A top
civil servant has reportedly written to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to
say his office will cease to exist after February 28th next year, according
to a highly placed source.
The source said the letter indicates that
President Robert Mugabe will ‘unilaterally end the inclusive government and
dissolve parliament in January before calling for elections in March without
the new constitution he signed up to.’
The letter, believed to have
originated from the Public Services Commission, is said to have been
delivered to the Premier’s office earlier this week although neither he nor
his partner in the inclusive government, Welshman Ncube, have publicly
responded.
Our source had tried to confirm the existence of the letter
(presumably from the chairman of the PSC, Mariyawanda Nzuwa) by asking
Tsvangirai’s top aide Ian Makone about it. But he said it was news to
him.
Welshman Ncube said: ‘I know nothing about this.’
Mugabe has
repeatedly insisted elections must be held in March 2013. However Pedzisayi
Ruhanya, a director for the Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, told SW Radio
Africa on Friday that he finds it hard to believe such a letter exists
because the dissolution of government is not done by a letter but by a
statutory instrument gazetted in the government gazette.
‘Not even a
minister can issue such a directive. What happens is that if government is
going to be dissolved, the President will issue a statutory instrument
through the Ministry of Justice that is published in a government gazette.
That is the law and procedure. The first thing that is done when rolling out
an electoral process is the dissolution of parliament and that also is done
through a statutory instrument via the Justice ministry,’ Ruhanya
said.
Mugabe could in fact use his presidential powers to dissolve
parliament, if he wanted to. Although, in theory, the Global Political
Agreement requires him to consult with his unity government partners over
all issues, we all know that this doesn’t necessarily
happen.
Analysts have said that should Mugabe make a unilateral decision
to call elections it wouldn’t go down well with SADC or South African
President Jacob Zuma, who is the mediator on the Zimbabwe crisis.
But
Zimbabweans should not put their hopes in Zuma. He is currently fighting for
his political life ahead of the ANC’s congress next month. Observers in
South Africa say Zuma is showing that he has no interest in Zimbabwe at the
moment.
Finance
minister Tendai Biti arrives at Parliament of Zimbabwe to present the 2013
national budget yesterday. Pic: Tsvangirai Mukwazhi HARARE - Finance minister
Tendai Biti has set aside $50 million for a constitutional referendum and
general elections scheduled for next year, warning that electoral violence
is the “biggest threat” to Zimbabwe’s economy.
The figure allocated
by Biti is far below the $300 million plus requested by electoral
authorities.
Biti told the Daily News after presenting his 2013 budget
proposals yesterday that the budget allocations meant polls are definite
next year following years of disagreements of election timing.
But
the minister immediately warned that election violence would spell doom for
the stuttering economy.
“We have put aside the money for the referendum
and elections and it is $50 million. This money is coming under unallocated
expenditure. We hope it is enough,” he said.
The Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (Zec) has previously said it is ready for elections but wants
$104 million to hold the referendum and $220 million for the general
election.
Biti painted a grim picture in the event of a repeat of the
violence that has characterised past elections.
“We have made an
economic growth projection of five percent next year and this is anchored on
a normal rain season and the continued firming of international commodity
prices,” he said.
“There are downward risks though and I will summarise
them as follows; the threat of a poor rain season and the collapse of
international commodity prices. However, the biggest risk to this economy in
2013 will be a violent election.
“Any reproduction even on a
small-scale of the fascism and friction we saw in 2008 will virtually
collapse the nascent foundations we have tirelessly built in the past 45
months,” Biti said.
Zimbabwe’s fragile coalition government, formed after
the disputed 2008 presidential election run-off, had largely been
dysfunctional with policy discord rattling much-needed cash rich
investors.
This was after President Robert Mugabe had been humiliated by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in first round voting but failed to garner
enough votes to ascend the presidency.
A subsequent run-off was
reduced to a sham after Mugabe went on a one-man poll following Tsvangirai’s
pull-out citing gross violence which he said was led by the
military.
Violence has been a characteristic of Zimbabwe’s elections
since independence from Britain in 1980.
Yesterday, Biti called for
an end to the political logjam that has haunted Zimbabwe in the past dozen
years saying it does not augur well for economic development and social
delivery.
“Zimbabweans across the country are uncertain about 2013 and
the elections.
They have said loud and clear that they have paid their
dues and want an end to all this heckling.
“We therefore cannot
continue in this cyclical path of permanent conflict temporarily suspended
by short periods of peace. It will be a case of two steps forward and 20
steps backward. Political crises place a premium on development. We are
heartened though by the messages of peace coming from our political leaders
but we must walk the talk,” said Biti.
“We have two options the first of
which is the retention of the status quo characterised by uncertainty and
total subordination of the economic agenda to predatory politics and I call
this the crocodile scenario,” Biti said chiding Defence minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa known as “Ngwena the crocodile” in political circles.
“It
entails the continued reproduction of the enclave economy and further
impoverishment of our people. If you look at our social indicators; 90 out
of every 1 000 children born are dying at infancy, secondly our maternal
mortality stands at 96 mothers dying per every 1 000 during child birth and
our life expectancy is 41 years. The figures of infant mortality and life
expectancy are by any description soft genocide.”
He said Zimbabwe
would have to pay a price for peace.
“We will pay for elections and the
referendum next year and that will be our price for peace. This is our
second option which I call the cheetah mentality. It requires a major
paradigm shift by all of us and the pursuit of a united common vision under
a stable democratic political dispensation and a graduation from the current
status.
“People want peace, security, development, education and
guaranteed non-selective application of the rule of law. Our political
Principals agree it does not have to be like this. Next year should be the
year we liquidate our cyclical politics and embark on virtuous politics of
inclusivity,” the Finance minister said.
Zimbabwe has been in the
throes of a debilitating financial, economic and political meltdown since
the turn of the century that saw the virtual collapse of a once vibrant
economy. - Richard Chidza and Chengetai Zvauya
DRINKERS and smokers face Christmas pain after
Tendai Biti on Thursday announced a duty rise on alcohol and
cigarettes. The Finance Minister told the House of Assembly that alcohol will
be subject to a rise in duty of 5 percent, while the duty on cigarettes went
up from US$10 per 1,000 sticks to US$15.
The changes come into effect
from December 1.
Biti said he hoped to raise $11 million from the sin tax
which would all go towards the education budget. He told Parliament as he
unveiled his 2013 budget: “We have increased excise duty on tobacco and
alcohol and this extra increase will be ring-fenced towards the education
sector in three areas, namely vocational training and to the two ministries
of education both the lower and higher ministries.”
Speaking to New
Zimbabwe.com after his budget statement, Biti said “the net effect (of the
duty raise) is a US$0.01 increase on a pint of beer” as he sought to
pre-empt a backlash from drinkers.
But the increase could be sharper on
imported alcohol which was on average priced lower that local brews, Biti
said. “I, therefore, propose to levy a specific rate of excise duty of $0,45
per litre or 45 percent, whichever is higher, in order to level the playing
field between imported and locally produced clear beer,” said Minister
Biti.
Biti said cigarette levies were being introduced worldwide as
governments sought to “mitigate the social costs arising from consumption of
hazardous substances”.
Past Finance Ministers, notably Simba Makoni
in 2001, were careful to keep drinkers on their side. Makoni’s ‘Drink and
Cycle Home’ budget saw him slash excise duty on bicycles and
beer.
Biti confirmed drinkers had been left alone since 2004, but now
they have to pay a little more for the wise waters. “The rate has not
been reviewed since January 2004, in order to allow ample time for business
to re-invest in new plant and equipment,” he said.
“As a result,
significant investment in bottling and ancillary plants has been injected
since the adoption of the multi-currency regime in February 2009. Volumes of
beer sales have, thus, grown by about 270 percent from 2009 to
2012.”
Last week, Education Minister David Coltart accused parents of
spending money on beer and mobile phones while neglecting to pay fees for
their children.
Biti will hope smokers and drinkers will take the
new hit to their budgets in their strides as he stressed that the money
raised would all go towards education.
Serious differences have
emerged between Harare’s Mayor, Muchadeyi Masunda, and the majority of
councillors and residents, who are unhappy with the recent purchase of
expensive luxury vehicles for senior managers.
Masunda has also been
strongly criticised for his attitude towards the councillors, who he
allegedly views as uneducated. The Mayor has been accused of siding with
senior management instead, even though they have failed to implement
policies adopted by the elected councillors.
Charles Mazorodze of the
Harare Residents Trust (HRT), told SW Radio Africa about the recent lavish
spending on vehicles for officials at the City Council, who do not appear to
have any plans to make life as comfortable for their ratepayers, who pay
their wages.
Mazorodze said a resolution was passed on November 8th
approving the purchase of a Toyota Land Cruiser valued at $190,000 for the
Town Clerk Tendai Mahachi, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee valued at $117,000, for
Chamber Secretary Josephine Ncube. Mazorodze criticised this “extravagant
expenditure” when residents are being overcharged for services they do not
even receive.
“The contracts which the town clerk and chamber
secretary have are performance-based contracts, meaning they should have
performed well beyond the shadow of a doubt for them to be awarded such
luxurious vehicles. But the town clerk is notorious only for failing to
implement the council’s policies,” Mazorodze said.
