Zim Standard
BY WALTER MARWIZI
THE Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC has been hit by a fresh political crisis
amid
allegations that the party's top leadership disregarded the
constitution
when it dissolved the powerful Women's Assembly headed by Lucia
Matibenga.
Party insiders say the move is designed to pave the
way for the
election of women who are favourable to the top leadership,
ahead of the
2008 elections.
The party's standing committee has
called for an extraordinary
congress next week to elect a new
leadership.
However, according to the MDC constitution, it is only
the National
Council or the Woman's National Council that is empowered to
convene such an
extraordinary congress.
It remains to be seen
if elections will be held at the special
congress to be held on October 28.
The new leaders will replace the
Matibenga executive which was elected on 19
March 2006. Its term should have
ended in 2011 but was cut short after
allegations that it was
""dysfunctional".
Party sources however
see the dissolution of the executive as part of
a grand scheme to secure
positions for people who are closest to Tsvangirai.
Ian Makone's
wife, Theresa, is lined to take over from Matibenga.
Theresa is said to be
close to Susan Tsvangirai who, insiders say, is
determined to wield greater
influence in the women's assembly.
There is speculation that
Tsvangirai's wife may be fielded in the
parliamentary elections next March.
She could stand in Buhera with Theresa
seeking election in a Harare
constituency. Theresa's husband, Ian, is a
close friend of Tsvangirai and
was his advisor.
Evelyn Masaiti, who was in the dissolved executive
is tipped to be
elected into the new assembly. Masaiti who was married to
MDC national
chairman Isaac Matongo, is close to both Tsvangirai and
Makoni.
Party sources say Matibenga was disliked as she was said to
be too
powerful for the comfort of some party leaders.
The
trade union activist is the Vice President of the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade
Unions and is seen as a "pillar of strength" by women in
the party. She has
been in trouble several times for her involvement in
opposition politics but
has remained steadfast in the struggle.
Yesterday Matibenga
confirmed receiving the letter from Tendai Biti,
MDC Secretary General, but
was not prepared to speak about its contents.
Sources however
indicated that she had appealed against the decision
to the party's national
chairperson, Lovemore Moyo, reminding the party
leadership their decision
was unconstitutional.
She cited Rules 6.2.2 which stipulated that
only the National Council
or Women's National Council could make that
decision.
Tsvangirai's spokesperson, William Bango said: "I have no
idea of the
dynamics involved in that particular matter ( dissolution of the
Women's
Assembly). Honestly I know nothing about that."
He
added he did not think that Susan harboured any political
ambitions.
"She is the spouse of the President. If she was in
the structures,
probably people could say whatever they wanted but she is
not."
Party spokesperson Nelson Chamisa could not be reached for
comment
yesterday.
However, The Standard understands that there
are deep divisions
threatening the cohesion of factions.
Party
sources say there is mounting concern inside the
Tsvangirai camp
over failure by the leadership to adhere to the
provisions of the
constitution. Tsvangirai has been accused by a rival
faction of the MDC led
by Arthur Mutambara of ignoring the party's
constitution in the
past.
This time, people who have stood by him as he fought the
other faction
now accuse him again of violating the constitution in order to
get rid of
Matibenga, one of the founding members of the MDC.
Meanwhile, the women's leadership in Chitungizwa has petitioned the
party to
reverse the standing committee's decision. They said they were
informed that
Tsvangirai and his wife were behind the problems rocking the
women's
assembly.
They wrote: "Today you are removing pillars of the party
replacing
them with newcomers, the mafikizolo. ChiZanu ichocho.(This is the
Zanu PF
way of doing things)."
Zim Standard
BY WALTER
MARWIZI
FOR motorists cruising along the Gutu-Chivhu highway, a
" No Through
Road" sign near the 43 km peg is just like any other road sign
that signals
the end of the road in the once thriving ranching
area.
Yet if you ask any of the new owners of the land, where
little or no
agricultural activities takes place, the sign alone is enough
to send
shivers down their spines.
Less that two kilometres
from the sign, along the well maintained
gravel road, lies a small Air Force
of Zimbabwe base where about 15 soldiers
guard a radar installation mounted
there in the late 1990s.
Ordinarily, the presence of soldiers
should be a source of joy for the
farmers who should feel "protected" from
cattle rustlers wreaking havoc in
their communities.
But as our
investigation reveals, the base is dreaded by the villagers
who see it as a
"torture chamber'.
When we arrived at Eastdale on Monday, a number
of soldiers were
seated at the entrance. They all appeared to be in state of
mourning.
Two weeks ago, the deputy in command at the base only
identified as
"Ranga" committed suicide in his house. A soldier identified
as F.N
Mungazivei, who was said to be in command of the base, refused to
disclose
why "Ranga" had committed suicide.
Police say he left
a note that revealed he took his life in shame
after he instructed junior
soldiers to beat up farm workers, accused of
stealing equipment from a farm,
Irvin, owner by Finance minister Samuel
Mumbengegwi. One of the victims,
Fibion Mafukidze (58), died after the
beatings. The minister's wife Selina
had laid the complaint against
Mafukidze and two other workers.
The Standard can reveal that unlike the situation at other military
establishments, soldiers at Eastdale are not just concerned about the
security of the country: they have usurped the roles of the police and the
courts and routinely set up "kangaroo military tribunals" to settle civilian
disputes.
While police take their time investigating the cases,
the soldiers
allegedly beat up and torture suspects until they start
"singing".
And that is the reason why the Finance minister's wife
took her case
to the soldiers when her tractor disk went missing over three
weeks ago.
Earlier she got "amazing results" when soldiers, using
force,managed to
track down some people, blamed for the disappearance of
fencing at the farm.
Mafukidze's eldest daughter Clara (48) said
his father endured "seven
hours of hell" at the hands of the soldiers. They
wanted him to confess that
he had stolen the missing equipment.
Another victim, Maxwell Mazambani, who was abducted from his home by
the
same soldiers, was lucky to survive the beatings.
He, however, is
not at his home in Gutu with his family but is
fighting for his life at the
Avenues Clinic where he is on a dialysis
machine. Doctors say his kidneys
are badly damaged and his relatives have
been praying for him day and night
after failing to see an improvement in
his condition.
Although
Mazambani was beaten after being accused of stealing fence
from Minister
Mumbengegwi's farm, his sister says he was punished for his
involvement in
opposition MDC politics. Mazambani wants to be a councillor
in the farming
area which has traditionally been a Zanu PF stronghold.
"The
soldiers told him he was the one they were looking for. They
accused him of
being stubborn, a thief and wearing an MDC T-shirt," said the
relative.
They tortured him for almost six hours and later gave
him sadza and
beans, which his relatives' suspect was poisoned.
After the ordeal, the soldiers abandoned him by the roadside. Unable
to
walk, Mazambani had to crawl for about three kilometers to his
homestead.
But these are just the tales or terror that are being
told by the
villagers. There are several which indicate that the soldiers
are even
presiding over domestic matters.
One man said he was
heavily assaulted by the soldiers after his wife
complained that he was
coming home late and drunk.
While the beatings have gone
unreported, it is the death of Mafukidze
that may change the way soldiers
operate at their base.
Although army officers and police chiefs are
keen to sweep the case
under the carpet, human rights campaigners have taken
a keen interest in the
incidents after his story was published in this paper
three weeks ago
One such organisation is the Restoration for Human
Rights (ROHR)
Zimbabwe.
ROHR is consulting lawyers with the
intention of instituting legal
proceedings that will compel the state to
charge the soldiers and the
Finance minister's wife.
All the
soldiers that were briefly arrested after Mafukidze's death
were released
following "orders from above" . The minister's wife is also
free after
pressure was exerted on Gutu and Masvingo investigators to drop
the case.
One of these politicians is reported to have travelled to Gutu
Police
station where he warned the investigators against pressing charges
against
Mumbengegwi.
"As ROHR Zimbabwe our position is very clear, that no
one is above the
law," said ROHR Vice President Sten Zvorwadza. "The
minister's wife should
be held accountable for her criminal activity.
Soldiers can not be allowed
to go about beating civilians and getting away
with it."
Zvorwadza urged President Mugabe who is the commander of
the armed
forces to confine their army to the barracks.
"Frankly it's a sad situation and we intend to make this a national
issue in
naming and shaming the culprits until the law catches up with all
the people
involved."
Fear-stricken villagers can only hope that such action
bears fruit
before the country holds the 2008 elections.
Zim Standard
From Davison Maruziva
In WAshington DC
WASHINGTON - AFTER 25 years, the World Bank is
refocusing emphasis on
agriculture, arguing it is a vital development tool
for achieving the
Millennium Development Goals that call for halving of
people suffering from
extreme poverty and hunger by 2015.
Launching its latest World Development Report (WDR), titled
Agriculture for
Development, World Bank Group President Robert Zoellick said
a greater
emphasis on agriculture would help boost overall economic growth
and offer
multiple pathways out of poverty.
