SW Radio
Africa (London)
12 October 2007
Posted to the web 12 October
2007
Henry Makiwa
Robert Mugabe for the first time will walk
into the Zanu PF special congress
meeting in December uncertain of an
assurance that his candidature in next
year's election will be guaranteed,
because of the recent succession
squabbles within his party.
Mugabe
wants the congress to endorse him as the party's presidential
election
candidate but faces opposition from the rival camps, one headed by
retired
army commander General Solomon Mujuru and the other by former
security
chief, Emmerson Mnangagwa.
It is understood all but two of the ten
Zanu PF provinces are against
retaining Mugabe as party leader at the end of
year congress. The other
eight provinces are split between Mnangagwa and
Mujuru.
The widening rifts within Zanu PF resurfaced on Thursday when war
veterans
in Bulawayo staged a march to support Mugabe, in open defiance of
Zanu PF
leaders in the region. Cracks had been exposed in the past three
months when
Mugabe's spokesman and loyalist George Charamba instructed the
state-controlled media to block coverage of Zanu PF politicians opposed to
Mugabe. The move was meant to ensure that Mugabe remained in the public
spotlight as the only capable leader to rule Zimbabwe.
Political
commentator John Makumbe says Mugabe faces his "Waterloo" this
December and
looks set to bow out.
Makumbe said: "Mugabe has been amassing the support
of war veterans but they
are of no use at the special congress because they
do not vote, or endorse
his leadership at such a forum. Only the ten
provincial executives have the
power to vote and at the moment he only has
the support of two."
He added: "It does appear that Mugabe faces the
stiffest challenge to his
leadership since taking over at the State House
because all these guys have
been waiting for too long to assume the reigns
of power."
Earlier this week, Zanu PF spokesman Nathan Shamuyarira told
the ruling
party's media mouthpiece, The Voice newspaper, that the
presidential
position and that of the two vice presidents will be contested
at the
special congress pencilled in for December 12-14.
Monsters and Critics
Oct 12, 2007, 14:02 GMT
Harare/Johannesburg - Three
more white farmers have been arrested in
Zimbabwe for defying a government
order to leave their farms, reports said
Friday.
The three, from the
eastern farming districts of Rusape and Nyazura, have
already appeared in
court and have been released on bail, the
state-controlled Manica Post
newspaper reported.
Kenyon Ziehl, Peter Landos and Lodewyk Van Rensburg
were arrested last week
for failing to vacate their farms by September 30,
the paper said.
Having been duly notified of the expiry of that date,
they failed to vacate
the farms. They had no right to continue occupying the
farms, state
prosecutor Tafara Chawatama told the Rusape magistrates
court.
More than a dozen white farmers have been arrested since the
expiry of the
September deadline in what many believe is a last push by the
authorities to
get white farmers off the land.
Only around 400 white
farmers are believed to still be on their farms out of
more than 4,000 seven
years ago, when the government began seizing
white-owned farms for
redistribution to new black farmers.
Independent reports suggest that as
many as 200 of those remaining white
farmers now face eviction.
On
Thursday a magistrate in the central town of Chegutu ordered that 11
white
farmers from surrounding farming districts would have to stand trial
for
defying the eviction orders.
If convicted of breaching Zimbabwe's land
laws the farmers could face
two-year jail terms or hefty fines.
The
Chegutu farmers had wanted their case referred to the Supreme Court to
give
them the chance to challenge the land laws that they say are violating
their
constitutional rights.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Health-e (Cape
Town)
12 October 2007
Posted to the web 12 October 2007
Anso
Thom
Doctors worldwide have slammed the consistent health and human
rights abuses
in Zimbabwe at the 58th General Assembly of the World Medical
Association
(WMA), an international organisation representing physicians
worldwide, in
Copenhagen.
Doctors adopted a resolution on Zimbabwe
after the South African Medical
Association (SAMA) was tasked at the 176th
Council Session in Berlin last
year to prepare a document on the health
situation in that country.
