http://www1.sundaymail.co.zw
Sunday,
December 20, 2009
Emillia
Zindi
FOLLOWING the signing of a series of investment co-operation
agreements
worth US$8 billion between international oil company China
Sonangol
International Limited and Government last month, a high-powered
delegation
of Chinese experts is in the country to carry out gas and oil
studies in the
Zambezi Valley.
The five-member team, which is
accredited under an affiliate company,
China-Sonangol, arrived last week and
immediately met officials from the
Ministry of Mines and Mining Development
and the National Oil Company of
Zimbabwe.
The experts began work on
Tuesday. Head of delegation Dr Steven Yin said a
second team comprising
seven experts remained in China to research on
Zimbabwe's oil and gas
reserves.
He said they were conducting the feasibility study with a view to
entering
oil and gas exploitation projects.
The research will be based on
another done by Mobil in the 1980s, which
suggested that the Zambezi Valley
had a high potential for gas and oil
production.
The company is expected
to make its findings known before real work begins
with a two-phase
implementation plan.
Phase one involves the study and evaluation of
exploration. The experts are
thereafter expected to hold the first joint
meeting of specialists with
locals to communicate the study
results.
Investigations into gas utilisation and marketing information in the
country
and in Southern Africa will then follow.
The deal represents the
single largest foreign direct investment since the
formation of the
inclusive Government in February.
It covers investments in sectors such as
mining, energy and transport.
http://www1.sundaymail.co.zw
Sunday,
December 20, 2009
By Tafadzwa Chiremba
THE High Court has granted a
provisional order barring the police from
interfering with activities of
parishioners aligned to Bishop Chad Gandiya
of the Anglican Church of the
Province of Central Africa (CPCA).
The court said the worshippers should
be allowed to use the church's
facilities without interference from the
police.
It also ordered police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri and the
co-Ministers of Home Affairs Cde Kembo Mohadi and Mr Giles Mutsekwa to stop
directing the police to interfere with the parishioners.
Cde Chihuri was
found in contempt of court for violating an earlier order
granted by Justice
Rita Makarau allowing the sharing of church properties
between Archbishop
Nolbert Kunonga and his rivals.
The latest ruling brings to an end fights
that had been erupting between
followers of Archbishop Kunonga and those of
Bishop Gandiya over the use of
church properties.
Justice Tedious Karwi
granted the provisional order on Monday last week.
He upheld the earlier
judgment by Justice Makarau that called for sharing of
church premises with
a 90-minute interval.
Part of the provisional order read: "Subject to the
police's constitutional
mandate of maintaining law and order, the
respondents (Cde Chihuri, Cde
Mohadi and Mr Mutsekwa) be and are hereby
restrained from ordering,
authorising or causing interference by any members
of the Zimbabwe Republic
Police with the rights of the applicant and its
members, parishioners and
officials to make use of the church facilities of
the applicant in
accordance with the order issued by the Honourable Justice
Makarau on
December 19 2008 in Case Number HC 345/08."
The police and the
Ministry of Home Affairs were also ordered to pay the
cost of the
suit.
There had been a spate of clashes between the police and the CPCA
members
resulting in church services being disrupted.
Some of the church
parishes affected by the interference were the Anglican
Cathedral in the
city centre, Kambuzuma, Highfield, Glen View's St Andrew's
and St Martin's
in Hatfield.
A spokesperson for the faction led by Archbishop Kunonga, Bishop
Alfred
Munyanyi, said they were going to recognise the judgment that was
issued by
Justice Ben Hlatshwayo.
"Justice Hlatshwayo made it clear when
he said the ownership of the premises
was under a trust headed by Archbishop
Kunonga," said Bishop Munyanyi.
The Dean of the Anglican Cathedral, Rev Farai
Mutamiri of the CPCA faction,
said they were using the premises based on
Justice Makarau's judgment.
"We are co-sharing the premises as was granted by
Justice Makarau last year.
It is also mind-boggling why police would enforce
a court order when it is
supposed to be the messenger of court aided by the
police," said Rev
Mutamiri.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009 19:06
AID agencies are
battling to bring under control a measles outbreak in the
country that has
so far killed 10 children in Makoni South. Parents of all
the children who
died are members of an Apostolic faith sect that
discourages its members
from receiving medical attention.
According to the World Health
Organisation (WHO) at least 292 cases, the
majority of them in Manicaland
have been reported since the outbreak was
detected last week.
WHO
says the 10 fatalities were "community deaths" that were reported in the
Nyamidzi area of Makoni South.
United Nations Children's Fund
(Unicef) communications officer Tsitsi
Singizi yesterday said the agency was
working with government on a "mop up
measles" campaign in Nyamidzi and other
surrounding areas.
"We have five medical teams already on the ground,
administering measles
vaccines in Nyamidzi and other surrounding areas such
as Chikogore, Rukweza,
Makamba and Nyazura to children between six months
and 14 years," Singizi
said.
