Subtle manoeuvring replaces overt
violence in run-up to polls
By Christelle Terreblanche
An
informal fact-finding mission to Zimbabwe by members of South African civil
society has found that although violence is considerably less of a problem
than in previous pre-election periods, the playing fields are far from
level. Charles Villa-Vicencio, the executive director of the Institute for
Justice and Reconciliation spoke on behalf of the nine-person South Africa
Solidarity Network mission that visited Zimbabwe this week. The delegation
met a range of non-government organisations, church leaders and the main
political parties. Their observations fly in the face of President Thabo
Mbeki's statement this week that he had "no reason to think that anybody in
Zimbabwe will act in a way that will militate against elections being free
and fair". All agreed that there was less overt violence now than in the
run-up to the 2000 national elections or the presidential elections in 2002,
Villa-Vicencio said. "There is a downplaying of overt violence, such as the
killings and harassment but this does not mean the playing fields have been
levelled. Four years of intense violence cannot be done away with in a short
90-day pre-election period." He said that non-government and faith
organisations highlighted the fact that the cost of the violence and the
fear of defying the ruling Zanu PF was still potentially there, while many
believed that submission to the authorities has been
internalised.
The Zimbabwe Solidarity Network was recently
established after a series of meetings and conferencesand includes the SA
Council of Churches, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation, the
Institute for Democracy in SA and the Centre for Policy Studies. The group
was this week still waiting for an invitation to observe and monitor the
March 31 national elections formally. "In the meantime, these organisations
are all trying to gain as full an understanding of the pre-election period
as possible and some visited Zimbabwe this week to link up with partner
organisations," he explained. Villa-Vicencio stressed that their visit was
an informal one by individuals representing the various organisations. He
said they had found the churches extremely divided and as torn apart as the
whole of Zimbabwean society. One of their observations was that the ruling
party was fragmenting as the battle for the succession of President Robert
Mugabe "reached deep into the party", exacerbated by his imposition of
candidates on many constituencies. Predictions on the ground were that the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change party would at least retain the 57
seats out of a total of 157 they won in 2000. Members of the ruling Zanu PF,
on the other hand, were hoping to regain a two thirds
majority.
"One gets an impression that there is extensive discontent
on the ground, but whether this will translate as votes for the opposition
is questionable," Villa-Vicencio said. "There is a very low level of voter
education going on, estimated to be happening only in 11% of Zimbabwe.
Militia groups are being mobilised in camps and the military and police are
being called up. And there is still a lot of suspicion about the youth
movement and their role. But there is little overt intimidation."
Villa-Vicencio said they had heard two explanations for the slow pace of
getting ready for the elections, including complying with the Southern
African Development Community's (SADC) principles and the hoped-for
repealing of oppressive legislation such as the strict media laws. "There
are those who say Zanu PF is doing what it can to comply, but that
bureaucracy moves slowly. The other argument is that the Zanu PF government
is deliberately dragging its feet so that any repealing of laws or relaxing
of legislation would happen at the last minute when it is almost too late."
He said even the MDC was acknowledging a concerted effort by the government
to curb violence. "But on another level one can say that the oppression,
control and manipulation are now far more subtle. So the playing fields have
decidedly not been levelled and the SADC principles are not strictly adhered
to." The SA government was this week preparing eight observers led by Home
Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula as part of the official SADC
observer mission, while parliament's 20-strong observer team will leave for
Zimbabwe on March 14.
Can the Zimbabwe elections be free and fair? No. Will anyone
be able to prove it? No. There is a strange calm in the country, the calm of
a beaten fighter's corner after a boxing match. No soldiers on the street,
no signs of assault or intimidation, little hostility against foreigners.
The crops are standing high on corporate farms around the capital and
shelves are being filled with consumer goods. There is enough money in
certain circles to cause traffic jams outside Harare's many glitzy hotels.
But there is an all-pervasive atmosphere of resignation of the type that can
only be produced by fear. In the town of Concession north-west of Harare one
of the few remaining white farmers left pretends to help me with a faulty
wheel while we hurriedly talk on an isolated dirt road. Every move is being
watched, he says. The country has been organised in a pyramid of cells by
Zanu PF and the paranoia over spies and agents of British prime minister
Tony Blair, which has led to several high-level arrests and party
expulsions, has spread to the bottom ranks. A Zanu PF win is a foregone
conclusion, he says. He wishes they could just get it over with, so
everybody can continue with their lives.
The few Zimbabweans who
are prepared to talk politics with a stranger do so out of despair and
frustration, and not from any election fever. A road worker points with
pursed fingers at his mouth: We are hungry. A mineworker outside Mvurwi uses
the chance presented by my request for directions to tell me they are not
being paid and don't have money for food. Most people are too afraid to be
drawn, or they give ritual answers, especially in the rural areas. All is
well with land reform, says a new farmer, who keeps calling me "bwana". A
non-government organisation employee refuses to let me into his house near
Bindura. He has just returned from a compulsory Zanu PF meeting. What stood
out for him was the passivity and lack of aggressive posturing. It was being
taken for granted that Zanu PF would win, and the people at the meeting were
instructed not to indulge in any violence until March 31. That is little
consolation to him, he says. It is just for the sake of presenting a
peaceful face to the outside world and getting a free and fair verdict from
observers. After March 31, there will be hell to pay. He doesn't think he'll
be able to stay in the country beyond the end of the year.
From
an angry black commercial farmer I get the sense that the land resettlement
scheme has deteriorated into such a mess that even staunch opposition
supporters believe that only the ruling party can sort it out. So they'll
turn their backs on the election, and let President Robert Mugabe win. The
government media are already promoting the constitutional changes that would
follow on a two-thirds majority. The changes will allow Mugabe to appoint
his anointed successor, Vice President Joyce Mujuru, in his place instead of
having to call a new presidential election. In Harare the absence of
campaigning is striking. A few posters of independent stalwart Margaret
Dongo and Movement for Democratic Change candidates have sprouted, but the
Zanu PF machine is said to be in disarray. Only the state media is promoting
the party, but they devote so much attention to shooting down the MDC that
they actually promote the opposition as well. It is this bumbling, which
extends to the electoral system, that will make it impossible to prove that
the election wasn't free and fair.
Three or four dozen observer
missions have been invited, but most are ideologically ambivalent, or come
from countries that cannot be said to be models of democracy. Who is going
to watch the observers? In 2002 members of the Southern African Development
Community mission were reported to sit in their hotels all day long, but who
will write the reports this year? Far too few independent journalists with
the required experience of Zimbabwean ways and customs are left. Many
journalists have entered the country clandestinely, apparently with the
authorities turning a blind eye - to come and play their own role in faking
a free and fair election. But because they work undercover, they will be
unable to monitor events properly. Even if they arrived in sufficient
numbers, they would have major obstacles to surmount in the collapsing
infrastructure. In the five years since the first land invasions, the
countryside has decayed. Some roads have become impassable, telephone lines
have snapped and the vanished road signs make it a long and frustrating
matter to find anything. Anybody will be able to say anything about the
election after March 31, but none of it will be provable or conclusive. It's
a pity: the country could have been a powerhouse of fresh ideas and an
African dynamo, had Mugabe stepped down when he should have.
Sacked minister Moyo forms 'third force' to fight
Mugabe By Paul Lord in Harare (Filed: 06/03/2005)
Jonathan Moyo,
sacked last month as Zimbabwe's information minister, is secretly setting up
a new political alliance to challenge President Robert Mugabe in this
month's general election, The Telegraph can reveal.
Mr Moyo - Mr Mugabe's
favourite henchman until he fell victim to vicious political in-fighting -
has created a group of disillusioned war veterans, 16 independent political
candidates and high-profile dissenters from the ruling Zanu PF
Party.
At a public rally today in the country's second city, Bulawayo, Mr
Moyo and his allies plan to announce a common platform - effectively
creating a third political movement alongside Zanu PF and the main
opposition party, Movement for Democratic Change.
The new alliance,
whose manifesto - leaked to The Telegraph - calls for a fixed presidential
term, promises to pose the most serious challenge to 81-year-old Mr Mugabe
in his 25 years in power.
In an interview last week, Mr Moyo, 47, warned
that Zanu PF faced disaster if it failed to revamp its leadership and bring
in younger blood. The party, he said, needed to "open up, reach out and
catch up".
"We have to accept that at various levels of leadership you
get the best out of people at their prime," he told a newspaper in
Zimbabwe.
"You simply can't have the same output from a 30-something and
an 80-something person - there are diminishing returns. All societies
benefit from people at their peak and not when they are at retirement
age."
Sikhumbuzo Ndiweni, a spokesman for Mr Moyo's new group, confirmed
last night: "The independent candidates are forming a network and common
platform under the leadership of former information minister Jonathan
Moyo.
"Eventually we will form a party and third voice in
parliament."
Joshua Mhambi, another leader of the new alliance's
secretariat, said that the aim was to topple Mr Mugabe. "Our main goal is
the presidency," he said. "Participation in this election is a way of
announcing and establishing a new and powerful presence towards 2008." Mr
Moyo and Mr Mugabe were once the closest of cronies, united in their
distaste for Western governments and determined to clamp down on
dissenters.
The British Government, Mr Moyo once said, were
"hamburger-eating imperialists" and agents of the "dysfunctional Blair
Toilet System".
But Mr Mugabe and Mr Moyo fell out spectacularly last
month, allegedly after a close ally of the information minister was passed
over for the vice-presidency. In a rare defection from the president's inner
circle, Mr Moyo - the architect of Zimbabwe's draconian media laws -
declared that he would run as an independent candidate in the elections on
March 31. He was summarily fired, stripped of his Zanu PF membership and
evicted from his government villa in an elite suburb of the capital,
Harare.
These swingeing punishments were seen as a reflection of Mr
Mugabe's determination to hang on to power against any possible
challenge.
The manifesto drafted by Mr Moyo's new group, which has
already bought office space in Bulawayo, effectively calls for an end to a
Zimbabwe that is run by one man.
It demands voting by secret ballot,
voting rights for Zimbabweans who have left the country, popular elections
of premiers and a senate, and a campaign against government
bureaucracy.
Mr Ndiweni said the group hoped to shock the Zanu leadership
by launching the alliance just weeks before the election. So far, political
campaigning in Zimbabwe has been low-key - Zanu PF posters are hard to find
in Harare or Bulawayo and few rallies have been organised.
Mr Ndiweni
said: "You don't want to give your opponent time to scheme. Forming a third
alliance will shake up the system and Mugabe is going to be completely
shocked by the rally on Sunday."
Critics of Mr Moyo, who was closely
associated with the president's catastrophic land-reform programme and
violent repression of opposition in Zimbabwe, claim that the group's goals
are over-ambitious and accuse him of playing power politics. His new group,
they say, will be running on a platform similar to that of the opposition
MDC and offers little that is new to voters.
Mr Mhambi insisted that
the group's greatest weapon would be Mr Moyo himself. "The MDC should have
studied Zanu," he said. "You can't beat Zanu with violence. They're too
good.
"Moyo can engage Zanu in a war they're unfamiliar with - a war of
the mind."
