http://www.newzimbabwe.com
19/05/2010 00:00:00
by Lebo
Nkatazo
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has launched an astonishing attack on
his MDC ruling
coalition partners, claiming the former opposition party
"upholds the
interests of imperialists and colonialists" and are "in the
same camp as the
enemies of the people".
Not since agreeing to share
power with MDC rival leaders Morgan Tsvangirai
and Arthur Mutambara has
Mugabe made such barbed comments about his domestic
political
opponents.
Mugabe's outburst appeared to be triggered by the
Tsvangirai-led MDC's
opposition to the government's indigenisation programme
which will force
companies worth at least US$3,5 million to cede 51 percent
shareholding to
locals.
Mugabe said "while Zanu PF continued to
defend the peoples' sovereignty and
rights against colonisers and
imperialists, the MDC-T members had remained
stooges and bootlickers of the
country's former colonisers," according to a
report in the latest issue of
the Zanu PF mouthpiece, The People's Voice.
The paper said Mugabe granted
it an exclusive interview at the Zanu PF HQ in
Harare last
Friday.
Mugabe was quoted as saying: "There have always been differences
between us.
Zanu PF is the true fighter for the people and their rights, and
the MDC
uphold the interests of imperialists and colonialists thereby
working
against the people and their rights.
"This is the distinction
between Zanu PF and MDC-T and that is how we are
moving along.
"But
we get solace from the science of electricity where one needs a
positive and
a negative to get power.
"What are your objectives? What do you stand
for? If you do not stand for
the right of the people to own their resources,
then you are in the same
camp with the enemies of the people."
The
year-long coalition has stabilised the economy but suspicions remain.
Mugabe
has refused to swear-in Roy Bennett, Tsvangirai's pick for deputy
agriculture minister, citing treason charges against him. He was acquitted
last week, but the Attorney General has appealed.
Mugabe's apparent
intransigence and a perception he is not moving to
guarantee property
rights, particularly of white farmers, has seen western
donors withhold
critical aid needed to support the weak economy and restore
public services
and infrastructure.
North Korea will not now be coming to
Zimbabwe |
North Korea will not be preparing for the World Cup finals with a visit to Zimbabwe, ending fears over a potentially controversial trip.
The Zimbabwe government had suggested the Asian side would stop in the country on their way to South Africa.
That sparked protests in Matabeleland, where rights groups say a North Korean-trained army unit killed thousands of people during the 1980s.
But the government now say they have heard nothing from the North Koreans.
"I will check on the progress of the North Korea team but I don't think that they will stop in Zimbabwe," Tourism Minister Walter Mzembi said.
Sports Minister David Coltart added he no longer expected the North Korea team to come.
The country's football association, Zifa, said it had never invited the team to come and train.
North Korea are expected to play Greece, DR Congo and Nigeria in the build-up to the World Cup - they are in Group G along with Brazil, Ivory Coast and Portugal.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
19 May
2010
The Member of Parliament for Makoni South, Pishai Muchauraya, has
accused
members of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) of leading a campaign of
violence and intimidation in the Manicaland province. Speaking to Newsreel
on Wednesday Muchauraya told us soldiers, with the help of war vets and ZANU
PF supporters, are using threats and physical violence ahead of the delayed
constitutional outreach exercise.
In Chimanimani West at Hot Springs
mobs, led by former ZANU PF minister
Munacho Mutezo and a Lieutenant Colonel
Murecherwa from the ZNA, are
terrorizing known MDC supporters. Similar
incidents were reported on
Saturday in Chipinge Central. In Muchauraya's own
Makoni South constituency,
Air Commodore Mutsvunguma and another soldier
known as Chiganza, are behind
similar violence in the area.The violence is
being unleashed in an effort
'to suppress people's views during the outreach
exercise,' Muchauraya said.
No dates have been set yet for the
constitutional outreach but the MP told
us information from the
Parliamentary Committee leading the exercise was
that it will probably start
in June. Asked what they were doing about the
violence he said they were
reporting it to the police and also attempting to
discourage the
perpetrators, but admitted it was 'hard for a civilian party
to confront
armed soldiers.'
Listeners to SW Radio Africa in the Rushinga District of
Mashonaland Central
have told us there is also growing violence in their
area, with ZANU PF
officials and war vets forcing them to attend rallies.
People are being told
to forget the government of national unity and that
the MDC was no longer a
factor. Additionally those listening to radio
stations broadcasting from
outside the country are being told they will be
identified, because they are
accused of influencing others to support the
MDC in the area.
Meanwhile it's reported that war vets in the Mberengwa
district of the
Midlands province are blocking food aid to HIV/AIDS orphans,
demanding the
children join the ZANU PF youth league first. The area has a
government
scheme were children receive food hampers on a weekly basis.
However the war
vets, led by Tinashe Zhou and Batanai Hove, have since taken
over the
project and are demanding party cards before anyone can get
food.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
19 May
2010
A deadline by which all businesses operating in Zimbabwe have to
submit
proposals on how they will increase black ownership in their
companies, has
been extended by a month. Youth and Empowerment Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere
this week confirmed the 15th April deadline had been
extended to the 30th
June this year.
The extension was published in a
government gazette last Friday on the 14th
May. In March of this year the
ZANU PF arm of the coalition government
pushed through the controversial
legislation, sparking furious protests from
the MDC formations in
government. Under the regulations all foreign and
white owned companies with
assets of more that US$500 000 are required to
cede 51 percent of their
shares to black Zimbabweans within 5 years.
Critics say that like the
chaotic farm seizures, this law is just another
vehicle for ZANU PF
officials and businessmen aligned to the party to take
over white owned
companies. Additionally the law has discouraged many
potential foreign
investors, uneasy about the regulations, especially in a
country with no
rule of law.
http://news.yahoo.com
AFP
Wed May 19,
9:50 am ET
HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe's Chamber of Mines on Wednesday
proposed a
compromise in the government's drive to force foreign firms to
give 51
percent stakes to locals, saying 15 percent local shareholding for
mines was
enough.
Chamber president Victor Gapare said government
should recognise that most
mining companies built schools and roads in the
areas where they operate,
benefiting nearby communities.
"From a
broad-based empowerment point of view, you have to look at things
like
schools, hospitals, roads and all the developments which takes place
around
mining communities, and in our minds that's true empowerment," Gapare
told a
news conference.
An indigenisation law that took effect on March 1
requires foreign firms
valued at more than 500,000 dollars to cede at least
a 51 percent stake to
locals.
Firms had been given 45 days to report
their efforts at complying, but the
deadline has been extended
indefinitely.
The government says mines will be the law's first target,
but Gapare said
Harare should consider requiring only 15 percent local
shareholding.
"The position which we put together says a minimum of 15
percent equity,"
Gapare said. "The rest to make up 51 percent will be in the
form of social
responsibility programmes" like building schools and
hospitals.
"The mining companies are finding it very hard to attract
capital. What we
hope is that as the perceived country risk of Zimbabwe
comes down, companies
will be able to attract capital," he said.
In
the first month after the law was published, Zimbabwe's stock market fell
about 10 percent, while mining shares dropped 20 percent.
http://af.reuters.com
Wed May 19, 2010 11:27am
GMT
By Nelson Banya
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's gold
production this year is set to double
despite a lack of capital, frequent
power cuts and uncertainty over an
ownership law that are stalling the
sector's recovery, an industry official
said on Wednesday.
Mining has
overtaken agriculture as Zimbabwe's main foreign currency earner
after
President Robert Mugabe's seizure of white-owned farms to resettle
landless
blacks in 2000, which brought the collapse of farms in the former
regional
breadbasket.
Under a power-sharing government set up by Mugabe and rival
Morgan
Tsvangirai, who is now prime minister, Zimbabwe's economy has
stabilised
after a protracted political crisis ebbed, and abandoned gold
mines have
resumed metal production.
The Chamber of Mines president
Victor Gapare said although power cuts and
lack of funding had slowed down
the recovery of the country's mines -- most
of which closed in 2008 at the
height of Zimbabwe's economic crisis -- gold
output would be significantly
higher than last year's 4.2 tonnes.
"At the moment we are producing at a
rate of 7 tonnes ... we should produce
between 7-8 tonnes this year," Gapare
told a news conference in Harare.
He said although last week's strike had
hit gold miners hardest, only a
quarter of the mines were
affected.
At its peak, Zimbabwe produced about 29 tonnes of gold per
year, but hit a
record low of just over 3 tonnes in 2008 as mines battled
with high
inflation and a skewed exchange rate.
But Gapare said the
mining industry was unlikely to realise the 40 percent
growth projected by
Finance Minister Tendai Biti in his 2010 budget speech.
"There will be
growth in the sector, yes. But not by 40 percent as the issue
of capital
(shortages) threatens growth," Gapare said.
"If the perceived country
risk of Zimbabwe comes down, then companies can
raise capital easily to
expand production. Power shortages also limit
production."
Gapare
said expansion plans in the platinum and diamond sectors could be
hampered
by the uncertainty brought by Zimbabwe's plan to transfer majority
ownership
of in foreign firms, including mines and banks.
"The majority of the
mineral rights in Zimbabwe are held by blacks, but
because of the economic
challenges, they have not been able to unlock value
from those rights,"
Gapare said.
"We advocate broad-based economic empowerment, those
activities that benefit
the people, such as hospital construction in mining
communities. That's
empowerment."
Miners have since 2002 struggled
with a political and economic crisis and
foreign currency shortages, forcing
mines to shut and skilled labour to flee
to South Africa and
Australia.
