http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=25982
December 18, 2009
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO - More than 19 500 ghost workers were unearthed during
the initial
stages of the civil service audit which ended on Friday,
December 18, amid
fears that the figure might double as the inclusive
government gears up to
get rid of ghost government workers.The civil service
audit which was
launched last month by the Ministry of Public service has
opened a can of
worms with initial findings showing that even within the
armed forces there
are ghost soldiers and ghost policemen.
Senior
officials within the ministry who spoke on condition they were not
named say
a total of 19 519 were discovered during the initial stages of the
exercise.
Basing remuneration of the $100 agreed on by the coalition
government in
February the ghost workers so far unearthed are earning nearly
$2 000 000
per month or $18 million between March and November.
Of this figure the
bulk of ghost workers were from the ministry of youth
employment creation
and empowerment where 13 000 employees were recruited
into the civil service
without following proper government recruitment
procedures.
"We have
so far discovered 19 519 ghost workers but this is just the initial
stage of
the exercise," said one of the officials.
"We are going to come up with
an exact figure once all reports have been
reconciled. As you know, the
programme only ended yesterday".
"We also discovered that there were
ghost workers within the army and the
police and to us it was
shocking".
According to information at hand it has emerged that soldiers
who went away
without official leave of absence and other deserters were
still on the
government payroll.
It is suspected that senior army
officers might have been pocketing the
salaries of the ghosts or that former
employees were still receiving
salaries years after they went
AWOL
Eliphas Mukonoweshuro the Minister of the Public Service could not
be drawn
into commenting on the issue but dismissed allegations that the
civil
service audit was a witch-hunting exercise.
"We want to
establish a cycle for government workers from their date of
engagement up to
retirement", said Mukonoweshuro who is the Gutu South
legislator.
"This is not a witch-hunting exercise".
Saviour
Kasukuwere the Minister of Youth Employment Creation and Empowerment
has
already admitted illegally recruiting over 13 000 workers without
following
government stipulated recruitment procedures.
Sources say the ghost
workers from Kasukuwere's ministry were youths who
were initially hired by
Zanu-PF to campaign for the party ahead of last year's
elections.
After the party failed to pay the youths it allegedly just
off-loaded them
onto government and they started to receive their salaries
as civil
servants.
The inclusive government has been battling to give
its workers decent
salaries since its consummation in February this
year.
The existence of ghost workers has been cited as a reason why the
government
had a huge wage and salary bill which made it difficult for the
state to
properly remunerate its workers.
During the civil service
census enumerators visited every government
institution where they demanded
among other things letters of appointment,
birth certificates, proof of
educational qualifications and identity cards
from government employees.
http://www.iol.co.za
December 18 2009 at
12:29PM
Zimbabwe, for years plagued by hyper inflation, has switched
narrowly into
an absolute price fall on a monthly basis, official data
showed on Friday,
following adoption of foreign currencies.
The
central statistics office said that prices in November were 0.1 percent
lower than in October when monthly prices had shown a rise of 0.8
percent.
The total disinflationary change from October to November is
therefore 0.9
percentage points.
The office said that the main
component of the fall was a decline in the
rate at which food prices had
been rising.
"The month on month inflation rate in November was -0.1
percent shedding 0.9
percentage points on the October rate of 0.8 percent,"
the CSO said.
"The month on month non-food inflation stood at 0.15
percent shedding 1.118
percentage points on the October rate of 1.03
percent."
Finance minister Tendai Biti said that inflation for the whole
year would
not be more than 4.0 percent.
Since January, inflation has
slowed rapidly after the country shelved use of
the local currency and
adopted various currencies such as the dollar, South
African rand, British
pound and Botswana pula.
The economy has been battered over the last
decade, following President
Robert Mugabe's violence-plagued land reforms
which decimated farming, the
backbone of the economy. - Sapa-AFP
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
18 December
2009
Negotiators from the three political parties in the Global Political
Agreement are set to resume talks Saturday in an attempt to break the
deadlock over contentious issues still holding back the inclusive
government.
Talks broke off last week Monday following two weeks of
negotiations between
ZANU PF and the MDC. It's been reported that during
those talks the parties
agreed on most of the nominees proposed by
Parliament's Standing Rules and
Orders Committee, for appointment to the
electoral, media and human rights
commissions.
But negotiations could
not restart in earnest this week as Welshman Ncube
and Priscillah
Misihairambwi-Mushonga from the MDC-M were said to be out of
the country, on
government business. It has not been possible to find out
where they are or
what they are doing. ZANU PF negotiators had also last
week called for
time-out, to attend their party congress which ended in
Harare last
Saturday.
SW Radio Africa tried to contact various negotiators from the
two MDC
formations, but their mobile phones went unanswered.. Attempts to
reach a
deal in the talks have repeatedly snagged over whether Robert Mugabe
will
agree to rescind the unilateral appointments of Gideon Gono and
Johannes
Tomana as Reserve Bank Governor and Attorney General.
Mugabe
appointed the two without consultation with the other two principals
in the
inclusive government, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy
Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara.
When the leaders met this past Monday for
their routine meeting, they
apparently ordered the negotiators to move with
speed to deal with the
remaining issues and submit their report ahead of
their next meeting set for
Monday.
Our Harare correspondent Simon
Muchemwa told us there was now growing
anxiety and frustration in the
country at the slow pace to finalize the
talks.
'You sense people are
getting fed up at the slow pace of the talks because
at any gathering that
you go to these days, its likely the discussion would
be centred on the
never-ending talks,' Muchemwa said.
Reports from Pretoria in South African
said on Friday that President Jacob
Zuma, the SADC mediator for Zimbabwe,
has sent a preliminary report on the
negotiations to President Armando
Guebuza of Mozambique, chairman of the
SADC troika on politics, defense and
security, which helped break the
October-November deadlock in the
government.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
18 December 2009
A top South African parliamentarian has accused
Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF of
deliberately stalling the progress of the unity
government, saying the
ageing dictator has no intention of fully
implementing the Global Political
Agreement (GPA).
Athol Trollip, the
parliamentary leader for South Africa's main political
opposition the
Democratic Alliance (DA), told SW Radio Africa on Friday it
is clear that
Mugabe is not serious about fulfilling the terms of the GPA.
Trollip added
that Mugabe and the party are deliberately working against the
unity
structure to retain their brutal grip on power in the country.
"Mugabe
realises that if the GPA is implemented fully, it will influence the
balance
of power and weaken the strong grip he has on Zimbabwe," Trollip
said.
Trollip's comments come as the unity government remains on
shaky territory,
amid ongoing talks to reach some form of agreement over
outstanding issues
in the GPA. Talks between the party's political
negotiators were expected to
get underway once again on Friday; an exercise
Trollip said was futile, "as
nothing will come of the talks."
Since
the GPA was signed in 2008 Mugabe has been refusing to discuss or
implement
many of the issues agreed to, leaving the country at a political
impasse and
in a state of limbo. Trollip said Mugabe's recent, vitriolic
comments at the
ZANU PF congress, provide no evidence of him changing his
tactics any time
soon. Trollip added that "instead it spells more doom," as
Mugabe was
endorsed as leader for the next five years.