She said it was disturbing to note
that at least 99% of the affected
children were members of the sect, which
is now being targeted in the
campaign.
"The outbreak is a
worrying sign of the low immunisation coverage in the
province because of
the huge presence of the Apostolic faith sect.
"The deaths recorded
were community deaths, outside a health institution,"
Singizi
said.
"There is need for a robust engagement of this group to
convince them of the
benefits of immunisation and this is what our medical
teams on the ground
are already doing.
"We believe that no child
should die of measles because it is preventable
through
vaccination.
"Our efforts as Unicef and government are banking on the
co-operation of
this sect and the community to save the lives of innocent
children."
Dr Henry Madzorera, the Minister of Health and Child
Welfare said
encouraging members of the sect to take their children for
immunisation
against killer diseases was an ongoing
battle.
Madzorera urged leaders of the sect in Manicaland to take
part in the
ongoing emergency response by Unicef and the government to
prevent further
loss of lives.
Last year's cholera outbreak which
claimed more than 4 000 lives also saw a
large number of members of the
religious sect dying from the disease because
they did not seek medical
treatment.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009
19:02
WASHINGTON’S new man in Harare, Ambassador Charles A Ray, says a
country is
strengthened when its people are well - informed and have a
variety of
sources of information by which they can make informed decisions.
In an
interview with The Standard last week the US diplomat said much of the
current debate over so-called pirate radio stations could be eliminated if
there were less draconian efforts to monitor and to control the flow of
information.
In what will come as a surprise to many, Ambassador
Ray disclosed that the
Voice of America (VOA), which hosts Studio 7, but
which the government
describes as a pirate radio station, had
representatives here not so long
ago talking to the government about
establishing a presence here.
“I would certainly hope that in the
very near future the government would do
that favourably and open up the
information landscape because you have a
highly literate, very sophisticated
population here that can use that
information wisely and I think that rather
than weakening the government,
having better information its role would be
strengthened.”
He said having spent days during the recent Zanu PF
Fifth Congress at which
there was considerable time devoted to condemnation
of the VOA’s Studio 7,
John Nkomo, who was elected second Vice-President,
gave an interview to VOA’s
Studio 7 although in public the government
describes it as “a pirate radio
station”.
“I think it’s a bit
strange! We really need to look at whether the efforts
to control people’s
access to information are counter-productive or not. In
the meantime if
these organisations — VOA radio and others — were allowed to
operate here in
Zimbabwe this probably wouldn’t exist.”
The ambassador presented his
credentials to President Mugabe at State House
11 days ago. He said the
issue of VOA’s Studio 7 “did not even come up at
all” during
discussions.
In public Zimbabwe has said it will protest to Botswana
for hosting
facilities that are used by VOA’s Studio 7, which is operated by
exiled
Zimbabwean journalists.
But Ambassador Ray said the US has
VOA relay facilities in countries all
over the world and the legality of
their broadcasts is determined by the
laws of the countries in which the
relay stations are located, “so the
claims that it’s illegal broadcasts
cannot be supported by a reading of
international law”.
The
discussions with President Mugabe centred on what the US ambassador’s
focus
will be — finding ways that the US and Zimbabwe can work together to
improve
the situation in this country for the benefit of its people.
“My
comments to him were essentially that I believe in engagement and
dialogue
and that we should all commit to working together to restore
Zimbabwe to its
position as the jewel in the crown of Africa. This place has
far too much
potential to be allowed to languish as it has for so long.”
By Our Staff
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009 18:52
BULAWAYO - The lid
is expected to come off in the ongoing inter-party talks
tomorrow when the
three principals to the global political agreement (GPA)
make the
long-awaited announcement on deals Zanu PF and the two MDC
formations made
during their month-long negotiations.
President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara are
also likely to refer a number of sticking
issues back to the Southern
African Development Community (Sadc).
The talks resumed on Friday
evening, and the negotiators will today meet for
the last time this
year.
This will be followed by the principals' announcement tomorrow, after
which
they will break for two weeks.
Sources confirmed that a
number of issues had already been deferred to next
year.
In the
meantime, the negotiators will be studying what is understood to be
volumes
of proposals on just a few issues.
"We will take a break for two
weeks, during which we will study some
proposals that have been presented on
the remaining issues," said a source.
"All we are doing with these
proposals is to suggest possible compromises on
the outstanding
issues.
"The three teams will look at what is being suggested and look at
that
within the context of the recommendations of our principals and
Sadc."
The sources said there would be no further delays in the
announcement as
this would worsen matters among Zimbabweans and the
international community
who have grown tired of the unending disputes in the
coalition.
But sources have confirmed that although there had been
progress on 15 of
the 21 items now on the agenda, there had been no movement
on the
contentious issues that led to this new round of
talks.
