Zanu PF seeks to unseat Zuma as mediator

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

02/08/2011 00:00:00
    by Staff Reporter

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party will push for a new regional
mediator on Zimbabwe at a SADC summit set for Angola later this month, state
media reported on Tuesday.

South African President Jacob Zuma has been the region’s point-man on
Zimbabwe since 2009, but his aides have repeatedly clashed with the Zanu
PF-side of the power sharing government.

Zuma assumes the chairmanship of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and
Security Cooperation at the Angola summit, a scenario which Zanu PF
officials claim would mean he would be “reporting to himself”.
The state-run Herald newspaper, quoting an unnamed Zanu PF official, created
three scenarios.

The official said: "The first scenario is for SADC to decide on whether he
(President Zuma) can serve as facilitator at the same time being the Troika
chairman.

"The second option is for SADC to allow President Zuma to undertake the two
roles, but recusing himself when Zimbabwe is being discussed by the Troika.

"Another scenario that SADC may consider is for President Zuma to postpone
assuming his (Troika) chairmanship and continue as the facilitator to
Zimbabwe's inter-party dialogue.

"If all these options fail, it means SADC will have to go back to its
tradition where facilitators are appointed from retired Presidents.”

Lindiwe Zulu, who leads Zuma’s facilitation team in Zimbabwe, insisted that
the South African President could play both roles without problems.

"We have the capacity to handle that because the facilitator has a
facilitation team, which will play that role. The facilitation will then
report to President Zuma in his capacity as the Troika chairperson. That is
not going to be difficult for us,” she insisted.

The latest plot by Zanu PF to unseat Zuma as the facilitator on Zimbabwe
follows concerns by the party’s top leadership that the South African
President has been aligning himself with the MDC factions.
But Zanu PF would probably need Zuma’s cooperation and that of at least half
of the 15 SADC states to get a new mediator.

Mugabe and Tsvangirai still divided over electoral roadmap

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
2 August 2011

The country’s feuding political leaders have failed to deal with three key
issues in the election roadmap, and will approach the forthcoming Southern
African Development Community (SADC) summit in Luanda, Angola deadlocked
over the contentious issues.
MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that there
are three major fundamental issues that still divide ZANU PF and his party.

“During the last SADC summit in Sandton, Johannesburg there were three
shaded areas that were referred back to the principals to try and deal with
the issues,” Mwonzora explained.
He continued: “I can tell you now that the principals have failed to agree
on any of the issues and we still have differences with the staffing at the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, the state sponsored violence and the issue of
security sector reform. It is our hope that SADC will deal with these issues
because as parties we have clearly failed to bridge the gaps amongst
ourselves.”

The 31st ordinary SADC summit at the Talatona convention centre will once
again grapple with the Zimbabwe crisis. Observers believe the regional bloc
should flex its muscles by taking a strong stance on the Zimbabwe crisis, or
consider other options in dealing with the country’s errant leaders.

Leading pro-democracy activist Dewa Mavhinga told SW Radio Africa there is
need to push SADC to demand more action from Zimbabwe.

“It is high time SADC introduced stronger measures against errant
individuals within the country. This is timely because without this strong
position from SADC we will continue with this dilly-dallying without
tangible results for a very long time to come,” Mavhinga said.
He emphasised that the regional bloc had at its disposal a range of options,
such as suspending Zimbabwe from participating in SADC activities, until
there is full compliance with the Global Political Agreement.

“One way of doing this is to slap economic or other sanctions on the
leadership that is errant in Zimbabwe because SADC is a better placed
institution to take such action,” Mavhinga said.
He added: “This is more so because it will be an African solution to an
African problem. It will also be a welcome development that would ensure a
speedy resolution to a political problem in Zimbabwe.”

The anticipated election roadmap is expected to pave the way for fresh,
dispute-free polls. Before the roadmap can be adopted the MDC formations
want the contentious issues dividing the parties to be dealt with first. The
issues include the crucial issue of security sector reform, the
constitutional process, media reform, electoral reform and rule of law.

Zimbabwe Governing Parties Urged to Reach Agreement Before SADC Summit

http://www.voanews.com/

01 August 2011

South African facilitator Lindiwe Zulu said it was surprising that
Zimbabwe's governing parties have rejected the road map to the next
elections that was drawn up by their own negotiators

Ntungamili Nkomo & Tatenda Gumbo | Washington

Facilitators for South African President Jacob Zuma are urging the governing
parties in Zimbabwe to reach agreement on key issues ahead of a Southern
African Development Community summit coming up August 16-17 in Angola.

The facilitators, who have been preparing the ground for periodic
interventions by Mr. Zuma, mediator in Zimbabwe on SADC's behalf, say it is
particularly important that the co-governing parties set a common position
on the path to the next elections.

Though party negotiators hammered out a road map with time lines pointing to
a ballot in 2012, the MDC formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF have both rejected the road map, though
for different reasons.

ZANU-PF is demanding that elections be held this year, while the Tsvangirai
MDC wants the existing Electoral Commission to be re-appointed with more
neutral members. The MDC is also demanding reform of the security sector,
especially the military, which is closely aligned with ZANU-PF and has
interfered with the electoral process.

South African facilitator Lindiwe Zulu said it was surprising that the
governing parties are rejecting the elections road map that their own
negotiators crafted.

Political analyst Bhekilizwe Ndlovu commented that it is hardly surprising
that ZANU-PF and the Tsvangirai MDC are unable to come to terms on the
document.

Elsewhere, the Zimbabwe Election Support Network has urged that the Office
of the Registrar General be relieved of responsibility for the establishment
of a new voters roll - one of the key reforms to be carried out before new
elections can be held.

The non-governmental organization says it is the fault of the registrar
general that the national voters roll has become so corrupted, and that the
office must be taken out of the equation in order to establish transparency
and credibility in the list of voters.

It said voter registration should be conducted by the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission.

A ZESN audit of the voters roll found 27 percent of the voters listed were
deceased.

ZESN Chairman Tinoziva Bere told VOA reporter Tatenda Gumbo that the Office
of the Registrar General has acted in an unconstitutional manner.