He added that HRT
has attended several full council meetings at which many councillors were
questioning the credibility of the town clerk, Mahachi. They accused him of
deliberately failing to put into place many good policies which they had
passed as council.
Mazorodze said: “The problem is it is the councillors
who have to face the voters in their constituency to explain why nothing is
being done about improving service delivery. Mahachi is somebody being
protected by the Mayor, maybe because he is educated.”
Mazorodze
accused Mayor Masunda of displaying an “elitist attitude”, which he said
many councillors dislike because the Mayor undermines them and the work they
are trying to do.
“The Mayor is too academic to deal with public service
delivery. He sees all these other councillors as not being educated and sees
himself as someone who is experienced. He protects senior management and
downplays their lack of performance. But this education has not yielded any
results,” Mazorodze explained.
With refuse going uncollected for long
periods of time, potholes in the streets, an inconsistent supply of water
which is not healthy enough to drink, 200 residents took to demonstrating at
City Hall last week.
Mazorodze said they want the water issue addressed
urgently, cancellation of all debts acquired between February 2009 and
December 2010, streamlining of salaries at City hall and resignation of the
Mayor and senior management.
This year’s Grade 7 pupils are likely to enroll for
Form 1 later than normal amid revelations that the cash-strapped Zimbabwe
School Examinations Council is struggling to secure
markers. 14.11.12
by Zwanai Sithole
Traditionally, the
Grade 7 examinations are written in early October with the results being
released in December when schools close. Zimsec sources and teachers who
spoke to The Zimbabwean this week said it was impossible for the national
examination board to meet the December deadline.
“Normally, the marking
of the examinations has been completed by this time and in December the
results are announced. The provincial supervisors have not yet met to
discuss the answers and the guidelines of the marking. Nobody from Zimsec
has bothered to communicate with us,” said a teacher who has been involved
in the making of the examinations.
Measures are also being taken to avoid
leakages following the widely publicized incident in Matabeleland North
where an acting headmaster lost 13 O-level examination papers resulting in
the government reprinting them at a cost of $850,000.
Harare, November 16, 2012
- Four senior female members of the coalition government political parties
were on Thursday left sobbing after listening to testimonies of several
women raped during the 2008 elections. Deputy Prime Minister Thokozani Khupe,
Co- Minister of Home Affairs Theresa Makone, Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee (JOMIC) co-chairpersons Thabitha Khumalo and Oppah
Muchinguri could not hold back tears when the women narrated their ordeals
at a meeting organised by a local NGO to expose policy makers to violence
against women.
The four women politicians, seated next to each other
could be seen battling to hold back tears.
The testimonies by the
women, some of whom broke down while testifying, were so touching that it
elicited angry responses from the women.
Makone said she will work to
make sure that the perpetrators of the acts of violence against the women
are brought to book.
“These people are not different from murderers they
must stay in jail that’s where they belong. I don’t think there is any
political party that will send anyone to and rape on its behalf. Raping
someone is like killing them and it should not be allowed to happen in
Zimbabwe,” said Makone.
Khupe said she will approach President Robert
Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to end sexual violence against
women.
“I will make sure that the President and Prime Minister know about
your problems,” said Khupe.
Khumalo said perpetrators must be
arrested and punished severely.
Muchinguri said it was sad that “rape is
being used as a political tool” against women in politics.
The
testimonies also touched Chief Charumbira who immediately called for the
removal of bail on any rape suspect.
“I don’t understand why rape
suspects should be given bail. I don’t understand why some rape convicts
should be given 5 years, 10 years and others 57 years. Rape is rape and if
it means one should get 57 years let that be the standard,” he
said.
Perpetrators of the 2008 election violence have never been brought
to book and victims of violence have not received any compensation.
Friday, 16 November 2012 11:24 HARARE -
Zimbabwe's Supreme Court yesterday briefly heard and deferred a
constitutional challenge by an HIV activist who wants the highest court to
rule that denying treatment to people living with HIV held in either police
or prison detention is unconstitutional.
A full bench of the Supreme
Court consisting five judges and headed by Chief Justice Godfrey
Chidyausiku, briefly heard Douglas Muzanenhamo’s September 5, 2012
constitutional application seeking an order compelling police and prison
officials to respect the rights to access medication of detainees living
positively with HIV and Aids.
Muzanenhano, through the Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights (ZLHR), petitioned the Supreme Court after the activist’s
ordeal following his arrest on treason charges last year.
He was
charged together with 44 other social justice, trade union and human rights
activists, including University of Zimbabwe lecturer and International
Socialist Organisation leader Munyaradzi Gwisai.
Zimbabwean authorities
claimed the activists had plotted to topple President Robert Mugabe from
power using “Egyptian-style” revolts.
Muzanenhamo says the meeting was to
commemorate the death of an HIV/Aids activist Navigator
Mungoni.
Muzanenhamo was later freed together with 38 other activists by
Harare magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi.
While in detention,
Muzanenhamo, who is HIV positive and has lived with the condition for the
past 18 years, was denied access to his ARVs in contravention of Section 12
(1) of the Constitution. He was also denied a balanced nutritional diet
commensurate with the medical regime that he was following due to his
medical condition.
Due to improper administration of ARV’s, Muzanenhamo’s
health condition deteriorated rapidly and his CD4 count dropped from the
normal 800 to 579. Had he stayed longer in the custody of police and prison
functionaries, he would have suffered more damage to his health and
well-being.
The case specifically questions the constitutionality of
certain practices and treatment of people living with HIV by police and
prison officials.
Muzanenhamo’s lawyer, Tawanda Zhuwarara said a
postponement was granted by the Supreme Court to enable the state to
consider the applicant’s papers.
“We agreed both parties needed time as
there had not been sufficient time to consider each’s cases,” he said. “As
soon as both parties are ready, we hope the case will resume this
year.”
Zhuwarara said the presence of expert witnesses will largely
depend on whether the court agrees to it.
In the application, officer
in charge CID Law and Order Harare and the officer commanding Harare Central
District police are cited as first and second respondents
respectively.
Police commissioner general Augustine Chihuri and the two
co-ministers of Home Affairs Theresa Makone and Kembo Mohadi are cited as
the third and fourth respondents respectively, while commissioner general of
prisons Paradzai Zimondi is the sixth respondent. - Bridget Mananavire
VUMBA — Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri
yesterday urged senior police officers to reject the new constitution if it
has provisions for devolution of power. Officially opening the Senior
Officers’ Conference, Chihuri said those calling for the alternative system
of governance were unpatriotic. “We know that there are foreign elements that
are trying to infiltrate our country,” he said. “I urge you to throw away
this notion of devolution that is coming from some quarters in this
country. “Devolution means division. What are we devolving for? What is the
problem of being one?” Chihuri told senior officers to do all they could
to ensure devolution did not see the light of day. “I urge you to refuse
that,” he said. “If I had the privilege of continuing being the Commissioner
General, I will not preside over any division of this nature, never!” He
said police were ready to deal with political violence during the
forthcoming referendum on the constitution and general elections. Chihuri
also took aim at Finance minister Tendai Biti for allegedly underfunding the
Zimbabwe Republic Police. “Despite meagre financial resources we are getting,
we have been able to excel,” he claimed. “There is a hand of yesteryear
enemy in this underfunding. “In 2012 and in the Blue Book (Budget allocation)
we were allocated $38 million, but actually got $7 million.” - NewsDay
Fiber optic
network seen as a way to avoid election tampering
By Michael Malakata |
Computerworld Zambia | 16 November 12
Expectations are high in Southern
Africa that the outcome of Zimbabwe's forthcoming presidential election will
be credible and internationally acceptable following the move by the
country's election body to transmit results electronically to avoid vote
tampering.
The country is due to hold its presidential and general
elections in March next year to end the power-sharing government that has
ruled the country for the past five years following disputed election
results.
The Zimbabwe Elections Commission (ZEC) has said that for the
first time it will be able to transmit results electronically from local
polling stations to a command center in the capital, Harare, in an effort to
stop people from tampering with the results.
A US$20 million
fiber-optic network linking the command center with district polling
stations is being laid and the software that will be used to transmit the
results is currently being put in place, according to the ZEC. The United
Nations Development Program (UNDP) is funding the project.
The Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC), consisting of 14 countries including
Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC), has been pushing for free and fair elections in the Southern African
country.
Zimbabwe will be following Zambia and South Africa, among other
countries in the region, whose election results are transmitted
electronically to a command center to avoid rigging. Both the Zambian and
Namibian governments have said that they expect Zimbabwe will have credible
election results this time.
Acting ZEC chairperson Joyce Kazembe told
reporters last week that electronic transmission of results will help
eliminate human error. "If we achieve this, the margin of error will be
reduced," Kazembe said.
Questions have been raised in the past about the
outcome of the previous elections, with civil society organizations and the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), led by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, saying the results may have been rigged. Tsvangirai has
said that he believes President Robert Mugabe has lost respect in the region
and is losing support among regional governments.
The U.S. and U.K
governments have both imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe over the alleged rigging
of the 2008 election results, which gave Mugabe another five-year term.
