The ZIMBABWE Situation
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Zim cops: No foul play in opposition fire

http://www.news24.com/

2013-03-04 13:03

Harare - Zimbabwe police have found foul play was not involved in a house
fire that killed an opposition leader's son, state-backed media reported on
Monday.

A 12-year-old boy who is the son of Shepherd Maisiri, a regional official of
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), died last week when the hut he was
in was burned in the rural town of Headlands.

MDC supporters said the blaze was caused by a firebomb thrown by activists
from President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic
Front (Zanu-PF).

"Forensic experts did their analysis combined with police investigations and
no foul play is suspected," Charity Charamba was quoted as saying in the
Herald newspaper.

She said the fire and explosion could have been caused by bags of fertiliser
and a paraffin lamp inside the hut.

"There is high probability that ammonium nitrate and tobacco chemicals
exploded during the fire," she said.

The police did not explain how the fire was started.

Three other children who were in the hut at the time of the attack escaped
with injuries.

The incident took place as the country gears for a referendum on a new
constitution on March 16 and general elections slated for July, was
condemned by the US embassy in Harare.

Past elections in Zimbabwe have been marred by violence including killings,
assault and intimidation.

The violence that gripped the country's 2008 vote left at least 200 dead,
most of them MDC supporters.

There have been sporadic cases of violence in recent weeks with MDC
supporters being targets.

- AFP


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Maisiri’s wife criticises police for shoddy investigation

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
4 March 2013

The mother of Christpowers Maisiri, the 12 year-old boy who died in a house
fire in Headlands last week, has criticized the police investigation into
her son’s death.

Beauty Muungamirwa said she totally disagrees with the police conclusion
that the fire was caused by an explosion of tobacco chemicals and ammonium
nitrate fertiliser. She insists it was an arson attack and that police
completely ignored what she told them.

‘The police are lying and unfortunately they have done a shoddy job. What
they’re doing is covering up for powerful politicians and they know it,’ she
said.

National police spokesperson, Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba, said
their investigations had not established any evidence the fire was caused by
a petrol bomb attack. Charamba added that a paraffin lamp was recovered
close to bags of fertiliser and tobacco chemicals in the house.

Coming down heavily on the police, Christpowers’ mother said investigators
are ignoring the fact that the fire started from the top of the thatched
house and not inside the house.

‘I was woken up by an explosion, and I went out to investigate not fully
dressed. The fire was on top of the thatched house, and it spread from top
to bottom and not as suggested by the police that it may have been caused
fertilizer and tobacco chemicals inside the room. The fire started from
outside and it’s clear something that started it was thrown on top of the
hut.

‘The police assume the fire was started by a paraffin lamp inside the hut
but those lamps were old and rusty and they didn’t have an ounce of paraffin
inside them. We have been very careful because the only light we used in the
hut was from a cellphone. My 17 year-old son James showed the police the
phone that he uses as a torch at night,’ Muungamirwa said.

She disclosed that when the police asked her if she had any suspects in mind
she gave them names of four people, three of whom have since fled from their
homes in the last week.

After the house fire, Christpowers’ father Shepherd Maisiri told SW Radio
Africa that he gave the police names of people he suspected were behind the
alleged arson attack. Two of the suspects he mentioned were Gilbert Makura
and Isaac Dhogo.

‘If they had no case to answer or if they were not involved with any
criminal activity why are they running away? One of them, James Muzarabani,
actually sold a few of his cattle and crossed the border into Mozambique,’
claimed Muungamirwa.


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Only friendly countries will observe electoral processes:Mumbengegwi

http://www.herald.co.zw/

Monday, 04 March 2013 00:00

Minister Mumbengegwi bids farewell to Minister Carlsson outside his
Munhumutapa offices this morning

Felex Share Herald Reporter
European and United States of America observers will not be allowed to
monitor electoral processes in Zimbabwe as long as illegal sanctions they
imposed on the country are in place, Foreign Affairs Minister Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi has said.

In an interview after meeting Swedish International Development Cooperation
Minister Gunilla Carlsson in Harare this morning, Minister Mumbengegwi said
Zimbabwe would only allow observers from Sadc, Comesa, African Union and
other countries that were not hostile to it.

"One cannot observe anything in a country that he is hostile to," he said.
"The level of hostility is measured by the relationship those countries have
with Zimbabwe and clearly those countries that have imposed sanctions on us
will not be here.

"To be an observer you have to be objective and once you impose sanctions on
one party your objectivity goes up in smoke. If you are not objective you
are not entitled to observe any elections and that is the situation with
those Western countries."

He said countries that have never invited Zimbabwe to observe their
elections would also not be invited.
"I do not see why they need to be invited when they have never invited us to
monitor theirs (elections)," he said.
"Of course Sadc, Comesa and the AU will be here and also those countries
that are friendly to us."

Minister Mumbengegwi said observers to monitor the March 16 referendum had
already been invited.
"Those coming already know and as for the elections we will only invite them
once we have an exact date."

Turning to his meeting with Minister Carlsson, Minister Mumbengegwi said
Zimbabweans were against the idea of EU suspending the embargo but wanted
them to be removed unconditionally.

The EU, which met last month to review sanctions on Zimbabwe, has said that
it would suspend most sanctions against the country if it holds a credible
referendum on the new constitution.

"We have taken a position that sanctions should go without any condition and
the idea of suspending sanctions is not acceptable to the people of
Zimbabwe," he said.

"We have done nothing wrong and this is an issue where we differ. They are
talking of suspension and I do not even know what suspended sanctions look
like."


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Britain to fund Zim girls’ education

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Monday, 04 March 2013 11:17
HARARE - The British government through its Department for International
Development (DFID) has announced $40 million of new funding to enable 89 000
vulnerable girls in Zimbabwe to receive education over the next three years.

The funding will also help around 350 000 other young people to improve
their life chances.

The projects will be implemented by two civil society organisations,
Campaign for Female Education Camfed and World Vision over three years.

Camfed will ensure that 40 000 vulnerable girls in 24 rural districts
receive direct support to complete four years of junior secondary education;
over 330 000 girls and boys in rural secondary schools benefit from
supplementary learning materials to improve their learning outcomes; over 1
600 school-leavers are trained as para-educators to provide peer mentoring
to girls still at school and in some cases set up income-generating
activities; and greater uptake and use of mobile technology to support
education planning and learning.

Camfed will work with the publishing company Pearson Education.

Jane Rintoul, the head of DFID in Zimbabwe said, “Women are the key to
economic growth and investing in girls’ education is the single most
effective thing we can do to break the cycle of poverty.”

An extra year in primary school boosts a girl’s eventual wages by 10 to 20
percent.

An extra year of secondary education can add 25 percent.

Girls who are educated are more likely to marry later.

They are more likely to get themselves and their babies immunised against
fatal diseases and those who have a secondary education are three times less
likely to be HIV positive.

The funding is additional to the over $100 million that DFID is providing to
support education in Zimbabwe between 2012 and 2015 through the Education
Transition Fund (ETF), the Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam) and an
existing grant agreement with Camfed.

Between 2011 and 2015 the UK government through DFID expects to provide over
$700 million of support in sectors including health, education, wealth
creation, social protection as well as water and sanitation.

The UK government has prioritised girls’ education as one of the four
pillars of its Women and Girls Strategy. - Margaret Chinowaita, Community
Affairs Editor


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Six million hungry in southern Africa

http://www.iol.co.za

March 4 2013 at 05:56pm
By Reuters

File image - A malnourished child lies in his bed at a feeding centre.
REUTERS/Antony Njuguna
Geneva - More than 6 million people across Angola, Lesotho, Malawi and
Zimbabwe are at risk of severe food shortages because of repeated cycles of
drought and flooding, the global humanitarian body IFRC said on Monday.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies said
the crisis was passing largely unnoticed in the outside world and its
appeals for financial support had won limited support.

