Associated Press
(AP) –
10 hours ago
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Police say at least 18 people died
when a bus veered
off the highway and slammed into a tree after a wheel
broke off.
State radio reported Sunday that other passengers in the
overcrowded
16-seater minibus were injured in the crash Saturday about 55
miles (90
kilometers) northeast of Harare.
Police official Oliver
Mandipaka told the state broadcaster a rear wheel
sheered off and the bus
careered into a tree 300 feet (100 meters) along the
roadside. Mandipaka
said 16 people died on the spot.
Bus accidents are common in Zimbabwe,
blamed mostly on poor maintenance in
the troubled economy, worn tires,
speeding and overcrowding. The state
Sunday Mail newspaper reported as many
as 29 passengers were believed
crammed into the 16-seat bus.
http://www.timeslive.co.za
JAMA MAJOLA | 31 July, 2011
03:39
Zimbabwe's belligerent security forces loyal to President Robert
Mugabe are
going for the jugular against top MDC-T leaders, including Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, in a well planned crackdown to crush the drive
to remove
the veteran ruler from power.
Informed insiders said senior
members of the Joint Operations Command
(JOC) - which brings together the
army, police and intelligence service
chiefs - have been mulling a
calculated strategy.
Its line of attack is to accuse MDC-T leaders of
corruption, sleaze and
abuse of office in order to arrest them and hopefully
paralyse the movement
threatening to sweep Zanu-PF from power.
The
insiders say JOC's strategy and tactics continue to be debated to find
the
right moment to pounce as election fever gradually soars.
"Now they are
going for the jugular against Tsvangirai and other senior
MDC-T officials,"
a top government official said.
"They want to seize and decisively crush
them before the do-or-die
elections. The political stakes are very
high."
Mugabe and Zanu-PF have repeatedly insisted they want polls this
year
despite clear indications that the process to create conditions for a
free
and fair poll would not be finished this year or even next
year.
Insiders say JOC wants Tsvangirai and senior MDC-T leaders,
particularly
secretary-general Tendai Biti, arrested for alleged corruption
and fraud
over issues still under investigation.
Tsvangirai and Biti
are currently under public and secretive investigations
over cases of
suspected graft and sexual indiscretions.
Tsvangirai is being
investigated for allegedly misappropriating $1.5-million
he was given in
2009 to buy a house in Harare's Highlands suburb.
Although police have
not acknowledged the investigation, the Sunday Times
has impeccable details
showing the probe is in full swing and gathering
momentum.
Biti, as
head of Treasury, is also linked to the case. JOC insiders say it
is now a
matter of time before Tsvangirai and Biti are arrested.
The two have
already been exposed in the state-owned media over sex scandals
choreographed by the intelligence agencies who want to destroy their
reputation and political careers.
"It's now a matter of time before
police arrest Tsvangirai and Biti," a
senior government official told the
Sunday Times.
"They are hot on their trails. Things will get worse
towards elections. A
sweeping crackdown and vicious campaign of terror will
be unleashed. The
build-up is already under way."
Another government
official said: "JOC wants them arrested regardless of the
political
consequences."
"JOC members have been debating whether to arrest the two
or not because
even if the allegations against them are genuine and
credible, the masses
won't believe it. They would dismiss it as politically
motivated and thus it
can create serious social unrest," the government
official said.
"So it's a tricky and risky mission, but influential JOC
members want the
operation to go ahead."
Cases against Tsvangirai
have been gradually building up. Tsvangirai has
been accused of abusing
funds in his office on purposeless foreign trips,
although Mugabe is clearly
the main culprit.
Biti is also being probed for allegedly corruption in
his ministry. Just
over a week ago, the high court in Harare threw out
Biti's appeal which
sought to bar police from obtaining his mobile phone
records, prompting his
lawyers to instantly lodge another appeal with the
supreme court.
A magistrate ruled a few weeks ago that mobile provider
Econet should
release Biti's records to the police investigating him and a
number of his
subordinates in the Treasury on suspicion of
corruption.
Insiders say police also want to access Biti's records on a
fishing
expedition in the hope of stumbling on incriminating evidence and
damaging
information.
Police recently arrested five Ministry of
Finance officials on allegations
of fraud and criminal abuse of office after
it was claimed they embarked on
unsanctioned foreign trips while also
corruptly procuring goods for the
ministry.
One of those arrested is
ministry's official Petronella Chishawa, picked up
on allegations of going
on unauthorised foreign trips which saw her staying
out of the country for a
cumulative three months between December 2010 and
May 2011. Chishawa was
allegedly recently embroiled in a sex scandal with
Biti splashed on the
front pages of state newspapers.
Like Tsvangirai, who has also been
linked to several sex scandals in the
state media, Biti has said the
scandals and investigations were politically
motivated.
A number of
senior MDC-T officials have been accused of corruption. Energy
and Power
Development Minister Elton Mangoma was recently arrested and
prosecuted
although he was acquitted on charges of purchasing fuel without
going to
tender.
Another case of violating tender procedures against him was
dropped last
week.
Senior Zanu-PF officials are not probed or
arrested for corruption.
Despite repeated complaints and reports of
corruption to the police, Local
Government Minister Ignatius Chombo, a close
Mugabe ally, has not been
investigated or even asked to account for his vast
wealth.
