The Zimbabwe Situation

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by Simplicious Chirinda Tuesday 25 August 2009

HARARE - Zimbabwe's coalition government must uphold the rule of law to
attract investors key to any effort to rebuild the country's shattered
economy, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said on Monday.

Tsvangirai formed a power-sharing government with President Robert Mugabe
last February but the former opposition leader's calls for an end to farm
invasions and restoration of the rule of law in the country's mainstay
agricultural sector have been ignored by militant supporters of Mugabe's
ZANU (PF) party.

In a speech to a private sector investment conference in Harare, Tsvangirai
said ensuring the rule of law was key to restoring investors' confidence in
Zimbabwe, adding that he would keep pushing to create an environment
conducive to business in the country.

"The foundation for any investment is a commitment by government to ensuring
that the rule of law is applied and adhered to without fear or favour," said
Tsvangirai, in a speech read on his behalf by top aide, Gorden Moyo.

He added: "The rule of law is the catalyst that provides the foundation of
confidence for contractual dealings and investor activity without which no
economy can run effectively. Only through adherence to the rule of law can
we remove the uncertainty of doing business in Zimbabwe and restore
investors' confidence."

Once a model African economy Zimbabwe suffered a severe economic and
humanitarian crisis since 2000 that critics blame on long time ruler Mugabe's
controversial policies.

Analysts say a unity government formed last February by Mugabe, Tsvangirai
and another former opposition leader Arthur Mutambara will struggle to
revive Zimbabwe's economy without substantial financial support from rich
Western nations.

Western nations are withholding demanding more political reforms and end to
farm invasion before they can provide direct financial support to Harare. -
ZimOnline

Zimbabwe Unity Government Tense Ahead of Zuma Mediation Visit

http://www.voanews.com

By Ntungamili Nkomo & Jonga Kandemiiri
Washington
24 August 2009

Tensions have risen within Zimbabwe's national unity government ahead of a
visit Thursday by South African President and Southern African Development
Community Chairman Jacob Zuma, who has been asked to mediate longstanding
unresolved issues.

Those ongoing disputes over fulfillment of the Global Political Agreement
underlying the unity government turned acrimonious Sunday when Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara, head of one formation of the Movement for
Democratic Change, told a cabinet retreat in Nyanga that last year's
elections were fraudulent, leading ZANU-PF ministers to walk out.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and other top officials of the larger MDC
formation moved to patch up the dispute, but the state-controlled Herald
newspaper, close to ZANU-PF, quoted Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa on
Monday as saying the former ruling party in future won't participate in any
forums in which Mutambara is scheduled to speak.

Mutambara, Mr. Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe - the three principals
in the unity government - were expected to meet before Zuma's visit to
smooth things over.

One ZANU-PF source told VOA that the party was angered when the Tsvangirai
MDC wrote to Attorney General Johannes Tomana demanding an investigation
into the alleged murders of 180 MDC supporters during the turbulent 2008
election period.

Minister of State Gorden Moyo, attached to Mr. Tsvangirai's office, told
reporter Ntungamili Nkomo of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe that tensions are
to be expected in the unity government by nature of the diverse political
parties it brings together.

Researcher Knox Chitiyo of the Royal United Services Institute think tank in
London said that despite mounting tensions, the unity government is not
likely to collapse.

Mutambara himself was unapologetic saying it was not his intention to offend
his unity government partners - but the deputy prime minister told reporter
Jonga Kandemiiri that every Zimbabwean must be clear why the inclusive
government had to be formed.

Elsewhere, a survey carried out by the Mass Public Opinion Institute and
leaked to the press was said to show a collapse in popular support for
President Mugabe and ZANU-PF since the formation of the unity government. A
leaked version of the poll showed ZANU-PF would find it hard to muster 10%
support in free and fair elections whereas the Tsvangirai formation of the
MDC was likely to garner support of at least 57%.

The Tsvangirai MDC meanwhile dismissed a report saying Mr. Tsvangirai met
with National Constitutional Assembly Chairman Lovemore Madhuku recently in
a bid to resolve differences on constitutional reform and agreed to seek a
modification of the Global Political Agreement which would expand the role
of civil society in the revision process.