"In Sub-Saharan Africa, home to
229 million extremely poor rural
people," Zoellick said, "agriculture is
about much more than simple food
security."
The report has been
praised by the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD)and the
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) but
criticised by ActionAid, a
non-governmental organisation. But Zoellick's
commitment to and apparent
willingness to "listen and learn" from others,
disarms many of his
critics.
The WDR, Zoellick said, provides guidance to governments
and the
international community on designing and implementing
agriculture-for-development agendas that can make a difference in the lives
of hundreds of millions of rural poor.
"In much of Sub-Saharan
Africa," Zoellick said, "agriculture is a
strong option for spurring growth,
overcoming poverty, and enhancing food
security. Agricultural productivity
growth is vital for stimulating growth
in other parts of the
economy."
World Bank officials said Zimbabwe would not be able to
benefit
immediately since there is no lending programme because the country
is in
arrears, and because of policy inconsistencies in its land reform
programme,
hyper-inflation and marginalisation of smallholder
farmers.
On the positive side, however, they say once the country
becomes
eligible for lending the period of agricultural take off would be
significantly shorter because "you have the infrastructure, skills and the
resilience of the people".
The WDR calls for greater investment
in agriculture in Africa, warning
the sector must be placed at the centre of
the region's development agenda
if eradicating extreme poverty and hunger by
50% is to be attained in eight
years' time.
For its part, the
World Bank says it is committed to increasing
support for agriculture and
rural development.
Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, who
was present at the
launch of the WDR, said agriculture was critical in the
fight to reduce
poverty ."This report," she said, "provides us with some
positive
indicators."
IFAD said the report provides a
compelling case for higher investiment
in agriculture."The report," said
IFAD's President Lennart Bage, "puts
agriculture back where it belongs -
right at the centre of the fight against
poverty. We urge the international
development community to give the report's
findings and conclusions the
utmost consideration and to act. The WDR
reinforces the case for greater
investment in agriculture and makes a
compelling case between agriculture,
poverty reduction and food security."
ActionAid said in its
criticism of the WDR the World Bank had "a
dubious track record" in
supporting reforms to food and farming systems to
combat hunger and increase
food security.
"The Bank's doctrine of market-oriented solutions,"
said ActionAid,
"has contributed to a catastrophic widening of the gap
between the rural
poor and wealthy farmers, severe degradation of the
natural resource base,
and worsening hunger among the world's poorest. Rural
women, in particular,
have borne the brunt."
It said while the
World Bank acknowledges the critical role of a
thriving smallholder sector
as an engine of domestic growth and poverty
eradication, it fails to
understand that agriculture is about more than
producing commodities for the
market. "It is deeply embedded in cultural and
livelihood systems and is
central to the ability for households, communities
and nations to feed
themselves, and therefore to fulfilling the right to
food."
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
BULAWAYO - Vice-President Joseph Msika yesterday met a
faction of the
War Veterans Association opposed to the ongoing solidarity
marches in
support of President Robert Mugabe, ahead of the ruling party's
potentially
explosive politburo meeting on Wednesday.
The
closed-door meeting held at the Zanu PF provincial headquarters
was called
by members of the faction led by Andrew Ndlovu who was in 2004
tasked by
Mugabe to re-organise the association after its leader, Jabulani
Sibanda,
was expelled from the ruling party for "disrespecting" former PF
Zapu
leaders.
The war veterans wrote a letter to Msika a fortnight ago
complaining
about Sibanda and his lieutenant, Joseph
Chinotimba.
Sibanda was suspended from the ruling party alongside
five other Zanu
PF chairpersons who took part in the so-called Tsholotsho
Declaration but he
has been controversially drafted into Mugabe's campaign
machinery.
Sources who attended yesterday's meeting said Msika
promised the war
veterans that he would take up the issue with Mugabe at the
politburo
meeting, where Sibanda's case is set to dominate the
agenda.
"The VP reiterated his position that Sibanda remains
expelled from the
party," said a war veteran who requested anonymity. "He
said we must remain
vigilant as the leadership is working hard to address
the issue."
In the letter inviting Msika to intervene, the Ndlovu
faction says
allowing individuals like Sibanda to spearhead Mugabe's
campaign violates
Zanu PF's consititution and protocols. Sibanda has ignored
criticism from
Msika and Zanu PF chairman John Nkomo and instead continued
with his
"marches" throughout the country.
He says this week he
will organise a "million-man" march in Harare to
drum up support for Mugabe
before shifting attention to "corrupt" ministers
and those "peddling
tribalist wars" in Zanu PF. This is seen in some
quarters as a veiled threat
to the Zanu PF old guard in Matabeleland which
has come out strongly against
the campaign.
It was not immediately possible to obtain a comment
from Msika or
Ndlovu as they were still locked in the meeting late
yesterday.
Sibanda has been quietly brought back into the Zanu PF
fold and is
leading nationwide solidarity marches which he says are meant to
drum up
support for Mugabe's endorsement at the ruling party's congress in
December.
But the move is threatening to tear the ruling party
apart with the
Zanu PF old guard from the region publicly voicing concern
over Sibanda's
involvement, which they say is threatening the Unity
Accord.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
BULAWAYO - Civic groups and opposition parties based in
Matabeleland
have renewed efforts to form an alliance ahead of next year's
elections, in
a development that is set to shake the politically restive
region.
According to confidential documents seen by The Standard
last week,
the alliance that will bring together Zapu Federal Party, the
Patriotic
Union of Matabeleland and various civic organisations based in the
region
will be known as the Federal Democratic Union.
This
formation of the FDU coincides with deepening problems in the
ruling Zanu PF
caused by the readmission of Jabulani Sibanda to the party.
Former PF Zapu
leaders are threatening to pull out of the 20 year-old unity
accord after
President Robert Mugabe reportedly brought Sibanda back into
the ruling
party fold to spearhead his re-election bid.
It also comes barely a
month after civic groups and opposition parties
dropped plans to set up a
political party to rival the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) after the
country's biggest opposition party backed
the controversial Constitutional
Amendment Number 18.
The 26 organisations and 930 activists that
met at a Bulawayo
Agenda-organised conference agreed to give dialogue with
the MDC a chance
before meeting again to chart the way forward.
"This initiative (to form an alliance) started well before
Constitutional
Amendment Number 18," said a source close to the steering
committee. "We are
busy on the ground and very soon there will be an
announcement concerning
the setting up of the alliance."
Sources said the groundwork
includes the setting up of new residents'
associations in Gwanda and
Bulawayo, which will help in the setting up of
structures. The alliance will
then seek a coalition with the two formations
of the MDC.
Zapu
FP president, Paul Siwela, who contested the 2002 presidential
elections
against Tsvangirai and Mugabe, confirmed the developments on
Friday but
refused to divulge more details saying doing so will jeopardise
negotiations.
An initiative to forge a coalition of opposition
parties under the
Save Zimbabwe Campaign fell through earlier this year
after the Arthur
Mutambara formation of the MDC pulled out protesting
against "lack of
seriousness" from the rival Tsvangirai group.
It has become a tradition for small parties to spring up ahead of
major
elections and none of them have enjoyed a strong showing in the polls.
Former Zanu PF secretary general, Ernest Tekere's Zimbabwe Unity Movement
(ZUM) and the MDC are the only parties formed after independence that have a
serious threat to Mugabe's 27 year old grip on power.
The two
MDC factions say they will enter into any alliances that will
help them
topple the Mugabe regime blamed for the country's ever
deteriorating
economic environment.
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
BULAWAYO - Vice-President Joseph Msika has reportedly
thrown his
weight behind Bulawayo City Council's refusal to hand over its
sewerage and
water systems to the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa)
without any
guarantees that it will be compensated for its
investments.
Msika met a delegation made up of Bulawayo
councillors, Senators and
MPs in Harare recently to discuss the city's
worsening water situation where
he insisted the troubled parastatal could
only come in "to alleviate the
current challenges facing the
city".
The trip to Harare by the politicians and business leaders
was
sponsored by local business person, Delma Lupepe, who, together with a
consortium of companies, has made a proposal to undertake a multi-billion
project to boost the extraction of water from Insiza Dam.
Three
of the city's five supply dams were decommissioned between
January and July
after they ran dry and council might stop pumping water
from the fourth dam
- Inyankuni - when it dries up next month.
This will leave the city
with Insiza which, at current extraction
levels, can only supply a third of
Bulawayo's demand of 145 000 cubic metres
a day and the proposed project
would boost, the pumping capacity to
reasonable levels.
"The
Vice-President showed appreciation of the water situation in
Bulawayo," said
a source who attended the meeting. "Despite attempts by a
certain
businessman who was part of the delegation to try and paint council
in bad
light over its fight with Zinwa, Msika said his understanding was
that the
takeover must be temporary."
Msika, who is a former local
government minister, has in the past said
Zinwa should only intervene to
solve problems facing councils in their water
reticulation
systems.
Deputy Mayor, Phil Lamola, who led the councillors,
confirmed the
meeting with the Vice-President but could not elaborate
further on the
issues that were discussed.
