The Guardian
Saturday
December 8, 2007 11:01 PM
By BARRY HATTON
Associated Press
Writer
LISBON, Portugal (AP) - Debates over Zimbabwe and Darfur caused
friction
Saturday at a summit of European and African leaders attempting to
build a
new alliance on economic and environmental issues.
The
two-day summit in Portugal's capital drew leaders of the 53-member
African
Union and 27-nation European Union for their first such meeting in
seven
years.
It was intended to culminate in new agreements Sunday on more
trade, climate
protections, eased migration and better African
transportation and energy
production.
``We can't waste any more
time,'' said Portuguese Prime Minister Jose
Socrates, whose country holds
the EU's rotating presidency. He called the
talks ``a summit of equals''
among the 80 nations represented, some of them
former colonial powers in
Africa.
But other concerns kept popping up.
``We cannot turn a
blind eye when human rights are being trampled,'' said
German Chancellor
Angela Merkel, who described the EU as ``united'' in
condemning Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe for economic mismanagement,
failure to curb
corruption and contempt for democracy. ``The situation in
Zimbabwe taints
the image of the new Africa.''
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stayed
away in protest against Mugabe's
attendance. Mugabe, granted a temporary
visa, attended the Lisbon summit but
made no comment to the
media.
South African President Thabo Mbeki, a mediator between Mugabe's
party and
its main opposition, had threatened to skip the Lisbon talks if
Mugabe was
not invited. He indicated European meddling in African leaders'
human rights
efforts was unwelcome because the African nations were taking
steps on their
own to protect rights.
``We are doing this of our own
accord,'' he said, ``having drawn the
necessary lessons from our own
experience.''
Plans for a summit four years ago fell through when some
African nations
balked at the EU's refusal to invite Mugabe. His government
is subject to EU
sanctions, including a travel ban, over its human rights
record.
The conflict in the western Sudanese region of Darfur was another
point of
contention. Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir has so far refused to
allow
non-Africans into a 26,000-strong U.N.-A.U. peacekeeping force planned
for
Darfur.
EU nations, meanwhile, have failed to come up with the
needed military
hardware to support the operation.
EU diplomats had
``a very frank meeting'' with al-Bashir to express their
concerns,
Portuguese Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Joao Gomes
Cravinho said.
Al-Bashir told them there was progress in negotiations with
the U.N. on the
makeup of the force and he would provide details in the
coming days,
according to Gomes Cravinho.
Sudan and U.N. officials reported making
some progress Saturday. In a joint
statement, they said they met at the
Lisbon summit to speed the deployment
of AU-U.N. peacekeeping troops and
that ``clarification had been provided in
some areas.''
Both sides,
however, said there was ``serious concern that there were
critical gaps in
the force capabilities, particularly military aviation and
called upon the
international community to provide these capabilities.''
U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned last week that the new
peacekeeping
force could fail unless it gets 24 critically needed
helicopters. Ban
lamented the U.N.'s failure to get a commitment for even
one
helicopter.
Despite the tensions, the EU is eager to lock Africa, a
continent that is
set to become one of the world's big new markets, into a
closer trading
relationship. China has invested heavily in Africa and is
challenging
Europe's place as the continent's preferred
partner.
Africa, for its part, wants more European investment to raise
the
continent's standard of living. About two of every people in sub-Saharan
Africa lives on less than $1 a day despite some recent economic
growth.
Ghanian President John Kufuor, who chairs the AU, said leaders
should set
aside the past, which included the ``abominable'' slave trade,
European
colonization and apartheid.
New accords on trading and other
areas will ``correct this historic
injustice and inhumanity,'' he said.
``For almost 500 years the relationship
between our two continents had not
been a happy one.''
---
Associated Press Writers Daniel Woolls
and John Heilprin contributed to this
report.
The Telegraph
By
The Rt Hon William Hague, MP Shadow Foreign Secretary
Last Updated: 9:16pm
GMT 08/12/2007
Commentary
Gordon Brown was
right not to attend this weekend's EU/Africa summit
which is providing a
publicity coup for a tyrant.
It is a scandal that while Zimbabwe's
economy is obliterated, its
citizens made destitute, its children
malnourished and one in four people
have fled the country, the man who has
run Zimbabwe into the ground is being
feted in Lisbon.
By
inviting President Mugabe, the EU chose to whitewash this reality.
Britain
takes a different view.
There were moments this year when it seemed
that the country might
have reached a tipping point which would sweep away
the current regime, or
that Mugabe might be ousted by his own disgruntled
party.
He clings on, but his hold cannot last forever and the
current
situation is unsustainable.
We cannot predict when the
change will happen, or who will emerge as
the new face of Zimbabwe, but it
is likely to come with little warning.
Too often the debate on
Zimbabwe is consumed by the here and now. But
there will be a day after
Mugabe.
So while keeping up pressure on the regime, through
targeted EU
sanctions and tough diplomacy, our strategy must comprehend the
possibility
of a dramatic change.
We and other nations have a
duty to prepare for that moment, to ensure
that we can assist in the
country's difficult transition from authoritarian
rule and economic and
social collapse.
Waiting until the day after the fall of the
dictator could be too
late.
Zimbabwe will need the same support
as a country emerging from war. It
exhibits many of the scars and
characteristics of a post-conflict state:
massive population displacement,
depleted infrastructure, the breakdown of
basic services, social trauma, a
lack of justice, and a shattered economy.
Incredibly, several other
African countries which experienced full
scale civil wars have emerged with
stronger economies than Zimbabwe, ravaged
instead by two decades of
misrule.
Mugabe's departure will create a "golden hour"; a short
window of time
when expectations are high and the political situation fluid.
In Iraq, as we
have learnt to our cost, this moment was
squandered.
We have hard-won experience in rebuilding broken
societies in Bosnia,
Sierra Leone and East Timor. These lessons will need to
be applied, to help
Zimbabwe to recovery.
The international
community should develop a clear package of
assistance, to be given as soon
as a caretaker administration in Zimbabwe
makes clear that it will implement
democratic reforms, and permit free and
fair elections.
Such a
government should be offered help to move from a culture of
violence to one
of the rule of law. We should support reform of the security
sector,
including the restructuring of the National Army and the Zimbabwe
Republic
Police, disbanding of paramilitary groups, and training for
officials in
civilian policing and human rights.
We should also be ready to set
up a "Contact Group," backed by the
weight and resources of the UN, to
engage closely with regional partners
like South Africa, Mozambique, Zambia,
Botswana and Malawi.
Such a body was successful in overseeing
Bosnia's recovery, and could
pool international efforts on Zimbabwe, manage
the inflow of assistance,
advance the political process, and pave the way
for normalising Zimbabwe's
relations abroad.
Urgent steps will
also be needed to promote Zimbabwe's economic
recovery, from ensuring
protection, food and shelter for internally
displaced people, to restoring
basic infrastructure and
institution-building.
We should also
be prepared to help those who have left Zimbabwe to
return and
reintegrate.
In the event of a major deterioration in security we
ought also to be
ready for an international observer mission, or over the
horizon
humanitarian force under the auspices of the African Union and
backed by the
major powers.
There is no time to waste in
developing a response to the unavoidable
in Harare. Nor is there any reason
to be shy about preparing for the it.
Our active preparation for
the day after Mugabe should signal to the
Zimbabwe's people that they are
not forgotten, and that the world stands
ready to help once Robert Mugabe is
gone.
The international community must be ready. It is time for the
preparations to commence.
Zim Standard
BY WALTER
MARWIZI
SIX members of the European Union did not send their
heads of
government to the EU-Africa summit in Lisbon in protest against the
presence
of President Robert Mugabe, it emerged yesterday.
The
countries are Britain, Lithuania, the Czech Republic, Hungary,
Slovakia and
Cyprus.
The summit which began yesterday was marked by noisy
demonstrations
against Mugabe’s presence in Lisbon where 27 EU and 53
African countries are
seeking to deepen trade and economic
ties.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who earlier backed Mugabe’s
participation at the summit yesterday blasted him.
"The current
situation in Zimbabwe damages the image of the new
Africa,’’ Merkel told
representatives of EU and African states who included
Mugabe.
"Nothing can justify the intimidation of those holding different views
and
hindering freedom of the press.’’
Mugabe, accompanied by his wife,
Grace, and several ministers, cast a
shadow over the summit, boycotted most
notably by British Prime Minister
Gordon Brown.
Brown said he
could not share the same table with Mugabe whom he
accuses of being
responsible for human rights abuses and the collapse of a
once robust
economy.
The prime minister sent in his place Baroness Amos, a
former Cabinet
minister, to represent the UK.
