http://www.timesonline.co.uk
March
17, 2009
Jan
Raath in Harare
Sebastian Bakare, the Anglican Bishop of Harare, ignored the
riot policeman
at the altar trying disrupt his Sunday service, and carried
on with worship.
In front of the church's first full congregation for years
Bishop Bakare
told the representative of Zimbabwe's security services: "If
you want to
attack me, I am in your hands."
Yesterday Bishop Bakare
recounting the incident that highlights the tension
between Church and
State.
Since September 2007 the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe has been
controlled by
Nolbert Kunonga, the former Bishop of Harare and a zealot of
Robert Mugabe's
repressive regime. He broke away from the Lambeth
Palace-affiliated Harare
diocese, and defied a high court ruling last year
ordering him him to share
churches with his Anglican rivals.
A
fortnight ago the Church secured an affidavit from Police Commissioner
Augustine Chihuri, in which denied knowing anything about a police operation
to force Anglicans away from their churches. It was read to parishioners by
Anglican priests wherever they met, and they were urged to return to their
churches on Sunday.
Emboldened by the formation of the new
power-sharing Government, the church's
flock is now beginning to return in
force.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13517
March 16, 2009
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO - Johannes Nel, a commercial farmer in Gutu, is nursing
injuries
after he was assaulted and taken hostage for hours by a group of
suspected
Zanu-PF supporters over the weekend.
The incident occurred
amid growing concern over fresh farm invasions across
the
country.
Nel, a large-scale cattle rancher, was on Monday reported to be
in hiding.
Officials within Commercial Farmers Union confirmed the attack
on the
farmer, adding that the ongoing farm invasions went against the
current
spirit of unity.
According to workers at Nel's farm, a group
of about 100 invaders raided the
property and dragged the farmer from his
vehicle before taking him hostage
for almost six hours.
"They came
here numbering about 100 and abducted our employer whom they
force-marched
into their car and drove off," said one of the workers.
"They promised to
give us land if we help them to remove Nel".
The CFU says Nel was bundled
into a Zanu-PF truck before being dumped about
80 kilometres away from the
farm.
"Farm invasions are continuing daily," CFU president Trevor Gifford
said.
"They are against the spirit of unity which our political leaders are
preaching everyday".
Sources within the CFU said Nel and other
farmers evicted from their land
were still in hiding for fear of their
lives.
"Most of our members who have been either harassed or assaulted on
their
properties are in hiding," said the source.
Although Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has called for an unconditional
halt to all fresh
farm invasions, some suspected Zanu-PF supporters appear
to be ignoring the
message.
A visit to Nel's farm revealed that about 100 suspected Zanu-PF
supporters
were camped on the land and have literally taken over the
farmer's property.
"You waste your time telling us that you are a
journalist," said one man who
appeared to be the leader of the invaders.
"Join us and you will also get
land."
Elsewhere in Mwenezi three
unnamed commercial farmers fled after they were
chased away by suspected
Zanu-PF supporters over the weekend.
The police in Masvingo on Monday
refused to comment on the ongoing farm
invasions saying the issue was
political.
"We have been instructed not to comment on those issues
because they are
political," said a policeman at Masvingo Central Police
station who
requested anonymity
On the eve of his 85th birthday,
President Robert Mugabe said that all white
commercial farmers who had been
served with notices to vacate their
properties after the government acquired
them should do so immediately.
"You should leave those farms because they
were acquired under our law,"
said Mugabe.
Mugabe's remarks appear to
have sparked a wave of fresh farm invasions by
supporters of his Zanu-PF
party.
Zimbabwe's food production took a nose dive beginning in 2000 when
Mugabe's
supporters invaded white-owned farms ostensibly to address the land
imbalances of the colonial era.
Western governments, whose assistance
is badly needed to resuscitate the
economy, have said that they will only
consider giving financial aid to
Zimbabwe if they see indications of genuine
political and economic reforms
by the new inclusive government.
Only
Australia has so far pledged US$10 million dollars for water and
sanitary
facilities.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13530
March 16, 2009
Geoffrey
Nyarota
TRANSCRIPT of SW Radio Africa interview
Hot Seat
interview: Journalist Violet Gonda interviews Roy Bennett. The
Deputy
Minister of Agriculture designate says he was racially discriminated
against
and individuals like Minister Patrick Chinamasa have a personal
vendetta
against him. He talks about his position on the farm invasions and
also says
genocide is taking place in Mutare remand prison, a place filled
with
walking skeletons.
Broadcast: 13 March 2009
Violet Gonda: Roy
Bennett, the MDC National Treasurer and the Deputy
Ministry of Agriculture
designate is my guest on the programme Hot Seat. I
spoke with him after his
release on Thursday after spending a month in
prison in spite of two High
Court rulings ordering his release.
Roy Bennett: Kanjani,
Violet.
Gonda: VaPachedu veduwe.
Bennett: Eeeee vakomana
zvakaoma.
Gonda: Munotamba here?
Bennett: Ndiripo hangu hameno
imi?
Gonda: Tiri vapenyu. How are you feeling?
Bennett: Alright
thanks Violet. Obviously pleased to be out of there but at
the same time
very, very humbled, in awe and basically also just very sad of
the
conditions in there and the state of affairs here in Zimbabwe.
Gonda:
Will talk a bit more about the conditions in prison but first how
does it
feel to be free?
Bennett: Violet I can't really say I am free. I am under
very stringent bail
conditions. I am in a country where the rule of law is
questionable. There
is no separation of powers and there is interference of
the judiciary from
the highest level. So you don't feel safe at all. I could
be re-arrested any
minute. You have no idea what's in store for you, day to
day.
Gonda: Can you tell us about the bail conditions. I know last week
the High
Court had said you could pay US$2000?
Bennett: Yes, I now
have had to pay US$5000 bail. I have to report three
times a week - Monday,
Wednesday and Friday to the CID Law and Order in
Harare. I have had to
surrender my passport. I have had to surrender title
deeds. My son took me
to the airport - to Charles Prince airport - he used a
friend of ours' car
and they have since been visited. It's a lady, she is a
widow. She was
visited and picked up by the CID Law and Order and
questioned. She was
accused of harbouring a criminal, wanting to know where
else I stay in
Harare, who else I know. The other guys who were with me at
the airport they
have also been picked up and questioned. So the fear and
intimidation
continues and frankly who would want to see me or have me in
their house if
tomorrow they are going to be followed up and victimised by
the Law and
Order people in Harare.
Gonda: What about the charges - what do you make
of those? You have.
Bennett: They are absolutely ludicrous. There is
absolutely no substance.
The charge is contravening Section 10 of the Public
Order and Security Act
(POSA) - which means that I was in possession of arms
of war without
authorisation from the Minister. Now linked to that is the
fact that they
are saying I am the person who funded Mike Hitschmann to
purchase weapons.
But you just have to look at the weapons in that were in
his possession.
Mike Hitschmann was a registered arms dealer. He was a
member of the police
and now of the police reserve. He has on record many
certificates where he
has delivered arms to the armoury in Mutare from
farmers who were leaving
the country - they left their arms with him. He was
originally charged with
treason but that was all thrown out. He was then
charged and convicted under
exactly the same charge that I have been charged
with and in there he put in
an affidavit saying where he had obtained those
weapons and the fact that
those weapons had been left with him by farmers
who were too scared to hand
them in to the police. And he would wait until
there was enough and deliver
them to the police station. And that was all on
record as having done this
before.
So the whole thing is absolutely
ludicrous and a figment of their
imagination. I hardly new Mike Hitschmann -
I had seen him maybe twice or
three times before he was arrested and those
times have been when I
delivered speeches either at the legion club or the
hall in Mutare. So you
know it's ridiculous, Violet.
Gonda: Some MDC
activists including officials like Giles Mutsekwa were also
slapped with the
same charges but had the charges dismissed. So how is it
different?
(Interrupted)
Bennett: Exactly. It's ridiculous. They first charged me
with treason, then
they charged me under the Immigration Act and that was
dismissed in court
and it looked as if they were just going until they could
find something to
stick me with - and eventually they came up with this
charge.
Gonda: So what was the content of your interrogation in
custody?
Bennett: Well basically I had no interrogation at all. All I was
offered to
do was give a 'warned and cautioned' statement which I said I
know nothing
about those allegations. But it would appear Violet, and it is
very obvious
that there are certain individuals inside this government who
have not taken
on the spirit of moving forward - who are still filled with
hatred and
vengeance and basically have personal vendettas against me. I
will put it
down to these sorts of people.
You know for our nation to
move forward we need forgiveness, we need love
and we need to rebuild the
country to move on. We don't build anything with
hatred and
vengeance.
Gonda: So who do you think was behind your
arrest?
Bennett: I have no idea Violet but it is very, very obvious that
it is to do
with the Justice Department. It is to do with those who have
control over
the Attorney General's office and those who have control over
the prisons.
So it is definitely the Ministry of Justice - who have the
people that have
been victimising me. So I would think there is none other
than Patrick
Chinamasa, who still has a vendetta against me over the issue
in Parliament.
The fact that I served eight months in prison is not enough.
He is a man
that is filled with hatred. The man is filled with vengeance. I
have
forgiven him, I forgave him a long time ago and I have asked for his
forgiveness. So I pray that one day he will repent and get on his knees
before he meets his maker because the sort of things he does and is involved
in destroy a country - they don't build a country.
Gonda: What about
the MDC itself do you think it did enough to get you
released?
Bennett: I am sure the MDC has done everything in its
power to get me
released. You know it's not about the MDC, it's not about
Patrick Chinamasa,
it's not about me Violet - it's about the nation of
Zimbabwe that is
suffering under the most extreme conditions. When I speak
to you about the
conditions in prison you will understand what is happening
in our nation.
And basically it's a case of everybody should be joining
together in the
spirit of forgiveness and the spirit of healing to move our
nation forward
to build a better life for the people that are
suffering.
Gonda: You mentioned that it could be people like Patrick
Chinamasa or some
individuals in ZANU PF .
