http://af.reuters.com/
Wed Oct 26, 2011 3:24pm GMT
*
Mugabe's wife, senior officials denied visas
* Zimbabwe lodges protest
with UN, Swiss government
* Mugabe's party in anti-sanctions
drive
By Cris Chinaka
HARARE, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe has been
forced to cancel a trip to Geneva for a
United Nations meeting this week
after his wife and some of his aides were
denied visas, state media said on
Wednesday.
Western countries,
including the United States and the European Union,
imposed travel and
financial sanctions on Mugabe and senior officials of his
ZANU-PF party
almost a decade ago over charges of rights abuses and vote
rigging.
But the sanctions, which Mugabe argues are punishment for
his seizure and
redistribution of white-owned commercial farms to black
Zimbabweans, have
traditionally not been applied for U.N.
meetings.
On Wednesday, the official Herald newspaper said Mugabe, 87,
had scrapped a
trip to Switzerland for an International Telecommunications
Union summit
after his wife Grace, Foreign Minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi,
chief
spokesman George Charamba and three other senior officials were
refused
travel permits.
Private media in Zimbabwe reported that
Mugabe had planned to travel with a
62-member delegation.
Harare had
lodged a protest with both the Swiss government and the United
Nations, the
Herald said.
"This was a highly regrettable decision which was a clear
violation of the
United Nations headquarters' host agreement and Zimbabwe's
sovereign right
to determine the composition of its delegation," a foreign
affairs official
was quoted as saying.
An ITU spokesman said
invitations had been sent to all members but questions
of border control
were left to host countries. Mugabe officials were not
immediately available
for comment.
The Swiss embassy in Harare confirmed some visa applications
had been turned
down but declined to comment on charges that Switzerland had
adopted the
European Union's position on ZANU-PF although it is not a member
of the
bloc.
State media quoted Charamba as saying Zimbabwe had noted
the Swiss position
as a sign of changing times, and, without giving any
details, promised an
appropriate diplomatic response.
ZANU-PF has in
the past threatened to target for seizure foreign-owned firms
from countries
supporting sanctions against Zimbabwe, and is now trying to
force mining
firms to transfer majority shareholdings to black Zimbabweans.
Early this
year ZANU-PF launched an anti-sanctions campaign, collecting
signatures
countrywide, and officials say it will soon approach
international courts to
challenge the legality of the sanctions.
Mugabe, who was forced into a
power-sharing government with his rival Morgan
Tsvangirai as prime minister,
says sanctions against his party are illegal
and have hit state-owned
companies and Zimbabwe's ability to borrow money
abroad.
Critics say
Zimbabwe's economic recovery from a decade-long crisis caused
largely by
ZANU-PF policies will be slow and hard for as long as Mugabe
pursues his
controversial black empowerment programmes.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
President's
delegation denied UN visas...
Wednesday, 26 October 2011 00:00
Herald
Reporter
THE Zimbabwean Government has lodged a protest with the United
Nations and
the Swiss government after the latter denied visas to six
members of
President Mugabe's delegation to the International
Telecommunications Union
summit on information communication technologies
underway in Geneva.
President Mugabe was leading the delegation, but
cancelled the trip after
the First Lady Amai Grace Mugabe, Foreign Affairs
Minister Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi, Transport, Communications and
Infrastructure Development
Minister Nicholas Goche, Director General in the
President's Department
Retired Major General Happyton Bonyongwe, Secretary
for Media, Information
and Publicity Mr George Charamba, and his aide de
camp Senior Assistant
Commissioner Martin Kwainona were denied
visas.
Information Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa, who was
part
of the delegation, was granted a visa.
A senior official in the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed yesterday
that Zimbabwe had lodged a
protest with the UN and the Swiss authorities.
"We noted that this was a
highly regrettable decision which was a clear
violation of the United
Nations headquarters host agreement and Zimbabwe's
sovereign right to
determine the composition of its delegation," the
official
said.
According to the official, Zimbabwe lodged its protest through the
Swiss
embassies in Harare and Geneva, the UN in New York as well as to the
UN
secretary-general, his representative at the ITU and the
secretary-general
of the ITU, which is headquartered in Geneva.
The ITU
is a UN specialised agency for telecommunications.
"Our ambassadors (to
the UN in Geneva and the UN in New York) were told that
the Swiss had made
their decision and not violated the host agreement. They
(Swiss authorities)
argued that they had given visas to the Zimbabwean
delegation and those
given were adequate to represent Zimbabwe at the
summit," said the
official.
Section 11 of the host agreement says authorities of the host
nation shall
not impose any impediments to transit to or from the
headquarters (of a UN
body) on persons invited by the UN or by such
specialised agency on official
business.
In this case, the
President was invited by the ITU secretary-general and had
the right to
determine the composition of his delegation. The Foreign
Affairs official
said the Swiss embassy in Harare wrote to the Government
that they made the
decision based on current Swiss law and obligations as a
host country (to a
UN body).
The Swiss embassy also said it had done its part by issuing
"exceptionally a
visa to President Mugabe" and taking into consideration
that those denied
visas were on the European Union sanctions
list.
Switzerland is not a member of the EU, but asserts to be an associate
member
which is neutral in world politics.
However, President Mugabe,
who was given a visa and the six who were denied
the visas, are all on the
EU sanctions list, which bars them from travelling
to EU member
countries.
But the travel restrictions do not apply to UN meetings because
the world
body has not imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe and host countries of
UN bodies
are therefore required to grant visas for such
meetings.
Contacted for comment yesterday, Mr Charamba said: "These are
changed times
and nowadays you become neutral from one side, in this case
the western
side. Switzerland has called itself neutral in terms of
international
politics, anyway the Zimbabwe Government knows what recourse
it takes in
terms of international law."
Mr Charamba said it was
surprising that a country which calls itself neutral
had taken a decision to
divide a government of national unity, a family (the
First Family)and a
delegation by issuing visas to some members and denying
others.
Minister
Chamisa yesterday said he was no longer attending the summit.
"I am no
longer going. I was supposed to go with the President but we are no
longer
going," he said.
Minister Goche said this was the second time after 2009 that
he had been
denied a visa to attend a world ICT summit.
He said the Swiss
authorities' arguments were flimsy given that in April
this year he was
granted a visa to attend a World Meteorological meeting in
Geneva and for
five years when he was Labour Minister he attended
International Labour
Organisation meetings in Geneva.
Justice and Legal Affairs Minister
Patrick Chinamasa was also recently in
Geneva attending a UN Human Rights
Council meeting.
Mr Charamba said despite the Zimbabwe delegation not
attending the summit,
the country will forge ahead with promotion of
ICTs.
Comments
Monya - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:14
AMThank you to the Swiss
government for help us save some money from these
blood sucking travelers
Newton - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:18
AMwhat international law is
charamba talking about? Garai kuzimbabwe ikoko.
Inga munotuka Europe every
day...why not go kuBuhera munokohwa chibage
vanaCHARAMBA. Handiti mune
mafarm. What business do you have in
switzerland...well done swiss
government....President always goes to europe
with 200 people....why????
....zimbabwe can be represented by the
ambassadors...we don't need a big
crowd......there is a reason why it has
gone like this. It didn't happen in
1988. As yourself what have we done
wrong and you know what u did. Mhondi
dzevanhu!!
Homegirl -
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:35 AMGet over it, please! The
rest of us
mortals jump through hoops all the time to get visas. It's not an
easy ride
for anyone, ad this is not a life-and-death summit. Just one less
shopping
trip for some people. Stay home to clean house and do some DIY
repairs. Not
worth moaning about going to other people's countries. As if we
don't give
foreigners a hard time ourselves. Even I, a Zim citizen
travelling on a Zim
passport, was 'given' 3 months to stay by an idiot
immigration officer last
time I landed at Harare airport. Where was I going
to be deported to if I
'overstayed'?! So we have a lot of work to do on our
home territory, instead
of adopting this victim mentality over silly things.
baRuva - Wednesday,
October 26, 2011 at 12:42 AMwhy come kunotonhora kudai,
garai kumusha murime
mvura yoda kunaya
Mr. Jinx - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 12:52
AMRegardless of what we
think about the sanction list and visa problems, we
really have to ask: What
was such a bloated delegation including the First
Lady doing at this
conference?
Timi - Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at
01:01 AMGood. You have to be made to
feel you are real pariahs in the
international community. You cannot
continue to oppress your own people and
expect to gallivant around the
world. Very good.
Watching -
Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 01:06 AMAnd Chamisa refuses to go
without
Mugabe....and in that linked story he is described as "supersonic"
by the
President....something is going on here...
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
26 October
2011
Robert Mugabe is rumored to have once again flown to Singapore this
week,
after quietly leaving Zimbabwe and giving no indication as to his
travel
plans.
Mugabe reportedly snuck out of the country earlier this
week, leaving
Cabinet in a state of confusion because he was not there to
chair the
Tuesday meeting. It was then reported on Wednesday that he had
cancelled a
planned trip to Switzerland for a UN conference, and that he
left for
Singapore instead.
Reports as early as Monday had said that
Mugabe was due to travel to
Johannesburg for a connecting flight to
Singapore. If true, this would be
the ageing ZANU PF leader’s eighth trip to
Asia this year alone, amid
ongoing speculation that he is receiving
treatment for prostate cancer.
This is the second time this month that
Mugabe is said to have traveled to
Asia for medical treatment, and after
returning from his last trip, Mugabe
claimed he had gone there on a private
visit to see his daughter Bona. She
is studying in Hong Kong.
But it
is widely believed, and fiercely denied by ZANU PF, that Mugabe is
getting
serious treatment. The party has insisted that Mugabe’s only health
concerns
are related to his eyes. But his repeated trips, courtesy of the
taxpayer,
have hinted at something more serious.
Leaked diplomatic cables by the
whistle blowing group WikiLeaks have added
more fuel to the fire. In one of
the leaked cables, a US diplomat is said to
have seen Mugabe checking in at
a cancer clinic in Singapore in May and
August in 2008. Gideon Gono was then
quoted by a different leaked cable as
confirming that Mugabe is being
treated for prostate cancer.
Meanwhile, other members of the government
have also started questioning the
details of Mugabe health. Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai was quoted in an
interview with the UK’s Guardian
newspaper of UK this week as saying:
“President Mugabe’s health is a
national question, a national concern. Why?
Because when you have a partner
whose state of health is unpredictable, and
that partner holds the key to
the unity of the opponent, what is likely to
be the outcome should he die is
instability in the party, which leads to
instability in the country.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
26
October 2011
The state case against former MDC-T legislator Munyaradzi
Gwisai seems to be
crumbling, following serious questions about the
credibility of the
prosecution’s ‘star’ witness who failed to show up in
court on Wednesday.
Gwisai is being accused of plotting against the
government. The University
of Zimbabwe law lecturer is jointly charged with
Antoneta Choto, Tatenda
Mombeyarara, Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo and
Welcome Zimuto.
The group was arrested in February after watching videos
of the Arab spring
uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia. They were initially
charged with treason and
plotting to overthrow Robert Mugabe but that was
downgraded to ‘conspiracy
to commit public violence’.
The defence team,
led by leading human rights lawyer Alec Muchadehama, was
on Wednesday
disappointed Jonathan Shoko did not turn up for cross
examination. Police
brought a sick report dated 25 October in which he was
given three days bed
rest by a doctor.
Muchadehama applied for discharge, but the magistrate
granted the
postponement application by the state to the 1st November. This
is the fifth
time the trial has been adjourned due absence or
excuses.
Under oath Shoko told the court he is a police sergeant, while
investigations by the defence team allege that he might be on the payroll of
the CIO and was testifying falsely. If this turns out to be true Shoko could
find himself in serious trouble for committing perjury, for wilfully telling
an untruth in a court.
Muchadehama was non-committal about their
planned approach to discredit
Shoko’s testimony.
‘We get this feeling
the police are no longer keen to have this matter
finalised. Previous
indications showed that police were in a hurry to get a
conviction but
suddenly they’re dragging their feet,’ Muchadehama said.
In February
Shoko infiltrated the meeting attended by civic and human rights
activists.
But infiltration is the job of the intelligence services, not the
police.
‘I think it is clear Shoko knows he has been cornered and
that his lies are
to be exposed, hence his attempt to absent himself in
court for several
times on flimsy excuses,’ a source close to the case said.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Tonderai Kwenda in Australia
Wednesday, 26
October 2011 09:01
PERTH - Although Zimbabwe is not officially part
of proceedings here, the
troubled southern African country’s economic and
political woes are firmly
on the discussion table.
The country is set
to feature in many discussions taking place here at the
Commonwealth Heads
of Government Meeting (Chogm) taking place throughout the
week.
Several activities from public marches, panel discussion and
reports
presentations on Zimbabwe will take place during the
week.
Today, the Commonwealth Organisations Committee on Zimbabwe will
launch a
report taking stock of the political progress in the
country.
The report titled “Zimbabwe: Routes to Progress” takes a look at
progress
made so far in political and economic reforms in Zimbabwe since the
formation of the coalition government in 2009.
It also looks at
whether the conditions prevailing in the country are good
enough for the
readmission of the country to the commonwealth family of
nations as well as
the holding of free and fair elections in the country.
On Friday, at the
Commonwealth Round Table and Murdoch University will host
a discussion
titled, “The Commonwealth — a force for global good?”
The event will
feature two presentations on Zimbabwe. One, titled, “The
Commonwealth &
Democracy Challenges, flashpoints and responses” which will
feature
presentations by Matthew Neuhaus the Australian Ambassador to
Zimbabwe and
Moses Chamboko of the Zimbabwe Information Centre.
On Thursday, the
Commonwealth Advisory Bureau will launch the Commonwealth
Heads of
Government Meeting 2011 Policy brief at the University of Western
Australia
where the future of Zimbabwe within the commonwealth will be
discussed.
On Friday, a loose coalition of Zimbabwe organisations
based in Australia
called the Democracy for Zimbabwe Contingent will lead a
public march for
Zimbabwe in central Perth.
The organisation’s
convenor, Paul Kaplan, said: “The march will be able to
call on the Chogm
and Sadc leaders in Perth to end the daily incidents of
political violence
in Zimbabwe, secure the dropping of charges against
Munyaradzi Gwisai and
all political prisoners, uphold human rights of the
Zimbabwean people and
ensure the holding of fair and free elections in
Zimbabwe.”
Although
the Daily News could not get the Chogm official agenda of a meeting
to be
officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on Friday, diplomatic sources
said
the issue of Zimbabwe will feature prominently during the
discussions.
There are countries in the grouping of former British
colonies who want
Zimbabwe readmitted into commonwealth unconditionally as
an incentive to
encourage the coalition government to speed up democratic
reforms.
Others particularly African countries want their western
counterparts to
remove targeted sanctions on President Robert Mugabe and his
inner circle as
a way of pushing him to embrace reforms required before the
country can be
readmitted into the Commonwealth family of
nations.
“There is more we can do as the Commonwealth to help Zimbabwe
recover from a
terrible political and economic situation and our friends in
the West can
assist us by tactically reviewing the sanctions position while
we put
pressure on the Harare government to effect necessary reforms,” said
a
diplomat from Botswana who is here to attend the festivities held every
two
years.
Chogm, is a biennial summit meeting of the heads of
government from all
Commonwealth nations.
Every two years the meeting
is held in a different member state, and is
chaired by that nation’s
respective leader.
It has often been criticised of failing to decisively
deal with problems in
member countries and put too much emphasis on dealing
only with member
countries which is why it was easy for Mugabe to simply
pull out of the
grouping when he was confronted with tough questions on
electoral violence
and fraud in 2002.
As a result, Mugabe dragged the
country out of the grouping in 2003 before
it could be booted
out.
But the incoming chairperson of the grouping, Australian Prime
Minister,
Julia Gillard yesterday said it was time for the grouping to size
up to its
challenges if it is to remain relevant.
http://www.iol.co.za/
October 26 2011 at
12:58pm
Zimbabwe's first green power plant produces ethanol from
sugarcane and could
help the country achieve energy independence. But its
detractors say it has
one big drawback: it has displaced local cotton
farmers.
The Green Fuel Private Limited ethanol plant sits about 500
kilometres south
of Harare near the Mozambique border, amidst 11 500
hectares of sugarcane.
About 500 families lived near the plant until
construction began in 2010.
These farmers now say they were booted by
government and company officials
who promised them compensation, but never
delivered.
“I was chucked out by government,” says Sam Rugare, a
78-year-old farmer who
told dpa that he worked on the land for
35
years. Ruramai Garwe, a widowed mother of seven, said that she can no
longer
afford to pay her kids' tuition fees.
“We used to raise school
fees from proceeds of cotton sales. Then we were
promised new jobs, but
we've been waiting three years now for those jobs,”
Garwe
said.
Officials from Green Fuel did not respond to a request for comment,
but a
local government official countered the villagers' claim that they
were not
fairly compensated.
“People genuinely displaced by the
ethanol project received land and
irrigation facilities to improve their
livelihoods,” said James Mundoma, a
local government official.
Member
of parliament Meki Makuyana disagrees, and recently asked the federal
government to look into the compensation program.
But that's not
enough for displaced farmers like Matthew Karikoga, who say
they heard
promises of thousands of new jobs associated with the green
plant.
“It is not a development but a destruction project,” Karikoga
said. “We are
not employed. They give employment to other
people.”
General Manager Graeme Smith told The Zimbabwean newspaper in
2010 that the
project would generate 6000 jobs and assist
3000
small-scale farmers. But the actual number of jobs generated seems
to have
been considerably less, critics said.
The farmers have
threatened to invade the sugar cane irrigation plantation
and replant their
cotton.
Yet the plant itself could bring significant benefits to
Zimbabweans. Green
Fuel says it has already generated 2 million litres of
ethanol that it can
sell as soon as tax authorities give them a licence to
do so. The facility
generates 160 000 litres of ethanol fuel
daily.
According to the government, the Chisumbanje ethanol plant is set
to be the
biggest in sub-Saharan Africa with an expected output of over 40
million
litres a month when fully operational.
This would potentially
allow Zimbabwe - which consumes about 2 million
litres of imported fuel
every day - to achieve energy self sufficiency.
Despite its promised
societal benefits, however, the 600-million-dollar
joint venture between
state-run ARDA and a group of white private investors
led by Muller Conrad
Rautenbach and Graeme Smith has been controversial.
Rautenbach, or Billy
as he is known, was dubbed a “Mugabe regime crony” by
the United States and
the European Union, and added to their travel ban
lists in
2009.
Rautenbach's involvement in the project raised concerns because he
has, in
the past, “enabled Robert Mugabe to pursue policies that seriously
undermine
democratic processes and institutions in Zimbabwe,” the British
newspaper
The Guardian reported. - Sapa-dpa
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
26 October 2011
A Canadian based Zimbabwean man has taken ZANU
PF’s Registrar General,
Tobaiwa Mudede, to court over Mudede’s refusal to
grant him a passport.
Mudede’s office has refused to renew Sebastian
Piroro’s Zimbabwean passport
which expired last year, after the office
discovered that his late father
was born in Mozambique. According to the
RG’s office although Piroro was
born in Zimbabwe more than 40 years ago, the
fact that his father was born
in Mozambique meant he now had dual
citizenship which is illegal in
Zimbabwe.
The registry argued that
the law required Piroro to renounce his Mozambican
citizenship before he
applies for a passport in Zimbabwe.
Piroro then took his fight to the
High Court, which in March declared him a
Zimbabwean citizen. The same court
ordered Mudede’s office to issue him with
a passport, but this has still not
happened. Mudede could now find himself
in contempt of court when the matter
is heard on Thursday.
Piroro’s case has highlighted the ongoing and
outstanding dual citizenship
issue, which prevents tens of thousands of
Zimbabweans from registering to
vote. ZANU PF has also actively campaigned
for the dual citizenship law not
to be allowed in Zimbabwe, with Mudede last
year telling party MPs that it
was “unpatriotic.”
Gabriel Shumba from
the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum told SW Radio Africa on
Wednesday that the issue
should be prioritised, explaining that it affects
many Zimbabweans in the
Diaspora.
“It is a huge problem that does not start with people holding
dual
citizenship. That is not the issue. The issue is that they are now
being
punished selectively, and in many cases it is because they had to
leave the
country,” Shumba said.
He added: “It is an immoral argument
to deny people citizenship from their
country just because they were forced
to leave and become unwilling citizens
of another country.”
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare,
October 26, 2011 – President Robert Mugabe and his two principals in
the
inclusive government have agreed to the reconstitution of the Tafataona
Mahoso led Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) which is currently
superintending over the licencing of new broadcasters.
This was
revealed in Parliament Wednesday by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai who was
responding to questions by legislators during the
inaugural session of the
Prime Minister Question Time.
“I want to assure you that myself, his
Excellency the President and
Honourable Mutambara (Arthur), one of the
critical interventions that we are
looking at and that we have directed the
Minister of Information to do
is...that the broadcasting authority must be
rectified, the board must be
reconstituted,” he said.
Tsvangirai was
responding a question by MDC-T MP for Mutare Central
legislator Innocent
Gonese who wanted to know what government was doing to
end the state
broadcaster's (ZBC) monopoly on the airwaves.
