http://www.washingtonpost.com/
By
Associated Press, Published: May 13
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s state
power company says it is implementing
power cuts of at least nine hours a
day as the winter season begins in the
southern African nation.
The
Zimbabwe Electricity Company says the outages, known as load shedding,
will
affect homes, businesses and industries across the nation. Only major
hospitals and strategic facilities will be excluded.
In a
statement Sunday, the company said during colder months it can only
supply
half the national demand for power. Demand peaks in winter.
It blamed
breakdowns, aging equipment and financial problems that prevent
them from
importing power from the region.
In years of economic meltdown, Zimbabwe
suffered regular poorly managed
power outages of up to 20 hours a day while
some areas escaped cuts because
of inefficiency. The state weather office
has forecast near freezing lows in
coming weeks.
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/world_news/Africa/article1037940.ece
For 25 days Mugabe’s thugs tried to break
The Sunday Times’s Robin Hammond
Robin Hammond talks about his ordeal in
prison
Lucy Fisher – Published: 13 May 2012
AN award-winning
Sunday Times photographer was shackled, strip-searched and
given cattle feed
during a 25- day ordeal in two of Zimbabwe’s most
notorious
prisons.
Robin Hammond, 36, was arrested last month as he photographed
refugees
fleeing to neighbouring South Africa. He ended up sharing a cell
measuring
15ft by 30ft with 38 other prisoners, each shivering under filthy,
lice-infested blankets, with an open hole in the floor for a
lavatory.
He was forced to watch fellow prisoners being beaten as
President Robert
Mugabe’s henchmen accused him of being a journalist and
tried to force a
confession out of him.
Hammond, who won an Amnesty
International award for his pictures of child
soldiers shackled in Sudan,
was horrified to find himself in a similar
position. “It was as if I was in
one of my own photographs,” he said.
Recovering at home in Paris
yesterday with his girlfriend, Aude Barbera, 28,
Hammond was relieved to be
free but still shocked by his treatment. “I
started to believe I would never
get out,” he said.
Working independently with money from a
photojournalism award, Hammond
entered Zimbabwe on April 15 to cover the
country’s latest humanitarian
crisis.
He did not seek accreditation
because he feared Zimbabwe’s Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO) would
detain him if his assignment was
known.
On April 16 Hammond was
arrested near the South African border. At a police
station in Beit Bridge,
a town that straddles the border, he was told he was
being charged with
taking photographs in a restricted area.
That should have led to his
immediate deportation but instead police tried
to force him to admit he was
operating illegally as a journalist.
Eventually he was consigned to Beit
Bridge prison. He was refused access to
a lawyer or a telephone, stripped
naked and ordered to jump up and down to
prove he was not concealing
weapons. He was then thrown into the cramped
cell.
“It’s the moment
when your eyes adjust to the darkness that you realise the
hell you are
really in,” he said. “The smell was overwhelming; then I saw
limbs entangled
everywhere — 38 prisoners in underpants.
“I felt very vulnerable,
hopeless, powerless — I was at the mercy of a
system where laws are bent to
fit politics and human rights are regularly
disregarded.”
He added:
“Sharing a cell with so many men cramped together in a small space
was a
terrible experience. When we woke up in the morning we would have to
crush
the lice from our blankets. They’d been feasting on us all
night.”
Although the prison had no web access, he grew worried that his
“internet
footprint” would betray him.
“Under interrogation I knew Google would be my worst
enemy,” he said. “I managed eventually to sneak a note out and the message was
relayed to my friends and girlfriend: make me disappear from the
internet.”
His fiancée, a former
IT specialist, created a fake website portraying him
as a photography
teacher. She also littered the web with references to
teaching credentials.
Regardless of her efforts, interrogation went on at
Beit
Bridge.
“When they interrogated me they made me squat on the ground. At
one point
they beat up a young man in front of me. They beat him so hard the
broom
they were using on his back broke in two. All they wanted to do was
break
your spirit,” Hammond said.
“They towered over me and screamed
that nobody could hear me. During one
really bad interrogation nine men
shouted at me at a time. They were trying
to break not just me but everyone
in there.”
Hammond feared his position might get even worse. “I was
terrified I would
be handed over to the CIO which has a reputation for
torture,” he said.
After a further fortnight in Beit Bridge, he was
placed in heavy iron
shackles and transferred to Harare central
prison.
Mugabe’s regime, which is celebrating 30 years in power, has
repeatedly
promised a more open society. Yet the president is accused of
imprisoning
opponents of his Zanu PF party.
An independent report on
Zimbabwe’s 42 prisons, which was published in 2010,
revealed that they were
designed for 14,000 inmates but housed more than
25,000.
The youngest
prisoners seen by Hammond, some of them only 14 years old,
received no
visitors and their prospects appeared bleak.
Hammond’s release last week
was secured by two charities, People against
Suffering, Oppression and
Poverty (Passop) and Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights.
Braam
Hanekom, a Passop campaigner, said: “Seeing someone like Robin being
dehumanised and placed in leg shackles and handcuffs is just astonishing.
They were deliberately trying to make it impossible for him and break him
into signing a confession.”
http://www.radiovop.com
Bulawayo, May 13,
2012-Movement for Democratic Change led by Dr Morgan
Richard Tsvangirai
(MDC-T) has urged more than 200 supporters at a rally at
Stanley Hall in
Bulawayo to desist from violence as the nation is about to
hold
elections.
MDC-T Bulawayo Spokesperson, Mandla Sibanda, accused smaller
faction of MDC,
ZAPU, Zanu-PF and Mavambo of splitting the votes in Bulawayo
in the coming
elections.
In an interview with Radio VOP after the rally,
Sibanda urged their
supporters across the country to unite for a purpose in
order to vote wisely
and boot out Zanu-PF that is already behaving like an
opposition party in
the Inclusive Government.
“Basically there are these
three parties based in Bulawayo, they are solely
based in Bulawayo, they
assist Zanu-PF in dividing votes in Bulawayo, they
claim to exist to deal
with Matabeleland issues.
“We need unity of purpose ahead of elections. It’s
not proper to term what
happened during and after congress as violence in my
opinion it was an issue
of difference in term s of opinions and it is the
reason why we chose
leadership that will represent the party in the next
five years,” said
Sibanda.
Prior to 2011 MDC-T national congress in
Bulawayo, during and after the
congress, cases of violence in MDC-T were
noted around the country and
Sibanda denied that there was violence but said
that it was an issue of
different views by the party members.
“Such
incidences do happen when there is change of power and what happened
during
our congress is normal in a democratic country. We are now
concentrating on
elections and mobilising our members to go and vote for us
so that we remove
Mugabe from power.
“This is time to unite against Zanu-PF and other political
parties in the
country for it do not help the party to have a number of
councilors, Members
of Parliament and senators when our president is not in
control. He must win
the next election with a big margin,” said
Sibanda.
He said the split within Zanu-PF will assist his party to garner
more votes
and having President Robert Mugabe as a Zanu-PF candidate was a
bonus for
his party because he cannot outwit Tsvangirai in the next election
if it is
a free and fair election.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani
Khuphe was scheduled to address the
rally in her constituency but she
boycotted and went to campaign in Siganda
were it is alleged that she wants
to stand and contest as an MP against
Clifford Sibanda of Zanu-PF.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Sunday, 13 May 2012 12:06
BY PATRICE
MAKOVA
THE Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission (Zacc) is targeting
more bigwigs in
its fight to root out corruption. Information reaching The
Standard shows
that Local Government, Rural and Urban Development minister
Ignatious Chombo
(pictured), former special interest councillor Charles
Nyachowe and
Mashonaland Central governor advocate Martin Dinha, among
others, are being
investigated.
Zacc Chairperson, Denford
Chirindo confirmed the investigations.