Bennett: Well I understand
that Paradzai Zimondi who is the Head of the
Prisons himself ordered the
people in the region not to release me the first
time the High Court granted
me bail - he ordered them to come and take those
bail papers away. So these
are some of the individuals who have personal
vendettas, whether it's to
protect themselves from whatever they have been
involved in or whether they
don't want to move forward in the government of
unity. Whether they don't
want to forget and forgive I don't know but
definitely I know that from what
happened at the prison is that he was the
one who phoned and ordered that my
(release) papers be taken away.
Gonda: You came back early this year, in
early February actually, from South
Africa where you were living in exile,
to take up this position as the MDC
Deputy Minister of Agriculture - so with
what's been going on are you still
going to take up that
appointment?
Bennett: I have committed myself to serve the people that
elected me into
office and whatever I have to do to satisfy their demands I
will do. Our
President Morgan Tsvangirai has appointed me as the Deputy
Minister of
Agriculture and therefore I will accept that position. I will do
it to the
best of my ability to be able to move things forward in order that
we can
feed ourselves again and become a nation that can be proud of its
agricultural background.
Gonda: Can you comment on the rumours that
there were attempts to actually
trade your freedom for a general pardon and
amnesty for abuses of the past
28 years?
Bennett: I am not sure
Violet. I did hear this but again I was in prison so
I wasn't privy to it
but I understood that was one of the conditions but I
haven't spoken to
anyone directly to confirm this.
Gonda: And speaking of conditions, can
you describe the conditions in
prison?
Bennett: It's an absolute
humanitarian disaster and I would liken it to
pictures that I have seen from
the concentration camps. There is absolutely
lack of food, lack of medical
attention, lack of cleanliness - a lack of
everything. There is absolutely
nothing in the prisons. Prisoners get one
meal a day - a piece of sadza the
size of your hand and water with salt in
it. Those prisoners who do not have
relatives or people outside supporting
them are in worse conditions - or
look like those emaciated, skeletal bodies
we saw during the holocaust.
Basically it is a human rights tragedy and a
serious abuse of human
rights.
Gonda: How many prisoners or inmates died while you were in
jail?
Bennett: Whilst I was in jail five died in the four weeks that I
was there.
The bodies don't get collected. They sit in the laundry, there is
no
mortuary. Most of them sit there for four days - one sat for five days.
The
(inaudible) exploded. They had to put them in plastic bags. I cannot
even
begin to describe the situation and it is not the prison people's
fault.
They are trying their best. In fact they are being paid nothing yet
they are
trying their best to keep things running with absolutely no support
from
government and absolutely no resources. There is nothing Violet. People
don't
even get toilet paper, people don't get soap. So people are in there
eating
one piece of sadza and water a day and nothing else. That is all
there is.
The medication from the medical side is very little and very
sparse so the
whole thing is just an absolute tragedy and
disaster.
Gonda: So will you be able to use your position as a minister
to campaign to
improve the living conditions of prisoners?
Bennett:
Obviously once I am able to explain to my colleagues these
conditions and
bring it to their attention - I am sure there are other
prisoners who are
being released who can confirm everything that I have said
because I am sure
Mutare Remand Prison is not an exception. I am sure
throughout the country
this is the situation. So yes I will do everything in
my power to be able to
make those responsible for these conditions
understand the conditions and
therefore do something about trying to
alleviate those conditions - and
bring back what is needed under the
constitution, what is needed under the
Prison Act, what is needed under the
Prisons Standing Rules and Orders -
whereby each prisoner should receive x,
y & z.
But it needs the
intervention of some international tribunal - the Red
Cross, the United
Nations need to do something- people are dying. It's a
total genocide that
is taking place in the prisons.
Gonda: And while you were in prison I
don't know if you heard the tragic
news that Amai Susan Tsvangirai passed
away after a car crash that actually
injured the Prime
Minister.
Bennett: Yes I did. I just felt terribly saddened and terribly
sorry and I
just hope that it was a genuine accident and that there was
nothing sinister
about it. I have no actual figures but judging from the
history of political
figures dying from road accidents the immediate thought
that comes to your
mind is that there is something wrong. You know I just
feel terribly,
terribly sad. It's such a tragedy and certainly for a man who
has such a
weight on his shoulders to lose his wife at this stage I think
it's
absolutely tragic. What can I say? No words can express the feelings he
has.
All I can say is in my capacity I am totally behind him and will give
him my
full support and solidarity.
Gonda: And there has been an
outpouring of support countrywide and
throughout the rest of the world - and
also from ZANU PF with Robert Mugabe
actually calling for peace and an end
to violence. Now given your experience
is a robust public effort required to
foster national healing and
reconciliation?
Bennett: Most definitely
Violet. It's not even an effort; it's a genuine
sincere will that is needed.
It is the will of forgiveness; it's the will of
throwing away vengeance.
It's a will of believing that you are above the law
that you are entitled
because you were a war veteran and you fought for
Zimbabwe so you rule the
country, nobody dare questions you - anybody who
does then death with him.
That is the spirit that has to be removed and
there has to be a spirit
brought in that the country of Zimbabwe belongs to
the people of Zimbabwe.
Respect their will, give them good governance, and
give them decency and
human rights.
Gonda: Let's go back a little - because many people don't
know what exactly
happened on the day you were arrested on the 13th of
February. Can you
briefly tell us how you were arrested?
Bennett:
Sure Violet. Basically what happened was that when we realised that
the
Deputy Ministers were only going to be sworn in the following week -
obviously the Saturday was Valentines Day and Monday the 16th was my 52nd
birthday. So when I was talking to Heather (wife), she said I should come
and spend the weekend. And obviously I wanted to spend the weekend with the
family.
So there had been a group of people that had come from South
Africa to
attend the inauguration of the Prime Minister's rally at Glamis
Stadium.
They had a spare seat in a chartered plane so they offered the seat
to me.
My son took me to Charles Prince airport to drop me off. There was a
bit of
a problem with the plane so they were delayed and eventually we got
in. I
did my immigration, my passport went, I spoke to the immigration guys
and we
sat around there for a good hour waiting for the plane to be sorted
out.
When it was sorted we got on and the plane started to leave when the
tower
turned the plane back and then I realised there was a problem. I got
off the
plane to go and see what the problem was and CID Law and Order were
waiting
to arrest me. I asked them why they were arresting me and they said
that I
would be told in Marondera; from there I went to Goromonzi. At
Goromonzi
they showed me the warrant for my arrest - for treason - the guys
who
followed me told me that I was taken to Goromonzi. From there they moved
me
to Mutare Central.
Gonda: Were you ever
mistreated?
Bennett: No, I wasn't.
Gonda: You spent eight months
in jail for pushing the Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa in parliament and
that was in 2004 and now you were
arrested again a few years later - and on
the day of the swearing in of
senior Ministers in the new government. Why do
you think there is such an
enormous determination to keep you behind
bars?
Bennett: Violet I think there are certain elements in ZANU PF that
has never
moved forward. They are still harbouring hatred and vengeance and
also fear
of what they have done in the past 29 years. And obviously see me
as a
scapegoat because they are severely racial. They hated the fact that a
white
person could have the support of Zimbabweans. Like I have always said
I have
never seen the difference between our colours. I am a Zimbabwean and
I have
always given my best to anybody who is Zimbabwean and never worried
about
the colour.
So you don't know Violet, but basically there are
people within ZANU PF who
are trying to make this thing fail at all cost and
basically wanted to use
me as a tool to either make the MDC walk away from
the deal or to use me as
a tool to bargain certain positions
with.
Gonda: So do you think your appointment as the Deputy Minister of
Agriculture was to spite ZANU PF, considering that you are white? And that
your appointment could have been read as spiting the regime that chased most
white commercial farmers, including yourself, from their
farms?
Bennett: Violet I think more than anything my appointment was by
the Prime
Minister who assessed his candidates for government and placed
people with
the most experience and the ability to deliver in the positions
he believed
they would deliver and I think that is the reason why I was
placed where I
was placed. I don't think it had anything to do with the fact
that I am
white or to spite anybody. I think it's got a lot to do with
trying to
rebuild a nation that has been completely shattered and destroyed
by years
of hate, vengeance and maliciousness and basically that is what
people have
to overcome. And it is in that spirit that I believe I was
appointed and I
think it is in that spirit that I will work at that
position.
Gonda: You know some people have been asking why did you go
back to Zimbabwe
knowing that you had a case hanging around your
neck?
Bennett: There was never any case. It was always trumped up stuff
and I was
never fearful because I had not done anything wrong. But in view
of the
Global Political Agreement, in view of the assurances I was given by
the
South African government and SADC that we were moving forward on this
thing
I came home to take up my rightful position in my home - under a
period
whereby we were moving forward with goodwill and unity to deliver on
our
nation. So those were the reasons I went home. So at no time was I ever
thought there was a case that could be brought against me because I had not
done anything wrong.
Gonda: So you were actually given assurances by
the South African
government?
Bennett: I was yes.
Gonda: Who
in the government?
Bennett: Well senior members there and I am not at
liberty to name. Very,
very senior members within the South African
government.
Gonda: So do you think they did enough to secure your
release?
Bennett: You are dealing with despots Violet and I honestly do
believe that
everybody concerned played a part in getting me released. But
when you are
dealing with people that believe they have the sole right to
Zimbabwe. They
are war veterans and they believe it is their total right to
rule Zimbabwe
how they see fit - unanswerable or unquestioned by anybody.
And people that
will go to any lengths to remain in power, to destroy the
country, and to
destroy anybody around the country who opposes them. They
are not going to
listen to anybody and there is no amount of pressure that
can be brought to
bear on despots. Despots have thrown all caution to the
wind and will do
anything. I do think they have tried and I think my
colleagues in the MDC
tried very hard and one hopes that there are elements
now that are
beginning to see that we need to have an open heart and
reconciliatory
nature in moving this thing forward.
Gonda: Earlier on
you talked about the appalling conditions in prison and
you said there is a
genocide taking place there. Can you compare your
previous experience to
this one and is there a difference?
Bennett: There is a huge difference
Violet. A huge, huge difference. The
conditions before were bad as far as
the toilets were concerned, as far as
the blankets, lice and everything else
was concerned. But at least then -
when I was in prison - people were
getting three meals a day. They were
getting a cup of porridge in the
morning and a cup of tea. They were getting
soap issued once a week. They
were getting fruit every weekend. So they were
getting breakfast, lunch and
supper. They were getting meat once a month and
the relish was edible. But
now you have one meal a day that is half the
ration of sadza that was being
given the last time with salted water. You
have absolutely no soap being
issued, you have no fruit coming in, and you
have nothing else.
