Unity government talks on the verge of collapse

http://www.swradioafrica.com

Lance Guma
28 April 2009

The 5th meeting between Morgan Tsvangirai, Robert Mugabe and Arthur
Mutambara, aimed at resolving outstanding issues in the coalition
government, teetered on the edge of collapse Tuesday. Mugabe continues to
refuse to back down on his unilateral amendments and violations to the unity
deal, and all his coalition partners have been able to do is declare them
'null and void'. Although the South African Business Day newspaper reported
that talks held on Monday remained deadlocked 'after long hours of intense
discussions' Tsvangirai's spokesman James Maridadi insisted Mondays' meeting
was brief and only sought to set the agenda for the next meeting.

On Tuesday that meeting took place around 3pm, soon after the normal Tuesday
cabinet meeting. Maridadi was reluctant to say if there was any progress on
the issues that have paralyzed the government so far. Under dispute is how
Mugabe unilaterally stripped away the communications sector from a ministry
controlled by the MDC, has dragged his feet on swearing in Deputy
Agriculture Minister designate Roy Bennett, encouraged fresh farms invasions
and kept mum on the continued detention of political prisoners. The
appointment of governors, ambassadors and permanent secretaries is another
issue that the parties have also failed to agree on.

Over the weekend Tsvangirai told an MDC rally in Chinhoyi that there was 'no
going back on the unity government' and that he was working well with
Mugabe. 'We respect each other, although we may disagree. There's nothing
Mugabe does without me approving and there is nothing I do without him
approving,' he added. His supporters expressed worries he might have spoken
too soon and dug himself into a hole over the remarks. Evidence so far
suggests Mugabe has no intention of backing down, despite theories that its
hardliners in ZANU PF who are trying to torpedo the deal. 'He remains firmly
in charge and focused on undermining Tsvangirai by giving him responsibility
without authority,' one commentator told us.

The MDC meanwhile has also come under criticism for being too optimistic in
the face of glaring evidence that the stalemate will persist. A few months
ago it was former South African President Thabo Mbeki being accused of
practicing 'quite diplomacy' in his dealings with Mugabe, now the MDC face
the same accusation, of being too soft and accommodating of the ZANU PF
leader.

Both ZANU PF and the MDC had agreed all outstanding issues should be solved
by the end of April but Tuesday's meeting represented the last day to do
this as most government officials were taking evening flights to the
International Trade Fair in Bulawayo.  Tsvangirai was due to catch a morning
flight on Wednesday while Mutambara, Nelson Chamisa, Gorden Moyo and others
traveled Tuesday evening. Mugabe is also traveling but his itinerary was not
yet known.

The Bulawayo Trade Fair has gathered very little support this year from
companies both local and international. Observers have expressed concern
that talks on which the future of the entire nation depends are not regarded
as important as a Trade Fair.

IMF agrees to set up multi donor trust fund for Zimbabwe

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Violet Gonda
28 April 2009

Finance Minister Tendai Biti was expected to leave the US on Tuesday
evening, following a fundraising trip to try and get immediate financial
rescue packages from the US government, the International Monetary fund
(IMF) and the World Bank.

It is understood that although there was no sign of an immediate bail out by
the institutions, the IMF has agreed to set up a multi donor trust fund to
be run by itself, the United Nations Development Program, the World Bank and
the African Development Bank. It's reported the money will be used 'for
budgetary support until the inclusive government has a track record'.

Massive corruption and the bad financial policies of the Reserve Bank
Governor Gideon Gono have meant that the Zimbabwean government has no
economic credibility. It is understood that this trust fund will be used as
a stop gap measure, until such a time as the government can be trusted by
the international funding institutions.  The funds will be sent direct to
Tendai Biti's Ministry of Finance and will completely bypass the Reserve
Bank.

The news comes after the IMF's Africa Department Director, Antoinette Sayeh,
said that the actions taken recently by the inclusive government were
'encouraging' and urged other international donors to assist. She said in a
statement: "It's the context in which we think there is a window of
opportunity in Zimbabwe that is worthy of support by the international
community."

Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean delegation also held meetings with senior US
officials from the Treasury, National Security Council and State Department.

The Finance Minister told reporters that he had appealed to the Americans to
support the inclusive government as it was 'the only game in town', but the
US government said they are concerned about the continuing farm invasions
and unresolved Global Political Agreement issues, including the
controversial role of Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono.

Biti said this was an historic meeting as it was the first time that the
Zimbabwe government had directly re-engaged with the US government since the
US slapped targeted sanctions on the Mugabe regime.  Biti agreed that for
the international community to open up the flow of aid efforts have to be
made to implement the GPA to its letter and spirit.

Zimbabwe photojournalist on the run as terrorism saga continues

http://www.apanews.net

APA-Harare (Zimbabwe) Zimbabwean police have launched a manhunt for a
freelance journalist who was released on bail two weeks ago after spending
more than four months in prison on terrorism charges, APA learnt here
Tuesday.

The police want to re-arrest photojournalist Shadreck Manyere amid
allegations the reporter and two others were improperly released from
prison.

The trio was granted bail by a High Court judge on April 9 and was released
on April 17 as their lawyers were unaware of an appeal against bail lodged
by state prosecutors on April 14.

The appeal was granted the same day that Manyere was released from Harare's
notorious Chikurubi Maximum Prison and automatically suspended the decision
by the High Court judge to liberate the accused persons.

Manyere and two activists from the former opposition Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) are accused of a series of bombings in late 2008 that targeted
police stations and a bridge in the capital.

They deny the charges but have been kept in remand prison since their
arrests in December 2008.