Mangoma said on Friday in Victoria Falls that the army, police
and
intelligence services must stop operating in a partisan way.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Nyamandlovu, July 31,
2011-Thirty years after the country got its
independence there are still
some areas which has no sources of drinking
water and if the affected
community complain about maginalisation they are
further victimised
politically.
This is the situation in Nyamandlovu’s Umguza some few
kilometres North west
of Bulawayo the country’s second largest
city.
People of Matebeleland accuse the former Robert Mugabe Zanu (PF) party
led
government for underdeveloping their region with former Bulawayo
Mayor
Joshua Malinga, who is also a Zanu-(PF) Politburo member, recently
publicly
blaming the Matabeleland political leadership for its deliberate
silence
when it comes to advancing the region’s cause.
“There is a
leadership vacuum in the region and some leaders are not moving
with the
people,” Malinga told the state weekly newspaper recently.
“It is not good to
insult the people, leaders should lead the people like
the late Vice
President Dr Joshua Nkomo and King Mzilikazi.” He said
leaders from the
region lacked a common vision and agenda on how they could
carry out
developmental projects.
“The main problem is that we do not have a common
agenda as leaders of
Matabeleland and that explains why we fight each other
in the media,” said
Malinga. He said despite having different political
affiliations, political
leaders needed to meet and discuss issues affecting
the region.
“Instead we should understand our problems as a group and
discuss them and
how we intend to solve them.”
Malinga said the
Gukurahundi issue could not continue to be ignored or
denied space in public
debates.
“There is a need for a deliberate affirmative action to heal the
people’s
emotions in order to bring meaningful development,” he
said.
“Such issues of national importance should be discussed openly and the
leadership must learn to accept criticism. Criticism adds value to our
leaders and it does not mean that we hate them”, added
Malinga
Despite the presence of real underdevelopment evident in the
region such as
poor road, dilapidated water systems and dead industrial
activities Ndebele
politicians who are near Robert Mugabe have lambasted
their Matabeleland
counterparts accusing them of being lazy.
Such
politicians who want to please the unopposed aged Zanu (PF) leader
Robert
Mugabe include John Nkomo and Simon Khaya Moyo.
A visit by Radio VOP at
Umguza in Nyamandlovu early this week has revealed
that the region is indeed
underdeveloped. People there had gone for more
than a decade without having
a source of water. The situation had gone bad
to the extent of them
abandoning having conjugal rights because of a serious
shortage of
water.
Thanks to the United Nations through its donor agencies operating
in the
country which recently rescued the looming serious health risk in the
area,
injecting more than US$4 million for drilling 15 boreholes to be used
by
over 850 villagers.
DP Foundation a UN member organisation’s
Chief Executive Mrs Mildred Sandi
the one in charge of revitalisation of
such projects in Matabeleland told
Radio VOP ,during the visit that they
were surprised to note that after 30
years of independence there were still
people surviving in areas without any
sources of water.
“When we came
here I was shocked, amazed to see how people lived without
safe drinking
water for a decade to a point some said we can’t go to bed
and have the
conjugal rights because we have to bath after that. I wondered
how people
lived without water. They had to fetch water at some 20km
distance and some
had to work for water. Those who had water say you have to
work. Here is my
piece of land, you can till it and have bucket of water”,
she
said.
Villagers have also established an irrigation scheme they have
called
Papamani which they are using for generating income. The irrigation
project
manager Stanford Moyo said there was no hope of life before UN came
to their
rescue.
“The situation which prevailed here before the
intervention of UN was
pathetic. We had no water and we used to work for
water, can you imagine?.
We approached a number of local business people who
failed to assist the
situation until the time we caught up with DP
Foundation who later mobilised
resources for the revitalisation of this
irrigation scheme, which we are now
using for income generating projects,
“Moyo said.
One of the residents and member of the irrigation project
says their lives
have changed by the irrigation project. Some of the
boreholes which had
existed before in the area had failed due to negligence,
after the white
farmers who drilled them were thrown out under President
Robert Mugabe’s
land seizure policy.
The peasant farmers who took
over the farms had no resources to maintain the
boreholes, but the UN has
renovated them.
There has been heated debate in the past weeks with
Matabeleland region’s
leadership expressing different views with regards to
the alleged
marginalisation of the region. Among them have been Governor and
Resident
Minister of Bulawayo, Ambassador Cain Mathema, who accused people
in the
region of being cry babies. Vice-President John Landa Nkomo also
voiced his
views on the issue and said the term “marginalisation” should be
consigned
to history and never be used in any context when referring to
development
issues in the region.
Last month, the leader of the MDC,
Professor Welshman Ncube, called on the
Government to act decisively to stop
the marginalisation of Matabeleland
before people from the region lose
patience.
Veteran nationalist and former Cabinet Minister, Mr Enos Nkala,
also joined
in the debate and said the proposal by some elements fronted by
Mthwakazi
Liberation Front (MLF) to secede Matabeleland from the rest of the
country
was complex and could not be done without creating conflict.
Zanu-(PF)
Politburo member Cephas Msipa also added his voice and said the
people of
Matabeleland should not mourn about their situation instead take
part in
developing their area
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Taurai Mangudhla, Business Writer
Sunday, 31 July
2011 14:26
HARARE - The Zimbabwean government’s decision to
compensate bearers of the
country’s outmoded Zimbabwe dollar (Z$) currency
is only a moral exercise,
analysts say.
Economist Erich Bloch
said the move did not make much economic sense and
people would get little
return.
