http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011
08:28
Wongai Zhangazha
SADC facilitator South African President
Jacob Zuma yesterday condemned
politically motivated violence and
intimidation that has flared up in Harare’s
high-density suburbs since Zanu
PF launched its 2011 election campaign.
According to Zuma’s
international advisor Lindiwe Zulu, the South African
president has called
on the principals, President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
and his deputy Arthur Mutambara, to speak
publicly with one voice against
violence.
“President Zuma has heard of the alleged violence
that has been taking place
in Zimbabwe and his position is very clear and it
is something not
acceptable to the facilitator,” she said.
“The
president understands that the principals met and discussed the issue
of
violence. They themselves are realising that this life of violence is not
good for the country.”
Zulu added that: “President Zuma has
always urged the principals to speak to
their supporters together with one
voice to stop the violence. We are
already drafting the roadmap to elections
and an end to violence is part of
the road map.”
She said
elections in Zimbabwe could only take place if the environment is
conducive
for a free and fair poll.
“For elections to take place there has to
be a conducive environment for the
elections and violence is a challenge
that has to be stopped,” Zulu said
adding that the facilitation team would
be in the country next week to work
on the roadmap to
elections.
“The facilitation team will be in Zimbabwe sometime next
week. But this has
nothing to do with violence. We will be there to develop
the drafting of the
roadmap. As you know we have already started working on
the roadmap and the
political parties have given us people to work
with.”
Cases of violence had this week gone down in some parts of
Harare but
clashes in Mbare continued, with Zanu PF accusing MDC-T of
throwing five
petrol bombs at its district offices where eight members were
sleeping.
Tsvangirai this week blamed Mugabe for the violence, which
he said was being
perpetrated by members of the uniformed forces.
Zanu PF
has launched its campaign across the country code-named “Operation
Ngatizivane” as it prepares for elections which Mugabe wants later this
year.
Meanwhile, the National Security Council resolved at a meeting
last Friday
that the three principals of the GPA should come up with a
roadmap to end
the violence.
The drafting of the roadmap, which
sources said was supposed to be done this
week by Mugabe, Tsvangirai and
Mutambara, had to be postponed because the
president is in Singapore for
medical treatment.
“It was resolved at the meeting that the three
principals should come up
with a joint roadmap to persuade their supporters
to stop violence. This
roadmap was supposed to be drafted this week;
unfortunately this is most
likely not going to be possible since President
Mugabe travelled to
Singapore.
“Prime Minister Tsvangirai also confronted
Police Commissioner (Augustine)
Chihuri over the selective application of
the law by the police.
Commissioner Chihuri denied these allegations and it
developed into a heated
debate,” said the source.
Efforts to get
a comment from Home Affairs minister Theresa Makone were
fruitless as her
phone went unanswered.
Makone and Kembo Mohadi were tasked by Mugabe
and Tsvangirai to come up with
an objective report of the violence and
intimidation that has been taking
place in Harare.
Meanwhile in
Nyakomba area Ward 11in Nyanga, there were clashes between Zanu
PF and MDC-T
supporters after Zanu PF allegedly disrupted a rally at the
weekend
organised by Nyanga North MP Douglas Mwonzora. Mwonzora was arrested
on
Tuesday.
Hundreds of victims of the violence from Epworth and Mbare
are being housed
at different safe houses around Harare.
Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights director Irene Petras on Wednesday said
her
organisation had so far dealt with 30 separate cases and 300 people had
been
affected by the violence in a space of 12 days.
She attacked the
police for the selective application of the law adding that
ZLHR had
recorded three different reports of “enforced disappearances”.
Meanwhile
different churches and denominations have written to Zuma asking
him to
intervene and help end violence.
Bishop Edward Magaya said: “We
presented our concern to the South African
Ambassador Professor (Mlungisi)
Makalima so that he can present it to their
president who is the facilitator
of the Zimbabwe crisis, Jacob Zuma.”
“We also wrote a letter to the
police requesting to meet Police Commissioner
Augustine Chihuri to present
our concerns. We are still to get a response.”
In the letter dated February
11, the practising pastors, clergy and priests
also accused the police of
selective application of the law.
“What is shocking and disparaging
is the glaring absence of the police in
dealing with these perpetrators of
violence and the selective application of
justice by law enforcement
agents,” read the letter. “There is also lack of
professionalism by the
police who without any extensive and empirically
based research make
premature findings about the recent disturbances”.
They called on
Zuma to ensure that monitors are deployed now in both rural
and urban areas
until three months after the elections.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011 09:51
By
Morgan Tsvangirai
IT IS appropriate that we mark the second anniversary
of the formation of
the transitional government rather than celebrate
it.
From the outset it is important to state that the Global
Political Agreement
(GPA) sought to achieve economic stability and growth in
the country and to
implement democratic and constitutional reforms that
would pave the way for
free and fair elections to restore the country to a
legitimate government.
We implemented policies in the first
months of the formation of this
government that brought about, and continue
to bring, positive change to the
lives of all Zimbabweans.
But
there is much more that the people of Zimbabwe demand and deserve in
terms
of both service delivery and democratic reforms.
The rapid delivery
in the early days of this administration was a direct
result of our positive
impact in this government. We managed to mitigate the
appalling situation in
which our nation found itself after a decade of
failed policies and violent
repression of the people’s will.
But we have had our own frustrations
arising mainly from the deliberate
stalling of key reforms that would have
set the base for a new and
democratic Zimbabwe that is ready to take its
rightful place among the
family of nations.
From the
stabilisation of the economy to breathing life into our schools and
hospitals, the advantage of the transitional arrangement over the previous
regime has been clear for all to see.
Over and above this, the
past year did see some modest gains in delivery to
the
people.
The largest single investment in the education sector since
Independence saw
the distribution of 13 million textbooks to all the 5 575
primary schools
ensuring that every primary pupil will have access to
textbooks.
The end of 2010 saw the economy poised for a growth of
8,1% after we spent
the previous 24 months concentrating on stabilising the
economy.
The Ministry of Economic Planning and Development opened a one-stop
shop
that will enable prospective investors to have their papers processed
under
one roof in less than 48 hours so that we create jobs and expand our
economy.
Significant work has already begun to rehabilitate
national infrastructure.
The dualisation of some major roads, the
fibre-optic link to Mutare and the
commitment of resources through the
fiscus for major dams such as Mtshabezi
is a departure from mere lip-service
that has been paid to some of these
national projects over the
years.
In addition, the constituency development fund, where each
constituency will
receive US$50 000, means that for the first time,
parliamentarians will have
a chance to embark on major projects with the
direct input of their
constituents.
Despite the above-mentioned
deliverables, the test of any administration is
in its ability to provide
continuity in the manner in which it achieves a
positive impact on the lives
of its citizens. In this respect, the latter
months of this government
cannot be viewed as a success.
Within government, we have seen
increasing polarisation as the starkly
conflicting visions of the main
political parties lead to delay, deadlock or
dispute over even the simplest
of policies or reforms.
The nature of our government is such that
there is both collaboration and
competition. Our Zanu PF colleagues
concentrate more on competition than
collaboration, deliberately oblivious
to the coalition government’s
important role to have a common vision, to
build the economy, to improve the
people’s lives and to execute our mandate
as spelt out in the GPA.
For Zanu PF, politics has no single rule and
their game is based on the need
to retain power at all costs. The net result
is that the noble objectives of
the coalition government have been rendered
impotent as our colleagues
choose to prioritise power retention as their key
deliverable.
In addition, the continued failure to implement even the
most simple of the
24 agreed issues of the GPA shows that inherent friction
and lack of a
shared vision will continue to haunt this inclusive
government. The
capacity of this administration to deliver is limited, not
by time, but by
the delay in the implementation of those reforms that are
essential if we
are to see Zimbabwe move forward to a new, legitimate
Government that
directly reflects the will of the people.
Thus,
the timing of the next elections is not dictated by when, but under
what
conditions they will be held.
Executive authority in this country is
shared and the president has no power
to announce an election date without
consulting the prime minister. We have
to agree on a date, having satisfied
ourselves to the existence of electoral
conditions that will not produce
another contested outcome.
Only when we have achieved the necessary
conditions for a free, fair,
credible and legitimate election will the MDC
consider giving its blessing
and participating in such a
poll.
Key to achieving this is a new, biometric voter’s roll, a
stable and secure
environment, a credible electoral body with a non-partisan
secretariat, a
non-partisan public media, security sector reform and a
referendum on the
new constitution. We cannot have an election before we
achieve these key
milestones.
We have seen in the past few months
the deployment of soldiers and armed
vigilantes in the countryside to
recreate the terror of June 2008.
We have heard treasonous talk from
senior officials in the police and in the
army, all speaking against the
freedom of every Zimbabwean to elect new
leaders of their choice in an
atmosphere of peace and security.
The police, the army and the
Central Intelligence Organisation are all
national security institutions
created to protect the people of Zimbabwe and
not to harm them. Over the
past two years, these institutions have shown no
evidence of reforming; they
have failed to adjust to the realities of an
inclusive society by refusing
to let go of their partisan attitude, which
has eroded national confidence
at a time when the people want assurance of
their security well ahead of the
next election.
They have shown no paradigm shift and have
deliberately defied the civilian
authority in the country, even those that
are under the direct control of
the Commander-In-Chief. Either the
Commander-In-Chief is aware of this or
there is now a third force that has
assumed control in this country without
the mandate of the
people.
The people of this country respect national institutions, not
individuals
occupying positions in those institutions who have the tendency
of
expressing personal opinions and pretending that they represent the
position
of the institutions they control.
We have seen the
increase in hate speech and unbridled propaganda
particularly in the public
media where those of us who formed this inclusive
government to better the
lot of Zimbabweans are being vilified every-day,
notwithstanding the fact
that we won an election in 2008.
A case in point is the violence that
gripped Harare in the past few weeks.
Everyone knows that Zanu PF
mobilised its youths to take over foreign-owned
shops in the city. But the
public media have gone into overdrive misleading
the nation that the MDC was
at the centre of that violence.
The public media have themselves
become a threat to national security by
promoting hate, division and even
genocide. Article 19 of the GPA is clear
on the role of the public media in
this inclusive dispensation. It is
unfortunate that the public media have
allowed one person, who is himself an
outstanding issue, to give direction
to national newspapers to sabotage
government programmes and to vilify some
principals of the inclusive
government.
The people of Zimbabwe
indeed deserve to live under the same conditions,
with the same rights, the
same security and the same opportunities as the
most progressive societies
on our continent and abroad. To offer them
anything less is an
insult.
In this respect, I and my party remain committed to
championing the people’s
rights, both inside and outside this
government.
For too long we have tried to accommodate the arrogant
attitude of Zanu PF
within this administration. That is not our job. It is
the people who will
ultimately judge them for their attitude and
actions.
In the meantime, as the victors of the 2008 elections, we
have a mandate
from the people that we are determined to fulfill, either
with the
assistance of our partners in government or despite their
resistance.
This will not be an easy task, but in agreeing to form
this inclusive
government, it is a task that I undertook to
achieve.
Naturally, I had hoped that, having lost the elections, Zanu
PF would be
honest and sincere partners and would realise that their
methods, their
propaganda and their policies of self-enrichment at the
expense of the
people have no place in a new Zimbabwe.
From where
we stand today, it is obvious that we overestimated them. We
overestimated
their capacity to respond to the growing cacophony of
Zimbabweans demanding
real change in the country; ordinary people demanding
a break from the
ruinous past in favour of a bright, beckoning future.
