Zim Standard
BY WALTER MARWIZI
MORGAN Tsvangirai yesterday poured cold water on claims by Theresa
Makone
that she was the chairperson of the party's women's assembly.
In
what signifies a major climb-down by Tsvangirai, the MDC faction
leader
said, through spokesperson William Bango, Makone's election was not
yet
"water under the bridge" as she suggested two weeks ago.
A defiant
Makone, elected in controversial circumstances in a Bulawayo
restaurant,
declared no one could stop her from leading the women' assembly.
She claimed, after chairing her own women's assembly meeting, that
both the
national executive and national council would not remove her as it
was
"purely a women's issue".
But asked to categorically state who he
regarded as the official
leader of the women's assembly, Tsvangirai said a
decision still had to be
made on the matter.
At a heated
national executive meeting a few weeks ago, Tsvangirai
said Makone's
election was "water under the bridge", after encountering
opposition from
senior officials. There was massive discontent with the
manner of Makone's
election.
Yesterday, Tsvangirai said: "This matter is within the
purview of the
organs of the party and a decision is yet to be taken on
it.
"The leader of the party is bound by the decisions of the
party. It is
common cause the matter is still being dealt with in the
channels of the
party."
He referred to a story in The Standard
which said discussion on the
matter was deferred until the party chairman,
Lovemore Moyo presented a
report to the national executive
(NE).
Tsvangirai yesterday said there was no sinister agenda to the
delay in
holding the meeting.
He said this was due to the
absence of key members and logistical
problems.
"You find that
a number of NE members might be committed elsewhere,"
he said. "Some might
be key people who have to present reports. Also, the
money for transporting
members, especially those outside Harare has not been
secured. Delays to
crucial meetings have happened before and there is
nothing unusual about
it."
The climb-down by Tsvangirai is likely to come as a relief to
senior
party officials disgruntled with the manner in which the issue had
been
handled.
It could also project Tsvangirai as a democrat
who listens to the
people and allows the party to refocus its energies on
the 2008 elections.
Today Tsvangirai will meet provincial and
district chairpersons in
Harare, where he is expected to update them on the
ongoing South
African-brokered talks with Zanu PF and preparations for the
harmonised
polls.
The meeting will largely be consultative
since the delegates cannot
make any binding decision under the MDC
constitution.
Zim Standard
BY WALTER
MARWIZI
GODWILLS Masimirembwa, the man charged with ensuring
business does not
fleece consumers, has been exposed as a disgraced lawyer
forced to quit a
clerical job after his employment sparked a legal
storm.
The Standard's investigations uncovered Masimirembwa's dark
past as a
disgraced lawyer reduced to working for a pittance as a clerk for
a law
firm.
Masimirembwa now chairs the National Incomes and
Pricing Commission
(NIPC). His appointment outraged the legal fraternity,
some of whose members
raised questions about his suitability and
integrity.
After his chequered career as a lawyer, Masimirembwa
ended up working
for Musunga & Associates as a legal clerk, the aim
being "to rehabilitate
him".
The attempt backfired when in
February 2006, the Law Society of
Zimbabwe demanded an explanation from
Musunga & Associates: how they could
employ someone struck off the
register?
The firm sought in vain to justify the appointment on
humanitarian
grounds. They said their main objective was to "rehabilitate"
Masimirembwa
who had gone "astray".
The appeal topped the
agenda of an LSZ meeting on 5 June 2006 which
decided that he could only be
allowed to practise after it had granted him
permission.
Eight
days later, a disgraced Masimirembwa resigned from Musunga and
Associates.
Investigations reveal that before he was de-registered,
Masimirembwa engaged
in conduct described by the LSZ as "unprofessional,
dishonourable or
unworthy".
The Legal Practitioners' Disciplinary Tribunal, hearing
the case, was
told that sometime in 1993, he failed to account for $118 135
31 belonging
to the Bindura Town Council. The council had instructed him to
collect
arrears of assessment rates from property owners within its
jurisdiction.
On 7 March 1995, the High Court granted a default
judgement under case
No. 79041/94. Masimirembwa did not defend or dispute
the allegations.
In fact, after service of the summons on 11
February 1995, he signed
an acknowledgment of debt undertaking to pay $127
782 05. But no payment was
made. Masimirembwa issued 60 trust cheques to the
town council - all
dishonoured.
Another complainant, R
Chakanetsa who sold his Glendale house lost $72
000.
The sale
was handled by City Estate Agents, who after receiving the
money handed it
to Masimirembwa.
In another case, Masimirembwa advised a client, E
Mupfukudza that he
was facing a fraud case carrying a 17-year prison term.
He was advised to
withdraw his money ($60 000) from personal accounts and
deposit it in the
lawyer's trust accounts. The lawyer said it would not only
earn better
interest, but be accessible to his family and be secured by
LSZ.
Afterwards Masimirembwa warned Mupfukudza the Department of
Taxes
could seize his Mercedes Benz 190D. To forestall that, the vehicle had
to be
surrendered to the lawyer.
Masimirembwa's law firm sold
the vehicle, valued at $80 000 to C A
Wright. He could not account for the
$60 000 deposited in the trust
accounts.
The LSZ deplored his
conduct and struck him off their register.
On Friday, Masimirembwa
denied he was a crook or a fraudster.
"Yes," he said, "there were
problems at my law firm. I admitted that
to the society. We failed to keep
proper books of accounts but I never stole
anyone's money. I was never
convicted of that.
"These things happen and it was a mistake. I
accept I was
de-registered."
He said their books were not
balancing because an employee stole from
their trust funds. He said he would
sign the cheques "as the principal",
unaware there were going to pay the
employee's personal accounts, rentals
and "other things".
"I
fired him after realising what he was doing. I have since paid
everybody I
owed money. I don't owe anybody a cent."
Asked if such a background
made him a suitable holder for his new job,
which demanded ethical business
credentials, Masimirembwa said: "These
things do happen. It was a sad
incident in my life but I am fully
rehabilitated now. I have informed my
principals about it and nothing can
stop me from heading the
commission."
He disclosed that he had instructed his lawyers, Costa
& Mudzonga, to
apply for re-admission to the LSZ.
Zim Standard
By Vusumuzi
Sifile and Nqobani
Ndlovu
CLEMENTS Ncube is a Zimbabwean
working in Gaborone. Two weeks ago, he
travelled to Bulawayo to wed his
girlfriend, Soneni Moyo.
He desperately needed a marriage
certificate for his wife to join him
in Botswana.
The wedding
was to be held at the Tredgold Magistrates' Court. Ncube
had hired an
18-seater minibus to bring friends and relatives from Botswana.
When Ncube finally arrived in Bulawayo he found the magistrates were
on
strike and the wedding ceremony at Tredgold could not take place. They
cancelled everything.
"This is unfair," he said.
This is an example of how, when justice decides to go on strike, many
things
go awry.
Among the affected are prisoners. Some have remained in
jail because
there is no one to try them.
The Standard has
established that in a number of prisons and holding
cells, inmates are
exposed to disease outbreaks. Cells are now dangerously
overcrowded.
The scarcity of foodstuffs on the formal market
means feeding remand
prisoners is no longer the routine. Suppliers complain
their debts are not
being settled on time or at all - so they won't deal
with the prisons.
In Bulawayo, the situation at the Central Police
Station was described
by an officer as "just terrible".
"There
is a risk of a disease outbreak, as there is a water and food
shortage," he
said.
Magistrates went on strike two weeks ago demanding a 150% pay
hike.
They want their salaries reviewed every three months. They want the
same
luxury cars as judges.
Enias Mungate, president of the
Magistrates' Association of Zimbabwe
(MAZ), in a letter to the Ministry of
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary
Affairs, said their salaries and working
conditions were "demotivating".
They are demanding a pay hike of
about $25 million to over $80 million
before allowances.
Protests over low pay and poor working conditions have led to a
serious
brain drain in the judiciary.
In August, four criminal courts in
Bulawayo shut down after
magistrates resigned. Remand prisoners remained in
prison.
Police spokesperson Wayne Bvudzijena had this comment:
"There is
nothing we can do but to continue to arrest offenders. But we are
not facing
a crisis. If the cells are crowded, we could move them to other
places."
The parliamentary portfolio committee on Justice, Legal
and
Parliamentary Affairs last year described the prison situation as
"disturbing".