Gold producers -- including the country's biggest, Metallon
Gold,
London-listed Mwana Africa and Canada's New Dawn Mining Corp -- last
year
started re-opening mines after Zimbabwe's central bank allowed firms
for the
first time to sell the metal and keep all the proceeds.
http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za
Eyewitness News | 5 Hours
Ago
First it was North Korea, now another five countries want to buy wild
animals from Zimbabwe.
Conservationists have been up in arms about
the planned shipment of pairs of
animals from Hwange National Park to a zoo
in Pyongyang.
The National Parks and Wildlife Management
Authority did not name the five
other countries keen to buy animals from
Zimbabwe. But the authority
insisted that North Korea is paying for its
animals.
Officials told the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force that
two elephants bound
for North Korea were being sold for US$ 9,000
each
The task force said that was not
enough.
Chairman Johnny Rodrigues said these kinds of prices
would only cover a
small percentage of the cost of running Zimbabwe's
beautiful national parks.
Rodrigues told Eyewitness News it would
be more sensible for national parks
to earn money by promoting tourism
instead of shipping out its animals.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
19
May 2010
Priscilla Misihairambwi-Mushonga, the Minister of Regional
Integration and
International Co-operation, has said she has been forced to
abandon her late
husband’s estate, including their matrimonial home and bank
accounts,
following harassment by her late husband’s family.
Her
husband was prominent orthopaedic surgeon Dr Christopher Mushonga, who
was
brutally attacked by unknown assailants in their home last year and
subsequently died from those injuries on 15th August 2009. They had been
married for 13 years.
The Minister told journalists at a press
conference in Harare on Tuesday
that ever since her husband’s death she has
been involved in legal battles
over his estate with the Mushonga family. But
recent disturbing events had
resulted in her instructing her lawyer Beatrice
Mtetwa to formally tell the
Master of the High Court that she had decided to
relinquish any claim or
right to the estate.
Misihairambwi-Mushonga said:
“In the last two weeks, people close to me have
been harassed and
intimidated by state agents, purportedly working on behalf
of some of Dr
Mushonga's nine children and his brother, to such an extent
that I have been
forced to take a decision regarding the estate.”
We could not get a comment
from the Mushonga family.
However, Misihairambwi-Mushonga, who is also
the Deputy Secretary General of
the Mutambara-led MDC said she will be
giving up her matrimonial home in
Harare’s Mt Pleasant suburb and at the end
of June will hand over two other
properties – an office in Fife Avenue and
an apartment in Northworld. She is
also relinquishing any claim to the
vehicles that belonged to her husband.
She said that additionally she is
ceding the rights to all his funds in
their local joint accounts in Zimbabwe
and to the external forex accounts in
Jersey.
The Minister told SW Radio
Africa that her brother has been followed by
armed police in the last few
weeks and that her husband’s former secretary
was almost kidnapped
recently.
Misihairambwi-Mushonga said as a feminist and activist she had
always fought
for the rights of inheritance of widows, but that in her case
it became
something more “because perhaps I had been married to an older man
than me
and because there was always this perception that I’d be in it for
money.
Clearly this was a fight that I realised was not worth my while and
no one
would ever understand where I was coming from.”
So she said
she made the decision to give up the estate, despite the fact
that she
believes is the right of surviving spouses to live in peace and be
protected
from abuse after the death of their husbands.
“In this instance, I will
not pursue this principle and put the lives of
innocent persons at risk,
rather I would prefer to become just another
statistic as a victim of a
society that unfortunately has failed not only
protect me but to provide
protection to a majority of widows that must face
this abuse every day,”
said Misihairambwi-Mushonga.
She added: “I also hope that this decision
that I have taken will give
closure to the debate and discussion over my
late husband’s estate, whose
legacy should be that of a loving husband and a
great orthopaedic surgeon
whose contribution to this country goes beyond a
house and a few dollars.”
The outspoken government official also said
that she has never understood
why her husband was killed and has been
feeling unsafe ever since his brutal
murder. She added that the well
publicized legal battle with her in-laws has
been going on for a year now,
but is surprised to see that ‘not one of the
women’s organizations in the
country has sent a solidarity message.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
19 May 2010
The Attorney-General's office has dropped its case
against Masvingo Mirror
publisher, David Masunda and his editor, Golden
Maunganidze, for lack of
evidence.
The two newsmen were facing
charges of criminal defamation after Tourism
Minister Walter Mzembi filed
charges following a news story that appeared in
the weekly paper,
insinuating he was involved in a scandal.
Maunganidze penned a story that
linked several senior ZANU PF politicians in
Masvingo to the theft of Robert
Mugabe's birthday gifts last month,
including hundreds of tonnes of sugar,
fuel and beef.
Defence lawyer Arthur Marara who represented Maunganidze
and Masunda, told
journalists on Tuesday that the AG's office was forced to
drop the case;
'The AG said the case cannot go for trial due to lack of
evidence. He
instructed the police to do further
investigations'.
Meanwhile Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said he
will this week summon
members of the Zimbabwe Media Commission to find out
why they have not
issued a single licence since they were appointed three
months ago.
The Prime Minister told journalists over the weekend it was
misleading for
the ZMC to claim it had no money to meet or conclude the
business of
registering journalists and new mass media houses. Tsvangirai
said that
Finance Minister Tendai Biti had provided the media body with the
required
funds.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondent Wednesday 19 May
2010
HARARE - The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) on
Tuesday availed a
US$500 000 grant to the Zimbabwean government to fund a
feasibility study of
the long awaited dualisation of the Harare-Chirundu
highway.
The dualisation of the road that carries the bulk of traffic
between South
Africa and countries to the north of Zimbabwe including Zambia
and the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, is set to cost an estimated US$1.3
billion.
Transport Minister Nicholas Goche said construction of
the road would
commence after the study has been conducted.
"The
grant paves way for the implementation of the project," Goche said
during
the singing ceremony in Harare, which was also attended by Economic
Planning
Minister Elton Mangoma, adding that the government had suspended
the
dualisation of the highway due to financial constraints.
"We have
discussed this project for a long time and this is the first time
we have
tangible results. Nearly US$1.3 billion is required for the
completion of
the Harare-Chirundu highway construction and the disbursement
of the grant
by DBSA is a sign Zimbabwe was ready for investment," he said.
Most
of the country's roads are in a state of disrepair with many littered
with
dangerous potholes as result of years of neglect and increased volume
of
traffic beyond designed carrying capacity.
Hundreds of Zimbabweans
including some senior government leaders have
perished in road accidents
that experts have largely blamed on the poor
state of
roads.
According to the ministry of transport, 30 percent of the
country's roads
require rehabilitation, while the remainder needs periodic
maintenance.
Zimbabwe introduced tollgates in August last year as a
way of mobilising
resources for the rehabilitation and maintenance of the
country's road
network.
Small vehicle road users pay US$1 to
cross the tollgates, while buses and
lorries pay $5. Motorbike and cyclists
do not pay anything.
According to official government estimates, the
tollgates are raising $350
000 per week. - ZimOnline
http://www1.voanews.com
Addressing the Group of 15 summit in Teheran, Mr. Mugabe launched
a
broadside at the United States and Britain, accusing them of 'abusing the
United Nations Security Council to bully and threaten smaller
countries'
Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington DC 18 May
2010
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has commended
President Robert
Mugabe for resisting alleged political interference by the
Western powers,
pledging Tehran's continued support for
Zimbabwe.
Speaking with President Mugabe in Teheran on Monday on the
sidelines of
summit of the Group of 15, an offshoot of the Non-Aligned
Movement, Khamenei
also applauded what he called strong, deep-rooted and
friendly ties between
Iran and Zimbabwe, which President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
visited last month,
making similar statements.
President Mugabe's
cultivation of ties with Teheran has become a source of
discomfort for some
of his partners in the unity government in Harare. Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai objected to Mr Ahmadinejad's Harare visit.
The Islamic
republic is at loggerheads with Western countries who have
pressured Teheran
on its program to enrich uranium, suspecting Tehran
intends to acquire
nuclear weapons capabilities.
Also at the summit were Senegalese
President Abdoulaye Wade and Venezuelan
President Hugo
Chavez.
Addressing the one-day gathering, Mr. Mugabe launched a broadside
at the
United States and Britain, accusing them of "abusing the United
Nations
Security Council to bully and threaten smaller countries." He
reiterated his
support for Iran's controversial nuclear program, which he
had similarly
endorsed during Ahmadinejad's visit.
Khamenei rallied
developing countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia to
strengthen ties to
push development.
"The meddling trait of world powers is the scourge of
humanity and the only
counter measure against this is increased cooperation
between independent
states," Press TV of Iran quoted Khamenei as
saying.
Commenting on Khamenei's praise for Mr. Mugabe, political analyst
George
Mkhwanazi told VOA Studio 7 reporter Ntungamili Nkomo that such
admiration
of the 86-year-old Zimbabwean leader was misguided and misplaced.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
19 May 2010
37 year-old Tariro Masayiti has made history, by
becoming the first
Zimbabwean to make wines that will be sold exclusively
under the label of
the international governing body of football,
FIFA.
‘For me it is a huge achievement and an accomplishment that is
nothing short
of a miracle,’ said Masayiti, adding, ‘the recognition by FIFA
is a dream
come true.’ Two of the three official World Cup wines, have been
created by
Masayiti and all three limited edition World Cup wines come from
the estate
where he works in South Africa, Nederburg.