Zanu PF’s
continued abuse of natural resources and national institutions to
further
party political agendas — their willingness to unleash violence
against
innocent Zimbabweans — and their stubborn refusal to allow audits,
investigations or exposure of their misuse and mismanagement of government
is evidence of the struggle that confronts all of us who are committed to
delivering real, positive change to the people of Zimbabwe.
For a
party that shouts so loud about the overwhelming success of the land
reform
programme, you would think that they would welcome an impartial audit
into
the beneficiaries, impact and fairness of such a scheme.
And yet they
shy away from any attempt to shine a light into the dark
crevices of their
past activities. Whether it be on land, diamonds or
parastatals, Zanu PF
does not want its record reviewed or exposed.
Rather than
investigating the findings of the recent Public Service Audit,
they are
condemning the terms of reference — because it has exposed their
abuse of
the Public Service — the ghost workers that prevent us from
increasing the
civil servants’ salaries — the 6 000 employees contracted on
one day by one
ministry after the March 2008 elections — and the many other
instances of
patronage and corruption exposed by the audit.
Similarly, their
desperate grip on the state media and the national security
institutions
illustrate a party that fears freedom; that fears the will of
the
people.
A party that knows that it does not have the legitimacy or
support to stand
and be judged on its own merits.
It is for these
reasons that the coming year will be an uphill struggle for
the MDC, for
civil society, for Sadc and for the people as we strive to
create a
conducive environment for free and fair elections.
But, as we have
witnessed so recently on our own continent, parties that
have lost the
support of the people have no guarantee that they can hang on
to power
indefinitely.
The major lesson from Tunisia and Egypt is the sanctity
and eventual triumph
of people power; the lesson that the people’s day will
come tomorrow,
notwithstanding today’s repression.
But, unlike
those countries, Zimbabwe already has a transitional mechanism
through which
the people can express their will, through which they can help
shape the
future they desire.
This transitional government provides us with the
perfect opportunity to set
the ground rules for mutual respect and peace
among all Zimbabweans, for
guaranteeing the people’s basic freedoms to
engage in political activity and
for far-reaching democratic reforms that
will ensure that the people’s will
is respected and upheld.
So
the main agenda for 2011 is to support the road-map to a free and fair
election; a roadmap with clear benchmarks and time-lines that will put in
place mechanisms to ensure a legitimate and credible poll.
We may
be army generals today, housewives, politicians, chief executives,
church
leaders, businessmen, peasants or informal traders; our binding
philosophy
must be to create a lasting and positive legacy for the sake of
our children
and future generations.
lThis article is an edited version of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s
speech at a public lecture on Tuesday in
Harare.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011 09:44
PRIME
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai expressed deep anguish and frustration when
he
addressed a public lecture in the capital on Tuesday.
He
bemoaned the failure by Zanu PF to implement issues agreed in the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) signed in September 2008.
“The
continued failure to implement even the most simple of the 24 agreed
issues
of the GPA shows that inherent friction and lack of a shared vision
will
continue to haunt this inclusive government,” he said.
He further
complained of renewed violence, partisan national security
institutions
and a biased public media which he said was promoting genocide.
According to
Tsvangirai they had tolerated Zanu PF’s arrogance for long
enough.
“For too long we have tried to accommodate the arrogant
attitude of Zanu PF
within this administration. That is not our job. It is
the people who will
ultimately judge them for their attitude and actions,”
he said.
All well and good Mr Prime Minister but it seems the MDC-T
has reached a
cul-de-sac on how to move forward while Zanu PF throws
spanners into the GNU
works.
Without doubt Zanu PF has engaged
campaign mode. Besides orchestrating
violence countrywide including in
Harare, the public media has begun a
vicious campaign to denigrate the Prime
Minister and MDC-T ministers
especially Finance minster, Tendai Biti. This
is happening despite having a
deputy minister in the Information and
Publicity ministry, Zwizwai Murisi.
The police force has continued to
be openly partisan and have blamed the
MDC-T for violence that rocked Harare
and portrayed Zanu PF members as
victims. This is happening despite the
MDC-T co-chairing the Home Affairs
portfolio with Zanu PF. It leaves us
wondering just how effective minister
Theresa Makone is within this
set-up.
Their city councilors countrywide continue to be harassed by
Local
Government, Urban and Rural Development minister Ignatius Chombo with
some
being dismissed. This is happening under the watch of their deputy
minister,
Sesel Zvidzai.
MDC-T’s response has been mute and tame
at best. The party seems to be in
disarray over how to respond to these
shortcomings. Gone is the vigour with
which they used to spar with Zanu PF
and their no-nonsense attitude towards
the latter’s shenanigans. Even the
rallies they used to hold countrywide to
inform their supporters have
dwindled.
Party structures at grassroots levels in most areas in the
country are
nonexistent and in the few areas where they exist, they are
shambolic. This
has severely weakened the party as the grassroots are the
oxygen of any
party worth its salt.
At the African Union Summit
held in Ethiopia recently, the low level
representation by the MDC-T at such
a crucial meeting was puzzling
especially at a time that President Mugabe
and Zanu PF were hell-bent on
dragging the country back to the dark days of
2008.
This leaves us wondering if the MDC-T have become complacent
since becoming
part of the inclusive government. Are they now taking the
massive support
they enjoy, especially in urban areas, for
granted?
It is incumbent upon them to show that they can do more than
whine and
whimper about Zanu PF and running to Sadc to complain. Otherwise
they risk
giving Zanu PF room to regroup and reverse the inroads they made
in 2008.
Ultimately actions speak louder than words.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011 09:36
THE RECENT
Supreme Court judgment on the constitutionality of State-Indebted
Companies
and Reconstruction Act will further deter investors from doing
business in
Zimbabwe as it proves that the country does not protect
individuals from
losing their properties to the state, legal analysts have
said.
Chief
Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku and three other Supreme Court judges a
fortnight
ago dismissed with costs a joint application by African Resources
Ltd (ARL),
THZ and SMMH Zimbabwe contesting the constitutionality of the
Act.
Judges Mesheck Cheda, Paddington Garwe and Luke Malaba
concurred with
Chidyausiku that the companies’ application had no merit and
the law was
constitutional. Only Justice Wilson Sandura gave a dissenting
judgment.
Sandura’s judgment is yet to be released.
The
law allows the state to put under administration any company that is
deemed
to be state-indebted and has likelihood to fail to repay its loans
because
its management was involved in fraudulent activities or
maladministration.
State indebtedness refers to any loans or
debts the company has to a
state-owned enterprise.
Legal analysts
say the judgment reinforces the perception that Zimbabwe was
a country that
did not provide protection of private property and it
introduced ad hoc laws
to deal with commercial transactions that could be
handled by using existing
legislation.
Scanlen & Holderness senior partner Sternford Moyo
said the court’s decision
proved that individual rights in the country were
not protected.
“All this reminds us that we do not, under the current
constitution, have
much property protection. Few will need to be persuaded
to understand that
without adequate protection of property rights all
efforts to inspire
investor confidence in our country will come to naught,”
Moyo said. “
"The current constitution-making exercise should,
consequently, have as
among its goals, the formulation of a stronger
property protection clause
than Section 16 (of the current constitution), if
we are to lift our country
from its current circumstances to greater
prosperity.”
Moyo added that the current constitutional review
process should take into
consideration protection of private
property.
“The current constitution-making exercise should,
consequently, have as
among its goals, the formulation of a stronger
property protection clause
than Section 16,” Moyo added, “if we are to lift
our country from its
current circumstances to greater
prosperity.”
The Constitution of Zimbabwe Section 16 reads, “no
property of any
description or interest, or right therein shall be
compulsorily acquired
except under the authority of a law
….”
These exceptions include land for resettlement or any other
property taken
in the public interest.
“The judgment is a
disaster for investment,” a senior lawyer close to the
matter said,
“Investors will continue to look at the political environment
stability and
hope a new government will usher in respect of private
property and that
that would mark an end to bad laws and judgments in the
country.”
The senior lawyer added that Zimbabwe had adequate laws
to handle any
commercial disputes between and among business
partners.
“No matter your offence, the government has no right to
take over anyone’s
business,” the lawyer said, “Adequate laws to deal with
these disputes, and
the David Whitehead case is a good example of handling
liquidations, scheme
of arrangements and insolvency.”
The senior
lawyer remarked that Sandura’s judgment should be fully analysed
and
respected because his rulings invariably invite respect from law-abiding
citizens.
Gutu & Chikowero Legal Practitioners senior partner
and Senator, Obert Gutu,
said the Reconstruction Act was not good for
business investment as it
paints a picture of state interference in private
enterprise.
“The Reconstruction Act has the effect of unfairly
introducing state
involvement in matters of commercial debt,” Gutu said.
“Surely, if Zesa or
any other state-owned company is owed money by a debtor,
there are adequate
legal avenues to enable the creditor to sue the debtor
for the purpose of
recovering the debt.”
“The Reconstruction Act
is a serious indictment on investment promotion and
more so, on the genuine
and broad-based economic empowerment of historically
disadvantaged people,”
Gutu added, “It is a draconian piece of legislation
that belongs to the Dark
Ages particularly in a democratic nation that seeks
needs to stimulate
foreign direct investment.”
The judgment is similar to the one passed
by the same court on land
acquisition that was delivered in 2008.
Chidyausiku, again, ruled that the
land acquisition cannot be contested in
court by any aggrieved land owner
and the government would pay compensation
when it has resources.
The judgment had a net effect of making
investment in agriculture
unattractive to foreigners and locals
alike.
Moyo said the Supreme Court judgment made investment in
agriculture
unappealing.
“Agricultural land was effectively taken
out of the realm of commercial
activity. In an agro-based economy, this is
a far-reaching development,”
Moyo said at an Economic Outlook Symposium held
in Harare a fortnight ago.
“It does not make sense to buy agricultural
land. Consequently, it does not
make sense to take agricultural land as
security for borrowings. The
99-year lease is not freely transferable. It
cannot be auctioned by the
deputy sheriff to recover debts.”
Moyo
added that Section 16 of the Constitution did not offer enough
protection to
investors as their properties could be arbitrarily taken away
by the
state.
He emphasised that under Roman Dutch Law, governments own the
land “from
heaven to hell” and everything in between and therefore the
business
community needs to lobby for restoration of agricultural land into
the realm
of commercial activity.
Commercial Farmers Union, the
umbrella board that represented the majority
of white former commercial
farmers in the country, has since won an
application at the Sadc Tribunal in
Windhoek, Namibia, ruling the land
expropriations illegal and
racist.
Zimbabwe has, however, vowed not to respect the ruling of the
tribunal they
say they did not recognise and therefore its decisions will
not bind the
country.
The analysts agree that the state actions
are not consistent with upholding
the rule of law and protection of private
property thereby making the
country less attractive to foreign and other
serious investors. — Staff
Writer.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011
09:27
Paidamoyo Muzulu
ZIMBABWE can revert to the old
constitutional order minus Amendment No19 if
the Global Political Agreement
(GPA) signed in September 2008 collapses,
constitutional lawyers said this
week.
This follows statements from Zanu PF, including
President Robert Mugabe who
pointed out that he would call for elections if
the GPA collapses, using the
constitution as it was before the 19th
Amendment which created the
government of national unity.
Late
last month, Mugabe said: “For those who do not want, we will simply
dissolve
parliament and go for an election under the old constitution.”
Zanu PF
spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said elections should be held with or
without a
new constitution.
