http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=12193
February 22, 2009
TRANSCRIPT of
interview between journalist Violet Gonda SW Radio Africa's
Hot Seat
programme and Raymond Majongwe secretary general of the Progressive
Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ).
(Broadcast: 20 February
2009)
Violet Gonda: Raymond Majongwe, the General Secretary of the
Progressive
Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe is my guest on the programme Hot
Seat. Now
teachers have come under fire for refusing to return to work and
for
demanding salary hikes pegged at 2 300 US dollars. Raymond, what is your
basis of demanding 2 300 US dollars a month?
Raymond Majongwe: We are
not asking for $2 300 from nowhere. We have done a
thorough scientific
analysis of the situation obtaining in Zimbabwe. It's
quite clear that it's
only in Zimbabwe that the rand and the US dollar have
been humbled by
inflation and it's clear for everybody to see that what 1
000 American
dollars can buy in America, you need 3 000 in Zimbabwe. What 1
000 rand can
buy in South Africa you need 3 to 4 000 in Zimbabwe. We are
very clear about
that. And we did a clear scientific analysis of the
situation obtaining in
the country.
We also did a comparative analysis of what civil servants in
the region are
earning. I think the lowest paid civil servants in the world
are found in
Zimbabwe and the lowest paid teachers in the whole world are
found in
Zimbabwe. As of January 2009 teachers were paid Z$31 trillion. Z$31
trillion
at that time was translating to exactly 2 rand. How would anybody
expect a
man or a woman with a family with rentals and health to take care
of, to be
paid 2 rand and be expected to be a patriotic citizen? I think it
would be
naive for any person to simply say we must keep quiet when we are
being
oppressed right in our eyes.
GONDA: What does it cost to have
one student in a classroom these days?
MAJONGWE: Apparently the situation
is now very different. I would be lying
if I would tell you anything because
the situation that obtains is that we
now have so many different schools. In
the past it would have been very easy
for somebody to say that this is the
amount that government or somebody
should spend on education, but we have
gotten to a point where we are very
poor people and we have very rich
people. These people live in one corner of
the country and the other in the
other corner. One going to a private school
with everything that you can
imagine and one who is going to a school in
Gokwe where there is not even a
building to talk about, and that is exactly
the dilemma that one has - if
one is going to try to put a monetary values
to any of these processes.
Because as far as we are concerned the government
would stand up and put a
figure but we are simply saying these are
conservative figures, we really
need to go back to basics and factor in
everything because it is going to be
very difficult for anybody to come up
and say anything now because nobody
knows anything. There is no school that
is functioning especially in the
government set up so it's very difficult
for anybody to come up with a
figure and say so much.
GONDA: The government says it has no money and it
has offered to give
teachers and other civil servants US$100 a month. Now
there are other people
who would say you are being paid from tax money and
there is no return. In
other words you are not producing something that is
sold at the end of the
month - that is an investment with no return until
that student you are
teaching actually graduates. So how realistic is your
demand given that
there is no immediate return?
MAJONGWE: (chuckles)
We are not making these demands from the blue. I would
tell you because we
have a reason why we are saying this. Teachers in 1980,
when Mugabe took
over government, could afford to buy a house, could afford
to buy a car,
could afford to go on holiday, could send all their siblings'
children to
school and I will tell you for instance about me. Eight children
were born
to my mother and my father; all of us went to boarding schools, my
father
was just a mere headmaster, my mother just a mere teacher. We were
able to
go to school, real schools where we went to proper boarding schools.
All of
the eight siblings of mine but now one teacher cannot even send their
only
one child to pre-school.
This is the situation where we are at and I
think we must make it very clear
without any ambiguity that the government
ran-down the institution of
education, deliberately disarticulated us, took
us off our feet, labelled us
enemies of the State and made us paupers. And
we are saying as citizens we
deserve better. We are also taxpayers. It's not
like we are supposed to be
paying tax, we are supposed to be getting money
that others are paying tax
for. We are also taxpayers. We work, we are
employees of the government.
Many a time people forget that.
The
intellect that they exude wherever they are going to be moving around it
is
a product of our sweat. When Mugabe goes out to the UN and everywhere
saying
he leads a country with the highest literacy rate he is basically
referring
to what we have done as teachers and people want to suddenly say,
you don't
manufacture anything. All these doctors you see, all these people,
the brain
drain we are talking about, those are our direct products. It is a
silent
production but indeed we have produced people with functional
literacy and
we must be rewarded for it.
GONDA: But Raymond, I still go back to the
same question, how realistic are
your demands given the current political
and economic situation? In fact if
I may add to that, if we are to compare
what is happening in the private
school - and you can correct me if I'm
wrong - teachers in private schools
are on a pay scale supported by revenues
that actually support the schools
such as levies, and so parents with kids
in private schools are actually
paying for their children to be taught. Is
it not the case that to some
extent right now, the only way for you to
actually get such payments is if
Zimbabweans can pay a higher income tax or
property tax - but then on the
other hand, given the current situation don't
you think your demands cannot
be in isolation of some of these external
factors?
MAJONGWE: Yes we have a very scientific reason as to why we are
saying what
we are saying. Teachers in Zimbabwe are not paid in isolation.
You look at
what is happening in South Africa, there are private schools in
South
Africa, there are private schools in Zambia and the teachers there are
well
paid. You look at government institutions in Mozambique, in Namibia and
Botswana, South Africa and Lesotho, teachers are being paid an average of
not less than nine thousand rand, in the region. And can you honestly stand
up and say because we are in Zimbabwe, we have an economy that is on its
knees, therefore we cannot ask for so much?
I think that the fact
that the government had the audacity to pay us 2rands,
yet we see lavish
spending and extravagant spending by government aided by
the irresponsible
Reserve Bank governor, we have a legitimate reason to
stand up and say we
should not accept anything less than what we are asking
for. We see a lot of
lavish expenditure, even now Mugabe is about to
commemorate his birthday and
there is a lot of lavish spending there. You
cannot expect us therefore to
say we must stomach and pretend that we don't
see all this expenditure. We
must stand up and say while are we having all
these challenges, we also need
to survive, we have families to look after,
we have children to send to
school. We know for a fact that we were being
told that the diamonds being
mined at Chiadzwa - and the Reserve Bank
governor was on national television
saying the country was being
haemorrhaged out of 1.7billion US dollars a
month. And the government took
over those mines. What is happening to the
money that is coming from there?
We know that we don't have a manufacturing
industry that is working, but who
are the culprits? It is the same
government who took over the companies that
they can't even run.
So
we are simply saying we are asking what we are worth. We know that as
citizens and as teachers we also pay tax, we also want to be paid meaningful
salaries and pay the tax and be citizens. We can't honestly not stand up and
say we're citizens and ultimately exist in a welfare situation where we
survive on charity, no!
In 1980 to 1988, teachers were able to
survive. In 1988 to 1996 teachers
were almost living normal lives, they
could send their children to school,
they could afford holidays, they could
afford cars, they could afford, but
after 1999, things went from bad to
worse. Teachers were labelled enemies of
the State, we were being punished!
Salaries stopped coming, they became
meaningless and so we are simply saying
we want to be paid.
Even those you are talking about in the private
schools, they are actually
being underpaid because a lot of these private
schools are making a killing!
A lot of these private schools that are run by
politicians and the churches
are exploiting people and that must come to an
end because we must start
dictating the pace as the workers. Even though it
is correct that teachers,
the world over are not the best paid of workers
but we are simply saying
because we know that we are citizens and we observe
all these things that
are on the table, we must also be enjoying from the
same cake that everybody
else is enjoying.
GONDA: And you are saying
that your compatriots in the Diaspora earn so much
and you want that but is
the comparison realistic given the gradual slide of
the Zimbabwean education
system?
MAJONGWE: It is. Teachers in Zimbabwe are as good as teachers
anywhere else
in the world. In fact every other school in South Africa has a
Zimbabwean
teacher. Every other school in Namibia, name it in the region,
because of
the quality of the teachers that are coming from here. And none
the less, we
are simply saying as teachers in Zimbabwe, we must be paid so
that we don't
go to those areas. We are patriotic citizens; we want to work
in our
country, just like the doctors, just like the nurses, just like the
engineers.
I think it is incumbent upon this new government to make
sure that they
correct this anomaly once and for all where the teachers in
Zimbabwe earn
competitive salaries. And that is the only way we then can be
able to keep
our education standard at the apex where it has always been.