The Portuguese
Foreign Ministry revealed four former communist
republics and Cyprus had
joined the British in dispatching low-level
delegations to the summit — to
protest against Mugabe’s presence.
Mugabe, banned from travelling
to Europe, was given a waiver to travel
to Portugal for the
summit.
The summit has not been held since 2000 as a result of the
intense
squabbling over Mugabe’s participation. He is accused by the West of
violating human rights and pursuing policies that have ruined a once
prosperous country.
The 83-year-old president claimed victory
as he left Harare for
Portugal last week accompanied by his
wife.
But on arrival in Lisbon, he became the target of noisy,
placard-waving demonstrators who denounced his rule.
Aid
agencies joined in condemning Mugabe.
Christian Aid came out openly
saying Mugabe should not have been
allowed to set foot on EU
soil.
The agency said it was disappointed that the man who presided
over the
collapse of the Zimbabwean economy was allowed into Europe despite
the
travel sanctions.
Christian Aid Africa specialist, Judith
Melby, who visited Zimbabwe
recently, said: "Rather than lifting the ban the
EU should extend the travel
ban to the families of senior Zanu PF officials
who are already banned.
Parents in Zimbabwe find it particularly galling
that children of the ruling
clique can study abroad while their own children
have little chance of an
education."
When the summit opened on
Friday, the Portuguese prime minister
indicated that Mugabe would be in for
a rough ride.
Jose Socrates called for "frank and open" dialogue.
He said there
would be no taboos at the summit where Mugabe’s critics are
raring to have
him officially censured for human rights
violations.
"The serious situation in Zimbabwe had blocked these
talks for years,"
he said. "The strategy requires political dialogue which
is frank and open,
with no taboos or sacred cows.
"Human rights
are a universal heritage of humanity which we have to
preserve and
defend.... We have put human rights at the centre of not only
our agenda but
our strategy."
European Commission President Jose Barroso made an
indirect attack on
Mugabe in an address to the EU-Africa
representatives.
"Frankly," he said, "we hope that those who fought
for independence
and freedom in their countries now can also accept this
freedom for their
own citizens.’’
Demonstrators and activists
want Mugabe censured for violating human
rights. Notable writers, including
Wole Soyinka, accused the EU of cowardice
by not putting Zimbabwe and Darfur
on the agenda.
Zim Standard
BY NDAMU
SANDU
AMOD Takawira, a fine gentleman, devoted his efforts to
ensuring that
the pay-as-you-go pension scheme of the National Social
Security Authority
(NSSA) retained some relevance in a hyper-inflationary
environment which
eroded the value of pensions.
The affable
Takawira — instrumental in the setting up of NSSA over a
decade ago —served
the institution tirelessly as acting general manager for
seven
years.
But he is now a full-time farmer after the board led by
Albert Nhau
appointed James Matiza to replace him.
Matiza’s
appointment was effective this month and ended Takawira’s run
as the longest
serving acting general manager of any parastatal institution
in
Zimbabwe.
The winds of change seem to be blowing in the cloistered
boardrooms of
the parastatals as substantive general managers are being
appointed to steer
the sinking ships.
At the Grain Marketing
Board the former top cop Albert Mandizha was
appointed substantive general
manager, bringing to an end the former soldier
Samuel Muvuti’s three-year
spell as acting CEO.
During his tenure Muvuti courted controversy,
ending up being arrested
but later being exonerated of
wrong-doing.
Banker Erickson Mvududu was appointed to head the
controversial
Agricultural Development Authority (Arda), replacing Joseph
Matowanyika who
was axed in July. Tractors and other farm implements
reportedly disappeared
from Arda in peculiar circumstances. There were
frantic efforts to recover
all the machinery.
Substantive heads
for the wobbly Air Zimbabwe and the not-so-brilliant
Zesa Holdings were also
appointed during the year. The aim seems to be to
bring a modicum of
efficiency in the running of the largely beleaguered
state enterprises,
described by critics as piranha-like monsters for their
ravenous appetite
for the national coffers.
Analysts say although the appointment of
substantive heads was long
overdue, there is an urgent need to minimize
interference from parent
ministries.
"As long as ministers
wield power they (parastatals) will continue to
have challenges," said
corporate governance expert Luxon Zembe.
"Appointment of
substantive CEOs and general managers should be done
on merit, not on
political suitability."
Zembe says the majority of board members
should be independent, with
recognizable expertise.
He says
performance-based contracts should be in place, ensuring that
those
appointed to head parastatals perform to their maximum ability.
"It’s a critical issue in leadership management," said Zembe. "When
people
are recruited they ask: What kind of car am I going to be driving?
This is
wrong. They should be told that if you deliver results, you will
drive that
car," he said.
Zembe declined to be transferred to the National
Railways of Zimbabwe
board in a dubious lateral transfer from the Air Zim
board, saying he was
not a civil servant who could be tossed around at the
government’s whim.
Analysts say a combination of commitment and
determination could
revitalise the state enterprises that have bled the
fiscus of trillions of
dollars. Most parastatals are way behind with their
audited financial
results.
"It’s one of the key issues," said
Eric Bloch, Bulawayo-based
economist. "You have to get the right personnel
to ensure that audited
results are up to date."
Strident calls
to privatise parastatals have fallen on deaf ears.
Successive ministers of
finance have in previous budget statements promised
to sell loss-making
enterprises but those declarations have remained empty
promises.
Former state enterprises later privatised, Dairibord
and Cottco, are
enjoying their place in the sun, posting thumping profits
and enjoying the
comfort of declaring a dividend to the
shareholders.
Bloch says the government has no business running the
National Oil
Company of Zimbabwe with its pathetic scorecard.
"In most countries, the private sector provides fuel. South Africa,
Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique are examples," he said.
Addressing ministers, deputy ministers and parastatal chiefs on
corporate
governance issues last year, Vice-President Joice Mujuru gave
parastatals a
30 March 2007 deadline to fill vacant posts.
". . .there are
parastatals that have gone for years without chief
executives," Mujuru said.
"This is very regrettable for a country that
prides itself on having some of
the best human resources in the world. We
need to be fair to our
institutions and to ourselves as a country and in
this respect I demand that
vacancies for senior management posts and boards
be filled within the next
three months."
She is in charge of state enterprises.
While some parastatals have heeded Mujuru’s call, for others it is
business
as usual.
At the troubled steelmaker Ziscosteel Alois Gowo has been
acting CEO
for over a year following the pull out of Lalit Sehgal of Global
Steel
Holdings Ltd (GSHL) last year.
GSHL were given management
control of the delinquent steelmaker on a
silver platter before quitting in
a huff. A report prepared by the
parliamentary portfolio committee on
Foreign Affairs, Industry and
International Trade unearthed startling
revelations that the Indian firm had
instructed Zisco suppliers to inflate
prices that would have milked the
company of billions of dollars had it
sailed through.
The National Incomes and Pricing Commission has no
substantive CEO.
This is a vital institution mandated to determine the
prices of all goods
and services.
Richard Mbaiwa holds fort at
the Zimbabwe Investment Authority, albeit
in an acting
capacity.
Analysts note a worrying trend of army or police officers
occupying
high offices in parastatals.
"We have to see how the
appointments turn out. In some cases it is
jobs for the boys," Bloch
said.
Observers say capital injections to resuscitate ailing
institutions
have brought home the equivalent of a wooden
spoon.
Under the Parastatal and Local Authorities Reorientation
Programme, a
facility set up by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, state
enterprises accessed
cheap funds to realign their operations.
Mujuru acknowledged that results have to start coming.
"I am aware
that some parastatals got funding under the Parastatals
and Local
Authorities Reorientation Programme (PLARP) spearheaded by the
Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe," she said. "We now expect results. You cannot be
turning around
forever, otherwise you get dizzy and collapse!" she said
then.
Zim Standard
BY OUR STAFF
THE
Movement for Democratic Change says the demarcation of new
constituencies by
the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission is evidence that Zanu PF
is not serious
about the on-going Sadc-initiated talks.
In a statement, the
faction led by Morgan Tsvangirai said the
announcement by the commission
that it had proceeded to delimit
constituencies was "a shock" to Zimbabweans
who were following the progress
of the talks.
As part of the
dialogue, the MDC had said it wanted the ZEC to be
reconstituted before a
fresh voter registration could be conducted.
Under Amendment No 18,
only a reconstituted ZEC should engage in a
fresh exercise of voter
registration and delimitation, the party said.
"The ZEC’s
composition is a scandal," said Nelson Chamisa, the party’s
national
spokesperson. "It is staffed with former military personnel, Zanu
PF
functionaries and individuals whose identities are suspect.
