Zim Independent
Dumisani
Muleya
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe was on Wednesday confronted
head-on by an
unusually aggressive Zanu PF old guard during a heated
politburo exchange
over war veterans leader Jabulani Sibanda’s controversial
campaign for him
to remain as party leader.
Well-informed
sources said Mugabe tried to remain composed during the
debate but was
occasionally shaken as tempers boiled over.
At the end of the
meeting, Mugabe prevented the conflict from spilling
over into today’s
potentially volatile central committee meeting by
unilaterally striking the
issue from the agenda.
The fierce attack on Sibanda — in which
Mugabe also became a target —
in the politburo was led by the party’s
vice-president Joseph Msika and
senior colleagues, mainly from the former
PF-Zapu.
The angry clashes, it is said, were so ugly that for the
first time
they shook to its roots the 1987 Unity Accord between Zanu PF and
PF-Zapu,
the foundation of Mugabe’s current power structure.
The sources said Msika led the offensive and was supported by senior
party
officials such as Dumiso Dabengwa, retired army commander General
Solomon
Mujuru, party chair John Nkomo, Angeline Masuku, Joshua Malinga,
Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu and retired General Vitalis Zvinavashe.
Veteran politburo
members Didymus Mutasa, administration secretary,
and Kumbirai Kangai were
also involved in the intense debate sparked by an
address on the Sibanda
case by Emmerson Mnangagwa.
The issue, formally on the politburo
agenda, created a storm which
left the party reeling. The Sibanda drama has
become part of Mugabe’s
simmering succession battle.
The
sources said after Mnangagwa addressed the meeting on Sibanda’s
legal status
in the party, Msika took over and spearheaded the political
assault.
Prior to that Mnangagwa had mumbled complaints about
why he had to
deal with the issue, but Mutasa said he had to tackle it in
his position as
the secretary for legal affairs. Mutasa said he had recently
been inundated
with complaints from party members complaining about the
Sibanda issue. He
said people wanted to know "what the hell is going
on".
Mutasa said Sibanda was expelled from the party and he did not
understand how he was campaigning for Zanu PF and its leader. Mnangagwa said
while it was true that Sibanda was expelled, he had appealed against the
decision and the issue was pending.
However, Nkomo, the Zanu PF
national disciplinary committee chair,
told the meeting he was not aware of
the appeal which Mnangagwa was
referring to.
After Mnangagwa’s
address, Msika launched into a vicious attack on
Sibanda, saying he was
undermining the party leadership and causing
confusion in Mugabe’s name. He
said Sibanda’s offensive, particularly on
former PF-Zapu leaders, was
instigated by politicians outside Matabeleland
region, showing there was a
sinister agenda behind it. He said it was
surprising Sibanda was acting in
Mugabe’s name and there has not been a
public correction of
this.
Msika was backed by Dabengwa, who said it was clear that
Sibanda was
supported in his campaign by people who are not war veterans but
hired guns.
He said most genuine war veterans were watching with shock and
outrage
Sibanda’s antics. Senior former PF-Zapu leaders say Sibanda was not
a bona
fide war veteran because he was too young for the liberation
struggle.
Mujuru said the root cause of the problem was Sibanda’s
sponsor. He
asked who was funding Sibanda and war veterans’ solidarity
marches in
support of Mugabe.
"This is where the root cause of
the problem is," Mujuru reportedly
said. "Unfortunately, this politburo is
too big for nothing, otherwise if it
was small, say about five people or so,
I would tell you exactly where
Sibanda is getting the money
from."
Zvinavashe said he did not understand why the Sibanda saga
was in the
first place a big issue in Zanu PF because Sibanda was merely
heading a
group of people belonging to a voluntary association which has its
own
patron but has nothing to do with real war veterans and the ruling
party.
Masuku said at the rate at which Sibanda was busy
demolishing the
party, Zanu PF would not win, particularly in Matabeleland
where leaders
were under siege, unless Mugabe intervened as a matter of
urgency.
In a move against an escalating wave of attacks on Sibanda
and
indirectly on Mugabe, Naison Ndlovu said the Zanu PF leadership largely
in
Matabeleland had no reason to complain about Sibanda because he was in
fact
their political creature.
Kangai tried to calm down the
situation, saying since there was a
flare-up about the Sibanda issue, Mutasa
should tell Sibanda to "cool down".
To his shock, he was heckled by those
who wanted Sibanda silenced outright
and also by those who wanted him to
continue in support of Mugabe.
After a two-hour battle, Mugabe
emerged on top, but badly bruised
about the fierce attacks. He saved himself
from further assaults today by
removing the Sibanda issue from the central
committee meeting agenda.
Zim Independent
Dumisani
Muleya/ Constantine Chimakure
AS the Zanu PF power struggle
rages on, President Robert Mugabe has
all but secured the endorsement he
desperately needs to be the party’s
presidential candidate in next year’s
elections. What remains is an
automatic approval of his candidacy at the
party’s extraordinary congress in
December, it became evident this
week.
Inside sources said debate on Mugabe’s endorsement would be
effectively closed today after the central committee approves an agenda for
the congress. The agenda, the sources said, will have four items: minutes of
the 2004 congress; a report on the central committee meeting; a declaration
and confirmation of Mugabe, the president and first secretary of the party,
as the presidential election candidate in March; and any other
business.
This is what the politburo decided on Wednesday and will
be approved
today, the sources said. Party official Emmerson Mnangagwa, who
is
supporting Mugabe’s candidacy, presented the agenda to the politburo. The
politburo also agreed that Mugabe would be the candidate without resistance
from the Solomon Mujuru faction which has been threatening behind the scenes
to block his endorsement.
The Mujuru faction has been
campaigning to block Mugabe.
Vice-President Joseph Msika and other
Zanu PF officials have been
saying that Mugabe has not yet been
endorsed.
While the Zanu PF constitution says the central committee
— the party’s
main decision-making organ in between congresses — "formulates
the agenda,
procedures and regulations for the business of congress", in
practice the
politburo, a secretariat of the central committee, prepares the
agenda.
After today’s approval of the congress agenda, carefully
designed to
lead to Mugabe’s endorsement without contest, the whole
hullabaloo about
Mugabe’s candidacy should die down in the party as his
approval would become
a mere formality in December. Congress will be
railroaded into endorsing
Mugabe and as a result he will — at least for a
while — get a reprieve from
his simmering succession crisis, it was
said.
"The congress will last from December 12 to 14," a senior
politburo
member said. "In reality it will last for just a few hours because
on the
12th there will be a politburo meeting and on the 13th a central
committee
meeting and on the last day, which is on the 14th it will be about
endorsing
Mugabe as candidate."
"It will be a formality," the
politburo member said, "because
according to our constitution congress only
discusses those issues which it
was convened for. Any attempts to suggest a
different candidate to Mugabe
will be ruled out of order."
Fears that Mugabe wants to fight next year’s election and win in order
to
become president for life intensified after the Women’s League, clearly
acting as a rent-a-crowd in the politburo meeting on Wednesday, burst into a
song saying "Mugabe is our leader forever". During the March 30 central
committee meeting, the Women’s League proposed that Mugabe should be
president for life. Msika warned against such emotional decisions.
Zim Independent
THE country is set to
endure more power cuts as Zesa yesterday
announced it will switch off Kariba
Power Station for maintenance.
This comes barely a week after two
thirds of the capital was plunged
into darkness due to vandalism and
equipment failure.
In a statement yesterday, Zesa advised that
there will be a
significant increase in load-shedding due to reduced
generation at Kariba
Power Station from October 26 (today) to November
6.
"This has been necessitated by critical corrective maintenance
which
has to be undertaken on the generator transformer serving Units 1 and
2 at
the Power Station, which is now long overdue," says the
statement.
Generation at Kariba Power Station will thus be reduced
by 250MW, from
a capacity of 750MW.
The outages, which had been
mainly restricted to residential suburbs
last week spilled into the city
centre bringing to a standstill operations
at the Passport Office and
private hospitals while businesses at suburban
shopping centres were badly
affected.
Zesa spokesman Fullard Gwasira said the power utility has
however put
in place arrangements to alleviate the situation through
increased power
generation at Hwange, which will be subject to the
availability of adequate
coal supplies. — Staff Writer.
Zim Independent
Loughty
Dube
WAR veterans leader Jabulani Sibanda’s grip on Zanu PF’s
Bulawayo
province is set to end on Sunday when the ruling party holds
crucial
district coordinating committee (DCC) elections, having been
weakened in
last weekend’s polls for grassroots structures.
Sibanda’s faction in Bulawayo suffered a major setback after it was
defeated
in district executive elections by another camp supported by
politburo and
central committee members, among them party chairman John
Nkomo, Dumiso
Dabengwa and Sikhanyiso Ndlovu.
The party’s old guard has been at
loggerhead with Sibanda.
Party sources said that last weekend’s
elections paved the way for the
elimination of Sibanda’s camp ahead of the
election of the provincial
executive by the DCCs.
"Sibanda is
finished and his control of the province will end this
week when the
district executives elect the DCC, and once a DCC loyal to
senior party
leaders is in place the old guard will be in charge," said a
source.
Sibanda was fired from the party after he was linked to
the November
2004 Tsholotsho declaration to re-arrange the Zanu PF
presidium.
However, despite his expulsion Sibanda — a former Zanu
PF Bulawayo
chairman — continued to influence decisions in the province,
shadowing an
interim executive committee led by Macloud Chawe.
Party sources said the old guard, which caused the postponement of the
polls
on numerous occasions, masterminded the outcome of the district
executive
elections.
But Zanu PF Bulawayo spokesperson Effort Nkomo yesterday
denied the
claims.
"The elections went on smoothly where all
party members took part,"
Nkomo said. "There were no manoeuvres (by the old
guard) as claimed. DCC
elections will be held this weekend," Nkomo
said.
He, however, said a date for provincial elections was yet to
be set.
Earlier this year, Zanu PF national commissar Elliot
Manyika was
stopped from conducting elections in the province because he
wanted to allow
members from Sibanda’s faction to cast votes.
In what was seen as a move to dilute Sibanda’s influence, Nkomo
earlier this
year fired 50 members from district structures loyal to the war
veterans
leader’s group after snubbing a meeting he had called to resolve
differences
in the province.
A restructuring team led by deputy national
commissar Richard Ndlovu,
Nkomo and Manyika recently concluded a
restructuring and party
re-organisation exercise where they recommended that
districts be expanded
from 23 to 53 — a move that was seen by many as
creating more wards to
weaken Sibanda’s grip on the province.
The party sources said people who won elections to the new district
executives were loyal to a faction backing Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s
presidential aspirations.
"The Sibanda faction is finished as
all those that were elected in
weekend elections are aligned to the faction
supporting Mujuru," the sources
said. "What this means is that those who are
in the districts will form the
electoral college that will elect the
DCC."
But the old guard in the province will have to contend with
Sibanda’s
growing powers nationally where he is leading marches in support
of
President Mugabe’s bid to win the party candidacy for next year’s
presidential poll.
Zim Independent
Lucia
Makamure
INVESTIGATIONS into the Minister of Rural Housing and
Social Amenities
Emmerson Mnangagwa’s involvement in an alleged coup which
led to the arrest
of six men in June have hit a brick wall after it emerged
this week that the
police have not been able to come up with anything to
substantiate the
claims.
Superintendent Simon Mundondwa, the
officer commanding Law and Order
in Harare who is the investigating officer
in the case, told a court while
under cross examination that suggestions
that Mnangagwa was linked to the
coup have proved false as no evidence has
been found to support the claims.
Charles Warara, the lawyer
representing Albert Mutapo, Nyasha Zivuku,
Oncemore Mudzurahona, Emmanuel
Marara, Patson Mupfure and Shingirai
Mutemachani, the six men accused of
plotting the coup, said he knew the
investigation of Mnangagwa would not
yield anything as it was clear that his
clients were not planning a
coup and did not have any link to
Mnangagwa.
"It is not
surprising that nothing has been found to link Mnangagwa to
the alleged coup
as my clients have repeatedly denied planning a coup or
having any
connection with the minister," Warara said.
A court document made
available to the Zimbabwe Independent reveals
that the state, as part of its
investigations, has made follow-ups on two
new witnesses with one of them
based at a military institution in Gweru.
"There has been some
remarkable progress in the investigations in this
case," the court document
says. "The investigating officer made a follow-up
of two important witnesses
with the intention of recording affidavit
statements from them. The other
witness is in a military institution in
Gweru and he is yet to have his
statement recorded."
The state in their third supplementary
response said they now have
overwhelming evidence against the alleged coup
plotters.
"From the level of investigations so far it has turned
apparent that
there is overwhelming evidence in this case. And that on its
own will act as
an incentive for these applicants to abscond and not stand
trial…coupled
with the fact that if convicted the charge faced by these
applicants
attracts a death sentence," said the state’s
response.
Warara however said the police are giving a lot of
excuses to keep his
clients in custody yet they are not bringing to court
the evidence they
claim to have.
"On Wednesday the police asked
for three more weeks to conclude their
investigations citing lack of
resources yet they are saying they now have
overwhelming evidence against my
clients," he said.
"They say this is a very serious case yet they
have not been acting
seriously about the case at all. It took them three
weeks to finish
paperwork on information from one witness," added
Warara.
Zim Independent
Augustine
Mukaro
THE secrecy surrounding the ongoing Sadc-initiated talks
between Zanu
PF and the MDC has sparked serious divisions in the opposition
faction led
by Morgan Tsvangirai.
Sources in the party said the
divisions might culminate in another
split.
The seemingly
irreparable differences erupted over failure to provide
feedback on the
talks to party structures, resulting in senior officials
claiming they have
been sidelined and used to endorse Constitutional
Amendment 18 to benefit a
small clique.
The situation was worsened by alleged disregard of
the constitution
and unprocedural decisions by Tsvangirai that have resulted
in a court
battle with ousted MDC women’s assembly national chairperson,
Lucia
Matibenga.
Senior opposition officials said Tsvangirai
and MDC secretary-general
Tendai Biti have kept developments on the talks a
closely guarded secret,
raising suspicion amongst the party
leadership.
"There is no proper briefing about the talks," one
senior official
said. "Biti and Tsvangirai are driving the talks. They have
become an entity
on their own without recognising the consultation and
feedback process
initially agreed on."
The secrecy has resulted
in serious disgruntlement within the MDC.
MDC spokesman Nelson
Chamisa refused to comment on the allegations,
referring all questions to
Biti.
One senior member from the now dissolved women’s assembly
said the
talks had become a secretive arrangement so anyone asking about
developments
is alienated.
"We simply want to be appraised on
the developments on the talks
front," she said. "There are people who have
seen what’s in these talks for
themselves and are now pushing that agenda
without fulfilling the agreed
procedures."
The officials said
efforts to silence the growing concerns about how
the talks were being
handled, resulted in the dissolution of the women’s
assembly, an
unprocedural decision which violated the MDC constitution and
sparked an
uproar in opposition ranks. It has now spilled into the courts.
Tsvangirai’s decision was a clear disregard of the recommendations of
the
party’s commission of inquiry set up to investigate the
"dysfunctionality"
of the women’s assembly. The commission, chaired by Sam
Sipepa Nkomo with
Sessel Zvidzai and Blessing Chebundo as commissioners,
recommended that the
assembly be "reformed".
"For the process of reformation to
materialise, there is need to
establish a team of two or three individuals
to assist/mentor and monitor
the assembly for a period of three months,
thereof a final decision will be
made by the party," the report
said.
"During the period of three months the commission recommends
that the
women’s assembly should with the assistance of the monitoring team
produce a
strategic work plan, organise a conflict resolution and
team-building
workshop for the assembly and encourage the party leadership
to change its
attitude towards the assembly."
To the chagrin of
fellow MDC leaders, Tsvangirai allegedly used a
standing committee to
disregard the recommendations and to dissolve the
women’s
assembly.
Matibenga has since taken the case to the High Court
seeking to bar
the MDC from holding an extraordinary congress on Sunday that
is supposed to
elect a new executive.
Contacted for comment,
Matibenga declined to give details on the
developments saying that would
prejudice her case already before the courts.
"My case has been set for
tomorrow (Friday) in the chambers so any comments
would be sub
judice."
On Monday papers were served on Tsvangirai and his top
party
officials. Matibenga is arguing that the decision to dissolve the
women’s
executive failed to respect the party’s constitution and on that
basis it is
null and void.
She also argues that the standing
committee that dissolved her
executive had no power to do so and was only
supposed to make
recommendations to the national or executive
council.
"The women’s assembly constitution, clause 622, says any
changes in
the make up of the women’s assembly shall only occur after an
extraordinary
congress either by the national council of the party or the
national council
of the women," Matibenga argues in her court
papers.
Although Matibenga is free to run for re-election, there
are
allegations of vote-buying levelled at Theresa Makone, the wife of
Tsvangirai’s advisor Ian Makone.
Theresa wants to chair the
women’s assembly.
Allegations of a possible vote manipulation
emanated from an alleged
bias in the selection of delegates to the congress
in which only 230 women
out of a total 3 000 delegates are being
invited.
* Meanwhile, the MDC said it had secured a promise from
the government
to investigate charges of escalating violence against its
supporters.
Following Wednesday’s meeting with Home Affairs
minister Kembo Mohadi,
senior MDC officials said they had been assured that
the state does not
regard them as "enemies" and their allegations of renewed
violence would be
taken seriously.
"In his own words, he said,
‘we are not enemies, we are just
competitors’," MDC secretary for home
affairs, Sam Sipepa Nkomo, told
journalists.
"He assured us
that once the investigations are over he will call us
to make a full
explanation. We are happy that the minister himself now has
evidence of
political violence after we furnished him with the evidence."
Chamisa, who was part of the delegation, said "there seems to be
commitment
on the part of the minister judging from his body language to
deal with
violence. We hope he won’t indicate left and turn right."
The
oppostion claims that the violence has not only continued but has
also
increased against rank-and-file members in recent weeks, a charge
disputed
by the authorities.
The MDC demanded that the minister should make
a public statement
denouncing violence and punish perpetrators regardless of
their political
affiliation. They also demanded that the minister should
make a public
statement that the police should not be partisan.
Nkomo said they suggested the formation of a liaison committee that
would
share information on violence. But it is not clear what the government’s
next step will be.
Zim Independent
Orirando Manwere
HAVE you ever been declared stateless in a
country you thought you
belonged to? It happened to me and I had to fight to
regain my Zimbabwean
citizenship.
I was born Orlando (mispelt
as Orirando) Manwere Mondhlani over three
decades ago at Muriel Mine Clinic
in Mutorashanga, Lomagundi (Makonde)
district in Zimbabwe’s agro-rich
Mashonaland West province.
My parents had settled at this gold
mining town in the 1960s after
migrating from Mozambique from where they
came along with my two elder
brothers and sisters.
Because of
the colonial Portuguese influence upon my parents, we were
all christened
with Portuguese names.
However, my proper name Orlando was somehow
mispelt by a birth
registration officer as Orirando at the Chinhoyi district
registry in 1976
when my mother took us there to get birth
certificates.
It had to remain like that.
My immediate
elder sister, two other younger ones and I were thus born
and bred at Muriel
Mine where we all began our primary education in the late
70s before moving
to Dalny Mine in Chakari where I completed my secondary
education.
After school, I worked as a temporary teacher in
Chegutu Six
Resettlement Scheme between 1988 and 1992 before I started my
childhood
dream profession — journalism at the Mashonaland West Telegraph in
Chinhoyi
in 1993.
In February 1994, I was attested into the
Zimbabwe Republic Police at
Morris Depot and was posted to Bulawayo Central
where I briefly worked
before I was moved to the city’s provincial press and
public relations
department.
In the department I worked as
reporter for the police house
journal —The Outpost — between 1994 and 2001
after which I joined mainstream
media at the state run Sunday News in
Bulawayo.
I believe I have over the years remained a loyal,
law-abiding and
patriotic citizen of Zimbabwe and have significantly
contributed towards
this nation as a teacher awaiting training, policeman
and scribe.
However, despite having been earlier attested as a
member of the
police force under which I loyally and patriotically rendered
my services,
sometimes under harsh conditions, I was to get the shock of my
life sometime
in 2001.
The state, under which I had served for
over a decade in different
capacities, suddenly rendered me stateless
alongside millions of others
whose parents originated from neighbouring Sadc
countries.
We all fell victim to the controversial Citizenship of
Zimbabwe
Amendment Act No. 12 of 2001 which sought to abolish dual
citizenship by
requiring that those of us who were born and bred in Zimbabwe
renounce the
alleged foreign citizenship of our parents countries’ of
origin.
This was despite the fact that my parents underwent a
similar
renunciation process before the 1985 general election and were
issued with
Zimbabwean citizenship certificates.
I did not
understand why they had to do the same again 16 years later.
I know my
mother has kept her 1984 citizenship certificate as a treasure
behind a
family picture frame at home.
I could hardly believe my ears when
news about this controversial
piece of legislation was
announced.
I was still in the police press office in Bulawayo then
and I wondered
how I would continue serving in the police as a
"foreigner".
There were many of us so affected by this legislation
and we were told
to go to the district registrar’s offices where our
renunciation processes
would be expedited.
The effect of this
legislation caused a lot of confusion among
thousands of affected people,
with some, out of frustration, deciding to
return to their parents’
countries of origin to turn over a new leaf.
I could not do
likewise as my father had passed away earlier and had
secured a piece of
land for my old mother and younger brothers and sisters
in Mount
Darwin.
I sat on the fence for almost two years during which period
I was
technically stateless and could not apply for either a Zimbabwean or
Mozambican passport.
Sometime in 2003, I crossed the rubicon
and went to complete the
renunciation forms at the district registry after I
failed to attend a
course in South Africa because my emergency travel
document indicated that I
was a non-citizen.
A South African
Embassy official had told me over the phone that if my
travel document
indicated that I was Mozambican, I did not require a visa to
go to South
Africa.
So, I had confidently left for Beitbridge only to be told
that the
document should instead have been issued by the Mozambican embassy,
not
Zimbabwe passport office.
This marked the beginning of the
trials and tribulations that I have
gone through in this renunciation
process.
After submitting the renunciation forms which I only did
after
numerous trips to Makombe Building in Harare to obtain the required
long
birth certificate which has my parents details, I only got the
certificate
in April 2005 — exactly two years later.
I received
a letter from the citizenship office in Harare advising me
to go and swear
an oath of allegiance together with other successful
applicants at Drill
Hall offices in Bulawayo.
There were over 20 of us on that day and
we were sworn in by a Mrs
Ndlovu who first read some provision of the
Zimbabwe Constitution and the
Amendment Act.
We got our
certificates after the swearing in ceremony but were told
we could not
immediately apply for Zimbabwean passports, as our names had to
be logged
into the citizenship database.
I initially thought the process
would be complete within a week, but
alas, I had to wait for another 14
months before I was told that my name was
"now in the system".
I had a situation where I was in possession of a Zimbabwe citizenship
certificate but was technically stateless because I was not yet in the
database.
I wondered how and why we were called in for the
swearing-in ceremony
and handed certificates when the log-in process was not
done.
In the meantime, I had to resort to applying for emergency
travel
documents each time I had a trip out of the country.
Given the pressure at the passport office nationwide and the nature of
my
duties, I have continued using emergency travel documents.
I am in
the process of applying for a passport now that my name is in
the
citizenship database, but the process continues to be cumbersome and
requires one to take leave particularly to go through the rigorous vetting
exercise.
The exercise again takes one to the citizenship
office for
authentication of renunciation in the computers despite having an
original
citizenship certificate.
These are some of the trials
and tribulations I have gone through to
regain my lost Zimbabwean
citizenship status.
There are thousands of colleagues who are still
to make a decision to
renounce their alleged Mozambican, Malawian or Zambian
citizenship status
due to a number of factors.
A colleague told
me he was asked to bring long birth certificates and
identity documents for
his late father or any of his relatives, but most
left for Malawi and he is
in a quandary.
Most people still have the short birth certificates
issued in the
1970s and early 1980s and are having a hectic period getting
new ones from
regional offices of the Registrar-General.
It has
been a cumbersome and frustrating experience and I can now
heave a sigh of
relief though I feel for my colleagues who have not yet
started on this long
and painful journey.
The Citizenship of Zimbabwe Amendment Act No.
12 of 2001 has affected
thousands of people despite numerous court
challenges and rulings, prompting
the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on
Home Affairs and Defence to
research on the issue and advise government
accordingly on the way forward.
Their research revealed that the
Registrar-General’s office was
wrongly interpreting the provisions of the
amendment and it was resolved
that there was need for a vigorous awareness
campaign to enlighten people on
the Act.
Zim Independent
By Jonathan Moyo
IS President Robert Mugabe
facing extraordinary circumstances within
his ruling Zanu PF that are
threatening to turn his controversial hold on
power into
history?
The examination of this question has become urgent
following the
formal adoption by the Zanu PF politburo on Wednesday — to be
followed by
its central committee today — of President Mugabe’s astonishing
decision to
convene an extraordinary congress on December 14 with two
substantive agenda
items, the main of which will be to declare and confirm
him as the ruling
party’s uncontested presidential candidate in the 2008
general election.
If the decision has any political message about
Mugabe, it is to be
found in the adage that when roses are gone, nothing is
left but the thorn.
Bereft of his disputed rosy appeal and with the vagaries
of his old age
combining with his arrogance from having been in power for
too long, Mugabe
has now become an irksome thorn that is hurting not only
the soul of the
bleeding nation but also the interests of his own besieged
party.
Mugabe’s decision to convene an extraordinary Zanu PF
congress solely
to receive a report of the party’s central committee on the
Sadc mediation
and thereafter to declare and confirm him as the ruling
party’s presidential
candidate is in itself extraordinary, unprecedented and
therefore
astonishing to the core. The fact that Mugabe has used his party’s
politburo
and central committee this week to finalise such a decision
without debate
or opposition demonstrates that Zanu PF has indeed become a
sunset party
with no capacity to pursue, articulate and defend its own
ideological and
political interests beyond Mugabe’s whims and caprices. The
ruling party no
longer has the content, never mind the leadership, to
survive Mugabe.
Curiously, the Zanu PF constitution does not have a
provision
requiring the convening of an extraordinary congress for the sole
purpose of
declaring and confirming the party’s president and first
secretary as its
presidential candidate in an impending general election.
The issue is dead
matter because it is common cause that, as far as the Zanu
PF’s constitution
currently stands, whoever is the party’s president and
first secretary is
also automatically its presidential candidate in national
elections.
Even the most uninitiated in Zanu PF know that the
party’s annual
people’s conference has an obligation to declare and confirm
the incumbent
party leader as its presidential candidate in a general
election. Ahead of
the March 2002 presidential election, the Zanu PF annual
people’s conference
met in December 2001 in Victoria Falls where it declared
and confirmed
Mugabe as the party’s presidential candidate. It was that
simple.
Therefore, given the leadership outcome of the 2004 Zanu PF
congress
and notwithstanding the controversy surrounding the elevation of
Joice Mujru
as one of the two vice-presidents, there is nothing
extraordinary about the
determination of Zanu PF’s presidential candidate in
the 2008 general
election to warrant an extraordinary congress.
An extraordinary circumstance would have arisen had the person, and
that is
Mugabe, elected as Zanu PF president and first secretary at the
party’s last
congress in 2004, retired or if he intends to vacate his office
by December
14 or if he does not want to seek reelection in the 2008
presidential
poll.
So what then are the extraordinary circumstances that have
arisen to
cause Mugabe to convene an extraordinary Zanu PF congress with two
agenda
items for the purpose of declaring and confirming him as the ruling
party’s
2008 presidential candidate when that formality could have been
constitutionally and neatly discharged by the Zanu PF annual people’s
conference as has happened before?
Upon closer reflection, the
answer lies in the historic 2006 annual
people’s conference in Goromonzi
which rebuked and humiliated Mugabe by
rejecting his fanciful 2010 plan
under which he sought to extend his even
more controversial presidency via
the backdoor through which he would have
been appointed for two years from
2008 to 2010 by parliament when his
current term expires next
March.
The Goromonzi conference not only rejected Mugabe’s 2010
petty project
but it also set in motion a very charged political process in
Zanu PF within
which the party’s influential provincial and other lower
structures, that
have been battered by the biting economic meltdown, started
to openly and
confidently express themselves against Mugabe’s continued
leadership in
favour of his succession by March 2008.
At that
time, and well into the first quarter of 2007, at least seven
Zanu PF
provinces were decidedly against Mugabe’s leadership and these
included
Mashonaland East, Harare, Matabeleland North, Matabeleland South,
Bulawayo,
Masvingo and the Midlands. Others such as Mashonaland Central,
Manicaland
and Mashonaland West were anxiously sitting on a knife edge
virtually ready
to follow the rest. The only visible but unconvincing
support for Mugabe
then was coming from the top leadership of the youth and
women’s wings of
the party, particularly through the half-hearted efforts of
Saviour
Kasukuwere and Oppah Muchinguri respectively.
Mugabe’s securocrats
were able to read from the fallout of the
Goromonzi experience that Zanu PF
provinces opposed to Mugabe’s continued
leadership were not only in the
majority but were also developing a capacity
and gaining momentum to use the
2007 annual people’s conference to show
Mugabe the exit door. The fact that
the 2007 annual conference was scheduled
for Mashonaland Central, Joice
Mujuru’s home province, added more anxiety to
that prospect and created
uncertain and extraordinary circumstances for
Mugabe and his
securocrats.
The political writing on the wall was clear: Going
ahead with the 2007
conference in Bindura as per the Zanu PF constitution
would not only run a
very high risk of reproducing the Goromonzi challenge
to Mugabe but would
also open the floodgates for sealing the victory of that
challenge.
As a result, Mugabe and his securocrats had to come up
with a counter
strategy to respond to these developments which they saw as
extraordinary
circumstances:
* Drop Mugabe’s 2010 plan rejected
in Goromonzi;
* Get Mugabe to declare his willingness and readiness
to seek
reelection in 2008 by planting the story in the media — which Mugabe
did in
February while on an official visit to Namibia;
* Try
and get the central committee to support and confirm this and if
it fails —
as it did on March 30 — call for an extraordinary congress with a
limited
agenda, as the party’s supreme body, to endorse Mugabe’s 2008
reelection bid
beyond any internal challenge by declaring and confirming his
candidacy;
and,
* Get the fearless if not provocative Jabulani Sibanda to
operate
under the convenient platform of the liberation war veterans to
preach
Mugabe’s reelection gospel by turning Mugabe into a superannuated
idol and
by rubbishing party leaders — especially former PF Zapu elements in
Matabeleland and among Mujuru supporters — who are not playing ball and
party structures that are not following the line.
The above are
the key elements of the new post-Goromonzi plan that
came into effect last
February and now in full swing. Mugabe’s convening of
the extraordinary
congress, and the uncritical adoption this week of a two
item agenda for
that congress by the Zanu PF politburo and central
committee, have put a
sudden and complete stop to the politicking and
scheming that has been going
on in the party’s provincial structures in the
hope of ousting
Mugabe.
This is because, whereas provincial structures are very
involved in
contributing to the formulation of the agenda and resolutions of
the annual
people’s conference, they have virtually no role in designing the
agenda of
an extraordinary congress that takes place due to extraordinary
circumstances which are not coming from the provinces.
The two
main agenda items of the forthcoming extraordinary congress,
namely,
receiving a report of the central committee and declaring and
confirming
Mugabe’s candidacy, have been formulated by Mugabe who then used
the party’s
secretary for legal affairs, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to announce the
items at
the politburo meeting on Wednesday as he will do at the central
committee
meeting today.
While it is now a forgone conclusion that the
extraordinary Zanu PF
congress will declare and confirm Mugabe as the ruling
party’s 2008
presidential candidate, the fact that this will be achieved
through
extraordinary measures when the issue was otherwise pretty ordinary
means
that Zanu PF will go into the 2008 election campaign as a
fundamentally
wounded and deeply divided party. As things stand, the
Jabulani Sibanda
factor, which is central to Mugabe’s reelection strategy,
has already
cracked open tribal faultlines within Zanu PF and has virtually
put paid to
the Unity Accord.
Mugabe’s reelection campaign team
will have to perform miracles to win
back the support of disgruntled and
abused Zanu PF leaders and their
followers. Also, the team will need divine
intervention to win the hearts
and minds of ordinary voters who have already
been put off by Sibanda’s
shocking death call for Zimbabweans to "support
Mugabe with our empty
stomachs and empty shelves" to the point of dying for
him.
Zim Independent
Constantine
Chimakure
THE battle to control the Anglican Diocese of Harare
pitting the
Church of the Province of Central Africa against ousted Bishop
Nolbert
Kunonga raged on this week with the province appointing retired
Bishop
Sebastian Bakare as the acting bishop of the capital.
Kunonga was fired from the church last week after he withdrew the
Diocese of
Harare from the province, made up of Anglican churches in Zambia,
Botswana,
Malawi and Zimbabwe, citing rampant homosexuality in the church.
The controversial Kunonga, however, insisted he was still in charge of
the
diocese and wanted to affiliate it to the Anglican Province of
Kenya.
Sources in the church said Bakare — a former bishop of
Manicaland —
was appointed by the dean of the province Albert Chama to take
over Kunonga’s
position for a year before the election of a new bishop for
the capital.
Bakare was appointed after it was realised he was a
firm character and
that he was someone who could stand up to
Kunonga.
"Chama also considered that Bakare was well respected and
had a
demonstrable and respected record which endear him to the people in
Harare,"
one of the sources said. "It was also realised that Bakare was
mature and
courageous enough to make bold decisions and command
respect."
Apart from appointing Bakare, Chama also sanctioned the
church to
facilitate the issuing of summons against Kunonga for the return
of its
assets and investments.
This followed a ruling by High
Court judge, Justice Elphas Chitakunye,
on Sunday that the church’s
application to compel the controversial Kunonga
to surrender the assets and
investments was not urgent.
"What the province is proceeding in
doing (appointing Bakare) is to
set up its Anglican leadership structures
since the dismissal of Kunonga
last week," another source said. "That
dismissal stands and his meeting last
Saturday is inconsequential as bishops
are appointed by
archbishops...similarly they are fired by
archbishops."
Kunonga held a special synod on Saturday and the
state media reported
that the dismissed bishop was backed by the
congregation to withdraw the
diocese from the province.
However, sources who attended the synod said the meeting was
"contested and
chaotic" as dissatisfaction was raised with Kunonga’s
leadership
style.
The sources said the synod was not legitimate because the
required 18
days notice was not given. Further, synod members were not given
agenda
papers to ensure adequate publication and distribution of what the
meeting
was to discuss.
Yesterday, the Diocese of Harare Trust
vice-chairperson Phillip Mutasa
said there was no going back on the
expulsion of Kunonga from the church.
"What Kunonga has done is
like having a child who denies his or her
surname and family. In other words
there is no Anglican diocese which exists
on its own. Each diocese must have
a surname and that surname is found in
belonging to a province," Mutasa
said. "Kunonga withdrew from the Province
of Central Africa and he can no
longer claim to be part of the Anglican
church or communion. He is now
something else."
Zim Independent
Constantine
Chimakure
THE countrywide marches by war veterans leader
Jabulani Sibanda to
drum up support for President Robert Mugabe ahead of
Zanu PF’s special
congress in December has divided the party, with some
senior officials
attending while others snub them.
The war
veterans’ solidarity march in Marondera, Mashonaland East,
last Friday was
boycotted by Zanu PF bigwigs in the province, among them
retired army
general Solomon Mujuru and Defence minister Sydney Sekeremayi.
On
Saturday, Sibanda took his roadshow to Bindura, Mashonaland
Central, where
he got the backing of most senior ruling party officials.
Among
Zanu PF officials who toyi-toyed and sloganeered with Sibanda
and his band
of ex-combatants were provincial governor Ephraim Masawi, Youth
Development
minister Saviour Kasukuwere and Bindura mayor Advocate Martin
Dinha.
A fortnight ago, Zanu PF officials in Bulawayo snubbed
Sibanda’s march
and barred him and his group from using the party’s
headquarters, arguing
that the province was yet to nominate its presidential
candidate.
Earlier Sibanda had taken his marches to Masvingo where
war veterans
in the province accused them of trying to hijack the party’s
duty to elect
the presidium. Fist-fighting nearly broke out between
Sibanda’s group and
that of ex-combatants in the province.
Sibanda and some war veterans want Mugabe to remain in power and are
pushing
that the special congress’s main agenda be that of endorsing the
ageing
leader.
While Sibanda is dividing the party, Zanu PF infighting in
Mashonaland
Central took a new twist this week after the provincial
executive put in
motion a move to suspend Bindura executive mayor Dinha on
allegations he
branded the leadership "corrupt".
In a letter to
Dinha dated October 20, provincial secretary for
administration Canicious
Dengu summoned the mayor to a "meeting" on
Wednesday to answer allegations
that he wrote an article in Zanu PF’s
official mouthpiece, The Voice, making
serious and unsubstantiated claims
against the executive.
"You
are hereby invited to a meeting to discuss matters that arose in
the last
coordination meeting held in the function room on August 25 2007 on
Wednesday October 23 to be held at Zanu PF offices at 2pm," wrote
Dengu.
"These were: that you wrote a story which was published in
The People’s
Voice (sic) to the effect that the leadership of this province
were corrupt
and therefore needed to be investigated as regards distribution
of (central
bank) phase one tractors, thereby bringing the party into
disrepute."
However, the meeting failed to take place as Dinha was
reportedly in
Kariba attending a Zimbabwe Local Government Association
indaba. But the
sources said the decision to summon Dinha was part of the
infighting in the
ruling party between a faction led by national commissar
and also Minister
without Portfolio Elliot Manyika and Kasukuwere and the
other camp headed by
general Solomon Mujuru.
The Manyika
faction want Mugabe to remain in power while the Mujuru
camp is backing
Vice-President Joice Mujuru to replace the 83-year-old
veteran
leader.
Dinha is perceived to be a Mujuru loyalist.
The mayor, Mashonaland Central governor Ephraim Masawi, and Monica
Mavhunga,
are reportedly jostling to contest the Bindura seat currently
occupied by
Manyika.
Zim Independent
Augustine
Mukaro
SENATE President Edna Madzongwe and a host of other top
Zanu PF
officials and army officers are the main perpetrators of the latest
wave of
farm invasions which are at variance with government’s theme
declaring
2007/8 the "mother of all agricultural seasons".
Madzongwe invaded yet another Chegutu farm, Stockdale, owned by one of
the
remaining white farmers, Richard Thomas Etheridge, defying a High Court
order issued in July barring her from moving onto the farm.
Madzongwe’s manoeuvres at Stockdale are just a microcosm of the
renewed farm
invasions throughout the country led by Zanu PF officials and
top military
officers.
In Masvingo, Chiredzi South MP, retired Brig-General
Kalisto Gwanetsa,
gave a cane farmer in Chiredzi 14 days to leave his
property. The farmer is
currently vacating.
Zanu PF provincial
chairman retired Major Alex Mudavanhu invaded
Swanfontain Conservancy near
Mutirikwi Dam.
In Mashonaland West Major General Nicholas Dube
occupied Grand Parade
farm, forcing off the owner despite the existence of a
court order allowing
him to remain operational until the finalisation of his
case before the
courts. Dube stationed 15 soldiers on the farm who over the
past week have
denied the farmer access to the property.
Meanwhile Makonde MP Leo Mugabe is caught in yet another farm wrangle
in
which he allegedly backed a white farmer, Myles Hall, to remain on his
Summerhill Farm which has been served with a notice to be acquired for
resettlement. Mugabe is cited in a court application in which the farm
beneficiary Nomhle Mliswa alleges that she is being barred from getting onto
the farm. Mliswa claims the right to the property on the strength of an
offer letter dated April 12, 2007.
In Manicaland, three white
farmers were reportedly under siege from
top military officers. The farmers
have accused Zanu PF politicians of
grabbing one farm after another and
running down the infrastructure at the
properties in the
process.
Court documents in the possession of the Independent say
Madzongwe —
who already owns Itape farm in Chegutu — invaded Stockdale Farm
on October
7, accompanied by a lands officer, a Mr Kunonga, and five of her
farm
workers. The senator was later joined by 11 more youths from her farm.
The
lands officer advised the farm owner that he was unlawfully occupying
the
property following the expiry of his acquisition notice. Etheridge and
10
other white farmers appeared in court last Friday charged with violating
the
Consequential Provisions Act when they defied a final deadline of
September
30, 2007 to leave the farms and make way for the compulsory
government
acquisition.
"My son was ordered to immediately hand
over all property — whether
movable or not — to the senator as it was
claimed she was now the legal
owner of all property on Stockdale," Etheridge
said in his affidavit. "He
reminded the senator of the provisions of the
prior provisional order and
her forcible entry and claim to the possession
of the property would
constitute a contempt of court."
Etheridge said Madzongwe left a gang of youths at the farm who on the
following day attempted to break into the house in the process beating up
Etheridge’s son who lives at the main farm house. The youths only retreated
following the intervention of the police.
According to a
government decree, any government official or any other
individual in
possession of more than one farm will be liable to
prosecution. But
Madzongwe is seeking to grab a second farm.
She already has Itape
farm, located adjacent to Stockdale Farm.
Madzongwe could not be
reached for comment.
In July, the High Court of Zimbabwe ordered
Madzongwe to vacate
Etheridge’s farm, which she had allegedly forcibly
seized.
The order was in response to an urgent High Court
application made by
Etheridge seeking to bar Madzongwe from seizing the farm
and rendering an
offer letter that had been issued to Madzongwe by the
Minister of Lands,
Land Reform and Resettlement, Didymus Mutasa null and
void. High Court judge
Yunus Omerjee in his ruling granted Etheridge interim
relief barring
Madzongwe from entering the farm.
In court
papers filed at the High Court in July, Etheridge claimed
Madzongwe and
other people acting on her behalf entered his farm and
occupied a part of it
eagerly anticipating Etheridge’s eviction following
the farmer’s appearance
in court.
The forcible occupation occurred after Mutasa had served
Etheridge
with a notice, dated May 2, 2007, to vacate the farm by August 30
to make
way for Madzongwe.
On June 15, the farmer was served
with another notice informing him of
the government’s intention to acquire
equipment and materials from the farm.
Etheridge said Madzongwe’s
offer letter for the property, dated March
6, was null and void, as the farm
had not been acquired.
Zim Independent
Shakeman
Mugari
HEADS have started rolling at NMB Bank following recent
revelations by
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s investigating team that
there were
other managers who were involved in the US$6,3 million scandal
that rocked
the bank five months ago.
The bank has suspended
two more senior managers it suspects of having
been part of the syndicate
that siphoned foreign currency from the bank
through fraudulent activities
that spanned more that 18 months before they
were discovered in
March.
Businessdigest can reveal that Allen Kajongwe, an assistant
manager
responsible for reconciliations was suspended together with Collet
Zvarevashe who was a supervisor in the back office when the fraud took
place.
They were both served with suspension letters on October
12, almost
five months after the fraud was discovered.
Zvarevashe was the assistant manager in the middle office. It is
understood
that more senior managers are going to be asked to leave based on
the
findings of a forensic auditing company hired by the central bank to
investigate the bank.
"We are mainly concerned with their
involvement in the deals and also
their failure to detect the fraud in their
respective responsibilities in
the bank’s structure," said a senior manager
who is part of disciplinary
team at the bank.
An internal
confidential document seen by businessdigest shows that
Kajongwe’s case
arose from the fact that as the assistant manager
responsible for
reconciliations he should have been the first to realise the
mismatch in the
bank’s accounts.
Kajongwe was responsible for reconciling foreign
bank accounts and
local equivalent of the foreign currency reflected in the
bank’s off-shore
accounts. He was supposed to compare all the foreign
currency accounts with
the amount in the FCA accounts and the bank’s
money.
These figures were supposed to be balanced everyday. The
balancing
figures were supposed to be used by the bank’s asset and liability
committee
to make decisions.
Zvarevashe was fired because he is
the one who signed the bulk of the
transactions that turned out to be
fraudulent when he was still a supervisor
in the back office. He was an
authorised signatory of "A" level which means
he had the power to sign off a
transaction without the approval of the
senior management in the back
office.
Kajongwe and Zvarevashe’s suspension brings to eight the
number of
managers who include five senior officials in the treasury office
who have
been told to leave since the fraud was discovered.
They include Learnmore Chitima (head of treasury), Onias Dhaidhai
(assistant
general manager), and Simon Ngarande (senior manager front
office), Watson
Chakawa (manager local dealing), Tawanda Mushaya (foreign
dealer) and Oliver
Mutseyekwa (senior manager, back office). Chakawa was
fired for a
transaction he was made to sign by chief suspect, Shane Mandara,
during a
lunch break because there were no senior managers in the treasury
department
to approve the transaction.
There is now discontent at the bank
with allegations that some
executives have been spared the chop because of
their positions.
The fired managers allege that they were being
used as sacrificial
lambs to appease the central bank which has directed
that action be taken.
Zim Independent
Augustine Mukaro
GOVERNMENT has suspended the issuance of
mining Exclusive Prospecting
Orders (EPOs), bringing to a standstill
hundreds of exploration work in the
country.
Hundreds of EPO
applications submitted by prospective mine developers
as far back as 2003
have not been processed, depriving the country of
exploration
money.
Speculation is now rife that government wants the mining
sector to be
indigenised before opening it up to more players.
The Indigenisation and Empowerment Bill, which forces foreign
companies to
sell 51% to locals, is now awaiting President Robert Mugabe’s
approval.
Sam Chikowore, the operations director of Exporien
Mining, an
exploration firm, said no new EPOs has been issued despite the
industry’s
representation to the relevant ministries and the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe.
Chikowore said the development has stalled any new works
in the mining
industry and even forced investors to opt for neighbouring
countries like
Mozambique, Namibia and Madagascar.
"We are now
seeking audience with the highest office because
representations to the
relevant ministries have failed to yield any
results," Chikowore
said.
"I have lost at least three bona fide investors to
Mozambique, Namibia
and Madagascar."
Chikowore said the mining
sector has been neglected compared to other
sectors such as agriculture.
Government should put in place mechanisms to
safeguard the sector to ensure
that players develop the mines before they
offload it.
Although
mining ministry permanent secretary Thulani Ndlovu could not
be reached for
comment, senior officials in the ministry’s Geological Survey
department
confirmed that there were no EPOs being processed.
"We are waiting
for a government directive to process the
applications," one cartographer
said. "There are a number of applications
dating back to 2003."
Chikowore said the Indigenisation and Empowerment Bill, which offered
49% to
foreign investors, would be counterproductive considering the nature
of the
sector.
"Mining is very capital intensive particularly in
procurement and
maintenance of plant and mining equipment which is usually
met by foreign
investors," he said. "To then offer an investor 49%
considering his input
would not be very encouraging. No investor would want
to be a minority in
such a venture."
Chikowore said the sector
believed that the indigenisation programme
should have been a process done
over a timeframe. He said government could
also boost production in the
sector through investing in servicing the
equipment.
"Government can establish control units to provide service to the
plant and
mining equipment because costs for hiring or maintaining the
equipment are
very prohibitive and has adversely affected output."
Zim Independent
Paul Nyakazeya
AIR Zimbabwe which has been in a financial
crisis for the past eight
years has approached the Commercial Bank of
Zimbabwe (CBZ) and Zimbabwe
Allied Banking Group (ZABG) for funds to replace
its ageing fleet.
Air Zimbabwe board chairman, Mike Bimha, told a
parliamentary
committee on Transport and Communication this week the company
has been
having difficulties finding financial partners to renew its
fleets.
He said foreign funders have also not been forthcoming.
Bimha said the
new plan was now to work with CBZ and ZABG.
"We
(Air Zimbabwe) are in talks with CBZ and ZABG over a possible
funding," said
Bimha. "We have had a number of meetings and are confident
something will
come up. There are other financial institutions which we have
lined up but I
cannot say anything for now," Bimha said.
Bimha said the national
airline need about US$100 million and $500
billion from shareholders to
revive its operations.
Air Zimbabwe chief executive, Peter
Chikumba, said off-shore banks
were not interested in funding the project
because of the airline’s poor
creditworthiness. He however said plans were
underway to enter into
strategic partnerships with airlines in Africa and
Europe to improve
operations.
"We have had no less than four
meetings with Reserve Bank governor
over the airline’s critical foreign
currency requirements. At the moment we
are not in a position to say if
anything has materialised," he said.
Meanwhile the Air Zimbabwe
board failed to explain what had happened
to former acting Air Zimbabwe
chief executive, Captain Oscar Madombwe.
Last month businessdigest
revealed that Madombwe had been pushed out
after he presented a negative
technical report discouraging government and
Air Zimbabwe from buying planes
from Russia.
Bimha said Madombwe was on leave, but his fate would
be decided
"soon".
Committee members were not convinced by
Bimha’s explanations and
announced that the committee had set up a
four-member commission of inquiry
to investigate the circumstances
surrounding Madombwe’s fate as they felt
something was amiss.
Committee chairman Leo Mugabe said: "We have appointed a four-member
commission of enquiry. In fact the committee is not happy with the whole
issue of human resources at Air Zimbabwe.
"We will need to
engage the former chairman of your human resources
committee, Luxon Zembe,
to help us," Mugabe said.
Bimha said after having been acting CEO
for a period, Madombwe was
asked to revert to his previous posting at the
airline’s subsidiary National
Handling Services as managing director. Bimha
said Madombwe had refused the
offer because he felt the new position would
not offer him new challenges.
Captain Madombwe was one of the three
short-listed candidates for the
Air Zimbabwe CEO. The others were Chikumba
and Nkosinathi Sibanda.
Bimha said both candidates were all capable
of getting the job but
Chikumba got the job because of his international
exposure because he had
worked for Air Namibia and the International Air
Transport Association.
"The minister approved Chikumba and we asked
Madombwe if he wanted to
go back to his previous post as managing director
of National Handling
Services but he said having been there before, and
having been to the top of
the airline, the position offered him offered no
challenges."
Zim Independent
GOVERNMENT is desperately trying to dissuade Ethiopian Airlines
from
pulling out of the Harare route, businessdigest can
reveal.
Ethiopian Airlines has indicated that it will pull out of
the Harare
route on November 15. The airline has since informed travel
agents not to
take bookings for dates beyond November 15.
British Airways (BA) announced plans to pull out of Zimbabwe two
months ago
citing serious viability problems. BA will make its last flight
to Harare on
Sunday.
Businessdigest understands that government has approached
Air Zimbabwe
officials to help persuade Ethiopian Airlines from
leaving.
Sources say Air Zimbabwe officials have been meeting with
Ethiopian
Airlines’ management for the past four weeks.
"Hopes
are high that they will persuade Ethiopian Airlines to remain
in Zimbabwe
before November 15. They might succeed or fail, I think it is
too early to
make such a public announcement before negotiations are
complete," a source
close to the talks said this week.
The source said it is this new
development that could have prompted
Air Zimbabwe chief executive Peter
Chikumba to tell the parliamentary
committee on Transport and Communications
that Ethiopian Airlines had
reversed its earlier decision to pull out.
Chikumba told the committee that
Ethiopian Airlines was no longer leaving
the country as the two airlines had
reached an agreement. He however did not
clarify what kind of an agreement
the two companies had
reached.
"Ethiopian Airlines is no longer leaving the country, as
previously
indicated. They will still be around," Chikumba
said.
Aviation sources however insist that contrary to Chikumba’s
claim, the
airline will still leave the country as scheduled.
"They said they had worked hard to improve the profitability of the
route
over the past few years but, although revenues have increased,
passenger
volumes have reduced while costs have spiralled," the sources
said.
The economic situation in Zimbabwe has contributed to a
decline of
passenger volumes over the past six years. International
tourists, the major
source of passengers for airlines, have shunned Zimbabwe
because of security
concerns. The situation has been worsened by the closure
of companies and
the collapse of the export sector.
A total of
18 international airlines have left the country since the
economic crisis
started 10 years ago.
They include Lufthansa, Qantas, Austrian
Airlines, Swissair, Air
India, Air France, and TAP Air Portugal. — Staff
Writer.
Zim Independent
By Nhlanhla Nyathi
ECONOMIC commentators,
financial analysts, and political scientists
have described Zimbabwe in its
past 10 years of recession as an economy on
the verge of
collapse.
Published articles in the local and international media
continue to
paint a gloomy picture with virtually no anticipated economic
recovery in
our generation.
To show the gravity of the crisis,
over the years, in response to the
various economic challenges, the country
has come up with more than five
economic blue prints that have however
failed to revive the economy. The
ordinary person on the street is still
suffering and indications are that
the situation could get worse before it
gets better.
Popular revolutionary themes have even been used by
President Robert
Mugabe to describe the various cabinets to inspire the
desired action to no
avail. The development cabinet failed to win the
battled against the
economic recession. The development cabinet also failed
to revive the
economy.
Despite all these efforts, especially
considering the obstacles the
country is up against it seems the battle is
being lost. The biblical David
and Goliath story might just be a fairy tale
for us. Zimbabweans normally
revered for their tenacity and strong-will
appear to be finally faltering
and reaching the breaking point.
A solution needs to be found soon before things go bad irreversibly.
There
ought to be a national consensus that Zimbabwe cannot continue like
this and
should come first above all considerations.
It is without argument
that the trial and error approach of trying to
solve Zimbabwe’s problems so
far is not yielding the results that we want.
A new course of
radical thinking needs to be charted to find lasting
solutions. A good
starting point could be an in-depth study of other
economies that have gone
through more or less similar problems.
This concept described as
empirical evidence in various disciplines of
academia finds justifiable
credence even in law through legal precedents.
One such good point of
reference is Malaysia during the Asian financial
crisis of
1997.
Before focusing on the nature of the financial crisis and the
various
measures employed to solve the crisis, readers need to be equipped
with some
background information on Malaysia for comparability purposes with
the
Zimbabwean economy.
Malaysia’s geographical location is
strategically positioned between
the great civilisations. To the west are
Hindu India, the Islamic Middle
East and Christian Europe. To the north-east
are China and Japan. The
shipping routes from China to the west pass through
the region. This has
made Malaysia a natural meeting place of trade routes
and cultures,
something which has brought the area great wealth, foreign
influence and
domination. Since 1970, the United Malays National
Organisation has ruled
Malaysia almost as a one-party state, co-opting the
Chinese and Indian
leaderships through the device of the "National Front
Coalition".
The orientation of the Malaysian economy since
independence in 1957
has largely been in the direction of a market-based
economy, whereby the
private sector is allowed to operate freely, while the
government provides
the broad thrusts, directions and strategies. This mixed
economic system and
market-oriented reforms have produced significant
results and tangible
benefits for the Malaysian people. The private sector
has been at the
forefront of economic development with the manufacturing and
services
sectors contributing significantly in terms of export earnings and
employment opportunities.
The transition from a predominately
agriculture and mining-based
economy in the 60s, 70s and mid-80s to an
outward-looking one with export of
manufactured goods rising to nearly 100%
of GDP and the expansion of the
services sectors in the late 80s and 90s was
achieved with relative ease.
Prices were not controlled, interest rates
market-determined and there was a
general liberalisation of economic
activities.
The transition to a productivity-driven economy as
initially envisaged
in the Seventh Malaysian Plan was partly curtailed by
the Asian crisis in
mid-1997. The economy contracted by 7,4% in 1998 after
growing on average by
8% per annum from 1991-1997.
Large scale
infrastructure projects totalling 60 billion Malaysian
ringgits were
deferred under government austerity measures, which also saw
ministers and
top civil servants taking pay cuts. Towards the end of 1997,
the ringgit
registered an all-time low against the US dollar. The Prime
Minister of
Malaysia blamed international financier George Soros as the man
who caused
the ringgit to decline, along with unbridled currency trading,
which he
claimed robbed poor nations of their wealth.
