Passengers detained for discussing census fiasco in Kombi

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
08 August 2012

A Kombi full of passengers was on Wednesday forced to drive into the 3
Brigade army base in Mutare because passengers were speaking critically
about the way soldiers, police and the CIO have hijacked the population
census exercise.

The Kombi was travelling from Rusape to Mutare when one of the passengers, a
soldier, became incensed when other passengers started discussing the census
that has been turned into such a fiasco by the security forces.

The discussion sparked debate about the behaviour of ZANU PF and the
partisan armed forces, and passengers were unaware there was an off-duty
soldier onboard.

When the Kombi got to Mutare, the soldier identified himself and told the
driver to go to the 3 Brigade Headquarters in the city.

Unknown to the army, a number of passengers were senior MDC-T officials from
Makoni district who immediately sent out text messages to the party of their
predicament.

One of those who received a text was Energy and Power Development Minister
Elton Mangoma, who alerted the party spokesman in Manicaland, Pishai
Muchauraya.

Mangoma, who is the MDC-T MP for Makoni North, told SW Radio Africa that
after spending some time at the camp all the passengers were freed after
interrogation.

‘The soldiers took down their names and addresses and told them there would
be a follow up. But I can confirm all guys from my constituency are free and
safe as well as the other passengers,’ Mangoma said.

The census exercise continues to create political headaches for the
inclusive government. With an eye toward the national elections slated for
2013, there are allegations that politicians from ZANU PF are doing
everything in their power to circumvent the count.

Analysts told SW Radio Africa that the largest political parties, the MDC-T
and ZANU PF, are particularly threatened by the prospect of reduced urban or
rural constituencies as a revised count would lead to a revised political
balance. Fear that this might happen has seen soldiers, allegedly at the
behest of ZANU PF, forcibly joining the program to ensure they monitor the
exercise.

Soldiers have emerged from their barracks countrywide to hijack the process
and turn the count into a party event.

Our correspondent in Bulawayo, Lionel Saungweme, told us that soldiers there
disrupted the training of enumerators at Bulawayo Polytechnic for the second
day running.

He said the soldiers vowed that ‘there will be no peace until we are
included in the Census training and exercise.’

Security Forces Block Census Workshops

http://www.radiovop.com

Roy Chikara Masvingo, August 08, 2012 - Soldiers, police and spy agents, the
CIO, on Tuesday afternoon blocked census enumerators’ workshops in Masvingo
town, Gutu Mpandawana growth point and St Antony’s High School in Zaka,
demanding to be included in the process.

On Monday acting Finance Minister, Gorden Moyo, said registration for
enumerators had been postponed after it was discovered that about 10 000
soldiers had been included. The matter was expected to be deliberated in
Tuesday's cabinet meeting.

Sources here told Radio VOP that the security forces were angered by their
cancellation form the process and decided to disrupt the workshops.

“They came here and demanded to be included on the lists. When we told them
that we were fully booked, they said the process should then stop until they
are also featured on the lists,” a senior government official conducting the
process said.

They stormed Masvingo Polytechnic, one of the census centres while clad in
civilian attire, while in Zaka and Gutu, sources said, they were clad in
army and police regalia and forcibly disrupted the process at local Primary
School.

Efforts to get a comment from the army spokesperson proved futile while
Police in Masvingo declined to comment.

However, by end of day, the enumerators’ workshops failed to take place as
the deadlock continued. The workshops were expected to take place on
Wednesday.

Soldiers invade census centres

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Written by Richard Chidza, Fungi Kwaramba and Nhau Mangirazi
Wednesday, 08 August 2012 10:32

HARARE - Uniformed forces yesterday invaded centres where civilian
government workers expecting to undergo training as census enumerators had
gathered, leaving the process in limbo.

Chaotic scenes characterised several registration centres in different parts
of the country, with security forces taking centre stage in all cases.

This comes at a time when the number of security forces at supervisory and
enumeration levels have been limited to 1 571 personnel.

Irate teachers’ groups have now threatened to pull out if the uniformed
forces continue hijacking the process.

In Harare, armed police sealed off some venues and used threats of violence
to chase away civil servants who had gathered to begin training early
yesterday morning.

In Karoi, senior police officers reportedly stopped the process and demanded
that uniformed forces be allocated a quota.

A senior government official in charge of the process in the area told civil
servants gathered for the aborted training that he had received orders to
chop names and make room for uniformed forces.

This comes a day after the Finance ministry said it had postponed training
of enumerators by a day to investigate reports of politically partisan
soldiers having been planted as enumerators.

Acting Finance minister Gorden Moyo on Monday insisted that government will
not allow soldiers to take part as enumerators, saying teachers have the
experience to carry out the task.

The census is viewed by lowly-paid government workers as a “cash cow” hence
the jostling.

Although official figures are yet to be released, the Daily News understands
from sources that individuals involved will get up to $800 for the 10-day
process.

This is more than double what most civil servants are getting in monthly
salaries.

Uniformed forces say they want a piece of the cake.

The Daily News witnessed near-violent scenes in Harare as armed police
pounced on civil servants who had gathered for training at Harare Girls’
High School, ordering them to disperse.

Some of the civil servants who later regrouped in the adjacent Harare
Gardens were forced to flee after vicious police went after them.

A Daily News reporter covering the event was also nearly manhandled by the
police officers.

“What do you want here? Where do you work? Are you against what we are doing
here,” a menacing police officer said as he charged towards the reporter.

