http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
13 December
2012
There’s been another deadlock at the ongoing COPAC talks after the
MDC
formations refused to re-negotiate issues they had agreed on as parties
to
the GPA.
A highly placed source told SW Radio Africa on Thursday
that the management
committee working on the synchronization of the draft
had come stuck on
issues to do with devolution, the national prosecuting
authority, the truth
and reconciliation commission and the land
commission.
‘The MDC formations stuck to their guns that they would not
revisit issues
that they agreed to and signed as all parties on 18th July.
They maintain
that would be taking the process backwards,’ the source
said.
In an effort to break the logjam, Constitutional and Parliamentary
Affairs
Minister Eric Matinenga, who is chair of this committee, recommended
that
they meet again on Monday.
Meanwhile the principals to the GPA
have now accepted that the drafting of
the new constitution is a
parliamenatry led process,’ the MDC-T spokeman
Douglas Mwonzora has
said.
This follows threats by President Robert Mugabe two months ago to
take
charge of the charter, during COPAC’ second All-Stakeholders conference
in
October.
Mugabe caused a stir when he declared that only the
principals, and not MPs,
have power over the process.
He argued that
the principals in the inclusive government had the final say
on the draft
constitution as they were the ones who conceived the GPA that
resulted in
the current constitution making process.
But Mwonzora, who is also the
COPAC co-chair representing the MDC-T, said
all the principals wanted was to
facilitate dialogue to find a breakthrough
to the deadlock that had stalled
the process.
‘There was an impasse and the principals unlocked this by
appointing a
leaner committee to work on the draft. When work on the charter
is complete
we will simultaneously send the principals a report and to
parliament a
draft of the constitution,’ Mwonzora said.
The Nyanga MP
added that there are only two stages before the constitution
is finalised.
The first stage is the presentation of the draft to
parliament, which they
hope to do before the Christmas break. He warned that
this depended on
parties finding a common ground on current discussions to
come out with a
final draft.
‘After that, the state must advise us on the date of the
referendum. The
sequence is report to parliament first, which will take just
a day and then
have a referendum date.
‘As COPAC we will advocate for
time between the declaration of the
referendum date and the actual day to
allow for voter and civic education.
People must be conscientized on what
the referendum is all about so that
they vote with their eyes open,’ he
said.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Thursday, 13 December 2012 13:33
HARARE - MDC leaders Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Industry minister
Welshman Ncube have
abandoned protests against President Robert Mugabe’s
takeover of the
constitution-making process from an ever squabbling
parliamentary
body.
Ncube was the last to yield to Mugabe’s grand plan to hijack the
constitution-making process from the legislature and the move effectively
means the three Principals will determine what goes into the final draft to
be taken to Parliament for rubber-stamping before a referendum is
held.
Tsvangirai and Ncube had both claimed earlier that they would not
join
Mugabe in his plan, but a Cabinet committee has since Monday been
steadfastly working to make wide-ranging changes to a draft seen whittling
down presidential powers, strengthening the role of Parliament, devolving
power and giving more civil liberties.
Ncube, who had earlier said
his party will not allow further amendments to
the draft to be a
“declaration of victory of dictatorship over the people of
Zimbabwe”, was
forced by his party’s Standing Committee last week on Tuesday
to deploy
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga to join the Cabinet taskforce. The
taskforce
is an organ of the Principals, which Ncube once said would
entrench
dictatorship.
In a coordinated response to the climbdown, Ncube’s MDC
issued an emollient
statement claiming that it was doing this “to
participate in the process of
finding the best and quickest route to having
a referendum”, and on the
understanding that the Cabinet committee is not a
new body: “This (Cabinet)
committee is a continuation of work done by
Copac.”
This new position flies in the face of public declarations made
by Ncube in
a series of rallies in Bulawayo recently where he made it clear
that his
party’s position was that the Principals should not take over the
constitutional parliamentary committee (Copac)’s mandate to produce a new
constitution.
“We will not agree to Zanu PF’s attempts to change the
contents of the
constitution, we will not allow them to replace what people
want, with what
Zanu PF wants because all Zanu PF wants is to turn the
national constitution
into a Zanu PF manifesto,” Ncube told a rally at
Amakhandeni Public Hall on
November 18.
“A constitution of a country
can never be a manifesto of a particular party
but an agreement by all
citizens on how they wish to govern and to be
governed. We have invited the
guarantors of the Global Political Agreement
to deal with Zanu PF who are
now denying what they had signed and therefore
agreed to.”
But Ncube
has now dispatched his proxy Misihairabwi-Mushonga to join the
seven-member
Cabinet committee that is amending the draft, also comprising
minister of
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs minister Eric Matinenga
as convenor
and chairperson and two other Cabinet ministers, one from each
of the three
GPA parties Patrick Chinamasa, and Tendai Biti; and the three
Copac
co-chairs Douglas Mwonzora, Paul Mangwana and David Coltart, who has
been
standing in for an ailing Edward Mkhosi.
In the smaller MDC faction’s
standing committee meeting last week, members
are understood to have told
Ncube that there was little to be gained by
boycotting the Cabinet
taskforce. With Ncube vehemently opposed to the idea
and offended at his
standing committee’s seeming capitulation to Mugabe’s
plan, Ncube restated
his opposition but was forced to dispatch
Misihairabwi-Mushonga, according
to sources.
Tsvangirai also made a dramatic volte face, agreeing to a
compromise with
Mugabe that enables the 88-year-old leader to have his way
even though he
has just earlier been pouring scorn on proposals to amend the
draft, a move
that has met with widespread disapproval domestically and
abroad.
Tsvangirai told a rally at Murambinda Growth Point in Buhera on
November 17
that he will not countenance re-opening negotiations with Mugabe
over the
draft saying the draft should head straight to Parliament in line
with
Article VI of the Global Political Agreement.
“I cannot sit down
with Mugabe to discuss the constitution. No, it should go
to Parliament not
to Tsvangirai and Mugabe,” Tsvangirai said. But both
Tsvangirai and Ncube’s
proxies have detoured the draft to the executive
instead of Parliament, and
have been participating in processes to amend the
draft.
However,
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson William Bango has said it does not matter
where
the constitution goes from the stakeholders’ conference, given that
the
Principals still retain the right to direct their legislators what to do
even if it was to go to Parliament first.
A confident and ebullient
Zanu PF insists the process to amend the draft
should be sped up.
The
Cabinet taskforce that has hijacked the draft from Parliament started
meeting on December 5, with the inaugural meeting attended by Matinenga,
Chinamasa, Mangwana, Biti, Mwonzora, Misihairabwi-Mushonga and
Coltart.
The Cabinet taskforce failed to meet last week because Chinamasa
and
Mangwana were tied up with the 13th Zanu PF national people’s conference
that started with the Politburo meeting in Harare on Wednesday last week and
ended in Gweru over the weekend.
Biti was also away in the UK last
week. But the Cabinet committee reconvened
on Monday this week, and has been
meeting the whole of this week making
amendments to the draft. It is
believed the hold-up remains only on
devolution, the National Prosecuting
Authority and dual citizenship, with
substantial changes being made to the
draft to suit the three Principals’
varied agendas.
Tellingly,
though, Mugabe’s declaration has come to pass and many in Zanu PF
are
delighted at the development, which vindicates analysts’ observations
that
this constitution will be a negotiated document, and the input of the
people
will mean little in the end. - Gift Phiri, Political Editor
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
13 December
2012
An official from the Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights)
is set to
spend a night behind bars on Thursday, after he was arrested
during a police
raid on the group’s office in Harare.
