Sources said Finance Minister Tendai Biti and Transport Minister
Nicholas Goche were close to finalizing a cash infusion of US$9.2 million to
pay off the airline's striking pilots this weekend
Gibbs Dube |
Washington
The Zimbabwe government late this week was assembling a
US$9 million financial rescue package for Air Zimbabwe, much the same as it
did in April, to pay the outstanding salaries and allowances of pilots who
have gone on strike.
Sources said Finance Minister Tendai Biti and
Transport Minister Nicholas Goche were close to finalizing a cash infusion
of US$9.2 million to pay off the pilots.
Neither minister could be
reached for comment. But sources said Harare would draw funds from other
programs to rescue the state carrier. The airline is said to have lost US$2
million in revenue due to the latest strike by disgruntled
employees.
Economist John Robertson said the government should stop
rescuing Air Zimbabwe which must to be privatized if it is to become
profitable. “The government does not have funds for bailing out
under-performing parastatals,” Robertson said.
Nolwazi Mlilo, whose
mother had intended to fly on Air Zimbabwe to another daughter’s wedding in
London last week, said the state carrier is a national
embarrassment.
“It is sickening to note that the airline management
has not even bothered to contact me about my mother who has been stranded
for a week in Zimbabwe,” said Mlillo.
More than 200 passengers were
stranded in Britain as the airline canceled all flights.
Pilots earn
US$1,200 to US$2,500 a month plus allowances of up to US$10,000.
About 170 white farmers are awaiting trial
while more than 30 others have already been convicted of refusing to vacate
farms illegally occupied by Zanu (PF) thugs, an official of the Commercial
Farmers Union (CFU) said last week. 05.08.1106:26pm by Vusimusi
Bhebhe
CFU legal adviser, Marc Carrie-Wilson, said in a report that
persecution of former white commercial farmers had not relented, nearly
three years after the much-celebrated September 2008 signing of a
power-sharing pact between President Robert Mugabe and Morgan
Tsvangirai.
"Criminal Prosecutions of approximately 170 Commercial
Farmers for contravening section 3(3) of the Gazetted Lands (Consequential
Provisions) Act [Chapter 20: 28] are pending," Carrie-Wilson
said.
The prosecutions are likely to be hurried by the state to enable
evictions of the remaining farmers to make way for incoming
beneficiaries.
Carrie-Wilson said CFU records also indicated that
approximately 32 commercial farmers and 29 farm workers had been convicted
since 2009, whilst eight farmers were acquitted.
"The majority of
those acquitted have already vacated the farms and are precluded from
returning, whilst others are simply remaining in their homesteads but cannot
continue their operations," he said.
The Attorney General's Office has,
since 2009, stepped up prosecution of white farmers it claims are refusing
to vacate land acquired by the government for the purpose of redistribution
to landless blacks.
This is despite the fact that the Southern African
Development (SADC) Tribunal ruled in 2008 that the government's land reform
programme was discriminatory and illegal under the SADC Treaty.
Based on production in 2010 when the Kimberly Process let
Zimbabwe export a limited quantity of diamonds from its Marange field, the
country jumped from 13th to seventh place
Sandra Nyaira |
Washington
Zimbabwe has been ranked seventh in the world in terms of
the value of its diamond production according to the Kimberly Process
Certification Scheme.
Based on production in 2010 when the Kimberly
Process let Zimbabwe export a limited quantity of diamonds from its Marange
field, the country leaped from 13th place.
Botswana, Russia, Canada,
South Africa, Angola and Namibia led production.
Last year Zimbabwe
produced $339.8 million worth of diamonds, a big jump from the $20.4 million
worth produced in 2009. The value of a carat from Zimbabwe during the same
period almost doubled from about $21 to more than $40.
Farai Maguwu,
director of the Center for Research and Development in Mutare and a
prominent critic of Harare's development of the Marange field, said the
gains registered by the diamond sector have not translated into a better
life for most Zimbabweans.
Global rough diamond production rose 39
percent in 2010 and the average price per carat increased 30 percent,
according to the Kimberley report.
Kwekwe, August 6,
2011-Tafadzwa and his wife Rita had for years lived a comfortable life with
Rita running their small bottle store and restaurant in Redcliff while
Tafadzwa was at Zisco.
Tafadzwa says for years their business was
flourishing and from the small business they were running and the salary he
got from Zisco, which used to be one of the most well paying companies in
the Midlands Province they were able to send their children to school and
also extend a hand to other family members.
“We had a comfortable
life and everything seemed to be on the right track. Our small business was
flourishing as the well paid Zisco workers would come and spent a fortune in
the bar and the restaurant,” Tafadzwa remarked.
Rita recalled to Radio
VOP how Redcliff center used to be a hype of activity in the early
90’s.
“There used to be seven banks here but now as you can see only two
are still open, which are CBZ and P.O.S.B. The rest of the banks closed shop
and just left the buildings some of them which as you can see are still idle
and closed,” she said pointing to some of the buildings that have been
vandalised.
Tafadzwa says as Zimbabwe’s economy dwindled, their
fortunes started to turn into misfortunes. He said the halt of production at
Zimbabwe Iron and Steel Company (ZISCO) had brought the small mining town of
Redcliff on its knees as workers residing there had lost their
livelihoods. “When payment of salaries became erratic about seven years ago,
Redcliff town started to disintegrate. All those who were running
businesses, here at Redcliff center, Torwood and Rutendo had Zisco workers
as their backbone so the fall of Zisco led to the collapse of virtually most
of the businesses in Redcliff, Rutendo and Torwood,” Tafadzwa told
VOP.
According to some council minutes of Redcliff municipality, the
council was cash strapped as residents of the three suburbs which houses
Zisco Workers failed to pay their rates and rentals. According to some of
the minutes of October 2009 Redcliff Council noted,
“Despite the
introduction of the use of the foreign currency in February, our cash
inflows have not improved but instead have worsened as we cater for a
community that had its breadwinners at Zisco, company that is now non
functional. The residents are failing to pay their rates as their source of
livelihood is no more.”
A visit at the center and in some parts of
Torwood and Rutendo by Radio VOP revealed how poverty had taken toll in the
suburbs. Most of the shops have closed and companies like Nyorenyore had
relocated into town after the demise of Zisco. The town resembles a ghost
town with lack of economic activity. Speaking to Radio VOP, the few
remaining shop owners said they were now selling small things that are used
daily as resident’s income was problematic. “I sell sugar, salt and bread
which are basics and are used every day, “Abel Chigumira a shop owner in
Rutendo suburb said.