Last week, the committee was told the ministry
had exhausted its 2007
budget allocation.
On Thursday, the
ministry's acting permanent secretary Chisingaperi
Chaitezvi and the chief
magistrate Herbert Mandeya, said the Public Service
Commission indicated it
could only review salaries next year.
The government recently
ordered the striking magistrates back to work
while their "grievances were
being looked into". But the magistrates would
not budge.
In
some cases, magistrates and prosecutors went away with court keys,
locking
out police prosecutors, ordered to hear cases by the Ministry of
Home
Affairs. The police prosecutors were dismissed as "sell-outs" by their
striking colleagues.
Police prosecutors were posted to the
courts on Tuesday at the request
of the Ministry of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs.
In Bulawayo, police prosecutors wrote to
Officer Commanding Bulawayo,
Senior Assistant Commissioner, Lee Muchemwa,
advising him of their
predicament after being locked out of the
courts.
Under the law, the police cannot strike.
Prosecutors and magistrates earn between $16 million and $26 million
respectively, according to sources.
Zim Standard
By Our
Staff
THE City of Harare should, from next year, stop
defaulting on its
budget promises, the Borrowdale Residents and Ratepayers'
Association said
yesterday.
The residents spoke at a pre-budget
consultative meeting with council
representatives.
"The council
has in the past defaulted on its budget promises and we
are saying from next
year, they have to start doing what they tell us they
will do," the
association executive committee's Dick Groves, said.
Residents
complained also that contrary to promises to collect garbage
twice a week,
the council only collected refuse once a month for the greater
part of this
year.
They said the council should next year start refunding people
if it
failed to collect garbage as promised, so as "to strike a balance of
interests".
"If you make me give you my money after promising
you would collect
garbage twice a week but end up collecting it only once a
month, then it
will be fair for you to refund me for those weeks on which
you would have
defaulted," said one resident.
The council was
also urged to re-ink its printers as most residents
found it difficult to
read invoices. They said the billing system needed to
be looked
into.
They suggested the council demanded nothing more than the
ratepayer's
birth certificate when determining pensioners'
rate.
The ratepayers said they were outraged by the council's rate
hikes and
demanded that the rates be reduced next year.
"The
council effected a 900% hike since October and that is
outrageous," said
another resident. "We are not asking for a freeze on rates
next year but we
are saying that in 2008, the council should take into
account the recent
hike and reduce its rates."
Representing the council at the meeting
was Innocent Sithole, District
Officer for Borrowdale.
He would
not respond to the residents' concerns, saying he had been
sent to take down
minutes.
Sithole said more senior people who were initially
assigned to chair
the meeting were held up by other council
commitments.
"We feel very insulted that the council invites us to
a meeting of
this sort, at a very short notice of only 18 hours and when we
have done all
we can to attend, we find there is no one to respond to our
concerns," the
residents told Sithole.
The meeting, held at the
council offices in Borrowdale, was poorly
attended and the residents'
association blamed this on the short notice.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani
Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - War veterans' leaders are being paid, in one
instance $100
billion, for co-ordinating marches to drum up support for
President Robert
Mugabe, it emerged last week.
Other reports
say the marchers have been rewarded with cash and peanut
butter and cooking
oil manufacturing machines worth several billions of
dollars.
The revelations came as the war veterans prepared for the "Million
Men-Women
March" in support of Mugabe's candidature in the 2008 presidential
elections.
War veterans' chairman, Jabulani Sibanda, who is
leading the marches,
confirmed last week they were being paid for
marching.
"The source of the machines and the money is not
important," he said
in Bulawayo, "but what is important is that donations
were made to the
provincial war veterans' structures for their role in the
marches. We
sourced the machines as the war veterans from various
donors."
Authoritative sources revealed that 11-member provincial
structures of
the veterans were given $100 million for participating in the
marches.
Sibanda confirmed 30 November as the date for the
"million" march.
But he could not give the exact cost of the
machines. The countrywide
marches have divided Zanu PF's leadership, with
some senior officials
joining them, while others have snubbed them, as the
worst example of the
promotion of a "personality cult".
The
Standard could not independently establish the origin of the
machines and
the money. It was claimed by other sources all the largesse
could be coming
from the President's Office.
"Most of the provinces were given the
equipment just after the
marches, while the remaining few provinces are yet
to receive the peanut
butter and cooking oil manufacturing machines," said
sources.
The ex-combatants have since August held marches in Harare
and other
cities in support of Mugabe, as "the only one fit to rule Zimbabwe
despite
an unprecedented economic crisis".
Analysts say the
marches are an attempt by Mugabe to silence
dissenting lieutenants in the
Zanu PF hierarchy, who are pushing for him to
step down and pave the way for
a new leader.
The veterans are Mugabe's hard-line supporters, as he
is their patron
and initiated their violent participation in the 2000 land
reform fiasco and
the subsequent election campaign in which the party lost
57 seats to the
fledgling MDC.
The parliamentary and
presidential elections are scheduled for next
June. Mugabe's term was to
have ended next year, but has been extended amid
much dissent.
Two party stalwarts believed to be eyeing the presidency are
Vice-President
Joice Mujuru and Emmerson Mnangagwa, Minister of Rural
Housing and Social
amenities.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
CORRUPTION has reached "epidemic" proportions in
Zimbabwe and the
public are skeptical of the government's seriousness in
tackling graft, a
recent study by Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ)
has concluded.
A Comparative Study of National Integrity Systems in
five Southern
African countries launched in Harare last week says
institutions established
to spearhead the anti-graft crusade are
"fledgling", and anti-corruption
crusade is only targeting the weakest
members of society.
"Corruption in Zimbabwe has reached epidemic
proportions
. . .," says the report. "The public is largely skeptical
about the
seriousness of the government efforts, in light of the reported
levels of
corruption in the public sector by high-level officials that seem
to escape
the wrath of the law."
According to TIZ corruption
perception index of 2006, Zimbabwe is
ranked 130 out of the 163 countries,
closer to Africa's most corrupt nations
such as Nigeria, Sierra Leone and
Kenya. These countries are ranked 142.
The previous year, Zimbabwe
was ranked 107 together with Zambia,
Vietnam, Belarus and
Eritrea.
The TIZ comparative study also looked at Botswana,
Mozambique,
Swaziland and Zambia, where there were also indications of an
increase in
corruption levels.
TIZ says the establishment of
the Ministry of State for State
Enterprises, Anti-Monopolies and Corruption
as well as the Anti-Corruption
Commission (ACC) to fight graft had not made
any difference.
"Neither the Ministry nor the ACC are fully
operational at this
stage," says the study.
The Minister of
State Enterprises, Anti-Monopolies and
Anti-Corruption, Samuel Undenge,
could not be reached for comment as he was
said to be attending
meetings.
Zimbabwe has many unsolved cases of graft that involved
senior
politicians since 1980.
Several senior government
officials were named in the Willowgate
scandal, the Pay-for-Your-House
scheme and War Victims' Compensation Fund
but their cases were either
dropped or left hanging in the air.
The First Lady, Grace Mugabe,
was among those said to have
"undeservedly" benefited from the
Pay-for-Your-House scheme.
Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri,
Vice-President Joice Mujuru,
her husband retired General Solomon Mujuru,
among others, were said to have
benefited unfairly from the same
fund.
In its recommendations, the TIZ urges the government to
empower
anti-corruption institutions so that "they have teeth to bite". They
should
be endowed with adequate resources to effectively carry out the
job.
"The government must strengthen its resolve to combat
corruption in
and outside the state and move from more symbolic to a more
substantive
commitment," says TIZ.
Speaking at the launch
TIZ-Zimbabwe regional advocacy, desk officer,
Mary-Jane Ncube, said she was
hopeful the study would help in the fight
against corruption.
TIZ also launched another book, Whose Fault Is It? an in depth look at
the
declining state of public service delivery in five southern African
countries, including Zimbabwe.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani
Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - A university student leader,
recently charged with treason,
has now been suspended for three years - over
demonstrations against high
tuition fees.
Mehluli Dube, the
National University of Science and Technology's
Student Representative
Council (SRC) vice-president, was handed his
suspension letter two weeks
ago.
He is alleged to have led last year's protests, which caused
NUST's
temporary closure.
Dube is already facing treason
charges after he allegedly told a
public meeting if President Robert Mugabe
was not removed from power through
elections, then he would be "removed by
the bullet".