Five police
members stormed the offices and arrested Leo Chamahwinya, the
ZimRights
Education and Programmes Manager. He stands accused of allegedly
conducting
illegal voter registration, but no charges have been filed.
One of the
Chamahwinya’s lawyers, Tarisai Mutangi, told SW Radio Africa that
his client
is still being held at Harare Central Police station and will
likely stay
there overnight. He added that investigations into the
allegations are still
underway and charges will only be filed later.
It is understood that
Chamahwinya’s arrest is part of a police operation
that has been targeting
other ZimRights structures, involved in pre-election
education. At least two
other officials from other parts of the country are
said to have been
arrested in recent days.
Phillip Pasirayi, an activist from the Centre
for Community Development,
told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that the raid on
the ZimRights offices is
part of a “massive crackdown” on the NGO community
in Zimbabwe.
“It is not surprising because ZANU PF is in panic mode and
the arrests are
in line with ZANU PF’s resolutions made at their people’s
conference. They
are targeting NGOs because of their access to communities
and the education
they are conducting about democracy and human rights,”
Pasirayi said.
He added that groups like ZimRights are vocal and critical
“and they will be
targeted ahead of elections.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Staff
Reporter
13th December 2012
The MDC-T has reported the abduction of
three children and their pregnant
mother, by what they describe as ‘ZANU PF
operatives.’
Emmanuel Jamela, Godfrey Jamela (5), Frank Jamela (3) and
their pregnant
mother Florence Ngwere Jamela (23) were abducted in the early
hours of the
morning in Shagari Midlands South.
The ZANU PF members
are alleged to have said that the family was hiding
Moses Jamela, the
husband of Florence and father to the children. They found
the family asleep
and assaulted Florence in an attempt to find out where her
husband was. When
she did not give this information they abducted her and
the
children.
The MDC-T say the ZANU PF members responsible for this
abduction are Artwell
Zindi, Stephen Mazarura, Jephta and
Cosmas.
Moses Jamela has not heard from his family and is extremely
concerned about
their whereabouts.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
12/12/2012
00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
ZIMBABWE is reluctant to ratify
the Rome Statute because hardliners who have
over the years thrived on
violating human rights fear prosecutions by the
International Criminal Court
(ICC), says Education Minister David Coltart, a
renowned lawyer.
Yet
he says the question is not whether the country will ever subject itself
to
the jurisdiction of the ICC - but rather, when.
“Those responsible for
crimes are fearful that ratification will bring
prosecutions on their own
heads,” Coltart told a Consultative Assembly of
Parliamentarians for the ICC
in Rome this week.
“But we have made significant progress along the road
towards ratification
and we are far closer to ratification now than we were
in 2008.
“I think that Zimbabwe will eventually ratify but in our
experience I think
that there are lessons for us all,” he
said.
President Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe with an iron fist
since
independence in 1980, has been accused together with his allies in
Zanu PF
of gross rights violations during his unbroken 32-year
rule.
Many people say he should be held accountable for the killing of
more than
20, 000 people in the Midlands and Matabeleland regions during a
brutal
military campaign codenamed Gukurahundi, which means “the early rains
that
wash away the chaff before the spring rains.”
Mugabe and his
security apparatus, including the police and the military
stand accused of
unleashing violence in the 2008 run-off elections that
killed hundreds of
MDC supporters.
Coltart says while the violence has dramatically
subsided, human rights
breaches continue.
“There are ongoing human
rights abuses, including the selective application
of the law, massive
corruption and tight control of the electronic media.
The military looms
large and constantly threaten that they will not accept
any transfer of
power away from Mugabe's party, Zanu PF.”
The ICC was formed to
investigate and prosecute individuals accused of
genocide, crimes against
humanity and war crimes.
Some 121 countries have subjected themselves to
its jurisdiction, but
counties like the United States, China and Russia have
stayed away citing
sovereignty. Of the 121 signatories, 33 are African
nations.
Many African leaders, including Mugabe, accuse the ICC of
targeting feeble
Third World politicians while living Western rights
violators to go scot
free.
Former US president George Bush and
British premier Tony Blair are often
cited in such arguments for their role
in the Iraqi war.
To dispel such criticism, Coltart said, the ICC should
convince America to
join it.
“We need to redouble our efforts to
persuade our American friends in
particular to ratify especially during the
important window opened during
President Obama's final term of
office.
“Given President Obama's human rights credentials, it is hard to
believe
that he personally would be against ratification. I am under no
illusions
regarding the difficulty of persuading the American military of
the need to
ratify but I think that President Obama's final term presents us
with a
unique opportunity,” he added.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Chengetayi Zvauya, Parliamentary Editor
Thursday, 13
December 2012 13:33
HARARE - Electoral authorities say they are forging
ahead with plans to
allow soldiers and police officers to vote freely
despite fierce resistance
from some commanders.
Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (Zec) commissioner Geoff Feltoe told the Daily
News that the body
is introducing a new voting system for armed forces to
secure their vote,
which in the 2008 election was compromised when
commanders supervised voting
in barracks.
The new requirements are in line with amendments made to the
Electoral Act,
which have attracted angry denunciations from top
commanders.
Police chief Augustine Chihuri has been at the forefront of
resisting the
changes, writing to co-Home Affairs ministers, Kembo Mohadi
and Theresa
Makone on July 26 last year protesting against the agreed
electoral reforms.
But Feltoe said yesterday they were moving to make the
changes despite the
fierce remonstrations.
“The Act is now the law of the
country and if we are going to have an
election, we Soldiers to vote freely
shall have to follow it,” he said.
Feltoe said soldiers will be voting
freely starting with the constitutional
referendum.
“Disciplined
force personnel and election officers on duty during elections
will vote at
special voting stations in each district in advance of the
ordinary poll,”
Feltoe said.
“Previously disciplined force personnel voted by post but
the parties to the
Global Political Agreement (GPA) decided the system of
postal voting for
these voters should be replaced by a system of special
voting because some
contended that the way in which the system was
administered exposed these
voters to possible influence from their
commanding officers.
“Special voting will take place at district polling
stations. The procedures
used for voting at the stations will be the same as
at ordinary polling
stations except that the voters will produce their
authorisations to vote on
a special basis,” said Feltoe.
Before the
amendment of the Electoral Act, police officers were entitled to
vote under
the postal voting system because they will be on duty on voting
day.
Implementation and management of this provision has attracted
widespread
condemnation, especially after reports that junior and senior
officers were
ordered to vote for Zanu PF under the watchful eye of their
commanders in
the 2008 elections.
The changes will, however allow
police officers to vote two days before
Election Day under the supervision
of electoral officials and election
observers not commanders.
Chihuri
had opposed the new system arguing that the time frame is too short
and will
disrupt the force’s election deployment plans.
He had proposed that
police officers be allowed to vote 30 days before the
actual polling day “in
the worst-case scenario” to cater for logistical
issues such as
deployment.
Feltoe declined to comment on the residual resistance by
Chihuri.
“As for the refusal of the police chief wanting some changes in
the
Electoral Act, you have to ask the police about why they did not want
it,”
he said.
Feltoe said Zec, as soon as practicable after the
election is called, must
fix two special voting days for soldiers and
police.
Feltoe said ballots will be transported to the chief elections
officer and
then dispatched back to relevant wards before the ordinary poll
so that they
can be counted in the wards they are registered to vote,
together with the
ordinary ballots cast.
Asked if Zec had true
numbers in the security forces that were going to
participate in the
elections as voters, he said: “I don’t have statistics on
how many police
and army personnel voted by post in the 2008 elections or
how many diplomats
etc outside the country have a postal vote in these
elections.”