“This is a chronic crisis in which cycles of drought and flooding are
destroying crops, livestock and safe drinking-water supplies. People don't
have enough to eat or clean water to drink,” said IFRC official Alexander
Matheou.

“Malaria, cholera and diarrhoea are common,” said Matheou, the Geneva-based
body's regional representative in southern Africa, in a statement
distributed to a news briefing.

The IFRC said four countries were suffering particularly badly, with 725,000
people in Lesotho - about 40 per cent of the country's population - hit by
the crisis.

Nearly 2 million were at risk in Malawi, more than 1.8 million in Angola,
and 1.6 million in rural areas of Zimbabwe. In all four, rates of child
malnutrition were soaring, reaching 50 percent more than last year in some
areas.

An additional complication, Matheou said, was the prevalence of HIV across
southern Africa.

Some 34 percent of people around the world carrying the disease live in the
region, and 23.2 percent of Lesotho's population were infected, the globe's
third highest rate among adults, the IFRC official said.

The organisation said lack of food can undermine efforts to counter the
spread of HIV, because the sickening effect that the anti-retroviral
treatment has on an empty stomach deters many sufferers from taking it.

“There needs to be a large-scale, well-funded, coordinated effort between
governments, businesses and humanitarian and development agencies to
alleviate immediate suffering and support people to build economically
viable lives,” said Matheou.

An appeal to donors in October for 1 119 000 Swiss francs ($1.2 million) to
fund IFRC programmes in Lesotho had so far brought in only 17 percent.
Another for Angola for 1 562 562 Swiss francs had been only 4 percent met.

Appeals for Malawi and Zimbabwe in October and December had had a better
response with 57 percent of the total sought for Malawi, 1 025 310 Swiss
francs, and 33 percent of the 1,290,342 Swiss francs sought for Zimbabwe now
received. - Reuters


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Maize shortage renews debate over GM in Zimbabwe

http://www.irinnews.org
HARARE, 4 March 2013 (IRIN) - A major shortage of maize has sent the price of maize meal, used for porridge and poultry feed, spiralling in Zimbabwe, prompting traders to lobby the government to consider importing genetically modified (GM) maize.

Zimbabwe, along with Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, has long resisted importing GM maize. Most of the maize grown in neighbouring South Africa - which is the largest maize producer in the region, and which usually has a surplus to export - is GM. Though South Africa can provide certified GM-free maize, it is more expensive than the maize produced in Malawi or Zambia, all of which is GM-free.

A dry spell and lack of fertilizers in 2012 led to a poor harvest in Zimbabwe, and aid agencies expect the number of food insecure people to rise to almost 1.67 million by March. Zimbabwean traders usually import from Zambia to meet demand during shortages, but Zambia has imposed restrictions on maize exports.

The grain milling industry in Zimbabwe, which includes maize-meal and livestock-feed manufacturers, says their current stocks will not last until the new harvest season in May-June. The country's Agricultural Marketing Association has warned the government of an impending crisis.


"There is a major shortage of maize on the market. For the past few years now, the industry has depended on local maize supplies and imports from Zambia... As we speak, there has been no maize coming from Zambia officially"
The grain milling industry says it requires about 150,000 metric tons of maize between now and until the new harvest to meet consumers’ needs. Market sources say the Grain Marketing Board has only 92,000 metric tons of maize in its reserves, and it has stopped maize sales to save for a grain-loan scheme.

Zambia's restrictions

The price of maize was around US$260 a ton in 2012, but has escalated to $380 per ton, said Fungai Mungate, chairman of the Stock Feed Manufacturers Association (SMA) in Zimbabwe. "There is a major shortage of maize on the market. For the past few years now, the industry has depended on local maize supplies and imports from Zambia. But due to problems in Zambia, between November and December 2012, that country imposed some kind of restriction or an unofficial ban on maize exports to Zimbabwe. As we speak, there has been no maize coming from Zambia officially."

Zambia is facing its own maize shortages despite consecutive bumper harvests in the past three seasons.
Researchers Auckland Kuteya and T.S. Jayne of Zambia’s Indaba Agricultural Policy Research Institute attribute the country’s maize meal shortages to the government’s own marketing and subsidy policies.

For the last two years, the Zambian government's Food Reserve Agency (FRA) has been buying huge quantities of maize at high prices from farmers, then selling the maize to millers at deeply subsidized rates. Meanwhile, the FRA’s storage losses have been extremely high, with an estimated 25 percent of its maize purchases spoiled or of poor quality.

The UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)
says the government’s efforts were meant to counteract a potential price hike, expecting the huge surplus would attract foreign traders. The government also felt the need to maintain stable supplies.

But the removal of huge quantities of maize from the market (the FRA bought 1.75 million tons in the 2011-2012 marketing year; and then one million tons for the 2012-2013 marketing year) created shortages. Both traders and millers have hiked their prices, despite the government's threats to cancel millers’ licences.

And very little of the government subsidy given to millers has been passed on to consumers. As a result, the government has spent two percent of its GDP subsidizing maize despite experiencing the shortages and high prices.

State of GM

Zimbabwe allows a maximum of 0.01 percent trace of GM material in its maize imports. Both the Grain Millers Association and SMA have appealed to the government to temporarily revise this threshold to 2 percent.

SMA's Mungate said recent surveys by his organization of maize availability in South Africa at the 0.01 percent GM threshold found only 14,000 metric tons available at prices between $400 and $450 per metric ton.

The government has yet to respond to the request.

During a particularly severe drought in 2002, Zimbabwe said they would allow
imports of GM food
aid only in milled form, as this eliminated the risk of grain germination and limited possible contamination of local varieties.

Ordinary Zimbabweans are struggling to access cheap grain. In Chitungwiza, an urban centre outside the capital, Harare, Gogo Keresencia Dziruni’s six-member household relies on her disabled husband's $100-a-month pension.

“I remember that not so long ago, we used to buy a 10kg bag of roller meal [unrefined maize meal] for $4.50, and now you cannot get it for below $6. As a basic necessity, maize meal should not be allowed to move that much because it is staple food for many people,” she said.

Dziruni says she would support the importation of GM maize if that would bring the price of maize meal down.

Another resident, Masiiwa Ganyau, remarked that salaries have remained unchanged in the face of these price increases.

The price hikes have also affected poultry farming in Zimbabwe. Mungate said the poultry industry has become a major source of livelihood for the poor and for communal farmers. But sixty percent of the feed for poultry is derived from maize, and the increasing maize cost has caused feed prices to climb between two and five percent. The livestock feed industry said it needs 40,000 tons of maize between February and the next harvest to meet demand.
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]


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Referendum date in breach of SADC guidelines on elections?

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
4 March 2013

The date set for a referendum by Robert Mugabe may be in breach of the SADC
guidelines on elections, according to Sokwanele, a pressure group that
advocates for non-violent actions to bring democracy, justice and freedom to
Zimbabwe.

In its Referendum Watch bulletin issued on Sunday, Sokwanele said it
measures the (political) parties’ performance in relation to the forthcoming
elections against the standard set by SADC leaders in Mauritius in 2004.

The group said they had noted that 16th March, the date chosen for the
referendum, is a breach of SADC guidelines in line with criticisms voiced by
many.

‘The draft document is complex and very long (172 pages); common sense
dictates that Zimbabweans will need more than a month to first obtain a
copy, and then peruse it, and then discuss it.

‘Furthermore, it is expected that voter turnout will be high on polling day
making the twelve hours allocated potentially unfeasible to allow everyone
the opportunity to vote.

The SADC guidelines require ‘timeous announcement of the election date’
‘Voter education’ and ‘full participation of the citizens in the political
process,’ the bulletin said.

Meanwhile COPAC says it requires more than US$500,000 to print and
distribute additional copies of the draft constitution before the
referendum.