  JN/nm/APA 2009-04-28

Hot Seat interview: political detainee Gandhi Mudzingwa

SW Radio Africa Transcript HOT SEAT INTERVIEW: Journalist Violet Gonda interviews political detainee Gandhi Mudzingwa from his hospital bed. Broadcast 24 April 2009
VIOLET GONDA: In the Hot Seat is political detainee Gandhi Mudzingwa, a former personal aide to MDC president Morgan Tsvangirai. Despite being freed on bail, he and the MDC ’s Director of Security Chris Dhlamini are still under police guard at the Avenues Clinic where they are having treatment for injuries received from torture during their five months in detention. The MDC officials are among a group of political and civic activists facing charges linked to alleged plots to overthrow the former Zanu-PF government. They deny all the charges. In a telephone interview from his hospital bed Gandhi Mudzingwa talks about the abuse he continues to suffer at the hands of the police and expresses his disappointment in the MDC ’s Home Affairs co-minister, Giles Mutsekwa. I first asked him to explain his present situation.
GANDHI MUDZINGWA: Thank you very much Violet. Yes I’ve gone through a long ordeal starting from the 8 th of December last year and this abuse seems to be not ending. Last week on Friday we were granted bail by the Supreme Court, in fact by the High Court, on the basis that the State had not filed an appeal in time. And the Registrar of the Supreme Court issued a Warrant of Liberation and as I’m speaking I am supposed to be a free man. However, the freedom was not to be long lived, the prison officers packed their things about half past four on Friday last week, so Friday evening, Saturday morning, Saturday evening, Sunday and the whole of Monday during the day we were free persons. I and my two colleagues were free persons and then these guys from prison just reappeared to come and re-detain us - without any papers from the Court. All they can say is that they have orders from above. Well who exactly this person or this above person is, I’ve no idea Violet. So we talked to them, it went on and on and on from Monday right up to Wednesday and on Wednesday the prison officials just packed up their things and left. I understand now that the Commissioner has admitted that it was a wrongful detention but for us it never rains really but instead it pours. We thought ah now, these guys are now gone, that was Monday. Then Monday evening, between half past four and 6 o’clock , we see these people sitting outside during visiting hours, sitting outside our room. Apparently they are from Law and Order - one of these fellows is Detective Sergeant Musademba from the Law and Order and the other fellow I can’t remember the name. We asked them what their business was, at first they didn’t want to divulge but later on they said they’d come to guard us. I remember asking the question; are we under arrest? Nobody has been able to answer that question up to now. The long and short of it is that we are still under guard; even as I speak there are two policemen outside. Even though the duties have now been assumed by uniformed police branch, it does not change anything we are still under guard and we don’t know what our status is because nobody has pronounced what this guard is all about. But we sense that it’s an arrest or rather an abduction because of the restriction in movement. We are not able to leave the room and we are not able to really do anything here. So yah, it’s some kind of a – if you want to call it - a ward arrest instead of house arrest, that’s what it is. GONDA: Why do you think you are being picked on because not only were you released on bail on the 17 th April, they’ve come back and as you’ve described it seems like you are now under ward arrest. But also most of the people you are accused with were actually released a long time ago on bail, except for yourself, Chris Dhlamini and Shadreck Manyere. So why do you think you are being picked on in particular? MUDZINGWA: That question could be best answered by the Minister of Home Affairs, the co-ministers of Home Affairs that is Mr Giles Mutsekwa and Mr Kembo Mohadi. Those are the people who could answer that question best, why they’ve placed us under police, under house arrest. But I suspect though that there are other forces behind this apart from these two ministers, because really, honestly speaking I can go on a witch-hunt but the buck stops with Mr Mutsekwa and Mr Kembo Mohadi. Those are the two ministers that are actually responsible for the Ministry of Home Affairs. So they ought to explain what is happening. But none the less, we believe that Zimbabwe is currently under siege from a cabal, a civil military cabal which has been profiting out of creating a situation which resembles something like war or instability. And they use that to line their pockets, through the usual things like you know misinformation and then which require special operation, which require expenditures and things like that. I think this is what is happening. And this civil military cabal I don’t believe it’s very big, I believe it’s just the top brass of the army, the police, the CIO , and a few politicians. But it would appear they are desperate, desperate that the inclusive government is coming in and bringing in accountability. They think if they hold on to us, they could blackmail this government either to give up or to give them amnesty. GONDA: If I could just go back to something that you said earlier on where you said I should ask the Home Affairs ministers about why they actually arrested you … MUDZINGWA: Correct. GONDA: …and why the police continue to harass you, but how do you feel though that you have actually put one of your own officials, your colleague, Giles Mutsekwa in that bracket? MUDZINGWA: Look Violet, he is Minister of Home Affairs, he’s not my colleague, his colleague is Mr Kembo Mohadi, his co-minister, so I think it’s a misnomer for you to say that Mr Mutsekwa is my colleague. He is not my colleague. GONDA: I meant from the MDC , that he’s one of your members of the party… MUDZINGWA: Oh there is always a separation of a political party from the government. I am a private citizen, yes I’m a member of the party as well. I don’t know about Mr Giles, if he’s still a member of the party because if he were, then surely one of the things that you would want to address would be the issue of this unwarranted arrest, wanton arrest which is an issue that was charted by the All Peoples’ Convention in February 1999 - where it was actually resolved that the problem in Zimbabwe, that was bedevilling Zimbabwe is misgovernance and one of the manifestations of that misgovernance is this lack of rule of law. And if you have somebody now who purports to support, to come from the MDC and is not following the basic and fundamental tenets of the party then he becomes a stranger to me. GONDA: He becomes a? MUDZINGWA: He becomes a stranger to me. He is no longer, I don’t know him, I don’t know him, and maybe all this time I never took time to know him, to know him well. Maybe he believes in something else. Isusu in the party we are very clear that the issue is about governance. I hear some people saying let the law take its course. We resolved in 1999 at the All Working Peoples’ Convention that Zimbabwe does not have the rule of law - so how does the rule of law actually take its course when there is an absence of the rule of law? It becomes a paradox. GONDA: So in your view, who do you think was behind your release finally because you’ve spent over four months in police custody? Do you think it was because of the inclusive government or just the Courts? MUDZINGWA: Look, when I was abducted there was no inclusive government. I’m very grateful to my Prime Minister for the efforts he put in for us actually to be finally brought to a police cell and then later on to the Courts because without his efforts really I don’t know what was going to happen, we could be talking something else, I could be dead by now. I and my colleagues could be dead by now. So I’m very grateful to him. I’m also very grateful to a number of other people within the party for what they have actually done in relation to our case. So the issue of the Minister of Home Affairs should not be misconstrued to mean that I am talking about those people in the party who still remember and still stick to the fundamentals of the party. And so it would be unfair Violet for me to think that the Prime Minister could change things, all things in the space of two months. I know he’s been trying very hard but he’s had two tragedies in his family - first his wife and then his grandson. All those things have slowed him down but in spite of that he has been here to hospital to visit us, it’s now four times. The last time he was here, is just yesterday. So you see there’s a lot of effort there in as far as the Prime Minister is concerned. The Secretary General too and Mr Chamisa, yah there is a lot of effort there and a few minutes ago we just had Mr Komichi who was also here, and he’s a frequent visitor to enquire after our health…. GONDA: Has Mr Mutsekwa visited you? MUDZINGWA: Yah, he came once but surely, he professed ignorance of our situation, of what was happening at his ministry. I think he was simply trying to say look I’m disinterested. By his actions, one could read it kuti this fellow is saying I’m disinterested. My only interest is that I’m Minister of Home Affairs and I can move in a Mercedes Benz. GONDA: That is really worrying what you are saying Mr Mudzingwa and if I could go back to the issue of why you are still in the situation that you are in, I understand that the… (interrupted) MUDZINGWA: Violet, we have phoned the fellow so many times over the past few days - please come in and see for yourself, bring your co-minister. You know they move together all the time like twins, I don’t know if twins move together, but whatever. I say please come and see for yourself what is happening here. We are being abused. All this just falls on deaf ears. So I’m just led to that conclusion that perhaps we are no longer together. Of course party and government are different things and one has got to accept his own circumstances and the reality that’s around him. GONDA: Have you tried talking to other leaders like Mr Tsvangirai, you’ve said he has visited you at least four times now, have you tried to tell him about this problem? MUDZINGWA: Yes, he’s doing something about it, just today I’m sure he took the issue up with Mr Mugabe who’s the President of the country in terms of the new constitutional amendment number 19, though of course he’s just been sworn in. But yah, the Prime Minister actually took that issue up with the relevant authority, with Mr Mugabe. I’m still to get feedback on what is happening. GONDA: You know Mr Mudzingwa, the Attorney General’s office has been trying very hard to deny you bail and I understand that they’re still in the process of trying to appeal to the Supreme Court. Now their argument is that you were found in possession of dangerous weapons and that you were found with, was it a grenade in your pocket at the time that you were abducted? Can you tell us about this, what is your take on that? MUDZINGWA: Its all lies. On the first day we appeared in court, the indictment papers, there was nothing like that. In fact when I was given the ‘warn and caution statement’ the issue of the grenades never came up and I don’t know anything about grenades, I never had one. It only surfaced in the courts, not on the first day but only at a later stage. It’s a usual thing with Zanu-PF when they see that they want to get somebody you know punished unduly, then they will say something – he was carrying a grenade, he did a bomb or whatever, whatever. Of course they know they’re going to lose the case because there’s no evidence. I never carried a grenade when they abducted me. They kept me for 15 days and things like that. I don’t even know how to use a grenade. I don’t have a military background. I have nothing! GONDA: Right, so can you briefly tell our listeners what happened to you on the day that you were captured and do you remember who was behind your abduction? MUDZINGWA: Look all I can tell you is I can only guess who was behind the abduction. It’s a civil military junta and acting on their behalf will be the CIO , ZRP, the army, some members of the army which are the MID - the Military Intelligence Department - and maybe some other organs which I’m not aware of. That’s as I said I suspect because some of my colleagues were actually abducted by people who are known, certain members of the ZRP and the Minister of Intelligence wrote a letter in which he does not deny the involvement of his people but actually refuses to divulge their names. GONDA: Is this Minister Didymus Mutasa? MUDZINGWA: Ya, former minister if you want to call it because there was no government then at that time. He was the caretaker. GONDA: OK MUDZINGWA: If you want me to talk about the actual thing, the beatings and things like that, Violet, there’s nothing new about them. It’s been happening. Water-boarding, not what you see on television about America. You know you are drowned in a bucket, or you are drowned in a laundry sink, with your arms tied behind your back and your legs are in leg irons then you are put your head down into that sink of water until you have drunk your fill through the nose and through the mouth. They bring you out. And when they think you have rested a little, you are back again and it goes on, on and on and on like that. I won’t talk about the slaps, the beatings and the falanga type of thing - all those things have been happening - they’ve happened to thousands of people in Zimbabwe. So it’s nothing new it’s just a continuation of things, of a system. I don’t think it even means worse anymore. GONDA: As you say it’s nothing new and many people in Zimbabwe have been tortured especially political opponents but the strange thing is people just carry on, nothing ever gets done about this. So my question to you is; should Zimbabweans just accept that torture is a reality of political life in the country now? MUDZINGWA: Look, the very formation of institutions that have fought or have struggled peacefully against the system is evidence that Zimbabweans will not condone torture and lawlessness. Yah I don’t know, there are some of course who voted with their feet and left but those who stayed have been in the trenches trying to change the system. We value the support that we have got from our partners and we value the support that we are getting from you guys who are always publicising the cause. We value the support that we are getting from all directions for that cause to succeed. I dare say we are nearly there because 10 years ago nobody would have thought Mugabe would capitulate. Today it’s a different situation altogether. He actually said independence is for all parties - so that’s a very, very major climb down from the person who used to say independence means Zanu-PF. So it’s a major climb down and it’s a big victory for us. GONDA: What do you think Zanu-PF hoped to achieve by torturing you? MUDZINGWA: Look, I’ve tried to go into the mind of a dictator. You see two things: One – desperation especially at this moment, really not knowing what to do and thinking that you know if they destroy me, then they would destroy the Movement - which in my opinion is totally misplaced. This Movement has got its own momentum and doesn’t depend on individuals. The second driving force could be just that the people in Zanu-PF are naturally barbarians. Naturally that’s it – barbarians. GONDA: You’ve been in hospital for several weeks now; can you tell us what sort of treatment you are receiving and what sort of injuries you sustained after you were tortured? MUDZINGWA: I’ve been in hospital now for two months, I’m a hypertensive. Yah that’s what it is. They are trying to stabilise me but the condition is that you get this arrest, re-arrest, you get this frustration that the court ignore the rule of law - you know remands after remands and you see you are getting nowhere so maybe that’s what affected me, I don’t know. Look Violet when a person is beaten, water boarded, you get trauma, you get all kinds of things but I went into this struggle well knowing that these are the hazards of the trade. It’s a struggle for justice, you don’t expect to come out of it. I’m lucky to be alive, my colleagues Chiminya and the late Better and others, several others lost their lives. Others have lost their limbs, others have had their property actually destroyed you know those kind of things. So ah, what about a clap on the head or on the hand? It’s all about justice, Violet. GONDA: So are you going to take any action against the people who did this to you? MUDZINGWA: I’m not a bitter person. For me I believe in God, I believe in Jesus, I believe in forgiveness, but I also believe, I avidly believe in justice. Where I have to pursue justice, I’ll go on, I’ll persist, I’ll be patient, I’ll go on, I’ll soldier on. Yah, I’m not bitter, I don’t keep any grudges. I’m prepared, even after going through all these things, to put up any support for any efforts that will make this inclusive government actually work and give Zimbabweans a new life that they actually deserve. You know this generation has lost a lot of opportunities, that’s what we want to focus on, you can’t focus on vengeance, and you can’t focus on retribution. It’s worthless it has no process. I believe what is possible is to give opportunity to build a better Zimbabwe, to build a new beginning, a new Zimbabwe. GONDA: What about on the issue of this illegal ward arrest, what action has been taken by your lawyers? MUDZINGWA: Yah they have now done our papers, and served papers on various institutions reminding them that their actions are illegal and demand that they stop doing it by 1600 hours today or else be held in contempt of court, in breach of the law. But well, you can see the policemen are still here and our chances of getting justice at the court still remain very, very remote - because it’s either the setting down of the case will either be delayed or some spanners of some kind will be thrown in the way so that you are not able to really enforce anything. Even if you’ve got a court order you don’t control the police, you don’t control the army, and you don’t control the prison service. So yah it may be a fantastic piece of paper to obtain but it may be meaningless. Here I am with a ‘warrant of liberation’ but I’ve now been re-detained, without papers this time. No warrant of committal, no arrest warrant, nothing. I’m just having this detention actually going on. GONDA: And a final word MUDZINGWA: Yah look, I want to thank people who supported me during the struggle as a whole, and especially so during this last ordeal that started on the 8 th of December last year. I want to mention some by name, others that haven’t been mentioned by name, I’m still grateful to everybody who made an effort but the people that I want to mention by name are; the Prime Minister, Mr Morgan Tsvangirai, the Minister of Finance, Mr Tendai Biti, Chamisa, my wife, my family, my two daughters and then my niece Ottilia Svova and her sister. I believe they did a sterling job during that period. I also don’t know how to say it because every time I try to say it, tears come to my eyes. The late Susan Tsvangirai, the wife of the Prime Minister, she was very supportive, more than supportive, she came just after I’d just come to hospital, released from Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison to go to hospital. She came and visited me and whilst I was in Chikurubi she sent food everyday and many other goodies. I can’t remember a person so kind, a person so committed to other people that I’ve come across in my life. It is unfortunate she is now gone and by the designs of people like Mr Mugabe and his cabal I was not able to go and pay my last respects to such a gracious woman. GONDA: Well on that note Mr Gandhi Mudzingwa, thank you very much for talking to us and you are speaking from a hospital bed at the Avenues Clinic and we wish you a speedy recovery. MUDZINGWA: Thank you Violet. Feedback can be sent to violet@swradioafrica.com