Sources told The Standard last
week that Nyachowe was being investigated for
allegedly sub-dividing and
selling stands without authority at a peri-urban
farm around the Snake World
area which he was allocated in 2008.
Dinha allegedly bought a Bindura
town council house for US$0,48 cents.
Chombo and Bindura town clerk,
Japhet Kabanga, are being jointly
investigated with Dinha for allegedly
conniving to unlawfully pass ownership
of the house to the governor when he
was till executive mayor.
Both Nyachowe and Dinha last week denied
the allegations.
“We have a policy that we don’t rush to arrest
people before doing thorough
investigations,” Chirindo said.
Zacc
sources said on July 28 2008, Nyachowe allegedly forged an offer letter
which he then presented to the owners of the then Ingwerati farm a few days
later.
The farm had not yet been gazetted and Nyachowe allegedly
sold stands from
the farm earmarked for agricultural purposes before a
change of land use was
authorised.
Nyachowe denied that he had
sub-divided and sold stands at his allocated
farm. He said he was still
waiting for a response from government to his
application to sub-divide the
farm for residential purposes.
“I want to start a low-cost housing
scheme to benefit over 3 000 people.
Beneficiaries will only pay for the
servicing of the land and I don’t see
this as corruption,” he
said.
Dinha allegedly bought a council house for US$0,48 cents when
he was still
the Mayor of Bindura without a council resolution or without
advertising in
terms of section 152 of the Urban Councils
Act.
Dinha last week said his purchase of the concerned property was
above board
as it was part of the packages approved by the ministry of local
government
for all the executive mayors in the country.
He said
other mayors in cities such as Gweru and Kariba were given their
mayoral
Mercedes Benz vehicles, houses and stands, while he only benefited
from the
house which he paid for.
Dinha said government experts in 2008
evaluated the house before he paid
ZW$1,2 million for the property, an
amount equivalent to about US$48 000
then.
“Unfortunately, the
transfer of the property into my name was delayed and
when this was
eventually done, the central bank had knocked off 15 zeros
from our local
currency,” he said. “For the purpose of transferring
ownership, the deeds
office then decided to use the value of $0,48 cents.
“There was
nothing amiss because all the other properties which were being
transferred
were being given similar value during this time when the US
dollar was not
yet a legal tender.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Sunday, 13 May 2012 12:13
BY Our
STAFF
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe and the late Retired General Solomon did
not see
eye-to-eye in the period leading to the March 2008 harmonised
elections with
Zanu PF insiders saying the two’s “estrangement was
permanent”.
Mujuru died in a mysterious fire at his farmhouse at his
Ruzambu Farm near
Beatrice, some 60km south of the capital,
Harare.
Recently at a memorial service for the late general,
Mugabe said he was
still puzzled by how Mujuru had died in the inferno
considering his military
training and his alertness. He said Mujuru had
survived other fires before.
But in a US cable leaked recently by
whistleblower website WikiLeaks,
sources within Zanu PF told then US
ambassador to Zimbabwe, James McGee,
that although 15 days before the March
2008 election Mujuru failed to come
out publicly to oppose Mugabe, “their
estrangement was permanent”.
The sources said Mujuru believed Mugabe
would lose the election and, in not
voicing his opposition openly, was
hedging his bets in case Mugabe survived
the election, in which case the
general would actively oppose Mugabe from
within.
The WikiLeaks
cable also says Mujuru pledged to support Movement for
Democratic Change
presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai if Mugabe tried
to steal the 2008
elections.
In the same cable released in August last year, Tsvangirai
told McGee that
he had spoken to Mujuru who had since realised that support
for Simba Makoni
was thin and it was better to support Tsvangirai as an
alternative to
Mugabe.
Makoni — then a Zanu PF politburo member
and former Finance minister — had
just formed the Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn
movement to stand against his erstwhile
boss Mugabe and Tsvangirai in the
2008 presidential election. It was widely
speculated that Mavambo was a
Mujuru project to end Mugabe’s political
career.
Mujuru still
insisted that it was time for Mugabe to go and as soon as
possible, the
sources told the US envoy.
The sources said opposition to Mugabe was
“as strong as it has ever been”.
They said most notable was the strong
opposition from within the party and
from erstwhile comrades-in-arms such as
Mujuru. They said the election and
post-election period “could play out in
ways that are not now obvious”.
Recent reports in the media said a
Zanu PF politburo member Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu had told another US envoy that
Mugabe “feared” Mujuru because he was
the only one who could stand up to him
and ask him when he would retire.
Ndlovu was quoted by WikiLeaks as
telling a US diplomat in Harare, Joseph
Sullivan: “Mugabe respects and fears
Mujuru. Mujuru is also now
independently wealthy, which gives him freedom
for manoeuvre that those
whose livelihoods depend on the ruling party do not
have.”
What McGee wired to Washington DC
McGee said in the
cable, “An associate of Solomon Mujuru told us he spoke
for Mujuru and most
members of the party’s Central Committee and Politburo
when he said it was
time for Mugabe to go — as soon as possible. Mujuru
realised that Makoni’s
support was thin; he would support Tsvangirai as an
alternative to
Mugabe.”
He said Tsvangirai enjoyed continued and growing support
throughout the
country. “In the rural areas, many people who previously
voted for Zanu PF
are fed up; most of these will vote for Tsvangirai.
Equally important is
strong antipathy toward Mugabe from within the ruling
party.”
As it turned out, Tsvangirai won the presidential
election, but with
insufficient numbers to take up power. The subsequent
run-off was marred by
unprecedented violence spearheaded by the military.
Tsvangirai says 200 of
his supporters were murdered.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
By Staff
Reporter 22 hours 40 minutes ago
HARARE - Self-exiled MDC-T
treasurer-general Roy Bennett has hit out at some
of the party’s senior
officials, describing them as “Zanufied” and accusing
them of abandoning
“the people” for the comfort of Zanu PF’s “gravy train”.
Bennett, who is
believed to be in Britain, said there was a growing tendency
among the
democratic forces in Zimbabwe to “disparage the Diaspora” as if
those inside
the country were making all the sacrifices while those outside
should “shut
up and put up”.
Writing on his Facebook wall, Bennett posted: “Is our
thinking becoming
Zanufied? Maybe there is more to all this than meets the
eye. Perhaps there
are some at home who are trying to make themselves heroes
and legends
because they have something to hide? Some of those throwing
stones at our
Diaspora are on the gravy train at home. Far from being heroes
of the
struggle, they are making love to Zanu PF and living like kings. We
are
neither blind nor stupid.”
But MDC-T national organising
secretary Nelson Chamisa yesterday downplayed
Bennett’s attack, describing
his utterances as “a statement of warning”
rather than a “vote of no
confidence” in the party leadership.
Coincidentally, Bennett’s attack
came amid reports MDC-T was battling to
contain factional fights and
intra-party clashes in most of its structures
countrywide.
Bennett
said some of the party leaders had turned arrogant and “absorbed the
Zanu PF
(amafikizolo) mentality by implying that those who left the country
long ago
must be quiet and do not have a role to play”.
“Some of these people are
living like kings while pretending to be heroes.
The fundamental problem is
that some leaders are not respecting the people
on the ground — both people
at home and people abroad. Some have developed
big heads and are not
listening to the people.
“What I want to see is ordinary Zimbabweans
taking control of our party and
our country. The people inside and outside
Zimbabwe must choose who they
want and not put up with politicians who are
out of order and who think they
have a God-given right to their positions,”
Bennett said.
"It is Zanu-PF that seeks to legitimise itself by creating
dividing lines
between those who 'liberated' Zimbabwe and those who didn't.
Are we now
being told the same lies again - and by those who are meant to be
delivering
democracy to the people? God forbid. A Zimbabwean is a
Zimbabwean. Black or
white, at home or abroad, it is the people who must set
the agenda."
