http://www.timesonline.co.uk
February
15, 2009
Jenny
Booth
Roy Bennett, Zimbabwe's deputy agriculture minister and one of the
opposition politicians in the country's new unity government, has been
charged with planning terrorism and insurgency.
The development
throws into stark relief the lack of mutual trust inside the
new goverment,
which was supposed to lead Zimbabwe out of a political and
economic crisis
after long negotiations between President Robert Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party and
its bitter opponents, the opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change.
Mr Bennett, a former white farmer who is also the MDC's Treasurer
General,
is expected to appear in court tomorrow to face the charges,
according to
his lawyer, Trust Maanda.
He was arrested before new
ministers were sworn in on Friday. Initially the
MDC said that he had been
charged with treason, which carries the death
penalty.
"They have
now preferred charges of insurgency or attempting to commit acts
of
insurgency, terrorism and banditry," Mr Maanda said.
Police were claiming
that his client had been involved in funding for arms
and explosives to be
used to sabotage essential services, he went on. Mr
Bennett has denied the
charges and believes they are politically motivated.
While the MDC has
condemned Mr Bennett's arrest, it has not indicated if it
would take any
strong action that could endanger the unity government formed
after months
of deadlock over implementation of a September power-sharing
deal.
Mr
Bennett is being held at a police station in the eastern city of Mutare,
the
MDC said. He is in good spirits.
He had been living in exile in South
Africa after fleeing Zimbabwe two years
ago because police wanted to
question him in connection with the discovery
of an arms
cache.
Police officials have not been available for comment on Bennett's
case.
Foreign investors and Western donors want concrete signs of
stability in
Zimbabwe. They have made it clear that funds will not flow to
the nation
until a democratic government is created and economic reforms are
made.
They have expressed concern that both Mr Mugabe and Morgan
Tsvangirai, the
MDC leader, have named party stalwarts to the cabinet rather
than
technocrats seen as having the expertise Zimbabwe needs to escape its
crisis.
Zimbabweans face unemployment above 90 per cent and prices
that double every
day. Half the 12 million population need food aid, and a
cholera epidemic
has killed more than 3,500 people.
Some Zanu-PF
members in the new cabinet have held ministerial posts since
independence
from Britain in 1980, when Mr Mugabe came to power.
From The Mail & Guardian (SA), 15 February
Mail & Guardian reporter and
Agencies
Harare - The treason charges against Zimbabwe ministerial
nominee Roy
Bennett have been dropped and replaced with attempt to commit
terrorism,
banditry and sabotage, his lawyer said on Sunday. "The police
must have
realised that they had no leg to stand on. Their case would not
hold water,"
said Trust Maanda. "Bennett is currently being interviewed by
the police. He
is now appearing in court on Monday facing fresh charges,"
added Maanda.
Bennett is a member of the MDC, which struck a power-sharing
deal with
veteran President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party.Designated to
become deputy
agriculture minister, Bennett was arrested on Friday at an
airport outside
Harare shortly before Mugabe swore in new ministers for the
unity
government. The power-sharing government will see the country's bitter
enemies try and work together to pull Zimbabwe out of a deep crisis marked
by hunger, the world's highest inflation rate and a deadly cholera epidemic.
Bennett is a coffee farmer from Chimanimani, a lush region near Mozambique.
He had returned last month from three years of self-imposed exile in South
Africa, where he fled to escape charges of plotting to kill Mugabe. South
African President Kgalema Motlanthe criticised Benett's arrest on Saturday.
Speaking in Welkom, Motlanthe said: "Today I received a call, a desperate
call from Zimbabwe because one of the leaders who was supposed to be sworn
in as one of the ministers had been detained. We had to put in a word to say
'You don't do that, you can't detain someone who is supposed to be your
partner in building a new government'."
February 15, 2009
MDC supporters in Mutare march to express solidarity with Bennett.
An Eye-Witness Account
MUTARE – Roy Bennett, the MDC treasurer and Deputy Minister of Agriculture-designate, who is due to appear in court on Monday, is no longer charged with treason.
He has now been charged under Section 61 of the notorious Public Order and Security Act (POSA) with conspiring to acquire arms with a view to disrupting essential services.
Following his arrest at Charles Prince Airport in Harare of Bennett, he was first taken to Goromonzi Police Station where he was charged with treason. He was then driven to Mutare Central.
The arrest of Roy Bennett was ordered by Assistant Commissioner Mabunda and Assistant Commissioner Nhau of Harare Police General Headquarters. Throughout the journey the accompanying personnel communicated regularly with Mabunda and Nhau to appraise them on the situation.
They were travelling at high speed and a witness described the driver as appearing to be nervous. It is not clear whether they were aware that they were being followed throughout the journey. The vehicle stopped to refuel in Marondera enabling the spotter vehicles to catch up and follow for the remainder of the journey to Mutare. Along the way they communicated with a chain of activists at the ready to relay reports on, including to The Zimbabwe Times.
When the vehicle arrived at Mutare Central a peaceful crowd of MDC supporters immediately gathered to express solidarity with Bennett. As the size of the crowd grew to more than 200 people, word spread that the police were preparing to transfer Bennett to a secret location. The registration plates had been removed from the silver Toyota Hilux truck that brought Bennett to Mutare.
The vehicle started to move so the crowd reacted by blocking the exit to prevent Bennett from being taken out of the police station. The crowd was singing and dancing peacefully. The police then tried to move the crowd back and away from the exit. The crowd resisted vocally insisting that they did not want Bennett taken away and they were therefore not moving.
They were forced to retreat when police dogs were brought in the police threatened strong-arm action, pushing the crowd back with truncheons. The vehicle moved out of the police station with only one person inside. The crowd were permitted to inspect and confirm that Bennett was not inside.
The crowd decided to hold an all-night vigil outside the police station. The police were initially passive but when the atmosphere became charged the riot police were brought in. The police used dogs and truncheons to disperse the crowd. But the crowd slowly returned. The police then indiscriminately fired teargas canisters, rubber bullets and rounds of live ammunition into the air.
Two people were badly beaten by the police and several witnesses spoke of police brutality. One victim was taken to hospital. Some shop windows were broken in the ensuing melee but nothing appeared to have been looted.
MDC activists roamed the area throughout the night.
At 7.30 on Saturday morning food was taken to the police station but the police details manning the entrance refused access not only to those bringing food for Bennett but relatives bringing in food for others in detention.
One Inspector Florence Marume was most unpleasant and ordered that no feeding of prisoners would occur that day. The police station was then blocked off while heavily armed police details roamed the streets and forced both pedestrian and vehicle traffic away from the area.
Eventually Bennett’s lawyers were allowed access to him and food was taken in. The lawyers had been denied access since Friday. They advised Inspector Marume that she would be held personally responsible for denying Bennett and other detainees food and legal counsel.
In the afternoon Bennett was visited by the MDC provincial executive. He was in good spirits and was unharmed.
On Saturday night eight activists were apprehended by riot police. The roads surrounding the Mutare Central Police Station remain barricaded and manned by police details.
On Sunday morning Bennett was allowed both food and access to two lawyers. He was also visited my members of the MDC provincial executive. The officer in charge was Superintendent Makoni from Bindura. He was courteous and allowed Bennett private time with his lawyer. He was unharmed.
He has not been charged with treason but with a lesser charge and is due to appear in court tomorrow, Monday. He has a strong support base monitoring the situation and maintaining a presence around the police station reporting on any unfolding events.
http://www.iol.co.za
February 15 2009 at
08:09PM
Hong Kong - Two journalists were attacked as they
investigated a report
about Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe owning a
luxury property in Hong
Kong.
Photographer Tim O'Rourke said two men
and a woman at the exclusive house
attacked the journalists and seized a
camera.