The MDC leader also lashed
at the ZimPapers stable for its current attempts
to extend its media empire
to the airwaves. Currently there is no law in
Zimbabwe which prohibits cross
ownership in the media.
“We cannot have a situation in which the same
people who are controlling the
print media want again to go into radio,” he
said.
The Zimpapers Talk Radio is one of the four prospective
broadcasters that
include Radio VOP, AB Communications and KISS FM that were
invited for
public hearings by BAZ currently chaired by Tafataona Mahoso who
is also the
chief executive of the print regulatory authority, the Zimbabwe
Media
Commission (ZMC). Radio VOP's hearing, which is the last of the four,
is
expected to be heard on Friday.
BAZ intends to give two radio
licenses and it is not yet clear what would
happen if the current BAZ is
disbanded.
Tsvangirai also defended his position in the wake of state
media reports he
was fighting for gay rights.
“My personal view does
not matter,” he said, “The people of Zimbabwe are
writing a constitution in
which they want to define their society and who am
I to question their
wisdom if they want to put the issue of gay rights into
the constitution,”
he said in response to a question by MDC-T legislator for
Bulawayo Central
Dorcas Sibanda, who asked Tsvangirai to respond to press
reports he was
advocating for the inclusion of gay rights in the
constitution.
“This
is an elitist debate when people have no food, when people have no
jobs,
when people have so many problems. Diverting the real issue and put
this
issue at the focus of the nation is a real diversionary.”
Tsvangirai drew
wild laughter from the house when he suggested, “perhaps I
am speaking here
kuda mumwe musi mungangodai muringochani panapa (we may be
talking while
some of you may be gays here). What you do in your private
sphere is your
private problem.”
Tsvangirai also said Zimbabwe should abandon its
intransigent stance towards
the new Libyan government which overthrew long
serving leader Muammar
Gaddafi in a fierce war.
“Circumstances
dictate behaviour,” he said, “The situation in Libya has
changed. I am sure
that Zimbabwe is bound by AU position in spite of our own
personal or party
positions. I think it’s very clear that we ago with the AU
position.”
Tsvangirai was responding to a question posed by MDC-T
legislator for
Nkulumane Thamsanqa Mahlangu who wanted to know what
government’s position
was in terms of accepting the new Libyan
rulers.
Meanwhile, there was a lively atmosphere during the inaugural
Prime Minister’s
Question Time where legislators from both Zanu (PF) and MDC
were given equal
opportunity to throw questions at Tsvangirai.
In his
opening remarks, Tsvangirai pleaded with MPs not to misconstrue the
session
as an “a war situation” among the rival parties.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Richard Chidza
Wednesday, 26
October 2011 09:37
HARARE - Harare city councillors fired by Local
Government and Urban
Development Minister Ignatius Chombo last year, have
won their jobs back.
Chombo suspended and subsequently fired the four MDC
councillors, Maxwell
Katsande ward 26, Johnson Zaranyika ward 39, Paul
Gorekore ward 3 and Silas
Machetu ward 25, over allegations of irregularly
acquiring stands and
forcing themselves into council houses.
In a
humiliating turn of events, a High Court judge ruled that Chombo’s
dismissal
of the four councillors using evidence that could not be
substantiated was
“irrational.”
Justice Barat Patel delivered a scathing attack over the
way Chombo
disregarded the evidence of his own officials in order to fire
the four, who
are members of the Elected Councillors Association of Zimbabwe
(Ecaz) headed
by Warship Dumba.
“The town clerk and deputy director
of housing were not called to testify at
the inquiry and moreover the
commission totally ignored the evidence of the
director of housing
(Chivavaya) and that of chief housing officer (Mandizha)
which evidence
clearly exculpated the applicants of any wrongdoing,” said
Justice Patel in
his ruling.
“In short the findings of guilt in relation to all four
applicants were so
grossly irrational in their defiance of logic that no
reasonable person
applying his mind to the matter could possibly have
arrived at those
decisions,” Patel said.
He said Chombo acted on the
findings and recommendations of his commission
but disregarded the detailed
record of proceedings of the inquiry and the
evidence contained
therein.
“If he (Chombo) had done so he would not have simply adopted the
commission’s
findings and recommendations of dismissal,” said Justice
Patel.
Two of the four councillors who were at the High Court said
justice had
prevailed.
“We are all ready to serve the people who
elected us beginning now, it was
only political and we knew it was a minor
setback,” Katsande said.
Katsande told the Daily News the councillors had
all along known they were
victims of Zanu PF political
machinations.
He claimed that at one time Chombo had sent an emissary in
the form of MDC
councillor Herbert Gomba of ward 27 in Glen Norah to ask the
four to
apologise to the minister for the case to wash off.
“Gomba
approached us saying he had links with the minister and what we only
needed
to do was apologise to Chombo,” said Katsande.
“We all refused. Gomba
actually told us we were going to be fired and it
happened as he had said.
Gomba also said PM Tsvangirai had less power than
Chombo,” Katsande
said.
Councillor Gomba could not be contacted for comment.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Editor
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
08:59
MUTARE - Scores of worshippers from the Anglican Church at St
Peter’s
Nyamandwe in Watsomba, 40km north of Mutare, sustained injuries as
violent
clashes over the ownership of properties continue.
At least
five members from the church were hospitalised on Monday at Mutasa
clinic
with cuts in the head, bruises and swollen faces.
Others did not seek
medical treatment as their injuries were said to be
“minimal.”
Some
were referred to Nyanga district hospital yesterday.
Albertina Chikanya,
a worshipper and treasurer at St Peter’s Nyamandwe
parish, told the Daily
News that “worshippers” loyal to Bishop Nolbert
Kunonga and Elson Jakazi
attacked her and several others during Sunday
service.
Both Kunonga
and Jakazi have been expelled from the church but are demanding
control of
properties after forming a breakaway outfit.
“Hired thugs beat me up and
other people who were in church on Sunday,” said
Chikanya.
She said
the attack on members loyal to the mother church was in
contravention of a
High Court order granting the mother church access to the
property.
A
church warden Chenai Mparutsa sustained a cut over his left eye and a
swollen lip.
Mparutsa said he was beaten until he lost
consciousness.
“I only managed to wake up after several minutes. I was
beaten with clenched
fists and had to be rescued out of the church
building,” he said.
He said police at Mutasa’s Watsomba police station
were yet to make arrests
despite the culprits being well known in the area.
http://www.voanews.com
25 October
2011
Local MDC official Jacob Gwature said two members were arrested
Sunday and
three others were picked up Monday on allegations they chanted
the slogan
“Mugabe mudenga, rovera pasi” at a youth forum
Jonga
Kandemiiri | Washington
Officials of the Movement for Democratic
Change formation of Zimbabwean
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in
Mashonaland Central province said five
youth members were arrested on
charges of undermining President Robert
Mugabe's authority.
Local MDC
official Jacob Gwature said two members were arrested Sunday and
three
others were picked up Monday on allegations they chanted the slogan
“Mugabe
mudenga, rovera pasi” at a youth forum in Glendale, Mashonaland
Central.
The Shona slogan means, “Mugabe up, then on the
ground.”
Gwature said the five were being held at Bindura Central Police
Station, and
that officers of the Zimbabwe Republic Police's law and order
section were
seeking three others.
Bindura Central police officers
would neither confirm nor deny the arrests.
Gwature told VOA reporter
Jonga Kandemiiri that the arrests were intended to
intimidate the MDC ahead
of elections generally expected to be held in 2012,
as Mashonaland Central
province has traditionally been a ZANU-PF stronghold.
Meanwhile, MDC
Member of Parliament for Mkoba Amos Chibaya, arrested Sunday
on allegations
of public violence at Guinea-Fowl shopping center in
Mberengwa, Midlands
province, was freed on US$50 bail by a Gweru magistrate.
Chibaya was
charged along with Midlands South MDC Treasurer Livingstone
Chiminya after
they went to the police station at the shopping center to
file a complaint
after their vehicle was stoned by alleged ZANU-PF
supporters on
Saturday.
Lawyer Reginald Chidawanyika, representing the two, said his
clients, who
are denying the charges, were expected back in court on
November 8.
http://www.theafricareport.com
Wednesday,
26 October 2011 15:23
By The Africa Report
Air Zimbabwe is reportedly
struggling to register two airbus planes it
bought from France because of
European Union sanctions imposed on the
southern African
country.
Details emerging from several Air Zimbabwe sources reveal that
the planes
were bought through China Sonangol, a Chinese controlled oil
company based
in Angola.
Sonangol was reportedly roped in to
circumvent the sanctions slapped on
Zimbabwe in 2002.
Aviation
sources said Eads, the French aircraft manufacturer was the
supplier of the
planes.
The sources said the Ministry of Transport, Communications and
Infrastructural Development entered into the deal with
Sonangol.
Sonangol would then advance payment to Reliance Aerospace
Solutions, an
aviation consulting firm which would transfer the funds to
Airbus.
In 2009, five deals worth US$8 billion were signed between the
Zimbabwean
government and Sonangol.
The deals were signed amid
promises that they would help the country attract
direct foreign investment
into key sectors of the economy.
′Air Zimbabwe seems to have been one of
the beneficiaries with the purchase
of the Airbus planes to replenish an
ageing fleet.
With the procurement of the planes in place, several pilots
and staff have
been sent to various European countries for training but
registration of the
planes is now a stumbling block.
In July and
August a team of pilots and stewards was dispatched to Toulouse
in France
and Madrid in Spain for training on the new aircraft.
The new aircraft
will service Air Zimbabwe's long-haul routes – mainly to
China and the
United Kingdom.
Air Zimbabwe sources said the latest team sent to France
to iron-out the
deal came back empty handed.
"The first delivery was
expected before September 20.
"What I see as the biggest challenge is the
issue of ownership of the planes
because the management of Air Zimbabwe have
no idea where the money to buy
the planes is coming from," said the
source.
As if to collaborate the details, last week Air Zimbabwe acting
chief
executive officer Innocent Mavhunga told a parliamentary committee
that 16
pilots had been sent for a 45-day course in preparation for delivery
of new
equipment.′
Mavhunga, however, failed to say when the
government would bring the new
equipment, prompting MPs to conclude that the
government, which is the
majority shareholder was the one running Air
Zimbabwe and not management.
Mavhunga said the airline was saddled with a
$137, 7 million debt, $112, 7
million of it being internal
debt.
Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development Minister
Nicholas
Goche recently announced that government will soon take over Air
Zimbabwe's
debts.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
26
October 2011
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has told Parliament that
the issue of gay
rights “is an elitist debate meant to divert attention from
the problems
affecting poor people in Zimbabwe.”
Fielding questions
from MP’s in the first ever Prime Minister’s Question
Time since 1988,
Tsvangirai said the people were writing a new constitution
and they would
define what sort of society they wanted to live in.
The historic session
saw both MP’s from the three political parties in
parliament get an
opportunity to ask the Prime Minister questions on what
the government was
doing. Tsvangirai got the ball rolling by telling the MP’s
the session was
not a ‘war situation’ were party rivalries would be settled.
The debate
over gay rights surprisingly came from Tsvangirai’s own party
with MDC-T MP
for Bulawayo Central Dorcas Sibanda, asking whether the PM was
advocating
for gay rights in the constitution. There was wild laughter when
Tsvangirai
said “perhaps I am speaking here kuda mumwe musi mungangodai
muringochani
panapa- we may be talking while some of you may be gays here.
What you do in
your private sphere is your private problem.”
Tsvangirai also addressed
issues on empowerment, political violence, media
reforms and developments in
Libya. The session was poorly attended by ZANU
PF MP’s.
Responding to
questions on the controversial manner in which the empowerment
agenda was
being pushed through Tsvangirai said there was a need “to
promote, not
damage investment in the country” adding that the idea was “not
to share a
small cake but to grow the cake that people are able to share. We
need to
create wealth through the creation of funds so that the people are
able to
benefit,” he said.
Tsvangirai also had a dig at Zimpapers Talk Radio for
trying to muscle into
the broadcasting field by applying for a commercial
radio licence when they
were already dominating the print media. Responding
to a question from
Mutare Central MP and the MDC-T chief whip in Parliamen,
Innocent Gonese,
who wanted clarification on the government’s position on
media reforms,
Tsvangirai said:
“One would be forgiven to think that
there are two governments in Zimbabwe.
There is need for multiple media
space not a situation where newspapers want
to go into radio broadcasting.
Without media space, you cannot speak on
democracy.”
He also said the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) board needed to be
reconstituted,
as had already been agreed.
The Prime Minister also touched on the
continuing political violence
countrywide, saying the police needed to be
unbiased and weed it out. He
gave the example of the violence which rocked
Parliament a few months ago
and said the perpetrators have still not been
arrested. Tsvangirai urged the
three main political parties to play a
leading role in stamping out
political violence.
He bemoaned the poor
performance of parastatals like Air Zimbabwe, arguing
they were a drain on
state resources. Government recently committed itself
to taking on Air
Zimbabwe’s US$140 million debt and Tsvangirai said: “There
is no sense of
responsibility among the board members because they feel it
belongs to the
government and they don’t care if they make a loss.”
Turning to Libya, he
said there was now a need to recognise the National
Transitional Council
which deposed long time dictator Muammar Gaddafi, a
position that was in
line with that taken by the African Union.
http://www.radiovop.com
By Garikai Chaunza, Harare,
October 26, 2011- Foreign Affairs Minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi has blamed
the United Nations for the killing of
Libyan leader Muammer Gaddafi last
week.
Mumbengegwi said the killing of Gaddafi by the western sponsored
National
Transitional Council (NTC), was no cause for
celebration.
“...The past nine months have demonstrated how a few
countries with their
air force in the air and their special forces on the
ground can easily treat
the Security Council and its resolutions with utter
contempt and render that
important organ of the UN totally impotent. This is
no cause for
celebration. Yet leaders of the western world are celebrating,”
Mbengegwi
told delegates attending the UN's 66th celebrations in Harare on
Tuesday
evening.