The
Zec Act and Electoral Act have been combined into the Electoral Act as
part
of the GPA negotiations to hold free and fair elections.
“The election
process takes place within the law,” Feltoe clarified.
“It is important
for people to know how the process works. Sometimes
misunderstandings arise
because people don’t know.
“The election results cannot be changed. Under
the new law, Zec has five
days to announce the election results.
“It
is now a criminal offence for any political party or anyone to announce
the
results, it is only Zec that can do so.
“If there is no official
announcement of the results, the political parties
should wait for the Zec
announcement.”
Zec is headed by retired judge Justice Simpson
Mutambanengwe who is
deputised by Joyce Kazembe, but who has, for all
intents and purposes, been
running the authority under the absence of
Mutambanengwe, who is a judge in
the Namibian Supreme Court.
The Zec
team consists of commissioners Feltoe, Theophilus Gambe, Bessie
Nhandara,
Sibongile Ndlovu, Mkhululi Nyathi and Pat Makoni.
http://www.guardian.co.uk
South
African president says 'we can't interfere' in Zimbabwean politics,
but
insists he would be critical if he had cause
David Smith in
Pretoria
guardian.co.uk, Thursday 13 December 2012 16.09
GMT
Jacob Zuma in 2007 criticised western powers for holding back
aid to
Zimbabwe. Photograph: Siphiwe Sibeko/Reuters
Is liberation blood
thicker than democratic water? In his biography, At the
Deep End, Zimbabwean
prime minister Morgan Tsvangirai tells how he was
"stunned" by South African
president Thabo Mbeki's part in a "conspiracy" to
divide and weaken the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
It is also now a footnote in
history that when Julius Malema, then president
of the African National
Congress youth league, turfed a BBC journalist out
of a press conference, he
had been extolling the virtues of Robert Mugabe
and mocking the "Mickey
Mouse" opposition for using air-conditioned offices.
Such incidents
illustrate how many in the ANC still see Mugabe as a brother
in Africa's
liberation struggle while dismissing the MDC as a
Johnny-come-lately
conjured up by western imperialists. Mbeki's successor,
Jacob Zuma, is
however broadly seen as less sympathetic to Mugabe and more
neutral in his
mediation efforts ahead of elections expected next year.
Sitting down
with Zuma at the Union Buildings in Pretoria, I put to him
bluntly: what
went wrong in Zimbabwe? He demurrs: "I avoid being judgmental
to other
people."
Many have described Mugabe as a dictator, but Zuma pointedly
avoids the
word. "I wouldn't because in Zimbabwe Zanu-PF holds its
conferences, they
elect Mugabe; I don't look at how that happened. They
regularly hold
elections and that's why you could say these elections did
not go very well.
What else do you need? People do things in different
places in different
ways.
"If you are telling me there have never
been elections in Zimbabwe, either
in the ruling party or the general
election, it would be a different story.
How Zimbabweans are influenced in
one or the other is a different matter."
Malema, who has visited Mugabe
like an apprentice to a master, reportedly
claimed that Zuma "hates"
Africa's oldest leader. Zuma denies this, saying
of their personal
relationship: "It's good. We were freedom fighters
together, we know each
other from way back. So I've known him for a long
time."
Does that
mean Mugabe receives preferential treatment? "Not necessarily. I
deal with
issues as they come as an ANC and as an individual. What we need
in Zimbabwe
is to ensure that Zimbabwe is democratic, that's why we talk to
all of them,
let the Zimbabwean people decide which party leads them. We
can't
interfere."
And what of this notion that the MDC is a stooge of British
and American
interests? "We don't say that in the ANC. Much as it is true
that we come
from the liberation movement with Mugabe, but that to us does
not give
anyone a licence to mishandle his country, so if at all there was
mishandling of the country we'd be critical.
"We don't say because a
person has come from not a liberation movement, they
cannot be democratic.
What determines everything is how people run their
affairs in their own
countries. We are not going to prefer them in terms of
their history, but we
are going to prefer them in terms of what they do.
However, the history will
remain the history: the fact that I was a freedom
fighter together with
Mugabe is a fact we cannot erase. We must judge what
people do at a given
time."
http://www.herald.co.zw
Thursday, 13 December 2012
00:00
Freeman Razemba Crime Reporter
FOUR people,
including an immigration officer, were arrested last week after
being found
in possession of more than 10 fake security date stamps and
blank copies of
various registration
forms.
The gang had capacity to issue voter
registration forms, fake drivers
licences, birth certificates, death
certificates, passports and marriage
certificates.
They could also
counterfeit route permits for commuter omnibuses, vehicle
registration
documents and certify documents.
Also recovered from the suspects were
more than 150 blank voter registration
forms, a serial number printer, blank
MDC-T membership cards, blank marriage
certificates and blank birth
certificates.
The four also had fake date stamps for the district
registry office at
Market Square, the clerk of court at Bulawayo Magistrates
Courts, the
Department of Immigration Control Headquarters, the Central
Vehicle Registry
and the district registry at Seke.
Other fake date
stamps were for exit at the Harare International Airport,
work permits,
Masvingo provincial registry, Chegutu Rural District Council
and for a legal
practitioner conveyancer and commissioner of oaths.
One of the recovered
date stamps was written in Chinese.
Immigration officer Tendai Mapfaka,
former immigration officer Monarch
Chibiko, Farai Bhani, a taxi driver, and
a clearing agent Ephraim Matiza
were arrested by immigration officials in
Harare.
Their arrest follows that of two South Africans — Waylaind Bester
and Karen
Bester — who were found in possession of fake residence permits
and linked
them to the four.
Assistant regional immigration officer
Mr Francis Mabika yesterday confirmed
the recovery of the fake date stamps
and documents.
“I can confirm that we carried out investigations on the
two (Waylaind and
Karen) and at the moment we cannot divulge any other
information as
investigations are still in progress,” he
said.
Sources close to the investigations said Waylaind and Karen
obtained fake
residence permits when they entered Zimbabwe.
When they
sought to renew the permits, they gave their passports to a Mr
Moto, a
director of a security company who was still on the run.
Moto was given
an undisclosed amount of money before he handed the passports
to Chibiko, a
former immigration officer.
It is alleged that Chibiko then passed the
passports to Bhani who is
reported to have handed them over to
Mapfaka.
Mapfaka wanted to extend the residence permits and during the
process his
colleagues at the immigration offices discovered that they were
fake.
Investigations were carried out leading to the arrest of Waylaind,
Karen and
Bhani.
Following the arrest, immigration officials searched
Bhani’s house in
Queensdale and found the fake date stamps, fake documents
and blank
documents.
Further investigations led to the arrest of
Matiza in Chitungwiza.
His house was searched leading to the recovery of
blank birth certificates,
road route permits, a serial number printer, three
passports belonging to
unknown people, a stamp for the Masvingo provincial
registrar and 10
cellphones believed to have been stolen.
The four
were still assisting with investigations.
Mr Mabika urged foreigners who have
residence permits, but did not obtain
them at any of their immigration
offices to have them verified.
He said they would not hesitate to arrest
anyone found violating the
Immigration Act.
Cases of the production of
fake documents are on the increase in the
country.
The Immigration
Department recently investigated a Harare businessman
accused of defrauding
several foreigners after issuing them with counterfeit
residence
permits.
A number of people were also arrested in recent months for
possessing fake
drivers’ licences and other documents.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Wednesday, 12 December 2012 20:30
Mandla
Tshuma
BULAWAYO - Economic commentator, Eric Bloch, has said information
communication technology (ICT) will soon become a key driver of economic
growth in Zimbabwe.