And I think
that if anybody wants to challenge me on this one I will put my
head on the
block. Zimbabwean teachers are the best, they are the best
trained and we
want to deliver. This is why you are honestly going to find
out that, talk
to any person from any university in South Africa, they will
tell you that
when they have students from Zimbabwe, they know that that
year they will
have quality education because we are talking of people who
have been
groomed very well from the background upwards. Now when we got to
a stage
where we are now, where even the people who are in our universities,
in our
teachers' colleges are just the riff-raff, people who are coming from
anywhere, then we are sacrificing the same education that we want to talk
about.
GONDA: But right now children are also suffering because
they're not being
taught and don't you think by refusing to go to work and
refusing this
starter pack of US$100, this will actually shut down the
education system
and won't this contribute to undermining
democracy?
MAJONGWE: The question we ask - are we in a normal
environment? I think the
answer is no. Are teachers earning good salaries?
We say no. Do teachers
have to lead normal lives? We say yes. How do they
lead these normal lives?
They must get food, they must dress properly, and
they must be able to stay
in a proper housing. And how else is that going to
be done - if they put
their head on the block and say we must be paid
reasonable and meaningful
salaries. Then that can happen. We were in a war
situation.
Apparently the other challenge that we actually observe, the
government and
the (former) Minister Chigwedere and his Permanent Secretary
Dr Mahere were
not engaging people, we obviously were not meeting them
unlike the situation
where the first day that the Prime Minister took
office, we got a call to
meet the Prime Minister. Two days down the line we
were able to meet the
Minister and we think that if David Coltart the
current Minister of
Education had been with the Ministry a long time ago,
the Ministry would not
be where it is today. We are talking of somebody who
is accommodative,
somebody who will listen to what you are saying and
somebody who will
acknowledge that they have made mistakes. Not the
character of Chigwedere
who knows that when they were doing, when they were
at their best in terms
of destruction they still told the world that our
education was at the top.
When they were destroying and lacerating ZIMSEC
into pieces they just said
everything was normal. Now the results are not
yet out from way back as June
2008 - they still want to continue and say
everything is normal. People who
want to stand up and say schools in
Zimbabwe are open when we know they are
not.
Once the process of
dialoguing and consultation becomes the key principal we
are likely to go to
Canaan. I think that the fact that we have been engaged,
we have been
convinced that the government that took over power under Morgan
Tsvangirai
took empty coffers. We are now appreciating and on Monday morning
at 9
o'clock we are going to make a press statement to the country. We are
calling all teachers to go back to their work stations and we are simply
saying the term must now start in earnest because we are saying Zimbabwe is
our country. These children you talk about are our children, they are our
sisters, our hearts bleed when we see them being thrown into the abyss of
abject poverty because of selfish politicians of the nature of Chigwedere
and company.
I think time has come for us to go forward to engage one
another and have
the process of dialogue. But we must also make it very
clear that we are
going back with a heavy heart because we want to salvage
something for these
kids and for our country. And we will go back to the
trenches once that
situation is not addressed to our satisfaction.
I
must also be very clear here some of our teachers shot us in the foot.
They
are the ones who went back to teach in these schools and were being
paid 10
US dollars. So the government is now saying if your members went
back to be
paid 10 dollars why are you refusing to come back because we are
now paying
you 100 US dollars? I think we must also make sure that we don't
exonerate
our members from such irresponsible trade union behaviour but
nonetheless
they are our members, we'll take them on board and we'll try and
make sure
that we address the situation once and for all.
For the record we are
saying there are other demands that the Ministry under
David Coltart has
promised that they'll look into and we are quite happy
with the way David
Coltart has handled our presentations to him so far.
GONDA: This is a
sudden u-turn. So now you are going back to work - and is
it because of your
meeting with the new Education Minister David Coltart?
MAJONGWE: It's
not just because of the meeting, it's because of the meeting
that we have
had with the Prime Minister, a meeting we had with the Minister
and we have
also been consulting our membership, we have also been
consulting other
stakeholders because we also want public opinion on our
side, we want to
move with the people. I think we have made our point. I
think the lesson
that every revolutionary has been taught - when you score
and declare
victories don't push them too far because ultimately you then
lose
relevance. We have made our point and we are simply saying to the new
government we are watching and watching closely. We want them to look at the
issues around the way the Ministry is governed, the teachers' conditions of
service, political violence and many other issues around even the inclusion
of the Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe as a relevant stakeholder -
because you will know and you will understand that under the Zanu-PF regime,
PTUZ was not invited at all these government education ministry meetings.
It was only ZIMTA who were attending and we honestly believe that it's
actually going to be better for us because we will then be able to
communicate our message and be able to be understood and to be
heard.
I think once that is done, that will then give us a road on which
to trod
on, considering that we are citizens of this country, we want things
to
work, we want normalcy to return, we want donors to come back and we are
simply saying we must give the parents of these children value for money in
terms of what we will be delivering in our schools.
GONDA: So what
did Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Coltart say on the issues of your
demands and what
reforms did they say they're willing to adopt to ensure the
success of the
education system?
MAJONGWE: I might not be able to give you these because
it will be very
unfair but I will basically say that the demands that we are
making are such
that those teachers who left and went away for a coterie of
reasons, they
must come back into the profession, no questions asked. The
people who
basically lost property and a lot of other things must also be in
line for
compensation. We are also saying as a trade union we want to see
certain
things that are going to be positive, the issues around housing as
retention
packages. Teachers must come back and they must be at least be
assured that
they will be able to get a stand, because the major reason why
teachers were
working in Zimbabwe since 1980 is not that we were getting the
best of
salaries but there was just this reassurance that things would
happen. One
day you could own a house, one day you could own a car and all
that hope has
been lost.
This is why we are saying we must go back,
restore the confidence, make sure
every other citizen feels part and parcel
of the process, then we will move
forward together, but nonetheless, we are
very clear and we will be very
wary, we will be watching and looking and
monitoring the progress closely.
We are not just going to give these guys an
open cheque - like what we did
with many others, of these destructive
Ministers who worked this Ministry.
We want to be involved at every other
right and left turn that the Ministry
is going to take. We want to know who
is being appointed in the Ministry,
where and why, what are their
qualifications. We want to see a clear
de-politicisation of the Ministry in
terms of the head office, in terms of
the provinces as well as headmasters.
We have scenarios where a lot of these
headmasters who are in our schools
are mere political appointees. People who
are being appointed to be EOs
(Education Officers) with the agenda of doing
nothing besides to politically
silence the progressive voices in our
schools - and I think time has come
for us to say let us bury the hatchet
and let the best people take over
leadership and this country will go back
to where it has always
been.
GONDA: How many teachers are actually left in Zimbabwe right now
and is it
known how many left this country?
MAJONGWE: This is one
other reason why we are simply saying schools must
open again. We now don't
know how many teachers we have - so we are simply
saying for progress's sake
let every person go to where they should be. We
do a head count and we see
how many teachers we need. For the record I'll
tell you that according to
the ministry's statistics they are saying we have
80 000 teachers left in
the country. At PTUZ we maintain that there are 70
000 teachers and of the
70 000, 40 000 teachers are non-qualified teachers.
These are people who
have been brought in as relief teachers, some of them
as spies, and some of
them just as gap fillers. And we are simply saying it
is quite sad we are
talking of having 115 000 teachers in 2005, 2006 and we
have gone down to 80
000, which I think is a government conservative figure
because we are
convinced the country has the capacity to produce 5 to 6 000
teachers a year
and it is going to take us 6 to 7 years to ultimately go to
our optimum -
that is if these teachers who are in the region are not going
to come
back.
But I am confident because we are having a lot of people who are
asking and
they are making enquiries and they want to come back. Just like
our
organisation called PTUZ-South Africa they are also making enquiries and
we
are making an effort to submit their letter and their concerns of
teachers
in South Africa to the Minister on Monday at 9 o'clock when we meet
him.
But I think the bottom line has to be made, that teachers want to
come back
but it will be three, four, five years before we get to our
optimum number
that we want and ultimately be able to get the glamour we
have always had.
Because we are talking of schools that don't have teachers,
that don't have
desks, that don't have window panes, that don't have doors.
The doors were
being taken off the walls by the war veterans, they were
making coffins out
of them, they were taking window panes and taking them to
their houses and
they were burning desks.
It is quite sad and my
heart bleeds when I look back to say why did this
destruction happen?
Because somebody or the Minister of Education Chigwedere
did not have the
guts to stand up to the people who were moving around
destroying our schools
wantonly and in a barbaric manner what happened in
the years from
2002.
GONDA: So does this mean that when you say you are going back
you're
actually accepting the 100 US dollars that is being offered or you've
been
offered more since your meeting with Mr Coltart and Mr
Tsvangirai?