The crisis led to
sharp declines in the currencies, stock markets, and
other asset prices of a
number of Asian countries. It threatened financial
systems, and disrupted
the real economies of the Asian Tigers, with large
contractions in activity
that created a human crisis alongside the financial
one.
In
addition to its severe effects in Asia, the crisis put pressure on
emerging
markets outside the region: contributed to virulent contagion and
volatility
in international financial markets. As the crisis unfolded, the
IMF blamed
weaknesses in financial systems and subsequently projected that
because of
its effects, world growth initially projected at 4% would decline
to 2%.
During the early part of the currency crisis, Malaysia voluntarily
adopted
IMF type policies. But this did not work, as the high interest rates
added
to the corporate and banking crisis; the flexible exchange rate policy
enabled the ringgit to depreciate to an all time low against the US dollar;
freedom in capital mobility allowed funds to flow out; and the cutbacks in
government expenditure added to recessionary pressures.
But in
January 1998, Malaysia began to seek its own winning formula to
keep its
appointment with being a fully developed nation by 2020. It created
the
National Economic Action Council (NEAC) to formulate and implement short
and
medium-term policies to revive the economy, restore confidence and
strengthen Malaysia’s economic base. In mid-1998, NEAC launched its major
initiative, the National Economic Recovery Plan.
What makes the
Malaysia solution of the financial crisis of particular
interest to Zimbabwe
is that it oversaw its recovery not with
IMF-administered austerity measures
but with its own policies that included
a highly controversial experiment
with capital controls. That move made
Malaysia, and especially its firebrand
Prime Minister Mohamed Mahathir, an
object of derision in orthodox financial
circles but a champion for others
seeking an alternative to
financial-market-dictated economic development.
Next week we look
into greater detail at the measures taken by the
Malaysian government to
solve the financial crisis.
* Nhlanhla Nyathi is an independent
financial analyst. He can be
contacted on 0912 250 092.
Zim Independent
By Nelson Chamisa
IT is now clear that
Zimbabwe’s crisis has reached the tipping point.
The current shortage of
electricity has affected major institutions
including our hospitals, schools
and universities, industry is now operating
at less than 10% capacity and
household property has been damaged by thee
intermittent power
outages.
Preparations for the farming season, especially
irrigation, have been
severely hampered by power shortages, further denting
the already unlikely
prospect of an expedient recovery to our battered
economy.
Seventy-five percent of the suburbs have been without
electricity for
more than three months. Elsewhere, basic commodities are
either in short
supply or are available at much higher prices than the
ordinary man can
afford.
Bread is now equivalent to gold in
scarcity, if not worse. Schools
have collapsed while the health sector has
been severely crippled by the
brain drain, lack of medicines and the power
shortages which have played
havoc with our collapsing economy.
Ten percent of those who are still in employment are walking to work
because
of lack of transport. Fuel stations remain dry and long queues have
become a
permanent spectacle. Civil servants are still grappling with low
salaries as
the recent "increments" cannot even last them for five days.
An
average worker from Chitungwiza needs $12 million in transport
alone every
month, against an average salary of $5 million. Workers are
spending 80% of
their productive time in queues in search of basic
commodities.
To compound the plight of ordinary Zimbabweans, the regime continues
to
murder, to maim, to assault, to intimidate and to arrest members of the
opposition, students and civic society. The politics of the sword remains
Zanu PF’s catchword. In the rural areas, our parents, brothers and sisters
are starving due to food shortages. Over four million Zimbabweans need food
assistance. Zanu PF continues to use food as a political weapon and for
sloganeering. Our parents are walking for long distances due to lack of
transport in scenes reminiscent of the pre-1980 Rhodesian era.
The MDC calls upon all Zimbabweans to rise beyond their political
affiliations and say no to this chaos. Let’s unite across tribe and race,
across religious and social standing and demand the immediate return of our
lost dignity. IWe have to take our plight in our own hands.
The
regime is looking inwards instead of focusing on the endemic
crisis
besetting the nation. They are not worried about our suffering. They
are
busy with their factional fights ahead of the Zanu PF extra-ordinary
congress in December.
* Nelson Chamisa is MDC secretary for
information and publicity.
Zim Independent
Paul
Nyakazeya
THE weakening of the Zimbabwe dollar against major
currencies has been
a reflection of the rise of real prices of commodities
relative to prices of
the same goods in US dollars.
Considering
exchange rate relationships, an exchange rate of US$1 to
$840 000 measures
in part how much of a good (for example one loaf of bread)
is paid in US
dollars relative to the price for the same good in Zimbabwe —
the purchasing
power parity.
It can be observed that the parallel exchange rate of
US$1 was $2 900
on January 2 before it shot up to $840 000 on Tuesday this
week, but price
levels of goods purchased in the US remained at US$1 between
January and
October 23, while the price levels of the same goods over the
same period in
Zimbabwe moved in relative terms from $2 900 to $830 000,
representing 28
520,6% inflation per annum. A bank transfer is being done
above $1,2
million.
The crash of the dollar against major
currencies has eroded the
purchasing power of consumers who were already
reeling from high prices and
shortages of basic commodities. Apart from the
fall of the dollar on the
parallel market, there was a state of collapse of
certain systems like
water, telephones, power and health.
Zimbabwe Allied Banking Group (ZABG) group economist David Mupamhadzi
said
the movement of the dollar on the parallel market reflected high demand
and
depressed supply.
"The impact is being felt by the ordinary man on
the street as prices
of goods and services are being priced using parallel
market rates when
disposable incomes are not being adjusted in line with
parallel market
rates," Mupamhadzi said.
Other major trading
currencies — the British pound, the South African
rand and Botswana pula —
were moving around the benchmark US dollar rate.
The local unit was
trading above $1 700 000, 125 000 and 140 000 to
the British pound, the
South African rand and Botswana pula respectively on
Tuesday.
The local currency opened the year trading at $5 100, $380 and $400 to
the
British pound, South African rand and Botswana pula respectively.
Mupamhadzi said the situation had become so bad companies and
individuals
were buying foreign currency as an investment tool to hedge
against
inflation.
"The country urgently needs balance of payments support
since it does
not have capacity to generate enough foreign currency," said
Mupamhadzi.
Some exporters this week said the fair value of the
Zimbabwe dollar
was estimated to be above $1 million. The fair value is the
realistic value
of the currency taking into account inflation differentials
between Zimbabwe
and its trading partner countries. It is not necessarily
the official
exchange rate.
Economic consultant, John
Robertson, said it was not an intelligent
move to control the exchange rate
when there was a serious scarcity of
foreign currency on the
market.
"People will turn to the more lucrative parallel market and
thus widen
the spread with the interbank rate. The mechanisms being
addressed by
government have over the years been wrong as the scarcity
problem was not
being addressed," said Robertson.
Robertson
said buyers were increasing in numbers, but there were no
sellers on the
official market.
"The central bank should boost foreign currency
inflows by promoting
exports," Robertson said.
The country’s
streets are paved with discarded Zimbabwean dollar notes
which is not common
in any country in the world and nobody bothers to pick
them up reflecting
how far the currency has lost its value. The local
currency has become a
conundrum, even a joke, to many Zimbabwean children.
According to
the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, 80% of the country’s
population is
unemployed and living below the poverty datum line.
Former
president of the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce Luxon
Zembe said it
did not make economic sense to control the exchange rate when
inflows were
depressed, as it will only widen the gap.
"The exchange rate should
be determined by market forces," he said.
The rate at which the
Zimbabwe dollar was losing value on the parallel
market indicates how the
local money was quickly becoming worthless,
payments in kind and barter
trade slowly becoming the order of the day.
Price quotations are
now valid for at least three days.
Economists said the country’s
economy is being carried by the informal
sector, arguing that if it was
totally formal, it would have totally
collapsed a long time
ago.
Apart from demand and supply, the direction of the movement of
the
dollar had been triggered by skewed policies by government, the Reserve
Bank
buying foreign currency on the parallel market and availability of
fuel.
Genesis Bank group economist Brains Muchemwa said the fall of
the
dollar on the parallel market was a result of more imported inflation on
household balance sheets especially considering the high propensity to
import caused by the huge output gap that exists in Zimbabwe.
"Because wages are not indexed to the exchange rate depreciation,
consumers
get worse off. Of late the sharp depreciation has emanated from
acute broad
money supply growth and heavy imports for almost all commodities
as
evidenced by availability of imported South African goods in most retail
shops in town on basic commodities, from toothpaste to juices that are not
under price controls," Muchemwa said.
Muchemwa said there was
no way to stop the current acute depreciation
at the present moment, so the
freefall might continue for a little longer.
Zim Independent
By
Pedzisai Ruhanya
ONE of the greatest strengths of opposition
political groups in
democratic struggles in any given society is the
adherence to norms and
values governing a civilised and democratic society
in order to position
themselves as an antithesis to autocratic rule such as
the one in Zimbabwe.
In this regard, opposition political parties
gain credibility by
conducting their business on the highest plane of
dignity.
They do so through complying with their constitutions,
rules and
regulations, respecting their structures, shunning corruption,
nepotism,
tribalism, and observing the rule of law, among other issues
related to
democratic governance.
It is through democratic norm
compliance and continuous insistence on
following laid down procedures in
the governance of their party affairs that
opposition groups gain
credibility as alternatives to corrupt, abusive and
norm-violating regimes
such as the one governing the affairs of Zimbabwe.
The opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), in this instance
the one led by Morgan
Tsvangirai, is failing by a very wide margin to
operate in a procedural
manner in the running of its affairs.
The dissolution of the
national executive of the Women’s Assembly of
this faction and the manner in
which the group endorsed Constitutional
Amendment Number 18 as part of its
negotiations with Zanu PF under the talks
being mediated by South African
President Thabo Mbeki were unprocedural.
Such tendency by an
opposition political party that seeks to govern
and has the potential to do
so needs to be interrogated and criticised
because they fall outside the
premise of democratic norms which the party
says it stands for.
Firstly, my understanding is that the Women’s Assembly of the MDC was
dissolved by a subcommittee without the recommendation of the national
council of that party. Why the subcommittee and not the national council
made the decision points to an illicit decision by the opposition political
party.
A party such as the MDC which has done some tremendous
work in the
democratisation process in Zimbabwe should be ashamed to find
itself in such
a situation. It is shameful in that what the Tsvangirai group
did is not
different from what Zanu PF does in the administration of the
affairs of
this country.
The decision by this faction is
similar to what Mugabe did in 2004
when he forced the politburo of that
party and not the congress to choose
the vice-president of the ruling party.
This saw the elevation of Joice
Mujuru to the post of vice-president of the
party and consequently of the
country in total violation of the party
constitution. The congress that
followed was academic. Those who were
campaigning for their preferred
candidates were hounded out of the party and
this saw the expulsion of six
provincial chairpersons for attempting to
respect the party’s constitution.
My understanding and the
expectations of Zimbabweans is to see a
different culture of doing things by
the opposition in order that this
country returns to democratic legitimacy.
However, the MDC seems to think
that there is nothing wrong in the manner
that Mugabe governs the country.
Breaking party rules is becoming an
ingredient of opposition administration
in Zimbabwe.
What is
more worrying is that like in Zanu PF, the MDC in the case of
the
dissolution of the Lucia Matibenga-led Women’s Assembly there is a group
of
unelected officials who use their closeness to Tsvangirai to abuse party
processes and violate laid down procedures.
