http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15104
April 14, 2009
HARARE (New York
Times) - President Robert Mugabe's top lieutenants are
trying to force the
opposition Movement of Democratic Change to grant them
amnesty for their
past crimes, according to senior members of Mugabe's
party.
Their
fixation on getting amnesty was described by four senior ruling party
officials, all Mugabe confidants, who spoke to a Zimbabwean journalist
working for The New York Times.
To protect themselves, some of
Mugabe's lieutenants are trying to implicate
opposition officials in a
supposed plot to overthrow the president, hoping
to use it as leverage in
any amnesty talks, the officials said.
Mugabe's generals and politicians
in Zanu-PF have organised campaigns of
terror for decades to keep him and
his party in power.
Crimes committed during last year's election
campaign, while the world
watched, included abducting, detaining and
torturing opposition officials
and activists.
Mugabe's lieutenants,
part of an inner circle called the Joint Operations
Command, know that their
85-year-old leader may not be around much longer to
shield them, and fear
losing not just their power and ill-gotten wealth, but
their freedom, party
officials said. The security chiefs include General
Constantine Chiwenga,
commander of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, Air Marshall
Perrence Shiri,
commander of the Air Force, Commissioner General Augustine
Chihuri of the
police and Paradzai Zimondi commissioner of the Zimbabwe
Prison
Services.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, one of Mugabe's principal
negotiators in
the power-sharing talks that led to the current government,
informally told
opposition officials around the time that the transitional
government took
office in February that his party wanted an amnesty,
according to a senior
Zanu-PF official close to the talks.
"The MDC
did not sound very forthcoming," said the official.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
14 April
2009
A showdown is looming between the coalition government and the
National
Constitutional Assembly, which has announced it will continue to
advocate
for a new, democratic and people driven constitution, but not
through the
government sponsored process. The pressure group said solidarity
messages
were passed by the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and the
Zimbabwe
National Students Union (ZINASU), who agree that constitutions
should be
made for and by the people.
The NCA said in a statement
that a consultative meeting by the group on
Saturday decided not to take
part in any 'Article 6' process and resolved to
'totally reject' the
government plans over a new constitution. The meeting
was chaired by the
NCA's national chairperson, Dr Lovemore Madhuku.
Article 6 of the Global
Political Agreement stipulates that a parliamentary
select committee shall
be set up, whose terms of reference includes the
setting up of
subcommittees; 'chaired by a member of Parliament and composed
of members of
Parliament and representatives of Civil Society as may be
necessary to
assist the Select Committee in performing its mandate herein'.
At the weekend
Speaker of Parliament Lovemore Moyo, announced the formation
of a 25 member
committee - drawn from the three political parties - which
will look into
the drafting of a new constitution. He told journalists: "I
therefore, call
upon all progressive forces to join hands with us in
ensuring that the
process brings tangible results that we can all be proud
of. This historic
inter-party political agreement places the responsibility
of leading the
constitution making process on the Parliament and more
importantly, provides
an opportunity for the country to create a
constitution by the people for
the people."
He said a draft constitution should be tabled by February next
year and put
to a referendum in July of the same year to allow the public to
have a final
say, which will eventually lead to the running of free and fair
elections.
But the NCA rejected the process saying: "Parliamentarians
have no right to
write a constitution on behalf of the people. The NCA will
thus continue
with its grassroots education campaign to push for a new,
democratic and
people-driven constitution."
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15086
April 14, 2009
By Raymond
Maingire
HARARE - Zimbabwe's unity government is now poised to relinquish
the
chairing of the country's 16-month long constitutional making process to
a
non-Member of Parliament.
This follows fierce protests from local
civic groups, led by the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), which are
battling to seize the process from
the hands of the
politicians.
Article 6 of the Global Political Agreement signed between
Zanu-PF and the
two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) parties last
September prescribes
the running of the process by
Parliament.
Although opening participation by civic groups at
subcommittee level, it is
silent on who should chair the parliamentary
select committee.
It has emerged the politicians may only allow a
"non-executive" chairperson
from outside parliament to lead the process
which shall remain firmly under
the control of Parliament.
House of
Assembly speaker, Lovemore Moyo revealed Sunday that President
Robert Mugabe
and the two MDC leaders, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara have been
asked by Parliament to second a chairperson from outside
the
House.
"The recently established Committee on Standing Rules and Orders,
at its
first meeting on Monday 30 March 2009, recommended to the three
principals
that parties should consider the appointment of a non-Member of
Parliament
to chair the select committee," said Moyo.
He was
addressing journalists at Parliament on Sunday where he announced a
25
member parliamentary select committee comprising both Zanu-PF and MDC
legislators to spearhead the painstaking process.
It was also
recommended that political parties should also consider the
chairing of some
of the sub-committees by civic society and other
stakeholders as well as the
chairing of the two all-stakeholders'
conferences by non-MPs.
"I
would like to advise that these matters are still under consideration by
the
principals of the political parties," said Moyo.
The intended
chairperson, just like other representatives of stakeholder
groups on sub
committees, "will enjoy equal status and rights as their
counterpart members
of Parliament in all deliberations in accordance with
Parliament select
committee rules".
"Parliament select committee rules will guide the
chairing of both the
select committee and its sub committees.
"In
terms of those rules, a chairperson is only a first among equals and is,
therefore, not an executive chairperson," said Moyo.
Meanwhile, the
NCA and the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), both
leading
organisations among the country's civic groups, have vowed they will
not
take part in the process.
The hard line stance by the two organisations
may see the so-called opinion
leaders deserted by their counterparts within
the country's civic bodies
most of which have chosen to take a cautious
approach in handling the
contentious matter.
Ernest Mudzengi, the
director of the NCA, whose organisation continues to
boycott constitutional
consultative meetings called by government, told The
Zimbabwe Times Monday
the NCA would stay away from what he described as a
flawed
process.
"We are bitter with Tsvangirai who has given up principles for
political
expedience," he said.
The MDC leader is a long time ally to
civic society, his party having been
formed through the efforts of
university students, labour and civic bodies.
The NCA, long clamouring
for a new constitution, says history will vindicate
its decision to shun the
process, should Zimbabwe go ahead with the drafting
of its
constitution.
ZCTU secretary general, Wellington Chibhebhe said should
Zimbabwe go ahead
with the drafting of its constitution, the document would
be as bad as "the
Lancaster House Constitution which is giving us
problems".
He was referring to the document signed at Lancaster House in
London by the
rebel Rhodesian government and representatives of the
liberation movements
in 1979 to transfer power from the colonial government
to the independent
state of Zimbabwe.
Other leading civic groups such
as the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights,
Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition,
Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, Zimbabwe National
Students Union, ZimRights and
the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe say
they will wait to see what
concessions government was prepared to give
before they decide on whether to
participate in the process or not.
The drafting of post-independence
Zimbabwe's first ever constitution would
be the first to receive support
from the two main political parties
following the abortive 2000 draft
constitution which was rejected in a
referendum after fierce resistance by
the MDC with its allies in civil
society.
The absence of a home-grown
constitution is seen as the cause of Zimbabwe's
political paralysis that has
seen the country grappling with the excesses of
a long serving executive
president with multiple terms of office.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15090
April 14, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Four police officers in the Karoi area of
Mashonaland West Province
were last Thursday treated for serious injuries
after they were savagely
assaulted allegedly by a group of Zanu-PF
supporters at the instigation of a
district councilor in the
area.
The assailants were allegedly infuriated that the police arrived to
investigate a crime report which was filed by a known member of the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC) who runs a gold mine in the area.
The
names of the victims of assault were given as Sergeant Tinashe Munhenga
and
Constables Lincoln Mahonde, Isaac Magazo and Tinashe Nyamakapa.
They are
all attached to the Police Internal Security Investigations (PISI)
unit at
Karoi. PISI is a surveillance section within the police force.
Sources
said the four departed from the police station to investigate a
report of
theft which was made by one Misheck Masevenzi, the owner of M and
A Gold
Mine in Karoi following an invasion by Zanu-PF supporters leading to
the
alleged theft of six tonnes of gold ore.
The four police officers set out
in the complainant's car to investigate the
allegations but failed to arrest
the ring leaders of the invasion as they
quickly dispersed on seeing the
complainant's car approaching with police
officers on board.
Trouble
broke out later when, as the police attempted to drive back to the
police
station, they found the road barricaded with tree branches.
As they tried
to remove the barricade, a mob estimated at over 50 emerged
from the
surrounding bush and assaulted the police officers.
It later emerged that
the mob had been organised by one Misheck Masango, the
powerful Zanu-PF
councilor in the Hurungwe Rural District Council.
A police officer in
Chinhoyi told The Zimbabwe Times that Constable
Nyamakapa was the most
seriously injured victim of the assault. He sustained
a broken left hand and
head injuries.
He was admitted to Karoi General Hospital for
treatment.
The rest of the assaulted police officers were barred from
reporting their
case by their senior officers who said they wanted to first
investigate if
the officers had not broken the police code of conduct before
any report of
assault by the Zanu-PF supporters could be
processed.
The officers were only allowed to make a formal report after
two days. None
of their assailants has been arrested yet despite being well
known in the
area and being identified as residents of Village 22, Kasimhure
Area in
Karoi.