Masayiti told
SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that he’s responsible for making
the Sauvignon
Blanc and Dry Rose. The other was the responsibility of a
colleague at
Nederburg.
‘What it means is we are the official wine supplier of the
three wines
during the World cup. Our products will be sold all over the
world. We are
currently distributing our wines to every corner of the
globe,’ Masayiti
added.
But how did the Bachelor of Science graduate
from the University of Zimbabwe
end up in this unique profession?
‘It
was by accident really. My brother used to work at a farm close to the
Mukuyu wineries in Marondera. During my days at the University he
recommended I do general work at the winery as I needed pocket money and
something to help my family with.
‘It was here that I got interested
in winemaking. I used to see visitors
from all over the world and some of
them encouraged me to take up winemaking
as a career. I applied and was
accepted for a place at the University of
Stellenbosch where I studied
Viticulture and Oenology (winery),’ Masayiti
added.
After four years
at Stellenbosch, he also made history by becoming the first
black student to
graduate in Viticulture and Oenology.
’I was head hunted by Nederburg
before I even finished my studies. As a
winemaker my responsibility starts
all the way from the vineyard. I’m
responsible for managing and producing
grapes under 800 hectares of land.’
He has become a master of the grape
by diligently working every task, from
sorting vine cuttings to working on
the bottling line, which has given him a
wealth of knowledge and
experience.
‘I physically test the grapes. I smell them and at the same
time look for
specific characters and flavours. You improve on the job with
training - you
just need to taste a lot of wine. You need to love wine and
having a science
background is useful, so you understand the technical
processes. But one
thing that serves me well is I am dedicated and
passionate about winemaking,’
said Masayiti.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
05:58
The trial of 26 students, 23 from the Bindura University of Science
education was postponed to Friday, May 28 pending a high court appeal by the
students’ defence lawyer David Hofisi from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights [ZLHR] .
The other 3 are Grant Tabvurei, ZINASU national
spokesperson, Joshua
Chinyere, ZINASU Secretary General and Wisdom Mgagara,
a member of the
ZINASU coordinating committee.
The case emanates from a
meeting held in Bindura where the state accuses the
26 students of holding
an unlawful meeting with the intention of causing
public violence. The
students’ position is that the state has falsified
information; they had
organized a meeting to discuss the minister of higher
education Stan
Mudege’s position that all students should be allowed to
write exams and pay
tuition later. Upon refusal of some students to write
exams in the first
semester of 2010 by university authorities the students
held a meeting to
negotiate the way forward. Joshua Chinyere of ZINASU
stated after the
judgment that “We are very worried in the manner that the
state deals with
the student issues. In the charge they claim that it was an
unlawful
gathering, the state argues that the students had gathered to
discuss the
ministers position on the exam situation and incite public
violence. This
makes the position of the state contradictory.” The students
believe that
the state is trying to control the students struggle by
controlling and
blocking the dissemination of information. The minister had
circulated a
memo indicating that all students should be allowed to write
exams which is
what the meeting was about.
The students, through their defence lawyer,
dispute the charge and sort
leave to appeal to the high court and have the
charges dropped. After
initially resisting the defence’s request, the
Magistrate finally agreed.
The trial has been postponed several times due to
the unclear charges
levelled against the students and the acquiescence of
the judiciary, a sign
that students are still being persecuted and not free
to exercise their
right to freedom of association and assembly. This then
raises great concern
over the civil liberties of the students in expressing
their views and
concerns.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by JOEL MHIZHA
Tuesday, 18
May 2010 17:50
HARARE - The existence of media hangman and Zanu (PF)
sympathiser Tafataona
Mahoso (Pictured) at the Zimbabwe Media Commission is
blocking aid from
donors, a ZMC official has revealed.
Mahoso is
still in charge of his defunct Media Information Commission
secretariat,
tasked with accrediting journalists and new media players at
the new ZMC,
under the un-changed, notorious AIPPA legislation.
A ZMC commissioner who
declined to be named said they had held several
meetings with international
and local donors who were interested in
investing in the media. But the
donors said they were reluctant to
contribute to ZMC activities because of
the presence of Mahoso.
"Donors are playing a wait-and-see game. Some of them
have clearly indicated
their displeasure over the presence of Mahoso. We
have told them they should
remember that, like the inclusive government,
everything came as a result of
a compromise and we have promised them that
we will deliver.
"It is not donors only who are complaining about Mahoso,even
the majority of
but the journalists have expressed disappointment.
"The
problem we are having is that we do not have the funds to establish our
own
secretariat and new infrastructure. We have told the Mahoso staff, which
is
doing all the accreditation, that they should not deny any journalist
accreditation. If they have any doubt we have told them to direct such
issues to us, "said the official.
He said they were not sure on the
duration of Mahoso at the ZMC.
"We do not have the time frame of Mahoso's
continued existence at ZMC. But
from the look of things, he will be there
for as long as Webster Shamu
remains the Minister of Information and
Publicity, because he is his right
hand man. But this will not compromise
our service delivery because we are
tightly monitoring every activity,"
added the official.
Mahoso was responsible for the implementation of hostile
media legislation
which led to the closure of news outlets that were
critical of Zanu (PF) -
this led to many journalists losing their
jobs.
"We are angry and will never forgive Mahoso for the evil role he played
while trying to defend the corrupt and incompetent Zanu (PF) regime," said
one journalist.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
19 May 2010
By
Alex Bell
The government is facing yet another multi-million dollar
lawsuit over its
illegal land ‘reform’ programme, in a renewed case in the
regional human
rights court.
The case has been filed in the Southern
African Development Community (SADC)
Tribunal in Namibia, on behalf of
Christopher Jarret, Tengwe Estate and
France Farm. They’ve applied to the
Tribunal to force the government to pay
an estimated US$70 million in
compensation for the forced takeovers of the
properties under Robert
Mugabe’s land grab campaign.
Jarret’s property, a cattle and game from in
Nyamandlovu, was seized in 2005
at the same time that Fumeria Estate, a
mixed farming enterprise owned by
Tengwe Estate, was seized in Urungwe
district. Another game ranch near
Victoria Falls, owned by France Farm, also
suffered the same fate that year.
All three applicants were part of a
groundbreaking legal battle involving a
group of more than 70 farmers, who
made history when the SADC Tribunal ruled
in 2008 that land ‘reform’ was
unlawful. The Tribunal ruled against the
government and ordered it to not
only pay compensation to farmers who lost
land, but also to protect the
farmers rights to their properties. But the
government has completely
ignored the Tribunal’s orders, eventually landing
itself in contempt of
court last year. The government even openly snubbed
the court by saying it
was ‘no longer recognised in the country,’ despite
Zimbabwe being a
signatory to the SADC Treaty and therefore bound by SADC
law to respect the
court.
The refusal to adhere to the ruling did not stop the farmers from
trying to
have it registered within the country’s courts, a move necessary
to have the
ruling enforced. But in January, High Court Judge Barack Patel
dismissed
efforts to have the ruling registered and dismissed the ruling
itself,
saying it was a threat to ‘the greater good’ of
Zimbabwe.
Court papers in the current Jarrett case read: “It is by now a
matter of
public notoriety that the respondent (government) has persistently
and
contemptuously failed to give effect to the Tribunal’s award in the main
case. Also the Tribunal’s subsequent orders are flagrantly repudiated by the
respondent.”
The ongoing harassment of the country’s handful of remaining
commercial
farmers meanwhile has taken a new direction, with reports that
ZANU PF will
only allow ten white farmers to remain in Mashonaland Central.
This is
according to the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) whose members have
reportedly been invited to a ‘provincial centre’ where they are being told
whether they can continue farming or not.
“The week before last we
had picked up information that some farmers were
being called in to a
provincial centre to be formally advised that they were
to be one of the ten
farmers who were allegedly to remain and continue
farming in each district of
that particular province,” a union spokesperson
said last week.
http://www.afriquejet.com
Harare, Zimbabwe - A Zimbabwean mining
company sitting on 1.3 billion tonnes
of coal reserves said Tuesday it had
teamed up with South African investors
to build a US$3 billion thermal power
station in central Zimbabwe.
RioZim managing director Josphat Sanchikonye
said the project was already
under feasibility study, but noted South
African investors had raised
concerns over the government's new plans to
seize controlling shares in
foreign-owned companies or
investments.
He said the power station would have a capacity of 1,400
megawatts,
sufficient to meet Zimbabwe's electricity demand which is
currently 35
percent met by imports.
''A consortium of South African
companies is keen to partner us to
operationalise the project. All that is
left is for the government to make
sure the rules are favourable to
guarantee investment security to our
partners,'' Sanchikonye
said.
Potential foreign investors in Zimbabwe were rattled by a new law
in March
making it compulsory for all foreign-owned businesses in the
country to cede
51 percent shareholding to locals.
The authorities
said the law was meant to indigenise the economy as much as
possible, and
economically empower the majority blacks.
As a result, most foreign
investors put all their projects on hold.
Sanchikonye said the start of
construction of the power plant was
tentatively pencilled for next year, and
the first units to start generating
electricity by 2014.
At the
moment, Zimbabwe suffers severe power shortages, and resorts to
rationing.
It imports power from Mozambique, Zambia and DR Congo.
Harare - Pana
19/05/2010
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Munosvikepi Chakonera
Wednesday, 19 May
2010 12:17
HARARE - Zimbabwean civil servants have called on the
government to reduce
their electric power bills while they are waiting for
an increase in
salaries, saying power charges eat up much of their current
US$150-200
allowances.
