http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet
Gonda
7 April 2009
Human rights lawyers defending political detainees
who have been in police
custody since December last year, filed yet another
urgent bail application
in the High Court on Tuesday.
This was a day
after Supreme Court Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku, upheld
a High Court
decision denying bail to the MDC Director for Security Chris
Dhlamini,
Ghandi Mudzingwa a former aide to the MDC President and freelance
journalist
Shadreck Manyere.
They are facing charges of banditry, terrorism and
sabotage. Four of their
co-accused were released on bail by High Court Judge
Yunus Omerjee in
February, but these three were not as fortunate as the
State claims they
were in possession of explosive weapons. They deny the
charges and their
lawyers say the police have so far not produced the
'evidence' against their
clients.
Arnold Tsunga, the Africa Programme
Director for the International
Commission of Jurists, said this case exposes
the fact that the coalition
government still has a long way to go in terms
of ensuring that the organs
of the State operate in a manner that is
accountable and that ensures
effective separation of powers.
He said:
"The judiciary in Zimbabwe has been severely undermined and
politicised to
the extent that it thinks in an executive function. You would
have expected
the Supreme Court, as the upper guardian of the fundamental
freedoms, to be
able to make a decision that balances in favour of the
enjoyment of
fundamental freedoms, rather than this giving of the State the
benefit of
doubt, based on hazy and very unclear allegations that they are
making
against these three."
Charles Kwaramba, one of the lawyers representing
the three, said the new
bail hearing will be heard on Thursday. He said if
this had been an
ordinary case the MDC officials and journalist would have
been released a
long time ago but ulterior motives are coming in to
play.
The MDC have repeatedly stated the continued detentions are against
the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) and have no basis in law. Tsunga
believes
the MDC is in a situation where they continue to make concessions
to ZANU PF
and elements in the State, who are determined not to allow the
inclusive
government to really take effect and allow a full restoration of
the rule of
law.
The legal expert said: "ZANU PF is playing a clear
game of accommodating the
MDC in order to destroy it from inside. But at the
same time wanting to
accommodate the MDC in order to gain domestic and
international
capabilities."
Tsunga added that the MDC finds
themselves hamstrung and confronted with
perennial breaches of the GPA,
which should make it consider pulling out.
"But the consequences of pulling
out of the inclusive government seem to
create much more hazards and long
term disadvantages to the country, than to
remain in the inclusive
government and try to apply pressure from within."
Meanwhile, seven students
who were arrested at the National University of
Science and Technology
(NUST) in Bulawayo on Monday, following a
demonstration over fees, are still
locked up at the central police station.
Sheunesu Nyoni, Kurai Hoyi, Eddios
Mucheuka, Vivid Gwede, Kudakwashe Maguchu
and two others were arrested
following accusations that they stoned a car
belonging to a visitor on
campus during the demonstration. The students deny
the accusation and say
they protested peacefully against the exorbitant fees
which are pegged in
foreign currency and are beyond the means of most
parents.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
07 April 2009
The intensity of the recent wave of farm attacks
sweeping the country has
been taken to new levels this week, with the wife
of a Chiredzi farmer being
used as bait by local police to lure her husband
out of hiding.
Teresa Warth was arrested on her Wasara Ranch in Chiredzi
on Monday, and was
told by police that she was being used as 'bait'. Her
husband Gary has been
in hiding for six weeks and police hoped her arrest
would flush him out of
hiding to face arrest and prosecution. Teresa was
forced to leave behind her
frail parents-in-law as well as their animals,
including three tame elephant
and a herd of cattle. The Warth's property has
come under brutal attack
before and many of their animals have been
slaughtered by land invaders, in
an act of cruel intimidation. Teresa was
later released on Monday night but
is expected in court on Wednesday to
face, as yet, unknown charges.
Gary Warth is just one of many farmers
that have been forced into hiding as
a result of the fresh wave of attacks
aimed at removing the remaining
commercial farmers off their land. The land
invasions and fast-track
prosecution of farmers began in earnest in
February, after Attorney General
Johannes Tomana instructed local police and
magistrates to support the
attacks. In all cases, court orders and other
legal protections on the farms
are being knowingly ignored, and with the
police supporting the attacks,
farmers have no assistance or protection. It
was also known that arrest
warrants had been issued for the
farmers.
The arrest in Chiredzi meanwhile comes as Chegutu famer Ben
Freeth and his
family are still defending their land from a gang of invaders
who have also
been clearly supported by local police. The offensive on the
Mount Carmel
farm started on Friday when a group of around fifteen thugs
arrived on the
property and demanded that Freeth and his family leave. The
gang of men also
returned on Saturday morning, only to be forced off the
property by the farm
employees and workers from other farms in the area, who
united against the
invaders. But the invasion turned violent on Saturday
night when the thugs
returned and assaulted six of the family's farm
workers. One worker was left
with a fractured skull after the beating and
has been forced into hiding
with the rest of the staff.
The
family once again came under siege on Monday night, this time by a group
of
armed policemen, who not only threatened to arrest Freeth's wife, but
also
hauled away yet another innocent farm worker. The police action
occurred
while the land invaders were on the property threatening the
family, but
police completely ignored them in another clear sign of their
support for
the farm attacks. At the same time, eight of the farm workers
are still
being kept behind bars on trumped up charges and Freeth explained
on Tuesday
that they have all been tortured while in custody. He called the
situation
'total anarchy' and explained that the family can't even reach
some parts of
the farm because the invaders have settled in.
A report by a London-based
analysis group warned this week that the fresh
farm invasions not only
threaten the fragile stability of the unity
government, but are also likely
to lead to further social unrest. The
Economist Intelligence Unit this week
ranked Zimbabwe has having a high risk
profile for political upheaval and
public unrest, saying the situation is
further fuelled by the extreme
poverty facing the population.
"A constitutional review process, rampant
corruption in government and a
general breakdown of the rule of law has
deepened Zimbabwe's exposure to
social and political tension, putting at
risk the stability of the coalition
government," the EIU report
noted.
The unity government, despite being bound by the terms of the
Global
Political Agreement that pledged to encourage food production on
farms, has
done nothing to prevent the attacks from continuing - attacks
that have seen
all work on farms grind to a halt. Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai last
week told media that the Joint Operation and Implementation
Committeee had
been tasked with dealing with the land issue, not long after
vowing that the
perpertrators of the land invasions would face arrest. But
it is clear that
the Prime Minister's words have been ignored and he does
not have the power
to do anything about it.
http://www.buanews.gov.za/news/09/09040712151004
Compiled
by the Government Communication and Information System
Date: 07 Apr
2009
Harare -
President Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabwe stands ready to work with
South
Africa in rebuilding its economy.
Speaking after meeting with Business
Unity South Africa (BUSA) at Zimbabwe
House on Monday, the President said it
was not surprising to see South
Africa's business community offering a
helping hand to the new government to
address its challenges.
"It's
very encouraging and shows the confidence that South Africa has in
us."
BUSA's Patrice Motsepe said Zimbabwe was likely to receive
numerous
investments in the next two years.
"I have confidence that
anyone who commits resources to Zimbabwe will see
that the country is a good
place to do business in," said Mr Motsepe, one of
South Africa's most
affluent businessman and owner of the South African
Premier League soccer
club Mamelodi Sundowns.
Mr Motsepe said the South African business
community was willing to come and
invest in Zimbabwe, adding that doing so
was part of paying back for
Zimbabwe's contribution to South Africa's
economy.
He expressed satisfaction at the progress being made by the new
government
to attract investors as well as create a conducive environment
for business.
The high-powered delegation arrived in the country on
Monday morning and
held meetings with Finance Minister Tendai Biti and the
local business
community.
Zimbabwean Ambassador to South Africa Simon
Khaya-Moyo accompanied the
22-member delegation, which included Rev. Frank
Chikane, a senior official
in the Office of the President of South
Africa.
Other members were drawn from South Africa's various economic
sectors such
as mining, agriculture and construction. BUSA is South Africa's
biggest
business group that incorporates the Black Business Council and
Business
South Africa. - BuaNews-NNN
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance
Guma
07 April 2009
Civil society groups have been slammed for their
silence over the state
sponsored violence rocking the Anglican Church. Thugs
aligned to
ex-communicated Bishop Nolbert Kunonga, with the help of a
partisan police
force, have for months been blocking genuine parishioners
from using their
church premises. This is despite the High Court ordering a
sharing of the
churches until such time as the dispute over property is
resolved. Human
rights academic Pedzisai Ruhanya criticized civil society
groups saying they
have not spoken out in defence of the religious rights of
parishioners who
are loyal to Bishop Sebastian Bakare, the man now
recognized as Harare's
Bishop by the Anglican Church
worldwide.
Ruhanya said; 'The state has been interfering and protecting
someone who was
lawfully expelled from the church. Any society that does not
respect
religious freedoms is not a democratic society.' He said civil
society
should have been conducting advocacy work and pressuring the
coalition
government to respect the legitimate group of Anglicans led by
Bakare.
Instead he said the groups have a tendency to react to issues,
instead of
formulating agenda's and policies themselves. He gave the example
of the
SABC film highlighting the terrible conditions in the prisons saying;
'The
civil society groups already knew about these conditions from their
visits
to political prisoners, but they waited for an SABC film to jump into
action.'
Ruhanya said the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) was
a good example
of the role civil society should play. He said they remained
unfazed by the
rhetoric coming from the coalition government and are still
insisting on
their proposed route to a new constitution. 'The NCA is good at
agenda-setting, which should be the role of civil society, not this business
of reacting to issues.' He said last year's arrest of MDC Secretary General
Tendai Biti, for announcing election results ahead of the discredited
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, again showed the benefits of
'agenda-setting'.
'Once Biti had announced those results it was difficult
for the state to rig
them and say Tsvangirai was not the winner.' Zimbabwean
groups should always
ensure they are one step ahead of the regime if they
are to be effective, he
argued.
Ruhanya remains puzzled by the lack
of action to help the Anglicans and
said; 'Civil society has not put this
issue at the forefront and yet the
state is violating a fundamental human
right, the right to freedom of
religion and consequently the right to
freedom of expression.'
Meanwhile Bishop Bakare this week told Newsreel
that Sunday's church
services were peaceful with no disruptions. Previous
Sundays have seen riot
police using tear gas against his followers and
arresting priests, church
wardens and youths. All this has been done to
protect services led by ousted
Bishop Kunonga, a long time Mugabe supporter
who grabbed a farm from one of
his parishioners.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
7 April
2009
Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's office,
said on
Tuesday that consultations to ease media restrictions in accordance
with the
power-sharing deal will start in two weeks' time.
A three
day ministerial retreat that ended on Sunday in Victoria Falls
unanimously
agreed to review the media policy so as to create a political
climate where
divergent voices will be heard.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who
is in the ministerial group tasked
with reviewing media policy and laws,
said the new inclusive government
wanted 'to see a multiplicity of media
houses.'
During the retreat government gave itself a timeline of three
months to
restore human rights and ease the strict restrictions on the
media, although
analysts remain skeptical that such ambitious targets can be
met in such a
short space of time.
'It's going to be a race against
time to meet these challenges. Day one
started on Monday after the retreat,
today (Tuesday) is day number two and
so people will need to move fast to
meet the deadline. I must stress however
that the highlight of the gathering
was the need to reform the media and
restore the rule of law,' Moyo
said.
A parliamentary portfolio committee on Media, Information and
Communication
Technology, chaired by MDC legislator Gift Chimanikire, was
set up last
week. This committee will work closely with the media sub
committee of the
Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee
(JOMIC).
These working groups will try to undo some of the country's
stringent laws,
enacted in 2002, which allowed the ZANU PF led government to
ban foreign
reporters, privately-owned daily newspapers and viciously clamp
down on any
form of free media.
Moyo said he was hopeful that once
the working groups get together they will
form a new media commission which
will oversee serious steps towards freeing
the airwaves, in terms of
licensing TV and radio stations and allowing other
players from outside to
come and broadcast within the country.
Frank Chamunorwa, a senior member
of the MDC (Mutambara) who sits on the
JOMIC media sub-committee, also told
us that time was of the essence in
reforming the media as quickly as
possible. Other members of the
sub-committee are Tabitha Khumalo an MDC
(Tsvangirai) MP in Bulawayo, and
Oppah Muchinguri, a former ZANU PF MP in
Manicaland.
Although Zimbabwe became independent in 1980 its
constitutional claims of
being a democracy have been dented by the regime's
failure to facilitate the
licensing of private media players, including
radio and television
stations.
In 2000, Capital Radio won the right in
the Supreme Court to open the
country's first independent radio station. But
this was shut down at
gunpoint after just six days. In response to this
legal challenge to its
broadcasting monopoly, the regime enacted the
Broadcasting Services Act
(BSA), which brought about the establishment of
the regulatory board, the
Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), which
has not licensed a single
private station.
The Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Corporation remains the sole broadcaster in the
country, despite calls from
all sectors of the media to free the airwaves.
The country still lags behind
most of its neighbours. South Africa, Zambia,
Mozambique, Malawi and
Botswana opened up their airwaves long ago and have
witnessed huge strides
in the broadcasting industry.
But for 29 years ZANU PF has controlled the
media with an iron fist and many
observers are concerned that with a ZANU PF
minister still in control of
such an important ministry, it will be
extremely difficult to enforce real
change.
FP: Bill Howe, welcome to Frontpage Interview.
Howe: It's a pleasure to be here.
FP: Tell us how you came to settle in Zimbabwe post-independence.
Howe: I went to Southern Africa in 1976 to cover the escalating Rhodesian conflict. I spent most of my time in Zambia and Mozambique covering the war from Lusaka with Joshua Nkomo's ZAPU and from Maputo with ZANU then led by Herbert Chitepo.
I knew many of the leaders of the "Chimurenga" as the liberation movement was called and decided to settle in Zimbabwe after independence.
FP: Why did you decide to settle in Zimbabwe after independence?
How: There was a great sense of hope for the future of Zimbabwe after independence in 1980. The Rhodesian Government had weathered international economic sanctions and had put in place an impressive industrial infrastructure that a nation like Zimbabwe would not normally have. Things like a local textile industry that was not dependent on foreign investment for example. Sanctions had actually made the country quite self-sufficient.
Another reason was the policy of reconciliation that was articulated by
Mugabe. It was believable because of its sheer necessity. Many had high-hopes
for a future that might have served as a model for all of
Africa.
FP: How did you go about purchasing land with your partners?
Howe: At independence, a lot of people were anxious to leave Zimbabwe and were selling their land. We first obtained a small game ranch of about 6000 acres. Further acquisitions increased our holdings to about 125,000 acres.
FP: Why were a lot of people anxious to leave Zimbabwe after independence?
Howe: The great fear was that the new government would practice racial discrimination in reverse. In retrospect, they were absolutely correct. Thousands left the country even though they were legally allowed only something like a thousand dollars to take with them. Of course there still others who had a completely opposite view of the aims of the new government.
FP: Did you buy into Mugabe's articulated "reconciliation" plan for awhile?
Howe: We bought into it hook, line and sinker. I had met Mugabe in Maputo during the war. He was not then the leader of ZANU but a senior member of the inner circle. Although we knew him to be an avowed Marxist, we believed him to be a political pragmatist, not the megalomanic he came to be.
FP: So you were naïve about Marxism and what Mugaba being a Marxist meant for the country you came to settle in?
Howe: Naive? Alright, mea culpa. The opportunity seemed so clear to me. If the Mugabe regime had aligned itself with "capitalism" they could have attracted huge foreign investment. It didn't take a rocket scientist to recognize the enormous opportunity at hand. I was thoroughly convinced they would see the light. As it turned out, they squandered their chance and their future.
But instead Mugabe came within an inch from declaring Zimbabwe a one-party state and would have done so had the Soviet Union not collapsed. If he had been successful any and all hopes for Zimbabwe would have died then. Many thought Mugabe was a Marxist in name only. As it turned he was a committed Marxist whose dreams of a Utopia became little more than a totalitarian kleptocracy which it turned out was his real aim.
FP: Tell us the story of the betrayal – the reality of the ZANU-PF government.
Howe: The first few years after 1980 saw limited economic growth that was thwarted by drought. The betrayal was the terror campaign carried out by "dissidents" against the Ndebele people who supported ZAPU and Joshua Nkomo. Everyone knew that the "dissidents" were just government troops (the North Korean trained 5th Brigade) changing hats to wage a murderous campaign against the Ndebele.
FP: Who were the Ndebele and why did the regime perpetrate a murderous campaign against them?
Howe: The Ndebele are the minority tribe occupying the South and West of Zimbabwe. They are a direct branch of the Zulu that once subjugated the majority Shona who now comprise the "Aryan" race of Zimbabwe (so to speak).
In Africa the Volksgeist is that loyalties are always based strictly on ethnic, tribal, cultural and linguistic similarities. There was even an ethnic split in the liberation struggle.
The Shona (Mugabe's faction) were represented by ZANU/ZANLA and the Ndebele (Nkomo's faction) by ZAPU/ZIPRA. ZANU and ZAPU were the political arms of the movements and ZANLA and ZAPU were their military wings.
FP: At Independence in 1980 the Zimbabwe dollar was trading above the US greenback. There are now several billion (4.65+) Zimbabwe dollars to a US dollar. How did this happen? Explain the situation.
Howe: Well, theoretically a government can't run out of money. They simply print more. The problem is that the currency is backed by nothing. In Zimbabwe today there are million dollar bills on the ground that are so worthless, no one bothers to pick them up.
FP: Zimbabwe at independence was an exporter of food. It is now threatened with mass starvation. Unemployment runs at a rate of 94%. Less than 500 thousand people in a country of 12 million actually have a job. How did it happen? Has something to do with Marxism doesn’t it?
Howe: It's crazy. I can give you an example that will illustrate just how mindless the land seizures were. Tobacco is one of Zimbabwe's most important crops. It is so valuable that the figures of the nations' GDP cannot be calculated until after the tobacco auctions. Mugabe seized most of the tobacco farms before the harvest and millions of dollars worth of the crop was lost.
FP: So land that was legally purchased post independence under rules laid down by the government was seized. Expand on your perspective of this.
Howe: The seizing of land was economic suicide. But it was necessary
to deflect attention away from broken promises to the people.
Ostensibly, the land would be redistributed to the people; but that
didn't happen. Government Ministers and senior police and army officers own two
and three large farms each.
FP: Describe the violence that has been perpetrated against any and all dissenters from the ruling party's line.
Howe: White farmers were beaten severely for resisting the farm invasions. Others were murdered, like Martin Olds and his mother. What is really telling is that the venerable Welshman Mabhena, an Ndebele and Secretary General of the opposition ZAPU party and until recently Governor of Matabeland North (appointed by Mugabe), had his land seized too. It wasn't all a question of color. It was also about tribalism and party loyalty.
FP: So where is the Left in all of this? Why isn’t it protesting against Mugabe? It’s supposed to be for social justice and equality and human rights, right? Why isn’t it apologizing for where it stood on Mugabe? Where are the international denunciations?
Howe: Great question. But I really don't have an answer. I will say that the inactivity of Thabo Mbeki and the ANC in South Africa bodes ill for the future of that country. South Africa could have brought pressure to bear on Mugabe's excesses. They didn't. Makes me think they have similar plans in the future. Want somebody from the left to apologize for their stance on Mugabe? I will.
FP: The Left’s silence on Mugabe is shameless and shameful isn’t it? It exposes the Left’s supposed dedication to social justice to be a sham. If the Left truly believed in its supposed principles, it would vociferously denounce Mugabe and the ideology on which his terror is based, right? But it can’t denounce Mugabe, because then it would have to have some second thoughts about its class hatred and its dedication to Marxism, which it can’t have. Right?
Howe: Okay. I'll grant you that; but with reservation. I personally denounce his wretched excesses. But the people whom I would describe as "socialist" are usually no fans of Marxism or Communism. They are not the same thing. It should not even be necessary for me to state that as both of those ideologies have already been thoroughly discredited.
I don't regard "the left" as a single subversive entity. History has proven them to have been horribly misguided and that is obvious. But if I were to "keep my eye on the ball" and answer the question, "Were they totally off-base when it came to assessing Mugabe's intentions in Zimbabwe?" Of course they were.
FP: Well, socialists worldwide are still to face the truth regarding the ideas that are responsible for the failure of Marxism and Communism. And whether the Left is a single entity or not, one thing is clear: leftist magazines, media, pundits, activists and scholars throughout the world are deafeningly silent about Mugabe’s excesses. They were pretty vocal in denouncing South Africa during the age of Apartheid and every leftist was proud to say he was part of a “Left” that stood against Apartheid. But today we don’t see a similar campaign by leftists against Mugabe and when asked about this shameless silence from the Left, we are told there is no “single” Left – as if this somehow exonerates leftists from their clear complicity with evil. But this is a familiar story.
FP: Well, socialists worldwide are still to face the truth regarding the ideas that are responsible for the failure of Marxism and Communism. And whether the Left is a single entity or not, one thing is clear: leftist magazines, media, pundits, activists and scholars throughout the world are deafeningly silent about Mugabe’s excesses. They were pretty vocal in denouncing South Africa during the age of Apartheid and every leftist was proud to say he was part of a “Left” that stood against Apartheid. But today we don’t see a similar campaign by leftists against Mugabe and when asked about this shameless silence from the Left, we are told there is no “single” Left – as if this somehow exonerates leftists from their clear complicity with evil. But this is a familiar story.
Bill Howe, what are your thoughts on what the international community must do to throw Mugabe out of power and save his people from his brutality? Are you hopeful?
Howe: If you want to know why there seems to be a thunderous silence of leftists who were formerly ardent supporters of Mugabe, it is likely because of a sense of helplessness.
The country has consistently not acted in its own best. A typical (unbelievably egregious and immoral) example of this occurred in September of 1983 when the Soviets shot down a Korean Airliner that had "strayed" into it's airspace.
Well, Zimbabwe was still experiencing a severe drought at the time and aid was sorely needed. Mugabe's failure to vote in favor of a U.N. denunciation of that act, resulted in the immediate cancellation of something like a one hundred million dollar badly needed aid package by Ronald Reagan.
That was to me the first signs that the hubris of the Mugabe regime was about to kill Zimbabwe's bright and shining future. But like many others who had placed their hopes in the country, I ignored the signs as the dominos fell. So, do I personally hold out any hope for Zimbabwe's future? Absolutely not. Even a total change of administration to say an MDC government under Morgan Tsvangirai likely won't save them. They have been left with such a total mess.
FP: There is a thunderous silence on the Left not because of a sense of helplessness. There is a silence because the Left never looks back and never says sorry. Admitting who Mugabe really is and what he really did necessitates the Left looking honestly at its own philosophy and record. It would have to admit that the earthly incarnation of its ideas is always terror and monstrosity. And it can’t and won’t admit that, because then it would have to stop pursing its destructive agendas -- agendas that involve more Mugabes, Castros and Pol Pots.
But we’ll have to debate this in another time and place.
So what are the lessons you have learned from your own experience? What is the lesson the world learns from the story of Mugabe?
Howe: Best question of all. The issue of Zimbabwe is now moot. They have already shot themselves in both feet. It is doubtful they will ever walk as tall as they once might have. The parvenus that comprised the nation's political elite have silenced all opposition long enough to rape the land of irreplaceable resources.
The real question now is "wither South Africa"? The unwillingness of the one country that could have effectively reigned in the madness of Mugabe was notably conciliatory in dealing with him.
Jacob Zuma is now at the helm in South Africa and investors there should pay close attention to any and all hints at political similarities with Zimbabwe, past and future. I doubt that anything really overt will manifest itself until after the World Cup that South Africa will host next year. All we can do is pray that they don't screw things up Zimbabwe style.
FP: Bill Howe, thank you for joining Frontpage Interview.
Howe: Thanks for having me.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
6 April 2009
Bulawayo -
BILATERAL Investment Protection Agreements (BIPAs) do not
preclude farms
owned by foreigners from compulsory acquisition for
resettlement, a member
of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee,
Professor Welshman
Ncube, has said.
Responding to a question at a ministerial retreat in
Victoria Falls on
Friday, Minister Ncube said there was a misconception that
farms covered
under BIPAs could not be compulsorily acquired in terms of the
law.
"BIPA farms can be acquired. If you acquire it you have to
compensate the
owner immediately in forex. But Government has not been able
to compensate
the farmers," said Prof Ncube, who is also the Minister of
Industry and
Commerce
He said in terms of the law, all land was
vested in the State.
A number of farmers whose farms are covered by BIPAs
have accused the
Government of reneging on the agreement by taking over the
farms for
resettlement.
BIPAs are agreements between countries to
protect investments by their
nationals in foreign countries.
Prof
Ncube said there was need to strike a balance between the resettlement
programme and ensuring that activities on farms were not
disrupted.
He said on the question of alleged fresh invasions, JOMIC --
which is the
body mandated to oversee the implementation of the Global
Political
Agreement among the three main political parties -- had appealed
to police
to deal with people evicting farmers from farms outside the
law.
The evictions should be carried out by people authorised by law to
do so, he
said. "It does not matter if you have an offer letter," he
said.
Another member of JOMIC, Senator Patrick Chinamasa, said it was not
the
responsibility of the committee to apportion blame over violations of
the
GPA.
"We are not there to apportion blame or
responsibility.
"We are there to establish violations of the Global
Political Agreement.
"That's how we have been able to achieve so much
outside the glare of
publicity," said Senator Chinamasa, who is also the
Minister of Justice and
Legal Affairs.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Tuesday, 07 April 2009
Benjamin Bradlow
The SABC has implied the recent arrest of three
prison warders in
Zimbabwe for their role in filming scenes for a
documentary about Zimbabwean
prisons was in error
When asked if
the three warders were those who helped film scenes
inside the prisons in
Beitbridge and Khami, SABC media officer Mmone
Seapolelo replied in a
written statement that the "SABC is confident that
the confidentiality of
sources has not been compromised."
Three warders, Thabiso Nyathi, Siyai
Muchechedzi, and Thembinkosi
Nkomo, were arrested on Sunday under the
Official Secrets Act. On the same
day, Zimbabwean Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamisa was quoted in a SAPA
report saying that the "SABC is lying" about
the gruesome scenes of
starvation and crowding in Beitbridge and Khami
prisons. He claimed that the
footage was taken from other
countries.
The scenes were part of a documentary on SABC's Special
Assignment
programme exposing horrific detainment conditions in the
poverty-stricken
country.
Seapolelo said the warders who helped
film the documentary did so with
full knowledge of the possible
repercussions.
"The persons involved in assisting us with this
documentary before
were fully appraised [sic] of the risks involved, and
agreed to participate
nevertheless," she said.
"We will continue to
take all precautions to protect our sources. We
will contact Lawyers for
Human Rights in Zimbabwe, Doctors of Human Rights
and the Zimbabwean NGO
which deals with offenders."
The SABC did not disclose the location of
the warders who filmed the
documentary.
The episode of Special
Assignment, called "Hell Hole," is scheduled to
re-air on Tuesday night on
SABC3 at 9:30pm.
The Times (SA)
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/3937
"Hell-hole", the South African prisons documentary, is being
re-broadcast
tonight (7 April 2009) as a result of public demand. It is
still on SABC TV3
at 8.30. Please note the earlier time of 8.30pm - it is
not on at 9.30pm.
I had a welcome visit this morning from a dear friend
and confidante, an
elderly gentleman, whom I will call Sibanda. His
political activity goes
way back to the 1960's - a lifetime of struggle. He
was jailed many times
by the Smith government for his affiliation to Zapu on
charges ranging from
aiding and abetting 'terrorists' to not reporting the
presence of
'terrorists' in his district. Little did they realise his main
job was to
smuggle freedom fighters in and out of Botswana through dry river
beds.
I asked him if he had heard about the SABC documentary about
prisons, and
when I showed him the copy I recorded, he wept. He slowly took
off his
socks and shoes, showing me the scars of torture, inflicted by a
white
minority regime bent on subverting the freedom longed for by
Zimbabwe's
people.
Ironically these scars are not the only ones he
bears, for since 2000
Sibanda has once again joined the ranks of the freedom
fighters, only this
time the divide is not so obvious: it is not a matter of
black and white, it
is a matter of the fight for right. Over the past
decade Sibanda has
suffered terrible physical abuse from the hands of the
very government for
which he risked life and limb to put into
power.
When I asked Sibanda about Zimondi, he shook his head
disdainfully for he
has strong memory of the man whose name in Shona means,
"murderer" and today
lives to fulfil his inherited title. There is little
in the public domain
about Zimondi's early life and I was shocked to learn
about his past.
Sibanda knew him from his days of incarceration in Khami
maximum security
prison. His last stay as a "guest of the state" was in
1976 when he shared
a cell with Dumiso Dabengwa and in the next door cell
was none other than
Emerson Mnangagwa; all arrested as political detainees.
At that time
Sibanda reckons the white prison authorities (who he named as
Inspectors
Clark and Duncan) realised that in the not too distant future
they would
have to answer to a majority government, so they began a policy
of
advancement for black prison warders.
Today's Chief Commissioner
of Prisons, Raymond Paridzai Zimondi worked for
the Smith regime and by 1976
he had been promoted to the rank of Chief
Prison Officer.
Sibanda
remembered from previous spells at Khami, that as a junior officer
Zimondi
was particularly brutal, known to beat prisoners for the most minor
of
offences. Once promoted, he relished his new authority, ordering junior
officers to do the beating and often carrying out the violence
himself.
On several occasions Zimondi accompanied Sibanda to Mpilo
hospital for the
treatment of wounds received when tortured by police
officers. Zimondi,
unlike other prison warders refused to unshackle Sibanda
for treatment, even
at the request of the attending doctor. All the way
back to Khami Sibanda
was threatened with further violence and abused over
his involvement in
"terrorism" - he was told it was the "terrs" who
endangered the lives of the
"good" blacks working for the Smith
government.
In those days the prisons were a far cry from the hell-holes
they are today.
Sibanda remembers that the political detainees were kept
separate from
ordinary criminals for they were actively outspoken over
conditions in the
prisons and the warders feared their courage would infect
the criminal
element. Once, the political detainees went on hunger strike
over the poor
preparation of food: their vegetables were not being cooked
properly and
were raw! Zimondi went into action, beating the strikers for
daring to
complain.
Not for one second should we romanticise
Rhodesian prisons, but the contrast
between a working system inherited from
the colonial regime and the degree
to which they have plummeted is true
indication of the rot in the Zanu
regime and even more evidence for the
immediate resignation of the master of
the prisons, the murderous
Zimondi.
Khami prison is situated over 40km outside of Bulawayo, on a
vast tract of
land that runs from the Khami river across to the rich
farmlands of
Nyamandlovu. In fact the original farm boundary ran along land
that once
belonged to Sir Humphrey Gibbs.
Khami was once almost
entirely independent in its food production, with
prisoners working on three
large vegetable gardens, expansive fields of
maize and wheat, a fully
operational dairy and cattle breeding project.
Prisoners received three
meals a day and as Sibanda was on a special diet
approved by the resident
prison doctor, so he had rice and mince every
evening instead of the
traditional sadza and meat. The prison hospital
worked efficiently, the
dispensary was well stocked and prisoners generally
treated humanely,
although of course there were countless incidents of
cruelty and
torture.
Sibanda told me of fully equipped workshops where medium and
maximum
security criminal inmates (not political detainees) could learn
motor
mechanics, carpentry, rubber mat making, tailoring and book binding.
All
prisoners had access to further education funded by the Prisoners Aid
Society and access to reading matter was unlimited. Cold showers in
spotless ablutions were compulsory every morning, and while the prisoners
were at work, or the political detainees outside for exercise, the cells
were scrubbed down. A full time chaplain was at hand to minister to all
prisoners. Prisoners received payment of sugar, cigarettes and rolling
tobacco every Friday.
Many prisoners, especially political detainees,
were stripped naked every
afternoon at 3pm to discourage escape. But the
uniforms were sound and
clean. Three blankets were issued to each prisoner
and they slept on wooden
pallets.
Today Khami is a waiting room for
death, the stench of corpses pervades the
weed ridden gardens and fields.
The silent screams of victims unheard by
the rest of the world. Starvation
is certain, for few have relatives who
can afford to travel the distance to
feed them or indeed find the precious
forex to buy the food.
Sibanda
left me this morning with a heavy heart - for his sake and others
like him,
join hands to end the terror in Zimbabwe's stinking jails, make
his lifetime
of struggle worthwhile.
This entry was posted by Still Here on
Tuesday, April 7th, 2009 at 3:29 pm
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=83836
BULAWAYO,
7 April 2009 (IRIN) - George Nyathi* was sentenced to 18 months
for
housebreaking in 2007, serving his term at Khami maximum security prison
on
the outskirts of Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo. Paroled for good
behaviour, he told IRIN about his experiences in one of the country's oldest
jails.
"The conditions at Khami maximum security prison are horrific.
For a person
like myself, who went to prison as a first-time offender, it is
unimaginable
to live in such conditions.
"There is no chance for
anyone who goes to Khami to reform. Prisoners are
there to serve their
sentence and are not reformed in any way. The most
serious problem is
overcrowding - you find over 40 prisoners crammed in a
cell meant for less
than 10 people.
"Most of the inmates are ill and are suffering from
various diseases, but
the most common illness is tuberculosis. In most cells
you find that almost
half of the inmates have the disease, because it
spreads fast.
"There is no running water ... in a single cell there is
only one toilet
that is flushed from outside, and it is only flushed once a
day. Sometimes
the prison wardens forget to flush it and you spend the whole
day with the
stench from the toilet.
"The situation can be unbearable
when one or two prisoners have diarrhoea
and they have to visit the toilet
frequently; it means the cell will be
filled with flies the whole
day.
"The hospital at the prison has no drugs. For a prisoner to be
referred to
the prison doctor, the prisoner has to be seriously ill, and in
most cases
the hospital will have no medication.
"Food is a serious
problem. When I went into prison we used to get black tea
with a slice of
plain bread in the mornings, and sadza [thick maize-meal
porridge] and
boiled green vegetables in the evenings.
"All that changed when food
shortages really started in the country. The
morning tea was cancelled, and
we were only getting sadza and the boiled
vegetables in the evenings. But
then things got worse - the daily meal was
reduced to plain sadza once a
day.
"Those that survive are those with relatives that bring them food,
but that
does not happen on a daily basis; the prison is over 50 kilometres
out of
Bulawayo and most families cannot afford to visit
frequently.
"Basics such as toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap are not
supplied, and
hygiene is a big issue. Prisoners are allowed to bath once a
week, and ...
water is rationed - a prisoner gets half a bucket for
bathing.
"The prison also does not have enough blankets and jerseys.
Prisoners have
to share a single blanket among three prisoners. The blankets
are
lice-infested and in most cases they are torn, and prisoners during
winter
huddle together to create warmth.
"Prisoners spend the whole
day locked up, including those sentenced to hard
labour, as there is no
transport to move them to work sites. So the day is
spent in the dark cells
and prisoners are only let out to eat their daily
meal in the evening, and
they retire to bed at around six in the evening.
"Another issue concerns
human rights abuses: prisoners are tortured and
assaulted by prison wardens
for committing small offences. The offences
usually include talking after
the sleeping-time curfew has been imposed, and
for taking too long to obey
orders."
*Not his real name (in fear of victimization should he be
re-arrested and
sent to prison again)
[ENDS]
[This
report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
SW Radio Africa Transcript HOT SEAT interview: Journalist Violet Gonda speaks to JOMIC co-chairperson Professor Welshman Ncube. Broadcast: 03 April, 2009 | |
Violet Gonda: Professor Welshman Ncube, the Minister of Industry and Commerce and co-chairperson of the Joint Monitoring Implementation Committee or JOMIC is my guest on the Hot Seat programme. Welcome Professor. Welshman Ncube: Thank you. Gonda: Now let’s start with the basics about JOMIC. We have heard that JOMIC’s role is to supervise the Agreement but there were reports saying that you had no funding, no premises, so what is the current situation? |
|
Ncube: It is of course true that JOMIC’s mandate is to monitor the implementation of the Global Political Agreement and ensure that that Agreement is implemented to the fullest extent possible in letter and spirit. It is also true that JOMIC started without any resources and has currently no grant from the State and so far what we have been doing is using the resources of the political parties, the individuals’ involved to convene meetings and we have done so successfully. But we have still managed to raise sufficient resources for at least the next twelve months for JOMIC to be able to do its work. We are in the process of securing offices, we are in the process of securing secretariat staff, so that there is an office for JOMIC and for the secretariat staff who will work on a fulltime basis for JOMIC. So yes, we started with nothing but we have moved on and we think that in terms of material resources we raised enough money for operations for the next twelve months. Gonda: Right. I also understand that you also received support from the Netherlands Institute for Multi Party Democracy – is this correct? Ncube: Well I’m not at liberty at this stage to disclose any of that but it is not correct that we have got any resources from the Netherlands at all. We have got resources from a number of donor countries who have put together money to support the work of JOMIC but the Netherlands is not one of them. Gonda: Why would it be a problem to disclose this, it is not a secret, you’re three political parties that are working together so why would it be a problem to disclose the funding - where the funds are coming from? Ncube: I’m sure in due course that will be done. It’s just not appropriate for me to unilaterally without the authority of JOMIC to do that at this stage and I think it should be done properly through the JOMIC processes. Gonda: So right now, if people want to get hold of you as JOMIC, how can they do that? You said you are in the process of looking for offices, so in the meantime, where do people find you? Ncube: Well in the meantime, the procedure is that you communicate through the co-chairpersons. Your first port of call should be the co-chairperson for that particular month and this month the co-chairperson is Minister Nicholas Goche of Zanu-PF, last month it was Minister Elton Mangoma of MDC T and in February it was myself. So the first point of call is to contact the co-chairperson, either at their party office or at their government office or their cell phones or their emails. We have communicated very well so far, so you can find JOMIC through each co-chairperson and generally speaking. Gonda: So have members of the public been reporting infringements to you? Ncube: Well we receive hundreds and hundreds of communications from the members of the public in and outside Zimbabwe, we received communication going really into thousands - for instance around the detainees, we still do. We receive dozens and dozens of communications right now around the prosecution of farmers, around alleged farm invasions, and so forth and so on. Any aspect of the Agreement members of the public send letters to us, they telephone us, they email us. So we have been getting complaints, quite a lot of them. Gonda: We will talk a bit more about the issue of the political detainees and the farm invasions, but what about you as JOMIC, have you noticed any infringements of the Global Political Agreement? Ncube: Well I wouldn’t say infringements. You will know that as JOMIC, there were matters which were referred to us by the SADC summit and we have been dealing with those matters - the question of the media; the question of detainees. And the question of the farm invasions has now been referred to us by the farming associations and individuals. But of course as JOMIC, we don’t wait for infringements. As JOMIC we say we have the Global Political Agreement, what are the aspects of it which require implementation so we have created a matrix of the areas of implementation and the institution or individual or bodies who are supposed to implement that aspect of the Agreement. And we are in the process right now of communicating and discussing with whoever has the responsibility for the implementation of a particular agreement so that quite early on we alert each of the parties that have this responsibility under the GPA so that we don’t go for twelve months and then come back and someone says ‘ah I did not know I had this obligation’. So we are trying through that matrix to say this is what has to be done, this is how it is required to be done, this is when it should be done and then we communicate with who is supposed to do it, drawing their attention to their responsibility to do that particular thing. So that is what we have been doing so far. We have not gone around hunting for infringements; we get lots of those from members of the public. Gonda: So can you give us some examples of where you have been successful in dealing with some of the problems on the ground? Ncube: Well first our work as JOMIC is such that by its nature it requires JOMIC as a body which has representatives of the political parties to reach a consensus; first, that there is a problem if there is one; and then to reach a consensus on what the solution is and the procedures to arrive at that solution. So you will find that we spend quite a substantial part of our time gathering facts and analysing them and developing a consensus. And naturally in the circumstances we have to carry all the political parties with us, the three political parties, and for that reason we can’t be standing at the top of a building or mountain to say ‘so-and-so has violated this agreement or so-and-so has done this’. Ours is to ensure that there’s a correct ratification and therefore we will be working largely behind the scenes, quietly persuading, negotiating so that the Agreement is properly implemented. In doing the job in that way has meant that over the last few months, we have negotiated around the question of detainees, some will call them political detainees, so far we have worked on the political detainees and all of them virtually have been released, except for three or so. And we are working around the outstanding three. And hopefully in the next few weeks we can secure the release of those outstanding three or so. And we have engaged the media in respect of complaints about the abusive, the bias and the incitement to hatred in both the private and public media. And I’m happy to say that by and large the vitriol and the abusive and the hate speak which we have been witnessing for quite a long time have diminished quite considerably in this regard. Of course we are currently seized with matters relating to the question of farm invasions or alleged farm invasions which we are trying to deal with. Gonda: On the issue of the media, both MDC formations have complained in the past that the State controlled media does not give equal coverage to all the parties. Has that changed? Ncube: Well we have a media sub-committee as JOMIC which has been looking into this issue and monitoring both the public and private media and they have reported to us considerable improvement in this regard and indeed none of the political parties have complained. There are of course, still exceptions particularly among some of the columnists. Those we are talking about Cabinet Files, Muckraker and so forth and so on, who still resort to unnecessarily combative, if I may say, and sometimes bordering on hate speak and abusive language. But by and large, by and large there is considerable improvement. Gonda: But to some extent is it really the job of the JOMIC to tell the media how it should operate or how it should write the stories about the crisis in Zimbabwe? Ncube: It certainly is not our job to tell the media how it should operate and what it should or should not write but we have a job to ensure that the media complies with our understanding as political parties in the Political Global Agreement. So we have an obligation for instance to ensure that the State media does not report unfairly and does not resort to hate speak and does not promote, does not promote ethnic and racial divisions in the country. We have that responsibility and there is no society which doesn’t have certain limits and this is within those limits which are limits by and large which are found in the law. And in any event our authority of JOMIC is authority of persuasion and we’ve no power to stop anyone from doing anything, no power to compel other than the power to persuade and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. Gonda: What about on the issue of the political detainees, you mentioned that there are three who are left in custody and I presume you are talking about Ghandi Mudzingwa, Chris Dhlamini and Shadreck Manyere? Ncube: Yes. Gonda: Now what evidence is there against these political detainees? Does JOMIC understand or have you studied the evidence to find out why they’re being denied bail, when the others, their co-accused have already been granted bail? Ncube: Well it’s not our job to assess the quality of the evidence the State has - that is a matter for trial when these people are eventually brought to trial. Our job is to ensure that there is a rule of law; our job is to ensure that we collectively act in a manner which promotes cohesion in government; in a manner which promotes the construction of trust - the development and maintenance of trust among the political parties. And I can tell you that in respect of the detainees, the overwhelming majority of people in Zimbabwe, outside Zimbabwe do not believe that the detainees committed any offence. To put it differently, they have already, without a trial, been acquitted in the court of public opinion – that is what people believe. On the other hand, the police believe that they have evidence against these people and that they’ve good cases to prosecute them for violations of the law. In the Global Political Agreement we agreed that no-one should be above the law regardless of which political party they belong to. So that for instance, those who committed violence between March 29 and June 27 last year should be brought to book and anyone else who the police in investigations find evidence against - they have to take them to court. For that reason we therefore said as JOMIC we cannot determine the innocence or guilt of any person, it is not our job it is the job of the courts. But our job is to try and ensure the creation of a conducive climate for trust to exist and it is in this regard that we were of the view that the proper thing to do is to ensure that all these people are granted bail and they go to their homes and they await trial from outside the prison and then await their trial. So our job has been to try and secure the release on bail of these persons and this is why we have tried within the limits of the Constitution to get the principals, the President, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Minister of Justice, the Attorney General to come to a conclusion whereby the State does not oppose the granting of bail to these people. The three you are mentioning have been denied bail and our understanding that the denial of bail by the High Court in circumstances where the State is no longer opposing bail was irregular and the matter has gone to the Supreme Court, hopefully it will be rectified as soon as possible. Gonda: So what about the other issue of the missing activists? The MDC T sent out a statement saying that at least seven activists, people who were abducted between the months of October and December are still missing. Does JOMIC know about this? Ncube: Well that matter is before JOMIC. Let me say for the record in answer to that question that broadly speaking we dealt with three categories of prisoners. The first category was the prisoners who the State admitted they had in their custody. The police and the prison authorities said we have these people, we have opposed their bail and the court has denied them bail and this is where the majority of them fell. And I’m happy to say that the overwhelming majority, except for the three, have now been released - who fell in that category. Then there was the category whom the State never charged. They were detained without any charges, there were existing court orders for their release and however, notwithstanding those High Court orders for their release, the police continued to keep them in custody, in some instances suggesting that they were in protective custody because these people were going to be witnesses and they were happy to remain in detention. And I’m happy to say that all the detainees falling in this category have now since been released by the police. And then there was the third category of people who were alleged to have been abducted, who the police however denied that they ever arrested these people. The police denied any knowledge of these people and consequently once the police or any of the security agencies deny that they know of the whereabouts of these people it becomes impossible to secure their release. What we then had to say, was since you say you don’t have them as the police, now through the co-ministers of Home Affairs, can you direct the police to investigate what happened to these people so they can open a docket on their disappearance. That is what is being done and that is what the ministers of Home Affairs assure us and have agreed with us will be done; namely to investigate what happened to these people. So we are assured that investigations are ongoing into these alleged abductions and what might or might not have happened to the individuals that are concerned. So that is where we are in respect of that category of detainees. Gonda: Let’s move on and talk about the probe into farm invasions, and as you said earlier on JOMIC has been tasked to look into this matter. What is your position on this issue first of all as JOMIC? Ncube: Well we were receiving numerous complaints by text message, by email, orally, in written form from a variety of people in respect of alleged farm invasions. These fall in different categories. There are people who are being prosecuted by the State, by the Attorney General for remaining unlawfully in farms which the State has acquired and in respect of which the State says it has issued Eviction Notices. And these people are being arrested at all sorts of hours it is alleged, taken to court and in some instances have admitted guilt, have been fined or jailed and this is alleged to be done in a manner which is inconsistent with the principles of the rule of law. That’s one category. The next category is in respect of farmers who are being pushed out of their farms by persons who are holding offer letters from the State saying we have offered you such and such a farm, and in most of these cases these farms also are alleged to have already been acquired in the past - a long time ago - by the State but no eviction notices had been ever issued or served. And what is now alleged to be happening is that new persons who have been given offer letters are now evicting the farmers. And it is alleged in some instances that in the process of trying to get occupation of these farms these new individuals are then assisted by groups of thugs and young persons, in some instances it is even alleged they have been assisted by the military almost privately contracted soldiers to help them evict these people. That’s just one of the categories that we have received. Then of course there are what we call the BIPPA farmers, the farmers from Italy, France and a number of other countries who have bi-lateral investment protection agreements with Zimbabwe and these are also being prosecuted and are being evicted from their farms, it is alleged. And then of course it is complained that these people cannot and should not be evicted because they are protected by the bi-lateral investment protection agreement between Zimbabwe and their countries. So these are some of the main categories in respect of the issue relating to what is generally referred to as farm invasions. Gonda: So how is JOMIC dealing with these problems? Ncube: What we have basically done is to say, let’s put together all the information, all the data. Complaint by complaint, farm by farm, farmer by farmer, where is the farm, who is the original owner of this farm, was there a notice of acquisition, when was this done, when was this gazetted, when was it served on the farmer, was there a notice of eviction, when was it issued, when was it served and is there an offer letter, to whom, when was the offer letter issued. If there has been an eviction, how has the eviction been done, is there a prosecution, how has the prosecution been done. So gathering all that data in respect of each complaint from the farmers’ associations and from the individuals concerned, that’s what we have been doing as JOMIC and that is what Cabinet said we should continue to do. So once we have gathered all that data it is agreed that we will then place the documentation before the Minister of Lands, we will engage with the Minister of Lands and say this is what we have established and do you agree with these facts? If so then what is it that we can do to find a solution? Because the most important thing is that the land in Zimbabwe must be used for the benefit of the country. The people who are on the land, the farmers, must farm and there must be minimum possible disruption in respect of the farming activities for the winter crop as well as for the summer crop. That’s what we want to achieve and in this regard we want to find a solution, a solution which will include the farmers whose land has been acquired by the State so that we find some way of ensuring that they can continue to farm. I do not want to pre-empt what JOMIC’s views are on this one and what JOMIC will propose as the possible solution to the Minister of Lands on this particular issue. But that is what we are doing and we hope that we can find a solution, a win-win solution where everybody will be happy at the end of the day, where the farmers who are on the land will be allowed to continue farming in one way or the other and the new farmers who have been given land have the ability, and the willingness to farm can also be accommodated so that they can also begin, commence their farming operations. We hope that we will be able to strike a balance in this instance. Gonda: I hear what you are saying but the reports we are still getting on the ground are that farm invasions are still continuing and violence is continuing, so surely people with legitimate offer letters are not expected to take the law into their own hands and that some orderly handover process that avoids violence and confrontation should be instituted. So what can be done right now while you are embarking on this process that you have just outlined for us? Ncube: Well as JOMIC and the Cabinet we are in total agreement that farm invasions, as that word is understood, should not take place. We are agreed that violence on the farms must stop and we are agreed that anyone who has an offer letter cannot engage in self-help at all and there should be no violence. That is agreed and the police have been asked to ensure that there are no farm invasions, to ensure that the violence is stopped. That does not have to await any of the things that JOMIC is working on. It is agreed that the rule of law must be fair, it is agreed that the police must implement the rule of law, must enforce it and violence must be brought to an end. Gonda: But what happens when it’s the police themselves and you know land officers and senators who are going around illegally invading farms, looting and beating up farm workers and farmers. So who is going to stop or arrest the police for example? Ncube: It’s the question of who will guard the guards if that is happening, but the government, the Ministry of Home Affairs, if the police are in fact engaged in any unlawful activities and as JOMIC we don’t have any conclusive proof on that or indeed any proof of that - we have the allegations. If that is happening then those police officers should be disciplined in the ordinary course of discipline within the police. Political leadership in that ministry, the political as well as the administrative leadership should take responsibility and deal with this. It’s completely unacceptable, it’s not allowed and we are unanimous in government that should not happen. Gonda: Let’s move on to other issues. Last week I spoke to Sam Sipepa Nkomo, the Water Minister and during the interview he also said that there are a lot of infringements of the Global Political Agreement and there are some fundamental issues that are still not been resolved and he mentioned the appointments of governors, permanent secretaries and ambassadors. What are your views on this? Ncube: Well those matters have not been referred to JOMIC but as leaders in the various political parties, we are aware that the matter of governors is still outstanding, partly because the Prime Minister has been away until this week, the principals have not been able to meet and discuss and find a quick solution to that matter. We hope that now that the Prime Minister is back the three principals will meet over these matters, be they issues of permanent secretaries, of governors. Those matters, it is a matter of public knowledge that are outstanding and that they need to be resolved and hopefully the three principals will be able to find a solution sooner rather than later. It has not been referred to JOMIC for resolution. In particular the matter for instance of governors it is a matter indeed which cannot and should not be referred to JOMIC because it is a matter which is outstanding from the negotiations, it’s not a question of implementing. There is nothing to implement because the agreement has not been reached. The negotiators made certain conclusions, made recommendations to the principals, now it is for the principals to consider those recommendations. So one cannot say the issue of governors is a matter of implementation which can be monitored, it is still a matter of resolution in terms of what the parties can agree to. Then the question of permanent secretaries, yes that is a matter of implementation, but the principals have not referred it to JOMIC, they’ve said they can deal with it and they're dealing with it. Gonda: And the issue of the ambassadors? Is this the same? Ncube: There is no issue on ambassadors because there is no violation which has occurred. People ought to understand that there was no agreement to say the positions of ambassadors, permanent secretaries are automatically vacant. The agreement and understanding was that when it comes to these appointments, the President and the two Vice Presidents, the Prime Minister and the two Vice Ministers will sit together and review the civil service. Is this person the right person to be ambassador in China, is there an alternative? What is the alternative? Just like any other executive leadership of any institution they sit and agree on who is the best suited person to do what job. In recognising in particular that the civil service is supposed to be politically neutral, is supposed to be professional people, who are not partisan, who will serve the political leadership of the day. They’re supposed to be technocrats appointed by the political leaders and that is what is supposed to happen and it is work in progress. Gonda: But why is it, I know you said that there was a problem, the principals could not meet during the period when the Prime Minister was grieving, but this is now two months into the new government and the parties have not resolved these matters, why is that? Ncube: Violet, there is no time frame and there should be no time frame in the structuring of the civil service. It is something which will take months and years, so there is no issue in respect of permanent secretaries and ambassadors in terms of time. Yes you are right the issue which should have long been resolved is the issue of governors and what the difficulties the principals are having, I can’t say apart from that there was this disruption around the bereavement which has taken place. Gonda: But on the issue of the permanent secretaries, it is the permanent secretaries who in practice actually run the different ministries. So if you say there is no rush, it can be done in a few months, in years, is that really the case? Don’t you need them to be part and parcel of the government from the very beginning? Ncube: Look Violet, these are professional people. These are non-partisan people. These are technocrats and people should not seek to politicise those offices. The day you politicise them and bring in the different politics to the civil service it means you then have a civil service which is run by partisan individuals and we can’t afford that. We need to be saying who are the professionally suitable people who will provide competent technocratic administrative support and advice to the government. That is their role and the rush to want to politicise the civil service, some of us do not agree with. Yes the rush must be to streamline – to say are the people who are there competent to do the job? If they’re not; where are the competent people, how can we bring them in and not the rush to talk about it as if it’s a matter of life and death in relation to the politicisation of the civil service. That’s not what we should do. Gonda: What about the issue of Roy Bennett’s appointment? All Ministers and Deputy Ministers have been sworn into government except Roy Bennett. What’s your understanding of his situation? Ncube: This is a matter that has not been referred to JOMIC. I am not privy to what the difficulties or the issues are in respect of swearing in Mr Roy Bennett, who has been nominated as Deputy Minister of Agriculture. The principals have not said to us any difficulties that they might have in this regard. Therefore it would be inappropriate and improper for me to speculate on the matter. We have not received any communication as JOMIC or indeed in any other capacity as to whether there is in fact a difficulty and what the nature of that difficulty is. Gonda: Minister Sam Sipepo Nkomo said Mugabe actually told the Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara that he won’t swear in Roy Bennett and Minister Nkomo actually said the MDC officials were told this by Professor Mutambara. So are you saying you don’t know anything about this? Ncube: As I’m saying, I’m not privy to that communication. None of the principals, not President Mugabe, not Prime Minister Tsvangirai, not Deputy Prime Minister Mutambara has communicated that to me or to JOMIC as an institution and I cannot therefore, I can neither confirm nor really comment on what Minister Nkomo has said because I have no similar communication. Gonda: Now the Minister also said the Agreement is not being adhered to and he mentioned some of the examples that we are talking about but what he also said was that SADC and the African Union should be brought back. Do you agree with this and also, so far do you think the Agreement is working? Ncube: Well it is not for me to comment on the opinion of fellow cabinet members, what I can say is that we have an agreed procedure. If there’s a matter of dispute, if there’s a matter of infringement, if there’s a matter in which any of the parties are unhappy, you refer it to JOMIC for resolution. If JOMIC fails to resolve it and the parties in JOMIC say we have failed, the matter is referred to the principals, can you find a solution. If the principals fail to find a solution, the Agreement says you can then refer the matter to the facilitator and to SADC as guarantors of the Agreement, so that SADC can then help us find a solution. And all the three parties know that procedure and none of them have yet invoked it in respect of any matter and if it does come to that stage then I am sure it will be referred to SADC. JOMIC and the principals must first come to a determination that we are unable to resolve this matter, one or other of the parties are still unhappy and then we refer to SADC. So I do not think it is useful for any of us as Cabinet Ministers and members of the parties to comment willy nilly on these matters. We must allow the processes that we agreed to, to take their course. Gonda: That was Professor Welshman Ncube, co-chair of JOMIC. We will bring you Part Two with the Minister at a later stage where he will tell us among other issues what measures he is taking to ensure that his Industry and Commerce Ministry becomes viable, how he is dealing with the chaos at Beitbridge border post and the duty which is holding up investment. And also how he is dealing with corruption in his ministry, especially at Zisco Steel? Feedback can be emailed to violet@swradioafrica.com |
Excommunicated Anglican Bishop Nolbert Kunonga continues his reign of violence and with the help of a partisan police force has managed to block genuine parishioners from worshipping in their parishes across Harare. Lance Guma speaks to the man who replaced Kunonga - Bishop Sebastian Bakare – who sought an audience this week with the two Home Affairs Ministers. He tells the programme what happened during those meetings.
Interview broadcast 02 April
2009.
Lance: It was recently reported that a
resident in Harare was shot and injured in the arm when police fought running
battles with parishioners, arresting two priests, a church warden, one youth
member and another church member. Of course all this is linked to the saga that
involves ousted Bishop Nolbert Kunonga. This week on Behind the Headlines we
speak to the man that replaced Kunonga as Bishop, that’s Sebastian Bakare. Thank
you for joining us on the programme.
Bishop Bakare: Thank you, thank you.
Lance: Now obviously we have to follow this issue from the perspective that you recently had a meeting with the two Home Affairs ministers to discuss the problems in the Anglican Church. Now for our listeners if you could tell us what happened during these meetings.
Bishop Bakare: Yah, what really caused this meeting was that there was this violence which my people experienced on Sunday. Come the following day Monday, I was at the minister’s doorsteps, wanting to find out what kind of protection my people would have or whether they were aware of this violence which is being perpetrated by police officers. And he was well informed about what was happening. I was very happy about it. And then he said that no, this was an issue that was really going out of hand, so he summoned us, the two groups to meet the two ministers, the following day, which we did. And that time they wanted to know what was really happening and why it was happening.
My explanation to them was that we were being attacked by police because we were going to church at the time which was allocated to us by Justice Makarau and that time we were being denied to make use of by Kunonga’s people. Kunonga’s people were given time to attend their services from 6 to 9.30am and then we would come in at 11am upwards. And that is were we had some problems. Now the ministers wanted to know why the police were seen to be partisan and Kunonga’s said that they were doing so because they were protecting the status quo of his position. But we said the status quo was not an issue, it was sorted out in the High Court and the High Court passed judgment.
Now it was at that point that the two ministers felt that they were not there to judge. They were not there as a High Court or court but wanting to know the reasons which had caused violence or which was causing violence. So they suggested that the interpretation of status quo, is it relevant or interpretation of Makarua’s judgment, is it properly understood and if it is, why is it that Kunonga is defying this ruling. So they said they were going to send this issue to the office of the Attorney General who is going to give us their interpretation of the situation, then they would summon us maybe today (Thursday) or tomorrow (Friday) to tell us exactly what has to be done.
Lance: If it’s reported that this issue involves parishioners loyal to yourself and to Kunonga, does Kunonga have any people that are following him?
Bishop Bakare: No. This is the very sad part of it. Kunonga has no people. In most congregations people who attend Kunonga’s services are his priests and their families. In many parishes, its zero attendance, but that makes it really ridiculous that police are pretending to protect Kunonga’s people who don’t exist in some of these parishes, they are not there at all and that is were we feel very much provoked by police. Police are really up to attacking us and Kunonga is really not visible in all this. Its either several police officers like 7-10. Some of them even wait in the church for us to come in. Others come in to attack us when we are praying. So Kunonga is not there, even his people are not at all there.
Lance: Now what’s the situation like in most parishes in Harare? Do you have access to the buildings and if you do how are the arrangements. I mean that probably is the most important question because we seeing from reports here that most of the services are being held outside?
Bishop Bakare: Our people because they didn’t want….they are keen to go into their churches but they didn’t want to spend a lot of time arguing with police officers, so I advised them to look for alternative places. And they have been praying under trees, in classrooms and so forth and that has not been very very good. Sometimes they are not even allowed to step in the church property and that has made our people become very very unhappy because they don’t see the reason why. After all they are not breaking the law. Police officers are the ones breaking the law.
Lance: You recently had an incident were police tried to disrupt your service, I think it was during Eucharist and you were behind the altar. What happened there?
Bishop Bakare: Well they again violently, came into our service. I was in the middle of Eucharist, conducting a Eucharist service and they just burst in. And this made the congregation really…they became so much agitated. And the police officer walked straight to the high altar were I was celebrating Eucharist and when I was him and then I just said okay if you want to beat me go ahead because I didn’t see the reason why he should go that far. The congregation was prayerful, peaceful, singing hymns but only to come and interfere with our services. That is were I think we felt very very provoked. And there at that service, the police officer stood up and told about 500 people that he supported Kunonga and not other people. And we then discovered that we are no longer fighting Kunonga but the police officers.
Lance: The issue that is before the courts, I mean obviously in the interim it has been ruled that you share the churches until the matter is resolved. How far are we from having a situation were the matter is resolved, I mean the court process itself because it does seem to be taking quite a long time.
Bishop Bakare: Yah it’s a long time indeed we have been waiting but I have been told by my Registrar’s that they…. I think they have applied. We are just waiting for the dates to be announced for the hearing and we just don’t know when. But we are very keen that this case be heard, so that the whole thing is put to rest.
Lance: What right does Kunonga say he has over the property of the church, if he broke away from the Province? What would give him the right to say the property also comes with him?
Bishop Bakare: That is what baffles us that he even has the guts to claim property which he found when he became a Bishop and then when he left and founded his own church and has the courage to say I am taking what I found in my own church, that really baffles us. We don’t know how the court will even want to spend some time discussing such kind of an issue. But this it the position he is taking. He is claiming ownership of church property which he found and we are very very curious what the judgment is going to be like. But any common sense will tell anyone that he is asking for something that is unreal.
Lance: Is the big problem Bishop Bakare, not the fact that he (Kunonga) is somebody who has pledged his support for Zanu PF and despite not having any followers is getting tacit support from the powers that be to continue doing what he is doing?
Bishop Bakare: Yah, I don’t think that we care about politics. This is church business. If people bring in politics into church life then we say no, because when people come to our churches on Sunday, to our services, we don’t ask for their political affiliation and we don’t want to promote any party politics in our church services. We have people who come to pray from different political parties but for any political person to try and hijack our mission, that is proclaim the gospel, we are not prepared to listen to that and even whether it’s the president of the state, or anybody we cannot abandon our mission. Our mission is to preach the gospel justice and peace.
Lance: Has it ever been a consideration to pursue dialogue with Kunonga towards resolving this? Are you on speaking terms? How is the relationship like?
Bishop Bakare: Yah I think what people don’t seem to understand is that Kunonga was excommunicated from the Anglican Church when he founded his own church he ceased to be an Anglican, a member of the Anglican Church. So if we meet on the road there is no reason why we shouldn’t discuss or talk but when it comes to church business, he is no longer a member of our church. We can talk about the weather or whatever but not church business. If we are talking about church business we may be comparing notes, how they are conducting their business over there and how we are doing our work this way. If that is what you are talking about I don’t see why we shouldn’t talk to each other because we are no longer having anything in common.
Lance: Now for some of the Anglican parishioners listening to this programme. We had disturbances in Highfield, Glen View, Budiriro, Kambuzuma, Warren Park, Kuwadzana, Glen Norah and Mufakose and I’m sure a lot of the parishioners are wondering what’s in store this Sunday. What would you advise them to do?
Bishop Bakare: My advise to my people is that we don’t have to hesitate to go to our church services, unless somebody proves us wrong. But we are doing it because we are law abiding citizens following Makarau’s judgment and I would say we have reached this far and there is no time for us to withdraw. We have to go to our church bearing in mind that this coming week from Sunday, its palm Sunday, it’s a very serious time for us, holy week up to Easter. I would advise our people to go and if it means to be arrested, let it be. But we cannot give in for something that we know is wrong.
Lance: That was Bishop Sebastian Bakare joining us on Behind the Headlines.
For comments and feedback please e-mail lance@swradioafrica.com
To listen to programme click here
Lance Guma
Producer/Presenter
SW Radio
Tel: +44-208-387-1415
http://twitter.com/lanceguma
Full broadcast on Shortwave: 4880 kHz and
11745 KHz. Also available 24 hours on the internet.
You can also access
archives at http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/archives.php
MISA-Zimbabwe Communiqué
6
April 2009
Econet Wireless gets frequencies for 3G service
Econet
Wireless, the countries leading mobile operator, on Tuesday 2 April
2009
secured frequencies for 3G service from the Postal and
Telecommunications
Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) that will
enable a wider range of
more advanced services and achieve greater network
capacity for its Harare
users.
3G refers to the third generation of mobile telecommunications
technology
that supports more diverse applications among them, wide area
wireless voice
telephony, video calls and broadband wireless data. 3G
follows two earlier
generations, the first generation which began in the
early 1980's with
commercial deployment of Advanced Mobile Phone Service
cellular networks and
the second from the 1990 when mobile operators
deployed two competing
digital voice standards.
The launching of 3G
by Econet follows that of the General Packet Radio
Service (GPRS) which
allowed mobile internet access. Econet had a number of
its subscribers on
GPRS test, but will begin billing today (Monday 6 April
2009) in preparation
of its full launch at the end of April.
Econet Wireless Chief Executive
Officer, Douglas Mboweni said engineers were
testing the equipment that the
company had acquired two years ago, some of
which had already been overtaken
by technological changes.
Over the past two years the country's cellular
networks have been waiting to
get 3G frequencies from POTRAZ; who have since
been instructed by the
Information Communication Technology minister, Nelson
Chamisa, to make
frequencies available for the expansion of the networks.
POTRAZ recently
offered the telecommunications operators a blanket license
allowing them to
offer new generation services but had not yet made
available the frequencies
required to make the services
possible.
Econet Wireless will also intends to launch by June this year
the
Black-berry service, which will allow subscribers to receive emails on
their
mobile phones.
http://www.radiovop.com
BULAWAYO, April 7 2009 - Bulawayo magistrate John
Masimba on Tuesday
ruled that Chronicle editor, Brezhnev Malaba and
reporter, Nduduzo Tshuma
have a case to answer following the publication of
a story which allegedly
defamed the police in
February.
The magistrate says Malaba and the reporter,
together with the
Zimbabwe Newspapers (Zimpapers) branch manager for
Bulawayo, Sithembile
Ncube, contravened Section 96 of the Criminal Law
Codification and Reform
Act, when they published a story, which alleged that
Grain Marketing Board
officials were diverting maize to the black
market.
The story alleged that the GMB officials were working
in cahoots with
a senior police officer in the province. The police however
say the story
was defamatory and portrayed the police in bad
light.
The three who were represented by Job Sibanda of Sibanda
and
Associates, were not asked to plead when they appeared before Masimba on
Tuesday. The three's application for refusal of remand was turned down by
Masimba, who ruled that the three have a case to answer.
In
his judgment, the magistrate said the application was based on
whether there
was any reasonable suspicious that an offence was committed.
The trio was
remanded out of custody to 19 May 2009 for trial.
The three in
their application argued that the State did not have
enough evidence to
prove that there was a case against them.
The three further
argued that there was no basis to put them on
further remand, and contended
that the published story was about corruption
at the Grain Marketing Board
and did not in any way involve the police.
This is the first
time since the promulgation of the Access to
Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (AIPPA), the Broadcasting Services
Act and the Criminal Law
Codification and Reform Act that a state editor and
a reporter have been
charged for media offences.
Since the promulgation of the laws
the police have arrested only
independent journalists.
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/3933
Following the lift of duty on basic
commodities, Zimbabwe has passed the
11th week of sustained decrease in the
general price level. This is the
first time in its history. The lift of duty
on basic commodities and
authorization to sell in foreign currency has
positively impacted. This, in
turn, generates increased competition further
driving down prices.
Bread, for example, has fallen from as high as R15
for a standard loaf
earlier in the year, to as low as R5. Free market
conditions simply replace
price control.
However, revenue generation
remains a problem for central government and
funding for the financial
sector is still not forthcoming. at least until
minimum political conditions
are met. This places great strain on major
industry and perpetuates the dire
cash flow crisis afflicting business in
general.
There are more and
more signs of foreign investors cautiously assessing the
situation.
This entry was posted by Sokwanele on Tuesday,
April 7th, 2009 at 10:08 am
Source: Government of Zimbabwe; World Health Organization (WHO) Date: 06 Apr 2009 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: - 536 Cases and 7 deaths added today (in comparison with 19 cases and 6
deaths yesterday) - 65.0 % of the districts affected have reported today 39 out of 60 affected
districts) - 96.8 % of districts reported to be affected (60 districts out of 62) - Cumulative Institutional Case Fatality Rate = 1.7% - Daily Institutional CFR = 0.2 %. - Reports received from some provinces which did not report last week, hence
batching of reports - No report received from Matebeleland North and most districts of
Mashonaland East
* 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.
Tuesday, 7 April 2009 17:12 UK
|
Africa Community Publishing and Development Trust
(ACPDT) Download this document 1.
Introduction 1a Purpose of the
booklet The purpose of this booklet
is to inform Zimbabwean communities about the contents of the Agreement and
generate discussion on the Agreement in relation to improving their
situation. 1b Who the booklet is
for The booklet is designed for
communities, their local leaders and the agencies that support democratic
development and community empowerment. It is being produced in seven Zimbabwean
languages. 1c How the booklet was
produced The need for such a booklet
to inform the Zimbabwean people was expressed at a national workshop on the
Agreement organised by the Catholic
Commission for Justice and Peace Archdiocese of Harare. In addition, ZimRights
and community facilitators asked ACPD to produce a guide to the
Agreement. The Agreement, signed on 15 September 2008 has been difficult to
implement. However it is still important, nationally and internationally, as a
basis for dialogue on how to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis. The booklet was
produced through the community publishing process, which combines technical
information with the creativity of communities. 1d How to use the
booklet The booklet is designed to
be read and discussed by groups, rather than individuals. Each short chapter
provides a simplified summary of sections of the Agreement on a theme, with
drawings and questions to assist readers in discussing the theme. A group of
readers, a study circle, chooses its own facilitator, unless they already have
an experienced facilitator, and secretary, and decide when and where to meet .
The facilitator should ensure that group members understand what they read and
can apply it to their own situation. S/he should treat all group members fairly,
and help the group focus on the topic, without any person talking too much or
remaining silent. The secretary should keep notes. The ideas of the group and
the readership response, should be given to the agencies distributing the
booklet. Community views will help the national agencies that are seeking
solutions to our differences and problems through dialogue. Visit the Africa Community
Publishing and Development Trust (ACPDT) fact
sheet
February 2009
- Acrobat PDF version (1.5MB)
If you do
not have the free Acrobat reader on your computer, download it from the Adobe
website by clicking here.