It has become virtually taboo within Zimbabwe's highly
partisan police force
for officers to arrest Zanu-PF supporters in the rural
areas, especially if
the complaints are MDC supporters.
A large
number of police officers have been forced to quit the force by
partisan
superiors after they arrested Zanu-PF supporters.
Police Commissioner
General Augustine Chihuri is an avowed supporter of
President
Mugabe.
The establishment of the government of national unity by Zanu-PF
and MDC has
not altogether eliminated acts of violence, in most cases
committed with
impunity by Zanu-PF activists.
Sporadic farm
disruptions have hit the country's provinces with little
action being taken
by government.
http://www.radiovop.com
MASVINGO, April 14 2009 -
Zimbabwe National Army soldiers have
threatended to riot if their allowances
are not reviewed to USd 500 per
month from the USd 100 awarded last
month.
The soldiers reportedly approached their
supervisers and indicated
that the USd 100 they are currenctly earning is
not enough to cover their
basic needs.
Soldiers who spoke
to RadioVOP indicated that their allowances were
being spent on water and
electricity charges as well as rentals, with
minimum rentals now pegged at
R200 per month.
Last year soldiers staged riots in protest of
the deteriorating
economic environment.
Civil servants
expectations appeared confirmed when, shortly after
taking office, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai announced to the world the
Chinamasa proposed
measure to award civil servants USd salaries.
But Biti chopped
a massive USd 900 million of the proposed USd 1,7
billion expenditure and
immediately announced the launch of the Short-Term
Economic Recovery Plan
the Government would pursue until the end of the
year.
The
economy, he said, was going to operate on a "We eat what we gather
basis"
with Government expenditure being determined by its revenue
receipts.
For the month of February and part of March, he
noted, such receipts
were only USd 25 million and USd 30 million
respectively, against a
projected USd 140 million and this was not even
enough to review upwards the
"modest" USd 100 allowances for the civil
service.
On the other hand, fiscal demands were "high and
limitless" and this
was not helped by the existence, he said, of perennial
vehicles of fiscal
drainage, which required vast amounts from the
fiscus.
And because of the economic downturn that has resulted
in the world
nose-diving into a recession unmatched in the last seven
decades, aid has
not been coming Zimbabwe's way.
In
apparent reference to the Western donor community that had been
assumed
would take the leading role in mobilising funds for Zimbabwe, Biti
said that
"where financial linkages to the affected countries are stronger"
the
impacts of the downturn "have been more pronounced".
But there
has been a glimmer of light, though, with the Southern
African Development
Community, led by South Africa, working on a rescue
package for
Zimbabwe.
South Africa has pledged a USd 2 billion package to
Zimbabwe and has
taken the lead in encouraging the West to re-engage
Zimbabwe and extend not
only humanitarian but also developmental support to
Zimbabwe.
In the review, Biti hinted that the Government would
dispose of its
"family silverware", with reference to selling off some of
its parastatals
such as NetOne, a mobile telephone provider.
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE, April 14 2009 -
The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) says the
national debt of Zimbabwe will
look miniscule in comparison to what needs to
be paid by the Zimbabwean
government for the farms and businesses which have
been taken over the past
nine years.
In an interview with RadioVOP, Trevor Gifford, CFU
president, said
the organisation's members would not accept continued
evictions.
"USd 5 billion is the rough figure we are claiming
for improvements
but there are also consequential costs, damages and rent
and all that which
has to be added to the total bill, which is going make it
considerably
higher.
"At this stage I am not at liberty to
give the total figure because it
is something which is still being worked on
but I can assure you that the
national debt of Zimbabwe will look miniscule
in comparison to what needs to
be paid by the Zimbabwean government for the
farms and businesses which they
have taken over the nine
years.
Gifford indicated that the current land act stipulates
that the
government must pay full and fair compensation within reasonable
time.
"We believe that nine years is not reasonable time, we
have farmers
who have been evicted over the last months in 12, 36 hours by
the courts in
Zimbabwe. If the courts - acting under the instruction of the
Minister of
Justice, believe that 12 hours is a reasonable period then we
will want our
compensation paid within 12 hours of it being
derived.
Gifford said since the start of the land reform only
200 farmers had
been partially compensated.
If government
wants our land they need to pay for it. We are not going
to accept that we
continue evicted without being compensated fully and
fairly and we will do
whatever it takes to ensure that we are compensated
under international
guidelines for our businesses.
Gifford said the land reform
programme was racial and politically
motivated.
"My members
have applied for land and none of them have received a
response from the
relevant authorities and are now facing prosecution for
being productive.
What I must make clear is that we are Zimbabweans and we
are being affected
as an ethnic minority in this process," he said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
14 April
2009
After his swearing in on 11th February, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai
stated in front of thousands of supporters at Glamis Stadium: "It
hurts that
as we celebrate here today there are some who are in prison. I
can assure
you that they are not going to remain in those dungeons any day
or any week
longer."
But more than two months after that statement his
Director of Security, his
former personal assistant and a freelance
journalist are still in police
custody, over what are clearly trumped up
political charges.
While the MDC has tried very hard to accommodate ZANU PF,
calling for the
removal of targeted sanctions against the Mugabe regime and
other supportive
measures, ZANU PF seems not to have moved an inch since the
formation of the
inclusive government. Robert Mugabe continues to make
unilateral decisions,
such as the appointment of permanent secretaries and
the recent changes he's
made to Nelson Chamisa's information
ministry.
Despite the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC)
trying to
persuade the authorities not to oppose bail for the three accused
persons,
the State went ahead and opposed bail, on the very day that it was
granted
to the detainees by the High Court last Thursday.
On Tuesday the
State - represented by the Attorney General's office - went
ahead and filed
an urgent High Court application to formally appeal against
the court's
decision to grant bail.
MDC senior officials Gandhi Mudzingwa and Chris
Dhlamini, plus freelance
journalist Shadreck Manyere, remain in police
custody after the AG's offices
invoked a section of the draconian Criminal
Procedures and Evidence Act, to
ensure that bail would be
blocked.
The legal team now awaits a decision by the same judge who
granted bail, to
see if the State will be allowed to appeal this in the
Supreme Court. If
the judge does grant the prosecution team permission to
appeal, the State
then has seven days to lodge the appeal in the Supreme
Court. If the judge
refuses the State can still approach the Supreme Court
direct, to ask for
leave to appeal.
Defence lawyer Charles Kwaramba
said if the seven days elapsed without any
movement by the State the accused
persons become entitled to be released.
But this is a game that ZANU PF has
a lot of practice with and that is
unlikely to happen.
The three, who
are being accused of plotting to destabilise the Mugabe
regime, have been in
police custody since December. Several of their
co-accused are already out
on bail, but they remained in custody after the
State claimed they were
found with dangerous weapons. They deny this and
accuse state agents of
torture, after they were abducted at gunpoint.
They sustained serious
injuries, which resulted in Mudzingwa and Dhlamini
being hospitalised under
police guard at the Avenues Clinic, while Manyere
is still being held in
Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
Many hoped that the inclusive
government would provide the environment in
which the political rivals would
adopt common goals and responsibilities,
but the AG's dogged determination
to keep the MDC officials and journalist
in detention highlights ZANU PF's
lack of sincerity over the unity
agreement.
It also puts the MDC
leadership into an extremely difficult position.
The Zimbabwe Times
editor and veteran journalist, Geoff Nyarota, wrote this
week: "What must be
the cause of Tsvangirai tormented state of mind is his
realisation that
since February 11 he, in fact, has become part of the state
machinery that
now prosecutes and persecutes a former aide who, according to
him, is
innocent. As the second most senior functionary in the government of
national unity which now torments Mudzingwa, Tsvangirai cannot entirely
escape liability for any punishment that Mudzingwa continues to endure
through what many view as malicious denial of due legal process by the
State."
"If the matter remains unresolved the continued incarceration
of Mudzingwa,
without bail or fair treatment, could fast become Tsvangirai's
Achilles'
heel. It has potential to discredit him in the short term, while
undermining
his political career in the long term. Mugabe is obviously aware
of the
adverse implications of the Mudzingwa case on Tsvangirai"
HARARE, 14 April 2009
(IRIN) - The demise of Zimbabwe's local currency, the Zimbabwe dollar, and the
reappearance of goods on the recently barren shop shelves is an equation that
ensures the status quo: ordinary people are unable to feed themselves.
Photo:
Gnerk/Flickr
Zimbabwe
dollar dies, US dollar lives
Foreign currency, whether US dollars, South African rands or Botswana
pula, is the price paid for stocked shops, but at the Domboshava shopping
centre, a rural outpost about 40km northeast of the capital, Harare, there are
few customers.
Tendai Shava moves from shelf to shelf admiring the
goods, mostly imported from neighbouring South Africa, holding a soiled R20 note
(worth about US$2) as she weighs her options.
"I need to buy cooking oil
and sugar but I do not have enough money; I only have enough money to buy sugar
or cooking oil. I have no idea where the government thinks we ordinary people in
rural areas can get foreign currency, since all goods are now sold using this
money from South Africa and America." In the end, she settles on cooking oil and
shuffles from the shop.