Worker representatives also recommended
addressing disparities in pay
between those employed by the government,
including teachers and clerical
workers, and employees of state-controlled
enterprises, who are better paid.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZTA)
President, Tendayi Chikowore, chairwoman
of the Apex Council which bargains
with the government on behalf of civil
servants, said worker representatives
have made recommendations on those
lines to the Public Service Minister
Eliphas Mukonweshuro, who is expected
to present them to the
Cabinet.
Government officials and representatives of state workers on Friday
were
wrapping up a two-day meeting in Kariba, a northern resort town, during
which participants tried to find a common ground on compensation.
Civil
servants have been demanding salary increases since early this year,
at one
point going out on strike.
The Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (TUZ) and the
Progressive Teachers Union Of
Zimbabwe (PTUZ) still feel that the strategies
taken by government are not
achievable.
http://news.radiovop.com
19/05/2010
13:29:00
Durban, May 19, 2010 - There are growing fears among foreign
nationals,
particularly Zimbabweans, living in South Africa that there might
be a
repeat of the infamous xenophobic violence that left 61 people
dead.
Most of those who spoke to Radio VOP in separate interviews
expressed
concern at the increasing xenophobic overtures that have been
directed at
them in recent months.
"We are constantly reminded that
there will be bloodshed after the World Cup
if we don't leave," said Willard
Sivukile, a Zimbabwean
working at a petrol station in Durban.
"These
threats are being made both at work and home. We are being accused of
taking
away their (South Africans)jobs by accepting lower pay."
South African
cities are home to millions of Zimbabweans and other
nationalities from
African countries, who fled poverty, war and
persecution in their own
countries.
In Durban there is a growing number of Zimbabwean nationals
who are leaving
the hustle and bustle of the often crime ridden life
of
Johannesburg in search of better fortunes in smaller cities.
Most
of these have since resorted to setting up their own businesses turning
Durban's Car Boot Market into a small Mupedzahamo Market like the one in
Harare as many Zimbabweans make it their work place.
Just about 80
kilometres from Durban is Pitzmaritzburg, a town, which is
also home to
hundreds of Zimbabweans who have taken up jobs
recently established in
Chicken farms around the town.
A three storey house in the city is home
to about 200 Zimbabweans most of
who are new arrivals in the town.
A
resident at the house, who identified herself as Mai Gugu, told Radio VOP
that the house is usually used as a transit area by new arrivals who need
somewhere to stay before they find their feet in the city.
"It never
used to be like this and considering that you have to pay R 30
rands a day
in accommodation fees, many people would rather stay in the
informal
settlements where they pay about R 150 a month in rentals but many
people
are returning for fear of being attack," said Mai Gugu.
"Its better to be
attacked with others rather than suffer alone."
Asked if she would rather
go back home than face death in South Africa, she
said, "I would love to go
back home but where will I get a
job and money to feed my
family?"
Many humanitarian and human rights organisations in South Africa
have been
urging the Jacob Zuma-led government to put in place a plan to
avert the
recurrence of xenophobic violence.
The South African
government which in 2008, only reacted to stop the
xenophobic violence after
two weeks, has remained silent on the matter.
The Congress of South
African Trade Unions (COSATU), a key governing
alliance of the ruling
African National Congress (ANC), has been on record
saying as long as the
high rate of unemployment is not addressed, xenophobic
violence will be
inevitable.
Meanwhile a group of Zimbabweans who fled xenophobic violence
in Cape Town
early this year faces eviction from a safety camp in De Doorns
that had
become home to them.
The Camp Manager, Shaun Minnies, was
quoted by the South African media
saying Zimbabweans are refusing to vacate
the camp which the Cape Town local
government authorities want to re-open
for recreational activities.
"Zimbabweans at De Doorns are refusing to
leave the camp which locals want
back for sporting activities," said
Minnies.
The Cape authorities argue that it is now safe for Zimbabweans
to return but
the Zimbabweans are refusing to leave saying they would rather
be given R
1000 to facilitate their travel back home.
The Zimbabweans
were haunted out of their homes in the Cape Town informal
settlements after
they were targeted for taking up grape harvesting jobs for
lower
wages.
The Zimbabwean government does not have an answer as well as to
how it can
best protect its citizens. During a visit to the De Doorns Cape
last month
the Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Paurina Mpariwa only
managed to
urge the exiles to return home and help craft the country's on
and off
constitution making process, without offering any concrete proposals
for
their safe return.
http://af.reuters.com/
Wed May 19, 2010 2:59pm
GMT
* To spend $53 mln to revamp its hotels, supermarkets
*
Expects to return to profit by year-end
* Turnover rose more than 10
times to $149 mln vs $13.85 mln
HARARE, May 19 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's
hotel group Meikles Africa MEIK.ZI
will spend $53 million by end-March 2011
to revamp its hotels and
supermarkets and hopes to return to profit by
year-end, the company's
chairman said on Wednesday.
Zimbabwean
companies are starting to re-organise after a decade of economic
collapse
that saw inflation reach 5 billion percent in 2008 and made
planning
difficult.
Meikles owns two premier hotels in the capital Harare and the
resort town of
Victoria Falls and also runs the biggest supermarket chain by
branches, TM
Supermarkets, in which South Africa's Pik'n Pay Stores Ltd
(PIKJ.J: Quote)
has a 25 percent shareholding.
Farai Rwodzi, Meikles
chairman, told Reuters after an analyst briefing that
the capital
expenditure would go towards refurbishing the two hotels and its
TM
Supermarkets, including installing new refrigeration and point of sale
terminals.
"The financing is a combination of offshore financing and
shareholder
funds," Rowdzi said.
He said the capital expenditure
would allow Meikles, which suffered a $9.57
million loss during the period
ending March 2010, to swing back to profit by
the end of this
year.
Hotel occupancies were up to between 32-41 percent during the first
quarter
of 2010 from 17-21 percent last year.
Turnover rose more than
ten times from $13.85 million in 2009 to $148.8
million but a poor
performance by TM Supermarkets affected the company's
overall
performance.
Rwodzi said TM Supermarkets was now breaking even and that
it would deepen
its ties with shareholder Pik'n Pay to remain ahead of
growing competition,
mainly OK Zimbabwe OK.ZI, which is part owned by an
Investec fund and South
African grocery chain Spar Group (SPPJ.J: Quote),
which operates through
franchise.
TM Supermarkets has 53 branches
across the country.
"We have a very strong brand and we will take
advantage of our synergies
with Pick'n Pay," said Rwodzi.
SW Radio Africa Transcript HOT SEAT: (Part1) Is Zimbabwe ’s national healing programme a fake? BROADCAST: 14 MAY 2010 | |
VIOLET GONDA: My guests on the Hot Seat programme today are Sekai Holland, one of the Ministers of State in the Organ for National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration; Dr Goodwill Shana the Chair of the Heads of Christian denominations in Zimbabwe and Rejoice Ngwenya, a political analyst. Amai Holland’s ministry has come under fire from civil society groups who claim it does nothing. For example the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions says the Organ does not exist in the people’s eyes. I started by asking Minister Holland for her reaction to such a statement, and asked her to explain what exactly her ministry is mandated to do. |
|
SEKAI HOLLAND : Actually that is a huge exaggeration you are making yourself. The Organ in Article 7: 1C – our mandate is very clearly spelt out and in all our meetings, that’s how we start our meetings by getting people to understand the whole of Article 7 because that states the intentions of the GPA, the Global Political Agreement. And on 7:1C which is how the formation of the Organ is based, just really says, somebody has torn the page out, it says that the parties will give consideration to the setting up of a mechanism that will advise – that’s the mandate. That will advise on the issues of national healing, cohesion and unity and it goes on to talk, I’m just going from my head, about pre-Independence and post-Independence – victims of the conflict then. Now my understanding of that is that we then talk with the principals among ourselves to see really how we could develop that advisory role. We realise that we could not advise people unless we understood what the people themselves were thinking and how they wanted the whole question of transitionary justice, of bringing peace to Zimbabwe, how that should be done. So we focussed on developing an all-inclusive grassroots based, completely inclusive process where the voice of every Zimbabwean, at home and abroad, must be given airing on how people want to bring peace to Zimbabwe . So when you say we are under attack from all civil society, we have formed partnerships for example with NANGO and the church as organised in Zimbabwe . We have actually formed very good partnerships with the different institutions here in Zimbabwe as they explain to us how they want to build peace here. We’ve also formed the partnerships outside the country with different groups in the Diaspora as they develop an understanding that they are part of Zimbabweans, whether they are outside the country or inside the country and that what they need to do to bring peace, they don’t have to be here in Zimbabwe, they can actually do a lot when they are outside. GONDA: So Mai Holland when … (interrupted) HOLLAND : … we’ve formed partnerships with ministries here so that we link them internationally, regionally, locally so that their work of national healing really becomes a mobilising tool for national healing. We are doing all those things in a very focussed way. GONDA: But Mai Holland if I may … HOLLAND : …it has taken 1800 years for Zimbabweans to have this level of violence… GONDA: If I may interrupt you Mai Holland, if I may… HOLLAND : …it did not take one year, it did not take one year for people to build peace building tool. GONDA: I’m not understanding where I’m exaggerating – I gave you an example, I actually spoke to the ZCTU president, Lovemore Matombo a couple of weeks ago and he said that the Organ does not exist in the people’s eyes and I also spoke to groups, civic groups like the WOZA, the pressure group who have said that healing is by decree and not by design and that nothing is happening as far as they are concerned in terms of the National Healing programme, so where exactly am I exaggerating?
