Zimbabwe's President: New Tasks for Africa's Spies

http://abcnews.go.com/

By GILLIAN GOTORA Associated Press
HARARE, Zimbabwe May 6, 2013 (AP)

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe urged African intelligence services Monday
to prepare for fresh onslaughts by foreigners and the continent's former
colonizers to grasp its natural resources and potential wealth.

Mugabe said Africa's vast reserves of untapped resources and the world-wide
recession have triggered a new scramble for control of its "raw wealth."

Opening a convention of the continent-wide 49-nation Committee of
Intelligence and Security Services,  Mugabe said outsiders have used at
least 20 armed conflicts in Africa since 1990 to gather intelligence and
deploy "stealth predator drones," unmanned surveillance aircraft, to spy on
their countries.

"Our erstwhile colonizers continue to manipulate international institutional
and conventions to justify unilateral military interventions in African
states with the objective of extracting and unfairly exploiting our
resources," Mugabe said.

He told Africa's annual meeting of security agents, who work under the cloak
of secrecy, that they are now confronted by increasing human and drug
trafficking, money laundering and cyber-terrorism.

Gen. Happyton Bonyongwe, head of Zimbabwe's feared domestic security agency,
the Central Intelligence Organization, took over as chair of what is known
as "the spies' organization" for the next year.

Among some 4,000 delegates at the opening were Zimbabwe's security
commanders, the African Union's special representative on counter-terrorism
and intelligence chiefs from as far afield as Sierra Leone, Senegal and
other West African states, all of whom passed through strict airport-style
metal detector devices.

Zimbabwean intelligence agents dressed in dark suits thronged the corridors
of the downtown Harare convention center.

Mugabe said he hoped the visiting intelligence chiefs will enjoy "Zimbabwean
hospitality" and visit the nation's tourist attractions. Accreditation forms
for the convention asked delegates to provide details of their golfing
handicap and several played golf in teams arranged Sunday.

Rungano Zvobgo, head of a Masvingo university in southern Zimbabwe, said the
theme of the convention, which ends Wednesday, "The Role of Security
Services in Protecting Africa's Natural Resources and Future Economic
Development" is a fitting topic for intelligence agencies.

Zvobgo told the meeting that Congo sits on about $24 trillion worth of
valuable minerals such as gold, diamond, tin, uranium and coltan. That is
equal to the combined Gross Domestic Product of Europe and the United
States, he said, and research shows that about $6 million worth of resources
is smuggled out of Congo every day.

Coltan, also known as tantalite, is a black metallic ore is used in smart
phones, computers and other electronic devices.

Zvobgo said that the use of the metal in the Sony PlayStation contributed to
the rise in the price of coltan from $49 to $275 a pound (about half a
kilogram) in 2000.

Congo has up to 80 percent of the world's coltan, which lies so close to the
surface that it can be mined with shovels and pick axes, requiring no
technology or expertise, he said.

In years of bloody conflict in the Congo, "rebel groups and government
militias monopolize this mineral resource" to buy weapons and fund their
operations, Zvobgo said.

Last year's conference of security agencies was held in Algiers, Algeria.

MDC-T rules out elections at the end of June

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
6 May 2013

The MDC-T on Monday said it is ‘legally impossible’ to have elections at the
end of June this year, as suggested by the former ruling ZANU PF party.

Party spokesman Douglas Mwonzora added that it is also both ‘physically and
logically’ impossible to ‘sleep walk’ into an election without implementing
reforms that were agreed to at the consummation of the GPA.

The raging debate on when elections should be held comes at a time when the
MDC-T has counter-proposed the 3rd August as the date for holding the
harmonized elections.

On Saturday Mugabe had once again told members of his party in Harare that
the life of the inclusive government would come to an end on June 29th,
vowing that no negotiation for an extension could be entertained by ZANU PF.

Insisting that elections should be held on or before June 29th, when the
life of the current Parliament expires, Mugabe told his supporters: ‘The
clock is ticking. This is May and by the end of June, whether anyone likes
it or not, time will be up for elections.’

However, Mwonzora told SW Radio Africa that events leading to the
announcement of an election date is process driven and needs all principals
to the GPA to put their heads together. It is not for Mugabe to force
matters.

‘The GPA makes it clear that the date of election has to be agreed between
the President and the Prime Minister. What Mugabe is saying about elections
is empty bravado and he’s well known for that,’ stated Mwonzora.

He explained further: ‘We have to be satisfied with the state of the voters
roll, we must carry out an audit of the voters roll so that this election
does not produce disputed results again.’

The leader of the smaller MDC formation, Welshman Ncube, also waded into the
election storm created by Mugabe, arguing that the processes that are
involved for the country to hold credible polls would take up to 56 days.

Speaking to the independent Daily News, Ncube stated that the earliest date
by which elections can be held is mid-August, if legal processes are to be
followed correctly.

Meanwhile Parliament resumes seating on Tuesday, with Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga tabling the draft constitution
for adoption.

Mwonzora said the presentation of the Bill to both Houses will be a
formality, as not much debate is expected from the MP’s and Senators.

Recently Minister Matinenga told us he had confidence the draft constitution
Bill will receive a two thirds majority when it is presented to Parliament
for debate on Tuesday.

He said since parliament had already adopted the draft, he was confident
that the draft will receive the two thirds majority paving way for Mugabe to
sign it in to law.

The three chief whips representing ZANU PF, MDC-T and the MDC in parliament
have all indicated that legislators from their respective parties will vote
in favour of the Bill.

ZANU PF chief whip, Joram Gumbo, Innocent Goneso of the MDC-T and Edward
Mkhosi of the smaller MDC said they do not expect any objections to the
passing of the Bill from their party members.

June 29 election impossible: Ncube

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

By Guthrie Munyuki, Senior Assistant Editor
Monday, 06 May 2013 11:06

HARARE - Welshman Ncube, leader of the smaller MDC faction has drilled holes
into President Robert Mugabe’s assertion that elections will be held at the
end of June.

Addressing the Zanu PF central committee on Saturday, Mugabe said there was
no going back on the June 29 elections.

But Ncube argues that the processes that are involved for Zimbabwe to hold
credible polls would take almost 56 days.

“The earliest date by which elections can be held is around the middle of
August if you are to follow the legal processes which are required to call
an election,” Ncube told the Daily News last week before Mugabe’s speech on
Saturday.

“First, we must complete the making of a new constitution. Parliament only
resumes on the 7th of May (tomorrow) to begin business.