Next door there is a small store selling a
variety of goods, but the two assistants spend their time playing board games.
"The use of foreign currencies as legal tender has really affected the local
people because they have no access to foreign currency," one of the assistants,
Dudzai, told IRIN. "Where does the government expect the villagers to get
foreign money when it is battling to pay its own civil servants?"
Zimbabwe's unity government has suspended
the use of the local currency for a year, but its death knell was sounded long
before with an inflation rate estimated at trillions of percent ensuring its
demise.
The use of foreign currencies
as legal tender has really affected the local people because they have no access
to foreign currency
The Zimbabwe dollar became a symbol of President Robert Mugabe's
rule: an ailing economy, unemployment estimated at 94 percent, collapsed
infrastructure and social services, and more than half the 12 million population
relying on emergency food aid.
The official sanctioning of foreign
currency meant the Zimbabwe dollar was on borrowed time, but now an even older
method of determining the value of goods and services is fast becoming the
favoured currency in rural areas.
The barter economy
"What we have experienced over the last few months is an
increase in barter trade. For example, a villager with many goats can swap a
goat in exchange for several packets of sugar and salt or any other commodities
that they may need," Dudzai said.
But the practice of bartering in rural
communities is being undermined by those with access to foreign currency. "The
biggest culprits are people from urban areas, who are exploiting the rural
farmers by paying them very little foreign currency for grain and livestock,"
she said.
The economics minister in the new unity
government, Elton Mangoma, noted while announcing the suspension of the local
currency: "The Zimbabwe dollar will be out for at least a year. We resolved that
there will be no immediate plans to introduce the money because there is nothing
to support and hold its value."
The Zimbabwe dollar will be out
for at least a year. We resolved that there will be no immediate plans to
introduce the money because there is nothing to support and hold its
value
In Harare's affluent suburbs, access to
US dollars and South African rands have brought supermarkets that stay open for
24 hours to serve meandering queues of shoppers, mainly NGOs and government
employees.
"Some of our regular clients spend as much as US$300 on their
weekly shopping trips and they don't seem to worry about how much they spend," a
supervisor at one of the Harare supermarkets told IRIN.
Wellington
Chibhebhe, secretary-general of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions, told IRIN
the union federation was demanding that all workers be paid a Poverty Datum Line
(PDL) wage of US$454 a month.
As part of the unity government's attempts
to resuscitate the economy, public servants are paid a monthly wage of US$100,
or its equivalent in vouchers. "We campaigned to have all employers, including
the government, pay workers in foreign currency, and now we want them to peg
salaries against the PDL," he said.
"Through our campaigns, pensions
will now be paid in foreign currency. We are aware that for the non-working
rural citizens, it is taking long for foreign currency to trickle down to them.
The fact of the matter is that under the current slave wages, people are
scrounging for food in both rural and urban areas."
http://www.herald.co.zw
Tuesday,
April 14, 2009
Bulawayo Bureau
PART
of the US$1,2 billion pledged at the just-ended North-South Corridor
meeting
in Zambia would be channelled towards the construction of a new
bridge at
the Beitbridge Border Post.
The massive project is aimed at enhancing
trade within the region.
Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of the
Zimbabwe International
Trade Fair stakeholders' meeting last week, Minister
of Industry and
Commerce Professor Welshman Ncube said Beitbridge was chosen
as it was
strategically positioned to link both the northern and southern
parts of the
continent.
Three Regional Economic Communities - Common
Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa, East African Community and Southern
African Development Community -
under the Tripartite Agreement have
undertaken to implement an extensive Aid
for Trade programme encompassing
transport, power and trade facilitation
projects along the North-South
Corridor traversing eight countries in East
and Southern Africa.
The
summit ran from April 6 to 7 in Lusaka, Zambia, and Zimbabwe was
represented
by Prof Ncube and his Regional Integration and International
Co-operation
counterpart Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, among others.
The three RECs
at the conference, announced plans to implement critical
reforms to
facilitate cross-border trade, reduce transport delays and costs,
and
promote public and private sector investment.
"Development partners have
agreed to over US$1,2 billion of funding to meet
the costs of a
comprehensive Aid for Trade and infrastructure programme to
upgrade road,
rail, port and energy infrastructure, part of which would go
towards a
second bridge at the Beitbridge Border Post," said Prof Ncube. He
said the
summit sought to come up with a harmonised customs union to ease
delays
encountered in the course of moving goods from one part of the region
to
another.
"At the moment, there are variances at Chirundu Border Post, it
takes two to
seven days to clear vehicles. But at Beitbridge it can take up
to two weeks
and we feel that is too much time," he said.
The
North-South Corridor is a combination of two traditional corridors
(Durban
Corridor and the Dar es Salaam Corridor) linking the port of Durban
and
others in Southern Africa to the eastern port of Dar es Salaam in
Tanzania.
The minister said Southern Africa, especially Sadc, needed
Zimbabwe because
of its potential to immensely benefit the region as the
second largest
economy after South Africa.
"The region knows that a
well-functioning Zimbabwe is more beneficial to
Sadc as a whole, and at the
conference leaders wished the country well as it
starts to recover," he
said.
He said Zimbabwe had missed out on a number of investment
opportunities in
the last eight years, adding that now was the time for the
country to take
its rightful place.
The North-South Corridor was
selected for the Aid for Trade pilot programme
because it is the busiest
corridor in the region in terms of value and
volumes of freight that is
moved in the area.
Poor road and rail infrastructure and long waiting
times at borders and
ports have increased costs of doing business among
countries and hampered
regional producers' ability to access regional and
international markets.
The Aid for Trade pilot programme represents a new
and innovative approach
to supporting and developing regional infrastructure
projects. For the first
time at a regional level, investments in
infrastructure are being made
alongside measures to address trade
facilitation and regulation.
Another innovation is the holistic and
regional approach the programme takes
to transport system planning and
maintenance, the aim of which is to give
producers in the region access to a
greater choice of road and rail
networks.
The North-South Corridor
programme includes the maintenance and upgrading of
roads, establishing a
system to more efficiently control axle loads, reduce
border post delays and
rehabilitate rail track along the corridor. Faster
border crossings and
improved port facilities, railways and highways will
enable producers and
traders, especially in landlocked countries, to
transport their goods
quickly and access more easily regional and
international markets,
stimulating economic growth and inward investment.
The North-South Corridor
is an example of Aid for Trade in action.
In addition to upgrading
infrastructure, the initiative will also simplify
regulatory processes to
speed up cross-border clearing procedures, harmonise
transit and transport
regulations, and simplify administrative requirements.
Power supply and
transmission in the region will also be improved to allow
better management
of peak loads and increased power trading, and will
provide employment
opportunities for people in the region.
http://www.radiovop.com
HARARE, April 14 2009 - In a
desperate move to continue dominating the
airwaves, Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Holdings is reportedly planning to introduce
two community radio stations
and a television channel soon, before the
commissioning of the much awaited
Zimbabwe Media Commission.
Sources within the state
controlled broadcaster said two community
radio stations, Sunshine radio
based in Harare, and Skies radio to be based
in Bulawayo, and TV2 were soon
going to be on air.
The sources said the two community radio
stations were initiatives of
Alan Chiweshe who doubled as the ZBH
Administration and Radio Manager while
former Newsnet boss Chris Chivhinge
was tipped to head the new television
station.
Employees at
ZBH have questioned the essence of opening new radio and
television channels
at a time the broadcaster was failing to pay them.
Employees at
ZBH have questioned the essence of opening new radio and
television channels
at a time the broadcaster was failing to pay them.
In 2002 the same
broadcaster under the command of the then Minister of
Information and
Publicity Professor Jonathan Moyo, failed to launch the much
proposed and
publicized NTV.
Other challenges facing the public broadcaster
are those of
transmission in parts of Bulawayo, Matabeleland north and south
and parts of
Midlands provinces and the outdated broadcasting equipment
which has
resulted in poor productions apart from poor programming.
http://www.busrep.co.za/
April 14, 2009
By
Donwald Pressly
The central banks of the Southern African Development
Community (SADC) are
setting up systems that will ultimately result in a
single payment and
settlement system for the 15-state region, according to
SA Reserve Bank
national payment system department head Dave
Mitchell.
The region includes Angola, Botswana, the Democratic Republic
of Congo
(DRC), Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
the
Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and
Zimbabwe.
Mitchell reported that 12 of the 15 states had implemented
gross real-time
settlement systems, which meant that they had the means to
conduct immediate
electronic settlements.
Three countries had not
achieved this level of service: the Seychelles,
Madagascar and the DRC,
where a largely unbanked population conducted mostly
cash
transactions.
Speaking after a conference on national payment and
settlement systems,
organised by the World Bank in Cape Town on Thursday,
Mitchell said the SADC
was working to mirror the EU's economic integration
model, which would
include, ultimately, one central bank, one multinational
payment and
settlement system and one currency. He could not provide time
frames for all
these goals and emphasised that he could not talk on behalf
of the SADC.
He said the cost of banking transactions was often
abnormally high as a
result of high banking fees, a multiplicity of banking
regimes and foreign
exchange fees imposed by the various
countries.