GONDA: So let’s ask… HOLLAND : …they are not telling the Organ that the Organ is useless and we are really there to facilitate, not do the work ourselves. GONDA : So let me ask Dr Shana to come in here and let’s find out since he is also a representative of the Christian denominations in Zimbabwe . Dr Shana, is this criticism against the National Healing and Reconciliation Organ justified? Are you happy with the work it’s doing so far?
GONDA: And do you have a shared understand of what the Organ is actually supposed to be doing, Dr Shana? SHANA: I think the position of what the Organ is supposed to be doing has been changing and morphing over a period of time, I think that is part of the challenges we are facing and though as it has always been to seek, to get a clarification as to exactly what we are supposed to do. We always felt it was to provide a facilitative, political and legal facilitation for healing to take place, to allow people to carry on, especially in civil society, to carry on as best as they can do to assist the inclusive government in the healing process. But on many occasions it has appeared as if the Organ is actually going to do the healing itself and so I think it’s important for us to clarify what role the Organ is going to play in enabling national healing to take place in Zimbabwe . That is quite a challenge, that particular one. GONDA: Right, and Mr Ngwenya, your thoughts on this? Can you explain what you understand, first of all, of the role of this Ministry? REJOICE NGWENYA: Well if you study the transitional justice arrangement in South Africa you will then understand why people are saying it doesn’t exist, the Zimbabwean version doesn’t exist. You know, it is not backed by any legal instrument, it’s a result of a monumental document of compromise called the inclusive government, the GPA that has no legitimacy, it has no constitutional being. You know these guys have no power to subpoena, they’ve no judiciary powers, they can’t even enforce anything, these are just three individuals who are going around with a so-called mandate to instigate and instil a sense of national healing. These things come from the constitution. The constitution of Zimbabwe , during its amendment in the 90s, if there had been a commitment on the part of ZANU PF to truly get the people of Zimbabwe on a path of national healing, they should have made it a constitutional issue then. It must be a product of an Act so this is why, being an almost invisible cloak on some agreement by three political parties, it has no budget, it has no institutional legitimacy. So its lack of existence, that perceived lack of existence is because it lacks any legislative powers and I’m sure that perhaps Mai Holland would understand that if an institutional organ does not have any legal being it is almost persona non grata and it’s going to be wasting resources. So we need something that is more grounded on legality, which is constitutional by Act of parliament and then perhaps we can then start talking about a programme of delivery. GONDA: Do you agree… (interrupted) HOLLAND: Excuse me, I just wanted to say to Mr Ngwenya, that the Global Political Agreement as a document is very weak and it’s very flawed but it is a document and its signing has led to a factual position, a status of Zimbabwe that we are a country that is no longer in conflict. People are not doing what they were doing in 2006, in 2007 and in 2008. We are in transition and that during transition we are supposed to actually follow the GPA and be GPA compliant in building together as a society peace building tools which takes us of transition into post conflict and that is because… (interrupted) NGWENYA: … ZANU PF has no commitment, has no morals, and has no spiritual interest in complying with the GPA which means it’s not legal. The GPA is not legally enforceable so whatever product comes out of the GPA….(interrupted) HOLLAND : … was it not adopted in parliament? The Global Political Agreement as a constitutional number with a figure on it? NGWENYA: … why is it you are still talking about 27 issues that are outstanding? If there was any legitimacy to this arrangement you could have even taken some people to Court for violating this Agreement Mrs Holland. So whatever processes are as a result of the GPA, this is why your Organ has no teeth because you don’t have any judicial powers, you don’t have any arresting powers, you cannot summon the perpetrators, it is even composed of perpetrators and victims. You need a neutral force, you need people that have no interest in reparations and psycho-social healing, those are the people that can have legitimacy on the ground. You guys are the victims, ZANU PF - the Nkomos in that Organ are perpetrators so how do perpetrators and victims instigate the process of national healing? It doesn’t work like that, you need to restart! HOLLAND : Can I just answer that as well? That the GPA is a document that is guaranteed by SADC and the African Union who exactly know the history of what has happened in Zimbabwe . If that document being signed by the political parties, that status which you’re saying the GPA doesn’t have, it really has in the region, on the continent and internationally. Ireland has been at war for 700 years with the UK . It has taken them quite a long time to get to the position where they are today. If you take the GPA as it is and you look through it there are a lot of things that have actually been achieved which have given people the muscle to start to put the foundations to a new society that is based on a peace building culture. To actually dismiss the GPA that nothing has happened, I think is an extremist position. GONDA: Dr Shana?
HOLLAND : Yah I’ve heard you talk Dr Shana, thank you very much. The Organ, when it was formed, it’s a fact that we really ourselves as the three principals in the Organ didn’t really understand what we needed to do but in talking to people in these past 15 months, we have finally two weeks ago, finally come to an agreement with UNDP for a one year programme based on what we have done last year with what people have told us they want done. This UNDP document for 12 months, we’ve got a three month short focal programme we are going to do in the next three months. The whole process is leading to two things in the medium term which is a national stakeholders, all stakeholders meeting which we want to…(interrupted) SHANA: …but Minister, you’ve been saying that ever since we started engaging here… (interrupted) HOLLAND : …Can I say what the second thing is? It’s an experts meeting, where experts in the field of national healing - then also have their conference. What we hope comes out of this process is a national code of conduct which is by agreement among Zimbabweans. The three of us cannot present people with a conclusion of how Zimbabweans should put the mechanism in place for building peace. It has to come from the Zimbabwean people themselves. SHANA: You’ve been saying that for the past 18 months that we’ve been working with the Organ, the same thing, stakeholders meeting, bringing in consultants, it’s been the same mantra over and over again, we want to see action on the ground. HOLLAND : Is this Shana talking?
SHANA: Violet from the churches’ point of view before the Organ of National Healing was even formed, we called a meeting with relevant ministers, even before the actual GPA we had already said, look we are so polarised, it’s not going to be possible for us to rebuild this nation without going through a healing and reconciliation process so we are offering ourselves to facilitate this process. Secondly, three or four weeks after the inclusive government was formed, we called a meeting at Synod House in Harare where we dialogued with top members of the government at that time before the Organ was even formed and we said we are offering ourselves again to help facilitate this because the church, because of its inclusive membership, because of its natural role as peacemakers, we would like to help facilitate. We came together with NANGO to have a draft, a national healing document which we presented to the Organ to say this is how we think we can help you facilitate this process. We are offering ourselves as your secretariat, as your feet, you provide the political and legislative context and we will do the rest for you but we had very little feedback coming back from them; we had to pursue again and again. I think we are justified in saying that we are feeling a sense of frustration and stagnation with the process. GONDA: Mai Holland, can you respond to that? HOLLAND : Yes I’ve heard all that, thank you very much. Violet, the Organ is a government entity and the government is what really is the basis of the society. So the offers of the church have been extremely useful and we have incorporated quite a number of extremely useful foundational building blocks from the document they gave us. Also it’s important to say to the church, in Zimbabwe , in the spiritual world, you have Muslims, you have Jewish people, you have Greek Orthodox, you have spirit mediums and what we have said to everybody is that we would actually rather use faith-based organisations so that we have an inclusive understanding of the whole spiritual area. I’ve said to you Violet, the Organ is aware of a lot of excellent programmes being done by the church itself, as the church, as the Christian church. We are briefed, we are told what they are doing, they also brief us… GONDA: But what about the point he has made that there is little feedback?
GONDA: Yes but Mai Holland, the criticism… HOLLAND : …and the programmes that are coming out of those linkages are at the moment being developed. We have all these partnerships with the churches, with the NGOs, we had a meeting the other day which was done by the Konrad Adenauer Foundationand I thought myself we had a very fruitful exchange where the Organ has been able to actually learn a number of points about how civil society are doing their own work which is very welcome to us. The way that the production of what we are doing comes out is really very slow but it is happening for those that are close to it, it is producing very good results and it is spreading inside Zimbabwe and outside. And as Dr Shana says, we’ve been saying the same thing for 18 months, we are saying the same thing because we are working towards… (interrupted) NGWENYA: Gogo, timbotaurowo gogo kani (asks Amai Holland to give others a chance to speak) SHANA: laughs GONDA: …let me bring in Mr Ngwenya. Mr Ngwenya before you say what you wanted to say I also wanted to ask you a question about many people criticising the Organ, saying that there’s just too many workshops, too many talk-shops and little action while violence is actually continuing in some areas, especially in some rural areas. What can you say about that? NGWENYA: Absolutely. National Healing is a task that should be undertaken by professionals. You know it is based on quantitative analysis. Now there are literally hundreds and thousands of research documents that have been carried out by civil society organisations, by churches, by the NGO forum where cases of rape and human rights abuse and the plunder of life have been articulated, documented. This Organ needed not to have reinvented the wheel, all they needed to do was to go into the documentation, go into the archives and simply pull out the records that date back to 1986 when ZANU PF begun plundering the lives of the citizens of Zimbabwe. They are trying to reinvent the wheel and they are not going to make a single headway because this transitional programme must be grounded in grassroots. So I tend to agree with Dr Shana that perhaps instead of posturing around in grand meetings in well-lit conference centres - simply go back to the basics, go into the quantitative analysis of this information that is well documented. Start from there, look for legitimacy and push for legislation. If Saviour Kasukuwere has pushed for legislation for indigenisation, surely important things like national healing can also follow that trend? So that people can begin from an area of justice and fairness. Because at this rate Violet, I don’t think this Organ is going to achieve anything. GONDA: And Mr Ngwenya, you have said some of the politicians have been perpetrators of the violence we have seen in Zimbabwe but can politicians actually stay out of this national healing programme?
