http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
23 August
2010
An MP behind the illegal seizure of a farm in Somabuhla has snubbed
a High
Court order protecting the land from invasion, refusing to leave the
property on Monday.
Last week, Philip and Ellen Hapelt from
Grasslands Farm successfully
obtained a Permanent Interdict from the High
Court, ordering MP Jabulani
Mangena to leave the property. Mangena has led a
campaign of harassment,
vandalism and violence against the Hapelts and their
workers, claiming he
has an offer letter entitling him to the property. Late
last year, the
Hapelts were brutally beaten by a gang of thugs, in an attack
the family
believes was meant to drive them from their farm.
The
Hapelts many years ago voluntarily gave up the majority of their land
for
the sake of 'reform', under an agreement that would allow them to remain
on
their homestead with a small portion of farming land. They already have
two
Court orders that entitle them to live on the farm without fear of
invasion
or persecution. But Mangena is openly disregarding the courts and
has
previously threatened the Hapelts with more violence if they approach
the
courts again.
Donna-Jean Abrey, the couple's daughter in South Africa,
told SW Radio
Africa on Monday that MP Mangena is still threatening her
parents, calling
it a very "frightening situation." She said that the local
police and
sheriff of the court are "petrified" of Mangena and refused to
carry out
eviction proceedings on Monday. The Hapelts were forced to return
to court
to try and get another interdict.
Mangena meanwhile remains
on the property, where some of his 'staff' have
started building dwellings
and are tending a herd of cattle. Donna-Jean told
SW Radio Africa that
Mangena has threatened "to cut off the legs and kill
anybody who tries to
herd the cattle off the property. Mangena's staff have
also been threatening
the Hapelts. Last week, Ellen Hapelt had to seek
safety in her home after a
worker threatened her with a shovel while she was
out walking, telling her
it was not her property.
Philip Hapelt is a South African citizen and he
and his family have made
numerous appeals to the South African High
Commission to intervene on their
behalf. Donna-Jean explained on Monday that
she has successfully managed to
speak to the South African ambassador "who
has phoned my parents and said he
wants to help." But she explained that the
South African authorities "have
been completely ineffectual."
The
South African government has come under fire for not intervening on
behalf
of its citizens, many of whom face similar situations on farms across
Zimbabwe. This includes Ian Ferguson whose game ranch near Beitbridge was
illegally seized by land invaders said to be working for a top ZANU PF
official. Ferguson's game has been slaughtered and repeated pleas for help
from his government have gone unanswered.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
23
August 2010
The intrigues in Zimbabwe's power politics have taken a new
turn with the
emergence of a powerful group that is said to be in control of
the country's
diamond riches. They are allegedly using the proceeds of the
sale of the
diamonds to enrich the ZANU PF party coffers.
SW Radio
Africa can reveal that this coterie of hardliners is comprised of
retired
senior military officers all with close links to ZANU PF. The group
has
effectively taken control of the diamonds, from mining in Chiadzwa to
the
final sale of the gems at the new Zimbabwe Diamond and Technology Centre
in
Mt Hampden, just outside Harare.
There's the first group of hardliners
led by cabinet ministers and top civil
servants. This group consists of
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa,
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and
Robert Mugabe's spokesman George
Charamba, among others.
The second
and the most powerful group is the military junta, also called
Joint
Operations Command (JOC), led by General Constantine Chiwenga. Many
Zimbabwe
analysts believe this group to be the brains behind directing and
dictating
terms in the government.
But our source said; 'We now have a third group
of hardliners, the
officer-corps that is funded and paid by proceeds from
diamonds. This is a
group that is loyal to Chiwenga and the junta and has
recently been
introduced to the African Diamond Producers Association (ADPA)
by Mnangagwa.'
ADPA, with its headquarters in Luanda, Angola works to
devise and implement
policies, strategies and laws that generate a
substantially larger share of
diamond profits from foreign diamond mining
companies to its member states.
The organisation was formed in 2006 and most
of its officials are personally
known to Mnangagwa, according to our
source.
'What we have now is that the majority of funds from the diamonds
are going
straight to ZANU PF who are also resurrecting their dwindling
fortunes using
proceeds from the gems. Little of the funds will find their
way to the
Treasury under Finance Minister Tendai Biti,' the source
added.
The exploitation of the diamond fields comes at a time when ZANU
PF was
finding itself desperately short of money in the period after the
controversial 2008 elections. The party has been on the back foot since it
was forced into a power-sharing deal with Tsvangirai's MDC.
The two
diamond mining firms given government approval to mine the Chiadzwa
diamond
fields - Mbada Investments and Canadile - are headed or have members
who are
former senior military officers. Mbada chairman is Robert Mhlanga, a
retired
Air Vice Marshall who used to fly Mugabe's presidential helicopter.
He is
said to be the most senior of the retired officers of the new
group.
Canadile's local representative is Lovemore Kurotwi, a retired
army colonel,
who is reportedly a nephew of the late General Vitalis
Zvinavashe, a member
of the ZANU PF politburo who was named in a United
Nations report as one of
the main figures to profit from the plunder of the
Congo's diamond riches.
SW Radio Africa understands that these two
companies are working closely
with Thankful Musukutwa, the permanent
secretary in the Mines Ministry. The
Ministry has also set up offices at the
diamond auction floor in Mt Hampden
where there will also be a marketing
wing and administrative bloc; all
within easy reach of a private jet
facility airport, Charles Prince, where
buyers will jet in and out with
little fuss.