"The
MDC believes that the ZEC, as currently constituted, has become a
weapon to
puncture people’s confidence in electoral processes. Delimitation
as a
process to enhance a free and fair poll has been hijacked to suit Zanu
PF’s
interests against the spirit of the dialogue process."
Chamisa said
it was ironic that before the conclusion of the talks,
Zanu PF was
"Nicodemously and nocturnally imposing its will and antics in an
attempt to
evade the obvious people’s harsh verdict in 2008".
The announcement
of the delimitation exercise came at a time when the
opposition had demanded
that Zanu PF honours the promises it made during the
talks.
Among these was the new constitution, the repeal of draconian laws
before
the March 2008 elections. These include AIPPA and POSA.
"The MDC
calls on the region (Sadc) and the African Union (AU), in
particular and the
international community at large, to put pressure on the
regime to stick to
the spirit of dialogue and to respect the will of the
people," said
Chamisa.
Meanwhile, the Arthur Mutambara faction has endorsed its
20 sitting
MPs as its candidates for next year’s harmonised elections and
will soon
launch its election campaign.
Abednico Bhebhe, their
deputy spokesperson, said they would finalise
the selection of the other
constituencies in a fortnight, before a
delimitation exercise is
done.
Bhebhe said the final decision to participate in the
elections would
be made after the conclusion of the Sadc-led mediation talks
between Zanu PF
and the two MDC formations.
Zim Standard
By Jennifer
Dube
"WE still sit under the trees . . .I want to ask the
authorities among
us here if we really deserve this," Jolamnethi Moyo said,
plunging the crowd
into deep silence.
His sentiments were
directed at Christone Maguma, representing
Midlands province governor Cephas
Msipa, at the recent launch of two HIV and
Aids intervention
programmes.
The programmes are being co-implemented by the Swedish
Co-operative
Centre Regional Office for Southern Africa and the Midlands
AIDS Service
Organisation in Silobela’s Hlanganisa Ward 22.
Msipa was said to be attending Jabulani Sibanda’s Million-Man March in
Harare.
A village head in Silobela’s Vukani Village, Moyo,
introducing his
colleagues, pleaded with government to develop the area,
which he said
lagged behind others.
"We are very concerned
about our area’s serious state of
underdevelopment . . .We do not even have
a hall where we can gather as a
people during such public meetings," he
said. "I would like to ask our
leaders here present if they are proud to be
sitting under this type of
squalid shelter."
Maguma, sitting
under a threadbare tent among other dignitaries,
including Swedish
Ambassador Sten Rylander and representatives from the
other organisations,
could only look down, in apparent shame, as Moyo spoke.
While VIPs
were sheltered under a well-worn sail, balanced on freshly
cut wooden poles,
the villagers and school children sat under trees.
Moyo said the
only hall the villagers sometimes used belonged to
another donor and they
had limited access to it. Maguma said Moyo’s plea was
"difficult". "We are
not that under-developed," he said. "His words are
difficult."
Under the project, which seeks to reduce the burden of HIV and Aids in
the
area, one of the organisations selected a few households to grow
drought-tolerant, less labour-intensive crops of high nutritional value,
among them sweet potatoes, cassava and pigeon peas.
The
organisation, which provides seed and other farming material and
tools to
the farmers, intends to buy these crops once they are multiplied
and
distribute them to programme beneficiaries so they can grow them in
their
own fields.
The organisation has also partnered with agricultural
institutions to
educate the villagers on suitable dry-land farming methods,
among them
conservation farming and rain water harvesting.
MASO
also provides HIV and Aids educational services to the community.
The Swedish International Development Agency is financing the projects
to
the tune of US$1.2 million over three years.
Zim Standard
By Rutendo Mawere
GWERU — A maternity wing of the biggest council-run clinic in Gweru’s
Mkoba
high-density township has been shut down due to a staff shortage, The
Standard confirmed last week.
The closure at Mkoba 1 Council
Clinic has resulted in serious
congestion at the remaining Polyclinic that
services expectant mothers of
the populous Mkoba area.
Although
the clinic is still offering ante-natal care services,
expectant mothers on
the clinic’s list have now been referred to the
Polyclinic in Mkoba 13 for
delivery.
The Polyclinic’s maternity ward only has two labour beds
and four
post-natal beds.
Employees at the clinic, who spoke on
condition of anonymity said the
maternity ward’s indefinite closure towards
the end of last month, was a
"serious administrative blunder", as it is the
biggest of all council
clinics.
They acknowledged the staff
shortage, adding that in most instances
only one nurse would be available to
oversee the clinic’s ante-natal,
post-natal, immunization and out-patients
services.
But the sources said the council should have closed the
clinic’s other
departments and left the maternity wing
functional.
Sources said a number of pregnant women had gone into
labour and
delivered on the Polyclinic’s floors because of the
congestion.
Sesil Zvidzai, the Gweru executive mayor, confirmed the
clinic’s
maternity ward, with its four labour beds and 16 post-natal beds,
was closed
because of a severe staff shortage.
He said nurses —
like those in government institutions — were leaving
for greener
pastures.
While most nurses are paid less than $14 million a month,
it is
reported they could make an average of US$1 000 in neighbouring
countries.
"We therefore saw that it was more reasonable to have
one operational
maternity ward than have two skeletons," Zvidzai said. "We
moved the
remaining staff to the Polyclinic."
The mayor said in
order to ease the staff shortage, the council was
recruiting retired nurses
who no longer had aspirations to seek greener
pastures.
The
council is also employing nurses on a locum basis.
The Mkoba
high-density township contains over half of Gweru’s
population.
The situation is compounded by the fact that the Gweru provincial
hospital’s
maternity services are already overstretched and the hospital has
been
relying on council clinics to ease the congestion.
Zim Standard
BY CAIPHAS
CHIMHETE
TEACHERS are heading for confrontation with government
over their
demand for a 1 500% salary increment from next month, when
schools open for
the 2008 first term.
In a letter dated 30
November to the Public Service Commission (PSC),
Progressive Teachers’ Union
of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) secretary-general Raymond
Majongwe said industrial action
would be "unavoidable" if their demands are
not met.
The
militant union wants a salary of $150 million a month, a transport
allowance
of $88 million and housing allowance of $80 million.
"We advise you
to take these concerns seriously in order to avoid a
collision with teachers
when schools open for first term in 2008," the union
said. "Labour unrest is
inevitable if these concerns are not sincerely
addressed."
Teachers now earn an average $17 million although official estimates
put the
cost of sustaining a family of six at around $30 million a month,
assuming
they paid only for basic goods and services.
Justifying the $80
million housing allowance, the union said a room
would cost $15 million a
month by January next year and the lowest paid
teacher was entitled to stay
in a four-roomed house, by United Nations
standards.
"Water,
electricity and service charges will be averaging $20 million
a month (refer
to city council proposed budgets)," Majongwe said.
The union
blasted the government over the annual bonuses awarded to
teachers in
November, describing them as "seriously inadequate". Teachers
were paid
annual bonuses averaging $9 million.
Majongwe said the bonus
destroyed their morale, especially under the
current hyper-inflationary
environment.
"We have resolved to demand that you facilitate the
payment of real
bonuses at a minimum level of $75 million in December 2007
as the first
indicator to meaningfully address the plight of teachers," said
the union.
The proposed bonuses would cushion teachers from the
financial burden
associated with the festive season and the beginning of a
new year.
In a related development, Zimbabwe Teachers’ Association
(Zimta)
representatives and PSC officials met last week to discuss January
salaries.
Zimta national president, Tendai Chikowore refused to
disclose details
of the meeting.
PSC chairman Mariyawanda
Nzuwah and the Minister of Education, Sport
and Culture, Aeneas Chigwedere,
could not be reached for comment.
Teachers have downed tools more
than three times this year over better
salaries and working conditions. The
PTUZ estimates that 25 000 teachers
have left the country since the
beginning of this year.
Nurses, doctors and other professionals are
leaving the country in
droves in search of better paying jobs in Botswana,
South Africa, Britain,
Australia and the United States.
Zimbabwe is grappling with shortages of basic foodstuffs, fuel and
foreign
currency after seven years of economic recession many blame on
President
Robert Mugabe’s disastrous policies.
The 83-year-old leader, who
has ruled Zimbabwe since independence from
Britain in 1980, denies the
allegations and accuses Western powers of
sabotaging Zimbabwe’s economy to
try to oust him as punishment for his
seizure of white-owned farms.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani
Ndlovu
BULAWAYO — Zimbabwe Schools Examination Council (Zimsec)
markers
downed their pens and pencils last week protesting against low
allowances
and poor working conditions.
The markers, most of
them teachers, are also protesting against the
late payment of their food
allowances.
