http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Violet
Gonda
02 May 2013
MDC-T youth assembly president Solomon Madzore has
again been arrested, this
time for allegedly insulting President Robert
Mugabe at a party rally in
Mushumbe-Mbire, Mashonaland Central this past
weekend.
ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo told SW Radio Africa that even
though he does
not know what Madzore said exactly, if he insulted the
president then “he
deserves to be arrested.”
Madzore was taken to
Bindura police station after handing himself in to
Harare Central on
Thursday, after being told by the police to do so. He was
charged with
undermining the office of the President.
The youth leader is no stranger
to arrest. He was released on bail late last
year after being jailed for
more than a year on charges of murdering a
policeman. 28 other MDC activists
were arrested for killing the officer. All
deny the charge.
Madzore
had also spent more than 70 days in jail with MDC-T officials Luke
Tamborinyoka, Ian Makone and others after they were accused of petrol
bombing government properties countrywide in the run up to the 2008
controversial elections. The state later dropped the charges but the MDC-T
members said they were tortured in police custody.
Scores of people
have over the years been arrested for ridiculing the 89
year old leader who
has been in power since Zimbabwe’s independence
Promise Mkwananzi, the
secretary general of the MDC-T Youth Assembly
condemned the continued
“persecution’ of their leader and described the
police action as
“idiotic”.
Mkwananzi said Madzore addressed youths at the rally on
Saturday encouraging
them to register to vote and to mobilise their
communities to vote for the
MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
to vote against ZANU PF.
“And we believe there is nothing that is criminal
about urging people to
vote against ZANU PF and President
Mugabe.”
However, the ZANU PF spokesman says his party cannot be blamed
for every
arrest the police make and stressed that if Madzore insulted the
president
then he “does not deserve any leeway in our society.”
When
asked about the people who ridicule and insult the Prime Minister,
especially in the state media, Gumbo responded by saying: “There is a
difference between a Head of State and a Prime Minister.
“If a man
like the Prime Minister goes around the region saying please stop
elections
and so on, do you think people should not criticise him?”
The secretary
general of the MDC youth wing said this latest development
shows nothing
else but fear from ZANU PF. “They are afraid of Madzore. They
know that if
Madzore remains outside, the more that the youths will be
mobilised against
ZANU PF.
“We are going to meet as the youth assembly and we will give
ZANU PF 48
hours. By Saturday they must have released the president of the
youth
assembly because he has not committed a crime. Failure of which, we
will do
something.”
Mkwananzi added: “We are going to ensure that
there is a clear message to
ZANU PF that they cannot continue to arrest
people willy-nilly outside the
confines of the law just because they are
controlling the apparatus of the
state.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex
Bell
2 May 2013
Aspiring student leaders at the University of
Zimbabwe, who were fielded for
the Students representative Council (SRC)
presidency by the National
Students Union (ZINASU), have been deliberately
sidelined after alleged
interference by ZANU PF.
The polls to choose
a new SRC leadership at the UZ were meant to go ahead on
Tuesday, but they
were postponed at the last minute, allegedly as part of an
attempt to ‘rig’
the vote.
According to ZINASU Secretary General Tryvine Musokeri, the
polls were
postponed by the UZ authorities is an attempt to control the vote
and ensure
that a ZANU PF aligned student is ushered in as the SRC
leader.
He explained that the last minute decision came in the wake of a
meeting the
ZANU PF students union, ZICOSU, had with Robert Mugabe on
Monday. The ZICOSU
candidate for the UZ student leadership, Charles
Munganasa, told Mugabe that
he was going to ‘liberate’ the UZ and win over
students to ZANU PF.
“There are elements within the opposition who are
trying to undermine the
benefits of our struggle. As students, we are ready
to partner ZANU PF to
work in the name of patriotism and nationalism,”
Munganasa was quoted by the
state media as saying.
That meeting at
ZANU PF’s headquarters also saw ZICOSU reportedly being
handed t-shirts,
food and beer by the party authorities to use on their
campaign ahead of the
SRC election, now expected next week.
ZINASU’s Musokeri told SW Radio
Africa that anti-ZINASU sentiments were also
expressed at that meeting,
paving the way for the SRC vote to be called off.
“ZANU PF intervened in
trying to support their candidate and buy more time
for their candidate. The
UZ is led by Mugabe appointed authorities and they
made the decision to
cancel the vote. And as if that isn’t enough, the
authorities then
introduced new legislation that essentially segregates and
sidelines our
candidates, including our presidential candidate.”
The new regulations
have seen 15 ZINASU candidates, including their SRC
presidential hopeful
Kokerai Murombo, being disqualified from contesting in
the SRC polls. ZINASU
has now consulted with their legal team in an attempt
to have the
regulations changed, and will appear in the High Court on
Friday.
“This is all a plot by the state to frustrate ZINASU and to
impose their
blue eyed boys to the students of Zimbabwe,” Musokeri
said.
Meanwhile, according to the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, a group
of female
UZ students campaigning for the SRC poll, have reported being
harassed by
university security details. At least three of the young women
were searched
last week and had their campaign posters ripped up by security
officials.
One of the women was arrested last week and detained over the
weekend at
Avondale Police Station, all because she tried to photograph the
harassment
the women have been subjected to.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Nomalanga
Moyo
02 May 2013
The mobile voter registration exercise entered its
fourth day Thursday, with
people in the rural areas expressing concern over
the slow pace of the
exercise.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(ZEC) officially launched a nationwide
voter registration campaign Monday,
for elections due to be held this year.
The campaign is supposed to cover
national identity registration, voter
registration and inspection of the
voters’ roll, and is scheduled to run for
20 days.
However, reports
emanating from the rural areas indicate that the exercise
was off to a
sluggish pace, with people in some areas informing SW Radio
Africa that they
had not seen any of the teams from the Registrar-General’s
office.
One Magunje resident said the mobile registration team had
spent only two
days in his area and by the time word reached most villagers,
the team had
left for another ward. He said as a result, a lot of people had
either been
deprived of a chance to apply for identity particulars or could
not verify
whether or not they were on the voters’ roll.
Another
villager from Lupane, going by the name of Tshuma, told us that like
many
others in the constituency he was in the dark about when the teams
would
visit the area. He said with schools closed, it was difficult for
information to reach villagers, who mainly rely on school children to spread
such information.
Aspiring parliamentarian Ezra Sibanda said the
process was very slow, even
in peri-urban areas such as Lower Gweru, which
is about 40km from Gweru.
“I do not know how they hope to finish this
exercise in 20 days. People here
at Maboleni were told that the process will
start Monday, but it’s only
today (Thursday) that we have seen
them.
“To make matters worse, there is only one mobile registration unit
for an
area with 11 wards, and there was an information black-out before the
exercise kicked off. Right now, the unit is stationed 20 km from here and
they have said they will go to only four of those.
“I have had to
come to this funeral in order to inform people of the team’s
presence. So to
even say they are a mobile team is wrong because their
mobility seems to be
limited.
Sibanda said that if the RG’s office did not send out more teams
to try and
expedite the registration, he feared that a lot of rural folk
will be
deprived of their right to vote.
He also revealed that
contrary to what had been indicated, so-called aliens
were not being
registered: “I spoke to a 60-year old woman of Malawian
origin and she told
me that she had been turned away.
When Sibanda asked the registration
team for an explanation, he was told
that “it wasn’t allowed to register
aliens” and they refused to give him any
reasons why.
The exercise
has been riddled with controversy right from the onset, with
reports of
irregularities and concerns over possible fraudulent activities.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
Staff Reporter 11 hours
53 minutes ago
THE MDC-T has called for the immediate resignation of
Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri from his post, alleging that
the
country’s top cop is increasingly becoming a security risk by openly
dabbling in partisan politics.
The call comes in the wake of
statements by Chihuri indirectly referring to
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai as a “malcontent” for calling for security
sector reforms. In an
interview with NewsDay yesterday, MDC-T spokesperson
Douglas Mwonzora said
Chihuri must resign as he was openly dabbling in
partisan
politics.
“As MDC, Chihuri’s utterances come as a huge disappointment and
they justify
our repeated calls for security sector reforms as prescribed in
the Global
Political Agreement (GPA),” he said.
“We demand Chihuri to
immediately resign, as he is a security risk. Chihuri
has embarrassed
Zimbabweans in that he could be the only police commissioner
in the whole of
Africa who hurls insults at political leadership with
impunity.”
Mwonzora said Chihuri and the police force had no business
in prescribing
who Zimbabweans should vote for. The MDC-T spokesman said the
Premier could
take the issue up with President Robert Mugabe when the
leaders meet next
week.
He said Chihuri had poisoned the police force
with his unprofessional
conduct. “In 2008, Chihuri single-handedly called on
the entire police force
to be partisan and they turned to be that, we still
await him to withdraw
that statement which has poisoned the whole force,”
Mwonzora added.
Tsvangirai has been vocal in calling for security sector
reforms, but he has
faced stiff resistance from Zanu PF. On Wednesday,
Chihuri refuted reports
that the Premier had initiated talks with security
chiefs, saying they “were
too busy to engage confused malcontents” who do
not know their identity and
had “a propensity to destroy what others, dead
and alive, fought for”.
Zimbabwe’s military and police commanders have
openly declared their
allegiance to Zanu PF — going as far as saying they
would not accept any
other person outside Zanu PF to lead this country even
if they were to win
elections.Sadc has insisted that the GPA should be fully
implemented before
Zimbabwe holds polls, as the regional bloc would not
allow the country to go
for elections when conditions are not
conducive.
However, Defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa recently said
security sector
reforms were not part of the GPA. Chihuri described calls by
the MDC
formations for security sector reforms as a non-issue that sought to
create
confusion.
The MDC formations are wary that polls without
reforms would maintain an
uneven electoral field, heavily tilted in Zanu
PF’s favour, raising the
possibility of another disputed election. source
newsday
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Thursday, 02 May 2013
11:06
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has told
Tanzanian President
Jakaya Kikwete that Zanu PF was hoodwinking the regional
bloc and
surreptitiously planning a peaceful but rigged
election.
Tsvangirai met Kikwete in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday night.
Kikwete is also
the chairperson of the Southern African Development
Community (Sadc) organ
Troika on politics, defence and
security.
Tsvangirai later had a brief stopover in the Angolan capital
Luanda where he
met the Foreign minister, Georges Chicoti.
Earlier
on Sunday evening, Tsvangirai met South African leader Jacob Zuma in
Pretoria before proceeding to the Tanzanian capital to meet the Sadc Troika
chair.
The meetings are part of Tsvangirai’s regional diplomatic
offensive to drum
up support for his party’s position.
Sadc, the
regional political and trading bloc, is the architect and
guarantor of the
Global Political Agreement (GPA), which committed long-time
rivals
Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe to implement reforms ahead of
a free
poll which is due after June 29 when Parliament expires.
Commenting after
his meeting with the Sadc Troika chair, Tsvangirai said
“the calls for peace
by the Zanu PF leadership and their actions on the
ground, in particular
with reference to the voters’ roll is increasingly
pointing to a hidden
strategy of hoodwinking the region, the international
community and the
Zimbabwean electorate that they are committed to a
peaceful, free and fair
election, when in fact they are committed to, and
are planning for, a
peaceful but rigged election.”
“Peace, although necessary, is not a
sufficient condition for a credible and
legitimate election,” Tsvangirai
said.
Kikwete, after receiving a briefing from Tsvangirai, said: “As
Sadc, we are
very much interested in an election that is credible, free and
fair. We want
Zimbabweans to exercise their unfettered right to choose a
leader of their
choice.”
The Sadc Troika on politics, defence and
security co-operation together
with facilitator Zuma have been leading
efforts to ensure Zimbabwe avoids a
repeat of the violence witnessed in the
2008 vote that claimed over 200
lives and displaced another 200 000,
according to human rights groups.
Tsvangirai on Sunday night told Zuma
that he wanted a mini-regional summit
convened to speed up all outstanding
reforms ahead of a crucial election,
chief among which are public media
reforms, security sector realignment, a
clean and credible voters’ roll and
the alignment of laws to the new
constitution.
Zuma told Tsvangirai
that Sadc and the African Union, as the guarantors of
the GPA, will do
everything in their power to ensure a free and fair poll in
Zimbabwe, and
advised that he was heading to Harare for meetings with
Zimbabwe
principals.
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai told Kikwete that the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission
should ensure that everyone eligible to vote is
registered on the voters
roll.
Tsvangirai said his party wanted a
clean and transparent voters’ roll,
adding that his party would soon expose
evidence of the connivance between
some operatives of the Central
Intelligence Organisation, the
Registrar-General’s Office, Zanu PF and the
ZEC secretariat in manipulating
the voter’s roll.
The PM said: “We
urge the region to remain vigilant about the situation in
Zimbabwe. Given
the reluctance by our partners to implement agreed reforms,
Sadc, as the
guarantors of the GPA, may have to convene a summit to ensure
implementation
of reforms and to set the ground rules for the next
plebiscite.”
Tamborinyoka said the PM is set to continue his trip
around Africa to
sensitise the guarantors of the GPA on the delicate
situation in Zimbabwe.
Tsvangirai is expected back home on
Sunday.
Meanwhile, Zuma’s facilitation team yesterday spoke about the
failure by
Zanu PF negotiators to meet them on
Tuesday.
“Representatives of the two MDC parties attended the meeting but
Zanu PF
representatives stayed away,” said a statement from convenor of the
facilitation team Charles Nqakula.
“We did not hear from Zanu PF. Our
effort at raising ministers Patrick
Chinamasa and Nicholas Goche
failed.”
“The MDC parties we met yesterday (Tuesday) conveyed to us what
they believe
are the real reasons why Zanu PF did not attend the meeting of
the
negotiators,” Nqakula said.
“On our part we believe Zanu PF
representatives must have had a plausible
reason for staying
away.
“We don’t believe their action was in any way an act of bad faith.
We are
returning soon to Zimbabwe and believe all concerned will cooperate
as we
all search for the best instruments to ensure that the entire
Zimbabwean
population gets leaders who shall have emerged from a credible
process,
which shall be underpinned by a free and fair election,” reads part
of the
statement. - Gift Phiri, Political Editor
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Thursday, 02 May 2013
10:22
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC has accused President
Robert
Mugabe and his Zanu PF party of scuttling electoral reforms to buy
time
ahead of elections.
Speaking at a public debate on elections
organised by the Media Centre in
Harare on Tuesday, MDC national organising
secretary Nelson Chamisa said
there are malcontents in Zanu PF who are
pushing for elections without
reforms.
Chamisa, however, said
elections were only possible in September after
“necessary reforms because
by operation of the law the executive will have
four months within which to
complete reforms after the June 29 dissolution
of Parliament.”
“Zanu
PF is in tatters as evidenced by their failure to come up with
guidelines
for primary elections,” Chamisa said. “They are not ready for
free and fair
elections given their situation hence they want to rush
things.
“There are malcontents in Zanu PF that want a nicodemus and
nocturnal
election in which they will kidnap, rape and surrender you where
you don’t
want to be.
“It should, however, be known that Mugabe is
not pushing for a June 29 poll
because he knows it is not possible, so it is
those who follow blindly and
want to protect their interests who want a June
29 poll.
“Moreover, June as a month is associated with political harakiri
— a very
dark chapter in the history of the country. There is a cockpit
disconnect in
government.
The MDC’s message has been drowned by our
colleagues. Our idea was to
stabilise the economy, to make sure reforms are
completed and the
constitution is just but one of a plethora of reforms
among them security,
media reforms that should lead to free, fair and
credible elections.”
MDC99 president Job Sikhala said Mugabe wants
elections after the United
Nations World Tourism Organisation conference to
be co-hosted by Zimbabwe
and Zambia in August this year.
“Mugabe
doesn’t want elections in June because he wants to grandstand and
hog the
limelight along another despot that has emerged in Zambia in the
person of
Michael Sata (Zambian president),” Sikhala said.
“He wants the global
limelight on him then when everybody has left, he will
declare war on
Zimbabweans on the eve of elections.”
Zanu PF deputy director of
information Psychology Maziwisa maintained
elections will be held on or
before June 29.
“The president will soon declare election dates and he
will demand that all
other processes (reforms) run concurrently so that we
have elections on 29
June,” said Maziwisa.
Maddock Chivasa,
spokesperson for National Constitutional Assembly — a
pressure group that
campaigned for a No vote in the March 16 referendum and
lost — said
Tsvangirai’s calls for reforms before elections were hollow
because he said
a new constitution would be the panacea to the country’s
problems.
“Elections should be held on 29 June because we have been
told by the MDCs
that once we have a new constitution everything would be
fine,” Chivasa
said.
“If we are to believe them, there is no reason
why we can’t have free and
fair elections now.”
Chamisa, who is also
minister of Information Communication Technology in the
shaky coalition
government, attacked the way government’s indigenisation
policy was being
implemented by the Zanu PF side.
“As an idea indigenisation is very good
but it is the implementation that
concerns us,” he said.
“The issue
has been hijacked by a parasitic elite who have benefited at the
expense of
the generality of the populace.” - Mugove Tafirenyika and Richard
Chidza
http://www.voazimbabwe.com/
Mavis
Gama
02.05.2013
HARARE — Zimbabwean journalists today renewed their
calls for the government
to repeal draconian media laws such as the Access
to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act ahead of crucial elections
expected sometime this
year.
The scribes had gathered at a public
lecture in memory of the late veteran
journalist, Bornwell Chakaodza, who
succumbed to cancer last year.
Guest speaker Settlement Chikwinya,
chairman of the parliamentary portfolio
committee on media, bemoaned the
lack of media reforms in the country, which
the unity government has failed
to implement since they came into office
some four years ago.
Mr.
Chikwinya blamed politicians for flouting even the draconian pieces of
legislation they put in place for their own selfish
benefits.
Zimbabwe Media Council commissioner and lawyer, Chris
Mhike, said some of
the issues journalists have been complaining about have
been dealt with in
the new constitution.
Media organizations
represented at the event agreed more still needs to be
done to rid the
country of repressive media laws or at least repeal some of
them so
journalists are free to do their work without fear.
Journalists said they
are concerned the political environment is becoming
more volatile as the
country heads for elections.
The event was organized by the Media
Alliance of Zimbabwe and the Voluntary
Media Council of Zimbabwe under the
theme ‘Safe to speak: Securing freedom
of expression in all media’.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Nomalanga
Moyo
02 May 2013
The chairman of the National Constitutional Assembly
(NCA) Professor
Lovemore Madhuku Wednesday revealed that plans by his group
to launch a new
party were at an advanced stage.
Madhuku was speaking
at a Workers Day event organised by the Concerned
Affiliates of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions, where he was guest of
honour.
Press reports
say Madhuku told the gathered workers the NCA had wanted to
launch the party
after elections but if the two MDCs insisted on a post-June
poll date, his
organisation will go ahead with the launch.