The hard-hitting preamble to the
resolution noted "information and reports
of systematic and repeated
violations of human rights, interference with the
right to health in
Zimbabwe, failure to provide resources essential for
provision of basic
health care, declining health status of Zimbabweans, dual
loyalties and
threats to health care workers striving to maintain clinical
independence,
denial of access to health care for persons deemed to be
associated with
opposition political parties and escalating state torture".
Recognising
the collapsing health care system and public health crisis in
Zimbabwe, the
WMA called on medical associations to publicly denounce all
human rights
abuses and violations of the right to health in Zimbabwe.
It also noted
the need to actively protect physicians who are threatened or
intimidated
for actions which are part of their ethical and professional
obligations.
WMA urged the Zimbabwe Medical Association to invite an
international fact
finding mission to the country as a means for urgent
action to address the
health and health needs of Zimbabwe.
The WMA
resolution also called for a commitment to "eradicating torture and
inhumane, degrading treatment of citizens in Zimbabwe".
The WMA was
founded on 17 September 1947, when physicians from 27 different
countries
met at the First General Assembly of the WMA in Paris. The
organization was
created to ensure the independence of physicians and to
work for the highest
possible standards of ethical behaviour and care by
physicians, at all
times.
Times Online
October 12, 2007
Ruth Gledhill Religion Correspondent of The
Times
The Anglican Church in Zimbabwe will on Monday file a court application
seeking to seize control of one of its dioceses from its bishops in a
long-running dispute that has become central to the row over homosexuality
in the Anglican Church.
The Province of Central Africa wants to seize
three vehicles from the Right
Rev Nolbert Kunonga, Bishop of Harare, and bar
him from using any of its
properties, according to a report on the African
website NewZimbabwe.com
Bishop Kunonga is internationally discredited as
a supporter of Mugabe's
regime in Zimbabwe. The ZANU-PF party has described
him as a "model
Christian". In an unprecedented snub of a diocesan bishop
for political
reasons, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has
not invited
him to the 2008 Lambeth Conference.
Last month, Bishop
Kunonga, who according to The Church Times has never been
forced to answer
accusations of brutal evictions of villagers from their
homes or of
incitement to murder, declared that he was breaking up the
Province of
Central Africa and withdrawing the Harare diocese because of
province's
"liberal" approach to homosexuality.
Most of the Province of Central
Africa is conservative on the gay issue and
homosexuality is illegal in
Zimbabwe and other African nations.
Although another diocese in the
province, Lake Malawi, has elected a liberal
vicar from Acton in England,
the Rev Nick Henderson, as its bishop, local
difficulties have meant that he
has yet to take up the appointment.
But Bishop Kunonga insists that the
province has failed adequately to
censure bishops who are sympathetic to
homosexuality.
NewZimbabwe reports that the Anglican Church has engaged
Harare law firm
Gill Godlonton & Gerrans to pursue the controversial
cleric before the
"funds and investments are spirited
away".
Documents seen by the website's correspondent show that the
Anglican Church
is seeking an order barring Kungonga from accessing the
Church's bank
accounts, transacting with the Church's investments and "from
working and or
doing business from any of the Church's immovable properties
wherever
situated".
"Following Kungonga's withdrawal from the Church
of the Province of Central
Africa, he has no right to remain in possession
of the Church's assets
including the bank's funds, investments, movable and
immovable assets,"
lawyers said in papers to be filed at the High Court
Monday.
"The Church entertains a well founded fear that Kungonga will
fund his new
ministry with the Church's resources as he has access to the
Church's
investments and funds."
Bishop Kungonga used an interview
with Zimbabwe's state media last week to
defend his anti-homosexuality
stance.
He said: "We are inspired and motivated by our beliefs in the
scriptures,
our beliefs as Catholic Christians and our beliefs as human
beings that
homosexuality cannot be accepted because it takes away our human
dignity and
it is not accepted in the Constitution of our country, and it is
inconceivable in our cultural background.