In Hurungwe District, which covers Karoi town, officials said they were
being forced to redraw lists to accommodate uniformed forces.

A district official identified only as Maturire had to plead with impatient
enumerators who had gathered for training.

Addressing the enumerators, he said: “We are waiting for an instruction to
accept uniformed forces but it will affect 145 people we had accepted from
various Government departments. Unfortunately, the whole exercise is
confusing before it even starts.”

There was no immediate response from the Zimbabwe Statistics Agency, which
is in charge of the 10-day census process.

But teachers’ representatives said they were infuriated by the move.
Teachers make the bulk of the government’s 200 000 plus workforce. At least
31 000 of these will take part in the census as enumerators.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) president Tendai Chikowore said she
had received reports of chaos at enumeration centres around the country.

“We are receiving reports from Bulawayo, Masvingo and other parts of the
country that soldiers are taking over the process,” she said.

“If it comes to a situation where our members are in danger, we will have to
pull out,” said Chikowore.

Another union, the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), said it
was too late to sniff out soldiers from the process.

The union claimed that soldiers were moving around in areas such as Gokwe
North constituency disrupting the process. The group claimed the soldiers
had targeted some of its members for victimisation.

“Zanu PF is calling the shots in government including in the census process.
The reports of intimidation of our members in Mashonaland East, West and
Central provinces are really saddening,” said PTUZ secretary-general Raymond
Majongwe.

“The credibility of the process is now in a shambles because it has been
taken over by the police and soldiers,” he said.

Douglas Mwonzora, spokesperson for Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC,
said the party had raised the issue through its representatives in the
fragile coalition government.

Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo dismissed the allegations by teachers’
unions and the MDC.

“No one wants to militarise the census issue. It is a government project and
the MDC is part of that government which controls the army. Zanu PF does not
control the military and these people always want to raise mundane issues.
It is nonsense,” said Gumbo.

Zimbabwe has successfully conducted three population counts since
independence from Britain in 1980. The country’s national census is held
after every 10 years.

The 2012 census comes ahead of a watershed election to be held most likely
next year.

Statistics from the census will be critical in the constituency delimitation
process.

Census: Riot police descend on girls high school and stop process

The MDC Today
Wednesday, 08 August 2012
Issue – 410

Today for the second day running, armed riot police descended on Harare
Girls High and forcefully ordered all enumerators undergoing training there
to disperse. Similar disturbing reports are coming in from all over the
country. This is a clear attempt to derail the census which is supposed to
take place from the 17th of August.
Meanwhile, Tapera Sengweni, the MDC Midlands South Youth Assembly provincial
chairperson and Kwekwe-based human rights lawyer has been granted a US$500
bail at the Nkayi magistrates’ court.

Sengweni is facing false stock theft charges.

He was arrested two weeks ago at the Gweru magistrates’ court after he had
been granted a US$500 bail for a different charge of stock theft. Before
being granted the second bail, Sengweni had spent nearly a month in police
cells in Kwekwe, Gweru and Nkayi as the police tried to nail him on the
false stock theft charges.
The people’s struggle for real change – Let’s finish it!!!

‘Soldiers’ Disrupt Census Trainings in Bulawayo

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

A GROUP claiming to be soldiers today allegedly caused chaos at the Bulawayo
Province Census command centre, housed at the Bulawayo Polytechnic
ostensibly to prevent the induction of enumerators. The group also
reportedly disrupted census training workshops that were taking place at the
college. This follows reports of similar occurrences in Harare and Mutare
yesterday as soldiers defied a cabinet directive that soldiers will only be
used as enumerators in their places of work.
08.08.1204:11pm
by Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association

According to sources consisting of teachers and headmasters from Bulawayo
Province, the group of over 50 men, who were in plain clothes, prevented
would be enumerators from entering the Bulawayo Polytechnic where
recruitment and induction of enumerators was taking place and maintained a
vigil throughout the day to ensure that the workshops and recruitment did
not go ahead.

Witnesses told Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association (BPRA) that they
were not sure whether the group genuinely consisted of soldiers, but said
they felt it was connected to powerful people as the police did not pitch up
to disperse the group and allow the training workshops and recruitment to go
ahead.

BPRA is concerned that these events are an indication that Zimbabwe is
degenerating into an outpost of lawlessness with the relevant authorities
looking aside as hooligans impede on national processes. The association
calls upon the police and other interested parties to take concerted efforts
to ensure that order is restored in the census preparations so that the
exercise can continue.

Cabinet Rules On Soldier Participation In Census

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, August 08, 2012 - The Zimbabwe cabinet on Tuesday ordered the
reduction of the military participation in National census from 10 000 to 1
571.

Acting Finance Minister Gorden Moyo told Radio VOP on Wednesday that he had
written to Defence and State Security ministers seeking them to implement
the directive.

“Cabinet yesterday agreed that the number of the military personnel in the
census was shocking and therefore ordered its reduction from 10 000 to 1
571. The cabinet allocated 292 officers to the Zimbabwe Prison Services, 541
Zimbabwe Republic Police 467 Zimbabwe National Army and 271 to the Central
Intelligence Organisation. This has been the tradition and it’s not new," he
said.

“We want to demilitarise and depoliticise this process. This is in line with
SADC guidelines and principles of running a Census,” Moyo added.

Moyo had postponed registration of enumerators for census after it had been
discovered that 10 000 soldiers had been registered. About 31 000 people are
needed for the process nationwide.

In Masvingo soldiers blocked census workshops demanding to be registered.

“I will this afternoon visit training centres where enumerators are being
trained and assess the situation," said Moyo.

"If i find soldiers or any irregularity ...I will be left with no choice but
to approach President Robert Mugabe who is the Commander in chief of the
security forces to order his people to go back to their barracks," he added.

President Robert Mugabe is expected to officially launch the fourth national
census since independence in 1980, August 15.

Census exposes Zanu PF’s allergy to transparency

http://www.mdc.co.zw

Wednesday, 08 August 2012

The MDC dismisses the barbaric and anti-people attitude exhibited by Zanu PF
linked State security agents who are disrupting the induction programme of
enumerators taking part in this year’s national population census.

The action by the police and soldiers is a deliberate and well-calculated
scheme to derail the population census expected to kick off on 17 August
until 28 August 2012. This morning for the second day running, armed riot
police descended on Harare Girls High and forcefully ordered all enumerators
undergoing training there to disperse.

Similar disturbing reports are coming in from all over the country.

The political posturing by these Zanu PF aligned State agents is nothing but
an attempt to derail the process that is one of the preludes to the holding
of free and fair elections in Zimbabwe next year. It is clear that Zanu PF
does not want the process of counting the people of Zimbabwe to go ahead as
it will affect their traditional rigging plans when the delimitation
exercise for constituency boundaries starts.

The Zanu PF footprints that are showing in the disruptive actions of the
State actors are one of the biggest threats to the national interests of the
country. The actions have exposed Zanu PF’s inherent allergy to
transparency, democratic tenets and the holding of free and fair elections
next year.

Zanu PF has once again, shown that it is perennially afraid of any
transparent process, thereby, becoming a threat to the Global Political
Agreement (GPA) and the people of Zimbabwe who are fighting for real change.

The on-going disruptions are a clear indication that Zanu PF is a party
consisting of a pot-pourri of self-centred politicians who are working with
a common purpose to subvert the democratisation and reform agenda of the
country.

The MDC regards the latest attempt to block the population census as part of
a great conspiracy which includes Zanu PF’s instigated violent disturbances
that are taking place in the countryside.

However, the MDC urges all Zimbabweans to participate freely in this
important and historic event when it kicks off next week. We, the people,
should be counted in order to determine our future.

The people’s struggle for real change – Let’s finish it!!!

ZANU PF politburo meet again to discuss draft constitution

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
08 August 2012

The deeply divided ZANU PF politburo was meeting again on Wednesday for the
fourth time in a fortnight to try and come out with a consensus on the draft
constitution.

While Patrick Chinamasa, the party’s chief negotiator to the GPA says the
former ruling party has agreed on 97 percent of the draft, there are reports
some party heavyweights want the draft rejected totally. Others opposed to
the rejection are in favour of engaging the two MDC formations in amending
the draft.

The MDC formations have come out strongly saying they will not allow any
changes to the draft, explaining that the best ZANU PF can do now is
campaign for a no vote.

But leading human rights lawyer Dewa Mavhinga believes that there are
certain risks that ZANU PF face if they reject or amend the draft before it
is subjected to the people of Zimbabwe.

Mavhinga told SW Radio Africa’s Hidden Story program on Wednesday there is
no doubt that the amendments proposed are not at all in the interests of
Zimbabweans.

‘You can be assured Zimbabweans know why ZANU PF is against this draft. It
is a matter of the political elite wheeling and dealing to ensure that they
protect vested interests and tighten their oppressive grip on power,’
Mavhinga said.

He said Zimbabweans who support the rewritten constitution blame entrenched
leaders who have profited handsomely from Zimbabwe’s corrupt status quo and
don’t really want things to change that much.

Analysts believe there is a lot of fear among those associated with ‘diamond
money’ and those who have maintained power in Zimbabwe. The country’s next
harmonized are scheduled to take place in 2013, and politicians from all
parties have already begun jockeying for positions ahead of the vote.

While some Civil Society Organizations and pressure groups like Woman of
Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) generally agree that the proposed constitution is not
perfect, they think it is a huge improvement over the old constitution.

The current Lancaster House constitution gives almost total power to the
President and leaves out any mention that the government serves at the
behest of Zimbabwe’s citizens.

In the new charter, the President’s powers are reduced, the legislative and
judiciary branches are beefed up and explicit rules are spelled out against
corruption, a huge problem in Zimbabwe and something that certain
individuals in ZANU PF are not comfortable with.

Lawyers insist Zim land ruling still binding

WOZA Sets Tight Conditions For Giving Draft Constitution Thumbs Up

http://www.voanews.com

07 August 2012

Jonga Kandemiiri | Washington

Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) says it has been mandated by its members to
begin a ‘vote yes’ campaign if their views are contained in the country’s
draft constitution.

This follows the completion of a members’ consultation exercise in Bulawayo,
Harare and Matabeleland North and South on the political developments in the
country and adoption of a new supreme law of the land.

In a statement, WOZA said over 14 000 people, with 447 of them being men out
of a national membership of 85 000, participated in the exercise.

"The activity was conducted to keep members briefed on the situation that
prevails and also to consult members on what position the organisation
should adopt around the constitutional and political scenarios that could
play out," read part of the statement.

Woza said members expressed concern over the continued political squabbling
affecting progress saying the constitutional reform process "is far too
dependent on political negotiation and not enough of the politicians
listening to the views of their political party members and ordinary
citizens".

The organization said its members were also unhappy with the manner in which
the Zimbabwe Republic Police continues to disrupt peaceful protests thereby
helping politicians to sideline citizen voices.

They called for the intervention of the Southern African Development
Community and the United Nations. "The ZRP are operating on a political
agenda and must be held accountable."

WOZA coordinator Jenni Williams told Studio 7 they are disappointed by the
Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee’s failure to deal with their
complaints.

Williams said its members were also gravely concerned about the continued
deployment of militia and war veterans in communities.

Zim report battle: Lawyers sent back to drawing board

http://mg.co.za

08 Aug 2012 08:18 - Faranaaz Parker

The high court has asked lawyers for the M&G and the state to clarify their
arguments in the ongoing battle over a report on the 2002 Zim elections.

The Mail & Guardian's four-year battle to gain access to a report on the
legal and constitutional situation in Zimbabwe prior to the country's 2002
election was put on hold again in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria
on Tuesday after Judge Joseph Raulinga asked both the lawyers for the state
and the M&G to supplement their submissions with additional arguments.

Raulinga said this was a very important matter and that he wanted to "get
more flesh" on their respective arguments' bones before making any
conclusions.

The parties were given 15 days in which to file the submissions, and
judgment was reserved.

The matter has been through the high court, Supreme Court of Appeal and the
Constitutional Court over the past four years. The Constitutional Court
found that the courts had been "hamstrung" by the fact that they did not
have access to the report itself and referred the matter back to the High
Court so it could have a confidential "judicial peek" at the report in order
to better assess he arguments around it.

After Raulinga read the report, the state was given the opportunity to make
ex-parte representations – submissions made to the judge without the M&G's
lawyers present – to further their arguments for why the report should not
be disclosed.

But its submissions consisted largely of two affidavits, from former
president Thabo Mbeki and President Jacob Zuma, concerning the purpose of
the commissioning the report, the way it has been used, and general comments
on why it should not be disclosed.

On Tuesday, advocate Frank Snyckers, counsel for the M&G, argued that the
affidavits the state had submitted did not cure the deficiencies in the
state's case that the Constitutional Court had found.

"They were supposed to come and speak to your lordship about the report.
They were supposed to remedy that 'hamstringing'. They chose not to do
that … because they knew from the start the report does not bear out what
they say," he said.

Snyckers said the evidence put up by the state was insufficient, and that
the function of referring the matter back to the high court "was not to
supplement the state's case but simply to look at the [report itself] and
see whether [it] helps".

But advocate Marumo Moerane, acting for the state, said the affidavits were
material evidence that the court should take into account when deciding the
issue.

The purpose of the affidavits was "to place the report in its proper
political context, to assist [Judge Raulinga] in exercising his duty
responsibly," he said.

Moerane said that although Snyckers had objected to the affidavits being
accepted as evidence because they did not refer to particular paragraphs of
the report, this was only one approach to the ex-parte representations.

"There would be nothing wrong in adopting that approach, but it's not the
only approach," he said.

Raulinga asked both parties to clarify their arguments on whether the
affidavits should be admitted as evidence.

Reasons for mandatory disclosure
Raulinga also asked for more detail on the parties' interpretation of
section 46 of the Promotion of Access to Information Act (Paia) under which
the M&G applied for access to the report.

This section of the Act deals with the circumstances under which there
should be a mandatory disclosure of information in the public interest.

Information must be disclosed in the public interest if it would reveal
evidence of a substantial contravention of the law, or an imminent and
serious public safety or environmental risk, or if the public interest in
the disclosure of the record clearly outweighs the harm that might result in
making it public.

Moerane argued that none of these reasons applied in this case. He said
there was no evidence that the public interest outweighed the harm that
might result to South Africa's diplomatic relations and its relationship
with Zimbabwe if the report was disclosed and that disclosing the report
would not reveal evidence of a substantial contravention or failure to apply
the law or that it would show serious environmental or public risk.

"Section 46 does not apply. Therefore the record is protected," he said.

Rauling left it open to the parties to also supplement their positions on
"any other matter" that they think is important.

"You've left me ... between a rock and a hard place," he said, before
adjourning.

PM Tsvangirai on Diplomatic Offensive Ahead of SADC Summit

http://www.voanews.com/

07 August 2012

Blessing Zulu | Washington

Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has embarked on a regional
diplomatic offensive ahead of a crucial Southern African Development
Community (SADC) summit in Mozambique next week.

Mr. Tsvangirai, who missed Tuesday's cabinet session, flew to Maputo to meet
incoming SADC chairman President Armando Guebuza.

He will then travel to Tanzania to meet incoming SADC troika chairman,
President Jakaya Kikwete.

The SADC meeting will be held on 17 and 18 August in Maputo and will discuss
the organization’s regional integration and progress made so far in social,
cultural, political and economic sectors.

Other issues include the conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the
political crisis in Madagascar as well as progress made so far by the power
sharing government in Zimbabwe.

Sources said the SADC heads of state and government will praise the European
Union's decision to lift targeted sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe’s President
Robert Mugabe and his inner circle, which are said to be hampering economic
development.

The Maputo gathering will culminate with the handing over of the SADC
chairmanship to Mozambique.

International Crisis Group Southern Africa senior analyst Trevor Maisiri
told VOA Studio 7 regional leaders are key to the country’s politics.

Meanwhile, President Mugabe's Zanu-PF party has said it will not dispatch
anyone ahead of the summit.

The party’s position on the constitution is likely to dominate the SADC
meeting with reports saying the hardliners in the former ruling party are
pushing it to reject the nation's draft constitution.

But party spokesman Rugare Gumbo told VOA it is still premature to say the
party will sink the draft.

Chombo overrides Harare Council on Zimbabwe Mall permit

http://www.swradioafrica.com

The controversial Mall of Zimbabwe being built in Borrowdale. State Tourism Agency’s new environmental policy: “Zimbabwe is not going to lose investment to protect frogs and a few trees.”

By Tererai Karimakwenda
08 August 2012

The Minister of Local Government and Urban Development, Ignatius Chombo, has approved a planning permit for the controversial Mall of Zimbabwe being built in Borrowdale, by invoking a special law that allows him to bypass the Council.

Chombo used a section of the Regional, Town and Country Planning Act which strips Council of the authority to approve projects, saying the $100 million Mall is of “national importance” because it is linked to funding for the construction of Airport Road.

The Harare Council had delayed issuing a permit to Augur Investments, the company building the Mall, because the land involved is alleged to have been included in shady real estate deals currently under investigation.

There are also objections from environmentalists because the land under consideration is a wetland, and an environmental assessment study needs to be done before any construction begins.

Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda also recently gave his approval for the Mall’s contruction . The Mayor is quoted as saying that shopping malls currently serving the Borrowdale area did not meet the needs of the “fairly affluent residents there”.

The Mayor defended this position on Wednesday, saying he meant there were not enough shopping malls in that area to serve the population living there. “Given the national importance of that project, we needed to remain open towards investment of that nature,” Mayor Masunda said.

Regarding the issue of wetlands and allegations of corrupt land deals, Masunda said: “We are not in any way trying to slip under the carpet all those issues that are being raised, but there are ways of dealing with them, and remain open.” The Mayor insisted Council would make sure proper procedure is followed in the construction of the Zimbabwe Mall.

Minister Chombo himself was once investigated by the Council over shady property deals that he allegedly made involving land around Harare. Council officials who headed the probe were subsequently suspended by Chombo, after they accused him of corruption in buying City land for cheap prices.

Recently Zimbabwe’s new environmental policy became clear in a statement from Karikoga Kaseke, the head of the state tourism agency. When asked about a controversial construction by Chinese diamond firm Anjin he said Zimbabwe was not going to lose investment, “to protect frogs and a few trees”.

Coltart to speak at London event

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

07/08/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

EDUCATION Minister David Coltart will speak at a networking event with
Zimbabwean expats in London on Wednesday evening.

The event, organised by the Zimbabwe Business Network, is a “rare
opportunity for the Zimbabwean diaspora community to engage with a high
profile cabinet minister and one of the key policy decision makers in the
transitional government”, said organisers.

Held under the theme “What role can the Diaspora play in improving the
quality of education in Zimbabwe?”, participants at the event will discuss
ways of focusing their efforts to sustain improvements in the education
sector since Coltart assumed office in 2009.

“The education sector is one market with potential for business growth
linked to the recent policy decision to expand the ICT technology thrust,”
said Joshua Chigwangwa of the Zimbabwe Business Network.

Coltart took over the education portfolio in 2009 following the formation of
a power sharing government with the unenviable task of fixing a broken
education system hemorrhaged by a decade-long economic crisis which
destroyed school infrastructure and sparked flight by teaching staff.

Coltart is head of delegation for the Zimbabwe Olympic team and returns home
after the London games' closing ceremony on Sunday.

The event will be held between 6PM and 9.30PM at the Royal Overseas League,
Overseas House, Park Place, St James Street, Mayfair, London, SW1A 1LR.
Admission for this event is £10 which includes snacks and refreshments. For
online tickets visit: http://cmgevents.eventbrite.com or call 07775900058

Parliament recalled to ratify Chinese loan

http://www.swradioafrica.com

8th August 2012
Staff reporter

On Tuesday parliament ratified a loan facility from the Export-Import bank
of China.

Even the state media couldn’t agree on the amount of the loan, with the ZBC
saying it was for US$271 million and the Herald US$380 million.

A large part of the money is to rehabilitate Victoria Falls airport ahead of
the UN World Tourism Assembly.

In April Finance Minister Tendai Biti had signed the agreement for this loan
during the visit by the Chinese Vice Premier. Clearly government forgot that
it doesn’t look good if they just make arbitrary decisions on their own.
They’re supposed to be pretending that parliament has a role in decision
making. The problem was that next month China was going to evaluate all its
international deals and cancel any that had not been ratified.

So what to do, as parliament had adjourned?

The problem was easily resolved by the expensive decision to just recall
parliament to rubber stamp this deal.

Minister Gorden Moyo, who was standing in for Tendai Biti, was surprised to
come under fire from some fellow MDC legislators, with one of them querying
why they were going through this pretence of ratification when Chinese
contractors were already on site for the project.

Other MDC-T MPs said the minister had ‘failed to respect the Legislature by
bringing something that had already been consummated.’ They also said they
‘had not adequately studied the deal and their fears were that it sidelined
locals even in small issues such as labour and raw materials.’ They alleged
that all the raw materials were going to be imported from China.

Marondera MDC-T MP Ian Kay said: “We are being asked to ratify something
that we have not even seen. There is separation of powers and each State arm
has its own duties and responsibilities. If the Executive is to perform our
duties, what is there for us to do?”

ZANU PF legislators of course had none of these concerns, and the loans were
duly rubber stamped and went through parliament – perpetrating the pretence
that there is some kind of rule of law in Zimbabwe.

It is not clear why, in a situation like this, MDC MP’s don’t just get up
and walk out, instead of being part of this pretence.

