High Court Judge Justice Samuel Kudya has
dismissed the state case against ZimRights director Okay Machisa when he
ruled that his placement on remand in January by a Harare magistrate is
invalid.
The judge ordered that Machisa, who was facing charges for
allegedly conducting illegal voter registration, be immediately removed from
remand. Human rights lawyer Dewa Mavhinga explained that the judge’s ruling
meant Machisa is a free man and has no case to answer.
‘The case
against him is dismissed,’ he said, amid urgent appeals from the Heads of
Civil Society Coalitions to allow Machisa and ZimRights to observe the
referendum on Saturday.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had on
Wednesday said it will not back down on its ban preventing ZimRights from
monitoring Saturday’s vote on a new constitution.
ZEC acting chair
Joyce Kazembe said Machisa and ZimRights will not be cleared to observe the
referendum, as they were facing charges related to alleged electoral
offenses. This ban led to NGO’s accredited to observe the referendum
threatening to boycott the vote, urging ZEC to reverse its
decision.
Machisa said their lawyers will be approaching ZEC with the
latest High court ruling, which he said would compel the electoral body to
allow him to be accredited. The NGO’s will meet on Friday to decide on the
course of action to take should ZEC refuse to accredit Machisa and other
Zimrights officials.
Meanwhile the International Socialist
Organization (ISO) has filed an urgent application with the Supreme Court to
stop Saturday’s referendum from going ahead.
The case has been set
for Friday afternoon at the Supreme Court. Harare lawyer Jeremiah Bhamu told
SW Radio Africa that the ISO lodged their application on Wednesday. They
have been campaigning for a No vote.
The group is led by University of
Zimbabwe law lecturer Munyaradzi Gwisai. Bhamu said the ISO are arguing that
they’ve not been afforded reasonable time to propagate their views to
campaign for a No vote. The ISO last week released a statement containing 15
reasons why Zimbabweans should vote No.
Some of the reasons are that the
draft was not written by the people but by the four leaders of the political
parties in the unity government.
‘It’s not democratic! It retains the
imperial executive president. The President appoints all cabinet ministers
and most senior state, military and judicial officials, can unilaterally
change laws, dissolve parliament or declare war,’ the statement said.
The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) has filed yet another
legal challenge as part of their efforts to have this weekend’s referendum
postponed, arguing in fresh papers that the acting chair of the Electoral
Commission (ZEC) is ‘unqualified’.
Joyce Kazembe is set to remain as
the acting ZEC chair for the referendum that, barring any last minute court
decisions, will go ahead on Saturday. After that, Supreme Court Judge Rita
Makarau is set to be sworn in as the head of the electoral body before a
general election. This was announced by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on
Tuesday.
But the NCA, whose previous attempts to have the referendum
postponed have been in vain, are now arguing that Kazembe is not qualified
for the role as acting ZEC chair. The group filed an urgent application at
the Supreme Court challenging Kazembe’s appointment, stating this is another
reason why Saturday’s poll should be put on hold.
NCA spokesperson
Blessing Vava told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that Kazembe’s appointment
was in breach of the current constitution, which stipulates that the
chairperson of ZEC must be a Judge or a former Judge of the Supreme Court or
the High Court or a person qualified for appointment as such as a
Judge.
“Kazembe is not a judge or a lawyer. As the NCA we feel that
the credibility of the referendum process will be highly questionable if it
is held under the management of an unqualified ZEC chair,” Vava
said.
He explained that this should be reason enough for Saturday’s vote
to be postponed, saying there needs to be the appointment of a substantive
chairperson or a suitably qualified acting chairperson before the referendum
is held. But he added they are not hopeful that this will be the case,
stating: “The government seems determined to go ahead with this referendum
despite the legitimate concerns being raised.”
He meanwhile
criticised Prime Minister Tsvangirai for recently moving to exonerate ZEC
for the role it played in the 2008 election. Tsvangirai on Tuesday defended
the electoral body, blaming what he called an “underhand” force for the
“shenanigans” that led to the disputed election situation almost five years
ago.
Vava said this was a complete u-turn for the MDC-T leader, who has
previously called for the body to be completely reconstituted on the grounds
that its members were ZANU PF aligned. Vava said that “the Prime Minister is
now too comfortable in office,” leading to this u-turn.
Nhlanhla
Dube, the spokesperson for the Welshman Ncube MDC, also had strong words for
Tsvangirai in the wake of his statement on Tuesday. Dube was quoted by the
NewsDay newspaper as saying that Tsvangirai’s “closeness” to Robert Mugabe
had compromised him.
“All we want to say is that his (Tsvangirai’s)
closeness to Mugabe has become a problem. That remains a question to us
which can only be answered by him,” Dube said.
Zimbabwe may be heading for a second government of national unity,
Minister of Constitutional Affairs Eric Matinenga revealed
Thursday.
He was speaking during a wide ranging panel discussion on the
constitutional referendum on the Hot Seat programme with National
Constitution Assembly chairman Dr. Lovemore Madhuku and Ozias Tungawara,
Director of the Africa Governance Monitoring and Advocacy
Project.
Matinenga said the current Lancaster constitution, with
amendment no. 19 that created the inclusive government, will continue in the
event the new charter is rejected.
“From my assessment we may be
heading for another GNU… If one has to look at our particular environment
and what we can and cannot do then that has to be looked to in a serious
manner,” Matinenga said.
He said he is confident that the majority of
people will vote yes for the new constitution.
Tungwarara said there
is a misplaced perception that a Yes vote for the draft constitution will
deliver a credible election. He believes this will not happen for a number
of reasons, including the fact that there are few fundamental reforms, which
were supposed to work in tandem with the constitution making process, under
the Global Political Agreement.
“So the political environment that is
hostile to democratic engagement still exists.” The analyst said there won’t
be sufficient time to undertake the necessary reforms before the general and
presidential elections due in the next six months.
“So the points
that he (Matinenga) raises about the judiciary members being publicly
interviewed and that if there are disputes you will have impartial people
presiding – this will not happen. So we are likely to have again a
contaminated electoral process which the constitution will not impact on,
and where that is going to leave us is anybody’s guess. It could be another
2008.” Tungwarara said.
Madhuku, whose NCA has been consistently
campaigning for a No vote at the referendum, said it is obvious that the
three political parties in the inclusive government are actually working on
having a second inclusive government.
“The GNU is quite evident when
you get all the political parties campaigning for a Yes vote at the
referendum and when all three political parties are agreeing that the time
given for the people is completely irrelevant even though people wanted more
time. They have not even complained about all the (negative) things that
have been happening.