However with the signing of the deal to resuscitate
ZISCO, Redcliff and Kwekwe are optimistic that this will bring a new lease
of life.The official handover of Zisco by President Robert Mugabe last
Wednesday to its new owners in the private sector has brought smiles to
Redcliff and Kwekwe.
ZISCO which has been split in to two companies and
renamed NewZim steel Private Limited and NewZim Minerals Private Limited has
been bought by ESSAR Africa holdings limited (EAHL) an Indian
company.
Officially launching the new company, President Robert Mugabe
said he was excited to launch the company which he said would see the
rejuvenation of the steel making plant. “I am thrilled to be a witness to
the awakening of a sleeping giant,” Mugabe told Redcliff.
Tafadzwa
said after years of not getting a Salary he was only hoping that the best
come out of the Essar deal.
“As workers we cannot wait for our lives to
begin again. We had been subjected to poverty and we hope things will
change. We are also hoping that the new owners and the new management will
give us reasonable salaries as we have a lot of debts that we need to
service,” he said.
Another worker Thomas Mhangachena who was in torn
teckies and a worn out work suit on the day of the launch said he only hoped
for better times. “Our prayers are that our new employers be different from
other foreign investors we have heard of who ill-treat their workers and pay
peanuts. We have suffered for too long and we hope our prayers will be
answered,” Mhangachena said.
During the launch, Essar Vice Chairman,
Ravi Ruia promised that while they would retain all the workers, they are
committed to improving the lives of the workers. “We are committed to giving
them a better life and we hope we will work well together,” Ruia told
delegates who were witnesses to the rebirth of the new company.
The
promise by Essar that they will retain the former Zisco workers and create
another 3.500 jobs in and around Redcliff and Chivhu has given hope to
Kwekwe and more so to Redcliff that they can reclaim the glory of their town
and city.
If an election roadmap is not
adopted, Zimbabwe faces reliving the violence of the 2008 elections, a
former liberation fighter's group has warned. 06.08.1102:03pm by
KJW
In a statement, the Zimbabwe Liberators Platform, which campaigns
for peace and democracy, has urged the Government to remove
“inconsequential” issues from the roadmap and has suggested 13 points which
need to be addressed to ensure credible elections.
This includes the
adoption of a transitional electoral authority to take charge of the
elections and stamp out any practices which could interfere with the
people's democratic right to vote. Full audit
The former fighters also
insisted on a full audit of the electoral roll and the right of the diaspora
to cast their votes.
“No political party, much less a dysfunctional
inclusive government without a mandate, has a right to disenfranchise more
than 50 percent of the country’s eligible voters,” said the ZLP.
Zanu
(PF) and both factions of the MDC have reached an impasse after rejecting
the election roadmap agreed on by their negotiators.
MDC-T wants the
existing Electoral Commission to be re-appointed with more neutral members
and is also demanding reform of the security sector, focusing on the
military, which is closely aligned with Zanu (PF) and has interfered with
the electoral process in the past.
Zanu (PF) is demanding the elections
are held this year.
The ZLP said: “Some of the issues that have found
their way into the Election Road Map are purely inconsequential. Radio
stations
“These include the removal of sanctions, the adoption of a new
constitution and the closure of foreign radio stations that beam to Zimbabwe
such as VOA, SW Radio and Radio VoP.”
The group has said sanctions
and the closure of the radio stations lie outside the scope of the
Zimbabwean Government and SADC.
It argues there is no point in having a
new constitution when the provisions of the existing one are not being
observed and there is a need to draw a firm distinction between the Election
Road Map and Security Sector Reform Road Map.
The ZLP has called for
the creation of an independent and non-partisan transitional election
authority to take charge of conducting the elections. Rule of law
“The
nucleus for this already exists in form of the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee (JOMIC). JOMIC should be transformed into this
Transitional Election Authority,” it said.
It suggests the SADC
Troika Organ and the transitional election authority ensure the rule of law
prevails in the country before an election date is set.
These
authorities would then investigate reports of increasing political violence
in urban and rural areas as well as claims the CIO is being deployed in the
countryside by ZANU (PF) to spearhead their election campaign.
The
group said local government and traditional leadership “hold totally
partisan allegiance to ZANU (PF)” and need to be monitored to ensure free
and fair elections.
It also said the Government must prioritise
“liberalising” the public media ahead of the elections.
“The media
plays a very pivotal role in any democracy in general and in particular
during an election, by affording both the contestants equal access to market
their views to the electorate,” the group said.
The Electoral Act, the
Public Order and Security Act (POSA), the Access to Information and
Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) and the Broadcasting Services Act need to
be scrapped or amended to ensure fair elections.
Additionally, benchmarks
should be set for the institutional reform of all agencies involved in
elections including the security forces, ZEC secretariat, registrar general
and attorney general’s offices, the judiciary and the public service
election management. Legitimacy
A thorough audit of the voter’s roll
that should include all Zimbabweans of voting age, including all those in
the diaspora who have a stake in the country’s future, is mandatory
according to the ZLP.
And the group is calling on SADC to assume full
responsibility for the organisation and supervision of the elections with
support from the United Nations and the African Union.
This, it says,
will “underwrite the legitimacy of the election and ensure the acceptance of
its outcome by all, and thereby obviate the bickering that would ensue
should the inclusive government take responsibility”.
“We call on SADC to
involve all stakeholders, including civil society, in drawing up a roadmap
for credible elections. Zimbabwe is much more than the three signatory
parties to the GPA and not all Zimbabweans are members of political
parties,” it said. SADC summit
South Africa is urging the parties to
come up with an agreement before the SADC summit in Angola on August
16.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said he expects SADC to push for
the country to adopt an election roadmap and said negotiations were
ongoing.
"The negotiators are negotiating that and whilst that is being
finalised the report is going to be tabled for SADC to adopt. We should by
then [the summit] have an indication when elections are possible," he said
in an interview with The Zimbabwean.
"Depending on the circumstances
we’re not going to allow a situation where ZANU (PF) defines how election
conditions should be. It has to be conditions that are acceptable to all
parties," he added, warning that the country was not ready to hold elections
until the second quarter of 2012, at the earliest.
By Njabulo
Ncube (Financial Gazette, Assistant Editor)
HARDLINERS in ZANU-PF are
pushing for the inclusion of politburo member, Jonathan Moyo, into the Joint
Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) to bolster the party’s
presence in structures that form the cornerstone of the coalition
government.
The acerbic Moyo is likely to replace ZANU-PF’s deputy
secretary for legal affairs, Kembo Mohadi, in a move that has the potential
of further poisoning relations within JOMIC, whose mandate is to oversee the
operations of the troubled inclusive government, formed in February
2009.
