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MDC-T
legislators disrupt senate in protest at ZANU PF governors
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance
Guma
11 November 2010
For the second day running senators from Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
party on Wednesday disrupted a scheduled
sitting of the Senate in
Parliament. The senators protested the presence of
ZANU PF governors,
unilaterally appointed by Mugabe in October. On Tuesday a
similar protest
was made when one of the governors, Thokozile Mathuthu,
showed up.
‘Immediately after the opening prayer MDC-T Senator Tichaona
Mudzingwa rose
to object to the presence of Thokozile Mathuthu, David
Karimanzira, Jason
Machaya and Faber Chidarikire in the House,’ Veritas who
monitor legal and
constitutional issues reported.
The president of
the Senate Edna Madzongwe (ZANU PF) is said to have refused
to accept the
objection ‘whereupon the MDC-T Senators starting singing,
dancing and
whistling and made such a noise that the President of the Senate
rose to
adjourn the Senate until February. No business was conducted. MDC-M
Senators
present did not join in the demonstration,’ Veritas said.
Ten provincial
governors are meant to take seats in Parliament as senators
but because
Mugabe defied the provisions of the power sharing deal in
unilaterally
appointing them, the MDC-T have refused to recognize ‘strangers
in the
house’ and have vowed to keep up the disruptions until the matter is
resolved. Soon after being re-appointed in October the ZANU PF governors
seemed reluctant to be humiliated or heckled in parliament and did not show
up for that months sitting.
In September MDC-T legislators, attending
a two-day Pan African Parliament
workshop in Victoria Falls, walked out
during an address by Matabeleland
North Governor Thokozile Mathuthu from
ZANU PF. They again let it be known
they did not recognize Mathuthu as her
term of office expired in August this
year.
In October a furious
Tsvangirai addressed a press conference at which he
berated Mugabe for
betraying him in attempts to implement the power sharing
accord. He vowed
his party would not recognize the governors, ambassadors
and judges named by
Mugabe, without any consultation with him as the Prime
Minister.
Meanwhile it’s reported that Tsvangirai has not spoken to
Mugabe ‘one on one’
in over a month and continues to boycott meetings with
the ageing ZANU PF
leader. Speaking to France 24 in a television interview
aired Wednesday,
Tsvangirai said “I think since the unilateral action, I
have stopped
engaging him. Of course we meet in cabinet. But the regular
Monday meetings
we used to have, I have ceased them, because I found that it
was unhelpful.’
Zuma
talking to Mugabe, Tsvangirai
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Simplicious Chirinda Thursday 11
November 2010
HARARE – President Jacob Zuma is talking to
Zimbabwe’s squabbling leaders to
try to coax them to iron out their
differences and craft a roadmap for new
elections, his international
relations adviser Lindiwe Zulu said on
Wednesday.
Zulu, part of a
three-member team set up by Zuma to facilitate dialogue
between the
Zimbabweans, said the South African President was pushing the
squabbling
Harare coalition leaders to resolve differences over
implementation of their
power-sharing deal known as the global political
agreement
(GPA).
Zuma is the Southern African Development Community (SADC)’s
official
mediator between President Robert Mugabe and his former opposition
enemies
who came together in a unity government under immense pressure from
the
regional body keen to contain a political crisis that followed
Zimbabwe’s
inconclusive elections in 2008.
“We are currently focusing
on engaging with the principals only and
President Zuma is very active in
this exercise calling the principals to try
and get a speedier
implementation of the outstanding issues and others that
are arising,” said
Zulu by phone from Johannesburg.
The ever-fragile Harare unity government
was rocked by serious divisions
after Mugabe in October appointed provincial
governors without consulting
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the latest in
a chain of senior public
appointments unilaterally made by the President in
violation of the GPA that
gave birth to the unity government.
The GPA
and a constitutional amendment enacted to cement the political
agreement
require the President to consult the Prime Minister before making
senior
public appointments.
But Mugabe has flagrantly ignored this clause of the
agreement unilaterally
appointing -- in addition to governors -- his allies
to key positions such
as attorney general, central bank governor, court
judges and ambassadors.
Talk of new elections next year by Mugabe and
Tsvangirai to end their
marriage of convenience that insiders say is
increasingly becoming a hostile
affair has further stoked up tensions in
Zimbabwe in recent weeks.
Civil society groups say the country is not
ready for new elections because
political violence is still taking place,
while several electoral reforms
and a proposed new constitution still need
to be implemented and given time
to take root to ensure the next vote is
free and fair.
Zulu said Zuma’s current efforts are among other things
aimed at ensuring
Zimbabwe’s next elections are in line with recommendations
by SADC leaders
at a summit last August.
“Elections are just but one
of a host of many others that we are dealing
with,” Zulu said. “We are
guided by the SADC decision on a roadmap to an
election which includes a
whole host of things such as the political
environment and electoral
systems.”
The election roadmap includes adopting a new constitution,
drawing up a
fresh voters’ roll, ending political violence and passing of
new electoral
rules by Parliament.
But none of the measures have been
implemented and analysts say there isn’t
enough time between now and mid
next year -- when Mugabe says Zimbabwe must
go to polls – to carry out the
reforms. – ZimOnline.
We’re
no longer in direct contact with Robert Mugabe - Tsvangirai
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
11 November,
2010 12:14:00 Staff Reporter
HARARE – Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai has limited contact with
President Robert Mugabe to only
unavoidable meetings a month, but insists
that a unity government they
entered in February 2009 is the only viable
option to consolidate progress
made on the economic and political front.
Tsvangirai accuses Mugabe of
“eroding trust” built over the last two years.
Mugabe’s October 7 decision to
re-appoint governors without consulting him
“broke the camel’s back”, he
told a French TV news channel.
“I think since the unilateral action, I
have stopped engaging him,”
Tsvangirai told France 24 in an interview aired
Wednesday. “Of course we
meet in cabinet. But the regular Monday meetings we
used to have I have
ceased them because I found that it was
unhelpful.”
Mugabe, who says he wants elections next year to end the
“nonsense” of power
sharing, has told Tsvangirai that he can only negotiate
over governor
appointments when western sanctions on the country are
lifted.
A power sharing pact signed in September 2008 compels the MDC
leader to work
together with Mugabe and the third coalition partner, Deputy
Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara, “in re-engaging the international community
with a view to
bringing to an end the country's international
isolation.”
Tsvangirai said: “One of the things that happens in this
situation is that
there has to be a personal rapport, there has to be
personal understanding
if you have made progress.
“But if people use
it [regular meetings] just for political expediency
purposes, to say we will
have this engagement just to be seen to be engaged,
rather than to engage in
honest and frank discussions about the affairs of
the state, then I think
its deceiving the other party.
“My trust that has been built over the last
two years has been seriously
eroded because of the actions that have been
taken.”
Yet despite his growing rift with Mugabe, Tsvangirai believes the
86-year-old leader could yet play a significant role “for his own legacy’s
sake” in ensuring the country does not slide back to the economic and
political problems of the last decade.
Said the MDC leader: “Is Robert
Mugabe determined to die in office? I don’t
think so.
“Are his people
who are around him, backing him, determined to put him in
front until he
dies in office because of their own self-interest? I suspect
so.
“He has
to make that decision for his own legacy’s sake. Does he want to die
in
office for the sake of dying in office?”
Tsvangirai says while his MDC party
has "always been ready" for an election,
the planned 2011 ballot is
"premature" and a threat to the country's
prevailing stability.
He
added: "I think across the political divide people don't want to slide
back
to where we were. Should he create those conditions, should he trigger
those
conditions, I think it would be very regrettable.
"But I understand from
his own party that he wants to stand again which
means that at 87, he's
looking to be a life president, which is laughable.
"Should that happen,
and he's pushing for an election prematurely, we will
slide back to the
conflict which was not helpful for the country. The
isolation of the country
and economic decay would again revisit it us. I
think the people of Zimbabwe
would find that a very irresponsible action to
take."
Five
arrested diamond officials released
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
11 November
2010
Five officials from a diamond firm that was mining at the
controversial
Chiadzwa diamond fields have been released, after their arrest
on fraud
charges.
Originally six officials were arrested and accused
of ‘misrepresenting’ to
the government that the mining firm had the capacity
to fund its mining
operations at Chiadzwa. The six executives are linked to
the Canadile Mining
group, which is a joint venture firm with the parastatal
Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) and a South African company,
Core Mining and
Minerals. Among the arrested group was Core Mining director
Lovemore Kurotwi
and suspended ZMDC chief executive Dominic
Mubaiwa.
On Wednesday, High Court Judge President Justice George Chiweshe
ordered the
immediate release of Lovemore Kurotwi. He also criticised police
for
ignoring a High Court order that was issued on Saturday, telling police
to
arraign Kurotwi or release him. Four more members of the arrested group
were
eventually granted bail by Harare provincial Magistrate Mishrod
Guvamombe on
Wednesday, who only refused to release Dominic Mubaiwa whom he
said was the
principal offender in the case.
“The State failed to
establish that the accused persons are not good
candidates for bail although
it cannot be denied that this is a serious
offence,” the Magistrate said in
his ruling.
He continued: “But as regards the second accused (Mubaiwa) he
is the
principal offender and his circumstances are different from the rest,
hence
he will remain in custody to allow the police to carry out their
extraterritorial investigations.”
The four that were granted bail had
faced a week behind bars on Wednesday
evening after the State invoked
Section 121 of Criminal Procedures act, used
to further remand detained
persons. The State eventually revoked this
decision, resulting in the
release of the four. The State’s Chief Law
Officer Chris Mutangadura has
said the State will not challenge this
decision, but will appeal the High
Court’s decision to free Kurotwi.
“We are complying with the order for
him to be released but we are appealing
on a point of law. The state is
challenging the decision by the High Court
in order to set the law
straight,” Mutangadura said in an interview after
the ruling on
Wednesday.
The Canadile Mining group has for months been at the centre of
allegations
of rampant smuggling out of Chiadzwa, where an estimated 2000
carats of gems
are leaving the fields illegally a day. But there are
warnings that these
recent arrests are deliberately clouding deeper
corruption of the diamond
industry. The MDC has said the group are just
‘small-fry’ officials and the
military junta is supporting the “real powers”
behind illegal diamond deals,
who are remaining in the shadows.