The Zimbabwe Times report said the NCA and other groups "convinced" Mr.
Tsvangirai to ask his governing partners to amend Article 6 of the
power-sharing agreement.

MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa told VOA reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that his
party meets regularly with the NCA and other civic groups but there was no
meeting or agreement such as the Zimbabwe Times described in its report.

The NCA has launched a campaign calling for a "No" vote in the eventual
referendum needed to approve the draft constitution to be prepared by a
parliamentary committee.

Zimbabwe students back in school, but without books

By Fanuel Jongwe (AFP) - 2 hours ago

HARARE - A teacher pinches a crumbling stub of chalk, holding a rag for an
eraser in his other hand, as groups of pupils huddle around scarce textbooks
for their lessons in a poor Harare suburb.

"Things are not well," the primary school's head Islam Madosi told AFP. "The
whole system is down.

"There are shortages of everything that is required for the smooth running
of the school, from textbooks down to basic requirements like chalk."

Six months into Zimbabwe's unity government, this classroom on the outskirts
of the capital is typical of schools in a country that once boasted one of
Africa's best education systems.

Without supplies, schools are having to improvise to keep their classes
running, after thousands of teachers fled due to economic hardship and the
political violence of the last year.

"If you look at textbooks for example, ideally each pupil should have their
own textbook or share at a ratio of one textbook for three pupils," Madosi
said.

"But we have a situation where seven and in some cases 12 pupils share one
book. In the worst cases, some textbooks are just not available -- or only
the teacher has a personal copy.

"In the end the teacher spends most of his time doing clerical work, that
is, copying exercises and writing on the board."

The crisis in Zimbabwe's state-run schools threatens the country's status as
one of the most literate societies on the continent. It is one of the
biggest challenges facing the six-month-old unity government.

Education Minister David Coltart told a parliamentary committee recently
that the country had lost more than 20,000 teachers since 2007.

Worst affected, he said, was the southern Matabeleland province, where many
qualified English and math teachers had crossed the border to South Africa,
where starting salaries are about 8,000 rand (about 1,000 dollars, 700
euros).

School teachers in Zimbabwe earn the equivalent of 170 dollars a month,
which is why they often practise what they call "remote control teaching".
This is when a pupil takes charge of the class while they hawk candy or
other goods on the schoolgrounds to supplement their meagre income.

The government says it simply has no money to pay more, leaving authorities
powerless to plug the brain-drain.

Last year, those teachers still struggling to make a living in Zimbabwe,
staged a prolonged strike which saw most pupils in class for a total of only
28 days.

And even when students took national exams last year they had to wait months
for their results -- the government had no money to pay to have the tests
graded.

Teachers' unions called off their strike after the formation of the new
power-sharing government in February, as Coltart promised to ask donors for
money to pay salaries.

But six months later, no one has offered to help with teachers' salaries and
unions have warned that they could stage a fresh strike next month unless
their wages are increased.

"We have demonstrated good faith by subsidising the government for the past
six months, teaching dutifully and sheepishly waiting for a salary review,
while sacrificing our dignity in exchange of meaningless and humiliating
incentives," the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe said in a
statement.

Coltart said the education system needs two billion dollars to fully
recover. The government is now collecting a mere 70 million dollars a
month -- and education got just one percent of its requested budget.

"Last year was a tragedy," Coltart said. "It's very difficult to recover
from it. It's like a traffic accident where you are injured and you have a
scar which you are going to carry for the rest of your life."

Eyewitness: Zimbabwe school of fear

Tuesday, 25 August 2009 08:35 UK

Last year many classrooms were left entirely without teachers

One of Zimbabwe's many unqualified teachers tells the BBC of her fears about returning to work after the current holidays, saying she faces intimidation from officials, crammed classrooms, chronic staff shortages and the possibility of going another month without pay.

She says little has changed despite the power-sharing government formed in February between President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the former opposition MDC.

I was praying that I could come home to Chinhoyi for the holidays and forget the intimidation we have been through.

I work at a village school in Mashonaland West province.

Though I have not been paid since February, I have never uttered a word because a local Zanu-PF official is the prime suspect in the violence which gripped the area last year.