In his closing address at the
congress that ended last weekend, Mugabe
quoted part of the ZANU PF
resolution, stating that: "Congress has noted
that the inclusive government
brings the party into partnership with
ideologically incompatible MDC
formations from which it must extricate
itself in order to defend its mantle
as the only dominant and ascendant
political party that is truly
representative and determined to safeguard the
aspirations of the people of
Zimbabwe."
The party has also vowed not to allow further discussions of
pertinent
issues hampering the successful conclusion of the current round of
negotiations: "Congress resolved that our inclusive government negotiators
cease to entertain any discussion on or negotiation of the issue relating to
the appointment of the governor of the Reserve Bank, the Attorney General
and the provincial governors, as these fall outside the purview of the
Global Political Agreement and have their statutory origins that protect
them."
Trollip explained how these particular issues have been identified
by the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) Troika as legitimate
grievances of the MDC, that need to be resolved.
"These latest
developments show that Mugabe and ZANU PF have no plans to
implement the
GPA. In fact it suggests an increase in their attempts to work
against the
agreement," Trollip said.
He continued by saying that it was time for South
Africa's President Jacob
Zuma to make use of the DA's proposed 'Road Map to
Peace and Democracy',
"which now seems to be the only viable alternative to
bringing about
constitutional democracy in Zimbabwe." The core of this
roadmap is providing
Mugabe with an 'exit strategy' that will leave the
country able to vote
freely and democratically, and without fear of
political reprisal. Trollip
reiterated that the country cannot move forward
until Mugabe is out of the
picture.
"It is time to realise that as
long as Mugabe is leader of ZANU PF, the
crisis in Zimbabwe will never end.
It will continue to run in circles with
ZANU PF hoping the opposition will
grow tired and give up," Trollip said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet
Gonda
18 December 2009
Enos Nkala, one of the founders of the Zimbabwe
African National Union, has
said he was not involved in the Gukurahundi and
denies having anything to do
with instructions to carry out the massacres.
Gukurahundi was the name given
to the armed conflict in Matabeleland and the
Midlands in the mid 1980's
that led to the deaths of 20,000 Ndebele people,
after ZANU PF unleashed the
notorious, North Korean trained, Fifth Brigade
in the area.
In spite of numerous reports of his involvement the veteran
nationalist lays
the blame squarely on ZANU PF's Robert Mugabe and Emmerson
Mnangagwa.
Speaking on the programme Hot Seat on Friday Nkala said: "In
1985 we had
elections. After those elections I was appointed Minister of
Home Affairs.
It was during this time that through my influence in cabinet
we made
attempts to stop what was happening. it was me who went around
removing the
curfews."
He said: "I am not the author and finisher of
Gukurahundi. That question
must be put to Mugabe and Emmerson Mnangagwa who
was in charge of the CIO."
Nkala denied threatening ZAPU at a rally in
Stanley Square in Bulawayo,
where he is alleged to have said 'ZAPU must be
eclipsed', and giving ZANLA
forces instructions to carry out an attack. It
was statements like these
that allegedly led to the Entumbane fights - the
first disturbances that led
to the Gukurahundi.
But Nkala also denied
this, although he admitted that he advocated for ZAPU's
'political
destruction' but not military destruction. He said he would not
be living in
Matabeleland if he had ordered the killings of his own people.
Nkala said
ZANU was formed in his house in Highfields in 1963, and that he
was one of
three people, including Edgar Tekere, who put Mugabe in the
position of
leader of the party.
But he said ZANU PF today is not the party he helped
form and he believes
Mugabe must be prosecuted for crimes against humanity
for what he did in
Matabeleland and the Midlands. He added that he supports
the targeted
sanctions and says they must not be lifted. He said Mugabe's
'worst evil',
apart from the Gukurahundi, is the destruction of the economy
which caused
the mass departure of young people from the country. "ZANU PF
should be
talking about the victories of today and not of the past. You
cannot be
talking of the victory of 1980 when people have no food and are
suffering,"
said the former minister.
On the issue of the
government's land 'reform' programme, Nkala said this
was a 'madman's
exercise' and no mature person would condone the chaotic
land redistribution
programme that has killed agriculture in Zimbabwe. He
said not every former
fighter agrees with the way the commercial farms have
just been taken. He
said there should be a fresh land redistribution
programme, when 'Mugabe
dies and ZANU PF is out of power'.
He believes ZANU PF is no longer able
to sustain itself as a political party
and is now controlled by 'self
seekers'. Nkala said: "ZANU PF is on its
death bed, in intensive care.
Mugabe is old and he is sick just as I am old
and sick. John Nkomo who has
just been promoted to Vice President is old, he
is sick and anything can
happen to him. How then do you expect sick people
to attend to the massive
economic problems?"
But he said ZANU PF today is not the party he
helped form and he believes
Mugabe must be prosecuted for crimes against
humanity for what he did in
Matabeleland and the Midlands. He added that he
supports the targeted
sanctions and says they must not be lifted. He said
Mugabe's 'worst evil',
apart from the Gukurahundi, is the destruction of the
economy which caused
the mass departure of young people from the country.
"ZANU PF should be
talking about the victories of today and not of the past.
You cannot be
talking of the victory of 1980 when people have no food and
are suffering,"
said the former minister.
On the issue of the
government's land 'reform' programme, Nkala said this
was a 'madman's
exercise' and no mature person would condone the chaotic
land redistribution
programme that has killed agriculture in Zimbabwe. He
said not every former
fighter agrees with the way the commercial farms have
just been taken. He
said there should be a fresh land redistribution
programme, when 'Mugabe
dies and ZANU PF is out of power'.
He believes ZANU PF is no longer able
to sustain itself as a political party
and is now controlled by 'self
seekers'. Nkala said: "ZANU PF is on its
death bed, in intensive care.
Mugabe is old and he is sick just as I am old
and sick. John Nkomo who has
just been promoted to Vice President is old, he
is sick and anything can
happen to him. How then do you expect sick people
to attend to the massive
economic problems?"
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Violet Gonda
18
December 2009
Two members of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
(PTUZ), who were
found guilty of inciting violence in Chipinge on 8
December, have been
sentenced to 18 months in jail.
The two women
teachers, Isee Makhuyana and Moreblessing Hliziyo, were found
guilty of
inciting violence against ZANU PF war veterans during the run up
to last
year's Presidential run-off. A statement by the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition
said the two are accused of inciting Mount Selinda High School
students to
attack a ZANU PF base in Chipinge. This was after the abduction
of Pastor
Mhlanga, clergyman in charge of the mission.
According to the Coalition, a
group of ZANU PF youths and war veterans had
entered the school premises and
kidnapped the clergyman. Pastor Mhlanga was
taken to a ZANU PF base in the
Chipinge area where he was assaulted and
accused of preaching MDC
propaganda. It is reported students and teachers at
the school descended
upon the ZANU PF base trying to mount a rescue mission
for the pastor, but
the militia and the war vets got hold of the police and
eight students and
four teachers were arrested.