“If we can’t find the money (for the
constitution-making process which has
since stalled) then the
constitution-making is inconclusive and then we
revert to the Lancaster
House constitution — minus Constitutional Amendment
No19,” Gumbo
said.
Political analysts concurred this week that Amendment No19 of
2009 would
automatically fall away from the supreme law once the GPA is
terminated by
its signatories -- Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur
Mutambara from the
smaller MDC faction.
Amendment 19 legalised
the GPA that had been signed by Zanu PF and the two
MDC formations after an
inconclusive 2008 presidential election.
The Amendment created the
framework for power sharing in the coalition
government among the three
political parties. It created the offices of
Prime Minister and its deputies
in addition to providing a ration of sharing
ministerial positions within
the cabinet.
Constitutional lawyer and National Constitutional
Assembly national
chairperson Lovemore Madhuku said the present government
owed its existence
to GPA.
“It is legally correct that Mugabe
will have the powers to call for
elections without consulting the Prime
Minister if the GPA collapses,”
Madhuku said. “Mugabe through the
controversial mandate he got from the June
27, 2008 election will remain the
President and use powers invested by the
constitution minus Amendment
19.”
Madhuku hastened to add that Mugabe’s rule would not be without
challenges
from political foes.
“If the GPA collapses we return
to the pre-GPA position. This is a
controversial political point but not
controversial from a legal point,”
Madhuku added, “The June 2008 electoral
mandate is controversial as there
are political legitimacy issues
surrounding it.”
Madhuku said Zanu PF and Mugabe were likely to cause
the collapse of the GPA
so that the country may return to the pre-GPA
era.
The inconclusive 2008 election and violence surrounding the poll
gave rise
to the call for a coalition government as the country
healed.
University of Zimbabwe Constitutional Law lecturer Creg
Linnington said
constitutional Amendment 19 will remain in place as long as
the Inter Party
Agreement, also known as the GPA, remained in
force.
“Consultations between the President and the Prime Minister
will have to
take place on any serious political decisions as long as the
agreement is in
subsistence,” Linnington said, “Schedule 8 of Amendment 19
compels the
President to consult the Prime Minister as long as the agreement
is in
existence.”
Mass Public Opinion Institute (MPOI) director
and University of Zimbabwe
Political Science lecturer Eldred Masunungure
questioned the political
correctness of taking the country back to the
pre-GPA period though it was
legally feasible.
“Constitutionally
the President may be allowed to take such an action,”
Masunungure said, “In
the political arena it is different. Is it politically
correct to dissolve
the GPA and call for elections?”
Masunungure urged restraint in
taking such action as the country had not
healed enough and neither had the
inclusive government fulfilled all the
condition of the
agreements.
The GPA calls for the inclusive government to do reforms
on the
constitution, media, security sector and electoral laws among other
issues.
MDC-T secretary-general and one of the GPA negotiators,
Tendai Biti, said
Amendment 19 fell away once the GPA collapses but he did
not foresee that
situation arising any time soon.
“It is true
that the amendment falls away as soon as the GPA is dissolved,”
Biti said,
“However, I do not think that any party in the inclusive
government would
want to see the GPA collapse.”
The thin line between politics and the law has
been very evident since the
signing of the GPA more than two years ago and
political parties have
interpreted it differently to suit themselves.
The
GPA, signed at the height of the political and economic crisis, is not
very
explicit hence the problems with its implementation and various
interpretations. This has rocked the unity government on several occasions,
including Tsvangirai’s recent lawsuit against Mugabe for alleged
constitutional violations relating to the president’s unilateral
appointments. The GPA states that Mugabe should consult Tsvangirai before
making key appointments.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011
09:25
Brian Chitemba
THE MDC-T has ordered all provinces to lift
members’ suspensions, get rid of
vote-buying and put an end to factionalism
ahead of its congress to be held
in May.
According to circulars sent to
the party’s 12 provinces by MDC-T organising
secretary Elias Mudzuri and
secretary-general Tendai Biti last month, the
party warned that it would not
tolerate vote-buying by officials seeking to
be elected at the
congress.
As the MDC-T congress draws near with members
jostling to land influential
posts, reports of vote-buying and factionalism
have spread.
Biti said some members of the party had adopted
unconstitutional moves to
secure posts and some of them were using
operations such as Operation Gara
Uripo or Mira Uripo — meaning some members
are working to maintain the
status quo.
“The national executive
committee has adopted a special code of conduct that
will deal with the
congress. The party will (exercise) zero tolerance to any
omissions or
commissions of misconduct,” wrote Biti to provinces.
“Vote-buying, sexism,
factionalism and any acts of misconduct will not be
tolerated.”
“Compliance with congress timeliness and organising
department template, it
has come to our attention that in a few provinces
elections are not held
consistent with the constitution. The December 21
letter and council
resolution of December 16 2010, some provinces have
adopted
unconstitutional and undemocratic practices, these include
aberrations such
as Operation Gara uripo or Mira uripo.”
In
another circular sent out on January 17, Mudzuri directed provinces to
lift
suspensions of members and work towards electing ward, district and
provincial executives before the May indaba.
The directive came
hard on the heels of the suspension of MDC-T Matabeleland
North organising
secretary Cornelius Mubaiwa for allegedly questioning the
unilateral
appointment of Thembinkosi Sibindi and Prince Sibanda onto the
provincial
executive. Mubaiwa was suspended in January by provincial
chairman Sengezo
Tshabangu who sources said was likely to lose his seat in
the forthcoming
provincial executive elections.
The infighting has delayed wards,
district and provincial elections which
were supposed to have been completed
by end of last month.
Sources said senior MDC-T officials in
Matabeleland were clashing over
Mubaiwa’s suspension, with some calling for
its lifting.
There have been squabbles in Bulawayo over the
provincial chairmanship
pitting State Enterprises and Parastatals minister
Gorden Moyo and Mzilikazi
Senator Mattson Hlalo against each other. Moyo is
seeking to land the post
although other party members are blocking him
because he has not been a
member for at least two years as is stated in the
party guidelines.
Last week, the MDC-T came up with guidelines for
selecting candidates for
local government and parliamentary elections and a
raft of proposals to
amend the constitution during its elective
congress.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 18 February 2011
09:23
Paidamoyo Muzulu and Tendai Zhanje
MINISTER of Finance
Tendai Biti this week accused President Robert Mugabe of
deliberately
frustrating the gazetting of the Public Finance Management Act,
which seeks
to revolutionise how public funds are monitored and audited in
line
ministries.
Biti made the revelation when he appeared before the public
accounts
parliamentary portfolio committee on Monday.
The law
introduces new financial management techniques in government such as
cash
budgeting and e-governance. Government finances would be done online
and the
computer system would refuse to pay for expenses that are outside
the
budget, neither would it allow inter-borrowing from different
accounts.
He said the Office of the President had been sitting on the
law since June
last year after his ministry sent it for
gazetting.
“We are facing problems with the president in having the
Act gazetted so
that it would be operationalised,” Biti said. “Various
letters have been
written to the President’s Office and we are yet to get
any response.”
The minister said government continued to overspend on
foreign travel, which
he warned against last year when he presented the 2011
budget.
“The need for strong central leadership is critical, I have
complained about
the $3,79 million spent for travelling alone in January,”
Biti said, “I am
not a principal. I cannot tell ministers not to travel or I
will be labelled
a super minister.”
He told the committee chaired
by Webber Chinyadza that his ministry had set
up a budget allocation
committee to prioritise expenses in the face of
limited revenue flowing into
government coffers and would only consider
financing votes contained in the
budget statement.
“The budget allocation committee meets two weeks
and reviews priorities that
should be paid first,” Biti said. “For instance
they have to decide between
infrastructure and the constitution. If the
issue is not in the Blue Book
(budget statement) no payment will be
made.”
Biti told the committee that his ministry would continue to
reform public
finance management by introducing new regulations that would
give more teeth
to the current public finance management
legislation.
“Our mission was to bring sanity to public finance
management by introducing
new legislation,” the minister said. “In addition
to the Public Finance
Management Act, Reserve Bank Amendment Act and the
Office Audit Act, we will
gazette new statutory instruments before the end
of April this year.”
The RBZ Amendment Act curtailed the bank’s
quasi-fiscal operations that had
reached new proportions under the
governorship of Gideon Gono. The banks
debts rose to an all time high of
over $1,2 billion.
Biti said if the government did not stop its
propensity to spend it would
find itself in the pre-2009 era of high debts
and a suffocating economy.
“The country is operating at an
auto-cruise to self-destruction because
there is no shared common goal,”
Biti warned. “Finance ministry only deals
with figures and currently we only
collect revenues of around $150 million
monthly against a $120 million wage
bill. No one panics.”
Zimbabwe is currently saddled with over $6
billion foreign debt and cannot
borrow from the Bretton-Woods institutions
and other multilateral
institutions because of its credit
rating.
At the same meeting, Chinyadza accused government of not
taking seriously
audit reports and recommendations from the Comptroller and
Auditor-General.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 18 February 2011 09:20
Brian
Chitemba
HUNDREDS of Zimbabwean asylum seekers are languishing in
unlawful detention
centres in South Africa regardless of court rulings
stating that it was
illegal to arrest and imprison refugees, the South
African Lawyers for Human
Rights revealed this week.
Most
of the asylum seekers were arrested in 2008 when they were protesting
outside the Chinese embassy against a shipment of arms through South Africa
to Zimbabwe, according to organisations that represent Zimbabwean
exiles.
Lawyers for Human Rights (LHR) said in a statement the
continued detention
of Zimbabweans was unconstitutional and should be
reversed immediately.
The North Gauteng High court on Monday ruled that the
South African Home
Affairs department’s practice of arresting and detaining
asylum seekers
without verifying their status or allowing access to the
refugee system was
illegal.
The LHR said the Monday judgment
confirmed prior complaints against
prolonged detention of asylum seekers who
were not given an opportunity to
explain their immigration
status.
The LHR’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Programme coordinator
Kaajal
Ramjathan-Keogh said: “This judgment is consistent with the repeated
findings of our courts that the excessive use of immigration detention by
Home Affairs is unlawful, unconstitutional and a violation of our
international obligations.”
The lawyers said the judgment on the
unlawful detention of Zimbabweans was a
call on the Home Affairs department
to release suffering asylum seekers and
also revisit its flawed immigration
policies.
They said South Africa had an international obligation to
protect asylum
seekers and refugees; to promote and respect of human
rights.
“We call on the Minister of Home Affairs to carefully peruse
the judgment
and consider the practices of immigration officials in terms of
South Africa’s
international obligations and the Constitution,” said the
LHR.
The South African court ruled that the undue delays in issuing
documents
under the Refugees Act was inconsistent with the Act and the
detention of
asylum seekers who had made applications but not yet received
their permits
was in contradiction with South African laws.
The
court held that “It is simply untenable in a constitutional democracy
that
someone should have to give up their liberty on account of
administrative
difficulties or inefficiencies on the part of an organ of
state.”
The Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (Zef) said South Africa’s
refugee reception
offices were in complete disarray and unable to deal with
the number of
people seeking protection.
Zef, which advocates for
the rights of Zimbabweans living abroad, said the
majority of the detained
locals were locked up at Lindela although some of
them were released two
years ago following a court order.
“Despite the court ordering the
immediate release and issuance of permits to
those who had been detained
back in 2008, Zef persisted in bringing
comprehensive challenge against the
department’s unlawful policies and
practices in detaining asylum seekers,”
said the Pretoria based Zef
executive director Gabriel Shumba.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 18 February 2011 09:18
Wongai
Zhangazha
A REPORT by Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition says Zanu PF will use,
among other
strategies, intimidation, violence, displacements and inflation
of votes to
ensure victory in the next elections to be held probably later
this year.