He called for an urgent reform of the UN Security
Council to make it more
democratic and accountable to 194 member countries
that constitute the UN
General Assembly. He also said the UN General
Assembly needed to be
strengthened so that under given circumstances it
could override the
Security Council.
"It does not make sense that
only 9 countries out of the 194 can take a
decision that leads to the kind
of carnage and destruction that we have
witnessed in Libya over the past 9
months. What is Libya’s crime? It is that
God gave it Oil?"
"Remember
Iraq. What has happened in Libya must stand as an example to all
members of
the UN that ...resolutions should never be loosely worded to
allow a group
of greedy countries to destroy a member state for their
selfish ends,” he
added.
On Friday Zanu (PF) political commissar and the country’s
Information
Minister Webster Shamu condemned the killing of Libyan leader
Muammar
Gaddafi by the country’s transitional authorities saying the country
was not
going to accept the move to be a legitimate way of solving political
disputes.
“Muammar Gaddafi was on last Thursday killed in crossfire
between his
loyalists and fighters from the country’s transitional
authorities. In
August the Zimbabwean government through the Foreign Affairs
Ministry headed
by Mumbengegwi expelled the Libyan ambassador, Taher El
Magrahi to Zimbabwe
after he defected to the National Transitional
Council.
The Zanu (PF) side of government accused the Libyan envoy of
hoisting the
North African state’s new flag before forcing him to later pull
down the NTC’s
flag.
Gaddafi was President Robert Mugabe’s close
ally.
But the Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic
Change
(MDC) says slain Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s fall from grace is a
lesson
to African dictators who continue to cling to power against the
wishes of
their people.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
25/10/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
ZIMBABWE has ruled out ratifying the Rome Statute
establishing the
International Criminal Court (ICC), accusing the body of
targeting Africans.
Ratifying the Statute was one of the 179
recommendations made at the end of
the 12th Session of the United Nations’
Universal Periodic Review of Human
Rights, held in Geneva earlier this
month.
But the Zimbabwe government, which fears becoming a full member of
the ICC
could precipitate the indictment of President Robert Mugabe and
other senior
officials for alleged crimes against humanity, has chosen to
stay out of the
treaty.
Chinamasa told the ZBC: "One of the
recommendations was that we should
ratify the Rome Statutes on the
International Criminal Court.
“That we rejected for the sole reason that
the ICC is completely
discredited, it has tarnished its own image by
selective application of
international law.”
The minister told the
state broadcaster that former British Prime Minister
Tony Blair and the
former United States President George Bush had “committed
serious crimes
against humanity in Afghanistan, Iraq and other parts of the
world, but they
had been left free.”
Zimbabwe also rejected 97 other recommendations,
including calls to
recognise gay rights, reform its security sector, and
amend the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Public
Order and Security
Act.
The fact that a disproportionately large
number of cases investigated by the
ICC have so far been on the African
continent has created resentment towards
the body, even in countries which
are state parties to the Court.
Zimbabwe is one of 32 countries, including
Russia and China, which signed
but did not ratify the Rome
Statute.
As of October 2011, 116 states were parties to the Statute of
the Court,
including all of South America, nearly all of Europe and roughly
half the
countries in Africa.
The United States and Israel are among
countries which “unsigned” from the
Statute. On August, 3, 2002, President
Bush signed into law the American
Servicemembers Protection Act (ASPA) which
authorises the use of military
force to liberate any American or citizen of
a US-allied country being held
by the court, which is located in The Hague.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
MDC says police and security forces in
Mbare are intensifying a campaign of
violence and intimidation against MDC
leaders in advance of elections Zanu
(PF) wants next year.
26.10.1112:58pm
by The Zimbabwean
Harare
Piniel Denga, the Mbare MDC MP said that President Robert
Mugabe's party had
created a climate of intimidation and political violence
that could prevent
free and fair voting. "Right now we are observing a level
of fear that I
have not seen before," said Denga, speaking of meetings he
held over two
weeks inside Mbare with party organisers and supporters of the
MDC.
"Everybody wants all this to stop. They want help." Denga accused
Zanu (PF)
of waging a "war by proxy" against its own people and appealed the
14-nation
Southern African Development Community to apply pressure on ruling
Zanu (PF)
party officials to rein-in the marauding Chipangano militia. Denga
said MDC
victims that have sought police protection have been arrested
themselves. It
is understood the police stations in Mbare have been stuffed
by pro-regime
officials.
"Zimbabwe is using the legal system to
undermine the MDC," said Denga,
explaining that Zanu (PF) was using security
forces and groups of ruling
party militants to attack, arrest and intimidate
MDC officials and
supporters. Critics say President Robert Mugabe's Zanu
(PF) has packed
courts, undermining the once independent judiciary and
giving legal cover to
acts of repression.
Political violence has
convulsed Mbare where the Chipangano militants,
encouraged by Amos Midzi and
Tendai Savanhu, began cracking down on MDC
structures.
Denga said the
Chipangano militants have randomly attacked MDC supporters,
attacked vendors
selling independent newspapers and anyone regarded as
members of the
opposition. He said they also looted the party offices in
Mbare while police
escorts watched passively. The whole retail and wholesale
Mbare Musika
market has been purged of MDC supporters and their stalls doled
out to Zanu
(PF) loyalists.
The have even stalled the refurbishment of the Matapi
flats saying the
project will give the MDC political advantage.
The
crackdown on the MDC in Mbare is increasing as the country moves closer
to
elections. Mugabe, 87, who has ruled since independence in 1980, wants
another five-year term. He is facing the toughest electoral challenge of his
rule. In an effort to gain greater control, his militants have literally
forced everyone in Mbare to support the party. Under the watchful eye of the
Zanu (PF) goon leader Jim Kunaka, the Chipangano militia has unleashed
unspeakable acts of atrocities, including scalding an MDC supporter with
boiling oil.
Despite all this provocation, Denga says the party still
believes in
peaceful transition. But he says party members were getting
agitated and
baying for revenge. Its a matter of time before the whole
situation
explodes.
http://www.bbc.co.uk
26 October 2011
Last updated at 13:49 GMT
An 88-year-old Zimbabwean woman living in Kent who was
facing deportation
has won a three-year reprieve.
Lydia Werrit has
been living in Hythe with her family since supporters of
Robert Mugabe
seized her farm in 2003.
A UK Border Agency spokesperson said: "Given the
special circumstances, we
have decided to grant three years' discretionary
leave to remain."
Ms Werrit's daughter Sophie Laubscher had said she
feared her mother would
not survive the flight to Zimbabwe.
She added
if her mother did return, she would be questioned by the Mugabe
regime as to
why she had been out of the country for so long and what she
had been
doing.
Ms Werrit had been told by the UK Border Agency she had no basis
to remain
in the UK and must leave immediately or face removal with
force.
On Monday, Ms Werrit received a letter from the UK Border Agency
giving her
permission to stay in Britain for the next three years. After
that time, she
can apply to stay in the UK on a permanent
basis.
'Grateful for support'
Ms Werrit attends the Age UK centre in
Hythe twice a week, where a campaign
against her deportation was
mounted.
Jacqui Mupratt from the centre said: "Her husband had fought
alongside our
men in the war, he was very brave and she classes herself as a
UK resident.
"She doesn't claim a state pension, the family look after
her financially."