So
when I say it's genocide it's definitely a genocide because anybody that
is
going into prison for any sustained length of time and does not have
family
who have the means to support them and come and visit them in prison
and
bring them food those people are going to die - because the diet that is
there nobody can live on. And there are walking skeletons in that Mutare
Remand Prison that are complete proof; and whilst I was there five people
died in the most emaciated conditions you could ever wish for, where they
had become unconscious, defecating in their blankets and eventually died
from the state of the food they were receiving in prison.
Gonda: When
you say its genocide do you think it's deliberate and is there
something
that the government can actually do about this?
Bennett: Well obviously
they can do plenty about this Violet and that is by
opening their hearts and
begin to have the goodwill to rebuild the country.
Why is the country in the
state that it is in? Why has it been reduced to
such levels where you have
the Minister of Justice who hasn't got the means
to be able to deliver any
form of budget to the prisons yet they continue to
arrest people, they
continue to overcrowd the prisons and they can't feed
them? So that has to
be genocide.
Surely when you can't feed someone in detention and they
have no access to
be able to get any food you are killing them. So surely
you would stop
arresting or declare an amnesty and release people or do
something to save
life. But it continues. Everyday there were about five,
six and sometimes 12
more people coming into the prisons and no one being
released because none
of the guys who were on remand were going to the
magistrates' court,
because the prison didn't have a vehicle. And for a
prison that should have
had 160 inmates you have 360 people. So it is just a
total, total mess that
could be avoided by decisions to stop arresting
people or releasing people
on bail so that they can get out and eat while
waiting for their trial.
Gonda: So given what has happened to you is it
safe for other activists and
personalities to return to Zimbabwe at this
time?
Bennett: You know Violet you cannot hide from these people forever
because
the more you hide from them the more you give them the power of fear
and the
more aggressive they become. So I firmly believe that the only way
to
challenge a bully is to stand up to him and take it to the limits. They
must
do whatever they want to do. If they are going to kill me or whatever
they
want to do they must do it. I have done nothing wrong. All I have ever
done
is stand up for people who have elected me into a position, stand up
for
what I believe on, and stand up for what is right and try to hold my
integrity through this whole crisis.
If that means I will be
incarcerated again, killed, whatever so be it
Violet. These things come to
an end. These sorts of dictators and the sort
of people filled with hate and
vengeance thank God are very few in Zimbabwe
and they are isolating
themselves every single day. And the population is
becoming more and more
angry at being held at ransom by a few people who
believe it is their sole
right to rule Zimbabwe unquestionably.
Gonda: You have been talking about
forgiveness so do you think the same
should be applied to perpetrators of
gross human rights violations?
Bennett: Most definitely not. Yes you
forgive people but there has to be
repentance from the people you are
forgiving and there has to be justice.
Forgiveness, justice and repentance
all go hand in glove. Perpetrators of
violence, people who have committed
murder, acts of rape, acts of arson, and
acts of theft against other
political victims sponsored by the State or the
opposition against ZANU PF -
everybody has to be brought to justice in order
to have national healing.
You will never have a national healing unless you
have justice. So yes I can
forgive somebody but that person then has to
face the justice system and go
through the process of either being convicted
or acquitted as a result of
their actions.
When I say forgiveness, to heal a country and for us as
Zimbabweans to move
forward we have to in our own hearts forgive those who
have perpetrated acts
against us personally. Because unless we do that we
build up hatred and
vengeance in ourselves and start recycling all over
again - where we start
now applying the very principles that have been
applied to us in order to
get even with the people that did it to us. And
that's very wrong.
We need to forgive those who have been used by a
regime to commit these acts
against us and then the issue of justice taking
its course needs to happen
whereby there can be no impunity. The courts, the
rule of law has to be
totally re-established, the police have to operate
without fear or favour
and the courts have to operate independently with a
separation of powers -
rather than the interference and fear that is put
into the magistrates, the
clerks of courts and the prosecutors by people
that threaten them with their
lives or imprisonment.
Gonda: While you
were in prison Robert Mugabe actually swore in all the
Ministers into the
new inclusive government. And you are the only Minister
left to be sworn in.
You have already said you will take up the position of
Agriculture Minister,
so do you know when you will be sworn in?
Bennett: I understand and I was
with the President (Tsvangirai) yesterday in
Buhera and he basically said to
me that the governors need to be sworn in so
when the governors are sworn in
I will be sworn in together with them.
Gonda: And you will be sworn in by
Robert Mugabe?
Bennett: Yes. Ya.
Gonda: How do you feel about
that?
Bennett: I feel very desperately sorry for the man Violet. I pray
for him
and I have forgiven him and I have no problem - maybe to look him in
the eye
and shake his hands and say to him that I have forgiven him, that I
sincerely hope that we can move this country forward in the best interest of
everybody, might have a good effect.
Gonda: Do you think he will have
a problem swearing you in?
Bennett: That's his problem. You know I
sincerely hope not and I hope he has
the same spirit that all of us have to
try and move this thing forward.
Gonda: And I don't know how much you
have been briefed about what's been
happening on the farms while you were in
prison. Many farms were invaded
actually while you were in prison and the
courts have ruled that the SADC
ruling on protected farms is not binding. So
first of all what is your view
on the current invasions, especially as you
are the Deputy Minister of
Agriculture designate?
Bennett: Violet I
am sure that everything that is happening now is illegal
and I am sure it is
something that is again a process whereby people are
trying to grab what
they can while they can and with impunity. But again
these issues will be
revisited, they will be dealt with in accordance with
the law and basically
the whole process will be sorted out. We have to get
back to the rule of
law. We have to get back to respecting SADC rulings and
judgements and
whether we like it or not I honestly believe that will
happen.
Gonda:
Some people say just this pairing up with a person like yourself who
is
highly disliked in ZANU PF - and you will be the Deputy Minister of
Agriculture - a white commercial farmer for that matter - how are you going
to do it? What sort of plans do you have to turn it around? Is it a priority
to resuscitate farming now and how easy will it be, considering that it has
been decimated?
Bennett: I think it's a serious challenge ahead of us
Violet but I don't
think it's an impossible challenge. I think like anything
it's your spirit
of what's in your heart in moving these processes forward.
And like I have
said before I will enter into the position with the total
clear and open
heart to make agriculture productive again and it is possible
to do that. It
is possible to sit down with people and work a way through
everything that
has happened - nothing is impossible and it's the will and
the perseverance
and genuine goodwill, the good heart that you have that can
make these
things work. And I honestly believe that it is possible and that
we will
eventually get there.
Gonda: Have you had a chance to speak
to the Minister of Agriculture?
Bennett: I haven't. No unfortunately I
haven't.
Gonda: When you returned to Zimbabwe, it is said that you
visited your old
farm in Chimanimani - Charleswood Estate. Given an
opportunity would you
want it back, would you want to return to the
farm?
Bennett: Firstly that is irresponsible reporting and totally
incorrect that
I went to Charleswood farm. That is absolute nonsense. I
never went anywhere
near Charleswood farm. Secondly yes I would move back on
to my farm
tomorrow. That farm was taken from me through political
victimisation. It's
been totally destroyed, there is nothing happening there
and in the interest
of moving agriculture forward and in the interest of
unity I have a right as
a member of the government to property that I own.
It's got nothing to do
with me being white. It's got nothing to do with me
being a commercial
farmer. I am a Zimbabwean who has been politically
victimised of something
that he owns. I am sure there will be a way to work
through this and yes I
will go back onto my farm and I will rebuild it and I
will move forward in
the interest of the community of Chimanimani and in the
interest of doing
what I do best and that is farming.
Gonda:
VaBennett perhaps I can end here by saying we hope to speak with you
at a
later date when you have settled in since you have just come out of
prison
and I hope we can chat some more on the crisis in the agricultural
sector.
Bennett: With pleasure Violet, anytime. Obviously I still
need to get my
feet on the ground and understand where we are going and then
with pleasure.
Any time.
Feedback can be sent to violet@swradioafrica.com
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Patricia Mpofu Tuesday 17 March
2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe's teachers have threatened a fresh
work boycott unless the
country's new government agrees to pay them more
than the US$100 allowance
paid to every civil servant last
month.
Officials from the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) and the
Progressive
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) - the two representative
bodies for
teachers in the country - told ZimOnline on Monday that their
members would
not report for duty for the second term in May unless they
were paid more
money.
The union officials said they told Education
Minister David Coltart in a
meeting yesterday that they would not report for
duty unless the government
topped up their salaries or
allowances.
But the union leaders appeared comfortable with teachers
getting paid US$100
this month, indicating their members would remain at
work if this was the
case but would go on strike if the allowance was not
topped up in April.
"We told the minister that our members are very
unhappy and have given the
government up to April 2009 to find the money,
failure of which teachers
will not go back to work," said ZIMTA chief
executive officer Sifiso Ndlovu.
PTUZ secretary general Raymond Majongwe
said: "We have registered our
concerns with the minister and have also
written to the Minister of Public
Service on the failure to hold salary
negotiations for March as agreed last
month."
Coltart described his
meeting with teachers' unions as "fruitful" adding
that his ministry and the
government was working to improve salaries for
teachers.
He said: "It
was agreed the government has no capacity at the moment to
improve on their
allowances. The Minister of Finance has assured us the
government is looking
for funding. We are aware of their concerns and we
will be continuously
looking into improving the salaries."
The government of national unity
between President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy
Premier Arthur Mutambara is broke and
has no cash for salaries for teachers
and hundreds of thousands of its
workers including the police and
army.
The hard cash allowances paid civil servants last month and due to
be paid
this month were raised from donors.
But rich Western
governments with capacity to fund the unity government have
refused to
provide support until they see evidence Mugabe is committed to
genuine power
sharing and to implementing comprehensive political and
economic
reforms.
Finance Minster Tendai Biti last week told journalists the
international
community had to step in and assist Zimbabwe's new government
or it would
fail to deliver on its promises and ultimately
collapse.