MAJONGWE: The reason why we are saying we are going back is
we want to get
to the basics first, we want to know how many teachers we
have, because if
we are going to get any assistance from anybody they will
ask you how many
teachers we have, how many teachers do you have and what
are we going to
say? We don't know because even at the Ministry level there
are a lot of
ghost teachers that are being paid through the Ministry and I
think we must
stop that because we have reason to believe that there are
people down the
line who are basically lining their pockets.
GONDA:
Are you going to be offered more than the 100 US dollars or are you
going to
take what is being offered right now?
MAJONGWE: We are going to take what
has been offered now but that doesn't
stop us from demanding more. For the
record, the government has been telling
us that they are going to be paying
us the US dollar component and another
Zimbabwean dollar component which is
meaningless because the newspaper, the
Financial Gazette costs Z$1 000
dollars re-valued but the money that were
put into teachers' accounts is 600
dollars. So these are some of the things
that we are obviously saying we
don't accept. But we are just giving them
the benefit of doubt. We have a
new Finance Minister, we have a new Prime
Minister, we have a new Minister
of Education, we want to give them the
chance and basically help them fill
up their coffers before some of the
money starts trickling to the teachers
and other civil servants. We have the
right to build Zimbabwe together
again.
GONDA: So will teachers become more accountable and accept
performance
standards if awarded higher salaries?
MAJONGWE: I think
any normal person will concede that reality. A lot of the
teachers have not
been working for a long time, we need a few months to
adjust, but let me
assure you, we have the best in terms of our teachers and
we will produce
and deliver. And we want to assure all the parents and all
the school
children that once the term starts at a date that we will
announce on Monday
we are going to give our best shot and we want to just
say education will
return to normalcy and we are going to provide quality
education to our
children.
GONDA: Was your main concern the removal of Zanu-PF or better
work
conditions or both and also what is your position now that Mugabe is
still
in power?
MAJONGWE: Apparently I must state categorically clear
that I'd always
maintained that it was going to be very difficult to remove
Mugabe from
power completely and even if he goes, he's going to leave a lot
of remnants
in terms of people who will be Mugabe-like. But the bottom line
is with one
foot on the pitch it is also good because the progressive
democratic forces
of Zimbabwe will now be involved in everything. It is
unfortunate that it
might take time but having stomached Mugabe for 28 years
why can't we then
be ready to work with him for a few years? One thing that
is very clear is
Mugabe is 85 tomorrow and why would we then doubt that the
man is no longer
at his best, the man is finished, the man is not as dynamic
and as
charismatic as he was and we are simply saying if the MDC is clear
about
what they want to achieve they will get it anyway because if the
Zimbabweans
were able to wait for 28 years, why can't they wait for 28
months, why can't
they wait for 28 days, for 28 hours, 26 minutes, 26
seconds. We will be able
to get to a point where Mugabe will leave and he
will leave very soon.
GONDA: You were being perceived as being
treacherous, now is it one of the
reasons why you have decided to go back to
work because of the outcry?
MAJONGWE: No apparently not. No we are simply
saying we have fought and we
have won. We wanted a new Minister, some of the
things that we wanted have
happened. We wanted a new Minister of Education,
we wanted a new thinking at
the top of government, we wanted new concessions
and all these are being
given so we are simply saying the strike was never
going to go to
perpetuity. The strike was going to end at one point. And the
good thing is
basically that teachers who earned 2 rand in January and they
are getting an
opportunity to earn 1 000 rand this month, so we are simply
saying we have
at least moved, we don't agree with what they have been paid
but we are
saying let's move on.
We can't continue fighting otherwise
we become irrelevant. We also are
taking serious consideration of what our
members are saying. Our members are
saying we have fought, we have won,
let's put this victory in our bag and we
look for another victory. We'll be
going back to the trenches. If this new
government is not going to take
serious our consideration, we will go back
to the trenches in March. There's
no problem, we still have our arsenal, we
still have our people, we still
have our generals and we still have our high
command. We are ready to go
back to the trenches as and when the situation
obtains for us to go to the
bush.
GONDA: Thank you very much Raymond Majongwe.
MAJONGWE: Thank
you.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Monday, 23 February
2009
Police commissioner reportedly orders criminal cases relating
to
politically motivated murders to be dropped.
Fungai Chisvo
dabs her eyes with the edge of her white shawl,
struggling to hold back the
tears as she describes how her uncle's son was
shot before being set alight
inside the building of opposition group the
Movement for Democratic Change,
MDC, in rural Masvingo in June 2008.
"He was among eight MDC supporters
that had sought refuge in the party
offices after fleeing violence at our
home," the 29-year-old told IWPR on
February 16.
"Soldiers and
ZANU-PF militia first shot them through the windows of
the office before
petrol-bombing the building."
"They were all burnt beyond recognition
inside the office. We buried
them en masse without any [viewings of the
bodies] as the sight was
horrendous and too grisly to see," she continued,
before breaking into
uncontrollable sobs.
Scores of MDC supporters
and officials have reported similar accounts
of violence inflicted on them
following the March 29 elections, when their
leader Morgan Tsvangirai
outpolled President Robert Mugabe but failed to
secure the majority he
needed to assume power.
In the parliamentary election held the same
day, the two MDC factions
easily won the majority of seats in
parliament.
Following these defeats, supporters of ZANU-PF reportedly
unleashed a
campaign of terror against the MDC.
So-called war
veterans and militias - apparently accompanied by
uniformed soldiers - are
said to have gone on the rampage, assaulting,
raping, murdering and looting
the property of those perceived to support the
opposition.
According to the MDC, more than 200 of its supporters were killed in
cold
blood by militias supporting the ruling party; several thousand were
seriously injured; and more than 200,000 were displaced.
The
opposition leader then pulled out of a presidential run-off on
June 27,
2008, citing this intensifying violence, leaving Mugabe to stand
unopposed.
This is why there was such an outcry this week at
reports that police
commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri has ordered all
charges relating to
murders committed ahead of last year's presidential
run-off to be dropped.
An article reportedly carried by the online news
site The Zimbabwe
Times said that a police circular, dated February 10 and
addressed to all
provincial commanders, ordered that they close all murder
cases relating to
incidents committed before the second round of
presidential elections.
According to reports, the news site said that
beneficiaries of the
amnesty would be ZANU-PF supporters, among them youths,
top war veterans and
government officials accused of inflicting atrocities
on people during the
election period last year.
The Zimbabwe Times
piece reportedly said that Chihuri had dispatched
Deputy
Commissioner-General Godwin Matanga to visit all provinces personally
to
explain the implications of the alleged directive to senior officers.
The apparent instruction, however, has been reportedly met with
resistance
from law officials in government, who say it is impossible to
drop the
charges.
"We told [Matanga] that we will not be pushed and that the law
has to
take its course, unless President Mugabe [personally] pardons [those
accused
of crimes]," a court official reportedly said in the Zimbabwe Times
piece.
IWPR made efforts to contact both ZANU-PF and the home affairs
ministry to check the veracity of Chihuri's alleged remarks, but neither
could be reached.
Meanwhile, human rights campaigners are up in
arms over the reported
call for a blanket amnesty.
Okay Machisa,
national director of ZimRights, said it was a travesty
of justice to let
perpetrators of political violence off the hook.
He said that those
suspected of abuses should stand trial.
"ZimRights believes that anyone
who violates and abuses human rights
should be brought to court and only the
courts can provide judgement,"
Machisa told IWPR.
Anyone involved
in the perpetration of violence, he said, should be
made accountable for the
loss of people's lives, property and peace in
Zimbabwe.
"Anyone who
tries to stop the course of justice is equally violating
the same rights. It
is quite disturbing and seriously inhumane if the
commissioner of police has
made such instructions," Machisa went on.
"Such instructions are
grossly painful and can provoke chaos among the
people of
Zimbabwe."
Machisa said he believed that the new inclusive government,
formed
between ZANU-PF and MDC and inaugurated on February 13, should ensure
that
transitional justice is delivered.
But there are concerns that
Tsvangirai might be reluctant to pursue
the perpetrators of the violence
after joining Mugabe in the unity
government last week.
In his
inauguration speech on February 11, Tsvangirai urged ZANU-PF
and MDC
supporters to bury the hatchet.
"People of Zimbabwe, I call upon all of
us to put aside our
differences, to begin a process of national healing
within every community,
to work across party lines and look forward with
hope, while learning from a
sad past that has so devastated our nation and
our people," he said.
But Reverend Useni Sibanda, national director of
the Zimbabwe
Christian Alliance, ZCA, a network of church and civic bodies,
said a
blanket amnesty was "no medicine for healing the nation".