Zimbabwe
Elections Chief Refers Allegations of Security Infiltration to Unity
Partners
http://www.voanews.com/
Zimbabwe Election Commission Chairman Simpson Mutambanengwe told
VOA that
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has yet to formally approach the
election
administration body regarding alleged security service
infiltration
Blessing Zulu | Washington 10 November 2010
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission Chairman Simpson Mutambanengwe has advised
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to call a meeting of the three unity
government
principals to discuss charges by his Movement for Democratic
Change
formation that the commission’s executive staff includes members of
the
state security apparatus including members of the Central Intelligence
Organization and the army.
The head of the reformed electoral
commission - its predecessor was widely
criticized for slow delivery of
results and suspected vote tampering in the
disastrous 2008 elections – told
VOA that Mr Tsvangirai has yet to formally
approach his election monitoring
body regarding the alleged security service
infiltration.
The MDC
said in a statement that security service infiltration dated from
the year
2000.
A statement issued by the former opposition party said the June
2000
parliamentary election and the presidential election of 2002 were run
by the
military. “The 2002 presidential elections were run as a purely
military
operation. The military took over all electoral management
processes from
Tobaiwa Mudede the registrar general, and from newly created
ZEC, then
headed by Colonel Sobuza Gula-Ndebele." the MDC statement
said.
According to the MDC statement, the military set up a national
command
center in the former Sheraton Hotel in Harare (now the Rainbow
Towers Hotel)
to which the opposition was denied access.
Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa, a top official in President Robert
Mugabe's
ZANU-PF party, has responded with advertisements in the state
controlled,
pro-ZANU-PF Herald newspaper declaring that "labor laws do not
allow any
employees to be engaged by two companies or organizations at the
same time
and be double salaried." The MDC has threatened to go public with
the names
of the alleged security agency officials implanted in ZEC.
Mutambanengwe
said he will not let his commission be dragged into "party
politics."
Political analyst Pedzisayi Ruhanya said it is no secret
that the commission
is loaded with members past or present of the security
services, and urged
Zimbabweans to demand reform of the electoral body's
secretariat.
Beheading
Operation Launched To Terrify Zim Villagers
http://news.radiovop.com/
11/11/2010
13:52:00
Mount Darwin, November 11, 2010 - Zanu (PF) has launched
operation 'headless
chicken' which will see people being beheaded if they
sympathise with the
Movement for Democratic Change in the elections planned
for next year.
A senior Zanu (PF) official, who requested to remain
anonymous, told Radio
VOP the party was identifying brave youths and party
leaders who will be
trained in beheading people who are anti-Zanu
(PF).
“What is going to happen is that supporters of the puppet MDC party
will be
beheaded and their families will be handed over the body without the
head
for burial," he said.
We are at the moment identifying youths
who will from next month go to
Harare to receive military training about
this. This operation is replacing
the June 2008 Presidential run off’s
operation long and short sleeves," said
the official.
Operation long
and short sleeves which was launched in Mashonaland Central
during the
bloody June 27 2008 Presidential run off elections saw MDC
supporters being
slashed off their hands by Zanu (PF) supporters.
The province which is a
Zanu (PF) stronghold registered the highest cases of
political violence
during that period. Nearly 200 MDC supporters are
believed to have been
killed during the violence and no perpertrators of the
violence have been
prosecuted by the courts.
President Robert Mugabe of Zanu (PF) and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of
the main MDC faction are calling for an
election next year.
Meanwhile the country’s churches have warned against
fresh elections saying
they will be marred by serious violence caused by war
veterans and Zanu (PF)
youth militias.
In a joint statement, church
groups which include Zimbabwe Council of
Churches, the Evangelical
Fellowship of Zimbabwe, the Christian Alliance and
the Student Christian
Movement of Zimbabwe warned against fresh elections.
"Institutions and
infrastructure that support violence such as the youth
militia, war veterans
and a partisan security force remain unreformed and
therefore a threat to
democratic elections."
“The polarised environment does not favour the
holding of elections as
violence would most likely erupt. The political
environment remains highly
volatile, uncertain, and tense,”said the church
groups
Zimbabwe’s unity government formed in February2009 has been
strained
following the recent unilateral appointing of government officials
by Mugabe
without consulting Tsvangirai.
The Senate failed to open in
Parliament on Wednesday after frustrated MDC
senators broke into song
denouncing the governor appointments.
Tsvangirai recently described the
coalition government as a mixture of oil
and water saying elections were the
only way out of frustrations by Zanu
(PF) which continued to violate the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) which
gave birth to the unity government.
MDC-T
condemns coercion of chiefs
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By John Gambanga
Thursday, 11 November 2010
15:16
HARARE - The MDC -T spokesman Nelson Chamisa has expressed
grave concern
over the coercion of traditional leaders throughout the
country by Zanu PF
to rally behind President Robert
Mugabe.
Reacting to reports from the Zimbabwe Peace Project
(ZPP)that Chiefs
Gurajena and Zimuto in Masvingo were demanding $70 or two
goats as fines for
villagers who refuse to buy Zanu PF party cards, Chamisa
said the MDC-T
would tackle this new phenomenon head on.
“We are
trying to address the problem and will be talking to the chiefs
individually
and collectively about their apparent Zanu PF partisanship,” he
said.
He said Zanu PF had deployed youths to monitor the activities
of chiefs and
headmen in all rural areas and some of the chiefs have
become Zanu PF
activists, a development that will adversely affect the
execution of their
traditional duties.
“The chiefs are being bribed.
Zanu PF has adopted the carrot and stick
technique on the traditional
leaders and we want to isolate the bad apples
from the good ones,” said
Chamisa.
He said the MDC –T is concerned that some chiefs are demanding
as much as
$30 from villagers who refuse to attend Zanu Pf
rallies.
He said partisan chiefs would lose the respect and loyalty
of the
MDC -T.
The ZPP reported that more than 60 families under
Chiefs Gurajena and
Zimuto in Masvingo North constituency have been
threatened with eviction
because they do not want to join Zanu
PF.
According to the report, the villagers have strongly opposed the
imposition of village heads by Zanu PF officials.
The Masvingo North
constituency falls under Stan Mudenge who won it ahead
of the MDC-T’s
Wilstaf Sitemere in the controversial 2008 elections.
The villagers
under Chief Gurajena and Zimuto have vowed to challenge the
decision in the
courts of law, according to the ZPP report.
The majority of chiefs who
met for the Council of Chiefs conference in
Kariba recently endorsed Robert
Mugabe as life president after being
promised new vehicles and money by the
Minister of Local Government and
Housing, Ignatius Chombo.
Meanwhile,
there are reports that war veterans are moving around Bikita
West
constituency in Masvingo province forcing villagers to buy Zanu PF
party
cards.
EU
expresses concern about Zim polls
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Sebastian Nyamhangambiri Thursday 11
November 2010
HARARE – Political violence during Zimbabwe’s
constitutional reform exercise
is cause for worry whether elections expected
next year will be truly free
and fair, European Union (EU) ambassador to
Zimbabwe Aldo Dell'Ariccia has
said.
Dell'Ariccia hinted that
Brussels was likely to opt to maintain visa and
financial sanctions against
President Robert Mugabe, his top allies and
businesses linked to them when
these come up for review next February –
unless there was evidence that the
rule of law, democracy and human rights
have been restored in
Zimbabwe.
The European diplomat said: “Conditions for a free and fair
elections can
only happen when there is voter education, when there is no
intimidation and
people are free to express their will and results are
respected.
“One is tempted to extrapolate from what happened during the
constitutional
outreach. There is concern about violence that accompanied
the process. It
is evidence enough to say the presence of violence and
intimidation is
worrying. It is a matter of concern.”
The EU first
imposed sanctions against Mugabe and his top associates in 2002
following
the holding of a violence-marred presidential poll won by the
veteran
leader.
The European bloc has renewed the sanctions several times since
then but has
maintained humanitarian support to Zimbabwe.
Both Mugabe
and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai have said elections to
choose a new
government to replace their uncomfortable coalition must take
place next
year once an exercise to write a new constitution is completed.
But
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairman Simpson Mutambanengwe told
ZimOnline
that the polls body did not have cash to fund the drafting of a
new voters’
roll and carry out reforms essential to ensuring elections are
credible.
In addition civil society groups say next year is too soon
for elections
when political violence is still taking place in many parts of
the country,
while several electoral reforms and a proposed new constitution
still need
to be implemented and given time to take root to ensure a truly
democratic
ballot.
Dell'Ariccia said the EU was ready to assist
Zimbabwe, including
financially, to have credible polls.
He said:“ We
have long expertise in this field. From technical support all
the way to EU
monitors that arrive at least six months before elections to
assess if there
is proper environment (for elections).”
But the offer is likely to be
rejected by Mugabe who in 2002 expelled the
head of an EU elections observer
team resulting in Brussels withdrawing the
rest of the 30-member
team.
Mugabe, who says Britain and its EU allies want to oust him from
power as
punishment for his controversial seizure of farmland from whites
for
redistribution to blacks, has since that incident eight years ago
ensured
Brussels is not invited to observe Zimbabwe’s polls. – ZimOnline.
Mutambara
says Mugabe can’t call elections
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai Karimakwenda
11 November,
2010
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, who has so far made it clear
that he
is against holding elections next year, on Wednesday said that
Robert Mugabe
did not have the authority to unilaterally call for
elections.
Mutambara explained that Mugabe must consult the other principals
in the
inclusive government before calling for elections. He said the only
other
thing Mugabe could do is pull out of the Global Political Agreement,
which
would also necessitate elections.
“Under the current status he
cannot dissolve Parliament and call for
elections,” he said.
Dr. Lovemore
Madhuku, chairperson of the National Constitutional Assembly,
agreed with
Mutambara’s assessment, saying that as long as Mugabe is still
working in
the context of the GPA, he must deal with elections in
consultation with the
other principals, particularly the prime minister.