The project manager for the centre is Retired Colonel
Charles Mugari and
accountants at the centre have been seconded from the
Reserve Bank, on
orders from Governor Gideon Gono. The RBZ officials are
believed to be well
versed and experienced in transferring huge sums of
money through wire
transfers and off-shore banking.
Political analyst
Luke Zunga said; 'Mugabe does not rule the country from
the centre of
government. He's ruling it from these satellites (junta and
military corps)
that are mobilizing and controlling the economy of the
country.'
He
said the diamonds were under the control of a select few, with direct
links
to the security chiefs. Zunga said it was obvious they intend to use
the
wealth from diamonds to enrich themselves and entrench ZANU PF's hold on
power in Zimbabwe.
'With the huge injection they will get from the
diamonds ZANU PF will
mobilise heavily on the ground to an extent they will
overwhelm who ever
stands in their way. Right now they're mobilising funds
for elections and
this is why Mugabe wants them next year, because he knows
he has the cash to
fund his campaign,' Zunga added.
Sources in the
inclusive government said the military chiefs had positioned
themselves to
profit from diamonds and have thus far refused to engage with
Tsvangirai to
discuss possible ways of bringing lasting peace to the
country. Their grip
on the whole diamonds set-up ensures the country's most
valuable mineral
resource is going out the back door, rather than benefiting
the country.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Corespondent Monday 23 August
2010
HARARE -- Rwanda has appealed for United Nations intervention in
its
simmering diplomatic row with Zimbabwe as the two countries tussle over
the
release of a fugitive believed to be one of the masterminds of the 1994
Rwandan genocide.
The Zimbabwean government has refused to extradite
Proitas Mpiranya to the
UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
where he is to face trial
for organising the mass killings of nearly a
million Rwandans from the Tutsi
minority ethnic group during his time as
head of the presidential guard.
Mpiranya is allegedly holed up in Norton,
about 40km west of the capital
Harare, where he has stayed since coming to
Zimbabwe in 2001.
In a case similar to the highly publicised Mengistu
extradition row between
Zimbabwe and Ethiopia, security sources say the
Harare authorities are not
keen on giving up the fugitive to whom they feel
indebted over his later
reconnaissance role during the 1998-2001 Democratic
Republic of Congo civil
war.
Mpiranya was instrumental during the DRC
war after he worked side by side
with southern African Allied forces, which
included Zimbabwe, Angola and
Namibia.
He is believed to have
supplied strategic information about the Rwandan
military and also mobilised
and trained Rwandans in refugee camps in eastern
DRC to fight against the
Rwandan army.
The allied forces were fighting armies of Rwanda and Uganda
which were
backing several rebel groups seeking to topple the Kinshasa
regime.
The sources said after the Congo war Mpiranya went to Zimbabwe
with the
blessings of top Zimbabwean commanders.
A diplomatic row is
now brewing between Zimbabwe and Rwanda over allegations
that Harare is
protecting Mpiranya.
Rwanda's Prosecutor General Martin Ngoga last week
called on the
International Criminal Tribunal of Rwanda (ICTR) to take
action against
Zimbabwe and forced Harare to produce
Mpiranya.
"Mpiranya is one of the most notorious fugitives wanted by the
ICTR. We didn't
know that he was in Zimbabwe and it is very interesting to
know that he is
there. The ICTR should use this opportunity to bring him to
book," Ngoga
told Rwanda's official daily.
Foreign Affairs Minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi was not available for
comment but Harare is believed
not to want to cooperate with Rwanda after
the two nations backed opposite
sides in the DRC war and also because Harare
is unhappy after reports that
Kigali sneaked spies into Zimbabwe.
The row between Harare and Kigali
escalated earlier this month after
Zimbabwe accused Rwandan secret agents of
illegally entering the country in
pursuit of Mpiranya.
Kigali has
since denied the allegations, saying it would follow proper
procedures to
seek the extradition of Mpiranya.
This is the second time Zimbabwe has
refused to extradite African officials
accused of genocide in their own
countries.
It has refused to hand over former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu
Haile Marriam
who is wanted in his country for the murder of more than 150
000 university
students, intellectuals and politicians during a 1977-78 Red
Terror campaign
described by Human Rights Watch as "one of the most
systematic uses of mass
murder by a state ever witnessed in
Africa".
Mengistu fled to Zimbabwe in 1991 following an armed uprising
against his
rule and was granted political asylum by his old friend,
President Robert
Mugabe.
A former army colonel who ruled Ethiopia
with an iron fist from 1974 to
1991, Mengistu was sentenced to death in May
2006 alongside 18 of his former
senior officials.
http://www.mg.co.za/
HARARE, ZIMBABWE Aug 23 2010 16:53
Zimbabwe's
annual inflation rate in July stood at 4,1%, declining from 5,3%
the month
before, the government statistics agency said on Monday.
The Zimbabwe
National Statistics Agency said food inflation eased from 7,39%
in June to
7,11% last month.
Non-food inflation fell from 4,42% to 2,9%.
A
decade of hyperinflation ravaged Zimbabwe's economy until the formation of
a
unity government last year and the decision to abandon the local currency
in
favour of US dollars.
The last official estimate of inflation in Zimbabwe
dollars in 2008 was
230-million percent but independent experts said the
real figure was in the
billions.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti last
month said the country's inflation will
continue to slow this year. --
Sapa-AFP
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
23 August,
2010 11:34:00 by Information & Publicity Department Union for
Sustainable Democracy
THE Union for Sustainable Democracy has
been inundated with statements of
concern from Christian Zimbabweans of the
Johane Masowe Church who are
gravely worried about ZANU PF's infiltration of
their church with the sole
purpose of bolstering its support base ahead of
possible elections next
year.