Britain's Sunday Times reported Mugabe and his wife Grace had
secretly
bought the R58 million property in the city's Tai Po district,
saying it was
first in Asia to be identified as the
Mugabes'.
O'Rourke was attacked by Grace Mugabe and her bodyguards in
January when he
and another photographer folowed up a report that Mugabe's
daughter Bona was
studying at the University of Hong
Kong.
He said the latest attack happened on Friday as he
and Colin Galloway went
to the property to deliver a letter on behalf of the
Sunday Times.
They were questioned by a black man and woman and when
O'Rourke began to
take photographs of the house he was attacked.
"She
started shouting 'He has got a camera. He is taking photos.'
"She and
another man both grabbed me. They were trying to rip the camera out
of my
hand," O'Rourke said.
Another man appeared and O'Rourke was able to pass
the camera to Galloway,
who was then set upon and held in a headlock, before
the attackers were able
to seize the camera.
O'Rourke then called the
police and made a formal complaint of assault. The
two journalists were
examined for injuries under police supervision at a
city
hospital.
The attackers were questioned and the camera was
returned.
A police spokesman said they were investigating the allegation
of assault
but no arrests had been made so far.
The Sunday Times said
the Mugabes had stashed away millions of dollars in
Asian bank accounts.
Anyone close to Mugabe faces travel bans in the
European Union and America,
but they are still able to travel throughout
much of the region.
The
paper cited unnamed sources that said Grace Mugabe has splashed out more
than R650 000 on marble statues in Vietnam and R100 000 on a handbag in
Singapore, as well as staying at some of the region's top hotels.
The
report said the Mugabes' favourite destination was Langkawi, in
Malaysia,
but they have travelled across the region.
Robert Mugabe's regime has
been internationally condemned for its
politically motivated violence
targeting opposition and civil activists.
Nearly half the population of
Zimbabwe is dependent on food aid while a
cholera epidemic has claimed more
than 2&bbsp;700 lives. - Sapa-AFP
http://in.reuters.com
Sun Feb 15, 2009 11:02pm IST
By
MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwe's new finance minister
said on Sunday he would
reform the central bank and that help from regional
power South Africa was
crucial for recovery.
Tendai Biti from the
MDC, appointed finance minister last week under a
power-sharing government
with President Robert Mugabe, said he would present
a new budget to
parliament and urged Western donors to help rebuild the
country.
"The
Reserve Bank has totally discredited itself," he told Reuters in an
interview.
"We must accept that the Reserve Bank is at the core of
this economic decay.
I make no apologies for those
statements."
Analysts say the central bank has helped ruined the economy
by printing
money and providing trillions of Zimbabwe dollars to state
companies and
government departments outside the budget, which has fuelled
inflation, the
world's highest.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's
MDC wants to curtail the Reserve Bank's
operations and wants it to focus on
taming inflation and exchange rate
management the bank operates
independently from the government.
That could set Biti against central
bank chief Gideon Gono, a Mugabe ally,
at a time when strong cooperation
between government officials is needed to
rescue the battered
economy.
Biti said he would meet Gono soon. He did not give
details.
The new unity cabinet already faces a credibility test just a
few days after
new ministers were sworn in.
A senior MDC official,
Roy Bennett, has been charged with planning terrorism
and insurgency and is
expected to appear in court on Monday, his lawyer
Trust Maanda
said.
Foreign investors and Western donors want concrete signs of
stability in
Zimbabwe. They have made it clear that funds will not flow to
the nation
until a democratic government is created and economic reforms are
made.
SOUTH AFRICAN SUPPORT
Biti said Zimbabwe was looking to
South Africa, the continent's biggest
economy, for help.
"South
Africa is going to be key in the support it will give to Zimbabwe
either as
budgetary support or lines of credit," Biti said.
South African Finance
Minister Trevor Manuel told Reuters last week that
South Africa stood ready
to coordinate financial support for its
impoverished neighbour Zimbabwe,
whose economy has continuously contracted
in the last decade.
South
African President Kgalema Motlanthe has said that Zimbabwe could adopt
its
rand currency.
Zimbabwe's economy is in free fall and its dollar
virtually worthless,
leading the government to allow the use of the U.S.
dollar, the rand and
other currencies. Hyperinflation and shortages have
forced many Zimbabweans
to buy basic goods in South Africa, the continent's
biggest economy.
Biti said adopting the rand currency would not resolve
the country's
problems without a package of economic reforms.
"Using
the rand on its own without addressing fundamentals that have led to
this
economy where we are will not work. It doesn't benefit Zimbabwe or
South
Africa," said Biti.
The finance minister said he would engage Western
donors who are sceptical
of the power-sharing government with Mugabe and
have set conditions for the
release of aid.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com
Africa News
Feb 15,
2009, 7:13 GMT
Harare/Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's new finance
minister, Tendai Biti, has
vowed to save the virtually worthless Zimbabwe
dollar and to sideline
controversial central banker, Gideon Gono, South
Africa's Sunday Times
newspaper reported.
Biti, who was sworn in as
one of the former opposition's ministers Friday by
President Robert Mugabe,
told the Times: 'Our money can only be saved by
floating the Zimbabwe dollar
so that it finds its natural value,' he said.
''Randizing' the economy is
not the solution,' he said in response to
speculation that the government,
which unites Mugabe's Zanu-PF with Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) might ditch its currency
in favour of the South
African rand.
Most transactions in Zimbabwe already take place in US
dollars, rands or the
Botswanan pula, as hyperinflation of at least 231
million per cent, renders
the trillion-dollar-denominated local currency
virtually useless.
The concept of 'randization' was floated by South
African President Kgalema
Motlanthe in an interview last week, when he said:
'It may be practical for
them (Zimbabwe) to enter into an arrangement with
our Reserve Bank here and
adopt the rand as their currency.'
The idea
had provoked alarm among many South Africans, who feared their
government
might be required to stump up the rands to cover the new
government's
spending, including Prime Minister Tsvangirai's promise to pay
civil
servants in hard currency.
Restoring some purchasing power to the
Zimbabwe dollar is just one of the
daunting tasks facing Biti, the MDC's
outspoken secretary general.
Zimbabwe's unemployment rate is estimated at 94
per cent and production in
most sectors has ground to a halt for lack of
cash.
'The job is the worst in the world,' he admitted, while assuring he
would
'prevail.'
The 42-year-old lawyer also appeared to be gearing
up to do battle with
Mugabe's controversial central banker, Gideon Gono,
whose penchant for
printing money to cover budget shortfalls is seen as
driving the currency
into the doldrums.
'We will make sure that the
role of the (Reserve Bank) becomes minimal,'
Biti said.
Zimbabwe's
unity government got off to a rocky start Friday, when the MDC's
choice for
deputy agriculture minister, well-known former (white) farmer Roy
Bennett,
was arrested as his cabinet colleagues were being sworn in.
Bennett was
arrested at an airport outside Harare in connection with an
alleged plot to
assassinate Mugabe in 2006. His lawyer said Friday that
police were accusing
him of treason, a crime that carries the death penalty.
Formal charges were
expected to be laid on Monday.
Bennett, who fled the country to South
Africa in 2006, denies the charges,
which the MDC see as an attempt by
hardliners within Mugabe's party to
scupper the new government.
His
arrest and the continued detention of dozens of other MDC members and
human
rights activist, 'does not give confidence to the inclusive
government,' the
MDC said Saturday.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11688
February 14, 2009
HARARE (AP) -
Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Saturday blamed
the abduction
of one of his top aides on minor Zanu-PF elements and defiant
small pockets
of resistance who want to destroy the country's coalition
government.
Morgan Tsvangirai told The Associated Press he would meet
with President
Robert Mugabe later on Saturday to discuss the arrest of Roy
Bennett, who
was due to be inaugurated as deputy minister of agriculture in
the coming
week.