Teachers remain suspects in the eyes of these war veterans and youths

Teacher: 'Relief to work again'

Teachers facing punishment

He visits all the schools occasionally and at times he is accompanied by youths and war veterans who were part of his terror gang.

They move around with Zanu-PF party regalia, forcing us all to remain with them like captives. It's mental torture to anyone from the area. Rural folks need counselling for what they went through last year.

The official last visited the school in May.

We all froze as he spoke, as this was the man who had tormented village folks in the disputed elections.

One MDC supporter was brutally murdered by the gang he led, but the suspects have impunity because they are supporters of Zanu-PF.

The official tried to discuss the challenges the country is going through and blamed Western countries - among them Britain. As he talked, no-one wanted to give their own ideas fearing that we may cross his line of thought.

Some male teachers joined the discussion just to please him, and for the whole day we could not excuse ourselves, even for lunch.

Teachers remain suspects in the eyes of these war veterans and youths. They still believe teachers support the MDC.

Teacher's burden

This has been my second year as temporary teacher in the village.

It was easy for me to be employed as a teacher because the area where I work has large numbers of untrained teachers.

I hope that sanity may prevail if the inclusive government pushes for a new constitution

In fact at our school the acting headmaster has only recently graduated from college. We assist him with administrative issues.

My class has 54 pupils instead of the required 38 or 40 because of a high turnout of pupils this year - hunger and politics disturbed them last year.

The shortage of teachers has been a burden to us as we have more children in a class and there is less attention to a child's challenges.

I can safely say we are not able to give the children our best.

Basic needs

Temporary teachers have been left unpaid because of bungling by district education officials.

Our forms were submitted to the Salary Service Bureau in Harare but were returned in February because of missing information. The officials haven't resubmitted them yet.

This kind of bungling has affected nearly 10,000 teachers - qualified and unqualified - throughout the country.

I have survived without a salary since February because my family send me groceries every month.

Generally groceries worth US$40 can last me the whole month.

All I need is salt, cooking oil, sugar and lotion and it's easy to get mealie-meal [maize flour] from local people. They hold teachers in high esteem and can assist wherever possible since some had better harvests last season.

Right now schools are closed and I have travelled back to Chinhoyi hoping that I may regain the strength and go back to my school.

I hope that sanity may prevail if the inclusive government pushes for a new constitution where there will be rule of law and those who committed crimes will be arrested.

If that happens, normalcy could come back even in the villages.

I may go back because I want to be working and I have the passion to teach children in remote parts of the country.

I hope I will leave my own mark for a future generation.

No sign of Mugabe: health doubts

http://www.thetimes.co.za

Moses Mudzwiti Published:Aug 25, 2009

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, 85, has dropped out of sight, fuelling
speculation that he is ill.

Unconfirmed reports started doing the rounds in Harare at the weekend after
Mugabe missed the two-day Cabinet retreat in Nyanga. His deputy, Joice
Mujuru, stood in for him.

Mugabe uncharacteristically failed to visit the family of a dead struggle
colleague, Richard Hove, who died aged 77 on Friday.

Instead, he sent a written message of condolence to the family of his
long-time "comrade".

Hove was a member of the powerful Zanu-PF politburo.

Broadcasts on state radio and television referring to Mujuru as the "acting
president" have further fueled speculation that Mugabe is unwell.

Mujuru also had to announce the death of, and the conferring of "hero
status" on, Hove .

Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa told reporters at the weekend that
Mugabe was out of the country.

He did not say where Mugabe had gone or reveal the purpose of his visit.

A well-placed insider said the only time the president left Zimbabwe quietly
was on private visits - more so when he travelled for health check-ups.

In the past few weeks, Mugabe has had a punishing schedule. He went to
Libya, Malawi, Zambia and Namibia.

During the burial of Vice President Joseph Msika two weeks ago, Mugabe
looked fatigued after walking up and down the stairway at the Heroes' Acre
shrine in Harare.

Mugabe will put paid to rumours of his failing health if he attends Hove's
burial in the Heroes' Acre today.

Mangwana says land redistribution erroneous

http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=21673

August 25, 2009

By Our Correspondent

HARARE - Chivhi Central legislator, Paul Mangwana says government erred in
repossessing and distributing formerly white-owned prime land in a so-called
revolutionary manner saying the decision has backfired. Mangwana, a Zanu-PF
parliamentarian, says Zimbabwe's continued failure to restore its
breadbasket status could be linked to strategical shortcomings and lack of
foresight by government.