“Government’s decision to honour its promise is morally correct
but it does
not have any effect because the whole amount involved is just $6
million. It
will however give little assistance to pension fund bearers who
will at
least get a small reward for their earnings,” Bloch
said.
This follows promises by government in February 2009 – at inception
of the
multicurrency regime – to credit depositors and insurance policy
holders’
accounts with amounts equivalent to the exchange rate announced at
the time
of crossing over to a new currency environment.
“The
decision to demonetise was made on 3 February 2009. Government is
simply
going to honour the promise it made to honour these deposits when it
slashed
12 zeros from all Z$ deposits before committing to exchange the
resulting
figure at a rate of 20 as to one,” said Bloch.
Finance minister Tendai
Biti’s recent mid-term fiscal policy review
indicated that government’s
plans to demonetise Z$ balances were going
ahead, at an estimated total cost
of US$6 million.
“Government in previous budgets acknowledged the need to
demonetise the $Z
balances in bank accounts and outside the banking system,
upon availability
of resources,” said Biti, adding that the US$6 million
would have to be
provided for through the budget.
Biti said a
committee comprising officials from government and the Bankers
Association
of Zimbabwe was currently working on the requisite details and
modalities to
operationalise the process.
The compensation initiative comes in the wake
of growing concern among
depositors, pension fund bearers and insurance
policy holders over the fate
of their captivated Z$ deposits.
While
presenting the economic Medium Term Plan (MTP) earlier this month,
Biti said
Zimbabwe would maintain the multicurrency regime until 2015, as
part of
government’s commitment to create an enabling environment for
economic
stability and growth.
This followed enquiries by the banking sector into
the macroeconomic
environment that is to prevail during implementation of
the MTP.
According to a banks poll by businessdaily, bankers indicated
that they were
willing to honour the Z$ bank balances, but raised concern
over whether or
not RBZ had the capacity to bankroll the
project.
“RBZ should simply announce an exchange rate after which they
start selling
foreign currency to banks at the agreed rate, but they need to
have the
money first,” said one of the bankers who refused to be
named.
He added that the procedural demonetisation exercise would have
little
effect on boosting depositors’ confidence against a backdrop of
political
and legislative irregularities where policy could just change
overnight.
Industrialists have always argued that there was a lot of
unbanked money in
the economy owing to a general lack of depositors’
confidence.
However, an expert banker said: “Another issue is that in as
much as people
say we need to boost confidence, Zimbabwe’s economy is
largely informal and
it is dominated by Small to Medium Enterprises
(SMEs)."
“SMEs by their nature operate on a cash basis because they have
no access to
deposit terminals and their suppliers also want cash up front.”
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
SIMPLICIUS CHIRINDA | 31 July, 2011 03:39
Farmers
resettled under Zimbabwe's controversial land reforms programme are
one of
the reasons animal poaching is on the rise, according to the
country's
wildlife management authority.
Vitalis Chadenga, director general of the
Parks and Wildlife Authority, told
parliament this week that land invaders
who have resettled in wildlife areas
where no farming is possible are now
resorting to poaching animals such as
elephants, rhinos, zebras and many
others for survival.
Others are doing so together with poaching
syndicates, some believed to be
bankrolled by politicians, for rhino horns
and elephant hides.
"We find people being given plots to engage in
agriculture in wildlife areas
and this is coming from the political side,"
Chadenga told the parliamentary
portfolio committee on natural resources,
environment and tourism. He added
that the practice, which is being fuelled
by Zanu-PF politicians, has
increased poaching activities in the country's
national parks.
"This is not a secret. We have people settled in
Gonarezhou and people
encroaching in Chegutu on one of our parks. There are
people settled in
Makuti encroaching on the parks estate with impunity.
There is this emphasis
on wildlife management, wildlife protection, and on
the other hand people
are flouting the rules at will."
Most of the
country's national parks are located in arid areas which are not
suitable
for any farming activities.
According to the Parks and Wildlife
Authority, Zimbabwe lost over 62
elephants and 30 rhinos to poaching
activities last year.
The poaching activities have seen the Convention on
International Trade in
Endangered Species (Cites) banning the trade on ivory
in Zimbabwe.
Chadenga said government officials should not resettle
people in areas that
are not suitable for agriculture.
"We say to
government the best option for these areas is wildlife and if
someone is
going to settle in those areas they must engage in wildlife, not
maize
production."
According to the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force (ZCTF), 10
people were
arrested for poaching and unlawful possession of elephant tusks
and rhino
horn that they were suspected of selling to buyers from China. The
suspects
include four former soldiers and four new farmers. The
International Rhino
Foundation says rhino horns are in demand on the world
market with a kilo
going for up to $40000.
ZCTF also says two young
elephants were allegedly slaughtered by Zanu-PF
supporters targeting
wildlife conservancies in the Lowveld in June.
On the other hand, the
government has also been complicit in the poaching
activities.
The
Ministry of Justice has proposed the culling of elephants to feed
prisoners
to try and curb the shortage of protein in their diet.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
ZOLI MANGENA | 31 July, 2011 02:11
In remarks
guaranteed to send shivers down the spines of investors, a
Zimbabwean
cabinet minister has warned that the government plans to target
foreign-owned banks in its campaign to dictate control of companies
operating in the country.