According to a statement from the Zimbabwe National
Students Union
(ZINASU), Dube was suspended together with another NUST
student leader,
Themba Maphenduka, for causing "unrest in November last year
by demanding
the withdrawal of high tuition fees".
The two were
not immediately available for comment.
Their suspension follows a
disciplinary hearing held at NUST last May.
Scores of student leaders were
arrested during the protests calling for the
reversal of what the students
considered high tuition fees.
NUST spokesperson, Felix Moyo, could
not be reached for comment on the
suspensions as he was said to be away on
business.
But ZINASU said the suspensions were a "strategy to
disqualify the two
from contesting for union leadership positions as it came
a day before
elections. . .to elect new student leaders".
Dube
joins PF-Zapu leaders Dumiso Dabengwa and the late former Zipra
commander,
Lookout Masuku, on a list of people in Matabeleland, who were
once charged
with treason.
Other politicians include the late opposition leader
Ndabaningi
Sithole. The Movement for Democratic Change faction leader Morgan
Tsvangirai
was also charged with treason.
Treason carries a
death sentence or life in prison.
Zim Standard
By Davison
Maruziva
IN one of the most vivid illustrations of the brain
drain, 20
teachers - including the headmaster - at a Harare school are
leaving the
country for greener pastures at the end of the year (2007), amid
suggestions
that rather than stop the exodus the government should have an
expatriate
policy.
But the view from educationists was that
bonding would not stop people
from leaving if they wanted to because of
internal and external factors
weighing on individuals.
Gateway
School Trust, which runs a junior and high school in Emerald
Hill, Harare,
will be losing teachers mostly to South Africa.
Others, however,
are being lost to the profession altogether.
Lovett Manduku,
chairman of the Gateway School Trust, confirmed the
loss of the teachers to
The Standard last week.
"Yes, it is true," he said. "We are losing
20 teachers between the
primary and high school, mostly to South Africa and
some of them are leaving
the teaching field altogether.
"They
complain mostly that they cannot afford to come to work. They
are finding it
difficult to make ends meet. The problems are the current
economic
situation, but the chances are that once they leave they will not
come back.
We will lose them. They will not be teachers."
He said there was
virtually no support from their overseas counterpart
Christian organisations
to help the trust retain the teachers.
Asked to what extent the
government appreciated the skills drain,
Manduku said while some of the
ministers' children attended their schools,
it was at the lower levels and
not ministerial levels where there was
acknowledgement of the
crisis.
"When we discuss the issues with District Education
Officers," Manduku
said, "they tell you that even government schools are
also suffering. They
are not spared.
"In the private sector,
virtually every school is losing, although
they may not be losing as many as
we are."
Manduku said the headmaster of Gateway High School, Marcus
Chibisa,
would be retiring, as he would be turning 60.
"He will
be giving us notice at the end of the year and will leave at
the end of the
first term."
Some of the teachers at Gateway told The Standard that
apart from
South Africa, they were going to Botswana, Namibia and even as
further
afield as Australia. Two weeks ago the trust began advertising for
teachers
to replace the ones leaving.
The Progressive Teachers'
Union of Zimbabwe, says more than 13 000
competent and qualified teachers
have left the profession so far this year -
that's an average of 1 300
teachers leaving every month. An estimated 4 800
left the country last year,
with South Africa, Mozambique and Namibia the
main
beneficiaries.
But Jameson Timba, the chairman of the Association
of Trust Schools,
which has an estimated 1 800 teachers, said although they
do not have
current statistics of teachers leaving the country for greener
pastures, the
impact of recruitment of Science and Maths teachers by the
South African
government was being felt.
He said the impact was
more pronounced in Zimbabwe, "because in the
region we are currently the
leading producer of quality teachers and within
the region we are also the
leaders because of our infrastructure for
training teachers".
Timba said rather than panicking or trying to stop the exodus, the
government should actually be facilitating teachers wanting to leave the
country.
The government, he said would benefit, if part of the
teachers'
salaries was sent back home, if they were considered expatriate
teachers.
He said the reason why such a policy did not exist was
because ever
since the current Minister of Education, Aeneas Chigwedere,
came into
office, he had apparently not made any attempt to establish a
national
advisory board, although this is provided for under the Education
Act.
"I believe he can get more value for no benefit and at no cost
to the
government as the services provided are purely on a voluntary basis.
There
would be similar boards at regional level. Education is a shared
responsibility."
Chigwedere told Parliament last week that the
government had resolved
to bond newly-qualified teachers and would require
neighbouring countries to
approach it before employing Zimbabwean teachers
as part of measures to stem
the tide of brain drain.
But
Professor Caiphas Nziramasanga, who chaired the Commission of
Inquiry into
Education and Training in 1999, told The Standard that while
bonding was not
new and was an international practice, manpower migration
was
unstoppable.
Last week Nziramasanga said that bonding was just one
of the
solutions, but it would not stop people leaving. Although Zimbabwe
inherited
the policy of bonding, it abandoned it after independence because
the
country was producing teachers surplus to its requirements.
"Whether we increase salaries, buy houses for teachers and cars on
graduation day," he said, "bonding cannot stop the desire of people to move
to new places. The true excuses are that people are just intellectually
curious. If my quest for adventure is stronger I will go."
While identifying the current drive for teachers by South Africa and
the
strength of the Rand against the Zimbabwe dollar as being some of the
drivers of the migration of skilled manpower, Nziramasanga said what
infuriated him were instances of teachers leaving without notice, abandoning
their classes and trekking into the Diaspora.
Describing such
conduct as "professionally criminal" Nziramasanga
said: "I do not care about
the reasons (for leaving). The teacher also has
responsibilities where
he/she is going. Morally and objectively, it is
unfair to the innocent
children and parents who are paying through the nose.
Children are suffering
for reasons which are not their own."
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
THE recent appointments of former government employees
to positions of
influence in the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) have
been condemned by
the opposition and civil society.
Of the nine
commissioners, five have served in various capacities in
President Robert
Mugabe's government, accused of manipulating previous
elections.
The appointees include Bernard Chahuruva, the new
ZEC deputy chief
inspector. Chahuruva is a former district administrator for
Murehwa, Kadoma,
Hurungwe and Makonde.
The director of
administration, Juba Chekenyere, was a management and
financial accountant
in the government.
Director of polling and training, Ignatius
Mushangwe, is a former
district registrar for Karoi, Bindura and Marondera.
He was a deputy
provincial registrar for Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland
East.
Japhate Murenje, the director of election logistics, is a
former
provincial registrar for Mashonaland East and Midlands while James
Chidamba,
director of human resources, is a former principal Employment
Officer for
the Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare in
Matabeleland
North.
ZEC spokesperson, Utoile Silaigwana said
the appointments were made on
merit rather than political
allegiance.
He said the commission advertised the positions in the
media and
people who responded went through the normal interviewing
process.
"And the best candidates were chosen. It was purely on
merit and
nothing else," Silaigwana said.
But Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) spokesperson Nelson Chamisa
said the ZEC had been
"impregnated" with Zanu PF functionaries to enable the
party to manipulate
next year's elections in its favour.
This, said Chamisa, was
contrary to the Zanu PF/MDC agreement reached
under South Africa-brokered
talks to re-constitute the current ZEC, which
the MDC has described as
illegal.
"This whole electoral process has been 'Zanuised' and we
are going to
raise the issue with all the stakeholders. We can't afford to
have another
flawed plebiscite when people are suffering like this," Chamisa
said.
The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) believes the
appointments
were a clear testimony that Zanu PF intended to rig the
elections.
NCA national spokesperson, Madock Chivasa, said the
appointments
signalled that next year's elections would not be free and
fair.
"The fact that the present laws are subjected to abuse by the
executive might also suggest that the people who have been appointed are
sympathetic to the present government," Chivasa said.
The NCA
felt the present ZEC would not allow any opposition political
party to form
a government in 2008.
"Instead, what Zimbabweans will witness is a
well stage-managed
election in which President Mugabe will retain his post
as the head of
government," he said.
To cover up the "hoax",
the NCA said, Zanu PF would allow an
insignificant number of MPs from the
opposition to win in urban
constituencies, where MDC enjoys more support
than Zanu PF.
Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) board
chairman, Noel Kututwa
said the background of the appointees was
insignificant.