"It is unthinkable that a
man could undress in the presence of another man
and a woman can undress for
another woman. So it's an abomination not only
from the scripture point of
view, but also from the cultural, political
set-up in which we are
operating. All these are violated by thinking or
intending or compromising
with homosexuality."
Having Bishop Kunonga against them is a gift for the
pro-gay movement in the
African Church. Homosexuals in Africa suffer routine
persecution and
discrimination. Bishop Kunonga's backing for the
conservative evangelical
wing is an embarrassment that leaders will be
anxious to distance themselves
from.
VOA
By Peta Thornycroft
Southern Africa
12
October 2007
There is growing concern in Zimbabwe that
presidential and parliamentary
elections scheduled for next March will not
live up to the expectations of
the people. Peta Thornycroft reports that one
of the major stumbling blocks
is the divided opposition, the Movement for
Democratic Change.
Many Zimbabweans are deeply concerned that the two
factions of the Movement
for Democratic Change, or MDC, will compete both
against each other and
against the ruling ZANU-PF in elections next March.
Both factions will also
put up candidates against President Robert Mugabe in
the presidential poll
which, for the first time, will be held simultaneously
with the vote for
members of parliament.
Eldred Masunungure, director
of the Mass Policy Institute in Harare, says
that as things stand now, it
seems clear that the MDC will get very few
seats in the legislature. "I
interact with others at work and elsewhere and
that decision to stand
against each other is a big disappointment," he said,
"and it is going to
disarm the support base of both [factions of the
Movement for Democratic
Change], its a highly demoralizing decision."
The elections are intended
to mark the end of an intensive period of talks
between the two opposition
factions of the MDC and the ruling ZANU-PF, which
are facilitated by South
Africa. The goal is free and fair elections under a
new constitution that
will usher in a renewal of democracy in Zimbabwe.
But civil society
activists, both factions of the MDC, and independent
observers say that even
if a new constitution is agreed on this month, there
will be insufficient
time to put measures into place to ensure a free and
fair election by next
March. Such measures will also need to ensure a halt
to state violence
against the opposition, and to allow free political
activity and free
speech.
All elections since 2000, the first time the Movement for
Democratic Change
challenged the ruling ZANU-PF, have been accompanied by
credible allegations
of vote rigging and violence against opposition
candidates and their
supporters.
Political analysts in South Africa,
who are close to the negotiations but do
not want to be identified at this
sensitive stage in the negotiations, say
the talks could break down if
President Mugabe insists on elections in
March.
Yahoo News
Fri Oct
12, 8:16 AM ET
HARARE (AFP) - The Zimbabwean government authorised Friday
new increases in
the prices of basis foodstuffs in a bid to ease widespread
shortages that
followed an order for retailers to halve their
tariffs.
The National Incomes and Pricing Commission announced it had
approved rises
of between 50 percent and 200 percent for a range of staples
including a bag
of sugar which will now cost 255,232 Zimbabwe dollars, up
from 84,000
dollars.
A packet of milk has been increased by 51.51
percent while retailers will
also be able to raise the price of a bag of
fertilizer by 82.39 percent to
cost 893,714 dollars.
Supermarket
shelves were left bare and shopowners have been battling to
replenish their
stocks since June when President Robert Mugabe's government
launched
Operation Dzikisa (Reduced Prices), forcing shops and businesses to
halve
their prices.
Mugabe accused businesses of colluding with his foes in the
West to push
prices beyond the reach of many and ignite a popular revolt
against his
rule.
Although the price crackdown was initially welcomed
since it enabled
Zimbabweans to stock up on goods which had been beyond
their budget, it led
to widespread shortages with manufacturers unable to
cover the cost of
production.
The government, which is trying to rein
in an annual inflation rate which
currently stands at more than 6,500
percent, also approved rises last month.
Central Bank chief Gideon Gono
promised last week that he would help to to
restock empty shelves by the end
of the month.
Zimbabwe is facing widespread shortages of of basic
commodities such as
sugar, the staple maize meal, soap and cooking oil from
the formal market
although the products are readily available on the
parallel market.