COPAC co-chair Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana told the state media that many parts
of the country were yet to deliberate on the draft after the available
copies ran out. He said his committee was now making frantic efforts to
secure the funds.

COPAC only printed about 100,000 copies for a population of more than 12
million people.

Our Harare correspondent Simon Muchemwa told us it’s going to be difficult
for COPAC to secure half a million dollars to print more copies of the
draft.

‘Its difficult to imagine were they will get the money from, considering
government has struggled to fund this process and depended on donor agencies
to get where they are today,’ Muchemwa said.


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MDC withdraws from COPAC campaigns

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Nomalanga Moyo
4 March 2013

The MDC has announced that it is pulling out of the COPAC-led constitution
publicity campaigns two weeks before the country decides whether to vote
‘yes’ or ‘no’ to a new charter.

In a move that has been criticised by their counterparts in the coalition
government, the Welshman Ncube-led party announced their withdrawal from the
process over the weekend, citing unequal representation.

A statement by the party said: “The MDC has pulled out of the COPAC
publicity campaign due to a decision taken by MDC-T’s Douglas Mwonzora and
ZANU PF’s Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana to exclude MDC from eight of the 10
provinces.

“It has turned out that it was in fact a strategy to use these fora as a
platform to attack the MDC, particularly by ZANU PF.

“As a result of this, the MDC has pulled out from the two provinces where we
were allowed to participate.”

The MDC is only allowed to participate in meetings in Bulawayo and
Matabeleland South provinces.

ZANU PF’s Mangwana confirmed to the Herald that the MDC had raised concerns
over representation but wondered why they did not do so early on.

“All along their representation was limited and we wonder where this lawyer
called Prof Ncube was and why he is raising it now. We will consider the
matter if it is genuine but they should not threaten us.

“If they want to pull out let them do so after all their number is
insignificant,” Mangwana said.

However MDC secretary-general Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga said it was
not true that they were only raising the issue now, and added that until
now, COPAC had always worked on the principle of equal representation.

“At each given time, we would have equal representation of the three
political parties. That was the precedent set during management committee
meetings as well as during the outreach process.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga also dismissed utterances by the MDC-T’s Douglas
Mwonzora that the MDC was asking to have non-MP members added to COPAC.

“The representation in COPAC is drawn from Members of Parliament. In this
case the MDC only has two. MDC-T and ZANU PF have nine each,” Mwonzora told
the Herald.

However, the MDC said they have enough MPs to attend all the meetings, and
had indicated so to COPAC.

Misihairabwi-Mushonga said: “When we tried to engage COPAC on the anomaly we
were told that even if we were to bring MPs to represent us in those
provinces, they wouldn’t be treated the same way as the MDC-T and ZANU PF.
That is why we then took the decision to pull out.”

Misihairabwi-Mushonga said they will continue to campaign for a ‘yes’ vote,
and were printing out copies of the draft charter to distribute to the
people.

She said it was now doubtful they would be meeting their COPAC counterparts
over their concerns, in view of Mangwana’s disdainful statements that the
MDC was insignificant.


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Zuma accused of ‘allowing’ destruction of human rights court

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
4 March 2013

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma has been accused of ‘allowing’ the
destruction of the regional human rights Tribunal, by “selfishly” standing
by while it was shut down.

The former Chief Justice of the SADC Tribunal, Judge Ariranga Pillay, told a
seminar in South Africa last week that Zuma, as the leader of SADC’s largest
and most powerful state, could have done more to stop the destruction of the
court.

Pillay described how Zuma and other SADC leaders were responsible for
hobbling the court on Robert Mugabe’s behalf, because of that Tribunal’s
landmark ruling against Mugabe’s land grab campaign.

The court was wholly suspended in 2010 by SADC leaders, in the aftermath of
its ruling that the land grab was unlawful. The Tribunal had also held
Zimbabwe in contempt of court for refusing to honour its original ruling in
2008. The court also held the Government of Zimbabwe in breach of the SADC
Treaty and other international legal obligations.

But instead of taking action against Zimbabwe, SADC leaders suspended the
court for a review of its mandate. More than two years later the court
remains inactive. Regional justice ministers have proposed that the court
only be reinstated with a very limited human rights mandate, which blocks
individual access to the court.

Pillay said at the seminar last week that it was ‘ironic’ that Mugabe had
been one of the SADC leaders who had originally established the Tribunal to
ensure the adherence of member states to the SADC Treaty. Pillay explained
that this included Article 4 of the Treaty, which obliges SADC leaders “to
act in accordance with human rights, democracy and the rule of law”.

It was this article which the Tribunal invoked when it ruled against the
Zimbabwe government.

Ben Freeth, who, together with his father-in-law Mike Campbell, led the
landmark case before the Tribunal in 2008, told SW Radio Africa that Pillay’s
indictment of Zuma was “strong and correct.”

“If South Africa had spoken out and if South Africa had moved to prevent
this, then I have no doubt that other SADC leaders would have followed,”
Freeth said.

Mugabe meanwhile has stated that Zimbabwe will never abide by rulings in
South African courts that move to uphold the original Tribunal ruling.
Mugabe told the state media last week that Zimbabwe “would not be bound” by
the decisions of South African courts.

He was reacting to developments in the South African Constitutional Court,
which has reserved judgement on a challenge by farmers who lost land in
Zimbabwe. The farmers had turned to the South African courts for help,
because Zimbabwe has refused to honour the SADC Tribunal ruling.

The South African High Court in Pretoria in 2010 upheld the ruling by the
Tribunal and ordered the attachment of properties owned by the Zimbabwean
government in Cape Town to compensate the white commercial farmers.
Zimbabwe appealed this decision and tried to block this ruling but the
application was denied in the High Court and also in Supreme Court of
Appeal, with the latter dismissing Harare’s application with costs.

Zimbabwe then took the matter to the Constitutional Court, arguing that the
Supreme Court decision was in violation of international law. Zimbabwe
lawyers have argued that a sovereign country should not be subjected to the
processes that they are being subjected to by their neighbour and that “a
diplomat is inviolable as much as diplomatic property in a foreign land.”

The Court last week reserved judgement on the matter, but the farmers have
expressed confidence that the ruling will be in their favour.

Mugabe on the other hand has dismissed the legal attempts stating: “In South
Africa they have certain elements outside the ANC and cannot be controlled
by the ANC and these are elements that once upon a time were here and were
unseated by us and have realised that in South Africa you can go to court
and get judgements. But let them have those judgments, we will simply ignore
them. South African courts have no jurisdiction over us so we will simply
ignore them.”


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Radio Dialogue slams police ‘crackdown’

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
4 March 2013

Community radio initiative Radio Dialogue has become the latest group to
criticise the nationwide police crackdown on civil society, after its
studios were raided and 180 radios were seized.

The raid happened last Friday morning at the Hillside based Ingwe Studios, a
subsidiary of Radio Dialogue. Armed with a search warrant police officers
seized the wind-up radio sets and also detained the group’s programming
head, Zenzele Ndebele. He was held for questioning for most of the day
before he was released.

Ndebele was charged with possession of ‘smuggled’ radios, as well as
possessing the radios without a ZBC license. He was interrogated about the
source of the radios, which were recently declared illegal by the police.

The countrywide police crackdown on civil society groups has continued to
intensify in recent weeks, with raids on the premises of different
organisations and some arrests. The police have insisted that they are
clamping down on the distribution of ‘illegal’ radio sets, being used to
allegedly “promote hate speech”, and have been using this as the basis for
their raids.

At a press conference on Monday Radio Dialogue and the Zimbabwe Association
of Community Radio Stations (ZACRAS), issued a joint statement and said this
crackdown violates the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that formed the
unity government. The two groups called on the co-Ministers of Home Affairs
to urgently intervene and stop the police campaign.

SW Radio Africa’s Bulawayo correspondent Lionel Saungweme said the two
groups also tried to dispel other media reports that had accused Radio
Dialogue of being part of a “regime change agenda.”