“So which ever party wins the elections, I think,
would want to stay, in the name of stabilisation, which is why there is that
clause that says in the next ten years we will not have a presidential
by-election in the event of the death of the president.
The NCA
chairman believes none of the political parties can win an outright majority
vote in the forthcoming polls.
You can listen to the full referendum
debate on the Hot Seat programme, where the panellist also discuss some of
the contentious issues in the draft constitution:
Zimbabwe’s influential human rights, labour and social justice
activists on Wednesday 13 March 2013 turned the heat on the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) and President Robert Mugabe after flooding the
Supreme Court with a deluge of lawsuits In a week of high legal drama
characterised by a litany of litigation, the activists who included National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) chairperson, Professor Lovemore Madhuku,
International Socialist Organisation (ISO) leader, Munyaradzi
Gwisai,
The NCA on Wednesday 13 March 2013 filed an urgent
application in the Supreme Court challenging the appointment of ZEC acting
chairperson Joyce Kazembe on the basis that she cannot occupy such a
position and preside over the affairs of the elections management body
because she is not a Judge, a former Judge of the Supreme Court or the High
Court or a person qualified for appointment as such as a Judge.
The
NCA said Kazembe’s appointment to act as ZEC’s acting chairperson was in
breach of Section 100 B (2) of the Constitution, which stipulates that the
chairperson of ZEC must be a Judge or a former Judge of the Supreme Court or
the High Court or a person qualified for appointment as such as a
Judge.
The constitutional reform body said ZEC is currently improperly
constituted and cannot competently run any election or referendum until the
appointment of a substantive chairperson or a suitably qualified acting
chairperson.
In their Constitutional application filed on Wednesday 13
March 2013, Majongwe, Gwisai, Yuba and ISO, who identified themselves as
proponents of the “VOTE NO” campaign argued that they had been denied their
right to a free and fair referendum because of the limited time to conduct
their campaigns to conscientise their members and hence need an extension of
time before the draft governance charter can be put to a vote.
The
activists want President Mugabe to issue a new proclamation of another
referendum date. They also want the State-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC) to be interdicted from disseminating, promoting, flighting
or carrying any material whether audio or visual solicited by the three
Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) co-chairpersons namely Munyaradzi Paul
Mangwana, Douglas Mwonzora and Edward Mkhosi encouraging citizens to vote
“Yes” in the upcoming referendum.
Majongwe, ISO, Gwisai and Yuba also
want the Supreme Court to order ZBC to afford free and equitable coverage
for them and those legitimately permitted to lobby for the adoption of the
draft COPAC Constitution.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court on Wednesday 13
March 2013 set aside High Court Judge President George Chiweshe’s ruling in
which he had stated that the powers conferred upon President Mugabe are not
justiciable.
Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku sitting with Deputy Chief
Justice Luke Malaba and Justices of Appeal Vernanda Ziyambi, Paddington
Garwe and Mary-Anne Gowora ruled that Justice Chiweshe should have assumed
jurisdiction to enquire into the issue of the irrationality and gross
unreasonableness of President Mugabe’s proclamation of 16 March 2013 as the
referendum date. However, the Supreme Court also dismissed the NCA’s appeal
to delay the weekend referendum on the merits.
The illegal seizure of wind-up radios reached new
levels this week with reports that the police are now using primary school
pupils to source information about the receivers.
Villagers in Lupane
revealed that the police have been visiting schools and asking little
children in Grade 0 and Grade 1(aged between 4 and 6 years) whether their
parents own or listen to any radios.
This follows reports that suspected
state security agents on Tuesday raided several homesteads at Mpofu village
in the Gwampa area and confiscated the wind-up radios.
Speaking to SW
Radio Africa one villager who asked not to be named for fear of reprisals,
said the police have been going to schools, writing down names, and then
visiting those suspected of owning the radios by night.
She said although
the agents will be wearing civilian clothes, the villagers know it is the
police since they have been announcing their ban on radios.
Our source
said she suspects the police are aware of the popularity of shortwave radios
in the area, hence they are now confiscating them.
“The police have been
announcing that villagers should not be in possession of these radios. Their
reason is that we listen to news broadcasts from outside the country which
criticise ZANU PF.
“Such harassment by the state security agents normally
escalates during election time, which indicates that we are not free to
exercise our individual choices if we can’t even listen to different views
offered by these shortwave radio stations,” she added.
On Tuesday an
MDC official from Mpofu Village, Cosmas Phiri, told the NewsDay newspaper
that MDC members were raided shortly before midnight on
Monday.
Phiri, who was with some of the affected villagers, told
NewsDay that a group of state security agents confiscated at least 10 radios
from more than 10 people.
The night raids have stirred up fear within
the community, following threats that those who refused to surrender their
radio receivers will be abducted and “made to disappear” invoking memories
of Gukurahundi.
Since the announcement of the constitutional referendum
date on February 15th, Zimbabwean police have embarked on a nationwide
campaign targeting civic society organisations and individuals.
On
February 19th the police announced a ban on ‘specially designed’ radios,
which they argued will be used to promote hate speech ahead of the
polls.
Following the ban several organisations have been raided,
including community radio initiative Radio Dialogue where police seized more
than 180 wind-up radio sets and arrested its managing editor.
Last
month, officers ransacked the offices of poll observers ZESN as well as
those of violence monitoring group the Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), in
search of the so-called “illegal” radios.
The police have since
arrested ZPP head Jestina Mukoko and charged her with, among other things,
illegally importing short wave radios.
An analyst has described as ‘naive’ the hysterical remarks by
presidential spokesman George Charamba accusing a foreign embassy of
illegally distributing radios.
On Tuesday Charamba told the state
media that “soon people will be summoned” to answer questions relating to
‘smuggling’ and distributing radios, in what is being seen by many as a
veiled threat to the British Embassy in Zimbabwe.
Charamba said the
Foreign Affairs Ministry was exploring “the complicity of this embassy” in
subversive activities meant to bring about regime change in
Zimbabwe.
He told the Herald: “We are investigating to see whether
this was consistent with the provisions of the Vienna Convention. We are
also keen to understand the interests of that embassy by bringing that
consignment using its diplomatic status.
“We are also investigating
the institutions which received those radios for distribution countrywide.
We are also trying to establish their registration status. We are also
investigating whether they have such mandate within their terms of reference
to engage in such work,” Charamba said.
The radios in question are said
to be manufactured by British company Lifeline Energy. The gadgets are
wind-up and solar-powered and can receive FM, AM and short wave
signals.
But political analyst Rejoice Ngwenya dismissed the
pronouncements as ill-informed, saying Charamba has no capacity to summon
anyone on behalf of Zimbabweans.