 

No military interference: MDC

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Staff Writer
Tuesday, 02 August 2011 15:12

HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has been mandated by his MDC party
to push for a resolution barring feared military generals from interfering
in Zimbabwe’s delicate political processes at this month’s Sadc summit.

Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC spokesman, told the Daily News in an interview
that Tsvangirai will inform regional leaders that an election roadmap being
pushed for by Sadc hung on a thread mainly because of military interference.

The MDC national council took the decision at a weekend meeting where the
party adopted a tough stance on ongoing political talks.

“Particularly, the president, who is going to lead the team to Sadc, is
mandated with seeking a Sadc resolution on generals. We want Sadc to adopt a
clear position on the role of army generals in political processes,” said
Mwonzora.

Mwonzora was speaking as army generals, particularly Brigadier General
Douglas Nyikayaramba, joined Mugabe in demanding elections this year and
calling Tsvangirai a “national security threat” who should never be allowed
to rule Zimbabwe even if he won a popular election. Sadc leaders are meeting
in Luanda mid this month to discuss, among other things, progress on
Zimbabwe’s political situation since they last met in Johannesburg in June.

At the Johannesburg summit, Sadc leaders “encouraged the parties to the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) to move faster in the implementation of the
GPA and create a conducive environment to the holding of elections that will
be free and fair, under conditions of a level political field”.

Sadc has repeatedly said the election roadmap, whose completion is harm
strung by widening political differences, is the best way out of the
political stalemate.

Mwonzora poured cold water on reports of an agreement between coalition
government parties on the election roadmap.

“The president has been given instructions to advise Sadc correctly that
there was no agreement finalised on the roadmap. There were certain areas
where agreements were secured. But the entire roadmap has not been agreed to
because we cannot have an agreed roadmap without agreeing on the three
fundamental issues of Zec staffing, security sector reform and violence,”
said Mwonzora.

The stand by the MDC’s supreme decision making body is certain to prolong
Zimbabwe’s decade-long political stand-off despite mediation efforts by Sadc
because of the fierce resistance likely to come from President Robert Mugabe’s
Zanu PF party. Zanu PF has repeatedly said security reforms and Zec staffing
were non-negotiable issues.

Mwonzora, on the other hand, said the MDC national council had resolved that
any future election should be held after the resolution of these two issues.

“Negotiators were given an instruction not to compromise on security sector
reforms, Zec and violence.”

“The staff at Zec was chosen by Zanu PF and amongst that staff, there are
card-carrying Zanu PF members, members of the Central Intelligence
Organisation masquerading as Zec staffers and we have members of the army
there as well,” said Mwonzora.

“We want Zec to be a civilian institution presiding over a civilian election
process. So we must have new professional staff at Zec before any election,”
he said.

The hardening of positions by the two biggest parties in government is
almost certain to delay elections that Mugabe has been clamouring for to be
held this year.

Mwonzora said Tsvangirai would push the Luanda summit to expedite the
deployment of regional personnel to strengthen the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee (Jomic) in the face of police failure to act on
resurgent political violence.

Jomic is a largely ineffectual cross-party organ set up to monitor the
implementation of the GPA. Sadc leaders said the regional representatives
should be deployed to Zimbabwe “as soon as possible” at its June summit in
Johannesburg.

Zimbabwe Defense Forces Commander to PM Tsvangirai: Leave Military Alone

http://www.voanews.com/

01 August 2011

Sandra Nyaira

Zimbabwe Defense Forces Commander General Constantine Chiwenga, apparently
responding to comments Sunday by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai saying the
armed forces have become a major obstacle to democratic reform, told the
state-controlled Herald newspaper that Mr. Tsvangirai should leave the
military alone.

Dismissing Mr. Tsvangirai's charge that the army is meddling in politics,
Chiwenga said the armed forces deserve respect for maintaining peace.

"As a professional defense force, we will not be drawn into debating our
constitutional mandate lest we join the misguided elements of our society in
barking at the image in the mirror and will therefore remain committed to
fulfilling our role in the face of adversity," Chiwenga told the Herald, a
mouthpiece for President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF.

"The ZDF deserves respect from all progressive Zimbabweans for their
invaluable contribution to the liberation of Zimbabwe from colonial rule and
for being the architects of the peace and stability that has continued to
prevail in the country since independence," Chiwenga declared.

Addressing supporters Sunday in Kwekwe, Midlands province, Mr. Tsvangirai
said the security forces are in need of reform as senior military and police
officials have become advocates and proxies for the former ruling party in
the political arena.

Neither Chiwenga nor a spokesperson for him could be reached for comment.
Defense Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa commented that security sector reform
has become a "buzz-word" for Mr. Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change.

MDC spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said the party simply wants a military that
will distance itself from politics and from the political violence with
which it has been associated in elections since 2000.

Analyst Joy Mabenge of the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for
Zimbabwe said reform of the national security sector reform is badly needed.

Still no clarity on Zimbabwean deportations

http://www.irinnews.org/

 

Photo: Anthony Kaminju/IRIN

Before 2009, South Africa was deporting about 200,000 Zimbabweans a year

JOHANNESBURG, 2 August 2011 (IRIN) - South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs announced yesterday that it had met its 1 August deadline for processing 275,000 applications from undocumented Zimbabweans, but that applicants would have a further one month grace period in which to pick up their permits, only about half of which have so far been issued.

However, officials were reluctant to comment on the question of whether the grace period would extend to Zimbabweans who remain undocumented but have been exempted from deportation by a special dispensation that started in April 2009 and was expected to end with the conclusion of the Zimbabwe Documentation Process (ZDP). Based on estimates by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) that between 1 and 1.5 million Zimbabweans migrants are living in South Africa, the majority were not covered by the ZDP.

Speculation about if and when deportations of undocumented Zimbabweans will resume has been rife in the local media, but Home Affairs officials have avoided describing the grace period as an extension of the moratorium, and in a 1 August statement Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said that the government had no plans to engage in “mass deportation” of Zimbabweans.

“However, those who have failed to take advantage of this process will in due course, face the full consequence of South Africa’s immigration laws.”

Just how soon undocumented Zimbabweans might face the full might of the law remained unclear.

If we as an organization don't know [what is going on] and other organizations are equally confused, we can safely assume that the entire Zimbabwean community is confused

"Our understanding was that the moratorium on deportations was lifted last night and that only the Zimbabweans who applied have been given this extension," said Braam Hanekom of Cape Town-based NGO People Against Suffering, Suppression, Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP).