Therefore the business sector should harness ICTs to
remain relevant and
competitive in the next six years.
Bloch, who was
addressing a recent Computer Society of Zimbabwe (CSZ)
business conference
in Bulawayo, said the country's economy would grow
rapidly beginning next
year to becoming Africa's fifth largest in 2018.
"ICTs could be one of the
key drivers of the Zimbabwean economy. I therefore
challenge the CSZ to
conscientise industry and commerce on the need for the
state-of-the-art
ICTs," said Bloch.
"The CSZ must be active in its dissemination of awareness;
I am now setting
you the target to do more and be a major contributor to
economic recovery,"
he said.
Bloch said the envisaged economic boom would
be regardless of which
political party would win next year's elections,
adding that in 2015, gross
domestic product (GDP) would reach 1997
levels.
He said mining would be the key driver of the economy, citing huge
diamonds
and platinum reserves in Zimbabwe which are yet to be fully
exploited.
Bloch said he also foresaw meaningful contribution by agriculture
and
tourism to the economy, adding that there would be value-addition on
exports, a development he said would go a long way in boosting
growth.
"We are going to see a beautiful Zimbabwe in the future," he
said.
CSZ president, Artwell Mukusha, said unlike countries such as Australia
in
which the ICT sector contributes six percent to the GDP, Zimbabwe ICTs'
contribution to GDP is still unknown.
"No one knows how much ICTs
contribute to the GDP," he said.
Mukusha said the uptake of ICTs remained low
in the country compared to
other countries with Zimbabwe ranked number 124
out of 142 nations.
He said despite the existence of a national ICT policy,
there has not been a
route plan for infrastructure development, while ICT
education remained
subdued.
The other factor inhibiting ICTs growth in
Zimbabwe, Mukusha said,, was the
involvement of three government ministries
in the sector, namely Transport
Communication and Infrastructural
Development; Information and
Comm-unication Technologies; and Media,
Information and Publicity.
"Everyone has a claim for ICTs; there is no one
ministry directly involved
in ICTs," Mukusha said.
However, Ezra Maningi
of the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority urged ICT players
to take advantage of
the scrapping of import duty on ICT products to
capacitate the sector and
meaningfully contribute to economic growth.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Richard Chidza, Staff Writer
Thursday,
13 December 2012 13:33
HARARE - Over a year since a devastating wave
of civil unrest swept across
North Africa leaving in its wake a string of
deposed long-time dictators,
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF is still
worried about the prospects of
such an action here.
Panicking, the
party is now fighting the world — literally — after it
declared at its
recent annual conference that latest technology gadgets and
wireless
telephone applications embraced globally are the work of detractors
out to
get Zanu PF.
In resolutions passed at the close of the 13th Zanu PF
annual people’s
conference in Gweru at the weekend, the former guerrilla
movement appears
petrified by the spread of social media which has hooked
the young
generation.
In countries such as Egypt and Tunisia, youths
and democracy campaigners
successfully used social media to mobilise against
governments they accused
of being repressive.
Under the media,
science and technology resolutions, Zanu PF reacted with
panic at the
growing number of gadget users in Zimbabwe, expressing fear
these could be
used to oust the party from power.
“Noting the strategic advantage of
information communication technology
(ICTs) and the comparative advantage of
connectivity in political
mobilisation as critical tools for advancing the
development of
knowledge-based economy. Concerned about the widespread abuse
of social
media by regime change seeking countries for purposes of
propaganda to fan
disunity, hatred and engender
instability.
“Conference condemns the European Union, America and white
commonwealth
countries for supplying ICT gadgets such as mobile phones,
decoders and
radios to communities to create conditions for the broadcast
and spread of
falsehoods to distort so as to undermine confidence in the
electoral process
and trigger Arab-style civil unrest,” part of the
resolutions read.
But youthful ICT minister Nelson Chamisa says Zanu PF
ageing politicians are
panicking for nothing.
Chamisa, who is Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC organising
secretary, said the resolution
by Zanu PF is against government policy.
“It is only thieves that will
fight tooth and nail to stop the proliferation
of police stations or the
expansion of the police force. Information
technology is friendly,” said
Chamisa.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex
Bell
13 December 2012
Zimbabwe’s high unemployment levels mean the
country is now considered a
‘key target’ for poaching syndicates, who are
raking in millions of dollars
as a result of poaching across
Africa.
Poaching is on the increase across Southern Africa, and
Zimbabwean wildlife
authorities have been trying to clamp down on the
illegal activity. This has
resulted in the recent deaths of poachers,
including two in Mbire, who were
shot by Zimbabwe National Parks rangers
this month.
The two elephant poachers were discovered with heavy duty
weapons, as well
as military hardware such as mortar bombs. As well as
thousands of rounds of
rounds of ammunition and guns, the poachers were
found with six pairs of
elephant tusks valued at US$12,850. Three others
poachers in the group ran
away.
It is not yet known how the poaching
group managed to secure the weapons,
but it is suspected they were supplied
by soldiers from the Armed Forces for
the Defence of Mozambique (FADM).
Three FADM soldiers were late last month
arrested and charged with stealing
firearms from the national armoury and
re-selling them to criminal
gangs.
The soldiers were arrested during a police sting operation and
were caught
while selling an AK-47 rifle to a suspected arms dealer, who
buys high
calibre firearms from the military for resale or hire to armed
robbers and
ivory poaching syndicates.
Johnny Rodrigues, the chairman
of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force
(ZCTF), told SW Radio Africa on
Thursday that poaching syndicates are rife
in Southern Africa, amid an
increased demand for ivory. He said Zimbabwe was
considered a ‘weak link’ in
the wildlife sector and, combined with 90%
unemployment, the country is a
target for gangs.
“Poaching is escalating but there does seem to be a
combined effort from
lots of countries to clamp down on it. However it won’t
eradicate the
problem,” Rodrigues said.
He added that in Zimbabwe’s
case the lack of the rule of law was making it
even more difficult to
monitor and control and until laws are respected,
such problems will not go
away.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai Karimakwenda
13 December
2012
An official within ZANU PF has confirmed that troops from Zimbabwe
will once
again be heading to the war ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo,
this time
as part of a peacekeeping force under the regional Southern
African
Development Community (SADC).
Over the weekend SADC leaders
meeting in Tanzania and resolved to contribute
4,000 troops to a neutral
peacekeeping force to be deployed in eastern
Congo. President Joseph Kabila
is reportedly fighting off a strong offensive
from the M23
rebels.
According to Newsday newspaper the permanent secretary for
Foreign Affairs,
Joey Bimha, confirmed that Zimbabwean troops would be going
to the DRC. He
explained that SADC had made the decision to send what they
are calling a
‘Standby Force’.
Bimha also confirmed that the mission
would be funded by Kabila’s
government, with assistance from the United
Nations and the African Union.
They would operate under the banner of the UN
and the AU.
Bimha provided no other details as to the number of
Zimbabwean troops that
would participate in the mission, when they would be
deployed, or what their
assignment would entail. He simply referred further
questions to Defence
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Newsday quoted
Bimha as saying: “There is an agreement by SADC and Zimbabwe,
as a member,
is bound by it”.
Giles Mutsekwa, the MDC-T Secretary for Defence, told SW
Radio Africa his
party only knew what has been reported in the local press
but supports SADC
in any regional efforts to maintain peace.
Mutsekwa
added: “If this is indeed a decision by SADC, it is in conformity
with what
we agreed as a member state that we would contribute troops to the
SADC
Brigade. We in the MDC-T are in agreement that we support SADC to
ensure
that there is peace in the region.”