Mugabe has ruled Zimbabwe for 30 years, much to the dislike of Western
countries, which have criticized his economic policies and land reform and
property seizure program
Marvelous Tshuma, a civic society leader and
advocate for free and fair elections, said in an interview that "the rise of
the Internet and other computerized connectivity options to transmit the
results to the command center could minimize loopholes that give rise to
vote rigging."
But Phillip Pasirayi, a political activist with the Center
for Community Development in Zimbabwe, told SW Radio Africa that while
digitalization is a positive trend, the only way to deepen the country's
democracy was to exercise tolerance and not to criminalize people with
divergent views.
"We are not as a country, at the stage where
digitalization is a priority. Issues around electoral malpractices and the
general culture of violence and intolerance in Zimbabwe should be tackled
first," Pasirayi told the radio station last week.
In Zambia, the use
of computerized system to transmit the election results resulted in the
opposition winning the election for the first time in 20 years.
Zimbabweans remember violence that accompanied
last presidential election. By Gamuchirai Masiyiwa - Media in Zimbabwe 16
Nov 12 When he opened the fifth session of the current parliament on October
30, President Robert Mugabe reiterated his call for elections in early 2013.
His address came on the heels of earlier indications that harmonised –
presidential, parliamentary and local – elections will be held in March
2013.
However, the question is whether Zimbabwe is ready – or getting
ready – for a free and fair election. An investigative assessment of the
situation in Goromonzi, a rural constituency southeast of Zimbabwe, proves
otherwise.
Home to torture bases that date back to the colonial era and
the epicentre of numerous politically-sanctioned murders that defined the
June 27, 2008 presidential run-off election, Goromonzi mirrors the political
situation in Zimbabwe as a whole.
As I arrived in the town, some 35
kilometres east of Harare, I could not but sense a chilling atmosphere of
fear, suspicion and tension. I did not need much more than observation to
tell how the prevailing political atmosphere is certainly not conducive to
free and fair elections.
New faces are easily recognised and villagers
take turns to greet strangers all the way. As they greeted me, their eyes
portrayed nervousness and suspicion. Traumatic encounters in 2008 taught
them not to trust strangers. They are tense and unable to open up to
strangers; only a few had the courage to talk about the political atmosphere
in their community. Their reactions show the level of fear besieging this
community.
One of the few who did open up was Bopoto Nyandoro, a
pro-democracy activist who was brutalised by police in 2005 for taking part
in a demonstration that demanded a democratic constitution. Despite winning
a court case, Nyandoro has yet to be compensated for the severe injuries he
sustained in the assault. To him, the fact that government has not
compensated him indicates ZANU PF’s continuing unwillingness to embrace the
reforms necessary for free and fair elections.
Nyandoro and other
members of the Goromonzi community are still caught up in their fear of
elections, as those who perpetrated torture and murder in the run-up to the
2008 election continue to walk about scot-free. Food aid is still being
politicised, some voters who were displaced in 2008 are still unable to
return to their homes, and traditional leaders are being forced to support
ZANU PF.
President Mugabe’s call for elections in 2013 alludes to a
normal electoral environment. However, the situation in Goromonzi is one of
fear and tension, and suggests little has been done to ensure that violence
will not erupt again if elections are called.
As Gertrude Mushonga,
one of the villagers, narrated what she went through in previous elections,
fear could be seen in her tearful eyes. She had her houses burnt during the
2002 and 2005 elections, and her son was seriously injured by gun shots in
the run up to the 2008 presidential run-off.
“My son, Paradzai was shot
on his private parts, which had to be chopped as they were rendered useless
by the injuries sustained. He can no longer have a family of his own.” In
the local Shona language, she continued, “Chinondirwadza ipfuti
dzavanoshandisa; vanouya kuzouraya mhuka here” – “It pains me that they come
with guns as if they are coming to kill animals.”
“Elections to us mean
going back to sleep in the bush and mountains, as we are hunted out of our
homes,” she added.
Getrude shivers every time she thinks of elections.
She said if elections come, she will resort to sleeping in the bush with her
grandchildren for fear of being burnt in her house.
Borden Mushonga,
who stood as a councillor in 2008 on a Movement for Democratic Change, MDC,
ticket, said MDC supporters will certainly be victimised if elections are
held under the prevailing political conditions.
“When elections come, we
know that the time to have our property stolen and houses destroyed has
come. Without comprehensive electoral and political reforms, we are
certainly heading for more trouble,” he said. “Structures which are used as
polling stations in some wards are [located on] farms of war veterans.
Voters’ security and even the outcome get compromised due to such
factors.”
Patience Chikomo, who was just missed by a bullet in 2008, said
the coming elections reopen past wounds and fill him with fear.
“What
I went through is scary. I met three guys who told me they were looking for
Borden Mushonga. When I told them that I did not know his whereabouts, they
asked me to follow them to their car. I got suspicious and ran for my life.
They fired shots at me, but failed to knock me down because of the steepness
of the ground,” he said.
Chikomo later sought refuge in Harare and only
went back to Goromonzi in 2009.
Paradzai Mushonga was shot in his
private parts by members of the ZANU PF militia who mistook him for Borden
Mushonga. The shooting incident haunted Paradzai into seeking asylum in
Botswana. He is one of the many voters displaced from their homes who have
yet to go back because of continuing fears.
“I left home in 2008
after receiving death threats from armed members of the ZANU PF militia. I
cannot go back because those who threatened me are still living freely at
home,” said Dick Choga (not his real name), who fled Goromonzi before the
2008 presidential run-off.
Like many other youths who fled their rural
homes in the wake of electoral violence, Dick now spends most of his time at
MDC headquarters in Harare, where he sells pirated DVDs for a
living.
The situation has been worsened by the way the police have become
seriously partisan in carrying out their duties.
Since police do not
round them up for prosecution, people who perpetrated serious cases of
electoral violence and torture continue to live freely in
Goromonzi.
“Most of the 2008 violence and intimidation activities
were reported to the police, but no dockets were opened and the culprits
still roam the villages. Ironically, when ZANU PF members lodge complaints
against MDC members, arrests are instituted within a short space of time,”
said Gilbert Mupota, a Goromonzi villager.
According to villagers who
spoke to this reporter, the fact that those who perpetrated torture and
violence are still walking free is a constant reminder that early elections
are likely to bring a further round of suffering
“When we meet them,
they tell us to stop supporting the MDC if we do not want to suffer as we
did in the previous elections,” said one villager who preferred to remain
anonymous.
ZANU PF is forcing traditional leaders to back its
mobilisation activities as part of attempts to manipulate early elections.
One leader who preferred not to be identified said he and other traditional
leaders in Goromonzi were being forced to attend ZANU PF meetings and chant
slogans.
“As leaders who are supposed to be non-partisan, we are under
fire as we are pushed into shouting slogans,” he said.
Although
villagers and traditional leaders say otherwise, the member of parliament
for Goromonzi North, Paddy Zhanda, claims there are no cases of violence or
intimidation in his area.
“There are no cases of political violence in my
constituency. The Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee was even
impressed when they visited my constituency,” he said referring to the
agency that has been jointly set up by ZANU PF and the two MDC formations to
ensure that provisions of their Global Political Agreement are fully and
effectively implemented.
While agreeing with Zhanda’s calls for peaceful
co-existence, Goromonzi villagers contend that he has no power to stop
political violence.
“Our MP has told us to shun violence, but we are yet
to see if his words will be of any effect come election time,” said Sheila
Rutsito, a villager who believes that violence is sanctioned by offices more
powerful than the MP’s.
One other factor working against a free and
fair electoral environment is the politicisation of food aid and
agricultural inputs.
“If you support the MDC and do not know anyone
within the ZANU PF structures, you will not have access to fertilisers and
food aid,” said a villager who identified himself as Elijah. “I went to a
gathering where people were being given maize; we were given five kilograms
of maize while those aligned to ZANU PF were getting 20 kgs.”
At risk
of being denied food, Goromonzi villagers are now afraid to join and canvass
for the political parties of their choice.
Zimbabwe Peace Project, ZPP,
director Jestina Mukoko confirmed that people in Goromonzi and other places
where ZPP monitors the electoral environment are still fearful of elections.
She said a comprehensive process of national healing and peace-building
would need to be launched to rekindle people’s confidence in
elections.
“There is need to embark on an intensive national healing
programme before elections. People at grassroots level must also be
extensively engaged through non-partisan voter education. Without this, the
talk of elections can only lead us to another disputed election,” she
said.
Gamuchirai Masiyiwa is a freelance journalist in Zimbabwe.
Violence against women remains one of the
biggest challenges in Zimbabwe, especially during election periods, and
there are fears the inclusive government has not made any progress to combat
this crime.
Women bore the heaviest brunt of the violence in the bloody
2008 elections. Their houses were burnt, property stolen, their children and
husbands killed in full view of them and rape became rampant.
On
Friday over 300 women from all walks of life gathered in Harare, where they
urged the government to tackle violence against women and girls, in
particular sexual violence and rape.
The workshop convened by the
gender based group, Women in Politics Support Unit, heard that violence
against women was widespread during elections in Zimbabwe.