The students and two of the four teachers were
found not guilty earlier in
the year, but Makhuyana and Hliziyo were
slapped with an 18 month jail
sentence on Wednesday.
Hundreds of MDC
supporters have been killed, thousands raped, kidnapped and
assaulted, and
tens of thousands tortured, but none of the ZANU PF
perpetrators have been
brought to justice.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
18 December
2009
Six workers employed by Grace Mugabe’s Gushungo Dairy Estates,
stormed the
headquarters of dairy giant Nestle in Harare, demanding that the
company
resume accepting milk from the farm. In October this year pressure
from
human rights groups forced Nestle to stop accepting milk from Grace’s
farm.
Formerly known as Foyle Farm, its previous white owner was forced to
sell
for a knock down price, after a sustained campaign of violence. Human
rights
campaigners accused Nestle of funding repression by doing business
with the
First Lady and dubbed her produce ‘blood milk’.
But loyalists
from Mugabe’s camp have continued their attempts to intimidate
Nestle into
accepting the milk. In October a group of ZANU PF youths tried
to force the
company to buy about 20 000 litres of milk from the farm. Led
by Youth
Minister Saviour Kasukuwere and his ZANU PF politburo member
brother,
Tongai, the group tried to force staff to offload a milk tanker
from
Gushungo Farm. But after a four hour stand-off, including intense
debate and
negotiations with Nestlé Zimbabwe management, the tanker and the
ZANU PF
youth group were turned away. Reserve Bank Governor Gideon Gono also
entered
the fray and responded by freezing the bank accounts of Nestle
Zimbabwe, a
week after the dairy firm stopped buying milk from Grace Mugabe.
On
Thursday this week 6 employees from Grace’s farm, driving a white ERF
truck,
parked outside Nestlé’s headquarters along Park Lane and demanded to
see
‘whoever is in charge so that they can deliver milk,’ it was
reported.
Nestle managing director Heath Tilley, and Finance Director
Farai Munesti,
are said to have met the intruders but no details have been
released of the
outcome.
Meanwhile two South African managers working
for a company that sold dairy
equipment to Grace Mugabe, have been forced to
leave the company. Swedish
based dairy giant DeLaval, sold a 32-cow-capacity
milking parlour, two giant
cooling tanks and consumables worth £300,000 to
Gushungo Dairy Estate.
Benoit Passard, DeLaval's spokesman in Sweden, said
that Leon Lilje, the
managing director of DeLaval South Africa, and Rykie
Visser a sales manager,
had both ‘decided to leave the company to pursue new
challenges".
"This follows the internal investigation regarding the
transactions between
DeLaval South Africa and Gushungo Dairy Estate farm in
Zimbabwe which was
ethically unacceptable and in breach of our code of
business conduct -
namely dealing with people on international sanction
lists,” Passard said.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=25977
December 18, 2009
HARARE (Zimonline/Own
Correspondent) - Former Harare High Court Judge
Simpson Mtambanengwe is
tipped to head a new-look Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (ZEC) that will
oversee elections in a country where political
violence and charges of
rigging have marred polls conducted over the past
decade.
Mtambanengwe, who sits on the Namibian bench after his
retirement from the
bench in Zimbabwe in 2004, was yesterday still being
consulted by the Office
of the President and Cabinet on whether he would be
available to chair the
new electoral body that Zimbabweans hope will help
restore credibility to an
electoral system that few outside President Robert
Mugabe's inner circle
still have faith in.
The appointment to the ZEC
and two other independent commissions, the
Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC)
and the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission
(ZHRC), are expected to be made
next week after Mugabe returns from Denmark,
where he is attending the
United Nations Summit on Climate Change.
Mugabe's spokesman George
Charamba was not immediately available for comment
on the matter. But Gorden
Moyo, Minister of State in Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's office, told
Zimonline that the government was concluding
consultations with various
people named to serve on the commissions.
"Otherwise there is agreement
on the selection of the people. The necessary
gazetting of the appointments
will be done soon. It is safe to say the
official announcement of the
appointments to all the three commissions will
be done this side of
Christmas," said Moyo.
According to our sources, Mugabe suggested
Mtambanengwe's name and while
Tsvangirai had reservations, he eventually
agreed to the President's choice
reportedly in order to allow the process to
move forward.
If Mutambanengwe accepts appointment to the ZEC, this will
be the second
time he would have answered to the call of duty from his home
country after
he briefly returned from Namibia in 2006 to preside over the
corruption
trial of then Harare High Court Judge Benjamin
Paradza.
Mutambanengwe convicted Paradza and sentenced him to three years
in jail.
However Paradza did not serve the sentence after he skipped the
border
before sentence.
Paradza's lawyers had argued during trial
that the charges against their
client were meant to punish him for
embarrassing the government. In 2003
Paradza freed an opposition mayor who
had been arrested for holding an
illegal political meeting.
The
government denied that the corruption case against Paradza was
politically
motivated.
Other people lined up to serve on the new electoral commission
are two
members of the old ZEC Theo Gambe and Joyce Kazembe, who served as
deputy
head of the discredited commission.
The old George
Chiweshe-led ZEC is accused by the former opposition MDC of
rigging the
March 2008 election to block outright victory by Tsvangirai over
Mugabe in a
presidential ballot that the MDC-T leader won, but with
insufficient votes
to form the next government.
Others members named to serve on the ZEC are
Daniel Chigaru, the current
general manager of the Zimbabwe International
Trade Fair, University of
Zimbabwe law professor Geoff Feltoe, P. Makoni, S.
Ndlovu, Pastor Godwill
Shana, a former chairman of Transparency
International Zimbabwe.
Information made available to Zimonline suggests
that major changes made to
the original list of names of people nominated to
serve on the Zimbabwe
Media Commission (ZMC) that was submitted to Mugabe by
Parliament's Standing
Rules and Orders Committee.
Chris Mhike, a
lawyer turned journalist who scored the highest marks during
the interviews
for the ZMC, has reportedly been dropped from the list, while
Henry
Muradzikwa, the former editor of the Sunday Mail and the former chief
executive officer of the government's Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings who was
tipped to head the media commission, will now come in as an ordinary
commissioner.
Former broadcaster Godfrey Majonga, now crippled after
a mysterious fall
from a first-floor apartment window many years ago, is now
said to be tipped
to take over the position of chairman.
Other ZMC
commissioners are journalism lecturer and former Financial Gazette
editor
Nqobile Nyathi who is said to be a moderate, university lecturer
Lawton
Hikwa (linked to Zanu-PF), Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe executive
Millicent
Mombeshora, who is a close ally of Governor Gideon Gono and the
spouse of
deputy Minister of Health, Douglas Mombeshora (Zanu-PF), Reverend
Useni
Sibanda (said to be apolitical), former Zimbabwe Union of Journalists
president Matthew Takaona and Miriam Madziwa-Sibanda, a former journalist
turned media consultant, who is regarded as neutral.
The name of
former ambassador to China and Zanu-PF spokesman, Chris
Mutsvangwa, is said
to have been added to the list.
The media, human rights and electoral
commissions are part of reforms that
Zimbabwe's power-sharing government
must implement to re-shape and
democratise the country's political
landscape.