“Assuming there are no major problems you expect that both the House of
Assembly and the Senate should have completed the exercise in a two-week
period which should be somewhere around the 14th -20th of May thereabout.

“Thereafter, the president is required to consider the draft and sign it
into law. Again if he fast tracks, you probably will have him gazetting it
around the 20th of May. That constitution once gazetted, most parts of it
become law. We are then bound by those parts of the constitution which would
have become law,” said the MDC leader.

The former University of Zimbabwe law lecturer said one of the things which
was relevant to elections as per the new constitution’s requirements was a
voter registration outreach for aminimum of 30 days.

“And let’s assume for argument’s sake that ZEC (Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission) is able to start that process on May 21st. Let me underline that
exercise must be done after publication day, not before.

“The constitution is very clear. You can’t start it before the constitution
is gazetted and has become law,” explained Ncube.

“...Which basically means around May 21st the earliest. Your 30 days will
take you to around June 21st which means that by the time you have completed
the extended voter registration exercise, there will be one week left to the
29th and clearly therefore you can’t hold an election within seven days.

“What you will then be required to do after the voter registration exercise,
which would end sometime around mid-June is to then proclaim an election.
The law requires that the President must give us no less than 14 days notice
to the proclamation. And then must give us no less than 42 days from the
proclamation to election day.

“That’s approximately 56 days altogether which is two months. Two months
from mid-June will take you to mid-August. That is why we say, legally you
cannot hold elections earlier than the middle of August,” said the MDC
president.

“Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has also argued along the same lines
saying legally and logistically, it was impossible to hold elections at the
end of June.

Mugabe insists elections will be held at the end of June upon expiry of
Parliament and his term.

“This two or three-headed creature called the GPA is coming to an end, the
clock is ticking. This is May and at the end of June, whether anyone likes
it or not nguva inenge yakwana, the sun will set,” Mugabe said on Saturday.

The two MDC formations have warned that hurried elections will not be
credible and are an assault on the principles agreed to by the three parties
at the signing of the GPA.

Last week, Tsvangirai was on a regional offensive in a bid to persuade
African leaders to halt Mugabe’s charge towards sham elections.

But Mugabe on Friday appeared to have found an unlikely boost from a civic
group which lodged an urgent Supreme Court application seeking to force the
veteran leader to announce election dates.

Centre for Elections and Democracy in Southern Africa (CEDSA) executive
director Jealousy Mawarire said principals in the inclusive government were
“causing unnecessary confusion when it was a legal fact that Parliament
would be dissolved on June 29”.

Zimbabwe: Election Scenarios

http://www.crisisgroup.org/

 

Johannesburg/Brussels   |   6 May 2013The pervasive fear of violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe’s 2013 elections contradicts political leaders’ rhetorical commitments to peace, and raises concerns that the country may not be ready to go to the polls.

“Continued violations of the GPA, the lack of reform and the recent rejection of a UN election needs assessment mission suggest that conditions for peaceful, credible elections are not yet in place” Comfort Ero, Crisis Group’s Africa Program Director

Zimbabwe: Election Scenarios, the latest report from the International Crisis Group, reviews developments in what remains an inchoate political environment, and describes possible paths towards elections, expected to be held between July and November this year.

Zimbabwe’s Inclusive Government – the country’s uneasy power-sharing experiment, based on a 2008 Global Political Agreement (GPA) between, principally, President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party – averted greater political violence and repression. But it has not delivered political or economic stability. A reasonably free, conclusive vote is still possible, but so too are disputed polls or even a military intervention by security officials supporting, and profiting from, Mugabe’s continued rule.

The report’s major findings and recommendations are:

• There is lack of consensus and clarity among the GPA partners on reforms following the 16 March constitutional referendum. The country must not rush into elections before addressing these concerns as well as the practical implementation of necessary reforms. Without these, deferring the vote may be appropriate.

• The Southern African Development Community (SADC), in particular South Africa, remains central to shaping a credible vote and legitimising its outcome. SADC must convene a heads of state summit on Zimbabwe that emphasises compliance with the community’s “Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections”. It should also establish a liaison office in Harare to monitor and evaluate electoral preparations; define strict benchmarks for compliance by the GPA parties; and establish clear monitoring and observation roles in the election.

• Pro-democracy institutions established under the GPA need much more support. The Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee, in particular, needs to be enhanced throughurgent permanent deployment of SADC officials; deployment of additional monitors in the provinces; independent investigation of alleged interference by state security forces in politics; and extension of its mandate to cover the entire election period and its aftermath.

“Continued violations of the GPA, the lack of reform and the recent rejection of a UN election needs assessment mission suggest that conditions for peaceful, credible elections are not yet in place”, says Comfort Ero, Crisis Group’s Africa Program Director. “The new constitution could provide the basis for moving forward, but its immediate political impact will be limited and it is unlikely to ensure free and fair elections”.

“Elections in a context of acute divisions will not provide stability”, says Piers Pigou, Southern Africa Project Director. “The Southern African Development Community must define and enforce the necessary minimum conditions for a credible vote, and ensure the country does not rush into elections before there is clarity and consensus on – and implementation of – necessary reforms”.

 

 

New ICG report predicts another GNU in Zimbabwe

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Violet Gonda
6 May 2013

Fear of violence and intimidation in the forthcoming elections contradicts
political leaders’ rhetorical commitments to peace, raising concerns that
Zimbabwe may not be ready to go to the poll, according to the latest report
from the International Crisis Group released Monday.

In the report titled Zimbabwe: Election Scenarios , the international think
tank said both ZANU PF and the MDC-T are pursuing “winner-take all”
strategies, which is likely to mean a hotly contested campaign and possible
violence, although expectations are high that a new government will
accommodate the losing party in some form of reconfigured power sharing. The
ICG says: “A reasonably free, conclusive vote is still possible, but so too
are disputed polls or even a military intervention by security officials
supporting, and profiting from, President Mugabe’s continued rule.”

According to the Global Political Agreement, the Periodic Review Mechanism
is supposed to produce an annual report on what has been achieved in terms
of the GPA. But since the formation of the inclusive government in 2009,
only one report has been produced. “This has been the problem of this power
sharing government. There has been no form of internal accountability or
even proper monitoring of the process,” the ICG’s Southern Africa Project
Director, Piers Pigou told SW Radio Africa.

The political partners in the shaky coalition continue to squabble over the
election dates and implementation of reforms. ZANU PF continues to push for
a June 29th election date but the MDC formations say there are several
processes that need to take place before any elections can happen, including
implementing key reforms.