Bennett was detained by police on Friday while
Tsvangirai and Mugabe were
presiding over the inauguration of senior Cabinet
ministers.
Analysts say Bennett's arrest illustrates the deep gulf of
mistrust Mugabe's
Zanu-PF party and Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change must bridge.
A State-controlled newspaper reported on Saturday
that Bennett was arrested
because of an alleged plot from 2006 to overthrow
Mugabe. MDC says the
arrest is only meant to resurrect a long-discredited
claim.
The arrest was a test for Tsvangirai, who had hesitated to join
the
government for fear he would be in the position of having to answer
increasingly desperate calls by Zimbabweans for help, with little power to
affect change.
Bennett's "safety was guaranteed by the South African
and Zimbabwean
governments", Tsvangirai said on Saturday.
"His arrest
. raises a lot of concerns.
"It undermines the spirit of our agreement.
It is very important to maintain
the momentum of our agreement."
But
Tsvangirai called for patience: "I must say we have to budget for some
residual resistance from those who see this deal as a threat to their
interest."
Tsvangirai did not specify, but there long has been
speculation Mugabe was
under pressure from aides in the military and
government who don't want to
give up power and prestige to their
rivals.
Tsvangirai said he believed the coalition Cabinet could make
progress
together, and called his relationship with Mugabe a "working
arrangement".
"But obviously with our history we cannot immediately say
we are the best of
friends," he said. "As you begin to trust, the walls will
start falling
down."
Tsvangirai expressed frustration that resistance
to the agreement was
distracting the new government from the monumental
tasks of rebuilding the
country.
It has the world's highest inflation
rate, a hunger crisis that has left
most of the population dependent on
foreign handouts, and a cholera epidemic
that has killed more than 3 500
people since August.
"We should be talking about feeding the people,"
Tsvangirai said.
"Our motivation is to get the civil servants back to
work and the schools
and the hospitals back to serving the
people.
"There's no way we will neglect our obligation, even though there
are signs
of resistance."
http://news.iafrica.com
Sun, 15 Feb 2009 09:07
Zimbabwe's rural poor have
little interest in the latest political
developments in their country, all
they want is an end to hunger and
diseases which have devastated the country
for years.
"I do not want to talk about politics," said Florence
Munyaradzi, a peasant
farmer from the southeastern village of
Gutu.
"Things used to be fine. Now we depend on donor organisations for
food,
farming inputs and everything," the 37-year-old mother said
blankly.
Like the majority of Zimbabwean rural poor, her husband is
unemployed and
the family depends on rations of the staple corn meal,
cooking oil, beans
and salt to survive.
Years of hardship have made
the gaunt mother reluctant to talk about
politics, to the point she is not
aware that Morgan Tsvangirai is now the
new prime minister - and his
promises to change the lives of the people.
Her children face a bleak
future as they spend most of their time herding
cattle or performing
household chores instead of going to school.
Schools in the district
remain closed as teachers demand salaries in foreign
currency to cushion
them against runaway inflation which has rendered the
local currency
worthless.
According to aid organisations, the rural poor had been the
hardest hit by
the political and economical situation.
"We call upon
the government to channel resources towards fighting malaria
and avoid the
development of another outbreak, while we are still struggling
to contain
cholera and feed the people," said Oxfam district administrator,
Makepeace
Mzenda.
Harare blames the shortfall on drought, but critics put much of
the blame on
its agricultural policy begun eight years ago.
Often
violent land reforms saw the seizures of at least 4000 properties
formerly
run by white farmers for redistribution to landless blacks, the
majority of
whom lacked the skills and means to farm.
In Mazuru, a semi-arid area 290
kilometres southeast of the capital Harare,
villagers depend on farming
crops that require little rain like groundnuts
and sorghum - which are
exchanged for maize at harvest time.
However, this year's farming season
was the bleakest as people could not
afford to buy or access inputs for
crops.
"We have two dams here ... I hope one day we will be able to have
a big
irrigation scheme which will provide employment for us," said Thomas
Chirambamuriwo.
"We are tired of living off handouts," the barefoot
unemployed youth told
AFP.
In his inauguration speech on Wednesday,
Tsvangirai promised additional
emergency food distribution and an end to
distribution according to
political lines.
"The transitional
government will make food more available and more
affordable by removing all
duties on foodstuffs imported into the country,"
said Tsvangirai.
"In
the short term, we will convene a food summit of all relevant stake
holders
to help us ensure that no Zimbabwean goes hungry," he added.
Buying food
has become a luxury only a few can afford - with inflation last
estimated in
July at 231-million percent.
Sapa
http://news.iafrica.com
Sun, 15 Feb 2009 08:53
The daughter of President
Robert Mugabe, who is studying at Hong Kong's top
university, should be
deported, a Zimbabwean students' union said on Sunday.
The Zimbabwe
National Students Union petitioned Chinese diplomats in Africa
after
learning that 20-year-old Bona Mugabe is an undergraduate student at
the
University of Hong Kong.
Students in the impoverished African nation,
which is in the grip of a
spiralling economic crisis and political turmoil,
say Mugabe's daughter
should be made to study back home.
Bona Mugabe
has been allowed to study in Hong Kong despite sanctions and
travel bans
against her father and members of his regime by many Western
countries.
In a letter sent to the Chinese embassy in Harare and
published in Hong
Kong's Sunday Morning Post newspaper, students' union
spokeswoman Blessing
Vavu said Mugabe's daughter should be
deported.
The president's daughter should return in order to "suffer with
other
patriotic students studying in the state universities," Vavu
argued.
She wrote: "It is disheartening to note that the first family
insolently
sent daughter Bona Mugabe under an assumed name to the University
of Hong
Kong, China to further her studies while students in Zimbabwe
suffer.
"The state of our education system is so deplorable that the
president has
seen it fit to trust the Chinese for the education of his
daughter whilst
ordinary students are failing to get decent
education."
Bona Mugabe's presence in Hong Kong, where she enrolled in
university under
an alias last autumn, emerged after her 43-year-old mother
Grace allegedly
assaulted a freelance photographer who took pictures of her
shopping in the
city in January.
According to London's Sunday Times,
the Mugabes secretly bought a
US$5.7-million luxury home in Hong Kong's Tai
Po district.
The University of Hong Kong declined to comment specifically
on the campaign
by the students' union but a spokeswoman said Bona Mugabe
was free to study
there.
"We believe that many of our students will
share our belief of right of
education for everybody and our view that
people should not be responsible
for what other members of their family have
done," she said.
A Hong Kong government spokeswoman said: "We note the
campaign and do not
comment on individual cases." Immigration officers
decided each case on
individual merits, she added.
Sapa
‘Free Roy Bennett’ (and other political prisoners) was the theme of the Vigil. Roy was one of the people who inspired the launch of the Vigil back in 2002 and visited us when he was last released from prison. We clothed him and Heather in our Vigil t-shirts. ‘If they can arrest Bennett, they can arrest any of us if we return’ said Patson Muzuwa of the Vigil management team. To take action for Roy Bennett please check the Sokwanele website: http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/
Anyone who has been following this weekly diary will have seen that we have never believed that the Zanu-PF thugs would allow power-sharing. We are reliably told that they will stop at nothing to destroy the MDC.
The deal foisted on us by SADC is clearly not working and we demand that they take steps to make the Mugabe regime comply with the agreement. As a first step we call upon our neighbours to open their borders to Zimbabwean refugees. The Vigil is reviving our petition calling on the EU to fund refugee camps in Botswana, Mozambique, South Africa and Zambia where our desperate people can get food, shelter, medical attention and education no longer available in Zimbabwe.
A few other points:
· We were joined by a Vicar from the Guildford diocese. It’s the second time he’s come and he says he wants to get more closely involved.