Biti yesterday said he could not comment on whether the
government had found
money for salaries for its workers as promised last
month but pleaded with
civil servants to be patient while the administration
looked to address
their salary grievances.
"What I can say is that we
are all the time looking for money. It takes time
but we are trying all the
time. Civil servants will be paid but we appeal
for patience," said
Biti.
However government sources said civil servants will again be paid
US$100
each to be deposited in their respective bank accounts beginning
today, with
teachers the first to get paid followed by soldiers who will be
paid
tomorrow.
The rest of government workers will receive their
allowances in coming days,
according to our sources.
The Southern
African Development Community (SADC), which facilitated
formation of the
unity government in Harare, is planning to hold an
extraordinary summit to
discuss ways to convince the international community
to provide US$2 billion
urgently needed to kick start Zimbabwe's stalled
economy and restore basics
services such as health and education.
But analysts see little hope that
Western governments - many that had
demanded Mugabe's resignation before
they could support Zimbabwe - would
agree to give significant aid before
Harare meets a set of tough benchmarks,
including providing a credible
economic recovery plan, upholding human
rights and taking firm steps to
write a new and democratic constitution for
the country. - ZimOnline
http://www.businessday.co.za
17
March 2009
HOPEWELL
RADEBE
Diplomatic Editor
ZIMBABWE should guarantee the protection of
private investments if it wanted
its economy to recover quickly, a senior
official said yesterday at the
SA-Zimbabwe Joint Permanent Commission for
Co-operation held in Victoria
Falls.
The official told Business
Day last night that SA expressed its concerns
that the government in Harare
needed to take control of and ensure a proper
land distribution
programme.
By being seen to be bringing an end to the violent invasion of
farmland, SA
believed that Zimbabwe would bring political stability and
"reduce the lack
of trust" in the new power-sharing government by foreign
and regional
donors.
Zimbabwe agreed to finalise an agreement on
bilateral investment promotion
and protection, economic co-operation and the
avoidance of double taxation.
"This will be dealt with as a matter of
urgency through parliament so that
it can give potential business investors
some sense of security," the
official said.
South African Foreign
Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma co-chaired the
commission with her
Zimbabwean counterpart, Simbarashe Mumbengegwi.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com
Abductions and torture are
government's way of saying that nobody is safe,
lawyer says
GEOFFREY
YORK
Globe and Mail Update
March 16, 2009 at 8:13 PM
EDT
HARARE - A 73-year-old pensioner. A 2-year-old toddler. A woman who
was HIV
positive. Age or illness meant nothing - none were exempt from the
cruelties
of detention at the hands of President Robert Mugabe's security
forces.
More than 40 activists and opposition members - along with one
activist's
2-year-old son - were abducted by Zimbabwe's security agents last
fall.
After months of abuse and isolation, about half of the abductees have
finally been released from jail. Their accounts of beatings and torture are
a horrifying glimpse into the abyss of Mr. Mugabe's prison
system.
Fidelis Chiramba, 73, says he nearly went crazy after weeks of
torture and
solitary confinement. "I thought I was going mad," he said as he
recovered
in a Harare medical clinic.
"After months of not talking to
anyone, you become sick. I had no voice. I
thought I would never see my
family again. At one point I tried to kill
myself."
Mr. Chiramba
believes he was targeted by the security agents because he
headed a branch
of the leading opposition party in Mr. Mugabe's home
district. Eight men
burst into his house at 3:30 a.m. on Oct. 31, breaking
down his kitchen door
and hauling him away. He was taken to a series of
police stations, where he
was accused of operating a military training camp
in Botswana, a common
charge against opposition members.
Then he was handed over to state
security agents, who blindfolded him and
took him to secret torture camps.
He says they beat him on his feet, his
arms and his back, leaving his limbs
scarred and swollen.
In one camp, he says, his captors forced him into a
deep freezer, then
poured boiling water on him, leaving his skin covered in
blisters. "I
suffered a lot," he says. "I had a headache all the
time."
His wife, Sophie, had no idea where he had been taken. "I thought
he had
died," she said. "I was in pain. I didn't know where he
was."
After almost two months in the torture camps, he was transferred to
a
maximum-security prison, where his family was finally allowed to visit
him.
But he was classified as a "security risk" and kept in solitary
confinement.
He says he saw dozens of prisoners dying of hunger in the
prison, while
guards begged the prisoners for a share of their food. "This
is a government
that lets people die of hunger," he says.
Mr.
Chiramba was finally released on bail on Feb. 27, almost four months
after
he disappeared into the country's Kafkaesque system of confinement.
He
remains defiant, even though he suffers liver problems and has difficulty
walking as a result of the beatings. "I will not give in," he says. "I still
support the MDC."
Another of the abductees was Violet Mupfuranhewe,
who was not released from
detention until last week. She is the mother of a
two-year-old boy. The
security agents kept the boy in detention too, and he
was beaten by police
when he cried, according to the mother's lawyer, Alec
Muchadehama.
Another detainee was Audrice Mbudzana, a woman who is
receiving medical
treatment for HIV-AIDS. Last week she told a Zimbabwe
newspaper, The
Standard, that her health suffered during her detention
because she was
forced to sleep on a hard floor and was given substandard
food.
Several detainees said they were tortured with a variation of the
notorious
water-boarding technique. They were tied up, hung upside down,
beaten, and
then dropped head-first into drums of water.
"You feel
like you are drowning," said Zachariah Nkomo, a 33-year-old former
employee
of the CARE relief agency who was abducted in early December.
He said he
was dropped into a water drum for an hour every day for several
days. "You
feel like you have water coming into your ears and nose and
mouth."
Mr. Nkomo, who was finally released on March 3, says he
suffered eye and ear
infections and still has damage to his hearing today.
He also has a back
injury because he was dropped onto the floor once when he
was tied
upside-down.
He says the police repeatedly questioned him
about CARE's operations in
Zimbabwe, accusing the agency of supporting the
opposition party, a charge
strongly denied by CARE. The agency, along with
other independent
organizations, was partially banned by the Zimbabwe
government for three
months last year.
Mr. Muchadehama, the lawyer
for most of the detainees, said the authorities
routinely denied that they
had custody of the detainees, even when their
relatives had seen them at
police stations.
Even today, with a new "unity government" in power,
about 20 people are
still being kept in detention in unknown places, he
said.
The abductions and detentions, he said, were a way for the
authorities to
show that "nobody is safe" in Zimbabwe, even when the
opposition party is
sharing power. "They wanted to demonstrate openly what
they're capable of
doing. It was a way of saying, 'Don't forget that we are
in control - look
at what we can do.'"
http://www.herald.co.zw
Tuesday,
March 17, 2009
Business
Reporter
A fight is brewing between Zimbabwe Stock Exchange management
and the
Securities Commission over the control of the bourse, with the
former
believed to have instructed brokers to ignore a meeting called by the
commission last week.
Of the 31 registered brokers, only 10 attended
the meeting that was meant to
brief stockbrokers on the role of the
Securities Commission and to review
trading since the market re-opened last
month.
The Securities Commission took over the role of regulating the
market from
the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange's management committee late last
year.
Among the objectives of the Securities Commission is to regulate
capital and
securities markets with a view to providing investor confidence.
It is also
empowered with supervising and regulating security exchanges and
advising
Government on such matters as well as preventing financial
manipulation.
"The Securities Commission had organised a meeting last
Thursday but most of
them did not turn up saying they had been instructed by
the ZSE chairman Mr
Seti Shumba not to attend," said one source who cannot
be named.
Commission's chairperson Mrs Willia Bonyongwe confirmed
yesterday the
meeting was not well-attended but could not give
details.
"It's true we had a meeting last week with brokers, some turned
up and some
did not," said Mrs Bonyongwe when she was contacted for
comment.
However, it is understood a meeting between stockbrokers and the
ZSE
management committee would be held today to discuss the
"rift".
"A meeting will be held tomorrow (today) between the stockbrokers
and ZSE to
discuss the matter," said a dealer with one stockbroking
firm.
Mr Shumba was not immediately available for comment as he was said
to be
away. ZSE chief executive Mr Emmanuel Munyukwi could not comment.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw/
Monday, 16 March 2009 21:56
DEFENCE
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa has been sucked into a saga involving
the abuse
of inputs from the state-run Grain Marketing Board (GMB) in a
matter that
could be a precursor to exposing how government resources were
diverted to
prop up ZANU-PF's 2008 election campaign.
The name of the ZANU-PF
legal supremo surfaced in a court case in which the
State is accusing
Jeffrey Tabva, a former Central Intelligence Organisation
operative and
Andrew Raymond Williams of defrauding the state granary of
720x50kg bags of
urea fertilizer, over 30 000kgs of flour, more than 70
metric tonnes of
mealie meal and 600x50kg bags of Silo mealie meal.
According to court papers
submitted to magistrate Lillian Kudya the
Anti-Corruption Commission said
Tabva was once Mnangagwa's subordinate.
The State is alleging that Tabva and
Williams misrepresented facts to GMB
officials that they had been sent by
the Minister when in fact they had
hatched a plan to loot the national food
reserves.
But Tabva denied the charges saying he was acting on behalf of not
only
Mnangagwa, but other ZANU-PF politicians to win the hearts and minds of
the
electorate ahead of last year's harmonised polls.
The State alleges
that on May 27 2008, Tabva went to GMB Aspindale depot and
misrepresented to
the inputs supervisor Malvern Chani that he had been sent
by Mnangagwa to
purchase 720x 50kgs of urea fertilizer.
The State said as a result of this
misrepresentation, Williams instructed
his accountant Jacqueline Mututwa to
pay GMB $58 647 745 440 000, through an
electronic money transfer from Dayan
Trading Stanbic Bank account number
0140032346601 Msasa Branch the same day.
The money was deposited into GMB's
account with Agribank Nelson Mandela
Branch account number 001989477011. A
copy of the transfer number 50944 has
been handed over to the bench.
Three days later, the payment was confirmed
and a receipt issued in
Mnangagwa's name after which Tabva told Williams to
arrange to transport the
products.
Tabva's lawyer Itayi Ndudzo replied in
court papers: "During the 2008
election period, the accused person was
actively involved in the campaigns
for ZANU-PF and made numerous purchases
of various commodities for the
benefit of party members in various
constituencies.