The Minister of Indigenisation and
Empowerment, Saviour Kasukuwere, said on
Friday that banks were next in the
government's sights after the mining
sector, where it is working to compel
foreign-owned companies to cede
majority ownership to Zimbabweans in terms
of "indigenisation" laws.
Zimbabwe has 26 operating banking institutions,
which include 17 commercial
banks, four merchant banks, four building
societies and one savings bank.
Most of these are, in fact, owned by
locals.
Foreign-owned banks include Stanbic Bank, owned by South Africa's
Standard
Bank; MBCA, owned by Nedbank; and Barclays, Standard Chartered Bank
and Eco
Bank. Foreign banks have a combined deposit base of about
$1-billion. CBZ
Bank, the biggest bank in Zimbabwe by balance sheet, is
partly owned by
Absa. Majority ownership in CBZ already rests with
Zimbabweans.
Last week Kasukuwere threatened to seize assets of
foreign-owned companies
within the next two months if they continued to defy
the controversial
expropriation laws.
President Robert Mugabe and his
officials accuse foreign banks of refusing
to lend money to local companies
and individuals.
They also accuse the banks of furthering and enforcing
Western financial
sanctions against Zimbabwe.
Speaking at a
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industry congress, Kasukuwere said
if foreign
banks did not want to operate under the laws of the country or
did not agree
with the indigenisation regulations, they were free to shut
down and
leave.
"We have been focusing on mining. We will move to the banking
sector, we
need to ensure banks respect and respond to the aspirations of
the people,"
Kasukuwere told the CZI congress. "You cannot have a bank that
behaves like
an estranged woman. If they do not want to operate in this
country they are
free to go.
"They cannot take people's money but
refuse to lend to them," he said.
Kasukuwere's remarks are likely to
anger the country's Finance Minister
Tendai Biti and Reserve Bank governor
Gideon Gono, who have been battling to
stabilise the fragile banking sector
.
Only last week Gono told business executives and bankers in Harare that
stability of the banking sector was critical for economic recovery. Gono
said despite serious liquidity challenges and other problems, the sector was
still safe and sound.
Total banking assets have grown from
$2.2-billion in December 2009 to
$3.7-billion in December 2010 and
$3.9-billion in March this year. From
between December 2009 and June 2011,
the total banking sector loans and
advances increased from $686-million to
$2.37-billion.
Gono last week admitted this was positive and dropped his
own previous
charges against banks for not lending enough.
Gono said
he supported the indigenisation objective but not the current
approach.
In South Africa, Standard Bank Africa chief executive,
Clive Tasker,
yesterday said: "Over the last while, Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe
has been in
consultation with various Zimbabwean government entities
including the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe on the indigenisation
process.
"The Zimbabwe Financial Services Sector Committee recommended in
March 2011
that indigenisation shareholding in financial services companies
should be
at 40%. The exact nature of what we are expected to comply with is
still
therefore work in progress and the subject of some discussion."
http://bulawayo24.com/
by Mafu Sithabile
2011 July 31 09:09:25
FINANCE Minister
Tendai Biti is alleged to have directed the Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority
(Zimra) not to deposit its revenue the exchequer account
that is domiciled
at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
It is understood that when he took over
as Minister of Finance at the
formation of the inclusive Government,
Minister Biti gave a directive to
Zimra without approval from Cabinet that
all revenue collected be deposited
into several accounts strewn all over
the banking sector, instead of the
exchequer's account domiciled at the
central bank as had been happening
since 1980, reported
Zimpapers.
Although Minister Biti could not be reached for a comment
yesterday as his
mobile phone was unreachable, Zimra's director of Legal and
Corporate
Services, Ms Florence Jambwa, confirmed that indeed the authority
is
depositing all its revenue in about 14 private banks.
Ms Jambwa
said Zimra had gone into partnership with banks such as BancABC,
CBZ,
Standard Chartered, FBC, MBCA, Kingdom, Interfin, Metropolitan, ZB,
NMB,
Stanbic, Premier/Ecobank, Tetrad and Agribank for the collection of
revenue.
Ms Jambwa said this was done in their quest to improve
service delivery and
ultimately bring real convenience to Zimra's valued
clients, Zimra opened
revenue accounts with various banks where clients can
pay their taxes and
duties. She added that she could not comment on the
reasons why they were no
longer depositing revenue into the exchequer
account because "this is a
policy issue which we are unable to comment on.
You may wish to contact the
Ministry of Finance for further details on
Treasury policies."
When he presented his Mid-Year Fiscal Policy Review
Statement last Tuesday,
Minister Biti said given the total anticipated
revenues of US$2,746 billion,
the implied monthly average collection becomes
US$230 million. A top
Treasury source who spoke on condition of anonymity
for fear of
victimisation yesterday expressed concern saying at face value,
it seemed
harmless for Government to be depositing its fiscal funds in
hostile
international banks but "when one dissects the cycle of
correspondent
banking relationships between these so-called international
banks and their
parent institutions, it drives painful chills down the
spine."
From 1980 when the country attained Independence up until the
formation of
the inclusive Government, all Government revenues collected in
the economy
encompassing PAYE, corporate income tax and excise duty among
several other
sources were deposited in the Government's exchequer account
domiciled at
the RBZ in line with the constitutional mandate that the
central bank be the
banker to Government.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Gokwe, July 31, 2011- Villagers in
Nembudziya district in Gokwe North have
failed to access satisfactory health
services as a state of the art hospital
built ten years ago lies
idle.