"The transitional government needs to first allow a national debate on
how
the people of Zimbabwe want the transitional justice issues to be
handled,"
said Sibanda.
"[A] blanket [amnesty] does not take into consideration
key
ingredients that bring healing to a nation. The process of healing a
nation
involves truth telling, confession, forgiveness, justice and then
reconciliation."
The clergyman said the country needed to know who
committed these
offences, under what circumstances and who ordered that
these offences be
committed. The victims needed to be involved from the
onset, he added.
"The people that [Chihuri] has [reportedly] ordered to
be forgiven
should ask for that forgiveness from the victims. It is not just
an issue of
murder - pre-and post-election violence involved in most cases
rape [or]
destruction of property and this was done by people in the same
neighbourhood," said Sibanda.
Pius Wakatama, an elder of the
Zimbabwe Christian Alliance and the
organisation's media manager, warned
that an amnesty could spark a backlash,
leading to further
violence.
"Sweeping issues under the carpet will create a simmering
volcano that
will erupt soon. Most of the victims, if they discover that the
courts will
not deliver justice to them there, will resort to their own
means of gaining
justice," he said.
"There is therefore an urgent
need to set up a truth, justice and
healing commission that will be given
the mandate and framework to deal with
election violence and also [to]
include violence that has occurred since
2000."
Jabu Shoko is the
pseudonym of an IWPR-trained journalist.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=12211
February 22, 2009
By Levi
Mhaka
IT IS public knowledge that the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)
governor,
Gideon Gono unilaterally appropriated foreign currency belonging
to
corporate account holders under the pretext of using for national needs
and
requirements.
He did so after directing all banks to hand over
the FCAs to the central
bank in early 2008.
From September 2008, he
further generated foreign currency by way of
charging license fees of up to
US$250 000 for manufacturers as well as
warehousing and trading businesses.
The same licensed entities were levied
by being requested to surrender
surrendering 15 percent of their foreign
currency gross earnings to the RBZ,
while the tax authorities, ZIMRA,
further collected 15 percent in valued
added tax of such licensed entities.
Besides such prohibitive licensing
fees that have now been scrapped, the new
Finance Minister should proceed to
scrap double taxation through which the
RBZ is appropriating the hard-earned
forex of businesses by charging a levy
on one's foreign currency
earnings.
We expect full results and early disclosure of the ongoing or
intended
forensic audit the finance minister is said to be making or intends
to make
of the FCAs' that Gono raided last year and all the foreign currency
generated from license fees and levies. This can not be called a witch-hunt
or a hatchet job.
It is public accountability.
There could be
enough foreign currency at the RBZ to pay civil servants.
Without
independent assessment of the situation, Gono cannot claim
bankruptcy.
On a related matter, Gono has just picked up public
fights with politicians,
specifically the Deputy Prime Minister, Arthur
Mutambara and the Finance
Minister, Tendai Biti. He did so through the
State-owned Herald newspaper in
a blistering story written by his personal
acolyte and beneficiary of his
patronage, the Herald Business Editor,
Victoria Ruzvidzo. Another acolyte at
yet another State-owned Sunday Mail,
Munyaradzi Huni, regurgitated the
remarks.
Without focusing much on
the relational chemistry, or lack of it, between
Gono and the new Deputy
Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance, there is
something suspicious
about Gono's public behaviour. By resorting to the
scare tactics that he
previously employed against politicians he creates the
impression that he
has something to hide. Gono had become so drunk with
unchecked power and
influence that he made very arrogant statements to try
to create an
impression that his policies have worked very well in the past
and were
bound to be useful had it not been for the new politicians.
A high
powered Zimbabwean delegation consisting of the Prime Minister,
Morgan
Tsvangirai, Minister of Finance and Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Simbarashe
Mumbengegwi, took their begging bowl to South Africa, where they
met South
African President Kgalema Motlanthe and Finance Minister, Trevor
Manuel.
Gono's absence from the delegation is a story by itself;
especially after
his poorly thought policies are being reversed. In any case
the policies
being reversed and those requiring immediate attention were all
beyond his
mandate. They were all fiscal related.
Those calling for
Biti and Gono to resolve their differences should realize
that Gono is stuck
in the pre-coalition government era, in which he was
everything financial,
powerful and influential. All ministers grovelled in
front of him and made
bee lines to his office.
He had an express route and unfettered access to
the President to seek a nod
on anything he wanted to do. Gono undermined and
destroyed counterbalancing
factors, offices and institutions by whatever
means necessary. The President
relied only on him for economic and financial
advice and implementation on
anything monetary and fiscal after Gono had
destroyed possible independent
assessment of such advice and
implementation.
I should tell another big story that Mutambara has not
been known to target
particular individuals. He did so when he said that the
monetary and fiscal
measures by then Acting Minister of Finance, Patrick
Chinamasa and Gono,
respectively, would be up for a fundamental review not
reversal, as others
are now alleging. Why should there be no policy reviews
when there are new
ministries and the RBZ Act is explicit on
that.
Gono should be humble enough to go back to the basics of his office
and
institution. The CORE function of the RBZ is the responsibility for the
formulation and implementation of monetary policy in its pursuit of price
stability. The RBZ is required in terms of the Reserve Bank Act (Chapter
22:15), to consult the Ministry of Finance during the creation of monetary
policy to achieve the objective of price stability.
When Gono "took
office in December 2003, (he) fundamentally changed the
functions of the
RBZ. Increasingly, the Reserve Bank usurped the fiscal
operations of the
Ministry of Finance. In addition, it assumed some of the
functions of
commercial banks in that it engaged in direct lending to the
private sector
in a very significant manner. The central bank began to
undertake private
sector and public sector functions outside its domain that
included, among
others, agricultural activities, manufacturing and retail
activities.
As a result, the RBZ.acquired a conglomerate structure
and hence failed to
focus on its core business" - UNDP Comprehensive
Economic Recovery in
Zimbabwe: A Discussion Document (2008). (Highly
recommended for the new
Minister of Finance.)
Gono should now be
humble enough to admit that many, if not all of his
policies have not worked
when he has been central bank governor, the de
facto Prime Minister,
Minister of Finance and all the related economic and
resource ministries. It
should register in his mind that there are new
princes and methods in
town.
Gone are the days he could publicly and inappropriately boast that
President
Robert Mugabe is his friend and can afford to join him on holiday
in
Malaysia. On the way to the Office of the President, he now has two
Chitungwiza "road humps" - the Offices of Prime Minister and the Finance
Minister. Even if he manipulates the President, the new day-to-day 'manager'
of government business and finances is the Prime Minister and the Finance
Minister, respectively. The President will now obviously request Gono to
seek the audience and express consent of the Finance Minister on anything he
intends to do. The RBZ Act expects him to do so, yet he is using the media
to fight Biti!
Gono should not be seen to undermine the new political
arrangement.
The Prime Minister and the Finance Minister can with
pleasure expect Gono to
be in the queue to be either at the two's offices,
something that no
minister was able to do before the pre-coalition
era.
With this in mind, Gono should adjust and reconcile himself with the
new
era. Public power is a drug and its holder should be held accountable,
checked and counter-balanced. Gono was used to unilateral and absolute power
and influence subordinated only to that of the President whom he
manipulated.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=12205
February 22, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
MASVINGO - A senior member of the Zimbabwe Republic Police
(ZRP) and
journalists working in Masvingo Province have predicted that the
recurrence
of political violence in the province's rural areas is now a
strong
possibility unless the government takes urgent steps to effect the
much-talked about national healing process.
A senior police officer
told The Zimbabwe Times Sunday that it was now very
likely that the province
would witness retributive violence on a scale
greater than the sporadic
incidents that have been witnessed in Mashonaland
East and Central where
serious clashes have been reported.
"Tension is rising in the rural areas
as most people who believe they were
wronged during the run-up to last
year's second presidential election now
want to revenge," said the police
officer who requested anonymity as he was
not authorised to speak to the
press.
He said the new unity government should move quickly to put in
place
government programmes promoting peace and
reconciliation.
"Whether we like it or not, it is a reality that many
people are planning
acts of revenge. But many people whom we have spoken to
or who have come to
us with reports or in need of assistance in recovering
lost property are
saying they need to be compensated," said the police
source.
He said there was an urgent need for aid organisations to provide
counselling services to traumatised rural communities. He cited an incident
in Zaka in June 2008 as a case study.
A war veteran is said to have
openly shot a supporter of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) in front
of people who were also accused along with
him of being MDC
members.
The war veteran later locked the group of people in a room and
went on to
splash petrol on them before setting the room
ablaze.