The Zimbabwean
HARARE:
THE Zimbabwe
National Water Authorities (ZINWA) has cut off water supplies
at the
University of Zimbabwe due to late payment by the university
authorities,
creating a health hazard for students and staff.
Although it could not be
immediately ascertain how much the UZ owed ZINWA, a
visit to the once
prestigious institute of Higher Learning on Wednesday
indicated the water
cuts have created inhabitable conditions for students
who have resorted to
depositing "excretory" behind the campus' buildings.
The government
evicted over 5 000 resident students from camp in July after
alleged
vandalism by the students after protests over poor food, lack of
lecturers
and the general sub-standard of facilities at the UZ.
Stranded students
said the situation has been exacerbated by the fact that
the students were
no longer able to use the rest rooms from the halls of
residence that were
shut down by Professor Levy Nyagura led administration
which could not
immediately comment during the visit.
But the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition (CZC) immediately condemned the latest
health hazard at the
university posed by the water cuts.
"It seems as if the government has
continued to turn a blind eye to the
future of Zimbabwe by ignoring the
students plea for a formal and concrete
redress of these pertinent issues
looming over the University of Zimbabwe,"
said Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
in a statement.
"A crisis has developed and serious concerns continue to
unravel but to no
avail as government continues to arrest students who try
to voice their
genuine concerns amicably," it said.
Most Zimbabweans,
including central bank governor Gideon Gono, have
expressed reservations
over ZINWA's capacity to supply clean water to Harare
and other cities and
towns since the government ordered that it take over
water provisions and
sewerage reticulation of all local authorities- CAJ
News.
SW Radio
Africa (London)
12 October 2007
Posted to the web 12 October
2007
Tichaona Sibanda
A magistrate in Chipinge on Thursday
ordered MDC activist Charles Nyathi to
be rushed to hospital for treatment
after he was badly tortured in police
cells. Nyathi is the information
secretary for Chipinge.
The 27 year-old self employed Nyathi, who has a
wife and small daughter, was
arrested on Monday by the police in Chipinge
following political
disturbances that saw at least 10 MDC supporters
sustaining injuries in
violence ignited by Zanu-PF
councillors.
Nyathi who had visible cuts and abrasions when he
appeared in court to
answer charges of public violence was later released on
Z$500 000 bail. He
had some of his front teeth knocked out and is also
suspected to have
suffered a broken jaw.
The MDC district chairman
for Chipinge, Godfrey Chenjerai, said many of the
party's activists are
leaving police cells so seriously ill that instead of
going home, they have
to be taken straight to hospital.
'The cell conditions were harsh. We
have been informed some police officers
would laugh off any complaints by
Nyathi, and one officer responded by
telling him that he deserved nothing
better than death,' Chenjerai said.
The district chairman said it was
clear the police were reluctant to release
Nyathi within the stipulated 48
hours because of the extent of his injuries,
which were inflicted by Zanu-PF
militias and the police.
He said violence was fast becoming the tool most
commonly used by the
government in the district to achieve its political
goals. Zanu-PF officials
in Chipinge now believe that violence was not only
justified but also
necessary in order to achieve their political
objectives.
'By the same token, I urge our party leaders to reflect
closely on this
development because you can't negotiate with an institution,
which behind
your back, unleashes its terror gangs to beat up your
supporters,' Chenjerai
said.
SW Radio
Africa (London)
12 October 2007
Posted to the web 12 October
2007
Tichaona Sibanda
Tortured Movement for Democratic Change
activists, accused by the government
of petrol-bombing public institutions
in March this year, have sued the
State for a record 3.8 trillion
dollars.
A statement released by the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition on
Friday said the
separate claims for damages by 34 opposition activists
arising from unlawful
arrest, detention without trial, assault, torture and
denial of food as well
as medical attention came after the state withdrew
charges against them last
week for lack of evidence.