But when asked what
would happen if the principals disagreed on how and when
to proceed with the
polls, Madhuku said that Mugabe can always then use his
senior position and
revert to the powers that he has as head of state.
“That has always been
the difficulty of the GPA that some things may not be
agreed to by all
involved. I think the solution there is that the president
would ultimately
fall back on his inherent power as the head of state to
then dissolve
parliament,” he added.
On the issue of the polls, the Deputy Prime
Minister said it was ‘wise’ for
the government to make reforms which would
guarantee that the elections
would be undisputed.
But he also pointed
to economic and media reforms, the completion of the
constitution-making
exercise and national healing as examples of what needed
to be done before
holding elections.
Mutambara is quoted as saying: “We were given a
mandate to make reforms that
will ensure that the country will hold a free
and fair election – an
undisputed election where the loser will congratulate
the winner.”
Mugabe’s party has been reactivating the electoral machinery
that it used in
previous elections. This has meant violence and intimidation
directed at MDC
officials, supporters and teachers. And the military and war
vets have
declared their support for Mugabe as life-long
president.
Dr. Simba Makoni, who was a candidate in the last presidential
election,
told a rally in Warren Park on Saturday that elections were needed
“like
yesterday” in order to protect the country “from hungry
leaders”.
It appears there is no agreement among the leaders as to when
elections
should be held, but there is a consensus among Zimbabweans that
the
atmosphere is not conducive to holding free and fair elections. The army
and
the police have to be brought under control and real national healing is
needed. But so far no one seems to be dealing with these real issues.
MDC
activist fights for his life
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by MDC Information & Publicity
Department
Thursday, 11 November 2010 14:45
An MDC youth activist,
Solomon Mazvokwadi of Chipinge East, Manicaland
province is fighting for his
life at Chipinge hospital after he was he
brutally battered by soldiers at
Green Valley on Wednesday. According to
Chipinge East MP, Hon. Mathias
Mlambo, the MDC Chipinge district executive
was today making frantic efforts
to transfer Mazvokwadi from Chipinge to a
hospital in either Mutare or
Harare as his health was seriously
deteriorating due to the injuries
sustained.
Hon. Mlambo said Mazvokwadi, 32, was abducted on Wednesday at
6PM from his
home by a group of ten armed soldiers who took him to Green
Valley farm
where the soldiers have a constructed makeshift barrack.
Mazvokwadi was
heavily assaulted by the soldiers until he was rescued by his
wife and MDC
activists who had gone to enquire about the abduction at 2 PM.
They found
him unconscious and took him to Chipinge
hospital.
Meanwhile, the trial of Masvingo Urban MP and deputy Youth
Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment Minister, Hon. Tongai Matutu
failed to kick
off at the Masvingo magistrates’ courts after all the four
magistrates based
at the courts recused themselves from the case citing
various reasons. Hon.
Matutu is facing fictitious charges of assaulting Zanu
PF’s Vengesai
Rushwaya in September. The trial has been postponed to next
Thursday when a
new magistrate is expected to hear the
case.
Together, united, winning, ready for real change!
SA
govt in Zim "white-wash" op
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Stan Dongo
Thursday, 11 November
2010 08:39
The Displaced and Migrant Persons Support Programme has
lambasted the South
African government for launching "a white-wash
operation" diplomatically
presented as a noble documentation exercise for
millions of Zimbabweans when
cvlandestinely, the intention is to repatriate
the foreigners ahead of next
year's local government elections expected to
"ignite xenophobic fire".
In a statement to The Zimbabwean, the
information department of the DMPSP
said the government's main concern was
to convince the general public that
some effort was made towards the
screening of the Zimbabweans for permits to
justify the planned"
repatriation campaign" estimaed to last six months.
Last week, the police
aided by Home Affairs personnel raided the
Johannesburg central business
district where the majority of residents are
Zimbabweans,
Nigerians,Congolese and Mozambicans.The raid carried out under
police
commissioner general Bheki Cele's "Operation Duty Calls" is said to
be a
crime prevention exercise targeted at criminal activities during the
Christmas festive season.
However,the DMPSP alleges the operation is
part of a government campaign to
repatriate as many Zimbabweans as possible
because according to the
organisation''s caculations only 50 000 to 60 000
applications for
documentation from Zimbabweans will be processed by
December 31 which is the
deadline for registration of
applicants.
"The national government has realised that the only
short-term measure in
addressing the migration issue, and with it the
xenophobic issues in the
country is to embark on a massive repatriation
campaign.
"The fact remains that government has to act in a drastic
manner prior to
local government elections next year between April and
June.There is a huge
tension within the ruling party itself, never mind the
alliance partners.
Many leaders in high positions in the ruling party and
at senior government
positions habour xenophobic sentiments.These are
clearly illustrated at
local government level where councillors and other
local leaders have
utilised xenophobic sentiments as mobilisation issues.A
power struggle is on
the cards for next pear's local government elections
and the national
government is quite correct in taking such drastic measures
to prevent the
xenophobia card from being used as a rallying point by local
leaders," said
the DMPSP in the statement.
"Operation Duty Calls"
according to DMPSP is only a precursor to many more
operations to follow
that tell the foreigners they are no longer wanted in
South Africa soon
after the December 31 deadline which both South African
citizens and some
Zimbabwean nationals say is impossible to be met.
The new phase operation
also sees the redeployment of the South African
National Defence Force to
the borders with Zimbabwe and Mozambique to
prevent illegal entry into South
Africa the DMPSP said.
Although some foreign nationals could be blamed
for living illegally in
South Africa,the DMPSP says the government's current
plans are nt the best
to address xenophobia before promises to eradicate
poverty are fulfilled."To
fight xenophobic attitudes and sentiments
prevalent among the South Africans
will be an extremely long process which
will inlcude having to address the
issue of poverty and service delivery,"
it says.
The DMPSP which used to cater for the interets of aliens only
today embraces
all migrants including South Africans.It says xenophobic
attacks of the
proportions of the 2008 violence may happen again next year
and because of
that liklihood the DMPSP is monitoring xenophobic attitudes
and sentimentsd
on the ground around Gauteng,Mpumalanga,North West and Free
State regions.
The DMPSP's statement says the organisation is convinced a
new wave of
violence is certain and although it commends the government's
swift action
to prevent unrest soon after the Fifa World Cup last July, it
is harshly
criticising the same authorities for not communicating openly
with the
public warning of the plot which may be executed "in extreme
measures".
"Current police and defence force strengths, morale discipline
will not be
able to effectively control massive civil disruption in the
country should
it occure.The situation will be accetuated by xenophobic
sentiments and
attitudes prevalent among security force personnel.Many
incidents of
xenophobic attitudes and occurences are being perpetrated by
police and Home
Affairs personnel," said the statement.
The
organisation adds however that "the campaign" will go a long way in
reducing
the population of Zimbabweans in South Africa and minimises the
chances of
local leaders resorting to xenophobia as a scapegoat during
campaigns.DMPSP
also urges the civil society to closely monitor the process
and campaign
agains civil rights abuses.
Tussle over planned resumption of
deportations
South
African troops stop illegal migrants from
Zimbabwe
Johannesburg, 11
November 2010 (IRIN) - As the deadline to deport undocumented Zimbabwean
migrants on or after 1 January 2011 looms, human rights activists warn South
Africa could face a potential human rights disaster, though a senior South
African official says the government is not aiming for a "massive deportation
operation".
Rights NGOs working with Zimbabwean migrants said they were
bracing for hundreds of thousands to be deported.
Richard Kadziwe of the
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF), a member of a panel set up by the South African
government to liaise with it on matters affecting Zimbabwean migrants, said: "We
are not quite sure how to prepare for it [the resumption of deportations
suspended since April 2009] - we are hoping the authorities will extend the
deadline."
But Modiri Matthews, chief director of immigration services
at the department of home affairs, rejected suggestions of a massive blitz
against Zimbabwean migrants at the end of the year.
"We don't have the
capacity for one to go looking for Zimbabweans without documents, and imagine
what we would look like as a government if we did something like that - going
off on trucks rounding up Zimbabweans.
"And around that time - 31
December - we have other issues to handle as we have a lot of travellers in and
out over the Christmas and New Year period.
"There will be proper
investigations to see if people have outstanding asylum-seekers' claims - their
status will be verified before they are rounded up."
Improved conditions in Zimbabwe?
The South African government in September 2010 set the January
deadline for the resumption of deportations of undocumented Zimbabweans on the
grounds that conditions had improved in Zimbabwe sufficiently to revoke a
moratorium on expulsions.
Matthews explained: "The situation in Zimbabwe
is not the same as last year when the economy was still struggling and the
cholera outbreak was ongoing. We felt there was no need for a special
dispensation for Zimbabweans, and [that] they should now be treated like any
other migrants from our neighbouring countries."
The International Monetary Fund said on 8 November that
Zimbabwe “is completing its second year of buoyant economic growth after a
decade of economic decline," but warned that "political stability" was also key
to "consolidating [the] gains." President Robert Mugabe’s announcement that
elections will take place in 2011 has been greeted with concern by NGOs, who
fear they could trigger fresh violence.
In April 2009 South Africa
placed a moratorium on deportations, introduced a 90-day visa on demand for
Zimbabwean passport holders and was on the verge of issuing a special permit
allowing them to work and reside in South Africa for up to three years -
something hailed by many rights NGOs. But that did not happen.
Before
the moratorium, at least 300,000 Zimbabweans were being deported every year -
the cause of a significant strain on the department of home affairs, said Tara
Polzer, a senior researcher with the Forced Migration Studies Programme (FMSP)
at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.
"We are offering
them a lot more now. We have bent over backwards to help," said Matthews.
"Zimbabwean nationals who are working, conducting business, or studying in South
Africa will be issued with a working permit, business permit, or study permit
when they show their passports."
Slipping through the cracks
We don't have the capacity
for one to go looking for Zimbabweans without documents, and imagine what we
would look like as a government if we did something like that
|
But there
are many casual workers who will slip through the cracks, say NGOs, who are also
concerned about the many disabled people who were unable to access services in
Zimbabwe and crossed the border in recent years.