Our
correspondent Simon Muchemwa said the women, who included vendors, artists,
politicians, teachers and other civil servants noted that the terrible
consequences of the 2008 violence was still being felt by many Zimbabwean
women today, and that the violence continues unchecked.
‘In the run up to
presidential elections in 2008 the women said they were relegated to mere
recipients of violence. Their husbands fled the violence and to force the
men to return, ZANU PF militia had a tendency of abducting women and
children.
‘There were numerous cases of women and children being taken as
ransom and forcibly detained in militia bases until their fathers or
husbands returned to their villages. Women said they were assaulted,
tortured, and sexually harassed,’ Muchemwa said.
The workshop in the
capital was to help analyse the role of the inclusive government in tackling
violence against women and girls. Participants said it must be recognised
that poll violence is almost certainly far less widespread than other forms
of violence against women, such as domestic abuse, and that combating
election violence is only the start of the battle for women’s
rights.
The women vowed not to leave any stone unturned in ensuring that
violence against them is completely abolished.
‘The participants said
it must be noted that the face of Zimbabwe is changing and women are
increasingly in the forefront of the transformation of the
society.
Though their efforts are sometimes invisible in the larger
world, women are often the real agents of change in society, working to
improve the lives of people in their communities even as they struggle to
feed and educate their children,’ Muchemwa added.
Outspoken former Zanu
(PF) top member, Tracy Mutinhiri, has signalled a dramatic departure from
the position of her new party, MDC-T, over the land “reform”
programme. 14.11.12
by Tawanda Majoni
In an exclusive
interview with The Zimbabwean, Mutinhiri did not mince her words about her
support for the fast track land redistribution programme launched by
President Robert Mugabe in 2000.
The programme, which Mugabe and his
party claimed was meant to empower thousands of land-hungry Zimbabweans,
forced close to 5,000 commercial white farmers and hundreds of thousands of
workers off their land without compensation, attracting local and
international condemnation for flagrant violation of property and human
rights.
Mutinhiri, who was expelled from Zanu (PF) last year on
allegations of siding with MDC-T, where she is now a national organizing
advisor, described the violent takeover “history repeating
itself”.
“When the whites invaded Zimbabwe, no-one talked about property
or human rights. They forcibly took over our land. So, when blacks decided
that enough was enough and reclaimed their farmland from the whites, it was
a case of justice taking its own course,” she said.
“It is no use
arguing against it on the basis that it was violent. How many people did
(Ian) Smith kill during the liberation struggle? There comes a time when you
have to adopt extreme measures to bring justice back,” she added.
She
said the takeover of farms was precipitated by the failure of the willing
buyer-willing seller model of land transfer that was adopted from
independence to 1999, accusing whites of frustrating smooth farmland
redistribution.
Mutinhiri still owns the farm she grabbed from
Douglas Cartwright in the early days of land “reform”, insisting that she
acquired it legally. Before her expulsion, Zanu (PF) unsuccessfully tried to
take the farm away from her.
“I am still on the farm and have no
regrets about it. I acquired it legally, when I applied to the government
and was given an offer letter. Everything was above board because I was
given the farm in accordance with the law of the land,” she said.
She
said that even though MDC-T supported land reform, there was need for the
party to accept that the programme begun in 2000 was meant to address
historical imbalances.
Under the Global Political Agreement land
reform is recognised as irreversible. But Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC-T
national spokesperson, said: “Our position in MDC has not changed. The
invasion of farms during the land reform programme was done through illegal
means and there is no way we will embrace lawlessness.”
He said no
member of MDC-T owned a farm taken under the land “reform” programme,
adding: “Mutinhiri got it when she was in Zanu (PF) and it is up to her how
to deal with the issue of that farm”.
Members of Zanu (PF) routinely tell lies using
President Robert Mugabe’s name, national spokesperson Rugare Gumbo has
confirmed in an interview with The Zimbabwean. 14.11.12
by
Jeffrey Moyo
But Mugabe has decided to put an end to this. “There are
so many people in Zanu (PF) who are going about lying to the grassroots
using the President’s name. He has decided to put a stop to that,” Gumbo
said.
He accused the culprits of seeking to gain cheap political favours
from the president and the people ahead of the next elections, but refused
to give details. The party’s Secretary for Administration, who is also
Minister of State in Mugabe’s Office, Didymus Mutasa, confirmed that party
members tell lies in Mugabe’s name.
Political analyst Ernest Mudzengi
said it was impossible for Mugabe to put an end to this practise, as he had
tried in vain to do so before but nobody listened to him.
“Mugabe’s
intension in making such calls is aimed at promoting peace, but we have
heard this in the past, particularly when the old leader made calls against
political violence. None of these have produced results, they are mere
window dressing,” Mudzengi said.
But Gumbo insisted: “The President has
spoken and if you are a patriotic member of the party, you will have to heed
what he said.” Some observers blame Mugabe for the culture whereby his
supporters use his name, saying he has encouraged personal worship, hence
the readiness of people to endorse anything that is said in his name.
The trial of the ‘Glen View accused’ continued on Friday with the
defence counsel blasting the state prosecutor for not taking the trial
seriously.
29 MDC activists are facing what they say are false charges
for the murder of a police officer last year.
State prosecutor Edmore
Nyazamba was accused by defence lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa, of blocking the
granting of bail to some of the MDC members who are in remand
prison.
On Tuesday, Nyazamba had promised he would spend Friday looking
at individual bail applications, after it was shown that state witness,
Chief Inspector Clever Ntini, was inconsistent and unreliable. But on
Friday Nyazamba changed his mind and told the trial judge that the accused
should re-apply for fresh bail.
This enraged Mtetwa who accused Nyazamba
of raising people’s hopes and then making an about turn at the last
minute.
She said: The State does not take seriously the issue of bail and
he is just playing time for the past two and half days.” The trial was
then postponed to Monday.
Motorists have
welcomed the High Court ruling Wednesday of lifting the ban on the
importation of left hand vehicles and scrapping of the requirement to carry
fire extinguishers and triangle reflectors.
The High Court yesterday set
aside a decision by the government to ban left hand vehicles and force
motorists to carry reflective triangles and fire extinguishers after the
Transporters Association of Zimbabwe had appealed against the statutory
instrument.
‘I think public transporters should always carry fire
extinguishers and triangles for the sake of the passengers’ safety. Even
private motorists need these things for their own safety,’ Jeff Mapheka, a
taxi driver in the Central Business District told Talking Harare
Thursday.
Mapheka says while left handed trucks pose a danger on the
country’s roads; it would be unfair to ban them as they are
affordable.
‘Many transporters in the country have fleets of left hand
drive vehicles and it would be unfair to ban them. The left hand vehicles
are also more affordable and banning them would destroy a whole sector,
where most indigenous players have invested,’ he said.
Panganayi
Makombo, of Highfield welcomes the move, saying the police had become a
nuisance on the country’s roads.
‘The police have been taking advantage
of these requirements. They were harassing motorists and robbing them of
their hard earned cash. Instead of issuing out tickets they were soliciting
for bribes from innocent citizens who would have simply forgotten to carry
fire extinguisher and the triangle,’ he said.
Another motorist, who
identified himself as Mawarire, says his driving experience before
independence never encountered such stringent road requirements.
‘It
would have been better if it was compulsory to carry a wheel spanner and a
jack as these help the motorist if he has a break down, not a fire
extinguisher,’ he said.
By Fungai Kwaramba, Staff Writer Friday, 16
November 2012 12:09
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC
has resolved to hold primary elections in December, but sitting MPs will
have to be confirmed by their constituents.
MDC spokesperson Douglas
Mwonzora told the Daily News after a meeting of the party’s standing
committee: “We are preparing for primary elections and we are going to
confirm the actual dates, but they will definitely be held in
December.
“First, we will hold primaries where we do not have MPs. We
call these constituencies orphaned. After that we will have a confirmation
election in areas where we have MPs. The aim is to weed out unpopular MPs,”
said Mwonzora.
The MDC spokesperson said in an election confirmation
that party structures will vote on whether they need to retain the incumbent
candidates or not.
“A primary election includes one or more people while
in the confirmation there is only one candidate where people will decide
whether they still want that person.
If sitting MPs are not confirmed
by their constituencies then they are given an opportunity to fight for a
place in the primary elections,” said Mwonzora.
The resolution is
contrary to an earlier pledge by party organising secretary, Nelson Chamisa,
who recently said every member would be forced to go through a primary
election.
“There are no two dip-tanks in the party and there won’t be
sacred cows.
We will not entertain the ‘‘animal farm’’ kind of thing
where some animals are more powerful than others.
In the party we are
all leaders and comrades,” Chamisa was quoted as saying last month, three
weeks before Wednesday’s standing committee meeting which confirmed the
sweetheart deal for sitting MPs, many who are accused of incompetence.
ZANU PF’S new rules on primary elections
are designed to protect the party from “nefarious machinations of
opportunists” and will not be used to “target any comrades”, politburo
member and Tsholotsho North MP Jonathan Moyo said on Friday.
Rugare
Gumbo, the Zanu PF spokesman, said a committee chaired by Didymus Mutasa
which drew up the rules for the party’s internal elections to choose
parliamentary candidates will table its proposals during the politburo next
week.