Ngwenya said Charamba was wrong to
suggest that the embassy in question had committed any crime or abused its
diplomatic status in bringing the radio receivers into the
country.
“There is nothing criminal about supporting the people of
Zimbabwe to their right to information. The problem here is that in the ZANU
PF school of thought every gadget and equipment that informs and enlightens
is called subversive.
“I have been listening to shortwave radio since
I was 13. Charamba’s statements simply demonstrate the naivety of the type
of governance that Zimbabweans are subjected to,” Ngwenya added.
The
British Embassy in Harare could not be reached for comment Thursday as calls
to their press sections were not being answered.
State media reports
suggest that ZANU PF fears that the wind-up radios would ensure what they
call ‘illegal regime change’ in Zimbabwe during the general elections
scheduled for this year.
Ngwenya said regime change is part of any
democracy and it is surprising that ZANU PF would be afraid of change
considering it also took over from another regime – the Smith regime.
A regional anti-corruption grouping has slammed the
deliberate interference of two investigations being carried out by the
Zimbabwe Anti Corruption Commission (ZACC), calling it
“disturbing.”
The ZACC was barred from carrying out two separate legal
searches this week, after being granted search warrants by a High Court
judge on Monday. The warrants, signed by Judge Charles Hungwe, gave ZACC
investigators the legal right to conduct searches at the Harare based
offices of the Zimbabwe Mining and Development Corporation (ZMDC) and the
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (NIEEB).
The
NIEEB premises were blocked by armed men who barred the investigators access
to the offices on two occasions on Monday and on Tuesday. The Commission’s
offices were then reportedly stormed by armed police on Tuesday, who blocked
a team of investigators from carrying out the ZMDC raid.
According to
the NewsDay newspaper, the police action blocking the ZMDC probe was a
result of an urgent call made by the ZMDC chairman Godwills Masimirembwa to
Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri.
Both the ZMDC and the
NIEEB have since filed urgent applications at the High Court seeking to
legally bar the ZACC searches. This matter was heard on Thursday, and
according to the ZBC an interdict was granted, stopping ZACC from performing
the raids.
The ZBC quoted the NIEEB and ZMDC legal representative Gerald
Mlotshwa, who said that ZACC does not have the power to obtain a search
warrant from a judge of the High Court. Mlotshwa reportedly argued that a
High Court judge does not have the power to issue search warrants unless it
relates to an actual criminal trial he or she is dealing with.
The
Anti Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-Southern Africa) said on
Thursday that the interference of ZACC’s duties was part of a “disturbing
trend,” involving ZANU PF politicians. ZMDC falls under the Mines ministry
headed by Obert Mpofu, while NIEEB falls under the Indigenisation and
Empowerment ministry headed by Saviour Kasukuwere.
“In this case we
see a legally constituted body being barred from its work by some guys in
the government who are above the law. It is a disturbing trend,” said Alouis
Munyaradzi Chaumba, the Regional Coordinator of ACT-Southern
Africa
Chaumba also told SW Radio Africa that while the Commission’s
attempts to probe corruption were welcome, ACT-Southern Africa was not
confident that this is a sign of meaningful change.
“You always find
that just before an election you require change like this, and people can be
hoodwinked into believing that the Commission is going to bite. But then
nothing happens,” Chaumba said.
He added: “But we are pleased to see some
movement by the Commission to do something. Especially if you look at the
mines ministry which is a very important ministry in terms of the diamonds
that are being unearthed and how they could contribute to national
development. This is where we want to see transparency.”
Chaumba also
added that political will is ultimately standing in the way of the
Commission successfully rooting out the problem of corruption in
Zimbabwe.
“We need political will to allow certain commissions of
government to work without any hindrance. This is the will we do not have at
the moment,” he said.
THEY are as much a feature of American elections as the
candidates themselves. In the last election, President Barack Obama and
his rival Mitt Romney’s campaigns are believed to have spent up to US$1.1
billion on political ads.
With the growth of Twitter, Facebook and other
social networking sites, the adverts were not just limited to television
alone but were omnipresent in all spheres of life.
Ahead of general
elections in Zimbabwe later this year, all the main parties have increased
their presence online, targeting not just the voters in Zimbabwe lucky
enough to have access to the internet, but also seeking to sell their vision
to the world.
Campaigning has not started, because the election date is
not yet known, but MDC-T secretary general Tendai Biti said recently that he
expects the campaign to have a “cerebral component, a thinking
component”.
He had no doubt, he said, “that in this election Zanu PF are
going to try and be smarter than 2008 when they were crude, predatory and
extractive” by focusing their campaign on issues.
If a new internet
advertising blitz by Zanu PF supporters targeting MDC-T leader Morgan
Tsvangirai is anything to go by, then Biti is right on the money.
A
Zanu PF-supporting polemicist, known online as Mai Jukwa, and who has drawn
a sizeable following, this week released three attack ads all critical of
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
In an e-mailed response, Amai Jukwa
insisted the ads were a creation of “surrogates standing of our own accord”,
adding: “Zanu PF is not responsible.”
The strategy appears to follow
the American super PACs – political action committees allowed to raise and
spend millions of dollars on advocacy programmes for candidates, but
independent of the official campaigns.
Two of the adverts posted on
YouTube and Facebook portray Tsvangirai as pro-same sex marriages and
lacking respect for women in the wake of his amorous adventures. A third
portrays Zanu PF leader Robert Mugabe as a man of peace, juxtaposed with a
video of the former MDC-T legislator Roy Bennet punching Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa in Parliament, and a brutal assault on the former MDC MP
Trudy Stevenson, allegedly by Tsvangirai’s supporters.
Zanu PF may have
fired the first salvo, but it could just be the beginning of a season of
negative campaigns.
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has defended the
retention of executive powers in the draft constitution saying a president
should not be a stooge without authority.
Civil society groups and
other organisations campaigning for a ‘no’ vote in the forthcoming
referendum slated for Saturday have criticised both MDC formations in the
coalition government for allowing the inclusion of “excessive executive
powers” in the draft constitution.
“No vote campaigners such as National
Constitutional Assembly, claim that allowing Zimbabwe to have an almighty
president with unchallengeable powers, could make the person become a
dictator,” Tsvangirai said.
But the former opposition leader told a “Yes
Vote” rally in Dotito in Mt Darwin yesterday that a nation’s leader should
have power to declare war when need be, among other unfettered powers given
in the draft charter.
“President wenyika haafanirwe kuve musoro chete
asina kana simba (a president of a country should not be a figure-head
without authority), he must have executive powers to execute his
duties.