NGOs reckon it is hard
for casual labourers to get letters from their employers. "Many of them who fled
Zimbabwe in a hurry do not even have passports," said Selvan Chetty, deputy
director of Solidarity Peace Trust, a faith-based rights organization working
with Zimbabwean migrants.
Braam Hanekom of People Against Suffering,
Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), an NGO helping displaced people
and refugees in South Africa, said he gets hundreds of phone calls from informal
traders and casual workers.
ZEF’s Richard Kadziwe said informal traders
needed to apply for licenses from local government authorities and “show
receipts of payment as proof of employment". But Chetty said not many were aware
of this. “They are even frightened of approaching the authorities."
Kadziwe said his NGO was working round the clock talking to employers to
persuade them to issue letters. "We are trying our best to ensure that we can
help as many as we can before the deadline."
"The authorities should
extend the deadline. I think it is particularly hard for the disabled - given
the state of medical services in Zimbabwe," said PASSOP's Hanekom.
The
government's decision "was constructed in the interests of the South African
economy and the motivation was not humanitarian… South Africa is taking care of
its own interests like any other country but the question is - with so many
vulnerable people involved - this could become a very big human rights issue,"
said Polzer, adding that deportations could lead to violence.
The FMSP
estimates that 1-1.5 million Zimbabweans are living in South Africa. But proving
how many of these might be undocumented is "extremely complicated" as "some have
the 90-day visa at the moment" or "are moving through the asylum-seeker
process," said Polzer.
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of
the United Nations]
Air
Zimbabwe employees win court case
http://www.africanews.com
Posted on Thursday 11
November 2010 - 09:10
Misheck Rusere, AfricaNews reporter in
Harare, Zimbabwe
A Zimbabwean High Court has given an aggrieved 200
Air Zimbabwe
employees permission to attach and sell the struggling
parastatal's movable
properties to recover close to US$500 000 they are owed
in unpaid salaries
and bonuses.
The airline had paid the
workers part of the estimated $1.5 million
and owed US$477 310,62 as the
balance which its workers through their union,
National Air Workers and Air
Transport Union sought the assistance of the
High Court to compel their
employer to pay them their 2009 November and
December salaries and
bonuses.
The High Court order read: “To the Sheriff for Zimbabwe or
his lawful
deputy: “You are required and directed to attach and take into
execution the
movable goods of Air Zimbabwe Holdings (Private) Limited . . .
of Harare
Airport and of the same cause to be realised the sum of US$477
310, 62.
“Further, pay the said applicant or his legal practitioner the
sum due
to him with costs,” reads the writ of execution.
The
Sherriff visited the National Airliner’s Harare offices last week
to assess
the value of the movable properties set to be auctioned, with the
management
have been served with papers.
Air Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer
Mr Peter Chikumba however
indicated that his company was in negotiations
with the workers.
The company has been hit by a spate of labour
disputes with pilots
having gone on industrial action two months ago
demanding a salary
increment.
The company is currently sitting
on a $3 million salary backlog as it
is struggling to return to viability
after almost a decade of economic
meltdown in the country, with an ageing
fleet.
Government however last month set up committee comprised of
senior
government officials and cabinet Ministers to investigate problems
affecting
Air Zimbabwe and make recommendations on how it can be best
rescued.
Zim
consulate slammed for ‘stealing’ from Zimbabweans
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
11
November 2010
Rights groups in South Africa have expressed their shock
that the Zimbabwean
Consulate Offices in the country are ‘robbing’ many
Zimbabweans, desperately
trying to get passports to avoid
deportation.
Undocumented Zimbabweans in South Africa have been given
until the end of
the year to regularise their stay in the country, or face
being deported.
Critical to getting the permits allowing them to stay is
proof of Zimbabwean
citizenship, in the form of a passport.
The
documentation process has resulted in confusion among the tens of
thousands
of Zimbabweans trying to get the right paperwork, and reports of
corruption
have marred the process further. SW Radio Africa has been told
that consular
officials have been refusing to issue passports until bribes
are paid. There
are also reports that some Nigerian nationals, with money to
spend on
bribes, have managed to secure Zimbabwean passports ahead of
regular
Zimbabweans.
Refugee rights group PASSOP has now slammed revelations that
consulate
offices are “scamming” desperate Zimbabweans, by accepting their
passport
application payments of R750 and then refusing to provide the
service.
“The Zimbabwean consulate must not only reimburse the client who
PASSOP
engaged the consulate about, but also every other person in his
position.
Such behaviour is not only unethical, it amounts to a scam,”
PASSOP said in
a statement.
PASSOP explained that last month a
Zimbabwean national, who is a farm
labourer working in the Western Cape
farming community of De Doorns,
travelled to a Home Affairs office to apply
for his passport at the
Zimbabwean Consulate Desk. He obtained the proper
paperwork after a
screening process by an official of the consulate office,
including a
standard bank deposit slip for the R750 passport application
fee, which he
took to the bank and made payment with. He then went back to
the office to
submit his application but he was told that he did not qualify
for a
passport and could not be helped because his father was
Mozambican.
“Crucially, he was refused a refund of his deposit payment
(almost a month’s
wage) and was instead told to travel back to Zimbabwe
(without a passport)
to apply for citizenship,” PASSOP said.
PASSOP
intervened on the man’s behalf and contacted the Consular General,
Chris
Mapanga directly, who assured the group that he would resolve the
matter and
refund the Zimbabwe applicant. But that refund has not been
issued.
“The Consular General has not only misinformed our office, he
has betrayed a
poor Zimbabwean who has already been forced to flee
starvation, a result of
the Zimbabwean government failing to protect and
provide for him. It is
malicious and arrogant to discard the time, effort
and money spent by him
while desperately trying to get his money back, as
though it’s a minor
issue. The arrogance and lack of concern shown is so
hurtful,” PASSOP said.
PASSOP’s Aleck Kuhudzai told SW Radio Africa this
week that individual
instances of corruption are feared to be “the tip of
the iceberg.” He said
it is almost impossible to measure how many people
have been defrauded in
this manner, and added that many Zimbabweans are
being left penniless by the
process. He explained that while South African
authorities have pledged not
to charge for the necessary permits to remain
in the country, the R750
required for a new passport is beyond the means of
many.
“People are borrowing from friends, selling whatever they have, and
most of
the time its not enough,” Kuhudzai said. “To say that people are
worried
about the deportations next year is a serious
understatement.”
Former
fighters condemn violence against citizens
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Guthrie Munyuki
Thursday, 11
November 2010 15:22
HARARE - The Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army
(Zipra) says former
freedom fighters must promote and cherish peace rather
than spend time
organizing violence on the people they helped
liberate.
In a veiled attack on their Zanla counterparts, the Zipra
War Veterans
Trust chairman, Ray Ncube said fomenting violence against
citizens is a
negation of the true values of veterans who fought for peace
and stability
in Zimbabwe.
He told journalists at Harare’s St Giles
Rehabilitation Centre where he was
part of the festivities to mark the
United States Veterans Day, that his
organisation is opposed to politics and
violence which remain entrenched
amongst war veterans.
“We are not a
divisive organisation. Our work is to promote peace and
dialogue. We have
introduced transformational measures that will move
communities all over
Zimbabwe from a culture of fear to a culture of peace
and
transparency.
“We promote peace, healing and forgiveness to encourage
transformation in
the communities where war veterans live. I am more than
50 years old and
fought in the war but that chapter is over. I have no need
to engage in
things that encourage violence and undermine peace,” said
Ncube.
He said the Zipra war veterans trust has a membership of 17 000
cadres.
“Where others spend time mobilising people for violence, we spend
time
helping those in pain and encouraging peace and forgiveness in the same
communities.”
He said Zipra members have held meetings and workshops
in Matabeleland,
Midlands and Harare but expressed regrets on the lukewarm
response by the
inclusive government.
The much touted national
healing programme which falls under the Organ for
National Healing and
Reconciliation has been widely criticised for its
inaction.
Victims
of political violence have dismissed it as a cheap political gimmick
by the
three main political parties in the inclusive government because it
has
failed to take off the ground.
While Ncube did not want to comment about
their relationship with the
Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans
Association (ZNLWVA), he
emphatically distanced his organisation from the
militant group.
The back bone of President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF,
ZNLWVA does not
recognise the existence of other bodies, including Zipra war
veterans trust,
and insist they are divisive and tribal.
But Mugabe,
aware of the ructions that have been caused by infighting
amongst the former
freedom fighters, insists that the splinter groups and
ZNLWVA should bury
their differences and unite.
“Look at your history and examine where you
are now. I appeal to you; get
together and discuss your differences. We
don’t want to speak to you as
groups. We want to speak to you as a group,”
said Mugabe on Heroes Day this
year. “In the struggle, you were one. You are
bound by the commitment to
bring independence to your
country.”
Combative and often restive, the war veterans have become the
pillar of
Mugabe and Zanu PF strength in the last decade where they helped
the
octogenarian leader and his ailing party maintain a loose grip on
power.
In 2000, led by the late Chenjerai Hitler Hunzvi, the war
veterans seized
white commercial-owned farms and looted property worth
millions of dollars
after Mugabe had been rejected in a referendum for a new
constitution.
In the same year, the former fighters orchestrated a
violent election
campaign against the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
led by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai which almost knocked off Mugabe and
Zanu PF from
their perch.
The United States ambassador Charles Ray
who was part of the volunteers, who
spent three hours helping with manual
work at St Giles, said his country was
proud to be part of the Zimbabwean
community and had dedicated time to serve
the community as part of the US
Veterans Day.
‘We are learning and appreciating Zimbabwe more (and also)
helping Zimbabwe
appreciate America more. This is meaningful, taking a few
hours to help
someone who is less fortunate and someone in pain,” said Ray
in reference to
the work the US embassy staff and Zipra war veterans trust
members did
during visit.
Ray said it was wrong and a negation of the
true spirit of veterans to label
former freedom fighters divisive “because
they showed internal commitment to
help their communities.”
Veterans
Day is a nation-wide holiday in the US and falls on November 11 for
the
purpose of honouring veterans and supporting world peace.