They include Mugabe's unilateral appointments of Reserve Bank
governor
Gideon Gono, Attorney-General Johannes Tomana and his refusal to
swear-in
MDC-T treasurer-general Roy Bennett as deputy Agriculture
minister.
When the talks resumed last month, there were only five
outstanding issues,
but the list ballooned every week, and by the time the
talks adjourned over
a week ago, there were 21 items on the
agenda.
It is understood the on-and-off meetings between the
negotiators had seen
"remarkable" progress on mostly peripheral issues,
while the contentious
ones remain.
But on Friday Tsvangirai said
the principals were expecting to report
progress on the talks after their
traditional Monday meeting.
"On Monday next week (tomorrow), we will
be in a position to announce to the
nation what has been agreed on and what
has not been agreed on," Tsvangirai
said at a New Zimbabwe lecture series
reviewing the progress of the unity
government.
Without
elaborating on the nature of the problems, Tsvangirai said they
would then
approach Sadc on the issues they failed to agree on.
"By the end of
this year, we can see the involvement of Sadc, the going back
of our
negotiators to now set the timelines and framework on the
implementation of
those issues we have agreed on," Tsvangirai said.
He said while there
had been positive developments brought about by the
formation of the unity
government, there were still teething problems.
The inclusive
government is supposed to drive the drafting of a new
constitution that will
eventually lead to fresh elections.
But Tsvangirai said there were
still challenges in creating a conducive
environment for free and fair
elections.
"We have more challenges. These are mainly what I would
call transitional
challenges. Remember that we are in a
transition.
"And everyone knows that at some stage we have to go for
an election, even
Zanu PF knows it, Mugabe has stated it clearly that we
have to go for an
election so that we can come up with a democratically
elected government,"
he said.
President Robert Mugabe has on a
number of occasions suggested that
elections are around the corner.
This
is despite the current fissures in his party, which saw him fail to
name his
politburo during the Zanu PF congress that ended last weekend.
"For
the last two years and most possibly for the next two years, we have
all
accepted there are certain reforms that have to take place before an
election can take place.
"We need a new constitution before we
can go for an election.
"We need national healing. And we also need
to ensure that commissions
running the elections would be independent so
that they can deal with the
problem of laying the foundation for a normal
society," the Prime Minister
said.
Tsvangirai said Zimbabweans
deserved a violence-free election and a peaceful
transition.
"We
want things to be done in a peaceful way and have a peaceful transfer of
power to the one who would have won that election," he
said.
Despite the suffering of his supporters at the hands of Zanu PF
militia and
state security agents, Tsvangirai said MDC -T would never seek
revenge.
BY NKULULEKO SIBANDA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009
18:44
THE Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Office has moved to contain
the
chaotic situation that is now reigning supreme at the Beitbridge Border
Post
as the festive season gets into full swing.
On Monday last
week, Tsvangirai dispatched a high-powered delegation led by
Gorden Moyo,
the Minister of State in the PM's Office to the port - one of
the busiest in
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Moyo was accompanied by the Principal Director in
Deputy Prime Minister
Mutambara's Office Paul Mavima, principal Chief
Immigration Officer,
Clemence Masango and senior officials from the Ministry
of Finance and the
Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra).
The
purpose of the visit was to assess the level of preparedness in handling
travellers during the festive season as well as to explore possible
solutions to some of the immediate challenges.
Among other
things, the delegation established that the border post was now
"porous",
which has led to a surge in the number of people crossing without
proper
documents.
In a report he compiled after the visit, Moyo said urgent
interventions were
needed to prevent the situation from
exploding.
"There is congestion at the border post," said Moyo is his
report.
"There are lots of imported vehicles that have not been
cleared; warehouses
are full of impounded goods; the facility is in
disrepair with some ceilings
falling off or cracking, there is no perimeter
fence and the city rank is an
eyesore.
"Several beggars have
indeed taken residence at the rank and in the open."
The minister
said the Immigration and Zimra facilities at the border were
"technologically depleted" making it impossible for them to handle the
pressure.
"The Department of Immigration is not computerized at
Beitbridge and
elsewhere in the country," Moyo said.
"While the
Department has the computer hardware, it needs US$600 000 to pay
for the
software.
"The software has already been developed by a local ICT
consortium.
"This is a national project which will see the Department
being computerised
at all important ports of entry.
"At the
national level, US$2.9 million will be needed."
Poor connectivity has
also slowed down the processes at Zimra, Moyo said.
"Zimra has three
internet links with Harare which are usually down," he
said.
"Real time communication with their servers in Harare is a
challenge.
"Also due to connectivity problems they cannot utilise the
Ascuda World
system for clearing tracks, which would make the process very
fast."
Because of the challenges stemming from incessant - and
usually
unannounced - load shedding, the agencies end up resorting to manual
processing, causing serious delays.
The report proposes that "it
might be necessary to arrange for the Border
post to be connected to the
South African side for power".