· Last week we reported attendance at 215 but we missed those on a second register that was started because of the large numbers. The actual attendance was 247.
· Magnificent drumming from Jerry Mtotela and Moses Kandiyawo inspired fabulous singing led by Dumi Tutani and Jenatry Muranganwa, ending with the cry ‘Free Roy Free’.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/
FOR THE RECORD: 265 signed the register.
FOR YOUR DIARY:
· Central London Zimbabwe Forum. Monday, 16th February 2009 at 7.30 pm. The forum will discuss the Government of National Unity. Venue: Bell and Compass, 9-11 Villiers Street, London, WC2N 6NA, next to Charing Cross Station at the corner of Villiers Street and John Adam Street.
· Mugabe’s Birthday Bash at the Vigil – 21st February, 2 – 6 pm.
·
Newcastle Vigil
launch. Saturday, 21st February
from 2 – 5.30 pm. Venue: Grey's Monument,
Newcastle City Centre. Guest speaker Jim Cousins MP for Newcastle For more information
contact Prince White 07500207668, Joseph Madziva
07905850073, Alvin Moyo 07818225718, Tedmore Mauwa 07949618874, Fadzayi Mudekwa 07727221873.
Stoke-on-Trent ROHR
members' meeting. Saturday, 21st February
from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Shelton Children's Centre,
Room 3, Crowther Street,
Shelton, Stoke-On-Trent ST4 2ER.
Contact Pauline Mutema 07850462301, Joana Zhira
07845896347, Amon Chauke 07877089105, Thadious Chigodo 07830299282.
· ROHR Wakefield general meeting. Saturday, 21st February. Venue still to be decided. For more information, contact: Donnah Mugoni 07748828913, Patience 07908075149 and Beauty Sikhosana 07940181761.
· Next Glasgow Vigil. Saturday 28th February, 2 – 6 pm. Venue: Argyle Street Precinct. For more information contact: Patrick Dzimba, 07990 724 137, Tafadzwa Musemwa 07954 344 123 and Roggers Fatiya 07769 632 687.
·
ROHR
Birmingham Chapter
general meeting. Saturday
28th February from 2 – 6 pm. Venue: 28 Handsworth New Road B18 4PT.
The meeting will be attended by a well known lawyer.Contact: Emnah Zibgowa
07846005120, Des Parayiwa 07815565335, Rebecca Mlambo 07817585742 or Tsitsi
Mavhura 07932477842
ROHR
Chelmsford launch
meeting. Saturday 28th February
from 1.30 – 5.30 pm. Venue: Springfield Parish Centre, St
Augustine’s Way, Springfield,
Chelmsford, CM1.
Contact: Billy R Machekano 07908332724/07765459538, Robert Mafigo 07944815190,
Tendai Gwanzura 07961702832 or Faith Benesi 07958650670.
ROHR
Woking launch
meeting. Saturday 7th March from
1.30 – 5.30 pm Venue:
Station Pub, 12 Chertsey Road,
Woking GU21 5AB. Contact
Thandi Mabodoko 07886619780, Sithokozile Hlokana 07886203113 or Siduduzile
Sibanyoni 07588745353.
· ROHR UK Chair’s meeting. Saturday 14th March from 12 noon. Venue to be advised. Contact Ephraim Tapa 07940793090 or Paradzai Mapfumo 07915926323 or 07932216070
· Zimbabwe Association’s Women’s Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays 10.30 am – 4 pm. Venue: The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre, 84 Mayton Street, London N7 6QT, Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest underground: Finsbury Park. For more information contact the Zimbabwe Association 020 7549 0355 (open Tuesdays and Thursdays).
Vigil Co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights by the current regime in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationaally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11709
February 15, 2009
By Owen
Chikari
MASVINGO- Police Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri has
ordered the
police to drop all cases relating to murders committed during
the run-up to
last year's June 27 presidential election.
Zanu-PF
supporters, among them youths, top war veteran and government
officials,
unleashed a reign of terror in the countryside harassing,
torturing and even
killing Movement for Democratic Change supporters to
ensure that President
Robert Mugabe retained power. The names of some
government minister of the
time, notably that of David Parirenyatwa then
Minister of Health were linked
to acts of violence. He was accused of acts
of violence in Murehwa District
in Mashonaland East. War veteran leader
Joseph Chinotimba's name was linked
to at least one murder in Buhera
District in Manicaland.
Parirenyatwa
in one of the five ministers dropped at the last minute after
Zanu-PF
attempted to sneak them into the Cabinet last Friday.
In a circular to
all provincial commanders dated February 10 Chihuri ordered
that they drop
all murder cases committed during the run-up to the
controversial June 27
election which MDC leader pulled out of, citing
violence against his
supporters.
Part of the circular seen by The Zimbabwe Times reads:
"Please be advised
that all murder cases committed during the run up to the
presidential
election run-off and have not been finalised (sic) be dropped
immediately."
"The decision has been made in the spirit of promoting
national healing in
view of the inclusive government."
Chihuri has
since dispatched deputy commissioner general Godwin Matanga to
visit all
provinces and explain to senior officers the implication of the
directive.
Matanga yesterday confirmed that he was visiting provinces
but denied that
he was on an assignment to push for the dropping of murder
cases.
"I am visiting provinces so that senior officers are aware of the
developments taking place within the force as the new government takes
control", said Matanga.
However sources within the police force said
Matanga caused a stir when he
visited Masvingo after he sought a meeting
with court officials and
instructing them to drop all cases of murder
committed between March and
June last year.
A court official who
requested anonymity said that Matanga had
unsuccessfully tried to convince
officials to drop the murder charges.
"We told him that we will not be
pushed and that the law has to take its
course unless President Mugabe
pardons them".
The country's main opposition MDC claims that over 300 of
its supporters
were killed during the run-up to the one man presidential
election run off.
The opposition has since called for the prosecution of
all perpetrators of
violence during the run-up to the election while Zanu-PF
says the
perpetrators should go free.
Speculation is rife within the
police force that Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and the MDC might call
for the prosecution of all perpetrators of
violence, resulting in the arrest
and prosecution of senior Zanu-PF
officials.
http://www.zimbabwemetro.com
Local News
February 15, 2009 | By Philip
Mangena
Gibson Sibanda the Vice-President of the faction of the Movement for
Democratic Change led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara will be
appointed Matebeland South Governor,multiple sources within the faction have
revealed.
Sibanda, who appeared on the faction's cabinet initial list
was not sworn in
with other ministers last week after he objected to being
appointed Minister
of State in the Deputy Prime Minister's Office,a post
Mutambara had
requested to be created.
Sibanda a long time ally of
Morgan Tsvangirai,fell out with the MDC
president following a disagreement
over participation in the senate
elections of 2005.
Mr. Sibanda
joined a group of anti-senate officials led by MDC Secretary
General
Welshman Ncube, MDC Deputy Secretary General Gift Chimanikire, party
treasurer Fletcher Dulini Ncube, and spokesman Paul Themba Nyathi they went
on to win only seven seats in the 60 chamber house.
Last year Sibanda
lost his Nkulumane re-election bid to MDC National Youth
Chairperson
Thamsanqa Mahlangu and was not elected MDC President despite
being the next
in the hierarchy but the party appointed former student
leader Arthur
Mutambara to lead the party.
In a related development Bulawayo Agenda
director Mr Gordon Moyo has been
sworn in as Minister of State in the Prime
Minister's Office.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11726
February 15, 2009
By Ntando
Ncube
JOHANNESBURG -The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said
Zimbabwe's water
sources are carrying the cholera bacteria as the country
battles an outbreak
that has now infected 73 585 people and left 3,525
dead.
The latest figures of the outbreak, which has spread since August
2008,
especially in impoverished rural areas, were dated February 12, the UN
health agency said.