"The idea that those at home are the heroes is also based on
a lie. Are
those outside not suffering? Is it not true that our brothers and
sisters
outside are there because of Zanu-PF? It is not true that they are
there
because they have been brutalised and lost their jobs? Aren't our
people in
the diaspora living in poor housing and working themselves to the
bone for
their loved ones at home?
"It would be stupid for them to
come home. To what? Unemployment and
persecution. They are not so foolish.
Their families would starve and some
would end up like Solomon Madzore, in
detention or worse. Maybe there is
more to all this than meets the
eye."
"Perhaps there are some at home who are trying to make themselves
heroes and
legends because they have something to hide? Some of those
throwing stones
at our diaspora are on the gravy train at home. Far from
being heroes of the
struggle, they are making love to Zanu-PF and living
like kings. We are
neither blind nor stupid," Bennet said.
Chamisa
however said: “It’s (Bennett’s comments) a reflection of our
direction, that
it (the party) should be owned by the people, as it is, and
not the elites.
It’s a statement of warning and a statement of advice.
“I speak to
Bennett everyday and we share the same views. Nobody in the MDC
is happy
with the marriage of convenience (government of national unity). It
is a
strategic necessity rather than an earned luxury.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
13/05/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
A UNION for migrant workers is taking the South African
government to court
to force ministers to reveal what they intend to do with
300,000 Zimbabweans
granted work permits when they expire in
2015.
The Migrant Workers Association of South Africa (MWASA) says
officials from
the Department of Home Affairs have privately stated that the
permits will
not be renewed, but there has been no public statement by the
government.
MWASA has engaged law firm MGM Law Assist to force the government
into a
clarification.
In September 2010, South Africa began a process
of issuing Zimbabweans with
relevant South African permits for business,
study and work under a special
dispensation known as the Zimbabwe
Documentation Programme.
But Austin Moyo, the secretary general of MWASA
says Zimbabweans who
benefitted from the programme are anxious to know what
will happen when the
permits expire.
Home Affairs Director General
Mkuseli Apleni said Friday that only those
meeting legal requirements for
work, study and business permits renewal will
be granted
extensions.
MGM Law Assist Director Godfrey Machimane says the Home
Affairs’ position is
the reason why the permit holders are launching a court
action.
“If the permit holders are now required to meet legal
requirements for
renewing permits that were given under special
circumstances, it simply
means the majority will not qualify,” he
said.
MWASA’s national organiser Butholezwe Nyathi is urging all permit
holders to
urgently register for the court action.
Nyathi is also
urging other Zimbabweans holding asylum, refugees and other
forms of permits
to join MWASA for representation in all their work related
grievances.
When you turn on the morning news in Zimbabwe — or the afternoon news, or the evening news — there's a virtual guarantee you'll hear about President Robert Mugabe, or even his actual voice.
Even when there's a song by the Zimbabwean group Born Free Crew, it features a voice-over of none other than Mugabe, who's been leader since independence in 1980.
In the song, he talks about Zimbabwe's colonization by the British, and how his ZANU PF party led the country to freedom. The jingle airs constantly on the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, a station run by the Ministry of Information. In fact, it's the only television station in Zimbabwe.
"It's actually not journalism, it's propaganda. I mean, it's straightforward propaganda," says Andy Moyse, the director of the Media Monitoring Project of Zimbabwe, a private group based in Harare.
Under a 2009 agreement, Zimbabwe is now supposed to be opening the airwaves and implementing media reforms. But that hasn't happened.
Moyse says almost nothing has changed. The government hasn't granted any new broadcast licenses to radio or television stations, and only a handful of nongovernment print publications have sprung up.
An Editor Is Prosecuted
Across town, printing presses churn out copies of NewsDay, Zimbabwe's largest independent newspaper. It's one of the few publications to have appeared since 2009.
NewsDay's editor, Constantine Chimakure, says they aim to be the country's most objective paper.
"We are not pro-government, we are not anti-government. We try to maintain a balance, to give real facts without spinning them," he says.
NewsDay's circulation numbers are not made public. Chimakure says that from a financial standpoint, things are going relatively well. But he acknowledges that advertising revenue is thin in Zimbabwe, and it's hard to get people to spend a dollar on a newspaper when so many are struggling to survive.
"With a dollar, you can buy two loaves of bread," he says.
Now, with elections on the horizon, Chimakure says the government has begun cracking down on journalists.
He was recently charged with undermining the authority of the president for publishing a story about Mugabe's health, and is awaiting trial. Many fellow journalists are facing similar charges, and Chimakure expects the situation to worsen.
It's actually not journalism, it's propaganda. I mean, it's straightforward propaganda.
"They will be assaulted, they will be harassed when they try to go and do their professional job in the rural areas," he says.
Listening To Foreign Broadcasts
In Seke, a rural community 40 miles outside Harare, James Chidakwa and his father eat roasted nuts and cornmeal inside a small brick hut. They're farmers who rely heavily on maize and chickens to survive. James Chidakwa says that like many, his family refuses to listen to government TV or radio broadcasts.
"They always lie to the people," he says. "Everything they say is a lie."
So at 6 p.m. most evenings, they turn on a battery-powered, short-wave radio and tune in to a "pirate radio station." Chidakwa says Shortwave Radio Africa and Voice of America are their favorites.
"If you want to hear the truth, wait for the end of the day to listen to Shortwave Radio Africa, to listen to VOA," he says.
The stations, which are based in the U.K. and the U.S., send their signals through radio towers in countries that border Zimbabwe. That means Zimbabwean officials — who claim these broadcasts are illegal — have little recourse. In the past, they've confiscated short-wave radios. Chidakwa says that forces some people to listen undercover.
"Some of them, they will take the radios into their bedrooms and, low volume, they listen to the news. But the truth is, there is fear in them," he says.
But for Chidakwa and his father, it's a risk they are prepared to take.
http://www.israelidiamond.co.il
13.05.12, 10:21
The government
of Zimbabwe is committed to creating incentives for citizens
of the country
to open new businesses that would carry out other operations
related to the
diamond industry, in addition to simply mining the gems,
Mining Weekly
reported.
Zimbabwe Mines and Mining Development Minister Obert Mpofu
announced in a
speech read on his behalf that he hopes to see local
industries engage in
platinum and chrome refining and diamond cutting and
polishing. Mpofu said
that he also wished to see smelting plants constructed
on Zimbabwean soil,
but confessed that he did not anticipate that it would
occur anytime soon,
due to the high costs involved in setting up such an
operation.
The Chamber of Mines, the body that represents the mainly
foreign-owned
mining operations, responded to Mpofu's announcement in an
encouraging
manner, saying that the group would not oppose these proposals,
but urged
the government to confer with its members in order to implement
beneficiation schemes in practice.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
JAMA MAJOLA | 13 May, 2012
00:13
Zanu-PF is running a paramilitary campaign ahead of the next
elections to
ensure that President Robert Mugabe is re-elected for another
five-year
term, whatever it takes.
Security forces, coordinated by
the Joint Operations Command (JOC) - which
brings together army, police and
intelligence chiefs - are running covert
operations and campaigning
underground for Mugabe and Zanu-PF.
Mugabe, who has won disputed
elections since 2000 through military support,
has threatened to
unilaterally call for elections this month if the
constitution-making
process is not concluded quickly.
In terms of the Global Political
Agreement (GPA), the basis of the current
unity government, Mugabe is
expected to consult Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai before proclaiming
election dates. The constitution, as well as
the GPA, prevent the security
forces from getting involved in politics.
However, security sources say
the military has now taken over Zanu-PF
structures and are campaigning for
Mugabe. Serving and retired members are
even lining up to become Zanu-PF
candidates in the next polls. The party has
appointed into its commissariat
retired Air Vice-Marshal Henry Muchena and
former CIO director (internal)
Sydney Nyanhongo to strengthen its structures
and spearhead its
campaign.