The NewsDay newspaper claims Mutasa will recommend that
individuals seeking to run for MP “must have served the party for no less
than five consecutive years”.
The newspaper immediately speculated
that Moyo, who left the party in 2005 and rejoined in 2009, would not be
eligible because it is only three years since his readmission.
Other
individuals who could be affected, the newspaper said, would be July Moyo,
Phillip Chiyangwa, Daniel Shumba and Mike Madiro who were all suspended at
some point over the last five years.
But according to the ZBC, “every
card-carrying member who has served the party for five or more years is
eligible to stand”. All the officials named by NewsDay would be free to
contest under that criterion.
Moyo, responding to a NewsDay report on
Friday claiming that he had said the party would “bend rules to allow him to
stand”, said: “The five-year rule has absolutely and totally nothing to do
with me personally and it therefore does not affect me in any way, shape or
form in personal terms.
“This is because I have been in Zanu PF for all
of my life and in case you don't know I am not five years old. The fact that
I have been Zanu PF and defended the party as a liberation movement for my
entire life is written in my mind, heart and blood and not in rubbish
newspapers run by some cockeyed yellow journalists.”
Moyo said the
rule was “intended to safeguard the party by protecting it from the
nefarious machinations of opportunists, infiltrators, merchants and agents
of regime change and other malcontents in our midst who are wont to use the
pretext of elections to derail, demoralise, destabilise or destroy the
party."
He added: "The rule is therefore not targeted at any comrades,
particularly the so-called Young Turks, most if not all of whom are in the
ranks of the youth, professionals or national security structures and may
not have been politically active or visible due to their peculiar
circumstances.
“Surely the situation of such comrades warrants
exemptions from the rule by opening rather than shutting the electoral door
to them? It is for this reason that serious minded and mature people,
especially within leadership ranks, are always open to exceptions that prove
the rule without getting carried away by the dogmas that proclaim the
rule.”
Chiyangwa, who is eyeing his old Chinhoyi constituency, said
NewsDay had “failed to interpret the [Zanu PF] statement”. “I have served
the party for many years. The rule did not say five consecutive years.”
MEDIATION on Zimbabwe’s political crisis
is lurching from one hurdle to the other as South African President Jacob
Zuma — the Southern African Development Community (SADC) point man in the
local political dialogue — faces an uncertain future ahead of the ruling
African National Congress (ANC)’s elective congress next month. Zuma is
facing a sterner test as the ANC heads for a crucial congress at Mangaung
next month where his deputy, Kgalema Motla-nthe, is expected to spring up a
challenge for the presidency. The uncertainty has forced the embattled South
African leader to shift his focus from Zimbabwe in order to fight for
survival. With Zuma on the ropes within the ANC, fresh turmoil has erupted
in Zimbabwe over the draft constitution and unresolved issues in the Global
Political Agreement (GPA). With ZANU-PF insisting on its 266 amendments to
the Parliamentary Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) draft, it emerged
this week that the two formations of the Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) now want Zuma to urgently intervene to ensure the country holds the
next polls under a new constitution and other requisite reforms. There is
however, concern that Zuma has frozen his mediation due to his political
woes in South Africa. His predecessor, Thabo Mbeki was removed from power
under similar circumstances at a conference in Polokwane, which explains why
Zuma could be having sleepless nights as Mangaung approaches. This week,
Motlanthe got nominations from key ANC branches across the country, an
indication that the heat could be on for Zuma. As a result, Zuma has been mum
on a number of issues bedeviling the coalition government north of the
Limpopo River, particularly his stone-cold silence on the absence of
political reforms critics claim are necessary before the country stages
fresh polls whose outcome would be universally accepted. Zuma’s
international relations advisor and spokesperson of the mediation team,
Lindiwe Zulu, was evasive this week when asked whether her boss still has
time for Zimbabwe given the fast approaching Mangaung conference. “President
Zuma always has time for the mediation process. He wants to know what is
happening. It’s not about him coming to Zimbabwe,” she said. When probed on
whether Zuma would be coming to Zimbabwe as part of his mediation role
before the end of the year, Zulu could not commit her boss to such a
schedule. “I really cannot say that he will come before the end of the year
but at the moment I cannot confirm. I cannot say whether it will be before
the end of the year,” she said. Zulu said Zuma’s position was that there
must be full implementation of the GPA before elections. President Robert
Mugabe has not said anything about such reforms. He even ducked the issue
when he set out the legislative agenda for the fifth session of the 7th
Parliament two weeks ago. The session is expected to be the last for the
legislature before elections. Ever since Zuma took over from his predecessor
in 2009, he has struggled with his mediation. He has rarely been seen in the
country, preferring to send his facilitation team of Charles Nqakula, Mac
Maharaj and Zulu. The facilitation team has also failed to nudge ZANU-PF and
the MDCs into honouring the GPA possibly because of lack of clout and the
obvious limitations it has especially when it comes to engaging at the
highest level.
This year, the South African President only came to
Harare once, in August prior to the SADC Maputo summit where, after briefing
the regional leaders, ZANU-PF mellowed its stance on the new
constitution. The Open Society Foundation for South African Foreign Policy
Initiative is of the view that Zuma’s mediation has lacked both the urgency
and direction required to correct the deteriorating political situation in
Zimbabwe. “His has become more of an observatory role, through the
facilitation team, than mediation,” the Initiative concluded. With Zuma’s
mediation technically on the backburner, COPAC hit another brick-wall this
week in attempts to forge ahead with finalising the draft constitution. A
constitutional referendum that had been expected in January now appears
highly unlikely as disagreements persist, over the draft charter. The
draft still has to pass through Parliament after getting endorsements at all
lower stages. President Mugabe has also demanded to have the final say,
triggering the current storm between ZANU-PF and the two MDCs formations,
which insist that the Executive should not interfere with the
constitution-making process. The MDCs have already sounded out Zuma’s
mediation team on the latest pitfalls. While the mediation team is aware
of the latest problems in Zimbabwe, they have not yet received any written
communication from the bickering partners. “We have not received anything
from the MDCs but we know that there are problems with what happened after
the Second All-Stakeholders’ Conference,” said Zulu. Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, the secretary general of the MDC led by Welshman
Ncube, this week said the people of Zimbabwe would be the ultimate arbiters
of the draft constitution. She said the COPAC report from the Second
All-Stakeholders’ Conference showed there were a wide range of opinions on
the current draft such that there was no hope of reconciling the various
positions. “We have no choice now but to write to SADC as the guarantors of
the GPA, and President Zuma as the appointed mediator, to try and make
ZANU-PF play ball,” she said. President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF and some
secret service agents have been fingered by South Africa’s African National
Congress (ANC) in a sinister plot to derail that country’s economy by
fanning mines unrest. Zimbabwe's Daily News this year reported that the
former ruling party is on a $100 million mission to weaken perceived
opponents through a raft of dirty strategies including sting
operations.
Zanu PF has been accused of funding the activities of
expelled former ANC Youth League president Julius Malema, accused of sowing
seeds of discontent among SA’s poor — in a futile bid to derail Zuma’s
re-election and his mediation efforts to the Zimbabwean crisis. “Our
information is that Zanu PF continues to bite the hand that feeds it. We
learnt at the meeting that some rogue state agents are deeply involved in
the unrest that is afflicting our mines. “This is coming on top of the
well-known fact that Zanu PF continues to support and fund Malema, including
his subversive endeavours to try and destabilise our party, ostensibly using
illicit diamond funds,” he said. “…apart from wanting to derail Zuma’s
fair-handed mediation work in Zimbabwe’s messed-up politics, the agents’
covert operations also have an economic underpinning,” they added. “Under
this devious scheme, some twisted and corrupt Zanu PF leaders are hoping
that South African mining investors, particularly those invested in
platinum, will ditch the country and run to Zimbabwe where they will cut
deals with these murderous and corrupt politicians to exploit that country’s
vast mineral deposits.” So angry were some ANC leaders that some of them
were calling for tough action against Zanu PF and its leaders. “Many
comrades have not been happy with Zanu PF’s attitude towards us for a long
time now, and they are even angrier now that this latest information is
coming to light. I mean, what more does SA and the ANC need to do to show
that we are good neighbours who mean well? Must we really continue to allow
them (Zanu PF) to abuse our generosity just because we are both parties of
liberation? No man,” he said. “This is the reason why some of these
comrades are saying enough is enough and that it’s time we took some serious
and decisive action, if only to teach these spoilt brats a lesson, because
we can do that.” Zanu PF is said to be backing South African Deputy President
Kgalema Motlanthe. Five years ago on a shabby university campus in
Polokwane, the capital of impoverished Limpopo Province, the President of
South Africa was heckled by his own party members as he took to the podium.