"What is important is for the commission to be
independent because
these people would be operating on instructions from the
commission. I don't
think their background would be a problem," Kututwa
said.
Kututwa said he would have preferred the appointments to be
made after
the amendment of the Electoral Act.
"Because of
Constitutional Amendment 18 there is need to change the
Electoral Act and
the composition of the Commission could change as well,"
he said.
Zim Standard
BY our
CORRESPONDENT
GWERU - Zanu PF will win next year's elections
because the current
constitution gives it a crucial advantage over the
opposition, says Lovemore
Madhuku.
The National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) chairman told a Midlands
regional assembly recently the NCA
would continue to fight for a new
people-driven constitution to guarantee
free and fair elections.
"As NCA we are saying free and fair
elections are only possible under
a new people-driven constitution and we
are saying if people are to vote
next year and for the elections to be free
and fair we should have a new
constitution," he told his
members.
Madhuku claimed opposition politicians were aware Zanu PF
would win
next year but alleged most were "blinded by greed".
He criticised the MDC for agreeing to the 18th amendment of the
constitution.
But he dismissed proposals for the formation of a
new opposition party
as it would not be able to wrest power from Zanu PF as
long as the current
constitution remained in place.
On the
talks brokered by South African President Thabo Mbeki, Madhuku
said Zanu PF
was forced into the talks by the concerted efforts of the MDC
and other
stakeholders under the Save Zimbabwe Campaign banner, yet civil
society had
been left out.
"During the defiance campaign in Highfield, where we
told the
government that it was a prayer meeting, we were thoroughly bashed
and we
were together with the MDC. But when they were called for
negotiations, the
MDC just ran and left the civic society in the open and
the discussions are
only between Zanu PF and MDC."
Madhuku
claimed the two factions had admitted to him that during the
ongoing talks
they had agreed to write a new constitution without the
involvement of other
stakeholders and the general public, which he said was
not
acceptable.
Madhuku said NCA regional assemblies were being held
throughout the
country to amplify their disagreement with the MDC on the
constitutional
amendment, and to show they were committed to a people-driven
constitution.
Zim Standard
JOHANNESBURG - A
prominent
international refugee organisation is calling for an end to the
deportations
of undocumented Zimbabweans by neighbouring
countries.
After a month-long fact-finding mission to the region,
Refugees
International (RI), a US-based non-governmental refugee advocacy
group,
published a bulletin, Zimbabwe Exodus, on its
observations.
"Large numbers of deportees regularly re-cross the
borders illegally
immediately after deportation, where they are subject to
dangerous
environmental conditions and often fall prey to criminal gangs.
Deportations
are very costly for the host governments and do not achieve the
goal of
deterring undocumented migration," the bulletin said.
Estimates of the scale of migration from Zimbabwe range from 1 million
to
over 3 million people, while international donor agencies say more than a
third of the population, or 4.1 million people, require emergency food
assistance. Zimbabwe has the highest inflation rate in the world, nearly 15
000%, unemployment levels of 80% and acute shortages of basic foodstuffs,
fuel and electricity.
In the first seven months of 2007, the
Reception and Support Centre of
the International Organisation for Migration
(IOM) processed 117 737 people
repatriated from South Africa at its
Beitbridge centre on the Zimbabwean
border - about
40 000 more than
in the last 6 months of 2006.
The IOM has estimated that about 35%
of those arriving at the centre
immediately make their way back to South
Africa.
According to unofficial estimates, about 40 000 Zimbabweans
were
repatriated from Botswana to Zimbabwe in 2006. RI said in its bulletin
that
"what is abundantly clear is that Zimbabwe currently suffers from a
near
complete lack of basic goods - food, petrol, soap, paraffin - and that
Zimbabweans outside their country are actively engaged in providing those
goods to family members back home."
Attempts by governments of
neighbouring countries to find a solution
to Zimbabwe's ongoing problems
must "de-link" these political interventions
from other considerations, so
that they can "address the domestic
consequences of Zimbabwean migration,
including strains on social services,
xenophobia, and the growth of an
undocumented underclass that is in need of
humanitarian
assistance."
The initiative by the Southern African Development
Community - of
which the Zimbabwean migrant target countries of Botswana,
South Africa and
Zambia are all members - to broker a solution to Zimbabwe's
political
problems had deflected attention from the large-scale migration
from
Zimbabwe, "as it draws attention to the humanitarian crisis inside
Zimbabwe", RI said.
Zimbabweans were being typecast by the
United Nations and neighbouring
states as economic migrants, while the
nature of the migration was complex,
and "the attempt to categorise the
outflow (of people) ultimately obstructs
the humanitarian response by
focusing on why people do (or do not) qualify
for aid," RI
commented.
"Clearly not all Zimbabweans have a fear of prosecution
. . . however,
economic and political grounds for leaving are not mutually
exclusive. The
circumstances of the crisis call for new legal approaches, in
line with
progressive interpretation of refugee and international human
rights
covenants."
The main host countries of Zimbabwean
migrants, South Africa and
Botswana, "should acknowledge the nature of the
Zimbabwean migration, and
provide adequate protection and assistance to
those in need," the bulletin
said.
The UN refugee agency
(UNHCR) defines a "refugee" as a person who has
fled his/her country of
nationality or habitual residence, and who is unable
or unwilling to return
to that country because of a "well-founded" fear of
persecution based on
race, religion, nationality, political opinion or
membership of a particular
social group. This definition excludes those who
have left their homes only
to seek a more prosperous life.
The home affairs parliamentary
portfolio committee in South Africa
recently condemned the "animal"-like
treatment of foreign nationals by the
authorities and the South African
Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) has
launched an investigation into the death
of a Zimbabwean refugee.
Zonke Majodina, deputy chairperson of the
SAHRC, said the deportation
of Zimbabweans had become "a revolving-door
phenomenon that costs the
country (South Africa) millions and does not solve
anything."
She said the SAHRC had been monitoring the treatment of
foreign
nationals and the conditions were "not up to scratch", as the home
affairs
department lacked adequately trained staff, and their processes were
"cumbersome, bureaucratic and overly complicated". - IRIN
Save the Children said there were no reliable estimates of the number
of
child migrants in the region, who were mainly from Lesotho, Mozambique,
Botswana, Zimbabwe, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of
Congo.
Most of them were drawn to South Africa because "These
children have a
powerful sense of futility about the lack of opportunities
available to them
at home, combined with a strong sense of possibility in
relation to those
available in South Africa. The fact that South Africa does
not actually
provide even basic services to many [child migrants] on the
border seems not
to deter these children."
The report
recognised that the death of parents from HIV/AIDS could
also contribute to
child migration, and that girl children were especially
vulnerable to the
disease. "Many girls described crossing to South Africa by
having sex with
the border guards ... alternatively, some of the girls in
the study
described travelling across the border with truckers in exchange
for
sex."
The need for children to cross borders "only emphasises the work
that
remains to be done in the region on fundamental challenges such as HIV
and
AIDS and poverty."
South Africa's home affairs department
could not be reached for
comment.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
BULAWAYO - The Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management
Authority
(ZPWMA) is losing millions of dollars every week to fish poachers
taking
advantage of the authority's failure to mount patrols.
The Standard established a critical shortage of beef has resulted in
an
upsurge in fish poaching.
Fish has become a substitute for beef and
chicken, which disappeared
from butcheries following the government's price
blitz in July.
Retired Major Edward Mbewe, the spokesperson for the
ZPWMA, said they
were losing millions to poachers.
"There is an
increase of fish poaching by individuals who are not
paying fishing charges
to the authority," Mbewe said.
They were trying their best, he
said, to stop the menace.
Sources said the ZPWMA faced a critical
shortage of fuel and the boats
used to sniff out the poachers. It is also
short of money and staff to
effectively mount patrols against the
poachers.
Johhny Rodriguez, the chairman of the Zimbabwe
Conservation Taskforce,
blamed the government for turning down donations
from independent
organisations keen to protect wildlife.
"The
government has shot itself in the foot for blacklisting some
organisations
and refusing donations from us," Rodriguez said. "The ZPWMA
lacks capacity
since it is facing fuel, boat and staff shortages to carry
out
patrols."
The group was blacklisted by the government in 2005 after
it raised an
international alert on the animal crisis in the Hwange National
Park due to
water shortages.
The government, after being
exposed for its failure to save the
animals from thirst in 2005, accused the
group of making false reports.