Delays in the clearance of imported
cars has also led to congestion of the
runway meant for
travellers.
It also emerged in the report that the staffing levels at
both Zimra and
Immigration were poor, mostly due to the shortage of
accommodation in
Beitbridge.
Moyo tabled a proposal to get 30
additional staffers for Zimra and suggested
the use of mobile houses to ease
the accommodation challenge.
The depletion of security structures at
the border, noted Moyo, was now
causing problems with the authorities on the
South African side of the
border.
Beitbridge is also the busiest
inland port in Southern Africa.
"The Border post is porous. It leads
to people going through the Border Post
without proper travel documents
which creates tension with the South African
immigration department," adds
the report.
As a result of the security challenges, which have been
worsened by the
vandalism to the perimeter fence, Moyo said there has been
an increase in
robberies and thefts from travellers.
"Beggars
also come to the border post, which does not give a good impression
to
tourists visiting the country through this port of entry.
"The
recommendation is to have protective perimeter fencing and CCTV."
On
Friday, Moyo said the challenges at the border town were a result of the
political neglect of many years.
"To be honest, I think the
border post has suffered like all other
institutions in terms of severe
economic dislocation in the country. We need
to put in place resources for
infrastructure development," Moyo said.
The December festive season
has always been among the most challenging for
the port because of the high
volumes of travellers.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009 16:47
THE
Harare City Council has stopped businessman Phillip Chiyangwa from
developing a stretch of land in Borrowdale pending investigations into how
he acquired it. Minutes tabled by Council's Environment and Management
Committee at a full council meeting on Thursday show that Chiyangwa has been
served with an Enforcement Order and a Prohibition Order to allow for the
investigation.
The committee said it had observed that a public
open space and recreational
area in Borrowdale was being developed into a
multipurpose park.
"The committee undertook a visit of inspection to
the site on November 26,
2009 and arising from previous minutes, the
committee expressed concern that
planning processes had not been followed
and also illegal developments had
started on the land," the committee said
in its report tabled at the
meeting.
It also said it had
established that Chiyangwa had been developing the land
through his Kilma
Investments Company.
In an interview yesterday, Harare Mayor
Muchadeyi Masunda said the orders
effectively froze any further developments
on the site.
The committee also expressed concern that Council had
issued "so many stands
to Chiyangwa" and recommended a suspension on further
sale of land to him
and companies associated with him.
An ad hoc
committee has since been set up to investigate issues surrounding
all land
allocated to the businessman and his companies.
Chiyangwa's Pinnacle
Properties has in recent months caused a storm among
some city residents
following a flurry of property developments including
shopping malls, hotels
and housing estates.
Masunda said in the past three months, Council
received complaints
concerning Chiyangwa's land developments, which in some
cases flout
environmental laws as they are being carried out on
wetlands.
Some of the complainants are residents of Borrowdale and
Ballantyne Park.
"On Monday, some residents furnished me with a list
of Chiyangwa's land
projects they are not happy about," Masunda said. "This
delegation of
residents said it had established that no Environmental Impact
Assessment
survey had been done on the pieces of land where these projects
were being
carried out."
He said Council has since established
that Chiyangwa acquired most of the
land during the days of a caretaker
commission which ran the city's affairs
before the current
council.
Local Government and Urban Development Minister Ignatious
Chombo appointed
the caretaker commission, chaired by Michael Mahachi, which
ran the city's
affairs for six months before the new council's assumption of
office in July
last year.
In an interview on Friday, a fuming
Chiyangwa said he had not been served
with any orders and declared that
Council had no right to stop him from
developing any land as he had acquired
it through legal means.
He said if Council attempted to block him
from developing the areas
suspected to have been corruptly allocated to him,
he will influence Chombo
to replace the MDC-T dominated council with a
commission.
Chombo has in the past replaced popularly elected MDC-T
councils in Harare,
Chitungwiza and Mutare with Zanu PF commissioners after
accusing them of
failing to run the local authorities.
"If they
attempt to block me, I will unblock their stupidity and ignorance
through a
court order," Chiyangwa said. "I will unblock with Chombo who will
fire all
of them and appoint a commission to run the city's affairs or have
they
forgotten that they do not have the final say in the way the city's
affairs
are run?"
The former Zanu PF chairman for Mashonaland West also said
he will even go
to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Robert
Mugabe if anyone
attempted to stop him from "empowering
blacks".
Chiyangwa, who said he had proof that he owned all the land
under
investigation said he had been using council as a bank for his land
"before
these MDC hoodlums came".
He said Council was in fact
indebted to him as it owed him a lot of land,
most of it banked in
2007.
"I own all the land they are talking about," he said. "I never
bought any
land from council and those ignorant MDC councillors should check
their
records and see how much indebted they are to me.
Chiyangwa
accused Masunda of "trying to fight Old Mutual wars in council"
but did not
elaborate.