“There are some duties that he should consult other entities such
as Parliament, Cabinet so on and so forth. But duties like granting amnesty
to prisoners and declaring war against another country, he does not need to
consult.
“He should however, within seven days come back to
Parliament and seek authority,” said Tsvangirai.
The MDC leader, who
formed an uneasy coalition with his long time arch-rival President Robert
Mugabe of Zanu PF, told his supporters in Mt Darwin that the new
constitution is a step towards democratisation of the country.
“This is a
product of the people of Zimbabwe; it is not an MDC or Zanu PF document. It
is us in the MDC who from the beginning called for a new constitution,” the
MDC leader said.
“We are not against Mugabe but against the manner of
governance which he was doing,” Tsvangirai said.
Dotito is a Zanu PF
stronghold currently held by Zanu PF vice president Joice
Mujuru.
“This is my first time to be here, I can sense that the MDC is
now countrywide,” he told the crowd.
He was accompanied by Energy
minister Elton Mangoma and Information Communication Technology minister,
Nelson Chamisa among other senior government and party officials. - Xolisani
Ncube
By Richard Chidza, Staff
Writer Thursday, 14 March 2013 10:40
HARARE - Zimbabwe's biggest
problem is President Robert Mugabe and not the Constitution, former Finance
minister and ex-Zanu PF politburo member Simba Makoni has
said.
Makoni, once tipped to succeed Mugabe but now a fringe opposition
leader, said this at a media briefing in Harare ahead of Saturday’s
constitutional referendum.
The Mavambo/Dawn/Kusile leader said Mugabe
thinks he is bigger than Zimbabwe, hence the need to boot out the
89-year-old at the next election.
“The economic meltdown, the abuse of
Zimbabweans under Murambatsvina, the ‘short and long sleeves’ of 2008 and
many other human rights violations in the past 33 years have not been a
result of a weak Constitution.
“Our problem has been the person in the
president’s office. He has not submitted himself to constitutionalism and
constitutional provisions which ironically are in the current Constitution,”
Makoni said.
The former Sadc secretary general pulled out of Zanu PF on
the eve of the 2008 harmonised elections to form Mavambo.
Ironically,
one of his backers then, another former politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa
revealed in a newspaper interview last year that Makoni’s move was meant to
split votes and save Mugabe from outright defeat by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Makoni yesterday said Zimbabwe needed a more sensitive leader
and the country’s constitution should have provided for a 70-year age cap on
presidential aspirants.
“We want a sensitive president who
acknowledges division of labour and if you look at the reasons why we pulled
out of Zanu PF, you would know that there has not been any movement in
trying to reform that party.
“It has not been rational for many years for
Mugabe to contest elections and it will not be rational now. If that
provision had been in the Constitution he would have walked a long time
ago,” said Makoni.
He said government needed to agree to the demands of
the international community if finance from donors for the referendum and
elections are to be unlocked.
“The international community is willing
to finance both exercises but they have standards. Standards that have been
accepted by our colleagues in the Sadc region and beyond, only despots and
dictators have frowned at such democratic standards because they have a lot
to hide and we are not sure our compatriots in the seat of power are willing
to compromise on that,” Makoni added.
Meanwhile, Makoni announced
that his party leadership had agreed to mobilise their supporters and
membership to reject a draft charter crafted by a committee of Parliament
commonly referred to as Copac.
“Copac has not told Zimbabweans why they
did not produce the best constitution but wants citizens to accept something
that the parties are saying they would amend once they are
elected.
“We have issues with discrimination in the death penalty, the
gender balance in the election of legislators as well as the variance in the
appointment of director general of the Central Intelligence Organisation in
comparison to other heads of security arms of the State,” he
said.
Makoni said there is no rationality in Copac deferring the
Constitutional Court operationalisation for seven years as well as the
contentious issue of running mates claiming they were only included for
political expedience or to placate political parties that faced
implosion.
“There is no reason why Zimbabweans should continue to pay for
two vice presidents besides the fact that it is only meant to maintain peace
and balance in some political formations that would disintegrate instantly
if it is not implemented.
“We are embarrassed that in the 21st
century one country makes a constitutional provision for another State
without consultation. Section 72 of the draft provides for the former
colonial power (Britain) to pay for the land we would have taken.
“It
makes us a laughing stock of the world,” he said.
Makoni was part of
Mugabe’s so called “war Cabinet” put together by the strongman at the height
of the chaotic and often violent land reform programme in the early part of
the last decade before disgruntlement set in.
BULAWAYO — Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai today
took his vote yes campaign to Bulawayo, Matabeleland region, where he urged
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters to adopt Zimbabwe's draft
constitution in Saturday's referendum.
Mr. Tsvangirai said the draft
charter will usher a new political dispensation in the country and value
system he says places citizens at the centre of
governance.
Addressing hundreds of supporters in the city this morning,
the MDC leader said the new constitution will protect citizens from what he
called the tyranny of the majority. He said minority rights are well
enshrined in the draft.
Mr. Tsvangirai told the party supporters that
the new constitution will ensure the equitable distribution of national
resources to all the country’s provinces.
For example, he said,
Chapter 18 of the draft charter forces the state to ensure local communities
have equitable access to resources to promote development across the
country.
The prime minister later met with local christian leaders where
he signed a peace pledge promising he will do all in his power to urge his
supporters to desist from engaging in political violence as the country goes
to the referendum vote Saturday and start preparing for general elections
expected later in the year.
Christian Alliance of Zimbabwe board
chairperson Reverend Ray Motsi said it is the duty of religious and
political leaders to ensure a peaceful and fair
referendum.
Zimbabweans go to the polls this Saturday where they will
be asked to adopt or reject the draft constitution.
Known Zanu
(PF) activists who have been perpetrating political violence and harassing
MDC supporters have been forced to abandon their activities following
exposure by The Zimbabwean.
Zimbabwe National Army colonel, Charles
Muresherwa, Zanu (PF) activists, Mary Gaba, Kumbirai Mushango and Uleki
Mugebe have been accused of terrorising MDC supporters in the
area.
Muresherwa has been accused of conducting semi-military training
for Zanu (PF) youths who have been responsible for violence in the Nyambeya
area of Cashel valley.
During the run up to the discredited March
2008 elections, Muresherwa moved around the constituency brandishing an AK
47 and intimidating MDC supporters. Muresherwa, who is aspiring to be a Zanu
(PF) MP in the area, has also been travelling around the constituency
dolling out cabbages and salt as part of his campaign
gimmick.
Mushango, who is the Zanu (PF) district chairperson for Mutsamvu
ward, and his deputy Mugebe have also been terrorising MDC supporters, while
Gaba has been fingered in political violence in Biriwiri area.