At the beginning of the week, the WHO and the
health ministry had recorded
69,553 cases including 3,400
deaths.
"Cholera is still not under control," said WHO spokeswoman Fadela
Chaib.
However, she revealed that an onsite survey by the central cholera
control
team in several districts found that waterways and wells were
infected with
the deadly bacteria.
Chaib said: "We have confirmed
that shallow wells, rivers and streams were
the most likely source of
infection."
That made it essential to distribute water purification
tablets, clean water
supplies, and soap directly to families and households
to stop them getting
infected when they washed, cooked or drank water, she
added.
The WHO also reiterated fears that floods in the rainy season
would hamper
movement of both health workers and of people seeking
treatment.
"There's also the lack of transport, the scarcity of food and
the fact that
health workers are paid very little if they are at all," Chaib
told
journalists.
However, the WHO spokeswoman said it was unclear to
what degree the outbreak
in Zimbabwe was fuelling those in neighbouring
countries.
http://www.news.com.au
AAP
February 16, 2009
12:31am
AUSTRALIA will provide an extra $5 million immediately to
help Zimbabwe
fight a cholera outbreak that has left nearly 3,500 people
dead.
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith made the pledge during a phone call on
Friday
to congratulate Morgan Tsvangirai on becoming Zimbabwe's new prime
minister.
Mr Tsvangirai took the prime ministerial oath on Wednesday as
part of a
power-sharing agreement with longtime president Robert
Mugabe.
Mr Smith said the UN had reported 73,000 cases of cholera and
almost 3,500
deaths in Zimbabwe.
"I told Prime Minister Tsvangirai
that the government and the people of
Australia stood with him as he
confronted the enormous challenges faced by
the people of Zimbabwe,'' Mr
Smith said.
"The cholera epidemic is the worst in modern day Zimbabwe and
the worst in
Africa for several years.''
The funding will go to the
United Nations Childrens Fund (Unicef), with $3
million to be used for its
emergency water and sanitation program and $2
million to boost its medicines
support program.
Mr Smith said the federal government was considering
other ways to aid
Zimbabwe.
"The government is carefully and urgently
examining what assistance it can
give, particularly in the health,
education, food security and agriculture
areas,'' he said.
"Australia
will also consult with other major aid donors to determine how
best we can
assist the people of Zimbabwe.''
http://www.eddiecross.africanherd.com/
I am sorry for the long delay in sending out another of my
weeklies, but we
have been rather busy to say the least!! Events here have
been dramatic and
are moving so fast that it is difficult to keep track if
you are not at the
centre of things. A struggle is under way - not with
guns, at least not yet!
But in every other way this is street fighting -
building by building,
street by street, close combat between two
forces.
On the one side is the secret cabal that has run Zimbabwe since
the
quasi-military coup in 2002, when the military chiefs stated that they
would
not salute Mr. Tsvangirai if he were elected President. On the other
side is
a peculiar coalition of forces, led by Mr. Tsvangirai but including
elements
of Zanu PF, civil society and even the armed forces
themselves.
The Cabal was noticeably absent when the Prime Minister was
sworn in - as
were a number of other key players, this was not a
coincidence. The
Commander of the Air Force has not been seen since the
assassination attempt
on him in Shamva, the others were all busy making
mischief. The most serious
issue remains what role is the State President
playing in this drama, if
anything.
But however it is described we
are seeing a situation where a small group is
fighting back and trying to
bring about a breakdown of the transitional
government which has just been
sworn in and on Monday will start to take
charge. The three key elements in
this shadowy force are - the Reserve Bank
(under Gono), the Ministry of
Justice and the Attorney Generals Office and
the Military and Police. Gono
is the paymaster and is funding this fight
back using the very considerable
resources at his command, the Ministry of
Justice - or elements in the
Ministry, is providing the 'legal'
justification and the armed forces,
including senior elements in the Police,
are executing the strategy and
providing the muscle.
The legal ruse is the allegation - now totally
discredited, that elements of
the MDC are involved in 'treason' in that they
planned the violent over
throw of the State. In fact the real situation is
that it is the armed
forces chiefs themselves who are trying to do so and in
so doing are
committing treason against the State. For, no matter how you
construct the
transitional government, Zimbabwe now has a democratically
elected
government that is constitutional and legitimate. Any attempt
therefore, to
over throw the State by force, is an act of
treason.
This fight is most clearly illustrated by the detention of Roy
Bennett at
Charles Prince Airport yesterday. Roy was hauled off the plane,
bundled into
a car and then driven at high speed to Mutare. The vehicles in
which he was
transported were followed by volunteers so that he could not
just disappear
in the same way that 42 others have in recent
weeks.
When the news reached the Prime Minister he was already in
consultation with
regional leaders on another crisis regarding the
appointment of Zanu PF
Ministers and the matter was discussed. Senior Zanu
PF Ministers agreed to
order that Roy be released. The President of South
Africa left the country
thinking that this had been done and a major
diplomatic and political crisis
(among many) averted. It was not so, whether
or not such an order was given,
the Police and the CIO did not release Roy,
instead they announced he was to
be charged with treason!
If the
Ministers of State Security and Home Affairs did give the order for
his
release, then the government agencies that are accountable to them did
not
obey the order. If they did not give the order, they lied to the South
African President and the Prime Minister and are part of, what is, in
effect, a military coup. The treatment of the 42 other abductees is further
evidence of this defiance of the new order. They were clearly abducted
illegally, held illegally in various State institutions, finally brought to
Court and charged with various crimes involving absurd allegations, and
denied bail. A number are still missing and are unaccounted for.
In
one of his first actions, the Prime Minister visited them in the High
Security Prison outside Harare and instructed that 4 be taken immediately to
hospital for treatment. Two of the four, including Jestina Mukoko are very
ill with life threatening symptoms, they were then taken to hospital and in
the evening, they were taken by force from the hospital back to prison in
clear defiance of the Prime Ministers instructions.
Many other
battles are being fought - the coup plotters have people in key
places all
over government and they are clearly working together. The
question is can
they win this struggle. I do not think so. They are up
against the majority
of the people, a democratically elected government
negotiated with the
support of the entire region and they must now fight to
defend their
positions from within government where they no longer have
legal and
political control. The key player to watch in this struggle is
Gono. If he
goes, then the flow of resources (except for illegal resources
such as gold
and diamond sales) will dry up and they will not be able to
sustain their
fight. If he stays, the new government will be seriously
weakened, as they
cannot then secure the backing and support of important
financial players
who simply will not work with the Bank whilst he is still
in
charge.
While this is going on the looting of State assets and resources
continue.
Right now they are trying to do a deal with a local firm to sell
Tel One - a
major cell phone operator that is State owned, for US$200
million, which
they want to use to support US dollar denominated vouchers to
pay the Civil
Service with, so that they can at least buy food. The Prime
Minister has
instead instructed that the Civil Service be paid in hard
currency -
Chinamasa defied the Prime Minister last week and insisted they
go ahead
with the deal even though after Friday he was no longer Minister of
Finance.
As for me? The Prime Minister announced on Monday that I was his
choice for
Minister of State Enterprise and then on Friday the post was
switched to a
friend and colleague, Sam Nkomo. A victim of the present
constitutional
dispensation where Ministers must be Members of Parliament
and carry over
into their government posts, their political constituency. In
the American
system, the positions of Secretaries of State are selected from
outside the
political system and the President can - as is the case with the
Obama
government, select from his whole society, the people to run his
government.
Under the Westminster system no such clear distinction exists
between the
executive and Parliament.
The American system has the
advantage that Ministers (the Secretaries) are
selected not only for their
political influence and experience but also for
their technical background
and experience. They essentially are managers of
the Ministries they run.