“They were very critical of the police action and the accusations that they
are pursuing this (regime change) agenda, which they strongly denied. They
also said that Zenzele (Ndebele) was interrogated by CIO officers and not
police,” Saungweme said.

Ndebele will appear in court on Tuesday.


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Moyo rubbishes Mugabe, Mujuru

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

Monday, 04 March 2013 12:26

HARARE - Serial political flip-flopper Jonathan Moyo has described people
questioning Zimbabwe’s so-called biggest indigenisation deal as treacherous,
in bold claims viewed as taking aim at President Robert Mugabe and Vice
President Joice Mujuru.

Mugabe and Mujuru, just like the Daily News, have questioned the
implementation of the $971 million Zimbabwe Platinum Mines Limited
(Zimplats) indigenisation deal.

Mugabe in an interview aired on State television to mark his 89th birthday
even went on to admit that Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere got it
wrong when he agreed to bond Zimbabweans to a debt with the foreign-owned
firm in exchange for shares.

Mujuru said last week that while empowerment was good, there was need to
guard against corrupt activities during implementation.

Three days after Mugabe’s widely publicised negative comments about the
deal, Moyo has come out blazing against such criticism.

Yesterday, Moyo writing in the state media described attempts to offer
alternative solutions to the implementation of the programme it as “cheap
propaganda”. Moyo’s accusation is bold, given that he now sits in the
politburo of Mugabe’s Zanu PF.

Although he has attacked Mugabe in the past, at one time describing him as
“excessive burden” or “so unpopular he could lose to donkey”, — this was
when he had been booted out of Zanu PF.

In his scathing attack published in state media yesterday, Moyo equated
those sceptical of the Zimplats deal as pursuing a “scandalous agenda”.

Interestingly Moyo’s piece appears side by side with the interview in which
Mugabe expresses reservations on the Zimplats deal.

“Witness how what started mid last month as an alleged media expose of
alleged corruption in the implementation of the Zimplats Indigenisation
Transaction has now come full circle with growing indications that the
alleged expose is in fact nothing but a spirited media scam that is yet to
be exposed and whose main objective is to subvert the indigenisation policy
as a whole in the vain hope of robbing Zanu PF of the foundation of its
revolutionary policy platform ahead of the forthcoming make-or-break
plebiscite,” wrote Moyo.

But during his interview, Mugabe conceded that Kasukuwere messed up.

“I suppose the problem is on the 51 (percent) that was acquired being
regarded as a percentage that needed to be financed by our side and being
financed by the company itself. So problem ndiyoyo yekuti vakatipa 51
(percent) vachiti chikwereti chatiri kukupai asi tiri kukubhadharirai
mangwana mozobhadhara mashares iwayo. So that is the difference.

“I think that is where the minister made a mistake. He did not quite
understand what was happening and yet theory yedu ndeyekuti resource iyoyo
ndeyedu and that resource is our share that is where the 51 percent comes
from,” said Mugabe.

However, Moyo said the anomalies which came into limelight following a Daily
News expose on February 14 was based on “nefarious political agenda against
Zanu PF”.

“Perhaps the most shocking (fifth) development is that last Monday on
February 25 the Anti-Corruption Commission sought to secure documents from
Nieeb in a manner and against the background of a public scenario that
smacked of gross and intolerable corruption by the very same body that has
the constitutional responsibility of guarding against the very scourge of
corruption it exposed itself to,” said Moyo.

Moyo claims the Anti-Corruption’s action was baseless, illegal, corrupt and
constituted criminal abuse of duty.

The Tsholotsho North MP further says all attempts being made by the Reserve
bank of Zimbabwe to regularise the Zimplats deal was inappropriate and
illegal.

“In a very disappointing way, (the third) development that is central to the
unfolding saga of orchestrated opposition to the indigenisation reform
programme, the RBZ summoned Zimplats last Wednesday and Thursday and abused
its institutional power to scare and frighten the company from proceeding
with the implementation of the term sheet it signed with Nieeb on January 11
2013,” said Moyo.

Mugabe however, has expressed his strong views over the “shoddy work” done
by Kasukuwere. In the process Mugabe has hauled the young over the coals —
he suggested the Mount Darwin South legislator was dancing to the whims of
foreign nationals at the expense of the poor who own the minerals.

According to deals signed by Kasukuwere and several miners, for instance,
Zimbabweans will only be able to lay their hands on the actual shareholding
until after at least 10 years after paying off their debts and under a
much-discredited vendor financing scheme.

While several analysts have said that locals may even fail to pay for their
shareholding in the prescribed period, this form of financial engineering
relates to a process where an established company lends money to an entity
seeking to buy into it.

Under the Zimplats deal, for instance, 31 percent was issued to National
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (Nieeb), 10 percent to
employees and the other 10 percent was given to Ngezi-Zvimba Community Share
Ownership Trust.

Apparently, if the Zimbabweans fail to pay the cash in 10 years – which is
almost certain considering Zimplats has declared a $50 million dividend in
the past decade — they will be given 10 days within which to pay the cash or
they will forfeit the shares.

Also, what endangers the vendor financing deal is that Zimplats has already
posted a staggering loss.
Zimplats registered a $6 million loss in the half year to December 31, 2012
down from a $68, 4 million profit recorded in previous comparable period.

Since the Daily News broke the news on February 14, it has since emerged
that the proposed mechanism of ceding 85 percent of the dividends to repay
the $971 million loan in 10 years is unsustainable.

At 10 percent interest per annum, the indigenisation parties will need to
make an annual repayment of approximately $158 million.

Mugabe, who has been in power, since the country got its independence from
Britain 33 years ago, is using the indigenisation programme as his last
trump card as the country gears for a watershed election.

The former guerrilla leader, who at 89 is likely to be contesting his last
election with indigenisation as the last ace up his sleeve, boasts of having
brought sovereignty, empowerment and total independence but the recent
revelations that Kasukuwere was tricked presents a major setback. - Tendai
Kamhungira


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‘Grab UNWTO opportunity’

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Monday, 04 March 2013 11:38
HARARE - Zimbabwe must grab the opportunities being offered by the
forthcoming United Nations World Tourism (UNWTO) general assembly in August
this year to create a brighter future, a South Korean diplomat has said.

The tourism summit will be co-hosted by Zimbabwe and Zambia — two countries
which share one of the seven natural wonders of the world, Victoria Falls.

More than 5 000 delegates from around the world are expected to attend the
conference.

According to the latest UNWTO barometer, Zimbabwe is the fifth favourite
tourism destination in Africa with 2,2 million international arrivals.

Speaking to the Daily News, South Korean ambassador to Harare Lew Kwang-Chul
said Zimbabwe already has the infrastructure to boost its tourism industry.

“It is up to Zimbabwe to make most of it because it will be good for the
future of the industry,” he said.

“There is still room for huge improvement in terms of tourism,” Kwang-Chul
said.

The Victoria Falls Airport is also set to get a facelift ahead of the summit
as plans are underway to refurbish the airstrip.

Zimbabwe has already started counting down to the hosting of what will be
one of the most esteemed summits in the country, with Tourism minister
Walter Mzembi claiming the country is ready to host the world event.

The world has been closely monitoring the country’s political environment to
assess the level of political maturity after a decade of political and
economic turmoil.

With elections on the horizon, a peaceful general poll will set the pace for
a successful event.

According to the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority (ZTA), tourist arrivals into
Zimbabwe grew marginally by 8,3 percent to 2,4 million in 2011, from 2,2
million in 2010.

The growth was attributed to the relative stability brought about by the
formation of the coalition government in 2009.

Most visitors to Zimbabwe in 2011 were from Africa while only six percent
arrived from the high-spending European markets, according to ZTA. - Bridget
Mananavire


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Sports reporter barred from charity match by military police

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Nomalanga Moyo
4 March 2013

A sports reporter with the privately-owned Daily News newspaper was barred
from covering a charity soccer match between army side Black Rhinos and CAPS
United on Sunday.