Mugabe to attend Zuma inauguration

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15874

April 28, 2009

JOHANNESBURG (The Star) - It's hard to keep everyone happy when you're
throwing a party. Take future president, Jacob Zuma's May 9 inauguration.

There will certainly be some people who may feel very let down by not
receiving an invitation. But President Robert Mugabe appears certain to be
among distinguished guests.

Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, may be getting used to being
snubbed by South Africa - he's not invited - but some African heads of state
will have to learn that not everyone can be on the A-list.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir is one name that does not feature,
according to sources.

But since he is considered a fugitive from the International Criminal Court
(ICC), accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in his country's
Darfur region, he would have risked arrest if he attended the ceremony that
will be held at the Union Buildings in Tshwane (Pretoria).

South Africa is a signatory to the Rome Statute of the ICC, meaning that it
would have been obliged to arrest Al-Bashir and hand him over to the court
at the Hague in the Netherlands for trial if he turned up, even if the
government, like those of most other African countries, was opposed to his
being indicted.

Among other African heads of state unlikely to have been included are the
leaders of Madagascar, Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau and Guinea, because all are
seen as having ascended to power in their countries through undemocratic
means.

As for the big question as to which of Zuma's wives will accompany the ANC
leader on his big day, his daughter Duduzile, who has often accompanied him
to formal functions, appears to be the most likely contender to be on her
father's arm on the day.

The guest list for the gala event, which is expected to feature special
touches indicating the individual flavour of Zuma, will certainly include
Zimbabwe's president, Robert Mugabe, and other African leaders.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has also received an invitation, but
government spokesman Themba Maseko said on Monday the list of those who have
sent their RSVPs has yet to be finalised.

What is certain is that the inauguration will see many heads of state from
all corners of the world, as well as premiers, local royalty and
representatives from bodies such as the United Nations, the African Union
and the Southern Africa Development Community.

Ordinary South Africans will also be there, with tens of thousands expected
to be bused in on the day, to take their place on the Union Building's lawns
to celebrate Zuma's inauguration as the next head of government.

For those who cannot attend, the event will be broadcast live on TV and on
100 plasma screens set up across the country.

Some of the country's top musicians are expected to perform in a live
concert for the crowds on the lawns, while the dignitaries enjoy lunch, but
Maseko wasn't saying just who will be in the line-up.

"Negotiations are still going on at the moment," Maseko said.

The evening usually sees a glittering event for the luminaries, hosted by
the president.

Zimbabwe Prison Services needs complete overhaul

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
28 April 2009

The Ministry of Justice is facing fresh pressure to overhaul its prison
facilities, after the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was
finally 'allowed' to begin work on improving conditions at the prisons.

Andre Jaross, the ICRC deputy head of delegation in Harare, said the
organization began work two weeks ago at Chikurubi Maximum Security and
Harare Central prisons, and would soon extend its work to other jails across
the country.

The government reached an agreement with the ICRC to work in the prisons
following shocking reports that emerged in the media that brought
international condemnation.

Film taken secretly in the prisons showed living skeletons, unable to move,
and makeshift mortuaries filled with bodies. A prison sentence in Zimbabwe
today is almost a guaranteed death sentence. Prisoners who have no family to
bring them extra food are virtually guaranteed a slow and very painful
death.

Shepherd Yuda, a former prison officer, told us prisoners are packed into
dark, airless, lice-infested cells, where they are exposed to
life-threatening diseases like AIDS and tuberculosis, for which they receive
little or no medical treatment.

Yuda urged the ICRC to do more than simply assess conditions in prisons, and
urged them to evaluate inmates' requirements and prepare a report for the
government. He said they should call for an overhaul of the whole prison
system, starting from top to bottom.

Yuda blames Prisons Commissioner Paradzai Zimondi for the decay in the
prison system. He said that before Zimondi took over the country's prison
system was one of the best in the Southern African region.

'We used to have standards and guarantees about the treatment of prisoners:
an individual, whatever his or her crimes, must not be tortured; must not be
held in unsanitary or unsafe conditions that could place him in danger or
lead to his death; he is entitled to adequate nourishment and medical care.
He is, above all, entitled to his dignity. Yet this basic right is routinely
being flouted throughout the prison system in Zimbabwe,' Yuda said.

'Every single level of authority in our country has failed our prisoners.
Overcrowding and tight budgets create an atmosphere ripe for disease, abuse
and violence. Right now our prisons don't help rehabilitate anyone.
Conditions in the system create monsters instead of reforming,' Yuda added.

Human-rights groups have also voiced their concern about the prison
conditions in the country. They said it will take a major reform of the
entire system to eradicate the kind of practices prevalent in the prisons.

ZimOnline reported on Monday that a local prisoners' rights group, the
Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and Rehabilitation of the Offender
(ZACRO), said at least two inmates die everyday from hunger and disease at
Chikurubi and Harare Central - the country's two biggest jails.

The Website said most prisoners have to survive on a single meal per day of
sadza and cabbage boiled in salted water, because there is no money to buy
adequate supplies.

ZAPU postpones congress once again

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15880

April 28, 2009

By Mxolisi Ncube

JOHANNESBURG - Zimbabwe's revived opposition ZAPU party has once again
postponed its national congress, which had been slated for May 8.

This is the second time that the party, which is currently being chaired,
albeit in an interim basis, by former Home Affairs Minister - Dumiso
Dabengwa, has changed dates for the congress, which had originally been
scheduled for March.

ZAPU insiders told The Zimbabwe Times in Johannesburg that the party, which
in December last year pulled out of a 21-year-old Unity Accord with
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF, has so far failed to raise funds for the
congress.

"The party has so far failed to raise funds for the congress and that has
resulted in the change of dates," said a Johannesburg-based party member
Monday.