MDC leader Welshman Ncube said ZANU PF is trying to “confuse and deceive” by
repeatedly saying elections will be held at the end of June, even though it
is now “technically impossible to have a June election.”

“If a proclamation was issued tomorrow, elections would be around 5 July.
But that proclamation would require the Prime Minister’s consent. We know he
won’t.

“Secondly, calling an election now would involve abandoning the new
constitution. If the new constitution is not abandoned then the earliest it
can be passed is 20 May,” explained Ncube

He added: “If passed it will require a mandatory voter registration for 30
days and that will take you to June 22nd. No election can be called before
June 29th without consent of the PM.

The MDC leader said based on this scenario the earliest possible date for
announcing elections would be July 1st and the minimum period from stating
the date to the actual election is 56 days, which would bring the earliest
election date to around 26th August.

The ICG report says deferring the date of elections may be appropriate, to
give the authorities time to address their differences, especially on the
reforms. “The country must not rush into elections before addressing these
concerns as well as the practical implementation of necessary reforms.
Without these, deferring the vote may be appropriate.”

Among the recommendations the group believes that a much clearer commitment
by the Southern African Development Community, as the guarantors of the GPA,
is now needed in Zimbabwe. They call on the regional body to hold a special
summit on Zimbabwe that will emphasise compliance with the SADC, “principles
and guidelines governing democratic elections”.

Pigou said SADC needs to get their “boots on the ground” in terms of
long-term observation, and the report suggests the establishment of a SADC
facilitated liaison office in Harare “to monitor and evaluate electoral
preparations; define strict benchmarks for compliance by the GPA parties;
and establish clear monitoring and observation roles in the election.” This
includes supporting the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee.

The ICG also noted a worrying trend by the international community which
appears to emphasise “credible and peaceful”, rather than “free and fair”
elections, with no agreement on what constitutes credible.

Zim cannot go Cote d’Ivoire poll route

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

Monday, 06 May 2013 11:06

HARARE - Cote d ‘Ivoire Prime Minister Daniel Kablan Duncan has said
Zimbabwe must not be allowed to replicate his country’s electoral dispute
where a 2010 election sparked a four-month civil war.

Duncan was speaking after meeting Zimbabwe PM Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday
in the last leg of a diplomatic offensive targeting key leaders of four of
the regional blocs that make up the African Union.

Cote d ‘Ivoire is the current chairperson of the Economic Community of West
Africa (Ecowas).

Tsvangirai urged Ecowas to ensure that the environment in Zimbabwe was
conducive to the holding of a free and fair election, and highlighted the
need to implement all outstanding reforms under the Global Political
Agreement (GPA), pointedly public media reforms, security sector
realignment, a clean and credible voters’ roll and the alignment of laws to
the new constitution passed in a relatively peaceful March 16 referendum.

After getting a brief from PM Tsvangirai, the PM of Cote d ‘Ivoire, said:
“Africa cannot afford another Cote d ‘Ivoire experience.”

Cote d ‘Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara won a December 2010 election but
incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo refused to cede power, leading to a
conflict that killed some 3 000 people.

Duncan said his country, within the context of both Ecowas and the African
Union will stand by the people of Zimbabwe and will not accept a repeat of
what happened in Zimbabwe in 2008 or in their own country.

After years of criticism for being a toothless body, Ecowas has in recent
years taken a stronger stance against coups and flawed elections, notably in
Niger, Guinea and Cote d ‘Ivoire — the world’s number one cocoa exporter.

Ecowas suspended Niger in 2009 after then-president Mamadou Tandja altered
the constitution to extend his term in power, and it applied pressure on
Gbagbo after he refused to recognise his loss in 2010 elections.

Tsvangirai ended his Africa diplomatic safari on Sunday after meeting
Botswana President Ian Khama on Sunday.

Khama, as a neighbour of Zimbabwe, has maintained an active interest in the
political situation in Zimbabwe since his country, together with South
Africa, has borne the brunt of the 12-year crisis of governance by
accommodating a good number of both political and economic refugees from
Zimbabwe.

Khama, in his meeting with Tsvangirai reiterated his position that Sadc will
have to meet to adopt the roadmap for a free, fair and credible poll and
agree on how the elections are going to be monitored.

“Sadc appointed the facilitator and initiated the GPA and thus ultimately
remains accountable for the conclusion and monitoring of the political
process to a free and fair election,” Khama said.

Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said the diplomatic offensive
was targeted at key leaders of four of the regional blocs that make up the
African Union; the Sadc, Ecowas, Eastern African Community (EAC) and the
Central African regional bloc.

Tsvangirai returned home on Sunday.

Commenting at the end of the PM’s Africa safari, Jameson Timba, minister of
State in the PM’s office and MDC secretary for International Relations and
Cooperation, said: “It is now clear that Africa is now speaking with one
voice on Zimbabwe.

The leaders made it clear that they will not accept either a violent or a
rigged election and they also expressed their exasperation with the
shenanigans of Zanu PF.

“It is also clear that the yesteryear single voice of solidarity with an
individual or the former single ruling party Zanu PF is now ruptured and
replaced by solidarity with the democratic aspirations of the majority of
Zimbabweans who are yearning for a better life under a new democratic
dispensation.” - Gift Phiri, Political Editor

Madzore granted bail but remains in prison

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Violet Gonda
06 May 2013

Last week an MDC-T youth leader was arrested and charged under the draconian
Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act for allegedly calling 89 year old
President Robert Mugabe a ‘limping old donkey’, but it appears the same
rules do not apply when it comes to insulting the country’s prime minister
who this weekend was described as a “psychiatric patient who seems to be
suffering from hallucinations” by the Commander of the Zimbabwe Defence
Forces General Constantine Chiwenga.

The army general was quoted in the state controlled Herald newspaper
dismissing claims he held secret meetings with MDC-T officials saying he
“had no time to waste meeting sellouts.”

Solomon Madzore on the other hand has been in detention since Thursday after
he was arrested for allegedly ‘insulting or undermining the authority of
President Robert Mugabe.’

He was granted bail of $100 by a Bindura Magistrate Monday but will remain
in prison after State prosecutor Munyaradzi Mataranyika invoked Section 121
of the Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act to oppose bail.

His lawyer Charles Kwaramba told SW Radio Africa that he will remain in
custody for another seven days while the State appeals in the High Court.