"Such incidents are regrettable," said the police officer.
"Sometimes we the
police are to blame but our hands were tied. It is now up
to the politicians
to move quickly to resolve some of these simmering
disputes."
The internecine political violence witnessed last year in the
period leading
to the June 27 presidential re-run revisited Mashonaland
province last week
where political clashes were recorded.
In Harare
some residents of Mbare were reported to have gone on a rampage
beating up
suspected Zanu-PF supporters whom they accused of having taken
their houses
in the crammed Matapi section of the suburb.
A journalist in Masvingo
Province said he had recently visited the Zaka and
Bikita areas and
witnessed increasing animosity among villagers.
He said, "There are areas
where people can not even greet each other because
of what they did to each
other during the elections. There is one family
which lost the family house
and all livestock. Now they are demanding
compensation from neighbours whom
it accuses of responsibility for the
loss."
The journalist suggested
that President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai should
visit various parts of the country together to
preach peace as part of the
national healing process.
President Robert Mugabe last week appointed
Zanu-PF chairman, John Nkomo, as
well as Gibson Sibanda of the Arthur
Mutambara-led MDC faction and Sekai
Holland of the mainstream MDC as State
Ministers responsible for national
healing.
Addressing an MDC rally
in the Midlands capital of Gweru on Sunday,
Tsvangirai dwelt on the need for
reconciliation.
"This nation needs national healing. It has endured so
much violence. Let's
forgive those who have transgressed against us,"
Tsvangirai told supporters.
"If there's no national healing, there won't
be progress."
In Masvingo the journalist said: "For now it appears as a
simple matter. But
people have not forgotten that they lost their lives and
property. It will
take only a national initiative in which people are given
a chance to
express themselves and probably confess for their crimes that
they committed
that will heal this country."
Masvingo Province
witnessed some of the most violent political violence last
year. Several
political murders were committed in the province. Many civic
groups have
spoken about the need for the new government to design a well
thought
transitional justice programme as part of the healing process.
Meanwhile
two civic groups were in Masvingo on Saturday to host a peace
festival in
Mucheke Hall where hundreds of residents turned out to hear
messages of
peace and reconciliation through music, dance, drama and poetry.
The two
organisations, the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) and
Artists for
Democracy in Zimbabwe Trust (ADZT) have been organising musical
festivals
since last year encouraging Zimbabweans to desist from engaging in
political
violence.
"We are encouraging Zimbabweans to love one another, preach
peace reconcile
and contribute to the development of the country," said
Thabani Moyo, MISA
Advocacy officer at the Masvingo show.
Meanwhile,
a senior government official has backed Commissioner General
Augustine
Chihuri's recent call for charges to be dropped in all cases of
murder
committed between April and June 2008.
Addressing civil servants, among
them magistrates and senior police and army
officers in Masvingo last week,
David Mangota, the permanent secretary in
the Ministry of Justice Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs, said his ministry
had requested President Mugabe to
pardon those found guilty of murders
committed during the campaign for the
June 27 presidential election run-off.
Mangota also ordered personnel in
his ministry to effectively grab the
remaining white-owned commercial farms
since they will not be able to do so
once the inclusive government has taken
full control of the situation.
http://www.busrep.co.za/
February 23, 2009
By Donwald
Pressly
Finance ministers of the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) will
meet within a week to forge a rescue plan for Zimbabwe, after
talks in Cape
Town between President Kgalema Motlanthe and Zimbabwean prime
minister
Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday.
Motlanthe said that finance
ministers including Trevor Manuel and his
Zimbabwean counterpart, Tendai
Biti, had been asked to "develop the detail"
of how to deal with the myriad
challenges facing the Zimbabwean economy.
Manuel, who attended the talks
between Motlanthe and Tsvangirai in Cape
Town, said: "There aren't any
numbers on the table."
He told Business Report that the talks were based
on "the very important
principle of resolving issues", but this would be
done on a multilateral
basis.
"We have to work together," he said.
"It is a process of identification and
finding the appropriate measures. We
should not put too much pressure on
people; Tendai Biti has been finance
minister for exactly one week. One
can't expect him to have every
answer."
Tsvangirai, who now works with his Zanu-PF rivals in a unity
government led
by President Robert Mugabe, said interventions to get the
country going
again should focus on education, health and the provision of
food.
The prime minister, who acknowledged that the situation in his
country was
"dire", told a media briefing at Tuynhuys that no figure had
been applied to
the financial injection required by the Zimbabwean economy.
Some
commentators have put this figure as high as $5 billion (R50.9
billion).
When asked if Zimbabwe had requested a $600 million bailout
from the South
African government, Motlanthe said: "There are no figures to
speak of; those
are going to be crunched by technical people."
He
added that this was one of the issues the SADC finance ministers would
consider and there were no implications so far in terms of the budget
produced by Manuel earlier in February.
While Tsvangirai noted
that the Zimbabwean dollar had "devalued to a point
of non-use" he dismissed
speculation that the rand currency would be adopted
for his country. "It is
a multi-denomination approach that we are looking
at."
He said this
meant that the US dollar, the rand and other currencies would
be used while
the government considered whether the Zimbabwe dollar could be
resuscitated.
Asked whether Zimbabwe central bank governor Gideon
Gono would remain in his
job, Tsvangirai said: "In due course, we will
evaluate his performance, his
role. I have heard people try to crucify him;
at the appropriate time a
decision will be made."
Tsvangirai ducked
the question of whether Zimbabwe's 230&nbsop;000 public
servants would
continue to be paid in US dollars.
It was critical, however, to evaluate
just how many public servants were
still in the country, as "a huge chunk"
had joined the diaspora, he said.
On the policy of indigenisation of
business, Tsvangirai noted that all
legislation that hampered the country's
recovery was being reviewed.
Last March Mugabe signed into law the
Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Bill, which aimed to put 50 percent
of business equity into
black hands.
Tsvangirai said a land
commission would look at the issue of the
revitalisation of agriculture,
forward planning and security of tenure in
the sector. White commercial
farms have been invaded by Zanu-PF supporters
since 2000.
Asked
whether he would consider British aid, Tsvangirai said: "I don't care
whether the cat is brown or black, as long as it catches mice. We don't care
where the aid comes from."
Mugabe has regularly derided Tsvangirai
for being a puppet of the West,
particularly the UK.
http://www.zimdaily.com
By MIRANDA DUBE
Published:
Monday 23 February 2009
ZIMBABWE - HARARE - Two unidentified men are
stalking MDC lawyer Alec
Muchadehama, who is representing political
prisoners who have become a
bargaining chip in a high stakes political
amnesty game
The targeting of Muchadehama comes at a time his name has
been circulating
in the media circles that the MDC wanted him to take over
as the new
Attorney General.
This revelation has rattled the
incumbent AG, Johannes Tomana, who faces the
axe amid mounting opposition
clamour for his dismissal.
Muchadehama has said he would not take up the
offer of the AG's job because
he was doing just fine in private
practice.
The motive for putting Muchadehama under deadly
surveillance is not yet
clear.
Two unidentified men have since
late last week been stalking the human
rights lawyer since he left Court 13
at the Rotten Row magistrate's court on
Friday.
The two
unidentified men suspected to be state security agents, followed
Muchadehama
to the main entrance of the court and stood within earshot as
Muchadehama
briefed Dr Francis Lovemore, one of the doctors who examined the
detained
political prisoners about proceedings in court, where Magistrate
Gloria
Takundwa had just ordered the immediate and urgent medical
examination of
the four detainees including Kisimusi Dhlamini, Regis Mujeyi,
Mapfumo
Garutsa and Andrisson Manyere, who appeared in court on February
20.
The two unidentified men had been in court meticulously taking
notes during
remand hearing proceedings, where Muchadehama successfully
sought an order
for the examination and treatment of the four
detainees.
Muchadehama also successfully obtained an order compelling
the State to give
a trial date for the accused persons.
Human
rights lawyers are outraged at the deadly surveillance of their
colleague.
"Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is greatly worried
about the rising
incidences of harassment and attacks against lawyers," said
Irene Petras,
head of the ZLHR.
"This act of stalking was
deliberately meant to spook Muchadehama. ZLHR
condemns such clandestine acts
by the unidentified men who distracted a
legal practitioner who was
executing his duties."
Efforts to obtain comment from National
Security minister Sydney Sekeramayi
were futile.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
February
23, 2009
Jan Raath: Behind
the story
To the naked eye, Mr Mugabe looks the very picture of health, even
for a
much younger man let alone someone in their ninth decade. "He is in
very
good shape for 85," said a Harare doctor, requesting anonymity. "I
would be
very happy to look like that when I'm 85."