Insiders say Muchena and Nyanhongo have been holding meetings
with party
structures nationally to reorganise the party and gear up for
elections. A
group of army commanders is also said to be moving around the
country laying
the ground for Mugabe and Zanu-PF's official
campaigns.
"A lot is currently happening. Zanu-PF is quietly running a
paramilitary
campaign. Army commanders, working under the auspices of JOC,
are laying the
groundwork for Mugabe and his party," one source
said.
"Recently there were secret meetings attended by senior army
commanders in
Nyamapanda (in Mashonaland East province) to discuss the
situation in
Zanu-PF and the elections. The military has taken over
Zanu-PF."
About 50 top army and police officers - ranking from colonel to
major-general - were in Mutare two weeks ago for a meeting on elections with
the Zanu-PF's provincial coordinating committee at Mary Mount Teachers
College.
Those present included Major-General Martin Chedondo, Air
Vice-Marshal
Shebba Brighton Shumbayaonda, Brigadier-General Herbert
Chingono,
Brigadier-General Mike Sango, Three Brigade commander
Brigadier-General
Eliah Bandama and provincial JOC members. Police Deputy
Commissioner-General
Godwin Matanga was also present.
Chedondo, a
Mugabe die-hard, this week said he supported Zanu-PF, in remarks
which
seemed to confirm what the security forces are doing. Addressing 3000
troops
from Two Brigade undergoing a battlefield training exercise in Mutoko
on
Tuesday, Chedondo said soldiers should be allowed to be involved in
partisan
party politics and to support Zanu-PF.
"By virtue of this, the defence
force automatically becomes a political
animal. Soldiers cannot be blind or
blinkered to what they are protecting.
We have to be alert and know where we
came from and where we are going ...
"As soldiers, we will never be
apologetic for supporting Zanu-PF because it
is the only political party
that has the national interests at heart," he
said.
"The answer that
I am giving those politicians who always ask if it is right
for soldiers to
be partisan is that the defence force must exhibit the
national
outlook.
"As soldiers we must never apologise when we are discharging our
noble role
of protecting the integrity of our nation, hard-won independence
and our
precious resources.
"We cannot be seen supporting a political
party that is going against the
ideals of a nation which came about as a
result of a liberation struggle,
which saw many of the country's sons and
daughters losing their lives.
"As soldiers we must support ideologies
that we subscribe to, I for one will
not be apologetic for supporting
Zanu-PF because I was part of the
liberation struggle."
Zimbabwe
Defence Forces commander General Constantine Chiwenga and other
senior army
commanders have previously said the same. They have even
threatened a coup
if Mugabe loses the elections.
http://www.timeslive.co.za
JAMA MAJOLA | 13 May, 2012
00:12
President Robert Mugabe is expected to appoint new members to
Zanu-PF's
decision-making politburo in an attempt to rejuvenate a party
weakened and
cracked by factionalism and infighting - mainly over who will
replace him.
Senior Zanu-PF officials say they have been informed Mugabe
was set to
appoint a new team to lead the party to the next elections which
will almost
certainly be the last in his political career of 52
years.
"I have it on good authority that the president will soon appoint
55 new
politburo members. He was supposed to do so at the Zanu-PF Bulawayo
conference in December, but it was postponed," a senior party official said.
"Later we were told he was going to do that after his annual holiday in
January."
"The current position is that he is likely to do so any
time now. We were
told last week he was going to make the appointments after
General Solomon
Mujuru's memorial service last Saturday. We still are
anxiously waiting."
Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo was not immediately
available for comment.
However, another senior official said the
appointments "were coming", given
renewed factionalism and infighting in
Zanu-PF. The infighting has angered
Mugabe, who last week
uncharacteristically lambasted senior members,
accusing them of destroying
the party through greed and fanning divisions.
"The appointments are long
overdue and can be done any time now. It is
important for him [Mugabe] to do
that because the party is divided. It is
most likely that the appointments
would follow after the next extraordinary
politburo meeting, expected this
coming week," the official said.
The politburo, which Mugabe uses to
control the party, is to hold the
meeting to tackle some of the burning
issues Mugabe had raised at the
funeral of national hero Edson Ncub last
week.
The politburo acts as an administrative organ of Zanu-PF's central
committee, which makes decisions in between congresses.
The politburo
implements all decisions, directives, rules and regulations of
the party's
central committee.
Zanu-PF Mashonaland Central provincial governor Martin
Dinha, who is a close
ally of Mugabe, half-heartedly confirmed that the new
politburo appointments
were looming, by saying there was "speculation" to
that effect.
Senior Zanu-PF politburo members in Mashonaland Central,
including
Vice-President Joyce Mujuru, Nicholas Goche and Saviour
Kasukuwere, are
fighting Dinha - whom they believe would be appointed to the
politburo and
become too powerful within their back yard.
A member of
the Zanu-PF Youth League said the problem was, even if the
appointments were
made, they would not help to renew the party leadership,
as the same old
people are "just reshuffled".
"New appointments might be coming but what
does that mean for the party, and
us as the youth? We don't think there is
much to look forward to because the
same old comrades, some of whom are now
dead wood, are just recycled," he
said. "Youths are shunned and that's why
the party hierarchy is dominated by
old people, some of whom no longer have
the energy to campaign and combat
the MDC parties, which are driven by
relatively young people."
http://www.timeslive.co.za
JAMA MAJOLA | 13 May, 2012 00:13
Defence
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, widely seen as leading the pack to
succeed
President Robert Mugabe, has provoked a storm within Zanu-PF after
he was
quoted in a local weekly on Friday as saying he was "ready to rule".
He
dropped the bomb ahead of an extraordinary Zanu-PF politburo meeting to
discuss factionalism and infighting due to be held this
week.
Mnangagwa, a long-serving minister and former personal assistant to
Mugabe,
reportedly said at Heroes Acre at the burial of politburo official
Edson
Ncube last week he was ready to govern, if given the
opportunity.
His remarks were taken to mean he was confirming his
ambition to succeed
Mugabe. "I am ready to rule, if selected to do so,"
Mnangagwa was quoted as
saying. "Zanu-PF is about observing the will of the
people ... and I will
respect the people's wishes if they choose
me."
His remarks were received with alarm within Zanu-PF's inner circle,
because
they came at a time when Mugabe was denouncing divisions and
internal power
struggles in the party. Senior Zanu-PF officials on Friday
reacted with
anger to the remarks attributed to Mnangagwa, with some vowing
to raise the
issue at the politburo meeting .
"Some of us were
shocked, while others are alarmed and angered by what he
reportedly said," a
senior official said. "We can't believe it, because his
remarks contradict
the president, who is worried about faction leaders and
power struggles
destroying the party."
Another official said: "If it is true he said it,
we are going to table this
issue for discussion because that's what is
fanning divisions in the party."
Cadres close to Mnangagwa said on Friday
he was likely to deny the reports
and set his lawyers on the media to clear
his name ahead of the
extraordinary politburo meeting.
"I've been
talking to party officials, including Mnangagwa. It looks like
this issue
has angered many people. So he might refute the reports and
demand a
retraction or take legal action," one said. "From what I hear, I
think he
will deny it and demand an apology to cover his back."
Zanu-PF
administration secretary Didymus Mutasa, who is number five in the
hierarchy, and spokesman Rugare Gumbo, ranked number 10 in the pecking
order, dismissed Mnangagwa's remarks. Mutasa said he would not want to waste
time commenting on Mnangagwa's ambitions as they were "individual
wishes".
Gumbo said: "Zanu-PF has a hierarchy we have to adhere to when
there is a
need for promotion."
Mnangagwa is ranked 12th in Zanu-PF,
and Mutasa said Mnangagwa was too way
down the line to succeed Mugabe.
"Mujuru and other seniors are better
placed," he said.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
GRAEME HOSKEN | 13 May, 2012
00:13
Zimbabwean activists have threatened to refer several members of
South
Africa's Hawks to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for
crimes
against humanity if they are not brought to justice in SA.