Over the years human rights campaigners have called for the repealing of the
country’s sweeping security laws which have seen scores of Zimbabweans being
arrested for allegedly insulting the president. The MDC formations have also
come under fire for failing to change these laws in the five years that they
have been partners in the so called power-sharing government.

Bulawayo Residents Say Mobile Voters' Exercise Chaotic

http://www.voazimbabwe.com/

Nothando Sibanda, Jonga Kandemiiri
06.05.2013

BULAWAYO — Bulawayo residents have expressed concern over lack of adequate
information and publicity from the Registrar General's Office on the mobile
voter registration exercise which entered its second week Monday.

The mobile voter registration exercise is expected to run until May 19. The
program, which is expected to facilitate the registration of voters,
especially those previously designated as 'aliens', is being hampered by
administrative shortcomings.

Provincial administrative offices said they have not received communication
from their bosses in Harare that the so-called aliens can now register as
voters.

City resident William Sithole, who went to Iminyela Hall to register
Monday,said there hasn't been adequate publicity on the exercise to ensure
citizens use this opportunity to register or check the voter's roll for
their names.

Sithole said lack of communication between the Registrar General’s Office
and the provincial offices is dampening the spirits of aliens who believed
they would now be registered as voters.

The Registry Department has suspended fines for lost identity cards to
enable citizens to replace their lost documents during the voter
registration exercise.

Another resident, Edwin Ndlovu, said apart from the perceived aliens, most
youths in the Matabeleland and Midlands regions will need help to access
documentation to register due to the Gukurahundi problem that left many
children orphaned and without their parents' death certificates, which are
needed to apply for identity cards.

The mobile team in Bulawayo will Tuesday move to Lobengula Secondary School,
before moving to Magwegwe and Beit Hall.

Meanwhile, the other mobile teams in the region will Tuesday be in Chitete
Primary School in Binga, Sijauke Primary School in Bubi District and Redbank
Primary School in Umguza District.

In the Gokwe-Gumunyu constituency in the Midlands province, villagers say
they have not seen a single team from the Registrar General’s office in all
their 9 wards.

Mavambo-Khusile-Dawn vice provincial chairperson for Mashonaland West
Tofaranashe Gumbo, also a resident in the constituency, says that the
absence of the mobile teams in his constituency is now forcing some
villagers to travel long distances in an effort to register as voters or to
inspect the voters’ roll.

Chiwenga and Chuhuri a security threat to Zimbabwe - MDC

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/

By Nduduzo Tshuma/ Everson Mushava 9 hours 28 minutes ago

ZIMBABWE Defence Forces (ZDF) Commander General Constantine Chiwenga does
not deserve to be the head of the military, but he is best suited for a
position in Zanu PF’s politburo or central committee, the MDC-T has said.

Responding to an attack on party leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai by
Chiwenga, MDC-T deputy organising secretary Abednico Bhebhe yesterday said
it was unfortunate that the army chief chose to be partisan, when he was
supposed to be apolitical.

The ZDF boss joined Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri, who last
week also launched a tirade against Tsvangirai.

“It is tragic that he (Chiwenga)says such things yet his mandate is to
protect every Zimbabwean regardless of their political affiliation,” Bhebhe
said. “He does not deserve to be in the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, but he
deserves a post in a politburo or central committee of a certain political
party.

“He should reform and speak on behalf of all Zimbabweans and not for a
certain political party.”

MDC leader Welshman Ncube said this reinforced calls for State security
sector realignment, as the ZDF was behaving like Zanu PF’s military wing.

“Instead of being a security force for the rest of the people, the army
behaves as if it is a military wing of a political party,” Ncube said. “This
is the point we had been stressing for the four years we have been in
government. That is why we are turning to Sadc to ensure that these issues
are solved before we can go to elections.”

On Saturday, Chiwenga described Tsvangirai as “a psychiatric patient and a
sellout”, whom he would never meet.

This is the second attack on the Prime Minister in recent weeks by a top
security official, after police chief Chihuri inferred that Tsvangirai was a
malcontent.
Critics of Zanu PF say Chiwenga’s remarks give credence to assertions that
security sector reforms are paramount ahead of the pending harmonised
elections.

The MDC-T accuses the military and the police of being complicit in the
killing of more than 200 of their supporters in the run-up to the June 2008
presidential runoff election.

President Robert Mugabe has vehemently refused to tinker with the security
sector, claiming it would be tantamount to effecting regime change.

Political analysts yesterday said the security chiefs were reaffirming their
stance from the 2002 elections, where they said they would not salute anyone
who did not fight in the liberation war.

“That is the repetition of a message we have been hearing that the security
forces, or rather the few generals up there, will never respect Tsvangirai,”
Effie Ncube, head of the National Association of Non-Governmental
Organisations, said. “It shows that the security forces will never respect
the wishes of the people in the event that Tsvangirai is voted into power.
They are also in violation of the Constitution that clearly states that they
should not be partisan.”

Dumisani Nkomo, a political analyst, echoed similar sentiments, saying the
security chiefs were violating the Constitution.

“The security chiefs should respect the Constitution which stipulates that
they salute the Head of State of the time, be it Tsvangirai, Welshman Ncube
or anyone who will have been voted into power,” Nkomo said. “If they cannot
respect the constitution, then they should resign. Otherwise they should not
dabble into politics.”

Trevor Maisiri, of the International Crisis Group, said relations between
Tsvangirai and the security chiefs soured as far back as the 2002 elections
when they vowed never to salute the MDC-T leader in the event that he won.

“This relationship has continued to sour, mainly because the GPA (Global
Political Agreement) failed to create a platform of engagement among the
political parties and the security chiefs,” Maisiri said. “The National
Security Council would have been the most appropriate platform to address
any such challenges — but that institution never saw the light of day.

“The current mudslinging has also increased based on reports that quoted MDC’s
Giles Mutsekwa as having claimed that he was meeting the security chiefs in
private engagements,” he said. “If these meetings were really taking place,
then the current slander is resulting from what the security chiefs may be
considering to be unstrategic exposure by the MDC.”

Maisiri said the security chiefs had a reputation to protect and would not
want to be seen to be engaging with the MDC-T behind Zanu PF’s back.