Among those
detained for four months were Morgan Komichi, the MDC's deputy
organizing
secretary, Denis Murira, Paul Madzore, MDC MP for Glenview and
Ian Makoni,
the director of elections.
The statement added that the civil suit
prepared by their lawyer Alec
Muchadehama, Makoni, Murira and Komichi are
each claiming $130 million as
damages against the State while Madzore wants
the authorities to pay him
$110 million.
The state had alleged that
the MDC activists had attended terrorist training
programmes and were
responsible for the bombing of a Marimba Police Station
among other public
institutions.
The Zimbabwean
THE Zimbabwean government is having negotiations with its South
African
counterparts to scrap the non visa requirements for civil servants
in a bid
to curb the influx of public servants especially teachers into
South Africa.
At the moment, bilateral agreements between Zimbabwe and
South Africa exempt
all civil servants from applying for visas when entering
into South Africa.
Other ordinary Zimbabwean visitors into South Africa
are expected to pay at
least R2 000, which is meant for their upkeep once
they arrive into the
country.
However, because of the deepening
economic and political crisis in Zimbabwe,
thousands of Zimbabwean civil
servants, especially teachers are fleeing
their country in search of greener
pastures in neighbouring South Africa.
According to an official in
Ministry of Home Affairs in Zimbabwe, the
Zimbabwean government was worried
that if civil servants continued to be
exempted in visa requirements the
government would continue to loose its
personnel.
"The Zimbabwean
government is currently negotiating with officials at the
South African
Embassy in Harare to come up with measures on how it can curb
the influx of
civil servants into South Africa," the official said.
He said the
requirement, is to be put in place before the end of this year's
school
final term when an influx of more teachers is expected into South
Africa.
Like other workers civil servants are among the most hit
workers in Zimbabwe
by basic food and transport shortages.
Last week
the Zimbabwean government increased the salaries of teachers by
nearly 400
percent to an average of $14 million, which is less than R200 on
the black
market.
In South Africa the fleeing teachers and other civil servants
including
soldiers and police officers are doing menial jobs especially in
the
construction industry.
Some of the teachers are also coming into
South Africa as that country's
Department of Education has embarked on a
massive national recruit drive of
foreign teachers to boost its education
system.
The exodus of Zimbabwean teachers into South Africa and other
countries such
as Botswana, has led to some schools being closed down as
there are not
enough teachers.
The Zimbabwean
The Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA) raised its
water tariffs 3
weeks ago to levels that have left Harare residents thunder
struck. The
water tariffs have been increased from $3596, 20 per cubic
meter to $23 765,
63 backdated to August 1 2007. Residents who received
bills of between
$5million and $25 million continue to flood CHRA offices
stating that they
cannot afford the bills. What is baffling is that
residents continue to
receive erratic water supplies amid the ballooned
costs.
Residents have suffered in a number of ways as a result of the
takeover.
Here are some of the complaints brought by residents to
CHRA.
Disease outbreaks (Cholera and Dysentery) mostly in Mabvuku,
Tafara and
Mbare
· Increased water bills
· Right to
challenge water increases usurped
· Erratic water supplies (dirty
when supply comes)
· Unattended sewer bursts.
CHRA urges
all residents to boycott payments of water bills. CHRA continues
to receive
many residents looking for information on the rates boycott
campaign. The
campaign has been running for the past one year and has over
3000 rate
boycotters. Residents are willing to starve the regime of vital
resources
that are sustaining oppression. ZINWA is illegitimate and has no
legal
mandate to collect water bills. Residents must not fund their
oppression.
The takeover of water services from local authorities
follows a Cabinet
decision authorizing the water body to act as such. Harare
has been having
water problems ever since. We appeal to other local
authorities to resist
the takeover as it will lead to the collapse of
services in the country.
ZINWA has no capacity to run water affairs.
Financial Mail
12 October 2007
By BARNEY MTHOMBOTHI
Angela Merkel,
the German chancellor, honoured us with her presence
this past week,
admiring our scenery, singing "Shosholoza" and making the
obligatory
pilgrimage to the sainted Nelson Mandela. She found the
experience very
moving, she said.