Shearwater
insist rainforest development was above board
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
11
November 2010
Shearwater adventures, a tourist company accused of
illegally constructing a
new development inside the world famous rainforest
in Victoria Falls,
insists everything was done above board.
The
development consists of a new kitchen, a top class restaurant and bar,
plus
a converted and expanded information centre, all within the core zone
of the
Victoria Falls World Heritage Site.
Environmentalists who spoke to SW
Radio Africa on Tuesday said the Victoria
Falls - one of the seven natural
wonders of the world - was under threat due
to the new development in the
highly ecologically sensitive core zone.
They said the development
violates national, regional and international
regulations under which a
World Heritage Site is governed. But Paul
Connolly, a legal advisor to
Shearwater, told us it was incorrect to suggest
the company broke any
laws.
‘There are UNESCO regulations pertaining to the site. The UNESCO
regulations
say, among other things, that there should be no developments in
an area
which is not already designated a facilities area.
‘Now what
nobody seems to have remembered here is that Shearwater has simply
improved
and developed infrastructure within the physical parameters of the
buildings
that have been in existence for a long time. This is already a
developed
area and Shearwater did not go an inch outside that designated
area’
Connolly said.
He added; ‘The old buildings were run down and it’s no
secret they needed a
great deal of repair. To be honest they were
disgusting, so Shearwater came
in and upgraded the sewage system and
constructed some facilities, entirely
in accordance with the laws of the
country.’
Connolly complained that his clients have been made to look
like ‘bad people’
because no one has really bothered to ask them their side
of the story.
‘There has been a one-sided look at the issue in
contention. It is important
that the other side be expressed so people can
make a balanced opinion on
what is actually happening here. Put simply,
nobody has gone out there and
measured or examined if Shearwater put up a
new development outside the core
zone of the World Heritage Site,’ Connolly
added.
On allegations that the new development, especially the curio
shop, would
impact negatively on the livelihoods of more than 1 000 local
artists and
curio vendors, Connolly denied this was the
case.
‘Shearwater is not in competition with curio vendors who sell
traditional
stuff. In fact, they are not even selling things from within the
falls. If
anything it will improve the number of people visiting the area
and boost
sales to curio vendors across the board.’
The National
Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe moved in last week Friday to
stop any
further development in the rainforest area. They will now jointly
manage the
site with the National Parks and Wildlife management Authority
who have
solely been running operations there.
This is a temporary arrangement
until there is an agreement between the two
government parastatals of who
will eventually take full charge of the site.
On Tuesday cabinet ministers
who oversee the two parastatals held a meeting
in Harare, but what they
decided or discussed is still to be relayed to the
stakeholders in Victoria
Falls.
British
Council, Unesco to hold climate change workshop
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Staff
Reporter
Thursday, 11 November 2010 15:42
HARARE - The British
Council in conjunction with the United Nations
Education, Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), will next week
hold a climate change
workshop for the local media to equip scribes with
skills to influence
environmental awareness, and attitude changes towards
conservation
issues.
The workshop, to be held from the 15 to 19 November, will be
facilitated by
a United Kingdom–based climate change specialist and local
environmental
experts such as the Environmental Management
Authority.
Jill Coates, the British Council director, said: “Under our
partnership with
UNESCO, we seek to give a variety of people the tools to
take action against
climate change. Through this workshop, we hope to build
a better
understanding of climate change among the public and more
importantly
stimulate a desire to do something about it.”
With the
workshop running a few weeks ahead of a major United Nations
Climate Change
Summit in Cancun, Mexico later this month to be attended by
world leaders,
the British Council, among other stakeholders, believes local
scribes need
to fully grasp climate change issues that have affected
countries through
increased natural disasters such as drought and floods,
thereby,
exacerbating poverty and food insecurity.
According to UNESCO science
program specialist Guy Brouke: “Climate change
is a defining issue of our
time and plans are required to manage effective
mitigation, and adaptation
efforts. The development of green technologies
and establishment of
effective policies, for instance, through constant
lobbying is
essential.”
The British Council has been collaborating with UNESCO on
climate change
issues since 2009 through various workshops and initiatives
targeting
numerous committees of the Zimbabwean parliament, media and
schools
countrywide.
Busted:
"Cde" Mutasa planted "Cde" Chombo divorce Court judgement in the Herald -
Source
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
11 November, 2010 10:55:00 Staff Reporter
HARARE –The
editor of state-owned newspaper, the Herald has received death
threats and
an envelop package with live bullet, fresh human blood stains
and chilling
warning, in a new twist to the Chombo-Marian divorce soap as
Zanu PF
infighting escalates, sources revealed.
On Friday November 5, 2010 The
Herald newspaper published a story on the
acrimonious property-sharing
wrangle between President Mugabe’s corky Local
Government, Rural and Urban
Development Minister Ignatius Chombo and his
wife Marian.
The matter
was referred by Judge President George Chiweshe last Wednesday
for
trial.
The issue has so far divided Zanu PF and caused so much anger in
some party
circles as they claim the revelations have exposed Zanu PF
leadership as
corrupt and dishonesty.
Some, particulary in the War
Veterans Association are now calling for Zanu
PF leaders to investigate the
source of wealth for Dr Chombo.
However, behind the scenes, the issue is
a continuation and escalation of
intense Zanu PF infighting and
skulduggery.
On Wednesday, a package addressed to the editor of the State
newspaper The
Herald containing a live bullet and blood stains and a letter
warning him
not to be involved in Zanu PF power struggles.
The letter
suggested that the publication of the Herald story was influenced
by
Presidential Affairs Minister Dydimus Mutasa in his revenge mission
following the arrest of his nephew Temba Mliswa.
In the past Temba
Mliswa and Dr Chombo have clashed in their bid to wrestle
control of Zanu
PF’s Mashonaland West province.
In February this year, Mliswa as
Mashonaland West secretary for lands and
resettlement accused Dr Chombo and
Information minister Webster Shamu of
leasing out their farms to former
white commercial farmers,
In a letter dated January 21 to the Zanu PF
politburo copied to the media,
Mliswa implicated Chombo and Shamu in the
scam involving senior Zanu PF
officials subletting more than 30 farms in the
province.
Mliswa also said Chombo and Shamu were multiple-farm
owners.
The lands secretary promised to expose all multiple-farm owners
in the
province and also those subletting their pieces of land to whites in
a
report he will present soon to the party leadership.
However,
Mliswa failed to fulfil his promise as he was eventually arrested
together
with Martin Mutasa, the son of Minister Mutasa, on corruption and
violence
charges.
When contacted for comment, Chombo said whatever Mliswa was
alleging was
nothing new as he had over the years been accused of having as
many as 15
farms.
Chombo said Mliswa should bring these issues to the
party leadership with
evidence that he owned those alleged farms.
In
a startling revelation of abuse of power, sources at the Justice, Legal
and
Parliamentary Affairs Ministry have now revealed that the Minister
Patrick
Chinamasa, who is a close associate of Dydimus Mutasa, has taken a
direct
interest in Dr Chmobo’s divorce case and he might have influenced the
High
Court judgement for its referral to trial as part of the revenge
mission to
hit back at Dr Chombo.
We can reveal that sometime this year, Minister
Chinamasa, instructed
officers in his Ministry at the Deeds Registry to
compile a dossier of all
properties registered in Dr Chombo’s name and on
occasions he has had secret
meetings with his estranged wife Marian
Chombo.
Our source also revealed that Mutasa, Chinamasa and President
Mugabe’s chief
spokesman George Charamba met soon after the Judge President
George Chiweshe
had delivered his judgement and they drafted an article
which Charamba took
to the Herald and ordered for its immediate
publication.
Meanwhile Dr Chombo’s lawyer Innocent Manase of Manase
and Manase responded
to the story as follows:
"We noted the
publication in The Herald headlined "Chombo, wife fight for
property".
The article was written by Peter Matambanadzo, a
journalist of your stable.
We represent Minister Ignatius Chombo in the
case and what surprised us is
the level of falsehoods contained in the
article which left us baffled.
We must state we respect The Herald as a
family publication. We also respect
journalists in that they are mirrors of
society.
But when articles are written by journalists and are published
in respected
papers like The Herald with falsehoods and without proper
research or care
for the truth we begin to doubt the motives of those behind
the writing and
publication.
Before going into the nitty-gritty
of what was published, we must reiterate
that on Wednesday, the 3rd instant
we held a pre-trial conference in the
Judge President’s
chambers.
That conference was attended by the writer and Mr Motsi
Sinyoro, who
represents Mrs Marian Chombo.
Both Mrs Chombo and Dr
Chombo were not present. We, indeed, saw Peter
Matambanadzo in the Judge
President’s clerk’s office.
We even greeted each other.
If he had
reason to get the truth of what he went on to give the paper to
publish, he
was at liberty to ask the writer or Mr Sinyoro for the truth.
The
pre-trial conference was to settle issues for trial. In this regard when
we
entered the Judges’ Chambers the main reason for the conference was to
draw
out issues admitted and those to be referred to trial.
Issues of property
were part of the process.
We must mention herewith that the list of
properties published by your paper
as being in dispute and for which Mrs
Marian Chombo is claiming is way out
of the window of truth.
Most of
the properties listed are not even part of the pre-trial minute
drawn by the
lawyers and their clients. Our client feels very hurt by the
publication.
He has instructed us to write to you to express his
displeasure. In fact,
the article was intended to cause harm to our client’s
reputation as a
minister of Government.
It also paints a picture of a
corrupt individual who amassed all the
properties using his position since
he has been a Government minister for
the better part of his working
career.
It also portrays our client as a person who amassed property
using his
office via illicit means.
What baffles and boggles the mind
is that with the abundance of information
in the court record, your
journalist went out of his way to basically lie to
the public. We proceed
hereunder to mention the listed lies thereto.
These are:
-90
percent of the property listed on Page 2 of the paper does not belong to
the
Hon. Minister.
-That the minister has shares in 10 family companies
including Dickest,
Handinger, Landberry and Truck In Security.
-That
the minister has interests in Mvurwi Mine, hunting safari lodges in
Chiredzi, Hwange, Magunje and Chirundu as well as properties in South
Africa.