“The
Zimbabwean has really helped us by continuously exposing those people
causing violence in the area. People like Gaba who have been harassing MDC
supporters don’t seem to care about MDC business anymore. The media exposure
seems to have embarrassed them,” said a teacher at a local secondary school
who preferred not to be named.
One of the victims of political
violence hailed The Zimbabwean for covering cases of political violence in
the area.
“I heard that Mugebe was confronted by his relatives over his
involvement in violence after they read about it on the internet. Since that
incident he has changed his behaviour,” he said.
MDC-T National spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora, has distanced
his party from the bombing of a Zanu (PF) aspiring councillor, William
Chapepa in Rusape on Monday in a suspected politically motivated
case.
Zanu (PF) says MDC-T was behind the bombing.
Police national
police spokesperson, Charity Charamba has confirmed the incident, saying
they were investigating the case in which Chapepa was allegedly
petrol-bombed by unknown people on Monday night and sustained burns on the
thighs.
In an interview on Thursday on the sidelines of workshop bringing
together the Constitutional Parliamentary Committee, the media and civil
society to discuss the new draft set for a referendum on Saturday, Mwonzora
said MDC-T had nothing to do with recent incident.
He dismissed the
Zanu (PF) accusation that his party was responsible for the
bombing.
“MDC-T is not a party of violence. Zanu (PF) is simply
trying to get cheap sympathy,” Mwonzora told The Zimbabwean.
He said
Zanu (PF) was trying to create the impression that MDC-T was avenging the
death of a 12-year-old, Christpower Maisiri, who was recently burnt to death
in nearby Headlands in Manicaland province.
Christpower’s father is an
aspiring MP who has survived attempts on his life on at least three
occasions.
Initial reports indicated that the hut in which the late
Christpower was sleeping was petrol bombed, but police preliminary
investigations indicate that fertilizer stored in the room in which he
slept, together with tobacco chemicals, could have ignited and started the
fire.
Mwonzora reiterated that his party was not satisfied with police
findings in the Christpower suspected arson case, adding police could be
protecting some individuals.
“As MDC we were not satisfied with
police findings because they were given names and no arrest has been made
and their rushed investigations were meant to protect some individuals
linked to the murder case. We are still convinced that it is purely a murder
case and this is a serious violation of human rights and we believe the
truth shall come out,” said Mwonzora.
Thursday, 14 March 2013 10:43 HARARE - Half a
million school pupils will benefit from the Basic Education Assistance
Module (Beam) after government and its partners committed resources to
ensure sustenance of the programme.
Beam is a school fees assistance
programme targeted at vulnerable children of school-going age nationwide and
aims at reducing the number of children dropping out, and reaching out to
children who have never been to school due to economic
hardships.
Speaking at the official launch of this year’s Beam programme
at Fungisai Primary School in Chitungwiza yesterday, Labour and Social
Services minister Paurina Mpariwa said government and the United Kingdom Aid
(UKaid’s) Department for International Development (DfID) had provided $15
million and $12 million for secondary and primary school support
respectively, benefiting 500 000 pupils with school fees.
“I am
pleased to announce that in 2013, Beam partners have once again committed
resources to the programme to ensure its sustenance,” Mpariwa
said.
“Government has allocated $15 million, the National Aids
Council will provide $800 000 while DfID has provided $12million and the
funds have been allocated to the first and second terms notwithstanding the
effects of increases in levies.”
Mpariwa said the investment case for
supporting children’s access to education is apparent and that it has been
highlighted at various fora.
“The Beam report for 2012 indicates that
only 49 percent (boys) and 58 percent (girls) of the children identified as
in need of Beam were supported in 2010 and 2011 respectively. This indicates
that a lot more children are failing to access education with demand far
outstriping supply.
“Children with disabilities from special schools will
also be supported from 25 special schools eligible for Beam support and 742
resource units.”
DfID head of mission in Harare Jane Rintoul said the
British government cared about Zimbabwean children and would continue to
support them by funding their education.
“Contrary to what you read
in the newspapers, the British government cares about Zimbabwean children
especially because we realise that both the parents and pupils value
education,” said Rintoul.
“In Norton I was touched by one pupil who told
me that she was poor but rich in mind. We are therefore going to help 5 400
vulnerable primary school children this year and this we have been doing
since 2009.”
She added that the biggest challenge was for government to
determine the most effective way to ensure the programme helps those who are
genuinely needy.
Meanwhile, David Coltart, minister of Education,
Sport, Arts and Culture urged parents of children under the Beam programme
to vote ‘yes’ during this Saturday’s constitutional referendum saying their
children would soon get free primary education as envisaged in the
draft.
“Although I have reservations about the draft constitution that we
will vote for or against on Saturday, the major reason why as parents we
must vote ‘yes’ is that it gives our children basic education
rights.
They would not have to be vetted for Beam because the State will
be obliged to take care of that need,” said Coltart.
Coltart said his
ministry through its development partners had managed to stabilise the
education sector that had deteriorated due to an economic meltdown.
- Mugove Tafirenyika
FLIGHT to safety follows weeks
of intimidation and terror tactics in Mugabe government's drive to seize
white-owned farms and businesses.
George
McLuskie
WHEN thugs came knocking on
Paul Westwood’s door threatening to kill him, his wife and his two young sons,
he knew the time had come to leave Zimbabwe.
Weeks of intimidation and
terror tactics had finally come to a head, forcing the 46-year-old to grab a
suitcase in the middle of the night and flee for his life.
Leading up to that moment,
large 4x4s with blacked-out windows were parked day and night outside his house
near Harare and followed him around the city on the rare occasions he ventured
out.
In one terrifying incident,
a thug cornered him and said: “If you don’t take us seriously, there is a bullet
with your name on it and you’ll never see your wife and kids
again.”
Well aware of how dozens of
white farmers and businessmen in Zimbabwe – including some of his closest
friends – had been murdered while trying to protect their property, Paul knew he
had no option but to leave.
His heartbroken sons,
Donovan, six, and Christopher, nine, had to leave their pets behind and still
don’t know the four dogs – Jerry, Murphy, Percy and Butch – had to be put
down.
British citizen Paul brought
his family to his parents’ house near Kirkcaldy.
He is still in fear of his
life and is worried that thugs linked to president Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party
may try to track him down. But he trusts that his dad, a former soldier, can
help protect his family.
Locals in Fife have taken
Paul, his 36-year-old Belgian wife, Brenda-Lee, and his sons to their
hearts.
Yesterday, he thanked the
Scots who have given his family so much support.
