymity said they were now
netting an
average of US$940 up from US$400.
Deputy Ministers saw
their salaries jumping to US$1 600 up from an average
of
US$400.
According to a payslip seen by The Standard, ministers and
their deputies
are given a US$264 allowance for their domestic
workers.
“It’s true we got an increase in January with an additional
allowance of
almost US$300 for our domestic workers coming last month,” a
deputy minister
who spoke on condition of anonymity said.
“MPs are now
getting around US$940 as of January this year.”
Efforts to get
comment from Finance minister, Tendai Biti were fruitless as
he was said to
be out of the country yesterday.
Public Service minister Eli-phas
Mukonoweshuro on Friday said he did not
deal with the issues of salaries of
ministers, soldiers and the police.
Public Service Commission
chairman Mariyawanda Nzuwa professed ignorance
when asked about the
increment.
Meanwhile, Cabinet on Tuesday agreed that civil servants
must get a salary
review and provide loans for them to buy houses and cars
by June.
According to a letter obtained by The Standard addressed to
Biti by
Mukonoweshuro dated March 7, Nzuwa had been instructed to “consult
treasury
as usual on technical details.”
Mukonoweshuro refused to
comment on the letter saying it was confidential
while Nzuwa said he had not
seen it although it was copied to him.
In January Mugabe precipitated
a political storm when he announced while in
Ethiopia that civil servants
would get a huge pay rise after Mines and
Mining Development minister Obert
Mpofu told him that a recent diamond
action had raked in US$250
million.
Biti said the money from the diamond auction had not reached
government
coffers and has since called for an audit into diamond sales amid
fierce
resistance from Zanu PF. Mugabe says civil servants are paid less
than his
farm workers who get US$300 a month.
Now the civil
servants are paid even less than ministers and deputy
ministers’ domestic
workers.
MDC-T blames the poor remuneration of civil servants on the
existence of
ghost workers who were put on government payroll by Zanu PF to
aid its
election campaign.
A payroll and skills audit carried out
by Ernst and Young (India) on behalf
of the Ministry of Public Service
showed that government has been splashing
money on 75 000 ghost workers
every month.
Government has 188 019 workers and critics say if the
ghost workers were
removed from the payroll, civil servants would be paid
decent salaries from
the current budget.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:17
BY OUR
STAFF
CRISIS in Zimbabwe Coalition Director McDonald Lewanika was
arrested
yesterday for an unknown reasons.
An alert from the civic
society revealed that he was detained at Makoni
Police Station in
Chitungwiza.
The charges levelled against him were still
unknown at the time of going to
the press.
However
Pedzisai Ruhanya, the Programmes Manager at the organisation said
Lewanika’s
arrest could be part of the crackdown on perceived opponents of
Zanu
PF.
“I understand he was arrested but we do not know why,” he
said.
“What we know is that police are on an onslaught against
democratic forces
in Zimbabwe.”
Police spokesperson Wayne
Bvudzijena was not available for comment.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:31
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
POLICE Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri is “following
the law too
strictly” by making decisions with far-reaching implications on
the shaky
unity government, Home Affairs co-minister Theresa Makone has
said.
Makone told The Standard a day after Energy and Power
Development minister
Elton Mangoma’s arrest on Thursday that although
ministers were not above
the law, the matter could have been handled
differently.
Mangoma, a close ally of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, has been charged
with criminal abuse of office after he
authorised a deal to buy fuel from a
little-known South African
company.
Legal experts and political analysts said it was curious
that Mangoma was
arrested without the knowledge of the ministers of Home
Affairs, who
administer the Police Act.
“There are several
instances when Chihuri acts unilaterally without
informing his
bosses.
“When the police banned MDC-T rallies or arrested Mangoma,
Makone and
co-Minister of Home Affairs Kembo Mohadi were never
advised.
“He is following the law too strictly,” Makone
said.
“Under normal circumstances he is supposed to brief us before
he goes to HE
(His Excellency) so that if the President (Robert Mugabe)
calls us we are in
the picture.”
Makone, who refused to discuss
her working relationship with Chihuri, a
known Zanu PF supporter, said it
was only courteous for the police chief to
brief the co-Ministers of Home
Affairs on important matters.
Prominent Harare lawyer Chris Mhike said in
terms of the law the police boss
must be working closely with the two
ministers.
“There would be an administrative short-circuit if the
head of an
administrative body, the ZRP reports directly to the president,
without
first accounting to the ministers responsible for that particular
organ,”
Mhike said.
“That short-circuit implies that Makone and
Mohadi are rendered redundant in
the context of law enforcement decisions
and procedures.”
But police spokesperson Senior Assistant
Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena
insisted Mangoma’s arrest was done
procedurally.
“Any police officer in any part of the country can
arrest anyone except a
sitting president,” said Bvudzijena.
Asked
if Chihuri has become a law unto himself since he reports directly to
Mugabe, Bvudzijena said his boss’ powers were enshrined in the
constitution.
What the constitution says
According to the
constitution, the Police Commissioner-General is appointed
by the President
and reports directly to him.
In Mangoma’s case, Makone said she
expected Chihuri to notify her and Mohadi
after which the unity government
principals would be engaged.
The police would then proceed by way of
summons if they strongly felt there
was a case to answer.
“These arrests
are designed to humiliate and send a signal to MDC ministers
that if you
think you are in control you are mistaken because you are not.
It’s Zanu PF
flexing its muscle,” Makone said.