The report that is yet to be launched claims Zanu PF knows
that its chances
of winning a free and fair election are slim and would,
therefore, use
terror. It was, however, quick to point out that the terror
would not be
similar to that of June 2008.
Crisis
Coalition said the study was carried out in six provinces, namely
Mashonaland East, Mashonaland West, Harare, Manicaland, Matabeleland South
and Bulawayo.
The methodology used includes observation,
semi-structured and open-ended
interviews, which were carried out at
different periods between June and
September last year with targeted
audience being “men and women, the young
and the old, civil society actors
and the ordinary, state agents and
civilians, MDC-T, Zapu, MDC-M and Zanu PF
functionaries and traditional
leaders”.
The report states that
Zanu PF strategies could be divided into three
categories, namely organised
support, margin of terror and margin of error.
“The first dimension
is what we call ‘organised support’, whereby Zanu PF
organises its core
supporters to fully participate in political and
electoral processes that
matter.”
“The second dimension is the ‘margin of terror’, whereby
Zanu PF has used
coercion, intimidation, torture, displacement and murder to
get people to
vote for them in elections without a choice.”
“The
third dimension is the ‘margin of error’, whereby Zanu PF relies on
inflating votes in favour of its candidates and deflating votes of its
opponents,” reads the report.
It said Zanu PF was likely to use
targeted physical violence in the
elections, however, it was not going to be
similar to the June 2008
violence, instead the party would prefer a
“sophisticated psychological
warfare premised on harvest of
fear”.
The violence, according to the report, would be in two
distinct strategies,
the first being targeted violence at local community
leaders as a way to
strike fear in the hearts of the broader population and
this would take
place months before the election and the arrival of election
observers and
monitors.
“Some of the violent incidents against opposition
supporters will not be
coordinated but spontaneous as characteristic of
pseudo-democracy societies
where violence is endemic,” said the
report.
Other strategies listed in the report include creation of
electoral buffer
zones in perceived traditional strongholds and creation of
electoral
hotspots in swing constituencies.
“These unorthodox
means include manipulating the constitutional referendum,
Registrar-General’s Office, postal votes, traditional leaders, and
opposition candidates, number of votes, army generals and state finances,”
reads the report.
“In a nutshell our findings reveal that Zanu PF
is planning to subvert
democracy by stealing the 2011 vote and defend that
stolen vote through a
total demobilisation post-election political
strategy.”
It said in the post-election period, Zanu PF was likely to
form a government
of national unity as it did in 1980.
“All
things being according to plan, that is Zanu PF manages to steal and
proclaim victory, its immediate strategy will be political. If MDC-M is
going to win seats in Matabeleland as per Zanu PF plan, RG Mugabe is going
to dangle the carrot to defeated parties to join him in government,” the
report said.
“The type of government will be different from the
GNU framework but it will
be a replica of the 1980 Government of National
Unity with Mugabe firmly in
charge.”
Efforts to get a comment
from Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo yesterday
were fruitless.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 18 February 2011
09:15
Paidamoyo Muzulu
PARLIAMENT’S Standing Rules and Orders
Committee (SROC) has agreed to amend
regulations to allow MDC-T chief whip
Innocent Gonese to steer the Public
Order and Security Act (Posa) Amendment
Bill through the Senate, the
Zimbabwe Independent has learnt.
Mutare
Central MP Gonese successfully steered the Posa Amendment Bill as a
Private
Members Bill in the House of Assembly last December but was not
allowed to
take the Bill to the Upper House as he is not a senator. Zanu PF
senators
have threatened to block the amendments using their majority in the
Upper
House.
The MDC-T chief whip confirmed on Tuesday that he would steer
the Bill in
the senate soon after the technical hitches had been sorted
out.
“I was told the SROC met and agreed to amend the Standing Rules
so that I
would be allowed to steer the Bill in Senate,” Gonese said, “The
process is
likely to take place soon after everyone accepts that the
amendments are
noble in the new dispensation.”
Last week, Zanu PF
held a senators’ caucus at parliament where they agreed
to block the Posa
Amendment Bill citing demonstrations and political
violence that rocked
Harare recently.
A senior Zanu PF appointed senator confirmed the
caucus resolution to the
Independent.
“We have resolved not to
support Posa Amendments,” the senator said, “The
party thinks that MDC would
use the relaxation of the laws to cause mayhem
in the cities and towns. Look
at what happened in Harare last week.”
The stance reinforces what
Zanu PF politburo member and Mwenezi East MP,
Kudakwashe Bhasikiti, told the
Zimbabwe Independent in December last year
that his party was going to block
the Bill’s passage.
“We will not support the Posa amendments because
they will cause anarchy,”
Bhasikiti said then, “They are proposing that the
Act should not make
demonstration organisers responsible for the destruction
that takes place
during the street actions. How can we sanction removal of
the burden of
responsibility from the organisers?”
The Bill seeks
to increase freedom of assembly and association by reducing
police powers as
the regulating authority in sanctioning demonstrations and
to compel the
security forces to write a report detailing how they used
force to quell any
protests.
The Bill further redefines a ‘public meeting’ in a manner
that makes it
clear that internal meetings of organisations such as
political parties and
trade unions will not normally fall under the Act’s
provisions.
Under the proposed law, political parties may hold
meetings in venues that
are not open to public and in public places that are
indoors such as public
halls.
Posa amendment will fulfill one of
the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
conditions that the country should
amend laws that restrict democratisation
reforms. The agreement also
mentions the repeal and amendments of laws that
control the public media and
broadcasting.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 18 February 2011 09:04
Bernard
Mpofu
A REAL estate company, Assetfin, has claimed in the High Court that
some
Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) officers were offered residential
stands to
block a criminal probe against former ZBC finance director Oniyas
Gumbo
after he allegedly attempted to seize the company’s
directorship.
In a damning answering affidavit filed with the
High Court on Wednesday,
Assetfin director Paul Chidawanyika alleged that
the ACC had “conveniently,
failed, refused or neglected to investigate and
prosecute complaints against
Gumbo”.
In November last
year, Assetfin approached the High Court seeking an order
to compel the ACC
to investigate Gumbo. The firm cited the commission’s
chief executive
officer Ngonidzashe Gumbo, general manager Sukai Tongogara
and senior
official Charles Charuma as respondents. The respondents were
accused of
complicity in failing to probe allegations against the former ZBC
boss,
which included forgery of vital company documents.
Gumbo, currently
with 50% shareholding in Assetfin, according to court
papers, is fighting to
oust Chidawnyika and Antony Parehwa –– directors
linked to Unitime
Investments (Pvt) Ltd, a 50% shareholder of the company.
In response
to the application, the ACC represented by commissioner Casper
Khumalo
denied declining to probe Gumbo, adding that the commission had
received
accusations and counter-accusations from both the former ZBC boss
and
Unitime directors. In supporting affidavits, Khumalo, Ngonidzashe Gumbo,
Tongogara and Charuma denied being related or having links with
Gumbo.
Khumalo said Gumbo had also accused Chidawanyika and Parehwa
of committing
criminal offences, which the ACC was
investigating.
“The ACC has not been biased in the investigation of
the matter but has
followed the trail of facts established by the
investigation,” reads Khumalo’s
notice of opposition. “The issue of
shareholding is a matter that is still
under investigation.
“It
is vehemently denied that share certificates, transfers and any other
documents relating to shareholding were supplied to the commission as
alleged by the applicant. The commission has been requesting for the said
documents and to date, nothing has been provided.”
But in his
answering affidavit this week, Chidawanyika was adamant that the
ACC was
taking sides with Gumbo.
“We believe the reason for the silence and
the delays is to shield Oniyas
Gumbo from criminal prosecution and highly
possible conviction,” reads
Chidawanyika’s answering affidavit. “So the
respondents are actually
protecting Oniyas Gumbo at the expense of justice.
Instead of investigating
Oniyas Gumbo, the officers of Anti-Corruption
Commission are being offered
residential stands by Oniyas
Gumbo.”
Chidawanyika attached an annexure showing that an officer of
the ACC was a
beneficiary of medium density housing scheme at Caledonia farm
in Harare run
by the ZimTrust Housing Finance –– a company allegedly owned
by Gumbo.
“It should be noted that Gumbo’s reports were counter
reports made to dilute
the initial reports made against him. Shockingly his
reports have now
received more attention,” Chidawanyika averred. “While
Gumbo’s complaints
are being prosecuted fervently, our complaints remain
under the so called
investigation. This surprises us because there are
actually no
investigations that need to be carried out. All information has
been
furnished to the respondents and is firmly in their hands. There is
therefore no doubt that respondents have openly shown bias and favouritism
in the handling of the dispute.”
During the ownership wrangle,
the deputy registrar of companies, Willie
Mushayi, was arrested on
allegation of showing favour to Chidawanyika and
Parehwa after he
invalidated a forged company registration form purporting
that Gumbo was the
sole shareholder. Mushayi was acquitted by a Harare
magistrate last
month.
“Mushayi has uncovered a second title deed in favour of Mr
Gumbo’s company
namely Release Power Investments (Pvt) Ltd which was
corruptly issued
resulting in one property having two current title deeds as
the same
property had already been duly transferred to Unitime Investments
(Pvt)
Ltd,” Chidawanyika averred.
“The applicant is of the view
that if the court does not intervene our
complaints against Gumbo will go
unchecked and unpunished. This has the
effect of taking away from us the
right to be protected by the law,”
Chidawanyika said.
He also
dismissed Gumbo’s charges alleging that Parehwa had stolen eight
million
bricks while he was still working for Shopex.
“Oniyas Gumbo’s company
called Shopex sold bricks and received payment from
Antony Parehwa’s’s
company called Watermount Estates,” he said. “As a matter
of fact it is
Oniyas Gumbo who is under investigation for fraud on such
bricks under Case
No CR1205/08/10.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 18 February 2011 08:53
Faith
Zaba
THE MDC faction led by Welshman Ncube this week wrote to Prime
Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai, President Robert Mugabe and Sadc facilitator
Jacob Zuma
of South Africa proposing an amendment to the global political
agreement
(GPA) to allow its former leader Arthur Mutambara to continue as
deputy
premier on a Zanu PF ticket.
In separate letters with
mostly similar wording dated February 14, MDC
secretary-general Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga proposed that negotiators
in the three parties in the
inclusive government should meet under the
guidance of the facilitation team
to agree on the amendment.
“Thus we propose that the GPA be
amended in such a way that the relevant
portion of Article 20.1.6 of the
global political agreement should read:
‘There shall be two deputy prime
ministers, one from MDC-T and one from Zanu
PF, with the Zanu PF position
being occupied by professor AGO Mutambara’,”
the letters
read.
Letters to Mugabe and Tsvangirai read: “The amendment will
resolve the
current predicament where an individual who is no longer a
member of our
party is holding a DPM position reserved for our party”, the
letter to Zuma
said. The “amendment will resolve the current problem wherein
Professor
Mutambara, who is no longer a member of the MDC, is presumed to be
our
nominee”.
Misihairabwi-Mushonga said the amendment would also
address Mutambara’s
expressed desire to continue in government whilst
working outside “political
party idiosyncrasies”.
“We hope,
therefore, that this amendment will be speedily effected to allow
us to
concentrate on government programmes that will ensure a free and fair
election, where the winner is not constantly pressured to compromise
principle in order to achieve political stability,” she said in letters to
Mugabe and Tsvangirai.