After the meeting,
Mayor Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube wrote to the Minister of
Local Government, Public
Works and Urban Development, Ignatious Chombo,
restating council's position
that it will not voluntarily hand over the
systems.
But Ncube
said council will work with Zinwa to make sure that if the
forced takeover
goes ahead "legal issues are reviewed and provided for
accordingly, staff
matters are resolved before the formal takeover,
compensation for
infrastructure and revenue loss is agreed upon and rent be
payable when
applicable".
Last month, Chombo wrote a threatening letter to
council warning that
Zinwa would take over the systems without council's
consent if the local
authority did not change its stance.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
MASVINGO - More than 100 students at Masvingo Teachers'
College were
unable to write their final examinations after their lecturers
went on
strike.
Students who spoke to The Standard said they
were due to write their
practical subjects a fortnight ago but failed
because lecturers who were
supposed to invigilate stayed at
home.
They said they spent the whole day around the campus
believing the
lecturers would show up.
"Examinations were
supposed to commence on Tuesday, with some students
writing their practical
subjects but this never happened as our lecturers
are on strike," said a
student, who declined to be named.
A lecturer who spoke to The
Standard said they were not moved by the
plight of students because
lecturers could not invigilate on empty stomachs.
"It is very
difficult for us to sympathize with the students," said
the leacturer. "We
know that examinations are very important for the final
years but how can we
invigilate when we are hungry," he said.
Lecturers have vowed not
to return to work until government meets
their demands.
Meanwhile, the Higher Education Examinations Council (HEXCO) is
reported to
have postponeda indefinitely all examinations in Polytechnic and
Teachers'
colleges because of shortage of stationery.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
TRADITIONALLY animal skins are best known for being
raw materials for
leather products such as shoes and jackets.
They were also used in communal areas for the production of home-made
mats
and hats by enterprising rural craftsmen who made a living, selling
these
products.
But how times have changed in Zimbabwe.
Today animal skins are no longer just raw materials to many
Zimbabweans,
hard hit by economic hardships. They are being consumed by
Zimbabwe's urban
poor, thanks to President Robert Mugabe's ruinous economic
policies that
have impoverished 80 percent of the country's population.
As
poverty worsens, more people are now eating animal products that
were
traditionally thrown away or sold to tanneries or manufacturers of pet
foods.
The list of these products includes cattle hides, pig
skins, pig fat
and ears.
"Offals and skins are all that I can
afford. If they are finished I
will go back home empty-handed," said
48-year-old Merina Dhliwayo as she
joined a queue to buy the commodities in
Mufakose.
At home she will put the hide on a fire so as to remove
the fur.
Thereafter, she has to boil the tough animal skin for several
hours.
If she gets pig skins, she considers herself lucky. These,
she says,
are easier to prepare and take less time to cook because they are
softer.
Dhliwayo is not the only one who hunts for these cheap
products.
Butcheries in Harare's populous and poor suburbs of
Highfield,
Mufakose, Glen View, Dzivaresekwa and Budiriro now appear to have
found a
niche market in offals as well as cattle, pig and chicken skins.
These are
snapped up by the urban poor who cannot afford beef which remains
in short
supply.
When it is available, a kilogramme of beef
costs, on average, $1.5
million. Offals and hides go for less than half that
price for the same
quantity.
"People queue for these things
every morning before we open. At times,
we give them some numbered cards to
avoid a stampede," said a butcher at
Harare's Budiriro 1 Shopping
Complex.
"Our political leaders have reduced us to animal skin
eaters. People
never used to eat these pig ears," lamented 60-year-old
Ambuya Munjoma.
It is not just the animal skins that urban dwellers
are eating these
days.
Chicken heads, gizzards and intestines
are being sold in high-density
areas.
Enterprising women and
children every morning troop to Irvine's Day
Old Chicks (Pvt) Limited to buy
these products which were reserved for
manufacturers of pet food a few years
ago.
Later in the day, they converge at shopping centres with
bucketfuls of
"insides".
These traders are easily identified as
they constantly wave old
newspapers to swat big hungry green flies popularly
known "Green Bombers".
The flies however, despite their menacing and
revolting appearance, do not
seem to bother the buyers who cannot get meat
anywhere else.
Most basic commodities such as maize-meal, sugar,
cooking oil and beef
are not available for even those who can afford
them.
But on the burgeoning black market, some of the scarce
commodities can
be found but at "extortionate" prices. The more enterprising
black marketers
are repacking products such as sugar, cooking oil, rice and
others into
smaller packages, in some cases only enough for a single
cooking.
Aid agencies warn this scenario is worsening food
insecurity at
household level in urban areas.
Children are said
to be most affected.
The United Nations Children Fund (Unicef)
representative in Zimbabwe,
Festo Kavishe, said the organisation was "deeply
concerned" about the
negative impact of the economic crisis.
"Everyday in Zimbabwe the basic elements required for a healthy and
happy
childhood - affordable education, three meals per day, clothing and
shelter
- are being pushed out of reach for people," Kavishe said.
The
latest Zimbabwe Demographic and Health Survey (ZDHS) 2005/6 found
that 29
percent of children under five were stunted, a condition caused by
cumulative effects of chronic malnourishment.
The same report
notes that one in 10 children in Harare is suffering
from kwashiorkor or
malnutrition related illness.
Dhliwayo, like the majority of
Zimbabweans, cherishes the day when she
will be able to buy real meat and
feed her dogs with the hides. She also
hopes to be able to buy bread, milk,
cooking oil and other products that are
in short supply.
That
way she will be able to ensure that her children do not succumb
to
malnutrition related illnesses.
Zim Standard
By Bertha
Shoko
LAST week I attended a graduation ceremony of more than
50 people
living with HIV/Aids from the New Life Support Group at Chiedza
House and
came out a new creation.
Since meeting and talking to
some of the PLWAs who were fortunate
enough to graduate as community
educators last week at Chiedza House, which
is situated in the Central
Business District of Harare, I have new found
appreciation of what it means
to be alive and healthy, HIV positive or not.
I was and still am
very greatly inspired by these PLWAs who are so
full of hope, energy and
strength to go on even after going through the most
unimaginable things in
life.
The first testimony which touched the hearts of many people
was from
37-year-old Janet Mashumba who has been living with HIV knowingly
for 15
years.
Like a "well brought up" girl Mashumba got
married at the age of 21 to
a 30-year-old man. He was her true found love
and she blocked her ears to
all criticism about his age and went ahead with
marriage. That was in 1991
but
little did she know that her life
was going to change dramatically.
In the first six months of
marriage Mashumba says she developed a boil
in the fallopian tube and it was
so bad that she had to undergo an operation
to remove it. The boil affected
her appendix, which was also removed. Hardly
six months after the operation
she suffered herpes, which was then
subsequently treated.
What
she thought was her biggest achievement in life, settling down,
was turning
into a nightmare.
Three years after her marriage she still could
not to conceive and
pressure from conerned relatives was mounting. Then the
big blow came in
1996, when, while seriously ill her husband confessed to
her that he was HIV
positive. The next day Mashumba's husband died
of
pneumonia.
"Soon after his death I went for my first
VCT to confirm my results. I
was told that I was HIV positive," she
said.
"I was hurt but life had to move on. In 1997 I met someone. I
fell
pregnant the first day I had sex with him but I found it very difficult
to
tell him about my status because I feared rejection but I suffered
emotionally and psychologically. He married me and I carried the pregnancy
in fear of what would happen next."
Mashumba went back to the
same doctor who had treated her herpes and
her husband back then and poured
her heart out and the doctor told her he
would operate on her and that she
must not breast feed. She was blessed with
HIV negative twins but she kept
her status a secret from her husband even
after
the wedding in
2001. Her happiness was short-lived though, as her
husband lost his job and
decided to go the United Kingdom. He never
returned.
"I waited
for him for two years but what came back in 2004 were
divorce papers. He was
asking to divorce me. I broke down and suffered many
opportunistic
infections, including a stroke," recalls Mashumba.
"I was put on
ARVs because my CD4 count was 49 and I was referred to
New Life. When I
walked into the doors of New Life, I was thin and skinny
but through the
counselling I received I have learnt how to manage stress
and I am beautiful
once again. I have a new life and I am going to live it
to the
fullest."
Mashumba's twins are nine years old now. She says she is
hoping to see
her grandchildren
one of these days.
"I
see myself in a few years, a good loving wife to a lucky man, a
successful
and powerful woman and a grandmother. Look at me I am beautiful
and
intelligent and the sky is the limit really," said Mashumba who had
almost
everyone in stitches with her self-important and humorous
mannerisms.
"I have a boyfriend, we love each other and I feel I
could be a wife
again with no secrets this time," she said.
34-year-old Nixon Tauro, a former soldier, also had his story to tell.
After
his first wife was taken away from him by her parents because he was
poor
and they claimed he could not afford to take care of her, a pained
Tauro
left on a peace
keeping mission in Afghanistan and Iraq in 2002 to try
and earn more
money. He came back two years later flashing "diaspora cash"
but the love of
his life had moved on.