The industrial action comes weeks after the council
warned it was not
certain the 2007 examinations would be marked due to
inadequate funding.
Zimsec depends entirely on government grants
and examination fees paid
by candidates sitting for Ordinary and Advanced
Level examinations.
Over the years, Zimsec has been constantly hit
by financial problems
and lack of resources.
The Standard
learnt that the markers were also protesting a move by
the cash-squeezed
council to pay them 25% of their outstanding allowances
next year when
examination results are released. Markers are being paid 75%
of their
allowances.
Markers based at the Bulawayo Polytechnic said in
interviews they
wanted allowances for both lunch and supper increased to
more than $3
million a day, up from the paltry $500 000.
A
plate of sadza in Bulawayo and Harare costs anything between $1.5
million
and $2 million. The markers said they wanted allowances for marking
examinations increased from $150 000 a script to at least $1
million.
"Zimsec had promised to pay us the allowances for food on
arrival at
Bulawayo Polytechnic last week but to date, we still have not
received
anything," said a teacher, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Another said: "Zimsec should increase allowances for
food and marking.
What they are promising us is just peanuts. The free food
of boiled cabbages
and beans we are served at Bulawayo Polytechnic is
sub-standard."
Zimsec spokesperson, E Pasipamire had not responded
to questions at
the time of going to press.
Raymond Majongwe,
the Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ)
secretary-general,
confirmed the markers had gone on strike. He said members
of his union had
quit the marking altogether.
"This is just too bad and it
compromises the already compromised
marking of examinations," he
said.
"Teachers are not treated as professionals. Teachers should
just
boycott the marking exercise to send a message to the
government."
Zimsec director, Happy Ndanga told a parliamentary
committee recently
that the examinations body was allocated a meagre budget,
not enough to
ensure smooth running and marking of
examinations.
There have been calls to the government to overhaul
the council after
concerns raised over deteriorating standards, flagrant
breach of security,
confidentiality of examination papers and delays in the
issuance of
certificates.
Frequent leakages of papers and
mix-ups of results by the council,
mandated to run examinations in 1998,
have raised fears that education
standards could be seriously
compromised.
Zim Standard
By Vusumuzi
Sifile
THE continued economic and political meltdown in
Zimbabwe is
endangering any prospects of regional integration within the
Southern Africa
Development Community (Sadc), political analysts have
said.
During a debate in Harare recently, the analysts were
unanimous that
the current situation in Zimbabwe was making it virtually
impossible to
integrate the region.
The debate focused on what
role Zimbabwe could play in helping to
integrate Sadc.
Among
other factors was Zimbabwe’s inflation rate, estimated at more
than 14 000%
— more than 1 000 times the average across the region.
Weber
Chinyadza of the MDC, who presented the argument, said although
there had
not been much effort in integrating the SADC region, Zimbabwe
would "make
the attainment of the integration objectives difficult".
"The rest
of the region is suffering as a result of Zanu PF’s
misrule," said
Chinyadza. "Zimbabwe is short-changing the rest of the Sadc
members. How can
you integrate Zimbabwe, with an inflation of 14 000% with,
say, Botswana,
whose inflation rate is about seven percent?"
Chinyadza said the
huge difference between the official and parallel
market exchange rate was
inconveniencing other countries.
The chairperson of the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Dr
Lovemore Madhuku said "the levels of human
rights abuses in Zimbabwe are not
found anywhere in Sadc".
"The
extent of human rights abuses on its own makes it difficult for
Zimbabwe to
fit into a community of nations with respect for human rights,"
Madhuku
said.
"Our political culture is clearly outside the framework that
is
necessary for integration. Zimbabwe is not so much in a class of its own
in
terms of creating problems for the SADC. For example, we have Angola
which
still wants to rerun the 1990 presidential elections, and Swaziland
which is
still run by a monarchy. But the difference between Zimbabwe and
those
countries is that in those places there is a genuine effort to
implement the
Sadc guidelines on the holding of free and fair
elections."
Madhuku said Zimbabwe had polarised regional and world
politics,
making it difficult to implement any form of integration. He said
"each time
the issue of Zimbabwe is raised, so many other irrelevant issues
arise,
diverting people’s attention" and as such, if the "Sadc were to be
serious
with any form of integration, they have to handle the Zimbabwean
issue with
openness".
At the same time, said Professor John
Makumbe, it was impossible for
the rest of Sadc to integrate without
Zimbabwe, as "the country is literally
at the centre of the
region".
"The country’s position at the centre of the region forces
every
infrastructure to somehow touch Zimbabwe. Our position makes Zimbabwe
key to
any efforts to integrate the region," Makumbe said.
The
newly conferred Professor jokingly added that Zimbabwe was already
implementing its own form of regional integration.
"The whole
country is now a training centre where people are trained
and exported into
the region. Zimbabwe is exporting victims of human rights
violations into
the region and elsewhere, forcing neighbouring countries to
spend lots of
money on deporting Zimbabweans," Makumbe said.
Zim Standard
By
Vusumuzi Sifile
THE continued economic and political meltdown
in Zimbabwe is
endangering any prospects of regional integration within the
Southern Africa
Development Community (Sadc), political analysts have
said.
During a debate in Harare recently, the analysts were
unanimous that
the current situation in Zimbabwe was making it virtually
impossible to
integrate the region.
The debate focused on what
role Zimbabwe could play in helping to
integrate Sadc.
Among
other factors was Zimbabwe’s inflation rate, estimated at more
than 14 000%
— more than 1 000 times the average across the region.
Weber
Chinyadza of the MDC, who presented the argument, said although
there had
not been much effort in integrating the SADC region, Zimbabwe
would "make
the attainment of the integration objectives difficult".
"The rest
of the region is suffering as a result of Zanu PF’s
misrule," said
Chinyadza. "Zimbabwe is short-changing the rest of the Sadc
members. How can
you integrate Zimbabwe, with an inflation of 14 000% with,
say, Botswana,
whose inflation rate is about seven percent?"
Chinyadza said the
huge difference between the official and parallel
market exchange rate was
inconveniencing other countries.
The chairperson of the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), Dr
Lovemore Madhuku said "the levels of human
rights abuses in Zimbabwe are not
found anywhere in Sadc".
"The
extent of human rights abuses on its own makes it difficult for
Zimbabwe to
fit into a community of nations with respect for human rights,"
Madhuku
said.
"Our political culture is clearly outside the framework that
is
necessary for integration. Zimbabwe is not so much in a class of its own
in
terms of creating problems for the SADC. For example, we have Angola
which
still wants to rerun the 1990 presidential elections, and Swaziland
which is
still run by a monarchy. But the difference between Zimbabwe and
those
countries is that in those places there is a genuine effort to
implement the
Sadc guidelines on the holding of free and fair
elections."
Madhuku said Zimbabwe had polarised regional and world
politics,
making it difficult to implement any form of integration. He said
"each time
the issue of Zimbabwe is raised, so many other irrelevant issues
arise,
diverting people’s attention" and as such, if the "Sadc were to be
serious
with any form of integration, they have to handle the Zimbabwean
issue with
openness".
At the same time, said Professor John
Makumbe, it was impossible for
the rest of Sadc to integrate without
Zimbabwe, as "the country is literally
at the centre of the
region".
"The country’s position at the centre of the region forces
every
infrastructure to somehow touch Zimbabwe. Our position makes Zimbabwe
key to
any efforts to integrate the region," Makumbe said.
The
newly conferred Professor jokingly added that Zimbabwe was already
implementing its own form of regional integration.
"The whole
country is now a training centre where people are trained
and exported into
the region. Zimbabwe is exporting victims of human rights
violations into
the region and elsewhere, forcing neighbouring countries to
spend lots of
money on deporting Zimbabweans," Makumbe said.
Zim Standard
By Kholwani
Nyathi
BULAWAYO — The city council has said it is challenging
the legality of
the proposed takeover of its water and sewage systems by the
beleaguered
Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa).
That
decision effectively paves the way for a potentially bruising
battle with
the government.
The defiant stance was immediately endorsed by
residents, who told the
council they were seriously considering lodging a
class action at the High
Court, challenging the controversial
takeover.
The council claimed that "very powerful forces in
government and from
outside" were behind its battle with Zinwa.
The council wants to retain the services Zinwa wants to take over,
which it
said contribute 40% to its annual budget.
Bulawayo is the only
local authority that has strongly rejected the
takeover and, according to
the government, Zinwa is now in charge in more
than 95% of the country’s
urban areas.
Since the Cabinet ordered all local authorities to
surrender their
water and sewer systems to Zinwa in February, the
MDC-controlled Bulawayo
council has refused to budge, amid a rare public
show of support by Zanu PF
heavyweights in the region.