But like George W Bush before
her, apparently she came here to betray
a principle, sell out or to be duped
- on Zimbabwe. And our president,
sitting beside her, once again made
promises which he surely must have known
he's unlikely to
keep.
A mini-tussle is going on between the European Union and
African
leaders over a summit to take place in Lisbon in December this year.
Some EU
countries rightly want to exclude Robert Mugabe from the summit in
line with
EU sanctions against his country. The EU has imposed a travel ban
against
131 Zimbabwean politicians, including Mugabe. Typically the Africans
would
have none of it. The EU, they say, cannot decide the composition of
their
delegation for them.
EU members are divided on the
issue. The hosts, Portugal, the poor man
of Europe, simply want a successful
summit. To them, Mugabe's human rights
abuses are an irrelevance. Gordon
Brown, the new UK prime minister, has made
it known that he won't be seen
anywhere near Mugabe, and therefore won't
turn up for the
summit.
Besides presiding over the biggest economy in Europe,
Merkel
personally has grown in stature since winning a closely fought
campaign
against Gerhard Schröder only two years ago. Her presidency of the
EU is
adjudged to have been able to deal effectively with the constitutional
crisis which, at one point, seemed to be threatening the future of the EU;
and in June this year she chaired the G8 summit which Germany hosted with
some aplomb. Currently, she's therefore Europe's most influential leader,
and what she does or says carries a lot of weight.
Before
leaving for her African safari, Merkel's officials let it be
known that she
would not mince her words on human rights abuses, especially
in Ethiopia,
and that she would read Thabo Mbeki the riot act on the mess in
Zimbabwe.
But once seated next to Mbeki, she suddenly became a pussycat.
Yes, she said
as Mbeki nodded approvingly, Mugabe should be allowed to go to
Lisbon. She
lost her nerve. Her stand is likely to sway other countries.
Poland has
since come out in support of Mugabe's presence in Lisbon.
Mbeki
seems to have a stock answer on Zimbabwe for every visiting
dignitary: the
Zimbabwean government and the opposition are engaged in
serious negotiations
and there will be a resolution soon. He fed the same
line to Bush four years
ago who, before his arrival, had been breathing fire
and brimstone on the
issue. But he changed his tune after a cordial meeting
with Mbeki at the
Union Buildings. Four years have elapsed since Mbeki gave
that undertaking
to Bush, and nothing has happened. And he has uttered nary
an angry word on
Zimbabwe since. The upshot of all of this is that nothing
will be done on
Zimbabwe, which seems to suit Mbeki to a T.
Brown should be
applauded for his stand. The EU needs to show some
bottle and enforce its
own ban. Mugabe and his henchmen deserve their
isolation. He should be
barred from the summit, even if that's at the risk
of aborting
it.
Edmund Burke, author, orator, political theorist and
so-called father
of modern conservatism, is alleged to have said: "All that
it requires for
evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing." It's a
statement that rings
true whether we're talking about Nazi Germany,
apartheid SA, Burma or
Darfur. Human suffering won't last a day longer if
those who can make a
difference do something about it.
African leaders have decided to avert their eyes from the suffering in
Zimbabwe. Europe should not emulate their callousness.
Financial Mail
12 October 2007
MONETARY
UNION
By Rob
Rose
Reserve Bank governor Tito Mboweni
describes how a friend e-mailed an
article to him titled "Fighting inflation
the African way", which, clearly
referring to Zimbabwe's monetary madness,
begins with the premise: make a
declaration in the morning to cut prices by
half. "I felt embarrassed to be
an African, " he said.
As
the region's dominant central banker, the ebullient Mboweni is
central to
plans to create a monetary union of the 14 countries of the
Southern African
Development Community (SADC) by 2016.
