http://www.thetimes.co.za/
Published:Aug 02, 2009
Charles Molele
Zimbabwe
Prime Minister Morgani Tsvangirai arrived in South Africa on Friday
for
talks with President Jacob Zuma about widening cracks in Zimbabwe's
inclusive government, headed by ageing President Robert
Mugabe.
Tensions between Tsvangirai's MDC and Mugabe's Zanu-PF have
hit breaking
point over control of the security forces, including key
appointments such
as the Reserve Bank governor and the
attorney-general.
Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence in
1980, has made it clear
that he will not reverse the appointments of Gideon
Gono and Johannes Tomana
as the Reserve Bank governor and attorney-general,
respectively.
According to the MDC , all levers of state power have
completely shifted
into Mugabe's hands while security chiefs also refuse to
recognise
Tsvangirai's authority.
The director-general of the
Department of International Relations and
Co-operation, Ayanda Ntsaluba, has
confirmed that Tsvangirai requested to
speak to Zuma about a few outstanding
issues in the unity government.
"I'm sure that our president, as chair of
SADC, is also concerned about
making sure that these issues are addressed
speedily before they derail the
process," said Ntsaluba.
On
Friday, Tsvangirai's spokesman, James Madidi, confirmed to the Sunday
Times
that the prime minister was in the country for talks with Zuma, but
declined
to say where and when the meeting would be held.
"The meeting will deal
with sticky issues of the unity government such as
the appointments of the
Reserve Bank governor and attorney-general ," said
Madidi.
"He will
further brief President Zuma on the state of the nation - the
economy,
health matters and other socioeconomic issues affecting
Zim-babweans."
The meeting between Tsvangirai and Zuma comes as
tensions continue to grow
between the MDC and Zanu-PF in Zimbabwe.
On
Monday Zimbabwe's minister of finance, Tendai Biti, received a letter
with a
bullet inside after he presented his mid-term fiscal policy in which
he
emphasised the need for officials to reduce their expenditure.
The next
day another senior MDC official, deputy minister for youth affairs
Thamsanqa
Mahlangu, was arrested for allegedly stealing a cellphone - a
charge
dismissed by the MDC as a set-up.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/
www.chinaview.cn 2009-08-02
04:29:02
HARARE, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Zimbabwe President Robert
Mugabe has
said the inclusive government was solid and working well in spite
of
challenges the new administration was facing as it strives to revive the
country's economy.
He told a visiting Southern African
Development Community (SADC)
Parliamentary Forum delegation on Friday that
Zimbabwe's six-month- old
government had managed to bring about peace and
stability in the country.
"As things are now, there is a very
good spirit amongst us, the
president and vice presidents, prime minister
and his deputies. When we
meet, it's very friendly and it's as if we have
never had any political
fights in the past," he was quoted by local media
New Ziana as saying.
Mugabe chronicled Zimbabwe's history, the
structure of the
inclusive government, stressing to the delegation that this
was not the
first time the country was being ruled by an inclusive
government.
He, however, said there were still "little"
problems at the
grassroots level as some people were still to accept the new
arrangement.
"Generally the situation is under control and there is peace in
the
country," he said.
The president said the inclusive
government had targeted at
economic revival as its first task but was facing
serious challenges in
mobilizing resources to fund it.
Sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe were impacting negatively on all
sectors of
the economy, he said. The embargo had heavily affected all
sectors of the
economy, resulting in low capacity utilization while industry
was also not
being allowed to buy spare parts in Western countries, the
president
added.
Mugabe said SADC countries had, however ,remained
supportive of
Zimbabwe even during the times it was facing socioeconomic
difficulties. The
country, he said, strived to maintain good, beneficial
relations with
regional countries.
"We welcome your work as
the SADC Parliamentary Forum and hope
what you are trying to do for the SADC
will bring the SADC to realize its
oneness and consolidate," he
said.
Chairperson of the Windhoek-based SADC Parliamentary
Forum Gudhuza
Dhlamini said the forum was impressed with the willingness by
principals in
the Zimbabwe's inclusive government to work together for the
benefits of the
country.
"We started in Parliament, met the
prime minister, the deputy
prime minister and now the president and they are
all speaking the same
language and we are very happy," he said.
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009 21:22
LOCAL
Government Minister Ignatious Chombo has ordered his estranged
wife to stop
farming activities at his New Allan Grange farm, following a
maintenance
dispute which could expose the business empire the Minister has
built over
the years.
The Minister, who parted ways with Marian sometime in
2007 is seeking
to prevent her from sub-dividing the farm in Raffingora. The
farm was
allocated to Chombo under the land reform
programme.
Marian proposed the subdivision of the
farm after complaining that
Chombo had failed to meet his promise to provide
for her and the children,
as per his undertaking.
But Chombo's
lawyers on Friday warned her against subdividing the
prime farm measuring 3
098, 81 hectares.
They pointed out that the farm had been allocated
to the Minister and
Marian had to apply for her own using the normal
channels.
They also informed her to stop participating in
farming ventures,
noting all "farming activities" belonged to the Minister.
They also informed
her not to go to the farm to try and uplift
implements.
The dispute started after Marian instructed her
lawyers to seek
two-year "arrear maintenance" from the Minister whom she
said had failed to
honour his promise to support them.
Marian said Chombo had refused to provide groceries, food- stuffs,
clothing
and medical care, transport and other amenities in life as would be
expected
of a "responsible husband and father".
She said as a result,
she was seriously in debt.
But Chombo's lawyers wrote back
saying there was no way the minister
could pay for the maintenance because
the estranged wife had been allowed to
stay at the farm "to obviate the need
for maintenance".
They pointed out the Minister had not asked
for a cent from the
proceeds of poultry, diary, piggery and beef projects at
the farm and had
made a commitment to pay for the children's
fees.
They also proposed that "in order to avoid the talk about
maintenance"
property acquired by the couple during the subsistence of their
marriage
could be valuated and divided equally between the
parties.
The lawyers said Marian was free to suggest how the
property could be
shared.
On July 23, Marian instructed her
lawyers to advise Chombo that she
wanted the farm to be sub-divided with
each of the parties getting the 350
hectares of arable
land.
She also indicated that Chombo could get beef, diary and
goats
projects while she remained with the poultry and piggery projects. She
proposed that farm equipment be shared equally.
Marian also
proposed that she would get part of the Queensdale and
Melrose flat, the
Greendale home and the Glen View 7 house together with two
Shawasha Hills
stands.
She said she could accept any conditions regarding the
Alexandra Park
House which is registered under a trust.
She
also said she would take the cars, a tanker, horses and Banket
Dilcrest
Operations.
Chombo, through his lawyers however said the farm
was indivisible
although farm implements could be shared. They said the
property had to be
valued first.
Chombo only offered Marian
their matrimonial house, in Arcturus Road,
Greendale.
They
also said two houses, one in Alexandra Park and another house
referred as 18
Cuba Avenue, belonged to a legal persona that has directors
and
trustees.
BY WALTER MARWIZI
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009
21:08
CHIEF Newman Chiadzwa is now in hiding after state security
agents
tried to arrest him for helping a Kimberley Process team uncover
alleged
gross human rights abuses in the diamond-rich area last
month.
The 54-year-old chief fled the area together with his
family following
the raid on his Marange homestead in
Manicaland.
In an interview with The Standard on Friday Chief
Chiadzwa said he
left the area after armed soldiers and police stormed his
homestead.
"I am lucky because I was not at home when they
first raided my home,"
he said. "I could have been history
now."
When they failed to locate him, the security forces told
his workers
that they had instructions from government to evict the chief
immediately
because he co-operated with the KP team.
The
team has since recommended the suspension of Zimbabwe from the
Kimberley
Process Certification Scheme for "at least six months".
Liberian deputy mines minister Kpandel Fiya, who led the KP
investigation,
said villagers recounted tales of "senseless violence"
perpetrated by
soldiers deployed to curb illegal mining activities last
year.
After failing to locate Chief Chiadzwa for some days
the security
forces seized his two vehicles, a front end loader (TLD) and
T-35 truck, he
claimed.
The vehicles were reportedly taken
to the Chiadzwa Diamond Base, where
scores of illegal miners allegedly died
from torture while others were shot
dead by soldiers last
year.
Reports say over 200 miners were killed last year and
some were buried
in mass graves.
The government has denied
both the killings and the existence of the
mass graves.
"Yes, there are mass graves in Chaidzwa. At times people were shot at
point
blank (range)," said Chief Chiadzwa. "I could not take the (KP) team
there
because I was prevented from doing so by soldiers."
He claimed
the mass graves were within the cordoned "security area"
and it was
virtually impossible for ordinary people to access them.
Livestock that stray into the "security zone" are sometimes never
recovered.
It has not been established if they were
slaughtered by the soldiers
or just wander away.
Chief
Chiadzwa claimed two of his beasts strayed into the zone
recently and his
worker who tried to recover them was severely assaulted by
soldiers.
"The beasts have not been
found.
"I now fear that I will lose all I sweated for the whole
of my life,"
he said.
He claimed that Manicaland governor,
Chris Mushohwe, who was defeated
by MDC-T MP Shuah Mudiwa in last year's
parliamentary poll, was behind his
persecution.