“At the same time, if no meetings took place and the MDC was misrepresenting
issues, then what we are seeing could be venom coming from the security
chiefs, which is motivated by what they see as attempts by the MDC to create
internal suspicion and cause further divisions within the Zanu PF camp,”
Maisiri said - NewsDay

Zanu-PF rocked by infighting: Another Manicaland Chairperson suspended

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/

Staff Reporter 21 hours 31 minutes ago

MUTARE - The embattled former ruling party ZANU-PF Politburo has suspended
another acting Manicaland provincial chairperson, Dorothy Mabika with
immediate effect as tensions in the province mount amid reports of bitter
political skulduggeries over President Mugabe's succession.

ZANU-PF succession fights are taking a fresh twist every day and week with
reports of the country’s war veterans involved in a bid to block President
Robert Mugabe from standing as the party’s presidential candidate in the
forthcoming elections.

Mabika who belong to Defence Minister Emmerson Mnagagwa's faction was
elevated to the position of acting chairperson following the suspension of
Mike Madiro earlier this year. Madiro is also Mnangagwa's sidekick.

Sources said the pair were working in a clidestine plot together with other
groups in the party to push for a motion on the change of guard before the
elections and hence their lynching.

There are bitter squabbles in the Zanu PF Manicaland pitting secretary for
administration Didymus Mutasa and Women’s league boss Oppah Muchinguri over
the administration of the province.

This led to a group opposed to Mutasa petitioning the party’s President and
First Secretary to intervene.

Asked on how Mutasa was appointed to be part of the Manicaland probe team
yet he was also being implicated in fanning problems in the province, Party
Spokesman Rugare Gumbo said: “That team was set up way before the Manicaland
issue. It was set to probe Bulawayo and the Manicaland issue came later.”

Dorothy Mabika, together with Mike Madiro are facing trumped-up stock theft
charges involving 10 beasts that were intended to be slaughtered for the
21st February Movement hosted by Manicaland in 2012.

The two, who were granted $150 bail by Mutare provincial magistrate, Mrs
Lucie-Anne Mungwari, are expected back in the dock on May 20 for
continuation of trial.

Mabika is facing another stock theft charge involving six cows she received
in 2011 from a Chipinge farmer, Dawid Hercules Jourbert, on behalf of
Zanu-PF which she allegedly stole.

In a letter of suspension, dated May 4, 2013, Zanu-PF national secretary for
administration, Didymus Mutasa, wrote: “Kindly be advised that the Zanu-PF
Politburo sitting at its 266th Ordinary Session on 03 May, 2013, resolved to
suspend you with immediate effect from carrying out any duties or activities
in the name of the party in your capacity as the acting provincial
chairperson and substantive vice-chairperson of Manicaland.

“This is in light of the current court proceedings against you. By this copy
of this letter, therefore, you are hereby suspended with immediate effect
without prejudice to any due processes that may ensue in line with the
constitution of the party.”

In an interview after a special provincial co-ordinating committee held at
Marymount Teachers’ College, Zanu-PF national secretary for commissariat,
Cde Webster Shamu, also confirmed Mabika’s suspension and the subsequent
appointment of Zimbabwe’s Ambassador to Cuba, Cde John Mvundura as the
chairperson.

He will be deputised by Retired Lieutenant-General Mike Nyambuya.

“The purpose of this special provincial co-ordination committee meeting was
to give the people of Manicaland feedback on Politburo’s deliberations on
problems rocking Manicaland.

“Politburo agreed that Ambassador John Mvundura will be the chairman of the
province with immediate effect and will be deputised by Rt Lt-Gen Nyambuya.
In appointing the two cadres, it was agreed that the party should have
mature people who understand the founding principles of Zanu-PF.

We want leaders who unite people because Zanu-PF is a party of yesterday,
today and the future. We want people with strategies that rejuvenate the
party into leadership positions. We are not doing it for the forthcoming
harmonised elections only, but for the future of the party,” said Shamu.

The Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans Association’s secretary for
information and publicity, James Kaunye has acknowledged his association was
aware that some power hungry individuals within the party were plotting
against the ZANU-PF leader in a bid to take over.

The revelations dovetail with recent media reports suggesting that some
within ZANU-PF considered President Mugabe (89) as an electoral liability
due to age and health concerns, hence their wish to replace him as the party’s
presidential candidate before the polls.

VP Mujuru next in line: Mutasa

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

05/05/2013 00:00:00
     by Staff Reporter

ZANU PF administration secretary, Didymus Mutasa, has backed Vice President
Joice Mujuru to take over from President Robert Mugabe and dismissed as
sell-outs a faction in the party he accused of trying to undermine her
prospects.

"We all agreed unanimously (to elevate Mujuru to the Vice Presidency),”
Mutasa told the weekly Standard newspaper.
“Now we are surprised that there are some people like Mnangagwa who are now
leading another faction claiming that they want to take over the party.

“Anyone who objects to the legitimacy of Mai Mujuru as the Vice-President of
the party, then that person does not belong to Zanu PF.”

Zanu PF recently dispatched a team led by national chairman, Simon Khaya
Moyo, to try and heal divisions in Manicaland after local leaders petitioned
Mugabe over problems in the province.

According to media reports the petitioners accused Mutasa of causing
divisions in the region.
Party spokesman, Rugare Gumbo, said Khaya Moyo’s team had managed to address
the problems which he attributed to personality clashes.

“We were able to resolve the challenges facing the party and the leaders
from the province agreed that they will work together for the good of the
party," Gumbo told state radio.

"It has since been noted that the problems in that province were not
political but merely of personalities."

Mugabe, who turned 89 this year, will lead Zanu PF in elections due this
year but the party is still riven by deep divisions over his succession with
Mujuru and Mnangagwa said to be leading rival factions angling for the top
job.

Mutasa accused those opposed to Mujuru of lacking the courage to openly show
their hand and, instead, choosing to engage in divisive behind-the-scenes
manoeuvring.

He said: "In all (the congress the party has held) those that are against
Mai Mujuru would be quiet. Now some other people are now causing divisions,
is it because she is a woman?" he asked.

"Zanu PF is a strong party and Mai Mujuru was put in that position because
of her sound track record and good deeds in the party and no one should
object that.

“She is our leader. Those that are fanning factionalism are sell-outs and
they are perpetuating the destruction of the party."

Maternal deaths: EU donates 63 ambulances

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

06/05/2013 00:00:00
     by Staff Reporter

THE European Union is set to donate 63 ambulances to all of Zimbabwe’s rural
district hospitals under a US$13 million new scheme to reduce maternal
mortality.

The ambulances will be handed over to the Ministry of Health on Friday for
onward distribution to district health centres.