However, ZDP head Jacob Mamabolo told a media briefing in Pretoria that "upon completion of the grace period, anyone found not to have documentation will be deported."

Confusion

Hanekom said that inconsistencies in communications by Home Affairs on the matter had created widespread confusion.

“If we as an organization don’t know [what is going on] and other organizations are equally confused, we can safely assume that the entire Zimbabwean community is confused,” he told IRIN.

Lucky Katenhe, a Zimbabwean member of staff at PASSOP, said he had applied for a permit through the ZDP but was becoming concerned as he had yet to receive it. Even more worried were friends of his who did not apply. "Some didn’t even know about it and some were not sure if it was a genuine process; they were worried it was ploy to arrest them," he said. "Now they are quite worried about being deported because the situation back home is quite bad."

In recent months, reports of political violence and intimidation in Zimbabwe have been on the increase and 39 percent of Zimbabweans told a recent Gallup poll that in the past year they did not always have enough money to buy food.

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

Thousands of Zimbabweans in South Africa Face Deportation

http://www.voanews.com/

August 01, 2011

Peta Thornycroft | Johannesburg

The South African government has finished processing applications from more
than 250,000 Zimbabweans seeking permission to live and work in South
Africa. The South African government has indicated that starting next month,
any Zimbabwean in the country without authorization could be deported.

More than 100,000 Zimbabweans who applied last year to live and work in
South Africa have already been given permission to stay, according to
officials in the Department of Home Affairs.

A further 176,000 Zimbabweans applied by the deadline of last December 31 to
stay in the country.

Those cases have been decided, according to Jacob Mamabolohead, who heads
the Zimbabwe Documentation Project within Home Affairs.  However, Home
Affairs has not said how many Zimbabweans were accepted or rejected, and
many of the applicants do not know the status of their application.

A civil rights group, People Against Suffering Oppression and Poverty, or
PASSOP, says it hopes there will be no mass deportations.

PASSOP director Bram Hanekom says he fears that if home affairs officials
begin looking for illegal Zimbabweans, this could spark another round of
xenophobic attacks. Several illegal migrants living in South Africa were
killed in a wave of xenophobia three years ago.

“It wouldn’t be logical, it would put too much pressure on the South African
situation.  We are already continually combating xenophobia and tensions in
certain areas,” said Hanekom.

Hanekom said it would not be in the interests of either South Africa or
Zimbabwe for mass deportations of those who failed to secure the right to
work in South Africa.

Hanekom said many Zimbabweans in South Africa send money home each month to
support their families.

He also said that Zimbabwe's frail economy would be destabilized if
thousands of Zimbabweans were forcibly sent back home.

“Zimbabwe’s current situation would obviously be put under immense pressure
if large numbers of people were returned to Zimbabwe," he said.
"Economically, Zimbabwe would be put under more pressure because the
remittances would be reduced.”

The home affairs department says there will be no “mass deportations” of
Zimbabweans who failed to secure work permits. But officials have not ruled
individual deportations.

Tara Polzer Ngwato, a migration expert from the Africa Centre in
Johannesburg, said deportation was traumatic and expensive, and experience
showed that many Zimbabweans who were previously sent home from South Africa
found ways of returning because they could not survive at home.

Hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans have made their way to South Africa in
recent years to escape their country's political turmoil and an economy that
was ravaged by hyperinflation. Some reports put the number of illegal
Zimbabweans in the country at more than one million, but the exact number
remains unclear.

SA says Zim deportations will not resume, yet

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
02 August 2011

South Africa’s department of Home Affairs has indicated that the current
moratorium on Zimbabwean deportations has not yet been lifted, insisting
that the condemned practice of mass deportations will not happen.

The forced removals were set to begin when the Zimbabwe Documentation
Project (ZDP) ended, and that deadline was meant to be July 31st. Over the
weekend, Zimbabwean nationals were reportedly on the verge of panic amid
concerns that deportations would resume first thing on Monday.

But on Monday afternoon, Home Affairs announced that a month-long grace
period would be granted to give successful applicants under the ZDP to
collect their paperwork. After this, anyone without the proper documentation
will be deported.

“Zimbabweans will be treated like any other nationality who are deported
when found without proper documentation,” head of the Zimbabwe documentation
project, Jacob Mamabolo, after confirming that adjudication of all
applications from Zimbabweans wishing to legalise their stay in South Africa
had been finalised.

This new extension on the moratorium has come as a relief to many
Zimbabweans, especially as the Home Affairs department is yet to finish
issuing permits. More than 275 000 Zim nationals applied for permits under
the ZDP, but Home Affairs has only just finished finalising the
applications.

Braam Hanekom from the refugee rights group PASSOP told SW Radio Africa on
Tuesday that Monday’s announcement by Home Affairs is welcome. But he
explained that an official extension has not been formally announced.

“The department is doing all it can to avoid using the word ‘extend’, and it
appears politically loaded. We don’t know why they are doing this, but they
could possibly be avoiding this to possibly try and quietly lift the
moratorium,” Hanekom said.

Estimates put the number of Zim nationals in South Africa at close to two
million, meaning hundreds of thousands of people now face possible
deportation. Fear has been high that the South African police would return
to its practice of rounding up foreigners for mass detention and
deportation, as part of a rumoured ‘clean up’ operation. There are also
unconfirmed rumours that trucks are already waiting at the Musina border
post to start deportations.

The deportation threat meanwhile has seen an increased number of Zimbabweans
heading to the Marabastad refugee reception centre in Pretoria, to register
as asylum seekers. Over the weekend, Zim nationals queued overnight trying
to secure their place in line to register their status in order to avoid
deportations.

The congestion at the refugee reception centre has also led to at least two
incidents of violence, with a number of people being injured in stampedes
there. The Home Affairs department has also been urged to inviestiagte
further, after two people were said to have died there last week,

UN to appeal for Zim aid

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by Own Corespondent     Tuesday 02 August 2011

HARARE – UN humanitarian coordinator for Zimbabwe Alain Noudéhou and the
country’s ruling coalition will today launch a revised consolidated appeal
(CAP) for aid for the African nation still struggling to shake off the
effects of a decade of recession and political strife.

It was not immediately clear how much the UN and the Harare authorities
would request in support from international donors under the revised appeal.

The 2011 CAP was first launched last December with the UN requesting donors
to provide US$415 million in support for a country whose humanitarian
situation remains fragile despite the unity government of President Robert
Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai managing to stabilise the
economy and ease political tensions.

The largest chunk of funds under the appeal was targeted to go towards food
assistance, accounting for nearly US$159 million or 38 percent of the total
amount sought.

It could not be established on Monday how donors have so far responded to
this year’s appeal for help after a lukewarm response to another UN-led
appeal for assistance for Zimbabwe in 2010.

Zimbabwe appealed for $478 million in support last year but received only
$223 million or 46.7 percent of the funds requested, making the country’s
appeal one of the five least funded in 2010.

Zimbabwe, which was once a regional breadbasket, has battled food shortages
since 2001 after Mugabe began seizing commercial farms from whites to give
to blacks.

The reforms saw agricultural output plummeting because the Zimbabwean leader
failed to provide black villagers resettled on former white-owned farms with
inputs and skills training to maintain production.

Farm seizures also had a knock-on effect on the manufacturing sector that
depended on agriculture for orders and inputs and has since 2001 operated
below capacity. – ZimOnline.

Zimbabwe needs additional $73 mln aid - UN

http://af.reuters.com/

Tue Aug 2, 2011 4:19pm GMT

* Nearly 1.7 mln people require food assistance

* Total aid requirements up 18 percent to $488 mln

HARARE Aug 2 (Reuters) - Zimbabwe needs an extra $73 million in humanitarian
aid this year, mainly due to increased food needs for vulnerable groups
despite improvements in the agriculture sector, United Nations agencies said
on Tuesday.

Zimbabwe, once a major regional agricultural producer, has struggled to feed
itself since President Robert Mugabe embarked on a campaign in 2000 to seize
white-owned farms to resettle landless blacks.

Nearly 1.7 million Zimbabweans need food assistance this year, U.N.
humanitarian coordinator Alain Noudehou said during a review of the southern
African country's aid appeal.

As a result, U.N. agencies were now appealing for $488 million in aid to
Zimbabwe for 2011, up from an initial $415 million, he said.

"Achievement of the desired food security levels was threatened by a
protracted dry spell which affected six out of 10 provinces this year,"
Noudehou said.

Last week, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said Zimbabwe's production of maize
grain would rise to 1.45 million tonnes in the 2010/11 season from 1.32
million tonnes in 2009/10.

UN says Zimbabwe needs more than $480 million for food, health, humanitarian aid

http://www.sun-sentinel.com

By Associated Press

11:50 a.m. EDT, August 2, 2011
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — The United Nations says the southern African country
of Zimbabwe needs more than $480 million this year in food, health and
humanitarian aid.

Alain Noudehou, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator in the capital, Harare,
said Tuesday an estimated 1.4 million people still need food handouts
because of crop failures, erratic rain and other economic pressures
affecting daily incomes.

In a midyear aid review, Noudehou said international donor funding was also
needed to help tens of thousands of Zimbabweans facing expulsion from
neighboring South Africa. Many Zimbabweans settled in South Africa illegally
after fleeing years of political violence and economic meltdown at home.

Critics blame longtime ruler President Robert Mugabe for years of political
violence and economic ruin.

No Money No Work - Zim Pilots

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, August 2, 2011 - Striking Air Zimbabwe pilots have vowed to press
ahead with their job boycott until after management deposit their
outstanding salaries into their accounts.

Informed sources in the Zimbabwe Flight Crew Association, which represents
the pilots told Radio VOP that planes will remain grounded until management
pay them.
“All fights will remain suspended until further notice. ZFC have turned down
the request to report for duty until our salaries are
deposited into our accounts,” said the source who could not be identified as
he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Other sources at the trouble national airline said representatives of the
pilots held unfruitful meetings with the board, management and
some officials from the airline’s parent ministry of Transport,
Communication and Infrastructure Development in a bid to end the
crippling industrial action.
Air Zimbabwe pilots boycotted work beginning last Friday demanding payment
of their outstanding allowances which the state-run airline
has neglected to pay.
The pilots’ strike is just but one of the woes affecting the national
carrier. Recently, an Air Zimbabwe jet was forced to abort a flight to
Victoria Falls and returned to Harare International Airport after developing
a technical fault while in June the national airline ferried 13 passengers
from Harare to Johannesburg.
Once one of the best airlines in Africa, Air Zimbabwe has been run down due
to successive years of mismanagement and inadequate funding.

Zimbabwe Loses $12 Billion of Produce, Farmers’ Union Says

http://www.businessweek.com

August 02, 2011, 7:41 AM EDT

By Brian Latham

Aug. 2 (Bloomberg) -- Zimbabwe lost about $12 billion in agricultural output
in the 10 years through 2009 after the government seized commercial farms
from whites, the country’s Commercial Farmers’ Union said.

Total agricultural production based on today’s prices declined to 1.35
million metric tons, or $1 billion, in 2009 from 4.3 million metric tons
valued at $3.5 billion in 2000, the Harare-based group said on its website
today.

“If the aim of land reform was to evict whites and replace them with blacks,
then it can be deemed a success,” CFU President Deon Theron said in an
annual report on the union’s website. “However, if the aim was to benefit
the majority and not only a chosen few, then it has been a failure.”

Theron said that the majority of land seized from white farmers had been
given to politicians, senior members of the security forces, judges, civil
servants and so-called veterans of the war against white-minority rule. Only
1.8 percent of the former workers on the commercial farms and their families
received land under the program, according to the CFU.

“President Robert Mugabe and his family ‘own’ 39 farms,” said Theron, who
listed six members of Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic
Front party with more than five farms in their families.

Calls to Mugabe’s office and official spokesman George Charamba seeking
comment today weren’t immediately answered.

U.K. Study

Not all studies have shown the land seizures to be a failure.

In the Masvingo province, two-thirds of the land went to low-income
Zimbabweans, while only 5 percent went to people linked to the
“political-military-security elite,” according to a study by Ian Scoones at
the U.K.’s Institute of Development Studies at Sussex University.

Corn production fell to 1.2 million metric tons this year from 2.04 million
tons in 2000, while wheat production will probably drop to 6,000 tons from
250,000 tons, the CFU estimated. The country needs about 1.4 million metric
tons of corn to meet local demand and 450,000 tons of wheat.

Harvests of barley, cotton, small grains, soy beans, groundnuts, sunflower,
tea, coffee, paprika, flowers, citrus and vegetables had also fallen, some
by more than half, said Theron.

Harare cops charged with brutality

http://www.iol.co.za

August 2 2011 at 12:40pm
By STAFF REPORTER

Two Khayelitsha men say they have laid charges of brutality against the
police after they were allegedly beaten up outside a house in Harare.

Two Khayelitsha men say they have laid charges of brutality against the
police after they were allegedly beaten up outside a house in Harare last
week.

The two were discharged from GF Jooste Hospital on Monday. One had both legs
broken during the incident, while the other sustained injuries to his body.

One of the men, Ntembeko Magadla, 19, alleged that the police had beaten
them last Wednesday while they were outside the home of a woman whose son
had “robbed them”.

“I was on Mxit last week on Monday chatting to a girl who invited me to meet
her. I took my friend and we went to Harare.

“When we got there, it turned out to be a guy. He and his friends robbed me
of my cellphone, shoes and R800 and ran away,” he said.

Magadla said he and his friends had tracked one of the alleged thieves to
his home. They had confronted him and made him point out the others involved
in the incident.

“They gave us our phone back but they had sold the shoes and did not have
the money,” said Magadla.

“We told the guy’s mother that he had robbed us and we were taking her TV
and DVD player as insurance.

“She said she would have the money for us last week Wednesday night when she
came back from work.”

“We went back on Wednesday. When she arrived home, she said she needed to go
inside. But she called the police who then arrived, beat us up and took us
away,” Magadla said.

He claimed the case hadbeen opened at the Harare police station, the same
station they were allegedly taken to by the police last Wednesday.

A provincial police spokesperson was not available for comment at the time
of going to print.

sibusiso.nkomo@inl.co.za - Cape Argus

Journalists remanded again for ‘criminal defamation’

http://www.swradioafrica.com

by Irene Madongo
02 August 2011

The editor of the Zimbabwe Standard newspaper, Nevanji Madanhire and
reporter Patience Nyangove were on Friday further remanded to August 31 over
charges of criminal defamation.

The pair was arrested in June over a story which reported on Jameson Timba’s
arrest for allegedly undermining the authority of Robert Mugabe. Timba is
Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s office.

The State alleges that Nyangove falsely reported that Timba was arrested by
police officers who included ‘the notorious Chrispen Makedenge’ when
Makedenge was not present or involved in the arrest.

After their arrest, Madanhire was freed on US$100 bail, and Nyangove was
released on free bail. Madanhire was ordered to report once every fortnight
to the police Law and Order section. Their case was remanded to 29 July. It
has now been further shifted.

On Tuesday Nyangove told SW Radio Africa she believed the state had
deliberately targeted her.

“This is a deliberate case to harass us journalists,” she said.

She added: “We were further remanded to August 31. It is not pleasant – you
know anything can happen, the case might drag on for years and you basically
can’t move on with your life.”

ZANU PF accused of using police to banish women from politics

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

by Irene Madongo
02 August 2011

The state security sector is still actively being used by Robert Mugabe and
ZANU PF to torture and oppress women in order to keep them out of the
political process, a new report has revealed. The report also brings out the
direct role of the ZANU PF militia in the violence.

The ‘Women and Political Violence: An Update’ report was compiled by the
Women’s Programme of the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU) and released on
Monday. It is a study on the degree of violence against women and its
impact, after Robert Mugabe last year began demanding an election in 2011.

The RAU report says that Mugabe’s election talk has fuelled violence against
those perceived to be his political opponents, and women are being targeted.

The report comes at a time when there are growing calls from civic society,
political parties such as the MDC-T and SADC for the security sector to be
reformed. Despite this, the new report shows the security chiefs remain
openly devoted to ZANU PF and carry out its atrocities.

The RAU report has zoomed in on the fate of women caught up in the political
cross-fire or those involved in basic human rights issues. It says their
treatment at the hands of the security has lead Zimbabwe to break several
international protocols, including the United Nations Convention on the
Elimination of Discrimination Against Women.

Recent and ongoing cases of serious violence against women are also
highlighted in the report. This includes a member of Woman of Zimbabwe Arise
(WOZA) who was tortured so badly in custody that her swollen hands could not
hold her two-month old baby. Another woman, Yvonne Musarurwa, who was
recently held with several MDC-T supporters over the death of a policeman in
Glen View, has a fractured arm and a wound that has been bleeding for more
than 30 days. The report also says that Musarurwa can barley walk.

“Arbitrary arrests, physical abuse, torture and hate speech characterise a
relentless campaign by President Mugabe’s disciples in the top echelons of
the security organs; namely the army, police, intelligence and militia to
intimidate and instill fear in the masses ahead of the anticipated
elections,” the report states.

Kudakwashe Chitsike, the programme manager of RAU’s Women’s Programme said:
“One of the most important things we would like to see is the end of
violence, and especially violence against women. Violence in Zimbabwe keeps
on happening without perpetrators being brought to justice. So it means
violence continues being a part of our lives.”

Life for Zimbabwe Anglicans worsens with properties commandeered, priests arrested

http://www.anglicancommunion.org/

Posted On : August 2, 2011 12:32 PM
ACNS: ACNS4913

By ACNS staff

Clergy and pilgrims hoping to visit the Arthur Shearly Cripps Shrine last
week were once again frustrated by excommunicated bishop Dr Norbert Kunonga
who now claims to be in charge of the shrine and 78 Anglican churches in
Masvingo Diocese.

The Anglican Diocese of Masvingo said its leaders advised Anglican
worshippers against taking part in this year’s Shearly Cripps celebrations,
scheduled for 29 to 31 July, after a court ruled that Dr Kunonga could not
be prevented from attending the shrine.

A diocesan spokesperson told ACNS, “Kunonga got wind of the Diocesan
preparations for commemoration of Arthur Shearly Cripps by pilgrims at the
Arthur Shearly Cripps Shrine this month end, and he began to counter these
efforts.

“He had been distributing flyers, pamphlets and sticking posters in our
Churches in and around Chivhu town and Daramombe Mission. The same group
which was moving around Chivhu went to Daramombe Mission on Saturday 23 July
and put more posters at the Mission and then made a fire next to the
entrance of the church and started roasting meat. Thereafter they took one
of the Priest-in-Charge’s chickens and disappeared from the Mission.”

Kunonga claims he has taken over the Shrine and not only informed the
District Police Officer of this, but also appeared on national television
station ZBC TV on Sunday 31 June announcing he had taken over the Shrine
plus all church properties: 45 in the Chikomba District and 33 in the Buhera
District.

“The District Police’s Officer Commanding then wrote to us indicating that
we have no right to go to the Shrine,” said the spokesperson. “Kunonga didn’t
stop his disturbances by simply writing to the Officer Commanding Chikomba
District to bar us from having the Shearly Cripps commemoration done at the
Shrine, but he also used the police to forcibly take church properties in
Chivhu.”

“Church of the Province of Central Africa [CPCA] Bishops had an emergency
meeting in Harare over what was developing in Masvingo,” the spokesperson
explained. “The Bishop the Rt. Revd.G. Tawonezvi went to Chivhu on Tuesday
to have a meeting with the District Police Officer/Officer Commanding for
Chikomba, in order to map a way forward and seek peace over what is
occurring, but the Officer Commanding refused to recant his position
concerning Kunonga’s claim for ownership of our properties including the
shrine, despite the pure facts which were presented to him.”

This is the latest in a series of attempts by the excommunicated bishop
Kunonga to take over properties owned by the Anglican Church in Zimbabwe. On
Monday 25 July the police, allegedly following a directive from Dr Kunonga,
detained the Priest-in-Charge for Chivhu Church District the Ven.
Shamuyarira at Chivhu Central Police Station for almost three hours, in an
attempt to forcibly make him surrender keys for CPCA Church properties in
Chivhu, but he refused.

On Sunday 31, Dr Kunonga with a group of supporters and seven police
officers from Chivhu arrived at Daramombe Mission before 6am. They forced
their way into the Daramobe Church via a window, held a service and then
held a meeting there until 1pm. This meant that regular Anglican church
services for students at the High School and for parishioners had to be
cancelled. It was reported that during their meeting Dr Kunonga and his
supporters discussed changing departmental leadership by bringing in their
own people to head the respective departments of the Mission.

Afterwards they demanded the keys for the church and rectory from the
Priest-in-Charge, Ven. Murombedzi who refused to surrender the keys.

HIV MP's lawyer barred from practice

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

02/08/2011 00:00:00
    by Staff Reporter

A LAWYER representing an MP charged with deliberately passing HIV to a
former partner “has no right of appearance in any court, police station or
prison” because he has no valid certificate of practice, the Law Society of
Zimbabwe said on Tuesday.

Mlweliwenkululeko Ncube, formerly of Munjanja and Associates, is
representing Insiza South MP Siyabonga Malandu Ncube in a case brought by
his ex-girlfriend, Simiso Mlevu, a journalist with the B-Metro newspaper.

Revelations that he has no valid certificate of practice are contained in a
letter signed by the Law Society’s deputy secretary, Wilbert Mandinde, and
addressed to the Bulawayo High Court, regional court, provincial magistrate,
area provincial prosecutor, the police and prisons authorities.

It remained unclear what prompted the Law Society to intervene, but Ncube
told our correspondent he was attending to the matter.

He explained that he had a misunderstanding with his partner, Masimba
Munjanja, and that he temporarily moved from the law firm after informing
the Law Society.

His practicing certificate, which was issued under Munjanja and Associates,
and expires on December 31, 2011, became invalid the moment he decided to
move from the law firm.

He said they have now resolved their differences with his partner and he
would be applying for a new certificate under the auspices of the same firm.

A Law Society official said practising without a valid certificate was not a
criminal offence, but could attract sanction from the legal fraternity's
regulatory body.

A magistrate ordered the MP to undergo a court-ordered HIV test last month
but he challenged the order at the High Court through his lawyer Ncube.

At a High Court hearing last week, prosecutors admitted that the magistrate’s
order had no legal basis. If the High Court, which reserved judgement,
reaches the same conclusion, the MP’s trial could collapse as prosecutors
would be unable to prove a case against him.

Malandu Ncube's accuser is a relative of the former Attorney General Sobusa
Gula-Ndebele and the Tsholotsho North MP Jonathan Moyo [Zanu PF]

Work on Dr Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo statue resumes

http://bulawayo24.com/

by .
2011 August 02 08:25:04

Dr Nkomo's statue was pulled down before its official unveiling following
strong objections by the Nkomo family and the Bulawayo community who felt
the statue did not capture the exact attributes of the late Father Zimbabwe.

The family also complained that the Government did not involve them in the
project. They said the statue itself was very small and pitiful, hardly a
street statue at all nor the landmark and monument that it should be. The
statue was then taken to the Bulawayo Museum by the National Museums and
Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) where it is being kept.

However, in May this year, the Zanu-PF Politburo, recommended that the
statue should be re-erected and announced that the Ministry of Home Affairs
would take over the matter and resume the erection of the statues in
Bulawayo and Harare. Nkomo's family it is being reported have also given the
green light to the project after ironing out the differences with the
Government.

Yesterday morning at the inter-section of Main Street and 8th Avenue in
Bulawayo and workers and officials from the Ministry of Public Works could
be seen doing some work. The workers had already peeled off the granite
finishing from the old pedestal, which is supposed to be raised before the
statue is erected.

Speaking on condition of anonymity the workers said they started working on
the site at the weekend. "We have resumed work on the statue. We came here
on Saturday and we started peeling off the granite finishing," said a
worker.

However, an official from the ministry's head office who also declined to be
named for professional reasons said they wanted to inform the public and
motorists first before starting work at the site.

"We have come to work on the site and our workers are already there.
However, the only stumbling block we have is that we have not advertised in
the Press that construction work would be taking place there. We are doing
that right now and once we are cleared, we will start working," said the
official.

The Government had set a deadline to re-erect the statue before the Heroes
Day next week but had to revise the target citing numerous logistical
constraints. As for the Harare statue, Minister Mohadi recently said it was
put on hold. Nkomo family spokesperson Mrs Thandiwe Nkomo-Ebrahim is also on
record as saying her family was in support of the project.

She said the inclusion of the Joshua Nkomo National Foundation had brought
the project to fruition adding that the foundation was not against the
statue and its location.

The Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Francis Nhema, chairs the
board which also includes Mrs Nkomo-Ebrahim, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, Cde Simon
Khaya Moyo, Mr Hebert Nkala, Mr Jabulani Nkomo, Mr Mgcini Nkolomi, Mr
Christopher Dube and Cde Frederick Mutanda.

Mrs Nkomo-Ebrahim said the family had no problems with the location of the
statue at the corner of Main Street and 8th Avenue in Bulawayo but proposed
that its pedestal should be raised to give it a "different effect".

The decision to erect the two statues was taken by the Politburo in 2001
after consultations with the family. Home Affairs Co-Minister Kembo Mohadi
could not be reached on his mobile for comment yesterday.

Opposition groups like ZAPU panned the "The mischievous plan to erect a
statue of late ZAPU founding leader Dr Joshua Nkomo at Karigamombe Centre in
Harare, a site that planned the Gukurahundi atrocities and renamed to
humiliate him and ZAPU is extremely offensive and equal to a public
crucifixion of Zimbabwe's true national hero."

According to ZAPU "The Karigamombe Centre (which means bring down the bull
in chiShona) was the place where the North Korean trained 5 brigade
massacres (Gukurahundi) were authored. More than 20,000 ZAPU innocent ZAPU
supporters were killed in the 1980s, while women and children endured
torture and rape. It is known that the former Piccadilly Centre was renamed
to shame Dr Nkomo and ZAPU.

"While most Zimbabweans would like to acknowledge the heroism of the late
father Zimbabwe, it is a charade to erect Nkomo's statue on a site that
planned the murder of his supporters and one that is named to his shamming.
It is clear that those who persecuted and humiliated our late national
leader during his life time still have burning desires to continue
humiliating him, his family and all those who support him and what he stood
for, even after his death.

"Any Zimbabwean who knows what Joshua Nkomo went through will agree the
location of the Karigamombe Centre; in Harare is not the fitting location to
dedicate for Joshua Nkomo's mark of respect. We do not want to believe that
the Harare City fathers and GNU authorities behind this plan are short of
historical facts surrounding the proposed location and the history of the
man.

"There is no shortage of suitable locations where his statue could be
erected. We call on all the stake holders and authorities behind this
unsound plan to seriously reconsider. We also call on all Zimbabweans who
have respect and hold up to what Joshua Nkomo stood for to support any
efforts that will result in the removal of Joshua Nkomo's statue from
Karigamombe Centre should it ever be erected there," ZAPU Europe said in a
statement .

Zimbabwe’s economy showing growth after longtime fiscal chaos

http://www.washingtontimes.com

By Marieke van der Vaart

-

The Washington Times

7:01 p.m., Monday, August 1, 2011

Zimbabwe’s economy is set to grow three times faster than the U.S. economy
this year, according to new official projections released last week, in a
striking turnaround for the southern African country that three years ago
posted a 500 billion percent inflation rate and was considered an economic
basket case.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti said in his midyear budget briefing to
Zimbabwe's parliament in Harare that the economy will grow by 9.3 percent
this year, a rate that will make it one of the fastest-growing economies on
the continent, with the highest growth rate of any country in southern
Africa.

The projected 2011 figures, following a 4.1 percent increase in 2010, is a
stunning turnabout from the first decade of the new century, when the GDP
shrank virtually every year, the currency collapsed and key social measures
such as infant mortality and life expectancy deteriorated greatly. It also
comes despite political uncertainty as longtime Zimbabwean leader Robert
Mugabe oversees a shaky coalition government that includes longtime
political opponents.

Economists say Zimbabwe’s striking growth can be attributed primarily to
strong recoveries in its mining and agricultural sectors, but uncertainty
remains because of concerns about the country’s financial structure and
capacity.

“While we are on course to meet our revenue targets, it is fair to say that
a number of structural challenges remain arresting our economy,” Mr. Biti
said, pointing to the government’s inability to live within its means as the
“epicenter” of the challenge.

International Monetary Fund spokeswoman Gita Bhatt said the IMF’s estimate
of Zimbabwe’s economic growth is significantly lower than the country’s
government statistics.

“Zimbabwe’s economy is now operating far below its potential capacity,” Ms.
Bhatt said in email to The Washington Times. “Estimates of economic growth,
therefore, to a large degree depend on how fast the capacity gap can be
closed rather than an estimate of how fast the capacity can be expanded.”

Zimbabwe’s economy has suffered catastrophic setbacks during the 28-year
rule of Mr. Mugabe, including hyperinflation and an estimated 95 percent
unemployment rate at the depth of its depression in the mid-2000s.

A gradual economic recovery began as Mr. Mugabe was forced into a
power-sharing agreement with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in 2009. The
country’s shift to the South African rand and the U.S. dollar brought
inflation down to its current 2.7 percent level.

Mr. Biti, a member of Mr. Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change,
acknowledged that political uncertainties about the power-sharing
arrangement still hold back the economy.

“Political issues are imposing serious shocks and pressures on our economy,”
he told lawmakers.

The United States and leading Western nations have long clashed with the
Mugabe government, imposing a series of sanctions targeting Mr. Mugabe and
some 250 top government officials and regime-allied businesses as the Harare
government cracked down violently on political opposition in recent years.

But Charles Ray, U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe, said in a lengthy address at a
conference in Harare last week that the Obama administration now supports
Zimbabwe’s economic growth, despite its “dysfunctional friendship.”

“The U.S. is actively promoting Zimbabwe’s economic recovery,” Mr. Ray said,
pointing to U.S.-led loan guarantee and investment programs in the country.
“We are eager to work closely with the business community and Zimbabwean
government across the political spectrum to find new and collaborative ways
to build on these efforts for the mutual benefit of our two countries,” he
said.