Masunda, who sits on the Old Mutual board, dismissed the
claim as cheap talk
and said he will recuse himself from any cases involving
companies he has an
interest in.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009 16:45
A
Beitbridge businesswoman is suing a senior magistrate in the town for
allegedly ordering her detention after she failed to pay a R50 000 bribe.
Sarah Chauke is claiming US$50 000 from magistrate Jabulani Mzinyathi and
Beitbridge businessman Washington Kanyangu in damages for alleged "unlawful
arrest and malicious prosecution".
According to the summons filed
at the Harare High Court, sometime this year
Mzinyathi & Kanyangu tried
to extort R50 000 from Chauke.
No reasons were stated on the summons
on why the two wanted to extort money
from her.
She said the two
men acting in concert caused her arrest, after she failed
to raise the money
they wanted. As a result, she said she was arrested and
spent six nights in
police cells.
Chauke was arrested in August after she was implicated
in the theft of
cables worth US$66 000.
She allegedly connived
with John Makusha, Costa Mapolisa and Respect Chauke
to steal from the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (Zesa)
installations. They also
allegedly stole a further 620kg from the National
Railways of Zimbabwe in
Lutumba in Beitbridge.
After Chauke was granted bail she was arrested
again for allegedly
interfering with the state witness, Philemon
Moyo.
The same month Chauke was caught in another controversy when a
senior army
officer she was double-dating was shot by a
rival.
BY SANDRA MANDIZVIDZA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009 16:42
THE
Reserve Bank has accused Finance Minister Tendai Biti of abetting the
cash
shortages threatening to spoil the promising festive season for most
Zimbabweans. But the latest tirade is seen a continuation of the bitter war
between underfire RBZ governor Gideon Gono and Biti who has set in motion
legal mechanisms to reform the central bank, which had become notorious for
oiling the Zanu PF machinery and fuelling hyper-inflation.
Long
queues have become the order of the day at most banks as preparations
for
the festive season intensify.
However, banks were unable to dispense
cash to clients and in most cases
this was a blow to many workers who were
hoping to have the first decent
festive season in three
years.
The cash crisis brought back bitter memories of the 2007-2008
when clients
slept in queues in a desperate bid to access their
money.
The RBZ, despite its penchant for printing money, failed to
keep pace with
rampaging inflation that worsened the demand for
cash.
But this time the central bank says Biti's delays in appointing
the RBZ
board and the underfunding of its activities fuelled the fresh
crisis.
"The central bank is being acutely under-funded by Treasury
(Ministry of
Finance) leaving the institution with no capacity to
independently perform
the lender of last resort function let alone afford to
import currency for
banks," RBZ said.
Biti was unavailable for
comment yesterday.
RBZ said in 2009 it received US$1.5 million from
the Ministry of Finance to
cover all operations, overheads and any other
statutory obligations the bank
had to implement.
"Accordingly,
therefore, all banking institutions are expected to make their
own
arrangements in importing multiple currency cash to meet their customers'
demands," RBZ said.
The statement, which was unsigned, said the
RBZ will continue to impress on
government, through the Ministry of Finance
"that continuation of the
current acute under-funding of the central bank
has pushed the financial
sector to the brink of systemic instabilities that
would run counter to the
current positive momentum to stabilise and grow the
economy".
Biti and Gono have been engaged in a battle for the control
of the country's
financial levers since the formation of the unity
government in February.
Despite the duo saying their alleged
differences were a creation of the
media, their working relationship has
deteriorated over the past six months.
Their wars have also divided
politicians as evidenced by the current debate
on the RBZ Amendment
Bill.
The Bill was passed by the House of Assembly but is facing
resistance in the
Zanu PF-dominated Senate.
In the 2010 budget,
RBZ was allocated US$10 million for all its operations
including the
"sustenance of the electronic payment system and subscriptions
to SWIFT
service providers", a figure monetary authorities say is too
little.
RBZ said the Ministry of Finance was deliberately
withholding the
appointment of a board of directors for the central bank
that has seen the
apex bank operating without a board the whole of
2009.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009 16:39
HARARE
City Council is to undertake a human resources audit to flush out
ghost
workers, in an exercise modelled along the ongoing civil service audit
which
has sent shock waves among government employees. Council's Human
Resources
and General Purposes Committee met last Tuesday and recommended
that an
audit committee be set up to spearhead the exercise expected to
commence
next month.
The proposal came at a time when government is also
conducting an audit
which is understood to have unearthed several thousand
ghost workers in the
civil service.
The audit was instituted
after concerns that Zanu PF militias were being
rewarded through the civil
service.
Thousands of civil servants who had deserted their jobs at
the height of the
economic crisis were also suspected to be still on the
payroll.
The Harare council has been run by successive commissioners
with Zanu PF
links and there is concern that the same patronage system could
have been
extended to its human resources department.