In an interview
on local television at the weekend, Mr Mugabe attributed his
apparent health
to a lifelong regimen of daily exercise. He said that he
jogs each morning
and maintains his weight between 75kg and 80kg. "This
ensures my body is
full of muscles, and not fat," he said.
He also works out in the gym in
his new mansion in Harare's exclusive suburb
of Borrowdale Brooke and has a
personal trainer. He has always eaten
carefully, has never smoked and admits
to only "an occasional glass of sweet
white wine".
The octogenarian
is not without certain health complaints. "He's certainly
not as healthy as
he makes out he is," said the doctor.
His speech is not halting, but for
several years he has been prone to long,
rambling, disconnected monologues.
"It's a sign of senile dementia caused by
neural decay that is normal in
people of his age," said the doctor. Mr
Mugabe displays a high-stepping
gait, also part of the dementia syndrome,
the doctor said.
In the run-up
to last year's bloody presidential election, Mr Mugabe's
trousers rose as he
sat, to reveal abnormally bloated ankles. "Oedema,"
suggested the doctor.
"It's a sign of heart, kidney or liver dysfunction."
Most curious of all
is his unwrinkled face. "You can usually tell how a
person is going to look
by observing their parents," he said. "Mugabe's
mother reached 92 and she
looked, well, like a prune. He should be looking
like her at his
age."
"The secret has to be Botox," he said. "It also explains why his
face often
changes so dramatically, from being chubby to gaunt and
hollow-cheeked. It's
what happens when you don't have regular
treatment."
Such claims have been voiced before. A former US ambassador
referred to him
as "Botox Bob".
http://www.thetimes.co.za
Moses Mudzwiti Published:Feb 23,
2009
Zim's
new unity government makes its priorities clear
ZIMBABWE'S new unity
government has splashed out on new cars and office
furniture for its
ministers, The Times has learnt.
a..
The move comes as the country
cries out for money from its neighbours.
The government's spending
frenzy has been extended to the security forces,
notably the
police.
At the weekend, police superintendents in Harare received
state-sponsored
power generators. There are about 150
superintendents.
Lower-ranked police officers have been issued with
two-wheeled carts.
On Friday, transport ministry officials confirmed
that new vehicles were
being delivered to government
ministers.
President Robert Mugabe, who turned 85 on Saturday, has
added 10 more
ministries to the 31 agreed to in September.
So far, 19
deputy ministers have been appointed.
Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai have two deputies each.
Before the MDC-T joined the
unity government, Tsvangirai's party campaigned
for a leaner cabinet of only
15 ministers.
In only a week, Mugabe appears to have succeeded in
altering the MDC's
perspective on government spending.
Several
years ago a similar kitting-out of cabinet ministers cost the
government
more than US$ 200- million.
In recent weeks, Zimbabwe's cash-strapped
government has raised the cost of
its services astronomically.
For
example, car number plates cost US$ 200 (R2000) and getting a Zimbabwean
passport can set you back as much as US$ 600.
This week the
government will ask visiting UN officials and other donors to
fund teachers'
salaries.
A good number of teachers quit more than two years ago,
citing poor pay.
As a result, the government was considering a
general amnesty for errant
teachers, meaning they would not have to reapply
for their jobs.
Teachers have rejected the government's US$ 100
shopping vouchers, insisting
instead on salaries of US$ 2
300.
New education minister David Coltart has appealed to all
teachers to return
to their classes today.
The country's cholera
death toll continues to rise unabated.
More than 3700 people are known to
have succumbed to the easily treatable
disease.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=12180
February 22, 2009
By Jakaya
Goremusandu
WHEN two heavy-weight boxers wear each other down, referees
normally have a
tough time separating the previously ferocious
combatants.
With muscles giving in, blood flowing freely from upper-cut
wounds and
fatigue setting in, boxers simply wobble and lock their hands
around each
other torso. They turn the match into a boring spectacle as they
each pray
for the final bell.
Indeed, everything has an
end!
The turn of events in Zimbabwe over the past three weeks has baffled
many at
home and even beyond. Long time opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
agreed
to join hands with Robert Mugabe, one of the world's longest serving
African
political strongmen, a despot who has driven Zimbabwe on to the edge
of a
precipice.
This tempestuous political marriage of convenience is
rooted on an African
initiative - a brokered agreement between the two and
underwritten by the
14-member Southern African Development Community - to
deal with the
seemingly unending political "boxing match", which has earned
Zimbabwe
pariah status over the past 10 years.
An economic meltdown
slashed life expectancy from 58 to 34 in less than a
decade, and spawned a
hyper-inflation rate of 231 million percent, as of
July last year - up from
around 20 percent in the late 1990s. Today, a
breakdown in basic
infrastructure and the collapse of essential services led
to a cholera
epidemic whose contagion threatens to engulf the entire
southern African
sub-region and affect regional investment and tourism as
well as 2010 FIFA
World Cup in South Africa.
Despite years of denial, a weary Mugabe today
needs Tsvangirai to stabilise
Zimbabwe. An equally exhausted Tsvangirai
needs Mugabe to help soft-land the
national crisis and to pacify his
militant supporters, as well as the
security establishment which has been
running the grisly show in Mugabe's
name for the last 10 years.
There
is a reasonable and widespread belief that Mugabe has been losing
elections
to Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change party since 2000.
But in each
case Tsvangirai was unable to assume political power. Mugabe
hung on,
defying common sense and both national and international opinion.
Those who
made it possible are potential witnesses because of the armoury of
information in their possession should it become necessary to flesh out
Mugabe's litany of human rights abuses, illegal commands to murder,
corruption and plunder, either in a court of law or out of other need. That
is their trump card, a potent weapon for blackmail.
The tipping point
came in March last year when Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in
an election by a
clearer margin than officially admitted in the past. The
announcement of the
result was delayed for five weeks. Even then, Mugabe's
loss was deemed
insufficient to nudge him out of power.
Mugabe, through a sympathetic
electoral commission run by a former military
officer who appears to be
equally scared of losing a stake in the event of
change, decreed that
Tsvangirai fell short of the constitutionally required
figures to take over,
necessitating a rerun. Tsvangirai pulled out after
Mugabe shrunk the
democratic space, literally edging the opposition out of
the campaign,
through violence.
More than 200 MDC supporters died in an orgy designed
to cow the electorate
and to hostage the nation, retribution for rejecting
Mugabe in the polls.
That exposed the ruse that the West, especially
Britain, was the leader
behind the regime change agenda. Reality hit Mugabe
in the face; reality hit
Africa in the face. Zimbabweans wanted
change.
Africa intervened in embarrassment leading the two leaders to
talk. The
result: a transitional government, with a plan to hold a fresh
election -
under new rules, under a new Constitution and after transfusing a
collapsed
essential public services sector with a new life. Food security,
health,
education, water and sanitation, public transport and basic dignity
have
all, but disappeared.
Mugabe and his henchmen no longer care, as
living in a failed state though
ignominious for the founders of modern day
Zimbabwe assures them of
security. Democracy, because of past and present
excesses, is an
uncomfortable option for it presses for accountability,
audits and - my
God - jail, humiliation or death.
Legitimate
questions abound as to how Tsvangirai and Mugabe, the two known
to be avowed
enemies, can now work together. Indications are that the ground
realities
are pushing them into a dangerous cul-de-sac, forcing them to
negotiate a
satisfactory exit. Under these circumstances, with a referee
whose shirt is
now soaked in blood as he tries to separate the boxers in
this last round,
the two could be a problem as well as a solution.
For context and
perspective, let us look at Mugabe: he lost his
parliamentary majority in
March forcing him to acknowledge Tsvangirai and
his MDC party as legitimate
players after years of disparaging them as
vassals of imperialism and
puppets of the West.
Zimbabwe is without a functional economy; Mugabe's
pillars of support,
especially the military and a civil service whose
leaders are products of
his patronage, are too weak to vaccinate him against
continuing instability
due economic hardships. Lastly, his advanced age, is
no longer a personal or
long-term national asset. Mugabe turned 85 yesterday
on Saturday, February
21, 2009.
Mugabe - once a darling of the West
showered with knighthoods and honorary
degrees, apart from the coveted UN
prize for fighting hunger - could once
again taste success if he claims a
position of peace-maker, repairs his
legacy as a founding father of Zimbabwe
and avoids leaving office - alive or
posthumously - in ignominy.
What
is clear now is that Mugabe has admitted defeat, admitted failure to
raise
Zimbabwe from the dire situation he created. A senior citizen rarely
pronounces his own failures in public, at least not in
Zimbabwe.