Two days ago, Ncube’s party was granted a
High Court interim relief, which
interdicted Mutambara from exercising “any
function” vested in the president
of the party until finalisation of a High
Court case where a faction loyal
to Mutambara is challenging Ncube’s
ascendancy to the MDC presidency.
Bulawayo High Court judge Justice Nicholas
Ndou ruled that: “the respondent
is interdicted from purporting to be the
President of the Movement for
Democratic Change.”
In the letter
to Zuma, Misihairabwi-Mushonga outlined the outcome of the
party congress on
January 8 and 9 and a resolution by the party’s standing
committee to
reshuffle the team in the inclusive government.
It was resolved that
Ncube takes over from Mutambara and the deputy premier
was re-assigned to
the Ministry of Regional Integration and International
Cooperation and
Misihairabwi-Mushonga to Industry and Commerce.
She also briefed Zuma
on Ncube’s meetings with Mugabe on February 8 and 9.
During the
meeting the president made it clear that he would not swear into
office
Ncube as deputy premier as long as there was in existence a pending
court
petition by some disgruntled party members.
The MDC said Mugabe
indicated to Ncube that he would consult Tsvangirai over
the party’s
decision to reshuffle the MDC team in government.
“He (Mugabe) was
categorical about his political position on the matter
which was that he was
not prepared to put to effect our proposal unless the
former party
president, Professor Mutambara voluntarily resigned as deputy
prime
minister,” read the letter to Zuma.
“This was essentially a complete
refusal to recognise the party and its new
leadership and amounted to Zanu
PF having the right to determine for the MDC
the composition of its
government.”
This position, she said, was taken into consideration by
the party’s
national council, which concluded that Mugabe’s decision was a
pretext to
shield Mutambara for Zanu PF’s political
interests.
“In light of President Mugabe’s stance which we understood
will never change
in the same way that his stance on swearing in of Roy
Bennett has not
changed in two years of constant pleas, it was best that the
party should
simply give up on the deputy prime minister post as allocated
to it in the
GPA so that the post be allocated to Zanu PF so that it can
continue to be
occupied by Mutambara, but on a Zanu PF ticket since his
continued stay in
the government is now at the behest of Zanu PF and hence
must be regarded as
a Zanu PF deployee in government,” read the letter to
Zuma.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 18 February 2011
08:52
MAGISTRATES and court interpreters have proposed salaries that are
in line
with their counterparts in the region, who in some countries earn 10
times
more than what they are getting.
The court officials want a
drastic increase, which if approved, would result
in chief magistrates
earning at least US$3 300, up from the current
US$370.
Documents seen by the Independent this week revealed
that local
magistrates earn slightly above US$200 but in Namibia the entry
salary of a
magistrate is R23 000 ( US$3 150) and an ordinary magistrate
in South
Africa earns close to R40 000 (US$5 480).
Court
interpreters, according to the document dated January 27, earn
between
US$147 and US$163 and when “contrasted with the (R7 800 or US$1068)
salary
for the South African junior court interpreter, all Zimbabwean court
interpreters salaries are ten times less”.
The interpreters said
this anomaly was disturbing and embarrassing.
A document dated
January 21 signed by an HM Mwayara (acting chief
magistrate) and sent to all
senior regional magistrates and all provincial
heads revealed that a
comparative analysis of remuneration in Zimbabwe,
South Africa and Namibia
–– Zimbabweans earn far less. Reads the document:
“In Namibia, the lowest
paid magistrate (entry level) including car and
housing allowance earns R23
000 as compared to Zimbabwe where a magistrate
assistant earns
US$205.”
“The lowest paid clerk of court in Namibia earns R4 500
(US$616) whilst in
Zimbabwe the lowest paid clerk earns
US$156”.
The document further stated that in South Africa an ordinary
magistrate
earned in the region of R40 000 with a regional magistrate being
paid R73
000 (US$10 000) per month.
However, in Zimbabwe from a
rank of an ordinary magistrate to provincial
magistrate, the figures range
between US$206 and US$236 per month and a
regional magistrate earned a
paltry US$300.
To stop court officials from leaving and seeking
greener pastures outside
the country, the position paper proposed that a
chief magistrate should earn
at least US$3 300 with their deputies getting
paid US$3 000.
Senior regional magistrates want US$2 700, regional
magistrates (US$2 500),
senior provincial magistrates (US$2 000), provincial
magistrates (US$1 700),
senior magistrates (US$1 500) magistrates US$1 000
and a trainee magistrate
should earn US$600.
On support staff at
the head office at senior grade level, they are
proposing a salary of
between US$500 and US$600 and middle grade levels
which consists of heads of
provinces based in the provinces US$400 to
US$500. –– Staff Writer.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 18 February 2011 08:42
Nqobile
Bhebhe
CABINET has rejected a draft document from the Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment ministry that sought to reintroduce the
national youth service.
Deputy minister Tongai Matutu told the
Zimbabwe Independent on Tuesday that
cabinet had instructed his ministry to
carry out more consultations locally
and regionally.
The
document titled –– National Youth Service Training Programme in
Zimbabwe —
had envisaged training more than 300 000 youths annually at its
training
centres.
“To my knowledge that document was rejected by cabinet with
instruction for
further consultations. There is no legislation currently
that authorises the
training of youths in any capacity in Zimbabwe,” said
Matutu.
He, however, could not say when exactly the document was
brought before
Cabinet and rejected.
Sources in the ministry said
deployment of trainers to all districts started
late January and youths have
been spotted at the training camps “ready for
training”.
Matutu
said: “I am not aware that the deployment and subsequent training has
commenced countrywide… but also I cannot rule out the possibility because
Zanu PF is recruiting and training the youths under the disguise of national
service.”
He said he had received reports that “more than 100
youths are currently
camped at a training base in Mt Darwin district”,
saying this had terrified
villagers.
“I am told those youths have
no idea why there are at that camp” he added.
The document had
proposed the immediate implementation of a massive training
of militias,
targeting youths up to 35 years.
In the document, the youth ministry
was proposing to re-launch a project to
reorient young people so that they
learn about Zimbabwe’s “revolution,
pre-colonial political systems,
colonialism, Chimurenga (revolutionary) wars
and the post-colonial
state”.
“The ministry has developed a programme to orient the youths
so that they
can accept the realities of life and be able to actively and
productively
participate in peace and national development,” read the
document.
The initiative, according to the ministry’s draft concept
paper, is meant to
“train 300 000 people from pre-school going age and those
in and out of
school, colleges and universities under the age of 35
annually”.
In pre-schools, education would be centered on the
national flag, national
anthem, cultural dances and role plays while primary
schools would cover the
“liberation struggle and legacy”, physical fitness,
the role of youth in
peace and national development.
At secondary
school level, the students are expected to continue with
physical fitness
training, discuss issues to do with conflict, provision of
external
facilitation, case studies and role plays.
In tertiary institutions,
the paper said the ministry had established links
with some universities to
teach youth development programmes.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 18 February 2011 10:25
By Dumisani
Nkomo
TWO years ago the Government of National Unity (GNU) was set up on
the basis
of the Global Political Agreement (GPA). The agreement came about
as a
result of inconclusive elections which had seen President Robert Mugabe
being beaten by Morgan Tsvangirai and Zanu PF losing its parliamentary
majority to the two MDC formations.
The GNU and its
implementation framework achieved a number of things for all
the three
political parties and the people of Zimbabwe as a whole. However,
two years
later Zanu PF and Mugabe claim the inclusive government is not
working well.
This is in spite of the fact that the agreement and its
attendant governance
structure — the GNU — gave Mugabe legitimacy and the
people of Zimbabwe room
to breathe in a much better economic environment.
Has the Government
of National Unity failed? Who says it has failed and why?
What indicators
can we use to measure its success or failure? Why does Zanu
PF or Mugabe
want the inclusive government to come to an end?
I’m convinced an end
of the inclusive government may bring us back to the
pre-2008 days and we
may be back to another inconclusive election or
disputed election. A
quick-fix election and a premature end of the GNU
together with the GPA may
not be a step forward but rather may see us moving
around in circles. The
GNU can only be judged according to the framework
that created it which is
the GPA. Pertinently there are over 27 areas of the
GPA which the GNU has
failed to implement. This article primarily focuses on
the successes and
failures of the GNU as envisioned and anticipated in the
GPA
What Zanu PF
wanted from GNU
Mugabe and Zanu PF needed three things from the GNU and these
included but
are not limited to:
Legitimacy;
Time to retreat,
re-organise whilst allowing the two MDCs to deal with the
harder issues of
reviving the government and getting the government to work
again;
Removal of sanctions /restrictive measures or whatever one
chooses to call
them.
The GNU however has frustrated Zanu PF in the
following ways:
It has forced them on the path of fundamental democratic
reforms -- a
concept that they are quite alien to;It forced Mugabe to be
more accountable
to GPA partners although he routinely ignores them.
Surprisingly he has been
more than keen to consult the other principals on
the Welshman Ncube –
Arthur Mutambara saga;
It has limited
their access to state resources.
The two MDCs strategic objectives
were to gain access to the levers of
power, to influence the economic and
political direction of the country
through fundamental democratic reforms.
The MDC formations have not totally
achieved these objectives as power has
continued to be vested in Zanu PF and
Mugabe as evidenced by his unilateral
appointments of ambassadors and
governors.
The MDC formations
have managed to provide stability in the government
through their control of
critical social and economic ministries. It must be
remembered that when the
GNU was created the economy and the social sector
had literally been
decimated by Zanu PF. Whilst the MDC formations were
religiously
implementing most of the items of the GPA, Zanu PF was
nicodemously
rebuilding its structures and doing all it could to make sure
the agreement
failed. This worked for as long as it gave the party space to
re-organise.
This is not to say that all MDC ministers are angels or
paragons of virtue
and all Zanu PF ministers are devils and demons, but Zanu
PF ministers
represent and are part of an evil and mafia- like system whilst
the two MDC
formations purport to be part of a system that is epitomised by
democracy
(whatever their understanding of it).
Stumbling blocks for GPA
If
we were to use measurable and verifiable indicators to measure the
inclusive
government’s success or failure rate the GPA is the most useful
barometer to
use. Obviously there were many intrinsic and extrinsic factors
that
influenced failure or ability to implement the GPA. Amongst these
factors
are:
Political will or lack thereof from the three political
parties
Ineffectiveness of the GPA in implementation and lack of oversight
structures.
External factors or mechanisms such as Sadc, the AU and the
facilitator,
South Africa, as envisaged in article 22.6
Achievements —
economic policies
The GNU has managed to bring sanity to the economy
through the Short Term
Emergency Recovery Programmes — Sterp I and Sterp 2 —
which have managed to
address issues pertaining to runaway inflation and
economic instability.
Basic commodities such as bread, milk and mealie-meal
are now readily
available even though the country’s supermarkets have been
flooded with
foreign products to the detriment of locally produced goods.
However four
years ago the situation was completely different as it was not
difficult not
only to get relish for sadza but even to get sadza for the
relish. The
inclusive government must be commended for this.
The
inclusive government is yet to effectively conclude the setting up of
the
National Economic Council which is supposed to consist of
representatives of
the parties, the manufacturing sector, commerce, finance,
labour, academia
and other stakeholders (Article 3 c of GPA).
Sterp as a GNU
indicator
The inclusive government’s economic policy, Sterp, appears to
have been
rather over ambitious in that it sought to solve a broad spectrum
of
socio-economic and political issues such as politics and governance
issues;
social protection — food, health education and vulnerable sectors;
economic
stabilisation including capacity utilisation in all sectors;
restoring the
value of the Zimbabwean currency; ensuring availability of
basic commodities
and rehabilitation of collapsed social, health and
education sector (as in
the 2011 national budget statement).