Under our system the process is much more political
and the PM has to
balance contending interests politically. In my case, I
was a victim of the
process. I am sorry - I would have loved to have had the
chance to help make
this deal work and to get whatever piece of government I
was responsible
for, functioning again. But it is not to be and its back to
making my own
living and working in Parliament to supervise government and
look after the
public interest.
Eddie Cross
Bulawayo, 15th February 2009
http://www.telegraph.co.uk
The
new Zimbabwe was born last Wednesday with a whimper rather than with
whoops
of delight, and then turned to dark farce as the week progressed.
By
Graham Boynton
Last Updated: 8:48PM GMT 14 Feb 2009
The Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was sworn in by the old despot, Robert
Mugabe, in
a joyless ceremony in a tent. Mugabe's wife, the ghastly
couture-clad Grace,
refused to shake hands with Tsvangirai.
Then on Friday, before he was to
be sworn in as deputy agriculture minister,
the MDC's Roy Bennett was
arrested and has now been charged with treason.
And at the latest count at
least 14 of Tsvangirai's party activists remained
in police detention - amid
accusations of torture - in spite of the fact
that their release was
supposed to be a precondition for the country's new
era of coalition
government.
Sceptical observers - and anyone who has followed the rape of
Zimbabwe over
the past decade can be forgiven for being sceptical - take
these signals as
evidence that neither Mugabe nor his hardline Zanu-PF inner
circle are going
to honour the content or the spirit of the coalition
agreement.
Even if the 85-year-old ruler is wilting slightly after almost
30 years of
running this once prosperous country into the ground, the
Zanu-PF hawks who
surround him are desperate to hang onto power. For
although this
power-sharing deal, forced on him by fellow African leaders,
may have saved
Mugabe from a trial in the Hague, his generals may not escape
prosecution
for crimes against humanity.
Tsvangirai and close
advisers have taken a great risk. One member of the new
unity cabinet, who
spoke on condition of anonymity, has said that the
success or failure of the
coalition government would be clear within two
weeks.
David Coltart,
the Bulawayo MDC senator who is part of the smaller breakaway
MDC faction
led by the new deputy prime minister Arthur Mutambara, is more
circumspect.
He says that while he recognises huge problems "that even the
finest
government in the world would find enormously difficult to deal with"
there
has been a significant step forward. He says it represents a
substantial
reduction in Zanu-PF's power base and will hopefully begin to
isolate the
hardliners.
It is now widely believed that Mugabe and the hardliners did
not really
think Tsvangirai would sign the coalition agreement, and that the
point of
their rolling campaign of arrests, torture and murders of MDC
officials and
supporters was to dissuade him from doing so.
However,
with the support of African Union countries such as Botswana,
Zambia and
Tanzania, he has outflanked Zanu-PF, and with half Mugabe's
ministers having
lost their posts to the MDC the first signs of cracks in
the ruling elite
are now expected to emerge.
Now it is time for the international
community to share Tsvangirai's risk.
It is too easy for Gordon Brown and
David Miliband to utter cautionary
remarks, as they both did last week, and
play the roles of cool Western
politicians, but what the people of Zimbabwe
need right now is for
Tsvangirai's bold move to be seen to be having an
impact on this broken
country.
To that end, in his first speech he
implored the civil servants, the
teachers and the hospital workers to return
to work and promised to pay them
foreign currency rather than the now
valueless Zimbabwe dollar. The
assumption here is that he has received
promises of financial support from
African Union allies, but to maintain the
momentum the support of the EU
countries and Obama's born-again America is
required.
Unfortunately, our recent history of helping Zimbabwe has been
uniformly
dreadful. For the past eight years - since the first farm
invasions - the
international community has vacillated, fidgeted and
fulminated and achieved
nothing. Thus Mugabe, his shopping wife and his
larcenous inner circle have
roamed the world seemingly free to spend their
Treasury's money and to have
their children educated at our most expensive
schools and universities.
Now we can make up for these years of
inactivity, during which this lovely
country has plunged from prosperity to
bankruptcy, disease and famine, by
getting behind its
rehabilitation.
In Africa everything is possible. One only has to look
back to apartheid
South Africa in the 1980s, when the idea of Nelson Mandela
being freed,
never mind actually leading the country, seemed as fanciful as
a modern-day
banker handing back his bonus out of guilt.
Post-Mandela
South Africa is a world apart from the country run by the
granite
apartheidists and it is to that miraculous transition beleaguered
Zimbabweans look in hope. Indeed, at his first rally as Prime Minister last
week Morgan Tsvangirai reminded his supporters that it was 19 years ago to
the day that Mandela was freed from prison and warned them that this did not
signify the end of his people's struggle for democracy.
So, too, with
Zimbabwe. This ungainly attempt to form a coalition government
with the
architects of the country's downfall is fraught with difficulties
but it is
a first step. This is Tsvangirai's interim government before the
next
election, and if he holds it together in the face of Zanu-PF's
determination
to wreck it then Zimbabwe has a glimmer of hope. That is why
the West must
now support him unequivocally.
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au
February 16, 2009
Article from:
The Australian
ZIMBABWE, arguably the world's most destitute country, last
week gained a
new prime minister.
Unfortunately, it still has the
same President. Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of
the opposition Movement for
Democratic Change, was sworn in as Prime
Minister under a power-sharing deal
brokered by former South African
president Thabo Mbeki, ending almost a year
of stalemate after his party
defeated the ruling ZANU-PF party in
parliamentary elections and Mr
Tsvangirai led Robert Mugabe in the
presidential election last March.
Mugabe, who has been in power since
independence from Britain in 1980, is
still considered by some in the
opposition, and by outside observers, to
have the upper hand in the
arrangements, accepted by Mr Tsvangirai last
month. The MDC has 13 posts in
the 31-member cabinet, ZANU-PF has 15, and
the other three jobs have been
assigned to an MDC splinter group - giving
Mugabe's opponents a bare
majority of ministers. One of the hardest jobs,
running the Finance Ministry
amid the wreckage, has gone to a lawyer, Tendai
Biti, who doubts the pact
will last.
The President will still control the military, a mainstay of
power, and can
sack the Prime Minister. Mr Tsvangirai takes the attitude
that this shaky
deal is the only way available towards the solution he
favours - new and
more honestly run elections that he believes would give
his side an
overwhelming victory. He was also under pressure to accept it by
other
governments in southern Africa whose leaders are embarrassed by the
once-thriving Zimbabwe's economic collapse but do not like to see one of
their number forced from office.
Sub-Saharan Africa has endured the
world's most depressing regional
political history since European
colonisation inevitably ended. Many of its
indigenous-ruled nations have
fallen victim to civil and cross-border wars -
in which millions of citizens
have died - and to murderous and repressive
dictatorships, staggering
corruption, economic mismanagement, wastage of
resources, appalling poverty
and starvation, environmental disasters and,
not least, merciless tribalism.
The record has numbed the nations of other
continents to the point where the
worst is almost expected.
Black Africa has not exactly got its act
together yet, a half-century or
soafter decolonisation began. The Mugabe
regime fits into the pattern fairly
closely. It's to be hoped that the
efforts to aid and reach out to black
Africa begun by former US president
George W.Bush, in one of his
little-appreciated initiatives, will be taken
further by his successor,
Barack Obama, whose father came from Kenya. While
some Western European
nations have been ready to shame and boycott
intolerable governments, and
provide humanitarian aid, they surely could
have done more to promote better
leadership in many former
possessions.
Mugabe, in power since 1980, turns 85 on Saturday but needs
no presents -
not that many Zimbabweans could afford to give him one, as
only about 5per
cent of the labour force has a job and the currency is
virtually worthless.
It would appear from a weekend report that Mugabe has
been benefiting from
what remains of the country's hard-currency holdings.