GONDA: But when you say they have taken three Ndebeles… SHANA: Hello Violet… GONDA: Hold on Dr Shana. Mr Ngwenya when you say that they’ve taken three Ndebeles to head this programme what exactly are you saying? Are you accusing the government of tribalism?
GONDA: Join us next week for the concluding segment of this heated debate between Minister Sekai Holland, analyst Rejoice Ngwenya and church leader Dr Goodwill Shana. Is there a real intention to execute national healing or this is a process that will limp forward until next elections? Feedback can be sent to violet@swradioafrica.com |
http://nehandaradio.com
Behind the Headlines, Interviews - May
19, 2010 at 5:06 am
Five new ambassadors from the two MDC formations in
the coalition government
were appointed to serve in different countries. In
this series SW Radio
Africa journalist Lance Guma speaks to Ambassadors
Hebson Makuvise
(Germany), Hilda Suka-Mafudze (Sudan), Trudy Stevenson
(Senegal), Jacqueline
Zvambila (Australia) and Mabed Nkumbulani (Nigeria).
In this second part of
the series Ambassador Mafudze in Sudan talks about
the challenges of being a
female ambassador in an Islamic state, dominated
by religious tensions
between the Muslim North and Christian
South.
Interview broadcast 13 May 2010
Lance Guma: Hello
Zimbabwe and welcome to this edition of Behind the
Headlines. Five new
ambassadors from the two MDC formations in the inclusive
government were
appointed to serve in different countries. In this five part
series on
Behind the Headlines we speak to Ambassadors Hebson Makuvise in
Germany,
Hilda Suka-Mafudze in Sudan, Trudy Stevenson in Senegal, Jacqueline
Zvambila
in Australia and Mabed Nkumbulani in Nigeria.
I'm sure last week you
heard the interview with Ambassador Trudy Stevenson
in Senegal. This week we
go to Sudan where we speak to Ambassador Hilda
Suka-Mafudze. Ambassador,
thank you so much for joining us on the programme.
Hilda Suka-Mafudze:
It's a pleasure Lance.
Guma: Right now, Sudan - are there many
Zimbabweans in Sudan and if so, what
are they doing there
Ambassador?
Suka-Mafudze: We have got quite a sizeable number of
Zimbabweans in Sudan.
At the moment I'm in the process of putting together
their names and their
contact details and some of them are just so
forthcoming, most of them are
so forthcoming, they actually make a call to
the Zimbabwean Embassy,
Zimbabwean Chancery, so I'm still putting the number
together to come up
with the real, really how many people we Zimbabweans are
in Sudan. I will
tell Zimbabweans are doing splendid work here, some of them
are in the
UNAMIS, they are doing a lot of work here, they are from the
police force
and we have quite a number of them, also they are gender
balanced, there are
a number of women and a number of guys in this UNAMIS,
which we call UNAMIS
back here.
Guma: OK so these are essentially
part of the peacekeeping force with the
United Nations?
Suka-Mafudze:
Yes, they are part of the peacekeeping force of the United
Nations and tell
you what, I'm really feeling so proud of Zimbabweans here,
they are doing a
lot of work, they are doing very well and the Senior
Assistant Commissioner
of police who is with them, who is heading them,
comes here and there to my
office to brief me on what they are doing here
and they are doing a lot of
good work and actually there is a call for more
Zimbabweans to join this
UNAMIS.
And we have also some guys who are teaching, some, and most of
them are in
the NGO world here and they actually look for Zimbabweans - they
say they
really know their work and they do very well in whatever field they
are
taking up. And we also have (Edward) Sadomba a footballer and he is
raising
the flag high.
Guma: Oh that's Edward Sadomba formerly with
Dynamos.
Suka-Mafudze: Yes, formerly with Dynamos. He's raising our flag
so high, we
are really feeling so proud and each time someone asks you - hey
where are
you from - and you say Zimbabwe, they say - oh Sadomba - that kind
of thing,
so you can imagine what's happening here. We are really home away
from home.
Guma: And of course, the new job for you Ambassador, we know
you have gone
through the training that was conducted by the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs,
but how has the transition been from opposition politics to
doing this? You
were formerly the MDC MP for Manyame and now you are an
ambassador for your
country - how has that transition been for
you?
Suka-Mafudze: Yes I should just put the record straight - I have
been a
member of parliament for Mondoro constituency which covered the part
of
Manyame which used to be called Norton and later when I ran 2005 I was
running in Manyame constituency.
Guma: OK and so how has that
transition been for you from being that in the
opposition to becoming an
ambassador and how are you finding it?
Suka-Mafudze: My belief is when
you are in the opposition you are fighting
for one thing and one thing alone
and you are like you are already in
government. It looks like you are
already in government so I don't feel much
of a difference. To me it is like
I've been given the chance and I'm able to
do what I was yearning for when I
was doing the activism when I was in the
opposition. It's like I've been
given the chance to do the work that I was
really dying to do without any
hindrances. Right now I'm like, I've just
moved on into another which is
just a big change, which you just yearn for
to say I've done one, two, three
and now I think I must move on to four,
five, six - that kind of thing so I
don't see much of a difference.
Guma: Now obviously any Embassy will be,
particularly Embassies like your
one, you will be working with people from
ZANU PF, how is that going on? Are
you able to work well with some of these
people who have come from ZANU PF?
Suka-Mafudze: Lance, the truth on the
ground is there could be, and I
believe in professionalism. There could be
others who have their own
allegiances and I think as I was advocating for
change, earlier on before I
got into this position, it was to say there
should be that kind of freedom,
this kind of, the freedom of allegiances and
I'm not the person to find who
is a ZANU PF and who is a MDC and I'm finding
it difficult, even if I might
try to think of it that I want to check who is
ZANU PF and who is MDC.
Maybe it's also because of the pro-activeness
that I took which got me into
coming up with the first meeting when I got to
this Embassy to say in the
meeting I mentioned previously that I think we
all know why we are here in
this heat and the dust that comes from the
desert - the reason is to raise
the flag of Zimbabwe and there's no politics
in this office. Politics you
can only do when you are out of this office.
Within this office we are here
to raise the flag of Zimbabwe, we are here to
make sure, we are looking at
all issues of Zimbabwe and making sure we are
putting the task to make our
country better, that's the reason we are
here.
So maybe, I might have in the process stopped anything that was
about to
come up but it was my first meeting, the first day that I got into
the
office, I held a meeting to say we are all Zimbabweans and we know what
we
want - we want a better Zimbabwe, we want a peaceful Zimbabwe and we are
not
doing politics here, politics is done by people who are back home and us
here are to advocate for good issues for Zimbabwe, for positivity for
Zimbabwe, for raising the flag of Zimbabwe in whatever area that we are
working in. Maybe I must have deterred it from coming up.
Guma:
Obviously raising the flag of the country is what any Ambassador is
meant to
do but how difficult is this for you Ambassador Mafudze given the
coalition
government has still not resolved most of the outstanding issues?
Does that
make your job a little bit harder?
Suka-Mafudze: At the moment for me to
say it makes my job a little harder,
it worries me a lot, as I mentioned
earlier, I'm an advocate for peace, it
worries me a lot and each time I'm
like watching on television, I see issues
to do with Zimbabwe, it gets me
into thinking are things going to be really
OK? I want things to be
OK.
Yes, here and there you will find that you come across persons which
make
you start thinking that, cant we become a person, as a Zimbabwean, as
Zimbabwean people and do things right and make our lives better, even for me
who is so far away from home, it's my home, I want to go back to my home
when I'm through with this duty, tour of duty, yes I want to go back home so
it worries me, it's just something that worries me. I want things to be
right.
Guma: Now there was quite a delay from the time you were
nominated for the
post by your Party and the time the president finally
confirmed your
deployment. Were you ever worried at any point that this was
never going to
go through?
Suka-Mafudze: Yah I got to that stage yes
whereby I thought - ah, I've been
thinking I wanted this yes and what is
happening now and you find once you
are involved into some kind of training,
you are doing something else you
tend to pay attention to what you are doing
so that you do it right and
which makes the little business that I was doing
I had stopped and which
meant I needed to survive, what was I to do, it
became very difficult for me
to survive with the family and as the head of
the household it became
difficult even to pay fees for my daughter which was
US$120 per term, it was
difficult, I paid a little later and the school was
surprised, it nearly
made me a pauper.
Guma: Yes even Ambassador
Trudy Stevenson spoke about that for the weeks
that you were not doing
anything, you were not getting any salary.
Suka-Mafudze: Yes there were
no salaries. Yes here and there we maybe would
get allowances but these
allowances when you drive a car from home and you
come to the training and
you are expected to do whatever you have to do
which concerns the training
to do it right as a Zimbabwean, it's just not
enough. You know the status
that you are supposed to, the outlook that you
are supposed to portray as an
ambassador, a trainee ambassador, it didn't go
along, you needed to do it
well, you need to eat well, you needed to be in
your car to drive to town,
all those things became a little bit difficult
for me I must say but I
didn't lose hope.
Guma: Now obviously any Ambassador will be focused on
issues like growing
economic links, tourism and things like that. With
Sudan, what sort of
opportunities are there for
Zimbabwe?