"The purchases were for the benefit of various
politicians including the
Honourable Minister Mnangagwa. At the instance of
GMB officials some
commodities for the benefit of Honourable Mnangagwa's
constituency were
dispatched in his name after GMB had authenticated that
the purchases were
indeed for his benefit."
Ndudzo said his client had
not prejudiced the GMB as all commodities were
fully paid for in local
currency.
Tabva said he had a long-standing relationship with the parastatal
through
two companies in which he is a director: Honay Investments (Pty) Ltd
and PSC
Agric Limited.
He further alleges that he has supplied imported
mealie meal and other
commodities to GMB since 2004 and has documents has
documents to prove his
claims.
Tabva added he was well known to GMB
senior personnel and that GMB owes one
of his companies PSC Agric Limited
more than US$533 000 for maize supplied
in April 2006.
Williams, on the
other hand, said in his defence outline that he does not
have any
relationship with GMB but was only contracted to transport Tabva's
commodities through a company owned by one of his brothers-in-law, Abdul
Hussein.
Giving evidence in court yesterday Chani who is in charge of
receiving and
dispatching stocks said although, Tabva and Williams are said
to have
ordered 720 bags of fertilizer each weighing 50 kgs, they were given
only
500 bags after negotiations as new farmers were also in need of the
farming
input.
He admitted releasing the commodities to the suspects and
maintains all
documents were in Mnangagwa's name.
Chani said processing
of and authentication of all sales and beneficiaries
is done at head office.
Of the 500x50 kgs, only 333 bags were recovered at
Dayan Trading Premises in
Graniteside.
Meanwhile ZANU-PF and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
officials are
quaking in their boots over a Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
audit into the
possible abuse of farm implements.
The audit, the first of
its kind since the central bank started distributing
farming implements
under its farm mechanisation programme, comes after
reports that the
facility was being abused by politicians.
Government sources said the audit,
which officially kicked-off on Monday,
would soon name and shame the
culprits from the three main political parties
who took advantage of the RBZ
facility.
They said several beneficiaries of the programme sold implements
including
tractors for a song to line their pockets while others had donated
the
equipment to their relatives.
"The central bank wants to come clean
on this issue and is aware that such a
facility could be subject to abuse,"
said a source who spoke strictly on
condition of anonymity.
While
Kumbirai Nhongo, the spokesperson for the RBZ could not immediately
comment
on the audit, police and government sources said several culprits
had
already been arrested on allegations of abusing the equipment.
"There was
rampant looting of farming implements and cases of abuse are
trickling in.
The culprits will be appearing in court soon. There is more
than meets the
eye," said a police source privy to the investigations.
Government sources
said the central bank, which mobilised the resources
including tractors,
scotch carts, harrows and ploughs had been inundated
with reports pointing
to abuse of the government programme.
The probe team is receiving a daily
allowance of US$50 for the 30 days they
would be at work.
The audit teams
comprising officials from the central bank, the
Anti-Corruption Commission,
police and State Security agents have been
dispatched to the country's 10
political provinces.
RBZ governor Gideon Gono said the main objective of the
audit was to ensure
that equipment received was properly allocated, used
productively and
properly maintained and serviced.
He said the RBZ wants
to make sure that equipment allocated to farmers was
consistent with the
farm sizes.
Gono further stated that all equipment allocated by the RBZ must
be
available on the farm in order to facilitate physical inspection by the
audit teams.
"All farmers are required to fully cooperate with the audit
teams," said
Gono.
In order to ensure the smooth implementation of the
audit, beneficiaries
were being asked to make available offer letters, title
deeds or permits,
equipment service records, proof of delivery of produce to
formal markets
and copies of delivery notes acknowledging receipt of
equipment.
The RBZ audit comes barely a month after the government named nine
legislators from both ZANU-PF and the MDC who allegedly abused subsidized
agricultural inputs distributed to farmers under the National Food Security
Programme.
Not even one single scheme put together by the government has
been
implemented without political bigwigs, who have mastered the art of
piggybacking their cronies at the slightest opportunity, abusing their clout
to plunder whatever little public resource is available.
Examples include
the VIP Housing Scheme, the War Victims Compensation Fund,
the on-going
plunder of diamonds in Chiadzwa, the crony-capitalism that
collapsed Roger
Boka's United Merchant Bank inn the 1990s and the multiple
farm ownership of
commercial farms distributed under the chaotic land
reforms.
http://www.fingaz.co.zw/
Monday, 16 March 2009 22:02
THE
Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) stamped its
authority
last week to steer the inclusive government on the correct path
when it
summoned Kembo Mohadi and Giles Mutsekwa - the Home Affairs
Ministers - to
explain the persistent detention of the remaining political
prisoners that
continues to hobble the shaky power-sharing arrangement.
It has since
emerged that the Ministers who preside over the police and the
Attorney
General's Office - both under fire for attempting to undermine the
historic
inclusive government - can also not account for three of the
remaining
political prisoners whose whereabouts are unknown.
More than 30 Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC-T) activists were held
incommunicado by State
security agents since October last year in connection
with alleged acts of
insurgency against President Robert Mugabe's
government.
The activists
who were later to be handed over to police after worldwide
condemnation had
been held despite a High Court order compelling the State
to produce
them.
But last week President Mugabe struck a deal with JOMIC to have all
political prisoners released on condition they dropped their appeals in the
High and Supreme Courts in line with the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
signed on September 15 2008.
This led to the release of most of the
prisoners except seven. The seven
include MDC-T treasurer Roy Bennett,
Ghandi Mudzingwa, the Prime Minister's
assistant, Kisimusi Dhlamini,
Andreson Manyere, a journalist and the three
unaccounted for.But Bennett was
yesterday granted US$5 000 bail by Supreme
Court Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku after he dismissed the State's claim
for his continued
detention. This was an increase of US$3 000 from the
previous bail money set
by the High Court.
Chidyausiku also ordered Bennett to surrender his title
deeds for Stand 901
of Umtali Township Lands held under deed transfer
number 7571-88, surrender
all his travel documents, report thrice a week at
Harare Central's Law and
Order Section, not to interfere with witnesses and
to reside at a given
address.
Among the prisoners that were freed without
charge include two-year-old
Nigel Mutemagawu.
JOMIC - the principal body
charged with the implementation of the GPA -
last week summoned Mohadi and
Mutsekwa and ordered them to release the
remaining prisoners who have been
languishing in remand for subversion and
recruiting fighters to topple
President Mugabe.
Mohadi and Mutsekwa told the Committee, accused of lacking
stamina to get
things done, that they had not been briefed on the situation
and would in
due course inform JOMIC on any development regarding the
prisoners after
checking with subordinates.
Contacted for comment this
week Mutsekwa confirmed being hauled before
JOMIC. Mutsekwa said he,
together with Mohadi, had since ordered the police
to release the remaining
three prisoners as soon as their names were
verified.
But as of yesterday
the defence lawyer, Alec Muchadehama, was still pursuing
a Supreme Court
appeal to have them released.
"The delay was caused by the fact that there
was confusion over the names of
the detainees," Mutsekwa said. "That has
since been sorted out and we have
given the police instructions to release
the prisoners in the spirit of the
inclusive government. However, there are
three more whose whereabouts are
still unknown. The police have said they
are not in their custody, so we are
still looking for them. We must ensure
that the police comply with court
orders because they are the face of this
inclusive government and we must
ensure that faith is brought back to the
police force."
Mohadi yesterday said he was sure the remaining political
prisoners had been
released.
Said Mohadi: "I am sure they have been
released by now. I was in Zambia, but
my co-minister should have more detail
because they must have appeared in
court last Friday and released."
JOMIC
chairperson, Elton Mangoma, has expressed concern about the flouting
of the
provisions of the GPA signed between President Mugabe's ZANU-PF and
the two
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations led by Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, the Deputy Prime Minister.
"We were
satisfied (with Mohadi and Mutsekwa's explanations) but I think we
are
hitting a brick wall at the execution stage of decisions," Mangoma said.
"We
are still trying to figure out where the stumbling block is. Maybe it
could
be at the stage of communication, I don't know."
Mangoma said his Committee
would leave no stone unturned in making sure that
the culprits behind the
continued incarceration of the prisoners were
exposed and dealt with to
enable the inclusive government to operate
smoothly.
"On the issue of
detainees, we agreed that all of them should be released
sometime ago, but
this has not yet happened," Mangoma said.
"We are therefore concerned that
what we are agreeing on is not happening.
The three principals agreed to the
outstanding issues of the political
detainees; that they should be released,
so I don't see what the problem is.
We spoke to the two ministers of Home
Affairs and expressed our concerns to
which they said they would get back to
us."
Mangoma said his committee was looking at all outstanding issues with a
view
to making sure the provisions of the power-sharing agreement were
implemented. Apart from the release of the political prisoners, ZANU-PF and
the MDC have also agreed to review the appointments of Provincial Governors
and the reversal of the appointments of permanent secretaries last
month.
Tsvangirai had vowed not to join hands with his long time rival
President
Mugabe in a unity government before all prisoners, who at the time
included
human rights defender Jestina Mukoko, were released.
Mukoko, the
director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, was freed by magistrate
Mishrod
Guvamombe on US$600 bail and US$20 000 surety and ordered to
surrender all
travel documents and report to Norton Police regularly.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
Robert Mugabe's personal helicopter pilot tried to stay in the
UK illegally
because he feared Zimbabwe's despotic president, a court
heard.
Last Updated: 10:24PM GMT 16 Mar 2009
Air force ace
Matthew Mufiri, 35, spent 10 years ferrying Mugabe around the
stricken
African nation before fleeing with "quite a few stories to tell," a
judge
heard.
However, after arriving on a visitor's visa in 2004 and being
rejected for a
job in the RAF, Mufiri then attempted to claim his right to
stay in Britain
by offering officials a fake birth certificate belonging to
a woman who had
died in an accident in High Wycombe, Bucks.
The woman
- Kathleen Durkin - has been falsely cited as the mother of more
than 70
applicants for British passports, to the immense distress of her
family, the
court was told.
Nick Ashby, defending, told Judge Anthony King, sitting at
Reading Crown
Court, that from the age of 21 years the defendant had flown
helicopters
which carried the Zimbabwean President.