Mutsekwa said he had strongly opposed
Zimbabwe’s first mission to the DRC
back in 1998, because it, “was not
necessary, cost us a fortune as a nation
and we did not reap any rewards
from it”.
He added: “As you know our military hardware was expanded, the
economy took
a nose dive and the troops themselves had a very difficult
time. But that
was when we deployed the troops as a single
country.”
In 1998 Robert Mugabe sent Zim soldiers to the DRC saying we
were protecting
President Laurent Kabila from rebel troops. Top government
officials,
including the late army General Solomon Mujuru, received mining
concessions
as a reward for helping Kabila.
Although a coalition
government is in place this time around, Mutsekwa said
the current
constitution allows Mugabe to send the troops, without
consulting
parliament.
This was disputed by political analyst Professor John
Makumbe, who said the
current constitution is not relevant because of the
Global Political
Agreement brokered by SADC itself. Makumbe explained that
according to the
GPA, which is Amendment 19, Mugabe must consult the other
principals before
deploying troops.
“The MDC-T should make political
capital out of this SADC mission and insist
that Mugabe consult them before
sending any troops out of the country,”
Makumbe stressed.
The
Professor said this so-called peacekeeping mission will end up involving
fighting against the M23 rebels and Zimbabwe will end up incurring more
costs that SADC can pay for.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
13 December 2012
Three months after Air Zimbabwe was suspended
from the International Air
Transport Association (IATA) for failing to
comply with global safety
standards, the airline is optimistic that next
week it will be ‘cleared for
take-off.’
IATA has contracted an
aviation audit company that will visit Harare to
carry out checks on the
national flag carrier’s preparedness to resume
flying, following its
suspension in September.
For the last two years the national airline has
been plagued by woes,
including a series of industrial actions by pilots,
cabin crew and ground
staff. The airline is also saddled with an estimated
debt of $149 million.
But a highly placed source at the airline told SW
Radio Africa on Thursday
they are optimistic they will pass the audit test
with flying colours. He
said the audit will be done by an independent team
of aviation specialists,
that includes retired pilots, engineers and expert
accountants.
IATA is a global aviation body that works with airline
members and the air
transport industry to promote safe, reliable, secure and
economical air
travel for the benefit of travellers
‘Of particular
concern will be the operations of the airline. As such they
will check the
booking system, the financial books and the state of the
airline’s aircraft.
They will visit the hanger to see if the planes have
been maintained whilst
on the ground.
‘From there they will go for one or two test flights to
monitor the flight
and cabin crew to ensure their skills are compliant with
the regulatory
authority,’ the source said.
Air Zimbabwe has an
impeccable safety record but has, like every other
government company or
agency, been dragged down because years of
mismanagement.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
Police in UMP arrested and detained MDC-T officials including
Mashonaland
East Women’s Assembly Provincial Organising Secretary Edna
Muswe.
The cops accused the activists of mobilising people to attend an
unauthorised rally, they were later released after National Youth Assembly
President Solomon Madzore went to the police and asked the police to release
the officials as they had done nothing illegal.
President Madzore was
supposed to give a keynote address at the event but
the police told the
organisers that the rally could no longer go ahead
because ZANUPF was to
using the same venue.
Rowdy ZANUPF youths were bused to the venue by one
Stephen Chitunga who
stays in Ward 9 in Uzumba district.
Shadreck
Karonga, Chrispen Mashanga both of Ward 8 in Uzumba force marched
villagers
to participate in the disruption of the rally as they assaulted
MDC
activists and several were injured but surprisingly police did not
arrest
them.
Madzore condemned police’s lack of professionalism and told one
police
sergeant major who refused to disclose her name that she was supposed
to
protect the people not persecute victims.
“I think the state pays
you to protect civilians not arrest people who come
to the station to make
complains against violence, your conduct is pathetic
and the MDC will not
tolerate that,” Madzore said.
She initially refused to give the activists
the RRB numbers and later gave
them after the intervention of the Youth
Assembly Secretary General, Promise
Mkwananzi who is a JOMIC
member.
Other activists who were arrested are Women’s Assembly
chairperson for
Murehwa North Magret Chipuka, Ward 8 district Organising
Secretary Charles
Dhonza, activists Chamunorwa Munaki Pfupa and Kerry
Pfupa.
–
MDC YOUTH ASSEMBLY
Harvest House
http://www.bdlive.co.za
BY TAWANDA KAROMBO, DECEMBER 13
2012, 06:56
HARARE — An offer by telecommunications magnate Strive
Masiyiwa to raise
Econet Wireless’s shareholding in Zimbabwe-listed TN Bank
to 100% has been
approved by the bank’s founder, paving the way for the
delisting of the bank
on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
As part
of the deal, Tawanda Nyambirai, the founder of TN Bank and chairman
of
Econet, would resign from the chairmanship and get a minority
shareholding
in Econet, which has more than 7-million subscribers in
Zimbabwe.
The
company — the biggest telecommunications operator in Zimbabwe — has been
rapidly expanding its operations. Its tie-up with South Africa’s Cell C to
offer a call-home service for Zimbabweans living in South Africa is
described as highly successful.
Analysts said the move to buy the
remaining stake in the bank — outside of
Econet’s initial 45% share — has
been in the making since TN Bank was
demerged and separately listed earlier
this year.
TN Bank is a fast-growing commercial bank enlisted as a
"super-agent" for
the EcoCash mobile money product that Econet has unveiled
and which is
similar to M-Pesa in Kenya. Econet, however, has expanded its
footprint
beyond TN Bank after unveiling CBZ, the biggest commercial bank in
Zimbabwe,
as a partner amid indications that the product will be introduced
by other
banks in Zimbabwe.
"Having seen what happened with Trustco
(Econet’s former partner in EcoLife
mobile life cover), it is not prudent
for Econet to roll out a product such
as EcoCash with a bank it does not
control," said Mr Nyambirai. He would not
divulge any details about the
deal.
Unconfirmed reports suggested that there has been a fallout between
Mr
Nyambirai and Mr Masiyiwa.
But Mr Nyambirai maintained that "there
is no fallout" between the two
businessmen.
As part of the
transaction, Mr Nyambirai will step down from the
chairmanship of Econet and
it has been proposed that James Myers will take
over.
Econet injected
$20m into TN Bank in a deal that saw the company list on the
ZSE in July. Mr
Nyambirai said at the time that the move to have Econet
acquire a
shareholding in a banking institution anticipated "the integration
between
telecommunications and banking".
An equities analyst said the deal would
probably be given the nod by the
Competition and Tariff Commission, the
Securities Exchange Commission of
Zimbabwe, and the Zimbabwean central bank.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
13/12/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai held a crisis
meeting Wednesday with the
MDC-T-run Masvingo city council after key
emergency services equipment was
seized in a US$3.6 million salary dispute
with employees.
The local authority is scrambling to block the auctioning
of its fire
tenders and ambulances as well as computers which were attached
after
council employees successfully petitioned the Labour Court over some
US$3.6
million in salary arrears.
MDC-T spokesman, Douglas Mwonzora,
confirmed that Tsvangirai and several
senior officials had met Masvingo
mayor Alderman Femius Chakabuda and his
team in a bid to resolve the
crisis.
“Tsvangirai held an emergency crisis meeting with the Masvingo
City Council
leadership because the attachment of council property by the
Messenger of
Court is an issue of extreme concern to us,” said
Mwonzora.
He said Tsvangirai sympathized with the city council’s
financial predicament
but wanted the workers to be paid their outstanding
salaries.