Within 24 hours Thabo Mbeki had been ousted as leader of the ruling African
National Congress. It was an unprecedented humiliation for a man who told his
aides prior to the leadership vote that "no liberation movement would reject
its own leader". The crowd chanted that night for Jacob Zuma, who 18 months
later – following a general election – became South Africa's President as
well as the leader of the ANC. It was the culmination of a fierce
insurgency against a powerful sitting President fought against a backdrop of
rape allegations and corruption charges. Now, as the country counts down to
another ANC conference next month, it is Mr Zuma who is fighting for his
political life. His likely challenger is Kgalema Motlanthe. Like Mr Zuma in
2007, Mr Motlanthe is a deputy who has been eyeing the top job, trying to
calculate if he has enough support to unseat his boss. At the weekend Mr
Motlanthe won the backing of several influential branches of the party,
including ANC secretary-general Gwede Mantashe. The last leadership
battle pitted an intellectual and aloof incumbent, Mr Mbeki, against a
garrulous streetfighter and man of the people. Mr Zuma is fortunate that his
opponent is less fearsome than the one who felled Mr Mbeki. Mr Motlanthe
comes from the student wing of the ANC, unlike the older man who cut his
teeth running intelligence operations in the liberation
struggle. "Motlanthe is the last chance for the ANC to rescue itself,"
said William Gumede, author of a new history of the movement, Restless
Nation. "The party is so dominant in South Africa that if it is undemocratic
then society itself becomes undemocratic." The mild-mannered son of a
mine worker is touted as the clean pair of hands needed to reform a party
overrun by crony capitalism. He owes much of his standing in the ANC to his
period as a stop-gap President after Mr Mbeki resigned. For 18 months the
white-bearded Mr Motlanthe played the statesman while the man known as "JZ"
waited for a national election in 2009 to confirm him as head of
state. Mr Motlanthe's sober and understated presence was soon missed once Mr
Zuma took over. Some observers had hoped that the "100 per cent Zulu boy" as
the President styles himself, with a common touch and ready populism, could
be a Ronald Reagan figure for South Africa, helping the country feel easier
with itself. Those hopes dissolved quickly as the new leader's habit of
telling different, competing constituencies what they wanted to hear led to
a period of confusion in the ruling party. Mr Zuma's sprawling personal
life, where his open polygamy and frequent marriages have rarely left the
news, has embarrassed many in South Africa. The Marikana mineworkers'
massacre in August – the worst state violence since the end of apartheid –
happened just as Mr Zuma was embroiled in a scandal over taxpayers' money
being used to finance a £17m redevelopment of his rural
homestead. Despite the 2007 Polokwane coup and Mr Zuma's undoubted
unpopularity there are several factors that favour the incumbent. The ANC is
not a "one member one vote" organisation and only 4,500 individuals will get
to vote at Mangaung. The Electoral College has many within it who know that
their council seat or state contract depends on support for the
leader. Furthermore, the primary process in which Mr Motlanthe is currently
flourishing, is not binding and branch representatives can plump for
whomever they choose once the conference vote gets under way. Behind the
scenes a frantic effort is under way to persuade Mr Motlanthe to drop his
challenge and accept the chance to run for the national presidency in 2014,
leaving Mr Zuma as head of the ANC. - Plus Financial Gazette
A conference on Zimbabwe's diamonds
has showed widening divisions in the Kimberley Process, the global diamond
certification group.
The conference, held in the resort town of
Victoria Falls, was meant to win credibility for Zimbabwe's controversial
diamond sector. With all the top figures of the diamond industry
represented, it was also a chance for the process to mend differences over
the group's future.
But it ended in a row between groups hoping to keep
controversial gems from the Marange diamond fields on the market and those
campaigning for their restriction.
A sign of the divide was the cold
reception given by delegates to a report claiming that $2-billion worth of
diamonds has been stolen from Zimbabwe. The report received wide
international media coverage and support from rights groups, but it was
mostly ignored by the hundreds of investors at the conference, who focused
instead on lobbying for an end to sanctions on diamonds from the Marange
fields.
The process was split into two camps: Western governments and
rights campaigners that want Zimbabwean diamonds excluded from world markets
and a larger group, made up of influential industry players, who back
Zimbabwe's efforts to lift the remaining restrictions on its
diamonds.
The Partnership Africa Canada Report, Reap What You Sow: Greed
and Corruption in Zimbabwe's Marange Diamond Fields, failed to sway diamond
businesspeople from Zimbabwe. It sought to make the gathered delegates feel
guilty about dealing with the country, but Zimbabwe's vast potential seemed
to be gaining enough support from the world industry.
In a heated
session on November 13, the tension between the two sides bubbled over.
Industry players pointed out that the Kimberley Process had certified
Marange diamonds as fit for sale. But the United States and other Western
governments have maintained a blockade on Marange, saying its diamonds were
tainted by rights abuses.
Kimberley Process chairperson Gillian
Milovanovic came under intense fire from delegates, who accused her of
collusion with the US in blocking Marange diamonds.
Abel Chikane, a
member of the process who was part of a team that inspected the Marange
fields, suggested that Milovanovic had to resign because she was
compromised, a sentiment shared by many delegates. Milovanovic angrily
dismissed the charges.
South Africa, which backs Zimbabwe on the
controversy, takes over as Kimberley Process chair next year, bolstering the
campaign against the Western group.
The gap between Western
governments and investors was shown when Mark Gonzales, the political and
economic chief at the US Embassy in Harare, said that his country's embargo
on Marange gems would be lifted only when Zimbabwe reformed politically. His
remarks were sharply criticised by well-known "diamond hunter" Yianni Melas.
"I am willing to take the risk on Zimbabwe," Melas said.
Ahmed Bin
Sulayem, chairperson of the Dubai Multi-Commodities Centre, said he was
working hard to ensure the truth about Zimbabwe's gems was known, "not the
lies and dishonesty" that, he said, had been driven by the
media.
Stephane Fischler, president of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre,
said restrictions on Marange gems were damaging Zimbabwe. "We are convinced
that the resulting de facto exclusion of imports from certain areas
negatively affects [its] ongoing social and economic development."
On
November 12, former South African president Thabo Mbeki urged an end to
sanctions on Zimbabwe, but warned against allowing the diamonds to fall into
the hands of a "predatory elite".
"This must also mean that [its]
political leadership, including all the parties which serve in the ...
government, must absolutely ensure that the diamond mining industry is not
governed by a predatory elite, which uses its access to state power to
enrich itself against the interests of the people as a whole, acting in
collusion with the mining companies."
Rights campaigners also want to
widen the definition of "conflict diamonds" to include wording that would
ban gems from regions where rights abuses are reported.
"Consumers
are – or will be – looking for more and the core definition of 'conflict
diamond' therefore needs to be updated as our own investment in the
Kimberley Process's future as a modern and relevant system of certification,
just as other industries are doing as we speak," Milovanovic
said.
But there is suspicion that powerful governments want to use
the proposed changes to exclude diamonds from Zimbabwe.
Namibian
Mines Minister Isak Katali said: "Unfortunately the discovery of diamonds in
Zimbabwe has been a thorn in the flesh to those that have issues with
Zimbabwe." --------------------------------
Diamonds, smuggling and a
dead body
A Mafia-style murder, a web of unknown mine owners and
disappearing diamond stockpiles are part of the “biggest single plunder of
diamonds the world has seen since Cecil Rhodes”, according to a new report
by Partnership Africa Canada.
In Reap What You Sow: Greed and
Corruption in Zimbabwe’s Marange Diamond Fields, released this week, the
partnership, which campaigns against “blood diamonds”, links the murder of
Harare businessperson Allan Banks to diamond deals. Banks was found dead in
the boot of his car in July with a plastic bag around his head, an event
that led to rumours he may have been involved in diamonds.
The
partnership based its claims on “a source with first-hand knowledge of
Banks’s diamond dealings”. However, his family has previously denied he was
involved with diamonds.
Banks, claimed the report, had been
introduced to diamonds by members of an army unit who had asked him to sell
stones they had “acquired during their rotations in Marange”. Banks had then
been granted “privileged access to diamond vaults”, but he and his
associates were “soon in above their heads” when they began dealing in
diamonds worth millions of dollars.
The report also said the March arrest
of Israeli pilot Shmuel Klein while trying to board an aeroplane to South
Africa carrying $2.4-million worth of diamonds showed how easily runners
were getting in and out of Zimbabwe. His arrest was likely a “mistake by a
junior customs official” because he was later acquitted and only fined on an
immigration charge. “His passport had no entry stamp, suggesting he had been
accorded VIP treatment in circumventing immigration officials upon arrival,”
the report said.
The partnership places the military at the centre of
diamond smuggling. Its report charges that “estimates place the theft of
Marange goods at almost $2-billion since 2008”.
“In 2010, leading
experts had predicted annual production estimates of as much as 30-million
to 40-million carats if the Kimberly Process restrictions were lifted. At
the current average of $60 a carat, the low end of that estimate would have
realised annual sales of almost $2-billion.”
Not a trickle, but a
flood The report claimed collusion between Zimbabwean and foreign traders. It
said 10-million carats of Marange diamonds were exported to Dubai late this
year for $600-million, half of its actual value. The parcel was sold for
double when it left Dubai for Surat, India, where the bulk of the world’s
diamonds are cut.
The Marange smuggling “is not a trickle, but a
flood”, said the report.
One of the biggest beneficiaries of illicit
diamond trade had been Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, who had become one of
Zimbabwe’s biggest property owners, it said. Mpofu had spent up to
$20-million – mostly in cash – buying up properties and businesses and the
figure did not include the $500000 he had doled out in donations this year
alone.