Mutora Hospital has not yet been completed since its construction
started
many years ago.
Access to the hospital is difficult due to a
poor road network leading to
poor service delivery. Apart from this, the
hospital faces a critical
shortage of nursing staff.
The District
Nursing Officer, Salphina Mashavakure told Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai
who was touring the area that her hospital caters for a
very young
productive population where girls marry as early as at 16 years
old.
“The hospital caters for a densely populated area with a young
productive
population. Girls in this area marry at 16 or even 15 because the
boys will
have made money from cotton sales. We therefore service more than
250 000
people and yet many of our clinics in the area are not working,”
said
Mashavakure.
She said more clinics are needed in the large
district.
The hospital has no doctors and yet it is supposed to be manned
by two
medical practitioners and yet it caters for more than 250 000 people.
Many
more key positions at the hospital have not been filled. She told the
Head
of Government that it has become difficult to attract key staff to the
institution because of poor remuneration.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai
promised to investigate the challenges raised at
the meeting and to present
a report to cabinet.
“We will sit down with the ministers involved in these
projects so that we
see where the problems are. This hospital (Mutora) must
be up and running,”
said Tsvangirai.
Zimbabwe’s health institutions
have for a long time been under stress due to
the de-industrialisation that
crippled local economic sector.
But since the formation of a transitional
government in 2009, in which
Tsvangirai is Premier and Robert
Mugabe-president, health institutions have
seen some facelift.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
31/07/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
SEX workers have demanded police take action against bent
junior officers
they accuse of demanding sex or payments in exchange for
freedom from arrest
in a practice said to be rampant cross the
country.
ZRP national spokesman, Wayne Bvudzijena said the police would
thoroughly
examine the allegations adding disciplinary action would be taken
against
those responsible.
“We do not condone such behaviour in the
police force and if we have such
rogue elements in the system, they will be
weeded out,” Bvudzijena told
state-run weekly
newspaper.
“Investigations will be carried out in urban areas countrywide
because
soliciting for sex from those people they should arrest is
unacceptable.”
Prostitutes around the country claim that junior officers
on night patrols
were targeting them at night clubs and other red-light
areas.
The officers allegedly demand spot fines of up to US$10 or sex in
exchange
for freedom from arrest.
Although still illegal, prostitution is
still rife across the country.
Sex workers interviewed by the Sunday News
at a Bulawayo drop-in centre
claimed they were being sexually abused by
police officers.
They added that payments to bent cops were also eating
into their meager
earnings.
Bvudzijena urged the victims to report the
abuse and identify the
responsible officers.
“The police force has a
code of conduct and such practices are a form of
corruption. Disciplinary
action will be taken against those found on the
wrong side of the law,” he
said.
“Those ladies of the night should take down the officers’ force
numbers and
report them because such behaviour is not allowed in the
system,” he said.
The Vigil has received an apology from
the UK Border Agency for comments made when asylum was refused to a Zimbabwean
refugee who offered a letter of support from the Vigil as evidence.
The comments
suggested the letter was worthless because of allegations that the Vigil was a
money-making organization ripping off asylum seekers (see our diary of
25th June 2011: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/the-vigil-diary/315-home-office-a-disgrace-objective-evidence-zimbabwe-vigil-diary-25th-june-2011).
The Border Agency’s Director of Appeals and Removals Phil Douglas replied to our
complaint: ‘I apologise at the outset for the offence this has understandably
given.’ Mr Douglas went on to say that the comments referred to were not based
on information accepted by the Border Agency. He added ‘We have already issued a
desk note that includes information on researching and referencing COI (Country
of Origin Information) and will ensure we further communicate existing guidance
on the list of sources that should be referred to.’ For the full text of the
letter see: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/vigil-news/campaign-news/323-text-of-letter-from-ukba-to-the-zimbabwe-vigil).
While on the subject
of asylum, our partner organisation the Zimbabwe Association has been asked by
the Border Agency to help compile information on persecution / harassment /
detention / voluntary returns to Zimbabwe. You can email Zimbabwe Association
on zimcg@zimbabweassociation.org.uk
to request a form to input this information. The Vigil will also be circulating
the form to its mailing list. The Zimbabwe Association say the most useful
information is anything that is NOT in the public domain, ie things that are
happening to friends and family and have not been reported to newspapers.
The Vigil has also
been assured by the British government that it is to try to overturn a legal
decision to grant a CIO torturer permission to remain in the UK, which was given
on the grounds he might be tortured if returned to Zimbabwe! For details of this
ludicrous decision (see diaries of 21st and 28th May
2011: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/the-vigil-diary/308-malawi-cuts-off-its-own-nose-zimbabwe-vigil-diary-21st-may-2011
and http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/the-vigil-diary/311-vigil-demands-no-haven-in-uk-for-cio-torturer-zimbabwe-vigil-diary-28th-may-2011).
The government’s attitude was explained in a letter in response to
representations by management team member Sue Toft. The Foreign Secretary
William Hague said the government’s policy was that the UK should not be a
refuge for war criminals.
Other
points
·
Vigil regular Mercy
Muranganwa was with us as usual accompanied by her two children. They came
direct from an all-night prayer vigil.
·
Our condolences to
Vigil regular Lungile Ncube whose mother died this week. The Vigil took a
collection for him.
·
Two Community Police
Officers came by (quite early in the Vigil) and asked where everyone was. They
said the Duty Sergeant in the nearby Charing Cross police station was wondering
if he was going deaf because he could not hear our singing and
drumming.