The group also claims that it will prove a more palatable
opposition alternative for other African leaders who no longer wish to
support Mr Mugabe but have proved unwilling to back the MDC, which enjoys
influential Western backing.
Mr Ndiweni claimed that those leaders
might include Thabo Mbeki, president of Zimbabwe's powerful neighbour South
Africa, and a vital ally of Mr Mugabe's for years. "Mbeki can't leave Zanu
for the MDC," Mr Ndiweni said.
"He's looking for a party that is an
alternative to Zanu from a pan-African liberation perspective, not
European-centric like the MDC.
"Mbeki knows that Jesus will come before a
modernised Zanu PF."
Zimbabwe used to be prosperous but has been crippled
by a deep depression. The government's seizure of land has crippled the
economy and contributed to soaring inflation, rising unemployment, poverty
and malnutrition. Life expectancy is now less than 34 years and aid agencies
believe that more than five million people face famine.
Mr Moyo's
designs on power have been boosted by support from Jabulani Sibande,
chairman of the powerful War Veterans Association and an open critic of Zanu
PF.
"I joined the armed struggle for 12-and-a-half years - I grew up in
war," Mr Sibande told The Telegraph. "We fought for majority law but now we
are being governed by the minority."
Mr Sibande has already faced
rebuke from Zanu PF party leaders. "I was suspended, reinstated, suspended
again," he said. "Now, I don't know whether I'm suspended or not. I didn't
leave Zanu - they left me."
While he opposed the formation of a new party
- fearing that support would be fragmented - he said there was little
choice. He pointed to corruption as the biggest problem within
Zanu.
"The problem with the Zanu leadership is they make laws but don't
follow them. They are more powerful than the constitution," Mr Sibande
said.
"Our people don't see the difference between what the white
settlers did and what Zanu leadership is doing. It is even worse because we
voted them into power.
"There are certain individuals who have to be
voted out. But you vote them out and they come back, by Mugabe appointing
them."
Frustration over the tight-knit circle surrounding Mr Mugabe has
given the alliance of independent candidates extra impetus. The government
is run almost entirely by people from the Shona tribe whereas the new group
is made up almost entirely of politicians from the rival Ndebele
tribe.
"Zanu has become a clique," Mr Ndiweni said. "There are so many
tribes in this country. Why would one tribe play the guitar and expect all
of us to dance? We are not all monkeys."
Yet while many Zimbabweans
would be keen to challenge the rule of Zanu and Mr Mugabe, they would
hesitate before supporting Mr Moyo, a figure who strikes fear among
opposition voters and has performed dramatic political U-turns in the
past.
The former university professor was an outspoken critic of Mr
Mugabe before he joined government in 2000. As recently as 1999, Mr Moyo was
writing articles condemning the president. "His uncanny propensity to shoot
himself in the foot has become a national problem which needs urgent
containment," Mr Moyo wrote in one newspaper. "Does the president not
realise that when he belittles universal issues such as basic human rights,
he loses the moral high-ground to his critics?"
Within months,
however, Mr Moyo had become the spokesman for the government-appointed
Constitutional Commission, which was overseeing a new democratic base for
Zimbabwe.
The draft document was rejected in a national referendum in
February 2000 but Mr Moyo's star continued to rise. In June 2000 he was
appointed as Zanu PF's general-election campaign manager.
Max
Mkandla, a radical opposition activist, said last night: "We forgive him but
we do not forget. And we don't know how independent any Moyo party will
actually be."
Mr Ndiweni was standing by Mr Moyo: "People love to
hate him but they can't stop talking about him."
From: "Trudy Stevenson" Sent: Sunday, March 06, 2005 8:27 PM Subject:
Planning for Change
Planning for Change
Our election will take
place on Thursday, 31 March. This is two days after the Easter holiday,
which begins on Friday 25 March and ends on Monday 28 March. In other words,
we only have two working days that week before the public holiday on Thursday
31st. Many of those who have realised this have even decided to "make a
bridge" and take the entire 10 days off for only 3 working days - sounds a
good deal! But that deal will mean less votes for Change - and we need EVERY
VOTE!
Many people have not yet realised that the election virtually
clashes with Easter, and are planning to either go kumusha or to go on
holiday - if they have the money! I want to warn you that if you go away for
Easter, you might not be able to get back to the cities in time to vote,
because indications are that there will be a shortage of fuel at that
time.
Please, I am begging everyone who wants a New Beginning and a New
Zimbabwe to make voting their priority, this year. ZanuPF are masters at
rigging - but they cannot rig as easily if there is a big voter turnout,
especially now that we have translucent ballot boxes, voting in one day and
counting at the individual polling stations. We are hoping that voting will
go much more quickly this time, because there will be 3 queues at every
polling station - one for surnames A-L, one for M, and one for
N-Z.
Reports from the rural areas show that the people there have
finally understood the nature of the ZanuPF regime - that they are criminals
who make promises and even give them a bit of money, beer or food to steal
their vote, and then they run off with all the loot! MDC rallies are
attracting huge crowds all round the country - and we don't force people to
attend our rallies, unlike the regime! People in the urban areas need to
understand that apathy plays into the hands of that criminal regime and will
allow them to continue to suck the lifeblood out of our country for another 5
years.
Your vote really CAN make a difference. EVERY VOTE
COUNTS! PLAN TO VOTE EARLY ON THURSDAY 31 MARCH. CHANGE IS IN YOUR HAND.
VOTE FOR CHANGE. Vote for a New Zimbabwe and a New
Beginning! ............................................................................ .......... Please
spread this message far and wide NOW! Thank you.
Scandal rocks Miss Tourism World pageant By our own
Staff
CONTROVERSY-Ridden Miss Tourism World pageant has been rocked by
another scandal as it emerged that the winners of the beauty contest were
not paid the US$100 000 that the top five finishers were supposed to
share.
Before the finals were held, more than a week ago, organisers of
the event announced that the top five winners would share US$100 000 without
giving the breakdown. Czech Republic's Zuzara Putnarova "won" the Miss
Tourism World title while Spain's Raquel Babelcia was chosen first
runner-up.
Zimbabwe's Oslie Muringayi was chosen second runner-up while
Ukraine's Oliynick was third runner-up. Shirley Aghoste of Nigeria was voted
fourth runner-up. Muringayi's top finishing was regarded as reward to
Zimbabwe for agreeing to host the pageant.
The prize money for the
winners was supposed to come from the US$2 million dollars that the
government paid John Singh for the licence to host the
pageant.
Sources close to the pageant said Miss Tourism World,
Putnarova had only been paid US$8 000, while contestants from Nigeria,
Tanzania and Malaysia were owed more than US$ 5 000 for costs incurred while
preparing for the pageant.
Several people told The Standard that
Zimbabwe had become a lucrative hunting ground for international con-men
eager to exploit a regime desperate to portray itself as a safe destination
for international tourists.
The president of the little known Miss World
Tourism, Singh, fled Zimbabwe for London on Thursday night after Original
Black Entertainment Television (OBTV) took him to court for failing to pay
them for their role in promoting Miss Tourism World pageant
Michael
Orji, OBTV's director, said he was supposed to be paid 10 percent of the
US$2 million, which Zimbabwe paid for the licence.
Speaking from India
where she is exiled, Miss Tibet, Tashi Yangchen, described Singh as "a
scoundrel".
Cynics have suggested that reports that Zimbabwe had "won"
the right to host the pageant after shrugging off stiff challenges from
competing countries was a ploy meant to hoodwink the gullible Zimbabwean
authorities into accepting to host the pageant and to pay the staggering
US$2 million.
POLITICAL
violence has flared-up at various flash-points around the country with
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) candidates being routinely
targeted by suspected Zanu PF supporters, The Standard learnt
yesterday.
Police are reportedly reluctant to arrest the ruling
party's supporters. This is in defiance of an appeal by President Robert
Mugabe and Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri, who have both said
political violence would not be tolerated in the run-up to the 31 March
general elections.
By yesterday, at least 10 aspiring MDC candidates had
been arrested by police while putting up posters or campaigning in different
constituencies around the country. Others were beaten up by Zanu PF
supporters while campaigning.
On Friday, Chinhoyi MDC candidate,
Silas Matamisa, and five campaign agents were arrested at the town centre
while putting up posters and distributing fliers.
On the same day,
Prince Chibanda, the MDC candidate for Zvimba North, and Paidamoyo
Muzuluthe, the district information and publicity secretary, were also
arrested and later detained at Chinhoyi Police Station.
Chibanda and his
team were campaigning in Raffingora, when a group of Zanu PF supporters,
headed by a war veteran known only as Kangachepi, abducted him and his
team.
Paul Themba-Nyathi, the MDC spokesperson said the police were
biased in favour of the ruling party. He added no Zanu PF candidates had
been arrested while putting up posters or campaigning.
"Chibanda and
his team were assaulted and taken to a torture camp at a nearby farm. Eight
of his team members escaped and reported the matter to the police,"
Themba-Nyathi said.
He said although the police arrested the war veteran,
the two MDC officials were surprised when they were told that they would
have to spend the night in the police cells."
Last week, the MDC
candidate for Mount Darwin South, Henry Chimbiri, his election agent, Petros
Chiunye and Mashonaland Central MDC provincial chairperson, Tapera Macheka,
were severely assaulted by a rowdy mob that included Zanu PF Bindura
councillors.
They were taken to Bindura police station, where they were
detained while the Zanu PF councillors were released after making
statements.
Chimbiri said: "Although we were the ones who were assaulted
by the Zanu PF councillors, the police were treating us as if we were the
guilty ones.
"Police are actually participating in a process of torturing
and intimidating MDC members ahead of the general elections."
He said
although they were barred from putting up posters, Zanu PF candidates were
putting up their posters without hindrance. He said they paid an admission
of guilt fine of $25 000 because police insisted they would only be released
the following day.
Nyathi said: "MDC candidates and activists appear to
be the target of increasing police harassment as polling day approaches.
This may be denied by authorities through the public media but their denials
appear somewhat spurious compared to facts on the ground."
By late
yesterday, MDC candidates who had been harassed by police or Zanu PF
supporters include: Godrich Chimbaira (Zengeza), Godfrey Gumbo (Hurungwe
West) Prince Chibanda, (Zvimba North) Henry Chimbiri (Mount Darwin South)
Godfrey Chimombe (Shamva) Silas Matamisa (Chinhoyi) Brian Mufuka (Rushinga)
Joel Mugariri (Bindura) Njabuliso Mguni (Lupane) and Edwin Maupe of Mutare
South.
In Manyame, 11 MDC youths who were campaigning for the party's
candidate, Hilda Mafudze, were beaten up by Zanu PF
supporters.
Campaign T-shirts and fliers were confiscated and burnt by
the ruling party supporters.
"The incident was reported to Norton
police station but the police refused to arrest the Zanu PF youths,"
Themba-Nyathi said.
Last month, police in Harare also invaded and
scuttled an MDC training session for its 120 candidates, saying the meeting
was illegal.
In Bulawayo, police arrested MDC supporters while they were
distributing fliers. A couple putting up posters in Hurungwe East was
severely beaten up by Zanu PF supporters. In Nyanga, the MDC says soldiers
recently mounted a brutal attack against MDC supporters, who had just
attended a rally.