“Mangoma’s case was discussed in
Cabinet two weeks ago and we all understood
his explanation. No one raised a
different view," she said.
Mohadi, Makone are powerless, just
figureheads
Several high-ranking MDC-T officials have been arrested and
charged with
various crimes over the past one month.
Apart from
Mangoma, Nyanga North MP Douglas Mwonzora and Mazowe Central MP
Shepherd
Mushonga who are currently out on bail were locked up by the
police.
Mhike said Mangoma’s arrest showed a lack of good faith
in the relationship
between the ministers and Chihuri.
“It would
seem there is bad blood between officials in the Ministry of Home
Affairs
with the civil servants working under them, in this case senior
police
officers,” Mhike said.
University of Zimbabwe political science
lecturer John Makumbe said Mangoma’s
arrest was evidence that the unity
government was not working.
He said in many countries, if a minister
is being arrested the President and
Prime Minister would be informed
first.
“What is unprocedural in this case is that the person who is
being arrested
is a minister, in many countries that would require that the
two (President
and Prime Minister) are informed of the pending
arrest.”
Makumbe said both Makone and Mohadi were just
figureheads.
“They are powerless. They don’t even control Chihuri or
the police,” said
Makumbe.
“They are really superfluous in the
sense that they are neither here nor
there. The police can work as if there
are no ministers.”
In March 2007, Tsvangirai was arrested and
severely beaten by police
following a prayer meeting in Harare’s Highfield
suburb.
The police appeared to have President Robert Mugabe’s
blessings.
Mugabe claimed that Tsvangirai deserved to be beaten up
because he had
provoked the police after he attended a banned meeting.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 14:17
BY PATIENCE
NYANGOVE
Many Harare women are turning to traditional medicine to
illegally terminate
unwanted pregnancies as fees charged by medical doctors
continue to soar.
Abortion is illegal in Zimbabwe and can only be
done in cases of incest,
rape or when the pregnancy has life-threatening
effects on the mother.
But over the years some medical
doctors have taken advantage of the many
women desperate to get rid of
unwanted pregnancies by charging between
US$100 and US$450 for a safe
abortion.
The exorbitant charges have forced many women including
high school and
college students who can’t afford such fees to seek
alternative ways to
abort the pregnancies.
A survey at Mbare’s
Mupedzanhamo informal market revealed that herbalists
charge as little as
US$25 for an abortion.
Anxious to unravel the thriving underground
industry, this reporter posed as
a married woman who wanted an abortion
after blaming an extramarital affair
for her pregnancy.
The
herbalist (name withheld) initially demanded US$65 for the concoction
whose
results “are instant.”
However, the herbalist had no problem reducing the fee
to as little as US$25
after a brief negotiation.
Quizzed on the
safety and effectiveness of his concoction, the trader
maintained that he
had a string of happy customers.
“Look at this book full of names of
people I have helped, some to abort
while others came for different
ailments,” he said.
“My herbs work and so many people from as young
as Form II students to
people like you come here for abortion.
“I
help them terminate the pregnancies.”
A woman who spoke on condition
of anonymity said she had used the
traditional herbs more than once and
found them to be safe.
“There is this old woman who charges US$30 to
terminate pregnancies in my
neighbourhood,” she said. “The medicine is a
concoction of different herbs
and is very bitter.
“Normally it
starts working an hour after one takes it and those who don’t
know that you
are pregnant would never suspect anything.
“I have done it twice and
my husband has never suspected it.”
Women must avoid unwanted
pregnancies, says Mombeshora
Douglas Mombeshora, the deputy Minister of
Health and Child Welfare said
government was aware that illegal abortions
were rife but accused medical
practitioners, traditional healers and elderly
women of abetting the illegal
practice.
“The problem with these
back- street abortions is that there are very
dangerous,” he
said.
“You will find that in some cases women aborting have their
uteruses
perforated in the process of trying to prick the
foetus.
Mombeshora said the only solution was for women to practice
safe sex and
avoid unwanted pregnancies. However, he noted that eradicating
the problem
among teenage girls was a big challenge since they did not have
easy access
to contraceptives.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:39
BY PATIENCE
NYANGOVE
ZIMPLATS says it is going ahead with its US$500 million
phase two expansion
drive despite threats by Zanu PF to take over the mine
under the government’s
black empowerment policy.
President Robert Mugabe
speaking during his 87th birthday celebrations last
month named Zimplats,
Nestle Zimbabwe and 400 British-owned companies for
take-over under Zanu
PF’s indigenisation policy.
But Chindove said the company would
go ahead with its expansion plans.
Under the phase two expansion
project, Zimplats expects to increase its
annual platinum output to 270 000
ounces from 180 000 ounces once it is
completed in 2013.
Chindove
said Zimplats had submitted its indigenisation proposals to
government and
hoped to reach an amicable agreement.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011
13:36
BY JENNIFER DUBE
NGEZI — President Robert Mugabe’s
threats to seize Zimplats have sent
shockwaves through Ngezi and Selous
communities who now fear a repeat of the
Shabanie Mine
disaster.
Mugabe has singled out the South African-owned platinum
mining company as
one of the companies to be targeted first in the Zanu PF
indigenisation
crusade that has sent jitters among
investors.
Shabanie and Mashaba mines, once counted among the
world’s top producers of
asbestos now lie in ruin after the government
grabbed them from Mutumwa
Mawere, a Zimbabwean business tycoon now based in
South Africa.