Once the commissions and a new constitution are in place the
government will
call fresh elections with the whole process that began last
February
expected to last between 18 to 24 months.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=25969
December 18, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - Four Harare freelance journalists have launched a
court application
seeking to have this month's election of new Zimbabwe
Union of Journalists
(ZUJ) president, Dumisani Sibanda, the news editor of
the Bulawayo paper,
The Sunday News, and his entire executive declared
unlawful.
The journalists, Godwin Mangudya, Frank Chikowore, Conrad
Mwanawashe and
Guthrie Munyuki, all members of ZUJ, are adamant the process
that led to the
new executive's election was flawed.
"This
application seeks an order declaring as void, a constitutional process
of
the first respondent, being the holding of an election on the 4th
December
2009," reads the application.
"It seeks as a consequence an order for the
holding of a new election in
terms of the constitution of the1st respondent
(ZUJ) and at any rate in
compliance with all civilised norms and notions of
democracy."
Mangudya, the first applicant, says in his affidavit that he
had invested a
lot of time and resources in preparing for election as
president of ZUJ but
was denied the opportunity to stand for the
post.
He says details of the venue and the delegates were kept a secret
by the
former executive led by former president, Matthew Takaona, who has
created
the controversial post of ZUJ consultant for
himself.
Mangudya says further that his aspiration to become the union's
president
was not helped by an advertisement which was placed in The Herald
newspaper
of October 29, 2009 which deliberately failed to state the venue
of the
congress.
The ZUJ congress, it later turned out, was conducted
at How Mine, in a
remote area south of Bulawayo
"As a protagonist in
the battle for office," says Mangudya, "I was neither
notified of the venue
nor invited thereto.
"There could be no election under such circumstances
of disenfranchisement.
Any process that is built on such disenfranchisement
can only be doubly
invalid.
"Having suffered at the hands of some of
these responsible by virtue of
their disdain and wanton disregard for
statutes when it suits them I would
further pray for an order that
incapacitates them from abusing the appeal
process".
He says there
was a deliberate plot to stifle the dissemination of
information to people
who were challenging candidates who had allegedly been
imposed by the
outgoing Takaona executive.
Mangudya and the other three applicants want
the result of the process
declared "void and of no force or
effect".
Reads the application, "1st respondent's retiring officers shall
within 30
days of the order notify 1st respondent's members of the date and
venue at
which the election of 1st respondent's congress officials shall be
held and
shall so hold the election inside the said 30 days.
"The
order shall remain in operation notwithstanding the noting of any
appeal
against it."
In his response, Takaona has told the media that the
conducting of the
elections was above board and that all delegates who were
eligible to vote
in terms of the ZUJ constitution were furnished with the
necessary details.
He says further that most of the journalists who are
complaining about the
election process are freelance journalists who were
not attached to any ZUJ
branch in the country, something that, he says,
renders them ineligible to
vote.
Listed as respondents are ZUJ as
first respondent and the newly-elected
executive which includes Sibanda
(second respondent), secretary general
Foster Dongozi (third), co-vice
presidents Mercy Pote (fourth) and Michael
Padera Chideme
(fifth)?
Evince Magata who was elected treasurer is the sixth respondent,
along with
gender mainstreaming chairperson Jenifer Dube (seventh) and
committee
members Valentine Maponga (eighth), Godfrey Mutimba (ninth) and
Grail
Kupakuwana (tenth).
Meanwhile, journalists in Harare will
Friday night hold an all media
stakeholders discussion on the affairs of
their beleaguered union centering
on the controversial ZUJ
election.
Plans are also underway for the holding of an all stakeholders'
conference
that is intended to push for the passing a vote of 'no
confidence' in the
new executive.
Journalists feel the affairs of
their trade union have been hijacked by
people with selfish interests in the
union.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, December 18, 2009 -
Prominent human rights and media lawyer Mordecai
Mahlangu on Thursday
challenged his placement on remand at the Harare
Magistrate
court.
Mahlangu's lawyers Happias Zhou and Kay Ncube, who are
members of Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) lodged an application
for refusal of remand
before Harare Magistrate Archie
Wochiunga.
In his application Zhou said there are no sufficient
grounds to place
Mahlangu on remand and that the facts as they are do not
disclose any
reasonable grounds that the human rights lawyer committed an
offence with
which he is charged.
Zhou said Mahlangu's letter
to Attorney General Johannes Tomana clearly
explains the position of Peter
Michael Hitschmann regarding his
compellability as a State witness in the
trial of Deputy Agriculture
Minister Designate and Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC)
Treasurer-General Roy Bennett's.
But the State
represented by Edmore Nyazamba opposed Mahlangu's application.
Nyazamba said
there is a thin line between preparing an affidavit and
swearing to the
contends of an affidavit.
Mahlangu was arrested in November and
charged with obstructing the course of
justice after he allegedly wrote a
letter to Tomana protesting against the
subpoena directing Hitschmann, to
testify in Bennett's trial despite the
fact that Hitschmann's statements
were extracted through torture.
Magistrate Wochiunga will deliver
his ruling on Mahlangu's application on
January 12, 2010.
http://www.hrw.org
December 17,
2009
Dear Sir:
I am writing to urge your company to
publicly commit to not purchase or sell
diamonds from
Zimbabwe.
Throughout 2009, Human Rights Watch conducted field-based
research in the
diamond fields of Marange, in eastern Zimbabwe. We found
that mining under
the supervision of the police and then the military
resulted in the use of
forced labor of adults and children, killings, and
severe beatings. By any
reasonable assessment, diamonds from Marange are
"blood diamonds," and we
are publicly calling upon retailers and interested
consumers to boycott
Zimbabwe diamonds unless and until the abuses that we
uncovered come to an
end.
We are also asking the diamond industry to
pressure the Kimberley Process
Certification Scheme (KPCS), the global group
monitoring the diamond trade,
to suspend Zimbabwe until diamond mining at
Marange meets its minimum
standards for membership. The KPCS sent its own
review mission to Zimbabwe
and confirmed our findings. We believe that it
can no longer certify that
diamonds from Zimbabwe are mined in compliance
with the rules of the KPCS.
Human rights abuses in Marange
In June
2009, Human Rights Watch published a report documenting horrific
human
rights abuses in the Marange diamond fields by the Zimbabwean
military,
including forced labor, child labor, the killing of more than 200
people,
beatings, smuggling, and corruption.
As recently as late October, 2009,
these abuses were ongoing. Human Rights
Watch's latest information suggests
that the situation in Marange remains
largely unchanged. Despite claims
that the army was withdrawing, for the
most part, the diamond fields remain
under firm military control, with
smuggling, human rights abuses, and
corruption unchecked.
The role of the Kimberley Process
In July
2009, a Kimberley Process investigative mission also found serious
human
rights abuses and rampant smuggling at the Marange diamond fields.
However,
the states that make up the Kimberley Process decided not to
suspend
Zimbabwe from participation, nor ban the export of its diamonds,
despite
those findings. The weak excuse given was that its mandate only
addresses
"conflict diamonds," those mined by rebel groups, but not by
abusive
governments. In this case, the abuses at Marange were committed by
Zimbabwe's police and army, rather than rebel groups.