Blessings Mashaya, who is accredited with the statutory body the Zimbabwe
Media Commission, confirmed to SW Radio that military police stopped him
from entering Rufaro stadium in Harare.

The soldiers reportedly told Mashaya that since it was only a charity match
they were playing, they did not require media coverage, especially from
Daily News.

“We want to make money and to make things worse, you are from the Daily News
so it’s better for you to go back. You are not permitted to cover this
match,” said one of the soldiers, according to a statement issued by the
Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA).

However, reports in other sections of the Zimbabwean media suggest that some
reporters were allowed to cover the match.

Nyasha Nyakunu, a spokesperson for media watchdog MISA, condemned the
actions by the army. He said that it was the duty of journalists to cover
events in the public domain without being intimidated.

“As MISA-Zimbabwe we would like to urge the Zimbabwe Media Commission, which
is tasked with defending media freedom and freedom of expression, to look
into the issue,” Nyakunu added.


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Zanu PF activists lose land row

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Monday, 04 March 2013 11:21
HARARE - A Bulawayo High Court judge has ordered two Zanu PF activists to
stop illegal invasion and selling of land belonging to a war veterans’
housing group, Magamba Echimurenga Trust.

Justice Andrew Mutema last week interdicted Clifford Hokonya and Charles
Mpofu from invading Amsterdam Park, near Boka Tobacco Sales Floors, on the
outskirts of Harare.

The war veterans want to use the land to build urban houses.

In his ruling, Mutema banned the duo from grabbing the land and interfering
in the group’s work.

“The 1st and 2nd defendants (Hokonya and Mpofu) be and are hereby
interdicted from alienating, selling or disposing the stands at Amsterdam
Park, Harare.

“The defendants be and are hereby interdicted from interfering in any way in
the affairs of the plaintiff,” reads part of the judgment.

Allegations against the two are that, they have been allocating and
parcelling out land at Amsterdam Park without approval from Magamba
Echimurenga Trust.

Magamba Echimurenga Trust chairperson Andrew Ndlovu told the Daily News that
anyone who acquired land at Amsterdam Park from the two must vacate the
place peacefully before forceful evictions begin.

“They can approach our offices so that we can see how best we can assist
them,” said Ndlovu. - Bryn Gumbo


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Zimbabwe police seize 14 MDC supporters

http://www.africareview.com/

By KITSEPILE NYATHI in Harare | Monday, March 4 2013 at 15:54

Zimbabwe police have arrested 14 supporters of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) for allegedly perpetrating
acts of violence when they were stopped at a roadblock.

The arrests on Saturday came as the inclusive government partners accused
each other of engaging in political violence ahead of a referendum on the
new constitution on March 16 and general election expected in July.

Police Monday said the MDC supporters were arrested in the small town of
Chegutu, west of Harare, while on their way to the city for Gweru where Mr
Tsvangirai was holding a rally to drum up support for the new constitution.

The driver of the bus they were travelling in was arrested at the police
roadblock because his bus was allegedly ahead of the schedule shown on his
timetable.

Police spokesperson Superintendent Paul Nyathi said in the process, the 14
disembarked from the bus and one of them confronted the police officers.

“They demanded that the driver be released and one of the accused persons
snatched a police detail’s cellphone and went back into the bus,” he said.

“Other supporters ran back into the bus and that is when other police
details moved into the bus and the bus was taken to the local police station
where investigations were instituted.

“The accused are in custody at Chegutu Police Station and investigations are
continuing.”

Mr Tsvangirai last week sent envoys to regional capitals to lobby for an
extraordinary Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) summit to deal
with reports of an upsurge in cases of political violence.

This followed the death of a 12 year-old son of an MDC activist in a
suspected arson attack in the Midlands Province last week.

However, police have ruled out foul play in the death saying fertiliser
stored in the grass thatched hut the family was sleeping could have been
responsible for the fire.

President Mugabe at the weekend also accused the MDC of attributing even
natural deaths to alleged Zanu-PF violence.


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Harare warns on idle mine licences

http://www.iol.co.za/

March 4 2013 at 08:00am
By Bloomberg

Zimbabwe might revoke the coal mining licences held by 31 local companies,
most of which were holding them for speculation that was discouraging
foreign investment, Deputy Mines Minister Gift Chimanikire said on Friday.
The companies had been been ordered to come to the ministry this week to
explain the exploration work they had carried out, he said in an interview
in Harare. “If we don’t get any satisfactory answers, we won’t hesitate to
withdraw those licences. Most of these people are holding on to these grants
for speculative purposes.” He said some licensees had been asking foreign
investors for “other things and favours, resulting in the investors moving
on to other countries”. – Bloomberg


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Respite for Zimbabwe foreign banks

http://www.bdlive.co.za

BY TAWANDA KAROMBO, MARCH 03 2013, 16:29

HARARE – Foreign owned banks in Zimbabwe — including Standard Bank owned
Stanbic Bank, Nedbank controlled MBCA Bank and the local units of Standard
Chartered and Barclays — will not be required to cede the mandatory 51%
shareholding under contentious empowerment laws.

President Robert Mugabe, who is pushing the contentious empowerment policy
ahead of elections this year, said in an interview on Saturday that lower
mandatory compliance thresholds can be negotiated for the financial services
sector.

He however said where Zimbabwe owns the resources, especially in mining, 51%
control has to be given to black Zimbabweans. Analysts, investment fund
managers and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC have criticised the
policy saying it drives away foreign direct investments. Mr Tsvangirai has
vowed to reverse the policy if voted into power.

"For that one (financial services sector) you can go 50/50 or you can agree
on a ratio which is sustainable and equitable. It’s not in every case that
we must apply the 51-49," said Mr Mugabe.

He said the principle of ceding 51% cannot be applied "because the resource
(banking technology and infrastructure) is not yours" as it has been brought
into the country by the foreign banks. This week, Standard Chartered
revealed that it was committed to continuing with its operations in
Zimbabwe.

"I believe the whole indigenisation issue is more a case of bullying than
law, even when you have a law that says indigenisation must happen, many of
the procedures are not tied up and the way the act is drawn up is impossible
to carry out," economist John Robertson told BDlive.

Central Bank governor, Dr Gideon Gono has led the banks’ resistance to give
away 51% shares to black Zimbabweans. Empowerment Minister Saviour
Kasukuwere admitted last month that he was facing stiff resistance from the
central bank in his efforts to indigenise the banking sector.

Mr Gono and Finance Minister Tendai Biti have argued that indigenising
foreign banks destabilises the fragile sector. Analysts pointed out this
week that the government was bullying foreign firms following reports that
Mr Kasukuwere bungled in the process which saw Zimplats and other mining
companies agree to cede majority shares.


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The MDC Today - Issue 526

http://www.mdc.co.zw

Monday, 04 March 2013

President Tsvangirai has raised concern over the trivialisation of the death
of Christpowers Simbarashe Maisiri by the police and Zanu PF officials.
Chrispowers died last week in Headlands after the grass thatched hut that he
was sleeping in was set on fire by Zanu PF supporters.

However, the police have issued a statement claiming no foul play was
suspected while the Zanu PF leader, Robert Mugabe on Saturday scoffed at
reports that his supporters were behind the death of Christpowers.

The State media has also been claiming that Christpowers who was 12 years
old was mentally and physically incapacitated a condition which they claim
was responsible for his inability to escape from the inferno that took his
life.

The boy’s father is the MDC Headlands district deputy Organising Secretary.
Christpowers was laid to rest at Dzikiti village in Headlands during a
sombre send off attended by thousands of mourners including President
Tsvangirai.

Those strongly suspected of the arson attack are; Gilbert Makura, the Zanu
PF district chairperson of Village 47, Isaac Dobo, Annah Mumbana, the Zanu
PF district chairlady and Tendai Gosho.