“We do not want to be thrown into poverty like they did
to Shabanie Mashaba
mine workers,” said a 26-year-old wife of a Zimplats
miner who wanted to
remain anonymous.
“We cannot trust people who
have failed in this business before.”
The woman said employees at the
mine were comfortable with their working
conditions and would not want it to
be spoilt by a poorly planned
indigenisation programme.
“My
husband has worked for other mines before but we never led a life near
to
the one we have now,” she said.
“We have a beautiful house and now
have a car bought with a loan from the
company.
“Without
ridiculing Shabanie Mashaba mine workers, we are aware that a lot
of them
cannot even afford a loaf of bread because of government’s
ill-advised
interventions.”
Some of the workers who spoke to The Standard said
although their working
conditions were not ideal, they were better paid than
colleagues from
neighbouring mines.
They also said they were
happy that while employees of other mines lived in
squalid conditions, their
company built houses for them.
The five-roomed Turf Village houses
built by the company for its employees
would leave some city-dwellers green
with envy.
The houses for low-grade employees have five rooms each,
including a
kitchen, dining room and three bedrooms.
They also
have a laundry room and a cottage with a kitchen, bedroom,
bathroom and
toilet.
The conditions get better as the grades go up. All the houses have
fitted
cupboards and a four-plate stove bought by the
company.
“We are not against indigenisation but we are worried that
if government
comes in as a partner, the current owners may leave, paving
way for the
collapse of the mine,” an employee who wanted to remain
anonymous said.
“Zimplats has done a lot for this community
especially by refurbishing
schools and building some classroom
blocks.
“It also electrified some schools and is supplying others
with stationery.”
Some commended Zimplats for building a trauma
centre for treatment of light
illnesses for both employees and the community
and for also donating an
ambulance to a local hospital.
Mugabe
said Zimplats was externalising its profits and had done little in
uplifting
the local community.
His sentiments were shared by Nixon Mangowe, a
former Zimplats employee who
felt the company has not done enough to help
the community.
But despite this, Mangowe remains sceptical about a
government take-over. “I
am not confident the government will do any
better,” he said.
Zimplats shares listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange began tumbling last
week, in what analy-
sts believe is a
reaction to Mu-gabe’s well publicised threats.
Local leaders
consulted over recruitment
Some of the Zimplats workers said though they were
better renumerated than
other employees from nearby mines, they had been
negotiating for an
increment since January. Others wanted more locals to be
employed.
In response, Busi Chindove, Zimplats’ head of corporate
affairs said
employees’ remuneration concerns were looked at through
internal channels
and the National Employment Council.
“The
current system of local recruitment involves local community leaders
including chiefs and councillors and through these community leaders young
people from the local community are recruited regularly and in significant
numbers,” she said.
“With the current rate of unemployment it is
obviously understandable that
there will be anxiety over
employment.”
Chindove said it was not possible that Zimplats would
absorb all unemployed
people from the local community.
“While
Zimplats is making an effort to create employment it is worth noting
that
there are other mining companies within the vicinity mainly engaged in
chrome mining and hopefully with time as the various mining operations in
the district grow, this will ease the unemployment burden,” she
added.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011
13:22
BY JENNIFER DUBE
THEY live in elite suburbs, drive posh
cars, dress like music stars and are
very eloquent.
But despite
all the glitz, executive members of the shadowy pressure group
Upfumi
Kuvadiki are camera shy. They are comfortable with their names going
to
print but not with their pictures.
Operating from a house in
plush Mt Pleasant in Harare, the group recently
came to the limelight when
its members sealed off Harare parking company
Easipark’s premises, claiming
to be the new owners.
This came shortly after they went on the
rampage and looted shops at the
Gulf Complex under the pretext of
demonstrating against foreigners owning
retail shops in the
country.
Their office is currently half-empty, with only two desks,
two computers and
a couch among few other notables.
The group’s
deputy finance secretary, Wesley Bvekerwa says they are facing
funding
problems because they only started formal operations
mid-January.
Some members cannot afford the once-off US$1
subscription fee hence the
organisation’s lean purse, he
says.
But who exactly are these militants?
Who exactly are
they?
Blessing Layi, the Information and Publicity secretary, said since
registration with the Zimbabwe Youth Council (ZYC) on January 12, the group
now has 20 000 members, most of them from high- density suburbs of Mbare,
Highfield and Mabvuku among others.
“Our members are aged between
15 and 35 years and the 12 executive members
are aged between 24 and 31
years,” Bvekerwa said. “Most of us are business
people operating in various
sectors of the economy.
“I own a financial services consultancy
company while some of my colleagues
are small-scale miners, small-scale
farmers and others buy and sell gold and
petrol among other
things.
When the group got away with its riotous activities which
would generally be
regarded as criminal, questions were raised on who was
behind them.
The popular belief is that it was a Zanu PF creation to
represent interests
of politicians seeking to take advantage of the
confusion in government’s
indigenisation programme.
Harare Mayor
Muchadeyi Masunda is among those who believe the group is well
connected.
“On the day that these guys invaded Easipark, I got a
call from (Youth
Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister)
Saviour Kasukuwere
telling me that I should engage them as they were hungry
and angry
Zimbabweans,” Masunda said. “He must have something to do with
them.
“I do not think it is by mere coincidence that he called me
about them at a
time when they were doing what they were
doing.”
Efforts to get a comment from Kasukuwere were fruitless but a
search on
social networks such as Facebook revealed that the youths do not
hide their
Zanu PF links.