Suka-Mafudze: Yeh I see opportunities which maybe at times they
are here and
there especially for tourism. We have already started
agitating, my office
has started agitating, around talking to ZTA (Zimbabwe
Tourism Authority)
about them opening doors for us inviting Sudanese here to
come to the do
that happened with tourism around October, October/November
somewhere there.
So we have started writing letters to the ZTA which has
positively replied
to us and we want to do a meeting with the auditors here
in this country for
them to identify the guys who can go to Zimbabwe to have
an appreciation of
Zimbabwe.
These people are not really travelers so
they say, they are like content
with their country maybe only because they
have not traveled, they have not
seen beyond their borders and for them to
have an appreciation, it should be
advertised in their papers. This is the
route that we have taken, that is
tourism, that is a plus for Zimbabwe and
if a very good advert is done here
in Sudan, there are people who have it
who can really, who can surely travel
to Zimbabwe but there's not been some
kind of advertising of Zimbabwe
because whoever you talk to, certainly in
the ministries, like former
ministers, former ambassadors, they tell you
that it's a beautiful country,
they tell you of Victoria Falls, they tell
you of Kariba and they tell you
of the man-made lake which is Kariba and
they say it is so beautiful and
they say why aren't your people going to
enjoy seeing the Victoria Falls and
this man-made lake and they tell you -
ah people here they don't know about
these things much, you need to
advertise - this is what they tell us. So we
have taken that stance
especially in the tourism area.
Guma: Is there anything that Zimbabweans
could export to Sudan? Is there
anything that you've identified that you
would recommend to business people
and say - you know what, there's a chance
for you could export this to this
country?
Suka-Mafudze: Yes there is
a lot of, I think you also have to have an
appreciation that I'm only plus
60 days in this country but I've really gone
out of my way to find out how
things are going and also having an
appreciation that we've been in
elections in Sudan so you can imagine, we
went into a standstill especially
courtesy calls for me to go talk to the
ministers, the concerned ministries
of Trade and Tourism and the like
because there's likelihood there will be a
new Cabinet and I would say for
the whole month of April there was some kind
of standstill and with my going
around talking to other ambassadors, I'm
finding there's a lot of
opportunities in Juba in the south of Sudan, it's
actually that whole it's
starting from zero, so anything goes there in Juba
but it needs to be
identified and I'm also preparing to go down to Juba so
that officially I
make, I produce documents to support that there's a lot of
business in Juba
which is south of Sudan.
Guma: And my final question
for you Ambassador Mafudze, Sudan as we know is
a country that is often in
the news for the problems in Darfur, the country
is divided along religious
lines between the north and the south, how is it
for someone like you, I'm
assuming you are obviously a Christian and you are
an ambassador in a
country that's torn along religious lines, does that pose
any challenges for
you?
Suka-Mafudze: Yes exactly you know when you get into a country you
like, you
have your own way you look at it and you also you go along with
what people
tell you but eventually you develop your own outlook and your
own
assessments and your own analysis of issues and the situation and the
issues
that are around you. Yes it has been very hard for me at first when I
see
every woman wrapping themselves around, the whole body is wrapped, even
on
the head, leaving only the eyes and the like, it became a bit
difficult.
Some also just leave the face, the whole face, some leave just
the eyes out
and it would be like people just look at me and say like, where
does this
woman come from, that kind of thing. At first it was difficult for
me but I
later said you know I'm a Zimbabwean, I'm dressing decently, I
think that is
what is more important and I'm a Christian and also there are
challenges of
the language here, I don't speak Arabic and I have to go
around with an
interpreter so it's like people just appreciate, they are
very nice people
here, they just appreciate that you are a foreign person
and they understand
you, as long as you are dressed decently.
Guma:
OK and I take it you obviously don't have any major security concerns
being
in a country like Sudan?
Suka-Mafudze: With Khartoum, there's not much of
that though they're always
alert, they're just alert, they're involved with
policemen and whatever and
whatever. There's everybody like in the security
sectors all over but I've
not seen anything threatening so far in Khartoum
but I'm told by other
ambassadors, it's also important for me to travel to
other places out of
Khartoum for me to have an appreciation of what other
people are going
through out there which is those security concerns that you
are talking
about. Yes but in Khartoum it's OK.
Guma: That was
Ambassador Hilda Suka-Mafudze, she's the Zimbabwean
ambassador to Sudan.
Many thanks for joining us on the programme.
Suka-Mafudze: Thank you so
much for having me Lance.- SW Radio Africa
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Gift Phiri
Tuesday, 18 May 2010
16:33
HARARE - Zimbabwe's Vice President, Joice Mujuru, has been let off
scot-free
after she was named in a National Economic Conduct Inspectorate
probe on the
plunder of the Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company
(ZISCO).
The company was a major foreign-currency earner before
independence in 1980,
and collapsed two years ago after being systematically
pillaged to an extent
of failing to re-equip its plants.
Mujuru,
ministers Samuel Mumbengegwi, Sithembiso Nyoni, Olivia Muchena, Stan
Mudenge
and Patrick Chinamasa, and a number of other senior company
officials,
stripped ZISCO bare. They did not even have the audacity to quit
after asset
stripping the public company that is 90 per cent-owned by the
government.
Meanwhile, a retired Air Force of Zimbabwe Air Vice-Marshal,
Robert Mhlanga,
is the chairman of a private company dealing in the mining
and trading of
Marange diamonds in eastern Zimbabwe, a proxy for well-heeled
top army
generals used as a front to keep the murky operation under
wraps.
Riches of the elite
Another private company, Canadile, is
creaming off the Marange diamond
fields. It is linked to politicians,
soldiers and officials in President
Mugabe's inner circle, and has corruptly
acquired a lease on the world's
richest diamond fields, Marange.
Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri has demanded a mining
concession in
the lucrative diamond fields from Mines minister Obert Mpofu,
which is
shocking and completely at a tangent with the force's
constitutionally
enshrined law enforcement duties.
The Local Government minister Ignatius
Chombo is frantically trying to
rebuff charges under the Prevention of
Corruption Act that he stole vast
tracts of land in Zimbabwe's capital,
Harare. The minister's estranged first
wife Marian has reported him to the
President claiming he was dispossessing
her of property they acquired when
they were still together.
The President's nephew, Phillip Chiyangwa has sued
the Harare City Council
for publishing a council report that lifted the lid
on alleged shocking
plunder of prime council land by the ostentatious
businessman.
The head of state's nephew also allegedly represented a
consortium which
dubiously won a contract to build the capital's golf course
in Borrowdale on
land not designated for that purpose.
A controversial
multi-millionaire with links to President Mugabe's Zanu (PF)
Billy
Rautenbach has corruptly secured a US$800 million deal to mine coal in
Hwange through his Clidder Minerals Company.
Two other permanent
secretaries, and the former head of the national oil
company, are under
investigation for fraud by Parliament's public accounts
committee.
The
President's land reform programme has been plundered by members of his
party's ruling elite. Several judicial commissions have alleged many cases
of multiple-farm ownership and fraudulent claims.
Mugabe's own wife, 40
years his junior and a serious shopaholic, seized a
choice commercial farm
from High Court judge, Ben Hlatshwayo.
Since the land grab began in 2000, the
First Lady has corruptly acquired
several farms in contemptuous breach of
her husband's stated
one-man-one-farm policy. Mrs Mugabe first grabbed Iron
Mask Estate in Mazowe
in 2003 from Joe and Eva Matthew, an elderly couple in
their 70s. Then she
grabbed Foyle Farm from Ian Webster, then 'Gushungo'
Dairy Farm- named after
Robert Mugabe's family totem.
Welcome to
Zimbabwe. In the scale of Zimbabwean profiteering, this is small
beer,
partly because the country does not have the sort of riches that
encourage
massive illegal expropriation.
Perceived corruption
In Transparency
International's index of perceived corruption, Zimbabwe
ranked 146 among 180
nations surveyed in 2009.
Despite calls for the investigation and freezing of
Mugabe's personal assets
held abroad, most observers believe that the
teetotal and, even at 86,
fitness-fanatic president is more interested in
clinging on to power than
lining his pocket. He hasn't even been able to buy
a presidential jet,
though he can commandeer planes from the national
airline.
While ordinary Zimbabweans previously believed that Mugabe had the
mandatory
Swiss bank account, most observers are now convinced that he
cannot match
the cupidity of some of Africa's kleptocratic
regimes.
Personally Mugabe himself is not tainted by corruption and a
thorough search
for his bank accounts abroad has been futile. The same
cannot be said of
those who surround him. The problem for Mugabe is the
perception - in a
highly literate population - that he has done very little
about reining in
the excesses of his family and party cronies.
According
to anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International
(TI)-Zimbabwe, the
breakdown in social services, the rule of law and public
accountability has
resulted in corruption becoming a strong feature of all
sectors, not only
top level corruption.
Ronald Shumba, a political commentator, says:
"Experience has taught
Zimbabweans that Zanu (PF) is very good at setting up
all manner of schemes,
funds and programmes to benefit the poor and the
needy. But soon after
gathering the money, it loots everything with impunity
for the benefit of
big chiefs."
After 30 years in power, it was only
after formation of a unity government
after Mugabe lost elections in 2008
that a power-sharing agreement provided
for an anti-corruption commission.
But 15 months down the line, the
commission has still not been formed.
Occasionally the police fraud squad
arrests officials and executives in key
state organisations. But critics say
it has mainly been "small
fries."
Name and shame
A report issued this week by TI-Zimbabwe's
Advocacy and Legal Advice Centre
said: "Complaints about receipt of bribes
in the private sector are high.