The MDC-T is – which runs most of the country’s towns and
cities, is
concerned that the crisis in Masvingo will worsen an already poor
track
record in the administration of local authorities after a number a
number of
councils facing allegations of incompetence and
corruption.
The party recently fired several councilors and officials
across the country
over corruption allegations.
Meanwhile the
Masvingo council has approached the High Court in a bid to
block the sale of
the equipment.
Justice Andrew Mutema reserved judgement over the chamber
application filed
by council lawyers Chihambakwe, Makonese and
Ncube.
The council argued that it had filed it had filed an application
to rescind
the Labour Court judgment adding that the sale of the property
should called
of pending determination of the application.
Council
also claimed that its operations would collapse if the property was
sold and
further challenged the quantification of the arrears.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Wednesday, 12 December 2012 20:09
Kasukuwere goes for
broke
Clemence Manyukwe, Political Editor
SAVIOUR Kasukuwere’s
Youth Develo-pment, Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Ministry will
soon embark on company seizures similar to the
chaotic farm occupations seen
in 2000 as part of ZANU-PF’s power retention
strategy ahead of next year’s
make-or-break elections, which the Southern
African Development Commu-nity
says should be held by June.
The Financial Gazette can exclusively reveal
that after narrowly escaping
from the jaws of defeat in 2000 by hurriedly
expropriating land from the
perceived white funders of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), ZANU-PF
has again set its sights on taking over
foreign-owned firms and giving
majority ownership in these seized companies
to indigenous blacks as a
political mobilisation tool.
As fresh polls
beckon, the party is leaving no stone unturned as it seeks to
maximise on
the empowerment drive to get votes in an election in which
President Robert
Mugabe would, for the third time since 2000, lock horns
with his bitter
rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
A Central Committee report tabled at
the party’s just-ended conference held
in Gweru laid down a number of
options being explored by ZANU-PF strategists
on how broad-based economic
empowerment could be achieved.
It is now almost certain that ZANU-PF would
increase the empowerment
threshold from the current 51 percent as polls draw
near.
In its indigenisation status report, the Central Committee, which is
the
policymaking organ of ZANU-PF, said about 96 percent of all agricultural
land in Zimbabwe is now in the hands of locals while local ownership in the
energy and power sector was given at 98 percent, even though
power-generation and distribution is dominated by State firms.
The
banking and finance sector was said to be highly indigenised with 68
percent
of Zimbabwe’s banks said to be indigenous-owned. The country’s 16
asset
management companies, except one, were said to be black-owned while 97
percent of the 114 micro-finance/money lenders had been indigenised.
The
tourism sector was said to be 56 percent indigenised while the
manufacturing
sector had an indigenisation ownership of below 50 percent.
The mining
sector was said to have a considerable foreign shareholding with
the biggest
mines being 100 percent by foreigners.
Ahead of the elections, ZANU-PF is
seen following its 2000 election template
whereupon it embarked on a fast
track land reform programme after sensing
defeat at the hands of a newly
formed MDC.
ZANU-PF insiders said a list detailing the companies to be
targeted for
indigenisation and the empowerment thresholds to be achieved
has since been
drawn up.
At the Gweru conference, President Mugabe said
all companies including those
owned by the Chinese would be subject to the
requirements of the
indigenisation law.
The party’s strategists believe
that the initiative has potential to appeal
to the electorate more than
Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s Jobs, Upliftment,
Investment, Capital and the
Environment (JUICE) economic blueprint.
They reason that the party’s main
wings namely the Women’s League and the
Youth League should develop plans
that fit into the indigenisation
programme. The party’s supreme
decision-making body, the Politburo, will
also craft plans on how benefits
accruing from the programme would cascade
to the common man.
Candidates
seeking to represent the party at any level in the forthcoming
elections are
also being encouraged to developed campaign plans applicable
to their
communities on how to benefit from assets forcibly taken from their
previous
owners.
“The indigenisation and empowerment programme has the capacity to
appeal to
the electorate in a massive way as evidenced by the positive
public reaction
to the launch of community share ownership schemes,
employment share
ownership schemes and various youth economic empowerment
funds. We,
therefore, need to build on this awareness and interest and craft
a strategy
that will derive political mileage for the party,” reads part of
the Central
Committee report.
“Thus, as we approach the impending
election, we have stepped up efforts to
implement a political programme of
mobilisation anchored on the
indigenisation and economic policy. This
political programme might have a
strong bearing on the success of the party
in the forthcoming election.”
Lance Mambondiani, a financial markets expert,
said a command control
implementation of the Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Act without
broad consultative consensus could be the catalyst
for another man-made
economic tragedy just when the country is showing signs
of progress.
“Stakeholders have a legitimate fear that the empowerment law
will be
spectacularly bungled in similar fashion to the land reform
programme, which
was by any standard a catastrophic success," he
said.
“In its current form, and based on the current policy position, there
is no
evidence to suggest that the law is any different to the land reform
programme or that the outcome will be.”
The chaotic land reforms
decimated commercial agriculture, the mainstay of
the country’s
economy.
For long, ZANU-PF has resorted to populist policies, dishing out
inputs and
farming implements as well as directing key parastatals and
schools to
charge uneconomic fares and fees, leading to their virtual
collapse.
State-firms such as the Grain Marketing Board and the National Oil
Company
of Zimbabwe are some of the companies operating below the red ink
due to
political interference.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Wednesday, 12 December 2012
20:05
Samkeliso Ndlovu, recently in Johannesburg
BEITBRIDGE –
Congestion at Beitbridge border post has put a damper on the
festive mood as
Zimbabweans flocking to and from neighbouring South Africa
for early festive
season shopping complained of torturous queues, resulting
in some travellers
spending up to 48 hours without being cleared.
Long queues, for both human
and vehicular traffic are not uncommon at the
border post, but during the
current festive season the situation appears to
be getting out of
hand.
There are prolonged customs procedures involving physical examinations
and
individual searches of luggage.
Adding salt to injury has been the
recent hiking of fares by buses
travelling to and from South Africa, which
has seen a single trip to
Johannesburg from Bulawayo going up from between
R300 and R350 to between
R400 and R560.
The 24 hour border post handles
up to 25 000 travellers per day during the
festive season.
Stringent
South African immigration laws on children have also added to the
trauma for
travellers this festive season. According to new regulations put
in place in
May this year, parents or guardians travelling with minors below
the age of
17 into South Africa should have an affidavit signed by the other
parent or
both, for the child’s passport to be stamped.
Principal immigration officer,
Patricia Mafodya told The Financial Gazette
that travellers had nothing to
worry about as her department had everything
under control and had boosted
staff to cope with the influx of travelers at
the border post.
“It is
common to have increased volumes of travellers, those coming home
from South
Africa and those crossing to South Africa for Christmas shopping.
However,
we always make sure that all is well on our side. We have boosted
our staff
to make sure the process is faster and travellers are not unduly
strained,”
said Mafodya.
“We have the capacity to deal with any volume of traffic and
travellers
should feel free to make use of Beitbridge,” she added.
A snap
survey of the border post showed that most delays were caused at the
South
African side where long winding queues could be seen.
“One gets the feeling
that they (the South Africans) do not want to clear us
and we don’t even
understand why. They are just sitting there and don’t seem
to be in a hurry.
We have been standing here for the past six hours and the
queue does not
seem to be moving,” said Rudo Mpofu, a shopper who was
returning home to
Bulawayo.
“I got lucky because I am travelling with omalayitsha; they bribed
the
immigration guys so that we get cleared quickly. I feel so sorry for the
people I saw queuing back there,” said Matthew Ndlovu, another traveller
coming back from South Africa.
A South African immigration official who
declined to be named said his
department had not yet beefed up staff to
complement the increased volume of
traffic.