USD is reliably informed that members
of that church have become the latest
target of ZANU PF's intimidatory
tactics. Many have been forced to attend
ZANU PF rallies at certain
'assembly points'. Those courageous enough to
defend the church's doctrine
of staying clear of politics are being labeled
as sell-outs and / or MDC
supporters.
Unfortunately for the church, members have told us, some
church leaders have
accepted soft loans as well as other financial favors
from ZANU PF. This,
they say, has resulted in those leaders becoming more
susceptible to
pressure and even amenable to ZANU PF wishes.
The
Muzarabani, Mt Darwin and Chitungwiza centers of the church are among
the
most deeply infiltrated, with the likes of Information and Publicity
minister Webster Shamu and the delinquent Joseph Chinotimba heading the list
of intruders.
James Chitima (not his real name) said his message to
ZANU PF is: 'We don't
want our church to be used'. Asked why they were
raising these concerns, he
explained that: 'We want to save our church'. USD
takes a serious view of
any moves that encroach and trample on the rights of
innocent Zimbabweans.
Accordingly, we hereby strongly condemn ZANU PF's
continued disregard for
human rights and freedoms in the strongest possible
terms.
The sanctity of a church must be respected at all times and
politicizing
churches whose doctrines do not encourage participating in the
political
process goes against the tenets of freedom of religion and is an
affront to
the founding values of the constitution of
Zimbabwe.
Consequently, while we acknowledge ZANU PF's right to canvass
for votes, we
believe that the need to seek legitimacy at the next election
must not be at
the expense of the rights of Johane Masowe Church members.
Such behavior is
absolutely deplorable and must be stopped forthwith.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
23 August, 2010 03:45:00 KELVIN
JAKACHIRA -
The inclusive government has come down heavily on George
Charamba, the
permanent secretary of Media, Information and Publicity,
ordering him to
immediately stop dabbling in politics.
The principals to
the Global Political Agreement (GPA) - which led to the
formation of the
inclusive government - agreed at a meeting on August 4 that
Charamba should
not overshoot his responsibilities as a senior civil servant
by dabbling in
politics.
The leaders tasked Misheck Sibanda, the chief secretary to the
President and
Cabinet, to ensure Charamba does not delve into politics
again. Mariyawanda
Nzuwah, the chairman of the Public Service Commission,
was also tasked with
similar responsibilities. The decision against
Charamba, who doubles as
President Robert Mugabe's spokesperson, came after
MDC-T complained that the
sharp-tongued civil servant was continually
undermining the Office of the
Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai.
In a
progress report sent to the GPA facilitator, South African President
Jacob
Zuma, entitled Implementation Matrix for the Issues Settled by the
Three
Principals to the Zimbabwe Global Political Agreement (GPA), the
principals
said they have agreed to ensure Charamba immediately stops
delving in
politics. The progress report sent to Zuma is in our possession.
NewsDay
reported in June that principals to the GPA - President Mugabe,
Prime
Minister Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara - had
expressed reservations over Charamba's conduct after he had made disparaging
public remarks against the Prime Minister.
The duplex roles of
Charamba and his behaviour towards Tsvangirai and the
inclusive government
were among the sticking issues to the GPA.
In the progress report, the
principals told Zuma that they had agreed on 24
of the 27 outstanding issues
to the GPA.
The three outstanding issues are the appointment of Roy
Bennett as Deputy
Minister of Agriculture, the unilateral appointment of
Gideon Gono as
Reserve Bank chief and Johannes Tomana as the Attorney
General.
The principals said they have agreed on contentious issues such
as the
removal of sanctions, media reforms, reforms on state security
institutions,
land reform audit and tenure systems, review of ministerial
allocations,
vacant electoral posts, transport arrangements for principals,
security
aides for Tsvangirai, and conferment of national heroes' status,
among other
issues.
The principals agreed on the removal on sanctions
imposed by the Western
world to force President Mugabe to embrace democratic
reforms.
The three leaders tasked leaders of the political parties and
the Cabinet
re-engagement committee to handle the issue.
The issue of
sanctions will be dealt with on a continuous basis.
The principals agreed
to regularise the appointment of the Broadcasting
Authority of Zimbabwe
(BAZ) board and to appoint a new board at the national
broadcaster, Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation.
The principals, Webster Shamu, the information
minister, and the
Parliamentary Standing Rules and Orders Committee were
given one month to
implement the task.
The principals agreed to call
upon foreign governments hosting, funding and
relaying "pirate" radio
stations to stop doing so.
The task was given to the Cabinet
re-engagement committee and the Joint
Monitoring and Implementation
Committee (Jomic). This should be done within
a month.
The media was
directed to support all agreed government programmes and to
stop attacking
ministers implementing such programmes.
The principals implored on the
police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri
to immediately ensure
Zimbabweans are free to organise political activities
without any hindrances
from the police.
The principals agreed to appoint an inclusive and
balanced land audit
commission within a month.
The issue of land
tenure security was also agreed upon. They said emphasis
should be placed on
a leasehold system that guarantees security of tenure
and collateral value
of land but without reversing the land reform
programme.
On electoral
vacancies, the principals agreed that parties to the GPA should
not contest
each other for the entire duration of the inclusive government.
The
leaders agreed to immediately speed up the process of vetting, training
and
engagement of security personnel of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime
Minister. Administrative arrangements for Tsvangirai's motorcade will be
immediately rectified.