Speaking through Alex Magaisa, his Secretary for Transitional Affairs on
Monday, President Tsvangirai also raised concerns over the differential
treatment by the police in arresting political activists.

“They are not decent to use such language. The issue of violence should be
looked into. The manner in which the death of Chrispowers has been handled
by both the police and state media raises a lot of questions,” said Magaisa.

He said the MDC was concerned by swiftness shown by the police in arresting
MDC members citing the example of the 31 MDC members who were arrested in
2011 on false charges of murdering a police officer in Glen View, Harare.

Five of the 31 members, Last Maengahama, a member of the National Executive,
Harare councillor, Tungamirai Madzokere, Simon Mapanzure, the district
chairperson for Mufakose, Rebecca Mafukeni and Yvonne Musarurwa are in
remand prison after they were denied bail on several occasions at the High
Court.

In the meantime Zanu PF supporters who have carried out acts of violence are
roaming free. President Tsvangirai is expected to hold a meeting with Mugabe
over the death of Christpowers.

Meanwhile, President Tsvangirai on Monday met with the Swedish Minister for
Development, Gunilla Carlson at his government offices.

Addressing journalists after the meeting, Minister Carlson said Sweden was
happy with how the country’s economy had recovered since the formation of
the inclusive government in 2009.

“The Swedes are impressed with the recovery of the economy. However, we
expect more reforms to be implemented before the holding of free and fair
elections,” said Minister Carlson.

She said Sweden hoped that the coming elections would be free and fair in
order for the country to move on and create a conducive environment for
investment and job creation.

A New Constitution: A New Zimbabwe. Vote YES!!


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Robert Mugabe: I'm lonely

http://www.telegraph.co.uk

President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's octogenarian leader, has complained that
he is "very lonely" now that most of his independence-era contemporaries
have died and he is surrounded by "children" in his Cabinet.

By Aislinn Laing, Johannesburg3:01PM GMT 04 Mar 2013

The president, who at 89 is Africa's oldest and one of its longest-serving
leaders, lamented not being able to reminisce with colleagues about chasing
girls and riding bicycles in the 1930s and 50s.

He said that the only person who came close to understanding was Didymus
Mutasa, the Zanu PF secretary for administration, who is 78.
Other politicians involved in the liberation struggle with Mr Mugabe, such
as former vice-presidents Joshua Nkomo, Joseph Msika and John Nkomo, have
passed on.

"They are gone and those who remain, you look down upon them because they
are young. They have not had the same experience, the same length of life
and, therefore, the same advantage of gathering as much knowledge and
experience as yourself," Mr Mugabe was quoted as saying in an interview with
national broadcaster ZBC to mark his 89th birthday at the weekend.

"And so you can't discuss with them things that happened in the 1930s or
even 1950s. You take my Cabinet as it is: there is no one I can talk to
about how we used to approach girls or we would go to this and that place,
riding bicycles. There are others like Mutasa. He comes close, but others
are just children.

"You feel that loneliness. You have lost others and sometimes you think of
it and it makes you very lonely."

Even within his own family, Mr Mugabe struggles to find sage advice. His
wife Grace, his former secretary, is 41 years his junior and his only
surviving sibling, Bridgette, has been in a coma since 2010 when she
collapsed during the burial of their elder sister Sabina.

"The consoling part of it is that, well fine, there are young ones and young
minds you can talk to," Mr Mugabe said. "You can also try to educate, you
can also try to relate a bit of history to and so on and so forth. But they
remain young ones who listen much more than they share ideas with you."

Mr Mugabe is not the first to highlight his loneliness at the top among
Africa's leadership. Last year, Nando's restaurant chain produced a spoof
advertisement entitled Last Dictator Standing in which Mr Mugabe sat alone
at a table on Christmas Day, daydreaming about water pistol fights with
Muammar Gaddafi, the former Libyan leader, and tank rides with Uganda's Idi
Amin.

The advertisement was pulled by the South African food chain after a youth
group loyal to Mr Mugabe called for a boycott.


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When portable radios become a security risk

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Maxwell Sibanda, Assistant Editor
Monday, 04 March 2013 10:15
HARARE - The recent police ban on portable shortwave radios has exposed
government’s penchant for assaulting citizens’ freedoms at a time when the
country is preparing to hold a constitutional referendum, analysts have
said.

Police, on February 13 announced the ban on the radios claiming that
possession and distribution of the devices was illegal as other parties
intended “to sow seeds of disharmony within the country especially now that
the country is about to embark on the referendum and harmonised elections.”

The banned shortwave radios are popular with Zimbabweans who tune in to
broadcasts by Washington-based Studio 7 and ShortWave Radio Africa (SW
Radio).

Police ban came in the wake of raids on Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs) which were suspected of distributing the devices to the rural
communities.

But analysts told the Daily News the ban was a direct assault on the
citizens’ liberties and was calculated to maintain Zanu PF’s stranglehold of
the rural folk, which forms its support base.

“It is not the gadgets (radios) that are being banned, but the information
coming through the radios.They want people in marginalised communities to
remain blind to new developments. They do not want them to deliberate on the
new constitution nor the upcoming general elections,” playwright, Cont
Mhlanga said.

Zimbabwe holds a constitutional referendum on March 16 to decide whether to
accept or reject a new charter seen as crucial in governing the watershed
elections expected later in the year.

So far, the voter education has not been effective because of the biting
financial resources which have restricted the printing of more draft copies
of the new constitution in vernacular languages.

NCA leader Lovemore Madhuku wants President Robert Mugabe forced to defer
the referendum and has lodged an appeal in the Supreme Court following his
initial loss at the High Court.

“As Africans we do not respect our culture and ethics as a people and to the
politicians they do not mean anything. They always look after their freedoms
while denying the weaker their freedoms as well,” said Mhlanga.

He said while the politicians and the rich enjoyed flashy cars listening to
Japanese radios, it was grossly unjust to deny the poor rural folk their
right to listen to these shortwave radios.

“They say the poor cannot listen to radio because they may get informed and
enlightened about events happening in their own country, but what is
broadcasting all about? It is about people having choices, choices of what
to listen to,” says the playwright.

“Is it a crime for people to prefer foreign-based radio stations than local
ones?” he asked.

Ironically, the colonial government of Ian Smith was also notorious for
hunting and arresting blacks found listening to Zanu PF’s liberation
movement radio station, The Voice of Zimbabwe which was meant to boost
morale among the fighters and urge people to unite and keep the fight alive.

Freedom fighters and rural folks updated themselves by listening to portable
radios.

The Voice of Zimbabwe, like Studio 7 and SW Radio, was operated underground
from neighbouring Mozambique, where the freedom fighters had their
headquarters.

Studio 7 and SW Radio Africa, are popular with rural communities as they
give them updates on the political front — the violence, intimidation and
murders of political opponents.

Interestingly, Zanu PF officials have participated in programmes aired by
the so-called “pirate” radio stations as they try to manage the truth
getting to communities.

These radios are cranked by hand to generate energy and are handy; can be
carried to the fields and even to the grazing lands.

Police suspect these radios were imported illegally into the country and
that distributors did not pay tax to revenue-collection authorities.

Interestingly, they claim those listening have not paid listeners’ licences
to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC).

ZBC, however, has not been known to confiscate radios whose owners have not
paid listener’s licences.

On Friday detectives and intelligence officers stormed the offices of Radio
Dialogue, in Bulawayo and confiscated 180 shortwave radios as it continued
with its clampdown on civic society groups suspected of distributing them.

Radio Dialogue production manager Zenzele Ndebele will appear in court today
(Monday March 4).

Leading human rights lawyer, Kucaca Phulu who is representing Ndebele, said
his client had initially been charged with possession of smuggled goods in
contravention of section.182 of the Customs & Exercise Act but has been
slapped with a further charge of possession of a radio receiver without a
valid ZBC licence in contravention of section.38 of the Broadcasting
Services Act.