Themba-Nyathi said although the government wanted to
give the impression that there was no political violence, the opposite was
true. He said the police was being used to undermine the SADC Protocol on
conduct of free and fair elecions.
Police spokesperson, Assistant
Commissioner Wayne Bvudzijena, was not immediately available for comment
yesterday.
However, Bvudzijena was recently quoted by the State media
accusing the MDC of making false allegations particularly reports of alleged
soldiers attacking three opposition party candidates.
Zanu PF
spokesperson, Nathan Shamuyarira, refused to comment yesterday saying he had
not received reports of violence by his party members.
ZIMBABWE'S mining industry was last week left quaking yet again
following the expiry of a deadline for platinum producers to close down
offshore foreign currency accounts (FCA)'s.
President Robert Mugabe's
foreign currency-starved administration issued an ultimatum last month
ordering platinum firms to liquidate offshore accounts and deposit proceeds
into local foreign currency accounts. The order stipulated that all
companies should have regularized their accounts by Monday last week, a mere
10-day period for the entire industry. The regulation puts a damper on a new
set of guidelines for the Platinum Metal Element (PME) industry that were
effected early last month by the Governor of the Reserve bank Gideon
Gono.
Gono said companies with platinum properties in the country would
operate four foreign currency accounts under the supervision and management
of the central bank.
The four accounts are the Operating Foreign
Currency Account (OFCA), the Debt Service Sinking Fund (DSSF) FCA, Dividend
Sinking Fund (DSF) FCA and an Evident Account (EA). This structure, Gono
said, would give maximum protection and assurance to the exporters and their
creditor and investor communities.
But the Chamber of Mines, the
umbrella body for the mining industry last week moved out of the closet
warning that the new legislation overrides critical provisions of the
current Mining Agreement signed by mining firms and the government. The
Statutory Instruments also vary with operational modalities unveiled by the
Reserve Bank in January that govern the marketing of the white
metal.
"The Statutory Instrument looks very hurried and it sends a wrong
message to the investing community," said Ian Saunders, President of the
Chamber of Mines. The rules for an investor have changed and changed for the
worse. This is quite a wrong decision," lamented Saunders
Besides the
new government regulations, a draft mine bill distributed to stakeholders
demands a significant percentage of share in private mines should be
allocated to local empowerment groups.
Zimbabwe Platinum Mines
(Zimplats), a leading platinum producer removed its kid gloves last week to
criticize the new fiscal regime.
"In the opinion of directors, this
development, if not addressed, will have a negative impact on the cost and
risk of doing business in Zimbabwe," Greg Sebborn CEO at Zimplats warned
last week.
Zimplats was last week frantically seeking an audience to
discuss the new developments with Ministry of Mines officials and central
bank authorities.
The platinum sector remains the area with the greatest
potential for growth. The white metal is set to outpace gold and tobacco to
become the country's top foreign currency earner. With Impala Platinum Mines
earmarking significant resources for exploration and development work for
the Zimbabwean operation over the next 10 years or so this can only improve
the prospects for Zimbabwe's platinum sector.
Zimplats and Impala
Platinum have begun production at their Ngezi project, located along the
Great Dyke while Anglo American is planning to develop its Unki deposit in
Zimbabwe.
This development would make Zimbabwe the world's third largest
Platinum producer. However, the new fiscal regime coupled with government
bungling on empowerment could place limitations to the full exploitation of
the rich mineral.
Mutare granny forced to flee from home By our
correspondent
MUTARE - A 61 year-old grandmother last week fled her
homestead in Shorishori village's Ward 15 in Mutare South constituency
following death threats from Zanu PF youth militia.
She has sought
refuge at the opposition MDC Manicaland offices. Betty Shorishori left behind
her two grandchildren - one in Grade III and the other in Form I - after
threats that her home would be torched for supporting the opposition
party.
Narrating her ordeal to The Standard news crew, the elderly woman,
said her problems began when she attended an MDC rally held last Sunday in
the area.
Shorishori said she was later informed that her name had been
singled out at a local Zanu PF meeting as a supporter of the opposition
party.
"I heard my grandchildren's names had been deleted from a list of
beneficiaries of free education through BEAM (Basic Education Assistance
Module," she said in Shona.
BEAM is a government programme designed
to assist orphans and other disadvantaged children to go to school
throughout the country. Headmasters and teachers identify the needy
children.
"What followed was that I could not buy maize from the GMB
(Grain Marketing Board) and could instead only buy the maize from Sydney
Mukwecheni (the incumbent MDC MP for Mutare South). Vakanditi ndichafambira
mudenga seshiri," (You shall fly like a bird) she said.
Shorishori
said she was informed that all people who attended the MDC rally were not
going to be given food aid, they would be beaten up or their homes would be
torched at night.
"I do not want all that to happen to me that is why I
had to rush to the MDC offices so that they tell me what to do," she
said.
Several MDC supporters have fled their rural homes into urban areas
fearing retribution from Zanu PF activists. The trend was most widespread
towards the 2000 parliamentary and 2002 presidential elections, during which
several opposition supporters were murdered while others
brutalised.
Dudza Marware, the MDC's Ward 15 organising secretary, said
Shorishori was seeking protection as well as assurance that her
grandchildren would not be harmed.
Mukwecheni assured Shorishori that
she would not be harmed. He called all MDC supporters to desist from fleeing
their homes but to report any forms of intimidation and violence to the
nearest police station.
"You cannot be forced to vote for someone or a
party that you do not want. Your vote is your secret, be assured of that,"
Mukwecheni said.
Zanu PF chairman for Manicaland province, Shedreck
Chipanga, was not immediately available for comment.
Zimbabwe urged to comply with SADC guidelines From
Kumbirai Mafunda recently in Bulawayo
BULAWAYO - PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe
should speedily synchronize the country's electoral laws with SADC
principles and guidelines on democratic elections if this month's
parliamentary polls are to be proclaimed free and fair.
Participants
attending a conference on "Lessons learnt from countries that held elections
after the adoption of the SADC principles and guidelines" recommended that
Zimbabwe should comply fully with all provisions governing democratic
elections before the end of the month. The Centre for Peace Initiatives in
Africa (CPIA), an organization that promotes peace, stability and security
on the continent through conflict prevention and management organized the
conference.
The participants also recommended that the government should
repeal obnoxious legislation such as the Public Order and Security Act
(Posa) and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa),
which are being used to prevent the opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) from campaigning freely across the country.
"We
recognize the national security importance attached to the enactment of
legislation such as Posa and Aippa. We nevertheless, recommend the lifting
of restrictive sections to make the political environment conducive to free
and fair elections," reads part of the recommendations, which will soon be
submitted to the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs.
The participants said the government should take a cue from
neighbouring Botswana, which waived similar legislation before its ninth
general elections held in October 2004.
SADC heads of state and
government adopted the SADC guidelines and principles on democratic
elections in Mauritius in August 2004.
NGOs Bill scuttles USAID funding for health project By
our own Staff
THE government's Expanded Community Based Distribution
Programme (ECBP) for contraceptives hangs in the balance after a major donor
for the project pulled out citing uncertainty over the non-governmental
organisation (NGO) Bill, awaiting President Robert Mugabe's
assent.
The withdrawal of funds by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) for the ECBP, which is run by the Zimbabwe
National Family Planning Council (ZNFPC), would impact negatively on the
country's health delivery system. The programme was designed to avail
health services to the grassroots - women in rural areas, farming areas and
other remote areas in various parts of the country.
Speaking at the
sidelines of a workshop organised by the Farm Community Trust of Zimbabwe
(FCTZ), ZNFPC assistant director service delivery, Margaret Butau, said the
future of the programme faced uncertainty after the USAID withdrew
funding.
"We were getting funding from USAID through Advance Africa for
this programme and they have since closed office because of lack of funding.
The ECBD is one of our initiatives to ensure that women at grassroots level
receive information on family planning methods and also access them without
having to travel long distances," Butau said.
Advance Africa, an NGO,
which was involved in reproductive health matters, closed office in the
country on 28 February, after failing to secure funding for its
programmes.
The programme was scheduled to run until June this year but
was expected to continue with approval from the USAID.
Butau said the
government had promised to fund the programme to ensure continuity and
giving priority to people who do not have access to clinics.
A number of
donors have ceased funding public health programmes in the country in
protest against the government's bad human rights record.
USAID programme
specialist responsible for health, Mercia Davids, confirmed that they were
funding the programme but had stopped because it had come to an end. She,
however, declined to give further details.
"The political context that we
are in makes it very difficult for many public health programmes to be
supported by donors. At the moment the NGO Bill is awaiting assent by the
President and this has caused many jitters in the NGO and donor community,"
said one participant, Vongai Siziba.
The programme, which started in
2000, had only been implemented in 16 of the 58 districts
countrywide.
The ZNFPC is a parastatal mandated to co-ordinate and
implement family planning programmes and related reproductive health
components.
THE National
Aids Council (NAC) has come under fire for sidelining farm workers in
various HIV and Aids intervention programmes in the country, despite
shocking statistics that the farming community is one of the hardest hit
sectors by the scourge.
The Standard understands that five years after
the National Aids Trust Fund (NATF) was set up, farm workers have not
benefited from the fund, although they also paid the Aids Levy. Getrude
Hambira of the General Agriculture Plantation and Workers Union of Zimbabwe
(GAPWUZ) implored NAC and relevant ministries to look into the plight of
farm workers, who are the hardest hit group by the Aids pandemic.
She
said there should be no discrimination in accessing the Aids
levy.
Hambira said the spread of Aids on farms was being fuelled by
poverty, which is rampant in the farming communities.
Godfrey
Magaramombe, the Director of the Farm Community Trust of Zimbabwe (FCTZ)
urged NAC to put structures that enable the council to reach out to the
farming community.
"Reaching these communities and lending a helping hand
is very important. We challenge NAC to do just that. Only physical barriers,
perhaps disease quarantine, should prevent anyone from accessing a place.
There is no excuse really," said Magaramombe, who was speaking during a
workshop on Information Sharing on HIV and Aids and Farm Communities last
week.
The workshop was organised by FCTZ.
In a presentation at the
workshop, NAC national advocacy co-ordinator, Oscar Mundida, blamed lack of
relevantstructures saying it was difficult to monitor the progress of
programmes because farm workers tended to be "mobile".
However, a
public health and HIV and Aids consultant, Priscilla Mataure, dismissed
NAC's argument.
"That is totally unacceptable for an organisation
purporting to have the interests of all Zimbabweans at heart. Yes, there are
no structures, we all know that but they should have at least come up with
alternatives to this problem," Mataure said.
NATF was created in 2000
after the government imposed a three- percent AIDS levy on personal and
corporate incomes to help scale up the fight against Aids.
Vulnerable
groups such as women, children and People Living With Aids were supposed to
be among the core beneficiaries of the fund.
Commercial farming areas
have been identified as high-risk areas with the HIV prevalence rates on
farms higher than the 24,6 percent national figure.
Ministry of Health
and Child Welfare estimates that 24,9 percent of sexually active group
(15-49) in commercial farming areas are infected with HIV, the virus that
causes Aids, compared to 28,1 percent in urban areas.