Coincidently, Mudiwa was recently convicted of charges of kidnapping
in what
is widely believed to be a ploy by Zanu PF to whittle down the party's
majority in parliament.
Chief Chiadzwa alleged that
soldiers started looking for him after
Mushohwe told people at the
installation of Headmen Mukwada that he was a
sell-out because he had
supplied evidence of human rights abuses to the KP
team.
"He (Mushohwe) really believes I was behind Shuah's victory and I
suspect
this is why he is after my head," said the father of seven.
Mushohwe, a former Minister of Transport in President Robert Mugabe's
previous administration, was not immediately available for
comment.
But the Chief vowed to resist the relocation of his
people from
Chiadzwa to a farm owned by Arda and far away from their
villages unless
they were fully compensated.
He demanded
that proper homes, schools, clinics, boreholes and roads
be built first
before his people could be moved.
"Apart from that, we as the
people of Chiadzwa also want to benefit
from the diamonds from our land," he
said. "Right now the diamonds are being
looted by senior politicians while
local people are wallowing in poverty."
Chief Chaidzwa refused
to give names but added: "This is why some
people don't want the inclusive
government to work. They are accumulating a
lot of wealth in the
commotion."
Several senior Zanu PF politicians, army and police
officers have been
linked to syndicates looting the precious stones in the
area.
The majority of the people in arid Chiadzwa, which falls
in
geographical region five, are poor. This is compounded by the fact that
they failed to grow any crops last year as they faced
eviction.
Police spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner
Wayne Bvudzijena
said he could not comment about the relocation of the
Chaidzwa people as it
was being handled by a government
committee.
However, he said the police were looking for Chief
Chiadzwa in
relation to "some criminal charges" he was
facing.
"He should not hide behind the issue of relocation. We
want him to
answer some criminal charges not related to the relocation,"
said
Bvudzijena, who could not specify the charges.
Last
week Minister of Mines Obert Mpofu (pictured) said the government
had not
had enough time to act on the KP team's first recommendations after
its
visit when it called for the military to be immediately withdrawn from
Marange. But the government has said the suspension from the Kimberley
Process Certification Scheme would worsen the situation.
BY
CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August
2009 20:20
JOHANNESBURG - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday
attacked
Zanu PF for its continued violation of the Global Political
Agreement (GPA)
but expressed confidence that the unity government will not
collapse.
Addressing thousands of exiled Zimbabweans here,
Tsvangirai who was in
South Africa to meet President Jacob Zuma and business
leaders said although
some Zanu PF hardliners continued to throw spanners in
the works of the
inclusive government, their efforts would be
futile.
"I would approach the chairman of Sadc, President Jacob
Zuma to
highlight to him on the outstanding issues," Tsvangirai said. "The
change in
our country is a one-way process. This is a train without a
reverse gear."
However, it was still not clear when Tsvangirai will
meet Zuma. The
Prime Minister's spokesperson, James Maridadi, gave no
indication of the
meeting of the two leaders.
Tsvangirai on
Friday told business leaders that the role of Reserve
Bank governor Gideon
Gono was an "outstanding issue" that had to be dealt
with.
His MDC-T has written to Zuma asking him to prevail on President
Robert
Mugabe to reverse the appointment of Attorney-General Johannes Tomana
and
also for Mugabe to encourage his supporters to respect the rule of
law.
Sadc and the African Union are the guarantors of the GPA.
The Prime
Minister said the government was aware that the rule of law was
critical in
order for the country to attract foreign investment.
But he said the coalition must be given time to stop all the abuses of
the
law.
Tsvangirai also expressed concern about the living
conditions of
Zimbabwean refugees, especially those camped at the
Johannesburg's Central
Methodist Church.
He said he was
shocked by the conditions at the church which he
visited sometime
ago.
"I found people sleeping everywhere on the floor," Tsvangirai
said.
Meanwhile, Tsvangirai on Wednesday told the Masvingo
business
community that there were plans to organise a meeting between the
Zanu PF
central committee and the MDC-T's general council to ease tensions
between
the two parties.
He said there were hardliners from
both parties who did not want to
see the inclusive government
succeeding.
"There are some hardliners from our parties who are
moving around
misleading people about the inclusive government," he
said.
"Some from the Zanu PF central committee and our general
council are
needlessly scuttling government efforts to redeem the country
from the
current economic mess by deliberately misinforming the
people.
"For instance, some are claiming that their party swallowed us
and
MDC-T no longer exists."
There have been widespread
reports of inter-party clashes across the
country after some MDC-T
supporters tried to recover their property seized
by Zanu PF militia during
last year's bloody election season.
BY SAVIOUS KWINIKA AND GODFREY
MUTIMBA
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009
16:02
WHEN the University of Zimbabwe (UZ) announced that it would not
enrol
first year students for its new semester which starts tomorrow,
Sharlene
Dzvairo's dream of proceeding to university was
shattered.
"I want to study Law", a distraught Dzvairo said. "I
know that other
local universities like Midlands State (University) do offer
Law courses but
I cannot afford to stay out of Harare as that will mean
additional expenses
which I cannot afford," she said.
After
attaining 12 points at "A" Level last year, Dzvairo aspired to
be among the
institution's first year students.
She said part of a deal with
relatives sponsoring her education was
that she would cut costs by staying
with an aunt in Dzivarasekwa.
But with the UZ not enrolling
first year students, Dzvairo who has no
promising fall-back plan, will have
to wait until next year to see if she
will get a chance to pursue her
studies.
The UZ enrols more than 12 000 students out of tens of
thousands who
try their luck every year.
This means thousands of
school leavers are in the same predicament as
Dzvairo, who will have to
suspend their education plans for the whole year
after the university
cancelled its intake.
UZ has the advantage of offering
programmes that are not found at
other universities including medicine,
civil engineering and metallurgy.
Higher and Tertiary Education
permanent secretary Washington Mbizvo
last week said it was regrettable that
some aspiring students would be
inconvenienced.
"The
development is very, very unfortunate", he said. "But I would
like to point
out that it is just a transient discrepancy which will soon be
rectified.
"We only deferred the semester to next
February.
"We are doing everything possible within our means to restore
normalcy
to the institution."
He said the ministry had engaged the
United Nations Children's Fund
(Unicef), the City of Harare, the Zimbabwe
National Water Authority and the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority as
part of efforts to restore normal
water supply at the
institution.
Mbizvo said this would ensure that classes are not
disrupted in
future.
UZ Vice-Chancellor Levi Nyagura attributed the
current inconvenience
to water problems which have dogged the
institution.
He said it could not help deferring the first year
enrolment to
accommodate returning students who were forced to shelve
studies at the UZ
last year after it struggled with erratic water supplies
amid a severe
cholera outbreak.
"I have first-year students
who lost a whole year and will have to
accommodate them until they finish in
December," Nyagura said.
"There is no way we can kick them out
to accommodate aspiring
students.
"We will only be able to enrol
new students in February.
"This is not the institution's fault
nor is it the fault of the
returning students.
"These are
challenging times and people should take them as such."
Nyagura
said it was unfortunate that of the 13 boreholes sunk by
Unicef to rectify
the problem, only four functioned well while small amounts
of water could be
extracted from the rest.
This, he said, forced the UZ to seal
off campus residencies so as to
use the little water available for
toilets.
UZ campus residencies have a bedding capacity of 4 500 out of
a total
enrolment of 12 500 students.
Most returning
students will therefore have to look for commercial
accommodation as other
institutions can only accommodate a few students.
Nyagura said
the boreholes were a temporary solution as no university
in the world can
depend on them permanently.
He appealed to the Harare City Council to
restore normal supplies.
"I would like to appeal to the City
Fathers to do something about this
considering that the UZ is their biggest
asset," he said. "The City of
Harare is known worldwide because the UZ is in
Harare."
The UZ's problems also include low motivation among
staff due to poor
remuneration.
Nyagura said the institution had
directed students to settle their
fees before the resumption of classes to
address that problem.
The fees required for students in the
faculties of humanities are
US$404, sciences US$504 and veterinary science
US$674.
"We have since advised students, except for those who
got into the
government cadetship programme, to pay cash upfront and they
are responding
well to the call," Nyagura said.
About 1 010
UZ students joined government's cadetship programme which
pays fees for them
on condition that they are bonded to government
ministries and departments
on completion of their courses.
Mbizvo said a total of US$3 million out
of US$5 million allocated by
the Finance ministry to the programme had
already been disbursed.
"A large sum of that money will be
spent on the UZ to help in the
re-opening," Mbizvo said on
Thursday.
"The transfer process has already started and the
universities will be
having the money in their accounts in the next two or
so days."
The Zimbabwe National Students' Union and Zimbabwe
Congress of
Students' Unions recently told Parliament's Portfolio Committee
on Higher
and Tertiary Education that there was need for a holistic approach
towards
problems faced by the UZ and other institutions of higher
learning.
Mbizvo said government was also offering scholarships
for external
studies as part of a package to address the
problems.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009
15:48
WITH about an hour of daylight remaining, Susan Chakubva stared
at the
clear sky pondering if she would get a customer that
day.