The
threat from the Johannesburg-based Zimbabwe Exile Forum (ZEF) was made a
day
after SA Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa told parliament that an
investigation into several Hawks officers was nearing
completion.
Damning allegations emerged in October that South African
officials were
cooperating with the Zimbabwean authorities in abducting
Zimbabweans in SA,
including former Movement for Democratic Change organiser
Gift Nhadzi and
his wife, who were tortured after he was
repatriated.
Also said to have been sent back to Zimbabwe against his
will was Witness
Ndeya, who was alleged to have killed police officers in
Zimbabwe. He was
returned to Zimbabwe along with two others and
killed.
Mthethwa's announcement this week was made a day after the
Pretoria (North
Gauteng) High Court ruled the South African authorities were
obliged to
arrest Zimbabwean officials linked to torture when they visited
SA.
ZEF chairman Gabriel Shumba said of the renditions: "This is a crime
against
humanity and includes assaults in which people have had parts of
their
bodies doused in diesel before being set alight. Despite complaints,
nothing
has been done.
"This is the first time we are hearing of this
probe and we are afraid the
allegations will be covered up. SA has ratified
and domesticated the Rome
Statute of the International Criminal Court and if
investigations establish
that South African police are involved they must be
prosecuted," Shumba
said.
He warned that failure to prosecute would
lead to the forum taking the Hawks
to The Hague for crimes against humanity
. Shumba said the forum had
interviewed six Zimbabweans who had escaped from
army or police bases in
this country after being abducted and smuggled
across the border and
tortured. He and a senior source within the Hawks
alleged that such
"renditions" were continuing unabated.
Shumba, who
called for an independent commission of inquiry comprising
Zimbabwean and
South African civic organisations, said there was an increase
in the number
of reports of intimidation by Zanu-PF supporters and police
agents operating
in SA. This has led to the forum receiving requests from
Zimbabweans for
help in leaving SA. Shumba said the forum was processing 20
such requests
and had already assisted two Zimbabweans to leave for the US
and
Canada.
"I have personally witnessed uniformed Zimbabwean police,
alongside South
African officers, searching and beating Zimbabweans in
Musina. These
assaults are widespread and flout international humanitarian
law.
"The widespread allegations of disappearances, torture, beatings,
killings
and assistance provided to Zimbabwean law enforcers coming to this
country
to kidnap Zimbabweans is repugnant."
The Hawks source
confirmed that a team of eight of the unit's members was
still taking part
in such operations. "They are above the law. Completely
untouchable. For
their work, several have been promoted. They have links
right to the top,
including politicians and senior officers. Several, who
are from the Hawks
Tactical Operational Management Services, are known to be
linked to the
murders of at least six Zimbabweans abducted from across
Gauteng, and others
have been linked to the murders of South Africans,
including fellow
officers," he said.
Mthethwa told parliament's police portfolio committee
that the allegations
had been referred to Hawks boss Anwa Dramat. "The
Civilian Secretariat for
Police is almost through with a preliminary report
on the allegations, which
suggests further action is required."
When
asked about the arrests, Mthethwa's spokes-man, Zweli Mnisi, said he
did not
want to pre-empt the inquiry's outcome. "We will keep the public
informed
once the final investigation has been completed."
Mnisi confirmed that
the South African authorities were working with their
Zimbabwe counterparts
and the justice cluster of state departments. Justice
Department spokesman
Tlali Tlali declined to comment, saying it was a police
matter.
http://www.timeslive.co.za
MARK SCOFIELD | 13 May, 2012 00:13
Zanu-PF
was dealt a blow this week when a high court ruled South Africa was
obliged
to investigate the instigators of human rights violations in
Zimbabwe.
The North Gauteng High Court ruling - which deals with the
torture of 15
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists netted in a
police raid at
the MDC headquarters in Harvest House, Harare, in 2007 - has
cast the
spotlight on wider human rights violations that have taken place in
Zimbabwe.
Allan Wallis, a lawyer at the Southern Africa Litigation
Centre (SALC),
which brought the case before the court, said: "This case
relates to the
raid at the MDC's Harvest House and we put up the case by
having doctors
check the victims and corroborate their claims of
torture.
"It highlights the systematic use of violence by the state, and
is
indicative of widespread human rights violations that have taken place
with
impunity in Zimbabwe".
In the past decade, Zanu-PF and military
officers have been fingered by
human rights groups Amnesty International and
Human Rights Watchfor the bulk
of human rights violations.
The ruling
by Judge Hans Fabricius paves the way for officials linked to the
abuses to
be arrested and tried upon entry into South Africa.
"The NPA [National
Prosecuting Authority] and SAPS [SA Police Service] had
acted
unconstitutionally and unlawfully in not taking forward the original
investigation," Fabricius said. However, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa came out guns blazing . He shot down the
ruling, describ ing it as "irrelevant".
"The ruling brings the SA
justice system into disrepute. No specifics have
been identified. They
should have given a blow-by-blow account of what
crimes have been
committed.
"That the court made a ruling based on a generalised opinion,
is a sad
moment for the justice system in South Africa," Chinamasa
said.
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana said it was unheard of for
Zimbabwean cases
to be tried in a foreign court, when Zimbabwe had a "viable
justice system".
But Wallis said: "Whether Zimbabwe cooperates with the
judgment is
immaterial. What this judgment has served to do is to highlight
SA's
position in honouring its obligations in international law. Whether the
Zimbabwe government likes it or not, it sets a warning to other rights
violators that they will not be accommodated in SA".
SALC executive
director Nicole Fritz agreed: "It's not just about Zim, it
sets a broad
precedent by ruling that SA authorities have a duty to
investigate
international crimes wherever they take place. It is a step
forward for
international criminal justice".
Analysts are warning that President
Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF - both opposed
to South African President Jacob
Zuma's mediation in Zimbabwe's political
crisis - may use the ruling to
force a diplomatic stand-off and pull out of
the negotiations.
http://www.timeslive.co.za
Simplicius Chirinda | 13 May, 2012
00:13
Simplicius Chirinda caught up with Didier Awadi last week during
his visit
to Harare for the annual Harare International Festival of the
Arts
For Didier Awadi, art is a full-time job. He sees himself as
self-employed -
yet responsible for millions of Senegalese who have suffered
under
successive governments in his country.
The rapper and hip-hop
artist hopes to use his art to try to make his
country a better place for
all. He also wants to spread his influence to the
rest of Africa and
beyond.
He has been asking hard questions since 1989 about social,
economic and
political ills plaguing the continent, with the help of his
musical outfit
Positive Black Soul and his Dakar-based music label and
studio Sankara.
Awadi offers music with revolutionary messages, and is
inspired by the
Burkinabe revolutionary Thomas Sankara and his message
"Let's dare invest
into our future."
Chirinda: What is your music all
about?
Awadi: I try to use my music to deal with various issues, social
issues,
political issues and the political questions in my country, my
society, my
continent.
I am very passionate about pan-Africanism,
real independence in Africa,
neo-colonialism because this is not a question
of the past.
When I look at the war in Cote d'Ivoire, the war in Libya,
the new war in
Mali, it's not all about political problems but about the new
control of
oil, uranium.
And it's not about the Tuareg fighting the
government, it's about the
control of the continent . Once we know that, we
need to unite and fight
against the superpowers who are trying to divide us
to rule our oil,
diamonds and so on.
Chirinda: What role do you think
artists can play in building real democracy
in Africa?
Awadi: When
the politics fail, we need to see who can have the impact and
the artist is
someone whom people can trust and he is the one who can tell
the people the
truth and say, this is how I feel about this problem and this
is how I think
we can solve it.
People trust artists rather than politicians because
politicians tell too
many lies.
Since independence came in most
African countries, there has been too many
promises and none of the promises
have been fulfilled, so we need someone
who can be trusted, someone who eats
what we eat, who understand us, someone
who is just like us - and this
person is an artist.