·
Desperation of
Zimbabwe Tourist Authorities. A London freelance journalist informed us that he
had received the following email via the NUJ freelance directory: ‘Dear
Journalist. We would like to invite you to join us at the next press trip to
Zimbabwe taking place from the 18-24th of August 2011. The pre requisites are
that you provide us with a brief 50 word profile and the benefit your visit to
Zimbabwe would bring to the tourism sector. Kindly note that participants are
expected to pay for their own air fare at a discounted rate on Air Zimbabwe. You
will be hosted on arrival in Harare, Victoria Falls, Hwange and Great Zimbabwe
on full board except extras. Please contact Felicia Munjaidi at the Zimbabwe
Tourist Office in London on 07930454099 or zta.london@btclick.com. We look forward
to hearing from you. Yours sincerely, Felicia Munjaidi.’ His response was ‘not
until Mugabe goes’.
·
The Vigil seldom
agrees with Welshman Ncube about anything so we were agreeably surprised by his
condemnation of the Constitutional Outrage programme (see: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/jul30a_2011.html#Z11
– Constitutional timelines nonsense).
·
A reminder of the
ROHR Woking fundraiser next Saturday (see ‘Events and Notices’ section for
details). ROHR Woking invites Vigil supporters to go on from the Vigil next
Saturday.
·
The Vigil was joined
by members of the new Zimbabwe We Can Movement (see diary of 18th
June 2011: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/the-vigil-diary/314-the-three-alternatives-zimbabwe-vigil-diary-18th-june-2011
For latest Vigil
pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website – they
cannot be downloaded from the slideshow on the front page of the Zimvigil
website.
FOR THE
RECORD: 73 signed the
register.
EVENTS AND
NOTICES:
·
The Restoration of
Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s
partner organisation based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil
to have an organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s
mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through
membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in
Zimbabwe.
·
ZBN News.
The
Vigil management team wishes to make it clear that the Zimbabwe Vigil is not
responsible for Zimbabwe Broadcasting Network News (ZBN News). We are happy that
they attend our activities and provide television coverage but we have no
control over them. All enquiries about ZBN News should be addressed to ZBN News.
·
The Zim Vigil
band
(Farai Marema and Dumi Tutani) has launched its theme song ‘Vigil Yedu (our
Vigil)’ to raise awareness through music. To download this single, visit: www.imusicafrica.com and to watch the video
check: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QukqctWc3XE.
·
ROHR Woking Summer
fundraising barbeque. Saturday
6th August from 2 pm till late. Venue: The Old Ford, Lynchford Road,
Ash Vale, Aldershot GU12 5QA. Everyone is invited – come and enjoy a fun-filled
day out. Braai, sadza, rice, chicken, salads, cakes, snacks, drinks. Games for
children including karaoke. Boot sale, auction and raffle with amazing prizes.
Contact: Stanford Munetsi 07584161806, Pauline Nyikadzino 07906726477,
Sithokozile Hlokana 07886203113 and Jermaine Volkwyn
07908522993.
·
ROHR Ipswich
launch meeting.
Saturday 6th
August from 2 – 5.30 pm. Venue Citizens Advice Bureau, Tower
Street, Ipswich IP1 3BE. ROHR National Executive and a well-known lawyer
present. Contact: Dhumisani B Muchipisi 07432722907, Lovemore Muzadzi
07552560184, R Chifungo 07795070609, P Chibanguza 0798406069 or P Mapfumo
07915926323 / 07932216070.
·
ROHR Manchester
Meetings. Saturday
13th August (committee meeting from 11 am – 1 pm, general meeting
from 2 – 5 pm). Venue: The Salvation
Army Citadel, 71 Grosvenor Road, Manchester M13 9UB. Contact; Delina
Tafadzwa Mutyambizi 07775313637, Chamunorwa Chihota 07799446404, Panyika
Karimanzira 07551062161, Artwell Pfende 07886839353. Future meetings:
10th September, 8th October, 12th November,
10th December. Same times / venue.
·
‘Rituals’. Tuesday
23rd August at 7 pm. Venue: Amnesty International UK, The Human
Rights Action Centre, 17 - 25 New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA. This is a musical
and inspirational journey through community-driven healing processes following
traumatic and violent experiences in Zimbabwe. It is produced by author Stephen
Chifunyise and director Daves Guzha, whose cast spent four nights in jail. They
were acquitted in March in what has been described by the press as a landmark
case in terms of freedom of expression and artistic creativity. Tickets from
Amnesty at £5 can be booked via: http://www.amnesty.org.uk/events_details.asp?ID=1907.
Amnesty is hosting this production by the Zimbabwean theatre company Rooftop
Promotions following its run at the Edinburgh fringe festival.
·
ROHR Manchester
Vigil. Saturday
27th August from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Cathedral Gardens, Manchester City Centre
(subject to change to Piccadilly Gardens). Contact; Delina Tafadzwa
Mutyambizi 07775313637, Chamunorwa Chihota 07799446404, Panyika Karimanzira
07551062161, Artwell Pfende 07886839353. Future demonstrations: 4th
September, 29th October 26th November, 31st
December. Same time and venue.