"The implementation of the indigenisation law has to be on a step-by-step
basis rather than be in a revolutionary manner," Mangwana told an investment
conference in Harare on Monday.

"Land reform was taken up in a revolutionary manner. Land was just taken. We
don't want to walk that road again."

Mangwana, the author of Zimbabwe's indigenisation law, had been asked by the
organisers of the conference to come and explain the operations of the new
law, which requires foreign owned companies to cede 51 percent of their
shares to locals.

The former cabinet minister said the law was conceived out of a wish to
transfer the bulk of the country's prime sources of investment into the
hands of the indigenous black population.

He was asked to draw parallels with government's controversial land reform
programme in 2000, which has seen the transfer of 80 percent of previously
white owned land to the majority black population.

This has however seen the destruction of Zimbabwe's agro-based economy, once
the envy of other countries on the continent.

Ostensibly conceived to empower the majority black population, the chaotic
manner in which Zimbabwe's land reform programme was conducted has reduced
the country to a perennial importer of food.

Zimbabwe, which used to produce surplus food to export to the region, is now
relying on food handouts to provide basic nourishment for nearly half of its
population.

Mangwana said government had failed to adequately empower the new black
farmers with both the skills and the resources to match the production
levels which were there before the start of the land reform.

"The second thing which went wrong is that there has been no capacity
building between the new farmers obviously and the areas they have engaged
in," Mangwana said, "no sufficient capitalization.

"Right now there are no resources for commercial farmers, no inputs. So even
if they want to produce, how can they produce?"

Mangwana said agriculture was being destroyed by "thoroughly inhibitive"
cost structures of farming which have led to local farmers purchasing a bag
of fertiliser at thrice the price of the same product in neighbouring South
Africa, where transport costs are cheaper.

He said this had reduced the competitiveness of the cost of producing a
tonne of maize.

Mangwana said, "If you are to buy a pump for your borehole in this country,
a 150 HD pump is going for US$1 500.

"The same pump goes for $500 in South Africa. This is where we have a
problem. The cost of farming makes the product unviable when compared with
Malawi, Zambia and South Africa.

".maize produced in this country is going for about $80 a 25 kg when in
South Africa, its US$30. Why? These are the issues the government must
grapple with.

"These are the factors which are militating against successful farming in
Zimbabwe. So it's not only the question of land reform, it is a question of
the support structures.

"Before land reform, we had the Farmers' Coop, which supported the farmers.
They would buy all their inputs tax free. They were not paying sales tax,
you only needed to produce a certificate to say I belong to a farmers'
organisation. You were exempted from paying tax on a number of commodities.

"All those support structures no longer exist. We had an agricultural bank,
AFC specifically set up to provide loans for farmers.

"No serious farmer can use his own resources to run 100 hectares of a crop.
We don't have the capital resource at the moment."

But critics say Zimbabwe's failure to scale the pre-2000 agricultural
production levels is also linked to greed on the part of President Robert
Mugabe's powerful cronies who have acquired land for speculative purposes.

Vast tracks of farmland countrywide lie idle while corrupt government
officials and military chiefs continue to invade one piece of land after
another. The 2000 land invasions, during which the country's peasant
population was led by hordes of war veterans, had the blessings of Mugabe's
government.

Mugabe, the country's sole ruler since independence in 1980, faced a serious
challenge from Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the then opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party. Tsvangirai is now Prime Minister in the
current inclusive government.

The former rivals have since merged into a transitional government that,
presumably, will lead Zimbabwe to free and fair elections within the next
two years.

Mangwana said at a different meeting over the weekend that most politicians,
whatever their party, were in favour of the government of national unity
remaining in power for five years.

"I have engaged legislators across party lines," Mangwana told journalists
attending a workshop organised by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network.
"They think that we were elected for five years and they want to serve for
five years.

He was echoing sentiments recently pronounced by Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara.

In July Mutambara described as false the widely held belief that the
duration of Zimbabwe's hybrid government had been intended for only two
years.