In his speech the professor
also expressed his disenchantment with the MDC-T
party, which he says has
deviated from the principles it was founded on in
1999.
The NCA
chairman said the MDC had forgotten its roots in the labour
movement, and
joined ZANU PF in the plunder of state resources.
Asked by SW Radio
Africa when Zimbabweans should expect the new party, and
why the NCA was
making this announcement so close to the elections, the
group’s spokesman
Madock Chivasa said initially they were happy to wait, on
the assumption
that elections will be held in June.
He told SW Radio Africa: “Our
position is now that the country has a new
constitution, there is no longer
any need for the NCA in its current form.
We are therefore transforming the
organisation into a political party.
“We were hoping for a post-election
launch but with the MDCs pushing for a
delay, we have to reconsider our
position. That was the message the chairman
conveyed to the workers on May
Day.”
Chivasa denied that their plan is to supersede the MDC, and said
the aim “is
to offer ourselves to the people of Zimbabwe, and it’s not a
reaction to
failures by any of the political circles, we are just adding to
the options
that Zimbabweans can choose from.”
The NCA spokesman
could not be drawn to say how different the new party will
be from existing
political entities, but he indicated that there are
on-going discussions
about that, and that is why they had not rushed to
launch.
“For now,
it is only a movement emanating from our ‘No’ vote campaign, and
from our
belief that Zimbabwe needs to be run properly based on a
constitution that
is emanating from the people themselves,” Chivasa added.
If the NCA goes
ahead and launches its political party, that will bring the
number of
registered parties to 26, in a country with an estimated 5 million
eligible
voters.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
2 May
2013
The MDC-T will on Friday begin its internal election process to
choose
candidates who will represent the party in parliamentary, senatorial
and
council elections in the forthcoming poll.
Party spokesman
Douglas Mwonzora told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that the
exercise will
start with the verification process of the electoral colleges
in each of the
210 constituencies.
The electoral colleges are made up of members of the
MDC-T who are based in
various political wards and districts in every
parliamentary constituency
countrywide.
‘Each constituency should be
able to verify who will take part in the voting
process to elect the
candidate to fly the party flag in the harmonized
elections. So those who
finish the verification exercise early should be
able to go straight to the
primary selection process,’ Mwonzora said.
The Nyanga North MP, who is
not being challenged in the primaries, together
with a host of other party
heavyweights, said the number of candidates
cleared by the party to contest
the primaries was the highest since the
party was formed in
1999.
‘One thousand candidates will battle it out to represent the party
in 210
constituencies, making it an average of five contestants per
constituency.
Over 3,000 members applied to stand as councillors for the
1,968 council
seats while only 100 people want to fight for the 60
senatorial seats,’ he
said.
Mwonzora said they’re expecting ‘good
natured’ battles in the primaries, an
exercise that usually leaves defeated
candidates bruised and ready to stand
as independents.
The spokesman
however explained that new electoral rules adopted by the
three parties to
the GPA outlawed any aspiring candidates wishing to stand
as independents,
whilst using the party symbol from any of the parties they
come
from.
‘If anyone from the MDC-T wishes to stand as an independent they’ll
have to
use their own symbol for the ballot paper and not our party symbol.
This is
something that cost us seats in the last election where we had
parallel
candidates running under the party symbol, thereby splitting
votes,’
Mwonzora added.
Analysts told us that out of all its sitting
parliamentarians and senators
who won in 2008, there are predictions a good
number will not make it past
the primaries, as they have failed to
deliver.
Political analyst Sanderson Makombe predicted recently that
MDC-T supporters
would rather elect their parliamentary candidates on merit,
and not their
standing in the party.
‘There is this feeling that the
party elected the wrong people during the
last party primaries. They’re
allegations some of them paid their way
through to ensure their victories,
resulting in the defeat of true,
competent and legitimate candidates,’
Makombe said.
He continued: ‘Some of the current crop of councillors and
MP’s are
embroiled in corruption and loss of integrity, so much that they
face a huge
task to convince people to re-elect them. There will be shocks
certainly as
some senior MPs will definitely lose the right to represent the
MDC-T.’
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Thursday, 02 May 2013
11:06
HARARE - Opposition Zapu president Dumiso Dabegwa has said
the beneficiaries
of President Robert Mugabe’s land seizures will not lose
the land if he wins
the forthcoming elections.
Addressing a rally
attended by hundreds of people in Jotsholo, 30km from
Lupane along Hwange in
Matebeleland North Province on Tuesday, Dabengwa said
there will be no
reversal of the land reform if he wins the forthcoming
watershed
polls.
“Those people who were resettled will not be moved from their
newly-acquired
land because everybody in the country participated in the
struggle against
the white settlers,” Dabengwa said.
“Boys and girls
provided the information about the whereabouts of the
Rhodesian soldiers to
the freedom fighters, women prepared food for them and
man provided
guidance.
“When the country is free an enquiry will be made into how
people were
allocated land as proper farming will be required and farmers
will be
assisted in the new government. Zimbabwe did not buy maize from
other
countries.”
Once known as southern Africa’s breadbasket,
Zimbabwe now faces acute food
shortages. The UN World Food Programme says at
least 2 million Zimbabweans,
more than a fifth of the population, will need
emergency food aid in coming
months to avert mass starvation.
Mugabe
says the food crisis is the result of successive droughts, while most
analysts blame political violence and disruptions in the agriculture-based
economy during the government’s programme to confiscate thousands of
white-owned commercial farms that now lie virtually idle.
“Zapu is
prepared to work with parties who think alike and must consider the
issues
to do with devolution of power and human rights,” Dabengwa said.
“Talks are
going on about forming a united front, but nothing has been
agreed upon yet.
When Zapu pulled out of Zanu PF it mentioned that doors
were open for
whoever is willing to be with it as long as they adhere to the
party’s
principles.”
A former Home Affairs minister, Dabengwa and several senior
Zanu PF
officials resigned from Zanu PF ahead of the 2008 vote to back Simba
Makoni,
a former Zanu PF Politburo member and Finance minister in President
Robert
Mugabe’s government and independent candidate, in the presidential
elections.
Dabengwa later confessed that the Mavambo project was
aimed at preventing
the MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai — then
an opposition leader,
from beating Mugabe outrightly.
After Makoni
came third in the 2008 presidential race, polling 8,3 percent
of the
presidential vote, Dabengwa severed ties with the former minister and
revived Zapu with war veterans largely from his Ndebele ethnic
group.
“In the upcoming elections Zapu will fight to be in government or
become a
part of a coalition in government and if all that is not possible,
it will
become the biggest opposition party, the country has ever
experienced,”
Dabengwa said.
“When Zapu gets into power, people in
the country will determine what
infrastructure to put in their areas of
responsibility and not people from
elsewhere deciding for
them.”
Zapu’s elections officer retired colonel Khutshwekhaya Nketa urged
people in
Jotsholo to go and register to vote in their large
numbers.
“Go and check if your name appears in the voters roll so that on
the day of
elections you are not caught unaware,” he said. “If you have
changed place
of stay, go and have your name put where you would want to
cast your vote
from as this year’s elections will be in wards.” - Gift
Phiri, Political
Editor
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
02.05.13
by
Nelson Sibanda
Operation systems of the Government of National Unity have
rendered
Parliament dysfunctional as important issues affecting people are
first
negotiated by principals and party negotiators at the expense of
parliamentary debate, MDC-T legislator for Mbizo, Settlement Chikwinya, has
said.
Chikwinya who was speaking at the Bornwell Chakaodza
commemorations held in
Harare today said parliamentary deliberations would
only rubber stamp what
party negotiators would have agreed on.
“I am
embarrassed to be a symbolic Member of Parliament who adds no value to
real
parliamentary business since our role as legislators was diluted and
transferred to GNU negotiators,” Chikwinya told dozens of journalists at the
commemorations in Harare.
Journalists from across media houses in
Zimbabwe commemorated the legacy of
veteran journalist Bornwell Chakaodza
who passed away at 59 on 1 February
2012.
Chakaodza, one of the
finest journalists ever to emerge out of the Zimbabwe
media fraternity was
described as a brave, factual and harmonising media
guru who fought
tirelessly to develop free media space in Zimbabwe.
A trained teacher and
journalist, Chakaodza had vast experience, spanning
from the time he worked
for the then Rhodesia Herald where he was a
political reporter. He also
worked as a Director for Information in the
Ministry of Information, Editor
at the Hansard at Parliament, Editor of the
Herald and later The Standard
and also worked as a researcher at the
University of Zimbabwe’s Institute of
Development Studies. At the time of
his death Chakaodza was a columnist with
The Financial Gazette and Vice
Chairperson at the Zimbabwe Voluntary Media
Council where he lobbied for a
free and self-regulatory
media.
“Chakaodza was unequivocal about need for free speech, a self
regulating
media and was prepared to work with any ethical board fighting
for free
media space in Zimbabwe,” said Zimbabwe Media Commissioner, Chris
Mhike, who
at one time worked with Chakaodza at VMCZ.
Mhike said
Chakaodza would boldly call for freedom of expression which he
described as
an inseparable element of a true democratic state.
Zimbabwe was described
as a pseudo democracy with little willingness on the
part of political
leadership running the country to provide for press
freedom.
Mhike
however bemoaned what he described as a lost opportunity by media to
converge media regulatory bodies such as VMCZ, BAZ and POTRAZ among others
under the new constitution set to be passed by into law soon.
The
Zimbabwe Independent Editor, Dumisani Muleya, took the opportunity to
call
upon the media to keep a close eye on the election ball.