Kombi As A Threat To Democracy

http://www.zimbabwejournalists.com/

2nd Aug 2011 19:49 GMT

By Chenjerai Chitsaru

I MAKE no apologies for bringing up this subject again: the Kombi is now a
threat to our democracy. Already, it has destroyed our natural-born
inclination to be polite to others. It has turned staid-mannered matrons
into raving, foul-mouthed harridans. It has transformed perfectly
well-mannered teenagers into obscenity-spouting terrorists whose mothers
would set the Taliban on for their horrid behaviour.

For a start, the average Kombi is a 15-passenger vehicle with each row of
seats accommodating, comfortably, three average-weight passengers.

In the front, the driver ought to have only his conductor with him. It is
illegal for him to have two other people sitting upfront next to him.
But in Zimbabwe, one row of seats must accommodate four. In all, the omnibus
would carry 20 or 22 passengers.

Then, there is what now known as “Kadoma”, behind the driver’s seat. Three
or four people can crouch there – this is the extent to which our dignity
has been compromised: nobody seems to feel thoroughly insulted to sit on the
“Kadoma”.

As an aside, let me say, it has been proven that the overcrowding on the
Kombi has led to passengers’ tempers existing entirely on a very short fuse.

But the most disastrous effect has been the tendency of people in general to
tolerate the most scandalous disregard for their dignity. Zimbabweans can
now swallow almost any insult to their dignity because, on the Kombi, they
are treated like bad old rubbish.

The staff will always address them as “Vabereki” (parents). But this is only
until they have paid their fare.. After that, they are handled as if the
driver and conductor are giving them a free ride. It’s as if the passengers
are such worthless citizens: under any other circumstances, the staff wouldn’t
give them the time of day – even if they went on bended knees.
You are well within your rights to conclude, after reading this, that I am
an avowed supporter of the campaign to ban the Kombi from our roads.

I am convinced there would an immediate, appreciable boost in our
self-dignity once these little monsters have been thrown on to the dustheap
of our urban history. They have wreaked enough damage to last a lifetime.

So, my thesis is that, as a result of this scourge, most people, in general,
believe they are not entitled to any dignity whatsoever – let alone from the
politicians.

So, how does democracy work when the majority of the people are living in
mortal fear of the minority?

And to this terror, the general conduct of the police and soldiers to the
long-suffering civilians, then you have a society quivering with fear at the
very sight of a police person or a soldier.

On a Kombi one evening, I watched in helpless horror, as other passengers
did, as a beefy solider in uniform pummeled a helpless passenger on unproven
allegations that he had picked someone’s pockets. There are pickpockets
among us commuters, as there are adulterers and would-be rapists among the
congregations of the most popular born-again churches.

But to publicly humiliate them cannot solicit sympathy for the enforcer of
the law – only disgust and pure, red-hot hatred. But this brings into the
fore a suspicion I have recently begun to feel – that there is a concerted
effort to cow, humiliate and threaten the people that the overall effect
would be to have them say YES to every order “from above”.

A mild reminder is necessary here: Zanu’s one-party project, distilled in a
number of meetings of the top brass in various prisons and dark rooms in
various locations in countries in which they were in exile, died a
stillbirth once the second parliamentary elections after 1980 failed to kill
the electorate’s zeal for a semblance of democracy in the new country.
The two major liberation movements, Zanu and

Zapu, were backed by avowed proponents of the one-party system – the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Communist |Party of the People’s
Republic of China. It would not be entirely unkind to state that both
parties were thoroughly obsessed with the one-party idea.

The greatest impediment was their individual perception of which party this
would be.
After the Unity Accord of 1987, the decks seemed to have been cleared, for a
drive towards this much-cherished goal: 20 000 people had been killed. Yet
that statistic seemed to be played down by the would-be participants.

It was accepted that, for the sake of a peaceful transition, the leader of
PF-Zapu, Joshua Nkomo, had decided he would not be “a Savimbi”.

It is hard to imagine anyone in Zimbabwe who is unaware of who Jonas Savimbi
was and why his most appropriate nickname would have been Moise Tshombe: if
there are people who don’t remember who this last-named was, then I give up.
Only those who knew Joshua Nkomo well had a proper appreciation of why he
did what he did.

The united party known as Zanu PF was statistically the largest party in the
country after 1987. But it could not claim the heart and soul of every
citizen with even a smidgen of politics in their blood.

A stalwart of that united party, Edgar “Twoboy” Tekere threw a real spanner
in the unity works: He formed his own party, which challenged Zanu PF in the
1990 parliamentary and presidential elections. Effectively, the Zimbabwe
Unity Movement ended Zanu PF’s dream of a one-party system.

There are Zimbabweans who today are grateful for Zum’s intervention on their
behalf.

Generations to come will read our political history and garner a proper
appreciation of how the elections of 1990 saved Zimbabwe from plunging into
the cauldron of the one-party abomination.

But since then, Zanu PF has tried to employ other methods to achieve its
cherished end – violence has been used, extensively. The recent punch-up of
MPs was only one example of the extent to which the party is wailing to go
to end this people’s dream of democracy.

There have been deaths. There will probably be more such atrocities before
the party gives up its campaign “to kill the people into accepting” the
one-party system.

The uniformed forces are ideally placed to play a key role in this campaign.
Yet is it not a fair bit of speculation to suggest that there could be
“Tekeres” in those ranks as well? There could be people who might robustly
desire to display the same kind of guts that drove Tekere to virtually stake
his life on behalf of all who believe Zimbabwe is entitled to real
democracy.

Some might find it eminently appropriate to use another quotation from
another Zimbabwean buried at Heroes Acre, as Tekere was. “Zimbabwe does not
deserve this…” Eddison Zvobgo’s reference was to a law which has almost
crippled the freedom of the media as we had known it since independence –
the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA).

Zvobgo’s warning was ignored. One of the consequences has been the tarnished
image of the country as an example of true African democracy – not one even
remotely linked to the scandalous goings-on in the commuter omnibus.

At the heart of the universal traditional of a democratic dispensation is
the dignity and respect of the citizens. Without that dignity being ensured
at every turn, the existence of a system that is anchored on the people’s
will and desire is thoroughly compromised.

Bowerman Award - pls take a moment to vote for our own Ngoni Makusha!