"All this is completely false," Mutambara said, "If you look at the Global
Political Agreement there is nowhere where it says the government is for 18
months or two years.

"It is silent on the duration of the unity government."

The mainstream MDC led by Prime Minister Tsvangirai has remained silent on
this controversy.

Zimbabwe on a drive to save national airline

http://www.sabcnews.com

August 25 2009 , 6:20:00

John Nyashanu, Harare

Zimbabwe's national carrier is on the verge of collapse and
authorities are embarking on a massive restructuring program to try and save
the ailing airline.

From cutting down regional and international flights, to huge
retrenchments and slashing ground handling equipment maintenance - all these
are looming changes at the beleaguered parastatal which is also in $ 32
million debt. Authorities are reluctant to speak but analysts say
fundamental policies have to be changed if parastatal's in general are to be
resuscitated.

Economist John Robertson says: "Until we start offering the investors
a safe place to invest and not threaten them that we will take over 51% of
the shares of their companies, I believe that we will see no growth in any
of the sectors."

Robertson believes if nothing is done urgently to help the airline,
consequences at next year's soccer World Cup would be devastating. Early
this year, South African Airways increased their flights to Harare from two
to four daily, taking full advantage of the collapse and failure to cope by
Air Zimbabwe.

Doubts Voiced on Research Showing Drop in Zimbabwe HIV Infection Rate

http://www.voanews.com

By Sandra Nyaira
Washington
24 August 2009

Some Zimbabwean health experts and advocates for those living with HIV have
taken issue with a recent study suggesting the country's deep economic
crisis helped reduce the HIV prevalence rate or the percentage of adults
infected with the deadly virus.

The research suggested the prevalence rate declined markedly at a time when
the national health system was collapsing, offering the explanation that
economic hard times discouraged risky behavior in particular by men who
given the means might stray sexually.

But the study also found tuberculosis has reached alarming levels in
Zimbabwe.

The research by Canadian infectious disease expert Dr. Michael Silverman
sampled more than 18,000 pregnant women in Chiweshe, Mashonaland Central
province, and found that the HIV prevalence rate in that population fell to
11% in late 2008 from 23% in 2001.

Dr. Silverman presented his findings recently at an HIV/Aids conference in
Cape Town.

He said deaths and general behavioral changes also contributed to the
prevalence decline.

But some in Zimbabwe do not agree with the findings, saying they understate
the severity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, adding that the sample may not have
been representative.

Sandra Nyaira of VOA's Studio 7 for Zimbabwe reported on the debate.

Civil Servants Demand U.S.$400 Salary

http://www.herald.co.zw/

25 August 2009

Harare - Government has opened negotiations with civil servants, who are
demanding US$400 for the lowest paid and an additional US$100 allowance.

In negotiations that opened last week in Harare, civil servants said their
current salaries were out of sync with the prevailing economic situation.

They want the lowest paid civil servant (B1 grade) to earn US$402 a month.
The civil servants are further demanding US$100 housing and transport
allowances .

Last week's meeting was held at the request of the civil servants through
their representatives.

The negotiations ended with the Government negotiating team led by Secretary
for Youth Develop-ment, Indigenisation and Empower-ment Mr Prince
Mupazviriyo requesting time to consult its principals.

The negotiations are expected to resume after 14 working days in Harare.

In a letter dated August 6 to the National Joint Negotiating Council, Apex
Council secretary Ms Cecilia Alexander noted with concern "the Public
Service's unilateral determination and implementation of salary levels
without negotiations".

In an interview, Public Service Association executive secretary Mr Emmanuel
Tichareva confirmed the meeting. "We met on Thursday and presented our
position to them. We officially rejected the July salary award. They in turn
are going to consult their principals and we will be meeting again after 14
working days," he said.
At the moment, the lowest paid civil servant earns US$100 and the highest
US$200. Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro would neither confirm
nor deny last week's meeting, saying he was in a meeting. Secretary
Mupazviriyo could not be reached for comment with his office saying he was
out of Harare.

Government last month announced a new salary scheme for civil servants who
had been getting a uniform US$100 allowance.