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace
page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
·
‘Through the
Darkness’, Judith Todd’s
acclaimed account of the rise of Mugabe. To receive a copy by post in the UK
please email confirmation of your order and postal address to ngwenyasr@yahoo.co.uk and send a cheque
for £10 payable to “Budiriro Trust” to Emily Chadburn, 15 Burners Close, Burgess
Hill, West Sussex RH15 0QA. All proceeds go to the Budiriro Trust which provides
bursaries to needy A Level students in Zimbabwe.
·
Workshops aiming to
engage African men on HIV testing and other sexual health issues. Organised by the
Terrence Higgins Trust (www.tht.org.uk). Please contact the
co-ordinator Takudzwa Mukiwa (takudzwa.mukiwa@tht.org.uk) if you are
interested in taking part.
Vigil
co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside
the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00
to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The
Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until
internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk
http://news.myjoyonline.com
Last Updated: Sunday, 31 July 2011,
13:53 GMT
By Rejoice Ngwenya, Harare
For the second time
in my life since 2000, I am about to experience another
nasty bout of
State-sponsored private property plunder under some nefarious
law
purportedly meant to ‘empower’ me – the black Zimbabwean. It comes with
devastating implications to the future of my children – catastrophic
unemployment.
Zimbabwe’s indigenisation law is being brandished at
mining companies as an
excuse for expropriating their property. Cast a
critical glance at the fate
that has recently befallen commercial farmers
Mike Van Royen and Koos Smit,
real estate investors Khalil Gaibie and the Di
Palma family then you will
appreciate how we are a nation at war with
ourselves. I want to ask myself:
what kind of a country is Zimbabwe where
even the Constitution cannot
protect individual right to own legitimate
property? What on earth have we
done wrong to deserve such a vicious,
unforgiving and savage government in a
century where a habited space ship is
a mere 200 kilometres above us?
Completely oblivious of the natural laws
of justice, drunken by forces of
vindictive partisan idiocy, Indigenisation,
Youth Development and
Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere , himself a
beneficiary of farm
invasions, pontificates: "By the end of September, any
mining company that
doesn't comply with the law, we'll kick them out. We'll
ask them to hand
over their assets to government." I wish I could approach
the Supreme Court
of Zimbabwe and ask why the Constitution is failing to
protect business from
this Kamikaze crusade. Companies in Zimbabwe have a
legal persona. Like
every other Zimbabwean citizen who is [supposed to be]
protected by the law,
no one – including a government minister – must have
an excuse of walking
into a private company and violating its
rights.
The basis of my argument is simple. Whenever a resident of this
country or
for that matter a citizen, has legal right over a property –
through a lease
agreement, title deed, trade mark, patent or share
certificate, the
Constitution must protect them. There is no law,
regulation, statutory
instrument, decree or pronouncement violating this
constitutional right that
must be accorded recognition. In other words,
could there be a ‘common good’
law that can allow homeless vagrants or
squatters to go and ‘occupy’ or
‘acquire’ Saviour Kasukuwere’s Borrowdale
house on the basis of ‘a right to
shelter’? According to the
‘indigenisation’ law – yes! My point: whenever a
law violates my right to
own property, such a law is bad and
unconstitutional – even if it is meant
for ‘common good’.
Tinyiko Sam Malulele, M & G blogger asks a very
pertinent question: “What
should we do with leaders who work for their
stomachs and inspire disunity?”
And at one time, we understand Professor
Jonathan Moyo did explain how such
leaders behave. Based on his experience
“… the 2000 land reform programme
was itself a hasty, brutal and chaotic
response to serious national problems
that were already present.” He argued
that this “was not a sustainable
policy action … [but a] brutal and chaotic
response [was] more about Mugabe’s
political survival than about redressing
historical injustice.”
There is more recent evidence why the
Constitutional Court needs to revoke
Kasukuwere’s law of racial hatred.
Afaras Gwaradzimba and Patrick Chinamasa
are at the centre of what analysts
term ‘the plunder of Shabani Mashaba
Mines’. Mines and Energy Portfolio
Committee is reported to have proclaimed:
“The Anti-Corruption Commission
and police should be directed by appropriate
authorities to investigate
allegations of abuse of office, theft of mining
material, vehicles, building
material, mining equipment, mining claims,
unauthorised sale of assets and
mismanagement of resources at the two mines
and associated SMMH companies.”
This is not the first time these hastily
assembled laws have caused chaos.
There is record that Kondozi Farm - a
highly sophisticated agro-industry
entity now occupied by Christopher
Mushowe - has been reduced to a shell to
the detriment of thousands of
families.
I want to conclude that while
Zimbabwe grapples with her conscience as to
why she is not being quickly
accorded a status of recognition by the
civilised world, we cannot continue
to allow ourselves to be subjected to
legislative ‘mood swings’ that pander
only to the whims of Robert Mugabe and
his cronies. This “cheerful
enthusiasm, relaxed warmth, depressed
sluggishness, and hostile
irritability” behaviour of ZANU-PF as described by
Emotional Intelligence
expert Cary Cherniss is symptomatic of institutional
instability. Our
judiciary is highly credible. As we now approach a new era
of democratic
legitimacy, men and women of honour must approach the Supreme
Court Bench
and humbly request that all laws that violate the constitutional
rights of
commercial farmers, industrialists, miners and prospective
investors are
struck off our statutes.
Rejoice Ngwenya is President of COMALISO, a
think tank in Zimbabwe and an
affiliate of AfricanLiberty.org.
By Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 31/07/11
There is every reason to worry
whenever there are talks between Zanu-pf and
its opponents and the reported
secret talks with the two MDC formations (The
Zimbabwean 30/07/11) are no
exception. The experience of the Global
Political Agreement and those signed
before it provides important caveats.
Without external pressure, it has
never been possible to secure an agreement
with Zanu-pf. For instance, in
1979 the Frontline States in particular
Mozambique and Zambia exerted
pressure on Zanu-pf and Zapu because of the
bombings of their countries by
the Rhodesian regime. Edgar Tekere wrote
that, “In his turn, Smith was also
coming under pressure from (Apartheid)
South African government to give some
ground”, A lifetime of Struggle, p 69.
Post-apartheid South Africa was the
architect and driver of the GPA.
Understandably the secret talks are said
to be aimed at ridding the
post-Mugabe government of partisan bureaucrats
and a governance system
beholden of the security forces. It is not clear how
that noble objective
can be achieved in secret between a few individuals who
remain anonymous and
unaccountable for any commitments made without public
scrutiny. There is no
assurance that the Soviet-style party will honour any
undertakings it will
make behind the scenes.
Zanu-pf has consistently
shown preference for cherry-picking when it comes
to agreements. For
instance, so far it has been reluctant to implement some
parts of the GPA or
those cherries it does not like to pick such as a
constitution other than
the Kariba Draft, a roadmap with realistic
timelines, a voters roll that is
up-to-date and inclusive.
There is every reason to suspect that Zanu-pf
is about to repeat what it did
during the Détente of 19774-75 when it
“concluded” the Unity Accord with
Mozorewa’s United African National Council
(UANC). Edgar Tekere said: “The
only way out of our dilemma was to sign up
the Unity Accord, while quietly
proceeding to do the opposite, and intensify
the war, which was all but
paralysed at this time. So we agreed to sign up
to the Lusaka Accord, while
quietly proceeding with our own agenda. All the
movements signed, while we
urged the external wing (Zanla) to intensify the
war effort,” Tekere said
(p70).
After describing the strategy, Tekere
goes on to make an important
revelation that seems to have been repeated
with the GPA and possibly again
in future: “We called this deception Tamba
Wakachenjera (Operation
Deception – Be Alert). Although we did not
communicate with Zapu, we were
aware that they were also recruiting in the
west of Zimbabwe. Nkomo is on
record as saying, ‘I am not going to work
under that little Bishop” (the
late Bishop Abel Muzorewa, president of the
UANC) (p70).
Even after Lancaster House Agreement was signed in 1979,
Zanu-pf did not
make it easy for the 1980 elections to be run on schedule.
According to Dr
Joshua Nkomo’s The Story of My Life, “As the evidence
accumulated of
terrorism and mass intimidation in the eastern provinces of
the country,
Lord Soames (The Governor of pre-independence Zimbabwe)
summoned all the
party leaders to Government House.”
“He told us
frankly that in certain areas intimidation was on such a scale
that free and
fair elections could not be conducted. I asked him to clarify
this
statement, and he made it clear that the offences were being committed
by
members of Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-pf party” (page206). Dr Nkomo said he
raised
the question of intimidation personally with Robert Mugabe. “He
(Mugabe)
brushed it aside, and paid no attention”(page 207).
The foregoing seeks
to highlight how history repeats itself in dear Zimbabwe
and the important
caveats to watch for when negotiating with Zanu-pf. There
is no evidence
that Zanu-pf has changed since the 1970s. However, this could
be a rare
opportunity for a breakthrough. There are essentially two options.
One is to
let the secret talks run their full course and witness another
Operation
Deception – Be alert.
Alternatively, for want of a right name another
option possibly called ‘The
Mashiri Option’ is to get the secret talks out
into the open and broaden
their scope to a constitutional conference seeing
that COPAC won’t deliver
amid talk of a negotiated constitution.
The
conference would ideally be attended by leaders of all political parties
and
key civil society organisations and chaired by the Commonwealth
Secretary
General’s envoy or that of the United Nations Secretary General,
to ensure
international pressure and oversight with observers from
organisations such
as SADC, the AU and the EU. Priscilla Misihairambwi’s
Ministry for
International Cooperation would be best suited for the task of
jointly
organising such a conference with the Commonwealth and or the United
Nations
not the Ministry of Foreign Affairs because of Zanu-pf’s repulsive
dominance.
Such a constitutional conference could be a prelude to
Zimbabwe’s return to
the Commonwealth of Nations followed by the lifting of
targeted sanctions
after UN supervised elections. International funding
could be secured as the
UN once offered to help fund elections only to be
rebuffed by Zanu-pf.
To ensure delegates are not distracted by their
day-to-day duties, the
high-powered conference could take place in say,
Mauritius with a mandate to
adopt a Transitional Governing Plan which
addresses the post-Mugabe era, , a
draft Constitution (not the Kariba
Draft), followed by UN supervised
referendum and free and fair elections
where the Diaspora vote will count.
If the UN did that in South Sudan why
not in Zimbabwe?
Reasons why The Mashiri Option has chances of success
include transparency;
inclusiveness; Zanu-pf’s desperation and realisation
of sure electoral
defeat; getting assurances by the EU and US promise to
lift targeted
sanctions 30 days after general elections and the peaceful
transfer of power
to the winning presidential candidate followed by the
return of the Diaspora
and becoming a member of the
Commonwealth.
©Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com