"It seems that the party leadership had hoped to raise that money from its
branches in the Diaspora, but all that has not happened so far as very few
people have contributed to the cause."

ZAPU has branches in both South Africa and the United Kingdom, with the
South African branch showing signs of growing in leaps and bounds, according
to the sources.

"The South African branch is biggest so far, with more than 20 districts
already, but so far, membership has been free, with each member being told
to donate as and when they wish," said another source.

The sources would however, not say when the congress would now be held,
saying that they were still waiting for their national leadership to decide
on the new dates.

"We have only been told that the congress has been postponed indefinitely,
but no new dates have been forwarded to us by the national leadership."

Dabengwa also confirmed the change of dates for the congress, but said that
it was not caused by a lack of funds.

"We have realised that the date we had set aside clashes with the
inauguration of the next South African President (Jacob Zuma) and thus,
decided to postpone our congress so as to give way to the inauguration,"
said Dabengwa.

"We have a very strong relationship with the ANC (South Africa's ruling
African National Congress) and it is very important for us to attend this
very important inauguration ceremony.

"As for now, I cannot tell you the new dates of the congress, as we still
have to get back to our branches to decide on that."

The ZAPU congress is set to formalize the party's total pull-out from the
Unity Accord, and it is expected that Vice President Joseph Msika, who
became ZAPU leader after the death of Joshua Nkomo, will address the people
at the inaugural congress.

Zanu-PF still insists that the Unity Accord signed in December 1987 between
Mugabe and Nkomo - a former veteran nationalist is irreversible and cannot
be undone by what it describes as a "mere withdrawal".

RBZ Employees Stay Away From Work

http://www.radiovop.com

HARARE, April 28, 2009 - Scores of managers at the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe stayed away from work on Monday in protest against the central
bank's moves to seize their cars and distribute to legislators.

It is reliably understood that last week RBZ's Transport division
wrote to senior managers informing them that they should surrender their
cars. The Division is charged to get 100 cars.

Two weeks earlier the bank had taken 50 cars mostly from the pool
section and other divisions. The cars were given to MPs.
A senior manager at RBZ told Radiovop that some managers did not turn
up for work. "Most heads didn't come today (Monday) because they fear the
cars could be taken away from them," a source said.
Sources said employees have vowed to hold onto to the cars arguing
that they are entitled to use the cars. They say RBZ was flouting their
contractual obligations, sources said Monday.
Early this month, RBZ governor Gideon Gono, said the bank would give
MPs cars for use in their constituencies. The cars would be returned once
Treasury finds money to buy the cars.
But Gono's move sparked an outcry from Finance Minister Tendai Biti,
who said the central bank was acting unlawfully. Biti ordered that cars
should be surrendered to the ministry of Finance.

Dutch farmers win case against Zim government - details

http://www.swradioafrica.com

Subject: Investment Arbitration Reporter Special Update: Zimbabwe held to
breach Dutch BIT

We are pleased to reveal the outcome - and detailed reasoning - of an
investment arbitration pitting 13 Dutch farmers against the Government of
Zimbabwe.

A tribunal at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
(ICSID) rendered its verdict in the case in an award released yesterday.

In due course, we will post the following articles on our website - either
as a stand-alone document, or incorporated into the next full edition of
theIAReporter.

We will also endeavour to make the April 22, 2009 award available in the
near term via the public website maintained by Prof. Andrew Newcombe at the
University of Victoria (http://ita.law.uvic.ca)

Best wishes,

Luke Eric Peterson

Editor

Investment Arbitration Reporter

www.iareporter.com

1. ICSID tribunal holds Zimbabwe in breach of investment treaty obligations
for dispossession of Dutch farmers without payment of compensation,

By Luke Eric Peterson

In a landmark decision, an arbitral tribunal at the World Bank's
International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) has
declared that the Zimbabwean Government breached international treaty
protections owed to 13 Dutch farmers who were forcibly evicted from their
land earlier this decade.

A tribunal chaired by a former President of the International Court of
Justice, Gilbert Guillaume, has held that Zimbabwe breached a requirement of
the Netherlands-Zimbabwe investment protection treaty to provide just
compensation in case of expropriation.*

In their decision dated April 22, 2009, the arbitrators ordered Zimbabwe to
pay some 8.2 Million Euros to the affected landowners for their lost
property, other moveable assets (such as tractors and vehicles), and for the
"disturbance" suffered as a result of the dispossessions.

The ICSID ruling opens the way for similar international claims to be filed
by other victims of land seizures in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe government has
concluded investment protection treaties with several other European
countries, including Germany, Switzerland, and Denmark.

The Dutch claimants in theFunnekotter, et.al. v. Zimbabwecase turned to
ICSID in 2003, alleging that they had been forcibly dispossessed of their
properties thanks to violent land invasions by so-called War Veterans, as
well as various acts and omissions of the Zimbabwean authorities.

The claimants also accused Zimbabwe of breaching the "full protection &
security" and "fair and equitable treatment" treaty standards, particularly
insofar as the police and authorities were alleged to have encouraged and
condoned the land invasions.

Notably, Zimbabwe did not contest jurisdiction in the ICSID case.

What's more the government acknowledged that dispossessions had taken place
without compensation - contrary to the demands of the Zimbabwe-Netherlands
BIT.

However, Zimbabwe initially contended that it was prepared to offer
restitution to the affected Dutch landowners. At a later stage of the ICSID
proceeding, it rescinded this offer, and insisted that the claimants were
obliged to apply for valuation of their property according to prescribed
Zimbabwean laws.

For their part, the claimants countered that full compensation was owing
under the treaty without any further need for domestic formalities.

Moreover, the unlawful and chaotic nature of the expropriations warranted an
additional sum of 37,440 Euros to be paid to each claimant for the
disturbance and dislocation suffered.

Tribunal examines whether just compensation was paid

The tribunal's work was made considerably easier by the Zimbabwean
Government's failure to contest the expropriation claims of the claimants.

At the outset of its reasoning, the tribunal noted that it "was not
disputed" that the claimants were deprived of their large commercial farms
sometime between 2001 and 2003, as a result of land invasions and/or
"various orders taken by the Government of Zimbabwe under the Land
Acquisition Act of 1992." The tribunal further observed that these
expropriations were formalized by amendment to the Zimbabwe Constitution in
2005.

The tribunal began its analysis of the merits of the case by observing that
it "will first consider the submissions of the Claimants based on Article 6
(expropriation) of the BIT".

In particular, the tribunal would examine whether any of the conditions set
forth in Article 6 had been breached, these included strictures that
expropriations should be undertaken in a non-discriminatory fashion, and be
accompanied by the provision of just compensation.

If the tribunal found a breach of any of these conditions, it held that it
would be unnecessary to examine other alleged breaches of that article, or
of other treaty provisions (such as fair and equitable treatment or full
protection and security).

Zimbabwe raised three defences, including necessity or state of emergency

The tribunal began by considering whether just compensation had been
provided.

Zimbabwe contended that this particular treaty obligation had not been
breached because the claimants failed to pursue certain valuation exercises
under domestic law.

The tribunal dismissed this first argument by Zimbabwe, and noted that the
domestic law provided only for partial compensation (i.e. for improvements
to land) and that there was no requirement for the claimants to have
exhausted domestic remedies before claiming for full compensation under the
treaty.

The tribunal also rejected a second defence raised by Zimbabwe: that the
claimants needed to have their losses certified by an independent firm of
auditors before they could be fully compensated. In rejecting this argument,
the tribunal held that Zimbabwe had only offered to fully honour its
obligations under the BIT once the ICSID arbitration had been initiated. As
such, this did not justify the delay in paying compensation pursuant to the
treaty.

As a third defence, Zimbabwe also raised a so-called "emergency" or
"necessity" defence. Here, the government argued that a state of necessity
prevailed in the country from March 20, 2000 until September 13, 2005,
thereby relieving Zimbabwe of the responsibility of complying with the
Netherlands-Zimbabwe BIT.

The government adverted to domestic law, Article 7 of the BIT, and customary
international law, in an effort to make out this defence.

However, none of these arguments persuaded the tribunal. Glancing at
domestic law, the arbitrators noted that no state of emergency had been
declared in Zimbabwe during that time period. Moreover, it was international
law, not domestic law, which would determine whether a state of necessity
prevailed.

In turning to the Netherlands-Zimbabwe BIT, the tribunal noted that Article
7, cited by the claimants, was not a general exception to the BIT, but
rather a provision which mandated that treatment of foreigners during times
of national emergency, revolt, insurrection (or several other types of
instability) should be at least as favourable as the treatment meted out to
nationals of Zimbabwe.

Thus, turning to customary international law, the tribunal acknowledged that
there is a defence of necessity available to Zimbabwe, but as per a judgment
of the International Court of Justice, it "can only be invoked under certain
strictly defined conditions which must be cumulatively satisfied". Moreover,
the state concerned will not be the sole judge of whether those conditions
have been met.

Ultimately, the tribunal had little difficulty finding that this necessity
defence did not excuse Zimbabwe's failure to compensate the Dutch claimants.
Indeed, Zimbabwe's case faltered at the outset because the government had
never explained "why such a state of necessity prevented it from calculating
and paying the compensation due to the farmers in conformity with the BIT".