"ZPWMA is losing several millions to
fish poachers who are not paying
any fees and taking advantage of the beef
shortages," said Rodriguez. "We
risk losing all the fish to
poaching."
Zim Standard
By Our
Staff
RECENT government actions concerning the private media
are part of
hoax intended to mislead the international community ahead of
the European
Union-Africa Summit in Lisbon, Portugal, The Standard has
learnt.
President Robert Mugabe is expected to attend the EU-Africa
Summit
next month and the government is anxious to present a façade of
relaxing the
draconian media environment, ahead of the meeting so that
Mugabe is not put
in the dock over harassment of the private
media.
The Media Institute of Southern Africa (Misa) yesterday said
the
appointment of a committee to re-look into Associated Newspapers of
Zimbabwe
(ANZ) - publishers of The Daily News and The Daily News on Sunday -
by the
Minister of Information and Publicity, lacked a clear mandate on how
this
would be accomplished.
The committee was appointed on 14
November 2007.
"The individuals selected have questionable
credentials, if one goes
by their personal and institutional views. The
committee chairperson,
Chinondidyachii Mararike is a prominent State media
columnist who has
written widely in The Herald.
"MISA-Zimbabwe
investigations also disclose that Charity Moyo once/or
is still working in
the External Affairs section of Zanu PF," Misa said.
While the
Minister of Information and Publicity says the committee was
put in place
"in the true spirit to demonstrate a democratic and liberalised
media",
MISA-Zimbabwe says the true spirit of democracy would be to repeal
the
Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act and all undemocratic
media laws that have shackled the operations of the media and enjoyment of
freedom of expression rights in Zimbabwe.
MISA-Zimbabwe also
argues that the mere fact that the media operates
at the benevolence and
whims of committees appointed by a government
minister is the truest
demonstration of an undemocratic government that is
opposed to different and
critical views.
"This ANZ issue, coming as it does, against a
background of the
arrests of The Financial Gazette's Jacob Chisese and Hama
Saburi and the
Zimbabwe Independent and Standard's Raphael Khumalo on 9
November 2007,
demonstrates a government still determined to repress
independent media
voices."
The police arrested the newspaper
executives for increasing the prices
of their publications.
"These arrests and arguments in support of this action fail to account
for
the production costs of the newspapers.
"The state media, on the
other hand, receives state support in the
form of subsidised newsprint and
fuel among other material and financial;
support. This, contrary to Minister
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, will not create a
diverse and plural media but a
dominance of one political view, that of the
government and Zanu
PF.
"It is in this environment that ANZ might be relicensed by the
committee, knowing very well that the economy itself and the new tactics by
the Incomes and Pricing Commission might as well maintain the ANZ off the
news stands.
"MISA-Zimbabwe dismisses the latest developments
as a mirage to
hoodwink the local and international community and raise the
waning
democratic credentials of the government and its sub organs such as
the
MIC."
Zim Standard
by Jennifer
Dube
SWEDEN, through the Swedish International Development
Co-operation
Agency (Sida) has committed more than US$700 000 towards a
project aimed at
scaling up the fight against HIV and AIDS in Zimbabwe's
private sector.
Unveiled last week, the three-year revolving fund
will be administered
through the International Labour Organisation (ILO),
which will work in
conjunction with employers' and labour
organisations.
"Sweden believes that actors are needed to win the
fight against HIV
and Aids - the government, multilateral agencies,
bilateral cooperation,
private sector, churches, civil society and all other
instruments in the
tool box must be used," said Swedish ambassador Sten
Rylander in Harare last
week.
The first phase of the project
saw the implementing partners, the
Employers' Confederation of Zimbabwe and
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions, receiving a computer and a printer
each.
Director and ILO Representative for Zimbabwe Tayo Fashoyin,
said the
two organisations were to receive a vehicle each under phase two of
the
project to be launched this week after the finalisation of customs
clearance
processes.
Aimed at contributing towards the
reduction of the adverse
consequences of the HIV and Aids scourge on the
socio-economic development
of the private sector, the project will benefit
both private sector workers
and their organisations and the employers and
their organisations.
Secondary beneficiaries include employers' and
workers' spouses and
family members, service providers, community-based
organisations and
non-governmental organisations, among others coming into
contact with the
workforce.
Rylander said a strong tripartite
interaction among employers, workers
and government was necessary for the
project's success.
He also encouraged other donors to come on board
and support the
project.
EMCOZ's David Govera and ZCTU's Lucia
Matibenga pledged their
organisations' commitment to the successful
implementation of the project.
Zimbabwe is among other sub-Saharan
African countries battling with a
high HIV and Aids prevalence.
Both Rylander and Fashoyin welcomed recent news that the country's HIV
prevalence rate this year dropped from 18,1% to 15,6% saying the statistics
were encouraging.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani
Ndlovu
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe's largest retail supermarket chain
group, OK
Zimbabwe sustained a record 1 000% operational loss in business
during the
controversial government price blitz.
The chain was
forced to suspend its expansion programmes due to
viability
problems.
The price blitz, launched in July, left many companies on
the brink of
collapse, forcing many to retrench workers after downsizing
operations while
some shut up shop altogether.
The government
defended the price freeze on the grounds that it would
stop businesses from
creating a crisis in a bid to incite inflation-weary
Zimbabweans to revolt
against the government.
But OK Zimbabwe chairman Eric Kahari, in a
statement last week, said
this resulted in the company registering over $1
trillion operational
losses.
"The introduction of the price
freeze during the second quarter
created significant commercial obstacles
and many businesses struggled to
sustain operations at the prescribed
prices," said Kahari.
His comments were contained in the OK
Zimbabwe unaudited financial
results for the half year ended 30 September
2007.
"Operating losses increased by 1 120% to $1.2 trillion as
revenue
growth did not keep pace with increases in overhead costs. Such
losses
caused by price reductions from the price blitz compounded the
company's
poor operating profit performance.
"The capital
expenditure programme was suspended when the price freeze
was imposed, but
expenditure to $142 billion spent mainly on store
refurbishment and
replacement of equipment."
Kahari said the company, due to little
merchandise for sale, did not
renew employee contracts after they
expired.
As the government continues to keep the lid on prices,
most companies,
especially retail chains, have resorted to job cuts to
reduce overheads.
Thomas Meikles (TM) Stores group which is part of
Meikles Africa,
recently laid off about 300 workers due to persistent
unavailability of
goods on the market, in a bid to reduce crippling
costs.
Retail shops are not allowed to apply replacement costs in
their
pricing systems, making it impossible to restock without fresh capital
injections.
To restock the companies now have to rely on bank
loans which they get
at rates of between 450% and 550%.
The
government maintains that retails should only effect a profit
margin of 20%
on all commodities, a figure analysts say will force most
companies to close
shop.
Zim Standard
BY NDAMU
SANDU
HOSPITALITY group Zimbabwe Sun Limited (Zimsun) is in
talks with three
potential partners to fund local and regional expansion
projects.
Standardbusiness heard last week that the partners would
inject
capital to fund refurbishment of Zimsun hotels as well as developing
hotels
in East and West Africa.
In return, the partners would
receive shareholding in the hospitality
giant.
A source
familiar with the developments at the group said new hotels
might be built
in Tanzania, Equatorial Guinea, Angola and possibly Ghana and
Nigeria.
Although the identities of the partners remain a
closely guarded
secret pending finalisation of the discussions,
Standardbusiness is reliably
informed that the three players are from the
East and West.
Two weeks ago Zimsun issued a cautionary statement
saying it was in
negotiations with a potential partner for its regional
expansion project.
"Pursuant to the company's regional expansion
strategy the company has
entered into negotiations with a potential
partner," Zimsun said.
"Should these negotiations be successful,
there may be a significant
impact upon shareholding in the
company."
In June, Zimsun announced it had entered into a tourism
development
agreement with the Equatorial Guinea government involving the
operation of
hotel facilities and consultation on the development of a
sustainable
tourism infrastructure in the oil-rich country.
Zimsun also won a tender offered by the Bauchi State Government of
Nigeria
to operate a safari lodge in Yankari Game Reserve.
In its half year
ended 31 March 2007 results Zimsun announced a four
percentage points
increase in room occupancy to 38% from the previous year.
Group CEO
Shingi Munyeza told an analysts' briefing in June the group
was currently in
negotiations for an additional 1 000 rooms over the next
three years to
begin early next year.