Ms Werrit said: "I want you all to know how grateful
myself and my family
are for the way you all supported and stood by me. I
wish to thank you all
from the bottom of my heart."
The UK stopped
deporting people to Zimbabwe in 2006, because of the
escalating political
violence there. But removals by the UK Border Agency
resumed earlier this
year.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Zimbabwean prison authorities and
NGOs working in jails are braced for yet
another cholera outbreak following
the on-going strike by municipal workers,
which has caused serious water
shortages in the capital city.
26.10.1107:23am
by Fungi
Kwaramba
Medicines Sans Frontiers says it is working with the
Zimbabwe Prison
Services to install emergency cholera kits in all the
country’s jails.
MSF has also appealed to the International Community of
the Red Cross to
intervene and address widespread water and sanitation
challenges by drilling
boreholes and installing water tanks at prisons
around the country. Other
towns suffering a severe water shortage are
Hurungwe and Bindura.
ZPS Deputy Commissioner Fadzai Mapure said although
there had not been any
outbreak of commutable diseases such as cholera in
recent months, the
spectre of yet another outbreak similar to that of 2009
was possible because
clean water supplies and sanitation were still issues
of concern in the
prisons.
“The challenge we are facing is that of
water and sanitation because of the
number of prisoners we keep,” said
Mapure. Packed prisons are ideal breeding
places for commutable
diseases.
He urged Zimbabweans to regard prisoners as a joint
responsibility of both
the community and the ZPS.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The Zimbabwe Electoral
Commissioner, Professor Geoff Feltoe, has warned
securocrats against
disregarding the will of the electorate in choosing a
president of their
choice.
25.10.1104:44pm
by Seven Nematiyere
ZEC has vowed to
declare the winner of the next presidential election within
five days.
Feltoe said ZEC would not be intimidated by certain individuals
like
Brigadier General Douglas Nyikayaramba, Prison Services Chief Paradzai
Zimondi and Police Commissioner Augustine Chihuri, who have said they would
only recognize a leader with liberation war credentials.
Feltoe has
urged the security chiefs to be professional in carrying out
their duties.
“The security sector comprises professional institutions and
we expect them
to operate professionally, without any resistance, as
enshrined in our
constitution,” he said.
The commissioner also called on everyone to
respect the outcome of the
presidential elections and take a leaf from
Zambia, where there was a recent
smooth transfer of power from Rupiah Banda
to Michael Sata without any
incidents.
ZEC has promised to accord
equal campaigning opportunities to political
parties in the run-up to
elections and urged them to address violence as a
matter of
urgency.
Among the envisaged electoral reforms are special courts to deal
with any
violence during elections, and liaison officers to be based at
polling
stations. Election results will be announced at polling station
level to
avoid delays and tampering with the ballots during transportation
to command
centres.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Electoral watchdogs have described the recent
High Court ruling on
by-elections in Lupane East, Nkayi South and Bulilima
East as a litmus test
on whether the executive will respect the
courts.
25.10.1105:09pm
by Fungi Kwaramba
Nine senatorial and14
parliamentary seats are vacant. Ousted MPs for the
three constituencies,
Njabuliso Mguni, Abdenico Bhebhe and Norman Mpofu
respectively, are
hopeful.
Matshobana Ncube of Phulu and Ncube Legal Practitioners, who
represented the
legislators, says they are waiting for a certified copy in
order to hand the
court ruling to the President.
Legal experts say
the 14 days given for the President’s Office to respond
will start to count
the day this is done. But the Attorney’s General has
already accused its
Chief Law Officer, Fortune Chimbaru, of having erred by
filing
counter-arguments and wants the ruling to be reserved.
As the legal
battle rages on, the government says it does not have money to
hold
by-elections. Seven of the 14 vacant constituencies did not receive the
$50,000 Constitutional Development Funds given to sitting MPs.
The
Parliamentary Monitoring Trust Zimbabwe said the ruling was long overdue
and
should be honoured.
“What we have seen since 2008 has been a wanton
disregard of the supreme law
of the country,” it said in a
statement.
“Politicians seem to think that the constitution-making
process is important
and have been complementing donor funds. But the same
government has been
very lethargic when it comes to by-elections, arguing
that there is no
money. We should be prepared to pay the price of a
democracy.”
Zimbabwe Election Support Network is also concerned about the
moratorium on
by-elections.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Members of the public have expressed their concern
about a massive army
recruitment exercise being carried out countrywide, as
children of grade
seven age have been conscripted.
25.10.1104:39pm
by
Jane Makoni
At Nehanda Hall, youth mainly from surrounding farms and
rural areas
converged for a two day recruitment programme. Potential
recruits holding
grade seven certificates and above went through an oral
selection on
Saturday and then ran a 10 km race on Sunday.
“It is
suspicious for the army to recruit potential soldiers in such a
desperate
way given that the country is awash with jobless Ordinary and
Advanced Level
school leavers,” said a resident, Joseph Musonza.
While the young people
from the surrounding farms were enthusiastic about
the recruitment, those
who lived in town had reservations.
“Let Mugabe recruit his body guards.
We would join the army in a new
Zimbabwe after MDC gets into power next
year. I would be proud to be a
member of the defence forces in a democratic
state, not under the current
dictatorship. It would be against my conscience
to prop up a dictatorship at
the expense of the will of the people,” said a
youth in his early 20s.
Soldiers spearheading the recruitment told
potential recruits that the
recruitment was routine and there was nothing
suspicious about it.
“This is a people’s army and every youth should be
proud of being a member
of the defence forces. It is also normal that the
army would conscript young
blood into its ranks as old soldiers retire,”
said a physical training
soldier.
In the past, there were reports
that soldiers and other defence force
members were forced to vote Mugabe and
Zanu (PF) under the watchful eye of
their partisan superiors.
Read more |
Some are more indigenous than others |
Impunity rules during Zimbabwe's "transition" |
Rumpus over GM food aid |
Tobacco growing is making a big difference to our lives |
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Ratepayers here are up in arms against the
Zimbabwe Electricity Transmission
and Distribution Company whose subsidiary
arm, ZESA, has been haphazardly
cutting off power supplies to defaulting
residents.
25.10.1105:08pm
by Jane Makoni
Ratepayers described
the practice as day light robbery, after they were
forced to fork-out a $10
reconnection fee.
“This month alone ZESA has disconnected my homestead in
Nyameni a record
three times. Each time they cut me off, I am forced to pay
at least half of
what I owed them. They would restore the power supply after
I paid an
additional $10 reconnection fee. This robbed me of no less than
$30 in
connection fees alone in a single month.
The practice was both
unjustified and unscrupulous behaviour by the sole
power supplier in the
country. Just imagine the power utility randomly
switching off homesteads
whenever it feels like lining its pocket,”
complained a resident, Sheila
Ndudzo, of Nyameni. The plight of defaulting
bill payers has been worsened
by unscrupulous ZESA employees who solicit
bribes in return for not cutting
the power.