“We will deal with that as
soon as possible. Obviously the situation will
get worse during the coming
few weeks so we want to be prepared,” said the
official.
Earlier this
year, the Zimbabwe-South Africa Joint Commission, announced
plans to
establish a one-stop border post concept at Beitbridge to
facilitate the
quick flow of trade between the two countries.
Once implemented, the concept
is expected to address the long winding queues
among other things.
The
one-stop border post concept would be the second in the country after
the
pilot phase at Chirundu Border Post between Zimbabwe and Zambia which
came
about as an initiative of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern
Africa
to facilitate trade and free movement of goods and services within
the
region.
Under the one-stop border post concept, travellers will be cleared
just once
for passage into another country unlike the current setup in which
they have
to undergo formalities on both sides of the border.
http://www.mdc.co.zw
Thursday, 13 December 2012
Hon Tendai
Biti said mining is much more than diamond adding that if mining
is managed
well, it will be contributing as much as US$14 billion dollars by
2018, with
the modest contribution of mining to GDP from 8 percent to about
40 percent
in the same year.
He said there is need for an accumulation model based
on beneficiation and
value addition as opposed to an extraction model. He
said Zanu PF is the
last party to talk of corruption and as the party went
to sleep since 1980
when it should have done something to replace the
infrastructure in
different sectors of industry.
In Mashonaland
Central, Hon Mangoma’s trial on flimsy charges of undermining
Mugabe at a
rally in Bindura continues on 12 January 2013. Hon Mangoma
appeared before a
Bindura Magistrate with his lawyers Selby Hwacha and
Beatrice
Mutetwa.
In Matabeleland, women should vote yes for the constitution as
it guarantees
and protects rights of women and children, a government
official has said.
Hon Jessie Majome, the Deputy Minister of Women's
Affairs, Gender and
Community Development said at a function organised by
women in Matobo
constituency as a belated commemoration of the 16 days of
activism against
gender violence.
“I am aware that women and children
suffer most from domestic violence in
this area. The draft constitution has
specific clauses that guarantee the
safety of all persons especially women
and children. As such it is therefore
important that every one of you votes
yes for this constitution,” Hon Majome
said.
In Harare, Hon. Margaret
Matienga organised the training of 30 women from
Sunningdale on gender
training for community women. Some of the issues
covered included the
status, trends and strategies to fight gender based
violence. They also
discussed on women’s participation and representation in
politics and
decision making.
Three children Emmanuel Jamela, Godfrey Jamela (5) and
Frank Jamela (3)
together with their mother Florence Ngwere Jamela (23) who
is pregnant were
yesterday abducted by suspected Zanu PF operatives in
Shagari Midlands
South. The Zanu PF operatives blamed the family members for
hiding their
father Moses Jamela who is a member of the MDC.
The MDC
demands that the Inclusive government principals ensure security for
all the
people in the country. The Zanu PF double standard is not just
retrogressive
but to abduct innocent children to settle political scores is
totally
unacceptable.
The party underscores the need for total change in the
country and the
ushering of a new democratic dispensation where people are
respected for
their political affiliation.
Meanwhile, police today
raided the Zimrights offices in Harare for unknown
reasons. The 5 officers
who ransacked the offices further demanded to see
the Zimrights Director,
Okay Machisa.
The Last Mile: Towards Real Transformation!!!
http://www.herald.co.zw
Thursday, 13 December 2012
00:00
Lloyd Gumbo recently in Save Valley
Traditional leaders
in and around the Save Valley Conservancy have vowed to
scuttle the Germans’
plan to translocate animals from the conservancy to
Gonarezhou
Trans-Frontier Park. This followed
reports that the German government was
planning to fund the translocation of
animals from conservancies owned by
Germans in the Save Valley Conservancy
to the giant frontier
park.
However, there are indications that the Germans want to translocate
the
animals to Mozambique as a way of skirting the indigenisation and
economic
empowerment drive that Government has embarked on.
“There is
no way I am going to allow the translocation of animals from the
conservancy
in my area to any other place,” said Chief Mabika whose area of
jurisdiction
stretches from Bikita into the Save Valley Conservancy.
Chief Mabika is
also Senator for Masvingo.
The Governments of Mozambique, South Africa and
Zimbabwe last year
officially launched the Gaza-Kruger-Gonarezhou
Trans-Frontier Park.
Said Chief Mabika; “We want our subjects to benefit
from the conservancy
through the indigenisation programme (share ownership
schemes) that has been
implemented in other areas. We want the exercise to
be done in the area as a
matter of urgency. My subjects are wallowing in
poverty yet they can eke a
living out of these animals.”
Chairman for
Village 9 in ward 24 of Chiredzi, Mr Dzingirai Hama said they
heard reports
that the Germans wanted to move animals from the conservancy.
“We heard
about the reports that they wanted to remove animals from here,”
said Mr
Hama whose village is in the conservancy.
“But we are saying that is not
going to happen because these are our
animals, our heritage. These white
people found the animals here so if they
don’t want Government policies
being implemented, then they should just
leave us with our
animals.
“We are not benefiting anything at the moment so we would want
indigenisation to be implemented here as well.”
Mr Hama said proceeds
from the conservancy were supposed to benefit
villagers in and around the
conservancy through developmental projects such
as schools, clinics, roads
and irrigation schemes.
According to sources, Germany’s Economic and
Co-operation Minister Dirk
Niebel told Vice President Joice Mujuru last week
when he paid a courtesy
call on her that his Government wanted to fund the
translocation of the
animals.
However, sources who attended the
meeting said VP Mujuru told the Germany
Minister that they were supposed to
be concerned with uplifting the lives of
people around the Save Valley
Conservancy than to be worried about animals.
Headman for Matsai in
Chiremwaremwa area in Bikita, Mr Rodgers Nerwande
whose village borders the
Save Valley Conservancy, said they wanted
Government to intervene to make
sure villagers around the conservancy
benefited.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
13.12.12
by MISA
Kariba
magistrate Felix Chauromwe on Thursday, 13 December 2012 acquitted
community
news activist, Kudakwashe Matura, who was being charged with
criminal
defamation. Kariba is a town in Northern Zimbabwe.
The ruling
came after Matura’s lawyer, Tapiwa Muchineripi, made an
application for
discharge at the close of the state case. He argued that the
state had
failed to prove its case against the defendant, noting that there
had been
no evidence adduced to prove that Matura had published the article
in
question.
In his ruling, Chauromwe upheld the submissions made by
Muchineripi,
highlighting that the state had not adduced evidence to satisfy
the
necessary elements for the charge of criminal
defamation.
Background
Matura was arrested on Monday, 8 October
2012 after a Sam Mawuwa lodged a
complaint, alleging that a story published
in the Kariba News newsletter
about him was defamatory.
Matura was
facing criminal defamation charges under Section 96 of the
Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform) Act. Tapiwa Muchineripi, the lawyer
representing
him, is from the Media Lawyers Network.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Guthrie Munyuki, Senior Assistant
Editor
Thursday, 13 December 2012 15:36
HARARE - It will be naive for
anyone to think that the people of Zimbabwe
will walk into a polling booth
and stop thinking!
This was not a broadside at a bald statement by Okay
Machisa, national
director of ZimRights and chairperson of Crisis Coalition
in Zimbabwe CCiZ),
reminding politicians the power of a
voter.
Machisa, 42, has been visible in the democratic fight where CCiZ —
a
powerful advocacy and lobby group within the civic society movement, has
been in the forefront of calling for reforms and enhancement of the
democratic space. CCiZ has more than 234 member groups under its ambit and
it is not surprising that Machisa did not shy away from making their
position known in the current political discourse.
“It would be a
dream for us to think that there will be a complete shift or
change in the
current political situation. Since the GNU (unity government)
was formed we
have been calling for fundamental reforms and nothing has
happened.
“We will still have certain mechanisms that have been put
in place to
trigger violence and uncouth behaviour,” Machisa told the Daily
News as he
regretted the inertia characterising the national healing and
reconciliation
processes.
The Organ on National Healing and
Reconciliation (ONHR) — consisting three
representatives from Zanu PF and
the two MDC formations — has, largely,
failed to achieve its intended
targets.
It has taken an Afrocentric approach to promote healing by
encouraging
dispute resolution through traditional methods as opposed to the
Eurocentric
approach, the criminal route dealt with through the
courts.
“Healing is not prescribed by the authorities, healing is
prescribed by the
communities, these are the custodians of how healing can
take place within
the communities. If you want to come up with a national
framework of healing
you might be missing the point.
“The people that
have harmed themselves are the ones that are going to
forgive each other,
are the ones who create a roadmap towards
reconciliation. “Why we have
perpetrators of political violence walking
scot-free in the streets is
because we have not put in place mechanisms that
they should be brought to
book. If a perpetrator of political violence is
brought to book then people
can see it as an example and nobody else can
commit the same crime because
there is an example that has taken place.
“We need all the structures
that subscribe to the development of the nation
whether you are a political
party, security sector, civil service, civil
society: we need all to
constructively walk the talk of stopping violence.
As of now I can actually
say we have not achieved much,” Machisa said.
“We continuously say we
have come up with a code of conduct, we have come up
with some provision or
mechanism that would ensure the establishment of an
act of Parliament. That
alone is not enough.
“While people are putting mechanisms and acts in
place to make sure we have
no violence in the society we need to make
community mechanisms that would
bring in the traditional leadership,
churches and civil society in the
communities”.
Machisa himself has
been actively involved in the national healing process
through Heal Zimbabwe
Trust, a peace and tolerance promotional body he also
chairs in the civic
society movement.
But he remains upbeat that the current
constitution-making process will lead
to new elections despite the
inconsistent signals by the three parties in
the inclusive
government.
“What we are much more concerned about is not the executive
interfering with
the process; what we are interested in is seeing a quick
reasonable,
productive, progressive completion of the constitution-making
process. The
executive should not interfere in the parliamentary
process.
“Hands off, this process is clearly indicated in the GPA that it
is a
parliamentary process which means that the Parliament should put to
conclusion the process of writing of the new constitution,” warned
Machisa.
The African Union (AU) and Southern African Development
Community (Sadc),
among a raft of reform targets, both set the completion of
a new
constitution and holding of a referendum, as decisive reforms leading
to the
conducting of free and fair polls.
“Sadc and the AU as
guarantors of the processes in Zimbabwe are determined
to ensure that
Zimbabwe goes to elections under a new constitution. We have
called upon
Sadc to remain resolute that they continue to assist Zimbabwe to
have
credible elections by coming up with a new constitution.
“Zimbabwe cannot
go to elections without a new constitution. It is one of
the most
fundamental benchmarks that Sadc has set itself. Sadc and civil
society are
determined to see the attainment of a new constitution is
carried through,”
said Machisa.
As Zimbabwe observed the International Human Rights Day,
which falls on
December 10, Machisa bemoaned the toxic environment which at
times is laced
with sporadic but calculated violence against pro-democracy
groups.
“As a human rights defender and a director of the national human
rights
body, I find it very sad at this moment that we are celebrating this
occasion with quite a number of important freedoms that are not realised or
that are not given to the people of Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabwe has not done
enough to make sure that the fundamental freedoms and
enjoyment of the
rights of the people are being observed”.
“It is the right time for those
who liberated this country to fully
recognise the fundamental rights of the
people of this country. They fought
for this country to be liberated so that
the people can enjoy their rights.
“We cannot continuously say we have
done this in the past and that tradition
should continue, we have to move
with the times. We are no longer in the
1970s or 80s we are in
2012”.
Machisa’s struggle for rights can be traced to his roles both in
the civic
movement and arts industry where he plays an influential
role.
He grew up in Lalapanzi and joined the education sector where he
taught at
Gokomere High School, Selbourne Primary, Prince Edward and
Zimbabwe College
of Music. He has previously worked at Rooftop Promotions,
an arts promotion
body led by Daves Guzha.
Machisa is a board member
at Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP), Zimbabwe Human
Rights NGO Forum, Peace
Builders Network of Zimbabwe, Savanna Trust, Nhimbe
Trust, founder of
Artists for Democracy in Zimbabwe Trust and Nhasi Mangwana
Traditional Music
Organisation.
“I have no political ambitions because my interests lie at
the organisations
that I serve,” he said.
Machisa is married and has
two daughters.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
12.12.12
by John
Makumbe
While addressing his followers at the recently held 13th
Annual Consultative
Conference, President Mugabe decried the fact that some
of his ministers
have become so corrupt that they are demanding that foreign
investors should
provide them with $5 million up front, of which $1 million
will be handed
over to Mugabe as a kick-back.
The President
threatened to dismiss any such ministers if they should be
found guilty of
corruption. We all have heard similar threats from the same
man numerous
times before, but we know of no minister that has ever been
dismissed from
his position by Mugabe because of corruption. The President
went on to
identify the police in Zimbabwe as among the most corrupt
officers in his
government. He lambasted them for making motorists pay huge
sums of money
even when their vehicles have no faults.
It is highly doubtful that
Mugabe will fire any of his corrupt ministers.
Indeed, his bark is much
worse than his bite. It can even be said he has no
bite at all when it comes
to issues of corrupt ministers. In countries that
are governed properly, the
logical action to take after identifying the
police as corrupt would be to
dismiss the Commissioner-General.
Not so in this country. Rather, Mugabe
is very likely to renew Chihuri’s
contract when next it expires, despite
widespread corruption in the force.
In a normal democratic country, once the
President has named the police
force as corrupt, the head of the force would
tender his or her resignation.
That is probably the furthest thought from
good old Chihuri’s mind right
now.
Why then is Mugabe powerless to
discipline his corrupt ministers? Perhaps he
is of such advanced age that he
has already forgotten what he said at the
Gweru Conference. He no longer has
the capacity to follow up on his threats.
It may also be that most of these
corrupt ministers of his know too much
about the President’s own can of
worms, and are likely to expose him should
he carry out his threats against
them. The third possible reason may be that
Mugabe is petrified of ending up
standing alone.
Indeed, almost every Zanu (PF) minister is quite likely
to be found guilty
of gross levels of corruption. Transparency International
has just published
its 2012 Corruption Perception Index, which places
Zimbabwe at number 163
out of the 175 countries surveyed. This is happening
during Mugabe’s watch.
It is a serious indictment.
Had Mugabe been
serious about fighting corruption in his party, he would
have appointed an
investigative committee to immediately do the job and
report to him. We all
know that he did not take any such action. It is quite
likely that he would
have struggled to identify any “clean” members of his
party to appoint to
such a committee. Besides, whoever he would appoint
would run the risk of
being buried at Heroes’ Acre prematurely after being
done in by those he
sought to investigate.
Most people are quite willing to engage in a
fierce debate about democracy,
human rights and the constitution, but when
you touch their corruption, they
descend on you with a sledge-hammer.
Perhaps Mugabe is well aware of this -
and did not want to endanger any of
his faithful followers? We wait to see
whether he will follow up on his
threats made in Gweru. -
makumbe60@gmail.com