"Given the
exposure at such a high level to the government, there are
concerns about
his safety and protection at the present time," said the
barrister.
"He has quite a few stories to tell."
Mr Ashby
admitted that after Mufiri was rejected for RAF service in 2004, he
registered with a London management college and obtained a student visa
which expired in October 2007.
The married father-of-one then
attempted to fraudulently claim British
ancestry after paying £3,000 pounds
for the false birth certificate but was
arrested when police and immigration
officials raided his home in Gould
Close, Newbury, Berks, on January
10.
Prosecuting, Sandra Beck said: "At interview he was asked why he
failed to
mention or make reference to a British-born mother when he came to
the UK
and why he left it until his student visa ran out.
"He could
not answer and checks carried out by the British Embassy in Harare
proved
the birth certificate was fake."
Sentencing black-coated Mufiri to six
months in prison, Judge King said: "It
was perfectly clear that this was a
banned activity following up on your
knowledge that if you did not use false
documents you would not be able to
remain."
However the judge made no
order for deportation after learning that Britain
does not throw out any
illegal immigrants or over-stayers from Zimbabwe
because of the country's
political turmoil.
The only way for Mufiri to be deported would be if he
volunteered to go, the
court was told.
Judge King added: "Whether he
will be deported or not will be a matter for
the Home Office.
"For my
part I see no reason why he should not be."
Mufiri admitted one charge of
fraudulently claiming the right to stay in the
Posted
With Zimbabwe having installed its new power-sharing Government, Africa correspondent Andrew Geoghegan has entered the country posing as a businessman, only to discover the plight of its people is worsening. Andrew chanced his arm and returned to Zimbabwe for his fifth visit, this time witnessing first hand the devastation of Zimbabwe's cholera outbreak, and how the water-borne disease is continuing to claim so many lives.
It is how I imagine a post-apocalyptic world would be; a world undone by neglect and madness.
Zimbabwe has fallen apart at the seams. Nothing works. The combined collapse of the water and sewerage systems has given rise to cholera.
On my fifth trip back to Zimbabwe I was appalled at how much further the country had disintegrated.
This time around I crossed the border posing as a businessman. There are only so many times a tourist would feasibly want to return and my passport was looking a little suspicious.
Yet given the attitude at immigration I need not have worried. The officials had run out of visas. They fumbled around for a scrap piece of paper, scribbled down my name and that was it.
Joining me on my latest venture was Mary-Ann Jolley, a producer with Foreign Correspondent.
We had come up with a cover story just in case we were questioned. She was my cousin on holiday from Australia. She was tagging along with me while I investigated future tourism potential.
It was a dodgy front and thankfully we did not have to use it.
Mary-Ann and I were both carrying hand-held video cameras that we could pass off as tourist necessities. We also managed to smuggle in a hidden video camera. This was particularly useful, as we soon discovered.
There may be a new, inclusive government in Zimbabwe, but little appears to have changed.
Foreign journalists such as myself must still sneak into the country. Most people remain in the grip of paranoia. No-one is quite sure if it is safe to express their views openly. Robert Mugabe's security apparatus remains active and the threat of arrest very real.
We had come to Zimbabwe to examine the cholera epidemic and find out how it is extending its deadly reach so quickly and extensively. We did not have to look very hard to see why the water-borne disease is thriving.
Literally every street in the high density suburbs is flowing with sewage. When it rains the homes that line the streets are deluged with excrement.
Children play in the drains. In one community we found dozens of people queuing to collect water from a drain. This was their only source of water. Most were using it to wash their clothes, but some admitted they drank the stuff, unsure if it contained cholera.
Just down the road a cholera clinic was struggling to cope with patients. The death toll here was well over 100 and this was just one of the communities affected.
We managed to walk into a few clinics without letting on we were journalists. I just mentioned we were from Australia and little more was said.
Patients, too weak to move, lay semi-naked on stretchers. A bucket sat underneath the middle of each stretcher where a hole had been made. This disease ravages its host and strips away all human dignity.
Many patients were willing to be videoed, despite their appalling condition. But on most occasions we were prevented from doing so by hospital staff.
"Why?" we asked. "Because of the government," was the explanation.
This had nothing to do with the respect of patients' rights. At some clinics we were forewarned that filming would be impossible, so we walked in with our hidden camera.
The true extent of the epidemic is unknown. International aid groups are doing the best that they can treating the victims and educating people about sanitation.
However, a vast number of Zimbabweans are suffering out of sight. Those who live in remote communities have little chance of making it to a clinic for help.
The disease can strike so swiftly that a victim is dead within a few hours. Those patients I met spoke of how lucky they were to find treatment.
There is a resignation here. These people have not been helped in the past, why should they expect to be helped now.
I would like to think that my next visit to Zimbabwe will offer some glimpse of the future, that the country may be beginning to reverse its decline.
But most Zimbabweans believe their fortunes will only turn once Robert Mugabe has gone. There are likely to be many more needless deaths before then.
Watch Andrew Geoghegan's report for Foreign Correspondent on ABC1, 9.30pm Tuesday March 17
http://www.businessday.co.za
17
March 2009
Allow me to take issue with the
opinion piece, No easy choices available for
Zimbabwe currency reform, by
Peter Draper and Andreas Freytag (March 2). The
authors favour retaining
central banking in Zimbabwe and reject both the
"dollarisation" and currency
board options I proposed in my 2008 book,
Zimbabwe: Hyperinflation to
Growth, which was published in Harare. (An
amended version is available at
http: //www.cato.org/pubs/dpa/dpa6.pdf).
During its history, Zimbabwe
has had several types of monetary systems.
Central banking is the only
system that worked badly. The long-term record
of central banking in most of
Africa is also poor . To retain central
banking is to perpetuate a system
that has destroyed the livelihoods of
millions of Zimbabweans. In contrast,
the long-term records of currency
boards and dollarisation are
good.
Historical experience shows that currency boards and
dollarisation are both
easy to implement. Governments have adopted them in
the midst of war,
economic crises and political turmoil. They have proven to
be durable. Small
initial stocks of foreign currency have never created a
problem because, by
promoting economic stability, currency boards and
dollarisation have enabled
the stocks to grow quickly.
The
authors' theoretical arguments against currency boards and dollarisation
are
oft-repeated. Indeed, they always seem to arise whenever these monetary
regimes are debated. But, in fact, they have never posed serious obstacles
to establishing currency boards or dollarisation in
practice.
Steve Hanke
Professor of applied
economics
The Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, Maryland
http://www.triumphnewspapers.com
, Nigeria
RABI AUWAL 20 1429 A.H.
TUESDAY MARCH 17
2009.
By Kola
Ibrahim
The majority MDC opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai has been sworn
in as
the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe while his minority MDC faction leader
Arthur
Mutambara has also been appointed the Deputy Prime Minister of the
country
in a power sharing agreement introduced by the House of Assembly and
signed
into law by the 84-year old Robert Mugabe, the despotic president of
the
country. This process brings to some end the wrangling between different
layers of the ruling class in Zimbabwe which started after the March 2008
presidential election. Then, the MDC leader and presidential candidates,
Morgan Tsvangirai had openly withdrawn from the presidential run-off, the
first round of which he won, citing brazen violence and state terror through
unwarranted arrests and detention against his party members.
While his
reason for withdrawing from the elections were genuine,
Tsvangirai, rather
than start building grass root movement among the working
and poor people,
including the million of unemployed and the poor peasants,
he preferred to
hobnob with imperialism and its African lapdogs like the
Nigeria's former
civilian dictator, Olusegun Obasanjo. This gave Mugabe the
excuse to further
attack the rank and file opposition members by portraying
them as
imperialist agents that want to cripple the country, more so that
Mugabe is
seen by a section of the population as an independence hero. It is
ironic
that while Morgan Tsvangirai and his lieutenants in the Mugabe's
cabinet are
now to live under the cozy and elitist environments and official
perks,
cases of the rank and file party members, many of whom are detained
or
traumatized - upon whose back Tsvangirai and his ilk rode to power - took
the back seat in the final power sharing. This again shows the character of
the capitalist oriented opposition in Zimbabwe.
Morgan Tsvangirai and the
MDC top-shots have portrayed the power-sharing as
a landmark despite the
fact that power was not totally given to them. Also,
the Southern African
Development Commission (SADC) - the Southern African
ruling class regional
organization - and its South African negotiator, Thabo
Mbeki, have portrayed
the power-sharing as a confirmation of their dubious
policy of "quiet
diplomacy" and "African solution to African problems". The
ruling western
imperialist governments like US, UK and France and the
capitalist
multilateral agencies such as United Nations, while raising
concerns about
Mugabe's sincerity, have commended the power sharing process
as a step
towards 'democracy'. However, these various instruments of
imperialism are
only interested in their selfish capitalist interests, and
cared much less
about the poor people. Moreover, the power sharing, even if
it is popular
among some sections of the working people - who have illusion
in the
agreement, cannot move the Zimbabwean society forward politically and
economically, both on a short and long run bases.
The reality is that
aside official perks and opportunity to serve as conduit
pipe for
imperialist plunder of the economy, the MDC cannot be said to have
gained
from the power sharing. Before the formalization of the power
sharing, the
two camps have agreed to five-point Global Political Agreement
(GPA) which
among others raised the demands for cutting the power of Mugabe
and resolve
human rights issues; but the power sharing has legitimized
Mugabe's terror
and undemocratic power usurpation. In the power sharing
agreement, Mugabe is
still made the executive president which makes him not
a figurehead as is
being postulated by the MDC but a major decision maker in
the country. Also,
while the oppositions have majority in the government's
cabinet, decision
making is not by simple majority decision but through
consensus which gives
Mugabe veto over decision-making in the cabinet some
vital
appointments.
Though, some balance has been struck on the issue of security
with the
formation of National Security Council comprising the Mugabe and
MDC
representatives, the reality is that Mugabe still have the power over
the
security and coercive instruments - the police and the army. It will be
recalled that one of the major issues that had delayed the power sharing is
the claim of the opposition to the control of the police, but through the
back door, the opposition controlled by Morgan Tsvangirai has been made a
junior partner in the security arrangement. Furthermore, while the MDC
condemned the land "redistribution" of Mugabe, that claimed to give land to
the black Zimbabweans but actually favoured some thousands rich pro-ZANU-PF
supporters, the opposition party actually agreed in the GPA that the "land
'redistribution' is not reversible". This is a rebuttal of the MDC's claim
of defending poor peasants.