They include cutting corners and shirking
honest competition rather than
producing real, competitive value for
clients. Complaints have been received
against companies paying bribes to
win public contracts or receive
government services. Communities have also
noted a lack of transparency in
the issuing of mining rights."
In a
country that ranks 151 out of 177 countries in the United Nations human
development index, and where life expectancy has dropped to an alarming 36
years - due to the Aids crisis - the flagrant abuse of state funds has
become a critical election issue.
Zimbabwe's pro-reform Finance minister
Tendai Biti has threatened to
name-and-shame spendthrift members of
Zimbabwe's Cabinet from Mugabe's side
of the unity government who have blown
some US$30 million over the past six
months on unnecessary and at times
unapproved foreign trips.
The failure to act on this long series of
corruption has created a
widespread perception that there is a tacit
acceptance of corruption in high
places, and that even pledges of resolute
action will come to nothing.
We are working with ROHR Zimbabwe to use the production as a
platform to raise awareness for and promote discussion about the current
situation in Zimbabwe. To this end we are holding two discussions, one about the
current condition of the country, on 2nd May and the other on
9th May about Zimbabwe’s place in the international community and its
relations with other countries.
All the best,
Heather Doole
Producer
Metta Theatre
metta
theatre is company limited by guarantee, registered in england and wales
(company no. 7137926), at 66 Lancaster Court, London, SW6
5TA.
|
Metta Theatre
presents 25 May -
12 June 2010 Otieno 'Open
my veins, pluck out my eyes there
is no pain I do not deserve.' Zimbabwe 2008. The
impending elections bring hope to a country left raw by oppression. Will
Tsvangirai topple Mugabe? Otieno, a militia leader protecting a white farm under
siege by Mugabe's war veterans, secretly marries the white farmer's daughter.
But Otieno's confidante Ian is sowing seeds of jealousy to destroy their love.
A contemporary
rewriting of Shakespeare's Othello from the company behind Blood
Wedding.
Set against the
continuing deprivation of present-day Zimbabwe this
visceral new play brings a
brutal beauty to the
well-known tragedy of
violence
and betrayal. 'compelling
and immediate' 'spirited
and hugely likeable'
Time Out on Blood
Wedding 'perfect
staging...absolutely superb' Vanessa Redgrave on
Metta's Waiting at the Southbank Centre Director Poppy Burton-Morgan
Set
& Lighting Designer Will Reynolds Costume
Designer Katharine
Heath Producer
Heather
Doole Ticket
Prices 'Airline Style' Pricing Read
More | Buy
Tickets |
Zimbabwe Weekly update
Ten years ago, Zimbabwe drew 1.4 million tourists who generated
US$400 million for the economy. Last year, only 223 000 tourists came,
generating just US$ 29.1 million.
Source: Zimbabwe Democracy Now
Click here for back copies of the Zimbabwe Weekly
Update
BILL WATCH
20/2010
[19th May
2010]
The
Senate has adjourned until Tuesday 15th June
The
House of Assembly has adjourned until Wednesday 30th
June
Indigenisation
Regulations: Extension of Deadline to 30th June Gazetted
SI
95/2010, gazetted on 14th May, [electronic
version available on request]
extends
the deadline for businesses to submit their IDG 01 forms and indigenisation
implementation plans. The original deadline of 15th April was extended to 15th
May by Ministerial announcement and SI 95 extends it to 30th June. SI 95 also
gives new businesses 75 days in which to submit form IDG 01 and indigenisation
plans, in place of the 60 days allowed by the original regulations. It is only
after the new deadline elapses, that the Minister of Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment [Minister Kasukuwere] can take formal steps to
compel non-compliant businesses to submit their forms and plans by serving
notice on them to do so. And, it is only when there is non-compliance after
notice has been served that a business can be prosecuted [see Bill Watch 17
of 16th April for more detail]. [Also
available – updated electronic version of complete Indigenisation Regulations
incorporating SI 95.]
Still No Other
Amendments
The amendment agreed
between the Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC] and Minister Kasukuwere has
still not been gazetted. This amendment would change the word “cede” in section
3, which was widely perceived as connoting takeover without compensation and
which the PLC deemed unconstitutional. Minister Kasukuwere has said the word
“cede” had been misconstrued and that what was intended was “a fair transaction
where full value is compensated for”. Unless this amendment is made, however,
the PLC will return an adverse report, in which case, if both Houses support the
PLC report, that section of the regulations will be nullified.
Other amendments that
have been talked about, such as increasing the
asset threshold of companies to be indigenised, etc, have moved closer to
gazetting, with the news that they were being considered by the Cabinet
Committee on Legislation on 13th May. A recent statement by the Minister said
some amendments may be gazetted by the end of the month but these are not yet at
the printers.
When
is the Minister Empowered to Cancel Licences?
Minister
Kasukuwere has been reported as claiming that as well as prosecuting
non-compliant businesses, he also has the power to cancel trading and similar
licences held by businesses that do not submit their IDG 01 forms and
indigenisation plans when given notice to do so. In fact the Minister has no
such power. While there is a section of the Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Act [IEE Act] that deals with cancellation of licences [section
5], it does not provide for cancellation of a licence where a
business fails to submit its form IDG 01 and indigenisation plan. It allows the
Minister to have licences cancelled only where certain transactions – such as
mergers or unbundlings of businesses, or transfers of controlling interests –
take place without prior notification to the Minister.
Do
ALL Businesses Have to Submit Indigenisation Plans?
A
Bill Watch reader questioned the statement in Bill Watch 6/2010 that the
obligation to submit an indigenisation implementation plan applies only to
businesses with an asset value of more than US $500 000 that are not
already majority-owned by indigenous Zimbabweans. He points out that section
4(2) of the Indigenisation Regulations requires "every business” not
already indigenised to submit an indigenisation plan and does not specifically
say that this refers only to businesses with an asset value of more than US $500
000. This is true, but section 4(2) also says that the plan must be submitted
“together with Form IDG 01”. Therefore it seems the better
interpretation is that only businesses above the US $500 000 threshold have to
submit indigenisation plans, because:
·
Only
firms with assets exceeding US $500 000 are specifically required to submit Form
IDG 01 [so the clear implication is that smaller firms are not required to do
so].
·
Section
3 of the regulations states that their purpose is that "every business of or
above the prescribed value threshold" [this is the $500 000 limit] must cede a
controlling interest to indigenous Zimbabweans. If that is the objective of the
regulations, there seems no point in requiring smaller businesses to submit
indigenisation plans to the Minister – because it is not, apparently, the object
of the regulations for their plans to be implemented.
National
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board
Proposals
Proposed
Indigenisation Levy
The chairman of the
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board [NIEE Board], Mr David
Chapfika, announced recently that consultations among stakeholders about
imposing an indigenisation levy on companies had reached an advanced stage and
that the levy would come “soon”. The IEE Act allows for levies “on any
private or public company or any other business” [IEE Act, sections 17
and 18]. A levy is imposed by the Minister by gazetting a statutory
instrument but certain preliminaries must precede the
gazetting:
·
the approval of the
Minister of Finance must be obtained; and
·
the draft statutory
instrument must be laid before and approved by resolution of Parliament
[meaning both Houses of Parliament], something that cannot be completed
until after the House of Assembly resumes sitting on 30th June.
The statutory
instrument imposing a levy must specify on what basis it is calculated, who must
pay it, how it will be collected, etc. Levy proceeds must go into the
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund [NIEE Fund], which is
administered by the NIEE Board. The objects of the NIEE Fund include
providing financial assistance to indigenous Zimbabweans for “the financing
of share acquisitions, the warehousing of shares under employee share ownership
schemes or trusts and management buy-ins and buy-outs” and for “business
start-ups, rehabilitation and expansion” [IEE Act, section
12].
Setting-up of
Sectoral Committees of NIEE Board
Mr Chapfika has also
announced the formation of 13 sector-specific committees of the NIEE Board to be
chaired by Board members. He invited sector stakeholders to put forward names
of persons to sit on the committees, which will assist the Board in advising the
Government on indigenisation. The sectors are: mining; energy; agriculture;
manufacturing; construction; financial services; tourism and hospitality;
education and sport services; trading; arts, entertainment and culture services;
telecommunications and ICT. More committees may be formed if needed. These
committees will be able to suggest amendments to the regulations.
Legislation
Update
Bill
Gazetted
Zimbabwe
National Security Council Amendment Bill [gazetted Friday 14th May]. This short
Bill seeks to make the Ministers responsible for national security and justice
members of the NSC. [Electronic
version available on request.]
Bill
Being Printed for Presentation in Parliament
Criminal
Law (Protection of Power, Communication and Water Infrastructure) Amendment
Bill. Veritas will make a copy available once the Bill has been gazetted.
Public
Order and Security [POSA] Amendment Bill
Mr
Gonese’s Private Member’s Bill awaits continuation of the Second Reading debate
when the House of Assembly resumes on 30th June.
Statutory
Instruments Gazetted 14th May
SI
95/2010 amends the Indigenisation Regulations [see above].
SI
94/2010 amends the recently-gazetted statutory
instrument
listing the numbers of “special interest appointed councillors” to be appointed
to urban councils by the Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban
Development. The effect is to change the number of appointed councillors for
the Chiredzi Town Council [from 2 to 3] and Marondera Municipal Council [from 3
to 2]. [Electronic
versions of both SIs available on request.]
Veritas makes every
effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for
information supplied.