Once you are aware that you have people looking up
to you, you must be
conscious of this responsibility that you have in
society.
Chirinda: How should artists relate to the state?
Awadi:
You are the voice of the voiceless. People usually don't have a voice
because of police brutality. You need your art to come and provide some
solutions. You can build a relationship of confidence between your people
and yourself - either be their voice or organise them.
As artists we
should try and question our governments, our systems, our
habits, and not
accept that someone just comes and says, this is how you do
it. Always ask
why and how, another Africa is possible, another world is
possible.
Chirindai: What sort of activism should artists engage in
and how have you
been doing it in Senegal?
Awadi: We started by
seeking to address problems in the education sector.
Education was a big
problem in the 80s and we started the group Positive
Black Soul in 1989.
From the beginning of our career it was a clash between
ourselves and the
system (government) until 2000. We did a lot of things
with our rap until
there was a change of government.
Abdoulaye Wade (ex-Senegalese
president) promised the youth a lot of things,
but we saw that when he took
power all these promises were not serious, so
we started again, doing the
same job against him, the job that we did
against the former president
Leopold Senghor and his hand-picked successor,
Abdou Diouf, asking for a
change.
Democracy is about change, what we want is a change of the
system, we want a
revolution. But we know that people are afraid of a
revolution so we must
start by a change and then we can bring some ideas of
a revolution. The
rappers in Senegal know that we have a social role, a
political role and the
people trust us, so we must respect the contract of
confidence with the
people.
Chirindai: What would be your message to
Zimbabweans?
Awadi: There is a philosopher from Martinique, Franz Fanon,
who said every
generation must find their mission and accomplish it or
betray it. So every
generation must find their mission, accomplish it or
betray it.
Highlight of the week
was a visit by Vigil supporters to the Globe Theatre on the south bank of the
Thames for a performance in Shona of Shakespeare’s Two Gentlemen of Verona
(translated as Vakomana Vaviri ve Zimbabwe). It was part of a festival to mark
the Queen’s jubilee during which Shakespeare’s thirty-seven plays are being
performed in thirty-seven languages.
We at the Vigil were
invited to attend free as ‘groundlings’ – standing as in Shakespeare’s time in
the ‘yard’ open to the skies – and open also to the rain which duly came.
Fortunately we had a supply of bush hats from Tropical Head Gear of Bulawayo to
protect us from the worst. Someone commented that we looked like a bunch of ‘old
Rhodies’!
The production was
described as ‘a two-man
Zimbabwean riot of love, friendship and betrayal. From Verona to Milan, via
Harare and Bulawayo, two great friends, Valentine and Proteus, vie for the love
of the same woman. In a triumphantly energetic ‘township’ style, Denton Chikura
and Tonderai Munyevu slip into all of the play’s fifteen characters – from
amorous suitors to sullen daughters, depressed servants and even a
dog’.
It certainly
lived up to this description. Here are comments from some Vigil
people:
·
It was
hilarious. Laughed throughout the entire show. Was very proud to be Zimbabwean.
Reminded me of home. Denton and Tonderai were fantastic. What a day. Will
remember this as long as I live! – Fungayi Mabhunu.
·
A two-man cast who
superbly played all the characters in the play. I really enjoyed it – Louisa
Musaerenge.
·
What a good
performance! Switching to different characters by change of a glove, scarf, hat,
and massive suitcase. It was good fun with the Vigil group joining in to some of
the music we know – Josephine Zhuga.
·
The cast was
brilliant. The play itself reflects natural social events, and the people who
came from the Vigil to support were marvelous. I am sure that everyone enjoyed
themselves – Bernard Hukwa.
·
It was a masterpiece
which was well delivered by Denton and Tonderai. Very exciting. Shona at its
best – Edward Mutamiswa.
·
What I can only say
is we had a wonderful time. It was worthy. I really enjoyed ‘Dai varume
vakatendeka’. We did learn a lot and were greatly privileged to meet the cast –
Nancy Makaza (who is related to Denton).
Also from the Vigil
and enjoying the show with us were Mary Muteyerwa, Wendy Ziyambi, Peter Lakatika
and David Phezulani.
We were thrilled to
be invited to meet Denton and Tonderai in the theatre’s staff bar after the
show. To our surprise Denton’s first words to Vigil co-ordinator Rose Benton
were ‘Hello Rose you are still doing the Vigil!’ We realised then that he was a
Vigil supporter from some time back. His co-star Tonderai had also been to the
Vigil.
They say that
Shakespeare speaks to all people and he certainly spoke to us in his play about
love, exile, betrayal . . . and reconciliation.
Other Points
·
The theatrical aspect
continued when we had the annual visit of the Westminster Morris Men. These
traditional English male dancers perform around the Borough of Westminster every
year on the second Saturday in May. The groups that danced next to us were:
East Surrey Morris Men, Jockey Morris Men,
Ravensbourne Morris Men, Moulton Morris Men, Woodside Morris Men and Yateley
Morris Men. It’s always wonderful to see them especially since they embrace us
so warmly. They grabbed hold of Vigil supporter Francisca Toft, danced round her
and at the end of their performance lifted her aloft and then announced that
they had just performed a fertility dance . . . The predominantly elderly
dancers kissed her on the cheek in turn at the end.
·
We have
been outside the Zimbabwe Embassy for 10 years now but we had a first today –
free knickers thrown at us. An open top double-decker bus advertising an
underwear firm and sporting young people drove past us four times. Each time
they threw out quantities of underpants which Vigil supporters and the passing
public scrambled to get. Some of our supporter ended up with a lifetime
supply!
·
We were
joined by our friends from the Swaziland Vigil and they briefed us on plans for
demonstrations against a visit to London by Mswati III. He has suddenly acquired
a £30 million private plane and we are told his people are eating cow dung. He
is arriving with his entourage of around 30 on Wednesday 16th May and
is booked into the Savoy Hotel conveniently just down the Strand from the Vigil
(cheapest rooms are from £400 a night!) The Swaziland Vigil plans a protest
outside the Savoy from 12 noon to 3 pm to greet him. Mswati has apparently been
invited to a champagne lunch for the world’s monarchs at Windsor Castle on
Friday 18th May. The Swaziland Vigil has written a letter to the
Queen expressing their disquiet at Mswati’s visit: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/vigil-news/campaign-news/397-swaziland-vigil-letter-to-the-queen.
King Mswati is giving a dinner at the Swaziland High Commission on Saturday
night. We have been invited by the Swaziland Vigil to join them in protest at
the Swaziland High Commission after our Vigil (see Event and Notices for
details).
·
A
supporter advised us that her asylum case had been refused by the Home Office.
One of the reasons the Home Office cited was that the Vigil letter written in
support of the activism of our protesters could be forged. Vigil Co-ordinator
Rose Benton, who writes these letters, advised supporters that she kept careful
records of every letter she has written. Supporters and their solicitors are
welcome to contact her via the email on our website for confirmation that
letters are genuine as can Home Office caseworkers.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website – they
cannot be downloaded from the slideshow on the front page of the Zimvigil
website.
FOR THE
RECORD: 50 signed the
register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
· ‘The Rain that
Washes’ – Zimbabwean theatre production. Until 19th
May at 7.30 pm – matinee 19th May at 3.30 pm. Venue: Studio
Theatre, Chickenshed Theatre, Chase Side, Southgate, London N14 4PE.
It is a
one-man show based on a true story. “Following the
dream of majority rule, one man sees Ian Smith's Rhodesia become Robert Mugabe's
Zimbabwe. From refugee camps in Botswana to air strikes in Zambia via Marxism in
Bulgaria, he returns to Zimbabwe, only to witness the greatest betrayal of all .