Mitchell said that in some states the speed of
transactions had improved
dramatically.
In some cases it took nearly
a month to clear a cheque but in South Africa
this was now conducted in real
time.
Payment systems include not only clearing cheques and electronic
and card
transactions between banks but also the entire payment process,
including
final settlement between banks at the central bank.
Asked
why the integration model proposed for the SADC was taking some time
to
implement, he pointed out that the EU took a long time to come to
fruition.
Macroeconomic targets and exchange control regulatory convergence
"cannot
happen overnight". However, it was envisaged that there would be one
central
bank for the region "in 10 years".
The banks were working on reducing the
costs of remittances - payments to
family and friends from workers who were
working outside their countries.
Massimo Cirasino, who heads the World
Bank's payment systems development
group, said it could cost up to $50
(about R450) to make a transfer to
another SADC country from South Africa.
This forced people to send cash with
taxi drivers. "We are working with
(banking) institutions to see this
change," he said.
http://www.news24.com/
14/04/2009 09:06 - (SA)
Daniëlla du Plooy,
Beeld
Johannesburg - A local couple who visited family in Zimbabwe over
the
weekend, claim that South African police officers confiscated their food
-
and that of fellow travellers - at Beit Bridge border post.
Paulus
Ncube, 60, and his wife, Maria Mbete, 54, of Ruimsig on the West
Rand, said
they had driven to Saint Joseph in Zimbabwe on Wednesday to visit
Ncube's
family.
"We didn't struggle going into the country and took food for some
of our
family. The problem arose when we came back to South Africa on
Sunday," said
Mbete on Monday.
According to Ncube they had brought
flour, sugar cane and peanuts back from
Zimbabwe.
"At the border post
there were many men in police uniforms," he said. "They
came to the cars and
took everyone's food. They left our money and
everything else, but the bags
of food that they took, were left standing
around in heaps."
Ncube
said one of the police officers then started eating some of the food
that
they had taken.
Intimidated
"We were too scared to say anything,
because they had taken our registration
numbers and also asked for our
cellphone numbers."
Gerbie Strydom, 63, the couple's employer, contacted
Beeld on Monday when
they told him about the incident.
"I am very
upset, because they do it to vulnerable people like them," said
Strydom.
"Then they write down their registration numbers and
telephone numbers to
intimidate them, and they get away with
it."
National police spokesperson Captain Dennis Adriao said on Monday he
was not
aware of the incidents, but pointed out that police officials
usually worked
in support of officials of the Department of Agriculture, who
sometimes
confiscated certain items.
"Sometimes items have to be
confiscated for security reasons. Recently, no
leather products were allowed
from Mozambique due to foot-and-mouth disease.
These incidents could be
related to cholera."
Adriao said he would investigate.
- Beeld
The Vigil discussed plans for Independence Day on Saturday 18th April and agreed to mark the occasion by calling for an amnesty for prisoners in Zimbabwe. The Zanu-MDC government has done nothing – despite the worldwide revulsion – to address the horrendous prison conditions shown in the recent SABC television report.
Starvation, disease, filthy overcrowding – to add to the routine brutality and torture: prison in Zimbabwe can be a death sentence.
The Vigil believes that the Zimbabwean government must only imprison the number of people it can cope with humanely according to generally agreed standards. Others can be given non-custodial penalties. After all, most of those released from prison will be saints compared to Zanu-PF’s murderous thugs still causing havoc in Zimbabwe.
We will take a collection on Independence Day to help pay for food for those starving in prison.
There was an enormous turnout despite the Easter holidays. Many people phoned to ask whether there was going to be a Vigil because it was Easter. We said human rights abuses don’t take a holiday in Zimbabwe.
The Vigil also discussed plans to lobby the UK government against allowing in the Zanu-PF Foreign Minister Mudenge. He has been proposed as part of a Zimbabwean delegation to come to Europe to ask for money. We will point out that the delegation does not need a Zanu-PF representative – especially one subject to targeted sanctions – as the begging function has been devolved to the MDC in the unity government.
Some other points:
· Vigil supporters were sorry to hear that long-term supporter Geraldine Takundwa was seriously ill with a stomach ulcer. We took a collection which a group took to her after the Vigil.
· A supporter from Northampton was distraught when she found she had lost her return ticket – happily she was rescued by Patson who found a group who had space in their car to take her back to Northampton (75 miles away).
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/
FOR THE RECORD: 277 signed the register.
FOR YOUR DIARY:
· Central London Zimbabwe Forum. No forum on Monday 13th April because it’s a public holiday.
· ROHR Coventry fundraising event. Saturday 18th April. Time and venue to be advised. Contact: E Nyakudya on 07876796129, M Sibanda 07788560068, P Makuwere 07533332306 or M Vijay on 07957907616
· ROHR Leeds general meeting. Saturday 25th April from 1.30 – 5 pm. Venue: Dock Green Inn, Leeds LS9 7AB. Contact: Wonder M Mubaiwa 07958758568, Donna Mugoni 07533259373 or B Sikosana 07940181761
· Fundraising for the Vigil at the London Marathon. Sunday 26th April. Steve Garvey, teacher at the Dolphin School, Battersea, is running in the London Marathon to raise money on behalf of the Vigil.
· ‘Strangers into Citizens’ Rally. Bank Holiday Monday 4th May at 12 noon in Trafalgar Square. Meet in Tothill Street SW1 at 11.30 for walk to Trafalgar Square. The event is preceded by services in several churches including Westminster Cathedral, St Margaret’s, Parliament Square and Central Hall, Westminster. For more information: www.strangersintocitizens.org.uk.
· Service of solidarity with the torture survivors of Zimbabwe. Friday 26th June from 7 – 8 pm. Venue: Southwark Cathedral. This is the 8th year the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum has marked UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.
· Zimbabwe Association’s Women’s Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays 10.30 am – 4 pm. Venue: The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre, 84 Mayton Street, London N7 6QT, Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest underground: Finsbury Park. For more information contact the Zimbabwe Association 020 7549 0355 (open Tuesdays and Thursdays).
Vigil Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
FROM THE ZIMBABWE VIGIL
Media notice, 14th April 2009
Holocaust skeletons Bodies piled high
The Zimbabwe Vigil demands amnesty for starving Zimbabwean prisoners
Zimbabwean exiles in the UK are to demonstrate outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London on Saturday 18th April to demand an amnesty for prisoners in Zimbabwe. The occasion is Zimbabwe’s Independence Day.
The Zanu-MDC government has done nothing – despite the worldwide revulsion – to address the horrendous prison conditions shown in a recent South African television report. Starvation, disease, filthy overcrowding – to add to the routine brutality and torture: prison in Zimbabwe can be a death sentence. For more information, check:
http://www.sokwanele.com/articles/sokwanele/zimbabwesprisonsaredeathtraps_31march_310309.
The demonstration is organised by the Zimbabwe Vigil which has been protesting outside the Embassy every Saturday for nearly seven years in support of fair elections.
Vigil Co-ordinator Rose Benton said “The Vigil believes that the Zimbabwean government must only imprison the number of people it can cope with humanely according to generally agreed standards. Others can be given non-custodial penalties. After all, most of those released from prison will be saints compared to Zanu-PF’s murderous thugs still causing havoc in Zimbabwe”.
The Vigil will take a collection on Independence Day to help pay for food for those starving in prison.
Programme:
· 2 – 6 pm Zimbabwean protest including singing, drumming, dancing.
· Available for interview: torture victims and former inmates of Zimbabwean prisons.
For more Information, contact: Fungayi Mabhunu 07743 662 046, Ephraim Tapa 07877 153 659, 07940 793 090 and Dumi Tutani 07960 039 775.
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/
April 14th, 2009
Once more business is being
held to ransom by politics as the honeymoon of
dollarisation relief is
coming to an end.
Decision-makers grapple with severe cash flow
constraints and various other
anomalies in the economy.
The banks are
desperate for a more efficient clearing system in order that
the multiplier
effect of forex in circulation brings rewards. However, this
will only
provide minimal relief as the political cat and mouse game delays
foreign
investment and funding for the financial sector.
The Transitional
Government receives revenues of about $20 million a month
when it needs $100
million to fund its basic operations.
Zimbabwe has asked its neighbours
for $2 billion, half to support retail and
other sectors, and the rest to
help schools and restore health and municipal
services. It requires billions
more from other donors. However, Western
countries have reiterated their
demands for the restoration of the rule of
law, respect for title and the
cessation of farm invasions.
The Price Index dropped by 3% in March but
Zimbabwe still pays inflated
prices for such things as fuel which is slowing
down the pace of revival.
Foreign Currency remains scarce.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15098
April 14, 2009
By Geoffrey
Nyarota
THE ascendancy of Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) president
Morgan
Tsvangirai to the office of Prime Minister of the Republic of
Zimbabwe has
witnessed a series of traumatic experiences around
him.
Only three weeks into office he endured the nightmare of watching
his wife,
Susan, die in a horrific road accident in which he sustained head
injuries.
In his first week back in office after he took a break to mourn
his beloved
wife, the Prime Minister was back by the graveside - this time
to bury a
grandson who had brought joy to the lives of his grandparents,
Morgan and
Susan Tsvangirai.