There was also an agreement for a review of
ministerial allocations.
"For the maintenance of cohesion and progress,
the status quo must be
maintained, but continuously monitored," the
principals said in the progress
report. -News Day
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
23 August, 2010 05:47:00 By
Guthrie Munyuki
HARARE - Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara is
non committal about
writing the controversial letter which has caused
disagreements between
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert
Mugabe in the
inclusive government.
Zanu PF has said Mutambara
wrote the letter to South African President
Jacob Zuma on behalf of the
principals to the Global Political Agreement
(GPA) that they would appoint
provincial governors simultaneously with the
removal of
sanctions.
But the deputy premier has done little to cool the row by
refusing to be
drawn into the authenticity and origins of the
letter.
"I cannot tell you if I wrote that letter or not. All
communication between
the principals is confidential and is not shared with
you journalists. Do
you have a problem with that?
"A Sadc summit was
held and the communiqué has been issued. What is
important is what the
communiqué said. It tells you how we as principals are
supposed to move
forward," Mutambara said.
Challenged on why he would want to conceal the
letter when Zanu PF had
publicised it, Mutambara insisted he was bound by an
oath which included
confidentiality.
Barely a week after the Sadc
summit in Windhoek, both Zanu PF and the MDC
traded barbs over sanctions
and the appointment of provincial governors
which have been on ice for more
than a year since the three parties worked a
formula on how to allocate
the provinces.
In 2009 ,Sadc proposed that the party with the highest
number of electoral
votes per province in the 2008 March elections would
have the highest number
of provincial governor posts.
As a result,
the MDC was allocated Harare, Masvingo, Manicaland, Bulawayo
and
Matabeleland North, Zanu PF got Mashonaland West, Central, East and the
Midlands, while Mutambara's MDC got Matabeleland South.
But after a
year of feuding over outstanding issues, Tsvangirai said they
agreed to
shelve the issues of provincial governors' appointments since it
would be
dealt with under article 21 of the GPA.
Article 21 states that Mugabe
would make the appointments in consultation
with the
Tsvangirai.
However, during the Politburo meeting in Harare last week,
Zanu PF was
singing a different tune.
"Everything else the principals
were able to agree. It is a question of
implementation. The principals also
agreed that the issue of sanctions and
provincial governors have to be
implemented simultaneously."The issue of
provincial governors can only be
considered upon lifting of sanctions. As
long as sanctions remain, we have
serious problems," Patrick Chinamasa, Zanu
PF negotiator was quoted in the
state media after the Politburo meeting.
This prompted Tsvangirai's MDC
to issue a strongly worded statement where it
accused Zanu PF of
dithering.
"We unequivocally condemn the Zanu PF tactics of waylaying and
mugging the
expectations of the people of Zimbabwe by prioritising their own
issues and
concerns at the expense of a holistic approach to the sacred
document to
which we all appended our signatures. We are ready to comply
with the
dictates of SADC," the MDC said.
The MDC argued that at a
meeting of the principals on 8 June, Mugabe
insisted on linking the issue of
sanctions to provincial governors but
Tsvangirai refused and wrote a letter
to Mac Maharaj, a member of President
Jacob Zuma's facilitation team,
stating his position.
The Sadc organ of the Troika met Sunday in
Windhoek, Namibia, where it
adopted the report compiled by South African
President Jacob Zuma who had
been monitoring and nudging the three main
political parties in the
inclusive government to end their
dispute.
There are three outstanding issues in the GPA which include the
Attorney
General Johannes Tomana, Central bank's governor Gideon Gono and
the
appointment of Roy Bennett.
Sadc ordered the three parties to
fully implement the GPA and clear the
roadmap for the elections due next
year by completing the writing of a new
constitution. - Daily News
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Irene Madongo
22 August
2010
Reports that Prime Minister Morgan Tvsangirai now has to consult the
party
over important decisions, is a strong indication that he needs to rely
more
on formal structures within the party than his informal advisors, an
analyst
has said.
On Sunday the Zimbabwe Standard reported that
Tsvangirai can no longer make
senior appointments in his party and
government without consulting the MDC-T
National Standing Committee (NSC),
as part of measures to stem growing
factionalism. The paper said there have
been accusations that the Prime
Minister’s so-called informal advisors or
“kitchen cabinet”, which it claims
include Ian Makone and Jameson Timba,
recently advised him on his
controversial reshuffle in June, which saw the
appointment of Makone’s wife
Theresa as Co-Home Affairs Minister, replacing
Giles Mutsekwa.
Analyst Chofamba Sithole said: “There have been concerns
about the so-called
‘kitchen’ cabinet, and this has been the structure
composed of people loyal
and close to the president of the party. This
structure is informal and
subverts the standing formal decision making
process within the MDC and
senior members have expressed disquiet about
Tsvangirai’s reliance on the
kitchen cabinet to make decisions that are
binding on the MDC.”
But the MDC-T dismissed reports of the existence of
this ‘kitchen cabinet,’
or that Tsvangirai had been ignoring the committee
over meetings. MDC-T
spokesman Nelson Chamisa said that after consultation
with his advisors,
Tsvanigrai takes decisions to the national executive
committee for approval.
He claims this has been the structure all
along.
Chamisa added: “All decisions are made by our leadership. They go
to the
executive for endorsement.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
23 August
2010
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party has dismissed claims
by ZANU
PF’s Patrick Chinamasa that governors would be sworn in only when
targeted
sanctions against the Mugabe regime were lifted.