However the
economy was beginning to show some signs of life with investors
showing
interest in the country. Despite these positives, Zanu PF went on
its usual
path of economic suicide by tabling controversial indigenisation
laws,
demanding elections, engaging in an organised and confusing fresh
spate of
invasions and violence in and around Harare.
Failures of the
inclusive govt
The GNU failed to implement the following aspects of its own
bible — the
GPA. These failures include;
The constitution making process
as articulated in article 6 missed all its
deadlines and was characterised
by intimidation, disorganisation and chaos.
The govt failed to promote
equality, national healing, cohesion and unity —
it only managed to set up a
structure and a secretariat of the organ.
War veterans and Zanu PF youths
continue to disrupt free political activity
as evidenced by the mayhem in
Harare.
When it comes to the rule of law, respect for the constitution and
other
laws, the police have applied the law selectively and have stood by as
Zanu
PF youths engaged in looting and violence in Harare. The police instead
as
evidenced by Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri’s statements on the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings show that they have taken sides with the
perpetrators and arrested victims.
State organs such as the
police and the army have failed to be impartial
with senior officers openly
siding with Zanu PF and declaring that change in
Zimbabwe cannot be brought
about by a mere pen (in reference to
voting/elections). The GPA is
abundantly clear in stating that state organs
and institutions do not belong
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Friday, 18 February 2011 10:18
By Brian
Ngwenya
IN the past three or so months the world has been following
seismic
developments unravelling in North Africa and the Middle East with
fervent
interest. First on the line was the Tunisian revolution that,
interestingly,
was triggered by the suicide of a street vendor in the
Southern city of
Bauzi.
Herein lies an important
lesson to both politicians and grand theorists of
history and political
science: some of the most incredible historical events
are not always
explained by elaborate theories and concepts, but by very
simple day to day
events.
Likewise, governments of the fiercest dictatorships may
succeed in setting
up elaborate repressive machineries and securities, yet
still crumble at a
seemingly unimportant, unexpected event. The Tunisian
fires soon engulfed
Egypt to claim an even more significant figure,
President Hosni Mubarak.
Trouble has been brewing in Jordan, Yemen and
Algeria. Only deities know
where else next.
Despite the analyses
of conspiracy theorists, what is interesting about
these revolutions is
their spontaneity, the bravery and determination of the
protestors but, more
importantly, their huge levels of success with little
influence from the
powerful nations of the world. For the first time in the
last decade or so,
the world has witnessed significant political
developments in the third
world that have not aroused widespread criticism
of super-power
unilateralism or their active hand. If there has been any
foreign hand in
this it has been, at most, invisible.
Speculation and hope were
rife that the effects of these revolutions would
cascade southwards,
igniting massive anti-government demonstrations in
countries like Zimbabwe
where President Robert Mugabe has continued to rule
with an iron fist since
Independence in 1980. It has thus been easy, even
tempting, for many
analyses to believe that Mugabe’s Zanu PF is shaken by
the happenings in
North Africa and the Middle East.
On paper, there are lots of
striking similarities among Mugabe, Former
Tunisian president Zine El
Abidine Ben Ali and Mubarak. All three have
overstayed their welcome in
office; Mubarak and Mugabe have held the sceptre
in their respective
countries for over three decades. Ali was at the helm
for more than two
decades, still a very long time by any standards. Like all
dictators, the
trio has also maintained a façade of democracy by
consistently holding
farcical elections in their countries, and the results
have been similar —
they all claimed electoral victories suggestive of
massive electoral
mandates to their leadership. All three have claimed to
have won the last
elections in their individual countries by phenomenal
figures in the regions
of 80-90% popularity margins. By a coincidence of
threes, all three
elections have been held within the space of the last
three
years.
An obvious shall also be stated, that all three leaders have
been the aces
of politics of long incumbency despite increasing opposition
to their rule
by the masses they are supposed to lead. If not so, why would
they have
turned all state machinery to thwart any opposition to their
leadership? The
list of similarities may be infinite. In light of all these
similarities,
the question to answer is why hasn’t the Maghreb uprisings
awakened
Zimbabweans to follow suit?
Informal discussions have
often raised the comparatively high literacy
levels as a reason for
Zimbabweans non-confrontational reactions to
misgovernment. Proponents of
this line of argument are quick to point to the
unsuccessful efforts at mass
protests and work stay-aways in the first few
years of the last decade in
Zimbabwe as proof. In my opinion, this thesis is
nearly tempting.
I
think that the literacy and competitiveness of Zimbabweans has
enabled most
skilled personnel to be accepted in the job markets of most
countries around
the globe. This has had the effect of finding outlets for
the Zimbabwean
crisis as people left the country en masse instead of
staying to claw for a
way out while, on the other hand, the same people have
partly assisted in
preventing a full blown crisis through remittances sent
back to friends and
relatives back home. But as the Egyptian example has
shown, there is no
direct correlation between high literacy rates and the
ability of a country’s
citizens to protest against tyranny. Why even in the
developed world
citizens demonstrate against anything politically unsavory.
Recent
demonstrations in Spain, Italy and Britain are a case in point, this
despite
their higher literacy rates.
One may also raise the
brutality that has been demonstrated by the
Zimbabwean security forces over
the years, and the consequent fear that has
been inculcated into the
ordinary man on the street as the reason why
Zimbabweans have taken a
non-aggressive approach, choosing to air their
resentment by way of the
ballot as was shown in the 2008 election. Heavy
handedness has not been
peculiar to Zimbabwe. History has shown that very
few despots have given
power away in bloodless negotiations. The Egyptian
and Tunisian scenarios
are a succinct example of the high price paid in the
fight for democracy.
More than 700 revolutionaries lost their lives in the
Tunisian and Egyptian
revolutions.
However, this did not break the fighting spirit of
hundreds and thousands of
protestors who thronged the streets of Tunis and
Cairo. The results have
been the victory of good over bad. The people spoke,
and their voices were
heard.
This brings us to the realities in
our home yard. The success of the mass
protests in Egypt and Tunisia are
largely attributable to the courageous
acts of the Egyptian urban masses
that stood steadfast on their demands. In
contrast, Zimbabwe’s urban
population has failed several such tests,
deciding to sit back and do
nothing, even when sitting back epitomised
extreme fear, cowardice, or both,
to most on-lookers. Examples are numerous:
the delay in the announcement of
the 2008 March presidential election is a
recent case in point. The truth is
that Zimbabwe’s colonial and post
colonial populations have never had a
strong tradition of staging mass
demonstrations against misrule and
exploitation.
Of course, such judgment, without qualification, is
excessive. For the
entire duration of the colonial and post-colonial
periods, urban resistance
to injustice in Zimbabwe was mostly spelt in
labour strikes, (the most
outstanding being the 1945 and 1948 strikes) and
other forms of covert and
overt resistance. The only two examples of
widespread popular resistance in
urban streets during this long, century
plus history are the Zhii riots
which started in Bulawayo and spread to
other urban centres in 1961, and the
food riots of 1997 and 1998 in Harare
and Chitungwiza.
Both cases do not measure anywhere near the
Egyptian scenario either in
duration, or in the numbers involved. This
propensity of doing nothing
creates — indeed created — a tendentious
lethargy of silence in Zimbabwe’s
urban masses. It is irrefutable that these
traditions, though not always
determinative, have a powerful tendency to
persist.Religion also looms large
in this comparison. Although other
religions like the Christianity and the
Copts exist in significant numbers,
the Egyptian and Tunisian populations
are largely Islamic. The majority of
Zimbabweans are Christians, and the
numbers continue to swell with the
escalation of both the Pentecostal and
Apostolic fevers. The point is that
the two religions proffer different
doctrines to secular leadership. On one
hand, Moslems are taught that there
is honour in sacrificing one’s life in
the fight against evil, be it
leadership or infidels.
Jihads
or Holy Wars are an example of Islamic aggression against perceived
ills. On
the other, Christianity preaches turning the left cheek when you
are struck
on the right one. Christianity also holds that all leaders are
God-ordained,
even the tyrannical and murderous like Saul! To the
Christians, the Almighty
is the king-maker, and he alone decides who leads
and for how long. The
significance of these differences is too striking to
ignore. While my pastor
and many others were praying for God to restore good
leadership the Moslems
in Egypt were impatiently waiting for the end of the
Friday prayers in order
to join the chants in Tahrir Square.
Should Zimbabweans prove my
on-going analysis wrong and get onto the
streets, it also seems hardly
possible that the Zimbabwe Republic Police
will allow the demands of the
people to be heard as did the Egyptian
security forces. Security chiefs in
Zimbabwe have made no attempts to
disguise their allegiance to Mugabe and
Zanu PF. Though there could be
scores of army and police officers who
sympathise with the popular voice,
it has been clear in the past that the
machinations of the partisan security
chiefs win the day. MDC supporters
have been the targets of arrests on all
sorts of trumped up charges while
Zanu PF supporters with known records of
heinous atrocities are allowed to
walk scot-free. In Mbare and Budiriro
recently, only MDC supporters were
arrested following what police call
clashes between Zanu PF and MDC
supporters, while Zanu PF youths are allowed
to retreat into their camps and
plan for the next strike.
For these reasons, it seems unlikely that
the Maghreb solutions will be
replicated in Zimbabwe any time soon. This is
in spite of many Zimbabwean’s
enthusiastic following of the on-going drama
in Egypt. What is likely though
is that Zimbabweans will continue to wait
for plebiscites to air their
voices. The ballot box or the voter’s cubicle
shall be Zimbabweans own
Tahrir Square. It is here that their chanting will
be heard the loudest.
Zimbabweans are good when it comes to this. During the
Ian Smith regime,
Africans successfully rallied for a “No” vote to the
Pearce Commission
referendum in 1972.
Several other Tahrirs have
been witnessed in recent years. The election
results of 2000, 2005, and 2008
are all testimony. Two more are yet to come.
Zimbabweans will speak out come
the constitutional referendum and the
elections, whenever these are going to
be and, hopefully, this time those
with ears will
listen.
Brian Ngwenya is a political analyst and a PhD Candidate
based in Pretoria.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011 10:09
FOR the
last few months there has been recurrent media reference to the
collapse of
the manufacturing sector, notwithstanding that surveys by the
Confederation
of Zimbabwe Industry in 2009 and 2010 showed growth in the
usage of
productive capacity.
Tragically, the media reports are
substantially correct. Progressively in
the later months of 2010, and even
more so in early 2011, innumerable
manufacturers have been confronted with
the need to downsize their
operations, whilst others have had to resort to
consolidating their Bulawayo
and Harare enterprises, and some have had to
discontinue wholly the entirety
of their manufacturing
activities.
When Zimbabwe’s economic recovery commenced in
early 2009, the manufacturing
sector was not only a major beneficiary of,
but also a contributor to, that
recovery. Expectations were high that
industry was set for a return to its
heyday and further growth. At the
least, it would be restored to the level
of being Southern Africa’s second
largest and technologically advanced
industrial sector. But, as the months
went by in 2010, it became more and
more evident that this was not to be.
The causes of the reversal of
industrial recovery were many,
including:
Inability to access much-needed, essential working capital.
The
catastrophic hyperinflation of 2008, greater than ever previously
experienced anywhere in the world, almost totally eroded the working capital
resources of almost all businesses.