“Media should
probe and report political events leading to elections and
highlight
shortcomings bedevilling the whole electoral process,”
said
Muleya.
Muleya urged media to highlight the plight of Zimbabwe third
generation
citizens who were ‘criminally and
deliberately’
disenfranchised as they were wrongfully classified as
aliens.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Chengetayi Zvauya, Parliamentary Editor
Thursday,
02 May 2013 10:52
HARARE - Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) has
thrown its weight
behind Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC in the
forthcoming
make-or-break harmonised elections.
Addressing the
Workers’ Day commemorations at Gwanzura Stadium in Harare
yesterday, ZCTU
president George Nkiwane urged workers to vote for the MDC
in the elections
saying it was a party that advocates for the rights of the
working
class.
His speech was politically potent, indicating that the workers had
to gear
themselves up for the upcoming elections, declaring that the ZCTU
gave birth
to the MDC in 1999.
Tsvangirai was the ZCTU
secretary-general before turning to politics. This
year’s Workers’ Day theme
was “Workers under siege: Organise, unite and
fight on.”
While MDC
legislators came out in full force, conspicuous by their absence
were Zanu
PF politicians, as Nkiwane told the gathering that ZCTU had
invited every
political party in the country to the event.
American civil rights
campaigner Reverend Jesse Jackson, who was supposed to
address the
gathering, did not pitch up amid reports his visit had been
hijacked by
government officials.
Meetings also scheduled between Jackson and
Zimbabwean civil society groups
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights yesterday
were also aborted.
Nkiwane said
the workers had the mandate to end the Government of National
Unity by
voting Tsvangirai to be president in the elections where he squares
off with
Zanu PF candidate President Robert Mugabe.
“We don’t want another GNU
animal and let’s go and vote in huge numbers as
workers and we must choose
leaders who have the interest of workers at
heart,” Nkiwane said.
“We
know there are political leaders that are preaching political violence
to
their supporters. I advise workers that if election campaigning becomes
violent, don’t participate as you only need to participate in a free and
fair environment without violence.
“The government must respect the
rights of the workers and rule of law and
governance. When we got our
independence in 1980 we thought those who are
ruling us were serving us and
we started singing songs in praise of them:
‘‘Mauya, mauya comrade, mauya
hamuchadzokera’’. It was a mistake we made as
we let them ride the horse
continuously and they ran away with it and we did
not hold the rope to
control it and we should not allow that to happen
again.”
Deputy
prime minister Thokozani Khupe and Labour minister Paurina Mpariwa
both told
workers to vote for the MDC in the coming elections.
“Workers must be
allowed to participate in politics without fear or favour,”
Khupe
said.
“As MDC we are accused of selling-out this country to the Western
world.
This is a false statement because we are asking investors from the
Western
countries to come and invest in this country so that we can create
jobs in
the country, open the factories and industries that were closed
because of
Zanu PF mismanagement. I don’t care for being called a sell-out
because I am
asking the investors to come and invest in the
country.”
The celebrations were attended by thousands of workers who were
captivated
by musician Leonard Zhakata.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Thursday, 02 May 2013 11:06
HARARE - Zimbabwe
will increase mining royalties soon to raise $132 million
to bankroll the
forthcoming elections, Finance minister Tendai Biti
(pictured) has
said.
In an economy expected to grow by five percent this year, mining
and
agriculture are the two major economic drivers and Biti is mulling
introducing new taxes for miners to bankroll the forthcoming elections
instead of borrowing on the debt markets.
The $100 million that had
been promised by Pretoria hangs in the balance
after a South Africa Treasury
spokesperson said the two governments were
only “engaged in ongoing
discussions.”
Fresh from funding a March 16 referendum from Treasury
bills floated for
National Social Security Authority (Nssa) and Old Mutual,
Biti has said he
will not borrow again from the private sector given the
liquidity crunch
that was caused by the $40 million drawn from the two
institutions.
Old Mutual and Nssa provide 60 percent of domestic credit
to the banking
sector in Zimbabwe, particularly to the smaller banks. The
net effect of
borrowing $40 million from the private sector for the
referendum caused the
crowding out of the productive sector of the economy
which would otherwise
be borrowing this money.
Biti has said it was
not possible to continue borrowing money from an
already over-strained
private sector that has in fact a huge appetite for
funds to fund working
capital for its operational costs, “so we have no
intention as Treasury to
do that again.”
“The fact of the matter is Zimbabwe does not have the
resources for funding
the election,” Biti said.
Biti raised excise
duty on fuel on March 9 but said the raise was
meaningless, “it will raise
$50 million by the end of the year, it’s
meaningless because we require the
money now.”
“What we did in the referendum cannot be reproduced if we
want to maintain a
stable and sustainable economy with growth rates of five
percent that we
predicted in the 2013 budget,” Biti said.
“And
certainly Treasury, this ministry of Finance and this minister of
Finance
have no intentions of emasculating, of assaulting the economy for
this event
that will come on one day.
“We are not going to borrow again for this
election.”
Biti said he was mulling introducing three or four other
taxes, including
some on the mining sector.
However, it is
anticipated that further pressure on the mining sector could
deter
investment in the country, which has the world’s second largest
reserves of
platinum.
Besides mining royalties, Biti also hopes to raise cash from
the
international community, diamond revenue, and mobile telecommunication
firms’
licence fees. - Gift Phiri, Political Editor
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
2
May 2013
The MDC-T’s deputy national organizing secretary has threatened
to sue ZANU
PF’s Mines Minister Obert Mpofu for portraying him as a
‘thief’.
Abednico Bhebhe told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that Mpofu was
campaigning
for ZANU PF in Nkayi last week and told people in the
constituency that
Bhebe had stolen a tractor and a truck from the
government.
Bhebhe also said that Mpofu has become notorious for making
hate speeches
whenever he goes on a platform to address political rallies.
He accused the
Mines Minister of delivering venomous speeches against the
MDC-T and party
leader Morgan Tsvangirai.
‘Some of what he has been
saying cannot be repeated on a respectable radio
station or newspaper. I
want to urge the government to warn politicians from
using language that may
spew hatred among political opponents,’ Bhebhe said.
He added: ‘People
who live in glass houses shouldn’t be throwing stones like
Obert Mpofu is
doing. If he’s calling me a thief, what should we call him?
asked
Bhebhe.
Bhebhe claimed Mpofu has become so desperate for ZANU PF to win
in the
Matabeleland region that he distributed 30 tonnes of maize to buy
votes. But
the maize turned out to be rotten.
‘Two weeks ago he was
in Matabeleland North province where he distributed 30
tonnes of rotten
maize to people. We have all the testimonies on video and
this shows you the
amount of desperation to try and salvage a seemingly
impossible task of
winning his party votes in this region,’ he said.
http://www.voazimbabwe.com/
Obert
Pepukai
02.05.2013
CHIREDZI, MASVINGO — Temperatures are rising in
Masvingo Province where Zanu
PF supporters with offer letters to own
sugarcane plots are calling for the
immediate closure of Tongaat Hullet, the
country’s sole sugar producer in
Chiredzi, for failing to allocate them
promised pieces of land amid reports
that some senior Zanu PF officials are
fighting to take over the South
African sugar milling giant.
At least
200 Zanu PF supporters, who earlier this year were issued with
offer letters
to enter into the lucrative sugar production business, are
growing
impatient with Tongaat Hullet, which is allegedly backtracking on an
earlier
agreement to allocate them pieces of land.
Tongaat Hulett is said to have
promised to clear about 4,000 hectares of
land to allocate to the new
farmers following threats from some Zanu PF
supporters to take over some of
its cane fields.
Speaking on behalf of the new farmers, Albert Matambo
told VOA Studio 7 they
are prepared to take the law into their own hands and
close the sugar
milling giant if it does not start allocating the cane
plots.
Chiredzi East legislator Abraham Sithole, the chairman of the Cane
Farmers
Association, has already given the company an ultimatum to honour
its
promise.
Mr. Sithole wants the government to intervene
immediately to avoid action he
said could be regrettable.
It also
emerged yesterday that Zanu PF bigwigs are fighting to take over the
sugar
company, which according to Indegenisation Minister, Saviour
Kasukuwere, has
failed to comply with the country’s black empowerment laws.
Two Zanu PF
factions, one allegedly led by Defence Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa and the
other by Vice President Joice Mujuru have been dragged
into the
issue.
Tongaat Hullet chief executive officer Sydney Mutsambiwa refused
to comment,
preferring to receive written questions in
advance.
Experts warn the closure of the company will lead to massive job
losses in
addition to serious sugar shortages in the country.
http://www.theafricareport.com/
Thursday,
02 May 2013 13:50
By Janet Shoko
Zimbabwean swimming, icon Kirsty
Coventry has sparked sharp criticism after
she claimed she was now on
anti-retroviral medication as a precautionary
measure following a mugging at
Harare International Airport last Saturday.
Coventry was attacked
by a group of men as she returned from South Africa
with some family members
and she claims that she received a cut, as she
tried to fight off the
robbers.
While some social media users have accused her of being racist
by suggesting
that her attackers were black and that lead her to rush to
take ARVs, others
argue that her stance is promoting the awareness of HIV in
the society.
"Whilst wrestling with one of the men over our suitcases, I
cut myself on
the shattered glass. Unfortunately, so did one of the
thieves," the Olympic
gold medalist said.
"I now have to take
antiretroviral medication. The ARVs may be unnecessary,
but HIV is a serious
problem in Africa and you can never be too careful."