Mugabe blamed for shabby tourism

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

24 August 2009

By Marcus Tawona

'We are tired of meetings that produce nothing'
MUTARE - President Robert Mugabe's political stance is to blame for the poor
preparations ahead of the 2010 World Cup in neighbouring South Africa, local
tourism players have said.
At a meeting convened by the National Taskforce on Sport, Tourism, Image and
Communication in Mutare last week, local business men said the government
was to blame for failing to implement the outstanding issues on the Global
political agreement.
Local hotel operators told The Zimbabwean that most of them failed to
complete their projects due to the country's 10-year economic meltdown.
"We suggest that the government should instead offer lines of credit to
complete renovations and refurbishment of our projects so that we can
attract tourists," said a local hotel manager.
"The former government should be held responsible for failing the nation,"
said another hotel owner.
Most hoteliers still have their plans on paper while others said the country
was likely to miss the June 11 deadline.
"Given the time left it will be difficult for some of us to meet the
deadline without securing lines of credit from the international community.
It is too late now for the government to chip in with funds to come up with
something," said one stakeholder.
There was also confusion on the part of the taskforce committee after it
called the meeting on short notice, resulting in some stakeholders failing
to attend.
Irate stakeholders described the 'national taskforce team' as a bogus
committee as it failed to address key issues affecting the tourism industry.
"They should not just come to assess progress without any input. What are
they doing that is conducive to us? We are tired of having meetings that
produce nothing," complained one stakeholder who said the trip to the
province was a waste of state resources.

INTERVIEW: 'We are out of ZANU PF'

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

Tuesday 25 August 2009

Interview broadcast 13/08/09

Lance Guma: Hello Zimbabwe and welcome to Behind the Headlines. My guest
this week is the spokesperson for ZAPU, Mr Methuseli Moyo. Now you will be
aware ZAPU recently broke away from ZANU PF. Now the reason why we've
decided to get Mr Moyo is because of the swirling speculation that President
Robert Mugabe has offered their party president Dumiso Dabengwa the vice
presidency following the death of Joseph Msika. So of course we got the ball
rolling by asking Mr Moyo about this speculation.

Methuseli Moyo: Well as far as that is concerned there is no truth in it,
we've just seen the media reports but when we checked the source of the
story its coming from someone who is neither from the president's office nor
from ZAPU so clearly if you analyse the source of the story, it's a bit
misplaced and in fact I don't think anyone will really believe such a story.

Guma: What has Mr Dabengwa himself said regarding the story?

Moyo: Mr Dabengwa has denied everything about the story. He says he hasn't
met President Mugabe or anyone from ZANU PF. In any case why would Dabengwa
leave his own party to join another party where he's going to be a Vice
President, when he's the leader of ZAPU?

Guma: Do you think maybe what's happening is there's a lot of in-fighting
within ZANU PF and they can't find someone senior enough within their ZAPU
ranks who maybe can fill in Joseph Msika's boots?

Moyo: Yah, I think it's more to do with the dilemma in ZANU PF, the problem
in ZANU PF. When Dabengwa and others pulled out of ZANU PF clearly they left
a very big void in ZANU PF. When you speak to ZANU PF members, particularly
from Matabeleland they are saying none of the people in ZANU PF right now
deserve to take over from Msika and there is some kind of a wish that
perhaps if Dabengwa was still in ZANU PF he could provide that leadership
but unfortunately he is ZAPU right now.

Guma: What happens if these stories that are swirling around actually turn
out to be true and ZANU PF is actually making moves towards getting Dabengwa
as vice president, what would be the reaction of your party?

Moyo: It would be unbelievable to start with. We don't believe right now
that there's anyone who is in ZAPU who would want to go back to ZANU. You
know ZANU had 20 years during the Unity Accord and they failed to convince
people to stay in ZANU PF and I don't think there is a miracle which they
can perform now to correct all the bad things that made us leave ZANU PF.
You know they failed over a period of 20 years so what would happen now that
Msika has died which can make anyone believe that ZANU PF is reformed.

Guma: When you broke away one of your major complaints was that you were
being marginalised, would having Dabengwa as Vice President go some way
towards appeasing you?

Moyo: Not really. Remember (Joshua) Nkomo, politically Nkomo was a towering
figure, he was a giant but he failed to convince Robert Mugabe to be fair
with his colleagues from ZAPU. Msika came but he failed so we don't believe
that any other person, you know the same applies to Dabengwa, would convince
Mugabe or ZANU PF to reform. Now they have the danger of being left alone
and they would want to convince us now that they have changed. But you know
they always keep making promises that they don't deliver.

Guma: I suppose Mugabe finds himself in a unique position or rather the
unique problem that he faces is that we are told before Msika died, he had
insisted that Dabengwa should succeed him, so there's that view that it
would be a way of honouring Msika's wish.

Moyo: Yah it is unfortunate because now Msika's gone and people are coming
up with all sorts of stories. There are people who claim that Msika actually
said Dabengwa must remain in ZAPU and revive ZAPU, others are claiming that
he told Mugabe that Dabengwa must be brought back to ZANU PF. So it's really
difficult to know the truth but clearly it would appear Mugabe is desperate
to have some kind of a strong politician from the western region of the
country and that can only be Dumiso Dabengwa right now, but unfortunately I
think all of us in ZAPU, if for sure the story was true would do everything
in our powers to make sure that Dabengwa doesn't go back to ZANU PF.

Guma: Could there be a possibility that Mugabe has had a private chat with
Dabengwa without the party knowing?

Moyo: Oh you can never rule out that possibility but I think, and this is my
own thinking, that if perhaps I was in Mugabe's situation right now it may
be better to try and invite Dabengwa to the inclusive government but not
necessarily to ZANU PF. I think that's my own personal interpretation, but
perhaps even if they were approaches you know I wouldn't imagine Dabengwa
leaving ZAPU to go and join ZANU PF but if he was approached to come and
join the inclusive government, that's a different issue now.

Guma: OK let's look at the issue of replacing Msika. This is happening
because of the 1987 Unity Accord between ZANU PF and ZAPU, now you guys have
pulled out so what's your attitude towards ZANU PF still looking for someone
within the ZAPU ranks to be vice president?

Moyo: Well our position on that is very clear. We pulled out of ZANU PF, we
have nothing to do with ZANU PF anymore, they are free to nominate
whomsoever that they want to succeed Msika, not necessarily anyone from ZAPU
or any part of the country. You know they should be free but there are
people who were in ZAPU who remained in ZANU PF because of the prospect of
going up the ladder at ZANU PF and they always try and use the name of ZAPU
and even Matabeleland for instance to try and advance their selfish
interests within ZANU PF. In ZAPU we are out of ZANU PF, those people who
remained there they are there on their own, they should work to succeed
Msika as individuals, as individual leaders in ZANU PF without you know . .
. they should be stopped from trying to intimidate others by using the name
of ZAPU or Matabeleland.

Guma: I know I may be asking you to speculate Mr Moyo but why do you think
this story about Mugabe offering Dabengwa the vice presidency, why do you
think it's out there if it's not true?

Moyo: Well I think there could be other motives. There are people who are
anxious they are trying to imagine that if things were like this how would
people react, you'd imagine that someone is trying to test the waters, but
so far from our side there's been no excitement at all.

Guma: There was an accusation I saw in one story some people in ZANU PF are
accusing ZAPU of systematically tearing down their structures in rural
Matabeleland and forming ZAPU structures. Is this true?

Moyo: It is true people are leaving ZANU PF en masse and coming to ZAPU
although it's more to do with pull and push factors, people choose a party
of their choice but what is true really is that there are no ZANU PF
structures, even starting from the highest level of ZANU PF going down, you
can see clearly that some of the people who are still in ZANU PF now at
least so they say, some of them are in ZAPU, you know they are in ZAPU, some
of them have actually joined, some haven't joined, but they keep coming to
our offices and phoning us and saying please go ahead we'll join you later.

Guma: You have the situation where there are some former ZAPU members or
members who are still within ZANU PF who were formally ZAPU, the likes of
Sikhanyiso Ndlovu and others, what's your attitude towards them? Are you
trying to encourage them to join you, do you have an open doorway if they do
decide to defect they can join? What's the attitude towards them?