"I remarried but I
started going out with different girls because I
wanted to have a child
because my wife had lost three children," says Tauro.
"On the
fourth child her health deteriorated and that's when after
being tested we
discovered we were HIV positive and that explained the
deaths of our three
children. I have found new life here at New Life Support
and I have publicly
declared my status because I want to make a difference
in the HIV
fight."
There were so many life-changing and touching testimonies
that were
poured out on that day that I wish I could share with readers but
because of
space constraints we cannot publish them all. My message today is
that, know
your status and live positively after that, HIV positive or
negative.
National Aids Council Operations director Raymond Yekeye
summed it up:
"Any life is worth living and those who are already living
with HIV should
continue to inspire others to realise that testing HIV
positive is
not the end of the world."
New Life Support
Centre is a programme under Population Services
International.
Zim Standard
BY SANDRA
MANDIZVIDZA
BETTY Makoni, the founder of Girl Child Network,
wants to report to
the police about the abuse of rural girls at the Miss
Rural pageant held in
Masvingo two weeks ago.
The revelations
come at a time when a story published in The Standard
last week provoked
outrage over the pageant which is being run by Sipho
Ncube
Mazibuko.
The Minister of Women's Affairs, Gender and Community
Development,
Oppah Muchinguri, called for an investigation into the Miss
Rural pageant,
described by George Charamba, the Secretary for Information
and Publicity as
a "mess".
Makoni who has always been a strong
critic of the Miss Rural event
said she always suspected Mazibuko was "up to
no good" and condemned the
abuse of girls in Masvingo where patrons at a
local night club were allowed
to grope and caress the girls for a
fee.
"We are shocked by what happened in Masvingo. We have the full
details
because we had our person who was working there undercover. What
Mazibuko
did was disgusting and as a girl child network we want to make a
formal
report to the police. Mazibuko is committing a serious crime," she
said.
Makoni revealed that one top government official who
requested
anonymity called her and asked what her organization was doing
about the
issue of these young girls.
"I am really angry and
ashamed of what that woman is doing to those
girls. We are also going to
have a meeting with some private stakeholders
and the government so that we
stop the abuse of these vulnerable girls," she
said, adding: "Mazibuko was
supposed to be charged for abusing girls."
Public outrage over the
Miss Rural pageant was stoked on Saturday
night when a Miss Rural Nyanga
contestant, only identified as Sinikiwe,
jumped on the stage when Vee, a
Botswana artist, was performing.
Vee simulated a sexual act on the
hapless girl as ZBC cameras were
rolling. The event was witnessed by Travel
Expo visitors and beamed live on
television to millions of
Zimbabweans.
Asked by The Standard at the show why she jumped on to
the stage, the
girl said she never expected that the artist was up to
something sinister.
Last week she claimed that Mazibuko pushed her
onto the stage when the
artist called for girls to come up.
The
incident left many parents wondering whether the rural girls were
safe in
Mazibuko's custody.
At a press conference on Tuesday Mazibuko said
she was not a prophet,
and therefore could not have foreseen what was going
to happen when Miss
Rural went on stage.
"I agree that what Vee
did was bad but I am not a prophet. I could not
prophesy, what was going to
take place on stage," she said.
It is also alleged that after the
show one of the girls went with a
man to his hotel room where they stayed
together. Mazibuko refused to
respond to that allegation.
Zim Standard
BULAWAYO -
Zanu-PF
heavyweights in Matabeleland have forced Health and Child Welfare
Minister,
David Parirenyatwa to shelve plans to close down the ill equipped
National
University of Science and Technology (NUST) medical
school.
There are fears that graduates from the recently
established
institution will not be allowed to practise as doctors because
training
facilities fall far below standards set by the Health Professions
Authority
(HPA).
In August, the government had indicated that
the ministry will shut
down the institution as it was producing 'half-baked
doctors'. Affected
students would be transferred to the University of
Zimbabwe (UZ)'s School of
Medicine.
But The Standard has
established that Parirenyatwa put the plans on
hold following a meeting with
senior Zanu PF officials from the region a
fortnight ago where government
was warned "in no uncertain terms that the
closure will be
suicidal".
The meeting, held at the NUST campus, was attended by
Zanu PF
chairman, John Nkomo, politburo members, Dumiso Dabengwa, Joshua
Malinga and
Thenjiwe Lesabe as well as Zanu PF councillors and the ruling
party's
provincial executive.
Parirenyatwa was reportedly told
that the impending closure will
reverse the few developmental initiatives
that have been brought to the
marginalized region since
independence.
Government only agreed to build NUST, which became
the country's
second university after UZ, following heavy lobbying by
politicians from
Matabeleland, including the late Vice President Joshua
Nkomo.
"The ruling party officials argued that the institution
should not be
blamed for the poor educational standards since the Ministry
was not funding
the training of doctors," said the source who attended the
meeting.
Parirenyatwa confirmed that he met the ruling party
leadership from
Matabeleland but refused to shed more light on the issues
that were
discussed.
"We met as the Ministry of Health and
Child Welfare, NUST Medical
School staff and Zanu-PF officials to chart the
way forward on the future of
the medical school," he said.
NUST
took over the medical school, which was run by the UZ School of
Medicine as
the Bulawayo College of Health Sciences in 2003 after the latter
relocated
to Harare citing a shortage of lecturers and poor learning
facilities.
Speaking at the university's graduation ceremony
recently, the
university's vice chancellor, Lindela Ndlovu, said the
construction of the
medical school's campus at Mpilo Hospital, which is
about 95% complete, was
being delayed by lack of funding.
The
institution has come under scrutiny after students petitioned
President
Robert Mugabe, warning him that he was capping "half baked
graduates."
In the petition, signed by NUST Student
Representative Council
president, Clever Bere, the students said apart from
battling high tuition
fees, they were also facing a critical shortage of
accommodation and a mass
exodus of lecturers.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
CRESTA Breeders International
security guards are allegedly locking up
people caught poaching firewood at
the company's farm in dingy dog kennels
before they pay fines, a Member of
Parliament has alleged.
Glen Norah MP Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga told The Standard that
she saw about eight people
locked up in dog kennels when she went there to
retrieve her vehicle that
had been impounded by security personnel at the
farm.
The MP
had given her vehicle to members of her constituency who wanted
to fetch
firewood for a memorial service. However, the people were arrested
on
accusations of buying firewood that had been stolen at Cresta Breeders
farm
by people staying at Ushewokunze Housing Co-operative, which is located
next
to Cresta premises 15 kilometres outside Harare.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga said: "I saw them. Most of them were women and
one of
them had a small baby barely six months old. They were in dirty dog
kennels
and I complained bitterly to the officials."
But Cresta Breeders
managing director Chris Foto vehemently denied the
allegations saying the MP
was making unfounded accusations after being
caught stealing firewood at the
company.
"She is a liar. She is trying to get back at us because
her people
were caught stealing firewood and she paid admission of guilt
fine. We have
the receipts here," said Foto.
The Cresta
breeders' boss said Mushonga's behaviour was "unlike that
of a
legislator".
But an angry Mushonga said she will not let Cresta
breeders get away
with such gross human rights abuse.
"Now I
want to get the people who were locked in the dog kennels and
lodge a legal
suit against the company for human rights abuse," she said.
Linah
Marondera, who had been assisted with the car by Mushonga said:
"We were
paying our fines when we saw about eight women, one of them with a
very
small baby, locked up with huge dogs next to them. It was a
disheartening
sight I tell you."
Some security guards at Cresta Breeders also
confirmed that people who
failed to raise fines were sometimes locked
up.
"This has been going on for some time now. They stopped after
MP
Mushonga complained. I don't know why they do it but it's very bad," said
a
guard who asked not to be named.
An Environmental Management
Agency official identified only as Mrs
Tabe, who receipted the fines, denied
ever seeing people locked up in dog
kennels.
For the offence,
Mushonga paid fines of $10 million.
Zim Standard
BY OUR
STAFF
EMBATTLED power utility, ZESA Holdings is delaying the
refurbishment
of Hwange Power Station because it has failed to raise $100
billion needed,
putting under threat a joint venture involving Nampower of
Namibia ahead of
the December deadline.
Under a deal sealed in
March, Nampower advanced US$40 million for the
refurbishment of Hwange with
ZESA expected to provide the local component of
the financing. ZESA is
expected to export electricity to the Namibian power
utility starting
January.
Mavis Chidzonga, (pictured below) Zimbabwe Electricity
Regulatory
Commission (ZERC) commissioner general told a parliamentary
portfolio
committee on Mines and Energy Thursday that ZESA was still to
raise the
local currency which is delaying works at Hwange.
"We
are not contributing as quickly as possible to the extent that we
are
delaying the works," Chidzonga said.
"We need an injection of $100
billion so that they finish the work in
December."
Chidzonga
told the committee that ZESA will start exporting 40 MW to
Nampower in
January whether the refurbishments have been completed or not.
Chidzonga said: "If we don't finish refurbishments, it means we have
to take
from the electricity we generate to supply them."
She said
information reaching the regulator is that the ministry of
Energy and Power
Development was given the nod to borrow the money from the
domestic
market.
The delay in the refurbishments at Hwange will be another
blow to
households and industries which continue to experience prolonged
power cuts
as the power utility fails to generate as well as import adequate
supplies.
ZESA is now importing 25 percent electricity from
Mozambique's
Hidroelectrica de Cahora Bassa and SNEL of the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Initially ZESA imported between 35-40 percent from the
region but suppliers
have reduced supplies over a US$42 million
debt.
Hwange Power Station is generating 85 MW against an installed
capacity
of 670 MW due to obsolete equipment and inadequate coal
supplies.
Kariba is generating 727 MW against a capacity of 750 MW.
Bulawayo and
Munyati thermal stations are not running as they have not
received coal
supplies for a long time. ZESA has an electricity shortfall of
858 MW, which
means that at any given time half of the country will be
without
electricity.
Chidzonga told the lawmakers that unless
energy issues were taken
seriously turnaround programmes in mining or
industrial operations will come
to a dead end.
"There will be
no expansion programmes that will take off and
succeed," she
said.
The ZERC boss pleaded with the committee for energy issues to
be
prioritized.
She said regional suppliers were willing to
assist but wanted ZESA to
settle their arrears.
"Once you clear
arrears, they are prepared to discuss payment plans .
. . these are our
friends," Chidzonga said.
Zim Standard
BY NDAMU SANDU
THE National Incomes and Pricing Commission (NIPC) is understaffed to
carry
out surveillance and monitoring of prices and has sent an SOS to the
parent
ministry for more manpower, a parliamentary portfolio heard last
week.
Giving oral evidence to the portfolio committee on
Foreign Affairs
Industry and International Trade, Rosemary Siyachitema,
acting NIPC
chairperson said the low staffing levels had resulted in "the
wheels turning
slowly."
"We are understaffed in the area of
surveillance and monitoring. We
need a strong contigent of monitors," she
said.
Siyachitema said the commission was underfunded unlike the
Cabinet
Taskforce on Prices Monitoring and Stabilization "which had a full
machinery
that was paid to do the monitoring".
Siyachitema said
as a result of the low staffing levels, the
commission had made a request to
the parent ministry for 20 additional staff
members.
Lawmakers
were not convinced that the commission was in charge of the
price
determination and monitoring saying the taskforce appeared to be still
in
charge.
The NIPC acting chairperson said the commission had no
structures in
provinces and districts and hence the Taskforce was in charge
of the
provinces and districts. She was evasive on whether the Taskforce had
the
supreme authority saying: "What I can say is that we are doing our work
as a
commission."
Challenged by Dzivaresekwa lawmaker Edwin
Mushoriwa that the Taskforce
was still determining prices Siyachitema said:
"I wouldn't talk about them
being there or not . . . there are Taskforce
meetings going on and we are
invited."
Siyachitema told the
lawmakers that the commission took a back seat at
the time of the price
blitz that led to the slashing of all prices by half.
She said the
commission was advised to take a back seat "while the
Taskforce was
stabilizing prices".
The NIPC started operations on 6 June and had
seven commissioners up
until Wednesday when the ministry of Industry and
International Trade
appointed four other commissioners - Godwills
Masimirembwa, Kenzias Chibota,
Sibusisiwe Chindove and Michael
Sibanda.
Zim Standard
By
Davison Maruziva
WASHINGTON - It used to be a compelling
argument to describe
development best practices by citing Zimbabwe. Now it
appears there is
overwhelming evidence to avoid mention of the
country.
Discussions at the ongoing Annual Meetings of the
International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank show attempts to do
just that because
it is the one significant spoiler in the array of numerous
success stories
emerging from Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Fund's
World Economic Outlook forecast for Africa remains positive
in the near term
with growth this year and next expected to be close to last
year's or above
its 2006 pace, at 5.6%.
In fact, 2008 growth projections have been
raised by a quarter of a
percentage point for Africa since
July.
But such positive investment climate in Sub-Saharan Africa is
not
being followed by foreign direct investment and South Africa is the only
country attracting capital flows.
"To attract direct
investment," said Charles Collyns, deputy director
of the Research
Department at the IMF, "I think you have to have a good
investment climate
with a clear rule of law, with an appropriate taxation
system. So there is
need for reforms in a number of countries to create an
investment climate
that is most conducive to foreign direct investment.
"Certainly
South Africa is a country that is well placed to receive
foreign direct
investment. We would expect that it will continue to receive
substantial
amounts of foreign direct investment.
And Zimbabwe?
"I
am not an expert in the situation on Zimbabwe," Collyns said, "but
our
experience has clearly demonstrated that countries that follow sound
macro-economic policies are able to control inflation, bringing it down to
low levels. So I think what is required in Zimbabwe is putting in place a
prudent set of macro-economic policies, and that will bring inflation
down."
For outgoing IMF Managing Director, Rodrigo de Rato, if you
take out
Zimbabwe, economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa during 2007 and
2008 should
be 7%.
"Those are very impressive numbers for
Sub-Saharan Africa, and we
believe that they show that countries are
changing, they are implementing
new and more effective economic
policies."
And excluding Zimbabwe, the new President of the World
Bank Group,
Robert Zoellick, who has just completed his first100 days in
office,says the
last decade has witnessed the emergence of 17 Sub-Saharan
countries whose
consistent growth has seen them being referred to as the
"African Cheetahs",
like the "Asian Tigers".
Unfortunately
Zimbabwe is not one of these, completing a new emerging
picture of
exclusion, amid concerns that the country's rapid decline as well
as
repeated failure to attract investment now pose a threat to the stability
of
the region.
Zim Standard
BY
OUR STAFF
THE falling of foreign direct investment inflows into
Zimbabwe by more
than half is a wake-up call for the country to create a
conducive
environment, analysts said last week.
A World
Investment Report assessment released by the United Nations
Conference on
Trade and Development (UNCTAD) showed that FDI inflows into
the country had
plunged to US$40 million in 2006 from US$103 million in
2005.
The UNCTAD report which comes hard on the heels of a World Bank report
on
the ease of doing business, will pile pressure on the embattled southern
African nation that has railroaded plans to acquire foreign owned firms
under an indigenisation law.
The Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Bill, which passed through
Parliament and Senate now awaits the
assent of President Robert Mugabe to
become law.
The Bill
states that 51% stake in foreign owned companies operating in
Zimbabwe
should be reserved for locals.
Analysts say the dwindling FDI
inflows is a wake-up call for the
government to mend its ways.
"It's a wake-up call," said economic commentator, Dr Daniel Ndlela,
"the
first signal for us is to respect laws that give confidence to domestic
investors."
He added: "You start by making domestic investors
confident, if you
are to attract foreign investors."
Independent economic analyst John Robertson said FDI inflows were set
to
fall further unless there is a major policy shift on the part of
government.
"We are going to see negative figures as investment
out of the country
unless they (government) change their policies,"
Robertson said referring to
the indigenisation law.
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment minister Paul Mangwana
recently told
a portfolio committee that foreign owned banks unhappy with
the new law
should "pack and go". This attracted a rejoinder from central
bank chief
Gideon Gono who said those interested in indigenisation should
keep their
hands off the delicate area of banking.
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
BULAWAYO - The Arthur Mutambara led Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC) has
shelved plans to run a monthly newsletter that could have
culminated in the
launch of its own official newspaper before next year's
elections.
The faction published a newsletter in August to
counter state
propaganda and had planned to follow it up with a regular
newspaper.
But The Standard established last week that the
newspaper project had
since been shelved due to lack of financial resources.
If the newspaper had
been allowed to publish under the country's tough media
laws, it would have
added a new voice to the shrinking newspaper
industry.
"The most unfortunate thing is that we are failing to
find sponsorship
for the project," MDC's deputy spokesman, Abedinico Bhebhe
said.
"The newsletter and the newspaper were part of the MDC plans
to
articulate the party's policies among other things."
The
country's media laws, particularly the Access to Information and
Protection
of Privacy Act (AIPPA) are considered among the harshest in the
world. Under
Aippa journalists can be imprisoned for up to two years for
practicing
without a licence from the state Media and Information
Commission.
AIPPA has already been used to close down private
newspapers among
them, The Daily News and The Daily News on
Sunday.
The ruling Zanu-PF has its own official newspaper called
The Voice.
Zim Standard
Comment
THE authority behind the current war veterans'
campaign and what
happened during the run-up to the 2000 parliamentary
elections show striking
similarities. Those protesting demonstrate
incapacity to learn from history.
Politicians, who make up the
so-called Bulawayo heavies, are upset
that Jabulani Sibanda - dismissed for
"disrespecting" his seniors in the
province - has been resurrected and now
leads former freedom fighters and
their allies in drumming up support for
President Robert Mugabe's
re-election campaign.
What the
Bulawayo protesters forget so easily is that history shows
they chose not to
side with the people. Unfortunately they will be ignored.
It happened
before. Their protest has no mandate from the people of
Bulawayo. It is a
protest that solely seeks to serve their own selfish
interests.
During the past month, Sibanda like a vulture, has been circling over
Bulawayo. He led the war veterans in Harare, Mutare, Masvingo, Chinhoyi,
Gwanda, before defiantly entering the City of Kings. Mashonaland Central,
the Midlands and Matabeleland North can be expected to join Sibanda's
roadshow.
Clearly what the Bulawayo heavies have not learnt is
that Sibanda and
his allies derive their authority from somewhere much more
powerful. That is
why the law enforcement agents will not touch them and
that is also why they
have so much resources to enable them to traverse the
country, when everyone
else faces harships in accessing fuel.
During the run up to the 2000 polls, the late Chenjerai "Hitler"
Hunzvi, had
both the latitude and resources to spearhead his jambanja
(campaign of
chaos) with impunity - such impunity he could lead war veterans
into the
highest courts in the land and make an absolute mockery of the
judiciary.
Vice-President Joseph Msika ordered Sibanda to stop
his marches. He
was publicly embarrased when Sibanda and company entered
Bulawayo. The
Vice-President could only watch. Just as he did after his
directive on
Kondozi and just as the minister responsible for lands doled
out more farms
despite Msika's protestations.
If history
teaches us anything, it is that war veterans can become
violent and they
will get away with murder - demonstrating there is one law
for Zanu PF
veterans, women and the youth league, and another for the rest
of
society!
Sibanda is not yet finished with Bulawayo. He will make a
grand entry
and savour his political resurrection. Zanu PF has never allowed
anything to
get in the way in its quest for power. History is replete with
precedents.
The Bulwayo heavies might detest what is happening,
unfortunately they
are beneficiaries of a system that ignored, victimised
and violated the
rights of the people in that part of the country. It is
precisely for that
reason that few will support them in their fight against
Sibanda. They are
just the grass that will suffer as a result of conflict
between warring
elephants.
These heavies stood by while
Bulawayo de-industrialised. They are
doing nothing while the region runs
dangerously low on grain stocks and they
have done nothing during the
current water crisis that has led to the
closure of factories, to children
and vulnerable groups dying and families
reduced to two days of water supply
a week. Why would anyone support them
just because suddenly they feel
threatened?
The reason why Sibanda's campaign for Mugabe can
brazenly challenge
them is because everyone knows - just as the political
heavies are aware -
they have no support and are dependent on the generosity
of Sibanda's
handlers.
Sibanda's defiant marches demonstrate
the irrelevance of the political
heavies to and their indebtedness to Zanu
PF. They are reaping the
whirlwind.
Zim Standard
sundayopinion by Bill
Saidi
IN most countries where democracy is not defined or refined
as being
related to the will of the people, there are hit
lists.
Hit lists originated with gangs - the Cosa Nostra, The
Yakuza - not
with governments.
Hit lists contain the names of
people to be liquidated or "wasted".
To rate a place in this
document you have to constitute a real and
present threat to the security of
the government or the gang, until it is
decided to silence you for
good.
In a word, they will bump you off in the middle of night or
while you
dine with your loved one in some exclusive restaurant where
entrance is
barred to people carrying knuckle-dusters or .45
revolvers.
Yet because the people behind these assassinations have
unlimited
resources, gaining entry is child's play for them.
A
government could possess its own hit list, enemies of the state,
people
against whom the evidence is fairly solid that, given a chance, they
could
blow up the government.
In most countries journalists are rarely
accorded this distinction;
their only weapon is the pen.
Only
in countries frightened of exposure as dishonest, corrupt and
evil regimes
do you find journalists listed as primary targets of state
agents licensed
to kill.
Rumours have proliferated recently that the government of
President
Robert Mugabe has a hit list of journalists.
Most
critics would hesitate to accept these reports at their face
value. But
there is evidence that Mugabe is not entirely satisfied
withjournalists in
general, except for a few in the state media. Most from
the independent
media he would prefer to be "bashed".
He may not personally have
authored the document, but may have nodded
after an MIDG (Man In Dark
Glasses) mentioned the list.
The latest list, in which I was
mentioned, was publicly repudiated by
the Minister of Information and
Publicity, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu.
Nobody disclosed the authorship; so
Ndlovu might not know about it,
not because he doesn't have his ear to the
ground. It could simply be that
in such hush-hush matters, he might be one
of many people with "no need to
know", as they say in the spook
business.
In other words, Ndlovu may be accurate in his assertion
that as far as
he is concerned no such document exists, which would
immediately beg the
question: "So who killed Edward Chikomba?"
What may need to be explained to the uninitiated public is that
journalists
always have a list of their own, perhaps not a "hit" one but a
list
nevertheless.
Ordinarily, this list includes all who are corrupt,
dictatorial in
their conduct of any government or private business, all who
take advantage
of their position of power to prey on the weak, whether they
are girls,
women, boys or men, the young and elderly alike.
Throughout history, the role of the media has been as a watchdog of
the
government. Its primary function is to ensure that the government
conducts
itself with the best interests of the governed.
On the journalists'
lists is the politician and civil servant who is
so glib of tongue he can
charm the birds off the trees with his smooth
delivery.
The
journalist's mission is to have this person exposed for what they
are -
charlatans. The governed must be made aware that this person is not to
be
trusted - on the basis of their past record.
In most developing
countries, a majority of the people are not
entirely familiar with their
rights.
In most such countries, but particularly in Africa,
unscrupulous
leaders have often taken advantage of the people's lack of
understanding of
their rights -fleecing them of everything they own, levying
heavy taxes on
the very poor, so that in the end, they are beholden to the
leaders for the
rest of their lives.
The argument has been
advanced that one reason most African leaders
practically hate a free press
is the likelihood that journalists might
reveal the truth to the masses -
that, in the general scheme of governance,
the people have much more clout
than the leaders have led them to believe.
This is the primary
reason for the pathetic state of the media in
Africa. In Zimbabwe, the
flirtation with Marxism-Leninism at independence
meant that an entirely free
media was a "luxury" the new government could
ill afford.
But
with the introduction of the Access to Information and Protection
of Privacy
Act, the government probably thought it had solved the problem of
a media
obsessed with exposing all that the government wished kept under
wraps.
But it had not. The creation of a hit list for
journalists seemed the
logical conclusion of frustrated bureaucrats at their
wit's end: if you can't
scare them, kill them.
Yet other
regimes have tried and failed to silence the media, largely
because it would
mean silencing the majority - as in North Korea, China and
Cuba.
It does seem as if most people would rather have a free
media, even
without a government, than a government without a free
media.
saidib@standard.co.zw
Zim Standard
sundayview by
Judith Todd
NKALA said the documents suggested
that the government was a
government of scoundrels with no feeling, sitting
in their offices planning
activities against members of their own
population. Names of highly placed
people had been mentioned in the reports,
linking them with activities such
as murder. Government had investigated the
allegations and they were lies.
It was true that Zimbabwe had some
problems, like the dissidents who
were murdering, maiming and raping. "But
we will not fold our hands and sit
back and let them take over, come heaven
and, come hell, come Amnesty
International, come the Lawyers'
Committee."
He said that once Amnesty International received
information, it was
circulated to members throughout the world, and in the
process seemed to
assume some kind of authenticity. So someone might be
detained for a couple
of days and then released and demands would come from
Amnesty, demanding
that person's release. Who then should be
released?
According to Nkala, there was a man from Beitbridge, a
madman, a
member of parliament who had been assisting dissidents, and so had
been
taken in for a few days for questioning. He alleged that he had been
tortured but there were no marks on him. It appeared from the newspapers as
though he had won a case against torture, but this was only by default, as
government hadn't known he was going to court.
The dissidents
and their sponsors, Nkala said, had certain objectives
to achieve and it was
known who and what party supported them. They were
financed entirely from
within the country, and the organisations that
sponsored them were wholly
Zimbabwean. "One or two or three of you have
taken it upon yourselves to
champion the discrediting of government. We have
an abhorrence of the
activities of some of you. We can do without you, all
of you, but we don't
want to do that. We simply want to say let us move in
step. If there is
anything wrong, tell us. Don't run to Amnesty
International."
Nkala further said that all NGOs would now have to register with the
Ministry of Local Government, in addition to the Ministry of Labour and
Social Services, already a requirement, and report all projects in all
areas. "If you want to spend money, you must first explain to the district
administrator. Any one of you found in the rural areas without the knowledge
of officials in the Ministry of Local Government will be reported to me and
we will react. Those who are not Zimbabweans, we will deport. Those of you
who are Zimbabweans know how we will act."
. . .Comrade Mugabe
told a press conference at his residence in August
that the unity talks
between Zanu PF and PF Zapu had reached a sufficiently
advanced stage to
allow the Attorney-General to withdraw treason charges
against 10
men.
He said he had informed the Attorney-General, Godfrey
Chidyausiku, of
the "critical stage" the talks had reached, and the latter
had decided it
would not be in the national interest to proceed with the
case.
Mugabe emphasised that the release of the 10 men was the
decision of
the Attorney-General, "acting within the exclusive discretion
conferred upon
him by the constitution". But, he said, the government was
not obliged to
retain those who had been involved and who were in the army,
and they were
not going to do so.
Of the men concerned, Charles
Grey, Kindness Ndlovu and Tshila Nleya
were all army brigadiers, Joseph Z
Dube and Eddie Sigogo were colonels,
Brian Siziba a corporal and Leon
Khumalo a captain. William Kona was Zapu's
national chairman, Sydney Malunga
a Zapu MP for Mpopoma and Edward Ndlovu a
Zapu MP for
Gwanda.
A few days after this press conference I was at the
airport, waiting
for the flight to Bulawayo, when I was approached by the
Attorney-General.
He was very friendly, and I responded, saying I was glad
to see him and that
he must now be the most popular man in Zimbabwe. Godfrey
looked pleased but
mystified. I reminded him that the prime minister, in
announcing the
dropping of treason charges against 10 men, had said it was
Chidyausiku's
decision, not his, and that the Attorney-General had the
constitutional
power to release anyone. It was all nonsense, of course. The
men were about
to go to court, where it would have been revealed that most
of them had been
tortured, and government wanted to conceal this
fact.
I said I hadn't known of Godfrey's power until I had read the
prime
minister's statement. "And now," I said, "how about Dumiso Dabengwa?
If you
have the power to release anyone, how can we get Dumiso out? If I
send you a
bowl of red roses every day . . .?"
He grinned and
said: "You don't waste time talking shop, do you?"
. . .Since
Minister Nkala had ordered us at the NGO meeting to report
anything amiss to
government and not to Amnesty International, I had written
a number of
letters that had gone unanswered. Recently released detainees
had come to
see me, complaining of being beaten and, in one case, being
given electric
shocks. I had reason to believe that one of them was a plant,
and sure
enough, the doctor who had examined him told me privately that he
had found
nothing to suggest the man had been abused.
So I wrote post haste
to Minister Mnangagwa, saying I was sorry to
bother him during NAM (the
summit of the Non-Aligned Movement), but,
following instructions received, I
felt I should let him know that a Comrade
X was complaining about electric
shocks during his detention and, if
government wanted to investigate, he
could let me know and I would forward
the complainant's name and
address.
Silence.
. . .We tended to regard beautiful
Harare with its towering golden
Sheraton Hotel and conference centre as a
symbol of the state of the country
as a whole. There had been dramatic
improvements in many areas like health,
water, roads and education since
independence, but for too many, life
remained a grinding misery of just
eking out an existence.
Driving one day along the Botswana border
with Godwin Matatu of the
Observer and Albert Ngwenya from the Zimbabwe
Project, we passed two
schools, about 15 miles apart, partially destroyed by
"dissidents" in one
night. They were self-help schools, the bricks moulded
and the buildings
erected by the local community. I became suspicious. For
people to have
wreaked such havoc in one night they could either fly from
place to place
like Batman, or they had transport. The Batman hypothesis was
as unlikely as
the possibility that "dissidents" had transport. This came at
a time when
the unity talks were said to be going well.
We
delivered maize-meal to a man who was too weak from hunger to work.
There we
met a businessman who was recently crippled. He had been forced to
stand in
boiling water by Zanu PF youths because they opposed the party he
belonged
to, PF Zapu.
Overall, the impression was that we were in a country
totally
different to what we in Harare knew. There was no grass. Cattle
staggered
around like hairy skeletons. People spent much of their energy
collecting
water from far-off places. There were so many who were barely
getting by in
appalling circumstances. But had Lancaster House conference
leading to our
independence not worked, maybe many of them would already be
dead.
On Friday 5 December 1986, Dumiso Dabengwa and others were at
last
released from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison after all the cruel
years of
detention. Bryant Elliot took them to the Brickhills' house, and
some
friends were rustled up for an impromptu party at 4PM. Dumiso was
surprised
to hear that he looked well. People were pretty demanding, and
some babies
born in his absence were presented to him. Dumiso had a
wonderful gift of
appearing to be intensely interested in
everything...
* Excerpt from Judith Todd's latest book; Through
the Darkness; A Life
in Zimbabwe, available from www.zebrapress.co.za
Zim Standard
sundayview
by Pius Wakatama
ZIMBABWE has now reached a cross-roads where the
direction and
decisions made by its leaders will either lead to peace and
prosperity or to
"everlasting doom" as Christian preachers would
say.
It is so refreshing and hope-inspiring to note that some key
leaders
in the ruling party, Zanu PF's politburo namely retired army
generals
Vitalis Zvinavashe and Solomon Mujuru have realised the fact that
the
country is now at a critical stage. Both men spoke boldly at a ruling
party
politburo meeting on 5 September about the real causes of the national
crisis and the way out of it.
The Zimbabwe Independent of 28
September reported that Zvinavashe
openly accused Zanu PF and government
leaders of lying about political and
economic developments in the country.
He said Zimbabwe was not going to come
out of the woods if its rulers
continue to be dishonest. "Zimbabwe's
greatest undoing is that its
untruthful leaders now believe their own lies,"
he said.
Zvinavashe, who is also a ruling party senator, accused Zanu PF and
the
government of lying that the current political and economic crisis was a
result of undeclared sanctions by the United States, Britain and its allies
in the European Union. He reportedly said it was also a lie by the
government that the opposition MDC was a stooge of the West. He said
Zimbabwe's problems were a result of lying, poor planning and implementation
of unsound policies by government. He blasted government and party leaders
over the July price blitz which forced wholesalers and retailers to reduce
prices by half. This resulted in the acute shortages of basic commodities
that the country is facing today.
Mujuru, also a member of the
politburo, chaired by President Robert
Mugabe, said the president was
surrounded by people who lie to him.
Here, it is significant to
note that the lies that all our problems
are caused by the West and that the
opposition MDC is a stooge of the West
are none other than Mugabe's oft
repeated excuses of our economic and
political woes. He is, in fact, the
originator and author of this belief
which is now the official Zanu PF
doctrine and mantra.
It is good that these admissions are coming
from Zanu PF chefs. Some
of us mere mortals including yours truly were
harassed, arrested and
tortured in police cells for saying exactly the same
thing. It is indeed
true that you can fool some of the people some of the
time but you can't
fool all the people all the time. Some Zanu PF leaders
are saying enough is
enough. Zvinavashe and Mujuru by their statements have
indirectly
discredited Mugabe and his surrogates in government who have
ruined the
country and are desperately trying to cling on to power by lies,
deceit and
violence.
In the same vein of telling the truth
and shunning lies, Reserve Bank
Governor, Gideon Gono, in his mid-year
monetary policy statement said many
of the nation's economic difficulties
were self-inflicted by poor policies
including the price cuts and the
programme to seize control of white and
foreign owned
businesses.
Ironically, as soon as he arrived from his trip to the
US from the
United Nations General Assembly, where he, as usual, blamed the
West for
Zimbabwe's problems, Mugabe totally contradicted Gono's
sentiments.
He applauded the Indigenisation and Empowerment Bill
which he said
would ensure that the mineral wealth is exploited for the
benefit of
Zimbabweans who should own at least 51% of any white or foreign
owned
concern.
The president's comments show that he is out of
touch with the reality
of our situation. Zimbabwe does not have the capital
or capability to take
over all foreign and white-owned businesses. Those
campaigning forthis to
happen do not have Zimbabwe at heart. They are
vultures waiting to benefit
from the takeovers like they did with the farms
which they looted and are
now derelict. This will effectively put the final
nail on the coffin of
Zimbabwe's economy. Not even a fool would dream of
investing in Zimbabwe.
Gono's efforts are honourable but a waste of time as
long as he works under
his present bosses. He should get out before he goes
mad.
Many in government and Zanu PF are privately saying that the
government has failed and Mugabe must not be allowed to continue leading the
country into the wilderness. It is also an open secret that he is now
fighting a fierce battle for political survival. His battle is not against
the West and the opposition MDC as he claims.
It is against his
own comrades in government and in Zanu PF. In order
to survive he is now
calling upon the dregs of our society, some who are
semi-literate pimps,
tsotsis, thugs and murderers. His fight is now led by
characters like Joseph
Chinotimba of farm-invasions fame, whose war record
is questioned by most
war-veterans and Jabulani Sibanda, the discredited
former war-veteran leader
who John Nkomo, chairman of Zanu PF says is no
longer a member of the party
having been fired over the Tsholotsho debacle.
Instead of speaking
in private and secretly plotting for Mugabe's
ouster from power in what is
called "the succession battle". Right thinking
men and women of integrity
need to come out in the open and call a spade a
spade as was done by senator
Zvinavashe and Mujuru. They should publicly
tell the truth and shame the
devil. They will thus absolve themselves from
being part and parcel of those
who are accountable for the suffering
Zimbabweans have gone through and are
still going through. At this critical
juncture they need to stand up and be
counted for change is indeed coming
with or without their
support.
At this time it is obvious that the Zanu PF is in a
corner. The
economy is in shambles and they are under pressure from SADC and
the
international community to make an about turn. This is why they are now
talking to the MDC which they used to insult and vilify as traitors and
stooges of the West. This is now time for the Zimbabwean population to
deliver the coup de grace. We should shed our fear and publicly denounce and
act against this dictatorship which has looted our beautiful
country.
MDC lacks the strategies to unseat foxy Mugabe
AS the clock steadily
ticks on towards the 2008 plebiscite, some of us
who feel "non-aligned" to
Zimbabwe's power game, wish to remind the
politicians of what we expect as
citizens.
Whoever is to win next year needs to be reminded that we
prefer
servant rulers as opposed to master rulers. We want rulers who are
prepared
to be grilled by citizens for their actions. We want rulers who
voluntarily
resign when they fail to discharge their duties. We want morally
upright
people. We want nation builders not partisan bootlickers or
populists.
We want rulers who care about a people's health, welfare
and
individual rights. We want rulers who care about the environment, not
out of
selfish motives but a desire to see our heritage preserved. We want
rulers
who will respect our laws, not manipulators. The list is
long.
Having said that, let me hasten to add that I am very
skeptical about
the opposition MDCs' capacity to dislodge Zanu PF from
power. My observation
is that the opposition lacks the innovative strategies
needed to both
discredit and dislodge the ruling party. Zanu PF is a
monolithic party and
its leader a political grandmaster. There is absolutely
nothing on the
ground right now to suggest that either of the two MDCs have
a master-stroke
card to remove President Mugabe.
Love him or
hate him, Gushungo has proved that he is at his best
political acumen when
faced by seemingly insurmountable political obstacles.
Many
incidents have occurred since the inception of the MDCs that
appeared as
God-given chances for it to fully exploit and inevitably
dislodge Zanu PF.
They don't seem to learn these guys. Their only hope is
that the masses will
finally say enough is enough. They have enough
ammunition to sell to the
people about Zanu PF's inadequacies but inherently
they don't have incisive
strategies to reach the hearts of people in rural
areas. Their current
membership is not directly a result of their ability to
dismantle Zanu PFs
previously unchallenged grip of power; a big no. Why,
because
consequentially citizens have lived far too long a time seeing their
leaders
disregard with contempt their views and wishes. For instance, the
fallen
living standards in the country would be an opportunity to bag some
votes
for any serious political party, but MDC seems incapable of deriving
political capital from this beyond the usual whining from the
wings.
Admittedly the ruling party has a plethora of state
machinery at its
disposal but so had Muzorewa in 1980. Another glaring
example is the current
food shortages; can we honestly say the opposition is
exploiting this for
next year? They don't appear to have a credible
think-tank of strategists
while, already, the Zanu PF juggernaut is at full
throttle.
Minimizing voter registration points in itself is a
telling blow to
the MDC's urban constituencies. Given our numbers in towns,
I have not seen
anything extraordinary to suggest urbanites bothered to go
and register.
Events seem to be unfolding with the MDCs apparently
unprepared to counter
them. That's a sign of being novitiate in the game of
politics. No-one will
get power from Zanu PF on a silver platter. These guys
are just awesome and
they are survivors. I can go on and begin to sound as
though I am
worshipping Zanu PF. Nothing could be further from the truth,
but that is
the reality those who hope to unseat the party must contend
with.
The South African media is so obsessed with this man called
Robert
Mugabe. No one seems to understand him. Even those in his own party
appear
glaringly incapacitated by him. We all face hardships, but look at
the war
veterans and their solidarity marches; it's incredible that they
love and
worship Mugabe. They seem mesmerized by him.
The
person of Robert Mugabe will no doubt leave an indelible mark on
Zimbabwe
and Africa's political landscape. Good or bad, the man is something
else.
Odrix Mhiji
Mbare,
Harare
---------
Understanding the value of money
FOR
one to understand the causes of inflation and its effects, one
must first of
all understand the origins of paper money and its relationship
to value
and/or wealth.
When you mobilize resources and knowledge and
convert them into
something that satisfies other people's needs you would
have created value.
Wealth is the accumulation of such value.
You can exchange your value for other people's value which they would
have
created elsewhere. That is the basis of fair trade and commerce
anywhere.
With the advancement of civilisation and expansion of
markets,
spatially and temporally, it became increasingly difficult to trade
by
barter. People began to look for something portable, durable, divisible,
and
with all the other attributes of a good medium of exchange that one can
think of.
History is replete with all sorts of things which
were tried, from
coffee beans, beads, precious stones, sea shells, and
finally to silver and
gold. Silver was finally beaten by gold. Those who
could amass and/or
produce - create value in large quantities soon found it
difficult to
securely keep their large amounts of gold. This created a new
breed of
business people called gold keepers who would charge some scrapings
or few
ounces of gold as a return on their investments in the form of
vaults,
safes, and strong rooms.
The gold keepers would issue
the gold owners certificates stating the
amounts of gold deposited with
them. With time, people began to accept the
certificates from trusted
keepers as legal tender confident that the
certificates were redeemable
whenever real solid gold was required.
In time such certificates
were issued without names and their
authenticity was based on the goodwill
of the issuers. When it became
fashionable to break down the certificates
into various sizes of
denominations for convenience of trade, paper money
was born.
Governments soon realised that in large economies, if
they owned and
controlled a central reserve bank which controls the issuance
of the
certificates which we now call money, they can possibly issue
themselves
"money" when they do not have gold-value-wealth deposited with
that bank.
As long as you do not appreciate or understand how
printing causes
inflation, printing forces you to print more, and more
printing compels you
to print big time causing hyperinflation. Those chosen
few who are blessed
with the revelation know that the only way out of the
spiralling vicious
cycle is through sacrifice. You have to stop printing
gradually or abruptly
and strategically.
What has made me
believe strongly that many people do not understand
politics and economics,
and the fruits from their relationships, is the
apparent absence of protest
that should come from the instinct of self
preservation given the prevalent
hyperinflationary environment.
Devaluation, overvaluation, for
convenience issuance of bigger
denominations - very soon we will be using
the 1 million or 10 million
bearer cheques - itsself a de-facto and subtle
way of admitting that the
monetary value of our currency has
collapsed.
The obvious question one must ask is: are all the people
not supposed
to know? Is it a crime if they know? Shouldn't they be
empowered with this
knowledge?
Isn't it critically important
that as citizens, we all share this
liberating knowledge?
Boas Pondayi Magoronga
Harare
-------------
Civic
bodies not to be trusted
CIVIC groups in Zimbabwe have never been
sincere or aligned to any
political party such as the MDC as some sections
of the media would want us
to believe.
Some civic groups or
their leaders have been aligned to Morgan
Tsvangirai as individuals not
political groups. The NCA, Crisis Coalition
and the Save Zimbabwe campaign
are serving the interests of the Anti-senate
MDC and Tsvangirai and not the
interests of Zimbabweans.
The hijacking of trade unions and civic
coalitions by Tsvangirai has
paralysed their operations. Organisations like
the ZCTU failed to mobilize
the workers for a collective job action because
of their allegiance to the
Tsvangirai faction.
As MDC members
we do not need Madhuku, Tsunga or Makumbe to tell us
what we should do or
who to follow. Some of us have abandoned the Save
Zimbabwe Campaign because
we have lost confidence in the leaders of the
group. The idea is noble but
it is in the hands selfish individuals who have
a history of looting and
inefficiency.
It is unfortunate that these organisations have not
been active on the
ground except the issuance of useless press statements on
useless issues
such as the exhausted constitution issue.
Chief Bere
Harare
-----------
Expertise first not
tractors
THE term professional is ordinarily understood to mean persons
of
advanced knowledge and experience in their respective
fields.
Therefore giving an individual a stethoscope does not make
him a
doctor. Any amount of spanners and spare parts will not turn one into
a
mechanic.
Under the same principle, when we refer to a
successful commercial
farmer, we understand this to mean a professional
farmer. One whose entire
time is devoted to his profession; one who
understands that the most
important requirements to a viable and successful
agricultural venture are;
a) land, b) light, c) moisture, d) professional
conduct, e) the wish to
farm.
With the absence of any one of
the above, any amount of free tractors
and cheap fertilizers will be in
vain. As occurred in our Parliament, the
sooner we find an acceptable
proposal to all involved the better.
Told-U-so
Banket
----------
Beer price hike ill-advised
BY sanctioning
massive price increases on beer
and other alcoholic beverages, Reserve Bank
Governor, Gideon Gono might have
unwittingly condemned many poor families to
starvation as some men will
simply adjust their family budgets to reflect
increased spending on alcohol.
While Gono probably considers beer a
luxury that most people can do
without, many beer drinkers will disagree.
Try closing down all the pubs and
beerhalls and see what will
happen.
Committed Boozer
Harare