Quite incredibly, the boy died in a
freak swimming-pool drowning accident at
the Tsvangirais' Strathaven
home.
Tsvangirai must currently be caught in the throes of yet another
upset - one
that he has endured quietly even before he was sworn-in as Prime
Minister in
the government of national unity on February
11.
Tsvangirai must, without doubt, be personally sharing the pain that
Gandhi
Mudzingwa, his personal aide continues to endure at the hands of
state
security agents who tortured him before they handed him over for
indefinite
remand in the infamous Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison.
Constantly reading
or hearing about the painful dilemma of Mudzingwa must
induce in the Prime
Minister an unbearable sense of guilt and helplessness
that is altogether
harrowing.
It must be painful that the Tsvangirai
is so clearly unable to help despite
the high office he has held over the
past two months. He must wish he could
at least ensure that Mudzingwa is
treated with fairness and justice, which
clearly is not the case
now.
Mudzingwa and his co-accused, political activist Kisimusi Dhlamini
and
photo-journalist Andrison Manyere have remained on remand since the eve
of
Christmas, 2008. They have repeatedly been granted bail but the State has
on
each occasion applied successfully for a refusal of bail, only to see the
accused men returned to Chikurubi.
Perhaps resulting from the effects
of the torture that their captors have
not denied inflicting on the
prisoners, Mudzingwa's health is said to be
life-threatening. The
authorities for long denied the incarcerated men
access to medical
treatment.
The three accused men are being held on allegations the
essence of which
appear to be that they recruited youths for military
training in Botswana,
apart from bombing a police station and then a railway
line near Norton,
west of Harare. The accused men deny the charges of
bombing a toilet or
kitchen at Harare Central Police Station. Apparently
they were careful to
ensure no one was around to sustain injury and that
only minimum damage was
caused to the railway line in the other
incident.
I will not delve into the legal merits or demerits of the case
preferred
against Mudzingwa and his co-accused. That is a task for the High
Court to
determine once the prosecution is eventually ready to proceed with
what will
doubtlessly be a most sensational case. Since December 22 the
prosecution
has quite clearly not been ready to proceed, notwithstanding the
abundance
of incriminating evidence the State claims it has in its
possession.
I will, however, probe into what appear to be the politics of
"State vs
Mudzingwa and others".
Essentially, Mudzingwa and his
co-accused stand indicted for plotting to
topple President Mugabe from power
in the period leading to their arrest in
October 2008. Their alleged
strategy was to replace the President with his
erstwhile adversary,
Tsvangirai.
The alleged plot to overthrow Mugabe is not entirely without
alleged
precedent. Over the years Zimbabweans have become accustomed to
being
assailed with reports of unproven plots to assassinate Mugabe and
overthrow
the government.
Zimbabweans must rate as the world's worst
coup plotters, judging from the
number of attempts to overthrow Mugabe that
have been effortlessly foiled
over the 29 years of our
independence.
In 1982 Dumiso Dabengwa, Lieutenant General Lookout Masuku,
Dr Isaac Nyathi
and other Zapu luminaries were arrested and charged with
plotting to
overthrow Mugabe. The charges were thrown out in the High Court
but the men
continued to be held in detention under emergency
regulations.
Mugabe's archenemy, the late veteran politician Dr Joshua
Nkomo, who was the
president of PF-Zapu, saved his life in 1983 by fleeing
across the border to
Botswana and then on to the United Kingdom where he
lived in exile.
UANC leader Bishop Abel Muzorewa was arrested later that
year under the
so-called Operation Chinyavada. Muzorewa was accused of
dispatching 5 000
auxiliaries to South Africa to return and stage a coup.
Muzorewa was later
released. Of his 5 000 coup-plotters not a word has been
heard since then.
In 1995 ZANU-Ndonga leader, Rev Ndabaningi Sithole was
arrested for
allegedly plotting to assassinate Mugabe. Sithole was sentenced
in 1997 to
two years in prison but died while on appeal.
After a
five-year hiatus in coup plots, MDC MPs Tapiwa Mashakada, Job
Sikhala and
Justin Mutendadzamera were arrested in October 2000. They were
accused of
inciting their supporters to topple the government. A judge
dismissed the
case as totally baseless.
During the run-up to the presidential election
in 2002 the police arrested
Tsvangirai and other top MDC officials on
treason charges. The chief state
witness was a dubious Canadian consultant
Ari Ben-Menashe. He claimed to
have been approached by Tsvangirai with plans
to eliminate Mugabe.
Tsvangirai was cleared in 2004 but had lost the
election by a narrow margin
in the meantime.
Then there is the other
current case of Roy Bennett who was arrested at
Charles Prince Airport
before being driven at break-neck speed to the
eastern border city of
Mutare, 260 km away. There he was charged with
attempting to leave the
country illegally; this while he was preparing to be
sworn in as a deputy
minister in the new government. He was later charged
with plotting against
Mugabe - an old charge that was thrown out of court a
few years
ago.
In the other current case, by the time Mudzingwa was arrested in
October
2008, the man he allegedly wanted to install in State House,
Tsvangirai, had
on September 15 signed the much hailed Global Political
Agreement, which he,
Mugabe and Professor Arthur Mutambara of the other MDC
now collectively
swear upon.
While his supposed benefactors
languished in Chikurubi and nursed wounds
sustained during torture,
Tsvangirai was sworn in on February 11 as Prime
Minister of Zimbabwe by none
other than Mugabe, the man we are told he
sought to replace through violent
means.
Mudzingwa's current plight must be a cause of sleepless nights for
the Prime
Minister. Tsvangirai must be constantly haunted by images of his
former
aide, especially after he recently saw on television the images of
emaciated
prisoners which were surreptitiously captured by an SABC crew and
broadcast
for the world to see.
So horrific were the images that
Justice Minister Patrick Chamisa felt
obliged to issue a statement to assure
a stunned nation that far from being
Zimbabwean, the dreadful images of
human suffering had been captured behind
the prison walls of a distant
country elsewhere on the African continent.
The Honourable Minister only
succeeded in making a complete fool of himself.
What must be the cause of
Tsvangirai tormented state of mind is his
realisation that since February 11
he, in fact, has become part of the state
machinery that now prosecutes and
persecutes a former aide who, according to
him, is innocent. As the second
most senior functionary in the government of
national unity which now
torments Mudzingwa, Tsvangirai cannot entirely
escape liability for any
punishment that Mudzingwa continues to endure
through what many view as
malicious denial of due legal process by the
State.
If the matter
remains unresolved the continued incarceration of Mudzingwa
without bail or
fair treatment could fast become Tsvangirai's Achilles'
heel. It has
potential to discredit him in the short term, while undermining
his
political career in the long term. Mugabe is obviously aware of the
adverse
implications of the Mudzingwa case on Tsvangirai.
Having repeatedly vowed
that Tsvangirai would never step anywhere near State
House, Mugabe is
clearly not keen to do anything now that has potential to
strengthen the
hand of his erstwhile political opponent. The President of
Zimbabwe has
quite cunningly maneuvered the Prime Minister where he always
wanted him.
Meanwhile, most of the rest of us pretend that we do not
perceive what is
happening in the hope that such pretense will promote the
cause of our
government of national unity.
But that is an exercise in
self-delusion.
Watching the documentary that caused Chinamasa to see
foreigners where his
own incarcerated compatriots languished, my mind
wondered back two decades
to that other innocent son of the soil who, in his
case, was condemned by
the state after his acquittal by the
courts.
Like the leadership of the MDC today the leaders of PF-Zapu said
precious
little as the former ZIPRA commander Lookout Masuku spent the first
few
years of independence while languishing in Chikurubi. In 1983 the
Supreme
Court found Masuku, Dabengwa, and four others not guilty of plotting
to
overthrow then Prime Minister Mugabe.
They were nevertheless
detained again under emergency regulations and held
for four
years.
Zimbabwe soon forgot about Masuku and his co-accused, Vote Moyo, a
PF-Zapu
official.
Masuku was finally released from prison because of
poor health on March 11,
1986. He died less than a month later on April 5.
His life was cut short at
46, his many years of personal sacrifice to the
struggle for the liberation
of his country having gone to waste in a dungeon
in Chikurubi.
These days anyone who dares to make disapproving remarks
about our
government of national unity does so at the risk of being labelled
a traitor
to the new cause of Zimbabwe.
The only fate worse than to
be called a traitor by Zanu-PF in the past is to
be labelled a traitor by
both Zanu-PF and the MDC today. But it can only be
an optimism of
desperation that lulls us into silence when a great injustice
is visited
upon Mudzingwa and other gallant fighters for democracy right
under the nose
of the MDC leadership, whatever they may be negotiating on
his behalf behind
closed doors and unknown to the rest of us.
Let the newly found
solidarity between Zanu-PF and the MDC serve to benefit
all Zimbabwean
citizens, not a select few.
Gandhi Mudzingwa, the man who over the past
few months has been reduced to
an oft-repeated newspaper headline, is a
labour economist who was born in
1959 in Buhera. He grew up in Zambia where
his family took refuge from the
oppression of the Rhodesia Front
government.