He and his
big-spending wife, Grace, are thinking about China as a bolthole
in the
event that he loses all power in his home country. This is
unsurprising,
given China's investments in resources, energy and transport
in Zimbabwe.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry last week called the swearing-in
of Mr
Tsvangirai "substantial progress ... in Zimbabwe's political
reconciliation
process".
Britain's The Sunday Times has exposed a
multi-million-dollar property said
to be owned by the Mugabes in a gated
community in Hong Kong, and a planned
diamond-cutting venture in Qingdao on
the mainland. Grace Mugabe has been
travelling through Asia recently and the
newspaper says Zimbabwean central
bank governor Gideon Gono is "notorious
for funding her extravagant travels
abroad". It also notes her reputation
for splurging on luxury goods and art.
The Mugabes are said to vacation
often in the resorts and hotels of such
countries as Malaysia, confident
that their military cronies will remain
loyal.
With schools and
hospitals closed, infrastructure in ruins and a cholera
epidemic that has
killed thousands, the world watches to see whether the
newcomers in office
can persuade enough politicians in the ZANU-PF camp, if
not the President,
to help their more than 13 million people, including the
surviving white
population, instead of only themselves. Interested
governments including
Australia's will have to monitor events closely to
encourage co-operation
within this unlikely coalition, and to enable the MDC
ministers to ease the
Mugabes and their henchmen from power completely and
quickly.
http://www.nation.co.ke
By KEN KAMOCHEPosted Saturday, February
14 2009 at 17:57
The story that Robert Mugabe's daughter is studying at
Hong Kong University
might never have attracted any media attention had the
strongman's wife not
got into a bit of a scuffle with a British
photographer.
The fellow says he was savagely beaten up by Grace Mugabe
while her aides
held him down.
Strangely, although he said his face
was streaming with blood because she
was wearing diamond-encrusted rings, he
only reported the matter to the
police two days later, during which time the
woman had quietly left Hong
Kong.
She obviously travels on a
diplomatic passport, so the Hong Kong police were
probably glad they didn't
have to do anything after all although, of course,
they would issue the
standard reply: investigations are under way.
Henchmen
It would
have been interesting to see how they would have reacted, given the
freedom
Mugabe and his family enjoy in the east. Unlike many other Africans
who only
play economic lip-service to the "look east" policy, Mugabe and his
henchmen
find they have little choice.
For rogue politicians warned not to attempt
to land in Europe and North
America, the east offers a welcome refuge. If
you have money to spend, and
don't kick up too much of a fuss, Asia will
welcome you. It's called Asian
pragmatism.
Western reporters staking
out Mugabe's family claimed they were trying to
draw a sharp contrast
between the lifestyles of the first family and those
of millions facing
police brutality, starvation and cholera in a country
that has gone to the
dogs.
While the government claims cholera has been contained, independent
reports
suggest they couldn't be farther from the truth.
When
reporters started asking what these two were doing in Hong Kong, that
was
when it transpired that the young lady was studying under an assumed
name.
Using an alias was in itself a precautionary measure either for
her own
safety or because of the potential political fall-out.
The
revelations caused a bit of a stir but nothing like the hue and cry you
would have expected if it had happened, say in Europe, or Australia for that
matter, where the children of Mugabe's associates were recently expelled
because of the crimes of their fathers.
Hong Kong University issued a
statement saying they believed in equality of
opportunity, and that children
shouldn't be denied an education because of
the politics of their
parents.
It's a fair statement on one level. But, does it mean the
iniquities of the
world's dictators will not be visited upon the children
hiding away in Asia
to the third and fourth generation as we read in the
book of Exodus?
Privileged
It has been an interesting debate.
There are those who argue that the
university is right to see, hear and
speak no evil, and simply take the fees
from any qualified applicant who
comes along.
Others suggest that Bona Mugabe isn't just an innocent
victim of political
correctness, not because she has played no role in
creating a privileged
lifestyle for herself while the majority suffers under
her despotic father's
rule, but because she is known to have actively
campaigned for him.
There are photographs of her on the internet on the
campaign trail in a Vote
Mugabe T-shirt, waving a clenched fist in the
air.
So, it is one thing to plead you're an innocent beneficiary who
didn't ask
to be born with a silver spoon in your mouth. It is quite another
to
campaign actively for your father knowing very well what his politics is
doing to the country.
Getting involved in politics comes with
responsibility. This is why I was
amused to read one commentator's view that
young people should be allowed to
visit and study in "democracies" so
they'll learn and not repeat the
mistakes of their fathers.
For
starters, Hong Kong isn't a democracy. Though you can vote in regional
and
functional constituencies for a Legco which is all bark and no bite, the
top
honcho is selected by a small circle committee of the rich and
powerful.
More importantly, this view seems to imply that you can wean
dictators of
their bad habits simply by sending them to the west to clean
their minds,
civilise them, so they return singing democracy, human rights
and free
market forces.
It is, of course, doubtful whether the west
is all that well-equipped to
teach this mantra to the rest of the
world.
Secondly, many of the worst dictators that have surfaced in Africa
and Asia
spent years studying or training in military colleges in the west
at some
point in their career.
*****
The trial of Chen
Shui-bian and family is becoming something of a media
circus. So far, the
wife, son, daughter-in-law and brother-in-law have all
pleaded guilty to
money-laundering.
Mister Chen himself maintains his innocence, and claims
that his wife was
making illegal fund transfers without his
knowledge.
Could it be he was too busy running the country to take any
interest in what
those closest to him were doing?
Was he aware and
simply turned a blind eye or did the family take advantage
of their
privileged first family status to engage in corrupt practices
knowing the
president would protect them?
The coming months are keenly anticipated as
the trials get under way. There
will be drama aplenty.
Professor Ken
Kamoche is an academic and writer
BILL WATCH
SPECIAL
[14th February
2009]
Prime
Minister and Deputies sworn in
The Prime Minister,
Morgan Tsvangirai, and the two Deputy Prime Ministers, Thokozani Khupe and
Arthur Mutambara, were sworn in at State House on 11th February, meeting the
deadline set by the SADC Summit of 26th-27th January. [Communiqué
– para 7(ii) the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Ministers shall be sworn in
by 11th February 2009]
Swearing-in
of new Ministers
[for
list of Ministers by name and portfolio see
below]
Ministers were sworn in
yesterday, 13th February, the date the SADC Summit set for the finalisation of
setting up an inclusive government by the swearing-in of Ministers and Deputy
Ministers.
[Communiqué
– para 7(iii) the Ministers and Deputy Ministers shall be sworn in on 13th
February 2009, which will conclude the process of the formation of the inclusive
Government]
Note the SADC
Agreed
Number of Ministers under IPA - 31
Under the Interparty
Political Agreement [IPA] signed September 15 by the political parties and by
the President of South Africa and Chair of SADC, the number of Ministries
allocated to each party was
specified: ZANU-PF 15; MDC-T 13; and MDC-M 3 - Total 31.
[The
principle underlying this was supposed to be that the number of Ministers each
party gets was in proportion to votes won in the
Parliamentary
elections
last March.]
Ten
extra Ministers listed to be sworn in
The day before the
swearing in, the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet said the full list
of ministerial appointees had been announced by President Mugabe. He said 39
people would be appointed Ministers, but gave no information about which
portfolios they would be given. There were 21 names announced for ZANU-PF
[6
more than their IPA quota], 14 for MDC-T
[1
more than their IPA quota] and 4 for MDC-M
[1
more than their IPA quota]. The next day 2 more
names were added to the ZANU-PF list – Muchena and Kasukuwere – making a total
of 23 for ZANU-PF [8
more that their IPA quota]. This brought the
number of Ministers expecting to be sworn in up from 31 to 41. The extra
numbers listed were explained as follows:
·
the parties had agreed
that both MDC-T and ZANU-PF would have a Minister of Home Affairs, so 1 was
added to ZANU-PF’s allocation
·
ZANU-PF claimed 7
extra as Ministers of State [Note:
Ministers of State are full Ministers and in previous governments have sat in
Cabinet]
·
Both MDC-T and MDC-M
were each allocated 1 extra Minister [to be a Minister of
State]
MDC-T raised
objections to the number of extra Ministers ZANU-PF were claiming. There was a
delay of over five hours while parties disagreed about the extra ministries with
President Motlanthe called in to mediate.