Chinamasa
last week claimed it had been agreed at the Summit of the Southern
Africa
Development Community (SADC), that the issue of provincial governors
would
be dealt with simultaneously with the removal of sanctions. But in an
angry
response to Chinamasa’s claims, the MDC-T said in a statement that
governors
were ready to be sworn in regardless of the sanctions, because the
positions
were open.
“The MDC-T dismisses the misleading and mischievous report in
the state
media that the three principals to the Global Political Agreement
(GPA)
agreed that the appointment of provincial governors be done
concurrently
with the lifting of restrictive measures.
“Our position
in the MDC-T is that restrictive measures are a bilateral
issue between ZANU
PF and those who imposed them on grounds of a deficit of
good governance on
the part of ZANU PF. It has always been our contention
that the authorship
of restrictive measures is located on the doorstep of
ZANU PF,” said the
MDC-T in a statement.
The party said it was only trying to help ZANU PF
in the lifting of economic
sanctions in the spirit of “inclusivity.” But it
said that they “refuse to
be made accountable for ZANU PF’s past sins.” The
party accused ZANU PF’s
“primitive tactics” of delaying implementing of the
GPA and for further
complicating matters.
“There is no need,
therefore, for the opposition party (ZANU PF) to
grandstand about a
fictitious position of the principals on the two clearly
separate and
unrelated matters of restrictive measures and provincial
governors,” the
statement read.
The statement comes as US ambassador Charles Ray has said
that targeted
sanctions will remain in place until the implementation of
democratic
reforms in Zimbabwe. Ray told a roundtable discussion with
senior
editors last week that his country would consider lifting the
sanctions only
if there was “real and tangible” reform.
He was
reacting to the decision by SADC leaders last week to intensify
pressure for
the removal of the sanctions. Ray described the measures,
imposed in 2001,
as a reaction “to a situation that was hurting the people
of Zimbabwe and
when that situation is rectified then there is no need for
them”.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Invesco's investment in
Zimbabwe-related funds highlights fact investors
have no control over where
managers put their money
* Heather Connon
*
guardian.co.uk, Monday 23 August 2010 11.02 BST
The millions
of loyal investors who own stakes in Neil Woodford's duo of
funds, the
highly-rated Invesco Income and Invesco High Income, may be
surprised to
find a punt on the future of Zimbabwe lurking among the
out-of-favour
British companies that have become his trademark.
Woodford has emerged as
one of the biggest investors in Masawara, a fund set
up in June "for the
purpose of acquiring interests primarily in
Zimbabwe-based companies and
projects in sectors such as agriculture,
mining, telecommunications and real
estate, which the directors believe
represent investments that will generate
attractive shareholder returns".
Zimbabwe is, of course, more commonly
known as a country where human rights
are routinely violated; of extreme
poverty and chronic food shortages; of
forced slum clearances and land
grabs; and of a dictatorial president Robert
Mugabe's who runs roughshod
over opponents.
The regime is so bad that it appears on the category A
list of places to
avoid produced by Eiris, the specialist in screening for
ethical, social and
environmental issues. "Zimbabwe has a reputation as a
territory laden with
risk and the threat of crime, bribery and corruption,"
said Eiris spokesman
Mark Robertson. "[It] appears on Eiris's countries of
concern list, which
takes into account human rights risks, including such
issues as respect for
political rights and civil liberties, political
instability, workers'
rights, women's economic rights and physical integrity
right. For these
reasons many responsible investors avoid investment in
companies based, or
operating, in the country.'
Ethical specialist
Amanda Davidson of financial advisers Baigrie Davies said
the Zimbabwe
investment had made her firm consider whether to boycott
Woodford's funds
and, although it decided against that, it "highlights the
fact that
investors [in funds] have no control over where the manager puts
their money
unless it is in an ethical fund". While ethical funds have to
spell out
their policies, including areas which they will avoid,
conventional funds
simply have to give a breakdown of the sectors and
regions they invest in
and disclose their top 10 holdings.
The two Invesco funds own almost 30%
of Masawara, worth about £15m based on
the price at which they were listed
on AIM last week. But that is negligible
given that the two funds combined
are worth more than £16bn. Woodford has
earned a reputation as one of the
UK's most successful investors after more
than two decades in which he has
delivered table-topping performance,
regardless of the economic
conditions.
He currently favours tobacco and pharmaceutical giants such
as AstraZeneca
and British American Tobacco but Citywire, the financial
website, says the
funds have had other unusual holdings including property
in Macau and
warehouses in Russia. While they are UK funds, they are
permitted to have up
to a fifth of their investments outside the
country.
Neither Invesco nor Woodford would comment on the investment.
But Masawara's
own prospectus underlined that human rights abuses are not
the only risk in
the country; its prospectus contains 20 pages of risk
factors covering
everything from government instability though the
unreliability of company
accounting to the fact that at least half of all
Zimbabwean businesses have
to be owned by a national.
Africa is
becoming a more interesting place for investors with a number of
specialist
funds being launched for the area by companies such as Fidelity
and
Investec, so it is possible that other fund managers will also have
exposure
to Zimbabwe. Henderson's multi-manager team, for example, has a
small stake
in a fund called Imara African Opportunities, which is likely to
have
holdings there.
"You should think carefully about where your money is
invested," said
Davidson. "Even people who do not class themselves as
ethical may prefer not
to invest in places like Zimbabwe."
HARARE, 23 August 2010 (IRIN) - An auction of
Zimbabwean diamonds has created an air of expectation that the country's
economic plight will be eased or even improved, but the stones realized as
little as a fifth of their value, and most of the proceeds are expected to
benefit controversial mining companies.