The high levels of
infection are attributed to mobility of workers, and poverty due to low
income levels.
Skeletons baffle Gweru authorities By our own
staff
GWERU - Authorities here are baffled by the recent discovery of two
human skeletons at Gweru General Hospital's old mortuary. The Standard
understands the remains are thought to be of people murdered during the
Matabelelend/Midlands disturbances in the 1980s.
The remains were
discovered a fortnight ago when a delegation, headed by Midlands governor,
Cephas Msipa, was touring the disused mortuary, in preparation for the
construction of a new mortuary, which is expected to accommodate 60
bodies. Sources said the two skeletons, which werewrapped pieces of cloth,
could have been left in the old mortuary when hospital authorities
transferred other bodies to the new mortuary in 1983. The skeletons have
been in the disused mortuary for the past 22 years, they said.
Gweru
General Hospital medical superintendent, a Dr Bunduki, and Midlands police
spokesperson, Inspector Patrick Chademana, confirmed the discovery but gave
contradictory statements on why the skeletons had remained in the disused
mortuary.
Bunduki said the bodies could be of political victims or
freedom fighters of the liberation war of the 1970s.
He said during
the colonial era the hospital used to operate two mortuaries, one for whites
and another for blacks. Bunduki said the bodies could have been forgotten
when the "one-mortuary system" was introduced.
The hospital has no
records of the deceased.
"So far there are no records of the bodies as
government only keep records for a maximum period of three years, except
when they are meant for the archives," Bunduki said.
However,
Chademana said the two were destitutes who were found dead in the city. He
said the police brought the corpses to the hospital eight years
ago.
"The bodies were actually left in the disused mortuary eight
years ago. They are destitutes who were found dead in the city by the police
who then took them to the hospital mortuary," Chademana said.
He said
at one time the new mortuary, which used to accommodate 12 bodies, became
full and the two bodies were transferred to the disused mortuary and were
"forgotten".
Msipa confirmed seeing the two-decade old skeletons, but
said he was also puzzled why the skeletons were left for so long.
He
refused to comment any further, referring all questions to the hospital
authorities.
More than 20 000 people were killed by North Korean
trained 5 Brigade in Matabeleland and the Midlands provinces during the
"dissident era", a period spanning from 1981 - 1987.
THE
country's two major political parties have intensified campaigning to lure
the electorate ahead of this month's parliamentary elections. Movement for
Democratic Change president, Morgan Tsvangirai addressed three star rallies
in the Midlands and Mashonaland West.
MDC presidential spokesperson,
William Bango, said Tsvangirai's rallies were "well attended." "We had
three rallies in Sanyati, Gokwe-Nembudziya and another one at Gokwe Centre.
Attendance was very good with an average of 10 000 people and fortunately
enough there were no incidences of violence," Bango said.
Today, the
opposition party will be holding rallies in Mabvuku, Budiriro and
Kuwadzana.
President Robert Mugabe addressed a rally in Highfield
yesterday, where he urged people in Harare to vote for the ruling party in
this month's elections.
The rally, at which Mugabe donated 80
computers to eight schools, was attended largely by school children from
neighbouring high-density suburbs.
Each of the eight schools received 10
computers.
Some of the schools that received the computers are Glen Norah
High 1 and 2, St Peter's, Highfield High 1 and 2 and Kwayedza.
Mugabe
has been donating computers to schools around the country as the campaign
for the 31 March general election intensifies.
However,people who turned
up for the event told The Standard that they were forced to attend the
rally. "We were just told to come here, we didn't even know what was
happening. I was going to the shops when I met Zanu PF supporters who told
me that I should join others and come here," said one man from Lusaka in
Highfield.
Zanu PF candidate for Glen Norah, Victoria Chitepo, who is
battling it out against incumbent MDC MP Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga,
also attended the rally.
In Mbare constituency another Zanu PF
candidate, Tendai Savanhu, held a rally at Stoddard Hall, where more than 4
000 supporters turned up for the event.
The supporters braved
yesterday's heat for more than four hours before Savanhu showed up and spoke
briefly, urging the people to vote for him.
Mashonaland Central governor
and resident minister, Ephraim Masawi and Zanu PF losing candidate for Mbare
Tony Gara were also present during the rally.
Villagers travelling 12 km to fetch water From our own
correspondent
CHIREDZI - IT can be hard trying to make ends meet in the
rural areas. For 55-year-old Netsai Makondo of Hvuluko village in Chiredzi
waking up as early as 4AM every day is a normal daily routine.
She
starts by washing her wrinkled face before picking up a huge clay pot and
heading for the Runde River-12 kilometres away, to fetch water for domestic
use. The elderly woman passes through the Gonarezhou National Park that is
habitat to a variety of dangerous animals such as lions, cheetahs, leopards
and elephants.
Other than wild animals, Makondo also braves another
danger when she finally reaches the vast Runde River - vicious
crocodiles.
When Makondo returns home, she prepares breakfast for her
three grand children - orphans of the deadly Aids disease - before they
start a seven-kilometre journey to the nearest school.
Makondo heads
for the field after her grand children have left, and returns in the
afternoon, ready to retrace the same distance to Runde, only this time to
water her small herd of cattle.
"I have been doing this for the better
part of my life. It's not new to me," Makondo told The Standard news crew,
which visited the remote area last week.
Members of the Hvuluko
community, about 80 km south of Chiredzi town travel long distances to fetch
water for every day use.
The villagers said the government had not
initiated any major developments in the area since the country attained
independence in 1980. The area is situated in the dry Masvingo province,
where rainfall is unreliable.
"We have been facing water problems for a
long time. When we became independent we thought the government would help
us by constructing boreholes in our area but nothing materialized,'' said
Mupamhi Mhlautsi, an elderly villager from the area.
The villagers
said their lives were in constant danger from wild animals when they travel
through the Gonarenzou to the Runde River to fetch water
"You see, it is
not safe for us to travel through the forest. The animals are dangerous. We
have lost relatives and domestic animals to wild beasts," Mhlautsi
said.
The villagers said they had, on numerous occasions, appealed to the
government for boreholes as well as irrigation schemes to enable them to
grow crops in the area. However, they said, the government had not been
forthcoming.
"It is difficult to grow any crops here because of poor
rainfall. That is why we have been pleading with the government to do
something for us. But as you can see, no one heard us until the British came
here, saw our plight and acted urgently by donating the two boreholes," said
Amos Baloyi.
Touched by the plight of the Hvuluko community, the British
and French embassies recently drilled two boreholes, one for domestic use
and the other one for the Hvuluko Market Gardening
Co-operative.
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony a fortnight ago, the
British Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Rod Pullen, said Britain was committed to
helping Zimbabwe, especially the poorest people in the country, despite
political differences between Harare and London.
"We take no account
of politics in our endeavour to help different communities in Zimbabwe. The
Department for International Development (DFID), the ministry of the British
government responsible for development co-operation world wide, continues to
provide assistance of some £30 million each year to Zimbabwe," Pullen
said.
He said the money was largely for the development of social sectors
such as health and education as well as the provision of agricultural
support to community level farmers.
For drilling the boreholes,
Britain provided $58 million, while France weighed in with US$31
500.
The community showed their appreciation during the commissioning
through music and dance - knowing their plight had come to an
end.
The co-operative grows a variety of crops that include vegetables,
tomatoes, maize, beans and carrots, which they sell to markets in Chiredzi
and Masvingo towns.
The chairperson of the project, Makanani Matlemu,
said the two boreholes would help improve the lives of the
community.
Pullen said Britain would provide extra funds for small
projects to Zimbabwe.
IF
genuinely intended and effectively carried out, President Mugabe's
admonition against violence during the run-up to this month's parliamentary
elections and the exhortation that there be zero tolerance to violence,
could form an important start in healing the sharp divisions that have
separated this nation since the rejection of the draft constitution in
2000.
When the 2005 election campaign trail started, there was general
cynicism that the compelling factor for the ruling party was the fear of
renewal of targeted sanctions by the international community. The outside
world has since taken its position by renewing the sanctions against the
leadership in the government. The government is, in fact, now free to act
the way it wants by demonstrating to the outside world that it is capable of
taking lasting decisions, at its own pace and not under
duress.
President Mugabe, the Minister of Home Affairs, the Commissioner
of Police, the ruling party's political commissar have repeatedly denounced
violence ahead of this month's parliamentary elections.
At times,
however, the President confuses his central message of peaceful elections by
employing violent language, such as his wide-ranging interview with the
State-controlled Newsnet on the eve of his 81st birthday two weeks ago when
he used terms such as "treasonous' and "worst betrayal" to describe the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
Use of such hate
language where efforts are being made to ensure that the level of
harassment, intimidation and violence that characterised the 2000 and 2002
polls does not become a permanent feature of the election process in this
country, complicates matters.
Last week the MDC reported that there were
increased cases of violence against its members and supporters in Bindura,
Shamva, Manyame, Masvingo and Nyanga, while yesterday a merchant of violence
- the pro-Zanu PF group - Chipangano, was at work in Mbare.
There are
just 25 days to go before the 2005 parliamentary elections and the fear is
that we will get to 31 March 2005 with no real let up in the levels of
violence, rendering all the admonitions and pronouncements against violence,
absolutely meaningless.
And yet it is the deficit between what we do and
say, which gives the international community the justification to continue
to renew targeted sanctions against the political leadership in this
country, earning us the reputation of a rogue State.
We cannot
continue to be a nation at war with its own people. The love for power must
not override the interests of the majority - the very same constituency in
whose name the abuse of power is being perpetrated. History teaches us that
no matter how much chicanery or mechanisms of oppression are employed to
deny a people a say in how they are governed, eventually they will reclaim
that right.
The government says it is committed to better health,
education and job creation, but the people it expects to re-elect it know
that Zimbabwe's health system is not the same that made it a shining example
among the community of nations during the first decade of
independence.
Zimbabweans also know that while the population enjoys a
literacy rate beyond 80 percent, standards have fallen to the extent that
President Mugabe acknowledged this fact during his recent nationwide tour to
hand over computers to rural schools. The school drop out rate is
increasing, while the pass rate has suffered a significant
decline.
Zimbabweans are also aware of how unemployment hovering around
the 80 percent mark affects the majority of the people. These unfulfilled
promises, in the eyes of the people, are some of the shortcomings of the
present government. It does not give them much confidence when it puts in
legislation in the name of empowerment and indigenisation, which have the
effect of sending panic among investors and results in closures of
companies. The latest such move is in the mining sector.
The
government argues that it intends creating more jobs in agro-related
industries, but what the people, who are unhappy with its policies, see are
more redundancies of farm workers as a result of the land reform programme.
They are unlikely to be persuaded that this time the government really cares
about them.
Equally in the education sector, the ruling party
launched a major offensive against teachers in the rural areas in the wake
of the 2000 parliamentary elections. The teachers fled the rural areas, yet
the government says it is worried by the poor pass rate and the decline in
the standards and quality of education available in rural schools. It does
not see itself as the architect of the problem. People will have problems
believing what it says or its intentions, however well they may
sound.
People are going to judge the government's sincerity on zero
tolerance and violence-free elections by the response of the law enforcement
agencies and how it is dealing with Zanu PF supporters who are perpetuating
violence.