Mpofu dismissed the report, saying it was the work of “detractors”
and that its release had been deliberately timed to cloud the diamond
conference. Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa earlier this week brushed
off charges that the diamonds were funding military cartels. “If they have
that evidence they should present it,” he said.
The partnership said
its sources for the report included “liberation-era guerrilla leaders,
insiders from across the political spectrum, former smugglers and sources in
several of the companies operating in Marange with government
approval”.
Marange mines are mostly owned by Chinese and Zimbabwe army
joint ventures, but the true beneficiaries were not known, the report
said.
“Little is known of the corporate structure of companies operating
in Marange. However, several are known to be registered in secret tax havens
such as Mauritius, where their owners are protected from public
scrutiny.”
Zimbabwe hosted its inaugural diamond conference on Monday and
Tuesday to promote the industry, but instead has become embroiled in fresh
controversy around the country’s diamond sales and tax revenues. There
are conflicting reports around diamond sales. While the Zimbabwe Mining
Development Corporation (ZMDC) and Ministry of Mines lament that sales are
being hit by sanctions, critics argue that the companies are actually making
huge sales but looting is rife. Zimbabwe’s diamond revenue is vital for the
cash-strapped country. There are high hopes for the mining industry to
generate growth, as the agricultural sector faces challenges. GDP has slowed
to around 4 per cent from 9.4 per cent in 2011. In August the Treasury
said it had received only $41m from the diamond industry from an expected
$456m this year. Finance minister Tendai Biti told beyondbrics that the
problem hasn’t gone away, saying the amount received had gone up by only £2m
to $43m to date. The debate was reignited last week when ZMDC chairman
Godwills Masimirembwa complained that the sale of the country’s diamonds is
being crippled by US and EU sanctions. He added that, as a result, the
diamond sector would remit only $150m to Treasury this year, a quarter of
the target. “From January to September this year, we have remitted about
$113m to the Treasury from royalties and dividends, a figure that is way
below the projected $600m,” he was quoted as saying by the Zimbabwe
Herald. But while Zimbabweans argue about the figures and who is to blame,
campaigners have taken the opportunity to call for greater industry
scrutiny. Farai Maguwu, the leading rights campaigner who exposed abuses at
the Marange fields, made allegations of corruption and called for
transparency at an event hosted by Human Rights Watch in London. “We need
auditing, how much is being extracted, shipped to Harare and also some
valuation of the diamonds, otherwise we end up being given some fake
statistics,” he said. And on Monday, Toronto-based rights group
Partnership Africa Canada released a report on the Marange diamonds fields,
alleging looting worth around $2bn since 2008. “The scale of illegality is
mind blowing,” it said, and also criticised mines minister Obert Mpofu
regarding the awarding of contracts and industry practice. “To his
critics, Mpofu has been unrepentant. He has repeatedly dismissed calls for
greater revenue transparency, and has even gone so far as to claim he has no
ministerial responsibility to ensure diamond revenues reach the public
fiscus.” Mpofu has denied allegations made against him by PAC, describing
them as “full of malice”. The usual round of finger pointing is set to
continue. Biti is due to present the 2013 budget on Thursday, which will
show the shortfall from diamond sales depriving Zimbabwe of badly-needed
revenue. Expect the industry and Mines ministry to point to sanctions in
turn. Beyondbrics asked the Ministry of Mines and Marange diamond companies
Mbada and Anjin to comment over revenue figures but they did not respond.
Bill Watch - Parliamentary Committees Series - 16th November 2012 [Meetings to Analyse Budget: 19-22 November]
BILL WATCH
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES SERIES
[16th November 2012]
Post-Budget Analysis
Committee Meetings Open to the Public: Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th
November
The
Minister of Finance presented the 2013 National Budget Statement in Parliament
yesterday afternoon.Both Houses then
adjourned until Tuesday 27th November.[The
full Budget statement can be downloaded from the Ministry of Finance website www.zimtreasury.gov.zw
– it is a 4MB pdf document.The Estimates of Expenditure for 2013 – the
2013 Blue Book – will also be available on the
website.]
MPs
will spend next week analysing the Budget ahead of the debate that will commence
when the House of Assembly resumes sitting.They will start with a Post-Budget Seminar on Monday morning, 19th
November.
From
Monday afternoon onwards, House of Assembly portfolio committees will conduct
their Post-Budget Analysis.Each
committee will have two meetings:
·the
first meeting
will be to analyse the Budget proposals for the Ministries/sectors which the
committee oversees; this will be done with the assistance of officials of the
Ministries concerned and recognised stakeholders. This meeting will be open to the public,
but as observers only, not as
participants.Details of these meetings
are set out below.
·the
second meetingwill not be open to the public.It will be for deliberations and preparation of the committee’s report
for presentation when the debate on the Budget resumes in the House of
Assembly.
Note: If you wish to double-check on the programme, or if you are a
stakeholder and wish to participate, please contact the committee clerk
concerned, as listed below.Parliament’s
telephone numbers are Harare 700181/2 and 252941.If attending, please use the Kwame Nkrumah Ave entrance to Parliament.IDs must be
produced.
Meetings Open to the Public
Venue:All meetings will be at Parliament in Harare, entrance on Kwame Nkrumah Avenue near the corner of3rd Street.
Monday 19th November from 2 am to 5 pm
Portfolio Committee: Public Service, Labour and Social
Welfare
Committee Room No. 1
Chairperson: Hon ZinyembaClerk: Ms Mushunje
Portfolio Committee: Transport and Infrastructural
Development
Committee Room No. 2
Chairperson: Hon ChebundoClerk: Ms Macheza
Portfolio Committee: Mines and Energy
Senate Chamber
Chairperson: Hon Chindori-ChiningaClerk: Mr Manhivi
Portfolio Committee: State Enterprise and Parastatals
Committee Room No. 311
Chairperson: Hon MavimaClerk: Ms Chikuvire
Portfolio Committee: Budget, Finance and Economic
Development
Committee Room No. 4
Chairperson: Hon ZhandaClerk: Mr Ratsakatika
Portfolio Committee: Health and Child
Welfare
Committee Room No. 413
Chairperson: Hon ParirenyatwaClerk: Mrs Khumalo
Portfolio Committee: Defence and Home
Affairs
Committee Room No. 3
Chairperson: Hon MadzoreClerk: Mr
Daniel
Portfolio Committee: Higher Education, Science and
Technology
Government Caucus Room
Chairperson: Hon S.M. NcubeClerk: Ms Zenda
Tuesday 20th November from 9 am to 12 noon
Portfolio Committee: Public Works and National
Housing
Committee Room No. 1
Chairperson:
Hon MupukutaClerk: Mr Mazani
Portfolio
Committee: Local Government, Rural and Urban Development
Committee Room No. 2
Chairperson: Hon KarenyiClerk: Mr
Daniel
Portfolio
Committee: Agriculture, Water, Lands and Resettlement
Senate Chamber
Chairperson: Hon JiriClerk: Mr Mutyambizi
Portfolio
Committee: Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and Parliamentary
Affairs
Committee Room No. 311
Chairperson: Hon MwonzoraClerk: Miss
Zenda
Portfolio
Committee: Education, Sports and Culture
Committee Room No. 4
Chairperson:
Hon MangamiClerk: Ms
Chikuvire
Portfolio Committee: Foreign Affairs, Regional Integration and
International Trade
Committee Room No. 413
Chairperson: Hon MukanduriClerk: Mr Chiremba
Portfolio
Committee: Women, Youth, Gender and Community Development
Committee Room No. 3
Chairperson:Hon MatiengaClerk: Mr Kunzwa
Portfolio
Committee: Industry and Commerce
Government Caucus Room
Chairperson: Hon MutombaClerk: Ms Masara
Tuesday 20th November from 2 pm to 5
pm
Portfolio
Committee: Media, Information and Communication
Technology
Committee Room No. 4
Chairperson: Hon S. ChikwinyaClerk: Mr Mutyambizi
Portfolio
Committee: Small and Medium Enterprise and Cooperative
Development
Committee Room No. 1
Chairperson: Hon R. MoyoClerk: Ms Mushunje
Portfolio
Committee: Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism
Committee Room No. 3
Chairperson: Hon M. DubeClerk: Mr Mazani
Veritas makes every effort to esure reliable
information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information
supplied
There is little
doubt that state-led violence, largely perpetrated by agents of ZANU-PF,
increased during the 2000s, and peaked in particular around the 2008 elections.
But there has been less commentary on the geography of violence – where it
happened, and why. The uneven distribution of violence – including 161 cases
that resulted in death – is highlighted in the dramatic maps produced by civil
society monitoring groups and reproduced on theSokwanele website.As these maps graphically show, violence of
all sorts was massively concentrated in Mashonaland Central and East (1341
cases, around 60% of the total for the country), with ZANU youth being the main
perpetrators. Masvingo, bar the series of incidents associated with election
intimidation by war veterans in the communal area, Zaka, was by comparison
relative unscathed.