They have posted several messages
extolling both President Robert Mugabe and
Zanu PF’s policies.
On
Thursday, the ZYC, which is the umbrella body for all youth organisations
in
the country, distanced itself from Upfumi Kuvadiki’s violent conduct.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:21
Prominent
historian Phathisa Nyathi said MLF was still unknown in the region
and their
approach was bound to arouse suspicion.
MDC-T has said it believes
the group is a Zanu PF creation to divert people’s
attention from the
party’s misdeeds.
In the past few years, Matabeleland has
emerged as the battleground for the
country’s main politicians as the voters
in the region have tended to vote
as a block.
“For now, it’s a
bit tricky. Firstly for me, I doubt the authenticity of
this
thing.
“To me, it’s very suspect. Who is championing
it?
“If people have got the energy they have to campaign for their
empowerment,”
Nyathi said.
“They have to exhaust all efforts,
alternatives and routes of getting their
grievances addressed. The
authorities are known and they should be
approached.
“For me now,
it (secession) is not even an option. That is why all this is
suspect to
me.”
The secessionists have been active on cyberspace for some time
and their
objective is to create what they call a “Mthwakazi
Republic”.
Before the arrest of their leaders in Zimbabwe they had
written to Mugabe
and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai demanding a
referendum on the separate
state.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:18
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
A local businessman and former journalist, Edwin Masimba
Moyo, is demanding
US$1 million from H-Metro after the tabloid published a
story claiming that
he had sneaked into the country wearing a wig and
dressed like a woman for a
private wedding.
In papers lodged at
the High Court, Moyo’s lawyer Joshua Shekede of
Wintertons Legal
Practitioners said the article was defamatory because it
stated that the
businessman, who was allegedly being sought by the police
over a fraud case,
sneaked into the country for the private wedding at a
local
hotel.
The editor of H-Metro Lawrence Moyo is cited as the
first defendant while
Zimpapers, the publishers of the newspaper, are the
second defendants.
The story was published on December 6 2010
following Moyo’s wedding to one
Maria Rosa Nyambuya who lives in the
UK.
Shekede said in the article Moyo was portrayed as a person who
was entering
into a marriage of convenience by marrying a British citizen in
order to
secure residency or citizenship in the UK.
The article,
said Shekede, also stated that Moyo failed to inform Father
Mukamba, who
presided over the wedding, in time that his role was only to
bless the
marriage, which had already been solemnised by a
magistrate.
According to court documents, the article also stated
that at one time Moyo
borrowed some cattle from a relative, which he was now
failing to return
thereby causing “numerous miscarriages for the relative”
but could afford
hosting an expensive wedding at a hotel.
“The
said words, in the context article, are wrongful and defamatory of the
Plaintiff in that they were intended and were understood by readers of the
newspaper to mean that the Plaintiff (Moyo) is dishonest, without moral
fibre and is not a law-abiding citizen,” reads part of the
application.
Apart from the US$1 million, Moyo, a renowned farmer, is
also claiming
interest at the prescribed rate from the date of publication
to full and
final payment as well as costs of the suit.
In
opposing papers, the defendants denied that words used were defamatory or
understood as alleged.
They also deny that Moyo suffered damages in the
amount claimed or at all.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:27
BY
KHOLWANI NYATHI
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai had a nightmarish
59th birthday on Thursday
and his reaction to the multi-pronged setbacks
could have left millions of
troubled Zimbabweans, pinning their hopes on his
leadership, frustrated.
The biggest shock was the arrest of one of MDC-T’s
negotiators in the
topsy-turvy unity government, Elton Mangoma on corruption
charges about
which the country’s supposed co-holder of executive power only
learned
through a cellphone text message.
Mangoma, one of the
coalition government’s most important ministers is
accused of corruptly
authorising a fuel deal involving a South African
company and was remanded
in custody until March 28.
As if that was not enough, news began
filtering that MDC-T chairman Lovemore
Moyo had lost his post as Speaker of
the House of Assembly. Barely a day
after the Supreme Court nullified his
election as Speaker, Moyo was ordered
to vacate his government house and
surrender parliament’s property.
The Supreme Court had upheld an
appeal by Zanu PF Tsholotsho North MP
Jonathan Moyo who challenged the
former Matobo MP’s election to the hot
seat.
Tsvangirai addressed
a hastily- arranged press conference where he rehashed
MDC-T’s now familiar
rhetoric about a “divorce” from President Robert Mugabe
and his Zanu
PF.
In October 2009, MDC-T temporarily pulled out of the coalition
government
accusing Mugabe of being “dishonest and
unreliable”.
The pullout followed the indictment of the party’s
treasurer general Roy
Bennett on terrorism charges.
MDC-T also cited a
catalogue of complaints against Mugabe who had started
showing reluctance in
fulfilling commitments he made in the Global Political
Agreement
(GPA).
Bennett has since been acquitted by the courts but MDC-T’s
grievances have
continued to grow with each day as an increasingly confident
Mugabe believes
he can bury his opponents if an election is held
soon.
An unprecedented police clampdown has netted a number of MDC-T
MPs and
Mangoma became the biggest catch in what many believe is a
trumped-up case.
The developments had led many into believing that
Tsvangirai had been pushed
against the wall and may have wanted to prove to
his doubters that he still
had the muscle.
But even his threat to
pull out sounded half-hearted as he was quick to
point out that a fresh
election was the only way out of the quagmire.