But these
abuses are as serious as those that the Kimberley Process was
designed to
address; relying on a technicality is no comfort for the victims
of the
abuses. Instead of ignoring human rights abuses, KPCS members, as
well as
retailers, should classify Marange diamonds as "conflict diamonds."
What
the diamond industry can do
Because of the prevalence of smuggling, the
lack of transparency within
Zimbabwe's diamond industry, insufficient
controls at the country's borders
with neighboring countries, and weak
certification mechanisms, there is no
way to guarantee that Marange stones
are not being mixed with those produced
at Zimbabwe's other two mines.
Moreover, once the Marange diamonds leave
Zimbabwe, they are intermingled
with diamonds from other countries, creating
a serious risk that Zimbabwean
diamonds extracted in an abusive human rights
environment may be sold in the
US and elsewhere.
The US diamond industry, including retailers, therefore
has an important
responsibility to ensure that they do not sell these gems
to unwitting
customers. As I am sure you're aware, consumers are
increasingly concerned
about this problem and might be reticent to buy any
diamonds unless
suppliers guarantee they are not sourcing from Zimbabwe and
can demonstrate
that they are in full compliance with the requirements of
the Kimberley
Process.
Some diamond suppliers like Rapaport and Leber
Jewelers have told consumers
that they will not acquire or sell Marange
diamonds. Other retailers should
be able to take similar steps, and we urge
you to do so as well. In
particular we ask you to:
* 1) Publicly
state that you will not buy or sell Zimbabwe diamonds as
long as human
rights violations continue at the Marange diamonds fields;
* 2) Urge
your national representatives and the World Diamond Council,
which take part
in the Kimberley Process, to broaden the definition of
conflict diamonds to
include diamonds procured by governments as well as
rebel groups that commit
human rights abuses
* 3) Ensure that your supply chain does not
include any Zimbabwe
diamonds and ask your suppliers to certify that
diamonds are not from
Zimbabwe by specifying the controls in
place.
* 4) Respond with evidence-based information to consumers who
ask about
the origin of the diamonds they wish to purchase.
For your
reference, I have enclosed a Human Rights Watch report, "Diamonds
in the
Rough: Human Rights Abuses in the Marange Diamond Fields of
Zimbabwe," which
provides information about human rights abuses committed at
the Marange
diamond fields. I have also enclosed the recent comment by Nicky
Oppenheimer, chairperson of De Beers, about the situation in Marange. Other
materials about Zimbabwe are available on our website at
www.hrw.org/en/africa/zimbabwe.
Finally, for more information, we are
pleased to refer you to the website of
the Kimberley Process,
http://www.kimberleyprocess.com/.
Thank
you for your consideration. I would be most eager to meet with you to
discuss these concerns. I look forward to speaking with
you.
Sincerely,
Arvind Ganesan
Director, Business and Human
Rights Division
Human Rights Watch
Cc
Francesco Trapani, Chief
Executive Officer, Bulgari S.p.A.
Emmanuel Perrin, President and Chief
Executive Officer, Cartier North
America
Arthur E. Reiner, Chairman,
President and Chief Executive Officer, Finlay
Enterprises,
Inc.
Efraim Grinberg, President and Chief Executive Officer; Chairman of
the
Board of Directors, Movado Group Inc.
Michael J. Kowalski,
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Tiffany & Co.
Daniel H. Marks,
Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer, Ultra
Stores,
Inc.
Neal Goldberg, President and Chief Executive Officer, Zale
Corporation
http://www.religiousintelligence.co.uk
Friday, 18th December 2009.
12:18pm
By: George Conger .
Dr Nolbert Kunonga has begun a
Christmas offensive against the Diocese of
Harare, using the Zimbabwe
Republic Police (ZRP) to disrupt services and
drive off parishioners loyal
to Bishop Chad Gandiya and the Church of the
Province of Central
Africa.
Since the start of Advent the ZRP and Kunonga loyalists have
disrupted
services and locked out congregations across the diocese loyal to
Dr Gandiya
and the Church of the Province of Central Africa
(CPCA).
Dr Kunonga's fresh campaign for control of the church in Harare
is a "real
test to the fragile government of National Unity," the Rev Paul
Gwese
reported, "as it was at the intervention of the co-ministers of Home
Affairs" that Anglicans were able to "use their churches without been
disrupted by rogue police officers aligned to Kunonga."
In an email
sent to supporters dated Nov 29, Dr Gandiya recounted how the
ZRP and
Kunonga clergy broke up a service he was leading at St Clare's
Mission in
Murewa.
Upon arriving at the mission the bishop found the church locked,
and
occupied by pre-school children. The "Kunonga priest" in control of the
property refused to allow Dr Gandiya to worship, and left to telephone
Harare for instructions.
Dr Gandiya reported that he decided to hold
a service outside the church,
but proceeded first to the local police
station to inform them of his
intentions. The police offered no objections,
he said.
Upon returning to the church, the bishop found the children had
left, and
the congregation proceeded to move inside and to hold a service of
Holy
Communion. "As I was doing the thanksgiving prayer the dean noticed the
police walking outside and he went out to see them and was not allowed back
in the church," the bishop wrote.
"He and the churchwarden who had
accompanied us to the police were detained
in one of the police vehicles.
There were about 10 policemen and six of
Kunonga's priests," the bishop
said.
"Just before we distributed the communion elements the police
walked in and
started driving people out of the building. They also asked us
to vacate the
building and so we quickly and unceremoniously cleared the
altar and went
outside. I tried to ask why they were driving the people out
of the church
but they just kept doing it," he said.
The bishop said
it was "very humiliating" but he "remembered the Passion of
Christ and in
particular his humiliation. I said to myself this is nothing
compared to
what Jesus went through. They started accusing us of refusing to
listen and
breaking the law. Even the officer in charge who had told us to
go ahead
with our service joined in accusing us of not listening to advice."
The
police officer in command "continued to accuse us of breaking the law
and
did not want us to explain anything. He also said he would have
tear-gassed
us if he had wanted to and that we would not be able to appeal
to anyone"
because the ZRP police commissioner was "aware of what he was
doing."
Dr Gandiya asked supporters to pray for his clergy and the
people of the
diocese and pray "the authorities in Zimbabwe to stop the
police from
harassing our peaceful people who simply want worship their God
without
interference from the police."
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
Friday, December 18, 2009 12:00 AM
Alex T.
Magaisa
AN ISSUE has arisen regarding the relationship between the
government and
Zimbabwe’s large migrant population, popularly referred to as
the Diaspora.
It relates to a suggested proposal in an otherwise
well-researched and
beautifully-presented report produced by a dedicated
team of Zimbabwean
researchers based at Manchester University
The
suggested proposal, which is given as part of “confidence boosting
measures”
in rebuilding the relationship between the government and the
migrants is
that “migrants should be prepared to pay an annual tax for
retaining the
Zimbabwean nationality” (p. 126).