But it is important that they continue to make it difficult not
only for the ruling party supporters, but even for those in the opposition
to engage in violence. Too much blood has been shed in the short course of
this country's history that we should have the courage to stand up against
any further acts of violence.
To do otherwise would be to betray the
sacrifices made by those who gave up their lives for a free, independent and
democratic Zimbabwe.
THE Don of `Freedonia's
revolution was livid. "Maiwee!" he cried, "leave him to me. I will
personally deal with him." It was not long afterwards that Freedonians
started to understand what the Don had in store for the illustrious
son.
Now this illustrious son of the revolution, occupied a palace from
which a visitor could survey the tranquil, rolling green valley and the
distant hill from which a tributary begins a long journey to an ocean, much
further to the east of Freedonia. Few Freedonians could recall when they
last saw the Don so outraged. "He was saying I am a member of the inner
circle so I have authority to assemble party elders at a rural outpost.
Goodness me!" The Don was losing his cool.
Time can move so swiftly when
it's delivering you to the pit. The palace, word had it, was no longer
suitable for the illustrious son according to the changed
circumstances.
"How the mighty have fallen," remarked one female, part of
a group of the wretched of the earth, whose hovels not far from the palace
were a daily annoyance and eyesore to the surrounding opulence.
It
hurts more to have tasted the good things in life and to have to learn to
adjust than not to have ever tasted them and therefore never have to
expect.
The illustrious son had been thrown to the wolves. As was common
practice in Freedonia, the Accountant-General began to show interest in and
instituted an audit of funds for the illustrious son's numerous "projects"
and real or imagined accounts. They were determined to dig up any dirt that
would stick. This was one face of Freedonia's political la cosa
nostra.
What is so special about that, you may ask. Well, nothing really
in normal circumstances in a normal society but Freedonia had these
peculiarities that tended to stand logic on its head.
An example:
Some two years back one of the leaders of Freedonia, but not necessarily
belonging to the ruling elite, faced capital punishment after it was
revealed he had dabbled in some conspiracies. His life, like a spider, hung
by a slender thread. It was a case of their word against his, and attempting
to extricate oneself was as easy as trying to find a needle in a
haystack.
More than half a decade ago, one leading light in the early
phases of Freedonia's struggle cheated Freedonian justice system, after the
heavens decided it was best to relieve him of the burden of non-ruling party
political activism. The spectre of a death sentence hung over him when he
was called to the better world. It was their word against his.
The
Accountant -General began examining the expenses of setting up and staging
live satellite links to galabashes and the numerous lavish dinners at which
the illustrious son hosted a cross section of domestic and external guests,
as well as the expenditure of the vast State resources, that were once
availed to him and had hitherto largely required no accounting.
At a
function held at a foreign mission, he mulled over the idea of seeking
asylum. Being, quick witted, he realized the potential for being
misunderstood and the attendant price for such an error of
judgement.
"Perish the thought," he told himself. "I will do it my
way."
His way, was to seize a red 4x4 truck parked outside. He hit the
pedal hard. In fact, as hard as he could. He would try to reach the border
by sunset and see whether he could get fishermen to see him across in their
dug out canoes.
"Once across," he told himself, "I will be safe.
There will be many choices of what to do, many avenues to
heaven."
His attention was drawn by a distant droning sound. It seemed
headed in his direction. He hit the accelerator. "If I could reach the
forest, I will disappear under the canopy of trees, then I can sit out until
it is dark." Various thoughts raced through his mind.
Turning the
crackling car radio, he confirmed his worst fears. They were looking for
him. There was an airborne patrol comprising four low flying helicopters.
Road blocks were being put up across all the major highways leading to
Freedonia's borders.
"The buzzards! I will teach them that I am not yet
done with them," he cursed. Absolutely, typically illustrious son
stuff!
March poll: Will the media respect the
rules? sundayopinion with Wilbert P Mandinde
ZIMBABWE goes
into the sixth parliamentary race on 31 March 2005, which will be a historic
election because of a number of changes to the electoral laws. In an effort
to comply with the SADC Electoral Principles and Guidelines, elections will
for the first time be held in one day, ballots being deposited in
translucent boxes and eventual counting done at polling stations. Any
government would love to have its elections declared free and fair and
certainly the Zimbabwean government would love such a conclusion coming from
all those who will observe the elections. For an election to be free and
fair, citizens have to enjoy freedom of movement, assembly, association and
expression during the electoral processes. There also should be political
tolerance during the pre and post election periods. President Robert Mugabe
was widely hailed for declaring zero tolerance to political violence during
one of his recent state of the nation addresses. But it is not the issue of
violence only which should be of concern. There are many other things which
should be considered key among the which is the right to freedom of
expression.
The government recently gazetted the Broadcasting
Services Regulations (Access to radio and television during an Election),
2005 with provisions for election programmes, allocation of airtime on
television and radio, election broadcasts, election advertisement as well as
news and current affairs programmes during the election period. What a good
move it is to come up with such a law! But it is something to come up with a
law and quite another to abide by that law. During the 2002 Presidential
Elections, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) (as it was then)
adopted a set of standards - the 10 Golden Rules governing direct access to
the airwaves as well as political advertisement which included the
following;
1. Each party's Presidential candidate or representative will
be allocated time specified by the ZBC who will remain responsible for the
publication of the broadcast material.
This provision is found
modified in the Broadcasting Services Regulations 2005 where in Section 5
ZBH has to ensure that contesting parties or candidates are given equal
opportunities for the broadcasting of election matter. Again this provision
has to be read together with section 8(1) of the regulations where ZBH is
being compelled to broadcast news and current affairs programmes relating to
elections "in a balanced, fair, complete and accurate
manner."
However if we are to have history judge us, according to a
report compiled by the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe (MMPZ),
President Mugabe was allocated 94% of all the airtime allocated to political
parties. Morgan Tsvangirai of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) getting 4% which percentage was dedicated more to castigating the
party as "stooges of western imperialists". Shakespeare Maya then of NAGG,
Paul Siwela of ZAPU 2000 and Wilson Khumbula shared the remaining 2%. What
chances are there then that suddenly ZBH will be fair and
impartial?
One would also ask when ZBH would start implementing these
regulations? On 11 February, viewers endured some three hours of the launch
of ruling party election campaign. Before that launch, viewers had no choice
but to watch and listen to the ruling party's President and first secretary
as he went about donating computers to various schools and at the same time
castigating the opposition MDC. It would appear there still is a blackout on
opposition parties. And really this will have to stop if we seriously wish
to have our elections declared free and fair.
Section 5(2) of the
regulations allow ZBH to "allocate advertising air time on television and
radio to a political party or candidate during an election period after each
party or candidate contesting an election."
In our experience with the
state controlled media, be it electronic or print, they do not accept
adverts from the opposition or any organization said to be linked to the
opposition. One would wonder what it is that is going to make ZBH comply
with these regulations. Even our own law enforcement agency has a bad
history of refusing to abide by the law, which they should uphold, and
disobeying court orders. This is a culture of lawlessness which has become
part of us for sometime now; but what will it take to do away with such a
culture?
Of major concern to any right thinking person will be the
provision under section 7(4) giving ZBH the power to "reject an
advertisement submitted for transmission ."
One would certainly hope
that ZBH would not take advantage of such a clause to reject adverts by
opposition political parties. It has already been highlighted above that the
state controlled media has in the past refused to accept adverts from
opposition political parties. Anyone in the media business knows the revenue
generated by advertisements but for any media house to refuse to accept
adverts for the sole reason that they are from the opposition certainly does
not make business sense.
And for the first time it would appear that the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), long considered to be a toothless
bulldog now has been given some teeth. In terms of Section 10 of the
regulations BAZ will have the power to hear appeals by any party aggrieved
by any decision of ZBH. It should come up with its verdict within
forty-eight hours of the complaint and should it fail to do that then the
complainant shall be deemed to have won. How impartial BAZ is, is the
jackpot question. It has always been stated that a licensing authority
should be independent. A law creating a licensing authority susceptible to
control and interference by the government falls foul of Section 20 (1) of
the Constitution. In the case of Zimbabwe, the licensing and regulatory
authority created is the government itself. There can be no suggestion
therefore that the licensing and regulatory authority (the Minister of State
for Information and Publicity in the President's office) is
independent.
The regulations do not take into account the fact that there
could be appeals and counter appeals to the High Court and Supreme Court.
These are courts which as Zimbabweans we are now very afraid of. It is also
said justice delayed is justice denied. The courts sat on election petitions
for the 2000 parliamentary elections. For five years they have failed to
complete only thirty-seven cases! What guarantee do we have that whatever
matter will be placed before them even on an urgent basis will have a
determination in time so that justice is not just done but seen to be done.
It is the responsibility of our judiciary to restore our confidence in it
once again. At the moment we have lost confidence and we are very afraid of
our own judiciary.
Any person who contravenes these regulations will
be liable to a level ten fine, which at the moment is one million dollars.
Now if one goes by the advertising rates provided for in the first schedule
to the regulations, it is apparent that should ZBH decide against or accept
certain political parties' adverts, they can still make a profit from the
adverts of favoured political parties which profit will be more than enough
to pay the maximum of Z$1,000,000 provided for in Section 11. A more severe
and deterrent penalty would have been appropriate.
These regulations
only govern the electronic media while the print media is totally ignored.
Yet the State controlled print media has also in the past been found
wanting. The ruling party has its own paper, The Voice. But for the ruling
party to also use papers under the Zimpapers stable in the same way it uses
The Voice is highly unacceptable. It would be better to have similar
regulations governing the print media so that the election material is
presented in a balanced, fair, complete and accurate manner.
The right to
freedom of expression is the cornerstone of all other rights. We can go and
express ourselves through the ballot on 31 March but the issue really is
will all the candidates get equal opportunity to express themselves so that
we make informed choices?
At the same time we need some assurances that
we will continue to enjoy the right even after expression as history has
shown that whilst you have the right to express yourself, you do not have
any rights after expressing yourself. And for our elections to be declared
free and fair, for once the public media will have to be opened to other
players not just the ruling party. We look forward to the divergent views we
are likely to get on our screens for the first time in many years.