Observers believe
Tsvangirai will stay in the inclusive government despite
Mugabe’s
intransigence because he believes that there is no guarantee that
future
elections would be free and fair.
South African President Jacob Zuma
is currently working with the three
parties in the unity government to
produce a roadmap for the polls that
Mugabe wants this year.
A
referendum on the new constitution, which is also likely to go a long way
in
levelling the electoral playing field, is due later this year.
Zanu
PF lost control of parliament for the first time since independence in
2008
following a dismal performance against the two MDC
formations.
Tsvangirai also beat Mugabe in the first round of the
presidential elections
but failed to stand in the run-off after massive
political violence,
allegedly engineered by state agents.
Besides
the setting up of the independent Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the
environment still hasn’t changed much.
“Zanu PF cadres and
securocrats who murdered people in the run-up to the
June 27 election are
roaming free and no criminal charges have been pressed
against the murderers
of Tichaona Chiminya, Talent Mabika and the other 200
victims of the 2008
violence,” Tsvangirai admitted on Thursday.
Zanu PF, MDC-T
marriage broken irretrievably
Bekithemba Mpofu, a founding youth
secretary general of the united MDC said
it was now common cause that the
relationship between Zanu PF and MDC-T had
irretrievably broken
down.
“When the coalition was formed Zanu PF was on its knees but
now, having
benefitted from the coalition, have since been able to crawl,
walk and will
be running soon,” Mpofu said.
“Evidently, they are
now jogging, that’s why they have the luxury to start
arresting opponents at
will, threaten foreign companies and restart their
violent
campaigns.
“The MDC can continue to provide them with the
life-support units that have
since brought them back to life or can stop the
supply before Zanu PF gets
back its full confidence.”
Mpofu said
Zanu PF knew that chances of MDC-T pulling out of the unity
government were
slim and would therefore continue to push boundaries in its
quest to test
Tsvangirai’s determination to stand resolute.
“It is foolhardy for
anyone to ever think Zanu PF is in it to help the
people as their main
concern is and has always been about selfishly staying
in power by any
means,” he said.
“So if you are dealing with such a partner in a
coalition using kid gloves,
it can be counter-productive.
“I think
Tsvangirai has patiently extended a hand of peace and unfortunately
this has
been mistaken for being weak. A more radical approach is
required.”
He said if MDC-T pulled out Mugabe could continue as if
nothing happened as
was the case in 2009 and would then call for an early
election with the
conditions that are currently prevailing.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:20
BY KHANYILE
MLOTSHWA
BULAWAYO — A regional magistrate on Friday ruled that three
leaders of a
group campaigning for a separate Matabeleland state must be
tried for
treason opening the way for debate on what might be one of the
toughest
questions facing independent Zimbabwe today.
Paul
Siwela, a losing 2002 presidential candidate, John Gazi, a prominent
Bulawayo war veteran and Charles Thomas were arrested a fortnight ago for
allegedly distributing Matabeleland Liberation Front (MLF) flyers advocating
for President Robert Mugabe’s ouster.
MLF was officially
launched in December in Bulawayo by South African-based
Zimbabwean exiles
who want the secession of Matabeleland citing continued
marginalisation of
the region.
Four more activists were arrested soon after regional
magistrate John
Masimba’s ruling and they are also likely to be charged with
treason.
The case, although given scant coverage by both local and
foreign media, has
touched a raw nerve in Matabeleland where people were
unanimous in calling
for devolution of power in the new
constitution.
But analysts were divided on whether MLF’s radical
approach would bring the
results.
Some felt that the radicalism
was a sign that the people of Matabeleland,
who also bore the brunt of the
Gukurahundi atrocities in the 1980s when more
than 20 000 people were
butchered for supporting PF Zapu, had been pushed
against the
wall.
Methuseli Moyo, the Zapu spokesman said MLF’s radicalism could
be linked to
frustrations over the way the region has been overlooked in
national
development programmes over the years.
“I think it’s a
manifestation of frustration from the people of Matabeleland
who have been
getting a raw deal from the time they were colonised in the
1890s up until
today,” Moyo said.
“If you speak to the people of Matabeleland, they
will tell you that they
will only be free when Matabeleland gets
independence.
“But my advice is that people should just be patient
and wait for Mugabe to
go, to get out of power or to go to
heaven.
“At that moment even systems of governance may change such
that there may be
no need to breakaway.”
His sentiments were
echoed by National Healing co-minister Moses Mzila
Ndlovu who said MLF could
have taken a suicidal route by trying to take
Mugabe head on.
“My
honest opinion is that the historical background to the whole issue
lends
itself to these sentiments.
“It’s the way the people of Matabeleland have
been treated,” he said.
“However, it’s a very deadly position that
MLF have taken.
“Deadly in the sense that you almost know how Zanu PF
will react.
“I am talking from a security point of
view.
“Zanu PF is looking for an excuse to clamp down on Matabeleland
and if we do
this we are going to give them an excuse.”
Ndlovu
who is also MDC’s deputy secretary general said MLF leaders should
have
first sought to build consensus in the region before taking decisive
action.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 14:05
BY INDIANA
CHIRARA
THE Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) has given
another Chinese
company a licence to mine diamonds in the controversial
Chiadzwa area, a
senior ZMDC official has said.
Godwills
Masimirembwa, the ZMDC chairman told Standardbusiness in an
interview last
week that Sino-Zimbabwe had joined Anjin, another Chinese
company already in
Chiadzwa prospecting for diamonds.