Moyo: Yes our attitude really is that people are free to join ZAPU from any
other party, ZANU PF or any other party they are free. In connection with
those leaders that you have mentioned, they are always free, we acknowledge
that they were ZAPU, we believe why they remained in ZANU PF, they've made
individual choices to remain there and they are free to remain in ZANU PF
and they are also free to come back to ZAPU if they so wish but they have to
make up their minds quickly, we are going to our congress next year,
there'll be a ZAPU congress where we will be coming up with our substantive
leadership after which there'll be no positions anymore. So it's between now
and early next year, after that if they join us after that they'll have to
come back as ordinary members of the party.

Guma: Talking about your structures, we understand you had a very good
turnout at your inaugural meetings in the United Kingdom, the ZAPU
structures in the United Kingdom, are you very encouraged by that?

Moyo: Yes we are, not only the United Kingdom, you should go to South
Africa, Botswana, basically all the countries people are very, they seem to
be very excited about ZAPU, we get messages, telephone calls from
everywhere, people wanting to join. From that angle it is quite encouraging.

Guma: But I suppose ZAPU will always be dogged by the stigmatization that it
is a very regional party, are you doing anything to demystify this?

Moyo: Yes actually that was a myth that was created by ZANU PF towards the
elections in 1980. If you know the history of the liberation of Zimbabwe,
ZAPU was the authentic liberation movement, it's well documented, the rest
were splinters so in a way these were people who were trying to defeat ZAPU,
it worked in 1980 to say that ZAPU was a tribal party but right now we have
structures everywhere in the country, all the provinces, actually our best
province is Mash West the majority of our members that's where we have, our
membership cards actually sold more in Mashonaland West than anywhere else
and Mashonaland West is not in Matabeleland.

Guma: Any particular reason why Mash West has been such a good hunting
ground for yourself, any particular factors?

Moyo: Yes I think the reason being that if you look at where Mashonaland
West is, it formed part of the front during the war for ZIPRA and ZAPU so
most of the people there, they're almost like it was ZAPU and ZIPRA who
fought the war mainly from that side so generally they connect better with
ZAPU than any other party.

Guma: OK, now one other issue that I want to raise, the issue of upcoming
by-elections, we know there have been a couple of vacant constituencies that
need to be filled up, I know you did issue a statement that you were going
to be contesting them, how do you think you are going to perform in some of
those areas?

Moyo: Our expectations differ from area to area, depending, we are being
realistic, there are areas where we know or where we have are certain we
have tangible structures on the ground, particularly in Nkayi South,
Bulilima East and Lupane East certainly we are certain of winning. But when
it comes to the other constituencies where we still trying to come up with
credible candidates who we think would carry the day for us but like I said
in my previous statement, we were going into this by-election with the aim
of winning. Even if we don't win we want to announce our revival that we are
now getting fully fit and that we mean to contest every election.

Guma: Do you see yourself fighting for influence with the Mutambara MDC
because a lot of people feel that is going to be your first obstacle to
overcome?

Moyo: Yah I'm sure Mutambara MDC like I said they have done a lot of damage
to themselves right now to an extent that in our view they no longer qualify
to be called, to be classified as a party. And again, if you look at most of
their MPs came from one area, they were losing in all the other areas so
that should show you certainly that perhaps why they were winning in that
particular area it would appear that there is no party that is strong in
that particular area. So as far as we're concerned, we don't even for a
moment imagine that MDC Mutambara would be a competitor to ZAPU.

Guma: It's been a pleasure having you on the programme Mr Methuseli Moyo but
before I go I really have to slot in this question because just the same way
I asked it, a lot of people would want clarification, before the Unity
Accord it was PF-ZAPU, now you've split from ZANU it's ZAPU, so that
clarification - PF-ZAPU, ZAPU, how did it work?

Moyo: Yes, PF-ZAPU if you remember just before the elections in 1980, there
was an attempt to unite ZANU and ZAPU to contest the elections under one,
under the banner of the Patriotic Front. As ZAPU we committed ourselves to
that, we were going to come home and contest the elections as the Patriotic
Front but unfortunately ZANU pulled out but still retained the Patriotic
Front element but the party really was ZAPU.

Guma: OK. That was the ZAPU spokesperson Methuseli Moyo speaking to us on
Behind the Headlines. Mr Moyo thank you so much for your time.

Moyo: My pleasure Lance. - ZimOnline

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