Bulawayo
mayor Japhet Ndabeni-Ncube told residents at a report-back
meeting a
fortnight ago that after the government turned down several pleas
from the
council and stakeholders to reverse the cabinet decision, the local
authority had set "conditionalities that should be met" before it could
comply.
These include a review of the Urban Councils Act, the
Water Act and
the Zinwa Act as, in their present form, the three pieces of
legislation do
not empower the authority to take over the
systems.
Ndabeni-Ncube said the council was also not prepared to
comply with
the directive without any assurances that it would be
compensated for the
infrastructure and lost revenue.
"We have
told the government that we don’t want Zinwa to take over,"
Ndabeni-Ncube
said. "However, if the decision is not reversed and the
takeover goes ahead,
necessary legal issues must be reviewed and provided
for.
"The
Zinwa Act mandates the parastatal to provide bulk water to a
point where
local authorities can reticulate and the Urban Councils Act
empowers us to
reticulate water and bill residents accordingly.
"These are the
legalities that must be addressed before any takeover."
He said it
would be "illogical" for the council to hand over the
infrastructure,
especially after learning that the council had not been
compensated for the
Bulawayo Power Station, taken over by the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply
Authority.
"We shall never hand over the people’s investments.
Period," he said.
But Ndabeni-Ncube admitted that the council’s
options might be limited
as he reported directly to the Minister of Local
Government, Public Works
and Urban Development Ignatious
Chombo.
"It is pleasing to note that this takeover has brought
together
different political alignments and this has delayed them (Zinwa),"
he added.
Meanwhile, the Bulawayo United Residents’ Association
(BURA) chairman,
Winos Dube said they were assured by members of the Law
Society of Zimbabwe,
based in the city, that a case challenging the Zinwa
takeover was
"winnable".
He said businesspeople in the city had
also expressed their readiness
to bankroll the legal challenge.
BURA was tasked with mobilising signatories for the class action.
Vice-President Joseph Msika and Zanu PF politburo member Dumiso Dabengwa are
some of the heavyweights from the region that have openly opposed the
takeover.
Chombo was not immediately available for comment on
the latest
developments as he was not answering his mobile phone.
Zim Standard
By Nqobani
Ndlovu
BULAWAYO — A serious rift over the selection of
candidates for next
year’s harmonised elections threatens to divide Zanu PF
ahead of its
congress this month after its youth wing demanded to be given a
specific
quota, The Standard has learnt.
The youth wing
reportedly wants 60% of the candidates to be drawn from
its members and
those of the Women’s League. Both wings have joined war
veterans in the
solidarity marches in support of President Robert Mugabe’s
candidature in
the 2008 elections.
Presidential, parliamentary, senate and local
government elections are
due to be held next year.
The
proposals are said to have riled the Zanu PF old guard, especially
in
Matabeleland where they are said to be desperate to stand in "safe"
areas.
The demands by the youths are said to be a direct
response to a recent
decree by the Zanu PF politburo, barring those above 30
years of age from
holding positions in the youth wing.
This
would disqualify youth chairman Absolom Sikhosana and his deputy
Saviour
Kasukuwere, who would lose their posts and relinquish their
positions in
both the central committee and the politburo.
"Most of these party
leaders do not command support in their
constituencies as they thrive on our
campaign efforts," said a youth wing
member from Bulawayo. "Our time has
come to represent the party in
elections, as we are the future of
Zanu-PF."
Sikhosana confirmed in an interview with The Standard
that the quota
system must be in place before next year’s polls. "Members of
the youth wing
in Zanu-PF are demanding that 60% of the party candidates
must be from their
ranks and those of the women’s league," he said. "As
representatives of the
youths, we are taking up the issue with the relevant
organs so that they can
look into them."
He claimed the demands
for a quota system had been made by all
provinces. It will come up for
discussion at the Zanu PF congress this week
where Mugabe’s bid for life
presidency will take the centre stage.
Zanu PF national chairman,
John Nkomo on Thursday referred The
Standard to party spokesperson, Nathan
Shamuyarira,
Shamuyarira was not immediately available.
Zim Standard
By Jennifer
Dube
THE year 2007 was "a difficult year" for the mining
industry, says the
outgoing managing director of Murowa Diamonds Private
Limited.
Cameron McRae said last week: "The going was very tough
this year,
especially given the escalating inflation rate and the unintended
consequences of the price controls.
"However, mining companies
managed to pull through and I urge them to
continue with the good
work."
McRae leaves at the end of this year after serving the
company for two
years.
He spoke at the company’s premises in
Harare, saying he had enjoyed
his stay at Murowa, "despite the prevailing
economic hardships".
"My stint with the company was great fun," he
said.
McRae remains within the Rio Tinto Group, taking up the
position of
managing director at Richards Bay Minerals, a South African
mineral sands
company.
Both Murowa Diamonds and Richards Bay
Minerals are subsidiaries of
Britain-based Rio Tinto Plc.
McRae
urged Zimbabwe mining firms to continue working hard to sustain
the
industry’s survival.
Murowa Diamonds this year seemed to be having
a bad year, with
production plummeting 63% from 126 000 to 46 211 carats
during the first
half.
Although second quarter production rose
100% from 12 000 in the
previous quarter to 24 000 carats, the figures still
remained significantly
lower than last year’s 66 000, 44 000 and 39 000
carats for the first,
second and third quarters respectively.
The parent company Rio Tinto in August blamed the slide on frequent
power
cuts and failure to expand mining operations.
Analysts also blamed
it on the exhaustion of the mine’s enriched
surface layer.
McRae said the company expected an improvement in business operations
and
more profits next year.
He said assuming the reins after him at
Murowa Diamonds would be Niels
Kristensen, currently managing director at
Bill Bay Smelter, Rio Tinto’s
subsidiary in Australia.
McRae
was speaking at an event to mark his company’s $11 billion
contribution to
the AIDS Counselling Trust (ACT), a Harare based HIV and
Aids services
organisation.
Annually, the Murowa Diamonds’ managing director
makes a donation to
organisations of his choice as part of the company’s
charity programme.
The company has scooped Mining Sector Corporate
Responsibility awards
in the past.
This year, it intends to
donate $22 billion, with Blue Hills Children’s
Home in the Midlands and a
school in Zvishavane, among the beneficiaries.
McRae said the
company also intended to spend US$50 000 in upgrading a
clinic in
Murowa.
ACT board chairperson Blessing Mhiti, said her organisation
would use
the money to fund a number of projects, among them a youth
behaviour change
intervention programme code-named Young People We Care,
home-based care
programmes, training and counselling services
programmes.
Zim Standard
BY
NDAMU SANDU
THE Hwange Colliery Company Limited urgently
requires a cost recovery
review to remain viable and to supply enough coal
for generation, a report
by a parliamentary committee shows.
The first report on Electricity Shortages in Zimbabwe, by a portfolio
committee on Mines, Energy, Environment and Tourism said the company has
faced problems affecting downstream industries.
Hwange Colliery
has been struggling to meet demand for coal, which
affected many downstream
industries, including smaller thermal stations.
The coal shortage
is partly attributed to what have been described as
sub-economic rates, the
breakdown of equipment and the shortage of spares
and diesel," the report
says.
Hwange supplies coal to the Zesa Holdings power station at
Hwange as
well as smaller thermal stations at Munyati, Bulawayo and
Harare.
Hwange Power Station is generating a paltry 85 megawatt
against an
installed capacity of 920MW due to inadequate coal and diesel
supplies as
well as refurbishment works going on at the plant.
The small thermal power stations at Bulawayo, Munyati and Harare, with
an
installed capacity of 90MW, 80MW and 50MW respectively have not been able
to
operate due to the lack of coal supplies.
The report shows that
HCCL was selling coal at a price below the cost
of production. As at 30
August 2007, it cost $3 888 976.50 a tonne to
produce coking coal but HCCL
was selling at $1 386 000 .00 which is below
the cost of
production.
The report says that irrespective of price reviews in
October, HCCL
losses were increasing. While it cost $11.2 million to produce
a tonne of
coal, HCCL was selling it at $4.2 million making a staggering
loss of over
$7 million.
"Your committee believes HCCL urgently
needs a cost recovery review in
order to remain viable and to adequately
supply coal for the generation of
electricity," the report
said.
The report said that HCCL claims that coal produced at
Sengwa, Tuli
and imports was of low quality. "Companies such as Triangle are
importing
coal from South Africa or Botswana and they are being charged 700
rands a
tonne as landing costs. As a result the country is losing a lot
foreign
currency," the report said.