But at a Unisa banking
conference in Sun City, Mboweni reiterated his
scepticism - and it didn't
look pretty for Robert Mugabe's government. For a
start, he said it was
unlikely that the agreed macroeconomic convergence
targets, such as
containing inflation to 5% by next year, would be met. "If
we can't meet the
criteria, then forget about the process [of economic
integration]... the
political leadership needs to take very serious and
strong decisions not
based on brotherhood and sisterhood," he said.
Zimbabwe's
inflation is projected to be 4 539% this year, according to
Mboweni,
compared with 9% for the rest of the SADC. Include Zimbabwe and the
figure
for the region balloons to 331%.
He believes monetary union
membership should be restricted to
countries that meet the macroeconomic
criteria - which would rule Harare out
for the foreseeable future - and
should not be based on politicians'
misplaced sentiments of ubuntu. The same
"stepping stones" approach should
apply to efforts to establish an African
central bank.
Mboweni said Zimbabwe's political bosses had
their "heads in the sand"
and described Harare's recent empowerment bill,
aimed at giving majority
control of foreign-owned assets to black
Zimbabweans, as "not the brightest
thing to do". It violated a fundamental
principle of monetary policy:
respect for private property rights, he
said.
"You own a Zimbabwe platinum mine and [next day] you are
told that 60%
of your mine now belongs to some indigenous people. You don't
do that."
12
October 2007
Harare- IN order to strengthen the voice of the girl child, and
facilitate
the attainment of children's right to education, ActionAid
International
Zimbabwe, in partnership with Fact Rusape will tomorrow
Saturday 13 October
hand over classroom furniture worth $600 million to
Dzvairo Primary School,
near Tsanzaguru, south-west of Rusape.
This
handover follows visits early this year by aid workers from the two
partner
organisations to the area to document the experiences of the
children
attending school at Dzvairo Primary School.
In an interview, Momo Masoka,
the ActionAid International Food Rights
Thematic Head, said when they
visited the Dzvairo community to interview
kids on their lives, they heard
that the children walked over eight
kilometers to and from a nearby school
in Tsanzaguru to write Grade Seven
examinations, covering a total of 16
kilometres each day.
Mr Masoka said the school had no single furniture;
children share
classrooms; teachers cycle or walk eight kilometres from
their residential
places in Tsanzaguru to Dzvairo to conduct lessons, and
the levels of
poverty in the area are beyond apprehension as most pupils go
for days
without a decent meal.
"Our fear was that the girl child
would be exposed to sexual abuse during
examination time," Masoka said.
"What ActionAid International Zimbabwe,
through its partner, Fact Rusape has
done is to intervene and empower these
children through guaranteeing their
right to education. An ideal learning
environment helps build the capacity
of the child to concentrate on their
schooling and become full beings
equipped with knowledge."
The school provides classes up to Grade Seven
level but has only one
classroom block with two classrooms which serve four
classes. One of the
remaining classes uses a makeshift structure as a
classroom while the other
class uses a villager's homestead to conduct
lessons. Yet another class
conducts its lesson in a church. All these
children have their classes while
seated on the floor as the school has no
furniture.
The situation at Dzvairo is further compounded by the absence
of reading
materials de-motivated teaching staff and general entrenched
poverty in the
community and the continued marginalization of the woman in
the community
In response to these challenges AAI and its partner FACT
Rusape are
expanding their work within Makoni district. This work shall
focus on
building the capacities of the local communities to link their
poverty and
existing local and national policies.
ActionAid (AAI) is
an international development agency whose aim is to end
poverty worldwide
helping over 13 million of the world's poorest and most
disadvantaged people
in more than 46 countries. AAI is a rights based
organization with a special
focus on women and children. Formed in 1972, for
over 30 years AAI has been
growing and expanding to where it is today. In
all of its country programmes
AAI works with local partners to make the most
of their knowledge and
experience focusing mainly on children rights.
Ends/
Raw Story
dpa
German Press Agency
Published: Friday October 12,
2007
Harare- Zimbabwean police have arrested 51
Ethiopian
nationals believed to have escaped from a refugee camp in
the
capital, reports said Friday.