Tsvangirai needs Mugabe, is his sunset years, to avoid a power
vacuum in a
hard transition to legitimacy. It is fair comment to say
Tsvangirai, having
exhausted the activist mantle and turned Mugabe's
previously white shirt
black with dirt, was now desperate for a
solution.
To maintain the fluid concoction of interests in the MDC and to
keep that
liquid firm in one container at a time when both the electoral and
judicial
routes to political change and to freedom were effectively shut was
proving
to be daunting challenge to Tsvangirai. A clash of visions was
inevitable as
poverty and repression ground the nation to smithereens and
options
narrowed.
Getting into bed with Mugabe, arguably unwise and
to an extent
irresponsible, could assist the people to reconnect with their
values and
afford Tsvangirai a chance to avoid the temptation to engage in
counterfeit
leadership. When a struggle crosses the 10 year line, fatigue
usually sets
in, for the situation will have created a generation of living
in a failed
state, a generation that might be tempted to think that their
way life is
normal.
The correctness or otherwise of Tsvangirai's
diagnosis depends on a short,
sharp time-frame. Extending the life of the
marriage begins to eat into his
political brand as donors display their
reluctance to help the new couple
and Zimbabweans plough through conflicts
in values and priorities. Apart
from stabilising the situation for a
national expression through a free and
fair election, the coalition
arrangement is not going to deliver any other
result.
This is the
reality, unfortunate as it is, in a heavily weakened nation with
sky-high
expectations. A message must be sent out urgently that this is not
an MDC or
a Tsvangirai-led regime - he is merely an administrator of a
deceased
estate, sara pavana, as they say in Shona. As Prime Minister, his
duty is to
manage and settle accounts, look after the deceased's family
children and
prepare for the cleansing ceremony at which the family will
decide the
future, usually after a year.
Without Mugabe, hardliners in his regime -
long exposed for unfettered
corruption and serious crimes against humanity -
feel safer in a failed
state. They are uncertain about the future, hence
their calls on Mugabe to
stay on beyond common sense. The arrest of Roy
Bennett, fresh farm
invasions, proposals to pardon Zanu-PF murderers and the
continued
incarceration of pro-democracy and MDC activists helps to explain
this
position. More embarrassing cases are in the offing, simply to spite
Tsvangirai and to show him that he is not yet fully in charge. At worst, he
may even be arrested himself as the fight shifts into
power-testing.
After March, it dawned on Tsvangirai that an electoral
process that is
normal and natural elsewhere is failing to deliver political
power in
Zimbabwe. The current challenges before him today: a bloated
Cabinet, lack
of donor sympathy and a rough reaction from traditional
Mugabeists emphasise
that he is yet to get onto the home-stretch to power,
requiring him to keep
his eyes on the ball and on the goal. Playing
shoe-shine soccer with Mugabe
may be entertaining in the short term, but
goals are always decisive.
Without a rebel army to fall back on, as is
common in African revolutions,
Tsvangirai has to show all that he is an
innocent and capable patriot and
no-one's puppet.
For Tsvangirai the
current situation is a major test of character, a test of
leadership and a
chance to show a difference. Success shall only be
invaluable, much as
instructive, through a non-recriminatory programme of
national healing,
meaningful economic stabilisation and a positive
engagement with a Western
world, which correctly sees Mugabe as an
incorrigible candidate for the
International Crimes Court.
However, the arrangement remains fragile.
Zimbabwe's service chiefs have in
the past vowed never to salute Tsvangirai,
citing his lack of liberation war
credentials. They still feel that way,
hence the desire or none of it by
their commander in chief, Robert Mugabe,
to order them to attend national
functions involving the MDC.
And to
add to the confusion, there is a lot of anxiety within Zanu-PF about
the
future. State newspapers reported sporadic cases of what they called
retribution in Mashonaland Central and Mashonaland East after the inclusion
of the MDC in government. The stories are sketchy and give no details as to
who was involved and why.
Should Tsvangirai and Mugabe keep this
tenuous union intact in the next few
months, the nation expects visible
marks in attending to the humanitarian
emergency: a return to the rule law,
affordable food availability, the
containment of cholera, solid preparations
now for the next agriculture
season and the resuscitation of the public
service. Money will be a problem.
A quick economic recovery plan, starting
with an agreement on the future of
commercial agriculture - our economic
mainstay - will enable Zimbabwe to
generate the bulk of the needed
resources.
Further, if President Obama has frozen salaries of his staff
to save money,
why can't our abnormally large Cabinet work as volunteers,
until such time
when business is restored and begins to generate money in
the form of
meaningful taxes.
Ministers' expenditure patterns could
be reduced to mere process costs, thus
giving the nation an indication of
how they care for a new beginning and a
new Zimbabwe. These costs can cover
their travel, subsistence and medical
expenses.
A display of
commitment and sacrifice at the top would spur confidence to a
bleeding
nation.
Tsvangirai must guard against being driven by his passion for
taking over.
If this commitment turns into crusade, forcing a solution when
it is not yet
possible, chances are that the political risk could be too
ghastly to
contemplate.
Tsvangirai must move with the nation, putting
a cap on ministerial salaries
and perks and avoiding perceptions of a gravy
train when the entire nation
is on Spartan fare. If he claims no control
over those ministers from
Zanu-PF, at least he should work and convince
those from the MDC to steer
away from the obscenity of lobster and caviar
when the majority are
starving.
Tsvangirai needs sincere partners,
across the nation with access to him, to
detect and highlight the missing
links and to force him to keep checking on
his blind spots. He must realise
his limitations and that he is merely a
waiter ready to deliver a dish
ordered by a diner. In the maintenance role
he has been thrust into, he must
manage outside dark forces and those from
within - those keen to pursue a
destructive line - and keep the flicker
burning. There is a lot of
trepidation, anxiety and direct observation among
the people.
If a
new Constitution is what is easy to deliver, do so now. People need to
feel
the change, to see the change and accept that tomorrow is another
country.
The reality requires that Tsvangirai shuns factional
loyalties like
unnecessarily bowing to tribal pressures as happened during
the selection of
his cabinet nominees and to handle this delicate
generational power
changeover, or at best an inter-party transition, with
tact and sensitivity.
For Mugabe, the 85th birthday celebrations should
have been a time for
serious reflection. What happened at State House on
Friday, February 13,
2009, reflects on Zanu-PF as a party in a state of
flux. Your claim to a
revolutionary past has been reduced to an ash heap
because of your unending
grip on Zanu-PF.
Please, help Zanu-PF to
grapple with the leadership succession challenge to
prepare itself for a
contest with young Tsvangirai, now that you have
recognised officially and
openly that he is a Zimbabwean, leading a
political alternative, the
MDC.
There is nothing without an end!
http://www.mg.co.za
Feb 23 2009 06:00
Zimbabwean diplomats are resorting to
moonlightingto avoid debt collectors
as the lack of foreign currency caused
by the country's economic crisis has
left its representatives abroad unable
to pay their bills.
This month a diplomat based in Austria committed
suicide, reportedly in a
state of depression after receiving an eviction
notice. She was buried in
Harare after friends and relatives chipped in to
pay for transporting her
body home.
Stories abound of diplomats who
are surviving on foreign currency sent by
the extended families back in
Zimbabwe and on hand-outs from friends. Many
are deep in debt after
resorting to overdrafts for their everyday needs.
Zimbabwe has 38
diplomatic missions and three consulates across the world.
The biggest
missions are in New York and Geneva, because of the United
Nations.
Ambassadors are paid between US$11 000 and US$13 000 a month,
depending on
political seniority.
Foreign currency applications lodged with the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe by
embassies abroad have not been adequately met.
In February the New York
mission received US$100 000 when its arrears and
other monthly obligations
totalled US$1-million.
Sources say that
Zimbabwe's diplomats and foreign affairs staff posted
overseas have not been
paid for the last five to seven months. This means
that they have been
unable to meet most of their obligations, such as paying
for rented
accommodation, heating, medication and school fees. Locally
recruited staff
are owed salary arrears of between three and five months,
including
bonuses.
In certain countries where it is legal, spouses resorted to
seeking
employment to support their families. Sources said some desperate
diplomats
had resorted to moonlighting to survive. Another diplomat who
refused to be
identified said: "Under these difficulties we still have to
defend our
country in international forums and in countries where we have
been posted."
In Sweden officers evicted from their homes after failing
to pay rent
because their salaries weren't paid are staying at the
ambassador's
residence. Sources said in Australia a senior officer was also
staying at
the embassy.