He said such an investment was necessitated
by the realisation the
country would require three times the accommodation
capacity in the next
five years.
Analysts say Zimsun's
initiative to hunt for foreign currency
injection in return for shareholding
is a response to the foreign currency
crunch of the last seven
years.
Zimsun will become the second listed company to offer shares
in return
for foreign currency.
In May, telecommunications
giant Econet Wireless announced plans to
dial up foreign investors through
issuing new shares in return for an
injection of US$30 million.
The money will be used to expand network capacity from 800 000 users
to 1.2
million by year end.
Zim Standard
Comment
MOST countries that believe in accountability demand an
audit into
projects they are funding. Zimbabwean authorities, apparently, do
not
believe donors should track how resources contributed by their
governments
are used.
The British government announced recently
it was giving about eight
million pounds to the World Food Programme to help
feed Zimbabwe's hungry
population - estimated to reach four million by the
end of this year. The
British Ambassador to Zimbabwe last week decided to
see how some of the
funding is being used.
But the State
reacted hysterically after Ambassador Andrew Pocock led
a delegation of the
United Nations World Food Programme to Shurugwi to
observe how food aid
distribution was being conducted.
The government and the ruling
party, Zanu PF, have been accused of
politicising food distribution, a
charge which the authorities have always
denied. If the government has
nothing to hide, the visit to Shurugwi by
Ambassador Pocock would have been
an opportunity to demonstrate to the
international donor community that the
government and the ruling party are
unfairly criticised. But they panicked,
hence the hysteria. The guilty are
always afraid.
The
government abuses international relief aid. It misrepresents
itself to
ordinary Zimbabweans, particularly the rural folk, suggesting it
and not the
international community is providing the assistance to sections
of society
in need and therefore they should in turn vote for the ruling
party.
Sometimes crude tactics are employed: Production of a ruling party
membership card and declaration of allegiance to Zanu PF before one is
allowed to benefit from aid from external donors. This government has no
shame.
One of the reasons former Chimanimani MP Roy Bennett got
into trouble
was because he captured on camera Zanu PF offering food to the
electorate in
exchange for votes-outside a polling station!
Ambassador Pocock was right to conduct a verification exercise. While
he was
touring Shurugwi, villagers in Umguza in Matabeleland North were
accusing
the government of distributing relief food provided by the
Organisation of
Rural Associations for Progress only to supporters of the
ruling party.
Similar charges came from Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North,
and Chimanimani
last week. This government is cruel.
It is important, where
necessary to expose the abuse, hypocrisy and
cruelty practised by the
government and the ruling party. The reason why the
authorities are against
non-governmental organisations working with
communities in need is because
the full extent of their neglect by the State
would be exposed.
The number of school children dropping out of school continues to
increase
because of government's failed policies. Similarly, a greater
majority of
Zimbabweans are unable to access health care while development
in rural
areas has suffered decline as witnessed by collapse of
infrastructure. The
government has no political will to improve the welfare
of the rest of the
people. But it would like to continue to misinform them
that their suffering
is a direct result of external interference.
Ambassador Pocock did
the right thing to challenge the government. He
was able to expose
government lies that Britain is responsible for their
suffering. But he was
also able to prove that the UK government will
continue to stand by the
people of this country during their hour of need.
The government
and the ruling party are unhappy by visits such as the
one to Shurugwi by
foreign diplomats because State coercion of villagers
will become evident.
This is what frightens the government. It has something
to hide. Otherwise,
it would welcome anyone wishing to see how international
aid is reaching the
intended beneficiaries.
Donor-funded programmes that are run
fairly, transparently and
successfully would be models for further funding.
The government wants
funding but detests accountability.
Zim Standard
sundayopinion By Bill
Saidi
TO my column last week, What Would You Ask Jesus, Marx,
Mzingeli? I
received the following responses:
Dear
Bill
I found some of the remarks you made about the bible and
Christianity
in your last Sunday opinion, requiring comment.
For a start, the bible is rich in information that can transform
people and
nations . . . has already been from history for those people and
nations who
have understood it!
I think it's how one reads and understands the
bible
. . . I now know that you need to read the bible with spiritual
revelation, if you are to get the value of the word of God . . .the
bible.
I think it is from the above misunderstanding that you went
on to say
that the bible proposes a "life of plenty after
death".
You know Jesus came and died for us, so that we can have
life. That
life starts from here on earth. Jesus suffered a lot for us, so
that we
should not suffer!
The bible says Jesus was made poor
so that we should be rich. As such,
the life of plenty and abundance
actually starts here on earth and not after
death, for those who have come
to live in the glory of God.
If you are interested I can arrange
the supporting bible references
(scriptures) for you. I just thought I
should take the opportunity to share
with you the beautiful Gospel of Jesus
Christ and what it says about our
lives.
Many other people and
I follow your opinions and it will be important
if you are also correctly
advised, as what you write is read by many people
and impacts on their
lives.
Warm regards with love
George
I refer to your article in The Standard dated 11 November 2007 and I
must
say I was deeply disappointed by your comments about (or should I say
mockery of) JESUS CHRIST and The Bible.
I have to admit that
you are an excellent writer but kana tashaya
zvekunyora tisatuke Mwari (If
we have nothing to write about, let us not
insult the Lord).
Saving Zimbabwe is one of the things that Jesus can do instantly, but
reference should also be made to 2 Chronicles 7:14: "If my people who
recalled my name, humble themselves, seek my face and pray, I will heal
their land and forgive them."
The people of Zimbabwe are not
turning away from their wicked ways and
they are seeking human solutions to
their problems, not bearing in mind that
only God can get us out of this
mess. (not even the ouster of President
Mugabe from office, as you may think
and/or suggest).
Secondly, I would like to put you in the light
concerning the issue of
(and I quote you) "For Marx and Engels: Weren't
their theories of equality
as haywire as the Bible's proposition of a life
of plenty only after death?"
To start with, whoever told you or
made you believe that the Bible
(the word of God, thus meaning God) promised
a life of plenty only after
death greatly misled you.
The Lord
in His Word says: "I have riches and honour to give;
prosperity and success.
What you get from me is better than the finest gold,
better than the purest
silver. I walk the way of the righteous; I follow the
paths of justice,
giving wealth to those who love me, filling their houses
with treasures."
Proverbs 8:18-21
If you want to, you should also read Jeremiah
29:11, Matthew 6:32-3:
"Seek ye God first and His Kingdom and everything
else shall be added unto
you." (A life of plenty is part of everything,
isn't it?),
And lastly Mark10:28-31.
Just some food
for thought, Mr. Saidi . . . Did you know these facts?
I sure didn't till
someone enlightened me.
Death is certain but the Bible speaks about
untimely death!
Make a personal reflection about this. Very
interesting, read until
the end . . .
It is written in the
Bible (Galatians 6:7): "Be not deceived; God is
not mocked: for whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap."
Here are some men and women
who mocked God:
John Lennon
Some years before, during
an interview with an American magazine, he
said: "Christianity will end, it
will disappear. I do not have to argue
about that. I am certain. Jesus was
ok, but his subjects were too simple;
today we are more famous than Him."
(1966). Lennon, after saying that the
Beatles were more famous than Jesus
Christ, was shot six times.
Tancredo Neves (President of
Brazil:
During the Presidential campaign, he said if he got 500 000
votes from
his party, not even God would remove him from the Presidency.
Sure, he got
the votes, but he got sick a day before being made President,
and then died.
Cazuza (Bi-sexual Brazillian composer, singer and
poet:
During a show in Cancun (Rio de Janeiro), while smoking his
cigarette,
puffed out some smoke into the air and said: "God, that's for
you."
He died at the age of 32 of AIDS in a horrible
manner.
The man who built the Titanic
After the
construction of the Titanic, a reporter asked him how safe
the Titanic would
be. With an ironic tone he said: "Not even God can sink
it." The result? I
think you know what happened to the Titanic.
Marilyn
Monroe
Billy Graham visited her during the presentation of a show.
He said
the Spirit of God had sent him to preach to her. After hearing what
the
preacher had to say, she said: "I don't need your Jesus." A week later,
she
was found dead in her apartment.
Bon Scott:
The ex-vocalist of the AC/DC. On one of his 1979 songs he sang: "Don't
stop
me, I'm going down all the way, down the highway to hell." On the 19
February 1980, Bon Scott was found dead, choked by his own
vomit.