After rejecting all three defences raised by Zimbabwe, the tribunal held
that the government had breached its obligation under Article 6 (c) to
provide just compensation.

In view of this failing, the tribunal held that it was unnecessary to
examine other breaches of Article 6, much less other alleged breaches of the
treaty.

An explanation of the tribunal's approach to calculating compensation is
contained in the next item. Of particular note, the tribunal rejected an
argument by Zimbabwe that less than market-value compensation may be
appropriate in cases of large-scale expropriations undertaken by
governments.

* Other members of the tribunal in theFunnekotter v. Zimbabwecase were Dean
Ronald Cass of Boston University Law School, and H.E. Mr. Mohammad Wasi
Zafar, a former Minister in the Pakistani government

2. ICSID tribunal holds that market value compensation is owed to evicted
Dutch farmers; tribunal rejects argument by Zimbabwe that lesser
compensation is owing in cases of wide-scale nationalizations By Luke Eric
Peterson

In reasoning that may be carefully-parsed by other developing countries, an
ICSID tribunal hearing a claim between 13 dispossessed Dutch farmers and the
Republic of Zimbabwe has held that the appropriate standard of compensation
for expropriation of landholdings and other property is full market-value
compensation.

The tribunal in theFunnekotter et. al. v. Zimbabwecase noted that
compensation should be calculated as of date of dispossession of the various
farms in dispute.

Further, the tribunal observed that Article 6(3) of the Netherlands-Zimbabwe
BIT specifies that the "just compensation" prescribed therein is understood
to be compensation representing the "genuine value of the investment".
(Notably, the arbitrators held that the facts of the case meant that it made
no difference whether damages were to be calculated according to the
approach used in cases of lawful expropriation or the approach used for
cases of unlawful expropriation.)

As for what constituted the "genuine value" at the time of the
expropriation, Zimbabwe had urged that several factors should be

considered: "account must be taken of the investment initially made, of the
date of that investment and of the profit resulting in the past from the
investment."

No discount for large-scale expropriations or in light of aim of such
measures

Of potential importance for other investment treaty claims arising out of
large scale patterns of nationalization in developing countries, Zimbabwe
had also contended in theFunnekottercase that "discounting from the market
value must be made in case of large scale nationalizations."

However, the tribunal swiftly dismissed all of the factors raised by

Zimbabwe:

"The Tribunal observes that, under general international law as well as
under the BIT, investors have a right to indemnities corresponding to the
value of their investment, independently of the origin and past success of
their investment, as well as of the number and aim of the expropriations
done."

Notably, the tribunal in the Funnekotter award cited two authorities for
this proposition.

For the statement about origin and past success, the tribunal cites the
ICSID case of Tokios Tokeles v. Ukraine, presumably because that award
confirmed that Ukrainian capital could be round-tripped via Lithuania and
re-invested into the Ukraine so as to benefit from investment treaty
protections.

As for the second part of the above quotation - referring to "the number and
aim of the expropriations done" - the tribunal footnoted the award in Fedax
v. Venezuela case which had dealt with payments owed under certain
promissory notes.

At first glance, the tribunal's citation of the Fedax award is somewhat more
cryptic.

In the 1998 Fedax award, Venezuela was accused of not paying certain
promissory notes held by a foreign investor. The case touched upon questions
of the origin of the investments (i.e. the debts in question had been
originally issued to a Venezuelan company, prior to being signed over to a
foreign company, which later sued Venezuela for non-payment of those debts
at ICSID).

However, the Fedax case did not seem to raise any questions as to whether
the "aim" or "number" of expropriations would impact upon the compensation
to be awarded. Rather, the tribunal in the Fedax case dealt with a very
straightforward situation where the principal amounts owing were clearly
stated in the relevant promissory notes.

Whatever the reasons for citing the Fedax award, the Funnekotter tribunal's
view is clear enough on this point: international law would not seem to
mandate less than market-value compensation, in cases where governments were
engaged in pursuing some particularly salutary aims.

While the Funnekotter tribunal does not delve more deeply into this debate,
arbitrators in other international investment arbitrations have also asked
whether special circumstances of objectives of the state may warrant some
sort of discount from the market value level of compensation.

Different views on this question can be glimpsed, for example, in the ICSID
decision of Santa Elena v. Costa Rica on the one hand, and the Separate
Opinion of Ian Brownlie in the CME v. Czech Republic case on the other.

In the latter case, Prof. Brownlie took the view that a treaty requirement
for "just compensation", further defined as the genuine value of
investments, does not mandate full market value compensation in all
instances.

Rather, Prof. Brownlie cited the work of Prof. Oscar Schacter to the effect
that "Large-scale expropriation such as general land reform often raises
questions as to ability of the state to pay full compensation. In such
examples, a good case can be made that `less than full value would be just
compensation' when the state would otherwise have an `overwhelming financial
burden'.

By contrast, in the Santa Elena v. Costa Rica case, a trio of ICSID
arbitrators famously declared that the reasons for an expropriation would
not affect the measure of compensation owing; while clearly reflecting the
arbitrators' views, the statement was largely tangential to the case at hand
insofar as the two parties to the Santa Elena dispute had previously agreed
that the "fair market value" would be the standard in that particular case,
and the tribunal's task therefore was a more straightforward one: to
calculate what Costa Rica would owe according to the standard set down by
the parties.*

Whatever the views of other tribunals, the Funnekotter tribunal made clear
its own view that large-scale expropriations undertaken even for compelling
socio-economic aims should be accompanied by full market-value compensation.

Doubtless, this issue will recur in future cases, as other governments
attempt to argue for lesser standards of compensation where land-reform or
other large-scale initiatives are held to expropriate foreign-owned
investments. As noted in previous editions of our newsletter, theRepublic of
South Africa, andNamibiahave both confronted claims that may touch on this
question to some degree..

Claim for moral damages is raised too late

Ultimately, the tribunal took the view that some 8.2 Million Euros was owed
by Zimbabwe to the 13 claimants. This included compensation for farms, as
well as certain moveable assets which were lost or destroyed.

The tribunal also awarded the claimants 20,000 Euros each as reparation "for
the disturbances resulting from the taking over of their farms and for the
necessity for them to start a new life often in another country."

However, the tribunal dismissed a separate claim for moral damages of
100,000 Euros for each claimant, because this claim was raised at a very
late stage of the proceedings.

While the tribunal noted that the moral damages claim "partially concern
damages already compensated by the allocation of a disturbances indemnity",
co-counsel for the claimants, Matthew Coleman of the law firm Steptoe
Johnson, tellsIAReporterthat the moral damages claim was intended to be a
separate claim which compensated for pain and distress suffered by the
claimants, many of whom confronted harrowing threats to their own personal
safety or that of family members.

As has been previously discussed inIAReporter(see item 9 in ourDecember 11,
2008 edition) and in other on-line reportingby the Editor ofIAReporter,
ICSID tribunals have awarded moral damages in some cases

- opening the door to compensation for pain, suffering and other
non-commercial forms of harm suffered by claimants.

On the question of the claimants' legal representation costs, the tribunal
declined to order Zimbabwe to pay the costs of the successful claimants. The
arbitrators simply noted that "such an approach would not be completely
appropriate, in the present case, taking into account the situation in
Zimbabwe in 2001/2002."

However, the tribunal did order Zimbabwe to bear all costs of the ICSID
proceeding.

* See paragraphs 70-71 of the Santa Elena award

3. Analysis: ICSID tribunal side-stepped some issues that were addressed in
a separate claim resolved in 2008 before a regional Southern African
tribunal; as Zimbabwe looks for resumption of international aid, it may face
pressure to compensate those dispossessed of their property By Luke Eric
Peterson

As discussed in the previous item, the recent ICSID award inFunnekotter v.
Zimbabwemay be debated in future cases where land-reform or other major
socio-economic initiatives are alleged to breach investment treaty
protections, and debate arises as whether full market-value compensation (or
some discounted version) is owing.

Another noteworthy feature of the award is the extent to which it
side-stepped a number of thornier questions, including the
politically-charged issue of discrimination.

As noted above, the tribunal held that Zimbabwe breached one prong of the
expropriation article - to provide just compensation - which obviated the
need to examine other alleged breaches of that article, or other parts of
the treaty.

Indeed the award is a study in judicial economy when contrasted with many
other ICSID arbitral awards.

Among the issues that the tribunal did not engage with was the allegedly
discriminatory nature of the expropriations - a topic which was discussed at
some length in a separate 2008 judgment issued by a tribunal of the Southern
African Development Community (SADC) in a separate claim brought by a number
of claimants against Zimbabwe.

As previously reported inIAReporter, the SADC tribunal ruled that Zimbabwe
had breached a regional cooperation treaty by virtue of its treatment of
various Zimbabwean and foreign nationals.* In particular, Zimbabwe was
deemed to have denied the "rule of law" to the claimants who had been
targeted for dispossession of their property. In addition, four of the five
SADC judges held that Zimbabwe had discriminated against the white
claimants, contrary to its SADC treaty obligations.