It is that statement
that seems to have touched a raw nerve, as she is now
being accused of
stereotyping Africans and of racism.
"I hope you are well Kirsty - and
that the ARV is completely unnecessary and
you are simple playing a racist
card here," a Facebook fan commented.
"Sorry for the attack but were the
men black or white. Your narration
suggests they are black and rushing to
take ARVs is being racist, period.
Shame on you!"
Another user said,
"White or black robbers, Kirsty was right to go on ARVs.
When you come from
sub Saharan Africa blood is blood. I don't care the
colour of the other
person. Sorry about your ordeal."
Some came to her
defence.
"Kirsty Coventry is a role model to many people worldwide as she
is trying
to raise awareness on an issue that is very real.
"This
issue has nothing to do with racism. It is just stating fact. The fact
remains that HIV prevalence is the highest in Sub Saharan African
countries," another Facebook friend wrote.
Another said,
"Irrespective of the robbers colour Kirsty is taking
preventative measures.
The risk of HIV is real and anyone in a similar
situation as Kirsty would
have taken the same precaution".
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Thursday, 02 May 2013 10:40
HARARE -
Harare city’s emergency department has just three ambulances to
service over
three million residents.
The city, which is currently struggling with
disease outbreaks and a myriad
of accidents, runs 12 polyclinics with a
dilapidated fleet of ambulances and
authorities are pleading for
assistance.
Council’s chief fire officer Savious Mugavha said the old
fleet is
inadequate to attend to the city’s health demands.
“We need
32 ambulances to operate effectively but most of the time we have
just three
functional ones while the rest are broken down. The city needs a
new fleet,”
said Mugavha, who was speaking at a handover ceremony of an
ambulance
refurbished by a local cement manufacturer on Tuesday.
Harare mayor
Muchadeyi Masunda said the emergency department had
approximately 24
ambulances when his council took over but about 20 were
dysfunctional.
He said the state of the city’s emergency department
was everyone’s
responsibility.
“Our council does not get any funding
from government, we generate our own
money,” Masunda said. “That has been
the arrangement even before
independence.
“Ratepayers should pay
bills for us to have money. Beyond paying bills we
should take stock of what
we are doing to help the city. Service delivery
does not have ‘isms’
attached like Zanu-ism or MDC-ism.”
Lafarge corporate affairs executive
Washington Mutasa said his company
refurbished the ambulance at a cost of
$10 000 and further pledged to
service the ambulance four times and give 2
400 litres of petrol. - Wendy
Muperi
by Violet Gonda on May 2, 2013
SW Radio Africa’s Violet Gonda speaks to opposition leader Dr. Simba Makoni on the Hot Seat programme this week. Why does Makoni say Rhodesians did not set upon their own as ZANU PF has done? He responds to people who say his comments are “of a frustrated man who will say anything to revive his fading political career?” Makoni’s critics also say he has leadership qualities but has failed to mobilize support. So what is his support base and is he attracted to the idea of forming an election pact with ZANU PF or the MDC formations? The former finance minister also talks about the state of the economy and why he feels dollarization was not brought about by the GNU.
Broadcast 25 April 2013
VIOLET GONDA: My
guest on the Hot Seat programme is Mavambo.Kusile.Dawn leader Dr. Simba Makoni.
Welcome on the programme Dr. Makoni.
SIMBA
MAKONI: Thank you very much indeed, good day to you.
GONDA:
There are certain sections in the Zimbabwean society who feel you should be
charged with treason for saying that President Mugabe and his party are
responsible for the brutalities being suffered by Zimbabweans now than what was
experienced by Rhodesians under the Ian Smith regime. Did you say this and if
so, what makes you say this when many Zimbabweans are saying that life is a lot
better now?
MAKONI:
What I said was the Rhodesians did not set upon their own in the manner that we
are doing. That was the comparison I made. Then I made another comparison which
said in Rhodesia we lived in fear, in Zimbabwe we still live in fear. I even
said President Mugabe himself lives in fear of losing his position. The dominant
force afflicting people in Rhodesia was fear and in Zimbabwe it’s still fear.
But coming to your direct question, I don’t believe there are sections of
Zimbabwean society who believe I should be charged for treason. There was one
person – I feel pity for her because obviously she doesn’t know what makes
treason. As a learned person who is teaching at a high institution of learning,
probably she needs to take time to educate herself on what exactly makes
treason. Having a different view and even having an opposing opinion, nowhere in
the law makes treason.
GONDA:
Right and just going back to one of your points where you said that in Rhodesia
there were no Rhodesians who set upon their own. Others would argue that there
were some white Rhodesians who were victimized because they supported the
nationalists.
MAKONI:
Well I think we want to establish the facts. I did not dispute – I was at one
with some of those white Rhodesians but there were white Rhodesians who formed
opposition parties to Ian Smith’s Rhodesian Front; they were not arrested, they
did not suffer violence, they were not long sleeved, short sleeved – it’s the
degree of victimization if you want to call it that. But yes certainly whites
who were with the nationalist movement, some of them were sent out of the
country, others were put in prison but the degrees are different from what we
are talking about. If you look at some of the brutalities that we have meted on
our own, there is no comparison.
GONDA:
In the state media, your critics say your comments are of a “frustrated man who
will do anything to revive his fading political career.” What is your reaction
to this?
MAKONI:
In politics I accept that people take different views on issues. I wish there
had been evidence of why they think I am frustrated. That I’m trying to build my
political brand is correct, that’s what this game is all about. I believe Mugabe
is also trying to build his political brand so that shouldn’t be an issue should
it?
GONDA:
So in your eyes, what is the correct situation in Zimbabwe as there are
different views depending on who is talking? For example civil society
organizations say there are rights abuses and that there’s no conducive climate
for free and fair elections and if it’s Zanu PF – there are no problems in
Zimbabwe.
MAKONI:
Violet I think it’s very important that you make that distinction. The only
person who won’t tell you that anything is wrong in the country is Zanu PF and
when they concede that something is wrong they say it is because of others, they
blame other people not themselves. Everybody else – political parties, civil
society, business leaders, faith leaders, everyone else who are not Zanu PF
acknowledges that there is a lot that’s wrong in the country, that we have
responsibility for correcting it and that’s the point I was making.
Simply
Zimbabweans must take primary responsibility for the condition in which we find
ourselves in. Either by omission or commission we’ve allowed our country to be
destroyed. Secondly Zimbabweans live in fear and I repeat this – Robert Mugabe
every day lives in fear of losing his position. That’s why he and his party are
doing all that they are doing to the citizens. He even had the arrogance to say
to the people you must not repeat the mistake you made in 2008. Why is it a
mistake to choose someone that you believe in?
So
what is the situation? People live in fear, people live in privation -whether it
is of food, of medicines, of clean water, the hospitals can no longer dispense
medicines, teachers no longer have chalk with which to instruct their children,
everything that we would call normal. Jobs have been lost and are still being
lost in business. Tendai Biti described Zimbabwe as the world’s biggest
supermarket. We trade other people’s produce and we don’t produce anything.
People have been turned into petty traders selling airtime, tomatoes, vegetables
and trinkets from China. That’s not the signs of a country, an economy and a
society that is improving.
GONDA:
But do you admit that the situation has changed significantly since the
formation of the coalition government?
MAKONI:
Well I don’t know what you are measuring to make that statement. We just had a
miserable 18% O’level pass rate announced two months ago. People are still in
fear. The only thing that Prime Minister Tsvangirai claims has improved is that
there is plentiful supply of goods in the shops, imported goods that are not
made here. One question that comes to mind is who and how are we financing these
imports? So those who are claiming that things have improved are measuring the
stability in the economy which was brought about by dollarization – but I would
say to you, dollarization was not brought about by the inclusive government, it
was not even brought about by Zanu PF. Dollarization was brought by the people
of Zimbabwe.
As
late as October 2007 nobody was trading in the Zim dollar anymore; high
officials in government and lowly people in the market, we were all using
foreign currency in our trade. That’s the only factor that has brought some
improvement in terms of price stability & low inflation but every other
yardstick that you can use will show a decline.
The
only other yardstick that shows growth is growth of imports but when Tendai Biti
presents his statements he tells you how terrible it is that our budget deficit
and our trade deficit especially is ballooning in sympathy with the growth of
imports and the decline of exports.
GONDA:
I’m sure you have seen reports saying western countries are changing their
stance on Zimbabwe because they believe there has been progress. What can you
say about that?
MAKONI:
Well first I have always known that western countries have wanted to re-engage
with Zimbabwe to restore normal relationships so I’m not surprised that they
will find the slimmest pretext and the adoption of a new constitution by them
represents progress but I can tell you and you can ask any Zimbabwean whether
the adoption of a new constitution has changed anything in their everyday life.
I don’t think so. But at the same time it is useful that countries try to engage
because with engagement comes influence and hopefully positive influence.
GONDA:
As a former Finance Minister in the Zanu PF government what is your
understanding of how the funding of elections works and what do you make of the
dispute with the UNDP?
MAKONI:
Well first of all I must say that I personally and many other self-respecting
Zimbabweans that I know are very ashamed that our country is having to beg for
money to run our national elections. Elections are financed from the national
fiscus; the government budgets for the conduct of elections. This government
budgeted $30 million for the conduct of a national referendum and a national
election where they estimated at least $200 million was needed. Where did they
expect to get the rest of it? So it’s shameful, it’s embarrassing, I wouldn’t go
about waving a big sovereignty flag when I cannot even finance basic national
imperatives like elections.