Funding of the same
levels of stock-in-trade, manufacturing costs and
overheads, and extension
of lines of credit to customers, required funding
trillions per cent greater
than previously. In 2009, following
dollarisation, belated containment of
governmental profligacy, and other
measures, hyperinflation ended, but not
to an extent of deflation
compensatory for the preceding hyperinflation. In
addition, such liquidity
as businesses did possess was rendered valueless by
that very necessary
dollarisation and the concomitant demonetisation of
Zimbabwe’s currency.
Desperately, industry sought to access new
capital, but the financial sector
was almost devoid of funding resources.
That sector’s capital base was also
eroded by the preceding hyperinflation,
demonetisation and associated
dollarisation.
In addition,
nationwide illiquidity grievously minimised deposits into
banks, compounded
by a prolonged reluctance of many to place funds in the
banks. Many feared a
possible reversion to the Zimbabwean currency and a
concurrent expropriation
by the state of foreign currency deposits.
Concurrently, the
financial sector’s access to international lines of credit
was minimal,
bearing in mind Zimbabwe’s recurrent default in servicing debt,
and concerns
as to the country’s political stability. More recently, that
very limited
access to offshore funding and investment was exponentially
intensified by
promulgation of the indigenisation and economic empowerment
legislation.
The intent of that legislation was a pronounced
deterrent to lenders and
investors, their fears of security of loan
repayments and investment
retention being intensified
many-fold.
The viability of industry has also been grossly
impaired by recent sharp
decreases in productivity, due to several major
causes. These included an
ongoing and intensifying deterioration in the
provision of essential
services. Foremost of the decline in service
provision has been that of
energy supplies. Not only has the Zesa been
unable to meet the energy needs
of the economy, and the populace as a whole,
but that inability has been
compounded by its incapability to adhere to its
load-shedding schedules.
In consequence, industry has recurrently
lost many hours of production. In
addition unscheduled interruptions in
energy supplies have caused immense
losses of manufacturing inputs in the
course of production.
Erratic energy supplies have been, and are only
one of many parastatal and
local authority service delivery deficiencies
which have impacted negatively
upon the manufacturing sector. Many have
similarly been prejudiced by
recurrent interruptions in water supplies, by
service inadequacies of
National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), by
telecommunication deficiencies, and
many others.
Productivity has
also suffered as a consequence of a sharp decline in
employer and labour
relations, and of labour demoralisation. The majority
of workers receive
wages considerably below the poverty datum line. This is
not because of
employer intents to exploit labour, but because of inability
of employers to
fund higher levels of remuneration. The workers struggle to
support
themselves, their families, and numerous other dependants, and are
repeatedly oblivious to the fact that most employers cannot pay more than
they do, and that it is better to earn little than not to earn at
all.
As a result, motivation to be productive is almost
non-existent, and the
reduced levels of production minimise contribution to
the manufacturer’s
fixed costs, thereby inflating the unit costs of such
production as is
achieved. That cost inflation necessitates selling prices
which are often
uncompetitive against imported products benefitting from
economies of scale
and, in some instances, from considerable export
subsidies from the
countries of origin.
Yet another
constraint on the manufacturing sector’s restoration of
viability is the
magnitude of competition that it faces from imported
products. Whilst
industry must be willing to compete with imports, that
competition should be
on level playing fields, founded upon quality and fair
pricing. But not
only do many imported goods benefit from export subsidies
given by their
home countries markedly greater than limits prescribed by the
General
Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, but in addition either benefit from
excessively low import duties, or circumvent such duties. That
circumvention is generally by falsified declarations that the goods are of
Sadc origin, or by extensive duty evasion through diverse smuggling
methods.
In common with other economic sectors, industry is also
adversely affected
by low levels of consumer purchasing power, by working
capital illiquidity
of the distributive trades, and by abysmal loss of
business confidence in
consequence of ongoing political instability and
uncertainty along with
excessive State economic regulation in
general.
Most of the ills of the manufacturing sector would be
constructively
addressed if political stability was restored, destructive
legislation
substantially modified, harmonious international relations
restored, and
parastatals effectively privatised. Until then, industry is
fated to have
an ongoing decline.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011
10:12
Leonard Makombe
ZIMBABWEAN political parties –– whatever
their history –– are synonymous
with factionalism as their leaders are
continually fighting for control at
the expense of purported party
objectives.
What is happening in the smaller MDC faction formerly led
by Arthur
Mutambara is nothing new as the country’s political history
clearly shows
that internal power struggles and wrangles have often led to
splits going as
far back as the 1960s.
For the older
generation which saw the formation, splits, re-unions and more
splits of
liberation movements, the recent acrimonious spat between
Mutambara and
Welshman Ncube over control of the party has all the
ingredients of déjà vu.
They have seen leaders fighting for control of
political parties starting
with the split of the then Zimbabwe African
People’s Union (Zapu) in
1963.
The Ncube/Mutambara row falls within the realm of the country’s
culture of
political parties in both pre and post independent Zimbabwe where
fault
lines develop along personalities, ideologies, ethnicity and
geographic
areas of origin –– usually leading to splits.
Examples
include the Zapu split of 1963, the formation of the Front for
Liberation of
Zimbabwe and the October 2005 MDC break up.
There have been other
lesser splits and fractures, but their effect on
national politics is
negligible.
The 1963 Zapu split was over “ideology” and the best way
forward in the
struggle to attain Independence. The two dominant
personalities then were
party president Joshua Nkomo and Ndabaningi Sithole
who led the splinter
group.
Sithole faced a rebellion while in
prison and was deposed from Zanu in 1974,
but he held on to the party name
until his death in 2000.
The name of the party was the only thing he
was left with as President
Robert Mugabe took control of the structures,
including the military wing
which was instrumental in executing the
liberation war.
Even after the rebellion in prison, Sithole continued
to claim leadership of
Zanu and announcing in the press that he had expelled
the troublemakers from
the party.
More than three decades later
and with a new generation of politicians which
includes Mutambara –– born in
1966 –– and Ncube (50) history is repeating
itself yet
again.
Last week, in a move that bordered on the comical, Mutambara
sensing his
imminent expulsion from the party announced that Ncube, who had
taken over
the party presidency a month earlier, was fired.
A day
later, the MDC announced the firing of Mutambara who had refused to
resign
as Deputy Prime Minister despite moves to reassign him to a
ministerial
post.
Ncube himself is no stranger to splits as he led a rebellion,
just over five
years ago, and moved away from the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC
which analysts
agreed sapped the party of its energy.
While the
Mutambara/Ncube row remains entrapped in the legality or
illegality of the
congress which ousted the former, the usual accusations of
personality
clashes and regionalism have emerged.
A South African based analyst
Sabelo Gatsheni-Ndlovu said splits that rocked
political parties since 1963
cannot be explained in terms of one factor or
singular political
theory.
“Splits are products of build-up and coalescence of various
factors ranging
from ethnic, constitutional, ideological, tribal,
personality clashes and
external infiltration,” said Gatsheni-Ndlovu. “What
has not been said about
the split of 1963 is that it was partly to do with
which ethnic group
between Ndebele-oriented and Shona-oriented ones
considered itself the
authentic subjects of the nation with primal rights to
rule over Zimbabwe at
the end of colonial rule.”
He said Sithole
miscalculated by leading the split because he did not belong
to those who
were claiming primal ethnic rights to inherit Zimbabwe from
white colonisers
and it was inevitable that he would be deposed.
While another
political analyst, Grasian Mkodzongi said that there was
nothing unusual
about political parties splitting.
“Like any other social groupings,
political parties are prone to splits as a
result of leadership and
succession issues,” said Mkodzongi, who is reading
for a doctorate with the
University of Edinburgh.
He said there were parties such as the
African National Congress of South
Africa which were better than others in
dealing with leadership issues.
“In other contexts the absence of a
clear policy on succession can cause
friction in the party, this is the case
for many Zimbabwean political
parties (the Mutambara MDC, MDC-T and Zanu PF)
all do not have clear
policies on succession or their leaders have tried to
manipulate party
constitutions to remain in charge and this has caused major
problems for the
parties,” added Mkodzongi.
Apart from the elites
fighting for the control of the party, Gatsheni–Ndlovu
said part of the
problem leading to splits and factionalism was embedded in
society.
“A tribally, ethnically and regionally bifurcated
society will inevitably
produce tribal, ethnic and regional leader claiming
national mantle,” said
Gatsheni–Ndlovu who is also a lecturer at the
University of South Africa.
“The sickness is deep-rooted in our society
itself and political gladiators
simply manipulate it.”
He said
the Ncube/Mutambara row was framed, claimed and re-packaged
ethnically,
tribally and regionally.
“It is a pity that even those at the top of
the state and government
structures are not free from ethnicity, tribalism
and regionalism,” said
Gatsheni-Ndlovu.
Another analyst Francisca
Manyere who is based in New Zealand said fractures
in political parties were
a reflection of the political culture of the
country, especially emphasis on
male dominance.
“Why is it that it is always male politicians who
head factions and lead
breakaways?” she asked. “What is happening in the
smaller faction of the MDC
is only a microcosm of Zimbabwean politics and we
are stuck with it until we
redefine our political culture and it may take
another generation.”
The mortal combat between Ncube and Mutambara
could end with the political
life of either of the two protagonists but like
with the split of 1963, if
no lessons are drawn, Zimbabwe would be held
hostage to the undercurrents
which have swept political parties into
factions.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011
10:01
Contradictions are so numerous in Zanu PF’s public relations
machine that it
is possible to miss some of the more glaring
cases.
On Sunday we were told by the Sunday Mail that
President Mugabe had left the
country for a return visit to Singapore to
check on progress on one of his
eyes which had undergone a cataract removal.
His eye specialists needed to
satisfy themselves that all was in order with
the eye, we were told.
At the time those media which had speculated
that Mugabe was undergoing a
procedure in Singapore were slapped down by the
president and his spokesmen
who claimed the story was a Western plant. Now,
it turns out, the story was
true. Mugabe had undergone a procedure while in
Singapore, albeit a minor
one.
On the front page of the same
edition of the Sunday Mail last Sunday was a
picture of eye specialist Dr
Solomon Guramatunhu examining a patient. Dr
Guramatunhu is one of the finest
eye specialists, not only in the country
but in the region. Patients
referred to eye specialists in Johannesburg have
often been asked what they
are doing there when Zimbabwe has somebody of Dr
Guramatunhu’s
skills.
So we should ask, in this era of indigenisation, why
President Mugabe
chooses to have his eyes attended to in Singapore instead
of Zimbabwe?
And if we got it right on that one, would Mugabe’s spokesmen
like to comment
on whether he was treated by a urologist on a previous trip
to Malaysia,
another story that was shot down by the president’s staff. We
seem to recall
a sanctions dimension to that one!
Still on the
subject of stories that have generated interest, can somebody
comment on the
president’s proposed trip to Ecuador.
At the time of his visit to the
UN General Assembly in New York in
September, Mugabe’s spokesman said a
proposed visit to Anglican Archbishop
Crespo in Ecuador would have to be
postponed to December. Now it is February
and there is no sign of the
trip.
Crespo, we should remind ourselves, is a schismatic prelate who
like his
friend Nolbert Kunonga has no formal connection to the Anglican
church but
postures a great deal. He visited Zimbabwe to show support for
Kunonga last
year.
Can we have some clarification on plans for the return
trip which seem to
have evaporated!
Meanwhile, Chinese Foreign
minister Yang Jiechi has been visiting Zimbabwe
telling everybody that
sanctions should be dropped and the West told to mind
its own
business.