"We want an
audit like the one being carried out by the government whereby
people bring
their certificates. We want a head count of each and every
employee," Ward
17 Councillor, Warship Dumba said at a full council meeting
on
Thursday.
According to minutes of the Human Resources Committee
tabled at the meeting,
councillors heard that some workers report for duty
in the morning to sign
the attendance register but disappear to pursue their
private work.
The committee also felt that some workers were being
overpaid as their
salaries did not match the work they were
doing.
Councillors at the meeting also expressed concern over what
they called
"unbecoming and disrespectful" behaviour from some council
employees,
especially those from the water division which was recently
handed back to
council by the Zimbabwe National Water
Authority.
In the report, the Human Resources Committee said it was
concerned that
Harare Water employees were being treated as if they were a
special group.
The committee also expressed concern over the
employees' "negative attitude"
towards Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda when he
recently addressed them on two
different occasions.
"Those people
who showed disrespect to His Worship the Mayor of Harare
should be
disciplined for their behaviour," Cllr Peter Moyo said.
"We cannot
have employees standing up in front of a lot of people and using
abusive
language towards His Worship the Mayor of Harare, a man respected by
the
international community."
The committee also submitted that some
Harare Water union leaders allegedly
pre-occupied themselves with union
business during working hours without
permission from the
employer.
"These union members are indeed a big problem," Cllr Casper
Takura said.
"I know of one union member who has not set foot in his
workplace for the
past six or seven months but continues to enjoy the
benefits of a good
employee.
"We also remember that the Town
Clerk was recently dragged from his office
by one of these employees and
nothing happened to the culprit.
"We are setting a bad precedent; we
need to discipline these people."
Councillors said some workers from
the water department arrogantly declare
that they are not council
employees.
Others said disciplining the workers remained difficult
because the workers'
reporting process differed from other employees as
"they do their own thing
and do not report to the District Officer like
other employees".
The committee recommended that the Human Resources
Director take tougher
steps and ensure that Harare Water employees are
treated like all other
employees.
However, Masunda called for
tolerance, saying the handover of Harare's water
was still an ongoing
exercise.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009 16:23
Many
years have passed since Erasmus Marombo visited his rural home in
Gokwe, in
the Midlands for the Christmas and New Year holidays. This year,
however,
Marombo will temporarily "shut down" his shoe-making business next
to
Harare's Mbare Musika long-distance bus terminus and travel to Gokwe,
together with his family.
"I just want to go and be merry with my
people. It has been some time since
we gathered as a family and slaughtered
a beast," said Marombo, trying to
stitch a rather worn out safety
shoe.
"I have already bought some goodies and new clothes for
everyone at home.
"If I sell just one pair of shoes, I make about
US$10, which is enough to
buy a few groceries."
From just
watching the hustle and bustle at Mbare Musika long-distance bus
terminus,
it is clear that this year's festive season things are different -
there is
a turn for the better.
"This year it is just fabulous, things are
really working. It is easy to
plan now," said Christine Chimbwanda, a
vendor.
"Now I can go into a supermarket with all the assurance that
I will get the
items I want at a known price, unlike last year when I would
just carry
wads of notes and get into town and let fate decide what I would
buy and
where.
"I know that everyday I make US$5 on
average."
Last year, Chimbwanda could neither go to her rural home in
Murehwa nor
bought clothes for her children.
She is going home
this week and has already bought "lots of new clothes" for
her
children.
"We last experienced this many years ago. Celebrating
Christmas had become
more of a luxury, but this year we are going to
celebrate it like never
before."
Over the last few years, the
bliss usually associated with Christmas had all
but vanished in Harare, and
Zimbabwe as a whole as a result of the
unfavourable economic
situation.
But the formation of the inclusive government, and the
subsequent scrapping
of the Zimbabwe dollar, has resulted in life for the
ordinary person
improving considerably.
Supermarket shelves which
were bare last year are brimning with merchandise
and shoppers are spoilt
for choice.
On Friday, the Central Statistical Office said Zimbabwe,
which had been
plagued by hyper-inflation for nearly a decade had switched
to price falls
on a monthly basis.
The CSO said prices in
November were 0.1% lower than in October.
Inflation, which peaked at
230 million percent officially, has slowed down
significantly since the
country adopted multiple currencies in February.
"Of course, the
money is still not enough, but we are far, far better
compared to what was
happened last year," said Ignatious Chinembiri, a
school teacher from
Wazvaremhaka near Chivhu.
"Last year we had planned to go home, but
we failed because the money was
just not enough.
"We had to save
the little we had for school fees and basic essentials."
Chinembiri
was accompanied by his wife, Jacqueline, and children.
A tout at the
terminus, Philip Munyonho believes this year everyone is going
to have a
great Christmas.
But it's not everyone who is having a merry
Christmas. Simbarashe Nkomana, a
vendor at the makeshift bus terminus at the
Harare Show grounds says for him
this will be the worst Christmas in recent
memory.