GONDA:
Well Finance Minister Tendai Biti says that Zimbabwe should not be asking for
money from outside as we have enough resources and Professor Welshman Ncube also
said that diamonds are being stolen in Zimbabwe. What is happening to the
diamonds and if you were Finance Minister what would you have done about this
situation?
MAKONI:
Well I don’t know what is happening in diamonds because nothing is done in a
transparent manner but if Finance Minister Tendai Biti says what he says, he
should know better; all I know is Biti two months ago said his purse contained
only $217. It’s pathetic that a nation can reduce itself to such pauperism. What
would I do if I were Finance Minister? Obviously I would marshal all the
resources available to the country openly, transparently – that’s what I tried
to do when I was Minister of Finance then and I wouldn’t acquiesce to people
robbing the nation. I wouldn’t continue to associate with people who are robbing
the nation in broad daylight. If I didn’t manage to turn them round then I would
disengage. So it is mind boggling, it is puzzling that people who claim to be
partners, to be working together can be at such loggerheads with each other on a
very simple thing like please bring what belongs to the nation to the national
purse.
GONDA:
Let’s talk a bit about the elections, the forthcoming elections – are you going
to contest?
MAKONI:
Well if elections are called under conditions that provide for credible free and
fair outcomes, we will participate. The parties to the Global Political
Agreement defined very clearly in the GPA and in the road map to free and fair
elections what make free and fair elections. It’s a removal or what I call
demobilization of the agents of fear and violence, it’s enabling the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission to have the competence and the capacity to run free and
fair elections without political interference and without political bias, it’s
resourcing the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the other institutions of state
to manage elections in a manner that allows every citizen who enters a polling
booth to put his X in the box that he or she wants not he or she is forced
to.
GONDA:
Do you see this happening realistically?
MAKONI:
It can happen if we have the will and the commitment to do it. Currently the
will doesn’t exist so I don’t see it happening in the near future.
GONDA:
And I’ve heard quite a lot of people say they would like to vote for you in the
elections but they are worried that you have no followers. What is your reaction
to this?
MAKONI:
Well I don’t know how they can say that before we have measured the following.
The simple method of measuring what following one has is either in a survey or
in an election. Neither of that has been done. But I would say that I am
striving to generate more following than I have at the moment and I’m sure that
come the day we vote in a free and fair election those who are suggesting I have
no following will be surprised.
GONDA:
So how many people do you have at the moment?
MAKONI:
Oh I can’t count them. Too many to count.
GONDA:
You can’t give us numbers?
MAKONI:
There are different categories of following; there are card carrying members of
the party, there are supporters and sympathizers of the party and there are
people who support the platform, the ideas that we give and they are different
numbers in all those. Members of our party are currently measured in tens of
thousands but I know that supporters who believe what we stand for is what the
country needs are in their millions.
GONDA:
I recently spoke to the International Crisis Group’s analyst for Southern Africa
Trevor Maisiri and he had this to say about you and I quote. “I think Simba
Makoni stands out as a good technocrat, with leadership qualities that seem to
be well placed but again the issue is of grassroots mobilization. I would put
Simba Makoni in the same realm as Welshman Ncube in terms of being good as
individuals but failure to mobilize on the ground.” What’s your reaction to
this?
MAKONI:
Look it depends on timeframe. We are building a party, we are a very young party
and I would say if he’s talking about grassroots following at this point in
time, yes we are not a dominant party, I wouldn’t deny that. But does the size
of our membership equate to the following that we have? The people who find our
ideas, our values, our principles attractive, that is where we make the
distinction. Trevor would be right if he’s reading how many people carry an MKD
card in their pocket but if we are reading how many people resonate with our
values and principles, I would say in the millions.
GONDA:
So what are your values and principles and what achievements can you point to
that should make people want to vote for you if you are to participate in the
next election?
MAKONI:
Let’s take the latter part – achievement in terms of service to the people –
none at the moment because we are not in a position to serve the people. But our
principle value proposition is service and servant leadership. We are not
looking for power and control, we are looking to serve, to participate, to
contribute. Other politicians are looking for power, command and control –
that’s a big distinction. We are looking for integrity and honesty. The key
character of our country at the moment; two key characteristics of our country
are fear and corruption and our leaders are not only participating in but are
aiding and abetting corruption, victimization of citizens, disempowerment of
citizens. We are about genuine empowerment where citizens can do things for
themselves without impediment. We are for inclusion, unity and participation. We
don’t want to split the nation into little groups; this party, this religion,
this group, this region – we want togetherness.
GONDA:
So why do you think Zimbabweans are not seeing that?
MAKONI:
Well first of all I don’t know that I would agree with you that Zimbabweans
don’t see that. I don’t know what yardstick you are using to make that
statement. I believe that Zimbabweans see all this. I don’t want to sound like
blowing my own trumpet but I know that what Trevor Maisiri reflected to you is
reflected to many people including to myself by others who say ‘if you have the
opportunity to lead us, we know that you would lead a clean government, a
competent government, it would not be corrupt, it would not be cruel, it would
not set citizen upon citizen’. Zimbabweans say this every day so I believe they
see it. I would not allow under my leadership the cruelty that we have seen,
that a leader will feather their nest when the rest of the nation is groveling
and wallowing in abject poverty. I would not do that.
GONDA:
And of course you have heard many Zimbabweans are calling for opposition forces
to form a pact against Zanu PF in the next elections. Are you attracted by this
idea?
MAKONI:
I am attracted by citizens working together to bring positive change. I am not
attracted by notions of pacts against or opposition. Opposition in what form? I
know that there are people in Zanu PF who are yearning for change just like
there are people in MDC. I know that there are many people in Zimbabwe who are
not in either Zanu PF or MDC who are yearning for real change. So my positioning
is, and I put it out on January 23, we would like to work and are currently
working for a grand coalition for change. We are driven by positives not
negatives, and so all those Zimbabweans who want to see the demobilization of
the machinery of violence and intimidation, and I know there are many in Zanu PF
who want that, I know there are also many in MDC. All those Zimbabweans who want
to uplift the country out of poverty, who want to remove the shame of
joblessness, the shame of lack of clean water, we would like to work with all of
them without putting labels on them. So the underlying foundation is Zimbabweans
for change not Zimbabweans against so and so.
GONDA:
So have you been in talks with any of these parties?
MAKONI:
We are not talking to parties, we are talking to individual citizens and some of
them are in those parties. We are willing to be in coalition with those citizens
who want to work for genuine change, they could be in MDC, and they could be in
Zanu PF. If we are going to work as entities, as this party and that party we
must first construct the platform on which we are going to work and that is what
the discussions I am talking about I’m engaged in. It’s not just to say because
there is MDC, let’s join them to oppose Zanu PF, and because there’s Zanu PF let
them stand away from us – because in the end it’s the personality of citizens,
individually and collectively that make the personality of the nation.
And
I would like to say for the long term, Zimbabweans should resist being paddocked
in little circles that are given characteristics of pro-this and anti-that,
especially anti-that because that is what has taken us down the tube for all
these years because we are being forced to make a choice of who we are against
rather than what we stand for. I am saying to my compatriots – if real change
doesn’t come even in my lifetime, let us agree that we lay the foundation for
our children and our grandchildren not to live in fear, not to live in hunger,
not to yearn for good education, not to miss aspirins at their central hospital.
That is our long range vision that we want to mobilize and energize the whole of
Zimbabwe behind.
GONDA:
Why can’t you mobilize them to be part of the Mavambo.Kusile.Dawn party?
MAKONI:
Violet you want to make a distinction between supporting, believing in and
subscribing to a vision and being in an organization. We would like Zimbabweans
to believe in the vision and values that we are advancing whether they hold our
party card in their pocket or not because that is important. Your value system
is important before you are labeled by any name and that is our first prime. Let
Zimbabweans accept this value proposition then we can work for the attainment of
those values in whatever formation we find ourselves in. Over time we will
converge into united formations on the strength of our belief and our value
conviction. Let’s not start by putting people into an MKD paddock before they
are converted to the faith.
GONDA:
It seems there are a lot of new platforms and organizations; don’t you think
people are tired of these organizations and different groupings and that all
they want is to see change?
MAKONI:
Violet I would remind those people that we came from a de facto one party state
and we didn’t make progress. Secondly I would remind them that choice, variety
are the essence of democracy. You couldn’t really have full democracy if there
was no choice. But I don’t think that our problems are caused by too many
organizations; our problems are caused by a leadership in one organization, in
two, three organizations who are not committed to the mission of serving the
people but who are committed to self-service. That’s why we have done all these
horrible things to each other. Whether you are talking about the brutalities,
whether you are talking about the impoverishment, the disempowerment, even the
victimization that led people to leave the country – numbers of up to three
million Zimbabweans – and last week I had the pain of visiting the Methodist
Centre in central Johannesburg, I was pained, that we can’t be doing this to
ourselves. All those things have a reason because of lack of democracy and lack
of choice.
GONDA:
Some people were actually shocked to find out that in Zimbabwe there are about
18 political parties and this came out when political parties met with the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission last week. Who are these political parties and
what have they been doing?
MAKONI:
Well I was also surprised; actually the number I heard was 33 not just 18; I
think 18 are the ones that attended the event organized by ZEC last week but I
would agree with you that even with my passion for choice and variety, 33 or 18
is too much. But I also would say that it’s really not an issue because like you
asked – who are they? Where are they? Who takes them seriously? So I think
that’s not an issue; let 33 names be on that ballot paper and I can tell you
that not more than five, six will be the significant one.
GONDA:
As you were once a senior Zanu PF official what do make of reports of serious
infighting in the party and how significant is this?
MAKONI:
It’s nearly five years since I left Zanu PF so I don’t know the goings on inside
that party, I don’t know the goings on inside the other parties as well. I’m
sure they don’t know the goings on inside my party. But as a Zimbabwean I am
saddened by that because that underlines the key characteristic I made at the
beginning of our conversation – the fear, the violence, the victimization. If
members of one party cannot resolve contradictions peacefully, is it any wonder
that between different parties we do long sleeves and short sleeves. So I don’t
know the extent of it, I don’t know the factuality of it but I read about it
just like you and all I can say is it’s sad that this is happening because what
we need is amity and togetherness. Even where we disagree in our ideas, in our
views, our approaches to issues, we shouldn’t be enemies to that extent.
GONDA:
Some commentators say that with what is going on in the coalition government it
is possible that we will have a second GNU. Do you see this?
MAKONI:
As I see things at the moment, it is not likely that any one political party
will win an outright majority in the next election if the elections are
conducted under free and fair conditions of choice, in which case then we would
be committed to another coalition. I doubt that the composition of that
coalition will be the same as the one that we have now.
GONDA:
There are others who say it is unlikely there will be another coalition
government since there is no provision of a prime minister in the new
constitution. Is that a correct reading of the constitution?
MAKONI:
No not necessarily. I don’t think that would be a correct reading of the
constitution. My own understanding, and I’m not a constitutional lawyer or any
lawyer for that matter, is that the position of prime minister is that of a
minister and that ministers are appointed by the president because our
constitution has provided for an executive president who is head of state and
government. He will appoint ministers and he is at liberty or she is at liberty
to appoint a prime minister which means a minister above other ministers. So I
don’t believe that the fact that there isn’t a stipulation of a prime minister
in the constitution necessarily means that the country may not, could not and
should not have a prime minister.
GONDA:
Finally Dr Makoni, what did you make of recent surveys by the Freedom House
Institute saying the MDC-T had lost a significant number of voters and that Zanu
PF is likely to win in the next elections?
MAKONI:
There are a number of points to make about that: the first one is that the
significant finding in all those surveys, not just Freedom House, Afro
Barometer, Mass Public Opinion Institute, is that the larger majority of
Zimbabweans, bigger than those who will vote for Zanu PF and MDC, are people who
would not say they would vote for Zanu PF or MDC. Now that is very significant
because it means that any party or parties that will win the support of that
section of voters who will not vote for either MDC or Zanu PF – but they will be
the dominant party.
Another
significant finding is that the majority of those uncommitted are the younger
scale 18 to 35 and that is the segment of our voter that my party is
particularly concerned about because they represent the future, where we are
going, not where we are coming from. But let me also say that one issue that
will bear on this is whether people actually turn out to vote on the day and
vote for who they said in the survey they will vote for. One of our biggest
problems going back to I think 1995 is that fewer and fewer people turn out to
vote at each election and this voter apathy, this low turnout of voters could
change those number dramatically on the day of voting.
GONDA:
Okay we’ve come to the end of our programme; thank you very much Dr Simba Makoni
for talking to us on the programme Hot Seat.
MAKONI:
It’s my pleasure.
To
contact this reporter email violet@swradioafrica.com or follow on Twitter
Hot
Seat is broadcast on SW Radio Africa every Thursday and repeated Sunday from
7:30pm to 8pm Zimbabwe Time. SW RADIO AFRICA is online at www.swradioafrica.com
and daily broadcasts on shortwave 4880 kHz in the 60m band between 7 – 9 pm
Zimbabwe time.
http://www.mdc.co.zw
Tuesday 02 May
2013
The MDC once again joins journalists, the people of Zimbabwe and
the world
at large in commemorating this year’s World Press Freedom
Day.
This year’s commemorations which are being held under the theme;
“Safe to
speak: Securing freedom of expression in all media” come at a time
when
Zimbabwe urgently needs media reforms before the holding of free and
fair
elections.
Zimbabwe needs urgent media reforms as the country’s
public media continues
to churn hate speech and the media industry,
especially the private media,
is facing serious repressive laws affecting
the free flow of information.
However, the MDC applauds the people of
Zimbabwe for endorsing the new
Constitution in the referendum and the role
played by the media in
supporting the draft Constitution.
The new
Constitution carries fundamental freedoms and an expanded Bill of
Rights
that will go a long way in assisting the media in their day to day
operations.
Some of the rights in the new Constitution are; freedom
of expression and
freedom of the media, access to information and the
establishment of the
Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC).
The ZMC will
among other functions uphold, promote, develop freedom of the
media and
monitor broadcasting in the public interest to ensure fairness and
diversity
of views broadly representing Zimbabwean society.
With these new chapters
that are enshrined in the new Constitution, the
existence of draconian media
laws that has seen the arrest of scores of
journalists for years will be a
thing of the past.
Indeed,it is possible to bring genuine transformation
to the nation once the
media has been transformed. As a Party of Excellence,
we believe that
citizens should be given an opportunity to talk and deal
with developmental
issues without getting patronized on political
grounds.
The MDC reaffirms its position on the promotion of a media
environment which
supports the reconstruction of Zimbabwe and ultimately
leading to the
genuine transformation of the lives of
Zimbabweans.
Yes - Together we can complete the change!!
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
Press Statement
3 May 2013
ON
WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY, ZLHR URGES GOVT TO ADVANCE MEDIA REFORM
PACKAGE
ZIMBABWE Lawyers for Human Rights joins all supporters of media
freedom in
the global observance of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May 2013
under the
theme “Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All
Media”.
World Press Freedom Day gives us a chance to pay tribute to media
professionals within Zimbabwe and beyond who risk their lives and that of
their families in their line of duty. It is an opportune time to celebrate
the fundamental principles of press freedom, assess the state of press
freedom in our country and throughout the world and defend the media from
attacks on their independence.
This year’s theme “Safe to Speak:
Securing Freedom of Expression in All
Media” puts the spotlight in
particular, on the issues of safety of
journalists, combating impunity for
crimes against freedom of expression,
and securing a free and open internet
as the precondition for online safety.
ZLHR believes that a free and
independent media is essential to the
development and sustainability of a
vibrant democracy, and integral to
realising the public’s right to diverse
information and views.
Since ZLHR is deeply committed to freedom of
expression and access to
information, ZLHR salutes the brave journalists and
media houses that have
in the past year committed to exposing human rights
violations, executive
excesses, corruption and other ills in both the public
and private sphere.
It is saddening to note that Zimbabwe is still
saddled with an arsenal of
repressive media and criminal laws that are
either too broad or vague
despite committing itself to international,
continental and sub regional
standards and principles that urge state to
promote media freedom.
Almost five years after the formation of the
Inclusive Government (IG) and
the signing of the Global Political Agreement
(GPA) those in authority have
failed to implement the key media reforms
agreed during the embryonic stage
of what we considered to be a transition
to democracy.
Five years of inclusive governing have failed to roll back
the regime of
censorship and secrecy that were the hallmarks of the previous
repressive
era.
The GPA clearly stipulates that laws impacting
negatively on fundamental
rights and freedoms of expression, assembly,
association and movement were
to be amended to ensure a conducive
legislative environment. These
undertakings have been ignored, if not
violated, with impunity.
Obnoxious laws such as the Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy
Act, the Public Order and Security Act and the
Criminal Law (Codification
and Reform) Act among others continue to stifle
media freedoms and have
resulted in the subsequent arrest of journalists,
citizen journalists and
several citizens. This has been a clear indication
that legislative and
institutional reform is not a priority for the IG and
such repressive laws
will continue to be used selectively by unreformed
state institutions and
actors to prevent constitutional freedoms from being
exercised due to lack
of political will and failure to censure heavy-handed
action whenever it
occurs.
The publicly-owned but state-controlled
media (both print and electronic)
continues to do a disservice to the nation
by failing to provide programming
and content that enlighten people in a
comprehensive and educative manner.
Inequality of access to such media by
representatives offering dissenting
views remains a challenge.
ZLHR
has been monitoring, with increasing concern, recent reportage in the
state-controlled and other partisan media which, when read in its entirety,
constitutes a professional and personal attack on a well-respected judge of
the High Court of Zimbabwe (Justice Charles Hungwe), as well as a broader
and more disturbing assault on the independence and integrity of the
judiciary and legal profession in Zimbabwe. What is of the greatest concern
is that such hate speech and false reporting has not only been tolerated,
but has in fact been encouraged to continue with complete
impunity.
Reform of the public broadcaster and state-controlled media
remains
outstanding despite its urgency and the GPA requirement that this be
prioritized by the IG.
Other repressive laws continue to be abused
and selectively applied against
targeted civil society organizations (CSOs)
and human rights defenders
(HRDs). It is disturbing to note an increase in
the criminalization of free
speech through the abuse of insult laws, wherein
ZLHR has recorded 60 cases
in which section 33 of the Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act has
been arbitrarily applied on individuals
and charged with allegedly
“insulting or undermining the authority of the
President” since 2010.
The Broadcasting Services Act has also been used
to stifle lawfully
operational alternative media and voices. In relation to
the latter, the
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) has, since the beginning of
the year,
arbitrarily sought to “ban” alternative sources of media – namely
short-wave
radios. This has been followed by the confiscation of radios from
CSOs and
communities that have been searched or found in possession of such
gadgets.
This unlawful confiscation of radios is directly linked to the
closing up of
access to diverse information and leads to a situation where
people in
communities are not able to get any alternative sources of
information as
they cannot afford to buy newspapers, and in most cases there
is no
frequency for state controlled broadcasting. This is a blatant
violation of
the right to freedom of expression and access to information
and must be
urgently rectified.