Zim Standard
PEOPLE living in
Africa were more
likely to be asked for a bribe for government services, in
particular from
the health and education sectors, than on other continents,
according to
Transparency International’s Global Corruption Barometer
2007.
The survey, released on Thursday by the anti-corruption
watchdog,
revealed that public sector corruption was by far the highest in
Africa,
with 42% of respondents reporting they had been asked to pay a bribe
in the
past 12 months for services.
This was followed by Asia
with 22%; Russia, Moldova and Ukraine with
21%; and Latin America with
13%.
North America was the lowest with 2%.
However, SA
did not rate among the countries seen as having high
levels of petty
bribery. Of these Albania and Senegal were rated the
highest, with 30% of
respondents reporting demands for bribes.
Other countries seen as
culprits were Cambodia, Cameroon, Macedonia,
Kosovo, Nigeria, Pakistan,
Philippines and Romania.
More than one in 10 of the 63 199
respondents reported paying a bribe
for access to services in the past 12
months.
Internationally, the police were seen as the institution
most likely
to ask for bribes, with 25% of respondents who came into contact
with police
saying they had been asked to pay bribes, with one in six paying
the bribes.
The survey did reveal some interesting differences
across regions when
it came to what services were asking for
bribes.
People in Africa, Russia, Moldova and the Ukraine were most
likely to
be asked for bribes for health and education services, while in
the European
Union it was only medical services.
In Latin
America, Asia-Pacific and North America bribe requests were
likely to come
from the judiciary.
While the majority of those polled in Africa
believed that the
judiciary was corrupt, SA was the only country where this
was not found to
be the case.
-Business Day
Zim Standard
sundayopinion by Bill
Saidi
TO the hard-boiled socialists, the headline contains a
tautology — a
socialist is inherently good.
Well, that may have
been true when workers decided something drastic
had to be done to dilute
the domination of all earthly life by the
capitalists.
That
ideology put the employer and the landed gentry on top, and the
worker and
the labourer, at the bottom.
It must have been foreordained that
there would be a revolution. It
would have been unnatural if there hadn’t
been one. To this day, this class
struggle continues.
Take
Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez, the highest profile socialist leader in
the world
today. He was recently paid back in his own coin — bad mouth — by
the King
of Spain, who told him to "shut up".
Chavez had run off at the
mouth again, as he does in front of an
audience. His supporters probably
thought they needed to bring him down to
earth with a bump.
In
a nationwide referendum later, they literally gave it to him — a NO
to his
constitutional plans to rule until he drops dead.
It was officially
described as a narrow defeat. But for Chavez, in
power since 1999, it must
have had the effect of being drenched in dirty
with unmentionable
dregs.
Analysts figured the opposition had benefited from the
unwillingness
by Chavez’s supporters to endorse his life presidency. He had
proposed that
he be allowed to stand for re-election ad
infinitum.
President Robert Mugabe, a Marxist-Leninist, has
campaigned for a
life-presidency since 1980. He may not have gone about it
with the same
gracelessness as Chavez, but it’s no secret he doesn’t believe
anyone in
Zanu PF is fit to inherit his mantle.
If anybody
believes the scrap yard dog fights in Zanu PF are unrelated
to Mugabe’s bid
to die in power, then they have my sympathies.
Another leader has
recently bulldozed his people into giving him a
chance to achieve
greatness.
The Russian president Vladimir Putin could not acquire
the
international profile, as a top KGB officer, that his namesake, Vladimir
Lenin, achieved in the 1917 revolution.
He has served two terms
as president and now wants to be prime
minister. He is only 55 and must
believe he can outshine Lenin, before he
retires to a suitably palatial
dacha.
It would be wrong to speak of Putin as a Marxist-Leninist or
a
socialist. A capitalist or an oligarch?
On the basis of the
conduct of the recent election, in which his
United Russia party, easily
triumphed, he is not a democrat either. The
election was almost universally
condemned as not free and fair — the fate of
almost every election in
Zimbabwe since 2000.
The election was a rough ride for the
opposition, particularly the
party led by the former world chess champion
Gary Kasparov, whose mastery of
that game of mental agility could not be
translated into virtuosity in a
game often tagged as "dirty".
Is socialism dead? Marxism-Leninism still lives in China, the DPRK and
Cuba.
Socialism thrives in parts of Scandinavia.
But you can hardly
point to one socialist leader who resembles such
past champions as Willy
Brandt, Olof Palme, Josip Broz Tito, Hugh Gaitskell,
Alexander Dubcek or
even Golda Meir of Israel.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall and
the end of the Cold War,
Marxism-Leninism made a dramatic retreat from the
world stage, except in the
three named above.
In Zimbabwe, in
spite of Mugabe’s bid to forge a Marxist-Leninist
dispensation amid the
rubble of a monumentally mismanaged economy, nothing
remotely socialist can
be associated with his 27-year reign.
"To each according to their
need" is hardly a motto to be associated
with this government; neither is
"to each according to their labour". Cynics
have coined "lootocracy"
instead.
So far, though, most of the alleged looters remain largely
unscathed,
legally.
Nobody doubts that it is scandalous that
ordinary people can be
punished for the massive decline of the economy since
1997.
Ordinary people were the prime victims of the Zimdollar
crisis spawned
by the debacle of the war veterans payout, the massive cost
of the 2000
constitutional referendum, the international fallout from the
violence of
the 2000 land reform fiasco and the subsequent parliamentary and
the 2002
presidential elections.
And finally the violence of
Murambatsvina and the price blitz had as
their major victims the ordinary
people. If some of them really marched to
Zimbabwe Grounds on 30 November,
then they and Zanu PF thoroughly deserve
each other.
Those who
didn’t march must have their minds set on June 2008. They
must figure it’s
time to get rid of the really odious socialists who have
led them since
1980, masquerading as good socialists.
saidib@standard.co.zw
Zim Standard
THE blast in
Harare’s
Avondale shopping centre on Tuesday 13 October 1987 robbed other
events of
importance.
As Joan and Jeremy Brickhill left the
Italian Bakery at 8.25AM a bomb,
detonated by remote control, exploded in a
vehicle next to their car.
Eighteen people were injured, Jeremy the most
seriously. It was a miracle
the Brickhills survived. Many people could have
been killed. Five cars were
destroyed. Those cars not full of petrol and
with air in their tanks
exploded and were burned out.
Joan,
although badly shocked, was not seriously injured and was
released from
Parirenyatwa Hospital after two days. On Friday 16 October,
Jeremy was moved
from the intensive care unit to a private ward. He was
expected to be all
right, unless complications set in. His legs, arms and
face were burned, and
he underwent five hours of surgery. The bomb was
packed with shrapnel
designed to cause havoc. A steel fragment flew through
Jeremy’s ribs and
stopped one centimetre from his heart.
All members of the Brickhill
family displayed infinite courage and
stoicism, Jeremy managing to flash his
usual rays of humour
. . . The Brickhills appeared to have been the
specific target. There
was great anxiety about their continued security and
Jeremy was put under
24-hour armed guard.
Constable Mbofanah
was young, fairly quiet and wonderfully alert. At
about 4AM we heard rubber
footsteps approaching. Mbofanah’s body clenched as
they passed the door and
then eased as they receded. "Whew!" I said with
relief. He turned to me.
"What for?" he asked.
"You didn’t shoot!"
Our lives
were full of the word "Parirenyatwa", but many knew nothing
about Tichafa
Stephen Parirenyatwa. Born in Rusape, he had qualified as a
doctor at the
University of the Witwatersrand in 1957, where two of his
fellow students
and countrymen were Silas Mundawarara and E M Pswarayi.
I first
read about him in the Bulawayo Chronicle in 1959, when I was
16 and he was
32. He had been appointed medical officer in charge of
Antelope Mine
Hospital in Matabeleland, and some of the local white farmers
were
horrified. A group of them wrote to the Chronicle in protest, the
inference
not quite spelt out but nonetheless clear that it was unacceptable
to have a
black man attending to their wives.
When he resigned from
government service in 1961 to go into politics
full time, there was another
letter to the Chronicle from local white
farmers. They were wholeheartedly
thanking him for his services and the
inference not quite spelled out but
nonetheless clear was that a future
without Parirenyatwa at Antelope Mine
Hospital was bleak beyond words for
the farmers and their
wives.
In January 1962 he was appointed deputy president of Zapu,
having
proved his mettle by laying the foundations of a party network from
grassroots to national executive level. On 14 August of that year, he
reportedly died in a car crash on the Gweru-Bulawayo road. I heard the news
in the foyer of Swinton Hall, my residence at university, and went away to
lean against a quiet wall in shocked silence. That was the moment I learned
how it was possible to grieve terribly over someone you had never even
met.
Some months later, I listened, appalled, to Joshua Nkomo’s
lawyer Leo
Baron telling my father that he had seen Parirenyatwa’s body
after the crash
between his car and a train. The driver, Danger Sibanda, had
survived. It
was baron’s opinion that, when he died, Parirenyatwa’s hands
had been tied
behind his back . . .
It was interesting to watch
the events in parliament that afternoon.
Most Zanu PF members seemed to be
in a jolly mood. Prime Minister Mugabe was
evidently very tired. He had
flown back only that morning from overseas.
First Eddison Zvobgo went and
sat next to him and talked for some time while
the voting procedures went
on. The prime minister seemed most unenthusiastic
about the company and
conversation.
Then Nkala sat next to him. Mugabe seemed even less
enthusiastic, and
kept shaking his head and looking miserable. What I didn’t
enjoy were the
few minutes when Nkala, Home Affairs, and Mnangagwa, State
Security, sat
next to each other and were laughing and joking, although I
never caught
Mnangagwa looking directly at Nkala.
It seemed to
me that whatever limited safety any of us had was largely
dependent on as
large a gulf as possible between Mnangagwa and Nkala and
between Nkala and
whoever else. Nkala was looking heavy and bullish and his
eyes were
windmilling, flashing white circles.
The candidates for
parliament were watching from the Strangers’
Gallery, and I was sitting next
to Fay Chung. At a certain point, she nudged
me. "He is looking at you," she
said, as if somehow I should respond. I
glanced down, and there was Prime
Minister Robert Mugabe draped over the
front bench, arms folded, pointy
knees crossed, elegant shoes on display,
looking up at me with a little
smile on his face. It wasn’t a friendly
little smile, more like a smirk, and
I looked away with, I hoped, a poker
face.
The results were of
course overwhelmingly in favour of the Zanu PF
list, which included former
members of Ian Smith’s Rhodesian Front. We
learned that these former
upholders of white supremacy, such as Chris
Andersen (61 votes out of what
could have been a potential 80, but it seemed
a couple of MPs were absent);
Duke (62 votes); Elsworth, whom I’d been told
was a former Selous Scout (62
votes); Holland, former police anti-terrorist
unit (61 votes) and so on were
considered by Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF to be
infinitely more desirable
bedfellows than Dumiso Dabengwa, Ruth Chinamano,
Vote Moyo and the rest of
us, and this gave cause for reflection. At least
none of us lost our
deposits.
All in all it was an interesting and even a happy time
for me. But
after the contest was over, it was very odd to find myself being
comforted —
I didn’t actually need any comfort — by Andre Holland, a founder
member of
the Rhodesian Front and inventor of an apparently lethal weapon
used against
"terrorists" during the liberation struggle. This was known as
the "Holland
Organ". But, at the end of it all, I had absolutely no hard
feelings, except
that I regretted that PF Zapu had been misled and I hoped
that the unity
pact wasn’t going to be just another exercise in cynicism,
though this was
doubtful.
Kwirirai Shoko, a lecturer at the
polytechnic in Harare and one of the
Shokos from Mberengwa near my home at
Hokonui Ranch, came to enquire about
my well-being. I would have presumed
him still to be Zanu PF, but he seemed
to be in a state of fiery
self-isolation. He said he didn’t want to see
those former friends or
acquaintances who were now part of the power elite.
He described them as
totally self-interested and self-seeking, and then
asked, as if honestly
bewildered: "Where did they all find each other?"
After months of
brutal pressure from Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF, Joshua
Nkomo and PF Zapu
were at last forced into the Agreement of Unity, signed on
22 December 1987.
It consisted of 10 points that left no breathing space for
any democratic
values in Zimbabwe:
1.Zanu PF and PF Zapu were irrevocably united
under one political
party.
2. Unity was to be achieved under
the name of Zimbabwe African
National Union Patriotic Front, in short Zanu
PF.
3. Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe would be the first secretary
and
president of Zanu PF.
4. Zanu PF would have two second
secretaries and vice-presidents, who
would be appointed by the first
secretary and president.
5. Zanu PF would seek to establish a
socialist society in Zimbabwe on
the guidance of Marxist-Leninist
principles.
6. Zanu PF would seek to establish a one-party
state.
7. Zanu PF would abide by the Leadership Code.
8. The present leadership of PF Zapu would take immediate steps to end
insecurity and violence prevalent in Matabeleland.
9. Zanu PF
and PF Zapu would convene respective congresses to give
effect to the
agreement.
10. Comrade Robert Gabriel Mugabe was vested with full
powers to
prepare for the implementation of the agreement and to act in the
name and
authority of Zanu PF.
Despite this so-called unity
between Zanu PF and PF Zapu, Guduza
remained locked up.
*
Excerpt from Judith Todd’s latest book, Through the Darkness; A Life
in
Zimbabwe, available from www.zebrapress.co.za.
Zim Standard
TOMORROW, 10 December
2007, the world commemorates the International Human
Rights Day amidst
worldwide violations of Human Rights.
Indeed,
the Human Rights situation across the globe leaves a lot to be
desired. The
human rights abuses that are committed by governments,
dictatorships, social
and religious authorities, business and other societal
formations, against
fellow humans today, fly in the face of the letter and
the spirit of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
In adopting the Declaration
on 10 December 1948, the treating United
Nations member states were mainly
driven in their condemnation of rights
violations, by their abhorrence to
the horrific human cruelties arising from
the pre, in, and post-World War II
madness.
Although the international political scene is now much
different from
the post-war landscape, the basic tenets that were espoused
in the
Declaration of 10 December 1948, remain as relevant on this Human
Rights day
as they were six decades ago.
Although the
Declaration was adopted far away from Africa, when most
Africans were
toiling under the yoke of colonial regimes, that dismissed
Africans as unfit
for inclusion in the Human Rights realm, the applicability
of the
Declaration to Africans today has to be peremptory.
Continent-wide
liberation struggles; successful African-government in
parts of Africa;
scientific, academic, professional, athletic, artistic, and
other forms of
achievement have all proven beyond doubt, that Africans are
as human as any
other race.
The leading theology today teaches that people of all
races were
created equal. Renowned historians and scientists have postulated
that
Africa could well be the cradle of mankind.
Because
Africans are human, or at least should be treated as human, it
follows
therefore that the discourse on Human Rights, which was largely
settled on
10 December 1948, albeit without Africans, should still cover
Africans.
As stated already herein above, rights violations
have been a
world-wide menace, before and after the two world wars. Iraq,
Afghanistan,
China, Pakistan and Burma, are some of the trouble spots that
one might
immediately think of today.
Africa is however
specifically mentioned in this article, because it
is that continent which
would be most relevant to most of the readers of
this
publication.
Yes, while most Africans were toiling under repressive
regimes on the
first Human Rights Day in 1948, millions of Africans still
suffer human
rights abuses today, 59 years on, under the African regimes
whose leaders
claimed during liberation struggles, to fight for the
restoration of the
African’s human rights.
The heart-rending
stories from Darfur, Ethiopia, Equatorial Guinea,
Somalia, and Chad, clearly
show that an African deserves as much respect
from a European or from a
fellow African, as any Australian would deserve.
In Zimbabwe, the
violation of Human Rights continued unabated this
year. Bishop Nolbert
Kunonga of the Anglican Church recently illustrated the
total lack of
understanding by some senior African authorities on issues of
human rights.
He is reported to have told the Ugandan Press in Kampala that:
"There are no
human rights abuses in Zimbabwe at all."
Kunonga represents, not
just sections of misguided prelates, but also
significant portions of
African politicians, whose agenda is inimical to the
human rights culture. A
worrying number of clerics now dine with the
government of Zimbabwe, and in
the process, both sides turn a blind eye to
the evil violation of human
rights by state agents.
Sometimes the violations are even
condoned.
The controversial Bishop made his weird claim in the year
when four
leading lawyers and more than a dozen of their colleagues were
assaulted by
the Zimbabwe Republic Police in broad daylight. That was an
obvious
violation of their fundamental rights of assembly, dignity, free
expression,
movement, and a host of other rights.
This is a
year when legislator — Nelson Chamisa was thumped in broad
daylight at the
Harare International Airport by thugs who, curiously, were
never brought to
book by a State that considers the airport to be a
high-security
area.
Kunonga’s claim comes in the year when National
Constitutional
Assembly members were often times beaten up with impunity by
State agents;
their crime — free expression.
The claims that
there are no human rights violations in Zimbabwe, come
in the year when the
police brutalized opposition and civic leaders. Morgan
Tsvangirai’s head had
to be stitched, Lovemore Madhuku’s arm hung in the
sling for weeks, and
dozens of opposition party activists and leaders
languished in remand prison
for weeks on end.