A third company, Pure
Dian from the United Arab Emirates, was also granted a
license to join Mbada
and Marange Resources, which already run mines in the
area in partnership
with the ZMDC.
“Currently there are only two companies which are
mining, that is Mbada and
Marange,” he said.
“The other three,
which are Sino-Zimbabwe, Anjin and Pure Dian, are carrying
out exploration
though they have the licenses.”
Masimirembwa said the ZMDC continued
to receive a flurry of applications
from both local and foreign investors
who wanted licences to start mining
operations in Chiadzwa.
“We
have more than 150 applications for mining licences from potential
investors
and this shows that as Zimbabwe, we have the resources and we have
the
capability of growing economically,” he said.
“Financial and
technical capacity are some of the conditions that determine
the approval of
a mining licence but it’s not an easy road.”
Masimirembwa said under
normal circumstances, the sale of diamonds from
Chiadzwa could rake in US$85
million a month but only US$20 million was
being realised because of
sanctions.
“The production of diamonds is under very difficult
circumstances and the
sale of the mineral is at a very slow pace, which is
not good for the
economy,” he said.
ZMDC is currently under
pressure to account for proceeds from diamond sales
after Finance minister
Tendai Biti indicated that most of the money was not
reaching government
coffers.
Masimirembwa and Zanu PF symphathisers have in turn accused
Biti of trying
to expose how Zimbabwe evades Western sanctions.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 14:06
BY KUDZAI
CHIMHANGWA
THE Zimbabwe Statistical Agency (Zimstat) on Friday
launched the national
strategy for the development of statistics (NSDS),
which seeks to restore
the timely generation of credible economic data among
other things.
Zimstat, formely the Central Statistical Office (CSO)
has over the years
come under attack for producing unreliable inflation
data.
Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe said government
had already committed
US$13 million to strengthen statistical programmes
this financial year.
The NSDS, which will run between 2011 and 2015,
seeks to meet the need of
statistics in the design and implementation of
national and economic
programmes.
“This will lead to the
production of non-conflicting, reliable, sound,
sector-linked, relevant,
timely and development-focused official
statistics,” Finance minister
Tendai Biti said in a foreword to the
document officially launched by
Khupe.
Ministry of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion
permanent secretary
Desire Sibanda said the strategy would help in the
engendering of evidence
based policy formulation.
The African
Development Bank (AfDB), World Bank and the African Capacity
Building
Foundation funded the design and development of the
strategy.
Mahamudu Bawumia, the AfDB resident representative pledged
that the regional
institution would continue to help Zimbabwe strengthen its
capacity to
generate credible statistics.
“Under the bank’s
statistical capacity building programme, it has supported
a number of
statistical activities in Zimbabwe, including the design of the
NSDS,”
Bawumia said.
“Overall the bank’s statistical support to Zimbabwe
covers a wide range of
activities including the updating of its national
accounts, improvement of
its price statistics systems, supporting
participation in the International
Comparisons Program (ICP-Africa) just to
name a few.”
He said the NSDS provides a sound basis for the design,
management,
monitoring and evaluation of government policies.
The
AfDB this year intends to expand its activities in Zimbabwe to include
assistance for improving infrastructure, labour and gender statistics.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011
14:08
BY PATIENCE NYANGOVE
ZANU PF has been at the forefront
of blocking locals from gaining control of
the economy and its current
indigenisation crusade is desperate
electioneering, Finance minister Tendai
Biti has said.
Biti’s comments, made at a Southern African Political
Economy Series (Sapes)
policy dialogue forum on Thursday, came as Zanu PF
stepped up its threats to
seize foreign-owned
companies.
About 400 British-owned companies and South
African-owned Zimplats and
Nestle Zimbabwe have
already been singled out
as the first targets of the exercise that has split
the unity
government.
Biti said the previous Zanu PF government had killed
indigenous enterprises
by chasing away resourceful businesspeople such as
Nicholas Vingirai,
Mutumwa Mawere, Strive Masiyiwa and James
Makamba.
Most of the businesspeople skipped the country after moves
were made to
arrest them for allegedly externalising foreign
currency.
“This government is the biggest threat to the black
bourgeoisie,” Biti said.
“How do you stand up and talk of
indigenisation when the likes of Vingirai,
Mutumwa Mawere, and James Makamba
can’t even live here?
“For 30 years this government was afraid of the
black bourgeoisie and was
happy with those businessmen that are found at
growth points owning bottle
stores.
“Strive Masiyiwa, the richest
black Zimbabwean, is not staying here.
“My good friend Trevor Ncube
(owner of Alpha Media Holdings) can’t stay
here. These guys (Zanu PF) are so
anti-black capital. This indigenisation
they are talking of now is
rubbish.”
Biti, who is also the secretary general of the MDC-T, said
there was a
clique in Zanu PF that was working hard to break the unity
government
through advocating for irrational policies.
“There is
a small sect in Zanu PF that can’t wait to get power,” he said.
“If
you are number two or three in line you know your time is coming but if
you
are number 76 you have to create a situation of total chaos and it’s
that
small sect that has engineered the violence that rocked the country and
wants the Global Political Agreement to collapse.”
Analysts fear
that the same Zanu PF officials who have run down productive
commercial
farms they seized in 2000 would be at the forefront of the
company
seizures.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been on a revival path since the
formation of the
unity government in 2009 but there are mounting fears
President Robert
Mugabe’s increasingly belligerent political rhetoric would
wipe out all the
gains.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:45
The trouble with Zimbabwe
now is that of lack of leadership. There are too
many “unprofessional
fingers” in the running of the country.