In Campinas, Brazil, a group of friends, drunk, went to pick
up a
friend. The mother accompanied her to the car and was so
worried about
the drunkenness of her friends, she said to the daughter, who
was already
seated in the car, holding her hand: "My Daughter, Go with God
and May He
Protect You."
She responded: "Only If He (God)
Travels In The Trunk, Cause Inside
Here . . . It's Already
Full."
Hours later, news came that they had been involved in a
fatal
accident; everyone had died, the car could not be recognized, but
surprisingly, the trunk was intact. The police said there was no way the
trunk could have remained intact. To their surprise, inside the trunk was a
crate of eggs; none were broken.
Christine Hewitt, a
Jamaican journalist and entertainer said the Bible
(Word of God) was the
worst book ever written. In June 2006, she was found
burnt beyond
recognition in her motor vehicle.
Many more important people have
forgotten that there is no other name
that was given so much authority as
the name of Jesus. Many have died, but
only Jesus died and rose again, and
he is still alive.
JESUS!!!
P.S: If it were a joke,
you would have sent it to everyone. So are you
going to have
courage to send this? I have done my part, Jesus said
"If you are
embarrassed about me, I will also be embarrassed about you
before my
father."
Have a blessed day!!!
Zim Standard
Sundayview
by Judith Todd
THE ranks of the ruling party were swelling a
little. The Speaker of
Parliament, Didymus Mutasa, announced that three of
the sitting white
members of parliament had crossed the floor to join Zanu
PF. They were John
Landau, Tony Read and John Kay.
This
happened on Friday 21 August 1987, when parliamentary seats
reserved for
whites were abolished under a constitutional amendment. All
citizens of
Zimbabwe would henceforth be registered on a common voters'
roll. I should
have been rejoicing, but the way it had been done just made
me laugh. The
ruling party had tempted to their side the very whites who had
either done
nothing or had seemed to do nothing against the injustice of
minority rule,
or had actually been part and parcel of the Smith regime. The
only purpose
of this crossing of the floor was to cement the power and
position of Zanu
PF. We were watching an unholy alliance unfold.
A politically
high-ranking friend rang me that night, wanting to know
what I thought of
developments. I suggested that the ruling party, to which
he belonged,
should now be renamed Zanu RF in recognition of their new
bedfellow the
Rhodesian Front, the white supremacist political party that
had led us into
UDI and the war. He groaned and, realising he was in pain, I
stopped teasing
him.
At 4.20PM on Tuesday 1 September, the telephone rang. I
happened to
glance at my watch. Someone said he was calling from the
Parliament of
Zimbabwe, and that Dr Joshua Nkomo wanted to speak to Mrs
Judith Acton.
I said Mrs Acton was speaking.
When
Nkomo came on the line, he was very gentle and a little jocular.
It must
have taken time to track me down to my parents' house in Bulawayo.
"What are you doing down there in the hinterland?" Nkomo asked.
I
told him I was on holiday. We chatted a little about inconsequential
things,
and then he said he wanted to talk about the new structure of
Parliament.
There would have to be members nominated to fill the seats
formerly reserved
for whites. "Your name is down," he said. "What do you
think of that?" He
needed an urgent response. I said I was honoured. If I
had been approached
by anyone else, I would have needed time to think and to
consult, for
example, him. But since it was actually him asking me, I could
just say yes
immediately, "if, of course, Parliament means anything any
more," I
added.
Nkomo was pained. He assured me that Parliament was
important, even if
at times it didn't seem to be. He said we must work hard
at making it even
more important. We agreed that I would see him on my
return to Harare . . .
Minister Nkala was being tempestuous again
and, in mid-September,
ordered the closure of all PF Zapu offices, which
were then ransacked by
security agents. It was also announced that ministers
Callistus Ndlovu,
Chikowore, Nkala and Kadungure were in Matabeleland, and
that they had
dissolved all councils in Matabeleland North on the grounds
that these
structures were assisting dissidents, to whom they were diverting
drought
relief food. That month, Bulawayo's Chronicle inadvertently reminded
its
readers of how long Zapu had been under siege . . .
Twenty-five years and two days later, and with no prior announcement
from
Joshua Nkomo or from Zapu, the headline on the front page of The Herald
was:
"Zapu lines up team for Assembly contest." The story read, in part:
"The
former Zipra intelligence supremo, Cde Dumiso Dabengwa, and Sir
Garfield
Todd's daughter, Mrs Judith Acton, are among seven PF Zapu
candidates who
will contest vacant seats in the House of Assembly that were
created with
the abolishment of white reserved seats."
I telephoned immediately
to alert my parents, as the publication was a
bolt from the blue for me and
would be worse for them. When Nkomo had rung
me, he'd said there was some
hurry as he had been asked to submit a list of
candidates to the prime
minister the following day, which was why he needed
an immediate yes or no
from me. The following week in Harare he told me it
had been hoped Zanu and
Zapu could have an agreed list for the former white
seats so that there
would be no need for a contest. Matters were still under
discussion and,
when appropriate, relevant announcements would be made. He
also said that
when he saw Prime Minister Mugabe, he had stressed that I was
an independent
and didn't belong to Zapu. I thought that was very kind of
him.
In the subsequent searches of Zapu's offices, including those of
Nkomo,
state security seized the list of Zapu candidates, which was then
leaked to
The Chronicle and The Herald. This effectively torpedoed the whole
apparent
negotiation process between Nkomo and Mugabe. The way the
announcement was
made in the press gave the impression that the fielding of
candidates was a
unilateral and aggressive move by Zapu to fill the formerly
white-reserved
seats.
Karl Maier was the first person to ring. He sounded very
surprised and
quite glad. He got the news that morning from the British
journalist and
publisher, David Martin. Karl was astonished to hear that I
had been named
as a candidate and was amazed to hear about Dumiso. He had
got the
impression from Du just the week before he said that he was weary of
politics.
Robin Drew rang from the Argus Africa News Service.
He sounded
pleased, but was worried that the news had been leaked before
time. He was
right. Anyway, he said, he was glad I had thrown my hat into
the ring, and
he hoped "we shall see you there, and that we shall hear
you".
Moeletsi Mbeki rang me. "Is this a typical Herald misprint?"
I
explained that it wasn't. He said if he weren't a refugee, he would have
liked to be one of the people needed to sign my nomination form . .
.
Godwin Matatu rang and asked to speak to the MP for Nowhere. It
was
true that the new MPs would have no constituencies.
Two
days after publication of the list, Prime Minister Mugabe
announced that the
closure and searches of the PF Zapu offices had uncovered
"immense evidence"
linking Mr Nkomo's party to dissident activity. Joshua
Nkomo was always
referred to by Zanu PF as mister, or doctor, to emphasise
that he was not a
comrade. A close associate of Nkomo, PF Zapu MP Welshman
Mabhena, detained
in connection with the so-called treason plot in 1985, was
detained again.
It was all very sad, and I thought how the rulers of South
Africa must be
relishing these events.
Each nominee for a parliamentary seat was
given a form to be signed by
20 people supporting the nomination. As I'd
been nominated by PF Zapu, I
planned to try to get 20 signatures from people
who were not PF Zapu, and
decided to go ahead despite all the grim news. The
prospect of any PF Zapu
nominees getting into Parliament seemed remote. An
unknown number of
councillors from the dissolved councils in Matabeleland
North had now been
arrested.
Godwin Matatu rang to say he had
something grave to tell me. We
arranged to meet at Sandro's restaurant at
2.30PM that day.
Excerpt from Judith Todd's latest book,
Through the Darkness; A Life
in Zimbabwe, available from www.zebrapress.co.za.
Zim Standard
Sundayview by
Brilliant
Mhlanga
THE situation in Zimbabwe now is a serious
cause for concern. Even
regional bodies, together with the AU seem
toothless. It is the Zimbabweans
themselves who should rise above their
petty differences and agree on a
common solution. During my short stint at
home when I was lecturing at the
National University of Science and
Technology I witnessed a clear case of
suffering. Imagine a country which
runs without an official currency for
nearly five years.
Imagine a government that passes price controls on commodities that
are not
even available in the shops. This theatrical move is even buttressed
by the
fact that there is a minister who presides over a government
sanctioned
taskforce whose members have criminal backgrounds and have no
clue on how to
run a business. To make matters worse, some of them have even
failed to
manage their small families let alone businesses. The question
that follows
then is: what happens to the ordinary citizens when the
government is run by
thugs and criminals, and when the State is generally
criminalized?