MDC candidate for Zvimba North,
Prince Chibanda, was last week reportedly arrested following violent clashes
between supporters of the opposition and ruling parties which left several
people seriously injured. Chibanda becomes the third MDC candidate to be
arrested in the run-up to the 2005 elections which pit Zanu PF with
Zimbabwe's main opposition political party which won 57 of the 120 contested
seats in 2000. The blows come at a time when the two protagonists, President
Robert Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, have called on their
supporters to desist from politically-motivated violence. Chibanda was
reportedly arrested alongside the MDC's secretary for information and
publicity for Zvimba District, Paidamoyo Muzulu, and detained at Chinhoyi
Police Station. The opposition party's information department said in a
statement yesterday that Chibanda and his group were in the constituency
when they were attacked by a group of Zanu PF supporters at Basset Farm in
Raffingora. "Chibanda was in the constituency doing his campaigns when a
group of Zanu PF supporters, headed by a war veteran only known as
Kangachepi, at Basset Farm in Raffingora, abducted him and his team," read
the statement. Chibanda and his colleagues were allegedly assaulted and taken
to a secret hideout where they were further assaulted. Eight are said to
have escaped and reported the matter to Chinhoyi police. An MDC official at
the opposition party's headquarters, Harvest House, who refused to be named
for fear of breaking party protocol, said after the incident was reported,
the police went to the hideout and arrested Chibanda, his colleagues and
their captors. However, when they arrived at the police station, the official
said, Chibanda and Muzulu were detained over night, while the ruling party
activists were set free. Said the statement: "The two MDC officials
(Chibanda and Muzulu) were taken to Chinhoyi police station, together with
the ZANU PF activists, but were surprised when they were told that they
would have to spend the night in the cells because the officers who were
supposed to attend to their case had gone home for the day." Chibanda and
the other MDC members were reportedly released the following day without
charge. Contacted for comment, police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzujena said:
"That person wasn't arrested. The information at hand says he was not
arrested. Contact your sources and they will tell you what
happened." Last month, Goodrich Chimbaira, the opposition party's candidate
for Zengeza, was arrested for allegedly convening a political gathering
without police clearance, while Godfrey Chimombe, who is eyeing Shamva was
also arrested a fortnight ago for putting up campaign posters at a council
building without the consent of the owners. Thokozani Khupe and Nomalanga
Khumalo, MDC MPs for Makokoba and Umzingwane, had charges against them for
organising meetings without informing the police, dropped.. They,
however, argued that theirs was a prayer meeting, not a political gathering,
and does not require police clearance under the Public Order and Security
Act. Constitutional law expert, Lovemore Madhuku said the latest developments
were a confirmation that nothing has changed. He said: "It's a
confirmation that the system has not changed its ways. It was naïve not to
expect that. It is impossible to have a free and fair election under the
current scenario because Zanu PF thrives on crowding out its
opponents." He added that it was important for the government to level the
playing field, if the elections were to have credibility. Another
political commentator, Joseph Kurebwa, said if the claims by the MDC of the
arrests and harassments of its members were true, then the outcome of the
elections would be deemed neither free nor fair. "It is important to know the
nature of the arrests of their members. One has to know the charges and
whether they are credible. If their allegations are true, then it's obvious
that the elections won't be deemed free and fair," Kurebwa said. He added
that it was also important to understand in election time that parties were
also bound to make unsubstantiated allegations to gain political
mileage. "Parties will sometimes make frivolous allegations, but all in all
the State has to create a conducive environment if the outcome of the
elections is to have any credibility," he added. Kwekwe-based political
commentator Augustine Timbe, said: "There is a lot of excitement during
election time and some opposition parties become overzealous and create
discomfort for themselves and end up being on the wrong side of the
law. "The environment is conducive for free and fair elections. Aggrieved
parties can seek recourse from ZEC through the electoral disputes court that
is at par with the High Court."
THE government has sidelined the
Southern African Development Committee (Sadc) Parliamentary Forum which
produced a damning report on the 2000 parliamentary elections. The Forum
will not be observing the March 31 general elections. Minister of Foreign
Affairs, Stan Mudenge recently announced a list of 45 regional and
international organisations including countries from the Sadc region,
African Union and South America, which are going to observe the
elections. However, it excluded among others, the Sadc parliamentary
forum and Britain. Mudenge was quoted in the public media as saying countries
from the European Union and others had not been invited because of their
warped perception of Zimbabwe. Reacting to the government's move, MDC's
shadow minister for foreign affairs Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga said:
"The government has decided not to invite the Sadc Parliamentary Forum to
observe the 2005 elections. As the MDC, we are very concerned." She said
the only reason the government did not extent an invitation to the forum
was that it was the only body in the Sadc region that said the 2000
parliamentary elections, were not free and fair. "I have since written a
letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking an explanation to that
effect," Misihairambwi-Mushonga added. Zimbabwe is represented in the Sadc
Parliamentary Forum by legislators Gabriel Chaibva (MDC), Charles Majange,
Joram Gumbo and Ester Nyauchi of Zanu PF. Chaibva told The Daily Mirror
yesterday that the government had decided not to invite the forum because it
was yet to fully implement the Sadc guidelines on democratic
elections. "The government knows very well that it did not implement the Sadc
guidelines and the invitation of the Sadc Parliamentary Forum to observe the
elections would have exposed the regime. Government knows that the forum
brooks no nonsense. The forum was going to scrutinise the election process,"
Chaibva, the outgoing Member of Parliament for Harare South
said. Gumbo-Zanu PF chief whip - said the government invited the forum
through the Sadc community. "As far as I am concerned, they were invited
through Sadc. The Forum is part of Sadc and falls under the auspices of the
African Union and I do not see any reason why the government will stop them
from observing our elections," Gumbo said. A spokesperson of the
Electoral Supervisory Commission said the commission was not involved in
selecting countries and organisations to observe the parliamentary
elections. "We do not invite observers, we simply accredit them," said the
spokesperson. Efforts to get comment from Mudenge and Justice Minister
Patrick Chinamasa were in vain at the time of going to print
yesterday. The Forum is a regional organisation that brings together 12
parliaments of the southern Africa region and represents 1 800 members of
parliament. Among the forum's critical issues of concern in the 21st century
is the support of the growing democracy in the region. The forum is
motivated by the fact that for many years, the people of the region have
fought and struggled for democracy and human rights, against forces,
institutions and socio-economic and political bodies that limited or
completely deprived them of democracy, human rights and civil liberties.
ZIMBABWE's combative National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA) is at loggerheads with President Robert
Mugabe's recent statement that his government will re-introduce a senate;
that will among other members, accommodate those who lost the party's
primary elections last December. President Mugabe told Zanu PF structures
in Chimanimani last month that party candidates who lost in the primaries
must not despair, as they would be accommodated in the senate. He reportedly
said: "Although we had abolished the senate, which is the Upper House, we
will re-introduce it in the next four to six months. Those who did not make
it during the primary elections will be considered for this Upper
House". The NCA said President Mugabe's utterances were unfortunate. "The
NCA is appalled that Zanu PF has the boldness in its recent announcement to
even suggest the abuse of national constitutional reform in order to reward
rejects of its own internal political processes by creating a Senate for
them," Fungai Jessie Mujome, the NCA national spokesperson said. "Such a
house of Parliament would more aptly be called a sanatorium. Such
privatisation of the urgent need for constitutional reform is an insult to
the collective intelligence of Zimbabweans." Majome said any political
party that attains a two-thirds majority in parliament and then manipulate
that advantage'to tinker with the constitution for self serving ends, would
be betraying the sacred and patriotic hopes of Zimbabweans'. The NCA,
which clashed with the MDC after it opted to participate in this month's
parliamentary polls against its advise not to, applauded the opposition
party for envisaging a people driven constitutional reform in its
manifesto. "The priority number 3 out of 5 in 2005 general election
manifesto for the Movement for Democratic Change reads -A new MDC government
will ensure that the people have an opportunity to make a transparent,
accountable and inclusive constitution making process," Majome said. Zanu
PF Secretary for Administration Dydimus Mutasa dismissed assertions by the
NCA that the Senate would be introduced to accommodate ruling party
candidates that lost in the intra-party. "We had a Senate way back in
1980. Who had lost primary elections by then such that the party was forced
to introduce the Upper House? The Senate was only abolished in 1990.
Ngavafunge zviri straight (NCA must think straight)," Mutasa said.
A GURUVE man was
tortured, hanged by the neck on a tree and left for dead by a group of
unidentified people for allegedly supporting the MDC last Monday, police
have said. The case (RRB 0548388) was reported at Mushumbi Pools Police
station on February 26. Investigating officer, Sergeant Mukondo told The
Daily Mirror that Noah Chirembwe (24) was abducted from his village,
Mazambara under Chief Chitsungo by a group of people and tortured. "The
police investigations are still underway to establish the perpetrators of
the violence. The police will make sure that every person who doesn't abide
by the law will be brought to book. We urge all members of the public to
have a peaceful countdown to the (parliamentary) elections," Mukondo
said. Chirembwe's request for medical report to Guruve Hospital read: "The
victim had his hands tied with a twine made rope and hanged by his neck on a
tree and later struck with a burnt wooden stick upon his back and right
cheek and also struck with sticks and ropes upon his body several times
after being implicated for being aligned to the opposition
party." Mashonaland Central MDC chairman Tapera Macheka said despite
President Robert Mugabe's call for peaceful general elections, there was
politically motivated violence in the province. "Cases of violence in
Mashonaland Central are far from over. We have experienced a number of cases
where we face intimidation from ruling party supporters," Macheka said.
From
Our Correspondent in Bulawayo issue date :2005-Mar-07
SCORES of
commuters in Bulawayo were last week stranded as commuter omnibus operators
grounded their vehicles owing to an acute fuel shortage in the city. There
were parked at most ranks in the city with commuters jostling to board the
few operating omnibuses. Unconfirmed reports said some unscrupulous
operators were cashing in on the shortage of the precious liquid by charging
exorbitant fares. "I hope the government could find a lasting solution to
this fuel crisis. Imagine on Tuesday I was forced to pay $ 5 000 to travel
to Pumula. This is really unfair," said a commuter who refused to be
named. Most operators preferred to ferry commuters travelling shorter
distances. Because of the chaotic situation at the ranks, some commuters
opted to foot to various destinations. Pickpockets had a field day as
they capitalized on the situation. Fuel shortages resurfaced in Bulawayo
about a week ago.
Lawyer not hopeful for 'mercenaries' speedy release
March 06,
2005, 14:15
The lawyer for the 62 suspected mercenaries to be freed from
prison in Zimbabwe after being accused of planning a coup in Equatorial
Guinea does not expect they will be released in a hurry.
Alwyn
Griebenow said today that he would be on the afternoon flight to Harare and
tomorrow morning would start to establish what was going on. "I have spoken
to the SA Embassy in Harare. They say they have been told nothing. They are
in the dark."
Asked what he read into the Zimbabwe government saying the
men would have to stay in prison a little longer while it verified their
true countries of origin, Griebenow said: "I think Zimbabwe is trying to be
spiteful right up until the last moment." He said he would nonetheless be in
the Zimbabwe capital indefinitely and did not rule out the possibility that
his clients would be deported by truck over the Beit Bridge road border
without him being informed.
Such treatment, he said, was "the same as
happened to Cosatu (the Congress of SA Trade Unions)". Cosatu has twice been
booted out of Zimbabwe while on fact finding missions in advance of the
controversial election at the end of the month. The first time they were
bussed back to Beit Bridge and the second they were returned by
airplane.