One of the most prominent members of the family is Gandhi's
uncle, Dr
Tichaona Mudzingwa. He is a veteran of the liberation struggle, a
military
physician and former colonel in the Zimbabwean National Army. He is
a former
Zipa commander during the war of liberation and now serves as
deputy
Minister of Transport in the government of national unity. He is the
MDC's
secretary for security.
The Mudzingwa family is illustrious,
with strong liberation credentials.
Gandhi went to school in Zambia and
the former Soviet Union. On return to
Zimbabwe after independence, he worked
in the Ministry of Labour before he
joined the ZCTU. He is a founder member
of the MDC. He was assigned as a
personal assistant to Tsvangirai until 2007
when he was re-assigned to take
care of the MDC president's close security
needs.
A close associate says of Gandhi Mudzingwa: "He is an astute
political
analyst, researcher and diplomat. Mudzingwa served Tsvangirai
throughout as
a key adviser, legman, protector, speech writer, protocol
officer and
political analyst.
"At the time he was appointed to
manage Tsvangirai's close security unit, he
attracted the attention of the
CIO who thought he was now busy building a
network of informers from the
establishment and gathering information on the
strength or otherwise of
Mugabe's pillars of support on the ground."
Mudzingwa was arrested
several times until he decided to leave Zimbabwe at
the end of 2007 when the
heat became unbearable. He was back home for the
landmark elections in March
2008. He was arrested in October after he was
abducted in Msasa
Park.
Mudzingwa is a family man, being married and a father of two
daughters.
His uncle, the deputy minister, now takes care of the young
girls while
their father languishes in Chikurubi as the authorities take
their time to
prepare a case to bring against him.
MUSINA, 13 April 2009 (IRIN) - Father Adrian, a
Catholic priest in Musina, a South African town on the border with Zimbabwe,
established a shelter for women and children fleeing, first, the violence, and
then the socio-economic conditions in Zimbabwe.
Photo:
Guy
Oliver/IRIN
Father
Adrian
Conditions in the
shelter in the old Catholic church in Nancefield, a Musina township, are basic,
but the Church provides meals to the about 100 or more people who bed down each
night.
The women and their children are given temporary shelter while
they apply for asylum seeker permits giving them temporary legal status. This
usually takes about three days but can take longer, depending on the efficiency
of the Department of Home Affairs. Father Adrian told IRIN about the shelter.
"The whole thing started soon after the [March 2008] elections when
[Robert] Mugabe lost the presidential elections and ZANU-PF [the ruling party]
lost the parliamentary elections, and he [Mugabe] then mobilized the so-called
‘war veterans’ straight away to intimidate the people and they simply started
pouring across the border.
"They have terrible stories to tell, both of
brutality and all the rest. One woman came to us after they had burned her
husband and burned her house - she literally had to run from the graveyard to
get away. Other people have different stories to tell, but people maybe arrive
here with a little knapsack.
“The church shelter is for the women and
children. There is a shelter to accommodate men elsewhere because the sexual
abuse is something shocking.
“I believe at the [Musina] showgrounds
[where as many as 5,000 people were sleeping while waiting to apply for asylum
seekers permits until the authorities closed it] men walked up to women and
said, ‘You are my wife tonight’, and the women had no choice but to go with
them. There are a lot of things like that.
"We are able to provide
nutrition for the young children, some of who have been born here. We started
this food parcel scheme in mid-April, or so, in 2008.
“It started at one
day a week and we very quickly had to change to five days a week. There were 30,
then 40, then 50 - the number kept increasing and by mid-July the numbers were
at about 100 a day.
“Finally, towards the end of last year, there were
300 people queuing up and we had food parcels for about 270 people, and then
began to divide up the food parcels to share the food out, and that is the way
things have been going.
"When people leave here after they have received
their documentation, they go south to Johannesburg and Pretoria generally."
Source: Government of Zimbabwe; World Health Organization (WHO) Date: 10 Apr 2009 ** Daily information on new deaths should not imply that these deaths
occurred in cases reported that day. Therefore daily CFRs >100% may
occasionally result A. Highlights of the day: - 81 Cases and 2 deaths added today (in comparison with 137 cases and 0
deaths yesterday) - Cumulative cases 95 738 - Cumulative deaths 4 154 of which 2 543 are community deaths - 73.3 % of the districts affected have reported today 44 out of 60 affected
districts) - 91.7 % of districts reported to be affected (60 districts out of 62) - Cumulative Institutional Case Fatality Rate = 1.7% - Daily Institutional CFR = 2.5 %. - No report received from Harare and Matebeleland North provinces.
* Please note that
daily information collection is a challenge due to communication and staff
constraints.On-going data cleaning may result in an increase or decrease in the
numbers. Any change will then be explained.
From The Lusaka Times, 14 April
Cabinet would soon sit to
discuss how much money Zambia will contribute
towards the rebuilding of
Zimbabwe's collapsed economy. The Zimbabwean
government, during a Southern
Africa Development Community (SADC)
extra-ordinary meeting held in Swaziland
early this month, presented a US$10
billion bill to the SADC organ to help
rebuild that country's economy. Chief
Government Spokesperson, Ronnie
Shikapwasha told ZANIS in an interview in
Lusaka today that Zambia's
official position on how much to contribute
towards rebuilding Zimbabwe's
collapsed economy would only be known after
cabinet sits to discuss the
matter. Lieutenant General Shikapwasha, who is
also Minister of Information
and Broadcasting Services, said government had
not yet made a decision on
the amount it would contribute towards the
rebuilding of Zimbabwe. He
however said government was working on modalities
to help the neighbouring
Zimbabwe to resolve its economic crisis. He said
Zambia will also work on
its financial obligation to enable her to render
financial assistance to
Zimbabwe, which is currently seeking US$10 billion
for its economic
resuscitation. Recently, Southern Africa Development
Community (SADC)
leaders resolved to give financial assistance to Zimbabwe
to help that
country come out of economic doldrums.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/pages/witchcraft4.19681.html
Posted to the web: 14/04/2009 14:54:21
A "PROPHET"
fainted and had to be revived after he battled a tokoloshe which
was
terrorising female members of the same family in Hwange, Matabeleland
North,
a court heard last week.
The "dwarf gremlin-like creature with horns
curving downwards; beads; legs
and arms without palms" was paraded before a
magistrate in the western town
of Hwange after two members of the same
family and the self-styled prophet
were arrested for harassing their
grandfather fingered as the owner of the
tokoloshe.
A local
vernacular weekly newspaper, Umthunywa, reports that the tokoloshe
has been
kept by police in Hwange.
The court heard how Solani Sibanda, a
self-styled prophet from nearby Binga,
was called in after female members of
the same family reported that they
always woke up "tired and wet in the
nether regions".
The court heard several testimonies from female members
of the family who
all suggested the creature brought to court was going to
bed with them at
night without their knowledge.
Tapiwa Mwembe, 27,
told the court she "felt someone having sex with her",
even as her husband
was away. This caused her to be "always weak, and unable
to satisfy her
husband".
Mwembe is a nephew of White Nengwa Ngoma, the 74-year-old
grandfather
accused of practising witchcraft, leading to his complaint of
harassment
against his nephews.
Another nephew, Lambiwe Ncube, gave
"a moving testimony" revealing that she
started sleeping "with this thing"
after her husband died, Umthunywa
reported.
"After my husband died,
my grandfather promised to find me a man to take
care of my sexual needs.
Since then, I would feel someone I couldn't see
having sex with me," she
said.
A third woman, Maria Ndlovu, also reported having sex with an
"invisible
person".
The women, the court heard, reported the strange
happenings to their
brothers Balani Nyathi and Potani Shoko who took the
decision to seek
Sibanda's services.
Sibanda arrived in the Lukosi
village and immediately went to work, leading
the family to Ngoma's
homestead.
Taking the witness stand, Sibanda said he went into Ngoma's
bedroom and held
the tokoloshe "by the throat".
"Because it had so
much power, I fainted while holding it but I never let go
of it," said
Sibanda.
Family members attending the "cleansing" ceremony poured cold
water on
Sibanda to revive him.
"Shockingly, when Sibanda came back
to life, the tokoloshe also regained
consciousness," Umthunywa reported,
citing witness statements.
The paper added: "Seeing he was in danger,
Sibanda lifted the tokoloshe and
shoved it into fire ash and it finally
died."
Magistrate Aeline Munamati issued a restraining order against the
nephews
and warned them about their future conduct. They are also to desist
from
harassing Ngoma.
Zimbabwe repealed its witchcraft laws in 2006
and lifted a ban on the
practises of many traditional healers and
self-styled prophets. Those
accusing an individual of witchcraft must show
proof of their allegations.
The law however also says "any person who
groundlessly or by the purported
use of non-natural means accuses another
person of witchcraft shall be
guilty of indicating a witch or wizard and
liable".
James Ngwenya, prosecuting, told Umthunywa that the men had been
spared jail
because the court was sufficiently satisfied the accusations
brought by the
family were not without merit.
http://www.nation.co.ke/
By KITSEPILE NYATHI, NATION
CorrespondentPosted Tuesday, April 14 2009 at
18:30
HARARE,
Tuesday
Deepening rifts in Zimbabwe's coalition government, a failure by the
international community to provide urgent funds and disagreements over a new
constitution have given rise to fears that the country could slide back to
anarchy.