The 42-year-old street vendor had been at her stall in
Harare's
Kuwadzana suburb since daybreak but had not recorded a single
sale.
Chakubva is one of thousands of people across the country who
have
resorted to vending for a living as poverty levels soar to new heights
in
many households.
"One of my children has since dropped
out of school. If you don't buy
from me I won't eat supper today," the
mother of two said with a tone that
betrayed her desperation.
Other
vendors are in the same predicament.
"I sell anything which
comes my way," said another vendor, Nyarai
Shamuyarira, a 33-year-old mother
of three.
"I rarely make more than US$5 a day, which is not
enough for my
family."
The open-market vendors, who pay US$18 a
month to the city council,
said surviving on vending was increasingly
becoming difficult as many people
have turned to the same
business.
They sell wares ranging from vegetables, tomatoes,
onions, masawu
(wild fruit), and sugarcane to basic commodities they buy
from shops for
resale in smaller quantities affordable to the poor.
This is not unique to Harare. It's a common sight across the country
as more
people join the ranks of the poor.
Economists estimate that
over 90% of Zimbabweans are poor and many
more are joining their ranks as
the economy continues to tumble.
The dollarisation of the
economy has not helped the ordinary people
much as they still cannot access
foreign currency, and subsequently fail to
afford basic
necessities.
Even foreign currency dealers who used to live
flashy lives have been
reduced to paupers. Some have also taken up vending
for a living.
As the situation worsens, many households are
resorting to one proper
meal a day while some families in rural areas
survive on wild fruits and
roots for days.
Some are
outright beggars - moving from door to door - seeking
assistance.
The United Nations, which recently donated US$9 million to bolster aid
programmes in the country, said the humanitarian situation in the country
"remains acute".
The agency says about 22 000 children
under the age of five are in
need of urgent treatment for severe
malnutrition.
The figure, said the agency, could double if it
remains unchecked.
It said presently six million people have limited or
no access to safe
water and sanitation in rural and urban
areas.
The agency estimates that 2,8 million people need food
aid at the peak
of 2009/10 season while 1,5 million children require support
to access
education.
"In addition, challenges of poverty,
malnutrition and unemployment
among others prevail, hence the urgent need
for financial support to help
efforts to rebuild the country's capacity,"
said the agency.
Independent economic analyst John Robertson said with
a 90%
unemployment rate, poverty levels are set to worsen.
This, he said, is compounded by the fact that no new companies are
making
new investments.
Investors are still sceptical of the political
environment.
"It's (poverty) worsening because of lack of economic
growth,"
Robertson said.
"With power and water cuts very
few companies are looking for
workers."
The Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe (CCZ) said despite the availability
of basic commodities in shops,
the goods remain beyond the reach of ordinary
people, the majority of whom
are already out of employment.
It called on government to review
salaries in line with the monthly
basket, which it estimated at US$437,62 in
June, to cushion workers.
Last month the government raised
earnings for civil servants from the
US$100 allowances to an average of
US$150 a month.
But the workers dismissed it as a
"mockery".
The country's largest worker representative body,
the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU), has warned of a possible
worker resistance
following the paltry salary adjustments.
It called on employers to pay workers salaries of over the poverty
datum
line (PDL), currently pegged at US$500 a month.
"The recent
token increments only served to pacify public service
employees but the
tensions continue to simmer," said ZCTU secretary-general
Wellington
Chibebe.
"The issue of PDL-linked salaries is a potentially
explosive matter
and government must move with speed to address this and not
keep on making
empty promises."
The department of social
welfare, which falls under the Ministry of
Labour and Social Welfare, is not
functioning due to lack of funding.
Labour and Social Welfare
Minister Paurina Mpariwa could not be
reached for comment.
But
Robertson believes that the US$88 million allocated to the Labour
ministry
in the 2009 budget has not and will not make a difference.
"We
are halfway anyway. A lot of it will pay those who work for it. It
won't get
to the people," Robertson said.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009
14:03
I have always been skeptical about male circumcision (MC). When
in
2007, the World Health Organisation (WHO) and UNAIDS recommended it as an
effective HIV prevention measure, I worried about all the praise that the
practice was receiving for its efficacy.
And my fears centred
around two points. The first was that once a man
had an MC operation done,
he would begin to believe that all the risk of
contracting HIV had lain
within a flap of skin removed from his genitals.
With that hotspot for
HIV finally snipped off, he would think that he
was now immune to the virus
and engage in risky sexual activities - all to
the detriment of himself, and
his partners. Secondly, I always wondered what
a 60% reduction in risk of
heterosexually acquired HIV infection for men (as
the three trials in South
Africa, Uganda and Kenya collectively
approximated) really meant if there
was no way to estimate similar harm
reduction for women with HIV positive
male partners.
What did MC really mean for male-to-female HIV
transmission? Could it
also protect women?
The scientists
and researchers also pondered these questions. And a
new study - carried out
in Rakai district, Uganda - now gives us a glimpse
into the
answers.
Sadly, they are not what activists in gender and HIV were
hoping to
hear, for it would seem that male circumcision may actually
increase women's
transmission risk from their HIV positive circumcised male
partner.
Out of 92 couples in a group of circumcised men (used as
the
experiment group), 18% of the women became infected during the study
period.
This was compared to 12% of women in the uncircumcised control group
also
becoming infected.
In other words, more women became
infected with the use of MC as an
HIV prevention intervention.
Alarm within all circles that have embraced the call to scale up
resources
towards universal access to MC would be justified.
After all, great
quantities of human, technical and financial
resources have been invested
into the area. The health ministries of
Botswana and Zambia have already put
in place ambitious targets for national
MC coverage, while several other
sub-Saharan nations - where HIV still has
its most fertile breeding ground -
are in the process of conducting
situational analyses and crafting policies
around the practice.
Undoubtedly, all of these activities have enormous
costs.
But before we kill MC off the HIV agenda, as well as
write its
obituary, it is still worth looking into the factors that might
have led to
the negative results yielded by this most recent study.
For a start, complacency kills.
Immediately after MC surgery, a
couple may become more cautious about
their sexual practices. Wounds from
circumcision are said to take at least
six weeks to heal, meaning no sexual
activity for that whole period.
And so at first, the diligence
about hygiene and abstinence may all be
there. But who knows how long that
lasts. Some men I know have said that
they would never consider circumcision
because they just wouldn't be able to
live without sex for six whole
weeks.
To prove the point, the new Uganda study ascertained that
after six
months, women whose partners ignored advice to abstain from sex
for at least
six weeks after the circumcision procedure had an HIV
acquisition rate of
27.8%, compared to 9.5% among women whose male partners
delayed sex until
healing was complete.
I wonder just how
many more of those who get circumcised might be
re-engaging in sexual
contact too soon after their operations - when open
wounds around the penis
still give free access for the HI virus to pass on
to a female partner
during intercourse.
And yes, there can be complacency about
condoms too. If you read the
fine print closely enough, you will notice that
male circumcision always
comes with a "disclaimer" - the practice should be
carried out in tandem
with continuing condom use for sex. MC is not a
vaccine for HIV (for HIV
negative men) and it is not a 100% foolproof
measure for women against
becoming infected. It just reduces risks of
transmission.
Condoms, regular HIV testing and faithfulness are all
still
prerequisites in the effort to avoid infection and
re-infection.
The second factor about MC relates to
faithfulness. HIV negative men
use the MC to avoid initial infection, while
men who are already HIV
positive get circumcised to avoid re-infection, as
well as onward
transmission of the virus. There is much to be lost for both
groups in the
eventuality that they begin to believe that MC has afforded
them some sort
of exemption from becoming infected with HIV.
Contrary to what many might think, MC is not a passport to risk-free
sex,
and men still need to be responsible and faithful, where
possible.
These are the reasons for my skepticism about
MC.
Perhaps these new study findings are the jolt we all needed to
realise
that there is more work to be done in terms of correctly
communicating the
benefits of MC. Certainly, it is an important component of
a holistic
approach to HIV reduction, but it must be linked to other
critical services
such as HIV counselling and testing, partner reduction and
monogamy.
On the other hand, when coupled with complacency and
recklessness, MC
becomes more of a bane than boon in our efforts towards
eliminating HIV.
BY FUNGAI MACHIRORI
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009
13:59
ZIMBABWE'S limping health delivery system is standing in the way
of
the introduction of two life-saving vaccines for pneumonia and diarrhoea,
the biggest killers of children under the age of five in
Zimbabwe.
United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) country
representative Peter
Salama says the life-changing vaccines, which could be
very dangerous if not
stored properly, can only be introduced in Zimbabwe
after huge investments
in the cooling systems of health
institutions.
The vaccines are already in use in many
countries.
"More investment is needed not only for what we call
routine
immunisations, those basic immunisations but also because they are
new
potentials in Zimbabwe to introduce new vaccines against two common
cases of
deaths - pneumonia and diarrhoea," the Unicef chief
said.
"These two new vaccines are being introduced in many
countries around
the world and Zimbabwe now has the opportunity to avail
itself for these
life-saving vaccines.
"But first it will
require real investment in the cold chain
infrastructure to ensure the
country is ready to introduce these highly
potent and highly important
vaccines."
It was not immediately clear how much it would cost
the Ministry of
Health and Child Welfare to install the
infrastructure.
Salama, who granted Standardhealth an exclusive
interview in Harare
last week, also called on donors to support the
country's health sector to
get back on its feet after a decade of
collapse.
Salama said women and children had borne the brunt of
the
deteriorating standards as the system was failing to provide
comprehensive
and affordable care to them.
He cited high
costs of health care as one of the biggest impediments
to children and women
getting access to proper treatment.
"As we have seen the health
system has really taken a big hit in the
last few years and it is barely
functioning at the moment through schemes
such as the Health Worker
Retention Scheme that Unicef, (UK Department for
International Development)
DFID and other donors are involved in," Salama
said.
"Unicef is also bringing in a huge proportion of the essential
medicines in
the country, we estimate between 70-80% of the essential
medicines but the
system is limping along, its not doing what it could for
children and women
in this country."
According to the recently released report:
Maternal and Perinatal
Mortality Study done by government in partnership
with Unicef, World Health
Organisation, UN Population Fund, University of
Zimbabwe and Umea (a
university in Sweden) the majority of maternal and
newborn deaths in
Zimbabwe were avoidable.
The report said
maternal mortality death was now around 725 per 100
000 live
births.
This means that for every 100 000 women who deliver
about 725 women
die due to complications at child birth.
Citing this report Salama said the large number of women dying during
childbirth was a human rights issue requiring urgent
interventions.
"A recent study has shown that the lifetime risk
of women dying of
pregnancy related causes is 1 in 40 so around 1 in 40
women can expect to
die of child birth and the consequences of child birth,"
he said.
"This is really a very high number and that compares
to around a
figure of 1 in 47 000 in Ireland which is the safest place in
the world to
deliver a baby.
"Why that's important
obviously is that it's a human rights issue,
women shouldn't be dying at
that rate."
Salama said children who lose their mothers early
in their lives have
reduced chances of survival, which is why any
interventions for children
should begin with saving their
mothers.
"We also know though that if women die, their children
are more likely
to die in their first months of life as well," said
Salama.
"The most important causes of death in children in
Zimbabwe are what
we call neonatal disorders (that is deaths that occur in
the first 28 days
of life).
"Usually those neonatal
disorders are intrinsically linked to the
health and welfare of the mother
so we know that if we support the mother
through safe delivery programmes we
not only benefit the mother but those
new born children in their first
crucial 28 days of life."
BY BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009
13:28
TROUBLED power utility, ZESA Holdings can significantly reduce
the
serious power shortages that are threatening the revival of industry if
it
gets adequate coal supplies to run all units at the Hwange Power Station,
Energy and Power Development, Minister Elias Mudzuri said last
week.
The country has been facing worsening power outages, which
have been
blamed on reduced capacity at the HPS, with some suburbs going for
weeks
without electricity.
"We can run four units now
that will give us 500Megawatts," the
minister said soon after he unveiled a
new board for the company.
"If we run six units that will give
us 600-700MW that will cover most
of our deficit of about 800MW as of
today."
Mudzuri said the utility had been able to pay for the
coal it was
using since the dollarisation of the economy.
He said the power utility had received 28 000 tonnes of coal on
Thursday
against a monthly requirement of 500 000 tonnes.
"If we get
three months' supply we will be able to run four or five
units at
once.
"Colliery (Hwange Colliery Company Limited) is facing
financial
problems. we cannot pay everything upfront," he said adding that
the power
utility and the colliery company had an agreement to improve the
supply of
coal.
ZESA can also generate electricity at the
Bulawayo, Munyati and Harare
thermal power stations but they are offline
most of the time because of coal
shortages.
Currently the
country relies on Hwange, Kariba and imports from HCB
(Mozambique) and Snel
(Democratic Republic of Congo).
Refurbishments at the HPS are
underway and four units have been
completed, Mudzuri said.
The
refurbishments are being done under an agreement signed with
Namibian power
firm NamPower, which financed the retooling of the power
station with ZESA
amortising the debt through a monthly transmission of
power.
Hwange Power Station has an installed capacity of
920 MW but is
generating less than 300MW owing to coal supply
shortages.
Mudzuri said the Batoka hydro-power project, viewed
as the long-term
solution to the country's electricity shortages might take
long to be
implemented due to the huge investment needed estimated at over
US$2.5
billion.
The project is a joint initiative between
Zimbabwe and Zambia and will
generate 2 400MW.
Mudzuri
mandated the new ZESA board to solve the electricity crisis
immediately.
The new board saw seasoned engineer Simbarashe
Mangwengwende bouncing
back at the power utility after he left the company
in 2006.
Mangwengwende is deputy chair of a 12-member board led
by medical
practitioner, Noah Madziva.
The other members of
the board include engineers Richard Maasdorp,
Andrew Nyambayo, Kurt Rietz,
Stephen Hazangwi and group CEO Ben Rafemoyo.
It also has lawyer
Francis Chirimuuta, economist Gwyneth Ngoma and
Pardon Chakanyuka (ZESA
group corporate secretary).
Mudzuri said two more additions
would be made to the board so that
members with finance and human resources
background can be brought in.
The board is expected to draw up
performance management contracts for
ZESA Holdings' executives and
subsidiary companies, Mudzuri said.
The new board is faced with
the daunting task of ending the increased
load-shedding and billing
challenges that have seen customers getting
unjustified bills every
month.
Mudzuri said the board will ensure that the local
generation capacity
of the existing power stations is increased through the
completion of the
NamPower financed refurbishment at Hwange Power
Station.
He said the board should "accelerate refurbishment of
the transmission
and distribution systems to improve reliability of the
power delivery in
Zimbabwe".
BY NDAMU SANDU
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009
13:25
ZIMBABWE will remain a net importer of capital to provide finance
for
businesses for the foreseeable because of the erosion of domestic
savings
during the country's long drawn out economic crisis, a report by the
United
Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has revealed.
According to the UNDP working paper, Foreign Trade, Competitiveness
and the
Balance of Payments, the capital will be in the form of foreign aid,
Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI), offshore bank borrowing and limited
portfolio
inflows.
"In post-crisis Zimbabwe, investment and
infrastructure deficits in
both the private and public sectors, at a time
when the domestic savings
base is negligible and when the banking sector is
unlikely to be in a
position to satisfy the working capital demands of
businesses, mean that for
the foreseeable future Zimbabwe will be a
substantial net importer of
capital - foreign aid, FDI, offshore bank
borrowing and limited portfolio
inflows," the report said.
"This will almost certainly result in some, possibly substantial and
dilution of domestic ownership of the capital stock."
The
report said that "closing the infrastructure deficit at a time
when
Zimbabwe's public sector finances will be seriously constrained is
likely to
mean increased reliance on private sector funding, including
public-private
partnerships, commercialisation and privatisation".
Government
has agreed to cede shareholding in various state
enterprises in return for
funds to finance the rebooting of the sectors to
increase efficiency and
ultimately improve service delivery.
Public-private
partnerships have been identified by the government to
rehabilitate the
collapsing infrastructure under the revival plan, the Short
Term Emergency
Recovery Programme.
In his Mid Term fiscal review statement,
Finance Minister Tendai Biti
said investors notably China were interested in
partnering government in the
refurbishment of infrastructure neglected over
the years.
"We are in the process of negotiating with the
Chinese on various
capital PPP development projects in roads construction,
work on electricity
and increase power generating capacity particularly at
Kariba," he said.
Private-public partnerships,
commercialisation and privatisation will
have to be part of the policy
agenda along with far closer attention to
broad investment climate and doing
business concerns that have been
neglected in the past, said the
report.
"It will be essential too to revisit existing foreign
investment
legislation, specifically those aspects relating to
indigenisation and
foreign ownership," the working paper
said.
The working paper said in a post-crisis environment,
growth in
Zimbabwe must not only be export-driven, but heavily reliant on
foreign
capital inflows because domestic capital and banking markets have
been
decimated by hyperinflation.
"In a word, Zimbabwe must
globalise - there is no alternative -
difficult though this may well prove
to be, especially if the current trend
towards de-globalisation
accelerates," the working paper said.
The report, which is
part of a series of working papers, was compiled
by two of the country's
leading economists, Tony Hawkins and Daniel Ndlela.
BY NDAMU
SANDU
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009
13:19
CHINHOYI - The formation of the inclusive government five months
ago
has not brought any tangible benefits to workers who still earn salaries
below the poverty datum line, Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions secretary
general Wellington Chibebe has said.
"The situation of the
worker has not changed much despite the fact
that there is a new political
dispensation," Chibebe told journalists at the
Chinhoyi Press Club on
Friday.
"As much as others may say the situation is
improving, there isn't
much to show for the workers."
He
said employers were still unwilling to pay a living wage estimated
at more
than US$400 a month despite signs that the economy was
improving.
The joint Zanu PF and MDC government formed in
February has managed to
bring down Zimbabwe's world record breaking
inflation from a quadrillion
percent to 0,6 % as of June.
A
number of companies have also resumed operations following the
dollarisation
of the economy.