Griebenow's clients are among an original 70 arrested at Harare
International Airport when their plane stopped over to allegedly collect
firearms to be used for guarding diamond mines in the Democratic Republic of
Congo - or overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea. Although they were
all travelling on South African passports when they were arrested on March 7
last year, it later emerged the men were originally from a number of
different countries including Angola, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe. -
Sapa
Campaign activities banned or perilous, opposition
says
By Craig Timberg
Mutare - Activists from Zimbabwe's
main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change, were returning
from a campaign rally recently when they stopped at a shopping center in
search of some cold drinks. What they found instead, they said, were about
20 government soldiers in no mood for the niceties of democracy. One
soldier, spotting the party's distinctive red-and-white T-shirts, announced,
"This is a no-go area for MDC." According to the activists, who later
described the encounter, the soldier added brusquely, "We've been tolerating
you for a long time. Get into your car as quickly as you can and leave this
place." Then, as the activists started to pull away in their pickup truck,
the soldiers began hurling stones. One candidate for parliament, Gabriel
Chiwara, 39, stumbled as he tried to climb into the front seat. Chiwara, an
electrician, said the soldiers tackled him to the ground and kicked him for
several minutes with their boots. As he begged for mercy, he said, the
soldiers shouted: "You have to die! You are selling the country to the
whites!"
As Zimbabwe approaches elections March 31, encountering
"no-go areas" and official hostility has become a common experience for
members of the opposition party. Despite promises from President Robert
Mugabe to make certain the polling is "free and fair," opposition candidates
said almost any form of campaigning puts them at risk of arrest, harassment
and beatings. The Feb. 20 attack at the shopping center, about 50 miles from
this northeastern city, was one of several reported since Mugabe, who is
struggling to keep his party's edge in parliament after nearly 25 years of
unbroken rule, publicly vowed that the coming elections would be free of
violence. The account of the attack was based on interviews with party
activists who were present. Because of government threats to jail foreign
correspondents working in Zimbabwe, it was not possible to confirm the story
with officials, but it resembles numerous reports of beatings of opposition
activists compiled by journalists and human rights groups in recent
years.
Mugabe has worked in recent months to convince international
leaders, especially from friendly African governments, that this vote will
be different from those in 2000 and 2002, when elections were condemned by
international groups as unfairly slanted toward the ruling party. He has
instituted several reforms, including the use of translucent voting boxes
and one-day voting. South African President Thabo Mbeki, the region's
diplomatic leader, has often defended Mugabe. He recently criticized U.S.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for calling Zimbabwe one of the world's
"outposts of tyranny." Yet opposition leaders in this nation of 13 million
said almost every form of campaigning either has been restricted or is
dangerous. They also said they have scant access to mass media because the
government controls all radio stations, television broadcasting and daily
newspapers. Perhaps most important, they said, voters have become
discouraged and frightened by the rough tactics of Mugabe's party. It is
often not clear whether the attacks have been orchestrated by Mugabe's party
or merely inspired by his vitriolic rhetoric. Mugabe regularly accuses
opponents of being traitors seeking to return Zimbabwe to the control of
Britain, the colonial ruler here until 1980. "The terrain is very tough, and
we think it is getting harsher and harsher," said Pishai Muchauraya, 31, one
of the opposition candidates who were attacked. His mother, he said, has
been denied government food handouts because of his
affiliation.
In recent weeks, opposition party activists have
reportedly been arrested for putting up campaign posters. One youth leader
was arrested for criticizing Mugabe. Party planning meetings have been
raided by police. And entire sections of the country - mainly the rural
areas where Mugabe's crude calls to patriotism find the greatest support -
have been deemed too dangerous for campaigning. Even in the cities, where
opposition support runs strong, candidates cannot hold rallies, hand out
pamphlets or knock on doors without obtaining prior approval from police,
who have wide latitude to approve or deny such requests. When the police do
approve an event, a list of conditions is issued, including a prohibition on
using "language likely to undermine the authority of the President of
Zimbabwe." Opposition candidates said that they gather with supporters
mostly at night in private homes and that they rely on volunteers to quietly
contact voters who might be interested in hearing campaign appeals. The
election comes at a volatile time for Zimbabwe, which faces a devastated
economy and growing hunger. The ruling party, Zanu PF, suffered its greatest
public rift in December, leading to the estrangement of several party
officials. Among those who left was Mugabe's information minister, Jonathan
Moyo, who has since become an independent candidate for parliament. Moyo has
turned his acid tongue on the ruling party, saying Mugabe is surrounded by
"deadwood" who would have lost power years earlier without his
help.
Zimbabweans are also feeling the effects of widespread hunger.
In the vast cornfields that provide their staple food, the plants appear
pale and stunted from drought. The nation's agricultural yield has not
recovered from the disorder caused by Mugabe's five-year-old program of land
reform, in which the acreage of white commercial farmers was seized -- often
violently -- by veterans of the nation's independence war and others. "The
corn is all gone now," said one elderly man in a village south of here.
Rampant inflation continues as well, despite a decline in the official
inflation rate, which once topped 600 percent, to 134 percent. Prices for
food and other products are rising far faster than most salaries, while less
than half of adults have steady jobs. But despite widespread frustration,
Zimbabweans express little optimism that conditions will change after the
elections. The ruling party altered the election law to allow soldiers under
Mugabe's command to run rural polling stations. The opposition party charges
that lists of registered voters have been rigged to pad totals in rural
areas, where Mugabe's support is stronger, and hold them down in cities. The
millions of Zimbabweans living abroad, who overwhelmingly oppose Mugabe,
have been prohibited from voting.
Even if the opposition party
gains a majority of votes, Mugabe and members of his government may legally
appoint 30 of the 150 seats in parliament, giving him a comfortable margin
if the election goes poorly. Yet opposition candidates said their main
opponent was not Mugabe, but the apathy and fear created by years of
authoritarian rule. Many voters, they said, will not risk crossing the
ruling party if attacks on dissidents remain common. The Feb. 20 incident,
as recounted by opposition activists, was especially brutal. One victim,
Josphat Munhuumwe, 32, said he was inside a shop when he saw the soldiers
attack Chiwara. He ran outside, he said, and they soon began kicking him
brutally. Finally, he said, a man who appeared to be in command told the
soldiers to stop, and they fled into the nearby woods. "They left me for
dead," Munhuumwe said.
GROSS irregularities have been
unearthed in the parastatal and state enterprise community following
revelations most of these statutory bodies numbering over 73 do not have
boards of directors.
Highly placed sources confirmed to the Sunday Mirror
that only five of these government controlled bodies falling under the
auspices of the ministry of Transport and Communications had responded to
requests by the ministry of Parastatals and State Enterprises to supply
information concerning their boards of directors.
The sources allege
that the ministry wrote to all parastatals and state enterprises through the
relevant parent ministries, in mid-January this year, requesting information
on whether the statutory bodies had boards of directors or
not.
However, the response rate from the statutory bodies had been
unsatisfactory, with insiders in the ministry who spoke on condition of
anonymity adding that those bodies that had responded had furnished the
ministry with irrelevant information.
"We are in the process of
repeating our requests for information on which parastatals and state
enterprises do not have boards. The only ministry to send the required
information was the ministry of Transport and Communication that gave
information on the five bodies under its control," said one
insider.
The information on boards of directors would have not only
benefited the particular ministry which is currently preparing a data base
on all statutory bodies, but would have had a significant effect on $10
trillion facility made available to such bodies by Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) governor, Gideon Gono at the monetary policy review meeting held early
this year.
The apparent refusal to provide information on which
statutory bodies have boards of directors and those which don't have, will
likely scupper plans by the concerned bodies to access the central bank
facility - one of the conditions to such funding being effective corporate
governance. In efforts to get the names of the recalcitrant government
bodies refusing to furnish Gumbo's ministry with required information and
also attain the names of those bodies without boards of directors, the
Sunday Mirror contacted Rugare Gumbo, minister of Parastatals and State
Enterprises.
Gumbo said he was in a meeting and referred this paper for
assistance to Tineyi Chigudu, principal director in the
ministry.
"Talk to Chigudu, and tell him that you need assistance on the
matter. He will give you details. Tell him you have my authority," said
Gumbo.
However, Chigudu disputed allegations that most parastatals were
operating without boards of directors.
"It is not true that only five
responded to our requests. In fact a lot more responses have reached our
office. There may be some complacency on the part of some of these statutory
bodies, but I am sure all responses will come in, and we will complete our
database. At the moment we are still compiling information," said
Chigudu.
Chigudu added that his ministry was currently working on Generic
Corporate Governance document, the equivalent of the South African Kings
report and the British Cadbury's report - both reports laying out guidelines
for corporate governance.
"We are currently trying to get comments
from stakeholders, and if possible, we would like that report to be tabled
for cabinet considerations within the next 14-days. It will be mandatory for
every parastatal and state enterprise to follow the guidelines of that
document, which borrows from the Cadbury and Kings reports, but is a home
grown solution," said Chigudu.
Amongst other things, the Cadbury and
Kings reports require ss that boards of directors maintain a sound system of
internal control toFrom Page 1 safeguard shareholders' investment and
company assets.
Issues concerning boards of directors and competent
management at parastatals and state enterprises have always been
problematic, and at the same time, have been controversial, as Zimbabwe's
economic decline has been attributed mainly to the statutory
bodies.
Some parastatals have gone for long periods without boards of
directors, and in cases where boards of directors are present, the directors
have often lacked the requisite skills and knowledge to steer the government
bodies from the brink of collapse.
The procedure in which the parent
ministry appoints a board for a parastatal under its auspices has come under
fire as ministers have been accused of appointing their friends or political
peers to the boards, regardless of whether such individuals can carry out
the mandate endowed upon them.
Chigudu also blasted the appointment by
parent ministries of unskilled personnel and individuals already sitting on
numerous other boards to sit on parastatal boards.
"Our databank will
focus on skilled personnel in various sectors. We want directors of such
bodies to be people with sufficient and relevant skills to enable optimum
performance. Equally important is our criticism of appointing a person who
sits on 101 other boards. Such individuals will hardly have any time to
attend to parastatal affairs," added Chigudu.
Glen Norah legislator and
chairperson of the parliamentary sub-committee on public accounts, Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, concurred with Chigudu, saying such individuals would
"not perform satisfactorily in terms of capacity or time".
"How do
you expect inexperienced people to rein in over business malpractice,
corruption and inefficiency in the running of such bodies?" the Glen Norah
legislator quiried.
However, Misihairabwi-Mushonga raised a number of
issues she had found problematic while chairing the parliamentary
sub-committee on Public Accounts. Chief amongst these were the appointment
of political allies and friends to such boards, and the concept of executive
chairmen on the boards of parastatals and state enterprises.
"Why
should an organisation, especially a critical public one such as a
parastatal, have an executive chairman?" she queried. "That chairman becomes
too powerful and has unlimited power. The trend is very clear. Organisations
with executive chairmen are extremely problematic." Currently Zesa Holdings
and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) are led by executive chairmen.
Sidney Gata leads the former, while Rino Zhuwarara leads the latter in such
capacity.
Such trends - in totality - are likely to have adverse
effects on the statutory bodies that fail to comply with requests from
Gumbo's ministry. Calling the statutory bodies the "missing link" in the
economic turnaround programme, Gono has continually stressed the importance
of corporate governance so as to safeguard funds invested in the public
companies.
Gono said that the statutory bodies were milking the national
fiscus, failing to deliver on their mandate and charging excessively on
their services - the combined effects being inflationary pressure that was
detrimental to the country's economic turnaround.
At the same
meeting, Gumbo blasted the statutory bodies, saying there was no good
management at parastatals, state enterprises and local authorities, and
added that the $10 trillion scheme would be tantamount to financing
inefficiency.