President Robert Mugabe has raised the ire of his
coalition partners, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy
Professor Arthur Mutambara with a
unilateral decision to transfer a major
portfolio from a Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) minister to one of his
Zanu PF allies.
The portfolio assignments included the oversight of state
communication
including state-owned fixed line Phone Company and mobile
phone providers
after MDC and Zanu PF ministers claimed
control.
Analysts said the disagreements that came at a time when the
parties were
still haggling over issues that were still outstanding from the
September 15
power sharing agreement showed the coalition was living on
borrowed time.
"This (the transfer of ministerial portfolio) is in
violation of the global
political agreement and the law, the Prime Minister
does not support the
violation of the law. He cannot be seen to be condoning
this," said Mr James
Maridadi, the Prime Minister's
spokesman.
President Mugabe was set for showdown talks with Mr Tsvangirai
and Prof
Mutambara to tackle the clash over ministries, the allocation of
posts of
provincial governors and permanent secretaries.
But senior
MDC figures believe the latest incident showed Mr Mugabe was not
comfortable
ceding control of some sensitive portfolio's to his coalition
partners such
as telecommunications.
"This whole thing is motivated by hatred, malice
and the crime is that I am
MDC, that I am young and that I am trying to make
positive contribution,"
said Information and Communication Technology
Minister, Nelson Chamisa who
lost part of his portfolio to a Zanu PF
counterpart. "I have already raised
this issue with the other principals -
Prime Minister Tsvangirai and Prof
Mutambara."
The unity government
was formed on February 13 after Mr Mugabe, Mr
Tsvangirai and Prof
Mutambara's parties finally agreed to implement the
September 15 power
sharing agreement to end Zimbabwe's long running
political and political
crises.
Its performances has been heavily affected by the failure by the
international community to raise more than US$8 billion needed for
reconstruction purposes and land invasions blamed on President Mugabe's
supporters.
Resurgent political violence in some parts of the country
have also
diminished hopes the unity government will last.
Professor
Jonathan Moyo, the only independent Member of Parliament warned
the
coalition government's failure to mobilise enough resources to
rehabilitate
the economy might prove to be its downfall.
"There is just no money in
the country right now be it in business coffers
or the pockets of ordinary
people and this is a very serious matter which is
being ignored by the self
indulgent coalition government whose Prime
Minister is now groping in the
dark in a desperate search for non exist
benchmarks of success," Prof Moyo
said.
Donors have restricted their support to humanitarian initiatives
and civil
servants who returned to work after the government promised them
salaries in
foreign currency are now threatening to down tools next
month.
Last year, the entire civil service was on strike pressing for
better
salaries and living conditions, which the bankrupt government could
not
afford.
The national hope and goodwill engendered by the
formation of the new
government are fast waning.
The way the unity
government is proposing to tackle the constitutional
making process is
threatening to worsen the situation. During the Easter
holidays, a select
committee of parliament was unveiled to oversee the
crafting of the new
constitution as enunciated by the power sharing
agreement.
But civic
groups have threatened to disrupt the process, raising fears
Zimbabwe would
be thrown back to anarchy.
They fear the government would impose a draft
agreed that was produced by
Zanu PF and MDC representatives a year ago as
part of their long drawn
negotiations.
"Millions of Zimbabwean
economic refugees remain disfranchised and will most
likely not be able to
participate in the constitution making process," said
Mr Fambai Ngirande, a
spokesman for a coalition of civic groups.
"Nonetheless our constituency
remains defiant in upholding the call for a
people driven constitution
reform process.''
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Dear Prime Minister
Tsvangarai,
As you are aware I wrote an open letter to you 2 weeks ago
asking where we
were going because "soon it will be too late."
I
likened our countries economy to that of an engine that is continuing to
be
stripped. Unfortunately the stripping process has increased in momentum
significantly since my letter; and police unfortunately remain complicit
with it.
Since I wrote to you we have had a fresh illegal invasion on
Mount Carmel
Farm on the 4 April 2009. We copied a letter to your office
addressed to the
Commissioner General of the Zimbabwe Republic Police dated
5 April but have
yet to have any response.
Some of our workers have
been badly beaten [one with a cracked skull]; the
Mount Carmel house was
broken into and entered by invaders while my elderly
parents-in-law were
inside; Mike and Angela Campbell have since been evicted
by the illegal
invaders and stopped from accessing their home and work place
by a locked
gate that the invaders have erected on the drive into the farm;
their house
has since been entered by invaders again and some looting has
taken place;
the mango crop still in the orchards of over 100 tons is being
stolen before
our eyes; the pack- shed has been broken into and the 50 tons
of export
mangos that was rotting there [because the invaders have stopped
all the 150
workers from loading the lorry that came from SA for export] are
being sold
by the invaders - we saw the rotting mangos and invader sales of
stolen
property on 10 April; the orange crop of 200 tons is being stolen and
the
maize and sunflower crops will be stolen shortly if nothing is done to
arrest the perpetrators of these crimes.
Many of our workers are
sleeping in the bush due to the violence that
remains unpunished. Others are
victims of trumped up charges in jail. They
have been subjected to torture
by police in Chegutu using armoured cable to
beat them. The one with the
cracked skull [Sinos] was dumped on the charge
office floor by invaders in
the presence of witnesses who were never even
asked to explain themselves. A
police constable then smashed Sinos' head
against the charge office wall. As
a result of police being used to torture
and arrest our workers, our workers
are naturally very afraid to make
reports of crimes that continue to be
committed.
Invaders threatened to kill any of our guards that tried to
continue to
guard the crops. They stole a shotgun from the guards and used
it to
threaten workers. This they subsequently handed into police. Not a
single
one of the workers has been allowed to work for us in the last week
doing
the vital job of packing export quality mangos for the earning of tens
of
thousands of US dollars of scarce foreign currency.
Chegutu police
will not even give us the name of the main invader who is
frequently at the
station with them. Chegutu Police now refuse to take
reports of crimes being
committed on Mount Carmel Farm so there is no
official record. On their
visit yesterday they saw all the evidence of these
crimes and did nothing to
arrest the "untouchables" who were in their
presence. Evidence of some of
the crimes is on film.
In my letter before this invasion I asked why the
SADC Tribunal Judgement is
not being upheld. SADC has directed that "the
respondent [the Zimbabwe
Government] is directed to take all necessary
measures to protect the
possession, occupation and ownership of the lands of
the applicants
[ourselves]...and to take all appropriate measures to ensure
that no action
is taken, pursuant to Amendment 17, directly or indirectly,
whether by its
agents or by others, to evict from or interfere with, the
peaceful residence
on and of those farms, by the Applicants."
If
there was a political will to restore the rule of law I have been assured
by
police that it would take 5 minutes. Unfortunately, there appears to be
no
political will to deal with these latest invasions and to restore the
rule
of law and to allow us to live and farm in peace.
This is not an isolated
incident. Other farmers are experiencing similar
situations and thousands of
jobs and livlihoods are on the line. We invite
you down to urgently see with
your own eyes the realities of the continued
State inspired lawlessness in
Chegutu. We implore you to have the invaders
arrested and to put a police
guard on the property to allow us to continue
farming in peace and to stop
the continued victimisation that is being
experienced.
Yours
Sincerely,
Ben Freeth.
http://www.apanews.net
APA - Beijing (China) The main motives for Chinese enterprises to
invest in
Africa are market and resource-seeking, said the Organization for
Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD) in a report released recently
in Beijing
and a copy made available to APA.
The report entitled
"China: encouraging responsible business conduct"
stressed that "The
expanding demand for energy and other natural resources
essential to sustain
China's economic growth and the abundance of these
resources in Africa have
naturally determined the recent evolution of China's
economic relationship
with Africa".
The OECD found that the Chinese mode of investment in
Africa is very poor,
and predominantly focus on the natural resources
sectors, adding that the
major African recipient countries of China's Direct
Investments (OFDI) are
all rich in natural resources, including Algeria,
Nigeria, Sudan and Zambia.
"The resources sought after by Chinese
enterprises in Africa include oil in
Algeria, Angola, Republic of Congo,
Côte d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon,
Kenya, Libya, Namibia, Nigeria and
Sudan; copper in Republic of Congo,
Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo;
chrome in South Africa and
Zimbabwe; iron ore in Gabon, and fisheries in
Ghana and Morocco" said the
OECD report.
Currently, said the OECD,
nearly a third of China's oil imports come from
Africa with Angola, Sudan,
Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria
being the top African oil
exporters to China.
These African countries with strong oil trade links
with China are also
recipients of many of China's OFDI projects,
infrastructure projects carried
out by Chinese constructors, and China's
overseas development projects (ODA)
programmes, the report
said.
"These three contributions from China to Africa are highly
interrelated:
large OFDI deals in the natural resources sector are often
accompanied by
infrastructure projects which are financed through China's
ODA programmes"
the report adds.
"These infrastructure projects are
commonly carried out by Chinese
contractors as required by the terms of
China's concessional loans and
grants" said the report.