This group in the
case of the Women’s Assembly is led by Ian Makone
who lost to Tendai Biti
during their congress in March 2006 when he
attempted to be the
secretary-general of the faction. Having lost the
elections, Makone was
appointed by Tsvangirai to the post of director of
elections.
Makone’s wife Theresa is a very close ally to the party president’s
family
and following the unconstitutional dissolution of Matibenga’s
executive
Theresa is campaigning to take over the leadership. Not that there
is
anything wrong for her to do that but why should she attempt to be a
beneficiary of an unlawful process? To make matters worse, there are
allegations that she had a hand in the dissolution of that body outside the
provisions of the MDC constitution using financial power.
The
MDC has also failed to give the reasons for the unconstitutional
dissolution. If the Matibenga-led executive had flouted party rules and
regulations or was incompetent, why is the whole executive being allowed to
contest to retain their posts?
If there are no adequate reasons
for the dissolution of the Women’s
Assembly, there is something wrong with
the month of October given that the
greatest crisis to face the opposition
party was in October 2005. If that is
the case then surely the MDC should
exorcise itself from the "ghost of
October".
There has been
talk that there is a group of unelected officials who
misled Tsvangirai to
disregard party processes and Makone has been mentioned
on several
occasions. The current saga seems to suggest that indeed Makone
has a very
strong influence on Tsvangirai but the question remains whether
the
influence benefits the party or may lead to its collapse in the
long-run.
The other procedural matter is how the MDC led by
Tsvangirai endorsed
Constitutional Amendment Number 18. I am not going to
deal with the merits
or demerits of the constitutional amendment because for
me that is the most
notorious way of a constitution-making process.
Parliament is not the
platform to write a national constitution in a
democratic society.
In this matter the Tsvangirai group never held
either an executive or
national council meeting where members could debate
and make a collective
decision on such a crucial matter. How that decision
became binding on the
MDC is a matter of speculation. It boggles the mind to
understand the
difficulty in following such simple procedures in the
administration of the
party. In the event that members of the party question
the decision and
accuse the leadership of violating party protocols and
rules, it puts the
party leadership in a very questionable position of its
commitment to
observe democratic values.
There seems to be a
group in the MDC which is aligned to Tsvangirai
which thinks that taking
unilateral decisions that violate party rules is a
show of strong
leadership.
This group does so knowing well that its illicit will
can only prevail
by circumventing party protocol and avoiding democratic
structures of the
party. The challenge lies squarely on Tsvangirai. What is
happening in the
MDC that he leads is a litmus test of his ability to
administer the affairs
of his party in a transparent and accountable manner
with due respect to the
operating framework of that organisation. When
things go well or bad people
will remember Tsvangirai as the MDC leader. For
instance how many people can
remember the Minister of Finance or Justice
during Mobutu Sese Seko’s rule
in Zaire?
Zimbabwe is currently
facing a serious crisis of governance and
legitimacy as a result of disputed
elections, disrespect of the rule of law,
human rights violations and
corruption among other things. If one looks at
the genesis of these
problems, it’s not difficult to locate them in the
political party currently
in power, Zanu PF.
The culture of impunity associated with Zanu PF
rule has been
transferred to the state and replicated in all the security
apparatus in the
country. Zanu PF’s disdain for the rule of law and its
unquenchable thirst
for power by any means necessary even through murder and
violence has been
transferred to the state.
What people in
opposition political parties, Tsvangirai included, need
to appreciate is
that Zimbabwe critically needs a regime change which
implies a change in
governance and not necessarily a change in government.
* Pedzisai
Ruhanya is a human rights researcher
Zim Independent
Comment
THE deputy Minister of Water Resources and
Infrastructural Development
Walter Mzembi says government is working on a
"framework allowing residents
and ratepayers to be directly involved in the
management of water" so that
they appreciate the problems faced by
Zinwa.
"What is critical is a buy-in from residents and it should
not take
the whole minister to come down to residents and explain to them on
water
delivery but they should be asking among themselves through their
representatives," he told residents of Chitungwiza during a tour of the
suburb by a joint parliamentary portfolio committee on Local Government,
Public Works, Urban Development and Health.
As we read this, we
were reminded of equally plaintive calls by
Reserve Bank governor Gideon
Gono for an end to further farm invasions if
the nation is to achieve food
self-sufficiency. They have fallen on the deaf
ears of those in charge of
the Zimbabwean ship of state. We don’t expect
Mzembi to fare any better
given government’s voracious appetite to have its
fingers in every
pie.
As if to confirm this gloomy forecast, instead of listening to
objections by Bulawayo residents to Zinwa taking over water delivery and
sewage reticulation in the city, government has issued a "directive" for a
forced takeover, according to a press release by the Bulawayo council. This
is despite overwhelming failure by this imposition to provide adequate
services in all the other cities where it has taken over such as Harare,
Mutare, Masvingo,Victoria Falls, Kariba, Chinhoyi and Bindura.
Explaining the implications of the takeover, Bulawayo executive mayor
Japhet
Ndabeni Ncube said council would lose 40% of its revenue to Zinwa
without a
concomitant assurance of improved service delivery. He said people
had no
faith in the parastatal’s capacity to reverse a crippling water
crisis in
the city for the past few months.
The evidence is there for all to
see, but that is really not the
point. What government is interested in is
money as demonstrated in the
latest rates increases for water even as
residents go for up to two weeks on
end without a drop of water from their
faucets.
Mzembi warned of disease outbreaks in high density suburbs
which have
gone without water for a number of weeks. Hospitals and clinics
have been
badly affected as well, with most of them reporting a rise in
cases of
diarrhoeal outbreaks.
But the tour by the
parliamentary committee must have been the
proverbial eye-opener for some
MPs who have been leading cocooned lives from
the rest of us ordinary
mortals. One MP is reported to have ended the tour
prematurely after being
sick when she witnessed raw sewer flowing in front
of residents’
houses.
One Chitungwiza resident said the raw sewage had been
flowing in front
of his house for at least three months. Zinwa took over
these functions
nearly a year ago from commissions imposed by Local
Government minister
Ignatious Chombo who had unilaterally fired
popularly-elected MDC
councillors.
This then begs the question
as to where Mzembi is getting the latest
fable that government wants
residents to be involved in water management
through their elected
representatives? That is precisely what government is
fighting. It wants to
impose its will everywhere, from mining to
manufacturing to civic
affairs.
Conversely, city residents and ratepayers are not
interested in the
"challenges" which Zinwa is experiencing. They did not
invite it to assume
their responsibility and they have no representatives in
its structures.
Given the option by a government concerned about people’s
opinions, they
would rather revert to elected councillors and mayors who
would be
accountable to those who elect them.
The essence of
democracy is that you choose those who rule over you.
You vote them out when
they fail to deliver on their promises.
Decentralisation of power to local
authorities calls for no less. Yet in
Zimbabwe you have the archetypal
power-mongers who will not brook the
formation of something as basic as an
independent ratepayers’ association so
long as it is perceived as a possible
power base for opposition politics.
We would all love to be
optimistic and believe that Mzembi is correct
about this framework which
includes all stakeholders in water management.
Unfortunately the Zanu PF
government’s behaviour over the years has not
prepared us for such naïve
optimism so long as there is a threat to its hold
on power.
Zim Independent
Candid Comment
By Joram Nyathi
ZIMBABWE’S Supreme Court
ruled last week that a primary school pupil
at Ruvheneko in Glen Norah,
Harare could not be barred for his dreadlocks.
This act "infringed" on the
pupil’s "human rights" as enshrined in the
constitution, it was
reported.
On the face of it, the mention of fundamental rights is
sound. While
the ruling may be legally valid, there is something curious
about how the
decision was arrived at, at least as reported in the
Herald.
The first point is one of discipline. To me if a school
cannot enforce
discipline on pupils, then the headmaster and teachers lose
their role as
surrogate parents to whom we surrender, by choice, our
children as we go
about our business. That discipline includes deciding what
uniform a
particular school chooses.
If I choose that my child
shall not put on a particular school
uniform, I won’t send my child to that
school. It is not for the school to
change its uniform. Fundamental rights
have to be enjoyed within a certain
social setting, not in a
vacuum.
Headmasters may not necessarily be empowered at law to make
rules
governing the conduct of children at their schools, but because of the
responsibility reposed in them by parents, they face a dilemma when a single
parent turns around to undermine their authority by making unreasonable
demands on them.
Farai Benjamin Dzvova was not barred from
attending Ruvheneko primary
school on the basis of his "religious beliefs".
It was more of the father
imposing his will on the school and asking the
court to endorse it.
If in all material cases a minor of eight
years cannot contract or
enter a binding agreement about his life and what
is good for him, how is
Farai supposed to have made a deliberate decision on
a complex subject such
as religion? Is it not self-evident that the father,
having himself made a
conscious decision to become a Rastafarian, that is if
one he is, most
likely many years after leaving school, made the decision
for the child,
fully aware that it was against school
regulations?
Most of us were brought up on a Christian diet where
it was mandatory
to attend Sunday school. The school enforced attendance on
the pain of
severe punishment. I wonder how many of us still go to church
every Sunday
for any reason than to keep up appearances or to show off our
latest 4x4. Is
it suggested by this court decision that Farai must live by
his father’s
decision even when he attains adulthood, given its effect on
the role of
headmasters countrywide?
I can understand when
government says a pupil cannot be expelled from
school because his/her
parents can’t afford the fees or the school uniform.
The logic here is that
education is a fundamental right of every child, and
that the child cannot
be deprived of that right because his/her parents are
poor. The parents’
inability is at issue.
In Farai’s case, the parent has more than
sufficient resources to
enforce what is in fact not a fundamental right of
the child but a personal
choice he made for the child to be a Rastafarian
and wants to impose it on
the school authorities.
So far he has
satisfied his wish. But that comes with a lot of
implications. Young Farai
may be lucky if he is not made an object of
ridicule by fellow pupils, which
might affect his school work. Certainly a
headmaster who was publicly
humiliated by Farai’s father cannot be expected
to protect the
child.
Legally the court might be correct about rights, but these
have to be
tempered by the fact that Farai, at eight, cannot be said to have
made a
decision to become a Rastafarian. What his father has done is to make
a
choice for the child which adds nothing to his quest for education. Who
then
can stop a parent sending his child to school in fancy clothes as a
manifestation of their social status? Who can stop me from arming my child
with a knife "for his own protection" because I live in a violent
neighbourhood?
There is a danger that in attempting to uphold
human rights we end up
with so-called "unintended consequences". The
problematic gun culture in the
United States must have started because of
the same misguided permissiveness
about human rights. It has become a
national scourge with hardly a month
going by without some fatal shooting in
school premises.
There is nothing fundamentally wrong with
professing one’s religion.
However, there are problems when its
manifestation becomes the standard
bearer of universal human
rights.
Imagine a teacher in the middle of a lesson. A Moslem
princess drifts
in wearing pitch black robes broken only by a razor slit
across the eyes;
behind her Madzibaba Zakaria’s angel waltzes in the
snow-white regalia worn
by Mapostori; behind her still Mbuya Nehanda’s young
medium walks in
topless, with a goat skin to cover the essentials, a feather
hat, an ox tail
in the right hand and a spear in the left; behind this train
follows
Macarina from the leafy Kambanji suburb in a blouse that barely
covers the
navel while at the top breasts are jutting out to freedom while
behind a red
G-string hugs her tightly under low-cut faded jeans. For, human
rights
cannot be confined only to "religious beliefs". And when do we draw a
line
in the sand to say this is enough?