We humbly request a retraction of the publications falsehoods
which
basically served to embarrass the Honourable Minister and to cause
other
hurts to his person, family and those who he loves as a normal
being.
If, however, in the face of all the truth we hold together with
the lawyers
of his estranged wife, you decide to stick to what you
published, we shall
proceed to take legal action against the journalist
concerned and the paper
with a claim for damages and, of course, costs which
shall follow the event.
We sincerely are no preachers for morality but
there must be a semblance of
truth and respect in all that you publish. Make
no mistake our client shall
not take this lying down.
We shall
proceed as advised.
We are no messenger for your journalist. As stated
herein above, the papers
filed on Thursday with the High Court by Messrs
Sinyoro & Partners contain
the truth of what is at stake in the trial to
follow and not the lies
contained in the Friday publication.
The
journalist must have done better homework than take a personal approach
to
the story.
The Honourable Minister deserves an apology and at least
publication of the
truth.
This our letter of complain must without
doubt be published on the front
page of your paper and be given the same
prominence as you did in the Friday
paper to the article complained
of.
The unprofessional conduct of Mr Peter Matambanadzo shows that either
he was
downright malicious or he had other ulterior motives.
We have
also copied this letter to the Judge President, Hon. Justice
Chiweshe, as we
believe one of his clerks connived in cooking up the list of
properties.
Ninety percent of the listed property is all false and is
not subject to any
claim by Mrs Chombo.
While we do not hold a brief
from her the truth of the matter is that if at
all such property is being
claimed by her and she knows where it is, she is
at liberty to take it as
hers without client’s intervention.
We say so, because it does not exist
and Chombo owns it not".
Put out the welcome mat for
Mugabe
A former Tory minister suggests the
Zimbabwean leader should retire to the UK.
Robert Mugabe sitting comfortably. Photo: Getty
Images.
Here's one that's unlikely to become coalition
policy: the former Tory chief whip Lord Renton suggested during a debate yesterday that "the best way for us to help and assist the
economic recovery of Zimbabwe" might be "to offer President Mugabe a safe,
comfortable and well-looked-after home in Britain".
The idea is not as daft as it sounds. It is in
his country's interests that Robert Mugabe stand down as soon as possible, but
he is no fool. He will want to ensure that if he goes, he does not end up
exchanging the comforts of retirement for a prison cell. As I wrote in the Independent last year:
Efforts to bring Mugabe to the International
Court of Justice will not increase the likelihood of his voluntarily
relinquishing power (and there is no imminent prospect of his leaving in any
other way) . . . Refusing to seek legal vengeance for Robert Mugabe's crimes may
be hard. But if one day it helps an old dictator become an old ex-dictator, it
may prove far sweeter than revenge.
A managed exile with guaranteed immunity is an
obvious solution. Previously it was thought likely that Mugabe might seek to retire to east Asia. Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia are all regular
destinations for him and his entourage, and have the inestimable advantage of
being places where autocratic rule is not regarded as so
objectionable.
But Britain, as Lord Renton generously put it,
might also be to his tastes. For Mugabe, like various other leaders of
post-colonial countries (Idi Amin springs instantly to mind), has long had a
love-hate relationship with the former imperial master.
He may have attacked Tony Blair's administration
for being a government of "gay gangsters", but another former Tory minister, George Walden,
recalls that his attitude towards Britain used to be quite different. Walden was
a senior Foreign Office civil servant at the time of the negotiations that led
to Zimbabwe's independence; he remembers the Mugabe of that time as a "venomous,
stonewall" Maoist. After he came to power, however, "everything about him seemed
to change for the better". Walden described the new, improved version in the
NS two years ago:
Charm is not a word I associated with Mugabe,
yet when Margaret Thatcher gave a dinner in his honour at Downing Street and
praised the Marxist terrorist's work for peace and reconciliation (after vowing
never to negotiate with terrorists), he received her tribute gracefully, charmed
to be there, just as he was to be charmed by his knighthood later. Thereafter he
worked with the British to implement the Lancaster House Agreement, including
its provisions to pay the colonialists' pensions and refrain from changing the
constitution for ten years.
So the UK could be a congenial exile for Mugabe.
As for where he would live, why not the Wentworth Estate, where General Pinochet
was made to feel so comfortable while the Labour government was wriggling out of having to extradite the Chilean
dictator to Spain?
If the courts can't get Mugabe, some might think
retirement to an area usually populated by showbiz types such as Russ Abbott,
Cliff Richard and Bruce Forsyth would be punishment enough to be getting on
with.
SADC Suspension of Tribunal - legal opinion
NEWS RELEASE
8 November, 2010
SADC LEADERS
UNLAWFULLY UNDERMINE REGIONAL TRIBUNAL, SAY LEGAL
GROUPS
Johannesburg: Heads of State from
the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have unlawfully sabotaged the
SADC Tribunal and undermined the right of citizens to access justice, according
to a legal opinion submitted on Friday by a group of respected legal and human
rights organisations.
The opinion contends that SADC leaders – particularly at the last
Heads of State Summit in Windhoek – have deliberately undermined the Tribunal by
violating regional laws and acting unconstitutionally.
“SADC leaders have unlawfully ensured that the Tribunal – a critical
legal institution – can no longer function, leaving citizens without legal
remedy at the regional level,” said Nicole Fritz, Director of the Southern
Africa Litigation Centre. “Instead of abiding by SADC laws, our leaders have
willingly and unanimously violated them – and violated our right to access
justice as well.”
According to the legal opinion, SADC leaders have acted unlawfully by
effectively suspending the Tribunal – by making sure that it is not properly
constituted and so cannot operate. SADC laws require that the Tribunal be
comprised of no fewer than ten judges but the leaders have violated these laws –
by failing to renew the terms of those judges eligible for reappointment or to
appoint new judges to fill any vacancies so that the Tribunal no longer has
enough judges to hear new cases.
The seven national, regional and international legal organisations
that endorsed the opinion also believe that SADC leaders have acted beyond their
constitutionally given powers and violated judicial independence and the right
to effective legal remedy.
“We are also very concerned that the decision to sabotage the
Tribunal was taken in bad faith – to appease Zimbabwe and to ensure that it did
not have to comply with a series of rulings related to land seizures,” said
Fritz. “Once again, our leaders have shown that they do not take decisions based
on what’s good for their people – but what’s best for them and the elites in
power across the region.”
However, the legal NGOs argue that SADC’s leaders can remedy the
illegality of their recent decisions and resucitate the Tribunal
by:
·
Calling for an immediate
extraordinary Summit to review and remedy the decisions taken in
Windhoek;
·
Renewing the terms of those
Tribunal judges eligible for reappointment or appointing sufficient new judges
to ensure the proper functioning of the Tribunal;
·
Respecting – in accordance with
international law – the independence of the judiciary by upholding the right of
Tribunal members to security of tenure and independence;
and,
·
Ensuring SADC citizens have
access to justice and an effective remedy at regional
level.
“Even outside the
legal context, the repercussions of this decision are grave”, said Fritz. “SADC
asks that its regional integration project be taken seriously and yet at so
critical a point in time effectively disbands an institution which is vital to
this project.”
List of NGOs:
Southern
Africa Litigation Centre, SALC
Centre for Human Rights and Rehabilitation – Malawi
Ditshwanelo, The Botswana Centre for Human
Rights
International Commission of Jurists, ICJ – Africa Regional
Office
Legal Assistance Centre, Namibia
Open Society Justice Initiative, OSJI
Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa,
SERI
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum
For further information, contact:
Nicole Fritz, Director, Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) +27
11 5875000; +27 82 6001028
nicolef@salc.org.za
Background:
Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) promotes and advances
human rights and the rule of law in southern Africa, primarily through strategic
litigation support and capacity building. SALC provides technical and monetary
support to local and regional lawyers and organizations in litigating human
rights and rule of law cases in the region. SALC also provides training in
human rights and rule of law issues and facilitates networks of human rights
lawyers and organizations throughout southern Africa.
www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org
Southern Africa Litigation Centre
www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org
Speech by Roy Bennett in Paris
Roy Bennett delivered it to the International Association of
Political
Consultants where Tvangirai was awarded the democracy prize
The speech
was accompanied by a PowerPoint Presentation, which can be
accessed
here.
[Open Powerpoint presentation at the first
slide]
Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
For us in
Zimbabwe, elections have brought us 30 years of torment, torture
and death.
What I want to give you now is not an academic analysis, but
rather a
personal, real life sense of the pain that this period has
brought—to give
you an idea of what elections mean for the ordinary
Zimbabwean. I also want
to explain how this nightmare has evolved and from
it, urge that all
opinion-makers are mobilised throughout the international
community as yet
another ‘election’ is to be held in Zimbabwe.
Unlike many countries in
Africa, Zimbabwe has held many elections. We have
held them on time and
managed the mechanics of voting relatively
efficiently. This poses an
obvious question: why would a regime which
believes it has a God-given right
to rule in perpetuity bother with
elections? The answer to this has its
roots in an election which took place
in February 1980 and in turn provided
the basis for the formation of an
independent Zimbabwe.
Robert Mugabe
and his party, Zanu, had been fighting a war of liberation
from colonial
domination supported in that cold war era by China. Zanu’s
leaders were
deeply sceptical about participating in elections because it
believed these
would be rigged against them. Zanu was forced into this
election by their
main guerrilla host sponsors, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Zanu participated
reluctantly and angrily—yet they also came up with a plan
to ensure a
manufactured majority of Zimbabweans would vote for them.
Advised and
trained by Peking at the time, they did this by terrorising and
brutalising
the rural population which, then, as now, constitutes the bulk
of our
people.
1. Terror was not new to Mugabe’s army, Zanla. These guerrilla
forces
operated largely in the Shona-speaking areas of Zimbabwe, during the
liberation war. They relied heavily on Mao Tse Tung’s strategy of terror.
Arbitrary killings were the chosen means of putting the fear of God—or, more
correctly, the fear of Satan—into innocent, defenceless rural peasant
people. One of many techniques was to force so-called “sell outs” or
‘collaborators’ to lie on the ground while their family members were forced
to beat them to death. Others were tied with wire and shot at point blank
range. One terrible instance remains raw in my mind. These ‘Liberation
heroes’ took a metal bar, heated it red hot, made a crook on its end, and
disembowelled a woman. Her young daughter was buried alive alongside her.