In its hour of greatest need the
country yearns for “a real mensch” to guide
it to the proverbial Promised
Land.
Last week I coined the phrase “a return to democracy”
which I said was
slightly different from “democratic change”. The latter is
now a pejorative
for “regime change”. The former may necessitate a “regime
change” but is not
entirely dependent on it. This is not as complicated as
it may sound.
I referred to the uprisings taking place in North
Africa and averred that
they could be averted in Zimbabwe if an effort is
made for “a return to
democracy”.
Interestingly my point was
buttressed by a very unlikely development —
Morocco’s King Mohammed VI
announced last week that a “comprehensive
constitutional reform” aimed at
improving democracy and the rule of law
would soon be implemented in his
country.
He said in a televised address to the nation: “We have
decided to undertake
a comprehensive constitutional reform.” He said a
committee had already been
set up to work on constitutional revisions.
He
said the reform programme includes plans to expand “individual and
collective” liberties, establish an independent judiciary, giving a stronger
role to political parties and providing more powers to local
officials.
Morocco is a constitutional monarchy with an elected parliament.
The king
holds vast executive powers, including dissolving parliament at
will.
Executive power is exercised by the government but more
importantly by the
king himself. Legislative power is vested in both the
government and the two
chambers of parliament, the Assembly of
Representatives and Assembly of
Councillors. The king can also issue decrees
called dahirs which have the
force of law. Parliamentary elections were held
in Morocco on September 7
2007, and were considered by some neutral
observers to be mostly free and
fair, although voter turnout was estimated
to be 37%, the lowest in decades.
(Wikipedia)
Zimbabwe is a
pseudo-monarchy; the president wields the same imperial powers
that the
Moroccan king holds. He can dissolve parliament and exercise
executive
powers even in the so-called government of national unity in which
these
powers should be shared with the Prime Minister. He also issues
decrees
through the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measure) Act similar to
the
Moroccan king’s dahirs. Like Morocco, Zimbabwe also has a bicameral
parliamertary system but unlike in Morocco, elections are never “generally
considered free and fair”. In the past decade Zimbabwe has gone through a
number of elections, all of which have been characterised by political
violence and electoral fraud.
The point is the king of Morocco
has made a rapprochement towards his people
in anticipation of the popular
uprising sweeping across the Islamic Maghreb.
Whether it will work or not is
an entirely different subject. In Zimbabwe
the approach has been different.
To preempt possible uprisings the
government has used a show of force
instead of attempting to remove the
obstacles that litter the road to
democracy. Morocco has chosen “a return to
democracy” rather than an
entrenchment of the status quo. It takes “a real
mensch” to be able to do
so.
But what is “a real mensch”? By definition, “the key to being ‘a
real mensch’
is nothing less than character, rectitude, dignity, a sense of
what is
right, responsible, decorous” — precisely what the Zimbabwean
leadership
lacks!
In the place of good leadership Zimbabwe is run by a
coterie of
Machiavellian mobsters with vested interests in the chaos the
country finds
itself in. Without the prevailing chaos they cannot thrive;
this Paradise
Lost is the theatre of their dreams hence their unprofessional
fingers are
continually pulling at the tapestry that constitutes our
nation.
The rule of law is anathema to them; the police force now
forms the backbone
of the Zanu PF militia selectively applying the law
against perceived
opponents. Instead of being apolitical, the force has been
molded into an
unashamedly partisan outfit. This has not only turned the
concept of the
rule of law topsy-turvy but has bred the most pernicious
corruption in the
force.
According to a Mass Public Opinion
Institute our police force is viewed by
the general public as the most
corrupt government institution.
The arrest last week of the Minister
of Energy and Power Development Elton
Mangoma is a case in point. Without
attempting in any way to preempt the
legal process, how many other ministers
have been fingered in allegations of
abuse of office?
How
many have had their cases reported to the police but the police have not
raised as much as a finger to apprehend them? No names need be mentioned
because it is all a matter of public record that they have not been
investigated simply because they belong to a certain political
party.
The Attorney General’s Office has sought to prosecute a myriad
of cases
which the courts have proven to be nothing but politically
motivated monkey
tricks by an arm of government that must serve the general
interest instead
of the parochial interests of a particular grouping. The
professionalism of
the AG’s Office has poignantly been brought into question
by all these
cases. The Roy Bennett case, which no less a person than the AG
himself
sought to prosecute, has revealed the depth to which this esteemed
office
has sunk in order to intimidate variant opinion.
A return
to democracy will begin — as in Morocco — with a leadership that
recognises
the vainglory of its ways. It’s too early in the day to evaluate
the depth
the Moroccan king’s attempts at of reform; it might as well just
be a
gesture to postpone an uprising. We have seen this gesture happen in
other
countries to the north of us such as Yemen, Bahrain and even Libya
where the
embattled Muammar Gaddafi offered handsome payouts to his
rebellious people
but it all came to nought.
Zimbabwe is in the middle of coming up
with a new constitution. The process
has been riddled with problems, so much
so the document that may emerge may
not be an expression of the people’s
wish. The referendum that must follow
the process should not endorse a
flawed process because the new constitution
must be the bedrock of our
return to democracy. Everything else, like regime
change, would become a
natural and welcome tenet in our country’s
statecraft.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:42
By Luxon
Zembe
Should citizens be so scared of their own national
elections like what l see
and hear? Should we be told by other nations when
and when not to hold our
elections?