If we want to maintain
discipline in our schools, I think we should
allow headmasters and teachers
to play parents to our children in our
absence. Religion is a very personal
issue, not something to be worn on one’s
sleeve.
With all due
respect!
Zim Independent
MuckRaker
HARARE has been recovering this week from a
devastating blackout that
saw residents seriously inconvenienced, left
billions of dollars’ worth of
food rotting in refrigerators, and properties
exposed to crime.
It was probably the worst power outage since the
Second World War.
Over two thirds of the city was plunged into darkness
early last week and
power was only restored on Monday. It meant people had
to go without food,
baths, television and fans. Businesses were prejudiced
of billions and homes
were exposed to opportunistic criminals who took
advantage of the absence of
security lights.
But what is
remarkable about this episode is that the state media
conducted a blackout
of its own against the public who needed accurate
information as to the
cause and duration of the crisis.
It was a classic case of a
state-manipulated public broadcaster and
print media denying the public the
information to which they were entitled.
Only on Tuesday after the lights
had come back on — fitfully — did the
Herald report that some suburbs had
gone without power for 10 days following
a high-voltage cable
fault.
You can see why. Zesa’s ineptitude is symptomatic of Zanu
PF’s failed
state. The closure of power stations and inability to pay
suppliers meant a
small crisis regarding high-voltage cables quickly became
a major one.
Zesa has proved a useful recruiting sergeant for
the opposition. The
public know that things certainly won’t be getting any
better if Zanu PF is
returned. Indeed last week’s blackout is a sign of
things to come. If
President Mugabe is reelected there will be no
balance-of-payments support
and no forex. Ask anybody who has worked in West
Africa and they will tell
you that blackouts and water shortages are a sure
sign of a country on the
skids.
But what is also sad is the way
in which the public were starved of
information. Did none of the state
media’s voluble propagandists have a word
to say about the collapse of the
capital’s power supplies? Or are they only
able to comment on the MDC and
Gordon Brown?
Anyway, we liked the announcement in the Herald
that as from this week
the Passport Office would be open at weekends. When
the announcement was
made the office was closed due to the
blackout!
Another item caught our attention this week. Zimbabwe
will next year
begin exporting power to Namibia regardless of the fact that
refurbishment
of Hwange Power Station is incomplete because Zesa has failed
to deliver the
local component of the financing arrangements. One hundred
billion dollars
is needed if the project is to be completed by the end of
the year as agreed
with Nampower.
Mavis Chidzonga, who heads
the Zimbabwe Electricity Regulatory
Commission, told the Parliamentary
Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy
that Zesa will start exporting 40 MW
to Namibia in January whether the
refurbishments at Hwange have been
completed or not. If the project is not
completed, she said, Zesa would have
to take from the electricity supply
that we generate, ie from the national
grid.
Hello more blackouts! But how calculating of Namibia’s
Nampower to
take advantage of our incompetent officials in the name of
regional
solidarity.
Congratulations to Godwills
Masimirembwa on his appointment to chair
the National Incomes and Pricing
Commission. All those fawning articles in
the Herald have evidently paid
off. Now he will have the unenviable task of
trying to regulate the
market.
As every other attempt by Zanu PF to control prices has
failed we look
forward to seeing how prices can be stabilised while inputs
are rocketing.
Masimirembwa will be required to emulate King Canute ordering
the tide to
recede. Writing turgid articles for the Herald didn’t prepare
him for this.
It is a feature of Zimbabwean politics that people
who have no
understanding of how a modern economy works are put in positions
of
responsibility only to discover they can’t make any
difference.
The Sunday Mail described Masimirembwa as a lawyer with
"vast
experience in the legal profession". Indeed. But they didn’t say why
he is
unable to practise law. Again, another concealment from the public by
one of
the state’s leading information organs. By the way, has it given us
the
dates yet of Zanu PF’s extraordinary congress?
Jabulani
Sbanda has been advertising his incisive intellect. "The
president is under
attack from foreign and even local media," he told
journalists last week.
"We are strengthening him up. We are marching forward
even on empty
stomachs, even when shops are dry, to show the world that we
are a different
breed."
So there you have it. Sibanda claims to be marching on an
empty
stomach to promote empty shops. He will make sure Mugabe is returned
to keep
shops empty. This "vision" that he speaks of is the vision of a
barren land;
of desolate farms and hungry people.
It is the
vision of a revolution betrayed by ignorant foot-soldiers
unleashed by a
ruler who has no answers to the country’s myriad problems but
who wants to
remain in power all the same. And why does he want to remain in
power? To go
on doing the same thing!
What sort of vision is that?
"We have got a president," Sibanda said. "What we do not have is
bread."
He appeared unable to make the connection.
"Cde Sibanda cleared the air on his suspension saying he appealed
against
the decision," the Herald told us.
So, because he has appealed
against it, his suspension — or is it
expulsion — no longer stands? He can
do what he likes? What does this tell
us about discipline within Zanu
PF?
And the other five chairmen suspended in 2004? Are they now
also free
to resume their activities as well?
And then he has
the audacity to deny that there are any internal
divisions in Zanu PF. Those
divisions are becoming more evident by the day.
But Sibanda says war
veterans will endorse Mugabe at the party’s
extraordinary congress
regardless of his age.
"Regardless of his performance," Sibanda
should have said.
And we were intrigued to learn that the view that
Mugabe is too old is
an "external theory".
At least that’s what
Sibanda said in Chinhoyi earlier this month.
Is there no end to
these Western conspiracies? We are not even allowed
to dream of Mugabe
going.
"Cde Sibanda said no one should dream of becoming the ruling
party’s
candidate next year, saying the people’s choice was Cde Mugabe," the
Sunday
News reported from Bindura.
So no dreams of a better
life? And no point in having elections when
the candidate has already been
declared!
On the front page of the same newspaper Joseph Msika
could be seen
fighting a rearguard action against the trespasser. Sibanda
remained
"expelled from the party", the VP bravely declared. No solidarity
marches
for him.
But he remains loyal to his leader. "I
challenge everyone who says
Bulawayo does not support Cde Mugabe to come to
my office and I will
investigate that," he said rather
ominously.
Aren’t popularity contests usually held by way of the
ballot box? And
what did the people of Bulawayo say in 2000 and 2004? Why
has Msika never
put his popularity to the test in Bulawayo?
One of those marching through Bindura in solidarity with Mugabe last
weekend
was deputy Minister of Youth Development and Employment Creation
Savior
Kasukuwere. He should be asked how many youths have been employed
since he
took up his current post. All those ministers and governors who
took part in
the solidarity march have been handsomely rewarded from the
fiscus. They
certainly have jobs, courtesy of Mugabe’s patronage system. But
none of them
have generated jobs for the jobless. And they have the gall to
march around
advertising their loyalty to a leadership that has impoverished
a once
prosperous nation. It was a disgraceful performance by any
definition.
Sunday Mail reporter Farai Dzirutwe appears not
to know the difference
between a summons and an invitation. The paper ran a
story last weekend
headed "Mohadi summons Tsvangirai".
You
would assume from this that the minister’s so-called summons had
legal
force; that Tsvangirai was obliged to attend the meeting called by the
minister where the MDC leader would be required to substantiate claims that
MDC supporters had been killed or maimed. Police chiefs would attend such a
meeting, we were led to believe.
In fact, the minister has no
authority to "summon" anybody to
anything. The purpose of such a meeting was
obviously to make it look as if
the MDC had no case. The MDC had embarked
upon "a campaign to depict itself
as a persecuted party to help shore up
Britain’s anti-Zimbabwe stance ahead
of the EU/Africa summit in Portugal
later this year", the Sunday Mail
childishly claimed.
Police
spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena said "outside the petrol bombings
that took place
in February/March we have not had notable cases of political
violence".
Presidential spokesman George Charamba, in remarks strikingly
similar to
those of Herald columnist Nathaniel Manheru on Saturday, said the
MDC was
trying "to build a case of escalating violence by labelling every
dead
person as their supporter".
Mohadi’s "summons" turned out to be
an invitation to meet with him.
The MDC accepted on Wednesday but failed to
make full use of the occasion.
They could have enquired about the assaults
carried out against Tsvangirai
and other MDC leaders in March while in
police custody. They could also have
enquired whether there had been any
arrests in the case involving an assault
on Nelson Chamisa at Harare
airport.
Then there are the outstanding cases of Edward Chikomba
and Gift
Tandare. Before them were Tonderayi Machiridza, Martin Olds, Gloria
Olds,
Henry Elsworth and Trymore Midzi.
Have these cases of
state violence been followed up and if not why
not, Mohadi should have been
asked? And what "petrol bombings" was
Bvudzijena referring to? Are these not
the same charges that were dismissed
in court as a fabrication? Has anybody
been successfully prosecuted for
these "bombings"?
The MDC’s
failure to remind Mohadi of his own ordeal at the hands of
the Zanu PF
government in the 1980s and its inability to engage the public
in
documenting human rights abuses confirms our view that it is inept in
dealing with the regime’s claims.
Zim Independent
By Eric Bloch
EVER since Independence, the
relationship between the government and
Bulawayo has been, and continues to
be, reminiscent of the pantomime,
Cinderella, save that that pantomime has
episodes of joy and happiness,
which has rarely been the case with the
government and its never-ending,
despicable disregard for Bulawayo and its
people.
In this real life pantomime, which is not festive and
joyful, those in
government are blatantly the Ugly Sisters, whilst Bulawayo
is the oppressed
Cinderella.
The Ugly Sisters do naught but
afflict the City of Bulawayo and its
people, whilst displaying a façade of
concern and a reality of contempt and
disregard.
In the early
years of Independence, governmental spending on
development in Matabeleland
in general and in Bulawayo in particular,
represented less than 1% of all
state spending on infrastructural creation
and rehabilitation, resource
development and meeting the needs of the
people.
And that was
notwithstanding that the Matabeleland people represented
at least 25% of the
population, and that Bulawayo was Zimbabwe’s second
largest
city.
Not only did the Ugly Sisters give next to nothing to
Cinderella, but
the mid-1980s were characterised by brutal oppression and
repression by
government, vigorously aided and abetted by the nefarious
Fifth Brigade.
Those evil acts did not only grievously afflict
thousands of innocent
people, but also severely retarded economic
development and investment in
the Matabeleland provinces and the City of
Bulawayo.
After the Unity Accord of 1987, the government did give
marginally
greater attention to the needs as endlessly imposed upon
Cinderella, but
disproportionately inequitably as against its focus upon
other cities,
towns, and provinces.
In the main, the Ugly
Sisters feigned caring and concern as precursors
to general and presidential
elections, but as soon as the elections were
over, resumed their contempt,
oppression and lack of support for poor
Cinderella.
Thus, by
way of example, despite hijacking progressive private sector
endeavours to
bring about fruition of the Zambezi Water Project, which has
been
contemplated for over 80 years, government has steadfastly failed to
provide
any realistic funding to transform the project from a concept into a
reality.
It obdurately ignored the desperate needs of the city
for reliable
water supplies and as greatly disregarded the immense economic
benefits that
would accrue to Bulawayo, to all Matabeleland, and to Z