The lengths to which State
institutions and actors are now going to deny
fundamental rights and
freedoms and act outside the law is alarming but is
typical of paranoid
State authorities who are contemptuous of any diversity
of opinion and
information.
ZLHR calls upon the IG and the Zimbabwe Media Commission to
make use of the
World Press Freedom Day commemorations as a golden
opportunity to advance
the media reform package which was kick-started by
the IG through promises
that remain unfulfilled of implementing
comprehensive media reforms before
the next
elections.
–ENDS–
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
6th Floor,
Beverley Court
100 Nelson Mandela Avenue
Harare, Zimbabwe
Phone+263 4
764085/705370/708118
Email: info@zlhr.org.zw
www.zlhr.org.zw
Follow us on Twitter@ZLHRLawyers
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
This year’s World Press Freedom
commemorations come at a defining time for
Zimbabwe following the
endorsement of the Draft Constitution during the 16
March 2013
constitutional referendum.
Endorsement of the Draft Constitution thus
offers immense opportunity for
comprehensive legislative reforms that
dovetail with the fundamental
liberties as provided for in the
Draft.
As a media freedom, freedom of expression and access to
information advocacy
organisation, MISA-Zimbabwe is particularly encouraged
by the inclusion in
the Draft of explicit provisions that for the first time
explicitly
guarantee media freedom and citizens’ right to access to
information.
As the world marks this year’s Press Freedom Day on 3 May
under the theme
Safe to Speak: Securing Freedom of Expression in All Media,
MISA-Zimbabwe
calls on the Government of Zimbabwe to ensure that democratic
media reforms
are pursued as a matter of urgency in order to realign the
current media
legislative and regulatory environment with the new
constitution.
It is for this reason that while MISA-Zimbabwe recognises
the importance of
the global theme for this year’s commemorations, it has
sought to give the
event local context through our 2013 theme: Media Reforms
Now!
This theme is grounded on the fact that there is no guarantee that
by
providing constitutional provisions protecting the media, subsidiary
democratic laws will as of imperative necessity, be crafted in line with the
new charter. The region is not short of examples of such discord and
incongruence between constitutional provisions and prevailing legislation.
Malawi and Mozambique are cases in point.
Although the two countries
have explicitly safeguarded press freedom and
access to information in their
constitutions, they have either reneged on or
delayed in enacting supporting
legislation.
It is therefore imperative that as Zimbabwe joins the league
of countries
with democratic constitutional provisions protecting freedoms
of expression
and the media, the authorities should ensure that the
provisions are
exercised and fully enjoyed by citizens.
It is only
through the enactment of supporting legislation that Zimbabwe can
entrench a
culture of constitutionalism as well as abide fully with other
regional and
international instruments on freedom of expression that
Zimbabwe is
signatory to. These include the Universal Declaration on Human
Rights,
African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, Banjul Declaration on
the
Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa, and African Charter on
Broadcasting.
Viewed in the context of the impending elections,
ensuring these reforms are
instituted well in advance will go a long way in
complying with the SADC
Guidelines and Principles on the Conduct of
Democratic Elections as well as
the region’s asserted position on Zimbabwe’s
Election Roadmap.
End
Njabulo
Ncube
Chairperson
MISA-Zimbabwe
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
The New
Age Voices
Harare:
As Zimbabwe joins other countries in marking the
20th anniversary of the
‘Declaration of Windhoek’ also known as World Press
Freedom Day, a local
media body has called for the establishment of a
genuine broadcasting
commission that discharges its duties in a professional
manner.Zimbabwe
Association of Community Radio Stations (ZACRAS), an
umbrella body of
community radio initiatives in Zimbabwe has called for a
visible political
will to create a conducive broadcasting environment in the
country.
Since Independence, the Zimbabwean government has refused to
register
community radio stations and only recently allowed state aligned
Star FM
radio and ZiFM owned by local businessman Supa Mandiwanzira to
challenge ZBC’s
3 decade stranglehold on the airwaves. The Broadcasting
Authority of
Zimbabwe (BAZ) is currently chaired by serial media hangman, Dr
Tafataona
Mahoso, known for closing down newspapers at the turn of the
millennium.
While acknowledging the progress made by the Inclusive
government in
licensing new players, the body said that media reforms
provided for in the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) and recently the new
constitution, must not
be cosmetic but should ensure ‘citizens are exposed
to diverse voices’.
ZACRAS deplored the culture of impunity that has engulfed
the country which
has seen security forces illegally seizing radio sets from
the public.
“We also urge the government to deal decisively with the culture
of impunity
which has seen law enforcement agents unilaterally banning
citizens from
legitimate use of solar powered radio gadgets to access
information,” said
Gift Mambipiri, ZACRAS chairperson.
Mambipiri
urged the government to expedite the process of enacting enabling
legislation that ‘complements the media provisions in the new Constitution’.
The body maintained that community radios remain the missing link in the
communication revolution in the country, which it said are an invaluable
asset for communities to develop.
Meanwhile, Youth Agenda Trust
Chairperson who is also a media practitioner
Kudzai Kwangwari has deplored
the state of the media in Zimbabwe and has
called for the licensing of
genuine community radio stations and for the
public broadcaster (ZBC) to
stop churning out hate speech. He said that it
is important for ZBC to
embrace professional journalistic ethics so that it
becomes a true public
broadcaster. “There must be genuine reforms at the
public broadcaster to
ensure people feel that they own the station. It is
the only way people can
willingly pay radio and television licences,”
Kwangwari said.
Youth
Agenda Trust is working in over 20 districts across the country where
it has
trained communities on citizen journalism and the use of new media
technologies. Today, community members continue to contribute to the
publication of ‘The New Age Voices’ paper which is distributed across the
districts as well as other local papers which have agreed to partner with
the organization in bringing news to closed communities.
World Press
Freedom Day was set aside to celebrate the fundamental
principles of press
freedom, assess the state of press freedom throughout
the world, defend the
media from attacks on their independence and pay
tribute to journalists who
have lost their lives in the line of duty.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
ZACRAS STATEMENT ON THE OCCASION OF THE WORLD
PRESS FREEDOM DAY
Zimbabwe Association of Community Radio Stations
(ZACRAS) notes the
commemoration of the World Press Freedom day which is
universally celebrated
every 3rd of May. This is a day on which we all
pause, reflect and salute
the efforts of men and women who work tirelessly
day and night to assist
global citizens understand one another through the
media. The theme for this
year is “Safe to speak- security of freedom of
expression in all media”.
In commemorating this day, we give honour to men
and women in the media
industry who have contributed in the creation of a
better Zimbabwe. We note
with gratitude the efforts made by volunteers of
community radio stations in
communities dotted around the country, and urge
the government of Zimbabwe
to compliment these efforts by embracing the
community radio sector as a
critical tool for development.
ZACRAS remains
convinced that community radios are the missing link in the
communication
revolution in the country, as they are an invaluable asset for
our
communities to develop. Our feeling is that the government has not
accorded
this important sector the attention it deserves to enable it to
develop
together with other sectors. We say the journey has been long but we
sense
the morning dew!
We also salute colleagues in the mainstream print and
broadcasting sector
who have been key pillars in our society, relaying and
helping in
interpreting the signs of the times. More recently, as Zimbabwe
went through
a transition clearly marked by the adoption of a new
constitution.
To an extent, ZACRAS acknowledges the efforts by the Government
of Zimbabwe
for bringing on board new media players onto our landscape in
Zimbabwe.
While noting progress made thus far, we would like to bring to
your
attention that more still needs to be done especially in the
broadcasting
sector to make sure that citizens are exposed to diverse
voices. We also
urge the government to deal decisively with the culture of
impunity which
has seen law enforcement agents unilaterally banning citizens
from
legitimate use of solar powered radio gadgets to access information. In
the
same vein, the government should ensure that there is a properly
constituted
independent broadcasting regulatory board.
ZACRAS
acknowledges the completion of the Constitution making exercise and
notes
the reasonably adequate provisions on the media. We however call for
the
enactment of progressive media legislation which complements the media
provisions in the new Constitution .We further call for a visible political
will to create a conducive broadcasting environment and encourage
authorities to:
1. Recognize and licence genuine community radios so that
Zimbabwe will have
a three tier broadcasting scenario as provided by the
African Charter on
broadcasting,
2. Immediately constitute an independent
broadcasting commission as espoused
in the draft constitution to deal with
the licensing of broadcasting media,
3. Cease the use of the public
broadcaster as a hate speech churning tool,
4. Make practical efforts that
prepare the nation for the digitalization era
in 2015,
5. Desist from
deliberately frustrating efforts to use alternative media for
the promotion
of access to information as was the case when the police
banned solar
powered- radios with shortwave reception.
Members
1. Community Radio
Harare- CORAH -Harare
2. Berina Community Radio Initiative -Kadoma
3.
Radio Dialogue -Bulawayo
4. Patsaka Community Radio Initiative -Kariba
5.
Getjenge Community Radio Initiative -Plumtree
6. Nkayi Community Radio
Initiative -Nkayi
7. Kwekwe Community Radio Initiative -Kwekwe
8. Nkabazwe
Community Radio Initiative -Gweru
9. WeZhira Community Radio Initiative
-Masvingo
10. Ntepe Community Radio -Gwanda
11. Y- Star FM
-Bulawayo
12. Kumakomo Community Radio Initiative -Mutare
13. Hwange
Community Radio Initiative -Hwange
Gift Mambipiri
Chairperson