Should we be held to ransom by
some greedy and self-preserving individuals
who deliberately create chaos
for their own selfish motives? Should we be so
afraid of national elections
to the extent of having paranoia and paralysis?
It pains my
heart when I see citizens stripped of their rights and power,
beaten to
submit to unconstitutional manoeuvres or plots, and made to feel
hopeless
and helpless by some political malcontents.
There are no hopeless
situ-ations but only hopeless people who surrender
their citizenship and
con-stitutional rights to forces of evil.
Any system, people or
individual who deprives bona fide citizens of their
God-given rights and
freedoms is a force of evil irrespective of their
nature, ap-pearance or
origin.
The most resilient, brave and fearless freedom fighters were
the mothers,
fathers, boys and girls who fought and supported the armed
struggle for
freedom without guns or grenades in their hands. We should
never demean
their role.
We can’t be seen to be taking them back
to evils of war. For our old folk in
their twilight years, this is the
golden time for them to enjoy the fruits
of their struggle and the blessings
of freedom and independence before they
pass on.
Denying them
this right and privilege is denying them true independence and
freedom.
Coming back to the pending elections; there are two main
likely scenarios;
one driven by evil forces of violence, hatred,
selfishness, one partyism,
and the zero-sum game (shaisano).
The
other scenario is that of a mature political and national democracy
cha-racterised by inclusivity, creation of democratic space for all bona
fide citizens to exercise their rights and freedoms without fear or
capitulation. It tolerates diversity, peace and unity of
purpose.
Political ideologies are mere policy instruments to achieve
a national
shared vision or future. However, their effectiveness and
efficiency differ
according to the given situation.
Hence the
need for the people to exercise their democratic right of choosing
the
ideological framework that they freely perceive as the best for them and
our
national agenda without fear, force or duress.
We have all had live
experiences of violence over the last two national
elections.
We have gone through the hor-rendous consequences
or outcomes of such a
scenario over the last eight years.
No one
needs to educate or remind Zimbabweans’ about it. It is evil and
satanic. It
devours and maims innocent lives. It destroys our economy. It
destroys and
consumes our hard-won wealth.
It brings curses, suffering and poverty
upon all of us except the few
perpetrators of the violence and their
masters. In fact, its effects are
worse than those of the Rhodesian
regime.
Independence does not mean poverty to the majority and riches
to a few
chosen ones. It does not mean unemployment, deindustrialisation and
loss of
own sovereign currency. It does not mean loss of our national pride
and
human dignity whereby the best educated African brand becomes hewers of
wood, gabbage collectors and old age minders for the very same people who
used to oppress and deprive them of their rights and freedoms.
If
this does not bring sleepless nights and deeply troubled free-dom
conscience
on our leaders, then shame on them. If this does not awaken us
all to the
evils of violent and intolerant behaviour, then shame on us all
Zimbabweans.
In business they say insanity is continuing to do the same
thing or thinking
the same way over and over again and expecting a different
result.
We had a taste of the fruits of inclu-sivity during the
subsistence of the
GNU and GPA.
Within a month of it, the worst
hyper-inflation in the history of this world
was collapsed to below zero!
Commerce and industry came back to life. Jobs
were preserved. Food was back
on our tables.
If the taste of such sweet outcomes of national unity
of purpose and action
and some democratic market policies cannot inspire
hope and action in the
right direction for us Zimbabweans, then shame on
us.
We must reject leaders who promote violence, hatred and
intolerance. We must
categorically and fearlessly reject leaders who have no
respect for human
rights, citizens’ freedoms and the sanctity of human
life.
About the Author
Luxon Zembe is former chairman of
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 13 March 2011 13:41
The
past few days have been quite dramatic for Zimbabwean
politicians.
Energy and Power Development Minister Elton
Mangoma became the first
minister in Zimbabwe to be charged with criminal
abuse of office.
The Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo was
dethroned after the Supreme
Court upheld an application by Tsholotsho North
MP and Zanu PF politburo
member Jonathan Moyo to set aside his
election.
These events have plunged the unity government into a fresh
crisis.
An emotional Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Thursday
rightly complained
that members of his party were being targeted by the
police, yet nothing was
done to Zanu PF officials also accused of corruption
and other offences.
Tsvangirai wondered why the police had not taken
action against Local
Government minister Ignatius Chombo, accused of
improperly acquiring a vast
business empire. He also talked about other
officials implicated in the
looting of state funds and
diamonds.
As usual, Tsvangirai threatened to boycott the inclusive
government. But
judging from experience, these threats have done little to
curtail Zanu PF’s
misbehaviour, nor are they likely to stop the police from
selectively
applying the law.
Police Commissioner-General
Augusti-ne Chihuri, whose distaste for the MDC-T
is well known, is unlikely
to relent in his mission to hobble the MDC-T
through arrests of its members
on charges that often fall away under
judicial scrutiny.
A few
weeks ago Chihuri’s officers arrested MDC MP Douglas Mwonzora and only
last
week they picked up Mangoma. Who’s next? Nobody’s safe, it seems, not
even
Tsvangirai himself.
What is needed is for the MDC-T to come up with a
clear strategy on how they
can respond to the threat posed by these
politically-motivated arrests.
He should, as a matter of urgency,
robustly engage Sadc and call on the AU
to intervene instead of lamely
threatening “divorce” every time Zanu PF
violates the accord.