Zim banks lambasted over high fees

http://mg.co.za

08 Aug 2012 18:46 - AFP

Zimbabwe's acting Finance Minister Gorden Moyo says the government is
concerned with the issue of high lending rates and bank charges.

A Zimbabwean minister said on Wednesday the government is worried about high
bank charges and interest rates, in some instances as high as 40%, levied by
some of the country's commercial banks.

"When they [industry] come to you, you charge them 40% interest rates.
Surely you know it, when you sleep at home, you actually know it, it's not
right," Moyo told bank chiefs at a meeting in Harare.

"What is happening in this country is unacceptable," he said. Moyo also
expressed concern at the collapse of banks following the recent closure of a
locally-owned Royal Bank, shut down due to a liquidity crunch and bad
management.

"We are concerned about the issues of corporate governance, we want a moral
climate to exist in our banks. Let's follow the normative values of running
financial institutions," said Moyo.

Some of local banks have shareholders doubling as directors and chief
executive officers who were awarding themselves loans that were not repaid.
"The issues of owner-managers are issues that we have in mind, they need to
be rectified," he said.

Zimbabwe's central bank chief Gideon Gono last month said the country's
economy remained fragile with low export earnings, lack of credit lines or
foreign direct investment resulting in the liquidity crunch.

Moyo said the government endorsed the central bank's new directive for banks
to increase minimum capital requirements by about 1 000% to $100-million.
"We are expecting all of you to comply," he told the bank bosses.

Banks have two years to raise the capital, but must by year-end have doubled
their current capital base. He said the new move was aimed at consolidating
the banks and growing the sector.

"This policy should not suffocate the indigenous bank, it should help the
indigenous bank to grow."

Moyo said the policy is part of the government's economic blueprint to push
for growth in the economy after years of decline and world-record
hyperinflation that ended only when the country switched to using the US
dollar three years ago. – AFP

Government buys new wheels for Bob’s motorcade

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tererai Karimakwenda
08 August 2012

Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent by government on a new
fleet of customized vehicles for Robert Mugabe’s motorcade and on several
new cars for his wife Grace, according to reports.

It has not been confirmed just how many vehicles were purchased, but
according to Newsday newspaper the V6 Toyota trucks in the fleet cost
US$70,000 each.

Government has been strongly criticized for spending so much money on a
luxury for Bob and Grace while claiming there is no money in the national
coffers to give civil servants the basic pay increase that is desperately
needed.

The inclusive government was already under fire for spending millions on new
vehicles for ministers and legislators last year.
Questions are now being raised as to exactly where the money for the
vehicles came from and whether Finance Minister Tendai Biti signed off on
the expenditure. It is also not clear whether any tender procedures were
followed before a decision was made.

Economic analyst John Robertson explained that the office of the president
has a budget which is not subject to an audit by any other department. These
funds are at the president’s discretion and do not have to be accounted for.

“We’ve had suspicion over the years that some of the money has gone towards
funding things like the youth brigade, who were busy during election periods
going out to remind people what will happen if they do not vote for one
party or another,” Robertson said.
Robertson said the money for the vehicles may also have come from the sale
of diamonds, which is controlled by military chefs without any accounting to
government.

Regarding the issue of tenders, the economist said: “It is very unlikely
there was any tender process here. I suspect the very same kind of vehicles
would have been bought many times in the past and they’ve already identified
the principle manufacturers of such high quality bulletproof vehicles.”

Mugabe travels with a large motorcade that includes several motorcycles,
luxury vehicles, army trucks with soldiers, an ambulance and bullet proof
limousines. The motorcade made headlines in June when it was involved in
three accidents within two weeks, causing fatalities and serious injuries.

MDC official in hiding

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

Written by Sydney Saize
Wednesday, 08 August 2012 13:26

MUTARE - MDC youth organising secretary for Chimanimani West constituency
Collen Machikopa is in hiding after being attacked at his home by suspected
Zanu PF members.

Machikopa, from the Morgan Tsvangirai MDC, fled his Bvumbura home on Sunday
night and sought refuge at another party member’s homestead in Chimanimani
East Constituency.

According to Pardon Maguta, the MDC’s organising secretary for Chimanimani
East, Machikopa was haunted out of his home by a group of Zanu PF activists
led by one Pierson Chikavhanga who is understood to be the party’s
information and publicity secretary.

Maguta told the Daily News Chikavhanga and six unidentified Zanu PF youths
besieged Machikopa’s home accusing him of having led to his 2005 arrest over
an assault case.

Maguta said he and Machikopa made a report at Nedziwa police but were
referred back to Shinja where the offence was alleged to have been
committed.

Police in Mutare said they did not have such a report in their records. —
Sydney Saize in Mutare

Update on the current water situation

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Water availability in Harare has been a major problem with almost all
suburbs experiencing severe shortages of 3 weeks intervals and in some cases
months on end. Due to the maintenance programme currently taking place at
Morton Jeffery Water Works, only 3 pumps are working instead of 6 pumps.
08.08.1207:09am
by CHRA

As a result of the maintenance, Glen Norah and Highfields are expected to
only receive very limited supplies with areas like Dzivarasekwa receiving
nothing at all. Areas like Borrowdale Brooke, Highlands, Eastlea and
Philadelphia are also experiencing shortages because the Alex Reservoir is
receiving a small amount of water and sometimes none at all from the main
water body.

The city centre, hospitals and areas that use the same pipeline are the only
areas receiving sufficient water. Sources from Harare water revealed that at
the moment there is nothing that can really be done considering the fact
that the pipes being used were erected in the 1950’s and have now become
obsolete and too small for the ever increasing Harare population.

Water supplied by Lake Chivero and Manyame was only meant to cater for two
million people but now over four million people are depending on it hence
there are bound to be shortages. The situation is only set to improve after
the construction of Kunzvi Dam which is expected to increase supplies. The
construction of the dam is expected to take five years to complete so until
then water will remain a scarce commodity in Harare.
CHRA independent findings

 What is of concern is that the water and sewer services generate about
41% of the total revenue of the City of Harare, yet water services suffer
the most. The city of Harare is expected to spend over 50% of its budget on
administration a situation which hampers the capacity of the City to deliver
quality water services.

 CHRA is engaging the City of Harare and Ministries of Local Government
and Water with a proposal to “fence” the water account so that resources
generated are used appropriately.

 In any case the City of Harare does not need to wait until the
completion of the Kunzvi dam in order to address the current water
challenges that are affecting the city. Because of poor maintenance
strategies, Harare is losing about 350 mega litres of treated water daily
through linkages and this is seriously affecting the city supply system
which then culminates into water shortages.

 The issue of water is also related directly to the issue of governance.
If you take a look at the areas which are being affected by these shortages,
most of them do not have representation in council. An example is Mabvuku,
Mt Pleasant, Dzivarasekwa and Hillside. These areas have had their ward
councillors dismissed by the Minister hence there is no one at the moment
who can address these problems in council whilst the councillor for hillside
passed away.

 An improvement in terms of accountability will see residents committing
themselves to pay. Residents currently do not know what is spent by council
on water, human resource or any other service. It is always important to let
people know how much of the rate-payers money is being spent on service
delivery and on administration as it will bring accountability and
confidence building amongst residents and this should be done at least
bi-monthly.

CSOs petition government on typhoid

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

More than 30 civil society organisations will on Wednesday petition the
government of Zimbabwe over its failure to act on reports of typhoid disease
and water issues in Harare and other parts of the country.
08.08.1207:07am
by Thomas Madhuku

“Deeply concerned about the continued outbreaks of preventable and medieval
diseases such as Typhoid in Zimbabwe and the unresponsiveness exhibited by
the coalition government and other stakeholders, the CSO’s are petitioning
the coalition government,” read the communication.

The CSOs which include Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights, Zimbabwe Doctors
for Human Rights, Zimrights and many others will come together to seek an
explanation from the government on its plans and actions to the outbreaks
that have become the order of life in Zimbabwe.

Health experts have continuously warned that Zimbabwe remains at risk of
another major outbreak of waterborne diseases because the same problems that
helped drive the last cholera epidemic remain unresolved.

At least 30% of Zimbabweans have little or no access to safe water and
sanitation according to an AMCOW country status overview.

Councillors accused of looting medical scheme

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/

City councillors have been fingered in a corruption scam that has left the
council’s medical aid scheme on the brink of collapse and its employees
going without salaries for months.
07.08.1202:26pm

by Christopher Mahove

The Harare Municipal Medical Aid Society, weaned from council in 2009, is
facing collapse with the 14-member board being accused of massive corruption
and abuse of funds. The board comprises councillors from various committees
and representatives of municipal workers.

A source privy to the goings on at HMMAS told The Zimbabwean that the
society had been failing to pay service providers, while workers sometimes
went for up to two months without salaries as members of the board
reportedly spent large sums of money on luxuries. They also allegedly gave
themselves loans, which they were now failing to service.

This is against the Local Government Act which states that councillors are
not supposed to get any loans from council institutions.

“They gave themselves loans of $20,000 dollars in cash,” alleged the source.
“From the allowances that councillors get and the short tenure that they
have as sitting councillors, they would not be able to repay the loans even
if they were to part with all their allowances every month.”

He also alleged that board members were awarding themselves a $2,000 monthly
allowance on top of sitting allowances, and that workers’ representatives
were part of the scheme because they were getting kickbacks.

“They don’t meet often and we don’t see any justification for such hefty
allowances when workers are stranded,” he added.

The HMMAS medical aid cards were being turned down by service providers
because of non-payment, inconveniencing the more than 9,000 council
employees who subscribe to the scheme every month. The society, which also
runs a funeral scheme, was also struggling to provide transport to bereaved
families, the source said.

HMMAS Chief Executive Officer, Everisto Rukasha , conceded that the scheme
was facing challenges, although he sought to downplay the extent of the
crisis.

He said the society depended solely on subscriptions from council employees,
Rufaro Marketing and the Harare water department, who were not paying their
subscriptions on time.

“Harare water owes us $4.9 million and Rufaro Marketing $500,000,” he said,
adding that the society owed service providers in excess of $4m in user
fees.

Although the City Council paid $600,000 monthly, this was not enough to pay
off the debt, as it only covered the arrears, explained Rukasha.

He denied that board members had given each other $2,000 sitting allowances
or loans for vehicles, saying each board member was given equipment to use
on official duty.

“We get roughly $1,000 each per month which covers transport and sitting
allowances. If you do your calculations, you will discover that some of the
councillors, like those from the water department who are based in Norton,
end up with nothing as most of the money goes to transport,” he said.

The society is building its own medical facilities in Norton, Glenview and
in the capital where a 24-hour clinic is set to be opened in September to
assist members.

4 cancer doctors for 7,000 patients in Zimbabwe

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

07/08/2012 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter

ZIMBABWE is failing in early cancer detection and treatment because it only
has FOUR doctors specialising in the disease, it was revealed on Tuesday.

The Health Ministry recently acquired five new radiotherapy machines to be
installed at the country’s biggest referral hospitals – Parirenyatwa in
Harare and Mpilo in Bulawayo.
But officials say the four oncologists – three in Harare and one in
Bulawayo – are overwhelmed by 7,000 cancer patients.

Dr Prosper Chonzi, Harare’s Director of Health Services in the City of
Harare said: “The shortage of the cancer specialists remains a hindrance to
comprehensive treatment and care for cancer patients.

“Radiotherapy services and the oncologists are only available at
Parirenyatwa and Mpilo despite the burden of the disease across the country.

“We simply don’t have enough haematologists, paediatric oncologists and
oncology nurses among other critical personnel in cancer response.”

Oncologists are doctors who specialise in the diagnosis and treatment of
cancer. Some oncologists may specialise in a particular area of cancer
treatment such as paediatric oncologists, surgical oncologists and clinical
oncologists who administer radiotherapy treatment.

Chrome ban protecting China interests: Kombayi

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

08/08/2012 00:00:00
by Stephen Chadenga

THE ban on exports of raw chrome is only meant to protect the interests of
large corporations such has the Chinese-owned ZIMASCO, a Gweru businessman
has claimed.

Hamutendi Kombayi, a small-scale chrome miner, said the ban forces
small-scale operators to supply their ore to ZIMASCO on its own terms.

“I see no reason why the banning of chrome ore exports continues. As small
scale miners we are extracting chrome on behalf of the large mining firms
yet they are short-changing us,” Kombayi, son of the late Gweru businessman
and politician, Patrick Kombayi, said.

“We know very well large chrome miners like Zimasco and others are
benefiting from chrome yet government continues to hide under the disguise
that the ban is to boost revenue to treasury and add value to the product.”

The government imposed the export ban last April to force producers to
invest in processing and value addition so that the country can optimize its
benefits from the mineral.

Officials estimate that every 2,000 tonnes of chrome ore can generate close
to US$1 million when exported in processed form compared with just about
US$240,000 when raw.

But small-scale operators say they do not have the resources to establish
their own smelters and have to supply their ore to ZIMASCO for processing.

ZIMASCO is owned by China’s Sinosteel which has a 73 percent interest in the
Midlands-based company.

"ZIMASCO does not take all grades of raw chrome. They take only (chrome of
a) certain quality which sometimes small-scale miners may not meet. If the
chrome ore is kept for two long it will lose quality," Zimbabwe Miners
Federation (ZMF) national chairman Edzayi Kufandarerwa said recently.

Kombayi said smale-scale miners did not understand why the government had
targeted Chrome when other minerals such as platinum were being exported in
raw form.

“We have witnessed platinum crossing borders without being processed. There
were plans to ban the export of unprocessed platinum concentrate but this
has not been implemented yet chrome is the primary target; this raises
eyebrows,” he said.

Mines Minister Obert Mpofu recently admitted that the big corporations were
using the export ban to exploit small-scale operators.

“These people (small-scale miners) are like employees of ZIMASCO. It is
ZIMASCO which determines the price and processes and semi-processes the
chrome. We are under pressure to allow raw exports (of chrome) just to
empower our people for a given period because of the actions of Zimasco and
others,” Mpofu told the parliamentary portfolio committee on Mines and
Energy.

“We are also, as a ministry, looking at even cancelling the tributing of
these claims by certain big organisations and allow our people to mine those
claims and sell that chrome to whoever they want to at competitive prices.”

Zimbabwe, along with South Africa, holds about 90 percent of the world's
chromite reserves and resources.

There are three large-scale ferrochrome miners in Zimbabwe, including
Zimbabwe Alloys and Zimasco.

Low income food basket down 0.83 per

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

07/08/2012 00:00:00
by Roman Moyo

A LOW income family of six now needs US$556,47 to survive each month, down a
marginal 0.83 percent from previous month, the consumer Council of Zimbabwe
(CCZ) has said.

The consumer watchdog said the food basket now costs US$143,94 representing
a 3,32% decrease from the previous month.

"The low income urban earner consumer basket which stood at US$561,13 for
the month of June has decreased to US$556,47," the CCZ said.

Prices of mealie meal, beef, white sugar, rice and salt recorded a decrease
while flour rose by US$0,03 and laundry soap by an average of US$0,13 cents.
However, the prices of cooking oil, bread, washing powder and fresh milk
remained unchanged.
Local products however remain scare on the market with products mainly from
South African readily available on local shelves.

Meanwhile, a recent report on food needs in Zimbabwe says nearly one in five
rural people in the country – an estimated 1,6 million people – are likely
to need food assistance during the peak of the coming “hunger season.”
The number of people in need is 60 percent higher than the one million who
needed food assistance during the last lean season.

“The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and our partners are gearing
up to respond to this large rise in food needs,” said WFP Country Director
Felix Bamezon.

“Our field staff are already reporting signs of distress in rural areas,
including empty granaries and farmers selling off their livestock to make
ends meet.”
This year’s cereals harvest was 1,076,772 metric tons – one third lower than
that of last year and the lowest since 2009.
The impact of the deficit will be felt hardest at the peak of the “hunger
season,” from January to March next year.

Officials blame various factors for the food insecurity including erratic
rainfall and dry spells, limited access to agricultural inputs such as seeds
and fertilisers, a reduction in the planted area, poor farming practices and
inadequate crop diversification.

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