Furthermore,
ports, electricity plants, roads and railroads constructed by
Chinese
contractors may provide better transport, logistics and utility
services
which can be useful for other Chinese enterprises' operations in
Africa.
The OECD criticized China's investments in Africa for it's
"unfair subsidy
provided by the Chinese government to Chinese enterprises;
poor
implementation of social and environmental safeguards in China's
investment
projects; and lack of harmonisation with international efforts to
tackle
human rights abuses, corruption, and repressive regimes".
"In
the context of China's growing role as an investor in Africa, concerns
over
China's investment behaviour are being raised and large Chinese
enterprises
operating in Africa are under increasing pressure to be more
responsible
global players" said the report, adding that "Though similar
concerns have
been heard for China's outward investment in other regions, it's
investment
in Africa has invited the most intense debate on China's business
conduct in
the light of Africa's weak governance capacity".
The reports stressed
that "Among major Chinese enterprises in the natural
resources sector, CNPC
has invested the largest amount in the African
continent, covering 8
countries with a large stake in Sudan. Sinopec has oil
and gas exploration
and production business in 6 countries. CNOOC has
recently committed USD 2.3
billion to acquire a 45% stake in Nigeria's Akpo
oil field and signed an
exploration contract with Equatorial Guinea for an
offshore oil
block".
According to the report although the African local markets are
still small
it has been actively explored by Chinese enterprises. Adding
that China's
construction business in Africa has a long history including
the
construction of the Tanzam Railway in Zambia in the 1960s-1970s, and has
been very successful in winning construction contracts in
Africa.
Chinese construction companies have a comparative advantage over
those from
developed countries since they have access to relatively cheap
financial
sources provided by Chinese state-owned banks as well as a
relatively cheap
labour force and cheap equipment available from China, said
the OECD.
Furthermore, said the report , the African market for Chinese
construction
services is effectively created by the Chinese government
itself, which
imposes the condition that the bulk of China's concessional
loans and grants
be used to procure goods and services from Chinese
suppliers/contractors.
These advantages allowed Chinese enterprises to
overcome the high risks
commonly perceived by foreign investors for
infrastructure development
projects in Africa.
AZT/daj/APA
2009-04-14
Comment from The Star (SA), 13 April
African leaders - lugging around huge chips on their shoulders
- crave
external validation
Heidi Holland
Hope in
their president's sincerity seems to linger among Zimbabweans.
Predatory
though Robert Mugabe is known to be, it persists because, without
it, such
cautious optimism as exists in the country's fragile unity
government would
not be sustainable. The hope hovers, mind you, alongside
desperation and the
ever-present fear that Mugabe is swallowing the
country's opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) python-like, just
as he did Joshua
Nkomo many years ago. Everybody knows how unlikely the
chances are of
Zimbabwe's dictator becoming a reformed man at 85. What he
clearly wants
badly enough to play the game, though, is the Western
development money that
was hitherto proffered on condition of his departure.
Only donors can
kick-start the beleaguered nation's economy, in the process
keeping Mugabe
in office until he dies.
It is an awkward situation for Western
governments to resolve while
struggling with daunting economic problems of
their own. Will they support
the shakiest of political alliances out of pity
for ordinary Zimbabweans at
the risk of being outwitted by one of the least
popular of the world's
dictators? Probably not. The only way Zimbabwe will
get international
development dosh with Comrade Bob at the helm is if he
succeeds in
bamboozling foreign governments into thinking he is a reformed
character.
That he has undertaken such an apparently impossible public
relations
mission says much about Mugabe's enduring belief in his ability to
outsmart
absolutely anybody. Ironically, Mugabe's biggest ally in the
campaign to
convince hard-nosed Western politicians that he suddenly cares
for his
people in the same way as Morgan Tsvangirai cares for Zimbabweans is
none
other than the prime minister himself.
At a press conference
in Harare last month, Mugabe's erstwhile enemy
responded irritably when a
journalist referred to Zimbabwe's despot simply
as Mugabe: "It's President
Mugabe," Tsvangirai snapped. In an interview with
me during the run-up to
the power-sharing arrangement, the MDC leader
described a long dinner he had
had with Mugabe in a Harare restaurant - when
the two got up close and
personal for the first time - as "a lost father-son
reunion". At a time when
most of the global media were attacking
Tsvangirai's willingness to make
peace with the dictator, he added
forthrightly: "I actually have to admit
that I have some respect for Mugabe,
who used to be my hero." Tsvangirai's
unabashed respect for the much older
Mugabe - based on a deeply held African
veneration of the aged, which comes
naturally to the well-mannered prime
minister - is one of the unity
government's few strengths amid multiple
potential deal-breakers.
Continuing land grabs, human rights abuses,
harassment and imprisonment of
MDC supporters, as well as Mugabe's
fraudulent cabinet appointments, could
yet derail the uneasy coalition. It
is Tsvangirai's attitude towards Mugabe
that will hold the unity government
together. Mugabe will take full
political advantage of his prime minister's
respect while also genuinely
appreciating it - as is his contradictory wont.
And, who knows, Tsvangirai
may be wilier in his courtesy than we think. If
ever a man craved respect,
it is Mugabe. Had former British prime minister
Tony Blair sized him up
accurately in all his human frailty as well as
bluster when the two first
started spitting at each other in the late 1990s,
Blair could have put an
arm (metaphorically, if not literally) around his
African counterpart - who
felt humiliated by New Labour's rejection of old
policy - and slipped Mugabe
the disputed land redistribution funding
promised by an earlier government,
possibly sparing Zimbabwe a decade of
suffering. Pragmatic reconciliations
have been a feature of diplomacy
throughout history, after all.
Blair's failure to patch things up
with Mugabe before the situation in
Zimbabwe became totally toxic probably
had a bit to do with the British
leader's intuitive arrogance, something to
do with New Labour's unholy
alliance with the right-wing British media, and
a lot to do with perceived
as well as real Western disrespect towards
African leaders. Well, hell, no,
you might argue: discredited leaders,
African or otherwise, forfeit respect.
True. But there is little doubt that
people like Mugabe, former president
Thabo Mbeki and now ANC president Jacob
Zuma - all of whom have come from a
traditional leadership system akin to
that of medieval England - become so
accustomed to widespread deference,
indeed adulation, at home that they
simply can't tolerate the slights of
strangers. Add to that formidable
narcissistic barrier the inferiority
complexes bequeathed to so many in
Africa by colonialism and white settler
rule and you have a compelling
psycho-drama for Western power brokers
(including the media) to fathom - or
ignore at the African country's
peril.
A few months ago, a US diplomat told me how difficult it had
been to engage
with South Africa while Mbeki was at the helm because Mbeki,
lugging around
a sizeable chip on his shoulder, simply refused to deal with
anyone other
than the supreme leader of the world's superpower. "It makes
doing
international business very difficult," the American sighed.
Similarly, a
British government official engaged in public health in South
Africa said
she felt obliged to bow and scrape to former health minister
Manto
Tshabalala-Msimang; nowadays she is free free to treat Health Minister
Barbara Hogan, who understands Western manners, with normal rather than
exaggerated respect. Daily, the independent local media bear the brunt of
our leadership's intolerance of criticism or, sometimes, of informal
journalistic behaviour. You might argue that this sensitivity should not be
factored into the methods and logic by which power and its abuses are
challenged.
True. But there are petty humiliations that could be
resisted without
compromising press freedom. Such an unnecessary taunt,
which ran on the
front page of a daily newspaper recently, showed Zuma
flipping "the bird" to
the camera. In fact, he was using his middle finger
to push his glasses back
on to his nose. Was this an example of amusing
photography or a cheap shot?
Rude signs that convey contempt to those with
the muscle to react
oppressively may not be the way to go in these days of
reckless rule. Which
reminds me: Zimbabwe's draconian media laws remain
unaltered, not
surprisingly. Of all the unity government's designated
reforms, Mugabe can
be expected to resist this one the longest. Why? Because
journalism's job is
to confront politicians with their failures. Mugabe,
having contemplated
nothing but his omnipotence for decades, will hardly be
keen to encounter an
accurate view of himself now.
Press Association, UK
4 hours
ago
Andy Flower is expected to be revealed as England's new director of
cricket
at Lord's on Wednesday.
Zimbabwean Flower made a worthy
impression as stand-in coach during the
11-week tour of the Caribbean
despite the unexpected defeat to West Indies
in the Test series.
The
40-year-old initially displayed reluctance to fill that role due to his
loyalty to former coach Peter Moores, and he deliberated for a number of
weeks over committing himself to applying for English cricket's top coaching
position. But he gained a taste for the responsibility during his interim
tenure and formed a strong bond with new captain Andrew
Strauss.
Though England's results were mixed, he impressed players and
management
alike with his demeanour and work ethic on the recent tour and
his chances
were undoubtedly boosted by the thrilling one-day series victory
which
concluded the trip.
Hugh Morris, managing director of England
Cricket, observed Flower's input
first-hand both throughout the seven-week
Test campaign and later in the
limited-overs matches.
He is the man
with ultimate responsibility for appointing Moores' successor,
and will
reveal his choice at lunchtime.