A ZESA official who said he was the organisation’s Public
Relations Officer
claimed:
“The new area manager based in Chinhoyi
has resolved to collect all revenue
owed the organisation by defaulting
clients before the end of the year. He
wants to capacitate ZESA’s ability to
afford the rehabilitation of run down
power generating plants and provide
enough power to ratepayers. He was given
the authority, without the approval
of an Act of parliament, to make
whatever decision he wanted.”
He
referred any further questions to the organisation’s national
spokesperson,
Gwasira, who could not be reached for comment.
Vulnerable and abused
ratepayers called on the government to investigate the
conduct of ZESA.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Own Correspondent
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
09:03
HARARE - Coalition government partners have ruined the country
because of
their obsession with election preparations and petty party
politics, Home
Affairs co-minister Theresa Makone has
confessed.
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
have been in
power for 30 months, but most Zimbabweans have complained of
continued poor
service delivery and slow paced political and economic
reforms.
Makone, a close confidante of Tsvangirai, let the cat out of the
bag while
addressing delegates to a Medium Term Plan (MTP) meeting in
Mutare.
“We have ruined the country because of being heavily involved in
petty
political issues. We need to have a mind shift and put the country
first
ahead of party politics. The country has been destroyed because of
people
who first question which party one belongs to before they can engage
each
other,” said Makone.
The meeting was organised by the Ministry
of Economic Planning and
Investment Promotion.
“Such behaviour does
not bring food at your table. It neither brings the
drugs into hospitals,
and neither does it afford an opportunity to send your
child to school. We
have to first focus on things that are good for our
country,” Makone
said.
She said as a result of party politicking Zimbabwe has remained a
basket
case.
“In Zimbabwe we are always talking of elections to an
extent that we no
longer have time for the development of the
country."
We should leave the issue of elections for now and focus on
development. We
are always in a political mode for elections seriously
letting key
developmental issues aside.
“We are always holding
political rallies gearing ourselves for elections.
This is bad for the
country,” said Makone, dismissing travel and financial
sanctions imposed on
Mugabe by the West as inconsequential to economic
problems facing the
country.
“Sanctions are bad I know and I also have to admit that the
country is under
sanctions and we do not want them. But I have to be open to
everyone here
that when Rhodesia was under sanctions the past regime managed
to burst the
sanctions when it promoted its local industries. At that
particular time
that is when many factories flourished,” said
Makone.
She said colonial ruler Ian Smith managed to bust those sanctions
yet the
current leadership is crying foul and doing little to promote local
industries.
Speaking earlier on Economic Planning and Investment
Promotion Minister,
Tapiwa Mashakada said the MTP would run from 2011 to
2015 by which time the
country’s annual economic growth rate should have
reached 7,1 percent.
He said at least $9,2 billion is required to finance
the MTP in order to
meet the growth and development
targets.
Mashakada said the MTP was a government programme and that any
political
party that would form the next government would continue with
it.
“This programme, the MTP programme is a government programme and not
a party
project. Whichever government that comes into power after the next
election
will simply continue with it as it is a programme for the people of
Zimbabwe. That government will have to implement this MTP programme,” said
Mashakada.
The MTP programme among other issues it seeks to ensure
infrastructural
development, employment creation, human centred development,
poverty
reduction, entrepreneurship development, macro-economic stability
good
governance.
Wednesday, 26 October
2011*
The government’s position on indigenisation is to create wealth so
that the
people of Zimbabwe are able to benefit from the process in a
non-partisan
and apolitical manner, President Tsvangirai and Zimbabwe’s Prime
Minister
has said.
Responding to questions from parliamentarians at
the inaugural Prime
Minister’s Question Time in Parliament today, President
Tsvangirai said the
issue of indigenisation should not be based on political
rhetoric, but
should be based on one clear government policy.
“The
issue of indigenisation is of national concern. We need to promote not
damage
investment in the country,” President Tsvangirai said.
“The idea is not
to share a small cake but to grow the cake that people are
able to share. We
need to create wealth through the creation of funds so
that the people are
able to benefit,” he said.
The PM’s Question Time gives the MPs an
opportunity to question the Prime
Minister on key government
policies.
President Tsvangirai said one of key issues that the inclusive
government
was tackling was for the public media to desist from using hate
speech when
reporting.
He was responding to a question from Mutare
Central MP and the MDC’s chief
whip in Parliament, Hon. Innocent Gonese on
the government’s position in
terms of continued repression on freedom of
expression and communication.
“One would be forgiven to think that there
are two governments in Zimbabwe.
There is need for multiple media space not a
situation when newspapers want
to go into radio broadcasting,” said President
Tsvangirai, referring to
Zimpapers which has applied for radio
licence.
“Without media space, you cannot speak on democracy,” he
said.
President Tsvangirai said the government was worried by lack of
zeal shown
by some board members in most parastatals, a situation which had
led most of
the government companies to operate below standard.
“The
greatest weakness in the parastatals is that there is no sense
of
responsibility among the board members because they feel it belongs to
the
government and they don’t care if they make a loss.
“These
parastatals are a very serious drain to our resources,” he said
calling for
heads to roll in non-performing parastatals like the Air
Zimbabwe.
On
developing the country’s infrastructure especially major roads,
President
Tsvangirai said the government was encouraging investors to
participate in
the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) projects as the government
had no
sufficient resources to improve the country’s
infrastructure.
Turning to state sponsored political violence that is on
the increase across
the country ahead of the coming elections, he said the
responsibility of
curbing violence in the country was the duty of the police
and implored the
co-ministers of Home Affairs to see that this was
done.
“The three principals in the inclusive government have made
commitments that
there should be no violence in the country. Those who commit
violence
should be arrested,” he said adding that the national leaders for
all the
three political parties in the inclusive government were going to
hold a
meeting on how best they could curb political violence in the
country.
He said the government’s position on the situation in Libya was
that it
stood by the Africa Union decision that the people of Libya should
have a
choice to choose their leaders after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s
regime.
*The people’s struggle for real change: Let’s finish
it!!!*
–
MDC Information & Publicity Department
Harvest House
BILL WATCH 45/2011
Apology: the last Bill Watch should have been 44 not
43
[26th October 2011]
Prime Minister’s Question Time
Prime Minister’s Question
Time Starts Today
The Speaker of the House of Assembly and the President of the Senate
yesterday announced the inauguration of the Prime Minister’s Question Time as follows:
ˇ House of Assembly – today, Wednesday 26th October, from 2.15 pm to 3.15
pm
ˇ Senate – tomorrow, Thursday 27th October, from 2.30 pm to 3.30
pm.
Form of the Proceedings
The guidelines given to MPs and Senators by the Speaker
and the President of the Senate are:
1.
Only policy questions will be permissible;
2.
Supplementary questions should be restricted to the policy
questions;
3.
Only 3 supplementary questions per policy question will be
admitted;
4.
Questions should be generally be on national issues;
5.
Questions that can properly be addressed by line Ministers should be
avoided.
Background
The Standing Orders of both Houses were amended during the last
Session to provide for the holding of Prime Minister’s Question Time on the last
Wednesday of each month in the House of Assembly and the last Thursday of each month in the Senate. This week, for the first time, both Houses
will be sitting on those days.
Public Attendance
Members of the public wishing to attend should contact Parliament’s
Public Relations department for tickets admitting them to the public
gallery. Telephone 700181,
252936.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied