Aljazeera
Tuesday 13 December
2005, 2:35 Makka Time, 23:35 GMT
A senior Zimbabwean army general has
warned soldiers against supporting the
main opposition, branding it an enemy
of the country, state television said.
Political analysts say
Zimbabwe's military brass is fiercely loyal to the
governing ZANU-PF party
and Robert Mugabe, who co-led the country's
liberation war in the 1970s and
has ruled as president since independence
from Britain in
1980.
On Monday the television said Major-General Martin Chedondo
"issued a
warning" at an army parade in the central town of Gweru, that
supporters of
the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would not
be tolerated
in military ranks.
The station reported: "In a
no-holds-barred off-the-cuff speech ...
Major-General Martin Chedondo said
it was the duty of every soldier to know
the country's enemies and to
protect it from them."
It said the general branded the MDC was an
enemy of the people and the
state, and said supporters of the MDC would not
be tolerated in the Zimbabwe
National Army.
Zimbabwe
Television did not say what had prompted the comment, but it showed
a clip
in which Chedondo said: "If there is any among you who are supporters
or
have any sympathy for the MDC, then the military is not your
place."
Private institution
Although the army
officially says it is non-partisan, critics say Mugabe,
81, has turned the
army into a private ZANU-PF defence institution in the
face of a deepening
economic crisis and growing opposition in the southern
African
country.
On the eve of presidential elections in 2002 - which the
opposition says
Mugabe rigged - Zimbabwe's army and security commanders said
in a strong but
indirect statement that they would not tolerate a win by
Morgan Tsvangirai,
the leader of the MDC.
Mail and Guardian
Chriselda Lewis | Johannesburg, South
Africa
13 December 2005 08:08
Minister
of Intelligence Ronnie Kasrils is on his way to
Zimbabwe to fetch a South
African agent jailed there for spying on the
ruling
Zanu-PF.
"Yes, Minister Kasrils is on his way to Johannesburg
International airport now. He will probably board a flight at about 10am,"
his spokesperson Lorna Daniels said on Tuesday.
She
confirmed that spy master Aubrey Welken will be released to
Kasrils and
South African Secret Service director general Hilton Dennis in
Harare.
"Kasrils will also meet with his Zimbabwean
counterpart. We
expect they will return today after 1pm," said
Daniels.
Welken was arrested by Zimbabwe Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) operatives at Victoria Falls on December 10
2000.
He was accused of controlling a spy ring of senior
Zimbabwean
government and ruling-party figures.
Welken
allegedly paid his Zimbabwean contacts to report on
tensions within
President Robert Mugabe's government -- in power since
independence in 1980,
but now dogged by a prolonged economic and political
crisis.
A press conference is expected at Johannesburg
International
airport on Tuesday afternoon. -- Sapa
The Herald
(Harare)
December 12, 2005
Posted to the web December 12,
2005
Harare
THE commission running the affairs of Harare City
Council since December
2004 has been re-appointed for a further six months
by the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works and Urban Development, Cde
Ignatius Chombo.
Members of the commission who have had their terms
renewed are Ms Sekesai
Makwavarara (chairperson), Professor Jameson Kurasha,
Cde Tendai Savanhu,
Mrs Prisca Mupfumira, Mrs Viola Chasi, Mr Musavaya Reza,
Engineer Noel
Muzuva, Mr Michael Mahachi and Mr Terrence Hussein.
Two
more members, whose names could not be established last night, have been
appointed, bringing to 11 the number of commissioners.
Cde Chombo
confirmed the extension of the commission's term yesterday.
He justified
the move saying the commission was now implementing a
turnaround strategy as
agreed at its appointment.
"The commission is busy with the turnaround
strategy. We felt we could not
disturb the flow of the implementation
process," he said.
The commission's second term expired last
Friday.
The commission was appointed following the dismissal of the
MDC-led council
in 2004 after it was found guilty of mismanagement of
council affairs.
Although commissions are normally appointed for a period
of six months, in
the case of Harare, the Government indicated at the
beginning that the body
would operate for 24 months, implying it would
periodically renew the
commission's mandate.
The two-year period
expires in December 2006.
The Urban Councils Act, which governs the
operations of local authorities,
empowers the Minister of Local Government,
Public Works and Urban
Development to appoint a commission.
The Act
states in section 81 that: "A commissioner appointed in terms of
sub-section
(1) shall hold office during the pleasure of the minister, but
his office
shall terminate as soon as there are councillors for the council
area who
are able to exercise all their functions as councillors, or six
months after
the date of his appointment, whichever occurs first."
The Act states that
if the minister is satisfied that after the termination
of the office of a
commissioner appointed in terms of sub-section (1), there
will be no
councillors for the council area who will be able to exercise all
their
functions, the minister may reappoint the commissioner in terms of
sub-section (1).
Sub-section (1) states that the minister may appoint
a commission to act as
council if there are no councillors or all the
councillors for a council
area have been suspended, imprisoned or are unable
to exercise their
functions as councillors.
The commissioners have a
mammoth task before them as residents have for long
been calling for an
improvement in service delivery in the city and have
accused the city
fathers of neglecting malfunctioning street and traffic
lights, mounting
garbage and increasing potholes.
A survey around the city yesterday
showed that traffic lights at the
intersection of First Street and Jason
Moyo Avenue, Samora Machel Avenue and
Leopold Takawira Street, Sam Nujoma
Street and Nelson Mandela Avenue, and
Robert Mugabe Road and Fourth Street
are not working.
Traffic lights at the intersection of Jason Moyo Avenue
and Julius Nyerere
Way, Samora Machel Avenue East and Robert Mugabe Road and
at the section of
Enterprise Road where there is a zebra crossing to David
Livingstone Primary
School were either partially working or had robot heads
vandalised.
Potholes also litter most streets in the capital and have
gone uncovered.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Court
Reporter
issue date :2005-Dec-13
TWO police officers, Clotty Nhema and
Saul Chipuriro of Milton Park and
Central Police Stations have appeared
before Harare magistrate Rodin Mzyece
charged with corruptly confiscating 54
pirated CDs valued at $2,5 million
from a suspect.
The State alleged
that on November 28, the suspect Never Ernesto was
arrested after being
found in possession of 170 pirated CDs. He was later
handed over to Nhema
and Chipuriro for further investigations.
Ernesto was allegedly charged under
the Miscellaneous Offences Act and paid
$25 000 fine. Nhema and Chipuriro
allegedly released Ernesto and gave him
only 40 CDs and kept 130 before
demanding $2 million to release the
remainder.
After failing to get the
money they allegedly confiscated 54 CDs, which they
converted to their own
use, and only registered 76 in the Harare Central
charge office lost and
found property book. The confiscated CDs were valued
at $2 541 132.
The
two were not asked to plead to the corruption charges and remanded to
December 28 on $2 million bail each.
Recently, police commissioner
Augustine Chihuri lashed out at corrupt
police officers saying: "Let me put
it to you that there is no justification
whatsoever for one of us to be
caught on the wrong side of the law in this
regard."
Chihuri expressed
concern over the increasing number of policemen being
arraigned before the
courts on charges of corruption.
He said there was need for all officers to
display a high degree of
discipline and uphold police ethics.
The police
chief stressed that there was need for the police to shun
corruption, which
had become a cancer.
The Scotsman
JAMES KIRKUP
WESTMINSTER EDITOR
FOREIGN envoys in Britain have used their immunity from
prosecution to rack
up a total of £3 million in unpaid fines and 11 serious
criminal offences,
it was revealed yesterday.
The Foreign and
Commonwealth Office, apparently tiring of foreign officials'
abuses of their
privileges, took the step of releasing details of the
transgressions to
parliament.
The biggest liberty with fines is taken with London's
congestion charge.
Earlier this year, it emerged that the United States
embassy refuses to pay
the toll, considering it a tax.
But yesterday
it was confirmed that the US, which owes £62,000, is only the
tenth-worst
offender. Topping the list is the United Arab Emerates, whose
envoys owe
Mayor Ken Livingstone £452,650, with 4,859 fines outstanding.
In all, ten
countries owe the London authorities £1.9 million for 20,804
fines.
More than 4,000 tickets are outstanding against cars with
diplomatic licence
plates from the year 2004. The associated fines are worth
£361,830.
Enjoying rare renown at the top of the parking-fine league
table is
Kazakhstan.
The central Asian republic's mission owes
£23,870 for 246 outstanding
tickets. Saudi Arabian envoys have 243 fines
worth £21,980.
Adding spice to Britain's increasingly heated negotiations
over the European
Union budget, some of the biggest EU powers also have
outstanding parking
fines. German diplomats owe £12,280 for 128 tickets and
the French embassy
has 90 tickets and a £8,360 bill.
While diplomatic
missions are largely exempt from paying taxes, most
embassies and high
commissions are liable to pay something towards local
street lighting,
cleaning and fire services.
Here again, some missions see an opportunity
to test their diplomatic
licence to the limit. Unpaid rates bills were worth
£880,000 as of 1 July.
The Chinese embassy in London has so far declined
to pay a bill for £62,320.
Zimbabwe's envoys owe £54,605.
And in
perhaps the most alarming revelation, the FCO said that during 2004,
diplomats had been responsible for a number of "serious" criminal offences,
crimes which would be punishable by prison sentences of 12 months or
more.
In all, 11 such alleged offences were reported to the FCO. None of
the
accused ever faced trial in Britain.
But the right of a foreign
power's representatives to go unmolested by the
law has been an accepted
part of international politics for centuries.
Immunity was formalised in the
1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic
Relations.
Free-wheelers
What countries owe in London
congestion charges:
United Arab Emirates £452,650
Angola
£392,750
Sudan £274,870
Nigeria £140,620
Tanzania
£136,280
Sierra Leone £135,290
South Africa £122,590
Kenya
£96,010
Zimbabwe £96,390
United States £62,250
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=2395382005
Last
updated: 13-Dec-05 00:51 GMT
The Telegraph
By Charles Randall
(Filed: 13/12/2005)
The plea by
the game's world governing body for a return to fair play in
international
cricket was met with only qualified support from the players
yesterday.
After the International Cricket Council had reported that
standards of
behaviour had dropped during the year, urging a recommitment to
the "spirit
of the game", the Federation of International Cricketers
Associations said
these words had a hollow ring in view of reprehensible
conduct by certain
administrators - especially in Zimbabwe.
Malcolm
Speed, the ICC chief executive, disclosed that since the Ashes
series there
had been a spate of code of conduct violations and a total of
38 so far this
year before the busy Christmas period, compared to 37 for the
whole of 2004.
However, Tim May, the FICA chief executive, said the ICC
could be accused of
double standards for allowing the Zimbabwe situation to
deteriorate without
the power or desire to intervene.
May endorsed the spirit of cricket
plea, but added: "In an environment where
players have been subject to
threats of physical and other forms of
intimidation, public criticism of
their on-field behaviour will have a
hollow ring. The game's handling of the
present Zimbabwean issue has
disillusioned and disappointed the majority of
players around the world."
Speed said the national captains had been
praised at their meeting in
October for helping to improve on-field
behaviour. "Those same players now
have the responsibility for ensuring that
these standards are maintained,"
he said. "Players should be under no
illusions. Cricket is a game that
expects high standards of behaviour from
its players."
Among recent unsporting incidents was the surprising case
of Shahid Afridi,
suspended for one match for blatantly roughing up the
pitch in a Test
against England.
In England the Professional Players'
Association reported that on-field
behaviour had improved this year and at
their annual meeting they strongly
endorsed the two-division championship
format.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Oswelled Ureke
issue date :2005-Dec-13
A HARARE man must
be ruing the day he asked an Airforce of Zimbabwe (AFZ)
officer to help
solve a dispute he had with his 21-year-old son after the
soldier allegedly
shot dead the young man in a moment of explosive rage that
left the
Dankwerts Chedgelow farm community in Manyame in grief and shock.
The
incident, which Harare police spokesperson, Inspector Loveless Rupere
confirmed yesterday, happened last Saturday night and the soldier, who faces
a possible murder charge, was now in police custody.
But Rupere said he
was yet to get intricate details of what actually
transpired and promised to
furnish this newspaper with the facts once he got
them.
The suspect, whom
sources identified as Brighton Nyaruwe, allegedly pumped
six bullets into
Taurai Zharengi's back with an AK 47 assault rifle after he
had beaten him
while trying to resolve the father and son dispute.
Fighting back tears,
grieving relatives said Taurai's death came at the
worst possible time, as
he had recently engaged.
At the weekend, The Daily Mirror crew visited the
farm compound, about 300
metres adjacent to Manyame Airbase along Airport
Road, and found stunned
mourners still trying to come to terms with the
tragedy.
A neighbour of the Zharengis, Beauty Rebecca and other relatives
witnessed
the shooting and narrated the incident to this reporter.
She
said Taurai lived together with his father Timothy Zharengi on the farm.
Trouble started when Taurai rowed with his father who was allegedly in a
drunken stupor at the time.
According to some mourners at the funeral
wake, Taurai, who worked as a
guard for a local security company, had come
home that afternoon after
visiting an uncle in Epworth.
He is said to
have given his mother bus fare to travel to their rural home.
This did not
go down well with his father who allegedly became violent and
assaulted his
wife.
"Taurai protested against his father's behaviour and a row ensued. A
family
friend came to resolve the dispute and tempers cooled. Zharengi
retired to
bed and Taurai started playing music outside the house. His
father who had
since fallen asleep, was awakened by the music and stormed
out of his
bedroom heading for an unknown destination," said Rebecca.
She
continued: "Thinking that the dispute was over, Taurai continued playing
music and was joined by neighbours. His father later came back in the
company of a soldier who was armed with a rifle. There was also a female
officer in attendance and the two were reported to be on duty at the Manyame
Airbase guardroom."
It is alleged that Nyaruwe started manhandling and
shoving Taurai with the
rifle butt and accusing him of not respecting
elders. This, however, didn't
please Taurai at all who reportedly lost his
cool and a physical brawl broke
out.
According to Rebecca, Taurai pinned
the soldier down while he relentlessly
pounded him with clenched fists.
Sensing defeat after realising that the
soldier was no match for Taurai,
Zharengi then allegedly brandished a metal
bar and struck his son on the
back several times.
Taurai eased his grip on Nyaruwe and fled. The battered
soldier got up and
then fired a volley of eight shots, six of which hit
Taurai's back ripping
open his abdomen.
Taurai is said to have fallen
down, but before he lost consciousness he
reportedly told his father that he
had "killed" him. An ambulance later
rushed him to a Harare hospital, but
was pronounced dead on arrival.
While national police spokesperson Chief
Superintendent Oliver Mandipaka was
not cooperative, the Officer-in-Charge
of Hatfield police station where the
soldier was detained, said they had
referred the case to the Criminal
Investigations Department (CID).
The
Daily Mirror then visited Hatfield Police Station and found Taurai's
sister
Fungai Zharengi and their parents dejected and in a state of shock.
They had
gone there to help the police with investigations into the fatal
shooting.
"How could my brother have died just like that?" asked Fungai
fighting back
tears. "He was a good person and had engaged with his
girlfriend two weeks
ago."
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
From
Nkululeko Sibanda in Bulawayo
issue date :2005-Dec-13
SUSPECTED armed
car thieves on Saturday nearly hijacked a Mercedes Benz
believed to belong
to Vice-President Joice Mujuru near a city hotel.
The incident, witnessed by
this reporter, occurred near the Bulawayo Rainbow
Hotel at around 11pm, when
the chauffer was about to park the Benz outside
the hotel.
The carjackers
who were driving in a white Land Rover and Peugeot pick-up
truck, seemed to
have trailed the Benz for some distance, and apparently
wanted to pounce on
the driver as he headed for the parking bay.
They blocked the way and one of
them who was brandishing an AK-47 assault
rifle approached the
chauffer.
As the drama unfolded, a ramshackle yellow Peugeot truck without
number
plates closed in from behind the State vehicle as one of the
suspected
carjackers in the truck readied to disembark and
pounce.
Sensing danger, the Benz's driver drew out his service pistol and
this
forced the two armed attempted carjackers to retreat to their vehicles
before taking off at high speed dropping several bullets in the
process.
Frustrated, they then shouted obscenities at the driver for having
botched
their attempt.
The driver of the Benz took a swipe at
eyewitnesses. "You claim to be Zanu
PF supporters yet you leave people do as
they please here. It's only that
this is Bulawayo otherwise if it were in
Harare this would not have
happened," he fumed.
Vice-President Mujuru was
staying in the city while attending the Zanu PF
eighth National People's
Conference, which ended on Saturday in Esigodini,
Matabeleland
South.
Bulawayo police spokesperson Inspector Smile Dube was said to be out
of
office when The Daily Mirror sought his comment yesterday.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The
Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Dec-13
THE rift-ridden
opposition MDC has restructured its Harare province ahead of
the party's
second national congress set for February next year with Tapiwa
Mashakada,
Willas Madzimure, and Tichaona Munyanyi landing powerful
positions.
Mashakada, Madzimure and Munyanyi are legislators for
Hatfield, Kambuzuma
and former Mbare respectively.
In an interview with
The Daily Mirror yesterday, newly appointed
spokesperson of the anti-Senate
faction and also Kuwadzana legislator Nelson
Chamisa said: "Femai has
retained his post as chairman of the province with
Mashakada becoming his
deputy, Munyanyi organising secretary while Gilbert
Shoko is now the
treasurer."
An official only identified as Shonhe deputises Munyanyi while
Costa
Machingauta was elected provincial chairperson for youths with Roran
Dambajena now chairing the provincial women's assembly.
The on-going
restructuring exercise has, however, been castigated by some
party insiders
who claimed that the process was marred by factionalism.
They alleged that
factionalism had spread to all party structures and
accused Femai, Last
Maengehama (the former spokesperson for Harare province)
and Shoko of
endorsing candidates in ward and district structures without
conducting
elections as required by the MDC constitution.
"The Senate issue has rocked
the party to levels beyond redemption. The
Harare province is moving around
the capital endorsing officials sympathetic
to the anti-Senate camp in party
structures yet the constitution calls for
the election of office bearers,"
the source said.
"Last Tuesday Harare province caused chaos in Mufakose when
it endorsed
people from the anti-Senate camp in the structures of the party
against the
wills of the majority." Added the source from Mufakose: "They
claim that
Morgan Tsvangirai instructed them to get rid of officials from
the
pro-Senate camp in all party structures ahead of Congress."
Femai
recently dismissed the allegations as baseless and accused the
pro-Senate
camp of trying to bulldoze its way into party structures against
the wills
of the majority of MDC supporters.
He said: "The problem is with the
pro-Senate camp officials who want to
bulldoze their way into party
structures against the wills of the people.
"The people are resisting this
move and there is nothing we can do as the
province."
Femai claimed the
restructuring exercise was progressing well in all
branches of the MDC and
accused the pro-Senate faction of "splashing money
everywhere in a bid to
buy the hearts of the people." Paul Themba Nyathi,
who MDC leaderMorgan
Tsvangirai said he had since been removed as party
spokesperson, said the
pro-Senate camp would not recognise the new
structures in Harare
province.
"That does not come as a surprise to us at all. Those people
(anti-Senate
camp) are allergic to democratic principles.