The 51 were arrested on board a bus
bound for Zimbabwe's border
with neighbouring South Africa, the official
Herald daily said.
"We sent them back to their refugee camp in Harare,"
Lancelot
Matange, a senior police officer in southern Zimbabwe, was quoted
as
saying.
None of the Ethiopians had passports, the paper said.
Ethiopian
refugees often cross Zimbabwe as they try to illegally enter
South
Africa.
In January 23 Ethiopians were arrested in Zimbabwe's
border town
of Beitbridge. They were also bound for South Africa. Two years
ago,
up to 300 Somali and Ethiopian refugees were reported to have
escaped
from holding camps in Zimbabwe.
A growing number of desperate
Zimbabweans also make the hazardous
journey across the Limpopo River into
South Africa to escape food
shortages and poverty back home.
Fin24
Oct 12 2007 03:28 PM
Harare -
Zimbabwe is seeking foreign investors in its energy sector but says
it will
not be held to ransom by investors who impose tough conditions, a
senior
official in the energy ministry said.Acting secretary in the energy
and
power development ministry Munyaradzi Munodawafa told a parliamentary
committee yesterday that "scores of investors" were willing to invest in the
troubled country's energy sector and talks with different parties were
underway.Munodawafa told parliamentarians that local and foreign investors
have expressed interest in the Manyuchi mini hydro power station, extracting
gas at coal-bed methane in Lupane, in Northern Bulawayo, and extracting
uranium in the Zambezi Valley where uranium deposits were discovered."A
total of ?28m is needed for the construction of the Manyuchi Power Station
but we only got Z$300m from the fiscus for the project. We have got an
investor who is looking at getting the project off the ground," Munodawafa
said.He said designs for the hydron power station at Manyuchi had been done
while an agreement was reached between the Government and Russian investors
who have shown interest in the project."What is only left is for the Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe to finalise issues with the Russians," he said.'In its
infancy'Legislators heard that Manyuchi Power Station would on completion
generate 5.5 megawatts while a local company had partnered a foreign
investor to tap a long shelved coal-bed methane in Matabeleland North."We
also have an investor we are discussing with on coal-bed methane. It is a
Zimbabwean company with international partners able to give technical
backup. The partners comprise of Indians and various others. A memorandum of
understanding between Zesa and the company is being drafted," he added.He
added that investigations showed that $15m was needed to tap coal-bed
methane."The nuclear energy issue is still in its infancy but we have got a
company in Bulawayo that has given us its proposal," he said.The official
was grilled why his ministry was concerned with small power project and not
focussing on bigger project which would help Zimbabwe's dwindling supplies,
Munodawafa said establishing huge power stations required large amounts of
foreign currency.Zimbabwe is facing a severe foreign currency shortage made
worse by the withdrawal of balance of payments support by the International
Monetary Fund (IMF). The troubled country is also facing an acute energy
crisis which has seen massive power cuts daily for both companies and
homes.Uphill taskAlthough Zimbabwe has the capacity to produce its own
energy, a crippling foreign currency shortage coupled with a worsening
economic crisis and a poisoned investment climate, has not helped the
country in attracting foreign direct investment.Zimbabwe is sitting on a
thermal power station project in Gokwe, south of the country, because
foreign investors are not willing to invest $1.4bn for the construction and
development of the lucrative power station while another $2.5bn power
project at Batoka has failed to entice investors.Hwange Power Station, one
of the country's larger power stations, is need of care and maintaince.
Officials say "it chews a lot of foreign currency" and operates at near 10%
capacity.The station has capacity to generate over 900MW but generates less
than 100MW forcing the country to rely on power imports from South Africa,
Zambia, Mozambique and the DRC. Critics say attracting investors is going to
be an uphill task given that President Robert Mugabe's government is
actively pursuing an indeginisation bill aimed at giving 51% shareholdings
in companies to blacks.The country is in its eigth year of economic
recession characterised by high inflation now close to 7 000%, the world's
highest.