"I don't want to lie to you, gore rino zvakapressa (this year things
are
tough)," said Nkomana, who sells soft-drinks and mobile phone airtime
vouchers at the undesignated small rank.
"I have to work extra
hours for me to realise any meaningful returns from my
sales.
"Last year, I sold a 300ml soft drink for R10, but this
year the highest I
can get from that is R5.
"If I sell two drinks
for US$1 that translates to slightly more than R3 per
bottle, which means
the profit is just a few cents."
While everyone else will be going to
their rural homes to spend Christmas
with friends and relatives, Nkomana
will have to stick around and try to
raise a little bit more
cash.
In Bulawayo residents are reliving the festive seasons of the
past
characterised by the influx of Zimbabweans based in South Africa
popularly
known as injiva.
But what are the political parties up
to this festive season?
The leadership of the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) formation led by
Arthur Mutambara has come up with a position
that on Christmas Day there
should be no political
activity.
Party spokesperson Edwin Mushoriwa said Christmas should be
a time for
everyone, including politicians, to spend time with their
families.
"We do not have any activities as a party lined up for
Christmas," Mushoriwa
said.
"As a party, our belief is that the
foundation of a good country is in a
strong family. We believe the festive
season is time for people to be with
their families, people should be
together. Political activity has to pave
way for the family because for us,
that is the foundation for everything."
His party's
secretary-general, Welshman Ncube said it was essential that
they take a
short break to be with their families, and reflect seriously on
the
year.
But Mushoriwa's counterpart in the MDC-T, Nelson Chamisa, said
for them
there was no time for family. His party has lined up rallies across
the
country.
"The real Christmas present is delivering change to
the people of Zimbabwe.
We have no time to retreat into our cocoons, it has
to be work all the
time," said Chamisa, who is scheduled to address a rally
in Kuwadzana on
Tuesday.
"We cannot enjoy Christmas and forget
that there is next year to be dealt
with. Next year we hope to bring real
change in terms of issues of the
constitution, national healing and
cohesion."
In an attempt to brighten Christmas for ordinary
Zimbabweans, Deputy Prime
Minister Thokozani Khupe has embarked on a
nationwide tour of hospitals and
prisons, where she interacts mostly with
female inmates.
It could not be established whether leadership of the
Zanu PF would be hard
at work this time or could be having a break after
their recent congress
exposed sharp divisions in the party.
BY
VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009 16:20
THE
First Lady Grace Mugabe has been linked to moves to evict 1 200 newly
resettled farmers from a Mazowe Farm to make way for a new game park.
Confused farmers said they were given less than a week to vacate Arnold Farm
a few days after Mrs Mugabe toured the area accompanied by Transport
Minister Nicholas Goche, Zanu PF deputy spokesperson Ephraim Masawi, police
officers and officials from the Ministry of Lands.
But
Mashonaland Central governor, Martin Dinha, sought to distance Mugabe
from
the farm saying she had never visited the area, which he said had been
set
aside for a game park to be developed by Chinese and South African
investors.
However, the settlers insisted they were told that
orders to evict them had
come from the highest office and their last day on
the farm was supposed to
be December 11.
Most of the farmers said
they had nowhere to go after arriving at the farm
nine years ago as part of
Zanu PF's militant land reform programme.
Claris Chiminya (39) who
has five children said she could not just abandon
her thriving maize crop
after she paid US$80 for a tractor to plough her
three-hectare
plot.
"I have always done my best to ensure that I get a good yield
to feed the
family and also sell to the Grain Marketing Board and Cottco,"
Chiminya
said.
"Last year I harvested six bales of cotton and a
lot of maize, some of which
is still in the hut despite us having sold and
eaten some.
"This year I wanted to do better than that hence the
decision to sacrifice
the little money I had to do dry
planting."
Chiminya like most of her neighbours got seed, fertiliser
and chemicals from
Cottco through a loan that she must repay after harvest
next year.
Zanu PF Mazowe Ward 19 chairman Christopher Mahachi said
everyone at the
farm was given four days to vacate despite the need to get
clearance to move
livestock among other things.
"Chief Negomo,
the paramount chief in this area, came to me on Monday
accompanied by
someone he said was a chief officer from the Lands ministry
and told me that
we should all vacate this farm the following morning,"
Mahachi
said.
Mahachi said he was advised to tell the people that government
wanted to
start a project on the farm, which will create employment for 9
000 people.
"We were told that since we were only 1 200 families, we
cannot disturb
government in this project as it stood to benefit more
people," Mahachi
said.
He said they were told that even if they
appealed the order would not be
reversed because it came from "the
top".
Mahachi said Elliot Manyika, the late Zanu PF commissar, once
warned them
that the farm was not for resettlement but they were assured by
government
officials that alternative land for them would be
found.