The EU is also funding the “revitalisation” of Maternity Waiting Homes and
related services.
A spokesman for the EU in Harare said: “We estimate that 150,000 women will
benefit from the Maternity Waiting Homes and other services in 105 health
facilities over three years."

The project will be implemented in close coordination with the Ministry of
Health and managed by the United Nations Population Fund.

In January this year, the Zimbabwe Women's Resource Centre and Networking
said the number of women dying during delivery was between 725 to 960 out
every 100,000 live births. The lack of ambulances, especially in rural
areas, was a contributing factor to the mortality rate.

State to market minerals, in new proposals

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

06/05/2013 00:00:00
     by Bloomberg

ZIMBABWE is considering auctioning mineral deposits, restricting production
of commodities deemed strategic and having the state sell the output from
all mines, according to a draft policy document.

The proposals are made in a minerals policy prepared by the Ministry of
Mines and Minerals, which is yet to be released publicly. The ministry will
start discussing the policy with the mining industry on Tuesday, Prince
Mupazviriho, permanent secretary for mines, said on Friday, declining to
comment on the contents of the draft.

The country needs “an open, transparent and competitive auction procedure
for known mineral deposits,” the ministry says in the policy.

“The State of Zimbabwe reserves the right to market the people’s mineral
assets, but undertakes to recompense the miner at fair and transparent
market prices for mineral exports.”

Miners including Impala Platinum, and Rio Tinto Group are currently free to
market their own minerals.
The policy comes after companies including Impala and Anglo American
Platinum agreed to comply with an existing law to cede 51 percent stakes in
their local assets to black Zimbabweans or the government.

Zimbabwe has the world’s second-largest platinum and chrome deposits after
South Africa as well as deposits of coal, gold, diamonds and iron ore.

If implemented the marketing policy will be a reversal of an earlier
liberalization of mineral sales, which formerly had been undertaken by the
Minerals Marketing Corp. of Zimbabwe and, in the case of gold, a unit of the
central bank.

Under the proposal gold and platinum group metals will be sold by a dealer
authorized by the Ministry of Finance and all other minerals will be sold by
the MMCZ.

In addition to the changes to the marketing of minerals the ministry is
proposing auctions of deposits as well as imposing new taxes, the policy
shows.

A resource rent tax, defined as a tax on profits in excess of an average
national return on investment, is proposed to replace the current additional
profits tax. An export tax may also be imposed to encourage local processing
of minerals, according to the policy.

“The current free mining colonial mineral regime is inappropriate for using
national mineral assets to underpin wider development and
 industrialization,” the ministry said in the policy.

Mining licenses will be awarded for a maximum of 25 years and minerals
including iron ore, coal, copper and limestone may be deemed strategic,
meaning that their output can be restricted and their prices of the minerals
regulated, the ministry said.

Another state company, the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corp., may be tasked
with producing some minerals to supply industries and given a three-month
period to assess new, state- financed geological data to decide whether to
develop mines.

Zimbabwe to consult with miners before imposing election taxes

http://www.mineweb.com/

Mines Minister Obert Mpofu says government will not impose ideas or policies
on mining stakeholders but rather will consult with all affected parties.

Author: Reuters
Posted: Monday , 06 May 2013
TEL AVIV (REUTERS) -

Zimbabwe will consult with the mining industry before imposing any new taxes
on the sector to help fund elections set for July, the country's mines
minister said on Monday.

The taxes have been proposed by Zimbabwe’s minister of finance.

"I have no doubt there will be consultations between the minister of finance
and myself so that we understand how they are going to handle this
particular matter, but it's just a proposal," Obert Mpofu, Zimbabwe's
minister of mines and development, told Reuters on the sidelines of a
diamond conference in Tel Aviv.

"I haven't studied it yet and I think we will have to consult with the
players, the stakeholders, before any position has been taken by the
government."

Zimbabwe, which is on the verge of bankruptcy, withdrew a request for U.N.
election funding last month, saying the United Nations had tried to
interfere in security matters and the media.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti said he would consider introducing three or
four taxes, including some on the mining sector, likely to affect the
world's largest platinum miners, Anglo American and Impala Platinum, which
have operations in the country.

Mpofu said Zimbabwe would not impose ideas or policies on mining
stakeholders, but rather would consult with the chamber of mines and even
the players themselves.

"It is a process of consultations. The minister of finance will definitely
consult with me and they will consult with the stakeholders before this is
implemented," Mpofu said.

ZANU PF sticks to same old tune on land compensation

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Nomalanga Moyo
06 May 2013

The Zimbabwe government has indicated that it would consider compensating
white commercial farmers whose land was confiscated during the land
invasions – but only if the West pays for it.

Diplomatic sources told the Mail & Guardian newspaper last week that
President Robert Mugabe had indicated to two visiting American envoys that
Zimbabwe was “willing to reopen talks about compensation but money promised
by the British and Americans in 1979 was critical to any settlement.”

According to the newspaper, Mugabe revealed this during “closed-door”
meetings held with American civil rights leaders, Andrew Young and Jesse
Jackson, during which they discussed a range of issues, including land.

The meetings are part of a diplomatic offensive by the west to re-engage
Zimbabwe, which kicked off with a major re-engagement conference held in
London in March. At that gathering ZANU PF’s lead negotiator, Patrick
Chinamasa, reiterated his party’s position that compensation for land could
only come from the West, and in particular the British.

During his visit to Zimbabwe three weeks ago former UN ambassador Young
reportedly told a discussion, hosted by political and economic institute the
Sapes Trust, that his greatest concern was “why Britain and the US
government reneged on funding the land issue. When nothing was done,
Zimbabwe did what it could under the circumstances”, he said, according to
the Mail & Guardian newspaper.

Hard on the heels of Young, Jackson emerged from a two-hour meeting with
Mugabe and was quoted as saying that “the land issue was a source of
tension. Some focus on land was not honoured and [this has] been a source of
struggle.”

Speaking to SW Radio Africa, respected journalist Jan Raath said the
discussions regarding land compensation between Mugabe and the Americans
were all ‘jaw jaw’, and he did not see these yielding any concrete results.

He said: “To start with, the Americans were never really involved in the
land issue after the Lancaster House negotiations. After Lancaster House the
land issue became very much a British programme and I do not see why the
Americans would want to get involved now.

“Where will they get the money from? The western governments are highly
unlikely to take up the burden of compensating the farmers,” Raath told us.

Raath said there is little chance the issue of land will be amicably
resolved under the ZANU PF government, because that is how the regime
designed the programme and they were happy with things as they are.

“The same applies to the issue of the security of land tenure, there is no
security whatsoever and ZANU PF can withdraw the land at any time. It makes
people dependent on the regime. It gives them (ZANU PF) power and they won’t
be willing to forego this power,” Raath said.

He added that the issue will continue to pose huge problems for anyone who
succeeds ZANU PF: “Correcting past wrongs will be well beyond the capacity
of any new government and they will have to just concentrate on reviving the
agriculture.”

Zimbabwe’s Commercial Farmers’ Union (CFU) confirmed to the media that they
were negotiating with the government and the West over compensation for
former farmers.

Estimates for the compensation bill for the more 4,500 former commercial
farmers now stand at $6 billion, up from about $2 billion, including
interest accrued over the years.

'Zim army needs change'

http://mg.co.za/

03 MAY 2013 00:00 - FARAI SHOKO

A democracy institute has called for reforms ahead of elections as the
security sector remains in charge of Zimbabwe's political landscape.

As Zimbabwe's politicians bicker about whether to implement more reforms
before polls, a Harare think-tank says credible elections are impossible if
the army and police are not reformed.

In its latest report released last week, the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute
says that the rise of "security politics" has given the security sector a
high degree of political influence. It says the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) and the African Union appear to have failed to push for
significant reforms in the sector, leaving it fully in charge of the
political landscape.

"In Zimbabwe, militia politics exist with the acquiescence of the state and
the security establishment. The failure to implement security sector reforms
have the potential to block a possible democratic transition as the country
prepares for the first election after the formation of the unity
government," says the report.

The institute says urgent attention is required to subordinate the security
chiefs to democratic civilian leaders. Mugabe has publicly refused to
oversee changes in the army such as the writing of a service charter for the
army that forbids political allegiances for army generals, saying that would
be like effecting regime change.

It says the failure to implement agreed reforms was more glaring in the
security sector, given the "poisonous" role played by the military in the
2008 presidential elections. The Movement for Democratic Change accuses
soldiers of perpetrating violence against its supporters then. "Zimbabwe's
security sector should be transformed. This is the key that can unlock free
and fair elections," the report concludes.

Trevor Maisiri, a Zimbabwean political analyst with the Brussels-based
International Crisis Group, agreed with the Zimbabwe Democratic Institute
that security sector reform is importance ahead of elections.

"Zanu-PF and the security sector have never been separated in the political
landscape since independence from Britain in 1980. Even during the
liberation struggle, the political wing and military wing were integrated.
Zanu-PF is unwilling because operating without the army will be new terrain
for them," he said.

South African team
Meanwhile, the South African team mandated by the SADC to work with
Zimbabwe's political parties this week left Harare after Zanu-PF did not
turn up for a meeting.

In a media statement, one of the facilitators, special envoy Charles
Nqakula, said Zanu-PF had not turned up despite an agreement on April 16
that all the parties would attend the meeting.

This paper reported last week that Zanu-PF had decided to reduce
its ­co-operation with the South African and SADC teams.

South Africa's team also included President Jacob Zuma's spokesperson Mac
Maharaj and international relations adviser Lindiwe Zulu. The SADC is
represented by Tanzania, Zambia and Namibia.

It has been widely reported in Zimbabwe's newspapers recently that Maharaj,
Nqakula and Zulu, who were assisted in their work by the South African
ambassador to Harare, Vusi Mavimbela, were snubbed by Harare after Zanu-PF
politburo members Nicholas Goche and Jonathan Moyo refused to allow them
into joint-party meetings, saying their presence was not needed as it would
be an infringement on Zimbabwe's sovereignty.

Zimbabwe Election: Diamonds and Politics

http://nehandaradio.com/

on May 6, 2013 at 12:10 pm

By Farai Maguwu

The Kimberly Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) has tried hard to resolve
the Zimbabwe diamond crisis since 2009, but with limited success.

Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy was denied
access to the controversial Marange diamond fields twice before being
allowed on a “guided tour” in 2012.

The Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, has repeatedly clashed with the
Minister of Mines and Mining Development Obert Mpofu over diamond revenues.

So public was the conflict, often characterised by accusations and
counter-accusations, that a commission of inquiry to investigate some of the
serious allegations would have been the logical thing to do.

Nevertheless, the controversy has continued right to the very end of the
Inclusive Government, expected to be dissolved in next month.

There seems to be no hope for an immediate change of strategy in handling
Marange diamonds. Maybe it’s a question of wrong diagnosis and prognosis
leading to a wrong therapy. Or simply the diamonds were discovered at the
wrong time in Zimbabwe’s history

Marange diamonds were discovered at the height of polarisation in Zimbabwe
in 2006. When the government moved in to violently seize control of the
lucrative diamond fields in November 2008 the justification proffered was
that diamonds would inject life into the struggling economy, hence the need
for total control of the diamond fields by government.

Nevertheless, five years after the government’s takeover of the diamond
fields, many questions remain unanswered.

For instance, the true identity of the companies mining in Marange remains a
mystery. Mr Biti, who belongs to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) party remains in the dark as to where the
diamond revenues are going.

Government has shifted goalposts, blaming the lack of transparency and
accountability in the diamond sector on restrictive measures imposed on
President Mugabe and his inner circle by the EU and the US.

However, the problem with Marange diamonds, and other natural resources
being mined in Zimbabwe, is deeper than the sanctions rhetoric.

Rather than being treated in isolation, Marange diamonds should be seen as a
microcosm of a dysfunctional political system that is being exploited to the
maximum by China.

China owns the biggest mining corporation in Marange, Anjin Investments,
which is accused by Mr Biti of operating in partnership with the Zimbabwe
National Army. Minister Biti further alleges that Anjin Investments does not
remit revenues to treasury.

All the mining licences were awarded in controversial circumstances. No
tender procedures were followed. Government has put a tight lid on the
shareholding structures of the diamond mining companies.

Put differently, the discovery of diamonds in eastern Zimbabwe has
contributed to further polarisation as the security sector and political
elites have used diamond wealth to further entrench their narrow political
and economic interests at the expense of the country.

Whilst President Mugabe has on various occasions spoken out against
corruption, his sincerity in dealing with corrupt elements from his
government is highly questionable.

Top officials from his ZANU-PF party have been accused of various diamond
related crimes ranging from bribes, extortion to illicit diamond deals.
Because senior political and military officials have been implicated, the
president appears powerless in handling the matter.

What has emerged from Marange is the exclusion of both the local people and
the general public from determining how the diamonds ought to be governed. A
political solution is arguably the most logical answer to the Marange
controversy.

The holding of a credible general election leading to the formation of a
government that is answerable and accountable to the people can mark a
turning point in Zimbabwe’s diamond sector.

However, a credible election in a country where one political party is
controlling all the mineral wealth is unlikely. Reports by Global Witness,
Partnership Africa Canada and statements by the Finance Minister indicate
the existence of a parallel, diamond-funded government which involves the
influential security sector.

Given the weakened position of the MDC-T in government and the intransigence
of President Mugabe and hardliners in his ZANU-PF party, help for Zimbabwe
can only be expected to come from the regional bloc, the Southern African
Development Community.

SADC has a Herculean task to ensure that the battle for control and
retention of control of the lucrative diamond fields does not plunge
Zimbabwe into turmoil come election time.

In helping Zimbabwe create a roadmap towards a watershed general election,
SADC must ensure that no political party is enjoying an unfair advantage
over others by diverting state resources to its own campaign activities.

Finally, successfully negotiating the holding of a free, democratic and fair
election will translate into finding a lasting solution to the challenges
being faced in Zimbabwe’s diamond sector. ZimbabweElection.com

Farai Maguwu is the director of the Centre for Natural Resource Governance

What does it mean to be Zimbabwean?

http://nehandaradio.com/

on May 6, 2013 at 12:33 pm
155 113 21 2

What does it mean to be Zimbabwean? It’s a debate we need to have, says
Tendai Biti

Finance Minister on trust, fear, justice and identity

“We need a common set of values to define what it means to be Zimbabwean”

Zimbabwe’s new Constitution, passed overwhelmingly in a March referendum and
expected to be adopted next week, will re-establish a “social contract,” the
trust that is essential to effective functioning of modern economies,
according to the Finance Minister, Tendai Biti.

Societies can only function if the people trust their government, he said.
Trust comes with the checks and balances on government power that
constitutionalism proves. Yet, he said, Zimbabwe lacks a national debate on
issues that address trust, fear and the country’s path to the future.

Speaking at the London think tank Chatham House recently, he said the lack
of debate on transitional justice was a “fatal omission”.

“When I became finance minister, one of the key things that people always
used to ask me was ‘Are you going to return the Zimbabwean dollar?’ Because
that was such a measure of trust — can we trust you, are you going to return
the Zimbabwean dollar. I had to say that if someone was to force me to
return the Zimbabwean dollar, then I would rather commit suicide that do
something stupid like that. But the issue was trust,” he said.

“The Constitution is an important step in restoring the social contract. But
the Constitution alone is not enough — we need constitutionalism. We need
law and order, courts that work. This is the debate that ought to be taking
place but is not.”

Nor were people’s fears being addressed, Mr Biti said, naming transitional
justice, land reform and compensation, security of wealth, inclusion and
politically-motivated violence.

“When you have got societies in transition, for that transition not to be
prolonged, you need dialogue to address people’s fears. There is an absent
debate in Zimbabwe right now, which is the debate on addressing people’s
fears.

“What are peoples fears? I want to address the ZANU-PF. If I was the ZANU-PF
I would be worried about transitional justice, I would be worried about the
international courts, the International Criminal Court & the Rome Treaty.
Nowadays you don’t even have to subscribe to the Rome Treaty for the
international law to apply. We all know that. I would want guarantees, if I
was ZANU-PF, that the trial status of the Charles Taylors of this world does
not apply to me.

“Zimbabwe is not having a debate about transitional justice — that is a
fatal omission.

“The second issue that I’d want addressed if I was ZANU-PF would be the
issue of land reform — is it permanent? Fortunately, that has been resolved
by the Constitution — we have made the land reform permanent.”

Compensation has become a contentious issue, he said. “But it’s not a
constitutional issue, its a budget issue,” he said. “We have been paying
compensation to farmers, if you look at our budget, since 2000.”

On the issue of fraudulently acquired wealth, he said this was also an issue
of transitional justice. “Our Constitution protects private property
unambiguously, in Part Four of the Bill of Rights provision.”

Inclusion, like land reform and compensation, needed to be publicly aired if
ZImbabweans were to overcome the age-old revolutionary practice of tainting
those associated with the “old order,” he said.

“There must be debate on inclusion, on participation, on the democratisation
of the economy. A large sector of our people did not participate in the land
reform. They are Zimbabweans, they are saying they want to participate. One
of the beautiful things of our Constitution is that we democratised that, we
de-racialised that. So it doesn’t matter if you are red, green or blue or
white, you can own land in Zimbabwe.”

For followers of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)– of which Mr Biti
is secretary general and which entered into a power-sharing arrangement with
the ZANU-PF of President Robert Mugabe after contentious elections in 2008 —
should be concerned about violence such as that which marred the last poll,
he said.

“Why should violence be an instrument of political mediation? So let’s have
a discussion that violence in our society can never be an instrument of
political mediation,” he said. “People want the rule of law.”

The economy also needed to be de-politicised, he said, to ensure that it
functioned and grew smoothly.

“Politicising the economy, making irrational, political statements that
affect the economy, or political statements for expedience — you can differ,
you can have so many political parties, but there are certain fundamentals
which we have learned — the economy must function. The government can do its
own social programmes, but a functional economy must exist. This is the
lesson that Africa has learnt since 2000. Let’s have a proper agreement on
the vision of what is our economy. A debate must take place on that,” Mr
Biti said.

To add cohesion to this vision for the country’s future, Zimbabweans needed
to define themselves through a common set of values, he said, as the United
States had done with the Declaration of Independence.

“When Jefferson and others wrote that ‘we take it as self evident that all
men are born equal’, they were defining and capturing a common set of values
amongst everyone, the republicanists, the colonialists, of what it is to be
American.

“Zimbabwe, and Africans, need this debate. What does it actually mean to be
a Zimbabwean? What does it actually mean to be a South African?

“I spent time in exile in South Africa in 2008. I knew I was going to get
arrested if I got back home but I chose to rot in a Zimbabwean prison rather
than stay in that society with its contradictions. And one of the reasons
that these contradiction are there — whether it is Zimbabwe, South Africa,
whether it is Somalia, Cote d’Ivoir, is that we have not sought to define a
fabric of what it means to be an African, what it means to be a Somalian,
what it means to be a Zimbabwean.”

Source: ZimbabweElection.com

Bill Watch - Parliamentary Committees Series 8/2013 of 5th May [Committee Meetings 6th to 9th May]