Stanley Kwenda, the provincial chairperson of MISA Harare advocacy committee
says the ban on radios is a deliberate assault on freedom of expression.

“It is a move calculated to cow the masses and limit their access to
information. It is sad that it comes at a time when we thought we are going
to have a constitutional charter that would safeguard these rights,” said
Kwenda.

Raisedon Baya, a theatre director who has been holding plays in marginalised
areas said portable radios are vital for quick information and updates.

“Sometimes newspapers get there when the news or information is stale but
radios churn out quick updates and are current. They are very vital if we
want an informed electorate or citizenry. I believe it is more about trying
to control information.

“It is also an attempt of monopolising the information that reaches the
grassroots,” said Baya.

Police has vowed to continue with seizures of these radios, raising fears of
a crackdown against civil society groups and rights defenders as well as the
general populace.


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Is Jonathan Moyo speaking on behalf of Zanu PF?

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

Monday, 04 March 2013 15:06
HARARE - The revolution promised a just, equal, free, prosperous, inclusive,
and transparent dispensation.

After reading Jonathan Moyo’s latest contribution to the debate on
indigenisation in an article entitled: “Cheap attempts to scuttle
indigenisation” published by the Sunday Mail dated March 3, 2013 one gets
the distinct impression that he wants to scuttle debate on a matter that
raises fundamental ideological, legal, and policy issues.

It is significant that President Robert Mugabe, the leader of the party that
Moyo purportedly speaks on behalf of holds different views from him on how
the indigenisation programme ought to be framed, financed and executed.

Moyo as a legislator would be aware that Zimbabwe is a republic and that
holding divergent and even contradictory views is healthy for democracy.

Although independence could never be expected to produce a collective let
alone individual roadmap to a better life, what it did was to free the mind
so that people could take ownership of their destinies underpinned by an
administration that respects their sovereignty, creativity and
responsibility.

What does Moyo take the people of Zimbabwe for?

Evidently, he has failed to disclose his interest in the Zimplats
Indigenisation Transaction (ZIT) and the contractual basis of the role of
“spin doctor” that he seems to have assumed.

Mugabe, who remains the leader of Zanu PF should ordinarily be the face of
the party and also the government on this chosen key personal legacy subject
of indigenisation and black empowerment.

To Mugabe there is a direct link between the indigenisation programme and
the liberation struggle and it is obvious that he wants to be remembered for
doing this right.

He has not accepted that the choices and actions of his government have
played any role in increasing poverty, inequality and unemployment rather he
believes that colonial history has and continues to be the injury to be
cured through state intervention.

To this end, the content and context of the indigenisation programme takes a
national and strategic character that cannot be trivialised in a bid to
protect undisclosed narrow and sectional interest.

The need for advisory services in any transaction cannot be understated.

Even financially illiterate persons would know that the difference between a
businessman and a politician is that a businessman cannot force
customers/clients to purchase goods and services supplied voluntarily
whereas the government served by politicians has the power to collect other
people’s incomes as taxes and there is no goods return policy.

If one does not like a state actor after elections, one has to
constitutionally wait until the next election to act.

In terms of business, if a seller supplies one with a defective product, one
can immediately seek remedies not available in real time to ordinary
citizens against rotten state actors.

Against this backdrop, any programme implemented by the state and its actors
has to be accountable to the people from whom income is derived on
involuntary basis.

The National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board (Nieeb) is an
organ of state and, therefore, when it procures services from the public
including Brainworks it should be subject to the same rules that apply to
other vendors.

The facts of the ZI transaction need to be exposed not with a view to
demonising any of the actors but to live up to the promise of the revolution
that Moyo played a part in.

It is the relationship between Brainworks and the Nieeb that is at issue.

How did Brainworks get connected to the Nieeb?

Were other service providers given the same opportunity?

By adding my voice and face to the debate, I have been privileged to receive
from an anonymous source the key documents that allow me to debate
intelligently with Moyo and hopefully add value to the transformation
project.

The first document that has to form the starting point in any informed
debate on this matter has to be the Advisory and Mandate Letter dated June
8, 2012 as shown below:

As shown above, the letter was originated by Brainworks and addressed to Mr.
Wellington Zengeza. It would appear from the reference BCM/NIEEB/001 that
it was the first formal contact between the contracting parties and more
importantly that the mandate was not specific to any transaction but would
guide the relationship between NIEEB and Brainworks.

Moyo, a former minister, would know better that state institutions before
engaging any contractor would need to know what they are looking to purchase
and then invite the public to make proposals yet in this case it would
appear that it is Brainworks that has the intellectual property on what
needs to happen.

The first paragraph of any letter reveals a lot like the first step of any
journey.

Moyo makes the point that the ZI transaction has not been completed
forgetting that even attempted murder is a crime.

In this case, it is common cause that Brainworks got a boarding pass on a
journey whose destination was known.

No other company was given an opportunity to be on the plane.

The contents of the first paragraph are set out below:

It is clear from the above that the letter to a government agency was
preceded by conversations and not a Request for Proposals (RFP) suggesting
that only the people engaged in the conversation knew of the agenda to
acquire shares in non-compliant companies.

The compliance function was never meant to be outsourced yet the
implications of this letter is that the Nieeb was failing to execute its
mandate requiring the service of a “messiah” in the form of Brainworks.

Given the political context of the indigenisation programme one would expect
Brainworks to be partisan in the same manner that Moyo’s DNA functions yet
there is no evidence that Brainworks is one of Zanu PF’s brain trusts.

The brains at work appear to be motivated less by ideology but what can be
financially gained from a government facilitated transaction.

The second paragraph provides more details as follows:

It is Brainworks that writes its own mandate script and not the other way
around. The role envisaged by Brainworks is clear and so is the identity of
the client.

It is the contents of the third paragraph below that raise some troubling
questions.

Who verbally appointed Brainworks?

I am sure that all revolutionary heroes buried at the national shrine will
be turning in their graves after learning that the government they fought so
hard to create is engaging with the public in this clumsy and opaque manner.

It is evident that before this letter was written that Brainworks was
already in the plan playing its part in a journey supposedly of the people
to the promised land of plenty and equity.

The author of the letter discloses to Zengeza that Brainworks was already
discharging services to seven companies including Zimplats without a formal
mandate.

The true purpose of the letter becomes evident in paragraph 4 below:

This letter was written not by NIEEB as to be expected but by a service
provider to formalise appointments already made verbally on the mandates and
to cover future unspecified mandates.

If this is not generally corrupt then Moyo may wish to define the meaning of
corruption that Mugabe talks about without any visible evidence.

The reaction of Moyo would seem to suggest that this is now the modus
operandi of the people’s government otherwise if the same action was
overseen by a politically undesirable person, he would be the first one to
make the loudest noise.

Hypocrisy is related to politics but not to the extent of defending this
kind of shoddy and blatant abuse of the state by a few connected souls.

Moyo would be aware that the said mandate letter was signed and, therefore,
concluded to make the allegation that nothing is completed in so far as the
role of Brainworks nonsensical.

The remuneration of Brainworks has been a subject of debate, however, as set
out below, it is clear what the company stood to make without competing to
get into the plane.

It would not take a genius to compute the income that Brainworks stands to
make from this self-serving mandate.

The signed term sheet contains the key numbers required to make the
computation.

In addition to the above, Brainworks stands to pocket more money from the
deal as follows:

I have no doubt that Moyo has reviewed the mandate letter and will agree
with me that the following extract raises more troubling questions that need
to be addressed in the public interest.

Although Brainworks signed the letter on June 8, 2012, it was only
counter-signed by the CEO of Nieeb on September 20, 2012 and not by Zengeza
to whom the letter was addressed in the first place.

It would appear that between June 8 and September 20, 2012, Brainworks was
at work without any formal relationship with Nieeb.