Unsurprisingly, the authors of the
report acknowledge that, “clearly the
idea of taxing migrants will be
controversial but could be one of the ways
in which the migrants can also
contribute directly to the fiscus” (page
126).
It is not surprising
that this matter has been picked up by the online
media, most of whose
readership constitutes the Diaspora. The report was
launched in Finance
Minister Tendai Biti’s presence, which lent a political
flavour to the event
and consequently the call for the ‘Citizenship Tax’ as
I will call it, was
attributed to his office.
It is unfortunate that this small bit of the
report threatens to overshadow
an otherwise great effort by a committed
group of Zimbabweans who are trying
their best to contribute to the
marketplace of ideas. There is more to the
report that requires the serious
attention and I really hope it informs the
debate and policy on national
development.
Nevertheless, given the importance of the issue of
citizenship and the
attention that it has captured, it is only proper that
the matter be debated
seriously. To my mind, the idea of linking citizenship
rights to taxation
(the citizenship tax) is one that is built on faulty
foundations.
The main point of concern is that such a scheme essentially
has the effect
of commodifying citizenship rights for only a section of the
country’s
population. This creates what might be conveniently referred to as
the
“commercialisation of citizenship” whereby citizenship becomes a product
that can be bought and sold on the marketplace. It predicates the
recognition of citizenship on the basis of one’s economic means.
When
citizenship rights become marketplace commodities, especially one in
which
the provider has a captive market, the risk is that they become the
preserve
of those who can afford them. This marginalises those who do not
have
adequate means.
Not only does it undermine the principle of equality for
all citizens, it
also compartmentalises the right to citizenship, making it
potentially
inaccessible to those who cannot afford the means to purchase
it.
Second, whilst Zimbabweans based in the country might see this as a
“Diaspora issue”, the idea of commodifying rights opens floodgates to all
sorts of potential abuses. It would set a dangerous precedent whereby rights
are packaged and made available only to those who have sufficient economic
means.
Once you allow the state to give and take away citizenship on
the basis of a
tax, you open the possibility that even home-based
Zimbabweans could be
required to pay tax or a fee by another name in order
to retain citizenship.
If paying taxes is the issue, the line between the
Diaspora and home based
Zimbabweans is in reality blurred. That is because
by and large Zimbabwe is
dominated by the informal sector and most players
in that market do not pay
taxes.
Indeed, one of the major challenges
in the country relates to the collection
of taxes from the informal sector.
Many others do not even have the means to
pay taxes. Now, if payment of
taxes is a precondition for retaining
citizenship, then millions of
Zimbabweans both at home and abroad will be at
risk of losing their
citizenship.
More seriously, the commodification of rights in this way
opens up the risk
that even the right to vote can also be subject to the
payment of a tax – a
vote tax, it might be called. This would mean that
those who cannot show
that they have paid taxes will be unable to vote. This
opens up all sorts of
avenues for abuse, potentially disenfranchising
millions of people, both at
home and abroad.
Part of the problem is
that when the issue of citizenship is discussed in
the current context, it
is often conflated and confused with the right to
vote. While naturally
citizens will demand the right to vote, it is
important for strategic
reasons, to separate the two. It is the conflation
of these two important
rights that that has caused problems as far as
recognition of dual
citizenship is concerned.
Whilst the right to vote is something that
citizens can legitimately demand,
it is important to appreciate that there
is more to citizenship rights than
voting rights alone.
In order to
understand the wider scope of citizenship rights, it is useful
to observe
section 4(3) of the Constitution which provides that “Every
Zimbabwean
citizen is entitled to the protection of the State wherever he or
she may
be”. This is a universal principle adopted by most civilised states,
that
the state protects its citizens. It is this broader protection, which
is
widely defined, that all citizens seeks and are entitled to.
The fact
that the current government may not have performed this protection
role is
not the issue here – the Zimbabwean state is more than the
individuals in
power. It is this broader scope of citizenship rights that I
wish to
emphasise, so that voting rights, with which citizenship rights are
often
conflated, do not obscure the wider significance of citizenship.
However,
for as long as citizenship rights are discussed within the narrower
context
of voting rights, the challenge of getting recognition will be
harder
precisely because of suspicions by politicians about voting attitudes
and
patterns often perceived along party lines.
The Diaspora would be advised
to separate the two and ensure first that the
broader citizenship rights are
safeguarded and then from that platform,
advocate the right to
vote.
I have written before about lessons Zimbabwe could draw from
Namibia, one of
our neighbours on the issue of dual citizenship. The effect
of the
constitutional provisions governing citizenship in Namibia is that
whilst
dual citizenship may be prohibited by a law passed by Parliament, as
is the
case in Zimbabwe, there is an important difference.
The
difference is that the equivalent provision in the Namibian constitution
is
subject to an important proviso, which states that "no person who is a
citizen of Namibia by birth or descent may be deprived of Namibian
citizenship” by any law that is passed by parliament.
This is crucial
because it safeguards from erosion the rights of those who
are Namibian
citizens by birth or descent. In other words, for these
persons, their
rights to dual citizenship cannot be prohibited by such a
law. It means,
therefore, that only those citizens who acquire Namibian
citizenship by
other means, e.g. registration, marriage, etc may be
prohibited from holding
dual citizenship.
It is clear that the Namibian constitutional provision
provides a greater
level of protection to “natural” citizens, for lack of a
better adjective –
i.e. those who get citizenship by birth or descent. It is
recognition of the
fact that for such citizens, citizenship is a birthright
which cannot be
bought or sold on the marketplace.
The core point
here is that for those born in the country, citizenship is a
birthright. It
cannot be taken away.
The suggestion, therefore, is for a proviso to the
current Section 9 of the
Constitution of Zimbabwe, stating, that “no person
who is a citizen of
Zimbabwe by birth or descent may be deprived of
Zimbabwean citizenship by
such legislation”.
As I have said, the
proposal for an annual tax in exchange for citizenship
rights is probably
based on innocent intentions, but ultimately there are
fundamental flaws
some of which I have tried to highlight here.
I am especially concerned
by the idea of commodification of rights and
mostly by the dangerous
precedent such a scheme would pose to the wider
array of rights, otherwise
freely available to citizens both at home and
abroad.
As the authors
of the beautiful report state, there are various “ways in
which the migrants
can also contribute directly to the fiscus”. To my mind,
a “citizenship tax”
is not one of them.
Alex Magaisa is based at, Kent Law School, University
of Kent. He can be
contacted on e-mail: wamagaisa@yahoo.co.uk
http://www.cathybuckle.com
18th December 2009
Dear Friends.