The whole village was forced to watch. [PAUSE]
Under the ceasefire
agreement at that time, Mugabe’s Zanu was obliged to lay
down arms and
gather its forces at pre-designated assembly points. Instead,
Zanu assembled
only a portion of its cadres and instructed the rest to
remain at large to
intimidate the people and thus guarantee the rural vote.
These combatants
moved among the villages and the people were told that they
would be shot,
or have their throats cut, if they did not vote for Mugabe’s
Zanu. Against
the background of the war, and its sickening violence, people
needed little
convincing that the threat of death was real. But this did not
prevent Zanla
from reinforcing the point: many more alleged collaborators or
‘sell-outs’
were butchered during the ceasefire. Shona rural areas in
Zimbabwe were made
no-go zones for other political parties. In one of many
examples, Francis
Makombe, a candidate representing the rival nationalist
party, Zapu—which
was supported by the Soviet Union and, ironically, South
Africa’s African
National Congress—was last seen having hot coals shoved
down his
throat.
Mugabe ‘won’ a majority. To his surprise and delight Zanu
inherited the
‘Bread Basket of Africa’. International recognition,
admiration and aid
followed. He and his party learnt a lifelong lesson:
elections confer
legitimacy, no matter how they are won. Put otherwise,
violence could always
guarantee power in a so-called democracy, just as it
does during war. Before
assuming office, the commander of Zanla forces in
the field died under
suspicious circumstances in a ‘car accident’ in
Mozambique. The remains of
the charismatic Josiah Tongogara have never been
exhumed, despite his family’s
requests for an independent autopsy. He was at
the time a credible rival to
Mugabe. Murder and assassination have never
been far from Zanu’s leadership.
After its success in 1980, Zanu embarked
on a second objective that it hoped
to be achieve by a sweeping victory at
the next elections, Mugabe’s ZANU had
power—but it lacked the element that
had underlined the war effort. Zanu
wanted not only to rule, but to rule
alone. Zanu decided Zimbabwe should
become a North Korean-style personalised
one-party state. But there was a
problem in the form of Joshua Nkomo and his
party, Zapu. Zapu enjoyed
overwhelming support from the regionally-based
minority Ndebele tribe. Zanu
had to manufacture a pretext for wiping out
Zapu and its support before the
next election was held. A bandit problem in
the Zapu heartland of
Matabeleland provided this pretext. In January 1983,
Zanu deployed to
Matabeleland the North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade of the
army. The Brigade
was called Gukurahundi,—which in Shona means the ‘rain
that washes away the
chaff’. The Gukurahundi was ostensibly mobilised to
deal with bandits, known
locally as dissidents. Zimbabweans knew then what
Mugabe was to embark on.
This world needs to now recognise the Gukurahundi
massacres for what they
were, a shameful act of despicable ETHNIC
CLEANSING.
The deployment of the Fifth Brigade brought with it the worst
sustained
bloodletting ever seen in Zimbabwe. In scale—and in its grotesque,
sadist
nature—the likes of it had never been seen before. Many, many
thousands
died; the number will never be known. But this address is not
about
statistics or numbers. It is about suffering and the need for justice.
It is
about bringing to justice those who inflicted inconceivably brutal,
savage
murders on innocent people. Fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters
deserve
nothing less. The following are eyewitness accounts, some of which
have
never been published before:
[They] found him milking. They shot
him and broke off his lower jaw and cut
off his tongue. He ran away ... They
fired again and broke his left arm
below the elbow. We found him on the 2nd
day ... We brought him home but
[he] died the following day.
We were
made to sing ... we were then beaten indiscriminately ... Large
sticks were
used ... Some young men were made to dig a large hole about 2
meters deep
... [three] were asked to jump into the hole ... Six [soldiers]
then fired
several shots ...While the three were still moving villagers were
made to
cover up the hole.
We were made to lie with our faces down and they
worked on us. Sticks used
for roofing were used in torturing us. I was
unable to move until the next
morning ... [a soldier then] pulled out a
pistol and shot Mable and Kate.
[Another] tore open Kate’s womb. They
laughed when they saw the foetus
moving and said, “the dissident wants to
run away”.
[He] was thatching his home when the armed men came. They shot
him when he
was on the roof ... The wife ... had gone to fetch some water at
a borehole.
She was shot on the way back to her home by the same people who
shot her
husband. [He] and his wife ... were buried at their home. The
grandmother,
who had taken care of her from youth until the time she got
married, took
care of the grandchildren.
The Gukurahundi has left a
huge, festering wound in the Ndebele psyche; it
hangs over Zimbabwe like a
dark cloud. Not one of the architects of the
Ndebele ethnic cleansing has
been brought to justice—not a single one.
Instead, many have been promoted
for their loyalty to Mugabe and Zanu. The
commander of the Fifth Brigade,
Brigadier Perence Shiri, was later promoted
to the head of the Zimbabwean
Air Force. He now sits on the Joint Operations
Command, a junta which
effectively runs Zimbabwe to this day in spite of my
party’s victory in
parliamentary elections of March 2008—a victory that was
even grudgingly
acknowledged by Mugabe.
Zanu expected the general elections of 1985 to
bring victory in Matabeleland
and the obliteration of Zapu as a political
entity. But the Ndebele people
delivered a rude shock to Zanu, electing Zapu
candidates in all 15
Matabeleland seats. The Ndebele people initiated what
has become a proud and
thoroughly brave tradition among Zimbabweans:
continual, peaceful democratic
resistance to Zanu tyranny. As they were to
do in later years, the Zanu
leadership reacted with rage to Ndebele defiance
in 1985. They incited mobs
to attack Zapu supporters in urban areas. Mugabe
made a radio broadcast in
Shona saying: ‘Endai munobvisa sora riri mubindu
menyu’—which translated
means ‘go and uproot the weeds from your garden’. If
ever there was a call
for vicious retribution, this was it. The Zanu-PF
Women’s League—at the time
headed by the now Vice-President Joyce Mujuru and
deputised by Mugabe’s wife
Sally—rampaged through Harare’s suburbs,
destroying the houses of Zapu
supporters and hacking to death a Zapu
candidate with an axe. Two pregnant
women were brutally killed. It was a
shocking and visible reminder to URBAN
Zimbabweans of Mugabe’s brutality,
regularly inflicted upon rural peasants
for years. Casualty numbers were
substantial.
By 1987, Zapu had been thoroughly decimated. Its leaders
were completely
overwhelmed. They conceded to a so-called unity agreement,
(sound familiar?)
which allowed Zanu to swallow them whole. Mugabe had
achieved his de-facto
one-party state.
Unchallenged for more than a
decade, Zanu-PF was content to leave the people
of Zimbabwe to their own
devices. The party leadership then devoted itself
wholeheartedly to
corruption and the systematic looting of state resources.
But the
fundamental character of Zanu did not change. It remains a hybrid
North
Korean-style dictatorship centered around Robert Mugabe. Zanu PF
boast:
‘Zanu ndeyeropa’—‘Zanu is a party of blood’. When Mugabe’s Zanu PF is
not
under pressure, it is happy to let things adrift. But it always returns
to
its violent roots when the heat is on. We would do well to remember that
now, in 2010! Zanu is Zanu and will always be so; the party’s politburo is
overwhelmingly comprised of individuals who are serial HUMAN RIGHTS
ABUSERS.
Growing out of the trade union movement and civil society—and
rooted in the
Zimbabwean people’s resentment of Zanu’s self enrichment and
corruption—the
Movement for Democratic Change was formed in 1999. Zanu-PF
faced its most
serious challenge since Zapu. Indeed, MDC was always an even
greater threat,
because it drew support from all tribal and racial groups in
Zimbabwe. Our
first objective in the MDC was to mobilise the people to vote
‘NO’ in a
constitutional referendum which Mugabe hoped to manipulate to give
him even
more control around his personalised presidency. The MDC’s second
objective
was parliamentary elections due to take place during
2000.
As in 1985, Zanu-PF was complacent and underestimated the depth of
resentment among the people. Another rude shock was delivered. Mugabe’s
draft constitution was rejected. He appeared on TV pretending to be the
conciliatory statesman, but reliable sources confirm that inside he was
seething and filled with hatred after the MDC’s successful mobilisation.
Mugabe’s response this time around was to ethnically cleanse white farmers
and their labour force. Zanu-PF used the emotive ‘Land Restitution
Programme’
as a cheap, cynical electoral gimmick. White Zimbabwean farmers
were to be
punished for supporting MDC and their farm workers and
dependents, who
constituted a bloc of around a million opposition
supporters, were driven
off the land and left destitute. The pain and human
suffering inflicted upon
Zimbabwean farm workers—and their resulting
circumstances are almost too
painful to describe.
Zanu-PF-sponsored
anarchy descended upon the vibrant farming community. The
prospect of being
killed on any day was totally real. Groups of Zanu-PF
youth militia began to
forcibly evict farmers off their property, beating
and killing them and
their workers in a classical program.
Remarkably, after less than a year
in existence—and in the face of
institutionalised vote rigging—MDC still
managed to capture 57 of the 120
contested seats in the 2000 elections. In
reality Zanu-PF’s Mugabe has never
ceased the war it declared on us, the
Zimbabwean people. Many outside
Zimbabwe do not realise that land invasions
have continued for years—and are
still continuing. Farmers and their
workers, many who had maintained
remarkable life-long relationships, became
the wretched of the earth: shot,
raped, and beaten with chains and logs.
Many died long and agonising deaths,
without medical care of any kind. For
those of us who lived through it, we
can never forget. These things are
seared on our memories.
The country has been ruined by those whose only
interest is retaining power
through the barrel of a gun.
On my own
farm, so called war veterans, but nothing more than HITLER-STYLE
BROWN SHIRT
HOOLIGANS invaded six weeks before the 2000 elections where I
had been asked
by the local community to oppose a Zanu-PF candidate. My
workers were
savagely beaten. My wife, five months pregnant, lost her baby.