[Comment:
as the negotiations for the inclusive government have been going on for almost 7
months, it was disappointing that there are still disagreements over such a
bedrock of the IPA as the numbers of Ministers for each party.]
Compromise
for the Day - 36 Ministers
35 Ministers were sworn
in. Giles Mutsekwa, on the MDC list was out of the country and it was reported
that he would be sworn in at a later date. This makes a total of 36
Ministers.
ZANU-PF kept 1 for its
co-Minister for Home Affairs and got 2 Ministers of State in the President’s
Office [an
extra 3 over the IPA allocation]. 5 on the list – all
senior
ministers in the last government
– who had arrived with their guests expecting to be sworn in, were not sworn in
[John Nkomo, David Parirenyatwa, Flora Buka, Paul Mangwana and Sylvester
Nguni].
MDC-T got one Minister
of State in the Prime Ministers Office [an
extra 1 over their IPA allocation].
Mr Gibson Sibanda on
the MDC-M list was not sworn in.
SADC
Statement to Press Incorrect
SADC Secretary General
Salomao was reported as explaining that the problems were “technical problems”.
He went on to say that “according to the agreement the Cabinet should have two
Ministers of State in the President’s office and one for the Prime Minister’s
Office”. Comment:
there is absolutely no provision for Ministers of State or any other
additional Minister(s) in the IPA.
The
compromise violates the Constitution of
Zimbabwe
The number of Ministers
laid down in the Constitution of Zimbabwe since Constitution Amendment 19 is
31. The slipping in of extra Ministries is a breach of our Constitution.
[Comment:
This is not sending out the right signals that the inclusive government intends
to respect the principles of constitutionalism and the rule of
law.]
A
Continuing Saga
Welshman Ncube,
Secretary General of MDC-M and their chief negotiator, was quoted after the
swearing in ceremony as saying “the matter had not been conclusively resolved
but had merely been set aside for this weekend.”
This ties in with a
report that Motlanthe suggested Mugabe and Tsvangirai hold talks this weekend to
decide whether they could both increase the number of their ministers to
accommodate the extra five Zanu (PF) aspirant Ministers .This would result in a
almost 50 Ministers.
[Comment:
If this is a correct report, President Motlanthe is not taking into account the
constitutional issues or the extra burden this would place on the fiscus. It
would also be perceived as bowing to last minute manipulation of the agreement
by ZANU-PF.]
The ceremony was not
only marred by disagreements, but also by the news of the arrest of the MDC-T
Treasurer-General and Deputy Minister designate, Roy Bennett and by the
continuing refusal to release other political detainees – one of the MDC-T
conditions for embarking on an inclusive government. It is to be hoped that
these issues will also be dealt with at the same time as continuing discussions
about the ministerial posts.
Allocation
of Ministerial Portfolios
This
is the position Saturday morning but may of course be altered if the numbers of
Ministries are cut down to meet constitutional
requirements
ZANU-PF
Ministry
1.
Kembo Mohadi [MP Mat South]
Home Affairs
Minister in last government]
2.
Emmerson Mnangagwa [MP Midlands]
Defence
Minister in last government
3.
Patrick Chinamasa [Appointed Senator]
Justice and Legal Affairs
Minister in last
government
4.
Herbert Murerwa [Elected Senator Mash East] Lands and Rural
Resettlement
Minister in a previous
government
5.
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi [Elected Senator Midlands] Foreign Affairs
Minister in last government
6.
Nicholas Goche [MP Mash Central]
Transport and Infrastructural
Development
Minister in last government
7.
Ignatius Chombo [MP Mash Central]
Local Government, Urban and Rural
Development
Minister in last government
8.
Obert Mpofu [MP Mat North]
Mines and Mining Development
Minister in last government
9.
Joseph Made [Appointed Senator]
Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation
Development
Minister in last
government
10.
Francis Nhema [MP Midlands]
Environment and Natural Resources
Management
Minister in last government
11. Stan
Mudenge [MP Masvingo]
Higher and Tertiary
Education
Minister in last government
12.
Sithembiso Nyoni [F] [MP Mat North]
Small and Medium Enterprises and Co-operative
Development
Minister in last government
13.
Webster Shamu [MP Mash West]
Media, Information and Publicity
Minister of State in Presidents Office
14.
Olivia Muchena [MP Mash East] Women's
Affairs, Gender and Community Development
Minister in last
government
15.
Saviour Kasukuwere [Mash Central]
Youth Development, Indigenisation and
Empowerment
Deputy Minister in last government
16.
Walter Mzembi [MP Masvingo prov] Tourism and
Hospitality Industry
Deputy Minister in last
government
Ministers of
State in the President’s Office
17.
Didymus Mutasa [MP Manicaland]
Minister of State for Presidential
Affairs
Minister in last
government
18.
Sydney Sekeramayi [Elected Senator Mash East] Minister of State for
National Security in the President’s Office
Minister in last
government
Listed for swearing in as Ministers,
but not sworn in
John Nkomo [Appointed Senator]
and Former Speaker and Minister in a previous government
David Parirenyatwa [MP Mash
East] and Minister in last government
Flora Buka [F] [MP Midlands] and
Minister of State in Presidents Office
Paul Mangwana [MP Midlands] and
Minister in last government
Sylvester
Nguni [MP Mash West] and Minister in last government
MDC-T
Ministry
MPs in previous
Parliaments
1.
Giles Mutsekwa [MP Manicaland] Home Affairs
2.
3.
Paurina Gwanyanya [MP Harare]
Labour
4.
Nelson Chamisa [MP Harare]
Information Communication
Technology
5.
Fidelis Mhashu [MP Harare]
Housing and Social
Amenities
6. Joel
Gabuza Gabbuza [MP Mat North] State Enterprises and Parastatals
First time
MP’s
7.
Elton Mangoma [MP Manicaland]
Economic Planning and Investment
Promotion
8.
Elias Mudzuri [MP Masvingo Prov]
Energy and Power Development
9. Eric
Matinenga [MP Manicaland]
Constitutional and Parliamentary
Affairs
10.
Eliphas Mukonoweshuro [MP Masvingo Prov] Public
Service
11. Henry
Madzorera [MP Harare]
Health and Child Welfare
12.
Theresa Makone [MP Harare]
Public Works
13.
Heneri Dzinotyiwei [MP Harare]
Science and Technology
14.
Samuel Sipepa Nkomo [MP Bulawayo] Water Resources and
Development
Minister of State in the Prime
Ministers Office
15. Gordon Moyo [no parliamentary seat]
Gordon Moyo would
have to get one of the 4 appointed Senate seats MDC-T has been allocated
MDC-M
MPs in previous
Parliaments
1.
Welshman Ncube [no parliamentary seat] Industry and
Commerce
2.
Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga [no parliamentary seat]Regional Integration and International Co-operation
3.
David Coltart [Elected Senator Bulawayo] Education, Sport,
Art and Culture
Senator
Coltart is the only nominee with a seat in Parliament,
Tthe other two have
to get one of the 2 appointed Senate seats MDC-M has been
allocated
Listed for swearing in as Ministers,
but not sworn in
Gibson Sibanda [no parliamentary seat]
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