As
the first decade of the twenty first century draws to a close there are
few
signs that the delegates at the UN Climate Change Conference in
Copenhagen
will reach any legally binding agreement on carbon emissions or
acceptable
climate levels. The confusion and chaos among delegates inside
the
Conference Hall and outside on the streets gives little hope that
anything
positive will come out of this exercise. As always, the 'usual
suspects' are
there in Copenhagen, including Mugabe's friend Hugo Chavez,
all shouting
about the evils of the capitalist west while taking no
responsibility for
land degradation or destruction of forests in their own
countries. In the
last few days of the Conference when world leaders arrive,
the jet-setting
Robert Mugabe joined the exalted company. Accompanied by a
huge delegation
of 59 top Zanu PF cronies Mugabe had commandeered a regular
Air Zimbabwe
plane to carry them all to Copenhagen. Speaking before his
official address
to the assembled delegates on Friday, Mugabe, predictably
used the
opportunity to attack the west, accusing them of double standards,
"Why are
the polluters not pursued by western governments with the same zeal
they
show in castigating abusers of human rights?" he demanded. "We (in the
developing world) who bear the brunt of healing the gasping earth must draw
the most from the global purse for remedial action." Zimbabwe's 'gasping
earth' is indeed bearing the brunt, not of the west's double standards but
of Mugabe's own ruinous policies. For those of us questioning why Robert
Mugabe felt the need to attend the UN Conference when his own country stands
at the crossroads of a crucial Agreement of its own, his statement made it
very clear: he was there for his share of the 'global purse', The sight of
the ageing dictator sitting smugly in his place at the Copenhagen Summit
provoked one angry US Republican Senator to comment, "This guy's just
showing up to collect his cheque." True as that is, Mugabe has more than one
reason -apart from the First Lady's shopping, of coursefor being there in
Copenhagen. It is just another one of the delaying tactics he has been using
ever since the start of the Talks, last week it was the Zanu PF Congress
that caused the Talks to be delayed, Mugabe's claim that Zanu PF had lost
the last election because of factionalism inside the party revealed yet
again his inability to accept that he has lost the support of the
electorate. Now we see that Mugabe is supported in his total self-deception
by none other than the South African ANC. It seems that former Liberation
fighters are blind when it comes to the crimes of their former comrades in
arms; apparently the 'glories' of the past excuse all the crimes of the
present. With breath-taking disregard of reality, Tokyo Sexwale, the ANC
observer at Zanu PF's Congress proclaimed, "Zanu should continue to entrench
the democracy you fought for so tirelessly over the years." What democracy,
you may ask! Can anyone now doubt that South Africa has turned a blind eye
to Mugabe's destruction of democracy in his country? Sexwale's remarks have
clearly revealed South Africa's lack of neutrality. They will never tell him
the truth, they will never criticise him or his policies because of his
so-called 'liberation credentials.' Sexwale added the comment "Your enemies
will never criticise you.instead they will destroy you. Only your friends
will criticise you in a constructive manner. Zimbabweans should always heed
the call whenever South Africa criticises you." Obviously, Sexwale is
blissfully unaware that criticism, be it constructive or otherwise, is never
welcomed by Robert Mugabe. The story coming from an astonished MDC Cabinet
Minister that grown men actually go down on their knees in Mugabe's presence
is further evidence of the cult of the personality that has risen to
deification levels in Zimbabwe. Was it not a senior member of his party who
once described Mugabe as "the second son of God"? The decision to re-elect
Mugabe to rule the party for another five years comes as no surprise but
what is utterly mystifying is the blind, unquestioning support of the
thousands of delegates at the Zanu PF Congress for a man whose policies have
brought the country to its knees. Mugabe may dismiss human rights abuses as
trivial compared to climate change but the Zanu PF members who carried out
his orders to terrorise the population - from Gukuruhundi to the present
day - have destroyed the moral fabric of Zimbabwean society in a way that is
just as damaging to the spiritual and moral climate of the
nation.
For thirty years and more, Robert Mugabe has got away with the
murder, rape
and torture of his own people. He has repeatedly rigged
elections and even
now claims to be the peoples' choice despite the evidence
of the March 2008
election. Zimbabweans may blame the rest of the world for
doing nothing to
end Mugabe's regime but the truth is that Zimbabweans
themselves, through
fear or just plain cowardice have allowed him to get
away with it. For those
few brave souls who continue to protest against the
tyranny of Mugabe's
misrule, we can only hope that 2010 will see thousands
of other Zimbabweans
join their ranks to stand up for democracy, human
rights and the restoration
of the rule of law. Whether it is Copenhagen or
Harare, political agreements
mean nothing without the people's willing
participation.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.
"Racism is the belief that race is a primary
determinant of human traits and
capacities and that racial differences
produce an inherent superiority of a
particular race. In the case of
institutional racism, certain racial groups
may be denied rights or
benefits, or get preferential treatment.
Racial discrimination typically
points out taxonomic differences between
different groups of people,
although anyone may be discriminated against on
an ethnic or cultural basis,
independently of their somatic differences.
According to the United Nations
conventions, there is no distinction between
the term racial discrimination
and ethnic discrimination." (Source:
Wikipedia)
I see that Mugabe
himself has been called a 'racist' by two members of the
MDC. and, should
Mugabe wish to respond, he will come out with all manner of
allegations that
the MDC is a front for the British in general and whites in
particular.
Having been accused of racism myself more than a few
times in recent years -
primarily as a result of my writings on the internet
- I decided that it was
time to look at racism.
It would appear that,
in the mind of people like Mugabe, that racism is a
one way street. Blacks
can be the subject of racism, but cannot be racialist
themselves. And I find
that particularly sad.
Racism is an ugly trait and is present in all
walks of life and in all
continents. For one race to believe that it has the
upper hand over other
races just by virtue of their existence is not only
wrong, but has traces of
cowardice within it.
I lived in Zimbabwe
(and Rhodesia - same country, different name) for a
total of 34 years. I
have many black friends and got along with them
famously. I was one of the
few Zimbabweans given a native nickname - a sure
sign that you have been
accepted as an 'honorary' member of the tribe.
To be accepted like this
is a huge honour indeed, and something that is not
done
lightly.
Mugabe's dislike - nay - hatred for the white people dates back
to the 1960s
at least. He hates the white people almost as much as he loves
power and
riches.
Almost daily I receive emails from readers around
the world who believe that
the reason why I write is because of a racist
agenda and a need to prove
that white people are superior because of their
colour alone. They are
entitled to their opinions.
Mugabe also has an
avid hatred for homosexuals.
"Two MDC senior officials have accused
Robert Mugabe of being racist by
swearing in John Nkomo as co-vice President
despite ongoing police
investigation on allegations of sodomy while refusing
Roy Bennett because of
his pending court cases.
Mugabe has refused to
swear in MDC's deputy minister designate Roy Bennett
because of his pending
court cases.
MDC deputy organizing secretary Morgan Komichi said the
swearing in of Nkomo
shows that Mugabe is a "racist"."
Mugabe is a
man who lives by double standards - and seemingly gets away with
it, because
should anyone challenge his rule then he can claim "racism" if
the person is
white - and again, if the person is black, allegedly the front
for a white
person or body.
"We are however not surprised that the Nkomo sodomy
allegations have been
swept under the carpet, and we demand that
investigations be completed and
justice prevail in that case.
This is
not only a selective application of justice but clear racism by
President
Mugabe and his party, given that both Bennett and Nkomo have
pending
criminal cases. We know that one is not guilty until proven
otherwise by the
court of law, and why treating these two cases differently?
MDC Youth
Secretary General Solomon Madzore said justice should be applied
equally to
all citizens, adding that Mugabe had double standards."