Photo: David Hecht/IRIN
A file
picture showing a dealer sorting rough diamonds
The Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme - an initiative to prevent conflict diamonds from entering
the multibillion dollar global market - allowed Zimbabwe to sell diamonds from
the Chiadzwa area of Marange in Manicaland Province. The diamond fields -
reputedly the largest find in a century - have been mired in controversy, with
constant allegations of human rights abuses since they were discovered in 2006.
Amnesty International has reported that soldiers deployed to guard the
diamond fields have forced people to mine the diamonds, which were then smuggled
out of the country, while other reports have indicated that security forces were
killing illegal miners.
Primrose Mudzengi, 38, a teacher in the capital,
Harare, earns a US$150 a month, which she has to juggle to cover the rent,
school fees for her two children, food and transport.
"Civil servants
like me are virtually living on slave wages. I am confident that our salaries
will improve significantly once diamonds are mined and sold on a large scale,
and the government can spare more money for us," Mudzengi told IRIN. "I will be
able to take my children on holiday as I used to do before the economy started
sliding, and stop living like a beggar."
Dickson Chofamba, a
Harare-based government mechanic, told IRIN: "Civil servants have suffered for
too long, and the discovery of the diamonds should give us a chance to restore
our dignity at the workplace. The PSA [Public Service Association, which
represents government employees,] should ensure that we get most of the money."
The president of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ),
Raymond Majongwe, was more pragmatic. It would be "folly for civil servants to
think that the diamonds would improve their lives", he told IRIN.
Poor returns
"There are sharks out there who
want to line their pockets first and, as it stands, there is a lack of clarity
on how much the diamonds would give to our economy by way of job creation, and
the value of the diamond deposits is not known," he said.
It is
estimated that Zimbabwe would need about US$8 billion dollars to resuscitate the
economy. According to mining minister Obert Mpofu the auction raised US$56.4
million, of which the government will receive US$30 million, compared to an
earlier estimate by finance minister Tendai Biti that the auction raised US$46
million, with US$15 million coming into government coffers.
Eric Bloch,
an economic analyst, told IRIN that ahead of the auction it was hoped the
diamonds would sell for US$400 to US$500 per carat, but only "around US$80 per
carat" was achieved.
"Contrary to the current popular feeling, there is
little evidence that diamonds will translate into our economic panacea," Bloch
told IRIN. "Hopes can easily turn into disillusionment; the economy will not
turn around overnight, and the gains will be minimal for some time."
Contrary to the current popular
feeling, there is little evidence that diamonds will translate into our economic
panacea
The
government will receive 10 percent in royalties and 25 percent as corporate tax
from profits made by the mining companies, while the Zimbabwe Mining Development
Corporation (ZMDC), a government parastatal, will get a small dividend, Bloch
said.
"What many people are failing to realize is that the bulk of the
money will not be going to government, but to the mining companies. It is
important to develop the other sectors of the economy if the economic situation
is to improve," he commented.
Mbada Diamonds and Canadile Miners entered
into joint ventures with the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation to exploit
the diamond concessions, but Annie Dunnebacke, a campaigner for Global Witness,
told IRIN that the nature of these deals remained "opaque".
'Drug traffickers, smugglers or plain crooks'
"According to first-hand accounts obtained by Global Witness,
as well as media reports, Minister Mpofu told the [Parliamentary Portfolio
Committee on Mines and Energy] hearing that he was aware of the 'shady business
deals' of some Mbada and Canadile investors, and his own research showed 'that
people in the diamond business globally are drug-traffickers, smugglers, or
plain crooks,'" Global Witness said in a recent report: Return
of the Blood Diamond.
Mbada chairman Robert Mhlanga told
participants at the auction that his company would ensure that "every carat of
diamonds mined by Mbada Diamonds shall be accounted for", while the Zimbabwe
Diamond Technology Centre, a newly formed company, announced in a recent
statement that it would ensure that "leakages are minimized, accountability
enhanced, and compliance made much more easier".
Innocent Makwiramiti, a
Harare-based economist and former chief executive officer of the Zimbabwe
National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), warned that leakages of diamonds would
continue, and could result in the reversal of certification for future diamond
sales.
"There are powerful people who are likely to use their positions
to smuggle the diamonds out of the country, while illegal mining might continue
for some time. In addition, authorities mandated to oversee the mining and sale
of the mineral can take advantage of their offices and use all means to
understate the amount and quality of diamonds for personal gain," Makwiramiti
told IRIN.
Another auction for the sale of 4.4 million carats is
scheduled for September 2010, from which government expects to raise US$1.7
billion, but not all industry players support the KPCS recommendation to give
Zimbabwe the opportunity to auction the Marange diamond stockpile.
The
influential New York-based Rapaport Diamond Trading Network (Rapnet) has
threatened its members with expulsion. "Rapaport strongly advises all diamond
buyers not to trade in KP certified diamonds from Marange, and to request
written assurance from their suppliers that their diamonds have not been sourced
from Marange," Rapnet said in a statement.
"Members found to have
knowingly offered Marange diamonds for sale on Rapnet will be expelled."
http://www.namibian.com.na/
20.08.10
SEVERAL presidents and leaders of government of countries
in the Southern
Africa Development Community unsurprisingly pussyfooted
around the
controversial issue of Zimbabwe this week.
If SADC’s new
chairperson, President Hifikepunye Pohamba, is to make a mark
with his
leadership of the regional bloc, he will have to pull the rest in a
different direction.