Naturally ordinary citizens tend to emulate their
criminal leaders.
This is almost the situation in Zimbabwe. Nearly everyone
now survives on
criminality.
University graduates have
literally discarded their degree
certificates and are resigned to foreign
currency dealing and selling fuel
on the black-market. Some university
lecturers have also resorted to selling
fuel as a way of keeping themselves
afloat. Imagine if a whole minister of
religion (pastor) is involved in the
black-market fuel business. In Zimbabwe
people are generally losing their
sense of responsibility and merit.
When citizens lose their moral
compass the future struggles. When a
sense of responsibility is completely
lost as is the case in Zimbabwe,
society suffers, particularly those who
still wish to hold on to reason and
morals for their future.
I
was reminded by one close colleague that, "if you still want to act
and live
in a straight way, then you do not belong here". The general 'dos'
and
'don'ts' usually generated by society as means of safeguarding human
decency
are no longer applicable anymore. Humanity suffers in such a state;
the
sense of communalism, ubuntu, is fast being substituted by
selfishness.
There is even a strong likelihood that if this
continues then a strong
grand picture of social decadence continues, future
generations and
posterity will have nothing to inherit. Even the new
government that
succeeds Zanu PF will have a lot of work in terms of
re-engineering society.
I have also noticed that police officers
who should be the custodians
of the law are not only desperately hungry but
continue working in their
torn service uniforms.
The state of
their shoes sums it all. I could easily glean that most
of these dedicated
men and women in the force are breadwinners. If they are
in such a state,
then what has happened to their families? The sad aspect is
that they still
wish to save the nation-state loyally, while the State
denies them their
proper dues. It is now the State which criminalizes them.
If this
is the situation then, who will police society? Is it not
generally expected
that when the State fails to provide for its citizens,
particularly those
men and women who are serving diligently in the force
then corruption runs
amok? When there is such a state of social decay, then
where is the future?
Zimbabwe is now a good example of the gap between the
rich and the poor
widening everyday. Surely, whoever, said, "the poor will
never inherit the
earth had a point".
After all this has been said and done, with the
picture I have
created, imagine a President who stands at the UN 62nd
general assembly and
claims all liberation credentials. Is it not right then
for people to
sensibly say, "to hell with his liberation credentials"? If
liberation has
brought us so much suffering we are then forced to question
whether we had
it in the first place. Or was it just a case of a black face
which simply
substituted a white one without changing past colonial
structures?
Is Mugabe not the same as his former colonial masters
and handlers?
Furthermore, this is a president who presides over a criminal
government,
with ministers who openly engage in criminal activities in the
name of land
reform and black empowerment. Yet the courts are always busy
with ordinary
citizens being sentenced to prison day in and day out say,
'...in Africa a
prison is where a big criminal puts smaller ones'? Whatever
happened to the
liberators? Was Dambudzo Marechera wrong for writing the
following words?
...it seems to me for all the ideals our
independence is supposed to
represent,it's still the same old ox-wagon of
the rich getting richer and
the poor getting poorer. There's even an attempt
to make poverty a holy and
acceptable condition. You say you're hungry, and
the shef peers over his
three chins down at you and says 'Comrade, you're
the backbone of the
revolution as if your life's ambition is to be as thin
and lean as a
mosquito's backbone.' And you try to say 'Shef, I don't want
to be the
backbone, I want to be the big belly of the struggle against
neo-colonialism
like the one you got there underneath that Castro beard.'
And before you
even finish what you are saying he's got the CIO and the
police and you are
being marched at gunpoint to the interrogation barracks.
(Marechera 1984:
37f).
Brilliant Mhlanga is a human rights
activist and an academic from the
National University of Science and
Technology.
MDC should exploit current crisis to win March election
THE first principle
of public office is that the incumbent holds it in trust for the public. A
leader is not supposed to consort with political crooks and when confronted
to lie, prevaricate and to play politics.
When Morgan
Tsvangirai announced the dissolution of the
Lucia Matibenga led Women's
Assembly of the MDC he made few friends
within the party. Party cadres
condemned the move.
The MDC has travelled a long journey littered
with thorns since 1999.
Therefore the conduct and ethos of the party leaders
and how they relate to
the followers is a fundamental aspect we should
consider during these dark
days.
That the mainstream MDC led by
Morgan Tsvangirai is a party in a state
of disorder today is not
questionable because of the Matibenga issue.
Alliances have been shifting
between party members as mudslinging, character
assassination and dirty
tricks now abound.
Today the party is on the slope to destruction
because of that
fundamental assault on the women's assembly
establishment.
Ideological inflexibility coupled with self interest is
encouraging
intolerance between the party leaders and those at the top
consequently
resort to the most hard line and violent methods in dealing
with opponents.
But this state of affairs will and cannot last.
All politics is about negotiation. It goes without saying that if you
set
your price too high or walk away too soon you could miss out on a great
deal
and it is equally self evident that if you set your price too low you
will
fall out too cheaply.
A lot of Zimbabweans were maimed, had
property destroyed, killed, lost
loved ones, and now we have this before a
very crucial election!
We deserve better from our leaders. The
question to our leaders is:
You used to invoke a sense of pride in all of us
fighting the blood thirsty
regime; What has happened now to that sense of
belonging?
What has happened to that camaraderie in struggle which
we now seem to
want to lose at this crucial time?
What has
happened to that accessibility that every party supporter had
to our
leaders, without being labelled as belonging to factions/tribe which
evoked
respect?
Whatever happened to the loving and a nurturing attitude
to young
talent, however tough and difficult the going was?
What has happened to that common touch that does not need to be
protected by
a phalanx of hangers-on, political malcontents, or guards of
the
well-connected?
At a time when the MDC is looking to its future and
leadership of the
country, we must disown leadership that is remote,
insecure, centralising
and struggles for party posts.
The MDC
should instead seize the opportunity presented by these
troubling times to
prepare for elections next year, and to unite the people
despite their
differences.
Frank Matandirotya
South
Africa
-------------------
Zanu PF leaders
worshipping power and wealth
BILL Saidi asks in his
column what help "Jesus of Nazareth would
have to offer to help us recover
from the excesses of this government".
He would not promise
miracles. Only charlatans promise miracles.
It is infantile to hope that
divine power will restore what we have messed
up.
The
road He has mapped out for us is well known, the basic moral
law and
commandments: You must not kill, commit adultery, steal, and give
false
witness. You must not do to others what you do not want them to do to
you.
You must love God with all your heart and soul, and your neighbour as
yourself.
He has taught us in parables, e.g. the Parable
of the Good
Samaritan. You must not bypass your suffering
brother.
If you take the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus
seriously
you will not inflict a Tsunami on the people of Mbare while living
in luxury
in Borrowdale.
Most of our leaders were brought
up in Christian schools. They
know all this. But they no longer worship the
God of Jesus Christ, the God
of justice and love. They worship at the altar
of power and wealth, and
offer up human sacrifices, the victims of torture
and murder, of starvation
and crumbling health services.
Even if they attend spurious national days of prayer do not be
fooled. Jesus
of Nazareth agrees with Isaiah: "You may multiply your
prayers, I shall not
be listening. Your hands are covered in blood" (Is. 1:
15).
Leaders must go back to these basics. Politicians
who lie and
steal will never restore this country to its former prosperity
which is to
be shared by all.
And this applies also to
the new leaders still waiting in the
wings.
Fr Oskar
Wermter SJ
Harare
------------------
Dubious distinction
THE
Spaniards have the distinction of offering awards that no
one in the world
except Zimbabweans seem to take seriously.
I recall an ad
recently congratulating the CEO of Zesa for a
prestigious award. I did not
take much notice of it until on Monday when The
Herald announced in a Page
One main story that, "Power supplies to improve:
Zesa".
I
couldn't figure out whether this was the usual Herald mischief
or misreading
of the situation on my part. I live in the northern suburbs
and on the very
Monday Zesa said we should witness an improvement in the
supply situation,
we lost power just before 6AM until just before midnight.
As I write there
is no power.
And I am sure the people that gave the Zesa CEO
an award will
have no problem in explaining just what the award was in
honour of.
TI Vhenekerei
Harare