"It is one thing to give money to parastatals, but it
is quite another to be absolutely certain that the money will be used
correctly," said Gumbo.
Gono and vice-president Joyce Mujuru later
co-chaired an eight-hour heated meeting, in which parastatal bosses of over
16 state-owned enterprises were grilled and were threatened with dismissal
from their posts for non-performance.safeguard shareholders' investment and
company assets.
Issues concerning boards of directors and competent
management at parastatals and state enterprises have always been
problematic, and at the same time, have been controversial, as Zimbabwe's
economic decline has been attributed mainly to the statutory
bodies.
Some parastatals have gone for long periods without boards of
directors, and in cases where boards of directors are present, the directors
have often lacked the requisite skills and knowledge to steer the government
bodies from the brink of collapse.
The procedure in which the parent
ministry appoints a board for a parastatal under its auspices has come under
fire as ministers have been accused of appointing their friends or political
peers to the boards, regardless of whether such individuals can carry out
the mandate endowed upon them.
Chigudu also blasted the appointment by
parent ministries of unskilled personnel and individuals already sitting on
numerous other boards to sit on parastatal boards.
"Our databank will
focus on skilled personnel in various sectors. We want directors of such
bodies to be people with sufficient and relevant skills to enable optimum
performance. Equally important is our criticism of appointing a person who
sits on 101 other boards. Such individuals will hardly have any time to
attend to parastatal affairs," added Chigudu.
Glen Norah legislator and
chairperson of the parliamentary sub-committee on public accounts, Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, concurred with Chigudu, saying such individuals would
"not perform satisfactorily in terms of capacity or time".
"How do
you expect inexperienced people to rein in over business malpractice,
corruption and inefficiency in the running of such bodies?" the Glen Norah
legislator quiried.
However, Misihairabwi-Mushonga raised a number of
issues she had found problematic while chairing the parliamentary
sub-committee on Public Accounts. Chief amongst these were the appointment
of political allies and friends to such boards, and the concept of executive
chairmen on the boards of parastatals and state enterprises.
"Why
should an organisation, especially a critical public one such as a
parastatal, have an executive chairman?" she queried. "That chairman becomes
too powerful and has unlimited power. The trend is very clear. Organisations
with executive chairmen are extremely problematic." Currently Zesa Holdings
and Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) are led by executive chairmen.
Sidney Gata leads the former, while Rino Zhuwarara leads the latter in such
capacity.
Such trends - in totality - are likely to have adverse
effects on the statutory bodies that fail to comply with requests from
Gumbo's ministry. Calling the statutory bodies the "missing link" in the
economic turnaround programme, Gono has continually stressed the importance
of corporate governance so as to safeguard funds invested in the public
companies.
Gono said that the statutory bodies were milking the national
fiscus, failing to deliver on their mandate and charging excessively on
their services - the combined effects being inflationary pressure that was
detrimental to the country's economic turnaround.
At the same
meeting, Gumbo blasted the statutory bodies, saying there was no good
management at parastatals, state enterprises and local authorities, and
added that the $10 trillion scheme would be tantamount to financing
inefficiency.
"It is one thing to give money to parastatals, but it
is quite another to be absolutely certain that the money will be used
correctly," said Gumbo.
Gono and vice-president Joyce Mujuru later
co-chaired an eight-hour heated meeting, in which parastatal bosses of over
16 state-owned enterprises were grilled and were threatened with dismissal
from their posts for non-performance.
FAILED Masvingo Central
ruling party aspirant Eddison Zvobgo (Jnr) has said that the problems being
faced by Zanu PF were the direct consequence of some members placing their
interests above those of the collective ambitions of the organisation saying
that those who chose to stand as independent candidates were misguided and
selfish.
In an interview with the Sunday Mirror, Zvobgo (Jnr) instead
encouraged members of the ruling party to rally around the successful
candidates as he was doing in the case of Shylet Uyoyo who will be
representing Zanu PF in Masvingo Central in the March 31
polls.
Former information minister Jonathan Moyo, former Matebeleland
South provincial chairman Lloyd Siyoka and Godwin Shiri decided to stand as
independent candidates thereby raising the ire of President Robert
Mugabe.
The ruling party made a decision to hold certain constituencies
for female candidates only in line with Sadc electoral guidelines. Other
aspirants were barred from contesting in the primary elections for a number
of reasons, mainly to do with disciplinary records and their individual
histories in the party.
"It is the duty of every committed Zanu PF
member to support the principles and resolutions of the party. Unity,
dedication and discipline are the foundations not only of our party, but
also of our wider society. We must all support Zanu PF candidates," he
said.
Zvobgo (Jnr) said that every organisation had rules and regulations
that were designed to benefit the institution as a whole and the placement
of individual interests above the collective good was detrimental in the
long term.
This stance is a far cry from what has happened in the
past, where the province was rocked by incessant factionalism. He said it
was not only a Zanu Pf problem pointing out the case of sitting MP Silas
Mangono of the opposition MDC who was elbowed out and is now standing as an
independent candidate.
"But such a trend is least tolerated in Zanu
PF, which came out of a struggle- where self-discipline and sacrifice were
prerequisites for victory to be attained. " Zvobgo (Jnr) urged his
supporters and all Zanu PF members to be progressive and accept the
resultant reality of primary elections. He elaborated, " My supporters are
true Zanu PF cadres. They are heirs to the tradition of self-sacrifice for
the common good. They are aware of Zanu PF's history and traditions and will
not allow us to be divided from the principles of the party. The likes of
Herbert Chitepo and Josiah Tongogara stand firm in our memories as heroes
who sacrificed their everything-including life- for all Zimbabweans. So, how
can anyone turn his/her back on such a tradition? It is not just about the
pursuit of power as an end in itself, but the effective service of the needs
of the people." On the question of whether or not the ruling party would
reclaim the tightly contested Masvingo Central from the MDC, Zvobgo (Jnr)
was cautious, but optimistic saying, "If all party members dedicate
themselves to vigorously implement the policies of the party, victory will
be achievable, not only in Masvingo Central, but in the whole
country.
"My father always said, 'If gold rusts what will iron do? By
this he meant that those who are born within a tradition must set an example
for those who come after. Some of the problems we are experiencing in the
party today are because some people who joined the party did not understand
this." Zvobgo (Jnr) differed with those who said the party had an agenda to
prolong the political survival of the old guard at the expense of younger
members saying, "The party realised that commitment and discipline had to be
shown over a number of years. Unfortunately, some of us were born into the
party, albeit could not be in active politics since we were serving the
State (in the Attorney General's office). "Remember how in the Bible King
Solomon solved the dispute of two women over the ownership of a child? He
threatened to cut it into halves. The false mother agreed, but the real
mother said 'NO, let her have the child.' True commitment and principles are
seen in actions rather than mere words, especially under such tough
circumstances"
ANC wants stronger SACP, Cosatu ties Moffet
Mofokeng Posted Sun, 06 Mar 2005
Deputy President Jacob Zuma has urged
the Congress of SA Trade Unions to strengthen its relations with the African
National Congress and the SA Communist Party.
The alliance -
comprising the ANC, the SACP and Cosatu - would help South Africa advance
its democratic gains, he said on Saturday at a conference marking South
Africa's 10 years of democracy.
"When you have discussed everything, I
urge you to discuss the importance of the alliance as your last item," Zuma
told delegates at the conference in Midrand, outside
Johannesburg.
"The alliance must be careful not to undo the success we
scored. We must not damage what is so important for our future," the deputy
president said.
Bitter spat over Zim, BEE
Zuma's comments came
after a bitter public spat between leaders of the three organisations over
Zimbabwe, and South Africa's black economic empowerment
programme.
Cosatu was accused of being an agent of Western powers,
and harbouring political ambitions when it recently differed with the ANC's
policy on Zimbabwe.
Zwelinzima Vavi, Cosatu's general secretary, said
the federation has no intention to become a political party, or to turn the
labour movement's leaders into politicians.
Cosatu has no political
ambition
"We have no political ambition. We have no intention of turning
Cosatu into a political party. We are happy as trade unionists," Vavi said
in a 32-page speech.
"We have no business whatsoever of being
ambitious to become politicians," Vavi said.
He said it would be a
fundamental mistake "if we can't criticise our government, or side with the
opposition even if we represent our constituency".
Cosatu supports no
Zim political parties
Earlier on Saturday, Cosatu's president Willie
Madisha said: "We don't support any political party in "that country
(Zimbabwe)".
"We don't support the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change),
we don't know it. We don't support Zanu-PF, we don't know it.
"We
don't support any small political party. We don't know them," he said in a
30-minute speech at the opening of the Cosatu-convened conference.
Cosatu
has been booted out of Zimbabwe on two occasions when they travelled there
on fact finding missions.
Concern over unemployment
Saturday's
event was attended by Zuma, Labour Minister Membathisi Mdladlana, National
Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete, ANC members and members of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions.
Zuma said Cosatu and government were concerned
about South Africa's high unemployment rate which he put at 27.8 percent.
But Cosatu has put the figure at 42 percent.
"That's a big number,
but I know we have been trying to solve the issue," he said.
Zimbabwe's evicted farmers plough new hope into Nigeria Christian
Allen Purefoy, Lagos
A GROUP of Zimbabwean farmers
dispossessed by President Robert Mugabe's "land redistribution" programme
have been welcomed 2,500 miles away in Nigeria, where they are starting new
lives.
Others among the growing Zimbabwean farming
diaspora have moved to countries nearer home - in particular Mozambique and
Zambia - but the venture south of the Niger River is uncharted
territory.
An initial group of 15 farmers have spent the last
month building homes, barns and boreholes on 38,000 acres of land they are
leasing in Kwara state, 250 miles north of Lagos.
After
harrowing experiences in Zimbabwe, where many of them were removed from
their homes by machete-wielding mobs of "war veterans" loyal to Mugabe, the
farmers are reluctant to give their names.
Last week they
were riding motorbikes along dirt tracks as they laid out fields. Workers
cleared ground with bulldozers.
"We will start farming as
simply as possible with what can be grown here and then play it by ear,"
said one, who is haunted by memories of Zimbabwe and asked to be identified
only as Adam. Five of the new farms will be dairy, he said, and the others
will grow crops such as rice, soya beans and maize.
Olusegun Obasanjo, the Nigerian president, has been an outspoken critic of
Mugabe. The Zimbabwean leader was so angered by Commonwealth heads of
government at a meeting hosted by Obasanjo last year that he pulled out of
the organisation.
Bukola Saraki, the governor of Kwara state,
welcomed the farmers' arrival, saying they would be able to show Nigerians
how to improve yields. "Let us transfer that knowledge and technology to our
people," he said. "Compare the population of 15 human beings to that of
Kwara state - they cannot colonise us. What we should do is learn from
them."
The Zimbabwean farmers are committed to training 10
Nigerian farmers a year, and 1% of their turnover will be spent on education
projects.
Each has borrowed £130,000 to start their
farms, loans they estimate they can pay off in five years. They are flying
in tractors and other equipment from Brazil, which is supplying livestock,
and from South Africa and Europe.
"We're here to farm and
worry about the crops," said Adam. "We don't want to let the Nigerian
government down."