The president condoned the brutality saying
"tichavadashura (we will
thump them)".
The story was told,
about one political prisoner who was, this year
and in Zimbabwe, placed into
a coffin where-from a decomposing corpse had
just been removed. He was
driven around Harare for hours. Obviously, it
stunk as hell, it was pitch
dark, it was traumatizing, it was traumatizing
in there. Crime: free
expression of political opinion.
Conditions in Zimbabwe’s prisons
today amount to torture. The dungeons
are death centers.
It is
puzzling therefore to hear the Bishop, and the rulers, speaking
the language
of innocence, of non-violation of human rights.
African
politicians, particularly in Zimbabwe, claim that the
discussion on human
rights is not African. They say this human rights thing
is a Western idea
that is not in line with African realities; not consistent
with African
politics, nor with African culture.
There are at least three
possibilities. First, these prelates know
about the violations, and they
know them to be such, but for power politics,
they lie about the situation.
Or, second, that these rulers do not consider
their fellow Africans to be
human. Or, third, that the African Brothers do
not in fact know or
understand what is meant by ‘human rights’.
If indeed Africa is the
original venue of human existence, as many
Africans and non-Africans believe
it to be, and if the liberation struggles
were about the liberty of all
Africans (not just the African rulers) then
the question as to whether or
not Africans are human, becomes rhetoric.
A little refresher course
might help: Human rights are, literally, the
rights that one has simply
because one is human.
Because these rights arise from the fact of
being human, they are
therefore universal, equal and inalienable. They are
not exclusive to
Europeans and Americans. Africa, Zimbabwe included, is part
of that
universe.
Every person, against the State and Society,
holds these rights. They
provide the legal and political framework for
governance and for
jurisprudence.
To a significant degree,
political legitimacy hinges on the extent to
which a government or a regime,
is prepared to join the international
community in respecting and observing
these basic and widely agreed norms,
as codified in the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights.
The political establishment in
Zimbabwe purported in 1980, to adopt
the all-important Declaration through
the inclusion of a Bill of Rights in
the Constitution of the country. That
Bill still stands today.
Some of the key components of the Bill
include, inter alia: the right
to life, freedom of expression, freedom of
association, equality before the
law, protection of privacy and liberty,
protection from arbitrary
dispossession of property by individuals and by
the State, and protection
from torture or assaults.
In
traditional African society, all these rights that make the
Universal
Declaration, that now form part of our Bill of Rights, were
recognized and
observed.
Today, to bash political opponents, deny citizens liberty
and
fundamental freedoms, beat up lawyers and activists, and to commit all
other
human rights violations that we witnessed in Zimbabwe this year, is
contrary
to the letter and spirit of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, and it is
un-African.
For, the human rights culture is part of our
Constitution, and it is a
modern culture consistent with our traditional
African culture.
Chris Mhike is a lawyer whose rights were
violated by the State this
year, practising in Harare.
Inept MDC leadership spawns a 'Coalition of the
wounded'
MANY people now agree with Dr Lovemore Madhuku’s observation
that Zanu
PF will win the elections next year because of a number of reasons
that are
engulfing the opposition.
Besides the defective
constitution that helps Zanu PF, many of the
factors in the opposition are
self-inflicted. But this is also opportune
time to confront some hard
questions within the opposition. Are we fighting
Zanu PF for the sake of
change or for a progressive political space that
will transform our
lives?
Are we fighting for political space for an elite of arrogant
leaders
or for people at the grassroots level? The opposition should
demonstrate how
the anti-Mugabe, pro-opposition project will prove to be
different.
Have democratic and pluralistic practice flourished or
suffered in the
MDC during this anti-Mugabe mobilization? Events of the past
weeks,
especially the still to be resolved Lucia Matibenga issue, despite
its
"democratic colouring", the anti-Mugabe challenge has not been
consistently
driven by progressive politics.
The traditions and
practices of democracy within have been trampled
upon left, right and
centre. Mobocracy has taken over. We need pluralities
of democratic power
before the MDC gets into power. Our hopes and
aspirations must not collapse
alongside inconsistent leadership.
We have had enough of politics
of the demagogues and self-appointed
messiahs.
What the MDC
leadership has done is to nurture, among the rank and
file politics of
factionalism, plots, conspiracies, counter-conspiracies,
hype and sensation
all driven by the need to deliver the next blow against
the other
side.
The result has been a systematic political demobilization,
loss of
democratic values and undermining democratic tendencies in broader
society
especially with the trade unions and civic groups. Politics has been
reduced
to a circus which the disempowered people have been reduced to
watching,
applauding, grumbling, protesting or walking out.
The
party leadership has taken too much for granted. They have
underestimated
the degree to which they have alienated people in the party
over the years.
They have created a coalition of the wounded and it seems
they have
underestimated how angry this alienated sector of the MDC is.
There
is a belief that if that could be done to Lucia Matibenga who
did so much to
get them into power, what can happen to the rest of us or if
they are in
power? The kind of venom that has been directed against
perceived enemies
has deeply offended party members.
We forget how much was done
including sacrifices. We saw Zimbabweans
joining the national project on the
basis of the MDC promise. Today the MDC
leaders are fat and have become
pompous, erratic bullies. It’s not entirely
their fault. Gratitude has been
flowing to them in intense waves for a long
time. We make our leaders and
sometimes we are quick to blame them for their
"big headedness" forgetting
that we are the ones responsible.
For the country’s sake the MDC
needs a collective leadership that
makes a difference in people’s lives. It
is an oft repeated truism that
leaders cannot exist without followers. In
the MDC emphasis should be placed
on a dynamic active and ongoing
interaction between leaders and followers.
The MDC today needs
collective leadership that our generation fighting
Zanu PF will leave to
tell the story of how our generation emulated those
who came before us,
leaders who embodied humility, discipline and
selflessness. Our generation
should be able to tell the story of how they
restored the party back to the
unity that characterised the MDC leadership
role in delivering the 57
parliamentary seats in 2000.
Personal allegiance to an individual
in the hope of some post-Mugabe
reward is likely to prove a huge
disappointment. Today we are witnessing the
seeds of our party’s national
despair as this has paved the way for
mediocrity to take over, stifling
efforts to reinvigorate the party and
defeat Zanu PF.
Such
relationships are as vital to the party as air is to breathing.
Next year we
will then be prepared to end Zanu PF hegemony.
Frank
Matandirotya
South Africa
--------------
Pyrrhic
victory for Mugabe
THIS week’s European Union-African Union Summit in
Lisbon, Portugal,
has obviously excited Zanu PF without measure. This will
give them the
opportunity to sneer at the British and use their attendance
as proof that
it is with that country alone that they have
differences.
Let us say for once that Zanu PF is correct in its
interpretation of
Portugal’s response to Gordon Brown’s threat that he will
not attend the
summit if President Robert Mugabe is invited. During the
struggle that we
had hoped would bring freedom in this country, Portugal was
one of the few
countries that openly supported Ian Douglas Smith’s racist
regime. The other
country was France, which kept the Rhodesian Air Force
supplied with vital
spare parts.
During World War II, the
Portuguese pretended to be neutral when, in
fact, they were passing vital
information about the Allied Forces to the
Germans. Therefore, the
Portuguese are simply doing what they know best —
that is siding with
tyranny.
As for Africa, the less said the better. Mugabe’s
generation of
nationalists is the same crowd that gave Idi Amin standing
ovations at the
Organisation of African Unity gatherings in the 1970s, at a
time Amin was
busy murdering his fellow Ugandans. He also dispossessed
Asians in his
country of their property because of nothing else but their
race.
The truth is that Zanu PF has become a skunk and, will seek
friendship
even with the most despicable of governments.
S
M Moyo
Bulawayo.
-------------
Inflation rate: Can
someone tell us the true position?
IT really annoys me
when I read that the
inflation rate is "x" and independent analysts say it
is really "y" and both
figures are purely guesswork.
Since 1984 I have been recording
costs for my own edification, but now
that the Central Statistical Office is
unable to find commodities in the
shops to do their job, I feel I should
share my records with the general
public.
I am not a
statistician, but it is clear to me that if it cost me $583
655 to buy my
groceries last year and it now costs $561 318 600 then the
rate of inflation
is nearly 100 000%.
I was able to price most things at two shops
(what is the CSO’s
problem?). The six items I was not able to price are best
guesstimates from
what I hear on the streets. Items like bread are priced at
the official
price although it costs three times that to actually buy bread.
So, sure
there are some distortions but the trend is there for all to
see.
A McCormick
Highlands, Harare