. .” Running time: 60 minutes. Tickets £8 (£6). To book, call
020 8292 9222, email bookings@chickenshed.org.uk or book online at www.chickenshed.org.uk. Chickenshed
is between Oakwood and Cockfosters tube stations, and on bus routes 298, 299,
307 and N91. Free parking is available.
·
Swazi protest
outside Savoy Hotel. Wednesday
16th May from 12 – 3pm. Venue: outside the Savoy Hotel, Strand,
London WC2R 0EU – down the Strand from the Vigil towards Waterloo Bridge. Come
and protest at the visit by King Mswati who will be staying
here.
·
Next Swaziland
Vigil. Saturday
19th May from 10 am – 1 pm. Venue: Swazi High Commission, 20
Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6LB. Please support our Swazi friends. Nearest
stations: St James’s Park and Victoria. www.swazilandvigil.co.uk.
· Swazi protest
outside the Swaziland High Commission. Saturday
19th May at 6.30 pm. Come and protest while King Mswati holds a
dinner in the High Commission.
·
ROHR
Leicester meeting. Saturday
19th May from 1.30 – 4 pm. Venue: Woodgate Resources Centre, 36
Woodgate, Leicester LE3 5GE. The UK
Executive will be in attendance and traditional food will be served as part of
fundraising efforts.
·
Zimbabwe Action
Forum. Saturday
2nd June from 6.30 – 9.30 pm. Venue: Strand Continental Hotel (first
floor lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA. Directions: The Strand is the same
road as the Vigil. From the Vigil it’s about a 10 minute walk, in the direction
away from Trafalgar Square. The Strand Continental is situated on the south side
of the Strand between Somerset House and the turn off onto Waterloo Bridge. The
entrance is marked by a big sign high above and a sign for its famous Indian
restaurant at street level. It's next to a newsagent. Nearest underground:
Temple (District and Circle lines) and Holborn.
·
Zimbabwe Vigil
Highlights 2011 can be viewed on this
link: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/the-vigil-diary/363-vigil-highlights-2011.
Links to previous years’ highlights are listed on 2011 Highlights
page.
·
The Restoration of
Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s
partner organisation based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil
to have an organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s
mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through
membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in
Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other
website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents the
views and opinions of ROHR.
·
ZBN
News. The Vigil
management team wishes to make it clear that the Zimbabwe Vigil is not
responsible for Zimbabwe Broadcasting Network News (ZBN News). We are happy that
they attend our activities and provide television coverage but we have no
control over them. All enquiries about ZBN News should be addressed to ZBN News.
·
The Zim Vigil
band
(Farai Marema and Dumi Tutani) has launched its theme song ‘Vigil Yedu (our
Vigil)’ to raise awareness through music. To download this single, visit: www.imusicafrica.com and to watch the video
check: http://ourvigil.notlong.com. To watch other
Zim Vigil band protest songs, check: http://Shungurudza.notlong.com and http://blooddiamonds.notlong.com.
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace
page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
Vigil
co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside
the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00
to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The
Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
Clifford
Chitupa Mashiri, 13th May 2012
It is mind-boggling that the EU’s foreign
policy chief, Catherine Ashton
reportedly said she had “seen” progress in
Zimbabwe, which some of us have
hardly noticed.
Amid coup threats, a
deadlock on the New Constitution, sickening dithering
on the Diaspora Vote
and military dabbling in partisan politics, it was
incredible to note that
the EU’s Catherine Ashton ‘hailed ongoing political
reforms in
Zimbabwe’.
“The EU recognised progress to date and encouraged the reform
process to
continue in the same positive direction, allowing progress
towards
normalisation of relations,” a statement released by her office was
quoted
as saying.
Reports said Ashton fell short of pledging a quick
easing of targeted
sanctions on Mugabe and his allies in talks with a
delegation from Zimbabwe
on Thursday leaving many wondering what charm
offensive had won her over.
The questions which quickly raced in one’s
mind include: “What progress is
she talking about? On what basis is the EU
high representative making such a
statement? Where is the irrefutable
evidence of that perceived progress? Is
Ashton talking about
Zimbabwe?”
The fact that a senior EU official speaking on condition of
anonymity said
progress was “fairly slow” suggests that Ashton may have been
over generous
with her comments and probably out of touch with the situation
on the
ground.
Ashton was not expected to say what she said in view
of current events in
Zimbabwe. For instance, the open declaration on Tuesday
8 May, of allegiance
to Zanu-pf by ZDF Chief of Staff Major General Gen
Martin Chedondo and his
encouragement of the military to accept no other
party may have been
deliberately made to spite the Brussels
talks.
Furthermore, Zanu-pf’s sustained attacks on COPAC, the draft
constitution
and the party’s opposition to the Diaspora Vote otherwise being
referred to
as Dual Citizenship is sufficient evidence of lack of
progress.
In any case, not all exiles have become citizens abroad due to
practical
reasons including documentation and their families back home, but
remain
Zimbabwean nationals.
Obviously Zanu-pf is afraid of being
confined to the dustbin of history if
the estimated 4 million exiled
Zimbabweans are allowed to vote in the
forthcoming referendum and
presidential elections like other normal
countries are going.
Zanu-pf
is therefore more concerned about Mugabe’s future in a new
dispensation and
the prospect of prosecution especially in the wake of the
ruling by the
South African High Court allowing the arrest of Zimbabwean
perpetrators of
human rights abuse. The safest place for Mugabe and his
allies would be the
Western countries once the targeted sanctions are
removed hence the
obsession with their removal at the Brussels talks.
However Ashton may
have overlooked that there was no unanimity in the
Zimbabwe delegation which
met with in Brussels last week. The delegation
included Zanu-pf’s outspoken
justice minister Patrick Chinamasa, MDC-T’s
energy minister Elton Mangoma
and MDC Ncube’s regional integration minister
Priscilla
Misihairambwi.
Oddly enough energy minister Elton Mangoma could not be
described as a free
person at the time of the visit as he was and probably
is still facing
arrest for alleged perjury after claiming in court that
Robert Mugabe had
authorised appointments to a power regulatory
board.
At the Brussels meeting, Zanu-pf’s Patrick Chinamasa said: "We
spoke with
one voice on the issue of sanctions. We pointed out that the
sanctions had
no justification and should not remain.”
On the
contrary, even the MDC-T later briefed diplomats in Harare
reiterating the
need for full implementation of the GPA before targeted
sanctions are
lifted.
Meanwhile, the Mugabe regime has capitalised on Ashton’s ‘gaffe’
by writing
headlines in the state owned media such as “EU satisfied with GPA
implementation” The Herald, 12 May 2012.
It appears someone at the EU
will have to do some damage control before the
international body loses
credibility on its Zimbabwe foreign policy.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri,
Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
BILL WATCH 18/2012
[12th May 2012]
Both Houses of Parliament are adjourned until Tuesday 15th
May
Parliamentary Sitting Calendars for 2012
Before
the election in 2008 of the present Parliament,
the
seventh since Independence,
annual
sitting calendars were produced at the beginning of every year and by and large
followed. This meant that sittings of
the House of Assembly and the Senate were reasonably predictable and
Parliamentarians and Parliamentary officials, Government Ministries and
departments promoting Bills, could prepare well ahead to ensure fulfilment of
Parliamentary commitments, and stakeholders and interested members of the public
would know when to do their lobbying and make their submissions on Bills.
Sitting
calendars have not been available for this Parliament since 2008. For
the first few months Parliamentary
business was for all practical purposes out of action pending negotiations for
the GPA and the formation thereafter of the Inclusive Government. Even after the swearing-in of the Inclusive
Government in February 2009, no sitting calendar was produced for that year or
for the years 2010 and 2011.
This
year, however, there has been a welcome return to the practice of having sitting
calendars. It is hoped that the
calendars’ sitting
dates will be observed as far as possible.
