http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Tafadzwa Mutasa
Thursday 22 October 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe's power-sharing
government could be headed for paralysis,
threatening to slide the country
back into crisis if no quick solution is
found to end Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's MDC's boycott of coalition
partner ZANU PF, analysts
said.
The unity government last week suffered its biggest crisis yet when
the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party boycotted all cooperation
with
President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU PF party, blaming the veteran
leader's
obstinacy for failing to fulfil last year's political agreement and
the slow
pace of democratic reforms.
Tsvangirai is drumming up
support among regional leaders to try to exert
pressure on the 85-year-old
Mugabe to replace Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
governor Gideon Gono, Attorney
General Johannes Tomana and appoint new
provincial governors as well as
swear-in Roy Bennett as deputy agriculture
minister.
But political
analysts said Mugabe was likely to dig in for now, prolonging
the impasse
which could ultimately paralyse government operations and erode
any little
progress the country had made towards economic recovery.
"If this
situation persists, we will be moving into a parallel government
situation
because we would have a gridlock as it were," said John Makumbe, a
University of Zimbabwe analyst sympathetic to the MDC.
"You can get
governmental paralysis because you have different institutions
that will be
are pulling in different directions," Makumbe said.
Analysts said state
institutions like parastatals could fall victim to the
current impasse, with
both ZANU PF and the MDC which have at least a Cabinet
minister or deputy in
each ministry seeking to influence entities under
their
ministries.
But the big test for the unity government could be the fate
of the 2010
national budget, which is scheduled to be presented by Finance
Minister
Tendai Biti, the MDC secretary general next
month.
Zimbabwe's budget formulation process starts with the Finance
Minister
receiving requests from all government ministries and he and his
lieutenants
in the ministry would come up with a draft that is discussed by
the Cabinet
committee on finance.
After crafting a final draft, the
budget is taken to Mugabe, and to
Tsvangirai following the formation of the
unity government, after which it
would be tabled before Parliament for
debate.
But legal experts say there is no law that requires Biti to take
the budget
to the Head of State.
If the MDC continues its
disengagement, Biti could proceed to craft his own
budget but it could be
shot down in Parliament by ZANU PF but if it sails in
the Lower House of
Assembly, it could be blocked in the Senate where ZANU PF
is guaranteed the
support of chiefs.
"But then Zimbabweans will blame ZANU PF if the budget
fails to pass because
of their actions, it is so eagerly awaited by the
country," Makumbe said.
The analysts said if Biti failed to present the
budget, ZANU PF would be
quick to blame the MDC for holding the country
hostage and undermining the
unity government.
The 2010 budget will be
followed keenly in the country, especially by
farmers and civil servants and
abroad by key donors who have been pressing
Zimbabwe to quickly implement
economic reforms that are crucial to
sustaining recovery.
Analysts
warned that if the MDC's move did not yield any pressure from SADC,
it could
prove a costly gamble and the party could lose any leverage over
ZANU
PF.
Mugabe could in future make unilateral decisions to frustrate
Tsvangirai and
drive the former opposition party from government.
"If
this situation prolongs then when push comes to shove we will see who
has
got more leverage over the other," Eldred Masunungure, a leading
Zimbabwe
political commentator said.
"But I see a situation where SADC will be
forced to somehow act and try to
broker a compromise between Mugabe and
Tsvangirai to put the unity
government back on track and I do not see the
administration in imminent
danger of collapse." - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Correspondent
Thursday 22 October 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe and South Africa
are expected to sign by end of this month
a long-delayed bilateral
investment protection agreement (BIPA), after
Harare finally approved the
draft, Zimbabwean industry minister Welshman
Ncube said on
Wednesday.
Signing of the agreement between the countries that are each
other's biggest
trading partner on the continent in addition to being strong
political
allies has on several occasions been postponed on the eleventh
hour,
apparently after Harare objected to a clause in the accord referring
to land
investments.
"Cabinet has approved the singing of the BIPA
agreement with South Africa,"
Ncube said at the launch of a Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries (CZI)
manufacturing report yesterday.
"I spoke to
(South African Trade) Minister (Rob) Davis in South Africa and
he confirmed
having received the documents, he said the documents will be
forwarded from
the solicitor general to the presidency (Jacob Zuma) as they
are now ready
for signing. On our part we are ready to sign, we would have
to sign before
month end which is next week."
Ncube did not say whether Zimbabwe had
accepted the demand by the South
Africans to have protection of land and
related property rights included in
the agreement.
President Robert
Mugabe's chaotic and often violent programme to seize
white-owned farm land
for redistribution to landless blacks also saw several
farms owned by
foreigners and protected under bilateral trade agreements
between Zimbabwe
and other countries seized without compensation.
The seizure of private
land has raised questions about Zimbabwe's commitment
to uphold property
rights as well as agreements entered with other
countries.
Meanwhile
Ncube also expressed concern over delays on the aid regional
countries
pledged to Zimbabwe to assist the unity government revive the
country's
shattered economy.
"The pledges and the commitments from neighbours on
the flow of funds they
had pledged earlier has been slow," he
said.
"We are concerned on the bureaucratic delays, we hope that this
will be
expedited so that we can have access to the money to use in
manufacturing
sector which is critical."
Harare says it requires
US$10 billion to revive the economy and restore
basic services such as
health, education and provision of clean water in
cities but has to date
raised nearly US$2 billion in credit lines from
African financial
institutions and countries.
Rich Western nations, traditionally the
providers of the most aid to
Zimbabwe, have maintained humanitarian support
but insist Harare must
implement more political reforms, act to uphold human
rights, media freedom
and the rule of law among others before they can
provide development and
other assistance. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Simplicious
Chirinda Thursday 22 October 2009
HARARE - A Zimbabwean black
empowerment pressure group on Wednesday said
international milk processor
Nestle should be forced to sell its Harare
subsidiary to local blacks if the
firm refuses to buy milk from a farm owned
by President Robert Mugabe's
wife, Grace.
The Affirmative Action Group (AGG) - whose members are
closely linked to
Mugabe's ZANU PF party - said Nestle's refusal to buy milk
from Grace's
Gushungo farm was part of a "foreign regime change agenda" and
said the firm
should not be allowed to continue embarrassing the President's
family.
Mugabe often accuses Western powers of seeking to oust him as
punishment for
his controversial land reform programme which saw the
government seizing
white-owned farmland for redistribution to
blacks.
Grace was allocated Gushongo under her husband's land reforms
that also saw
senior members of ZANU PF, their friends and allies -
including many members
of the AAG - handed some of the best farms seized
from whites.
"This is unacceptable (Nestle's refusal to buy milk from
Gushungo)," AGG
secretary general Tafadzwa Musarara told journalists in
Harare.
He added: "We are going to make sure that Nestle buys Gushungo
milk. It is
clear that Nestle is perpetuating a foreign regime change
agenda. We are
demanding that with immediate effect Nestle must be
indigenised."
There was no immediate reaction from Nestle to the AAG
statement.
Nestle this month stopped buying milk from Gushungo farm
following an
international media outcry over the firm's business dealings
with the
Mugabes and threats by consumer watchdogs to call for a boycott of
the
company's products.
The firm's bank accounts were temporarily
frozen by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe which said the action was part of a
routine check meant to sniff
out financial irregularities. But observers saw
the move as a warning to
Nestle that Harare was unhappy with the decision to
stop buying milk from
Mugabe's wife.
About a week ago ZANU PF youths
drove a milk tanker to Nestle's Harare
factory and tried to force company
officials to buy the milk but they
refused.
However the involvement
of the AAG that has over the years led harassment of
private firms perceived
as anti-Mugabe could mean more trouble for Nestle.
But the AAG threats
against Nestle will also dampen investor interest in
Zimbabwe especially
coming at a moment the country's coalition government
appears in deep
trouble following Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai his MDC
party's decision
to boycott ZANU PF.
The southern African country's economy, which has
been on a free-fall for
the past decade, badly needs foreign investment to
recover. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Cuthbert
Nzou Thursday 22 October 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe's
former finance minister and now leader of an
opposition party Simba Makoni
on Wednesday blasted Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and his MDC-T party
for cutting all contact with President Robert
Mugabe and his ZANU PF party,
saying the move had "nothing to do with
delivering real change to the
people" of the country.
In a statement, Makoni who is the interim
president of
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) said the MDC-T and ZANU PF should
"stop playing
with the people of Zimbabwe over petty positions and
power".
"On careful examination, it emerges that the reasons for
the MDC -T
disengagement from ZANU PF have nothing to do with delivering
real change to
the people of Zimbabwe. The fight is about the MDC-T being
allowed a bigger
share of public sector jobs, motor cars, travel allowances
and good living,"
Makoni said.
"We urge both Mugabe and
Tsvangirai to show genuine concern for the
suffering people of Zimbabwe, to
apply themselves diligently to resolving
their power disputes. We further
urge Mugabe, especially, to show that he is
committed to genuine partnership
and power-sharing with the MDC-T, a party
that defeated him in the March
2008 elections."
Makoni said this would enable the inclusive
government to formulate
and implement the policies required to create jobs,
stimulate economic
growth that benefits the people and bring Zimbabwe back
into the 21st
century.
The MKD leader said the MDC-T's of
"disengagement from ZANU PF" was
confusing the people as it was difficult to
understand what it entailed.
"The MDC-T can not have their cake and
eat it. They say they have
"disengaged from ZANU PF" and from Cabinet and
yet they are still in the
inclusive government, they are still reporting for
work and they are still
executing their duties as Cabinet
ministers?
"So, what exactly is the meaning of their action as
announced last
Friday, 16 October 2009? Can the Prime Minister clearly spell
out to a
concerned and confused nation the practical meaning and effect of
this
action because the people can not see its significance?" said
Makoni.
The ex-finance minister said the struggle between Mugabe
and
Tsvangirai was more to do with power.
"We note with concern
that the issues over which the MDC are
disengaging from ZANU PF are issues
of "jobs for the boys and girls" and not
policies that can deliver real
change for Zimbabweans," Makoni said.
"The people want stable and
permanent jobs, economic development,
repair of dilapidated infrastructure,
food, functioning health and education
systems and social support networks.
The people want their dignity and
respect back."
He said since
the MDC-T entered the inclusive government in February
it has not put
forward policy initiatives aimed at pulling the country out
of its economic
crisis.
"The modest improvements that have occurred in people's
lives over the
past year are the result of the default dollarisation which
commenced in
early 2008 and was formalised by ZANU PF before the inclusive
government,"
Makoni added.
Tsvangirai's MDC party, which formed
a unity government with Mugabe's
ZANU PF party, last week announced a
partial boycott of the eight-month-old
coalition administration because of
differences over implementation of the
power-sharing pact. -
ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Natasha Hove
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 13:32
BULAWAYO - Zimbabweans should reject
the Kariba Draft as it is similar
to the Lancaster House Constitution that
bestows unlimited powers to
President Robert Mugabe, officials of ZAPU said
on Sunday.
The officials also noted that the revived party was pushing
for a
clause in the constitution that says the President should be elected
by
legislators and not through a popular vote.
Zimbabwe is governed
by a 1979 Lancaster House Constitution that has
been amended a record 19
times. "The Kariba Draft is similar in nature to
the Lancaster House
Constitution. As Zapu, we want a people-driven
constitution, a constitution
that will make fundamental changes in the
administration of the country,"
Paul Siwela, a ZAPU official, told the party's
supporters at a rally held at
Nketa Hall.
"ZAPU is for proportional representation of a system that
is all
inclusive. As for the president, we believe he or she should not be
elected
by popular vote but by members of parliament," said Dr Themba
Dlodlo, a
member of ZAPU's national executive. Under a power sharing deal
signed last
year, the country is supposed to have a new constitution in the
next two
years to pave way for new elections.
The process to make
the country's first post independence constitution
has been derailed by
quarrelling over which route to take in the making of a
new
constitution.
Zanu (PF) favours a Kariba Draft to be used as a
reference point
whilst the MDC wants a people driven constitution.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Natasha Hove
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 10:46
HARARE - Zimbabwe's economy has vast
potential to rank among five of
the biggest in the continent within the next
10 years according to economic
analyst, Eric Bloch .
This would
only be achievable if a conducive and investment
environment was created.
"There is need for restoring genuine law and order,
human rights and
property rights. We have potential in minerals and tourism.
Near Lupane
there is methane gas, there is so much opportunity. We have
advanced
minerals in the country which are underutilised and if these are
tapped
into, the economy will recover to match the strongest economies in
the
region," said Bloch.
At a mining indaba held in September, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
said the government in conjunction with the
mining industry could attract
investment worth between US$6 million and
US$16million. He said that would
be possible by 2018.
"With
investments there will be massive growth but conflicting
statements from
people in government make potential investors take their
investment
elsewhere," said Bloch. Bloch also stressed the need for
restoration of
property and human rights.
Darlington Mutengwende, a Harare based
independent economic analyst,
said there was a need to identify and rectify
challenges that led to the
collapse of the two sectors. "Zimbabwe used to be
one of the best in terms
of tourism and mining in the region before
political instability started
affecting the country," Mutengwende said. "If
the issue of political
instability is not addressed, being among the biggest
economies will remain
a dream. We need total stability on the political
front, we need to see real
events happening so as to boost investor
confidence."
Associated Press
Oct 21, 4:09 PM EDT
By DONNA BRYSON
Associated Press
Writer
JOHANNESBURG (AP) -- Aid workers said
Wednesday the disarray of the
government of Zimbabwe is putting its most
vulnerable citizens at risk as
hunger and disease threatens to sweep the
country.
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced last week
he was
withdrawing indefinitely from a unity government that has been
troubled from
the moment its ministers were sworn in in
February.
Tsvangirai cited "the fiction of the credibility and integrity"
of his
partnership with longtime President Robert Mugabe - a description
likely to
undermine his own efforts to persuade donors to help Zimbabwe
recover from
economic collapse.
Charles Abani, head of Oxfam-UK's
operations in southern Africa, say
Zimbabwe needs coordinated, "robust
leadership" to avert a repeat of the
cholera epidemic and widespread hunger
it faced last year.
"We are obviously concerned that the government of
national unity continues
to work," Abani said in an interview with The
Associated Press.
Peter Salama, head of the U.N. children's agency office
in Zimbabwe, called
on Zimbabwe's leaders to overcome their political
differences and "rally
around the issues facing Zimbabwe's children today,
and that is access to
basic services" like schools and clinics, which have
been devastated by the
country's economic collapse.
Salama told AP it
would be "tragic" if the political impasse leads the
international community
to decide Zimbabwe is too risky to continue to
invest in.
The
European Union on Wednesday asked Zimbabwe's neighbors to help resolve
the
country's political problems and expressed concern over "continued
politically motivated harassment of" members of Tsvangirai's party. Last
month, the first visit by a high-level EU delegation since 2002 ended with a
declaration that Europe would not resume development aid until more is done
to implement the power-sharing agreement and restore human
rights.
Before the unity government was formed, foreign governments
hesitated to
send aid and development money to Zimbabwe. The funds they did
send were
channeled through independent agencies, making coordination
difficult. At
one point, relations with the outside world deteriorated so
much, ZANU-PF
accused independent groups of supporting opposition activists
and barred
them from distributing aid for three months. The ban was lifted
in late
August, 2008.
Aid workers now have been called in to help
even in prisons. In recent
months, the international health agency Medecins
Sans Frontieres has been
providing food, clean water and medical care to
inmates in 15 prisons, said
Wim Fransen, an MSF mission head in
Zimbabwe.
"What is important to know is that the crisis is still here and
there is
still a need for donors to fund organizations," Fransen
said.
What's known as the hungry season, when food from the year's
harvest begins
to run out, is expected to hit in December of January. Last
year, more than
5 million people needed food aid. Oxfam's Abani said it was
likely to be
less than 3 million this year, still significant in a
population of about 8
million.
Reports of cholera have already
emerged this year in Zimbabwe. Rains
expected in the coming months will
overflow sewers, worsening the risk of
the waterborne disease's spread. A
cholera outbreak that started in August
2008 and took months to bring under
control killed some 4,000 people.
The rainy season is also the breeding
season for the mosquitoes that carry
malaria. The U.N.'s Roll Back Malaria
Partnership warned in January of a
possible surge in malaria cases and
deaths in Zimbabwe. Since then, said
spokesman Herve Verhoosel, it has been
able to work with the new government
to ensure insecticide was distributed
before the rains.
The next step, Verhoosel said, will be getting a new
generation of malaria
medication into hospitals and clinics across Zimbabwe
before the rains. But
the new medication is more expensive and Verhoosel
said Roll Back Malaria is
concerned that donations to buy the drugs could
drop.
"Such a political crisis," Verhoosel said, "could have an
implication on the
ground."
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=23969
October 22, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - The Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) party
says it wants the
national organ on national healing to include the
Gukurahundi massacres in
their investigations and reconciliation
programmes.
The party's leader, Dumiso Dabengwa, told The Zimbabwe Times
yesterday that
his party waits to see whether any light will be shed on that
dark period of
Zimbabwe's history by the organ on national
healing.
"The national healing organ should cover issues that happened
since 1980,
including the Gukurahundi," said Dabengwa.
He said the
organ had already visited some parts of Matebeleland where they
met
traditional chiefs who made it clear that the era described by President
Mugabe as a "moment of madness" should be discussed as part of the healing
process.
"They have already visited the chiefs in Matebeleland and
have been told
that they should include the Gukurahundi chapter. We also
believe they
should do that but since they are still consulting we wait to
hear their
response to whether it is part of their terms of reference," said
Dabengwa.
The organ on national healing, an idea mooted by the inclusive
government to
solve the problems brought about by the internecine violence
that
characterised last year's elections is led by representatives of the
country's
three main political parties.
President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party is represented by its chairman, John
Nkomo, while Prime
Minister Tsvangirai's MDC party is represented by Sekai
Holland, herself a
victim of political violence and Mutambara's MDC has
Gibson Sibanda as its
representative.
Sibanda has however been stripped of his ministerial
credentials after he
failed to secure a seat in Parliament as required by
law. He is now
operating as a consultant.
The organ has started its
mandate on a wrong footing with Holland telling a
meeting in Matebeleland
that the Ndebele stole cattle from the Shona in the
19th Century.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Fungi
Kwaramba
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 12:04
HARARE - MDC
Treasurer General Roy Bennett (Pictured), who continues
to be harassed by
the application of selective justice, says President
Robert Mugabe has
serious racial problems with him.
"He has serious problems with me
- racial problems. The fact is that I
have a constituency and that I have a
following annoys him immensely. He
wants to discredit me and get me out of
the way," said Bennett, one of the
two white people in the senate, who
commands much respect among
Zimbabweans - particularly in the rural
areas.
"Part of the persecution is not against me personally. It is
against
the MDC, because I stand for the party in everything I do. I am
happy to
step aside the moment the people say I am the problem," said
Bennett.
Bennett maintains he is innocent of the charges of being
illegally in
possession of weapons with the intention of commit insurgency,
sabotage,
terrorism and banditry - which carry the death sentence.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights
Tuesday, 20 October 2009 14:41
BULAWAYO-Women of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), one of the country's most
active civic groups, has
said it will continue with regular street protests
to press for speedy
democratic reforms despite the continued harassment of
the organisation's
members through the courts.
In a statement, WOZA said many of its
members, including leaders Jenni
Williams and Magadonga Mahlangu are going
through court cases for exercising
their right to peaceful protest.
Last week, the Bulawayo Magistrates Court further postponed a court
hearing
for Mahlangu and Williams to 7 December. Mahlangu and Williams were
arrested
in October last year for
leading demonstrations calling on the
government to provide food to
starving citizens. The pair, together with
hundreds of their members, has
been repeatedly arrested for street
protests
targeting draconian government policies.
Woza said
the continued postponement of Mahlangu and Williams' case
showed that the
State did not have evidence against the activists, but was
abusing the court
system to intimidate and restrict rights campaigners.
"This ongoing
demonstration of State harassment and intimidation
against the human rights
defenders is further proof of how little has
changed for pro-democracy
activists in Zimbabwe," said the organisation,
whose brave membership has
continued with demonstrations despite constant
violent reaction from the
police.
Mahlangu, in her personal capacity and WOZA will next month
receive
this year's Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) Human Rights Award for her
"courageous
and selfless struggle to defend human dignity".
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by John Makumbe
Tuesday, 20 October 2009 15:28
The outgoing President, Mr Robert Mugabe
(pictured), recently urged
traditional chiefs to actively participate in
politics and in governance and
policy making. He was speaking at the
installation of Mr. Stanley Urayai
Mhondoro as Chief Zvimba. Mugabe further
claimed that traditional chiefs
should not be politically neutral, which
essentially means that they should
engage in partisan politics.
This is, obviously consistent with Zanu (PF)'s normal practice of
abusing
traditional leaders to further that party's waning political support
among
the grassroots in rural Zimbabwe. In the past, we have witnessed how
traditional leaders have been treated as Zanu (PF) functionaries, especially
in relation to the distribution of drought relief food and agricultural
inputs.
Traditional leaders that are known to support the MDC, for
example,
have many times been harassed and harangued by the state's coercive
apparatus such as the dreaded Central Intelligence Officers (CIO), the
police and the army. Some traditional leaders have openly been threatened
with dismissal from office because they were accused of supporting such
progressive political parties as the MDC.
Mugabe obviously realizes
that his rotting political party is
consistently losing political support
among the rural people of this
country, and he is desperate to make better
use of traditional leaders to
salvage whatever such support he can for his
reeling party. In light of the
struggling constitution writing process
currently underway in Zimbabwe, it
is imperative that we quickly debate this
issue of the role of traditional
leaders in politics and
governance.
My personal view is that traditional chiefs should be free
to join any
political party of their choice but they should not actively
participate in
partisan politics while they are in office. It is the chiefs'
democratic
right to join and support the political party they want, but they
must not
be allowed to hold any position in the party while they are in
their
traditional office.
In other words chiefs should, indeed, be
politically neutral, at least
insofar as partisan politics is concerned. To
this end, chiefs may belong to
a political party, but they cannot make use
of their traditional office to
further the interests of their party. Neither
should they be allowed to make
use of their customary position as chiefs to
vote in parliament in support
of the position of their political
party.
In fact, I hold the view that traditional chiefs should not be
members
of parliament at all. They should be confined to structures of
customary law
and excluded from the democratic structures of national
governance. At the
provincial level, chiefs should be members of Provincial
Assemblies where
they can discuss issues pertaining to customary law and the
cultural
practices of their people and advise the government
accordingly.
At the national level, chiefs should operate through the
Council of
Chiefs to carry out the same functions. Traditional leaders are
not elected
but they are appointed by the President on the advice of the
Minister of
Local Government. This has tended to make chiefs unduly
politically aligned
to Zanu (PF).
This in turn has negated
democratic development and governance in this
country and has to be brought
to an end. My view is that chiefs should be
appointed by a standing
committee of the Council of Chiefs on the advice of
the relevant Provincial
Assembly. This may reduce the chief's current
tendency to view themselves as
beneficiaries of the Mugabe regime.
In relation to participation in the
policy-making process, the role of
traditional leaders should be that of
advising the governance structures of
the state from a customary law and
cultural standpoint only. In doing so,
the chiefs should ensure that their
party political preferences and
allegiances do not interfere. It is doubtful
that Mugabe and Zanu (PF) will
ever accept these views. The chiefs are also
likely to be reluctant to get
off the Zanu (PF) gravy train at this stage.
But the will of the people must
prevail.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Staff reporter
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 13:11
BULAWAYO - Plumtree police are hunting
down some members of the
Zimbabwe National Army for allegedly threatening to
kill resident magistrate
Mark Dzira after he remanded three of their
colleagues to October 30.
Victor Mugo, Trust Matenda and Tapiwa Chigiji
are facing attempted
murder charges and discharging a firearm in public
following a shooting
incident with a member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
Officer Commanding
CID Matabeleland South Chief Superintendent, Abigail
Moyo, confirmed that
Dzira had received a death threat. She said
investigations were underway.
"Our CID unit is now carrying out
investigations to nab the criminals
and we have identified some suspects
whom we believe to be soldiers. The
suspects were part of a group of army
officers who were involved in a
shooting incident at Dinguzimu Stadium that
left a policeman injured. The
letter stated that the suspects were going to
'blow up' Dzira's head on
October 25," said Chief Supt Moyo
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by MXOLISI
NCUBE
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 14:49
JOHANNESBURG - A recent
decision by the United Nations Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees
(UNHCR) to "deport" 131 Zimbabweans from
Johannesburg has been met with
uproar in South Africa.
The South African province of the
mainstream MDC and the Africa
Heritage Human Rights Forum (AHHRF), a
Johannesburg-based human rights
organisation, have both condemned the action
and vowed to fight what they
termed the abuse of vulnerable
Zimbabweans.
According to information made available to The Zimbabwean
early this
week, the "deported" refugees are part of a group that was
relocated from
Johannesburg's Central Methodist Church to various shelters
in
Rosettenville, in northern Johannesburg early this year.
During
the relocation, which was carried out against the will of
Bishop Paul Verryn
who runs the refugee centre at the church, the United
Nations promised to
look after the unemployed refugees until a permanent
solution was
found.
UN short-lived promises
Verryn raised concerns that
the refugees would be dumped soon after
the leases of the privately-owned
shelters expired, but the city of
Johannesburg and the UN promised to take
care of the refugees, alleging that
they had created a health hazard in
areas around the church.
The Zimbabweans were moved into the shelters
in April this year and
lived there for two months, receiving food vouchers
from the UN, which also
paid for their accommodation.
However, some
of the deported refugees, who have since returned, told
***The Zimbabwean
that they only received the rations for two months. "We
did not get anything
in June and were told that we would soon be moved from
the shelters, but
would not be disengaged from the UN," said Trust Jumo, one
of the affected
Zimbabweans.
"The officials told us that they would sponsor us to do
some self-help
projects and fund us, but only if we agreed to a voluntary
return to
Zimbabwe." Having spent most of their South African life in
misery, the
refugees agreed to the voluntary repatriation, which they
thought would give
them a new start once they arrived in their home
country.
"We were all made to write business proposals, which we handed
in to
the UNHCR officials who kept coming to the shelters. "We were promised
equipment worth about R7 000 each, which we were made to believe was already
in Zimbabwe and would be given to us upon our arrival in the
country."
On July 5, after the business proposals had been submitted,
the UNHCR
organised two buses belonging to the International Organisation
for
Migration (IOM), which were used to transport the Zimbabweans to their
nearest towns.
"We were told that we would get the equipment and
money for our
projects from Christian care in both Bulawayo and Harare,"
said another
Zimbabwean. "Upon arrival at our nearest towns, we were only
given R200 and
told to visit Christian Care offices for the disbursement of
our project
equipment."
Countless fruitless visits
The
refugees say that they made countless visits to the Christian Care
offices,
which bore nothing as they were told that, not only was there
nothing for
them, but the organisation expected nothing to arrive. "I
realised
immediately that we had been fooled and, after failing to make ends
meet in
Zimbabwe, where everything requires foreign currency, yet I was
unemployed,
I sold my phone and came back here," said Jumo, who arrived back
in South
Africa on September 29.
The Zimbabweans say that they had tried to talk
to the UNHCR officers
who organised their return to Zimbabwe, but no
explanation has so far been
given. Edith Tsamba, the AHHRF Director, whose
organisation was approached
by the about 10 Zimbabweans who are already back
in South Africa, told The
Zimbabwean that her organisation was trying to
find out what really
transpired.
"We are still trying to talk to
the UNHCR officers in a bid to
establish the truth about what really
happened," said Tsamba early this
week. "Once we get all the facts regarding
the issue, we will then see how
we can handle this because it is a very
serious matter."
MDC South Africa chairman, Austin Moyo, who has
managed to get
audience from a Zimbabwean who was part of the team that
assisted in the
"repatriation", condemned the action.
"Before these
people left, they were promised several things like
computers which they
would purportedly use in their businesses, some of
which were shown to them
before they left, but they were told that these
would only be made available
to them upon arrival," said Moyo.
Who is to blame?
"I am
actually shocked to learn that they were taken for a ride and as
a party
concerned about the plight of our people, we will make sure that we
get to
the bottom of this matter and find out what happened to both the
money and
the equipment that they were shown.
"At this moment, I am not sure on
who to blame for this because we are
still investigating the matter to find
out whether these things were really
what the Zimbabweans were meant to
believe they were, or they were just
meant to entice them into returning
home.
"If the equipment was really theirs, then whoever could have
misappropriated it should face the music. We cannot allow the already
suffering Zimbabweans to be taken advantage of and exploited in this manner;
they have had enough of these tricks." Efforts to get comment from the UNHCR
proved fruitless at the time of going to print, as the two related officials
said that they were too busy to prepare an immediate answer.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Ellis Ncube
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 11:33
HARARE - Despite fears that there will
be shortage of accommodation
for 2010 visitors, Match, the FIFA's appointed
hospitality agency insists
that Zimbabwe will not play a part in hosting the
soccer fans.
"To date Match has not contracted accommodation in
Zimbabwe and are
unlikely to resume the failed talks with the Zimbabwean
hospitality
industry," said Tamsyn Logie of Match event services.
Match and the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority's discussions to sign up 800
rooms
in and around Victoria Falls failed after the parties could not agree
on
when Match would confirm bookings and when any unsold rooms would be
released back into the market.
Match was tasked by FIFA to secure
55,000 rooms for the event, but due
to the limited number of available rooms
in SA, Match has had to look
elsewhere - signing up rooms as far away as
Mauritius, and ignoring
neighbouring Zimbabwe. Match is also in the process
of contracting 400 rooms
in Mozambique.
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com
Published Date: 22 October 2009
By Fred
Bridgland in Johannesburg
IN ONE of the biggest land deals in African
history, white South African
farmers have acquired access to 40,000 square
miles of land along the
northern banks of the Congo River to develop as
agricultural land.
The transaction, newly signed and underwritten by the
African National
Congress government, will see up to 1,700 farmers acquire
land in the
Republic of the Congo - the smaller of the two Congo states,
north-west of
the larger Democratic Republic of the Congo - on 30-year
leases. There is
no charge for the land. The leases are renewable, and for
the first five
years the pioneers will be exempt from taxes and import
duties
Andre Botha, spokesman of Agri-SA, the main South African farmers'
organisation, said white agriculturalists would initially begin developing
some 800 square miles of failed and derelict state farms in the
poverty-stricken former French colony, also known as
Congo-Brazzaville.
Seventy white farmers have already established
operations in
Congo-Brazzaville, but a "few hundred" more will soon follow,
said Mr Botha.
Most would not settle permanently in Congo-Brazzaville - the
farming
operations there will mainly be extensions of core South African
enterprises.
White farmers in southern Africa are seen as the most
technologically
advanced on the continent. Farming elsewhere in Africa is
stymied by
out-of-date practices and communal customs that have made it
difficult to
acquire land title deeds required by banks before they will
advance capital.
The move of white farmers north through Africa was
pioneered by Bukola
Saraki, the young and dynamic governor of Nigeria's
Kwara state. He gave
scores of white Zimbabwean farmers thrown off their
properties by President
Robert Mugabe four square mile parcels of virgin
bush each on the banks of
the Niger River to be developed into
state-of-the-art farmland. The
Zimbabweans, said Governor Saraki, were
Africans with expertise that they
could pass on to people whose farming
practices were mired "at the
rake-and-hoe level".
When the
Congo-Brazzaville government first made its move to attract white
farmers in
January this year, the largely black ANC government under former
president
Thabo Mbeki opposed the initiative. But president Jacob Zuma, who
took
office in May, backed the move and opened discussions with
Congo-Brazzaville
to give moral and legal support to the farming adventure.
"I think the
change of heart came when we explained (to South Africa's
agriculture
minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson] that it was not because we were
negative
about South Africa but positive about Africa," said Theo de Jager,
deputy
president of Agri-SA.
Andre Botha said the Congo-Brazzaville invitation
does not mean South
African farmers are abandoning their country. "This
initiative is not a new
Great Trek for farmers to run away," he said. "Of
the seventy farmers
already there, no-one has sold their farm in South
Africa."
Botha said farmers had a good working relationship with the
current ANC
government.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=23963
October 22, 2009
By
Raymond Maingire
HARARE - Prominent South Africa clergyman the Very
Reverend Dean Rowan Smith
says Zimbabwe still has a long way to go towards
fully upholding the basic
freedoms of ordinary citizens, despite the recent
formation of the inclusive
government by the country's major political
parties.
Smith, who is the Anglican Dean of Cape Town, said Zimbabweans
should
continue to hold their government to account and press for the full
enjoyment of their freedoms.
On a scale of one to ten, he placed the
country's human rights situation at
five.
The South African clergyman
said although the formation of the unity
government by President Robert
Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the two MDC formations
had helped ease political
tensions in the country, the government should
start appreciating the roles
of both the opposition and the media.
"They should improve on respecting
the role of the opposition and the
media," said Smith.
"There has to
be an independent media so that people don't feel they always
have to refer
anyway to what the State says and criticise from a
constructive point of
view."
Smith was talking to The Zimbabwe Times moments after addressing
over 500
people gathered at the Harare Gardens on Wednesday to mark the
Africa Human
Rights Day.
The crowd, which comprised activists from
various human rights based
organisations operating in the country, had
assembled after staging a street
march around the perimeters of the Harare
Gardens.
October 21 is a date on which the African Charter on Human and
People's
Rights came into force in 1986.
The charter seeks to combine
African values with international norms. It
guarantees civil and political
rights, as well as socio-economic rights. It
imposes duties towards the
family, community and the state.
Smith was an emissary of Nobel Peace
Price laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu
of South Africa, who had been invited
to the commemorations in Harare.
In terms of the Anglican Church
hierarchy, Dean Smith is second to
Archbishop Tutu, a strong critic of
President Mugabe's rule.
Smith said he was pleased with the eventual
release of human rights
activists who had been abducted by State agents
between October and December
last year on allegation that they plotted to
oust President Mugabe.
"I was pleased recently to hear that Jestina
(Mukoko) had been released," he
said.
"I hope therefore that others
who are still being held for what it seems is
their position on some of the
issues that are still happening in Zimbabwe
would also be
released.
"One hopes that the government will recognise the importance of
listening to
the voice of the opposition, particularly those who speak from
a sense of
upholding human rights for all the people."
Smith said
President Mugabe's continued attacks on Archbishop Tutu were
unwarranted as
they centred more on his person than the things he would be
addressing.
"We must always avoid making things personal and rather
speak to the
principle of the person," he said.
"We should disagree
with them in their practice and not make it a personal
thing. I think this
is what we must try to achieve."
Smith urged the feuding political
leaders to bury their differences for the
good of ordinary
Zimbabweans.
Speaking at the same occasion, Constitutional Affairs
Minister, Advocate
Eric Matinenga slammed his MDC party's partners in
government for
cherry-picking rights which were convenient to them while
condemning some as
western based concepts.
Matinenga said it was sad
that whilst Zimbabwe was a signatory to various
world human rights
instruments, it was still paying lip service to the
upholding of those
rights.
"It is sad that while we are a signatory, we don't walk the
talk," he said.
"It is critical that we do not only sing about rights but
we practice those
rights and we accord people the rights that they
deserve."
Matinenga said the Zanu-PF side of the inclusive government
should learn to
respect property rights and accept the importance of
regional tribunals that
find them in violation of those
rights.
"Rights are universal," said Matinenga. "They are not particular
to a group
of people. They are not specific to a country. There are no human
rights
which only apply to the western world or eastern world or
Africa.
"It is also important that we do not seek to pick and seek to
respect
certain rights because those particular rights are rights which we
are
comfortable with," he said.
Matinenga said Zimbabweans should
write a constitution that encompasses a
wider array of human rights that
include the right to education, health and
rights that affect disadvantaged
groups such as the disabled, the young, the
old as well as women.
He
said such rights were not enshrined in the current Lancaster House
Constitution.
"As we set out to write our new constitution," said
Matinenga, "let's seek
to expand the concept of human rights as they affect
children, women, the
youth and the disabled among other disadvantaged
groups."
http://www.swradioafrica.com
21 October 2009
AFRICA HUMAN RIGHTS
DAY
The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum (the Forum) and the Zimbabwe
Human
Rights Association (ZIMRIGHTS) joins the rest of Africa in
commemorating the
African Human Rights on 21 October. The day was set aside
by the African
Union (Organisation of African Union then) to commemorate the
entry into
force of the Africa Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. This
year's
celebrations follow a year of relative calm and peace in Zimbabwe
following
the signing of the Global Political Agreement and afford as an
opportunity
to assess the commitment of the Inclusive Government to the
values and
ideals set out in the African Charter.
On 21 October 1986,
the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights came
into force as a solemn
undertaking by African heads of state to promote and
safeguard freedom,
justice, equality and human dignity in Africa. The
African Commission on
Human and Peoples' Rights at its Fifth Ordinary
Session in April 1989, in
Benghazi, Libya, recommended the commemoration of
Africa Human Rights Day as
an occasion for recommitment to the cause of
human rights and fundamental
freedoms on the Continent and to tackle the
human rights problems that are
affecting and continue to affect the lives of
millions of men, women and
children including the challenges of poverty,
conflicts, HIV/AIDS, gender
based discrimination, violence against women.
The context of this year's
celebrations is unique in that it follows the
signing of the GPA and the
subsequent establishment of Government of
National Unity (GNU) which has
brought about relative peace and stability to
Zimbabwe. The GPA has afforded
Zimbabweans an opportunity to input into the
drafting of a new constitution
(article 6) and the creation of mechanisms
that may achieve national
healing, cohesion and unity (article 7).
It is against this backdrop that
the Forum together with its member
organisation the ZIMRIGHTS shall be
conducting a march to commemorate Africa
Human Rights Day and to encourage
the GNU to take positive steps to
inculcate the values enshrined in the
African Human Rights system into our
legislative agenda.
End//
http://www.ciir.org/
21 Oct
2009
Zimbabwe's senior Catholic bishops have called for a new phase of
national
healing and reconciliation, saying both must be a top priority if
the
troubled nation is to achieve political, social, cultural and economic
development.
In a pastoral letter currently being distributed across
the country - "God
can Heal the Wounds of the Afflicted"- the Zimbabwe
Catholic Bishops'
Conference calls on the Zimbabwean people to "fully accept
each other and
commit.to work[ing] together in solidarity, justice and
peace."
"Today, as we struggle with the Global Political Agreement [on
power
sharing], national economic recovery, the national constitutional
process,
national healing, national visioning.we must acknowledge and
recognize the
significance of this historical moment", the letter
says.
It continues: "We, as leaders of the Church, are committed to help
this
country achieve normalcy. We urge Government to show political
willingness
by creating a conducive environment for national healing,
reconciliation and
integration."
Progressio's Dr Steve Kibble,
Advocacy Coordinator for Africa said: "We
welcome the renewed commitment of
church leaders in Zimbabwe to respond with
greater unity and purpose to heal
the wounds of the nation as well as those
which still exist within and
between Zimbabwe's churches."
He continued: "However, many of the key
conditions of the GPA have not been
fulfilled as yet and reconciliation is
only just beginning. Churches will
need to engage with progress towards free
and fair elections and drafting a
new constitution to help Zimbabweans move
towards a new and brighter
future."
Zimbabwe still finds itself deep
in crisis: unemployment and emigration are
widespread, schools and
universities are struggling to function and HIV
transmissions continue at
alarming rates.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by The Zimbabwean
Wednesday, 21
October 2009 13:23
Becoming Zimbabwe: A History from The Pre-Colonial
Period to 2008.
Edited by: Brian Raftopoulos and Alois Mlambo EAN/ISBN-13:
978-11-7700-9636
Published by Jacana Media in September, 2009
In 1997, the then-Secretary General of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade
Unions
(ZCTU), Morgan Tsvangirai, expressed the need for a "more open and
critical
process of writing history in Zimbabwe . . . The history of a
nation-in-the-making should not be reduced to a selective heroic tradition,
but should be a tolerant and continuing process of questioning and
re-examination". Becoming Zimbabwe tracks the idea of national belonging and
citizenship and explores the nature of state rule, the changing contours of
the political economy, and the regional and international dimensions of the
country's history.
In their Introduction, Brian Raftopoulos and
Alois Mlambo enlarge on
these themes, and Gerald Mazarire's opening chapter
sets the pre-colonial
background. Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni tracks the history
up to World War II,
and Alois Mlambo reviews developments in the settler
economy and the
emergence of nationalism leading to the Unilateral
Declaration of
Independence (UDI) in 1965. The politics and economics of the
UDI period,
and the subsequent war of liberation, are covered by Joseph
Mtisi,
Munyaradzi Nyakudya and Teresa Barnes.
After independence in
1980, Zimbabwe enjoyed a period of buoyancy and
hope. James Muzondidya's
chapter details the transition "from buoyancy to
crisis", and Brian
Raftopoulos concludes the book with an analysis of the
decade-long crisis
and the global political agreement which followed. "A
profound new history
of Zimbabwe that tears apart all of the old
certainties." - David Moore,
Associate Professor of Development Studies,
University of
Johannesburg.
Brian Raftopoulos was formerly Associate Professor of
Development
Studies at the University of Zimbabwe, and is currently the
Director of
Research and Advocacy, Solidarity Peace Trust since 2007, based
in Cape
Town. He has published extensively on Zimbabwean history,
historiography,
politics, and economics. From the late 1990's he was a key
civil society
leader in Zimbabwe, serving on the founding executive of the
National
Constitutional Assembly from 1998-2000, and the first Chair of the
Crisis in
Zimbabwe Coalition 2001-2003. Currently also Research Fellow at
UWC and
Research Associate at UCT.
First Prize Zimbabwe
International Book Fair in the category
non-fiction for the Brian
Raftopoulos and Tsuneo Yoshikuni (Eds), Sites of
Struggle: Essays in
Zimbabwe's Urban History, Weaver Press, Harare, 1999
http://www.nytimes.com
Editorial
Published: October 21, 2009
Zimbabwe's president,
Robert Mugabe, and his party have been trying to blow
up the power-sharing
arrangement ever since neighboring states put it
together last year. They
are now perilously close to succeeding.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
announced last week that he and his party,
the Movement for Democratic
Change, would boycott cabinet meetings to
protest the arrest and detention
of an important party leader, one of a long
series of arrests ordered by Mr.
Mugabe to make power-sharing unworkable.
The departure of Mr. Tsvangirai
and his allies from government would be a
disaster for Zimbabwe's
long-suffering people. The Southern African
Development Community, the
15-member regional organization that brokered the
deal, must demand that Mr.
Mugabe finally abide by its terms and spirit. If
he refuses, the community
should withdraw recognition from his government
and insist on new,
internationally supervised elections.
Mr. Tsvangirai clearly won the
first round of Zimbabwe's 2008 presidential
vote. Then Mr. Mugabe let loose
the army and thugs from his party, ZANU-PF,
who made it impossible for Mr.
Tsvangirai to continue campaigning for the
decisive second round. Mr. Mugabe
claimed re-election by default, but few
recognized his rule as legitimate.
The United States and the European Union
applied constructive pressure by
tightening financial sanctions against Mr.
Mugabe's close
associates.
At that point other African leaders should have pressed Mr.
Mugabe to
organize new elections or step aside. Instead, they devised a
deeply flawed
"power-sharing" deal. It provided for Mr. Mugabe to continue
as president
and Mr. Tsvangirai to be named prime minister. Cabinet jobs
were
apportioned. But Mr. Mugabe's loyalists kept control of the army,
police and
the courts and used that power to arrest and intimidate
opposition leaders,
including members of the new government.
The new
cabinet put honest and competent opposition leaders in charge of
education,
health, housing and child welfare. Their efforts, along with the
help they
enlisted from international relief agencies, turned back a deadly
cholera
epidemic and famine, slowed the crippling exodus of teachers and
made it
possible for Zimbabwe's next generation to imagine a better future.
If
power-sharing can be saved, those ministries need to stay in qualified
hands. ZANU-PF's grip on the army and courts must be loosened and a
nonpolitical expert should be named to run the central bank. If Mr. Mugabe
won't agree to those terms, new elections must be scheduled, with active
international supervision, so that democracy, not intimidation, determines
their outcome.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by The Editor
Wednesday, 21
October 2009 12:33
Having taken the bold step of disengaging from Zanu
(PF), the MDC must
ensure that it is not coerced into returning before all
the outstanding
issues are resolved. We urge them to learn well the lessons
of the past 12
months. They cannot trust Zanu (PF).
They must not
be taken in again by promises of sorting everything out
once they have
returned to the fold. They must ensure that all outstanding
issues are
completely resolved before they agree to return. If they do not,
they will
simply find themselves haggling for the next 12 months, being
distracted
from the real work of running the country properly. There should
be no grey
areas left unresolved. Everything must be clearly spelt out in
minute
detail. As deputy prime minister, Arthur Mutambara, correctly points
out,
the outstanding issues also include those points contained in the SADC
communiqué of January 29, issued as an addendum to the Global Political
Agreement. If Mugabe and Zanu (PF) are not prepared to implement all the
terms of these agreements in full, MDC must stand firm. If Mugabe thinks he
can govern by himself, then let him.
We would not be at all
surprised if Mugabe thinks he can go it alone.
That is what he has wanted
all along. Everyone knows he just used MDC to
regain his credibility
following the sham June presidential run-off
election. He will probably
appoint acting ministers to fill the posts of the
MDC ministers who are
boycotting his cabinet, claiming that as they are not
in their offices he
has a responsibility as president to appoint other
ministers so that so
government can continue to function. If this is the
case, a diplomatic
offensive must be mounted to further tighten the travel
and international
financial restrictions on Zanu (PF) individuals by western
governments.
We applaud Ian Khama, president of Botswana, for his
principled
stance: he will not recognise Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe if
the GPA
collapses. South Africa should follow his lead in this. Of course,
most of
the other members of SADC are in Mugabe's pocket and therefore we
cannot
hope for much from them. But Zanu (PF) should be reminded that the
collapse
of the GPA will inevitably lead to a return to the economic
meltdown with
further suffering and a reversal of the gains of the past
eight months.
Those gains were largely effected by Minister of Finance
Tendai Biti's
diligent control of the fiscus and the removal from Gideon
Gono of his
ability to print money willy nilly.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by GABRIEL
GIDI
Tuesday, 20 October 2009 15:33
The decision by the MDC to
stop cooperating with Zanu (PF) at cabinet
and council of ministers level
has met with mixed reactions. There are those
who think that the MDC has
made a tactical error by backing themselves into
a corner. They argue that
if nothing happens then the MDC will be forced to
go back into the Unity
Government with its tail between its legs. On the
other hand are those who
feel that the MDC did the right thing by taking
action and making a clear
statement that things are not working. Those on
this side feel that the time
has come to stop hoping that things will get
better and to start taking
concrete steps.
What is clear is that both those who disagree with the
decision and
those who agree are all agreed that walking away from the GNU
will be
catastrophic. Everyone seems to realise that this deal offers more
hope for
our nation than a situation where Mugabe and his lieutenants take
over the
running of the country again.
I am not privy to Zanu (PF)
thinking so I do not know what they think
about the total collapse of this
deal. Many in that party, including Robert
Mugabe, believe that they have
divine right to rule Zimbabwe - even after
losing the elections. This
explains why Mugabe is not doing anything, even
where issues have been
resolved and agreed. The issue of provincial
governors is a case in point.
One senses that they are trying to push the
MDC into walking away so that
they can go back to the policies that made
them rich while the rest of the
population starved.
Soon the land audit will start asking some
uncomfortable questions.
These may not result in people giving back land
(Zanu does not do giving
back) but it will expose the greed and corruption
at the heart of the whole
land reform programme. It is, therefore, in the
interests of Zanu (PF) that
this unity government collapses because then
they can go back to blaming
others for the problems bedevilling our
nation.
Given this scenario it is imperative that the MDCs (Mutambara
included) define a clear course of action. Some uncomfortable questions
should be asked - such as when pulling out of the GNU will become an option
as well as how much time they are going to give Zanu (PF) before escalating
the crisis. There have to be some bench marks to determine when continued
participation is no longer possible.
The MDC does not have to make
these public but it does need to start
planning for two outcomes - the
possibility of the contentious issues being
resolved and the GNU continuing
and the possibility that things will come to
a head and the GNU collapse. I
am of the opinion that we need to keep this
government going for as long as
we can but that when it becomes unworkable
then we should disengage
fully.
Those in the relationship are better placed to make this
judgement
call. What we on the outside can only say is that when the time
comes there
must be widespread consultation to ensure that the decision has
the support
of ordinary people as well as those in the leadership of the
party.
I do not subscribe to the school of thought that says that the
MDC
will be the main loser if the GNU fails. Zanu (PF) will still be the
government but only in name because there won't be a country to rule over.
If anything, it may end up being the tipping point for Zanu (PF) as the
people's anger may boil over.
Zanu (PF) would do well to think of
the possible consequences before
sounding the death knell on the GNU. The
people are now aware that Zanu (PF)
was given a lifeline by the MDC. If they
choose to squander it then they
will face the consequences.
The
GNU, with all its shortcomings, allows the MDC some measure of
influence and
control with regard to the destiny of our nation. For example
it has made it
impossible for Gideon Gono to unilaterally dispense of the
World Bank funds.
It has given them access to government information as well
as an opportunity
to show the people that they can be a government. Everyone
is talking about
how the MDC has brought change to people's lives. Everyone
is also aware
that the pace of change is being slowed down by Zanu (PF).
These are the
benefits accruing from the MDC's participation in the GNU.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Braam Hanekom
Wednesday,
21 October 2009 11:55
CAPE TOWN - I have to note with disappointment
that the decision made
by the MDC to boycott cabinet meetings was made while
they still held their
positions.
It is confusing and concerning
that the party has shown great
inconsistency, they have preached that the
government of national unity is
safe to invest in and yet they openly admit
that Zanu (PF) has neglected
them and disrespected them. It further disturbs
me that the decision to
withdraw was made while still driving in the luxury
vehicles that cabinet
ministers have been given, and while still maintaining
their positions.
Surely for any government to function, regardless of the
political tensions
that exist, a cabinet needs to be coordinated and
informed of each other
ministry's actions?
It seems to me that the
decision to remain in their positions lacked
courage and belief in the
integrity of certain MDC ministers, who would most
likely defect from MDC
and remain in positions because of their new found
power and lifestyles. The
withdrawal from meetings defeats the point of
being in cabinet. They are
still indulging in lavish lifestyles, but just
not fulfilling the minimum
expectations of their jobs. This decision is a
jelly fish one which only
creates confusion and more frustration.
Zimbabweans were distressed and
confused when the decision to make the huge
"unity government compromise"
was made; it was obvious that there would
never be a government with Mugabe
and Tsvangirai respecting each other.
Great power, great
responsibility
How the MDC can come to this position after, not before,
touring the
world and guaranteeing them of the security of Zimbabwe's unity
government
really is disturbing. This is just one of the many
disappointments that have
kept MDC out of the presidency. Let us not forget
that after six months of
its existence the MDC won half the vote, in what it
alleged was a rigged
election. Now 10 years later they have still not taken
over. That the MDC
has, in that time, divided and the MDC-T constitution has
been amended-
allowing for the president of the MDC to remain in power
"indefinitely".
This questions the democratic structures of the movement. It
must be
remembered that the revolutionary people's frustration and anger has
been
silenced by their faith in the MDC. Tsvangirai said himself that they
had
been given the people's mandate, but what have they done with this
mandate?
There has been a silent genocide with millions dying from
avoidable
diseases and starvation while people invest their votes, at great
risk, in
the MDC-T. Is it fair to say that in the last 10 years the MDC has
remained
with the mandate of the people, has taken on great responsibility
and has
achieved very little? In this time millions, in fact as much as a
third of
Zimbabwe's population, have migrated, life expectancy has almost
halved,
employment levels have reach rock bottom, schools have been shut for
months
on end and hospitals ended up without basic medicines. Does the great
power
they have not also come with great responsibility?
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Obert Gutu
Wednesday, 21 October 2009 12:42
HARARE
- The global political agreement (GPA) that was solemnised in
Harare amidst
much pomp and ceremony on September 15, 2008 has been anything
but a happy
marriage.
Marriages of convenience are never known for their marital
bliss and
harmony. For a young and vibrant political party such as the MDC
led by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to seek to enter into a marriage of
convenience with a tired and faction-ridden party such as Zanu (PF) was
always going to be a tall order. The two parties are fundamentally and
structurally dissimilar. The MDC is a movement that believes in a genuine
democratic dispensation where the leadership of the party is accountable to
its membership and is never allowed to degenerate into a one -person band;
while Zanu (PF) has a tradition of being a commandeering and top-down
political party where the '' big man'' syndrome is deeply entrenched. It is
an organisation where any form of alternative thinking is ruthlessly clamped
down and denounced as sell-out and/or neo-imperialist machinations.
While the MDC is forward-looking in its ideology and easily encourages
robust debate amongst its membership, but Zanu (PF) is deeply stuck in
history and rather than engage the future and move forward, spends precious
energy and time ''celebrating'' its past glory and eulogizing its former
heroes, both living and dead, regardless of the apparent fact that some of
these ''heroes'' have since mutated into rabid tyrants who viciously clamp
down upon any form of dissent - real or imagined. Zanu (PF) will languish in
a fool's paradise if they think the MDC is just playing mind games. For some
strange reason, none of the 25 articles of the GPA provides for any
dissolution of the agreement. But this does not mean it cannot be dissolved.
Upon good and sufficient cause being shown and proved by any contracting
party, any agreement (and this includes the GPA) can be terminated.
It cannot be allowed to hang around the neck of the MDC like some kind
of
the sword of Damocles. As a social democratic party, the MDC is busy
consulting its supporters and Zimbabweans in general to decide whether or
not this unhappy marriage called the inclusive government should be allowed
to continue. The people will decide. Some misguided senior civil servants,
who are still nursing a hangover of the expired Zanu (PF) political
hegemony, have tried to mislead the nation by announcing that it will be
business as usual in the inclusive government. It is this type of denial
that has been the hallmark of Zanu(PF)' s descent into a deeply unpopular
organisation that is loosely held together by bitterly opposed and largely
tribal factions. Without the MDC under the astute leadership of Morgan
Tsvangirai, Zimbabwe cannot be taken any further on the democratisation and
socio-economic development fronts. Zanu (PF) is beyond redemption and
indeed, all right-thinking and genuinely patriotic Zimbabweans locate the
salvation of this great country in the MDC. The MDC's decision to disengage
from Zanu (PF), thought not from the inclusive government, is instructive.
Some of us were not at all surprised by this bold and courageous decision.
We had seen it coming. Mindful of the inherent mistrust typical of all
forced marriages, we appreciated that a battered and habitually abused
spouse in any unhappy marriage will, at some point in time, cry out foul and
seek to assert his/her rights vis-a-vis the abusive partner. The MDC's
tolerance threshold for continued abuse by Zanu (PF) was not going to last
forever. When a husband promises to take his wife out for dinner at a trendy
restaurant and then ends up selfishly cancelling the appointment and
replacing it with a parcel of rotten beef for dinner at home, alarm bells
should start to ring.
The MDC won the March 2008 elections. Morgan
Tsvangirai beat Robert
Mugabe hands down during the presidential elections
that were held the same
day. I will not dignify the electoral farce that
took place on June 27, 2008
by making a substantive comment on it. Suffice
to state that even the most
die-hard Zanu (PF) supporters would agree that
the June 27, 2008 run-off
election '' result'' cannot be accepted as a
genuine and free expression of
the people's will. As expected, some
latter-day opportunists and turncoat
political '' analysts'' have wasted no
time in condemning the MDC decision.
What these individuals seem not to
appreciate is that the MDC has not walked
out of the inclusive government.
It has simply given notice to their
hostile and uncooperative partner that
unless they start honouring their
obligations honestly and honourably,
divorce summons will sure be issued
sooner rather than later. In the
practice of law, what the MDC has done is
tantamount to issuing a strongly
worded letter of demand. Any lawyer worth
his/her salt will tell you that if
a letter of demand is flagrantly ignored
by the person to whom it is sent,
appropriate legal action should ensue
forthwith.