He must nullify the policy of ‘quiet diplomacy’ and
get President Robert
Mugabe not only to re-affirm his commitment to human
rights but to act in
accordance as well.
The regional leaders left after
issuing a communique in which they called on
partners in Zimbabwe’s unity
government to iron out their differences within
a month.
We believe that
there was initial reluctance even to give a deadline to the
power-sharing
government. There was also avoidance as leaders failed to take
decisive
action on Zimbabwe.
This includes making a decision on Zimbabwe’s defiance of
verdicts by a
regional court that ruled in favour of white farmers whose
properties were
seized under president Mugabe’s controversial land
reforms.
Instead they shelved the issue by giving themselves six months to
review a
stand-off between the Zimbabwean government and the tribunal set up
by SADC.
If Zimbabwe continues to show disrespect to the tribunal as they did
over
the past months, the body will increasingly be seen as
toothless.
According to The Namibian’s sources at the summit, the leaders
wanted at
least a year to review the stand-off but this was later changed to
six
months.
The stand-off has taken eons longer than many expected and
predicted and
needs to be resolved.
As a result many in Zimbabwe have yet
to feel and experience the return of
their freedoms.
President Pohamba
has a tough task ahead of him but it is an assignment he
can either pass
with flying colours or fail dismally, depending on his
attitude towards
tackling the ever-present Zimbabwe issue which is always on
the SADC
discussion table.
So far the President has made the right noises.
During
the summit he said SADC must start meeting the set target deadlines,
and
implement all projects and programmes as per schedule.
Although the regional
bloc had made some achievements, he added that
challenges and constraints
continued to curtail progress in the
implementation of programmes.
His
biggest worry was meeting deadlines and that is largely because the
sluggish
implementation is not monitored and tackled timeously.
“Failing to implement
our decisions has the real potential of calling into
question our
commitments and may breed cynicism and frustration among the
people of our
region,” Pohamba commented further.
We have restrained ourselves from going
into detail about all the protocols
which member countries are failing to
implement and decisions taken but not
adhered to, but there is consensus
that SADC has no chance of success if it
continues to move at the pace it
currently does.
Obstructionists seem to dominate discussions and decisions
more. If
President Pohamba want to have a successful term as chairperson, he
must
refuse to put on the blinkers his predecessors had in place.
We hope
that Namibia can be seen to be rising to the challenge of a SADC
under its
chairmanship making concrete achievements in the region.
It is a fact that,
if he fails to act timeously both history, and most
particularly the people
of Zimbabwe, will judge Pohamba harshly.
PEACE WATCH 9/2010
[21st August 2010]
Newsflash
Torture Compensation Claim in High Court on 30th
August
On Monday 30th August the High Court in Harare will hear the first of
the civil claims against the State brought by the abductees of late 2008. The
plaintiff is Mapfumo Garutsa who was abducted at the end of November 2008 and
was among those listed as “disappeared”; he was held secretly for a month by
State agents before being brought to court for the first time on 29th December
as one of the so-called “bomber group”. He is claiming $190 000 for unlawful
arrest and detention and malicious prosecution and for his treatment at the
hands of State agents during his detention, citing torture, inhuman and
degrading treatment, denial of medical treatment and denial of access to his
lawyer. There are 14 defendants, comprising 7 Ministers and security force
commanders, in their official capacities, and 7 named police, CID and CIO
officers, cited in their personal capacities. The trial will be heard by
recently appointed Judge-President George Chiweshe [ex-Chairperson of the last
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission].
State Case against Human Rights Lawyer reopened after eight
months.
Mr Garutsa’s lawyer is Alec Muchadehama, whose labours on behalf of
Mr Garutsa and other abductees led to his being placed under surveillance by
State agents followed by his arrest and a long drawn-out prosecution on charges
centred on his efforts to secure the release on bail of three other abductees.
He was acquitted in December last year. Now, when Mr Muchadehama must
concentrate on representing his client in the forthcoming trial, comes an
announcement that the Attorney-General’s Office has lodged an extremely belated
application for leave to appeal against his acquittal – not the first time that
official action against Mr Muchadehama has seemed calculated to hamper his
performance of important professional duties representing clients against the
State.
Another Year without Zimbabwe signing the UN Convention on
Torture
News of the impending trial, with its issues of torture and inhuman
and degrading treatment, is a reminder that once again the International Day in
Support of Victims of Torture has come and gone without Zimbabwe having joined
the ranks of the 147 nations who have signed up to the United
Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment. These 147 nations include 47 out of 53 African states. Of the
African states that have signed 12 are from the 15 SADC member States – Angola,
Tanzania and Zimbabwe are the only 3 that have not signed. So Zimbabwe
continues to be shamefully out of step with the rest of the region and the
continent.
Question in Parliament on Failure to Sign Torture
Convention
In 2001 Parliament passed a motion calling for Zimbabwe to ratify the
UN Convention, but the then ZANU-PF Government took no follow-up action. In May
last year, in answer to a question from an MDC-T MP on why the Convention had
not yet been ratified, co-Minister of Home Affairs Giles Mutsekwa explained that
his Ministry was still looking into the matter. On the use of torture to
extract confessions, he said the Ministry did not approve of this, and pointed
out that such confessions are not admissible in court. This did not answer the
question of why the Government was failing to act on a Parliamentary
resolution. It also fell short of outright condemnation of torture as totally
unacceptable. Since then backbenchers have not pressed the Government on the
issue of the Convention, although descriptions of the use of torture and
enforced disappearance by State agents surfaced during debates on a motion on
2008 election violence.