It is this
geographical difference that reflects the very different perceptions of politics
in the country. As discussed in other blogs, our study has beenaccused of underplaying violent state
politicsas a factor in land reform, but even the
civil society and human rights group monitoring even at the peak period in 2008
shows how limited this actually was in the province. We just reported what we
found, and it seems to reflect what other data shows. But this is not to
undermine or dismiss the 33 incidents (including 8 deaths) that were recorded in
Masvingo province. Nor is this to suggest that the Mashonaland violence was
isolated or unusual: it wasn’t – it was systematic and terrifying. However, it
does push us to – yet again – nuance our analyses by place and
time.
History is
particularly important. Different provinces and districts have had very
different political histories. The contrasts between Mashonaland and
Matabeleland are obvious, usually cast in starkly defining ethnic terms. But
Manicaland is different again, as is Karanga or Shangaan Masvingo. But even
within these areas, there are further differences reflecting long-standing
divides in political formations, histories of the liberation war and
affiliations to particular leaders. This is not the place to go into these, as
they are immensely complex and require the sort of detailed district histories
thatTerence Ranger commented on in his review of our
book.Only with these
histories do we get a sense of the social and political history of particular
places, and how this affects contemporary patterns of politics, patronage and
violence.
Ranger is
therefore absolutely right that theMasvingo storyis peculiar and particular – just as every
area of Zimbabwe is in one sense. And the more fine grained you go, each village
and farm is different in other ways, as we explained in our brief histories of
jambanja farm invasion experiences. So explaining the politics of land
acquisition, who benefited and why requires this sort of
analysis.
Arnold
Chamunogwa has completed a fascinatingMA thesis at IDS at the University of
Sussex,using different theories of politics to
explore the different dynamics and outcomes in three different cases all
recently presented in theJournal of Peasant Studies special
issue– in Goromonzi near Harare (based on the PhD
work by Nelson Marongwe), Chipinge in Manicaland (based on the work of Phillan
Zamchiya) and Masvingo province (based on our work). He argues that theories of
‘instrumentalisation of disorder’ (drawing onPatrick Chabal and Jean-Pascal Delozamong
others) characterises some areas, while theories of ‘neo-patrimonialism’ (based
on work byNicholas van der Walleand
others) characterise others, and in other areas theories of ‘informal politics’
(based on arguments byDavid Booth, Richard Crook, Christian Lundand others) are more
appropriate explanations. These politics emerge from particular histories,
social configurations, state relations and experiences of land reform, as well
as the particular characteristics and values of the farm systems concerned. The
experiences in Goromonzi, Chipinge and Masvingo were as a result very
different.
That’s no surprise, I
hear you exclaim! Well in a way, no. But it’s important to point out, and the
theorisation is helpful to differentiate between different forms of politics in
practice – none conforming to the standard liberal good governance mode. So why
then did ‘the instrumentalisation of disorder’ dominate in Mashonaland Central
and East? This was the core of the Zezuru support base for ZANU PF, and with
Goromonzi so close to Harare, there were rich pickings for the elite who were
able to create disorder actively and manipulate the process, grabbing land as a
result.
In Chipinge, with a
different political configuration and a historically strong opposition from ZANU
Ndonga, a political-bureaucratic network formed to allocate high value land to
try and consolidate ZANU PF support, attempting to create a support base in the
midst of opposition, ousting land invaders in the process. By contrast, in
Masvingo a more informal politics emerged, particularly around the invaded A1
and informal farms where a mix of people were involved, led by war veterans and
traditional leaders. The factional politics of Masvingo meant that the
imposition of a strong centrist party line was impossible, and locally
negotiated solutions emerged. In all settings, attempts at political capture
were incomplete, often failing dramatically, and war veterans and others who led
invasions often turned on leading party officials attempting to grab land,
accusing them of undermining the objectives of the ‘Third Chimurenga’. Politics,
as ever, was highly contested, yet the styles and patterns differed due to very
particular, and often very long-term socio-cultural and political histories of
the different sites.
As we assess the
changing nature of Zimbabwean politics, it is important to take these
differences into account, and avoid the generalisations that so much commentary
resorts to. Just as Zimbabwe as a whole is not explained by what has gone on in
Masvingo, so too is the wider political story not explained by referring only to
Mashonaland and the highly contested farms near Harare. Explaining this
diversity in the geographies of violence is not to condone it, but it does help
explain why the recent past has been experienced so differently in different
places across the country.
There is little
doubt that state-led violence, largely perpetrated by agents of ZANU-PF,
increased during the 2000s, and peaked in particular around the 2008 elections.
But there has been less commentary on the geography of violence – where it
happened, and why. The uneven distribution of violence – including 161 cases
that resulted in death – is highlighted in the dramatic maps produced by civil
society monitoring groups and reproduced on theSokwanele website.As these maps graphically show, violence of
all sorts was massively concentrated in Mashonaland Central and East (1341
cases, around 60% of the total for the country), with ZANU youth being the main
perpetrators. Masvingo, bar the series of incidents associated with election
intimidation by war veterans in the communal area, Zaka, was by comparison
relative unscathed.
It is this
geographical difference that reflects the very different perceptions of politics
in the country. As discussed in other blogs, our study has beenaccused of underplaying violent state
politicsas a factor in land reform, but even the
civil society and human rights group monitoring even at the peak period in 2008
shows how limited this actually was in the province. We just reported what we
found, and it seems to reflect what other data shows. But this is not to
undermine or dismiss the 33 incidents (including 8 deaths) that were recorded in
Masvingo province. Nor is this to suggest that the Mashonaland violence was
isolated or unusual: it wasn’t – it was systematic and terrifying. However, it
does push us to – yet again – nuance our analyses by place and
time.
History is
particularly important. Different provinces and districts have had very
different political histories. The contrasts between Mashonaland and
Matabeleland are obvious, usually cast in starkly defining ethnic terms. But
Manicaland is different again, as is Karanga or Shangaan Masvingo. But even
within these areas, there are further differences reflecting long-standing
divides in political formations, histories of the liberation war and
affiliations to particular leaders. This is not the place to go into these, as
they are immensely complex and require the sort of detailed district histories
thatTerence Ranger commented on in his review of our
book.Only with these
histories do we get a sense of the social and political history of particular
places, and how this affects contemporary patterns of politics, patronage and
violence.
Ranger is
therefore absolutely right that theMasvingo storyis peculiar and particular – just as every
area of Zimbabwe is in one sense. And the more fine grained you go, each village
and farm is different in other ways, as we explained in our brief histories of
jambanja farm invasion experiences. So explaining the politics of land
acquisition, who benefited and why requires this sort of
analysis.
Arnold
Chamunogwa has completed a fascinatingMA thesis at IDS at the University of
Sussex,using different theories of politics to
explore the different dynamics and outcomes in three different cases all
recently presented in theJournal of Peasant Studies special
issue– in Goromonzi near Harare (based on the PhD
work by Nelson Marongwe), Chipinge in Manicaland (based on the work of Phillan
Zamchiya) and Masvingo province (based on our work). He argues that theories of
‘instrumentalisation of disorder’ (drawing onPatrick Chabal and Jean-Pascal Delozamong
others) characterises some areas, while theories of ‘neo-patrimonialism’ (based
on work byNicholas van der Walleand
others) characterise others, and in other areas theories of ‘informal politics’
(based on arguments byDavid Booth, Richard Crook, Christian Lundand others) are more
appropriate explanations. These politics emerge from particular histories,
social configurations, state relations and experiences of land reform, as well
as the particular characteristics and values of the farm systems concerned. The
experiences in Goromonzi, Chipinge and Masvingo were as a result very
different.
That’s no surprise, I
hear you exclaim! Well in a way, no. But it’s important to point out, and the
theorisation is helpful to differentiate between different forms of politics in
practice – none conforming to the standard liberal good governance mode. So why
then did ‘the instrumentalisation of disorder’ dominate in Mashonaland Central
and East? This was the core of the Zezuru support base for ZANU PF, and with
Goromonzi so close to Harare, there were rich pickings for the elite who were
able to create disorder actively and manipulate the process, grabbing land as a
result.
In Chipinge, with a
different political configuration and a historically strong opposition from ZANU
Ndonga, a political-bureaucratic network formed to allocate high value land to
try and consolidate ZANU PF support, attempting to create a support base in the
midst of opposition, ousting land invaders in the process. By contrast, in
Masvingo a more informal politics emerged, particularly around the invaded A1
and informal farms where a mix of people were involved, led by war veterans and
traditional leaders. The factional politics of Masvingo meant that the
imposition of a strong centrist party line was impossible, and locally
negotiated solutions emerged. In all settings, attempts at political capture
were incomplete, often failing dramatically, and war veterans and others who led
invasions often turned on leading party officials attempting to grab land,
accusing them of undermining the objectives of the ‘Third Chimurenga’. Politics,
as ever, was highly contested, yet the styles and patterns differed due to very
particular, and often very long-term socio-cultural and political histories of
the different sites.
As we assess the
changing nature of Zimbabwean politics, it is important to take these
differences into account, and avoid the generalisations that so much commentary
resorts to. Just as Zimbabwe as a whole is not explained by what has gone on in
Masvingo, so too is the wider political story not explained by referring only to
Mashonaland and the highly contested farms near Harare. Explaining this
diversity in the geographies of violence is not to condone it, but it does help
explain why the recent past has been experienced so differently in different
places across the country.