Mohadi, the co-Minister of Home Affairs, has hardly attended JOMIC
meetings as one of the four representatives of ZANU-PF. Hardliners within
ZANU-PF say Mohadi’s absence has resulted in other political formations in
the unity government enjoying a numerical advantage over the revolutionary
party whose arguments are more and more finding less takers in the region
where it used to enjoy a lot of support.
The hardliners said Moyo’s
presence and intellect was particularly needed now given the upsurge in the
number of issues before JOMIC.
Moyo’s planned inclusion in JOMIC is seen
as part of desperate attempts by ZANU-PF to bolster its intellectual muscle
in the organisation while at the same time synchronising it with the party’s
propaganda campaign targeting the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) and the African Union, the guarantors of the Global Political
Agreement (GPA) binding the three parties in the unity
government.
“They want him because he is more aggressive and will stop at
nothing to fulfil their agenda to stay in power as well as get favourable
outcomes from the JOMIC meetings. In any case, he understands them and has
been an advocate for their plight,” said a source familiar with the
goings-on in JOMIC. ZANU-PF spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo, expressed ignorance
over the issue.
Complaints from ZANU-PF that the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) formations were abusing JOMIC by lodging frivolous
complaints that were finding their way to the South African facilitators in
the Zimbabwe crisis have been on the increase.
Ultimately, these
complaints have ended up being discussed at SADC summits, resulting in the
regional body losing its patience with ZANU-PF over its intransigence in
implementing the GPA.
MDC-T secretary-general, Tendai Biti, has
previously complained against biased and partisan reporting by the
state-broadcaster, the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation and the failure by
ZANU-PF to implement the power-sharing pact in full.
Biti has also
formally complained to JOMIC about utterances attributed to
Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba that army generals would never salute
the premier even if he was to be elected President of the
Republic.
Qhubani Moyo, the MDC representative in JOMIC, recently courted
the ire of ZANU-PF after he penned an article casting aspersions about
President Robert Mugabe’s leadership, forcing ZANU-PF to write a formal
letter of complaint to the Committee, once viewed as a paper
tiger.
Apart from Mohadi, the other ZANU-PF representatives at JOMIC are
the party’s secretary for national security, Nicholas Goche, Justice and
Legal Affairs Minister, Patrick Chinamasa, and Oppah Muchinguri, the party’s
Women’s League boss.
The MDC-T is represented by its deputy
treasurer-general and Minister of Energy and Power Development, Elton
Mangoma, secretary general and Finance Minister Biti, deputy spokesperson,
Thabitha Khumalo and lawyer, Innocent Chagonda.
The MDC is
represented by secretary general, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga, deputy
secretary general, Moses Mzila-Ndlovu, Qhubani Moyo, the party’s national
organising secretary and Frank Chamunorwa, the party’s national
chairperson.
Jonathan Moyo is a controversial political figure in
Zimbabwe. He was information minister from 2000 to 2005 and is currently a
Member of Parliament for Tsholotsho. He is considered the core architect of
controversial legislation namely the Access to Information and Protection of
Privacy Act and the Public Order and Security Act.
Moyo came to the
fore of the Zimbabwean political map during the drafting of the constitution
in 2000. Once the people of Zimbabwe had rejected the draft, President
Mugabe appointed the former political science lecturer to his cabinet
following the 2000 parliamentary election, making him the spoke-sperson of
the government and information minister.
He later expelled himself from
ZANU-PF in 2008 but he bounced back with a bang about two years
later.
In the mere space of 11 years, Moyo went from being a fervent
critic of the government of President Mugabe to being its fiercest defender
and then again to being one of its foremost critics before defending the
same government again on rejoining ZANU-PF, a fact that renders him a
mystery to many Zimbabweans. Financial Gazette
Midlands province recorded the highest number of
political violence cases in the past two months, the latest report by the
Zimbabwe Peace Project has revealed. 06.08.1102:51pm by Brenna
Matendere Munyati
In June the province recorded 214 politically
motivated cases of assault, harassment and intimidation out of 1 014 cases
recorded countrywide.
Though most violence was against MDC supporters,
the report also notes that there was intra-party violence within the Zanu
(PF), caused by the leadership of the party which accuses some of its MPs of
supporting the MDC.
Addressing thousands of party supporters at a peace
rally at Mbizo Stadium in Kwekwe recently, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
said Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa is behind the violence.
“The
reason why Midlands is recording very high incidents of political violence
is because Mnangagwa’s culture is of violence,” said the PM.
In the past
Kwekwe Central MP, Blessing Chebundo, had his house burnt by suspected Zanu
(PF) supporters. MDC supporter Moses Chokuda was also killed by suspected
Zanu (PF)’s Midlands Chairperson and Governor Jaison Machaya’s son together
with others. The case is before the courts in Gokwe.
The majority of
Zimbabweans have expressed little confidence in the electoral systems and
the current political environment. 05.08.1105:40pm by Andrew
Harare
More than two years after the formation of the Interim
Government, an Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe (IDAZIM)
opinion poll reveals that 52 percent of Zimbabweans believe that prevailing
conditions would not allow free and fair polls.
The main reasons are
political violence and the manipulation of electoral and state institutions.
Indeed, 53 percent of people felt that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
lacked the capacity to run a free and fair election.
Unsurprisingly,
there is a large degree of voter fatigue, with 24 percent of the respondents
admitting that they were not registered to vote.
If you are not
registered to vote, why not?
But Zimbabweans are still aware of how
crucial the next elections will be and are divided as to when they should be
held – although a majority would like them within the next two
years.
Interestingly, despite the importance of the polls, a tenth of
those surveyed said that they were no longer interested in
elections.
When would like the next elections to be held?
Although
some of the reforms proposed in the recent Electoral Amendment Bill are
significant, they have failed to resolve the fundamental and structural
problems that need to be addressed in order to restore the integrity of the
ballot in Zimbabwe.
Furthermore, the reforms did not address issues
to do with media plurality or equitable access to the media for political
parties during election time, which has been a contentious issue due to
biased reporting. There is also a need to reform presidential powers in
relation to electoral laws as the president is a candidate in the very
elections that he devises regulations for.
The draconian Public Order
and Security Act (POSA) and Access to Information and Protection of Privacy
Act (AIPPA) have curbed freedom of association and speech, which are
critical components of a democratic election, and the repeal of these acts
is critical to provide the space for genuine elections.
In addition, the
independence and autonomy of ZEC is necessary for running credible
elections. Depoliticisation of electoral governance can only be achieved by
the establishment of an independent electoral management body, which must be
able to level the political playing field and ensure that political actors
comply with the law.
Independence does not mean total disconnection from
government but that as a state institution, the body remains accountable to
the state and public through parliament. The fact that ZEC’s functions are
to a large extent subject to ministerial approval limits the operational
independence of ZEC. - www.osisa.org
Traffic Police now demand a US$5 spot fine from
passengers who hail public transport from undesignated
areas. 06.08.1102:28pm by Jane Makoni
Unscrupulous cops
operating in small teams composed of both uniformed and plain clothed
officers, have been ambushing unsuspecting commuters at Topics Building,
Marondera Hotel and Charlesdale Service Station along the Harare-Mutare
road.
“Officers in plain clothes board public transport as if travelling
to either Harare or Mutare. When the vehicle has loaded, the policeman
flashes his ID and instructs the driver to head for the district police
station with all passengers aboard. At the police station unsuspecting
passengers are then ordered to parade behind a building and pay US$5
admission of guilt fines. They are not issued receipts,” said Farai Ndoro a
recent victim of the fine.
In Harare, police officers charge drivers a
fine for picking up passengers at undesignated pick-up points, but the
passengers are not charged.
When asked to comment on police conduct,
Marondera District Police Spokesperson, Inspector Bhusilani Bhebhe, said, “I
will come back to you after making enquiries with the Officer Commanding
Traffic Section”. He never did.
Commuters here expressed concern at
the corrupt practice which they said exposed police double
standards.
“Surprisingly, some pick up points, such as Charlesdale
Service Station, are out of town and there are no road signs to indicate
hitch-hiking is prohibited. Defence Forces such as soldiers, police and
Prison Officers continued to take public transport at the so-called no
hitch-hiking zones. This is the height of double standards on the part of
police.
Also, commuter omnibuses owned by police officers pick up
passengers at the prohibited areas. It has also come to our attention that
some public vehicles owned by police officers offer low fares to lure them
into a trap. When the vehicle is full, a police officer in plain clothes
declares that the passengers are under arrest and instructs the driver to
drive to the police station,” said a disgruntled commuter omnibus driver.
Teachers are being forced to transfer to at
an unregistered Zanu (PF) school established as a campaign success story by
Uzumba MP Simbaneuta Mudarikwa. 06.08.1102:57pm by Jane
Makoni
The makeshift Nyashunjwa Primary School, with classes built
only up to window level, is situated in Mashambanhaka Village. Mudarikwa has
instructed district education officials to transfer teachers to the school
without consulting ministry of education provincial staffing officials in
Marondera.
“As a government ministry we are naturally disturbed to learn
that a Zanu (PF) MP was behaving like a ministry of education staffing
officer,” said a district education official who asked for
anonymity.
“We understand he haphazardly established a make-shift school
in order to buy votes in the coming election campaign. He reportedly
threatened the district education officer into transferring teachers to his
bush school.
His conduct is both barbaric and unacceptable. It is
unfortunate that some partisan headmasters were working in cahoots with
Mudarikwa to frustrate rural school teachers. Most targeted were female
teachers at Mashambanhaka Primary School,” he said.
Mudarikwa’s
actions have been reported to the provincial education officer, who promised
to deal with the issue professionally and without fear.
He instructed the
district education officer to put everything in writing - but the education
officer would not do it because he was terrified of reprisals from the
Mudarikwa and Zanu (PF).
“He said it he had resisted their demands his
life would be in real danger,” said a provincial education official, who
insisted on anonymity, given the sensitivity of the issue.
Villagers
in Uzumba described Mudarikwa’s behaviour as the beginning of a terror
campaign against teachers ahead of elections. They called on the Minister of
Education, David Coltart and other caring legislators to rein in Zanu (PF)
and the MP.
Residents here have bemoaned worsening load shedding by the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority. The parastatal announced earlier this
week that three pumps that generate electricity in Hwange have broken
down. 06.08.1102:44pm by BPRA
Residents have expressed
disappointment that ZESA is failing to manage the country’s electricity
generation equipment despite the fact that residents are charged exorbitant
rates and pay fixed charges. They face power cuts of between 12-14 hours
every day.
They have also been irked by the fact that the parastatal has
failed to state when the problem will be rectified. The worsening power cuts
are having a dire effect on invalids, children and women.
Until a decade ago, Zimbabwe produced leaf for
cigarettes such as Camel, Marlboro and Winston. After the land grab,
however, it lost all those rankings. Now the crop is on the rebound and
officials say it on course to reach the projected 170 million kg this
season. 06.08.1106:15am by Staff Reporter
Tobacco worth
US$345,2 million has been sold through the auction and contract market at a
seasonal average price of US$2,78 per kg this week. Figures obtained from
the Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board show that 125,7 million kg had been
sold compared to 107 million kg the same period last season.
At its
peak in 1999, Zimbabwe grew 20 per cent of the tobacco that enhanced the
taste of cigarettes made by companies including Philip Morris and RJ
Reynolds Tobacco Holdings. Export income has been as much as US$600 million
a year.
A come back
Zimbabwe's land grab programme had choked
the industry. Since the start of President Robert Mugabe's farm resettlement
campaign a decade ago, tobacco production had dropped by one-third. However,
the formation of the unity government in 2009 ushered in a multi-currency
regime, and the crop has made a come back.
More than half the 1 400
growers had their acreage seized, shrinking crops to a level where tobacco
buyers such as Standard Commercial had to turn to rival Brazil. But the new
farmers have performed wonders.
"We like what we see," said Millennium
marketing and financial manager, Kudzayi Hamadziripi.
Universal and
British American Tobacco scrapped their investments in the country because
of the fall in production. The departure of these buyers left Zimbabwe
farmers in serious difficulties, but the Chinese have since filled that
void.
Zimbabwe's tobacco industry began in 1894 and now dominates the
trade of top-quality tobacco, known as flue-cured tobacco, together with
Brazil and the US. This type of leaf makes up more than 90 per cent of each
country's tobacco exports.
"Assuming the trends continue, we are on
course for a magnificent recovery," said Andrew Matibiri of the Tobacco
Industry and Marketing Board.
The Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) deputy
commissioner-general Innocent Matibiri has been implicated in a syndicate
allegedly smuggling cigarettes into South Africa. 06.08.1106:18am by
Staff Reporter
Regional political think-tank Southern Africa Report
(SAR) said Matibiri, who is President Robert Mugabe’s cousin, has been cited
as one of the masterminds behind syndicates allegedly smuggling Zimbabwean
cigarettes to South Africa.
“Matibiri has been linked by Zimbabwe
Revenue Authority customs officials to a smuggling operation illegally
exporting cigarettes into South Africa,” said an SAR official.
It is
believed Matibiri worked with senior ZIMRA and ZRP officials at Beitbridge
border post to smuggle the Zimbabwean-made cigarettes which sell like
wildfire in South Africa.
Matibiri, who was promoted to the rank of
deputy commissioner-general a few years ago, is expected to take over from
police chief Augustine Chihuri when he retires.
More than 140,000 government pensioners are among the many
victims of President Mugabe's corrupt and ruinous
rule. 05.08.1103:38pm by Staff Reporter
More than two years
after the establishment of the inclusive government, the plight of the
142,350 pensioners on the state’s payroll has been brought into sharp focus
by the foreign currency denominated payment system.
The country’s social
safety body, the National Social Security Authority, insists a monthly $25
payment is adequate - but pensioners are struggling to
survive.
Sekuru Munemo, 67, said financial help for pensioners was
welcome but more was needed.
"They should raise it maybe to $100," he
said.
Prior to the introduction of the forex denominated system,
pensioners had been completely neglected, getting a monthly allowance in
Zimbabwe dollars that had been rapidly eroded by inflation and not worth the
trip to the Post Office.
NSSA general manager James Matiza defended
the payments.
“If anybody retires today we will pay $25 per month,” he
said. “We have carried out investigations and found out that this money will
be enough to buy their basics.”
However, the government's own Central
Statistical Office said a family of six needs at least $554 per month merely
to subsist. This is almost 20-times more than the government allowance to
pensioners.
Critics say NSSA has deviated from its core mandate. Recently
it was sucked into the Rennaisance Bank saga where it was reportedly mulling
bailing out a distressed bank that had been fleeced by its
shareholders.
The plight of pensioners in Zimbabwe is more defined among
the elderly whites. Robbed of most of their pensions by government policy,
and too proud to seek help, the estimated 2,000 white pensioners still in
the country are the professionals and administrators who migrated here,
mostly from Britain and South Africa, to escape the Depression of the 1930s
and the bleakness of life after the Second World War. They thrived in a
burgeoning economy. But now they have been reduced to
beggars.
Sharon, 79, the widow of a former permanent secretary in the
Rhodesian administration who worked as a secretary in the Ministry of
Education in the late 70s, refused to give her full name. "I don't want
anyone to think I need help," she said.
She lives in a decrepit
downtown Harare flat with her 17-year-old grandson who suffers from down
syndrome. She says the $25 is "peanuts" - not worth the trip to collect it
from the Main Post Office.
A "Memory Box" is almost all that is left of
her heirlooms. The rest were sold last year with the furniture, television
and radio to get money to live by. She survives on a hamper of food and
other basic commodities delivered monthly by a charity.
Most people believe that the marginalization of
Bulawayo and the Matabeleland region is a reality and should be addressed by
the government as a matter of urgency. 06.08.1102:45pm by
BPRA
Members of the Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association assert
that politicians cannot discuss the issue while excluding those directly
affected. They say the incomplete state of universities in Bulawayo and
Matabeleland, relocation of industries, inadequacy of social service
departments, among other issues, are a clear reflection of leadership
failure in the region.
The association has called for a critical
address of issues affecting empowerment of the people of Matabeleland in a
forum where people can freely air their views.
ZANU-PF outpoint their opponents
by taking over the diamond revenue and latching on to a popular national
cause
As senior allies of President Robert Gabriel Mugabe concede through
gritted teeth that there can be no national elections this year, they have
moved the battleground to economic policy. Their main target is outspoken
Finance Minister Tendai Biti, who is also Secretary General of the Movement
for Democratic Change (MDC). President Mugabe, his allies say, clashed
repeatedly with Biti at recent cabinet meetings over the payment of higher
salaries to the country’s 200,000 civil servants.
The state payroll
includes some 75,000 names which auditors Ernst and Young found were either
entirely fictitious or of people ‘not properly qualified’. Biti’s sarcastic
speeches in Parliament targeted his opponents’ view that ‘money must be
eaten’ whatever the national consequences and referred to ‘Dotito’, a remote
corner of Mashonaland West which has become a byword for Mugabe’s
patronage.Mugabe insists that the civil service pay awards go ahead but Biti
forecasts that that will mean an unfunded deficit of some US$500 million
this year on top of the government’s planned $2.7 billion budget. For once,
Mugabe and his allies believe they have a nationally popular cause, as well
as an economically convenient one. Higher civil service salaries could feed
many family members. As Biti has reined in other forms of patronage
controlled by Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front, the
payment of these salaries, especially to about 38,000 non-existent workers,
has yielded much-needed revenue for the party and its supporters. Before the
disputed 2008 elections, ZANU-PF ministers expanded the payroll to reward
tens of thousands of party loyalists. Local civic activists say the
state-funded National Youth Service programme is highly partisan, staffed
mainly by ZANU-PF militia leaders and ‘war veterans’.
One of the more
strategic thinkers in Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s faction of the MDC,
Biti stopped hyperinflation in 2009 and restarted a formal trading economy
by replacing the valueless Zimbabwe dollar with the United States dollar and
South African rand. The rapid improvement in conditions – commodities in the
shops and some new jobs – initially made Biti extremely popular. He had also
neutralised much of ZANU-PF’s economic power by sidelining its appointees in
the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) and cutting back ministerial and
extra-budgetary spending plans.
Mugabe snookers Biti Biti’s next task
is much harder. The initial economic fillip has flattened since
dollarisation and other reforms, while the intermittent political panics
about election violence are holding back new enterprise. Without substantial
new revenue from taxes, investors or credit from international financial
institutions, Biti’s options are extremely limited.
ZANU-PF ministers are
enjoying Biti’s discomfiture and Mugabe has led the charge in cabinet. For
now, the President seems to have outmanoeuvred Biti on the use of revenue
from the Marange diamond fields and is winning the argument over civil
service pay. At a special cabinet meeting on 28 July, when Biti presented
his mid-term fiscal policy statement, even his own MDC colleagues failed to
back him convincingly.Biti has long insisted that all diamond revenue be
lodged with the Treasury by the Zimbabwe Mining and Development Corporation
(ZMDC), which has on paper been handling sales from Marange and other
diamond fields. Marange alone has the potential to produce about $1 bn.
Until these monies are lodged with the Treasury, Biti said he could not
consider approving the civil service pay rise.
Civil servants were then
surprised to receive the promised increase in their June pay packets. What
had happened is that contrary to all usual procedures, the ZMDC had
transferred $40 mn. directly to the Government Salaries Account, whence the
pro-ZANU bureaucrats paid the increases directly. This highly irregular
operation completely bypassed the Treasury. It shows that the higher reaches
of the civil service will still act to placate the President and damn the
consequences for an MDC minister.
Whether the trick can be repeated in
July in spite of Biti’s objections will be a severe test for the Government
of National Unity. Either way, Mugabe and his allies will look good. If the
ZMDC cannot supply the shortfall, Biti and the MDC will inevitably be blamed
for the return of salaries to earlier levels. Mugabe has effectively
snookered Biti.
Wily crocodile That manoeuvre – and the wooing of
civil servants – then gave Mugabe cover to attack Biti’s efforts to rein in
other sources of political patronage in his proposed fiscal review. Not only
was there to be no supplementary mid-year budget to cover departmental
overspending but Biti called for real spending cuts to the highly sensitive
defence and security votes, as well as to the Zimbabwe Prison Service, the
War Veterans’ Administration Fund and official foreign travel.
In a
shouting match in cabinet, Mugabe warned ‘this young man’ that he had gone
too far and ‘would be dealt with decisively’. Perhaps stunned by the
ferocity of the attack, we hear that Biti’s MDC colleagues – Nelson Chamisa
(Information) Theresa Makone (Home Affairs) and Tapiwa Mashakada (Economic
Development) – sided with ZANU-PF heavyweights Vice-President Joice Mujuru,
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and State Security Minister Sydney
Sekeramayi in rejecting plans for swingeing cutbacks this year. Although his
proposed cuts were a first draft, Biti was surprised to meet such
wide-ranging opposition and left the meeting to draw up a revised
report.
Ministers variously described Mugabe’s outburst as ‘bad’, ‘scary’
and ‘terrifying’. Biti’s economic analysis is hard to fault: he says the
Treasury is overspending by some $40 mn. a month and could run out of cash
entirely by October. So a sort of mini-USA style budget feud has ensued,
with Biti looking even more beleaguered than US President Barack
Obama.
ZANU-PF ministers claim Biti was proposing cuts in line with
advice given during the International Monetary Fund’s recent Article IV
assessment visit. Fund officials argued strongly that political
confrontation in the ruling coalition was fuelling economic uncertainty,
that growth would slow to about 5.5% this year while inflation would edge up
to 7% by December. They also raised questions about how the government
intended to finance an expected fiscal deficit of at least 4% of national
income.
More problematically, IMF experts argue that the best way to
reverse the slowdown in growth is to cut back on recurrent spending on state
salaries, which is pushing up the deficit, and focus on investment in
infrastructure and social provision for the poorest people.
Such
prescriptions infuriated Mugabe, who sees the IMF as an agent for regime
change and the proposed cuts in the army, intelligence organisation and his
foreign travel as a direct political attack. This is part of a much bigger
argument about how – and even whether – to reform the security services
before the next elections. The MDC receives most unprovoked attacks from the
ZANU-PF-supporting militia, while the official security organisations are
either unconcerned or complicit. The party is yet to develop a coherent
counterstrategy.
Both wings of the MDC – Tsvangirai’s and Welshman
Ncube’s – say there must be reform of the security establishment and clear
guarantees against those who might want to derail a political transition to
an MDC government. Without being explicit, both Tsvangirai and Ncube see a
need to get the top ZANU-PF securocrats to accept such a transition by
offering them some role in it. In the short term, turf battles abound.
Tsvangirai is fuming that, without consulting him, Mugabe appointed Aaron
Daniel Tonde Nhepera as Deputy Director General of the Central Intelligence
Organisation. In the War Victims Compensation Fund scandals of the
mid-1990s, Nhepera was assessed as 98% disabled and walked off with a very
handsome package. Another appointment fracas is brewing over a new
provincial governor for Harare after the death of David Karimanzira. Harare
was earmarked for the MDC but in yet another unilateral move, Mugabe is
toying with ZANU-PF stalwarts Amos Midzi or Tendai Savanhu.
In the
meantime, the parliamentary outreach programme on human rights has run into
difficulties. A Human Rights Commission was established last year, chaired
by law professor Reg Austin (one of few white people to have been a ZANU-PF
Central Committee member and a one-time United Nations election advisor in
Afghanistan and Iraq). Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa has, however, been
dragging his feet. Although a generally acceptable set of commissioners has
been named, there was little movement towards a budget allocation or
offices, let alone an establishing act in Parliament, despite offers of
financial assistance from the likes of the UN Development Programme and the
UN Commission on Human Rights.
Disruption campaign A bill has finally
been drafted and is out for public consultation. ZANU-PF activists in some
areas have been instructed to oppose, through threats and disruption, other
parties’ inputs in much the same way as they did with the constitutional
consultation at the beginning of the year. The disruption campaign has so
far been only partly successful. In the provincial capitals of Masvingo and
Manicaland (Mutare), the process had to be abandoned. The army has targeted
these two largely rural provinces to claw back the seats the MDC won in 2008
(a majority in both provinces). The smiling presence of Senator Josiah
Hungwe (former Masvingo Governor) left little doubt as to the
instigators.
The most violent of the disruptions was in Harare. The
hearings were to be held in the Parliament buildings. The ZANU-PF mob forced
its way in, manhandled the Chairman out to the street for a roughing up and
attacked journalists and members of parliament, including one from ZANU-PF.
The police were not in sufficient force to quell the disturbances and
reinforcements were slow in coming. This has led to calls for the
resignation of Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri.
The
main worry for ZANU-PF is the period to be covered by the bill. They would
infinitely prefer that there was no bill or at least that nothing going back
further than 2009 should be covered. Naturally, the MDC wants it to cover
election violence since 2000. In Matebeleland, people want to go back to
1980, so that the Gukurahundi massacres can be probed (AC Vol 45 No 23).
To confront the legacy of past human rights abuses with
the motive of creating a more just and democratic nation, the importance of
transitional justice cannot be overstated.
by Jabusile Shumba &
Anyway Chingwete
National healing
and reconciliation in Zimbabwe is linked to transitional justice. The
International Centre for Justice defines transitional justice as a response to
systematic or widespread violations of human rights. It seeks recognition for
victims and to promote possibilities for peace, reconciliation and
democracy.
Transitional
justice is not a special form of justice but justice adapted to societies
transforming themselves after a period of pervasive human rights abuses. This
approach emerged in the late 1980s and early 1990s, mainly in response to
political changes in Latin America and Eastern Europe and to demands in both
these regions for justice.
At the time, human
rights activists and others wanted to address the systematic abuses by former
regimes but without endangering the political transformations that were
underway. Since these changes were popularly called ‘transitions to democracy’,
people began calling this new multidisciplinary field ‘transitional
justice’.
To confront the
legacy of past human rights abuses with the motive of creating a more just and
democratic nation, the importance of transitional justice cannot be overstated.
Indeed, as indicated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights,
“The preference for doing nothing is no longer an option”7.
Under Article 7.1
of the GPA, the Parties agreed to consider the creation of a body to properly
advise on what mechanisms might be necessary and practicable to achieve national
healing, cohesion and unity in respect of victims of pre and post independence
political conflicts. The result was the Organ for National Healing and
Reconciliation.
Who do you
think the Organ was created to benefit?
A recent opinion
poll by the Institute for a Democratic Alternative for Zimbabwe (IDAZIM)
revealed that, while 49 percent of people felt that the Organ was created for
the benefit of all Zimbabweans, a quarter of all respondents felt it was created
specifically to benefit the victims of political crimes and 12 percent thought
it was set up solely to help the perpetrators of those crimes.
While gross human
rights violations were committed during the colonial era, in the early 1980s,
and in the 2000s during the fast track land reform programme, Operation
Murambatsvina in 2005 and repeated bouts of election violence, more than half of
those surveyed (55%) supported a transitional justice process that focused on
the years since 2000 – with just under a quarter (23%) preferring the period
from independence to the present day and under one-in-ten (9%) opting for the
period from the Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) in 1965 to
now.
What should be
the basis for national healing and reconciliation in Zimbabwe?
As for what would
provide the best method of driving the process of national healing, respondents
were split between truth telling and forgiveness, reparations, justice and
criminal prosecutions. However, most respondents (62%) believed that all those
involved in political violence should be held to account, while a quarter felt
that accountability should be confined to ‘those who planned and supervised
violence’.
In terms of who
should lead the transitional justice process, a plurality of 44 percent answered
that the government should spearhead it – well ahead of the support for
churches, NGOs, political parties and traditional
leaders.
Who do you
think should spearhead the reconciliation process?
However, not much
has been done by the Organ in driving the process of national healing and
reconciliation forward. Civil society has done remarkable work in uncovering the
public`s preferences on this decisive matter but this critical information has
so far not been used to help further the healing process. - www.osisa.org
The Chimanimani Arts Festival is set to explode into
life this Friday, and intense rehearsals in preparation for the festival are
already underway. 05.08.1105:23pm by Yeukai Moyo
The festival,
launched early this month in Harare, is set to attract the cream of the
country’s artists to converge in the mountainous district of
Manicaland.
Guests will include superstar Oliver Mtukudzi and the
Black Spirits. Last year Tuku was a special guest with the Ay Band as a
tribute to his son Sam– and this year Tuku will return with his full backing
band.
According to the festival’s website, “Also proposed to perform are
Alexio Kawara, Botswana Afropop diva Slizer, hip-hop poet Cde Fatso and
Chabvunduka, Music Crossroads winners Club Shanga, Afro-Punk group Chikwata
263, Mbira Dze Matupo plus lots of local acts and
entertainment.”
Local acts will also take part and there will be various
arts showcases such as theatre, poetry, arts and wares exhibitions.
HARARE (AFP) – Zimbabwe opened up a 175-run lead over Bangladesh with
six second wickets remaining on Saturday, but they were left to rue a late
collapse in the final overs at the Harare Sports Club.
After
dismissing the tourists for 287 -- and a first innings lead of 83 --
Zimbabwe were 69 without loss before Bangladesh captured four quick wickets
for the addition of just 23 more runs.
Openers Tinotenda Mawoyo (35)
and Vusi Sibanda (38) looked in good form before Sibanda, who made 78 in the
first innings, fell to a catch at midwicket by substitute fielder Nasir
Hossain off Rubel Hossain.
Ten runs later, Mawoyo was clean-bowled by
Robiul Islam.
First innings centurion Hamilton Mazakadza then offered a
feeble shot to Bangladesh skipper Shakib Al Hassan and was caught and bowled
for five while night watchman Ray Price was leg before to Abdur Razzak,
making only four runs.
Captain Brendan Taylor (five) and former
skipper Tatenda Taibu (0) were the not out batsmen.
At the start of
the day, Bangladesh resumed on 107 for three in their first innings with
Mohammad Ashraful moving on from his overnight 34 to 73 with captain Shakib
Al Hassan top-scoring with 68.
Test debutant Brian Vitori, a left-armer
with some pace and aggression, led the Zimbabwe attack well and he took four
wickets for 66. Veteran spinner Ray Price also had some success with two for
only 34.
For most
travellers, Zimbabwe has the same fascination as a car crash – it looks
interesting from afar but there’s enough about it that says, “Don’t get too
close.” Tales of power cuts, food shortages, communication problems, and the
more serious violations of human rights and restrictions on personal freedom,
make the warm sunshine and wide open spaces seem avoidable rather than
appealing.
A few years ago
this was certainly the case. Locals recount tales of getting used to drinking
black coffee or tea, not because they liked it, but because there simply wasn’t
any milk. Or being unable to drive anywhere at night, because without any
streetlights and potholes lying like landmines in the dark, it was just too
dangerous to do so.
Thankfully,
Zimbabwe is not such a treacherous place anymore. Last night, the only thing not
available in one of the local restaurants was oysters. “But we have the fresh
Scottish salmon, which was flown in today,” the manager informed us. Can’t
complain about that.
The improved
Zimbabwe, although not perfect, is quickly becoming a wonderful midpoint between
old world Colonial charm and new-age African development. In between the gables
are the thatched roofs, alongside the enormous properties with front gardens the
size of a cricket field, soapstone carvings can be bought and next to the
traditional pub grub is the sadza (stiff maize meal porridge). Of course, it
would be naļve of me to suggest that racial integration has come full circle
here, but compared to South Africa, it is certainly more obvious.
One of the places
it’s become noticeable is the Red Lion bar, an institution in the main clubhouse
of the Harare Sports Club. I was told that this bar would give me a glimpse of
Rhodesia, with ruddy faced men of an older generation recounting what life in
this country used to be like, in the days of Ian Smith. Happily, the old hangout
has evolved and as my companion said, “The only black people inside are not just
standing behind the bar.”