He said: “The warm welcome
we have had in Scotland has been remarkable.
“The boys have been treated
with nothing but kindness in their primary school and everyone we’ve met so far
has offered their help.
“Christopher and Donovan
both play cricket for the local team and have started to settle down – but they
still need special counselling to help them cope with the trauma of what has
happened.”
Paul said: “When we left,
Brenda took the dogs to a vet to have them put down.
“We couldn’t bring them with
us and there was no one to look after them. We had no option.
“It was the toughest thing
my wife has ever done.
“Those dogs meant the world
to us and especially the boys.”
Paul was once a rich
businessman in his adopted country with a successful car-parts business and a
stunning £750,000 home.
Now he has nothing – a
victim, he says, of the Zimbabwe government’s controversial drive to seize
white-owned farms and businesses.
Paul fought back tears
yesterday as he described his three-year legal battle to try to save his
company, Noshio Motors.
After he accused two senior
employees of stealing tens of thousands of pounds from the firm in 2009, a local
businessman with links to the Mugabe government seized shares worth more than
£670,000 in his company.
Temba Mliswa, who has family
in England, claimed ownership of the firm, saying his takeover was in line with
the government’s “indigenisation policies”.
The case was heard in a
local court when Mliswa was accused of threatening Paul.
It was alleged that he said
he could make Paul “disappear” and sent threatening text messages, including one
that read: “Why cant u just tok to me as we had agreed.
“I suggest u stick 2 my
advice Paul b4 its 2 late… plenty skeletons in your wardrobe, warn u… stop it
and nw!”
Paul believed he had
watertight evidence against Mliswa and five of his co-accused but the judge
threw out the case.
Paul said: “We were very
suspicious about how the court case was handled and launched an immediate
appeal.
“The chief prosecutor, who
we suspected of foul play, died in mysterious circumstances soon after the trial
and some of the accused have disappeared into thin air.”
He added: “I’m the latest in
a long line of victims of the corruption that is rife at all levels in Zimbabwe.
I want the UK Government to help get me compensated for the looting and illegal
takeover of my company so I can rebuild my business in Scotland, where I can
help create jobs and contribute to the economy.
“I spent years building up a
thriving business over there but it was taken from me. I now have nothing and
have to start again.
“It’s a riches to rags story
– but with the Scottish people’s help, I’m sure we can build ourselves up again.”
When Kirkcaldy MSP David
Torrance was alerted to the family’s plight, he helped organise them a new home
and vowed to take their case to the British and Zimbabwe
governments.
Paul said officials at the
British Embassy in Harare turned him away when he asked for
help.
Torrance said yesterday:
“Paul and his family have been through hell since 2010, when his company was
seized by people related to the Zimbabwe government.
“This decision was in part
facilitated by the refusal of the British Embassy to offer any help, something I
find unacceptable and a claim that I intend to raise with David
Cameron.
“It is good to see that
Paul’s family have been made welcome by locals and with the help of family and
friends are now starting to rebuild a normal family
life.”
One in five people in rural Zimbabwe need food assistance,
according to WFP
HARARE, 14 March 2013 (IRIN) - Laina
Tavengwa, 34, from Wedza District in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland East Province, no
longer sees a point in farming her family’s four-hectare plot.
When the first rains of the season
fell in mid-November last year, she reluctantly heeded her husband’s advice to
start planting, but she put only a hectare under maize and allocated an acre to
groundnuts.
The crop suffered
under a dry spell in December, and when heavy rains set in, Tavengwa was unable
to tend the plot or apply fertilizer - which she did not have anyway.
“When the heavy rains stopped, my
maize, just like that of my neighbours, was yellowing and looked too sick, and I
vowed to my husband that I would never again think of planting maize in my
lifetime.
“There is no reason
to be going back to the fields every year when you know that you are never going
to get anything out of them,” she told IRIN.
Most of the maize crop in Goto
Village, where Tavengwa resides, is of uneven height, looks sickly and bears
small cobs.
“There is no hope
of a good harvest this year again. For the fourth year, we will have to beg for
food from well-wishers. I have travelled across Wedza and it seems the majority
of the people will not have much to put in their granaries,” Simon Maveza, a
village elder, told IRIN.
Though rains have recently returned,
Maveza said it was too late for their crops, mostly maize, to recover.
Critical
condition
Denford
Chimbwanda, former president of the Grain and Cereal Producers Association of
Zimbabwe (GPCA), told IRIN that although crops were doing well in regions such
as Mashonaland Central and West and parts of Mashonaland East, many areas of the
country would suffer poor harvests this year.
“There are pockets of good harvests
in some traditionally arid regions like Masvingo, but the crop situation is bad
in Matabeleland and parts of the Midlands and Manicaland. I would say about a
third of the land that was planted is going to be severely affected, meaning
that there will be a cereal shortage this year again,” Chimbwanda told
IRIN.
"There is no hope of a good harvest this year again. For
the fourth year, we will have to beg for food from well-wishers"
In February, the Zimbabwe Farmers’ Union (ZFU)
indicated in its crop and livestock update that most crops were showing signs of
stress due to erratic rains, and that maize crops in many areas were in a
critical condition.
Joseph
Made, the agriculture minister, whose department is coordinating its annual crop
and livestock assessment in conjunction with humanitarian agencies, revealed
recently that the area planted for major food crops had declined from about 1.9
million hectares in 2012 to around 1.5 million hectares this year.
“The area planted for major food
crops, namely maize, sorghum and millet has temporarily declined… due to
inadequate financial support and late rains,” he reportedlysaidduring an address at a military training
college.
Food security
poor
Looming bad
harvests will add to an already poor food security situation characterized by
severe shortages.
Tavengwa said
last year’s harvests were the worst she had seen in a long time. Her family
managed to salvage only 10kg of maize, which lasted them less than two
weeks.
“I struggle every day to
feed the family. My mind is always preoccupied with what I must do to ensure
that we don’t die of hunger,” said Tavengwa, a mother of three sets of twins.
Her husband has been bedridden since he had a stroke two years ago.
She frequently travels to Harare to
sell dried green vegetables that she buys from vendors at the nearby Wedza
business centre. The money she earns is enough to ensure that the family gets
one main meal a day, but she has not paid school fees for her children since the
term began in January.
According to Felix Bamezon, UN World
Food Programme (WFP) country director, Zimbabwe’s current food insecurity levels
are the worst in three years. “During the peak hunger period of January to March
2013, approximately 19 percent of Zimbabwe’s rural population - the equivalent
of one in five people - are estimated to be in need of food assistance,” he told
IRIN.