It can however be argued that since Mugabe
was forced to agree to power
sharing in the first instance, this in itself
shows that Mugabe has been
curtailed. This will be a superficial analysis.
In the first instance,
Mugabe and the ZANU-PF ruling clique (and its
military backbone) desperately
need the power sharing - or a façade of it -
that will neutralize the
growing opposition at home. It will be recalled
that teachers, medical
workers and civil servants are currently on strike in
defence of their
living standards. In the country, which last released
inflation rate is more
than 231 million percent, there is acute food
scarcity while the currency
has collapsed; the workers' salaries could
hardly take them to work talk
much less of helping ensure survival. This has
made workers to demand being
paid in foreign currency especially US dollar
and South African rand - a
demand that Mugabe has not met. Mugabe knows that
these industrial struggles
will develop into political struggles which can
unseat him in a political
uprising, and which can give the opposition to lay
claim to the movement and
take power.
Furthermore, the economic crisis
that had seen tens of thousands fleeing the
country coupled with growing
health concerns especially the outbreak of
Cholera that had killed hundreds,
can put pressures on pro-capitalist,
pro-imperialism African rulers (many of
whom get to and sustain themselves
in power through brazen despotism or
fraudulent electoral means) to isolate
Mugabe. It is the summation of these
points that have made the power sharing
a lifeline for Mugabe rather than a
curtailment. With the limited inclusion
of MDC factions, Mugabe may hope to
get economic and humanitarian supports
from the international community and
reduce tension. It may also afford
Mugabe to neutralize political
opposition. The power sharing rather than
emboldening and building MDC's
strength, will give the Mugabe's government
and its ZANU-PF ruling clique,
the opportunity to neutralize the opposition
and ensure the continued
existence in power of ZANU-PF ruling caste and its
military backbone. This
is the same way that Mugabe neutralized its former
political adversary -
ZAPU - when the latter joined force with Mugabe in a
political alliance that
led to the neutralization of ZAPU. With MDC
commitment to neo-liberal
capitalist policies of privatization,
commercialization, retrenchment, etc,
the MDC will be at some period
isolated and lose its mass base. This is what
Mugabe is looking and waiting
for.
Imperialism's hypocrisy is clearly
manifested in the current issue of
Zimbabwe. It is funny that the same
imperialism especially Gordon Brown's
Britain and other European ruling
class that condemned Mugabe and called for
his removal for human rights
violations and in fact placed embargos on
Zimbabwe, which compounded the
suffering of the Zimbabwean poor, is
committed to the agreement and the
power sharing process. In fact, US and
European imperialisms condemned South
Africa and SADC for the so-called
quiet diplomacy over Zimbabwe, but the
same ruling classes were quick to
accept the power sharing agreement. This
clearly shows the nature of the
so-called international community - it is a
structure for the continuation
of capitalist profit-system - where the
interests of the common people come
last, if at all. The Zimbabwe crisis
also reflects the rottenness of African
ruling classes. While many of
African rulers claimed to be committed to
"quiet diplomacy", none of them
could even clearly condemn Zimbabwe neither
did they condemn western
capitalist imperialisms' role in the suffering of
poor Zimbabweans. Even
those who condemned Mugabe either did so on behalf of
imperialism (like
Botwana's president) or are themselves not different from
Mugabe (like
Angola's Dos Santos). In fact, African rulers through SADC
actually helped
Mugabe to stabilize, because the fear of a latent uprising
in Zimbabwe that
can inspire other African poor, is the beginning of wisdom
for these
corrupt, pro-imperialist rulers. This explains why most of African
ruling
classes are conduit pipes for imperialist plunder of the Africa,
which
despite having huge human and material wealth, constitute one of the
world's
most poor.
The MDC's involvement in the Mugabe's government is a reflection
of the fact
that the poor people need an independent working class political
alternative
with a socialist orientation. Tsvangirai's excuse that there is
need for
stability is unfounded and fraudulent. The same Tsvangirai fought
for almost
one year in order to secure most viable positions, especially
finance
ministry, in the cabinet. In actual fact, MDC and Tsvangirai's
interests,
aside the crass struggle for power and official perks, only wants
to satisfy
the interests of imperialism. This explains why it was ready to
accept
participation in the government immediately some 'juicy' positions
like
finance minister, which could allow it to implement the neo-liberal
capitalist policies, that will again put the agricultural and natural
resources of the country to multinational vampires and their local
collaborators. According to the spokesperson of MDC and Deputy Information
minister, Bright Matonga "We will respect property rights; we will respect
the issue of declaration and repatriation of dividends,...So really we are
inviting people in manufacturing, in tourism, in farming, in mining." This
is another euphemism for privatization, commercialization, liberalization,
etc which are being implemented by various African leaders but have led to
more suffering and political instability.
Tsvangirai himself was quoted
in a post-swearing in rally to have committed
himself to neo-liberalism.
Though he promised to start paying workers US
dollar salaries and called on
them to resume, this is just a stop gap
measure and has nothing to do with
the real living standard of the poor. In
the first instance, what caused the
demand for dollar salary is the collapse
of the economy engendered in the
first instance by Mugabe's implementation
of WTO/World Bank-inspired
neo-liberal policies - the same policies which
Tsvangirai and both factions
of MDC have committed himself to. Tsvangirai
also promised to seek for
humanitarian support from multilateral agencies to
resolve the health and
food problems. While some minimal support may come
the way of Zimbabwe in
this direction, the reality is that adequate
resolution of the health and
food crises can only be resolved when the
agricultural and natural resources
of the country is put into public
ownership and used for the interests of
the poor people.
The Zimbabwe's crisis has further exposed the limitation of
the so-called
progressive or leftist intellectuals in Africa, many of whom
either support
imperialism and MDC in the name of fighting for democracy or
blindly support
Mugabe's despotic rule under the guise of fighting
imperialism, without
giving a working class political alternative that will
defeat imperialism
and despotism - which will come together at some critical
point when their
interests merge, as currently witnessed. All this point to
one thing - the
working people need their own mass party that will be
democratically built
from the grassroot to the national level. Such a party
will link the
immediate demands of the people - vis-à-vis end to despotism
and poverty
with the ultimate need for a system change. This will mean a
struggle for
genuine land distribution for the millions of poor peasants,
massive public
works programmes that will provide jobs for millions of youth
and
unemployed, nationalization of the commanding height of the economy
under
the democratic control of the working poor themselves coupled with
agro-inspired industrialization that will develop the country on an
environmentally friendly and sustainable bases.
While the central trade
union, ZTUC vaguely condemned MDC collaboration with
Mugabe, it has also
tacitly given a nod to the power-sharing in a defeatist
manner without
building a working class alternative. This placed enormous
tasks before the
Zimbabwean working class activists to start to build a mass
working poor
political alternative. Of course, there may be some illusions
in the power
sharing for now, but political development will further shows
to the mass of
people, the frauds of Mugabe's anti-imperialist propaganda
and MDC fake
commitment to people's welfare. The coming period will provide
the working
mass of people of Zimbabwe and indeed Africa (where neo-liberal
capitalist
has held sway) with the necessary lessons needed to build a
political
alternative for socialist-oriented revolution.
*Kola Ibrahim contributed this
to Economic Confidential from Obafemi Awolowo
University (OAU), Ile-Ife,
Nigeria, 08059399178, kmarx4live@yahoo.com
http://www.herald.co.zw/inside.aspx?sectid=1809&cat=1
CFU
implicated in Tsvangirai crash
Herald Reporter
THE Commercial
Farmers' Union has been implicated in the car crash that
claimed Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's wife as it also emerged that a
senior official
in the Premier's Office had declined an offer of
security-trained State
drivers to chauffer the Premier to his rural home
during the fateful
weekend.
This comes against the background of claims in some circles that
had the
State provided adequate security no lives would have been
lost.
However, it is understood that on February 19, 2009, the secretary
in the
Prime Minister's Office, Mr Ian Makone, wrote a letter to CMED
(Private)
Limited with a list of drivers he wanted to chauffer Mr Tsvangirai
around.
Although Mr Makone declined to comment on the matter, sources
said the
secretary to the Premier had turned down an offer of
security-trained State
drivers in preference for drivers from the MDC-T
party.
He allegedly proffered a list of eight drivers, their national
identification numbers and their licence numbers.
When contacted last
week, Mr Makone refused to comment, referring all
questions to one of the
party spokesmen, Mr James Maridadi, who told The
Herald that they were not
overly concerned about what instructions were
given pertaining to drivers
and security ahead of the fatal accident.
"I think we should focus on
beefing up security and ensuring that it does
not happen again," he
said.
However, a local weekly newspaper, The Standard, reported that a
company
based in Boston, John Snow International (JSI), was claiming
ownership of
the Nissan truck and that the company's operations were being
conducted at
the CFU headquarters in Marlborough.
Last week, the
United States Embassy in Harare issued a statement disowning
the Nissan
Diesel truck that side-wiped PM Tsvangirai's vehicle but
confirmed that it
had been bought with their money. This is despite the fact
that the truck's
registration, 81TCE128, belongs to a configuration reserved
for United
States Embassy vehicles by the Central Vehicle Registry.
Initially, the
Americans had admitted that the car belonged to their
government's
development agency, Usaid, and that it was carrying out US and
UK business
at the time of the crash.
The statement said the truck was "delivering
essential HIV and Aids drugs
and medical supplies to health clinics under an
effort co-financed by Usaid
and the United Kingdom Department for
International Development".
The Herald is reliably informed that the
contractor in question is Crown
Agents, a concern
with roots steeped
deep in British colonialism and which was only
"privatised" in
1997.
The company's website says they work directly with the UK and
American
governments and it lists among its "permanent" and "elected"
members as the
Royal Commonwealth Society, the UK International Chamber of
Commerce, BBC
World Service Trust and the Commonwealth Business Council
among others.
Government and diplomatic observers, yesterday, said there
was need for
greater scrutiny of the operations of all the organisations
involved.