Who on earth authorised this?

Who was aware of this untenable state of affairs?

The corporate governance issues that emerge from this letter need to be
addressed.

How does Nieeb conduct its affairs?

What is the role of the board, if any, in this matter?

Already, the Chairperson of Nieeb, Nyambuya, has defended this transaction.

Perhaps he and not Moyo may wish to shed some light of his state of
knowledge on the circumstances leading to the engagement of Brainworks and
what was promised to the company and by whom for the company to commence
work without going through any transparent and open process that the
revolution promised to all. - Mutumwa Mawere


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Zimbabwe’s indigenisation policy: falling apart?

http://blogs.ft.com

Mar 4, 2013 3:47pm by Irene Madongo

Zimbabwe’s beleaguered indigenisation policy has been dealt several big
blows in the last few days. Alleged corruption, arguments over deal fees,
calls for a parliamentary probe – and to top it all, even president Robert
Mugabe criticising the process.

The controversial black empowerment policy, which forces foreign firms to
divest 51 per cent of equity to locals, is one of Mugabe and his party,
Zanu-PF’s key strategies. But is it falling apart?

In a dramatic turn on Friday Mugabe finally admitted that Saviour
Kasukuwere, the Indigenisation minister, has blundered over the much-touted
Zimplats deal announced in January.

Under the agreement, Impala Platinum (Implats) agreed to sell a majority
stake in its Zimbabwe unit to local blacks for $971m, facilitating the
transaction through vendor financing at an interest rate of 10 per cent per
year.

Mugabe said: “That is the problem, they gave us 51 per cent saying that it
is a loan that we are giving you, and we are paying for you in advance and
then you can pay us back tomorrow.

“I think that is where our minister made a mistake. He did not quite
understand what was happening, and yet our theory is that the resource is
ours and that resource is our share, that is where the 51 per cent comes
from.”

It seems that it has finally dawned on Mugabe that the policy may on the
surface be about empowering black people, but actually has lumbered them
with a vast bill.

Also on Friday Zimplats was given 30 days notice to appeal an order from
Mugabe directing the firm give up 28,000 hectares of ground containing
platinum reserves.

The company has become embroiled in another row – refusing to pay a $17m
consultation fee slapped on it by Brainworks, an advisory company involved
in the $971m Implats deal. On Friday, Implats spokesman Bob Gilmour told
beyondbrics that “Brainworks was contracted by the NIEEB [National
Indigenisation & Economic Empowerment Board], so that is for them, and not
for us. Zimplats [Implats Zimbabwean unit] will not be paying the bill.” It
also issued a statement on its website.

Zimplats refused to pay the bill saying it did not engage Brainworks to act
as advisors to the government hence it could not be expected to pay.
Observers questioned the sense in Brainworks’ demands – Masimba Kuchera, an
economic analyst said: “It’s like telling someone that they should pay the
transfer costs of a house that you’ve forcibly taken away from them.”
.
Other problems abound. Last week Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
called for a parliamentary probe into alleged corruption in the handing of
empowerment deals for several companies. And on Friday it was announced that
Zimbabwe’s Anti-Corruption Commission has officially launched an
investigation into the deals.

There have also been reports of wrangling over community share ownership
trusts funds, which are contributed by companies that have complied with
indigenisation laws and are meant to benefit local communities. The
Indigenisation authorities have denied the allegations.
Kasukuwere has recently insisted that the policy is working and benefiting
Zimbabweans, stating two months ago that the programme’s sovereign wealth
fund stood at $4bn.

But Harare-based economic analyst John Robertson says: “The dollars [claimed
to be] in the fund are not dollars, they are shares that are said to have a
market value of that much. Whether you would actually get that much if you
put them on the market is a huge question, but it is not in the form of
money.”

“Most of the claims that companies have complied with indigenisation demands
are exaggerations propagated by the indigenisation ministry,” he added.

With all this going on, what is the fate of the beleaguered policy? Zimbabwe
holds a constitutional referendum in two weeks’ time and has an election
coming up later in the year. Mugabe is in no mood to back down on what is
perceived to be one of his party’s key election ploys, and recently said he
will stick with the policy.

Zimbabwean Analyst Lance Mambondiani said: “As a model for economic growth,
the indigenisation model is rooted in Communist nostalgia. The assumption
that in any economy anywhere in the world everyone and anyone can be an
owner of a company is patently dishonest.”

Kuchera said: “In the short term they will try and protect it but won’t have
those grandstand announcements. I think Zanu-PF has nothing else to offer
and they will try to save at least the idea in the short term”.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T would ditch the policy, saying it
deters badly-needed foreign investment for the cash-strapped country. It
says it will review the policy if it comes wins the impending elections. But
even this may not be easy..

“The policy is already law, it’s unlikely that it will be repealed even if
the MDC were to come into power. In its economic policy, the party proposes
a review of policy to make it a lot more consultative. Like the land policy,
it is difficult to reverse the changes already done,” says Mambondiani.

Beyondbrics asked for comment from Kasukuwere and National Indigenisation
and Economic Empowerment Board, but they did not respond at time of
publication.


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Zimbabwe: “Hope in a Desert” at the Royal Geographical Society, London

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/
MAR 04, 2013
Hope in a Desert” is the theme of a presentation on the future of Zimbabwe hosted by the UK-based Mike Campbell Foundation at the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) in London on Thursday March 7. The evening will be chaired by Kate Hoey MP, Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Zimbabwe.

Despite the Zimbabwean economy’s spectacular collapse in the wake of the violent land invasions of 2000, the destruction of property rights and the demise of the rule of law, the country still has the irrefutable potential to recover its thriving economic status.

Ben Freeth MBE, executive director of the Mike Campbell Foundation, and Professor Craig Richardson, a U.S. economist who specializes in property rights and the Zimbabwean economy, will speak at the event.

They will contend that the imperatives for economic recovery and growth are enabling laws and policies, as well as the restoration of property rights.

They also believe that the chronic, widespread poverty can only be addressed when the country’s diverse resources – including its agricultural potential and mineral wealth - are utilised productively for the benefit of the entire nation.

Richardson’s theme, “Why do property rights matter? The case of Zimbabwe”, will demonstrate how property titles unlock financial capital, which can flow to a multitude of different areas and not only alleviate poverty and hunger, but create wealth and a better life for all.

He will contend that although the Zimbabwean economy is currently believed to be growing faster than most other economies, this is off a very low base - and that the artificial nature of its reported economic growth is dependent on massive infusions of foreign aid.

With the current conflict that remains on the land delaying any sustainable recovery of the agricultural sector, Richardson will propose possible solutions.

The third speaker, Gillian Higgins, is a London-based barrister from the chambers of 9 Bedford Row. She is a founding member of the International Criminal Law Bureau and the Director of ARC, a project concerned with the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Higgins, who has extensive experience in international criminal law and human rights law, will discuss issues related to justice and accountability. This will help to break the culture of impunity so prevalent in countries such as Zimbabwe, and which causes much suffering and stifles progress.

These issues are particularly relevant with Zimbabwe being in another election year.

The programme will include messages from the foundation’s two patrons: Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town, and the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu.

Archbishop Tutu has spoken out forthrightly on the gross human rights abuses and rule of law infringements in Zimbabwe, while Dr John Sentamu has described the existence of dictatorship and oppression as an affront to God, humanity and the principles of democracy and the Rule of Law.

In December 2012, Zimbabwe was ranked as one of the world’s worst performers in upholding the rule of law by the World Justice Project, which covered 97 countries.

Tickets cost £15 and the programme is from 7pm to 9pm on Thursday March 7. Doors open at 6pm and there is a cash bar available before and after the event.

To make a booking, log onto the Mike Campbell Foundation website: www.mikecampbellfoundation.com or contact Claire Freeth: phone: +44 (0)1795 842 341, e-mail: info@mikecampbellfoundation.com


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