Notably, the enforceability of the SADC judgment may pale in comparison to
that of the ICSID award rendered in the Funnekotter case.

Indeed, the SADC judgment did not quantify the particular damages owing to
the claimants in that case. Rather, the SADC tribunal simply held that
"fair" compensation was owing in the cases where properties had been
expropriated.

By contrast, the ICSID arbitration award in the Funnekotter case devotes a
lengthy analysis to the damages owing, and ultimately quantifies those
precisely.

As with other ICSID awards, the award may be enforced by the claimants in
the courts of other ICSID member-states, in the event that Zimbabwe does not
voluntarily comply with the award.

Of course, Zimbabwe's posture towards the award remains to be seen.

A request for comment made to the Zimbabwean Embassy in Washington, D.C. was
not returned at press time.

Certainly, it is no secret that the Zimbabwean economy has been ravaged over
the past decade thanks to widespread mismanagement and corruption; the
capacity of the state to deliver basic services, much less compensate all of
those affected by dispossessions, is clearly in question.

However, with the decision of long-time ruler Robert Mugabe to enter into a
power-sharing arrangement with political rivals, Zimbabwe has sought to
re-engage with international donors. Indeed, at meetings to be held in
Washington DC this month, South Africa's Finance Minister, along with
certain Zimbabwean officials, are expected to petition World Bank and
International Monetary Fund officials for a resumption of multilateral aid.

These gestures could, in turn, lead to pressure on Zimbabwe to comply with
arbitral awards rendered at the World Bank's ICSID facility.

Charles O Verrill, of the law firm Wiley Rein, and co-counsel for the
claimants in the ICSID arbitration, says that: "The claimants hope that the
new unity government realises that in order to rebuild confidence with
investors and donor governments (many of whose nationals have had land
confiscated without compensation) they must honour their international
obligations, which at this juncture means prompt payment of the award."

More generally,IAReporterunderstands that other European claimants, who may
qualify for protection under a handful of binding investment protection
treaties with Zimbabwe, are waiting in the wings to bring further
arbitration claims against the government.

* see items 8 & 9 in our December 11, 2008
edition:http://www.iareporter.com/Archive/IAR-12-11-08.pdf

Investment Arbitration Reporter is a specialized news publication tracking
developments in the area of international investment law.

The publication does not offer legal advice or recommendations of any kind.

For further information about the publication or for subscription
information contact:subscribe@iareportercom

To offer news-tips or comments, email the Editor, Luke Eric Peterson,
at:editor@iareporter.com

Zimbabwe Business Watch : Week 18

http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/4042

The government has confirmed that the Zimbabwe Dollar will only be
re-introduced once industrial capacity utilisation reaches 60%, which is not
expected for about 12 months. Statistics reveal some improvement but the 20%
level is only being reached now as funding for the economic turnaround is
still not forthcoming because of the political stalemate.

The Consumer Price Index showed inflation at 94,6% compared to last year
whilst prices dropped over 3% in the last month. Competition is driving the
downward trend. It is expected that prices will settle at the right levels
and match those of the region by the end of the year.

Both Industrial and Mining indices rose by healthy margins; however Stock
Exchange trading volumes are small and investor confidence remains low and
this is expected to continue until there are definite signs of economic
stability.

Businesses continue to be constrained by the lack of cash and funding from
financial institutions whilst fierce competition reduces profit margins.

Wage negotiations loom as unions demand what employers would deem as
unrealistic, further pressurising profit margins.

This entry was posted by Sokwanele on Tuesday, April 28th, 2009 at 11:34 am

Urban Residents Left Behind by Dollarisation

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=46650

By Ignatius Banda

BULAWAYO, Apr 28 (IPS) - Cash-strapped residents of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's
second city are digging in their heels and refusing to pay utility bills
despite the municipality teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. At the heart
of the dispute are dismal service delivery and the conundrum of using
multiple currencies in an economy that boasts world record inflation.

The parallel use of multiple currencies announced in January by Tendai Biti,
the newly appointed minister of finance in the unity government, effectively
rendered the local currency extinct in everyday transactions. According to
economists more stable currencies are being preferred as a hedge against
hyper inflation and the local currency's volatility after years of economic
recession. But the policy barons appear to have underplayed the local
reality of ratepayers who do not have access to foreign currency.

Embattled industry and commerce officials say employers are struggling to
keep their businesses afloat and have not yet made arrangements to pay
workers in foreign currency. In the public sector the situation appears even
worse as the government has not been able to secure funds for civil service
salaries. It is commonplace these days for bodies to lie in state morgues
for days as relatives struggle to raise burial expenses that must also be
settled in foreign currency.

Residents in high density areas are expected to pay 15 U.S. dollars a month
towards refuse collection, water consumption, sewerage and the general
maintenance of the city. More affluent areas have to fork out more than
double that amount. All households are also charged $100 for electricity.
But revenue collection constraints have hamstrung the local authority and
impacted on its ability to deliver services.

"We know it is difficult for everyone right now but [cannot] expect a change
in service delivery as long as residents [don't] pay their bills," said
Thelma Khuyo of the council's finance department.

"Even in the past, before the introduction of forex, we would have residents
in arrears and houses would be auctioned. But now many who feel like not
paying are just ignoring their bills."

Bob Mguni of the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BUPRA) concedes
that the failure to pay utility bills has made matters difficult for the
council but maintains that residents have no choice.

"There has been no deliberate call by any association to boycott bill
payment. This is not organised mass action. What the people are simply doing
is responding to their economic realities."

Winos Dube, chairperson of the Bulawayo Residents Association (BURA), which
was formed in the 1960s said residents will never sustain council activities
through rates alone.

"We have in the past suggested that the council must have some kind of
income-generating projects since the municipality already has a number of
assets and properties but this has not happened."

While acknowledging the council's poor finances, Bulawayo mayor Thaba Moyo
contended that officials were trying to find solutions to the city's woes.
On Mar. 16 he announced that the local council would purchase water
purification chemicals for the next three months.

The source of the funding is not known but many believe the city is trying
to appease increasingly restive residents, as unclean water has been a
source of conflict in the past.

Last December, the mayor had complained that the city was unable to procure
chemicals because suppliers were demanding cash upfront. It also coincided
with a three-month strike by municipal workers who demanded to be paid in
foreign currency. The industrial action put further strain on the
perennially broke council and its already under-par service delivery.

Residents have taken it upon themselves to volunteer their services to
spruce up a city once celebrated as one of Africa's cleanest. Groups of
women have resorted to tending to council-owned schools where they, among
other things, cut overgrown grass. Young people have organised clean-up
campaigns to remove the rubbish that has been piling up across the city. It
is not unusual these days to see unemployed youth filling potholes in the
streets for tips from motorists.

"We have to do this as we all know the city council is failing to do it
themselves," Owen Garise, a local youth commented.

"We have taken it upon ourselves to do something and have among other things
asked residents to donate in cash or kind to the city's largest hospital,"
Dube told IPS.

A former councilor, Howard Hadebe, applauded citizen efforts to assist the
municipality but cautioned against resident associations taking stands that
"identify" them with a political party and "spoils" the relationship between
the local authority and residents.

"For example, when you question how council budgets are reached without
consultation with residents, you are painted with a particular political
brush," snapped Dube. "It is unfortunate that once politicians are voted
into power they do not listen."

Masvingo Central police among the worst human rights violators in Zimbabwe

http://www.swradioafrica.com

Recent events unfolding in the country's oldest city of Masvingo serve to
confirm that the police in this town, specifically at Masvingo Central are
among the most consistent and worst human rights violators in Zimbabwe. The
arrest last week of 43 students from Great Zimbabwe National University by
police at Masvingo Central following a peaceful demonstration led by ZINASU
against exorbitant fees being charged by the university is a clear sign that
the police force in this town are still living in an Medieval era with
regards to the modern human rights language. The continued detention of the
ZINASU secretary for legal affairs Courage Ngwarai and other student leaders
from the university is a clear violation of the students' right to freedom
of assembly and expression. Furthermore, the ruthless manner in which the
police broke up the demonstration is a negation of that right not to be
subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment.

Other cases have arisen before where this same police force in Masvingo has
displayed behaviour that has left a lot of us wondering as to whether this
is a genuinely professional force or just a bunch of self-serving thugs
dressed in blue and masquerading as law enforcement agents. In September
2007 the same police officers disrupted a Youth Forum public meeting in
cahoots with visibly drunk and violent Zanu PF youths, in the process
arresting Wellington Zindove the Youth Forum coordinator, Madock Chivasa the
Youth Forum board chairperson and NCA Spokesperson, as well as 14 other
youths, among them students. The former two were to later spend six days in
police detention before being subjected to lengthy court cases that spanned
almost one and a half years. It was in 2007 again when the same police
officers detained Edison Hlatshwayo then a student leader at the same
university again on allegations of inciting students to demonstrate over
issues of exorbitant fees among a host of other issues which the university
administration was failing to address.
Edison later spent close to two months in Masvingo remand prison before his
case was finally thrown out by the courts for want of evidence. Other
student leaders among them George Makamure, Brenda Mupfurutsa, Gideon
Chitanga and Ogylive Makova have all suffered immensely at the hands of
these police officers.