"Yes, JSI could have been involved logistically in Usaid and
DfID's work but
something does not sound right about it all. And the
starting point would be
to question what, if any, connection there is
between JSI and white
commercial farmers," a Government official
said.
A diplomatic source said: "Crown Agents, Usaid, JSI and DfID have
been
working together for a long time now and it would be natural to want to
know
their positions on the accident.
"They worked closely when the
cholera outbreak was at its peak and
Zimbabwean security authorities should
determine exactly how far this
friendship and their interests in the country
go."
He added: "It might be a coincidence but JSI's headquarters here are
at what
is called Agriculture House or CFU (Commercial Farmers' Union) House
in
Marlborough. On the day of the accident, white commercial farmers were at
the scene before the Prime Minister's own close people knew what had
happened."
The farmers, mainly from the Beatrice area, were at the
scene of the
accident before even the police and had run-ins with security
details as
they filmed and photographed the wreckage.
Independent
House of Assembly Member of Parliament Professor Jonathan Moyo
has called
for a full international investigation into the accident to
prevent a
cover-up.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13506
March 16, 2009
By Tendai
Dumbutshena
AFTER nearly three decades of untrammelled power, Robert
Mugabe has driven
Zimbabwe into a ditch. He owes it to the country and its
people, at this
late hour, to do the only correct thing that can get it out
of the ditch.
He must announce that, at the very latest, he will retire
from all forms of
politics after the adoption of a new constitution early
next year. Most
people will argue that his exit is an immediate
imperative.
In December 2009, Mugabe's five-year term as president of
Zanu-PF comes to
an end. He should inform the country and his party that he
will not seek
re-election. He should ask the party to prepare for his
succession and that
of the dead wood that surrounds him to provide an
opportunity for a new and
younger leadership cadre to lead
Zanu-PF.
In the country elections are expected to be held next year after
the
adoption of a new constitution. Mugabe should inform the nation that he
will
not stand. It must be an unequivocal commitment to Zimbabwe and the
world
that the Mugabe era will end when new elections are held, preferably
in the
first quarter of 2010. This is what is needed to restore confidence
in
Zimbabwe's future.
Two things must happen to reverse Zimbabwe's
catastrophic decline. Firstly,
there must be a transition to an open
democratic society firmly rooted in a
strict adherence to the rule of law in
all its manifestations. Secondly, a
massive and well structured financial
aid package is required to fund
immediate needs and get the economy
productive. Money that comes in dribs
and drabs will not do.
Nothing
short of a Marshall Plan for Zimbabwe will do, given the enormity of
the
crisis. In fact, what is required as a starting point is debt
cancellation.
Given the global financial crisis, there is no money to pay
for Zimbabwe's
debts and fund a rescue package. Criteria for debt
cancellation are clearly
spelt out. Central to it are good political
governance and sound economic
management. These criteria cannot be met under
a Mugabe government. If this
fundamental reality is not accepted Zimbabwe's
recovery is simply not
possible.
Mugabe cannot be part of Zimbabwe's transition to a true
democracy. It would
require a miraculous metamorphosis of his persona. By
his own admission he
is a disciple of a closed one-party dictatorship.
Pluralism in politics is
anathema to him. People must not be fooled by
recent conciliatory remarks on
the need for peace and reconciliation. These
are words which, so far, are
not matched by deeds. They do not reflect
reality on the ground.
At precisely the moment he called for
reconciliation at the late Susan
Tsvangirai's funeral service last Tuesday,
homes of MDC officials in Buhera
were being torched. Innocent people
continue to languish in prison. Violence
and arrests continue unabated.
Mutare's MDC deputy mayor is the latest high
profile victim of arbitrary
arrests.
Over a week ago authorities in South Africa's border town of
Musina closed a
site where about 3 000 Zimbabwean refugees were sheltered.
Six months after
the signing of the Global Political Agreement which
promised all sorts of
freedoms and reforms, none of these people opted to
return to Zimbabwe,
literally 10 kilometres across the border. Instead they
chose to trek
southwards to an uncertain future in Pretoria and
Johannesburg.
They do not believe in a future offered by a government
controlled by
Mugabe. They do not believe that Mugabe is genuinely committed
to the
democratic transformation of Zimbabwe. Those who fled violence do not
believe that they can return home, partake in free political activity and
remain safe and free. Their fears are reinforced by the continued menacing
presence of Mugabe as head of this inclusive government. Like many
Zimbabweans they know that this inclusive government is a cynical tactical
ploy by Mugabe to buy legitimacy and time to prepare for a violent onslaught
in the next election.
Put simply, the chances of Zimbabwe's economic
recovery under Mugabe are
nil.
But Mugabe must not call it a day
because some foreigners demand it. He must
do so because it is in the best
interests of his country and people. He must
do so for posterity. He has a
chance to salvage something positive from what
has been a disastrous reign.
At this critical juncture he is a colossal
impediment to progress.
As
prime author of Zimbabwe's demise he owes it to the country to give its
people the best opportunity to rebuild their lives and country. He owes it
to all those who fled violent persecution and sought economic opportunities
outside Zimbabwe to create conditions for their return. He must quit office
in order to give his people a chance to make Zimbabwe a land of opportunity
for them and their children.
If Mugabe were to announce his exit
today confidence in Zimbabwe's future
would soar to unbelievable heights. If
Zimbabwe were a listed company its
shares would hit the roof. Zimbabweans in
the Diaspora would return home in
their thousands. Hope and confidence
emanating from Zimbabweans would
galvanize the international community into
concrete action to render
assistance for its reconstruction.
A
political and economic renaissance of Zimbabwe would, given its relatively
solid human capital base, transform it into a small but dynamic emerging
economy. The present generation of Zimbabweans would be able to bequeath a
decent country to its children and grandchildren.
There is another
reason why Mugabe should depart. After 29 years in power
and aged 85, what
can he offer the country? Zimbabwe faces daunting
political and economic
challenges. What can an obstinate octogenarian so
wedded to the sterile
politics of one-party rule offer a country in
desperate need of fundamental
political and economic transformation?
What can he offer his own party
which faces certain death should he continue
to lead it. If Zanu-PF does not
embark on a serious path of reform under a
young and forward-looking
leadership, it will perish. Mugabe's continued
leadership poses a mortal
danger not only to Zimbabwe but Zanu-PF itself.
An enormous
responsibility rests on the shoulders of Zanu-PF and MDC
leaders.
They should realize that Mugabe is a huge liability to the
country. At this
critical juncture no progress can be made with him as
leader. He is central
to the solution of Zimbabwe's problem. But he is only
a central solution if
he quits the central stage of power he has occupied
over the past 29 years.
If he continues to occupy that space no solution is
possible.
The majority of Zimbabweans have no confidence in him. They see
his
departure from the political stage as a sine qua non of the rebirth of a
new
Zimbabwe. They do not, unlike elements of the MDC's leadership, see any
hopeful future in a political dispensation dominated by Mugabe.
http://www.businessday.co.za
17
March 2009
Sam Mkokeli finds that sleep is
elusive for Johannesburg's refugees
HOW do you sleep at night? That is a
difficult question for Timothy Gera, a
Zimbabwean refugee who is among
thousands who have found shelter at
Johannesburg's Central Methodist Church.
Many of them do not have an
immediate answer to the question. They gasp for
air, before looking around
to see if any among them has an
answer.
There are 2500 people who sleep inside the church building, and
2000 more
who line up along the pavements in the nearby Smal Street
arcade.
For Gera, night time is a painful reality, every
night.
During the day, he goes around selling his limited skills.
Sometimes he gets
R30 for a day's labour. Jobs that come by include
construction work, where
he helps builders.
"It is painful to sleep
here," he says, referring to the third-floor passage
inside the
church.
Gera usually nods off around 2am, and will be up by 4am, having
had very
little rest.
Then it's time to get ready for poshto,
Zimbabwean slang for feeding schemes
that come some mornings, sometimes
not.
When they do come, each person gets four slices of bread and tea.
Some days,
they are fed a portion of pap "the size of my fist", says
Machengere Tapiwa
.
At night, the women are locked up in four
rooms of the church building for
their safety, unless they choose to stay
with the rest. The other refugees
line up along the church corridors in all
sorts of directions, hoping for
that elusive deep sleep.
The Smal
Street Mall is an arcade linking two streets. People squeeze into
rows
stretching the whole 200m of the arcade. They sleep on cardboard boxes,
some
use sheets of plastic for a bit of warmth, a few have tattered
blankets, and
for the rest, their ragged clothes will do.
Before dawn on Friday last
week a handful of people were up, sitting outside
the church entrance,
blowing smoke through their noses and mouths. The smell
of dagga fills the
air, adding to the unhygienic smell characterising the
place.
It is
quiet until 4am, when most of the refugees get up to start their day.
They
make their "beds" by wrapping up their pieces of cardboard, plastic
bags,
and grain bags. Others brush their teeth with toothpasteless brushes ,
while
some freshen up on the pavement on Pritchard Street, with water out of
Coke
bottles. As the sun rises, many have their backpacks on their backs,
and a
few are hitting the road, hoping that this will be the day they find a
piece-job.
At 6.30am, a truck pulls up to empty the 20 portable
toilets on the pavement
in front of the church, re leasing a deep stench.
But that odour has become
familiar to many who go on without covering their
noses.
Bishop Paul Verryn, of the church, says : "People sleep on the
steps, many
without blankets. Many do not have a semblance of privacy in any
part of
their day."
He says because of the "profoundly difficult"
and depressing situation in
the refugee community, "morality can begin to
seem irrelevant and anything
goes", such as sex on the church steps and even
prostitution.
Verryn says there are many pregnant women who sleep in the
building, but is
quick to say they were pregnant when they arrived. There
are also 70 babies.
The City of Johannesburg and the church are at odds,
with the municipality
threatening to close down the building if the refugees
are not driven out.
The church is the refuge that draws them to the city,
and hundreds of
refugees have arrived since the government closed down a
camp for displaced
Zimbabweans in Musina, Limpopo.
Sleep deprived,
they stumble through their days in the city, and try to
survive the
deprivation in the church and mall at night. But to many
refugees, the
horrors are nothing compared with the situation back home.
mkokelis@bdfm.co.za