Of the country’s 13
million people, WFP and the government are providing food aid to 1.58 million in
37 districts across the country.
The Zimbabwe Vulnerability
Assessment Committee report of 2012 indicated that the worst-affected areas are
Masvingo, Matabeleland North and South, and parts of Mashonaland, Midlands and
Manicaland provinces.
Bamezon
explained that WFP was mainly providing assistance to subsistence farmers and
other food insecure people who were badly hit by last year’s drought. “In many
parts of the country, particularly in the south, the maize they harvested barely
lasted a few months, bringing an early start to the ‘hunger season’, which will
end with the next harvest expected in April,” he told IRIN.
Under the programme, in which the
government for the first time provided 35,000 metric tons of maize from the
strategic grain reserve, beneficiaries are receiving maize meal, cooking oil and
pulses. In selected areas, 250,000 people are receiving cash to buy food.
*This article
was amended on 14/03/13. The original report erroneously described food security
levels in Zimbabwe as the worst in four years and said the government provided
350,000 metric tons of maize for food
assistance.
[This report does not
necessarily reflect the views of the United
Nations]
Media Notice from the
Zimbabwe Vigil – 14th March 2013
UK Zimbabweans appeal
to Cameron
Zimbabweans in the UK
are to present a petition to 10 Downing Street on Saturday 16th March
appealing to the UK government not to send home failed Zimbabwean asylum seekers
because of election violence.
A letter to the Prime
Minister, David Cameron, says there has been a disturbing campaign of police
harassment of civil society organisations ahead of elections in Zimbabwe
expected in July, accompanied by increasing violence. The letter says
‘We expect the situation to worsen as polling approaches because
President Mugabe’s Zanu PF thugs are given impunity by the police to terrorise
opponents’.
The petition has been organised by Restoration of Human Rights in
Zimbabwe (ROHR), the sister organisation of the Zimbabwe Vigil, which has been
demonstrating outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London every Saturday for the past
eleven years in support of free and fair elections.
The petition is being presented on the same day as a referendum in
Zimbabwe to decide whether to adopt a new constitution. The three parliamentary
parties are campaigning for a yes vote but the proposed constitution has been
rejected by many civil society organisations.
ROHR spokesperson Fungayi Mabhunu said: ‘The referendum is a charade.
President Mugabe has once again outwitted the Movement for Democratic Change.
Four years and more than $100 million have been wasted on this defective
constitution when what is really needed is action to ensure free and fair
elections’.
The Vigil is being joined by Action for Southern Africa (ACTSA),
formerly the Anti-Apartheid Movement, to mark referendum day. Passers-by will be
invited to write messages of hope for peaceful elections on red paper roses to
be used to form a montage.
Timetable for the
day
·2 pm: meet outside
the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London WC2R 0JR for the regular Vigil. Nearest
station: Charing Cross.
·3.45: leave the Vigil
for 10 Downing Street.
·4.30: Presentation of
petition to 10 Downing Street.
·6.15: Zimbabwe Action
Forum. Mark Beacon, Campaigns Manager of ACTSA, will discuss how the
Vigil and ACTSA can work more closely together to deliver freedom in
Zimbabwe
Venue:
Strand Continental Hotel (first floor lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA.
Nearest station: Temple (District and Circle lines). For more detailed
directions, check Events and Notices on our website: www.zimvigil.co.uk.
Text of letter to
David Cameron
Dear Mr
Cameron
We respectfully
submit the following petition on behalf of Zimbabwean failed asylum seekers:
Petition to the UK Border Agency: We, the undersigned members of the Zimbabwe Community in the United
Kingdom, friends of Zimbabwe and human rights defenders, are deeply disturbed by
allegations that deportees to Zimbabwe are being threatened with sedation to
facilitate their forced removal from the UK. We are also concerned by the
practice of detaining asylum seekers when they sign-in. We believe this approach
discourages compliance and instead drives the frightened asylum seeker under the
radar and possibly into crime. We also raise concern that asylum claims made in
detention are being fast tracked to expedite the deportation decision without
full recourse to the law. We call upon the UK immigration authorities to
respect international human rights statutes in their treatment of asylum seekers
throughout the asylum process. We beg the UK government to seriously consider
deferring deportations to Zimbabwe to at least 6 months after the planned 2013
elections which we believe will be, like those before them,
violent.
We wish to draw your attention to a disturbing campaign of police
harassment of civil society organisations in Zimbabwe ahead of the elections
expected in July. This has been accompanied by increasing violence. The MDC
party of Morgan Tsvangirai has submitted a dossier to the Southern African
Development Community detailing 120 incidents of violence in the past few
months. We expect the situation to worsen as polling approaches because
President Mugabe’s Zanu PF thugs are given impunity by the police to terrorise
opponents.
We Zimbabweans in exile and supporters ask you to pass this petition
on to the UK Border Agency so that they can be reminded to respect human rights
in their treatment of asylum seekers. In particular, we suggest a moratorium on
sending Zimbabweans home until the violence ceases.
The petition has been organised by Restoration of Human Rights in
Zimbabwe, a sister organisation of the Zimbabwe Vigil, which has been
demonstrating outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London every Saturday for the past
eleven years in support of free and fair elections.
Contacts
Fungayi
Mabhunu 07746 552 597
Rose
Benton 07970 996 003
Zimbabwe 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
The 'heroic' leaders who follow notorious African dictators to power
frequently fall from grace themselves. If Morgan Tsvangirai replaces Robert
Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe, will he be next?
By John Campbell, Guest blogger / March 13, 2013
•A version of this post
ran on the author's blog, Africa in
Transition.
The views expressed are the author's own.
Friends of Africa often anoint selected leaders from that
continent as heroes “for the moment."
Mr. Obasanjo followed a generation of military rulers,
and his immediate predecessor was the “tyrant”Sani Abachawho resorted to judicial
murder; Mr. Mobutu emerged from Congo’s domestic chaos and civil war and
promised inoculation against the Communists; Mr. Mugabe followed the racist
regime ofIan Smithand promised racial reconciliation; and Mr.
Kagame “ended” the genocide in Rwanda.
The
pattern is that these “heroes” fall from grace as they wrestle with monumental
problems of governance or with their personal devils – or both. Hence, Obasanjo
tried for an unconstitutional presidential third term with the suspicion that he
intended to become president for life, Mobutu established a kleptocracy, Mugabe
resorted to racism and destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy for a time, and Kagame has
been implicated in the Rwandan looting of the eastern Congo.
Reluctance to relinquish power is a widespread problem
among African chiefs of state. The Mo Ibrahim
Prize for an African chief of state who pursues good governance and
voluntarily steps down from office when his term ends has not been awarded for
the past three years because of the lack of a credible
candidate.