Chibebe said the inclusive government had also
failed to improve
working conditions for civil servants despite the
re-introduction of
salaries, medical aid and pension benefits last
month.
He said more consultations should have been made before
the salary
review that was rejected by trade unions was
made.
"It is not the right of government to come up with
salaries for civil
servants," Chibebe said. "It is the right of every worker
to present the
demands to government.
"The poverty datum
line stands at US$400 and is actually creeping into
US$500."
The ZCTU boss said the government, which claims to
be broke must "walk
the talk" and stop its lavish spending.
He cited the recent decision to buy MPs cars worth US$30 000 each
despite
the fact that cheaper schemes were suggested to the
parliamentarians.
On accusations that the ZCTU was meddling
in politics, Chibebe said it
was every worker's right to participate in
politics.
He said everything was political including "the price
of bread and the
rising bus fares."
BY OUR
CORRESPONDENT
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01
August 2009 16:19
AMID all the challenges facing Zimbabwe, it is
perhaps incredible that
one of the week's highlights is the arrest of a
government minister,
Thamsanqa Mahlangu.
He is alleged to have
stolen a cell phone. The victim of the said
theft is Joseph Chinotimba.
Chinotimba rose to the limelight of Zimbabwean
politics when alongside the
late Chenjerai Hunzvi, he engineered farm
occupations. Dr Hunzvi, his
companion, was also called Hitler - his
sobriquet. Chinotimba was the
self-proclaimed 'Commander-in Chief' of the
farm invasions. He is now a
well-known character and is often referred to as
'Chinoz'. Indeed, there are
many 'Chinoz' jokes that have mushroomed around
his personality since he
rose to his present station.
It is the image of Chinotimba during
the farm occupations that will
live long in the memory. In that image, he
wears a very broad, if slightly
menacing grin, donning a straw
hat.
And so it was that he rose from his humble station as a
security guard
of the local municipality to become a flamboyant Jeep
Cherokee-driving
farmer. He also earned himself a seat on the Board of
Advisors of the
central bank, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe where he advised
the Governor,
Gideon Gono. The uniforms were exchanged for new designer
suits. Chinotimba
had "arrived".
It is fair to say
Chinotimba has enjoyed a meteoric rise in public
life. And now he is the
character who has lost a cell phone, a humble Nokia
2310.
He is reported to have rather dramatically it must be said, served
legal
papers on Mahlangu, the alleged thief during his current tenancy in
the
cells at a Harare police station. Chinotimba is claiming US$19 million
in
lost income in his business.
He says it is a consequence of the
theft. That should be an
interesting, if groundbreaking legal case before
the civil courts of law.
Such monumental losses in a short space of time
(two weeks), if true,
demonstrate an enterprising and extremely successful
businessman in a
country whose economy has struggled badly in recent
years.
At that rate Zimbabwe can pay its arrears in just a few days
and have
spare change to kick-start the rest of the economy. Why would we
have to
beg? Someone needs to seriously look into Chinotimba's business and
how it
can be encouraged - it could be a cash cow that the country
desperately
needs.
The alleged thief, Mahlangu belongs to the
MDC, the former opposition
party before the formation of the Inclusive
Government whereupon it became
Zanu PF's uneasy bedfellow. Naturally,
Chinotimba is a high priest of the
rival Zanu PF. Then there are two women,
one of whom claims to be Mahlangu's
intimate companion. She says they shared
a room (and presumably the bed) at
a local hotel, the beautiful Crowne Plaza
Monomotapa which overlooks the
wonderful Harare Gardens.
Reports suggest that the minister has admitted to taking possession of
the
mobile phone although he denies that it was an act of theft. The matter
will
soon come before the courts and no doubt, more of the finer and juicier
details of the story will emerge.
A writer of fiction might
well have thought of this plot but would
probably have dismissed it as too
simplistic; too unbelievable to be taken
seriously. Perhaps they are right
when they say that sometimes the simplest
things are the most
extraordinary.
The matter raises questions. If true, it is a
huge embarrassment not
only for Mahlangu, an Honourable Member of Parliament
and minister of
government. It also embarrasses the MDC which decided
earlier this year that
he was a fit and proper person to take up a
ministerial position. Did they
do proper due diligence checks before
appointing him to that senior
position?
However, some
people believe there is more to this story than meets
the eye. They are
mostly MDC supporters or at the very least sympathisers.
They believe this
is all part of an elaborate plot by Zanu PF to get rid of
MDC
MPs.
They argue that an engineered arrest, conviction and sentence
of at
least six months would, going the constitution lead to his expulsion
from
parliament. This would reduce the MDC's majority in the House of
Assembly,
allowing a facility to reverse its gains in the 2008 election.
Although
parties to the GPA cannot for a certain period contest each other
for vacant
seats, there is nothing at law that stops independent candidates
from
contesting. And there is nothing to stop one of the GPA parties from
clandestinely sponsoring an "independent" candidate against its
rival.
There is a conspiracy, the theorists say. Proponents of
this
conspiracy theory point to the incredibly high number of MDC MPs who
have
been harassed, arrested and some have already been imprisoned for
various
offences ranging from political violence to rape. There is a rat,
they say,
and many swear they can smell it from a distance.
Now
to be sure, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the state
pursuing those
accused of criminal activities. Indeed, it would be a
travesty if MDC
politicians sought protection from the law's long arm simply
because they
are MDC. Zimbabweans have seen enough of that retrogressive
culture in the
last 29 years and know that it has to change. As a friend
often reminds me,
it is not right to defend mediocrity.
But there is also reason
to appreciate their concern. It is that there
seems to be a selective
application of the law. They have seen that over the
years, when it comes to
Zanu PF politicians that the wheels of justice do
not appear to move at all
and if they do, they drag very reluctantly. Scores
of the former opposition
supporters lost their lives, broke their limbs and
lost property over the
last few years.
The case that always comes to mind is that of
Talent Mabika and
Tichaona Chiminya who were burned alive during the 2000
parliamentary
election campaign. Alleged perpetrators have been fingered but
to date there
has been no arrest, let alone prosecution. Thousands lost
their lives in
Matebeleland during Gukurahundi in the 1980s. But no single
person has been
brought to book. Hence the many a doubting Thomas around
us.
It is not that they seek to excuse Mahlangu or indeed other MDC
politicians. If that is the case, they would be standing on very slippery
ground. It is to my mind, that if the law must be applied, it must be
even-handedly. It is that those responsible for civilian casualties at the
Marange diamond fields must also face the law.
It is all very
well to prosecute former opposition politicians who
violate the law but to
gain any respect, the law and law enforcers must
apply the law equally to
all.
Indeed, there should be no sacred cows, whatever party a
politician
belongs to. But that, for now at least, is a dream in a very dark
tunnel.
The old Shona proverb is appropriate, chidembo hachinzwi kunhuwa
kwacho (the
polecat does not smell its own stink). In other words, some
people will
forever be blind to their own faults. Meanwhile, Minister of
Finance Tendai
Biti is said to have received a very nasty gift in the post.
It was a
bullet. Now this is a serious case of intimidation. It will be
interesting
to see how well the wheels of justice turn on than
one.
Alex Magaisa is based at, Kent Law School, the University
of Kent and
can be contacted at wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk or a.t.magaisa@kent.ac.uk
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009 16:15
IN a much needed
and overdue discourse of national healing, it
advisable to begin by stating
that it is very difficult to clearly state who
should qualify to spearhead
the process of national healing without being
understood as being divisive
in a state that suffers so much polarity like
Zimbabwe.
The
problem arises when the process is headed by political figures
that are
merely bent on fostering a cover-up to the crimes committed so as
to post a
pretentious finality to whatever issues are at hand. However,
history has
taught us that diluting such a much needed national process and
creating a
farce out of it has a way of haunting future generations.
History
teaches us that a case like the Zimbabwean one so far provides
a good
example of a national healing process which is conjured and managed
by
politicians as a niche for elite transition. A statement of caution to
most
political leaders and some characters at the forefront of Zimbabwe's
seemingly nefarious national healing process; is to bear in mind that in
their attempt to address systematic abuses and gross violations of human
rights which led to a genocide in Zimbabwe, there is need to avoid
endangering the political transformation they are trying to
purvey.
It may be necessary to begin by borrowing a leaf from
Rwanda's Gacaca
participatory programme and South Africa's Truth and
Reconciliation
Commission (TRC).
What we have been
witnessing in South Africa is commonly known as a
Truth and Reconciliation
state project with little or no justice.
This is a good example of
a project whose purveyors had to be alive to
the realities of their time;
that if they had prosecuted the main culprits
that alone would have
endangered the transitional process they were trying
to engineer, while at
the same time they had to appease an angry expectant
South African black
population.
But there is also another very interesting
dimension in South Africa's
TRC; a truth seeking and revelation, and the
whole notion of reconciliation
without justice as a pseudo-political-legal
arrangement.
However, the first problem arising out of the TRC
is that there is no
proof that all those who committed those abuses and all
manner of crimes
against humanity were high on drugs, possessed or had lost
their mental
faculties, and that they would therefore tell the whole truth
now that they
were no longer in a state of "temporary madness". Instead,
such a process
merely says, "let bygones be bygones", "let us bury the past
and move on".
Usually, it works very well for politicians as
the elite and not for
the ordinary masses. It usually gains acceptance in a
state if there is a
strong promise for meaningful change.
Zimbabwe definitely has lessons to learn from the case of South
Africa; that
forgiveness should as a state-aided project not end up being a
spoken word
whose meaning is dangerously hollow and elusive. If anything, it
must
translate into meaningful ways in society with people gaining
confidence in
systems and structures being put in place to aid transition.
It must usher
with it equity and equality in most spheres of life. Justice
without these
is as hollow as any politician with no conscience. It has no
meaning.
Further, it must enable citizens to come out of
their victimhood and
as survivors to also participate in the process of
national healing without
fear. If citizens participate in such a process
when they are still engulfed
in fear then the wound being healed may become
even more septic.
There is nothing that is as dangerous in life
as a social wound that
fails to heal properly and ends up festering. Such a
wound has a way of
recurring and causing so much of problems in a state.
Zimbabwe's leaders
must be alive to this fact.
The second
problem is that, those who appeared before the TRC in SA
did so knowing that
a hand of amnesty had been extended. And so, they could
appear before the
TRC knowing fully well, that they would tell whatever they
narrate, then
show unparalleled remorse, cry bitterly in the name of God,
the angels and
all heavens and still get away with murder.
In essence, justice as
a sociological reward, particularly to the
aggravator and the survivors was
not fully achieved. But the main underlying
reality was that there had been
a transplacement of sorts and South Africa
was definitely in a transitional
mode. People could glean change.
However, the case of South
Africa had one major advantage for its
posted successes; the facade of black
majority rule and the presence of
Nelson Mandela as the luminary, with
Desmond Tutu appearing to be in control
of the process and preaching peace,
forgiveness and reconciliation.
The whole notion of Nelson Mandela
as a father-figure had an
anaesthetizing effect, obviously rooted in the
belief that utata/ubaba
suffered for 27 horrible years in Robben Island; a
situation which was
always posted in the media as unparalleled. This success
has been
concretised by the attempt to immortalise Nelson Mandela, and so it
makes it
difficult for those who feel short-changed to stand up to such a
towering
figure.
*Brilliant Mhlanga is an academic and a
human rights activist from the
National University of Science and Technology
(NUST), Zimbabwe.
Brilliant Mhlanga overset
what is
called participatory justice as a form of transitional
justice. It has the
following components: justice; punishment (as a
sociological form of reward
to both the perpetrator and survivor); truth
revelation; community
participation; and hopefully, reconciliation! Due to
limited space, I will
not discuss the above components in detail.
In Rwanda, we also
notice that Paul Kagame and his army had captured
the state. A form of
transition commonly referred to as replacement had
taken place, and so, even
the ordinary people were bound to perceive the
Gacaca participatory project
as plausible for these reasons and a number of
them. The Gacaca programme is
not yet over, it is still an ongoing process.
But we must also bear in mind
that the Rwandan case has the potential to be
a time bomb, whichever way you
look at it.
However, it is worth noting that these processes
as ways of nurturing
national healing and progress tend to create several
dilemmas. These
dilemmas were registered in both the Rwandan and South
African cases, for
example, how do you tell the truth when you have been or
may be incarcerated
for more years, as is the case with most people,
particularly those of
Matabeleland/theMidlands in Zimbabwe where there is an
undefined taboo of
raising the subject of the Gukurahundi genocide in
public?
Given the fact that openly talking about the
Gukurahundi genocide is
considered a serious taboo, how then do we convince
people who are still
traumatised to openly talk about it this time around,
when all the
perpetrators are still in power? How do you reconcile with one
who murdered
your father, raped and killed your sisters, mother, children,
and that
person still controls the levers of power?
Here I am
referring to the repressive state apparatus (the whole
security machinery or
defence forces as is the case of Zimbabwe).
How do you build
democracy and democratic culture in such a polarized
society, like Zimbabwe?
How do you live, in the same neighbourhood with a
person you saw doing all
these heinous crimes and they are going Scot-free?
Here I am referring to
the recent spate of violence in Zimbabwe which was
concentrated in the
regions of Mashonaland, between April and June 2008,
where a villager turned
against another villager.
Are there any mechanisms that will be put
in place, both legally and
politically to ensure that crimes of this nature
are not committed again? Or
to use President Robert Mugabe's phrase, what
measures will be in place to
ensure that those "moments of madness" do not
visit us as a people and end
up leading us to hack each other to
death?
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009
16:10
AS politicians are responsible for much of the strife that has
engulfed Zimbabwe over the past 29 years including the Gukurahundi
massacres, Operation Murambatsvina, and the June 2008 election violence,
they are the least qualified to champion any process of
reconciliation.
The only interest driving the politicians is
concern that they do not
end up in the dock for fanning hatred against their
opponents. It was the
promotion of intolerance of other people's political
views that resulted in
more than 200 supporters of the MDC-T being killed in
the June 2008 election
violence, which saw thousands more becoming
internally displaced.
And even as the political leaders declare
days of national healing,
peace and reconciliation, some families face
difficulties in returning to
their rural homes or in reclaiming property
confiscated from them, mainly by
supporters of Zanu PF.
Peace, reconciliation and national healing will not come at the behest
of
politicians' deadlines.
There is a docket with the National
Prosecuting Authority in South
Africa for the arrest, under the Rome Statute
of the International Criminal
Court, of nearly 20 Zimbabweans implicated in
the 2008 June election
violence.
There are many more but fear
of arrest is one of the drivers of the
current national healing process. It
is the same fear that prevented Sudan's
President Omar Hassan al Bashir from
travelling to Uganda for last week's
2009 Smart Partnership Dialogue. He
risked arrest for crimes against
humanity.
Zimbabwe's
political leaders fear they will face charges for crimes
against humanity
under international law because the June 2008 election
violence was
committed as part of widespread systematic attacks, primarily
against
political opponents and those suspected of being opposed to the
regime.
The acts of violence and torture were committed
pursuant to a policy
conceived by and propagated through Zanu PF, and aimed
at opposition party
members or persons who were suspected of being opposed
to the incumbent
regime.
The abuses are catalogued in the
South African dossier and indicate
that the acts of torture committed by the
named perpetrators were part of an
orchestrated attempt by those in power to
clamp down on and punish
opposition members.
Anyone who
tortures his victim is responsible for violating a norm of
international
criminal law under the Rome Statute. However, responsibility
does not end
there. Crimes carried out by lower-level state officials
potentially
implicate superiors. The superiors will be held responsible
because they
failed to exercise control over those under them.
In early June
2008 violence perpetrators herded MDC-T supporters into
a room at Jerera
Growth Point in Zaka, Masvingo. They drenched the victims
and the room in
petrol and then set them alight.
This followed a pattern set 26 years
earlier.
The following from Breaking the Silence, Building True
Peace published
by the Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace and the
Legal Resources
Foundation provides a shocking insight: Soloboni
(Tsholotsho), February 23,
1983: "Five Brigade rounded up entire village to
the borehole. Six people
were chosen at random and bayoneted to death and
buried in one grave. Five
people were beaten to death." In January 1983:
"All villagers were forced to
witness the burning to death of 26 villagers
in the three huts of Dhlamini.
Women and children died."
It would therefore be absurd to allow a serial rapist to dictate the
terms
of closure for his victims. Similarly, there can be no forgiveness or
amnesty until those responsible for presiding over and participating in such
atrocities are called to account by their victims. Only then can we talk of
peace and reconciliation.
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
Saturday, 01 August 2009
16:10
NOW that the issue of the rebel MDC MPs has finally been settled
through their expulsion from our party, instituted by the Party's National
Disciplinary Committee, those of us who have been itching to express our
views on the matter are now free to do so.
We have been
hamstrung for a long time over this matter. We could not
speak lest we would
be accused of interfering with the due process of
justice and fairness. I am
mindful of the fact that the decision taken might
cause the other party to
the conflict, to pursue the matter through the
courts, derailing efforts to
put this matter behind us in the shortest
conceivable period of time, but
whatever the case, the motion for divorce
has been set.
Firstly, I would like to congratulate our MDC leadership, particularly
the
National Disciplinary Committee for taking such a bold decision under
the
circumstances. The decision to expel the rebel members was long overdue,
in
my view. The Party leadership must be congratulated too for demonstrating
that it has strong teeth and it can bite.
I note that there
have been cries from some quarters complaining about
the decision taken to
expel the MPs. Those opposed to the decision have
argued that it was
ill-conceived and should not have been considered,
because it weakens the
resolve to build a strong opposition that will fight
for political space in
the country. Nothing is further from the truth.
I hasten to
point out that an army that has no discipline will not win
a war, no matter
how well-equipped it may be.
Some of us were clear from the
onset that, in spite of consistent and
persistent denials, our colleagues
had long switched over their allegiance
to our competition and were only
content to pretend to the rest of the party
membership that they were still
with us. Claims that certain senior party
officials were responsible for the
collapse of the re-unification talks
between the two MDC formations before
the 2008 elections are a monumental
lie that does not deserve any
response.
It is a political campaign gimmick meant to vilify
certain senior
party officials. I am aware, like most committed cadres of
the party, that
these rebels have for a long time been engaging in efforts
meant to divide
the top leadership of the party in order to destabilize the
organisation. It
is thus not surprising that the expelled MPs would want to
apportion blame
for the collapse of the talks on our negotiating team, when
the evidence to
the contrary is there for all to see.
Those
of our executive members, including the rebels, who were
privileged to
attend National Council, will testify that Council got
briefings from our
negotiators at every turn, about progress at the talks or
lack of it until
the last day the talks, were declared to have irretrievably
collapsed. The
Council in its wisdom resolved to forge an inconvenient
marriage with Dr
Simba Makoni's Mavambo to field Makoni as the party's
Presidential candidate
in the 2008 election.
The other delusional nonsense that has
been deliberately peddled by
this rebellious group is that senior party
members who include party
President, Professor Arthur Mutambara, Deputy
President, Gibson Sibanda,
Secretary General Professor Welshman Ncube and
Deputy Secretary General,
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga who did not win
parliamentary seats in the
2008 elections had allocated themselves
ministerial positions in the
inclusive government at the expense of those
who won parliamentary seats.
The rebels were mistaken in their
myopic and self centred view, if
they saw themselves as deserving
ministerial appointments notwithstanding
the glaring intellectual
limitations some of them have shown. I am not
surprised that for the
purposes of propaganda, the rebels have been prepared
to pretend to the
nation that they were not present when the National
Council took a
resolution on who was to be nominated to represent the party
at ministerial
level in the inclusive government.
For the record, we resolved as
National Council that we would nominate
our best to fly the party's flag in
the inclusive government, and the vote
in favour of those currently
representing the party was unanimous.
I vividly remember Professor
Mutambara, categorically stating to the
Council that we should compensate
our smallness in the inclusive government
by having people who would make a
difference through commitment to
delivering service to the people of
Zimbabwe. Today we stand proud of our
team MDC.
They have lived
up to our expectations and are making the difference
in the inclusive
government.
An example of the rebellious attitude which the MPs had
adopted was
when they arranged a private trip to Botswana where they sought
to meet one
member of the political competition. All this they did without
the knowledge
of the party, in spite of the fact that the issues discussed
at this meeting
had a serious bearing on the party.
When the
matter was brought to Council, the MPs strenuously denied any
wrong doing.
Many National Council members felt the MPs were not honest and
should have
been expelled at that time. The attitude of the expelled MPs was
no longer
in keeping with party policy.
* Maxwell Zimuto, is Head of
Information and Publicity in MDC-M. The
expressed views are the writer's
personal views and not those of the party.
BY MAXWELL
ZIMUTO
http://www.thezimbabwestandard.com
What 'Management Excellence'?
Saturday, 01 August 2009
13:11
I see in you sister paper, The Zimbabwe Independent, that Dr
Peter
Chikumba of Air Zimbabwe has once again "scooped" one of the many
increasingly meaningless prizes awarded for "business excellence" in this
extraordinary topsy-turvey country of ours.
Excuse me, but as I
understand it, AZ has stopped operating to five
destinations in the last
three months and many more over Chikumba's tenure
of office; reduced weekly
flights to and from London by a third;
the whole staff works
two-weeks "on" and a fortnight "off"; planes are
allegedly on their last
legs (or wings?) and the parastatal last year
reportedly lost more than it's
total revenue - surely a first?
On a very personal note, the
once excellent "full English" breakfasts
served on the overnight London hop
have been replaced by disappointingly
bland "continental" breakfasts, mainly
comprising starch and cheap jam.
Since dollarisation, it is now
often more economical to fly to Europe
via Johannesburg or Nairobi than
direct from our own international airport
on our own airline. Competitor
airlines offer a full package of in-flight
entertainment totally absent on
AZ, better food, limitless drinks and
usually land at Heathrow, which is
far more convenient for most people than
Gatwick.
AZ's
regional and domestic airfares are scandalous: little more than
extortion on
routes with scarce or no competition. (One can fly return to
the USA or
Caribbean or have a packaged holiday in Europe including flights
from
Gatwick or Stanstead cheaper than the return flight to Lusaka or even
Victoria Falls.) There is once again no service to Kariba, Hwange, Masvingo
or the Lowveld, nor to the Mozambique business centres or holiday
destinations.
Can someone, therefore, explain to me what
criteria is used to select
our so-called businessmen of the
year?
Honestly, is AZ a glowing example of the excellence and
efficiency
reflected in the tributes and accolades accompanying these
awards, made
usually amid an orgy of self-congratulation, followed by
on-going,
unwarranted and unwanted paid publicity?
If what
we see at the management helm (or cockpit) of AZ is top-rate
business,
entrepreneurship or management, I obviously went to the wrong
college of
commerce three decades ago and studied some other sort of
economics than did
AZ's CEO.
Can the various bodies: Institute of Management,
Chamber of Commerce,
Industry, Mines etc who apparently have self-appointed
themselves arbiters
of Zimbabwean business ethics and morality please
explain to an increasingly
incredulous public what yardsticks are used in
identifying these "winners"?
On a more positive note let me
congratulate AZ's cabin staff on a high
standard of service (sadly severely
restricted by higher authority),
politeness, civility and
smartness.
Frustrated Frequent Flyer
Famona
Bulawayo.
-----------
New Salaries for Teachers a
Mockery
Saturday, 01 August 2009 13:00
I write this letter
filled with disgust at the latest efforts by our
leaders to ridicule and
mock our educators, the teachers we look up to turn
our children into
responsible citizens and leaders of tomorrow.
How does our
government in all fairness expect teachers to live on
less than US$200 a
month?
I undertook a quick survey and realised that just to
rent a reasonable
two-bedroomed accommodation one needs at least US$150 to
US$500 depending on
the area. Throw in the food, rates, transport,
children's fees, and other
bills that every adult has to take care of, and
the teacher will be left
gasping.
I am not a teacher myself
but a journalist and I feel strongly that I
need to speak out for people's
rights.
Expecting teachers to teach our children when they are
being paid what
I am paying my maid to look after my two children and do
homework with my
Grade One son is a mockery.
Yes, we have
economic challenges and yes, we are working it out but we
have to think like
rational people. Why are MPs fighting it out for cars?
Teachers
are not asking for cars! They just want to be able to
survive. To be able to
shop for groceries and clothes like everyone else.
I have been
paying fees for my brother's four children for the past
four years. He is a
headmaster. You would be surprised how excited he was
when the inclusive
government came to power?
He thought he would regain his
dignity and take care of his own family
without getting handouts from his
little sister. But with the announcement
of the measly salaries by the
government, all the excitement has fizzled
out.
Parents
were also excited thinking they could now stop paying teachers'
incentives
as government would pay them decent salaries. At this rate, the
race has not
even begun. We will keep paying the teachers to teach our
children.
When we were in primary school our teachers cared
about our welfare
and were well respected. Today when we pay our teachers
US$165, and expect
the same. I am disappointed in the leadership that
expects results after
doing this.
To Ministers Tendai Biti
and David Coltart, I say I am disappointed
and hurt. We did not expect this
from you: least not from ministries of the
MDCs. I will understand if the
teachers decide to reject this insult of a
salary outright.
Amai vevana
Eastlea
Harare.
--------------
Address UZ Crisis Urgently
Saturday, 01 August 2009 12:51
THE unity government of Zimbabwe does not have education as one of its
priorities.
After a whole academic year was wasted at the
University of Zimbabwe,
the authorities are now demanding a minimum of
US$400 a semester.
What is surprising is where they think poor
students like us could
possibly get that amount of money when our civil
servant parents get a
meagre salary of below US$200 a month and some of them
in the rural areas
are surviving on handouts?
Our
Zimbabwean leaders are taking education for granted. They have
dented the
lives of future generations.
Piecemeal solutions to the problems
affecting the University of
Zimbabwe will only prove to be self-defeating as
they have done in the past.
If they do not address low remuneration for
lecturers, then the university
is as good as closed.
Further to that, if the tropospheric fees are not lowered, student
demonstrations will become the order the day.
Simbarashe
UZ
Harare.
----------
Fawning
Titles for Mugabe
Saturday, 01 August 2009 12:49
IT
boggles the mind that the Ministry of Media, Information and
Publicity
directs the state media to refer to President Robert Mugabe in so
many
titles.
Reminding people everyday and every hour in state
newspapers and on
radio and television that Mugabe is President, head of
state, head of
government and commander-in-chief etc will not change the
way people view
Mugabe.
Mugabe will not become a
likeable character on account of all these
titles. The titles will never
change the results of the March 2008 election
which Mugabe lost to Morgan
Tsvangirai.
Mugabe will not get legitimacy in the eyes of the
people and the
international community by these useless
titles.
The state media on the other hand keeps losing
credibility by allowing
their newspapers, radios and television to be
propaganda mouthpieces of Zanu
PF.
No wonder why they are
reluctant to give licences to more media
players. They know Zanu PF, Mugabe,
and the state media will be buried once
and for all if more new media
players are allowed.
Giving leaders titles such as supreme or
grand leader is typical of
totalitarian states like North
Korea.