Torture Deplored by the International Community
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon in his message for the International Day on Torture:
·
urged all States that have not yet done so to ratify and honour their
obligations under the Convention against Torture and the provisions of its
Optional Protocol;
·
appealed to all States to invite the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
to visit their prisons and detention facilities, and to allow full and
unhindered access to those detained there;
· urged all States that have not yet done so to ratify the
International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced
Disappearance, pointing out that this “heinous practice is clearly and
historically linked with the practice of torture”. [Zimbabwe’s recent past
illustrates this link – as demonstrated by the story of the abductees, which is
replete with allegations of abduction, followed by secret detention and the use
by State agents of torture and/or inhuman and degrading treatment.]
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay [a distinguished South African lawyer and judge, and for eight
years from 1995 a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda,
including four years as its President, and from 2003 to 2008 a judge of the
Appeals Division of the International Criminal Court at The Hague before she
became UN High Commissioner] also issued a statement in which
she:
·
deplored the fact that many states still “practise torture and do not prosecute those who
commit it. Chilling reports of torture cross the desks of UN human rights
officials every day, even though those states that practise it try to keep it
tucked away in small, dark places”
·
reminded readers that international law’s
“prohibition against torture and other forms of inhumane treatment is
absolute and cannot be derogated even under emergency
situations”
·
sounded a warning to torturers: “there is one aspect of all this
that should cause even the most ruthless and self-confident torturers to stop
and think: in time, all regimes change, including the most entrenched and
despotic. So even those who think their immunity from justice is ironclad can –
and I hope increasingly will – eventually find themselves in
court”.
African Union Guidelines
In 2002 the African Commission for Human and Peoples Rights adopted
the Robben Island Guidelines for the Prohibition and Prevention of Torture and
Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in Africa. Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights in their International Day statement called on the Government
to adhere to its responsibilities under the Guidelines and to ratify the
Convention. [Electronic version of Robben Island Guidelines available.]
New Constitution Must Prohibit Torture
Specifically
In the present Constitution torture is specifically prohibited, and
no exceptions are allowed. It is vital that the new Constitution contains a
similar unqualified prohibition against the use of
torture.
Looking back
Regrettably, the past year or so has seen no significant evidence of
steps taken by the Zimbabwean government to stamp out the use of torture by its
agents or to terminate the impunity enjoyed by those guilty of it. On the
contrary:
·
In June 2009 the Supreme Court was presented with detailed evidence,
undisputed by the State, of the use of torture against Jestina Mukoko, director
of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, by State agents who abducted her from her home in
December 2008 and kept her in secret, unlawful detention for the best part of
three weeks. Three months later the Supreme Court issued an order halting the
prosecution of Ms Mukoko, on the ground that her constitutional rights had been
so seriously violated by her treatment at the hands of her captors that the
prosecution could not continue. [The court’s full reasons for judgement is
still awaited nearly a year later.]
·
Other persons seized and secretly held by State agents in late 2008
have presented similar testimony of torture and mistreatment to courts and have
also approached the Supreme Court for orders stopping the State from continuing
to prosecute them
·
Like Mr Garutsa, Ms Mukoko and other abductees have launched civil
cases against their captors and the State, claiming substantial compensation.
·
Impunity is exemplified by the failure to prosecute or discipline the
State agents accused of torture and other unlawful acts by Ms Mukoko and the
other abductees. Indeed, an affidavit by the State Security Minister placed
before the Supreme Court in the Mukoko case stated that the agents were carrying
out their mandate and would not be identified.
·
In October, the Government incurred major international embarrassment
by its treatment of the UN Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel,
inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, Manfred Nowak. Mr Nowak had
earlier been invited by the Government to conduct an official fact-finding
mission, from 28 October to 4 November. When he was already in transit to
Harare, the invitation was withdrawn, ostensibly because of the previously
unanticipated consultative process currently taking place in Harare between the
Government of National Unity and the Southern African Development Community
[SADC]. Although the Prime Minister intervened to repeat the invitation, Mr
Nowak was denied entry and detained overnight at Harare Airport before being
sent back to Johannesburg.
· Also in October, just a day before Mr Nowak’s arrival in Harare,
MDC-T official Pasco Gwezere was abducted from his home by State agents and held
incommunicado for six days before being taken to court accused of involvement in
the theft of arms from an Army barracks in Harare. Later Mr Gwezere detailed
acts of torture to which he had been subjected – beatings under the feet
[falanga] and about the head, body and buttocks, tying his genitals in a strong
cotton thread and pulling them in all directions, and burying him alive. There
were also reports that there had been extensive torture of Army personnel
suspected of involvement in the same arms theft.
·
In the trial of Senator Roy Bennett the State attempted,
unsuccessfully, to use statements made in 2006 by the main State witness Peter
Hitschmann although the statements had not been used in evidence in Hitschmann’s
own trial because they had been extracted by torture.
·
In March a report “Cries from Goromonzi - Inside Zimbabwe's
Torture Chambers”, commissioned by Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, gave a
timely reminder that the use of torture in Zimbabwe over the last decade was so
systematic that the only possible conclusion is that it was organized.
·
Reports persist of torture and/or inhuman and degrading treatment
meted out to civilians by security forces personnel stationed in the area of
the Chiadzwa diamond field.
With this background, and in accordance with the spirit of the GPA,
it is surely time for the Inclusive Government to take steps to ratify the UN
Convention and its Optional Protocol – and the Convention against Enforced
Disappearance.
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take legal responsibility for information
supplied.