Nelson
Mandelais an
exception to this pattern. Anointed a “hero,” his policies of reconciliation,
political skills, and genuine devotion to democracy and human rights precluded a
fall from international grace. History shows that genuine heroes are few, and
there is often ambiguity. In our own history,George Washingtonwas a land speculator,Thomas Jeffersonwas a slave owner,
andAbraham Lincolnwas slow to embrace
abolition.
As for
Africa, too often, exaggerated international hopes and expectations for the
African “man of the hour” are disappointed and the “hero” evolves into a “big
man” in the eyes of Africa’s foreign friends.
Simukai
Tinhu, in a thoughtful article, argues that this
process of heroic designation followed almost inevitably by disappointment, is
at present underway with respect toMorgan Tsvangirai, the major opposition leader to the
fallen hero Robert Mugabe. Mr. Tinhu posits that Mr. Tsvangirai is likely to be
the next president of Zimbabwe if the elections later this year are genuinely
free and fair.
But Tinhu discusses episodes in Tsvangirai’s past that
cloud his democratic and human rights protestations. Tinhu sees theMovement for Democratic Change (MDC)under Tsvangirai’s leadership as
increasingly intolerant of criticism and not democratic in its inner workings.
And his private life has been marred by scandals that raise questions about his
personal judgment. In short, Tsvangirai is no Nelson
Mandela.
As
Tinhu observers, Zimbabwe under Tsvangirai might not be so different from
Mugabe’s rule. Tsvangirai’s election does not guarantee a fundamental change in
Zimbabwe’s political system. Outsiders, especially, underestimate Mugabe’s
popularity with the poor and hitherto landless.
Mugabe
might well win a genuinely free and fair election. However, he is unlikely to
take any risks.
The Christian Science Monitor has assembled a diverse
group of Africa bloggers. Our guest bloggers are not employed or directed by the
Monitor and the views expressed are the bloggers' own, as is responsibility for
the content of their blogs. To contact us about a blogger,click here.
Vince Musewe says greed and
corruption has almost become part of the country's DNA
Re-engineering
Zimbabwe; the challenges ahead
The vision of those that sacrificed their
lives during the armed struggle has still to be met.
The socio
economic system that has resulted from our past actions is not meeting our
priority objectives which are; the eradication of poverty and the
improvement in the quality of life of a majority of Zimbabweans.
This
means that, the vision of those that sacrificed their lives during the armed
struggle has still to be met, 33 years later. For me, that should raise
serious concerns for all progressive Zimbabweans. We need to comprehend what
has gone wrong and begin to do the necessary in order to reengineer Zimbabwe
into a modern democratic state. The politics of egos and mammon have not
worked.
Zimbabwe has a highly educated population and apparently has the
highest per capita resource wealth in the world. The question is; how do we
reengineer our socio political system so that we can combine these two
competitive advantages to produce meaningful results?
I do not think
that democracy alone will be the solution nor will be a highly sophisticated
constitution or an intelligent economic blue print. Ask the South Africans
on this. In my opinion, it will be more about the establishment of a very
strong national vision on where the country should be, a strong ethical
leadership and a fearless and collective responsibility by progressive
Zimbabweans, to create that future.
Personally, I do not expect a
fundamental change in how we think in the short term, even after free and
fair elections. We still have to kill the old demons of non accountability,
greed, corruption and the pursuit of selfish ambition at the cost of the
common good that has almost become part of our DNA. Purging these old
destructive habits will take some time.
I worry that we may be expecting
too much change too soon and whoever comes into power in Zimbabwe will
invariably fail, not because of incompetence, but because the ground is not
yet ripe for a new planting season. Our society has suffered immensely and
deeply in the last thirty three years and reversing the psychological impact
of a self centered dictatorship may take the work of another, albeit a
benevolent one.
I think we have rushed the new constitution and we are
rushing to get out of the ZANU (PF) quagmire and this is understandable,
given its retrogressive nature. However, as a nation with so much going for
it, we need to sit back and reflect, so that we do not create another
monster in the pretext of getting rid of the one that we know.
I have
read the CVs and seen some of the characters that are now competing for
seats in parliament and have had rather dull conversations with some about
the future. I must say that, I am hardly inspired by their thinking. It
appears that the most popular and vocal will be the ones that prevail
because of the political leadership talent deficit that the country suffers
from.
In addition to that, it also quite evident that a good number
of our new political aspirants are motivated more by potential personal gain
than by public service. They have hardly been prepared for political
office, a huge responsibility that should demand serious thought and
virtues. It is therefore likely that we may change the government, but the
politics will stay the same.
We have also effectively cut out the
Diaspora from the political arena, and yet it possesses significant talent
to take this country forward. As a result, the pool from which we continue
to draw our future political leadership is limited and quite narrow. Of
course here I am not saying that there is no local talent, all I am saying
is that it limits our universe and therefore, our conversations about the
future.
I doubt that large untapped mineral resources alone can create a
sustainable competitive advantage for our country. This can only happen when
we deliberately marry this with a much focused human capital development
strategy as the Chinese have done. Our development must be accelerated by a
very aggressive technology transfer agenda where we can use technology to
leap frog ahead. More important, we need a new socio political values
system.
I am currently not hearing that conversation from our
aspiring future leaders in parliament or government. All I am hearing is how
we must replace ZANU (PF) and not what social values or philosophies must
replace theirs. This poses a significant danger of possible unmet
expectations and a continuing disconnect between our politicians and our
aspirations. Our new democracy may not serve our urgent needs. South Africa
has woken up to that fact.
One thing that is critical now, is the
opening up of the media space so that we can begin to have open and robust
debate on what future we desire. I am surprised that having an open media, a
critical factor for social change, seems to have now been put on the back
burner. Lately, we have actually seen a crackdown of freedom to access
alternative media platforms. This is an indication that nothing has
fundamentally changed.
Reengineering our country will take some doing and
those who have watched and done nothing will be the most difficult. But more
important, it will take a complete eradication of apathy, low expectations
and a spectator mentality now prevalent amongst Zimbabweans. I guess Niccolò
di Bernardo dei Machiavelli , the Italian historian, politician, diplomat,
philosopher, humanist and writer was correct when he stated
that:
"There is nothing more difficult to plan, more doubtful of success,
more dangerous to manage than the creation of a new system. The innovator
has the enmity of all who profit by the preservation of the old system and
only lukewarm defenders by those who would gain by the new
system"
The challenge is in our hands.
Vince Musewe is an economic
analyst based in Harare. You can contact him on vtmusewe@gmail.com