Nowhere in the progressive world are leaders being referred
to by so
many titles every day.
They can try all the tricks
in the book, but people are tired and no
longer afraid.
Real
Patriot
Harare.
-------------
Give Priority to
Zambezi Water, Kunzvi dam Projects
Saturday, 01 August 2009
12:45
ZIMBABWE should give priority to the construction of the Zambezi
water
pipeline and the Kunzvi dam in order to stimulate economic growth and
also
as a lasting solution to the water crises that the two cities of Harare
and
Bulawayo are facing.
The projects have the potential to
kick-start Zimbabwe's ailing
industries as most of the raw materials like
steel and cement are available
in Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe also
boasts numerous underutilised companies in the
engineering, metal and
construction sectors that have the capacity to take
part in these projects
not forgetting the skilled professionals and millions
of unemployed workers
who would benefit from such projects.
Zimbabwe should also look
at the long-term benefits of the projects.
At the moment industrialists are
finding it hard to plan for future
expansion due to the water crisis in the
two major cities, Harare and
Bulawayo.
Zimbabwe should also be
looking at the imminent recovery of the
agriculture sector.
There will be need for a strong industrial base to process
agricultural
produce into higher value foodstuffs so that Zimbabwe doesn't
become a
country that only exports raw materials leaving it at the mercy of
international commodity price fluctuations.
One example is
the cocoa industry in West Africa. In order not to fall
into the trap of
West African cocoa producing countries it's imperative that
Zimbabwe invests
heavily in infrastructure that can support its industries.
The
Zambezi water pipeline and Kunzvi dam should be viewed as national
projects
just like the Kariba dam because this will benefit the whole
country.
It's time to be serious as Bulawayo needs water
for expansion and for
the revival of heavy industries, especially the
tannery sector that consumes
a lot of water.
As for Harare,
Kunzvi dam offers the only lasting and cheap solution
to its clean water
crisis.
Generation NeXt
Bulawayo.
--------------
SMS The Standard
Saturday,
01 August 2009 13:14
Of titles and. . .
WHEN Idi Amin ruled
Uganda, he was President, Field Marshall Salongo,
Conqueror of the British
Empire, Chairman of the Organisation of African
Unity/ former Chairman of
the OAU, Al Hajj Doctor Idi Amin Dada. An
impressive array of titles has
been growing in Zimbabwe too.- Witness,
Harare.
******
THE
state media and other mouthpieces of the former ruling party, Zanu
PF are
running scared and have started believing their lies as far as titles
are
concerned. If left unchecked, soon we will have something that runs like
this: Head of state and government, Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces
and Chancellor of all universities, Cde R G Mugabe. But we are not fooled.
His powers have been diluted. - Yinemapfuta.
What is the
point?
WE are constantly reminded that President Robert Mugabe is the
Head of
state and government and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces.
Is there
fear of something unknown? What is the point? The real leader of
this
country must be careful of the opposition. I am waiting for the day
when
these thugs will answer for their crimes. Zimbabweans are good at
boasting
about how good they are, but in fact we are cowards. What are we
going to
tell our children when they read history? At times I am ashamed to
be in
Zimbabwe. - War vet, Gweru.
******
THIS truly is
a weird world. The Zimbabwe Independent publishes public
information and the
editors are hauled before the courts. The state media on
the other hand
publishes leaked Cabinet information and nothing happens. -
Clerka
weDowasuro.
WE say no to a boat-driven constitution. -Upenyu,
Mudzi.
GNU, a waste of time
THE Government of National Unity
is a waste of time. What has it done
for ordinary Zimbabweans except
astronomical bills for telephones,
electricity, water, education, health,
fuel, food, clothes, even parking
tickets - everything except salaries to
pay the bills. When do they plan to
revive industry? -
Disgusted.
******
MONOMOTAPA'S trip to Malaysia is an
outright scandal that had all the
blessings of the Zimbabwe Football
Association (Zifa). I expected both Zifa
and Monomotapa to apologise rather
than try and justify the farce. It is
naïve of Monomotapa to claim that they
did not go there as the Warriors. It
was evident Malaysia invited the
Warriors and clubs generally do not play
national sides. The talk of "sense
of national pride" in Warriors' jerseys
is as cheap as it is a gigantic
smokescreen. Why is Monomotapa not using the
strip in the Champions League
games? -Abas.
Fight for Bennett
THE MDC-T must fight for Roy
Bennett's freedom. Zanu PF knows that
with Bennett sworn in as Deputy
Minister of Agriculture he will be able to
expose the multiple farms they
own. The MDC-T must act immediately. -
Multiple end.
******
WE need modernization of the economy to stimulate economic
growth for
the future. Let's hope that what happened at the
All-Stakeholders'
Constitutional Conference is a wake up call for the
President to put his
house in order because the empty vessels in Zanu PF and
the hecklers will
only serve to take him back to the Stone Age.
-Arise.
Zesa should come clean
COULD the Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority (Zesa) tell us the
real problem affecting the delivery of
electricity? We used to generate
enough electricity to avoid load-shedding.
What we want to know is the state
of energy-generating capacity at our power
stations, the supply of coal from
Hwange, the requirements in terms of
equipment and the human resource
capital. What are government's short and
long-term plans to solve these
problems? We cannot continue to live in the
dark and hope for a miracle to
deliver us from the darkness. There are also
a lot of illegal and dangerous
connections on the new farms especially in
Guruve, along the road to Mbire.
These are unplanned leakages that overload
the system. Use of vehicles for
Zanu PF is another way that has bled Zesa.
- Powerless, Guruve.
******
WRITERS in the state media
want to persuade us that the issue of a
land audit can wait. Why are the
writers at pains to try and stop the audit?
The argument is that it is an
unnecessary expense and that the resources
should be used to finance farmers
so as to boost production. But before that
can be done, can these writers
explain what happened to the resources that
were channelled into that sector
during the past eight years. And can they
explain why the audit results were
never published and made public? It is
our right to demand to know where the
money allocated to the audits went and
what the results were. We are also
aware of the R300 million from Sadc which
we think hasn't been used. Can it
be made available this season? - Oracle.
Timely reminder
I
WANT to remind senior citizens that the drafting of a new
constitution does
not necessarily mean the demise of their leadership
credentials or cultural
values. In fact, it will be a foundation to support
future generations. -
Noel Moyo, Eastlea.
******
DURING past years of suffering
under President Robert Mugabe's
administration, many people who could have
been saved lost their lives
needlessly in hospitals. But state propaganda
sheets said absolutely
nothing. I personally lost a relative and we could
not do anything. May the
soul of the late Permanent Secretary for
Constitutional and Parliamentary
Affairs, Margaret Chiduku, rest in peace.
The state media's attempt to find
who to blame for her death smacks of
hypocrisy. All along the private media
has told us about the collapse of the
health sector while the state media
chose to look the other way. - Analyst,
Bulawayo
Dear Family and Friends,
There are
stirrings of spring in Zimbabwe which lift our spirits and
tease us with
promises of better times to come. Seasonal changes are
evident everywhere:
hard green wild oranges weighing down leafless
branches; pink and white
Bauhinias flowering along roadsides; rolled,
hooting calls of the as yet
unseen Coucals; the veld grass bleached
and brittle. And every evening
caramel sunsets smudged with smoke
blanket the horizon before the vista of
African stars cover the sky.
The smallest things which a decade ago we took
for granted are now so
rare because of unchecked environmental destruction.
But there are
still glimpses of life and therefore hope: a slender mongoose
darting
across the road; the slow heavy flight of a heron overhead,
the
nagging chattering of a hammerkop as it patrols whats left of
the
wetlands, searching for frogs amongst the streambed cultivation
which
is destroying our vleis.
This spring and summer we look to our
unity government to give some
long overdue attention to the environment not
just on the farms but
in and around our cities and towns, in and around our
streams and
rivers, forests and bush. Even the rocks have not been
spared:
beautiful balanced granite boulders, the edges of kopjes and
even
roadside rocks are being chipped away into building stones by
men,
women and children desperate to make a few dollars.
Already the
uncontrolled fires are everywhere, smoke rising and
staining the horizon in
all directions. Six months into their terms
of office municipalities continue
to argue about assets and sit on
their hands while garbage piles up on
roadsides, under trees and in
stinking piles outside flats and shopping
centres. Residential areas
in my home town, and many other areas, have not
had dustbins
collected for nearly two years, street lights have been off for
four
years and yet still every month the councils bill us for
services
they dont provide. Someone in Harare wrote saying theyve not had
a
drop of water in their suburb since the 27th of June 2008. In
other
parts of the capital city it has been even longer and yet they
too
receive accounts every month for water they do not receive.
The
ugly scars of Zimbabwes dark decade are everywhere but the best
news came
this week when the BBC were allowed back into the country.
Excellent news too
came of the un-banning of the Daily News newspaper
hopefully they can be
re-capitalized and start again. At last the
real truths can be exposed for
all to see and the puerile propaganda
of ZBC TV and Radio will be
counterbalanced. Until next week, thanks
for reading, love cathyCopyright
cathy buckle 1st August 2009.
www.cathybuckle.com <http://www.cathybuckle.com/>