"Why did they not evict us before the elections," said another
settler,
Tafara Mudzamiri.
"These people are treating us like a
grader, leaving us to clear this land
which was a dense forest and now
throwing us out like used tissues.
"Even witches will not do this to
us. They should at least allow our crop to
mature so we can have food to
feed our families next year."
However, Dinha said the people were
illegally settled on the farm and
accused them of degrading the
environment.
"They have done a lot of damage in that area ranging
from wanton cutting
down of trees, illegal gold panning and game poaching,"
he said. "You will
remember that the farm is one of the three farms covering
Manzou Game Park,
which was designated Nehanda National Monument in
2004.
"Present on that farm is the holiest traditional site called
Baradzwana
where Nehanda was captured."
He denied claims by the
settlers that they have been given less than a week
to leave and said a
meeting to discuss the issue was scheduled for last
Tuesday. But it emerged
that he only sent his representative to the farm.
Dinha then warned:
"But the bottom line is that everyone is moving,
including both legal and
illegal miners that could be found on the farm
because everyone knows that
the area is not for people or mines but for
animals," he said. "We will soon
fence the area and bring back the animals."
The First Family has been
linked to at least five farms that were grabbed
from white commercial
farmers during the chaotic land reform programme.
At least 4 000
farmers lost had their land after it was seized during the
often violent
occupations.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December
2009 15:44
HEALTH and Child Welfare Minister, Henry Madzorera last week
launched the
national male circumcision (MC) policy for HIV prevention with
a call for
more support from various partners to expand the implementation
of the
programme. Madzorera said the introduction and subsequent roll out of
MC
services in the country was an additional HIV prevention mechanism that
government was taking seriously.
He said a recent study by government to
assess the acceptability of MC in
Zimbabwe showed that 45% of men were
interested in the procedure while other
studies have put the figure as high
as 62%.
Various studies have shown that male circumcision significantly
reduces the
risk of heterosexual HIV infection.
Experts say when done
correctly, circumcision could reduce the risk of men
being infected with HIV
by 60%.
"The concept of male circumcision requires strong and concerted
efforts from
all stakeholders," Madzorera said.
"My ministry is working
to ensure that the procedure helps to strengthen
other health services in
Zimbabwe and does not interrupt or divert resources
from other primary
health care services."
The minister said government had put in place a
steering committee that
included the National AIDS Council, Zimbabwe
National Family Planning
Council (ZNFPC), Population Services International,
the World Health
Organisation and the United Nations Population Fund to
"spearhead the
planning, monitoring and implementation of quality MC
services."
Among other issues, the policy recommends that male circumcision
must be
provided as part of a comprehensive national HIV prevention package
and not
offered in isolation as the method is not full proof.
It also
says the initiative must not compete or divert resources from other
health
programmes and this makes it critical for additional resources to be
mobilized for both MC and the strengthening of health systems.
Madzorera
said the MC policy had received backing from local and
international HIV and
Aids implementing partners.
Early this year government established a training
centre for MC at ZNFPC
offices in Harare and four learning sites in Karanda
(Mashonaland Central),
Mutare General Hospital (Manicaland), Manyame Air
Base in Harare and a
stand-alone site in Bulawayo.
All four sites are now
fully operational.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 19 December 2009
15:39
UNIVERSITY of Zimbabwe (UZ) law lecturer Professor Geoff Feltoe was
last
Friday named the winner of this year's edition of the Professor Walter
Joseph Kamba Rule of Law Award. The award was inaugurated this year in
honour of the late first Vice-Chancellor of the UZ who ranked among the best
law scholars to emerge from Zimbabwe and also to make an international
impact.
Supreme Court Judge, Justice Wilson Sandura won the inaugural
award in
January.
Accepting the award at a ceremony organised by the Law
Society of Zimbabwe
(LSZ), Feltoe said he was humbled by the honour as he
felt there were many
others who deserved it.
Expressing his thoughts on
the state of the legal profession, Feltoe said
there was a worrying trend
where a few members were undermining the rule of
law.
"Some of them were
taught by me, but I emphatically deny any liability for
their actions," he
said.
"Fortunately, the bulk of our practitioners are committed to the
struggle to
secure observance of the rule of law."
The guest of honour at
the awards ceremony, Justice Pius Langa, who retired
as South Africa's Chief
Justice spoke highly of Kamba, whom he described as
a person who " never
tired, never faltered" even when circumstances spelt
danger for
him.
Delivering a lecture on Human Rights and the Rule of Law, Langa said
there
were always bound to be challenges when a country transforms from one
regime
to another.
"A major challenge to any transitional government is
how to handle those
whose actions caused suffering under the previous
regime," he said.
"On the one hand there is the rule of law and the
requirement that those who
act contrary to the law are treated accordingly
and on the other is the need
to move on, to ensure peaceful transition and
to build a future."
BY OUR STAFF