"We will not
recognise the structures. The real structures of the party are
the ones
going to attend Congress," he said.
The MDC is in the throes of in-house
squabbles arising from differences over
participation in the Senate polls, a
situation that has torn the opposition
party down the middle.
Tsvangirai
commands the anti-Senate camp while his deputy Gibson Sibanda and
party
secretary-general Welshman
Ncube leads the pro-Senate faction.
Zanu PF
walloped the MDC in the Senate polls that were held on November 26
and that
phase is now over.
The Senators have since been sworn in and held a workshop
yesterday, but the
MDC continues to fight over a done deal, said an MDC
insider who refused to
be
named.
The ruling party garnered 43 out of
the 50 contested seats against MDC's
seven in the Upper House in which 10
seats are reserved for chiefs elected
by the Chiefs College while the
President appointed six more representing
special interest groups.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Business Reporter
issue date :2005-Dec-13
THE official
interbank exchange rate of the Zimbabwe dollar against other
currencies has
gradually inched closer to trading rates on the country's
noxious parallel
market, falling to an average $75 884,54 against the US
dollar.
Market
watchers said while the development would make it more difficult for
individuals and organisations trying to secure hard currency, it was likely
to have a positive impact on inflows of hard currency into official
coffers.
The new rates represent a 24 percent slump from the $60 000 to one
US$
charged at the introduction of the interbank currency trading system two
months ago, and could point to the continued fall of the local currency,
analysts have said.
Exchange rates on the official interbank foreign
currency market have fallen
dramatically over the past three weeks, with
rates falling at every
interbank auction.
Official figures have shown
that the dollar has now dipped to $75 884,54
against the US dollar, $12
590,16 to the South African rand and $132 676,53
to the British
pound.
Rates to the Euro and the Botswana Pula have also fallen, crashing to
Z$89
376 and Z$14 554 respectively.
The new official rates have loomed
closer to prevailing black market rates,
which sources indicate are now
within reach at $90 000 to the greenback and
$160 000 to the British Pound,
while rates to the Rand and the Pula are
believed to be Z$15 000 and Z$18
000 respectively.
"It does make it considerably more difficult for people and
companies trying
to buy foreign currency but you must look at the other
side, which is that
it encourages people to trade their hard currency on the
interbank market at
rates that are now closer to the black
market rates,"
Interfin securities research analyst Farai Dyirakumunda said.
Shortages of
foreign currency have been one of the country's major economic
problems, and
have had a ripple effect on productive capacity, commodity
supplies and the
general cost of living for
locals.
The interbank system has reportedly
suffered from market sceptism, with
individuals opting to trade their hard
currency on the black market where
rates have been higher and more
lucrative.
"People are yet to gain confidence in the foreign currency
interbank system.
"What we have noticed is that there are very few holders of
free funds who
are bringing in foreign currency and the system has been
mostly dependent on
remittances by exporters.
"In the long run this could
be the greatest undoing of the system," a
research analyst told Business
Mirror.
According to statistics from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ),
foreign
currency inflows have gradually increased this year from US$96.4
million in
January to more than US$1.030 billion by September this
year.
However the increase in supplies has not been enough to jerk the
economy
back into recovery mode.
"If all that foreign currency that is
being traded on the black market were
being channelled into the official
system then we would be able to deal with
a big part of our challenge to get
the economy back on
track.
"So one of our biggest challenges at the moment
is stamping out black market
dealing in foreign currency," RBZ chief Gideon
Gono said last week.
The persistent fall of the dollar had been a major
concern for government
and central bank in recent years, with the State for
a long time sticking to
a managed exchange rate and a "no devaluation"
policy.
However this year alone the RBZ governor has 'devalued' the
dollar
more than three times in an effort to boost productivity and
increase inflows
into the system.
Should government and the central bank succeed in solving
the hard currency
quagmire, economists believe the country could find itself
smoothly on the
recovery path.
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
Health
Reporter
issue date :2005-Dec-13
THE Harare City Council has
recommended the selling of drugs in its clinics.
In the past, patients would
only pay consultation fees of $200 000 for
adults and $100 000 for children
(current) and get prescribed drugs for
free.
However, owing to continuous
economic meltdown experienced in almost all
sectors of the economy, the city
health department decided to charge drugs
as a cost recovery
measure.
Announcing recommendations on reducing council's expenditure for the
2006
period, chairman of the Harare Commission's finance committee, Tendai
Savanhu said: I am proposing the following in an attempt to reduce the
effect on rates increases:- that the city health department sells drugs to
patients at cost."
Council health centres were the only institutions
providing free drugs in
the country.
Patients seeking treatment from
government health
centres pay hospital fees and purchase drugs either at the
institution's
pharmacy or private pharmacies.
The idea of providing free
drugs to patients was aimed at alleviating the
burden of medical costs on
the already overburdened low and middle class
earners.
The Harare City
Council also recommended appealing for funding from the
National Aids
Council (NAC) arguing that all its infectious health centres
were treating
Opportunistic Infections.
The city's health institutions, Wilkins and
Beatrice Road Infectious Disease
hospital, handle cases of people living
with HIV and Aids.
"I recommend that the director of health services
approaches the National
Aids Council for an allocation of funds from the
National Aids Levy as the
city's infectious hospitals are treating Aids
sufferers," Savanhu said
Daily Mirror, Zimbabwe
The Daily Mirror Reporter
issue date :2005-Dec-13
A FUND
set up to provide Senators with official vehicle loans to enable them
to
execute their parliamentary duties efficiently is inadequate, Clerk of
Parliament Austin Zvoma said yesterday.
He said this during an induction
seminar for Senators where he also
presented a paper on the composition,
powers and functions as well as the
administration of parliament.
Zvoma
did not give the required amount or the funds that have been availed
for the
purpose so far, but said a board chaired by the Minister of Justice,
Legal
and Parliamentary Affairs Patrick Chinamasa would soon look into the
matter.
"We were advised by Treasury that the applicable exchange rate is
what was
the auction rate that is US$1: Z$26, which makes a 4X4 vehicle cost
around
$1,8 billion. The biggest challenge is that it is not substantial in
terms
of repayments which we must address," said Zvoma.
He added: "Even
if it was affordable, there is the question of forex and a
vehicle from the
Willovale Mazda Motor Industry is
more expensive than an imported
one."
The fund, established in terms of the Audit and Exchequer Act, attracts
concessionary rates of 15 percent, Zvoma also said.
He said although 120
Parliament Constituency Information Centers (PCICs) had
already been
established to provide members of the House of Assembly a venue
to meet with
their constituents, a policy decision concerning PCICs for
Senators was yet
to be made.
In her opening remarks, the President of the Senate Edna
Madzongwe said
Zimbabweans expect Senators to justify the re-introduction of
the Upper
House on the basis of work they would do.
The former deputy
Speaker of Parliament added that the induction course was
meant to enable
members realise where they can best participate in the
overall goal of
national development.
"It is indisputable that Parliament is an institution
whose powers are so
pervasive that its position in society remains sacred,"
Madzongwe said. "As
you know, it performs representative, legislative and
oversight functions
for the common good."
In another presentation,
counsel to Parliament Choice Damiso, said the
Privileges, Immunities of
Parliament Act has not yet been amended to take on
board Senators.
"The
Act has not yet been amended to cater for Senators and I have talked to
the
director and he has said it would be amended soon in order to cater for
a
bicameral Parliament," said Damiso.
She also said that under the Act, members
have among others, freedom from
arrest within the precincts of Parliament
unless with the approval of the
Speaker of
the House of Assembly or
the
President of the Senate when amended.
Damiso noted that members from
both Houses can also act as commissioners of
oath.
The Parliamentary
Reform Programme gave birth to the need for Parliament to
conduct induction
workshops for new members to familiarise themselves with
the operations of
the legislature in order to enhance its effectiveness.