Mugabe will elect
not to respond, only because he has no wish to draw any
more attentions to
the differing standards - I mean, who would appoint a
Vice President that
has homosexual tendencies?
Remember that Mugabe had the former President
of Zimbabwe, Canaan Banana,
charged criminally with homosexual
activity.
I quote an email received from a reader elsewhere in the world:
"Others say
you get what you deserve because of your harsh treatment of the
black
people. I don't know, the whole situation in that part of the world is
so
touchy. When the SA/Zim. situation comes up against real left-wing
people, I
feel like a racist trying to defend Zim. If you're white and try
to defend
the thought of white people living in Africa you're looked at
crossed eyed,
and immediately thought to be racist."
Sadly, ignorance
breeds arrogance.
Robb WJ Ellis
The Bearded Man
http://mandebvhu.instablogs.com/entry/so-whos-the-racist-now/
CONSTITUTION WATCH 14
[17th
December 2009]
Select
Committee Announces Thematic Sub-Committee
Members
At a press conference on
16th December the Select Committee co-chairpersons announced the composition of
the constitutional thematic sub-committees. There are 17 thematic
sub-committees and each one will have
25 members, making a total of 425 individuals involved in the
thematic sub-committees. The chairpersons are MPs or Senators, as required by
Article 6 of the GPA; the deputy chairpersons are from civic society.
Membership of the thematic sub-committees is shared between parliamentarians and
civic society in the proportions 30% to 70% [8 parliamentarians and 17
non-parliamentarians per team]. The Select Committee uses the term “civic
society” to include political parties as well as other organisations, so
political parties are represented among the 17 other members of each
sub-committee. Names were put forward by civic society organisations but the
final selection of deputy chairpersons and members of the thematic
sub-committees was done by the Select Committee in a way they believed would
ensure a balance of people considered sympathetic to the main political
parties. The 11 small political parties not represented in Parliament have been
accommodated, each being allowed 5 nominees spread over the 17 thematic
sub-committees. The Select Committee believes it has come up with a group of
people truly representative of Zimbabwean society and characterised by gender
balance and inclusivity. [Lists of Thematic Committees and
names of chairperson, deputy chairpersons and members in Next Constitution
Watch]. Comment:
as the sub-committees will be expected to make themselves available at any time
for several months obviously they will not include people whose jobs and
responsibilities preclude this. Also, because of the delays and the uncertainty
that have dogged the constitution-making process [the Select Committee
originally said that thematic committees would be set up by 28th July] some
people who let their names go forward many months ago have said that they are
likely to withdraw because of other work commitments. Others didn’t even know
that their names had been put forward and will be unable to make themselves
available. There will have to be some revision of the
lists.
Additional Outreach Personnel
The Select Committee have
also chosen an additional 135, individuals bringing to 560 the total complement
of persons involved in the outreach programme to consult the people on what they
want in the new constitution. 107 of the 135 extra outreach personnel are
Parliamentarians, the idea being that they will use their influence to assist in
smoothing out any problems arising in the field. The other 28 will come from
civic society lists. The services of the extra 135 will be required for the
duration of the outreach exercise only – they will not be members of the
thematic sub-committees who continue their work after the
outreach.
Outreach Programme
The
programme for the outreach exercise will start with training outreach personnel
on 4th January 2010. Consultation of the people will start on 12th January and
take 65 days [or more if necessary]. All thematic sub-committee members and the
additional outreach personnel will be involved in the outreach exercise.
Outreach Teams: The 560 will be
divided into 70 teams of 8 members each. Each team will be responsible for
consulting the people in 3 of the 210 House of Assembly constituencies.
Training Programme for Parliamentarians [4th to 5th
January]: MPs and Senators will
be trained on their own on Tuesday 5th January [arrival and registration on
Monday 4th]
Training Programme for non-Parliamentarians [6th to
10thJanuary]: The remainder of the
outreach personnel will be trained in a four-day workshop running from 7th to
10th January [arrival and registration on Wednesday
6th].
Deployment of Outreach Teams [11th January]:
Outreach teams will then
be deployed to the provinces where they will meet officials and representatives
of civic society at provincial level on Monday 11th January to explain their
programme before starting work the next day.
Start of Outreach: Consultation with the
people will start on Tuesday 12th January.
End of Outreach: 18th March 2010 [the
consultations are expected to last 65 days but this time will be extended if
necessary].
Thematic Sub-Committees’
Responsibilities to Continue after Outreach Finishes: Members of the thematic sub-committees will be expected to
continue their work after the outreach exercise to synthesise and collate the
results of the consultations with the people. Each thematic sub-committee will
prepare a report on what the people want the new constitution to say on the
sub-committee’s theme. These reports will form the basis on which the drafters
will proceed to produce a draft of the new constitution. [The extra 135 persons
not on the thematic committees will not be involved in this exercise.]
Minister of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Continues
Advocacy Programme
Minister
of Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Eric Matinenga has been continuing
his countrywide series of “advocacy meetings” in Masvingo on Wednesday and
Mutare on Thursday. As with his previous meetings in
These
meetings will continue in the New Year, to cover
Political Rivalry – A Challenge to the Constitution-Making Process
At the
The Select
Committee has given assurances through its co-chairpersons that it is alive to
the challenges that may arise for outreach teams in the field if political
rivalries bring about confrontations at public meetings. The training of the
teams will include guidance on how to handle difficult situations
that may arise and how members of the teams should conduct themselves in a
professional and non-partisan manner.
Leaders of all
political parties are urged to curb their party cadres and ensure the process is
not disrupted by party sloganeering and disruptive behavior, as was the case in
some of the consultative meetings leading to the First All Stakeholders’
Conference and at the Conference itself.
ZANU-PF Congress Resolutions on
Constitution-Making
Several
resolutions passed by the ZANU-PF Congress on Saturday 12th December referred to
the constitution-making process. These resolutions, although strongly worded,
anti-MDC and foreign intervention, do not explicitly repeat the earlier ZANU-PF
position that the constitution-making process should wait until “illegal”
Western sanctions have been lifted. Nor do any of the resolutions mention the
Kariba Draft. What is of concern is the phrase “prevent it from being hijacked by those who wish to
effect regime change”. This could be an encouragement to party
youths, war vets, etc, to block any change in presidential powers or
transitional electoral reform. The clauses of the resolutions mentioning the
Constitution are:
C. On Land Reform, Resettlement and
Agriculture
2. [The
Congress] Instructs the Party to ensure that the new constitution and the
current Post-Maputo Inter-Party Negotiations do not reverse the Land Reform
Programme and instead ensure security of tenure which entrenches ownership and
control of the indigenous population over the nation’s land and natural
resources.
D. On the GPA and the Inclusive
Government
5. [The
Congress] Signals its determination to reject any outcome of the
Constitution-making process that is not home grown. An acceptable outcome would
be a Constitution made by Zimbabweans for
7.
Directs all Party members and organs to fully participate in the constitution
making process in order to prevent it from being hijacked by those who wish to
effect regime change or to undermine the gains of the Liberation
Struggle.”
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