The ‘militia’
returned a year later after I was elected to office as the
local MDC Member
of Parliament. Over the next three years, my coffee estate
was looted and
plundered. My workers were continuously beaten. Various court
orders counted
for nothing. The intensity of these attacks increased in
early 2004: two
teenage girls were raped, and two employees, Shemmy
Manyenyeka and Joseph
Kaitano, were shot by a soldier. Shemmy was shot in
the face at point-blank
range. Imagine, if you can ladies and gentleman,
people whose lives,
circumstances and families were so part and parcel of
mine, being killed,
tortured, and humiliated simply because of their support
for me and the
MDC.
[press enter ONCE on Powerpoint to bring up photo of
Shemmy]
Finally, in April my family, management and staff were forced off
our farm.
We were left with nothing. But we were better off than my workers
and their
families. They had neither shelter nor prospects and were forced
to flee.
One study estimates that of the one million farm workers and their
dependents, nearly 400,000 have died since 2000 from the effects of
malnutrition and lack of access to medical care and attention. The effect of
this ethnic cleansing of the agricultural sector of Zimbabwe constitutes a
massive series of human rights violations, deserving a full INTERNATIONAL
investigation and prosecution of the perpetrators.
Meanwhile, more
pain and death was brought by the elections of 2002 and 2005
as a result of
steadfast and growing support for my party, MDC. In the urban
areas,
+-700,000 people lost their livelihoods, or had their homes
demolished in
mid-winter, during 2005’s Operation Murambatsvina—a term that
means ‘drive
out the rubbish’. This disgusting Zanu-PF initiative was
embarked upon in
response to MDC’s total control of the urban electorate. By
demolishing
MDC’s urban support base, and forcing destitute Zimbabweans to
flee to
neighbouring countries, primarily South Africa, Zanu-PF resorted
again to
terror in the elections of 2008. It was these elections that took
us to the
brink of another Gukurahundi. In spite of the all-too-obvious
consequences,
the people of Zimbabwe courageously voted in numbers,
defeating Zanu-PF in
the parliamentary elections of March. At the same time,
Mugabe lost the the
presidential election to my colleague and President of
the MDC, Morgan
Tsvangirai. With their backs to the wall, Zanu-PF, aided and
abetted by
South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki, bludgeoned their path to a forced
presidential
electoral run-off. The presidential runoff was characterized by
unprecedented violence. It was co-ordinated by the same individuals who
organised the Gukurahundi. This was a military operation organised by Joint
Operations Command. Let me give you one example of this junta’s involvement:
On 5 May, a group of 300 ‘Green Bomber’ militia organized a meeting in
Chiweshe, Mashonaland Central. They told people forced to attend that they
needed ‘re-education’. The people were ordered to confess their support for
MDC. When no-one came forward, a 76-year-old woman was selected and beaten
for 10 minutes. Three brave men chose to save her by stepping forward.
Around 70 people were indiscriminately selected thereafter for punishment.
Men and women were made to lie on their stomachs and were beaten with rods.
Some had barbed wire tied to their genitals and were told to lift logs with
them. Two died immediately and four others died later. This is a microscopic
picture of retribution meted out the length and breadth across Zimbabwe. Of
more than 4,000 documented victims of political violence between March and
July 2008, a very large proportion were lined up face down and beaten on the
buttocks and back with hoe handles and other solid objects.
[press
enter ONCE on Powerpoint; remaining slides will transition
automatically]
Apart from fractures, the deep bruising which
invariably resulted led, in
turn, to the development of necrotic
tissue—essentially, people’s flesh
rotted and those that were saved had to
have huge chunks cut off from their
bodies. Others were burnt alive. As you
can see, we have ample photographic
evidence of these atrocities. And these
Zimbabweans are the lucky ones! Many
more Zimbabweans were murdered. It is
also worth noting there is a sickening
pattern of continuity in the torture
methods employed across decades by this
vengeful Zanu-PF politburo led by
Robert Mugabe—a Pol Pot in a Saville Row
Suit! A case study of Gukurahundi
activities in the Nyamandlovu–Tsholotsho
area of Matabeleland North records
70 mass beatings in 1983 and notes that
the ‘most common beating technique
was the victim(s) would be forced to lie
down on the ground, and then would
be repeatedly beaten … with thick sticks
or gun butts’.
None of the
violence that has occurred in Zimbabwe since 2000 represents
anything
new—Zanu PF reverts to the tried-and-tested methods which have
worked for
them in the past. Far from fearing regional and international
consequences,
this thoroughly discredited nationalist liberation
organisation has always
been rewarded for its savagery. This culture of
impunity from any form of
punishment, in any forum, let alone at The Hague,
grows in evil and cynicism
each year that the ringleaders escape punishment.
The naked truth is that we
as Zimbabweans must rid ourselves of this cancer
with the help of our
friends. Appeasement will not do. Attempts to achieve a
permanent peace with
Zanu-PF are predicated on the naive assumption that
these people will return
the favour. But the appeasement of evil has—and
always will—fail.
Chamberlain’s appeasement failed in the face of Nazi
megalomania.
Appeasement will fail in Zimbabwe under the weight of Zanu’s
insatiable lust
for power. But more than anything, the appeasement of Mugabe
and his party
is immoral. It offends all the basic laws and instincts of
human decency and
dignity. The time has come for justice to be served. The
value of lives lost
and lives ruined must be restored.
The democratic will of the Zimbabwean
people must finally be respected. We
call on you, ladies and gentleman, to
reflect on the sufferings of our
people, their desire for freedom. Their
desire to re-construct our beautiful
country and to rejoin the community of
nations, with their heads deservedly
held high. We know that the key to
unlocking our future rests largely within
ourselves—and, beyond that, with
President Zuma and South Africa. We know
that Zanu-PF, this rag -tag
discredited party headed by tyrants is now an
acute embarrassment to South
Africa, to President Zuma’s party, the ANC, to
the ANC’s Alliance partners
and to South African civil society. But every
one of you can, and must, play
a vital role. I ask please that you lobby
political, civil society and
religious bodies in your representative
countries. Please assist us with
resources and show us how to raise them for
ourselves. Finally, help us in
lobbying for a democratic transfer of power.
The results of the forthcoming
elections MUST NOT once again bring shame on
our beloved continent of
Africa. There must be a transfer of power to the
inevitable victors—MDC. I
thank you, as a humble spokesman for the people of
Zimbabwe. It has been a
privilege addressing everyone today and to know that
our suffering will be
more vigorously brought before the court of
international public opinion.
Bill Watch 46/2010 - 10th November [MDC-T Protests Cause Shock Senate Adjournment until February]
BILL WATCH
46/2010
[10th November 2010]
The Senate adjourned this afternoon until 8th February 2011
Row in the
Senate
For the
second day running MDC-T Senators brought the Senate to a standstill in protest
against the presence of “intruders”. Immediately after the opening prayer MDC-T
Senator Tichaona Mudzingwa rose to object to the presence of Thokozile Mathuthu,
David Karimanzira, Jason Machaya and Faber Chidarikire in the House. [These
are persons who the MDC-T say are no longer ex officio members of the Senate, as
they were illegally and unconstitutionally appointed as provincial governors by
President Mugabe.] The President of the Senate refused to accept the
objection, whereupon the MDC-T Senators starting singing, dancing and whistling
and made such a noise that the President of the Senate rose to adjourn the
Senate until February. No business was conducted. MDC-M Senators present did
not join in the demonstration.
Today’s
events were a repeat of yesterday’s adjournment without business being
conducted, after MDC-T made a similar protest against the presence of Thokozile
Mathuthu.
MDC-T
Position on Provincial Governors in the Senate
The MDC-T
position is that MDC-T Senators will continue to prevent the Senate conducting
any business until the issue of provincial governors’ appointments has been
resolved.
Effect of
the Senate Adjournment on Pending Bills
Budget
Bills
Following
consultations on the Budget, it is expected that the Budget for 2011 will soon
be presented to the House of Assembly together with the Appropriation and
Finance Bills. These are money bills and Schedule 4, paragraph 6, of the
Constitution contains special provision to permit a “money bill” passed by the
House of Assembly to be presented to the President for assent if it hasn’t been
passed by the Senate within eight sitting days.
Other
Bills
During the
adjournment of the Senate it will be impossible for Parliament to complete the
passage of any Bills in the ordinary way, i.e., with both Houses assenting to
them. Nevertheless Schedule 4, paragraph 5, of the Constitution contains
special provision for the enactment, without Senate approval, of a Bill
certified by a Vice-President or Minister to be “so urgent that it is not in the
national interest to delay its enactment” – but it is difficult to see any of
the Bills presently awaiting attention qualifying for that description.
If a Bill
not certified as urgent by a Vice-President or Minister has been passed by the
House but not by the Senate, it may be sent to the President for assent, but
only after the expiry of ninety days.
Bills
already in Parliament:
· Zimbabwe
National Security Council Amendment Bill [passed by the House of Assembly
yesterday and transmitted to the Senate]
· POSA
Amendment Bill [still awaiting Committee Stage in the House of
Assembly]
· Zimbabwe
National Security Council Amendment Bill [with Parliamentary Legal Committee
– PLC]
· Criminal
Law Amendment (Protection of Power, Communication and Water Infrastructure)
Bill [with PLC]
· Attorney-General’s Office Bill [with
PLC].
Bills
awaiting Introduction:
· Deposit
Protection Corporation Bill
· General
Laws Amendment Bill
· Small
Enterprises Development Corporation Amendment Bill
· National
Incomes and Pricing Commission Amendment Bill.
Early
Recall of Senate Possible if Issue of Provincial Governors
Resolved
If the
issue over the provincial governors is resolved before the 8th February, it will
be possible for the Senate to be recalled early. Senate Standing Order 187
empowers the President of the Senate, at the request of President Mugabe, to
recall the Senate for an earlier meeting if the “public interest” so requires.
Note: the
Senate could be recalled at any time, even if the provincial governor problem is
not resolved, but this is unlikely to happen as it would, no doubt, lead to
further incidents.
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