Shouldn’t the Chinese be told to mind their own business?
Sanctions were
imposed because of serious misrule. If the Chinese want to
associate
themselves with that delinquency and consequent suffering of
Zimbabweans
they can. But they should not expect the next government of
Zimbabwe to be
as friendly towards them as this one.
They have
currently locked up a Nobel Laureate simply because he advocated
support for
those clauses in China’s own constitution relating to human
rights.
We liked the reference in Monday’s Business Herald to
China as an
“all-whether (sic) friend”.
The author was equally
wide of the mark on who owns what in the UK.
“If you go to London the
majority of the shops there are owned by the
British…” columnist Kurai
Masenyama declared. He has obviously never been to
London.
Here is a test
for him: Who owned the largest and most prestigious
department store in
London up to last year? And who owns it now?
We were amused to read a
story in the Sunday Mail headed “Chiefs to engage
Queen Elizabeth over
sanctions”.
Chief Fortune Charumbira who is now calling himself
royal, said the chiefs’
council would be sending a high level delegation to
the UK to persuade the
Queen to help end sanctions.
“The
delegation will be dispatched to the UK and other European countries
where
there are royal institutions as soon as possible,” Charumbira
said.
This illustrates the ignorance of the chiefs. Queen Elizabeth
and other
European heads of state act on the advice of their ministers. They
would
certainly not be prepared to meet partisan chiefs who want to adopt a
policy
that is calculated to damage Zimbabwe’s recovery. Nor would they
support a
policy that is designed to deceive the Zimbabwean
electorate.
In fact they would not get past the gate at Buckingham
Palace. Who is
advising them with this nonsense? There will be no engagement
in London
until there is engagement here. And that’s a long way off as the
events of
this week demonstrate.
The Herald’s Masenyama told us that:
“With Cde Ignatious Chombo already in
the trenches fighting anti-people
programmes championed by MDC-led councils
throughout the country, Minister
Kasukuwere should also take his gloves off
and step into the
ring.”
And what about you Cde Masenyama, promoting this belligerent
agenda? Are you
going to step into the ring or leave the fighting to Zanu
PF’s gang of
hoodlums who have been attacking Town House and other places
around the
city? When push comes to shove we will find these brave Zanu PF
pugilists
are essentially cowards.
Muckraker was reading a sports
story in the Chronicle on Monday headed “Zim
crash out of CHAN” about the
defeat of the Warriors in Khartoum. It all
seemed rather familiar. That’s
perhaps because it was. The Chronicle had
lifted word for word a NewsDay
story headed “Warriors Out” carried on the
paper’s back page.
The
Chronicle simply attributed their story to “Online”. But they failed to
say
it was our Online! They are now claiming they got it from TalkZimbabwe
who
in turn got it from us.
This is a very serious case of plagiarism and
we wait with interest to see
how the Chronicle’s editor explains it. At
least we know now how the Herald
“rules the roost”!
The Sunday Times
tells us that Jacob Zuma’s state of the nation speech to
parliament this
year was a marked improvement on last year’s presentation.
One reason why it
was so well received was Zuma’s reference to things that
mattered to his
listeners. For instance he promised to deal with the
potholes mushrooming
all over Johannesburg. ANC Mayor Masondo has been
pretending they don’t
exist. But visitors from Cape Town can immediately see
the
difference.
And in this connection, we congratulate the Harare City
authorities for
bringing order to the streets of Harare with the EasiPark
project. This is
something that needed doing years ago.
The visit to
Zimbabwe by China’s Foreign minister Yang Jiechi (referred to
above) was a
sign that Zimbabwe was not a pariah state but was engaging with
a global
heavyweight.
These were the sentiments of media analyst and
practitioner Caesar Zvayi on
ZTV on Monday.
“The visit came at a
time,” says Zvayi, “when the West is trying to punish
Zimbabwe in the EU
meeting to review the illegal sanctions.”
According to Zvayi the
visit served to show that China was engaging with
Zimbabwe whilst the West
was trying to isolate it.
Apparently Jiechi had claimed that
Zimbabwe was “China’s biggest partner in
Southern Africa”, something the
gullible state media swallowed hook, line,
and sinker. The fact that
Zimbabwe was just one of a number of countries
being visited seemed to
escape their notice. Instead there was a pathetic
attempt to portray
President Mugabe as the author of the “Look East” policy
which other African
countries were now trying to follow.
The desperation to be seen as
China’s foremost partner in the region was
underscored by Foreign Affairs
minister Simbarashe Mumbengegwi’s “paying
tribute to the fact that his
Chinese counterpart chose Zimbabwe as his first
port of call on his six
African nation tour”.
Yet when Chinese President Hu Jintao visited
Africa in 2007 he visited
Zambia, Namibia, Mozambique and Seychelles and
strangely managed to overlook
China’s “biggest partner in Southern Africa”.
Are we missing something here?
Heroes’ Acre continues to lose its lustre
as the family of former Zipra
intelligence chief Cornius Nhloko, who died
last Wednesday, requested that
he be buried at his rural home in
Silobela.
Added to this the family of the late liberation war
stalwart Tenjiwe Lesabe
who died last Friday had already indicated they
would not have her buried at
the national shrine. Instead, the family said
she would be laid to rest at
her farm in Fort Rixon.
Didymus
Mutasa, Zanu-PF secretary for administration, said the Politburo and
President Mugabe had concurred that she had immensely contributed to the
liberation struggle.
“We could not confer her national heroine
status, which was her rightful
status because she was not consistent when
she joined Zapu led by Dabengwa,”
said Mutasa.
“When you become a
member of Zanu-PF, a revolutionary party, you need to be
consistent and by
joining Zapu, that was deemed not to be consistent.
Zapu members are
still part and parcel of Zanu PF because of the agreement
that we signed and
nobody should go against that agreement,” said Mutasa.
Once again
Mutasa showed that he and his colleagues in Zanu PF cannot
differentiate
between party and national issues. Luckily most Zimbabweans
now see the
process for what it is; a Zanu PF affair and want nothing to do
with it. A
party, a former ruling one for that matter, cannot continue to
impose the
definition of who is a hero and who is not. It is ultimately up
to the
people to decide who is a hero.
And Didymus, by the way, is
definitely not one.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011
09:47
RECENTLY there was a spate of contradictory statements from
government on
the wherewithal to fund civil servants’ salaries. President
Robert Mugabe
claimed diamond sales revenue would be used to pay government
workers while
Finance minister Tendai Biti denied treasury had received any
money from
diamond sales.
Mines minister Obert Mpofu also stepped
in stating government had realised
US$170 million in diamond exports — US$40
million of which he claimed had
gone to the civil servants’ salaries. Now
Biti has ordered the Accountant
General, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
Commissioner General and Comptroller and
Auditor General to investigate
diamond exports. Apart from the audit, Biti
also told parliament this week
that there was need for a diamond law in
order to deal with transparency
issues in the industry.
This made a lot of sense; the move could
eventually bring much needed
accountability and transparency. But others did
not see it that way.
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation chairman
Goodwills Masimirembwa has
even dreamed up a shameful conspiracy theory —
Biti wants companies doing
business with Mbada and Marange Resources to be
placed on the sanctions
list — in his defence of the diamond money
fiasco.
Politics aside, Biti had a point. There is no doubt that
there is need for
more accountability in diamond sales if the economy is to
benefit from its
diamond mining operations.
That Biti claims he
did not receive any of the diamond money as the treasury
boss when his mines
counterpart Mpofu claims the money is there, is
worrisome, a cause for
concern and emblematic of a dysfunctional government.
Even if another bigger
and better diamond reserve was found today, it is
clear that the economy and
the state’s own employees might not benefit from
such discoveries given the
level of confusion and lack of transparency
around diamond operations,
particularly where government has shareholding.
Instead of ensuring
that the economy benefits from diamond sales, Mugabe and
his Zanu PF want to
turn a non-political development relating to diamond
sales into a political
matter. Across the border, Botswana has clear and
transparent diamond
policies that Zimbabwe could do well to emulate judging
by its ineptitude in
handling its exports.
Diamonds have been at the centre of Botswana’s
economic growth and
development. Instead of treating diamond deposits as a
blessing, one can
safely be forgiven for thinking it is some kind of curse
in Zimbabwe. With
the manner government officials are handling the diamond
issue it is akin to
throwing pearls before swine, to borrow a Biblical
adage.
While those in government could have learnt from the Botswana
experience,
they consciously fail to do the right thing by putting in place
sound
policies that ensure accountability and transparency.
The
likes of Masimirembwa want to portray the diamond business as a
secretive
and mysterious venture while others across our borders have shown
that there
is no need to erect a great wall of secrecy and shame.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
Friday, 18 February 2011
09:43
THE extension of targeted sanctions against political leaders and
corporate
bodies has become an annual ritual on Zimbabwe’s political
calendar. The
script to the drama has generally stayed the same. The EU
cites human rights
violations and the democratic deficit as the reason for
keeping the punitive
measures.
Zanu PF’s reaction has
also been predictable. It is the soporific mantras of
the need to defend
sovereignty and that the sanctions are illegal and are
hurting the
economy.
But this week, the announcement by the EU that it had removed 35
individuals
from the list is a significant amendment to the drama. The twist
in the plot
is however being viewed with great suspicion by President Robert
Mugabe’s
government.
The EU has excised from the list wives of
senior military officers and those
of senior government officials. Also
excluded are sitting ministers, a
traditional chief and MPs. Public Works
deputy minister Aguy Georgias — an
advocate of class action against the
sanctions — has also been removed from
the list. The EU in announcing the
changes said “economic and social
development have not been matched by
equivalent progress on the political
front”.
The bloc added:
“Further reforms are necessary with regard to the rule of
law, human rights
and democracy, which are necessary in order to create an
environment
conducive to the holding of credible elections.”
In fact, the EU,
despite the removal of the 35 names “has concluded that
there has not yet
been sufficient progress to justify a more substantial
change of its policy
towards Zimbabwe” hence the extension of the sanctions
regime by another
year. If sanctions were imposed to make a statement to
Zimbabwe’s rulers
that they must address the democratic deficit in the
country, then the
removal of the 35 from the list should be acknowledgement
of progress on
this front.
But that does not appear to be the case because the
Zanu PF establishment
has not necessarily reformed as evidenced by the
escalation of violence and
a clampdown on pro-democracy forces since the New
Year. The EU says the
remaining 163 people and 31 businesses on the
sanctions list “are still
considered to be linked to human rights’ abuses,
the undermining of
democracy or the abuse of the rule of
law”.
What is mind-boggling at the moment are the criteria initially
used to put
people on the list have now been employed to remove the 35.
There are
individuals who have been removed from the list who clearly fit
into the
category of those “linked to human rights abuses, the undermining
of
democracy and the abuse of the rule of law”. One could surmise that there
is
method in their madness; to divide Zanu PF and court individuals to join
the
reform project. This carrot and stick diplomacy should signal the
thawing of
relations.
Whatever it is, the manoeuvre by the EU
should make sense and achieve the
purpose of re-engagement, and with it
tangible political progress in this
country. In the meantime Zanu PF has
responded with the expected usual anger
to the EU
statement.
The party wants sanctions lifted altogether. A recent
opinion poll has said
62% of respondents want the measures lifted. But that
is not going to happen
so long as the Zanu PF hardliners persist with their
campaign of violence
seen in the townships over the past few weeks. It is
essential that such
violations of the GPA are reported so Zanu PF doesn’t
get away with its
facile claim that sanctions are somebody else’s
responsibility.