The Youth Forum views this unbridled and continued attack on the rights and
fundamental freedoms of students among other youths in Masvingo as an
affront to the rule of law and a negation of the core principles of
democracy. The Masvingo Central police should not forget that these same
students are their sons and daughters and when they rebel against the
charging of unjustifiable fees by university authorities they are simply
saying that their civil servant and peasant mothers and fathers, among them
the police, cannot afford such fees, given the paltry stipends that they
take home as allowances. We further urge the coalition government through
JOMIC to investigate the top leadership of the police in Masvingo to
establish whether they qualify as police officers. We further urge the
police officers in Masvingo not to forget that history shall always judge
them harshly if they continue on this path of destructive and barbaric law
enforcement. Such acts only work to negate the efforts of the coalition
government to transform our police force into a truly professional and
competent force.

Youth Forum Information & Publicity

ZINASU press statement

http://www.swradioafrica.com

28 April 2009 12:08

ZINASU Press Statement

ZINASU notes with concern the continued victimization and violations of
student rights at a time when everyone was celebrating the coming of the
inclusive government. The latest development reminds us of the horrific
moments during the racist regime of Ian Smith when human rights abuses were
the daily bread. In this regard, the students insist that they are yet to
see deliverables from the new government of national unity.

The students remain optimistic that the inclusion of the MDC in this new
government will improve their conditions and loosen primitive measures which
the police have traditionally taken against innocent and peaceful students
protests. The students still anticipate real and actual governance reforms
which will uphold the rule of law, protect every citizen`s right to express
themselves and guarantee this freedom under law. There is no greater asset
for a nation in need of reconstruction like Zimbabwe than an educated young
human resource base.

We-the students stand ready to serve our country with utmost patriotism and
loyalty but all this can only happen if our government takes responsibility
and assist us to complete our education whether we are rich or poor. It is
time we closed the wide gap between the rich and the poor by uplifting
talented young people from underprivileged backgrounds.

On this note, we would like to state that ZINASU has never opposed the
inclusive government. What we have always opposed in the past and which we
continue to oppose today is the arbitrary exercise of state power-unchecked
power of the state-against innocent civilians and students. What we have
fought is the increasing gap between the rich and poor which the government
continues to sanction by kicking out those students that are unable to pay
the fees.

What we have fought is the unscrupulous violation of the principles of the
global political agreement with impunity. The constitution making process is
to us a very serious matter which should address once and for all the
questions of national healing, transitional justice, electoral laws, and
human right and economic laws. Hence it is of paramount importance for this
historic process to be as extensive as it possibly can be under the current
framework.

It cannot be left to the government alone because government is just but a
part of governance-there are plenty more players here-the people, the civil
society, the churches, labour and students unions , civil society-you name
it and part of the role of government is to facilitate for a broad based
process of constitutional making. For any constitution to claim an iota of
legitimacy. It must be people driven and people owned. It must enjoy the
proud ownership of the people. This is not a new position. This is a
position which we in ZINASU have stood behind throughout the decade of our
democratic struggle. Our successive congresses have underlined this point
and today we still stand by it. We demand our right to education!

Blessing Vava
Zimbabwe National Students Union

Harare residents dismiss so called Rates slash!!

23 April 2009

The Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA) remains not satisfied with the recent decision by “council” to slash the rates by 50%. For the record, the residents collectively rejected the previous budget proposal. The proposed tariffs and rates contained in that budget were rejected on the basis that they were too exorbitant to the extent that the majority of the residents would not afford them and therefore risk being denied access to municipal services. The previous budget was also rejected on the basis that it had been formulated in a manner that did not allow the residents to participate. Furthermore, the budget was also rejected for want of innovativeness in terms of identifying alternative and viable sources of revenue other than the ratepayers. Following the residents’ rejection of the budget, the residents demanded that the councilors must formulate another budget proposal; that accommodates their proposals on the tariff structure. On that basis, CHRA remains unhappy that the “council” has resolved to revise the rates in the previous proposal instead of starting the process afresh; accommodating the views of the residents and all other stakeholders. The rates in the previous budget proposal were too exorbitant and slashing them by 50% does not make them affordable. The following are our demands;

v     Councilors must come up with an affordable budget that all stakeholders have a buy in.

v     Ministry of Local Government must immediately stop meddling in the affairs of the City of Harare in an effort to settle political scores.

v     Council workers’ salaries must be reasonable and reflective of the fact that the residents are not earning much in terms of their incomes.

Meanwhile CHRA reiterates its earlier position that the residents will continue to boycott the rates until a budget we all agree on is in place. Residents also warn the Ministry of Local Government to immediately stop politicking about the budget. This is not time to settle cheap political scores but all efforts must be harnessed towards the resuscitation of service delivery.  

Combined Harare Residents Association (CHRA)

145 Robert Mugabe Way

Exploration House, Third Floor

Harare

ceo@chra.co.zw

www.chra.co.zw

 Landline: 00263- 4- 705114

Gays and lesbians demand recognition

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=15885

April 28, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Zimbabwe's reclusive homosexual community has demanded that its
rights be recognised and enshrined in the new Constitution currently being
drafted.

"The purpose of a Constitution is to protect vulnerable and marginalised
minorities," the Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe, GALZ, said in a
statement to The Zimbabwe Times. "Most gay and lesbian people in Zimbabwe
live in fear and are driven underground. This is blatant discrimination
against a group of people whose only difference from the majority is in who
they are attracted to sexually.

"And homosexuals do not choose to be homosexual just as heterosexuals do not
choose to be heterosexual. Choosing to be gay or lesbian in Zimbabwe would
be lunacy given the levels of disapproval shown by many elements of
 society."

The most vocal opponent of the homosexual community has been Zimbabwe's
aging head of state. President Mugabe described homosexuals as "worse than
dogs and pigs" about a decade ago when they attempted to assert their rights
and highlight widespread homophobia in the  country.

That statement, reported around the world, still reverberates in the
country, casting a long shadow over the exercise of sexual freedom. The
polarisation between Mugabe and the Zimbabwean gay community was exacerbated
by the standoff between the President and renowned gay equality campaigner,
Peter Tatchell.

Tatchell, an Australian-born British human rights activist, gained
international recognition for his attempted citizen's arrest of Mugabe in
London and Brussels in 1999 and 2001 on charges of torture and other human
rights abuses.

Under Zimbabwean law homosexuality as such is not illegal. But sodomy -
narrowly defined as anal sex between men - is. Yet, in subtle ways, things
are also changing. Intolerance, particularly at the official level, seems to
have mellowed into indifference. The random and all too frequent arrest of
gays appears to have ceased.

They have even been allowed to set up their own stand at the annual Zimbabwe
International Book Fair.

Ironically, the impetus for such transformation was the sensational sodomy
trial of Zimbabwe's first post-independence president, the late Canaan
Sodindo Banana, in 1998.

Testimonies during the 17-day court proceeding revealed the ex-President as
a closet homosexual who abused male subordinates while in State House.
Banana was subsequently convicted of sodomy and jailed for a year. In
November 2003 he died - a publicly disgraced figure. Mugabe staunchly
refused to allow the interment of his remains at the Heroes Acre.

The gay community in Harare says although Banana's trial was more about
abuse than the pursuit of sexual freedom, "it went a long way to convince
people that being gay is not a white-imported thing".

Buoyed by a new-found confidence, the gay community is now pushing for
greater recognition by society.

GALZ said the drafting of a new national Constitution must be a
people-driven process.

"However, although democracy is about the rule of the majority, the majority
does not have unlimited power," says GALZ, which is headed by Keith Goddard.

The organisation is estimated to have over 400 members throughout in
Zimbabwe, a country with a population of 13 million.

"A democratic Constitution must incorporate various fundamental rights in
order for it to be democratic and this includes the right to one's sexual
orientation whether this be homosexual, heterosexual or bisexual," said
GALZ.

The GALZ statement says discrimination against gays and lesbians was
unhealthy for society.

"An excellent illustration of why comes from the Zimbabwe National AIDS
Council Strategic Plan 2006 - 2010," says GALZ. "In relation to gay men, it
points out that whilst sexual conduct between men 'remains illegal in
Zimbabwe, there can be no doubt that there are men who have sex with other
men [MSM]. They are at risk of HIV infection and passing on the virus to
their partners, including female partners.

Furthermore, international experience has shown that ignoring this group or
adopting punitive approaches will only serve to drive MSM underground and
reduce opportunities to dialogue with this group.

"On the other hand," says the GALZ statement, "whilst sexual conduct between
women is not criminalised in Zimbabwe, the mere fact that there is no
specified protection for lesbians under our present constitution makes them
equally vulnerable to discrimination as their male counterparts, perhaps
even more so, given their status as women who are generally not recognised
as having the right to their own sexuality.

"There is need, therefore, to include specific mention of sexual orientation
in Zimbabwe's next Constitution and the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ)
appeals to all Zimbabweans including government and civic organisations to
support this call," said GALZ.