We met a man who
says he is a solider (he looked the part but did not say where he had been
deployed) and helpfully pointed out a framed cheque which Cecil John Rhodes had
made out to the Salisbury Cricket Club, which was what this venue was originally
known as. There were also some sketchings of the ground, photographs and a few
magazine tributes. Noteworthy articles they are all are, but the really striking
things are taking place all around them.
The grand hotels
that are found in the city centre and the suburb of Avenues – a tree-lined area
with wide streets and medium sized apartment blocks – have a regal and colonial
nature about them. Dark wood bars, imposing columns and majestic staircases. But
in the rest of the town, where the regular people go to enjoy themselves are
neighbourly eateries next to average night spots which stand out on quiet
streets. It’s Africa in a way that I have not experienced before, where the old
order and the new can stand next to each other. Much to the surprise of some,
it’s a mixture of people who can be found inside these places, a sign that
Zimbabwe is moving on, in the best way it knows how.
In 2004 I published The Dust Diaries, an
account of my journey tracing the life and legacy of my great, great uncle,
the maverick missionary and activist for African rights Arthur Shearly
Cripps. 05.08.1106:09pm by OWEN SHEERS
My journey in Cripps'
footsteps finished at his graveside in the knave of a ruined church deep in
the Zimbabwean veldt. The church was built by Cripps in the style of Great
Zimbabwe. It was midnight and hundreds of people were packed between its
walls, dancing and singing around my uncle's grave.
Fires picked out the
shape of the kopje that rose above us, testament to the 700 Zimbabweans who
had, despite fuel shortages and other difficulties, made the journey to this
isolated place to celebrate Arthur's life and remember his 50 years living
and working with the Shona people around Chivhu.
The celebrations lasted
for three days. Remarkably ecumenical in nature, both Anglican service and
traditional Shona pungwe, they constituted the annual 'Shearly Cripps
Festival', an event attended by Zimbabwean Anglicans for over 50
years.
This year the Shearly Cripps festival has not been allowed to
happen. On August 2 it was reported that excommunicated Anglican Bishop
Nolbert Kunonga, an outspoken supporter of President Robert Mugabe and Zanu
(PF), claimed to have 'taken over' the Shearly Cripps Shrine, along with all
other church properties in the Masvingo Province.
Sadly the local
police have enforced Kunonga's claims, despite repeated court orders ruling
access to Anglican properties should be open to all. This claim follows over
ten years of similar actions by Kunonga, including inciting violence against
those attending services under the direction of the legitimate Archbishop of
Harare.
As with his actions over the Shearly Cripps Shrine the police,
ignoring court orders, have often acted in collusion with Kunonga, even
tear-gassing church-goers.
As a descendent of Arthur Shearly Cripps I
strongly condemn Kunonga's illegal seizure of the Shearly Cripps Shrine and
all other Anglican Church properties in Masvingo Provience and call upon
Kunonga to revoke his false claims.
Given the nature of Cripps'
activist work - fighting for indigenous land rights, defending local people
against colonial injustice, building the country's first VD clinic for
indigenous Zimbabweans - Kunonga's actions in denying access to his shrine
and inciting violence against the Anglican community are particularly
sickening and perverse.
Extraordinary though the actions of Kunonga and
the police may seem they are also, unfortunately, all too indicative of the
cronyism, corruption and injustice that have marred the Zanu (PF) regime in
Zimbabwe over the past 10 years and more.
Cripps strived all his life
for equality and justice. When he died he left all his land to the local
people who had lived and farmed on that land for many years. In the light of
his work and his legacy it is particularly saddening that the kind of
actions Cripps fought against during his time in colonial Southern Rhodesia
should be echoed now by Kunonga in a post-colonial Zimbabwe.
Kunonga
was excommunicated from the Anglican Church in Africa after his violent
actions, including encouraging physical attacks on people attending Sunday
services under the direction of the legitimate Archbishop of Harare.
It
was recently reported that Kunonga broke into the church in Chivhu with the
connivance of the police, who refuse to take any complaint from the Anglican
church about these events. Government controlled Zimbabwean television has
endorsed Kunonga's activities, and have publicized his takeover as a matter
of fact. - Sheers is a poet and author.
He recently wrote the script for
National Theatre of Wales and Michael Sheen's The Passion. The Dust Diaries
won the Welsh Book of the Year 2005 and is currently being translated into
Shona.
I first met him when he was just a few months old.
Warm and safe he was snuggled up against his mother’s back, held tightly in
place with a warm, bright wrap. He didn’t wake up when I stroked his
fat little cheek, but his mother glowed with pride. The next time I
saw the baby he was a chubby little toddler, perhaps nineteen months
old. Giggling and chuckling he was into everything and trustingly took
my hand when I held it out to him, his sticky little fingers dwarfed
in mine
Then came those glorious years before life gets serious,
before school and learning starts and when the world is a child’s playground.
How clearly I remember the adventures that little boy and his friends
had. Riding in the back of the truck when we went to put food out for
sheep and cattle; jogging around in the back of the ox drawn cart when
we were bringing poles and firewood back from the timber
plantations; catching tadpoles and crabs in the shallow water of the
stream; running with leafy sticks herding cattle from one paddock to
another. The treat of the day was a sweet, sticky bun and a frozen cold
drink to suck noisily from a plastic tube. Lying on the carpet
watching cartoons on TV, playing with dinky cars in the sand, digging
tunnels and climbing trees.
Then came school and it wasn’t easy.
Conditions were tough, education was primitive, equipment and facilities
almost non existent. Throughout the boy’s school years I followed his
progress, helping his parents with school uniforms, shoes, books, pens,
pencils and crayons and the never ending school fees. Later came sports kit,
exam fees and more pens, books and calculators and then he was a
teenager.
I last saw the young man about five months ago. He strode up to
greet me, his eyes shining and face beaming in smiles. His huge hand
shook mine, my fingers dwarfed in his. His mother watched the meeting,
her face glowing with pride, just as it had when she first showed me
her baby nineteen years ago. The young man and I laughed and chatted
and the pride of his parents was palpable. We parted on such happy
terms, smiling and waving; a picture that will stay in mind always.
On
a cool and still evening this week, I stood outside looking out over the
African bush. The sun had gone and a bronze glow lay on the horizon. A bat
flitted in and out of sight, catching invisible insects. A call came on my
cell phone and tears ran down my face as I listened to the tragic news of the
violent end that had come to the young man. In the background I could hear
the mourners gathering: singing, clapping, drumming, wailing
This
letter is for Howard, in recognition and memory. May his soul rest in peace.
Until next time, thanks for reading, love cathy 6th August 2011. Copyright �
Cathy Buckle. www.cathybuckle.com