New
Sitting Calendars
[Note: The calendars
do not stipulate when House of Assembly Portfolio Committees and Senate Thematic
Committees will sit. These committees
meet even in weeks when their parent Houses are not sitting – but not in school
holidays.]
Sittings
so Far in 2012
January No sittings – school holidays and public
holidays
February
and March
House 28th and 29th February, 13th, 14th,
15th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 27th and 28th 29th March
Senate 28th and 29th February, 1st, 13th,
14th, 15th, 20th, 21st, 22nd, 27th, 28th and 29th March
April
No
sittings – school holidays and public holidays
Forthcoming
Sittings: May to December
May
House 15th, 16th and 17th May [3
days]
Senate 15th, 16th and 17th May [3
days]
June
House 5th, 6th, 7th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 19th,
20th and 21st June [9 days]
Senate 12th, 13th, 14th, 19th, 20th and 21st
June [6 days]
July
House 17th July [Opening of Fifth Session]
[1 day]
Senate 17th July [Opening of Fifth Session] [1
day]
August
House No sittings – school holidays and
public holidays
Senate
No sittings – school holidays and public
holidays
Note: The Liaison and Coordination Committee
annual retreat will take place on 29th, 30th and 31st August. This is a joint committee with members from
both Houses.
September
House 18th, 19th, 20th, 25th, 26th and 27th
September [6 days]
Senate 18th, 19th, 20th, 25th, 26th and 27th
September [6 days]
October
House 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 16th,
17th and 18th October [9 days]
Senate 9th, 10th, 11th, 16th, 17th and 18th
October [6 days]
Note:
The Pre-Budget Seminar for all MPs and Senators will take place on 24th, 25th
and 26th October.
November
House 8th November – Budget Day; then 20th,
21st, 22nd, 27th, 28th and 29th November [7 days]
Senate 8th November – Budget Day; then 20th,
21st, 22nd, 27th, 28th and 29th November [7 days]
December
House No sittings – school holidays and
public holidays
Senate No sittings – school holidays and
public holidays.
Total
Number of Scheduled Sittings for the Year
House 47
Senate 41
But
it must be recognised that the calendars are not set in stone. If
necessary, the House of Assembly and the Senate may adjourn on
a
date earlier than scheduled if there is insufficient work; or continue sitting to complete work, even if
the calendar calls for adjournment; or, as permitted by Standing Orders, resume
sitting during a scheduled adjournment if the public interest calls for an early
sitting.
Who
Decides the Number of Sittings?
The
calendars for the House of Assembly and the Senate were drawn up by the Business
of the House Committee and the Business of the Senate Committee,
respectively. These are Standing
Committees, chaired in each case of the presiding officer concerned
[Speaker, Senate President] plus the leader of Government business,
the leader of the Opposition [where there is an Opposition] and the party chief whips or their
deputies.
The
formulation of the calendars is guided by a simple basic policy: no sittings are
scheduled during school holidays, or in weeks which coincide with a public
holiday or national event. The expense
associated with plenary sittings has also to be taken into
consideration.
Why
so Few Sittings?
There
have been relatively few plenary sittings in the current Parliament. Previous Parliaments
often had about 90 plenary sittings in a year.
This Parliament has been criticised not only because it sits for very few
days in a year but also for the brevity of some of the sittings. True, the
Inclusive Government has not introduced many Bills, but even if there is not a
busy legislative agenda, it would have been expected that more time would be
spent on raising and debating issues of national and constituency interest. There
are of course budgetary limitations to the number of sittings. Like any other State institution Parliament
should keep within its approved budget for the financial year [January to
December]. But, like any institution in
an economically constrained country, Parliament must plan its business to be
cost-effective and not have the Houses meeting for just a few minutes, which is
wasting taxpayers’ money.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information
supplied
BILL
WATCH
PARLIAMENTARY
COMMITTEES SERIES
[12th May 2012]
Committee Meetings Open to the Public: 14th to 17th
May
Thematic Committee and Portfolio Committee meetings will continue
this coming week, in both open and closed session. The meetings
listed below will be open to the public as observers only, not as participants,
i.e. members of the public can listen but not speak. The meetings will be held at Parliament in
Harare, entrance on Kwame Nkrumah Ave between 2nd and 3rd
Streets.
This
bulletin is based on the latest information from Parliament. But, as there are sometimes last-minute
changes to the schedule, persons wishing to attend a meeting should avoid
disappointment by checking with the committee clerk [see below] that the meeting
is still on and open to the public.
Parliament’s telephone numbers are Harare 700181 and 252936. If attending, note that IDs must be
produced.
Note:
Members of the public, including Zimbabweans in the Diaspora, can at any time
send written submissions to committees by email addressed to to clerk@parlzim.gov.zw
Monday
14th May at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Defence
and Home Affairs
Oral
evidence from the Ministry of Home Affairs on [1] national traffic activities by
Zimbabwe Republic Police and [2] the Anti Corruption
Commission
Committee
Room No.
2
Chairperson: Hon Madzore Clerk: Mr Daniel
Portfolio Committee: Mines
and Energy
Oral
evidence from the Minister of Mining Development on the ministry's policy
regarding the increased mining licence fees and levies as the Statutory
Instrument 11/2012
Senate
Chamber
Chairperson: Hon
Chindori-Chininga Clerk: Mr
Manhivi
Tuesday
15th May at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Health
and Child Welfare
Oral
evidence from City of Harare on waste management
Committee
Room No. 1
Chairperson: Hon
Parirenyatwa Clerk: Mrs
Khumalo
Portfolio Committee: Agriculture,
Water, Lands and Resettlement
Oral
evidence from Tobacco Industry Marketing Board, Tobacco Sales Floor, Millennium
Auction Floor, Boka Auction Floor, Premier Auction
Floor and Mashonaland Tobacco Company on the challenges being faced in the
tobacco industry
Committee
Room No. 4
Chairperson:
Hon Jiri
Clerk: Mrs Mataruka
Wednesday
16th May at 9 am
Thematic
Committee: Peace
and Security
Oral
evidence from the Minister of Energy and Power Development on the provision of
electricity to wheat farmers by ZESA
Committee
Room No. 4
Chairperson: Hon
Mumvuri Clerk: Miss
Zenda
Thursday
17th May at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Media, Information and Communication Technology
Oral
evidence from the Minister of Media, Information and Publicity and the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe on progress made in the opening up of
airwaves.
Committee Room No. 413
Chairperson: Hon S. Chikwinya
Clerk: Mr Mutyambizi
Privileges Committee: Gwaradzimba Case
The third meeting of the Privileges Committee, scheduled for 8th May,
was postponed for two days.
Procedural snags At the start of the meeting
on 10th May Mr Gwaradzimba’s lawyer, Mr Chihambakwe,
lodged a defence objection to committee member Hon Majome questioning his client
when she had not been present at the second meeting. The committee chairman said a ruling would be
given later and the meeting continued, with Mr Gwaradzimba starting his
evidence. After only 35 minutes
committee member Hon Gumbo had to leave to go to South Africa to attend a
meeting of the Pan-African Parliament, prompting an objection from Mr
Chihambakwe that his client would be prejudiced if Hon Gumbo were to take part
in the committee’s decision after hearing only some of Mr Gwaradzimba’s testimony.
The committee then adjourned to a date to be fixed later.
Mr Gwaradzimba’s testimony Before the adjournment Mr
Gwaradzimba had testified that what he said during when interview by newspaper
Newsday Veneranda Langa was not faithfully
reflected in the subsequent Newsday
story; also, that after an earlier disagreement with Newsday he had insisted on an
undertaking from Ms Langa to let him see this article before publication, an
undertaking that had not been honoured.
Mr Gwaradzimba, the Government-appointed administrator of Shabanie Mashava Mines [SMM], also
strongly criticised the report on the SMM situation produced by the Portfolio
Committee on Mines and Energy, whose complaint prompted the contempt of
Parliament proceedings against him.
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied