http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August 2009
22:45
THE unexpected move by army and airforce commanders to salute
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai during the Defence Forces Day on Tuesday
after
vowing never to do so followed high-level behind-the-scenes
negotiations to
improve poisoned political relations.
Informed
sources said the discussions resulted in a political deal
which is linked to
the resolution of outstanding Global Political Agreement
(GPA) issues that
have continued to drive a wedge between President Robert
Mugabe and
Tsvangirai.
This followed the recent meeting of the National
Security Council
where army commanders for the first time met with
Tsvangirai face to face in
an ice-breaking encounter.
Sources
said the hostility between Tsvangirai and army commanders had
reached
alarming proportions as shown by a "nasty incident" at State House
during
the visit to Harare of a North Korean delegation in May when a top
general
allegedly grabbed MDC minister Nelson Chamisa by his collar during a
heated
political argument.
During that same evening, Tsvangirai left
State House in a huff after
a clash with security guards over one of his
vehicles to which they refused
entry.
The clashes had
heightened political temperatures to the levels of
last year during a
fiercely-contested election campaign when army commanders
declared they
would not salute Tsvangirai.
Sources said in exchange for
military respect and support, it has been
agreed Tsvangirai would drop some
of the unresolved issues that would
feature prominently during South African
President Jacob Zuma's talks with
Mugabe in Harare later this
month.
Zuma is expected to officially open the Harare
Agricultural Show which
will run from August 24-29. The South African
leader, who currently chairs
Sadc, is expected in Harare on August
27.
Zuma recently held talks with Tsvangirai in Johannesburg
and committed
himself to contacting Mugabe and other regional leaders to
tackle lingering
political problems in Zimbabwe that might rock the Sadc
summit expected
during the first week of September.
The MDC
whose national executive meets today said yesterday the
outstanding issues
-- including the disputed appointments of
Attorney-General Johannes Tomana
and Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono -
must be resolved
urgently.
In exchange for the salute, the MDC will stop demanding
the removal of
either Gono or Tomana.
The sources said the
salute by Zimbabwe National Army commander
Lieutenant-General Phillip
Sibanda and Air Force Marshall Perence Shiri was
a result of ongoing secret
negotiations which involved Mugabe and Tsvangirai's
political aides. The
advisors met and also telephoned each other in marathon
attempts to broker
peace.
Only Sibanda and Shiri openly saluted Tsvangirai. Zimbabwe
Defence
Forces commander General Constantine Chiwenga (pictured) only
greeted
Tsvangirai, while prisons commissioner Retired Major-General
Paradzai
Zimondi and Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri did not
have a
public encounter with him.
CIO Director-General retired
Brigadier-General Happyton Bonyongwe was
also not spotted close to the prime
minister. The generals have told
colleagues they saluted Tsvangirai out of
courtesy.
Chiwenga, Army Chief of Staff Major-General Martin
Chedondo, Chihuri
and CIO deputy Director-General Mernard Muzariri had vowed
not to salute
Tsvangirai. Several other generals had also made similar
undertakings.
Zimondi even declared he would quit his job to
take up arms to defend
his farm should Tsvangirai win the elections. In 2002
the late overall
commander General Vitalis Zvinavashe and others made
similar threats just
before presidential elections.
Sources
said current negotiations were prompted by a realisation the
issue had badly
damaged political relations between Tsvangirai and
commanders.
The Zimbabwe Independent has a full list of
Mugabe and Tsvangirai's
advisors who negotiated the deal and details of the
meetings.
Sources said the advisors negotiated to ensure
Tsvangirai and MDC
officials attended Heroes' Day celebrations and the
burial of the late
Vice-President Joseph Msika at Heroes Acre in Harare
on
Monday as part of a build-up to the Defence Forces Day
commemorations
on Tuesday where the commanders would salute the prime
minister as arranged.
The threats last year were condemned by
Sadc leaders. Former South
African president Thabo Mbeki sent retired army
generals to investigate the
root cause of political violence which hit
Zimbabwe in the run up to the
elections. Scores of people, mainly MDC
supporters, were killed, while
hundreds were caught up in the wave of
terror.
Dumisani Muleya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August 2009
22:28
THE five-day Zanu PF Youth League conference that begins in
Harare on
Tuesday has divided the party along factional lines as bigwigs
line up their
supporters to take charge of the crucial party
wing.
Zanu PF sources told the Zimbabwe Independent that party
heavyweights
positioning themselves to succeed the octogenarian President
Robert Mugabe
were jostling to influence the election of the Youth League's
deputy
secretary and members of the national executive council.
The secretary of the league is appointed by Mugabe. The secretary and
the
deputy automatically become members of the politburo.
"The
bigwigs are fighting to control the league and eventually use it
to mobilise
support for their ambition to later assume the party's
presidency," a senior
Zanu PF official said.
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa
leads a faction battling to
succeed Mugabe with two other camps headed by
retired army commander Solomon
Mujuru and Youth Minister Saviour
Kasukuwere.
The Zanu PF sources said the Mujuru and Kasukuwere
factions had
entered into a pact to influence the election of the leaders of
the Youth
League and block the ascendancy of any member of the Mnangagwa
group.
Besides the league the factions also want to determine
the leadership
of the Women's League, the composition of the central
committee and the
politburo.
The sources said there would
be a fierce battle between the factions
over who should be elected deputy
secretary of the league to replace
Kasukuwere who would be ineligible to
seek re-election after Zanu PF
resolved to implement its constitutional
provision that bars people over 30
years of age to be members of the
league.
The Mujuru-Kasukuwere alliance, the sources said, was
backing Shurugwi
MP Anastancia Ndhlovu to become the league's deputy
secretary, but the
Mnangagwa faction opposes her because she defected from
their camp.
The sources said Ndhlovu last week met Mnangagwa to
seek clearance and
support from the Midlands province to run for the post.
The Defence minister
gave her the nod although he reportedly appeared non-
committal.
"Mnangagwa told her to go ahead and contest the
election, but he
emphasised that Ndhlovu should not make it appear as if the
decision to run
for the post came from him," another source said.
Mnangagwa and Ndhlovu were expected to meet again this week.
The source said Ndhlovu had confided in her colleagues that she had
free
access to Mnangagwa, but members of his faction were not in support of
her
since they perceive her as a defector to the Kasukuwere
faction.
The sources said the Midlands province was planning to
block the
nomination of Ndhlovu, although she was likely to get the backing
of other
provincial youth leagues reportedly under the Mujuru-Kasukuwere
alliance.
The provincial youth leagues held their conferences
in July and it is
not yet clear which faction will hold sway in the
provinces to conclusively
determine the national Youth League's
leadership.
Mnangagwa, the sources said, was battling to get a
suitable candidate
to square up with Ndhlovu, who is the Youth League's
current deputy
secretary for administration.
In terms of
the Zanu PF constitution, the Youth League's
responsibilities include
mobilising the youth for "full participation in the
political, social,
cultural and economic affairs of the country" and to
"mobilise the youth in
support and defence of the party".
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August 2009 22:20
HARARE'S water problems will persist until government constructs the
Kunzvi
Dam and raises resources to repair plant and treatment facilities,
Water
Resources minister Samuel Sipepa Nkomo has said.
According to a
document compiled recently by Nkomo, the water crisis
was a result of years
of absence of funding to recapitalise and failure to
expand capacity despite
evidence that the urban population was growing at
what he described as an
"alarming state".
He said while Harare needs 1 200
megalitres of water daily, the Morton
Jaffrey plant has a maximum capacity
of up to 614 ML per day, 50% less of
the capital's
requirements.
The plant, he said, was also not operating at
full capacity and
currently produces 400-500 ML per day, less than half of
Harare's demands.
Nkomo said over 40% of the city's gross clear
water produced fails to
find its way to consumers limiting volumes
supplied.
He added: "The high frequency of sewer blockages,
leakages and
overloaded sewers are exposing people to health risks. Out of
the 400-500 ML
produced, up to 40% is lost due to serious pipeline leakages
all over the
city. Infrastructure is old and dilapidated and has passed its
design life.
It is urgent to provide adequate resources to rehabilitate the
plant and
replace the leaking pipes."
Water from Chivero
and Manyame dams is not helping, Nkomo said, adding
that the water from the
two dams is either of poor quality or is "heavily
polluted with sewerage and
industrial waste".
Nkomo added that there is need to provide a
new water source for
Harare to meet growth in water demand.
Loss of
skilled manpower has also taken a toll on the authorities'
ability to deal
with the crisis, he said.
To end the water woes, Nkomo said Kunzvi Dam
should be expeditiously
constructed.
While Nkomo
highlighted the cholera outbreak last year as a product of
the dire water
situation in the country, experts warned last week that
Zimbabwe could be
headed for a fresh outbreak ahead of the rainy season
because government has
not dealt with structural causes of the epidemic.
A United
Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
report says
government has not addressed broken-down "anachronistic" water
and
sanitation infrastructure characterised by burst sewer systems and water
pipes that often result in sewerage contaminating water before it reaches
household level.
Chris Muronzi
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August 2009
22:13
THE Arthur Mutambara-led MDC's national council yesterday gave an
ultimatum to House of Assembly Speaker Lovemore Moyo to expel three of its
former MPs by Tuesday, failure to do which the party will lodge a complaint
with the police.
Edwin Mushoriwa, the party's spokesperson,
told journalists in the
capital yesterday that they have issued the
ultimatum because Moyo was
"dragging" his heels on the issue.
The
party wrote to Moyo last month informing him that Abednico Bhebhe
of Nkayi
South, Njabulo Mguni of Lupane East and Norman Mpofu of Bulilima
East were
no longer MDC-M legislators and should be expelled from
parliament.
"The national council has noted that the Speaker has for some reason
failed
to expel the three legislators and we feel he has done so because he
has
some vested interests in the case," Mushoriwa said. "We also feel that
he
favours a certain group of individuals who were expelled by the party,
and
that is the reason he is dragging his feet. As a result, the party has
resolved to give him until Tuesday to expel the legislators from the House
of Assembly, failure of which we will pursue the matter by lodging a formal
complaint with the police."
Mushoriwa could not explain how the
matter would be a police case.
The three expelled legislators this
month took the MDC-M to the High
court seeking an order to stay and suspend
their expulsion from the party in
a bid to retain their parliamentary
seats.
The three legislators have continued to attend parliamentary
sessions,
including chairing portfolio committee meetings and have even been
allocated
vehicles under the parliamentary car scheme.
Henry Mhara
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August 2009 21:59
THE succession race to replace the late Vice-President Joseph Msika
and
possibly fill the position of Zanu PF chairman if it becomes vacant has
further intensified in the deeply-divided party as more candidates throw
their hats into the ring.
The need to find a suitable candidate
to replace Msika has caused
another wave of political infighting in Zanu PF,
guaranteeing a fresh power
struggle likely to weaken further the already
unstable former
liberation movement. The changes would take place
during the Zanu PF
congress in December.
The battle has
become so intense that some of the candidates have
resorted to the unusual
practice of writing newspaper articles and giving
interviews designed to
showcase their credentials.
Sources said those scrambling to
replace Msika now include John Nkomo,
Cain Mathema, Naison Khutshwekhaya
Ndlovu, Simon Khaya Moyo and Obert Mpofu.
There are also efforts to rope in
former Zanu PF politburo heavyweight
Dumiso Dabengwa who quit the party last
year in protest against President
Robert Mugabe's failed
rule.
Informed sources said this week there was also pressure
on Zanu PF
bigwig Emmerson Mnangagwa and secretary for administration
Didymus Mutasa
from their camps for them to enter the race and seize the
opportunity to
rise to the top of a hierarchy where changing positions in
the pecking order
is invariably difficult.
However,
Mnangagwa and Mutasa have more hurdles to jump compared to
the other
candidates because they were not originally PF Zapu cadres. Almost
all the
old key Zanu PF luminaries came originally from Zapu. They formed a
splinter
party in 1963 which became the ruling party in 1980.
In terms
of an internal Zanu PF arrangement ensuing from the 1987
Unity Accord,
Msika's position and the chairmanship are only open to those
from PF Zapu.
This is because Zapu and Zanu agreed to share the top four
positions -
president, two vice-presidents and chairman - equally.
There
was however an attempt in 1999 by Mnangagwa to upset the order
but it was
thwarted when he lost to Nkomo in the contest for the
chairmanship.
The state media outlets have become the
platform for the current
campaigns some of which are packaged in the form of
Msika obituaries. Some
of the candidates are also actively lobbying
behind-the-scenes through
secret meetings, telephone calls and cellphone
short message services (sms's).
Nkomo, Mathema, Ndlovu, Moyo
and Mpofu all appeared in the media
pushing campaigns under the guise of
commenting on Msika's history. Nkomo
gave television interviews in which he
tried to sound authoritative and
optimistic about his prospects. Ndlovu and
Mpofu also appeared on state
television making their own
claims.
Mathema and Moyo wrote articles in the Saturday Herald
and Sunday Mail
respectively. Mathema's article read like a political CV. He
portrayed
himself as an educated nationalist who studied in Nottingham in
Britain and
a liberation fighter of the retired army commander Solomon
Mujuru calibre
who deserved a high post like that of vice-president. He
displayed his Zipra
credentials where Mujuru came from before joining
Zanla.
Zipra was the Zapu armed wing, while Zanla was Zanu PF's
military
branch.
Mathema, the Bulawayo governor, even went
to the extent of using
expressions like "we the Ndebeles" in a bid to put
himself on an ethnic
pedestal and show with anticipation that he fitted the
billing to replace
Msika from a regional point of view while at the same
time placing himself
above tribalism which is tearing his party
asunder.
Apart from Msika, he also showered the late
vice-president Joshua
Nkomo and Mugabe with praise as part of the article
which came across as a
campaign pitch.
Sources said Mathema
on Monday contacted close Mugabe advisors openly
declaring his interest in
becoming vice-president. "He declared his interest
and is prepared to fight
it out," a source said.
Albeit restrained in his media article,
Moyo also wrote brandishing
his nationalist credentials and closeness to
Msika and Joshua Nkomo. He
announced that he was writing a book, Service To
My Country, for which Msika
wrote the preface just before his
death.
Sources said there were also efforts by senior Zanu PF
members to
bring back Dabengwa to enter the race. Some senior Zanu PF
officials held
meetings with Dabengwa before Msika's burial at Heroes Acre
on Monday over
the issue. However, sources said Dabengwa was noncommittal
although he was
inclined to refuse. Mugabe is also said to be opposed to the
Dabengwa
initiative.
Sources said the way the contest was
developing showed that John Nkomo
would come up mainly against Mathema for
the post of vice-president,
although Nkomo's political advantage is almost
unassailable. Nkomo is
already in the Zanu PF presidium as chairman and is
known to have close ties
with Mugabe. Coming from outside, Dabengwa appears
a long shot.
Sources said in terms of seniority, Ndlovu would
become chairman but
the problem was that he was now too old for hectic party
politics.
Mpofu is seen as a dark horse with limited
opportunities because of
early floor crossing from Zapu to Zanu.
Sources said if former Zanu PF Women's League leader Thenjiwe Lesabe
had not
fallen out with Mugabe, she would have had a chance to become chair
after
her failed attempt to become vice-president in 1999 following the
death of
Joshua Nkomo. Lesabe had squared up against Msika who used his
history and
force of personality to brush her aside.
Sources said Mnangagwa
and Mutasa had no chance if the current Zanu PF
sticks to the party
arrangement of equally sharing presidium positions
between the old Zanu and
Zapu.
"There is pressure on them, but both of them, especially
Mutasa, are
very clear on the issues," a source said. "They know this is
mainly a Zapu
contest, just like when (Vice-President Simon) Muzenda died in
2003 the
succession contest became was a Zanu affair."
Mnangagwa took on Vice-President Joice Mujuru after Muzenda's death
during
the run up to the 2004 Zanu PF congress. The fight was bruising and
Mnangagwa lost again after Mugabe intervened in support of
Mujuru.
Mnangagwa's defeat in 2004 - which was followed by
political purges in
the party amid accusations of a succession coup plot -
appeared to have
broken his spirit after the disastrous 1999 campaign.
Lesabe also had the
same experience before she was dumped on the political
scrapheap.
The Mnangagwa faction is however still fighting on in a
war of
attrition with the Mujuru camp as
part of the protracted
power struggle for the heart and soul of Zanu
PF.
Dumisani
Muleya
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13
August 2009 21:53
THE parliamentary select committee spearheading the
country's
constitution-making process has blamed Zanu PF and civil society
for
delaying the formation of thematic committees, which will gather the
views
of the people on the new supreme law.
Co-chairperson of
the committee, Douglas Mwonzora, told the Zimbabwe
Independent on Wednesday
that Zanu PF and civil society had failed to submit
names of people they
wanted to sit on the thematic committees by the July 28
deadline, delaying
the commencement of the three-month outreach programme.
Mwonzora said:
"We requested
civil society to give us names of people to appoint to
the thematic
committees. Unfortunately the process (on the civil society) is
very slow
and we are still receiving these names.
"The other reason
is that Zanu PF requested that they needed to
forward the names of their
proposed representatives to their leaders first.
This process was
unfortunately delayed by the death of Vice-President Joseph
Msika."
He said the situation was compounded by financial constraints.
Mwonzora, however, said the outreach programme to consult people on
what
they want in the new constitution would commence on August 25.
"We have
received US$2 million from UNDP and this will help to kick
start the
outreach programme on August 25," he said. "The money is not
enough but it
is very significant for it will enable us to undertake the
task and
basically get started. Nothing is lost. The delay is about a week
and we
will cover that."
He said there would be 17 thematic committees made up
of MPs, chiefs
and members of civil society.
"Because of the
increase in the number of thematic committees from the
original 12 to 17 we
have had to reduce the number of people on these
committees so that we
retain the original 425 people that we had budgeted
for," Mwonzora said.
"Each thematic committee will have 25 people, which
will bring the total to
425 people, of these 30% will be MPs, 70% will be
members of civil society,
war veterans, churches and trade unions."
Mwonzora said one of the
thematic committees would be chaired by a
representative of the chiefs in
parliament and MDC-M was allocated two
thematic committees to chair - the
separation of powers and public finance
and management committee.
Zanu PF would chair the founding principles on constitutionalism;
executive
organs of the state; land, natural resources and empowerment;
media; war
veterans and freedom fighters; languages and minorities and women
and gender
issues committee.
MDC-T would chair the system of government; youth;
labour; disabled;
elections, transitional provisions and independent
institutions; citizenship
and bill of rights; and religion.
The
committees' deputy chairs would come from civil society.
Responding to
a recent statement by the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee
(Jomic) saying the Kariba draft constitution should
be used as a reference
document in the current process, Mwonzora said the
committee had no locus
standi in the matter.
He said Article Six of the global political
agreement (GPA) does not
make Jomic a guider or superior of the select
committee.
Mwonzora said: "What they were saying is not what the GPA
says and we
do not agree with them. It is undesirable at law to get an
interpretation of
an agreement from the people who wrote it. This is because
their interests
do not remain static and therefore their new interpretation
can be affected
by considerations of recent convenience, that is why that
although
parliament makes laws, these laws are interpreted by the
judiciary."
"A litigant doesn't sue parliament and demand what
parliament made on
each law. The GPA says the select committee must produce
its own draft in
clear terms."
Wongai Zhangazha
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August 2009
21:47
POOR patients are made to suffer as doctors at the country's four
biggest hospitals - Parirenyatwa, Harare Central, United Bulawayo and
Mpilo - are on strike in protest over remuneration and working
conditions.
The strike was started by junior doctors last Friday
and was this week
joined by their seniors amid fears that the health
delivery system at public
hospitals would soon be compromised if the
industrial action is not ended
soon.
The state doctors are
demanding a wage increase of about US$3 000
monthly for a junior medical
officer and US$4 000 for a senior medical
officer who is currently earning
US$170 monthly from the government and an
extra US$220 stipend from the
Crown Agents, a British donor.
The doctors are also demanding
transport, housing and an on-call
allowance and at the same time they are
complaining that the extra allowance
from the Crown Agents was coming in
"dribs and drabs".
Speaking to the Zimbabwe Independent yesterday,
Brighton Chizhande,
the president of the Hospital Doctors' Association, said
his organisation
was not happy with the "flat" salary they were getting from
the government.
"We want the new government to address the doctors'
salary issue as an
urgent matter," he said. "They should come up with a
salary structure that
is in line with the market and not a flat figure they
are giving us. We also
want the government to address the issue of our
allowances."
He said his members would press ahead with the strike
despite pleas
from Health minister Henry Madzorera this week that all
government doctors
should go back to work while their salaries and
conditions of work were
being looked into.
"It makes sense for the
minister to plead with us but the government
should show some seriousness on
their part before he (Madzorera) can come
and tell us to return to work,"
Chizhande said. "The new inclusive
government should have prioritised the
health system from the start but we
are in a situation where a lot of focus
is on more minor issues than the
health system which I think is of vital
importance in every society. We are
dealing with a very sensitive issue
here, people's lives are at risk."
Since the formation of the inclusive
government last year, the doctors
had agreed to continue working despite
being unhappy with the US$100 monthly
allowance that was given to all civil
servants.
The doctors' salaries were then increased by Finance minister
Tendai
Biti in his mid-term monetary policy to US$170 while the Crown Agents
chipped in with an extra US$220 monthly for the state doctors.
But
as government and the state doctors' wrangle to reach an
agreement, it is
the poor patient who is suffering the brunt of the strike.
When the
Zimbabwe Independent yesterday visited Parirenyatwa hospital,
the largest
referral hospital in the country, scores of patients were
sleeping in car
park bays and corridors while others were being turned away
or made to wait
as nurses and interns struggled to cope.
One nurse who spoke on
condition of anonymity said they had been
instructed to attend to emergency
cases only while other patients were told
to find an "alternative way" of
getting medical assistance from private
hospitals and pharmacies.
"The situation was overwhelming in the last few days and we were
struggling
to cope. But the numbers of patients at the outpatient department
have
markedly gone down because we were instructed to attend to emergency
cases
only," the nurse said.
Most of the patients interviewed said they could
not afford private
hospitals as they were "too expensive".
Henry Mhara
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13
August 2009 21:41
THE European Commission (EC) yesterday allocated
US$12 million (euro 9
million) to safeguard access to food for vulnerable
people affected by the
breakdown of essential services in Zimbabwe.
The funds will be channelled through the Commission's Humanitarian Aid
department under the direct responsibility of Commissioner Karel De Gucht.
De Gucht, Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, said: "Though
the food security situation has started to improve slightly, Zimbabwe
continues to face a protracted emergency. Urban populations are particularly
vulnerable due to lack of access to land. It is therefore crucial in this
period that ongoing food security interventions are reinforced and
consolidated in order to reach the populations in need."
The funds
would be used to provide short-term food security and
livelihood support.
They are part of the Short-Term support Strategy for an
amount of euro 120
million (US$156 million) to be implemented by the
European Commission
following the visit of Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his
governmental
delegation to Brussels on June 18 2009.
The food supply and
availability has improved for the 2009/2010 season
thanks to a good harvest,
the dollarisation of the economy and the
liberalisation of the cereals
market.
The money from the EC came a few days after a joint Zimbabwe
government and United Nations food assessment revealed that the southern
African nation will have a cereal deficit of 180 000 tonnes between now and
2010.
The United Nations office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) in a report said Zimbabwe would not have enough
food to feed its 12,5
million people and described the situation as
"acute".
"Even with commercial imports, there will be a 180 000 tonnes
cereal
deficit for 2009-2010," OCHA said. "According to an assessment by the
UN
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and
Zimbabwean government, only 1,4 million tons of cereal will be available
domestically, compared to the more than two million needed." Even assuming
that 500 000 tonnes would be imported, there will still be a significant
gap.
The FAO-WFP assessment found that in spite of increased
agricultural
production this year, with the maize crop estimated to have
more than
doubled, high food insecurity persists in Zimbabwe.
This
year's abundant rainfall resulted in the amount of maize
harvested - 1,14
metric tonnes - recording a 130 percent increase over 2008.
But the study
warned that this winter's wheat harvest is only expected to
yield 12 000
tonnes, the lowest ever, due to the high cost of fertilisers
and seeds,
farmers' lack of funds and the unreliable electricity supply for
irrigation.
"Some 600 000 households will also be receiving
agricultural help -
supplied by non-governmental organisations and funded by
10 donors - in the
form of seeds, legumes and fertiliser," OCHA
said.
FAO suggested that additional resources be channelled into
providing
top-dressing fertiliser, which is needed later than at seed
planting, but
cautioned that it must reach farmers before the end of
November. - Staff
Writer.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August 2009
21:31
MDC vice-president and former cabinet minister Gibson Sibanda has
been
given a lifeline to bounce back into government after it emerged that
his
party has positioned him to contest the Insiza North seat that will be
vacant at the beginning of next month when the incumbent House of Assembly
member takes up a diplomatic posting.
Sibanda, who was in
February appointed a Minister of State in the
Deputy Prime Minister's Office
responsible for National Healing, lost his
cabinet post after he failed to
secure a seat in the Senate or House of
Assembly as per constitutional
requirements.
According to Section 31 (e) of the Zimbabwe Constitution,
every
minister or deputy minister must either be an MP or a Senator when
appointed
or become one within three months of appointment.
The
Arthur Mutambara-led MDC has been struggling to find a seat for
Sibanda.
Party sources however told the Zimbabwe Independent this
week that
Sibanda - who is now a government consultant on national healing -
is set to
contest the Insiza North seat that will be left vacant by
incumbent House of
Assembly member, Malandu Siyabonga Ncube, who is set to
take up a diplomatic
posting in Nigeria after he was nominated by his
party.
Malandu-Ncube is one of the five new ambassador-designates from
the
two MDC formations who are undergoing training before they are posted
abroad.
The MDC-T has four nominees while the MDC-M has
one.
"The road is now clear and Sibanda will now contest the Insiza
North
seat as his chances of winning there are quite high," a source in the
party
said. "It would be difficult for the MDC to win anywhere else and
Sibanda
had told other party leaders that he did not want to be embarrassed
by
contesting in a by-election and losing."
The sources said
Sibanda stood high chances of winning the Insiza
North seat as the
constituency was in his home area.
"The party leaders have been trying
to find a safe seat for Sibanda
and they could not let him contest in any of
the seats where there are
suspended Members of Parliament as they feared
that he could lose in
by-elections to the suspended MPs if they stood as
independents," the source
added.
The party's spokesperson Edwin
Mushoriwa however said his party has
not taken a decision on which
candidates would contest in which constituency
in the forthcoming
by-elections.
"The MDC has not made a decision on Sibanda and all this
talk that he
will contest Insiza North is mere speculation and we will have
to sit down
as a party and decide who contests in which constituency,"
Mushoriwa said.
Sibanda lost his Nkulumane parliamentary seat in the
March harmonised
elections last year. He was defeated by MDC-T youth
chairman Thamsanqa
Mahlangu, who is now Deputy Minister of Youth.
Sibanda was Tsvangirai's deputy president in the united MDC until
October
2005 when he and other party leaders walked out on Tsvangirai to
form a
splinter party.
The party leadership then invited Mutambara who was
based in South
Africa to return home and lead the break away
formation.
Loughty Dube
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August
2009 21:23
SUSPECTED members of the Central Intelligence Organisation
(CIO) last
Saturday confiscated Zapu placards at the memorial service of the
late
national hero, Vice-President Joseph Msika, at White City Stadium
claiming
they posed a security risk.
According to Zapu, four
suspected CIO operatives took away placards
with farewell messages for Msika
who became the third vice president to die
in office since Independence.
Msika was buried at Heroes Acre on Monday.
Methuseli Moyo, Zapu
communications director, told the Zimbabwe
Independent in Bulawayo that the
four state spies ransacked a tent housing
party members who were with the
placards and grabbed them.
"They demanded to know who had brought the
placards to the stadium,
but we didn't divulge the information," Moyo said.
"Our members who resisted
their move were threatened with arrest. Senior CIO
agents claimed that the
posters were a security risk."
Some of the
placards read: "Msika died Zapu"; "Zapu never dies"; "Zapu
is the way"; and
"RIP commander-in-chief".
Zapu members who attended the memorial
service were led by party
interim chairperson and former cabinet minister
Dumiso Dabengwa.
Moyo said to Zapu's dismay, the suspected CIO
operatives allowed Zanu
PF members to attend the service in party regalia
and had placards.
A Zipra war veterans banner with a farewell message
for Msika was
pulled down from the perimeter fence by police
officers.
Moyo said it was tragic that at a funeral of a man who spent
five
decades fighting for freedom, the CIO and police used the occasion to
curtail the same freedom that Msika fought for.
"Worse still, all
this happened a stone throw away from the departed
nationalist's Pelandaba
home from which he prosecuted the struggle for
freedom," Moyo
added.
Msika once served as an MP for Pelandaba.
This came
amid media reports that rival Zanu PF factions clashed on
Friday over the
selection of people who were to accompany Msika's body to
his Chiweshe rural
home and later Bulawayo.
Party chairman John Nkomo finally accompanied
the body.
Police reportedly had to be called to quell clashes by youths
belonging to the factions.
The youths loyal to Nkomo allegedly
barred their colleagues who
support Obert Mpofu, the Umguza Zanu-PF
legislator and Mines minister, from
attending a meeting held at the Zanu-PF
offices at Davies Hall in Bulawayo.
Nkomo and Mpofu are reportedly
eyeing to replace Msika as vice
president.
Nqobile
Bhebhe
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August 2009 21:20
WHEN President Robert Mugabe opened the
seventh parliament in the
midst of stalled negotiations over the global
political agreement (GPA) last
August, heated debates were expected to be
the hallmark of the first session
of the House given the Morgan
Tsvangirai-led MDC's wafer-thin majority.
Characterised by heckling
and jeering of Mugabe's speech by MDC
legislators, the opening ceremony saw
new faces from the country's main
political parties coming into the
chamber.
Six months down the line a unity government was formed by
Mugabe,
Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara in line
with the
GPA. Executive powers were shared between Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
cabinet.
Resultantly there was heightened expectation for legislative
reforms
given years of animosity between the principals of the new
administration.
But on the contrary, no legislative agenda was brought
to parliament
by the executive since August 26 - the day parliament was
officially opened.
Both the House of Assembly and the Senate adjourned
a fortnight ago to
September signalling the end of the first
session.
Parliamentary business experts said Mugabe would in due course
publish
a proclamation in the Government Gazette terminating the first
session and
summoning the second one.
Only seven inevitable Bills
were fast tracked and passed during the
first session, Constitution
Amendment (No. 19); National Security Council;
Finance; Appropriation (2008)
(Additional); Appropriation (2009); Finance
(No. 2); and Appropriation
(Supplementary) Bills.
There are three Bills under Appropriation (2008)
(Additional) Bill
(passed in late March); Finance (No. 2) Bill and
Appropriation
(Supplementary) Bill (July 23) that were passed by parliament,
but still
await presidential assent.
Clause 16 of the Finance (No.
2) Bill provides for the formalisation
of the multi-currency national
payment system introduced in February.
It also took close to a year for
lawmakers to debate Mugabe's speech
before passing a motion affirming
it.
Constitutional law expert Lovemore Madhuku said the absence of a
legislative agenda in parliament reflects the lack of political will for
change on the part of the executive arm of government.
"There was
no legislation agenda during this session," Madhuku said.
"No proposals were
sent from the executive. There must be political will
from the executive to
make new laws."
Zanu PF and the two MDC formations agreed under Article
17 of the GPA
that "the legislative agenda will be prioritised in order to
reflect the
letter and spirit of this agreement" and that "the government
will discuss
and agree on further legislative measures which may become
necessary to
implement the government's agreed policies and in particular,
with a view to
entrenching democratic values and practices".
Clerk
of Parliament Austin Zvoma recently told the Zimbabwe
Independent that
legislative reforms were expected soon.
"We have been assured that
legislative programmes have been discussed
by the executive and a number of
Bills are at various stages of processing -
the pre-legislative stage which
is at executive level," Zvoma said.
Journalists and media organisations
are pushing for the repeal of
pieces of legislation such as the Access to
Information and Protection of
Privacy Act, the Public Order and Security
Act, and the Broadcasting
Services Act, which they say inhibit freedom of
the media and were
antithetical to democracy.
John Makamure, the
executive director of the Southern African
Parliamentary Support Trust based
in Harare, was of the opinion that the
first session generated "robust
debate" but was undermined by the absence of
authorities during the question
and answer sessions and the thematic and
parliamentary portfolio committee
meetings.
"Although the volume of business transacted was low compared
to the
previous sessions, the first session of the 7th Parliament went on
generally
okay. There was robust debate on some of the motions. Question
time was also
lively during some of the sittings," Makamure said. "However,
some of the
ministers are still not attending question time, thereby
watering down
debate and leaving MPs frustrated. This problem has been going
on for a very
long time, and now requires decisive action on the part of the
leadership of
parliament and cabinet."
Among some ministers whose
questions were deferred on several
occasions after failing to attend
parliament were Defence minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa and Agriculture minister
Joseph Made. They however managed to
answer the questions before the House
adjourned.
At the adjournment of parliament, there were still a number
of motions
and questions on the Order Papers for both Houses that had not
been dealt
with. These items will lapse when the session is formally
terminated by
Mugabe, but can be raised again in the new session.
Portfolio committees and thematics committee will continue meeting
although
the Houses will not be sitting.
Lack of funds from the treasury,
Makamure said, could have also
downplayed the efficiency of the third arm of
government.
Minister of Finance Tendai Biti during his mid-term fiscal
review
statement slashed the vote allocation of parliament to US$5 million
from
US$7million.
Makamure said the second session was, however,
expected to bring in
both state and privately sponsored bills.
Among the Bills to be tabled in the second session are the Freedom of
Information Act and the Media Practitioners Act, which will replace the
draconian Aippa.
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs minister
Eric Matinenga could
not be reached for comment at the time of going to
print.
According to Veritas, a group of lawyers who monitor political
developments in the country, the House of Assembly sat 41 times while the
Senate met 28 times during the period under review.
"On many
occasions the sittings were very brief, sometimes lasting
only a few
minutes. Very seldom did either House sit after 5 pm - let alone
until 7
pm, the time envisaged by Standing Orders for the end of the day's
work,"
said Veritas.
The "fast-tracking" of Bills, despite being in line with
the law,
Makamure argued, was "bad practice" which could result in
under-scrutinised
pieces of legislation.
"It must be standard
practice that every Bill is subjected to a public
hearing and thorough
scrutiny by portfolio committees before being passed
into law. While some of
the committees managed to invite stakeholders to
give oral evidence, the
majority of them have not yet been able to table a
report in the House," he
said.
During the same session, MDC legislators pushed for media reforms
and
an investigation into the Attorney-General's conduct in what they called
politically-motivated prosecutions. This followed the arrest and arraigning
of several MDC lawmakers in court facing criminal
allegations.
BY BERNARD MPOFU
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13
August 2009 19:39
ZANU PF's politburo has been conferring national hero
status on
deceased Zimbabweans over the years in violation of the country's
laws,
analysts have said.
The politburo, the analysts said, had
also narrowed the definition of
a hero to mean people who participated in
the liberation struggle and
continued to identify with the party after
Independence.
The conferring of national hero status has
since the 1980s been mired
in controversy, with opposition political
parties, civil society, the church
and other stakeholders questioning the
criterion used by the politburo.
Many would-be national heroes
-- among them -- the late veteran
nationalists Ndabaningi Sithole, James
Chikerema, Michael Mawema, Canaan
Banana and philanthropist Jairos Jiri --
were not accorded the status
despite their contribution to the liberation of
the country and to nation
building.
Instead, analysts
observed, less deserving people were interred at the
national shrine in
Harare because of their loyalty to Zanu PF and President
Robert Mugabe in
post-Independence Zimbabwe.
Political analysts said in terms of
the National Heroes Act, the
politburo has no power to confer any hero
status. They said the Act states
that the president was empowered to make
the declaration.
The Act says: "Where the president considers
that any deceased person
who was a citizen of Zimbabwe has deserved well of
his country on account of
his outstanding, distinctive and distinguished
service to Zimbabwe, he may,
by notice in the Gazette, designate such a
person a national, provincial or
district hero of
Zimbabwe."
This, the analysts said, rules out the involvement
of the politburo in
declaring nation heroes' status.
National hero status is the highest honour that can be conferred on an
individual and the recipients are buried at the National Heroes Acre in the
capital. The other status are liberation war hero (formerly provincial hero)
and liberation hero (formerly district hero) and recipients are buried at
provincial and district heroes acres throughout the
country.
"The law is clear on who should accord any hero
status," argued
political scientist Michael Mhike. "What we have observed
over the years is
that Mugabe has been consulting the politburo, instead of
solely conferring
the status as outlined in the law. It could have been much
better if he
consulted the cabinet, which is the executive arm of
government. The
politburo is a party organ and cannot, therefore, interfere
with government
business."
Mhike said confining the
declaration of the status to a party organ
was problematic as it was bound
to be partisan.
He suggested that there should be an
independent body to confer the
status.
"But what is needed
first is to define what a hero is," Mhike said.
"In my view, heroes ought to
be people who have a concept of nation and
thereafter aspire and struggle
for the nation's freedom and sovereignty.
Individuals who through
their life define and contribute to a system
or life of freedom, justice and
equality and more importantly add value to
the kind of social contract that
advances national progress and order for a
nation."
Equally, he argued, heroes are individuals who contribute to the
quality of
life and destiny of a nation.
"Such individuals are generally
part of the people's expression and
transcend the limitations imposed by
race, ethnicity, class, religion and
any other variable that tends to
segregate people. A hero or heroine must
be someone who thinks about the
future rather than dwelling on the past,"
Mhike added.
Zimbabwean-born South African businessman Mutumwa Mawere agreed with
Mhike
adding that heroes should appreciate that in as much as the past
cannot be
excused it should not imprison the future.
"The choice of such
a person (hero) must necessarily not involve the
recounting of an episode or
events in history, but of the entire process
that made this particular
person a hero," Mawere said.
He said in the case of a national
hero, the country's custodians in
the form of an "elected and accountable
executive ought to be the vehicle
through which the people can express their
appreciation of the person's
contribution to nation
building".
Mawere said it was inappropriate for Zanu PF to
confer the hero
status, especially based on one's contribution to the
liberation struggle
and loyalty to the party and Mugabe after
independence.
"The liberation struggle was a time-specific
event that responded to
the challenges of the time. As such, one cannot
assume or jump to a
conclusion that participating in the struggle is a
necessary and sufficient
condition for one to be accorded the status of a
hero," Mawere argued.
"Building a nation is far more complex, it requires
key foundational values,
beliefs and principles.
It also
requires that people live up to such foundational variables.
It must be
accepted that in the not too distant future, the stock of
liberators will
vanish and what will come of the heroes' acre when that time
arrives.
Should it be closed? If so, what will the country have to say
about the
post-colonial construction of its superstars, heroes and
legends?"
The Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC said the conferment of
hero status could
not be an exclusive prerogative of any political
party.
"There must be an inclusive national policy and an
independent body
with set parameters and clearly defined yardsticks which
determines who
qualifies to be a national hero or heroine. The same panel
must define the
meaning of a hero," the party said in a statement to mark
Monday's Heroes
Day. "Hero status is an important status which cannot be
conferred by a
subjective organisation or political party which will most
certainly
discriminate against deserving individuals."
The
party added that it is not politicians alone who have "lifted the
Zimbabwean
flag high".
"We have many sons and daughters who have served
and continue to serve
this country with pride and distinction," the party
said. "These people are
found in business, in sports, in music, in the army
and in the police; the
unsung heroes of our country. They deserve their
place of honour in the
national hall of fame regardless of the fact that
they are not politicians.".
"The Zanu PF politburo cannot be an
objective substitute of an
independent panel. The MDC believes that we need
a panel of respected and
eminent persons to come up with set criteria for
the conferment of hero
status."
BY CONSTANTINE
CHIMAKURE
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August 2009
19:47
ZTV presenters this week sought every platitude to portray the
late VP
Msika as a gallant fighter and founding father of
nationalism.
This has never been in doubt and there was therefore no
reason for the
presenter, Justin Mahlahla, to tell us that Zipra forces
brought down a
passenger plane with a landmine.
This was no mean
achievement. How did they get the landmine into the
air in the first place?
Has anybody at Pockets Hill heard of a SAM?
ZTV should not be allowed
to harm genuine nationalists with nonsense
of this sort.
Did you
see, by the way, how all the documentaries chronicling Msika's
contribution
to the struggle were put on fast-forward between 1982 and 1987?
To ZTV that
part of our history does not exist. In the best Stalinist
tradition it has
been airbrushed out!
It is understandable that state institutions
should want to advertise
their loyalty to the regime. They know on which
side their bread is
buttered!
But we were struck over the holiday
weekend by the predictable
formulaic adverts appearing in the government
media. There was nothing new
or appealing in these declarations of loyalty.
Just the same old predictable
dross.
But the reform wing of the
government of national unity is partly to
blame for not providing its own
tribute to Zimbabwe's heroes.
The Commissioner-General of police and
his colleagues provided an
opening by inviting the nation to recognise "our
fallen and living heroes".
Why don't we take up the challenge and name
those who qualify.
Tichaona Chiminya and Talent Mabika, democratic
activists who were
burnt to death in Buhera in 2000 by a state official who
has been named in
court but roams the country scot-free, come to mind. So do
Gift Tandare and
Edward Chikomba (2007) whose killers remain free and no
doubt active.
Among the living heroes are Jestina Mukoko, Chris
Dhlamini and
Shadreck Manyere who have suffered untold pain and abuse at the
hands of the
regime because of their beliefs. Then there are our brave
lawyers Beatrice
Mtetewa, Alec Muchadehama and Harrison Nkomo who have been
victims of the
regime's repressive violence.
Zimbabwe is a land of
heroes, many of them active in the democratic
struggle to this day. Let's
not forget them on occasions such as last
weekend when so much self-serving
partisan drivel was recycled by the state
media.
On the subject
of recycling, our attention was caught by a story in
the Sunday Mail
informing us that five candidates from the reform wing of
the GNU will take
up their posts as ambassadors later this year in
fulfilment of the GPA
terms.
The new diplomats (one from the Mutambara camp has gone Awol we
are
told) are attending a training course where, among other things, they
are
receiving lessons on Zimbabwe's foreign policy and national
heritage.
Secretary for Foreign Affairs Joey Bimha was reported as
giving an
introductory briefing in which he emphasised the need for
exclusivity.
But he also stressed the importance of Zimbabwe working
closely with
"like-minded countries and organisations" such as Sadc, the AU,
the
Non-Aligned Movement and the G77.
In other words those who have
indulged President Mugabe without
providing more than a pittance in the way
of assistance to the people of
Zimbabwe.
What Zimbabwe urgently
needs is a complete overhaul of its foreign
policy. We need to get away from
the pontifications of useless outfits like
NAM.
If Bimha wants to
stress exclusivity, then he should understand that
ambassadors must reflect
the new thinking in Harare which includes
democratic reform. Nobody wants to
hear about "sovereignty" and "national
heritage" when those topics serve as
masks for redundant elements from the
ancien regime.
What the new
ambassadors need to know are the principles set out in
the Commonwealth's
Harare Declaration of 1991 and the friendship Zimbabwe
enjoys with the wider
international community which is actively helping us,
not Chavez and Castro
who are locked in the mantras of the past.
Muckraker was delighted
to see Dr Timothy Stamps justifying his
stipend by telling us all about the
stamps issued by Zimpost to commemorate
the lives of heroes. We were not
quite sure if Stamps was leaping into print
because he shares a name with
the subject matter or because many of the
individuals honoured by Zimpost
have a connection to the medical profession.
Muckraker has always been
fascinated by what Stamps actually does as
"Health Advisor to the Office of
the President and Cabinet". This looks
suspiciously like a sinecure. Is
there any record of what his advice has
achieved to date? Did anybody see
him take charge of the HIV and Aids
scourge or the cholera epidemic? He must
surely be doing something to
justify his upkeep at the taxpayers'
expense?
"Without our heroes' active contribution, consistently and
persistently," Stamps wrote last weekend, "we would have been affected by
the political machinations of our detractors who are still continuing to
deny our Independence and sovereignty today."
Did you really write
that gibberish Timothy?
And did anybody notice how none of the stamps
illustrated have a
denomination of any sort? That's so Zimpost can hike the
price whenever it
wants. That's the sort of "heroism" we have
nowadays.
Then there's Noczim, "fueling (sic) the nation", it claims --
as well
as stoking inflation while it finds time to salute the armed
forces.
And party propagandist Tichaona Zindoga who's so busy
fulminating at
the West that he has trouble distinguishing between a "smooth
and vanished
devil" and a "smooth and varnished devil".
We think
it's probably the latter insult he was attempting to deliver
to President
Obama!
President Mugabe says he can't understand why Western
nations are
proving reluctant to support the GNU. He said it was
"surprising" the West
continued with sanctions even after the formation of
the GNU.
Not so surprising if you look at the facts. The CFU said last
week it
has recorded more than 1 800 incidents on farms between August 2008
and June
this year, including violent attacks, vandalism and looting of
property,
assaults on farm workers, burning of crops and incidents in which
the police
have flatly refused to assist farmers.
Is it seriously
suggested that donors and investors should ignore this
growing body of
evidence of lawlessness and pour their money into Zimbabwe
regardless of the
consequences?
The West can keep its money, Mugabe declared at Heroes
Acre.
Which is fine if you have it. But, thanks to him, Zimbabwe
doesn't.
Finally Muckraker is told that Zimbabwe cricket players
and officials
were confused when copies of the Chronicle were tucked under
their hotel
room doors in Bulawayo on Saturday morning.
The daily's
sports section led with one of the most technically,
grammatically and
comprehensively wrong cricket reports you will ever see.
On Friday the
Zimbabwe "A" team had beaten touring Bangladesh by seven
wickets in a
warm-up match to the ongoing five-match ODI series.
"The Zimbabwe A
bowlers were on fire being economic as they restricted
Bangladesh to a few
runs and maintained their bowling lines," went the match
report.
Muckraker understands that when bowlers are on fire, they are bowling
really
fast and taking wickets. It's not associated with being economical
(yes, not
economic).
Here is another line from the same report: "Ashraful went
out with
sevens runs after being bowled by Maruma and caught by Shingirai
Masakadza
having faced 26 balls."
NB: When a batsman is bowled it
means his stumps have been dislodged,
so he is automatically out. There is
no need to be caught by a fielder.
And on Monday under the same byline,
reporting on the first ODI match,
we were told: "Vermeulen who last played
for the national team in 2004 when
England (it was actually Sri Lanka)
toured Zimbabwe was lucky to stay long
at the crease when Hossain dropped
his ball in the 33rd over."
Ouch! There ought to be a very good surgeon
somewhere in Bulawayo!
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August 2009
19:44
OVER the past half year there has been a progressive growth in
interest being demonstrated by the international business community in the
immense investment prospects existing in Zimbabwe. Prospects of Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) have been evidenced to an increasing degree ever
since the "inclusive government" came into being.
Notwithstanding the global economic recession, significant expressions
of
investment interest have been demonstrated by many investment houses,
financiers and business houses in South Africa, Canada, USA and Australia,
divers countries in the European Union, in the Middle East (and particularly
Saudi Arabia and Dubai), and in the Far East (including China, India and
Malaysia). However, despite the magnitude of interest displayed, the extent
of actual investment is, as yet, relatively minimal, and falls far short of
the FDI which Zimbabwe desperately needs as the principal catalyst of a
comprehensive, and very greatly needed, economic recovery.
The
Zimbabwean potential for FDI is extraordinarily great. There is a
vast
wealth of unexploited valuable minerals beneath Zimbabwean soil,
ranging
from gold to platinum, nickel to chrome, diamonds, coal and methane
gas to
tantalite, and much else. The country has a near unique array of
tourism
attractions and resources, including wildlife to an extent
exceptional in
Africa (notwithstanding that of Kenya and some other highly
wildlife-endowed
countries). Zimbabwe's resources include the elephant,
rhino, lion, leopard,
cheetah, giraffe, hippopotami, crocodile, innumerable
different antelope,
buffalo, diverse bird life, and much, much else).
Tourism attractions and
resources include the incomparable splendour of
Victoria Falls and the
Zambezi Valley, the enthralling grandeur of Matopos
Hills, the spectacular
sights, pleasures and sunsets of Lake Kariba, the
mystic of Great Zimbabwe,
Khami Ruins and other astounding historical sites,
the escapism to the
beauty of Nyanga and Chimanimani, and many more.
Innumerable other
investment opportunities exist. The manufacturing
sector has an
immeasurably great growth potential. Not only is Zimbabwe
geographically
placed to be a key supplier to a regional populace of over
420 million, but
it already has a substantial established industrial base,
ranging from
engineering to furniture manufacture, textiles and clothing,
pharmaceuticals
and foodstuffs, agricultural inputs and extensive other
industrial
operations. It also has a very large, sadly mainly unemployed
labour force
capable of quality service, and it has many established
markets, albeit
contracted by the global economic recession and by
constrained domestic
consumer demand. However, the industrial sector is
grievously
under-capitalised, and has suffered a considerable "brain drain"
of
technological skills. These two constraints create a moment of
opportunity
for FDI.
Other economic sectors also have much opportunity to offer to
the
international investor, and particularly so in the spheres of
information
technology, professional services, commerce and finance. The
investment
opportunities range from equity participation in existing
enterprises to the
initiation of new ventures, be it in collaboration with
domestic investors,
or as FDI-based operations. There are also indications
of investment
opportunities in Public Private-sector Partnerships, as
government
increasingly recognises the need for total or partial
privatisation of
parastatals, if their viability and service-provision is to
be restored.
Government has outspokenly voiced its desire for FDI, be
it in
numerous public statements by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara, by the Minister of Economic Planning
and
Development Elton Mangoma, by the Minister of Mines Obert Mpofu, the
Governor of the Reserve Bank, Gideon Gono and others in high office.
Foremost amongst those recognising that FDI is a prerequisite of a
substantial economic recovery is Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti. He made
this clear in his 2009 Budget review, and again in his 2009 mid-year Budget
review in July, and has also done so on many other occasions speaking in
Zimbabwe and abroad.
However, very forthrightly, and with
commendable frankness and honesty
(both unusual characteristics in a
politician) he has openly acknowledged
that there are still some economic
environmental limitations of great
magnitude which are hindering the
conversion of the evident investor
interest into actual investment.
Addressing a gathering of about 100
business executives in Bulawayo (members
of CZI, ZNCC and ABUZ) he
unreservedly acknowledged not only the need for
substantial FDI if a
complete economic recovery is to be achieved, but also
that despite
extensive FDI expressions of interest there is a grievous lack
of conversion
of that interest into reality. With equally great candour, he
voiced the
indisputable contention that this is due to the absence of
genuine law and
order maintenance in Zimbabwe. The existence of law and
order is an
absolute prerequisite for investor confidence, and despite
protestations of
some in the political hierarchy (and the presidium in
particular), and of
the supposed guardians of law and order, that it exists,
that is blatantly
contrary to the facts.
The harsh reality is that
farm invasions are continuing unimpeded, and
without any attempts to contain
them. In all too many instances the
criminality of those invasions is
intensified by recourse to pronounced
violence, expropriation of private
property and contemptuous disregard for
property and human rights.
Concurrently, many are subjected to prolonged incarceration in prisons
without being brought to trial, being regarded as guilty before proven
innocent, in contrast to the constitutional prescription that individuals
are innocent until proven guilty. (This is highlighted, to cite but one of
very many examples, by the fact that more than six months after the coming
into being of the inclusive government, Roy Bennett has still not been sworn
in as Deputy Minister of Agriculture).
Moreover, there is a spate
of prosecution of parliamentarians, without
exception being members of the
two MDC factions, whilst all in the
previously ruling party appear to be
immune to such prosecutions. Until
government vigorously brings to a total
halt the farm invasions, and
achieves a general restoration of genuine law
and order, an
investment-conducive environment will not exist. And, until
it does exist,
a comprehensive economic recovery cannot be achieved, despite
the
commendable progress in recent months. And, until it is achieved,
continuing intensive poverty and suffering will remain the lot of the
majority of Zimbabweans.
Minister Biti also stated that an
essential element of attaining
meaningful FDI is the very belated execution
of the long-proposed Bilateral
Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement
(Bippa) with South Africa. In
that too he was correct, but nevertheless its
execution will be a shallow
façade unless Zimbabwe demonstrates an
unequivocal intent to adhere to such
agreement.
To provide such
assurance convincingly, Zimbabwe has to demonstrate
genuine intent to honour
the many Bippas to which it has already been party.
It has to acknowledge,
without reservation, its considerable liabilities for
farm expropriations
(without speciously seeking to impose liability upon
Britain), for
vandalisation and theft of farm equipment and inputs, and for
loss of income
of displaced farmers. It has to commit, convincingly, to the
ongoing
security of all FDI, and particularly that allegedly protected by
Bippas.
Unless it does so, the execution of further Bippas will be but a
meaningless
sham, and FDI will still not happen.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August
2009 19:34
MOELETSI Mbeki: 'Architects of Poverty: Why African
Capitalism Needs
Changing'. 196 Pages
Published by Pan MacMillan
SA
Review by James Mitchell.
PERHAPS unconsciously, the
preface makes us aware of the essential
difference between Moeletsi Mbeki
and those condemned to remain transfixed
in a "blame the West"
mindset.
In the Slave House on Goree Island, off Senegal's Dakar, Mbeki
views
"a large musket hanging on the wall - one of the items sold to
Africans as
part of the infamous Triangular Trade whereby manufactured goods
were
shipped from Europe to West Africa and exchanged for slaves, who were
shipped to the Americas to grow sugar, cotton and tobacco that were then
shipped back to Europe. This was mercantile capitalism in action.
"With my South African mindset I queried the wisdom of European
slavers
selling guns to Africans: surely the guns would be turned on the
Europeans,
I ventured, betraying my ignorance about the workings of the
African slave
trade. The curator. explained that it was the Africans who
caught the people
in the interior and sold them to the owners of the ships
that transported
them to the Americas to be sold into slavery. So it was the
Africans who
needed the guns to protect themselves against the communities
they raided
for people to sell."
An uncomfortable realisation: that Africans were
complicit in their
own enslavement. (Equally unpleasant to realise that,
long after the
European nations had internalised the immorality of the slave
trade and
moved to stamp it out, Africa continued selling children to Arab
slavers.
well into the last century.) In the past, Africa harvested its
progeny;
today it sells what it extracts out of the ground: we are, Mbeki
believes,
stuck in the earliest form of capitalism, "mercantile capitalism",
which
depends on the principle of buying cheap and selling dear. "Up to a
point,
Lord Copper."
Not to suggest that Moeletsi Mbeki parallels
the fictional owner of
the Daily Beast newspaper in Evelyn Waugh's Scoop.
(Nor, one hopes, that he
agrees with Lord Copper that the least among his
employees is a book
reviewer.) Mbeki notes that Africa was not always behind
the rest of the
world. He quotes a World Bank comparison of Ghana and Korea
in the
mid-1960s, when the West African state's incomes and exports per
capita were
higher. But within three decades, Korea's exports increased by
400 times,
Ghana's by just four times, while "real earnings per capita fell
to a
fraction of their earlier value".
Far from industrialising, he
writes, our continent is
de-industrialising. This includes not only the most
obvious and notorious
example of Zimbabwe, but even South Africa, whose
"manufacturing sector has
declined from 25% of GDP in 1990 to 16% today".
The new post-colonial
elites, Mbeki alleges, are not producers or
facilitators of wealth creation.
They are consumers. The state is
distributive (in their favour) rather than
developmental (to the benefit of
all). Hence reparations-inspired
legislation such as BEE.
"This is
the most striking difference between the black elite of South
Africa and the
elites of Asia, where the driving ideology is
entrepreneurship."
Again (but this time in the reference to Asia), up to a point.
Malaysia's
"New Economic Policy", sometimes touted as a worthy exemplar for
South
Africa - though thankfully not in this book - had such a strong
distributive
element that it reduced non-Malays (mainly Chinese) to the
status of
productive prey for the indigenous majority. Like non-black South
Africans
in this country?
Only societies "with an independent middle class with
significant
scientific knowledge and managerial skills have produced a
modernising
political leadership", Mbeki writes. Required, before such a
middle class
could emerge, were. "well-travelled merchants, independent
artisans and
scholars in feudal societies; and "ethnic minorities, such as
the Jews in
parts of Europe or the Parsee in India".
Whether such
individuals and cosmopolitan groups are appreciated here
or on our continent
as a whole is open to question. This country, Mbeki
writes, has fallen into
the "resource curse" trap, so that at least "a
quarter of the population
receives social grants that would not be available
if South Africa were not
rich in minerals". The insecure recipients of this
largesse resent their
marginalisation. To regain self-respect, they "support
demagogues who claim
they, too, are marginalised and therefore want to
replace the ruling elites
with people-friendly governments. This, in a
nutshell, is what happened at
the ANC conference in December 2007."
Mbeki depicts, sans polemics, the
disaster of Zimbabwe, then asks: Why
the blind eye turned by the governments
of other southern African states? In
part, "fear of the emergence of more
democratic political forces in Zimbabwe
that might threaten the status quo
of southern Africa's established
political elites". It was "the spectre of
new, well-organised, cosmopolitan
and vocal constituencies no longer
interested in the politics of race but in
the accountability of governance
(that) struck fear into the hearts of these
elites and explains their
solidarity with Zanu PF and Mugabe".
This spectre of accountability
helps explain the rejection by the ANC
of changes to South Africa's
electoral system. Ask yourself: Who is my
Member of Parliament? No name, no
accountability, no need for change.
Simple, really.
Numerous issues
are considered. For example, the question of
unification, whether regional
or continental (mercifully, would-be Brother
Leader Muammar Gaddafi doesn't
get a look-in here). Must - as is frequently
argued - borders and
sovereignty be abolished to eliminate barriers to
growth? Mbeki's answer:
"Electrolux, Volvo, Saab, Nestlé, Philips, Unilever,
Royal Dutch/Shell,
Carling, Interbrew, Heineken, AAB, Ericsson, Nokia, Norsk
Hydro, Roche,
Maersk, UBS, ABN-AMRO" are but a few of the world-class
companies developed,
he reminds us, "long before European integration became
a reality". It isn't
the size of the population that matters, "rather it is
its skills pool and
its control over its economic and social policies that,
in the final
analysis, determine the level of industrialisation". Alarming
reading, one
might think. In a logical society this should serve as a
wake-up call. But
will it?
Let us not hold our breaths. There are many in power or
leeching on
its fringes who will be perfectly happy as South Africa
de-industrialises,
as our doctors and engineers flee, as our skilled farmers
trek, as our
entrepreneurs relocate, in short, as our "brains" drain. With
less and less
to redistribute, our new elites will remain consumers, not
producers, unless
we change radically.
For Mbeki's suggestions as
to how we change, I strongly suggest you
read his book. As is customary, on
the cover the author is depicted in words
that must at least have been
approved by him. His political path, his
business and academic interests are
summarised. But first, he is described
as "a journalist, private business
entrepreneur and political commentator".
Interesting that he should
accept - even claim - the label of
journalist, at a time when this
occupation is more undervalued, and more
under pressure, than ever. It
suggests that he sees himself in the primary
role of journalism: speaking
truth to power while informing citizens about
what is being done in their
name. This task requires, above all, a keen
ethical sense and the ability to
clarify complex issues and happenings,
while explaining them fairly and
accurately. Moeletsi Mbeki has most
certainly done this in Architects of
Poverty, between whose covers clarity
reigns supreme. One need not agree
with everything, but one can understand
all: an accolade of which any
journalist might be proud. This small book
deserves a wide readership.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13 August
2009 20:28
RESIDENTS of the middle density suburbs of Msasa Park and
HatfieId in
Harare congregate daily in the shadows of huge water storage
tanks along
Chiremba Road for the daily ritual of fetching water, and
washing clothes
and crockery. The daring ones take a bath there under the
cover of darkness.
The two huge water tanks are ironically empty hence
there is no water
in the Eastern suburbs. But close by there is a damaged
valve on a major
underground pipe. There, water seeps out of
liberally.
City authorities have pretended the problem does not exist.
They have
not made attempts to repair the damage to the pipe. Doing so would
be tragic
to the residents who consider this fountain wrought by delinquency
by the
local authority to be a godsend. It is their only lifeline.
Unfortunately at
night when the popular water joint is not patronised, the
useful resource
does not stop gushing and going to waste. Meanwhile the
residents in these
dry suburbs have continued to receive water bills and
threats of being cut
off.
Close to the empty tanks, a developer is
servicing residential stands
for prospective home owners to build homes. The
households will be without
water. New homeowners will be joining the queue
to fetch water at the
fountain of delinquency.
This embarrassing
scene is being played out in many parts of the
capital and throughout the
country albeit with varying degrees of indecency
and frustration. The
reasons for failure by local authorities to provide
water to residents are
the same in all urban areas: unreliable raw water
sources, poor pumping and
treatment infrastructure, and dilapidated water
delivery networks. The
development in water provision has failed to keep
pace with urban expansion.
Now development in most urban areas is threatened
and in some instances it
has come to a grinding halt.
Local authorities and private developers
will find it difficult to
implement large residential developments if there
is no water. Industrial
and commercial expansion is also
threatened.
Zimbabweans are today paying for government's harebrained
projects and
persistent interference in the running of local authorities
which saw
patronage taking precedence over sustainable development. For
example,
problems of water in Harare are not new. Government has been alive
to the
challenges for over 20 years now. It has always been aware of the
solution
to the problem but has failed to deliver due to political bungling
and poor
prioritisation of capital projects.
The government has
also been aware that Harare daily loses at least
30% of purified water
through underground pipe leakages. The authorities
have always been alive to
the fact the city requires new water sources to
augment existing large
volume dams which are heavily contaminated with raw
sewerage and industrial
pollutants. The authorities have also been aware of
their inability to
finance the projects and hence invited financiers and
technical partners to
build Kunzvi Dam on a BOT basis. The deal collapsed in
typical fashion,
weighed down by patronage and corruption from pubic
officials. The same is
true for Bulawayo where the Matabeleland Zambezi
Water Project has remained
on the drawing board.
The solution to the water crisis in the two
cities still rests on the
ability of the government and local authorities to
attract investors to
implement BOT or BOOT projects. For this to happen
though the approach to
such arrangements have to change.
Zimbabwe
has over the years become notorious for its corruption and
bureaucratic
procrastination in the handling of large capital projects. In
Harare the
Kunzvi water project deal with Bi-Water fell by the wayside after
it emerged
that council had awarded the contract without going to tender.
Since then
investors from different countries, including North Koreans,
lately have
been paraded as potential suitors but nothing has come of that.
The
government has a tainted record which requires cleansing before
any hopes of
attracting investment in public infrastructure development
materialise. A
key measure of the success of this inclusive government is
going to be the
ability by the state to repair infrastructure and implement
greenfield
projects in power, transportation, communication, and irrigation
facilities.
Efficient and high quality infrastructure is of utmost
importance to
achieve a balanced development of the Zimbabwean economy.
Infrastructure
should be treated as a high-priority sector. Though the
government has given
prime attention to infrastructure development under
Sterp, we are yet to see
a demonstrable shift in the way government
operates. There have been reports
of government awarding huge concessions to
private players in the
agricultural sector without going to tender. What is
required at the moment
a clear policy on infrastructure development clearly
spelling out guidelines
for BOT and BOOT tie-ups. The government and local
authorities should also
prepare a register of projects requiring
public-private-partnerships.
Transparency is key here. Zimbabwe needs to
carry out and complete a BOT
project to convince sceptical investors. The
sloppy work along the Bulawayo
Road in Norton and the glacial progress of
the Harare Masvingo Road do not
inspire confidence. That is what we will be
judged against.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Thursday, 13
August 2009 19:50
WHEN Morgan Tsvangirai returned from his trip to
Europe and North
America in June he may have come home relatively
empty-handed, but he
carried a weighty message. Media reform, he was told by
just about every
head of state he met, was the sine qua non of normalisation
of relations and
aid.
Since then progress has been glacial. The
Kariba all-stakeholders
conference in May resolved to take an axe to the
hated Aippa but that step
now awaits the formation of the Zimbabwe Media
Commission (ZMC) which has
itself been mired in
controversy.
Remnants of the ancien regime are seeking to
retain control of media
regulation via the ZMC while others in the
profession, including the Media
Alliance of Zimbabwe which embraces the
Zimbabwe National Editors Forum
(Zinef), Misa, the Media Monitoring Project
of Zimbabwe, and ZUJ, want to
see a self-regulatory commission instead. Best
practice elsewhere, as I told
Parliament's Portfolio Committee on Media,
Information and Communication
last month, points to a voluntary system,
particularly where complaints are
involved.
Parallel to all
this, Zinef has been working to secure undertakings
from government
regarding the safe return of journalists currently working
abroad.
The Global Political Agreement of last September
and subsequent
statements by the Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee and the
Victoria Falls gathering of ministers have stressed the
need for external
media workers to return home and accredit locally so
diverse voices can be
heard in the country's journey to democratic rule.
While these appeals were
directed in particular at external broadcasters,
they apply equally to print
and online publishers.
Following a meeting in Johannesburg with our external members in May,
I
wrote to Minister Webster Shamu asking for guarantees that Zimbabwean
nationals working in the Diaspora would be allowed unimpeded access if they
chose to return home. This is particularly important given threats made
against "pirate" broadcasters in the past.
I also sought
guarantees for foreign correspondents who had been
declared prohibited
immigrants on spurious security grounds over the past
decade or had their
Temporary Employment Permits abruptly terminated.
Mercedes
Sayagues and Joe Winter were accused by President Mugabe of
"doing lots of
other things" when they were booted out in 2001.
The Guardian's
Andrew Meldrum was abducted and deported in 2003
despite being a permanent
resident and possessing a High Court order
forbidding his forced
removal.
Mr Shamu responded to my letter by inviting me to a
meeting at which
deputy minister Jameson Timba and principal director in the
Media ministry,
Dr Sylvester Maunganidze, were also present. The minister
asked me to submit
a list of those affected -- which I duly
did.
I have since heard unofficially that there will be no
obstacle to the
return of those Zimbabweans whose names I submitted -- both
broadcasters and
publishers. But there has been no official statement to
this effect. Nor any
word on the status of former foreign
correspondents.
This is an unsatisfactory situation. Given the
appalling media climate
in Zimbabwe since 1999 when Mark Chavunduka and Ray
Choto were abducted and
tortured, followed by the president's televised
threats against the
publishers of the Standard, there is need for absolute
clarity on the status
of journalists working in Zimbabwe. The recent
agreement with the BBC and
CNN opens a small window but is based upon the
disingenuous claim that the
BBC was never banned in the first
place.
Until we hear from the government that journalists --
both local and
foreign -- are free to enter and work in Zimbabwe, if
necessary with ZMC
accreditation, and that such accreditation will not be
manipulated by
officious government personnel as in the past, it is
impossible to say there
has been media reform.
Prime
Minister Tsvangirai could do us all a favour in the meantime by
not claiming
there has been progress when there hasn't. He is currently
having to publish
his own newspaper precisely because there is no fair
coverage of his party
in the state media. Nor has there been any attempt to
enforce professional
standards including curbs on hate speech in the
government
press.
I regret that I cannot at the moment write to my
colleagues in the
Diaspora urging them to return home in the absence of any
declaration
regarding their status. Jomic appears to have gone to sleep
after its
initial media foray! This is a pity because there have been
tentative moves
by Unesco and others to convene a meeting of all editors
including the
Zimbabwe Association of Editors, which represents editors
largely in the
state sector, to explore areas of
cooperation.
Meanwhile, we welcome the minister's response to
our concerns, however
muted, and look forward to the lifting of media
controls, the repeal of
Aippa and the equally pernicious Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act,
and the issuing of licences to publishers and
broadcasters.
At present we are not even halfway there. Charges
against Zimbabwe
Independent journalists Vincent Kahiya and Constantine
Chimakure for
publishing information contained in court documents, and
therefore in the
public domain, remain outstanding.
So do
those brought against former Chronicle editor Brezhnev Malaba
and reporter
Nduduzo Tshuma for shining a spotlight on murky maize deals,
and Standard
editor Davison Maruziva for publishing an opinion piece by
Arthur Mutambara
that appears to have offended the powers that be --
something any
self-respecting journalist should arguably be doing!
Quite
clearly the harassment of journalists persists. Democratic
reform hinges on
an outspoken press. The aim is a free media environment
where a variety of
voices contend. Only when that is achieved can voters
make an informed
choice at the polls.
http://www.thezimbabweindependent.com/
Whose History is it Anyway?
Thursday, 13 August 2009 20:18
I WAS horrified as I watched ZTV, to see "political commentator"
Goodson
Nguni declare that Enos Nkala had betrayed the liberation struggle
"by
joining the right-wing Forum Party".
If people depend on such
"commentators" to construct the history of
our country, they will be sadly
and severely misled -- which raises the
issue of whose history is it
anyway?
As a founder and a member of the Forum Party of Zimbabwe's
national
executive in 1993, I oversaw its dissolution and the subsequent
integration
of our members into the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in
1999.
It is from this standpont that I can assure the nation that Enos
Nkala
was never a member of the Forum Party of Zimbabwe.
It is true
that Nkala approached Forum Party leaders -- including
Enoch Dumbutshena,
Washington Sansole and Patrick Kombayi.
We were the lone voice of
opposition to Zanu PF rule at that time, and
he had been sadly disenchanted
with the actions and dissimulation of the
former ruling party.
We
had gone to the extent of engaging him in negotiations on possible
funding
to support opposition to the regime.
He had, after all, been treasurer
for Zanu PF for some years.
However, we did not complete our
negotiations and efforts in that
regard, because firstly the 1995 election
was upon us before we had time to
prepare, and secondly because there was
considerable discomfort within our
party about engaging a person perceived
to have been involved in the
Gukurahundi massacres.
In the event
Nkala backed off and took a back seat in politics for
another 10 years or so
until popping up again in the run-up to 2008, after
the late entry into the
fray of Simba Makoni in February that year.
His choice of platform
turned out to be based on smoke and mirrors, as
Makoni made a very poor
showing, despite much hype and questionable opinion
polls -- so he was back
to square one.
It is my view that Nkala has outlived his moment and
should retire
gracefully from active politics and rather become the
statesman that he so
aspires to turn into.
Trudy Stevenson is
former MP for Harare North.
------------
Is the Herald now
seeing the light?
Thursday, 13 August 2009 20:14
I WAS
very intrigued to read an editorial in the Herald which was
blasting
attempts by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono to
bring the
Zimbabwe dollar back into circulation.
As Zimbabweans we have suffered
because of what Gono did to the
Zimbabwean dollar and which led to its
demise. The Herald staffers should be
congratulated for telling Gono like it
is.
Although some of its reporters are known to be Gono bootlickers,
for
once the Herald had the nerve that enough is enough of his weird
monetary
policies.
I hope that the stance they took is a sign that
the Herald has
finally seen the light and realised that Zanu PF is only
trying to use the
newspaper as its mouthpiece whilst scuttling the will of
the majority of the
people of Zimbabwe -- who have since rejected the
party.
It looks like Zanu PF-aligned officials including Gono, do not
want
to heed calls by Finance Minister, Tendai Biti and Economic Planning
and
Investment Promotion minister Elton Mangoma that the Zimbabwean dollar
is
dead and buried for the time being.
Trymore
Mazhambe,
Mutare.
-------------
Moyo Least Qualified
to Talk About Virtue
Thursday, 13 August 2009 20:04
PROFESSOR Jonathan Moyo's obituary of the late Vice-President Joseph
Msika
"Msika, a man of the truth " (Zimbabwe Independent August 7) was a
curious
mix of hypocrisy laced with dishonesty. Of all the people that could
have
written obituaries on Msika, Jonathan Moyo was the least qualified.
The title of the obituary itself "Msika, a man of the truth" tells us
a lot
about everything that Jonathan Moyo is not. In fact, Moyo is the
antithesis
of truth and honesty that it is almost impossible to believe if
anything he
said about Msika is actually true.
Moyo says Msika "never
exaggerated his capacity" yet it is Moyo
himself who thinks he knows
everything and that he is larger than life
itself. We are told that Msika
loathed the so-called mafikizolos -- the
textbook politicians who claim to
know more than they actually do.
The term mafikizolo became part of
our political lingo when it was
used in reference to Jonathan Moyo during
his time as the government's
overzealous Information minister, Zanu PF
propagandist and chief apologist.
It is possible that Msika might have been
thinking of Moyo when he, in Moyo's
own words, became "vicious" against
certain leaders who thought they had a
licence to "willy nilly say or do
anything" just because they had "high
sounding formal educational
standards".
Moyo wants the readers of his obituary to believe
that Msika was a
principled nationalist who never allowed personal ambition
to come in the
way of his service to the nation explaining that this is why
he never sought
"high positions for their own sake even when opportunities
came begging".
Yet Moyo himself is a cunning opportunist and
shameless political
vacillator who uses the sad passing away of an
86-year-old man to write a
mouthful obituary merely as a political
springboard to draw attention to
himself in the hope -- I presume -- that
someone from Zanu PF will notice
him and re-admit him after he was
unceremoniously ejected from the party for
allegedly trying to usurp power
from the Zanu PF hierarchy which included
Msika. While Msika is described as
"humble" Moyo uses his obituary to
describe people with different views from
him as "foolish" -- showing that
his ego has no limits.
After his well publicised mugodoyi comments where Msika described
opposition
supporters as dogs, it is difficult to accept that Msika was as
virtuous as
Jonathan Moyo would have us believe. Even then, to hear a Moyo
speak of
virtue is like inviting Osama bin Laden to be a key speaker at a
conference
on peace and democracy.
Hudson Yemen Taivo,
United
Kingdom.
----------
Kasukuwere no Obama
Thursday, 13 August 2009 20:01
CALLING Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment minister
Saviour Kasukuwere Barack Obama --
of all people -- is not only an
overstatement but a sign of a flagrant
disrespect for an exceptional and
exemplary leader.
It is also
reflective of the sycophantic and extravagant loyalty to
politicians which
is characteristic of Zanu PF.
Observer,
Harare.
---------
Zanu PF Apologists Must Smell the
Coffee
Thursday, 13 August 2009 19:55
FOR anyone who
attended the recent Zimbabwe Media Commission
interviews pity was the only
emotion to feel for Zanu PF apologists who
failed dismally to understand
that Zimbabwe is going through a
transformation phase following the
formation of the inclusive government.
It was really a sad sight to
note that some Zanu PF-aligned academics
were failing to comprehend that
Zimbabwe is entering a new era.
For instance instead of
Tafataona Mahoso answering simple questions
directed at him he decided to
ask the panellists questions.
This arrogance shows that Mahoso
and other Zanu PF apologists like
Chris Mutsvangwa are still living in a
blinkered age where they think
everyone will believe whatever nonsense they
say.
It is surprising that despite all the booing that
Mutsvangwa has
received at most independent public meetings that he has been
asked to speak
at, he still remains blinkered.
Mutsvangwa
and Mahoso should seriously look at themselves and reflect
on the
unpopularity of the policies they want to impose which resulted in
the
former's dismal performance in the March 2008 parliamentary
elections.
Agrippa Zvomuya,
Harare.
-----
SMS The Zimbabwe Independent
Thursday, 13 August 2009 19:57
AS Zimbabweans we salute Joseph Msika
for his commitment and
dedication to the nation. We should continue to
soldier on, emulating his
good works for the benefit of the nation. Rest in
peace qhawe lamaqhawe.
JWM, Bulawayo.
ATTRIBUTES of our
"supreme leader": stays put after losing an
election, unleashes violence
against innocent people, and blames sanctions
for all his failures.
Take-a-hike.
JONATHAN Moyo probably fitted the mafikizolos tag that
the late VP
Joseph Msika didn't like. Talk of irony!
Ngwenya,
Bulawayo.
TO Jonathan Moyo I say nobody believes that the history
of this
country began in 2000. Rather we acknowledge that things took a turn
for the
worse around 1999-2000 and there is nothing foolish about
that.
MuGrade7, Marondera.
WILL someone please tell George
Charamba that it is people like him
who destabilise Zimbabwe, not Twitter,
and that he will, after the next
elections be out of a job.
Justice.
ZIMBABWEANS are learned people and if Zanu PF keeps
pressing lame
charges against MDC MPs, it embarrasses itself. Zimbabweans
are able to
evaluate the truth and lies.
Observer.
WHY
push for the removal of Gideon Gono and Johannes Tomana from their
current
posts when they have not deviated from the tenets of the inclusive
government? They are part and parcel of the government regardless of their
shortcomings. To err is human!
Patriot.
POWER
devolution is a good idea in the new constitution. I also
subscribe to
Dumiso Dabengwa's view that there should be devolution of
responsibilities
to the provinces as we need better roads, schools, clinics
and other
services in Zaka which the central government is failing to
provide.
Mockem Mageza, Bulawayo.
SINCE there is a
minimum age limit for one to qualify for the post of
president of 40 years,
the constitution must have a maximum age limit of 65
years and allow only
for two terms.
Observer.
LET'S have the two constitutions;
the Kariba draft vs the
people-driven for next year's referendum.
Homes, Chibi.
A "HUMAN rights watcher" recently castigated the police
for shooting
down criminals. He should spare a thought for the victims, the
orphans and
widows left behind who the criminals leave in their
wake.
Other-side.
I HEARD that Higher Education minister
Stan Mudenge set up three
committees to research on how to stop the flight
of skilled manpower from
Zimbabwe. Seriously, does that need
research?
Perplexed.
I URGE the responsible authorities to
do something to improve the ever
busy Harare-Beitbridge highway before many
lives are lost. The road is in an
appalling condition.
Wechikama,
Mwenezi.
MY 18-month-old baby has never seen such a spectacle; our
taps
producing water. It's the first time in her life to see it happen in
her own
home. She won't forget August 6, 2009.
Mandara.
CAN the government deal with the issue of unemployed
qualified nurses.
They asked the nurses to come back from the diaspora and
now that they are
back, it seems like they are being punished. Do something
about it.
Analyst.
SOME patients have stopped taking
medication midway because of the
conditions at collection clinics. There is
no privacy whatsoever. A patient's
medical condition and history is
discussed in front of other patients.
Concerned.
SOME
banks are just ripping off clients. A US$10 charge for one
transaction per
month is just too much. Responsible authorities should look
into this
issue.
T Chilaz.
WHY are local mobile phone operators not
offering any incentives to
their customers. Instead they block lines
periodically and charge high
rates.
Endex.
CAN Econet
please explain why I am being billed for text messages that
were not
delivered? This is unfair, especially now when airtime is bought in
foreign
currency.
Economist, Harare.
RUTHLESS transport operators
in Makoni West are milking commuters dry
by overcharging. They are demanding
US$3 per trip from Rusape to Goto, a
journey of only 50km.
Cheated,
Rusape.