In 1999 when the government attempted to write a new constitution, GALZ
again pushed for the inclusion of a sexual orientation clause. This was
resisted and the government's draft constitution was itself rejected in a
referendum, albeit for totally different reasons, by a conservative
Zimbabwean electorate. At a time when his popularity was on the decline his
relentless campaign against GALZ's challenge of institutionalized homophobia
remained one of the few issues on which Mugabe drew support across the
political divide.

Ironically, one of the most repressive laws to be put on Zimbabwe's books -
the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act of 2002 - protects
the sexual orientation of citizens. But in a country where the law is often
applied selectively, homosexuals wonder if it's not just meant to shield
those high up in government.

Zimbabwe dispatches: what economy?

 

Updated on 28 April 2009

By Channel 4 News

When the question came up about whether or not the global financial crisis would affect Zimbabwe's economy, we all collapsed into laughter, writes Helen.

"What economy?" was the unanimous reaction.

Zimbabwe hardly has an economy to speak of anymore and the country doesn't even operate with its own currency. Zimbabwe dollars and cents have been suspended from use and everything is charged in US dollars, from utilities bills to food in supermarkets and fruit sold by vendors on the side of the road.

The country is operating on a completely cash based economy and banks have suddenly found themselves and their services superfluous.

"What's going to happen to us and our jobs," one bank accountant whined dejectedly the other day.

There's not a lot of public sympathy for bank executives who did nothing to reassure customers, or stand up for our rights, a few months ago when there weren't enough bank notes to go around.

It was a terrifying time when people queued in their thousands for hours at a time outside the banks but were only allowed to draw out limited amounts of their own money. So limited in fact, was that the maximum daily withdrawal that it wasn't even enough to buy a single loaf of bread.

The US dollarisation of the Zimbabwean economy has left all banks virtually deserted, car parks empty, and managers and accountants "on leave". Banks are being manned by bored security guards, and one or sometimes two yawning counter tellers.

Overnight nine trillion dollars was reduced to nine dollars and this, the bored counter clerk told me, was lower than the banks allowed minimum balance to keep an account open.

When I enquired from one international bank how much money I had in my bank account I was told that I wasn't in their system anymore. My current account has been closed, without warning or notice, "due to insufficient funds".

Despite the fact that I had nine trillion Zimbabwe dollars in my account a few months ago, and hadn't spent a cent of it, all my money evaporated when twelve zeroes were removed from the currency.

Overnight nine trillion dollars was reduced to nine dollars and this, the bored counter clerk told me, was lower than the banks allowed minimum balance to keep an account open.

Even though this big name international bank had stopped sending out statements over a year ago, stopped paying interest over three years ago, this sudden lack of official credibility came as a big shock.

It's a bank account I've held since I left school 35 years ago and for the first time in my life I have no ATM card, no credit or debit cards and no cheque book.

It's a chillingly impotent feeling being felt by hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans who been robbed of their savings and left entirely dependent on cash under the bed.

Banks are now trying to persuade individuals and companies to open "foreign currency" bank accounts where we can deposit our US dollars but not write cheques or withdraw cash from ATM machines.

For the first time in my life I have no ATM card, no credit or debit cards and no cheque book. It's a chillingly impotent feeling.

To date there is a serious lack of trust on the part of depositors who aren't 100 per cent sure that once they put their money in the bank that they'll be able to get it out again or if it will even be there.

This latter fear is related to the shocking and absurd admission by Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono recently that he had removed funds from private bank accounts in order to pay for electricity and grain imports.

Even more unrest came this weekend with news reports that scores of depositors had gathered in an angry mob at one bank to try and withdraw their own US dollars.

Bank workers told the customers they did not have any money to meet the withdrawal requests and some customers said they'd been trying for over a week to withdraw their US dollars.

When the mob proceeded to another branch of the same bank, the senior executive took refuge in another building and refused to meet the desperate customers saying they should go to the bank's head office.

While Zimbabwe continues to owes the IMF US$130m and the World Bank $600m, and with the Reserve Bank Governor admitting to looting private bank accounts, it's little wonder that depositor confidence is at an all time low.

Daily cholera update and alerts, 26 Apr 2009

 Full_Report (pdf* format - 173.6 Kbytes)

* 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.

** 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:

- 11 Cases and 0 deaths added today (in comparison with 18 cases and 0 deaths yesterday)

- Cumulative cases 97 198

- Cumulative deaths 4 244 of which 2 606 are community deaths

- 68.3.0 % of the reporting centres affected have reported today 41 out of 60 affected reporting centres

- Cumulative Institutional Case Fatality Rate = 1.7%

- Daily Institutional CFR = 0.0 %.

Zimbabwe aid feeds only crocodiles

http://www.guardian.co.uk/

If Britain offers Zimbabwe development assistance this week, it may well be
used to shore up Mugabe's abusive regime

Tom Porteous
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 28 April 2009 17.30 BST

The Zimbabwean finance minister, Tendai Biti, is coming to London this week
to ask for a step-change in British aid for Zimbabwe. As a long-time
opponent of President Mugabe, a human rights lawyer and the number two in
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), Biti is the right messenger, but
is it the right message? Is aid to Zimbabwe's new power-sharing government
what the country needs most right now?

Zimbabwe's economy is in a dreadful state. More than half the population
depend for survival on food assistance from the UN. A major cholera outbreak
recently killed 4,000 people. There's no money to fix the country's
collapsed water system. Schools are closed for lack of money to pay
teachers. For the same reason hospitals and health clinics are nearly empty
of doctors, nurses, medicine and equipment. Unemployment stands at about
90%. In the face of this crisis the UK is giving about £50m in humanitarian
aid a year to Zimbabwe and last week the government announced another £15m
on top of that. The top-up was a sweetener to underline the UK's support for
moderate voices like Biti in the power-sharing government of the MDC and
Mugabe's Zanu-PF. But it also appeared to be an effort to head off requests
from Zimbabwe for the resumption of more formal and potentially more
generous government-to-government economic assistance.

At present UK humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe is delivered entirely
through UN agencies and NGOs. That's how it should be. Giving aid directly
to an unreformed government apparatus in Harare risks perpetuating the
causes of the crisis in Zimbabwe which UK foreign secretary David Miliband
has correctly identified as "the misrule, abuse, neglect and corruption of
the current Mugabe regime" Throughout the 1980s and 1990s British
policymakers paid far too little attention to the abusive tactics by which
Mugabe consolidated his power and repressed any serious opposition to his
despotic rule, starting with the massacres in Matabeleland by the infamous
Fifth Brigade of the Zimbabwean army in the mid-1980s.

Extraordinarily enough, UK political, economic and even military support
continued to flow to Mugabe right up until the late 1990s, long after it was
blindingly clear how abusive Mugabe's government really was. Eventually the
arguments used to justify supporting Mugabe (and which continue to be used
to justify support to repressive and corrupt leaders in Africa and
elsewhere) simply ran out of credibility.

But it's possible that with formation of a power-sharing agreement those
arguments - that the new government is "going in the right direction", that
the current set-up is "the best opportunity there is" - might start making
enough sense again for British ministers to consider resuming
government-to-government assistance. They should think hard about that and
resist repeating the mistakes of the past.

All the signs are that Mugabe remains fully committed to staying in power by
whatever means possible. He agreed to the new power-sharing arrangements
only under the greatest of external pressure and is doing his best to limit
the power of the MDC in the new government. Mugabe and his loyalists remain
fully in charge of the key security ministries, the army and police. Many of
the 29,000 so-called "green bombers" or "war veterans", who perpetrated so
much violence during last year's elections, remain on the government
payroll.

Human rights activists, opposition supporters and dissident journalists are
still regularly attacked, arbitrarily arrested and prosecuted in a court
system that obeys Mugabe's bidding. Youth militia are still taking over the
properties of commercial farmers. Crucially for potential donors, the
finance ministry, under Biti, has no control over the central bank. By his
own admission, Biti has been able to curtail the bank's influence for now
only by abandoning the Zimbabwe dollar. The bank's governor, Gideon Gono, is
responsible for funding Mugabe's repression - and he admitted recently that
he had raided the accounts of foreign aid groups to pay government salaries.

To cap it all, the Zimbabwe army has been doing what it does best in recent
months: killing civilians in a brutal and secret operation launched last
November to take control of diamond mines in southwest Zimbabwe. Human
Rights Watch has documented the killing of more than 200 people in just one
month at the Marange alluvial diamond mines, and the continuing
implementation by the army and the police of a brutal regime of forced
labour, torture and arbitrary arrest against thousands of others.

The aim of the operation is not to secure the revenue from the diamond mines
for the new government's coffers - money that could be spent on addressing
Zimbabwe's massive humanitarian crisis or on kickstarting the once
profitable agricultural sector - but, our research found, to produce a new
stream of revenue with which to line the pockets of Mugabe's loyalists and
maintain the repressive and predatory infrastructure that keeps them in
power.

There is much talk of reform in Zimbabwe but, as yet, no concrete action.
The process of political change may have started but it is not irreversible.
As long as Mugabe's nexus of repression and corruption remains in place, no
amount of development assistance will help solve Zimbabwe's huge economic
problems. And any economic aid to Harare from the UK or other donors will
help to feed the crocodiles, just as surely as the blood-soaked profits of
the Marange diamond mines.