In India, Iran and Austria landlords for the
chancelleries and residences
have approached their ministries of foreign
affairs to lodge complaints
about the failure to pay by Zimbabwean missions.
A diplomat who spoke on
condition of anonymity said: "Because of the
humanitarian situation at home
we are no longer a
priority."
Another European-based Zimbabwean diplomat said few
officers had resigned as
a result of these terrible conditions because
"people fear having bad names
back home and some still hold out for cushy
jobs in international
organisations such as the UN."
There has been
pressure in the ministry of foreign affairs to reduce the
number of
embassies as a survival strategy, but this was turned down by
President
Robert Mugabe, who, sources say, has argued this would be a public
humiliation. Other diplomats said an internal debate had also reached the
conclusion that closing down embassies at this juncture would be expensive
given the huge outstanding arrears to staff, rentals and other
services.
In June 2007 salaries for diplomats were cut by more than 10%
in an attempt
to reduce costs.
All diplomats interviewed said they
pinned their hopes for a change in
fortune on the Global Political Agreement
that produced the government of
national unity, which had its first Cabinet
meeting in Harare this week.
The forthcoming tobacco selling season was
given as another reason for hope,
as improved sales would result in greater
disbursements to cover outstanding
diplomatic obligations.
http://www.zimdaily.com
By MIRANDA DUBE
Published: Monday 23
February 2009
ZIMBABWE - HARARE - In what appears to be a stark change
in editorial
policy, the Herald, a state controlled daily newspaper has
toned down its
hate speech in a move largely expected to promote national
healing as the
inclusive government takes charge.
The development
came hot on the heels of meetings held between the Minister
of Media,
Information and Publicity Cde Webster Shamu with editors from
various media
houses in Zimbabwe last week.
During the meeting sources said Cde Shamu
made it clear that hate speech
should be a thing of the past and that the
editors should promote national
healing.
Just at the weekend The
Herald night columnist "Nathaniel Manheru" bed
farewell to his erstwhile
readers in his 200 installment.
Manheru said he was moving on to
other things but hinted that the column
could live another life for as long
as the Zimbabwe is under threat.
Critics of Manheru said his writings
besides being vulgar at times; it
reflected government's policies while
safeguarding "other interests".
Not only is The Herald taking a lead
in promoting national healing but also
ensuring that every ministry is given
space and reaching out to a nation
that was once
polarised.
However many will remember the column for its hard hitting
and painstakingly
well read articles.
Another change in editorial policy
of the herald, it now refers to cabinet
ministers across the political
divide as comrades.
It never dawned on anyone what the inclusive
government would bring towards
media reforms which in fact Zimbabwe badly
needs.
With Mr Morgan Tsvangirai being referred to as comrade and the
rest of
opposition ministers, Zimbabwe is surely moving closer to unified
nation.
http://www.marketwatch.com
Last update: 4:56 p.m. EST Feb. 22,
2009
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Feb 22, 2009 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Wildlife
experts
say they've seen a dramatic increase in rhinoceros killed by
poachers in
South African game reserves.
While 10 rhinos were killed
illegally on the reserves in 2007, at least 100
were poached last year -- 13
on Christmas Day alone, The Sunday Times of
London reported.
"We've
always had subsistence poaching. But serious poaching for large game
by
professionals selling rhino horn or ivory to Far Eastern syndicates is
far
more alarming," said George Hughes, a former head of the KwaZulu-Natal
Parks
Board in South Africa.
Former South African army professionals and foreign
diplomats may be
involved in the killings, the Times said, noting a
Vietnamese diplomat was
videotaped receiving contraband rhino horn outside
his embassy in Pretoria.
Rhino poaching in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya,
Zambia and Tanzania have
left only about 3,500 wild black rhinos and an
estimated 2,000 wild white
rhinos worldwide, wildlife experts told the
Times. The most secure reserves
are believed to be in Namibia and Botswana.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk
The
Times
February 23, 2009
Jan Raath in Harare
President Mugabe began a week of celebrations
at the weekend to mark his
85th birthday, even as organisers struggled to
raise funds for the
festivities amid a crippling economic crisis and growing
criticism of his
regime.
On Saturday the youth league of his Zanu
(PF) party is to stage Mr Mugabe's
annual birthday party to which 10,000
children will be bussed, as well as
his relatives and members of his inner
elite, to be fed on slaughtered oxen,
mountains of sticky cakes and
thousands of fizzy drinks. The youth league
originally planned to raise
$300,000 (£200,000) for the bash, but reports
say donations are drying
up.
Businesses and farmers are spurning menacing youth league officials
demanding cash. With the Government now run under a power-sharing interim
administration, the fear of refusing to contribute is trickling
away.
Absalom Sikhosana, the youth league's head, declined to give
figures for the
cash raised so far. "We are operating on a shoestring
budget," he said
bravely. "Even without a single cent, the celebrations will
go on."
Celebrations for Mr Mugabe - the world's oldest national leader -
kicked off
over the weekend with a smaller party at a luxury hotel, hosted
by his wife,
Grace, and accompanied by gushing tributes from cronies. "Like
a mighty
crocodile," said the Defence Ministry, "you have remained
resilient, focused
and resolute against all odds. We pray . . . that the
almighty God grants
you many more years."
But if his age has not yet
caught up with him, national decay and
dysfunction will be all around him at
his big celebration. There were a mere
five fawning pages of birthday
messages from bankrupt state offices in the
Herald on Saturday, a marked
decline from the 16-page supplement last year.
Many of the ministries and
state-owned companies that subscribed last year
are now run by the Movement
for Democratic Change of Morgan Tsvangirai, the
Prime Minister.
The
day before Mr Mugabe's birthday, the World Health Organisation disclosed
that the cholera epidemic had shot to 80,000 cases. "As Mugabe throws
parties for his 85th birthday, one in ten children in his country are
destined to die before their fifth birthday," said Save the Children, which
has one of the biggest humanitarian operations in the country.
Mr
Mugabe is at a crossroads. On his own admission, entering into a
coalition
Government was a "humiliation". He retains control over the most
powerful
arms of government, but his total authority was suddenly and
significantly
diminished when he swore in Mr Tsvangirai 13 days ago.
Yet Mr Mugabe
shows no indication of wanting to relinquish the considerable
power he
retains. Tortured detainees continue to languish in jail in
violation of the
power-sharing agreement. At the weekend eviction orders
were issued to two
white farmers, despite undertakings to halt land grabs.
"Mugabe is
threatened by a slow process of erosion," said one diplomat. "We
may well
see a steady shift in the balance of power, and the wilting away of
the
loyalty of soldiers, police and civil servants that enforced his rule.
He
will find it very hard now to resuscitate the campaigns of repression and
violence that held the entire country in thrall."
Yesterday Mr
Tsvangirai urged the West to support the new national unity
Government.
Adressing 7,000 supporters, he said: "It is now time to say
let's forgive
those who have trespassed against us. If there is no national
healing, there
is no progress."
Mr Tsvangirai has warned that it could take up to $5
billion to get the
Zimbabwean economy back on track.
http://www.nehandaradio.com
23 February 2009
By Tambanavo
Chamanyawi
Did you see Arthur Mutambara on Friday at the University of
Johannesburg?
Making a public address for the first time at the Arts Centre
as the Deputy
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Guseni was at his best.
He
out-clowned all other panelists leaving scores of attendants in stitches
as
he shouted dramatic utterances one after the other. The visibly
celebrating
Arthur was smiling from ear to ear as he gesturised throughout
his speech.
He gesturises with everything on him, his hands, head, lips,
ears, eyes and
clothes.
Of course he neither said anything new nor important, except
that his
presentation was full of sound-bites and soliloquies, but virtually
saying
nothing. Arthur can utilize his antics best as a stand-up comedian.
Members
of the audience kept on busting into laughter as Arthur flaunted his
stuff.
He never even attempted to answer dozens of questions which were
thrown at
him, but was brutally frank about his inclusion in government. He
admitted
that he was irrelevant in the deal. He conceded that he was
powerless in
government. He even fell short of acknowledging that his job
description was
non-existent.
"There can't be a deal which excludes
Mugabe or Brother Tsvangirai. Forget
about me I have no power," said
Mutambara much to the amazement of his
listeners.
The statement was
obviously designed to trivialize his uselessness. He
gauged the mood of the
people correctly. Instead of waiting for people to
dismiss him as an
opportunist, he disarmed the critics, by attacking himself
first.
He
then went on to congratulate himself for fighting Mugabe for 20 years at
long range, adding that he was now fighting him at short range.
His
version was challenged. A member of the audience reminded him that after
winning a Zanu PF administered Rhodes scholarship, he disappeared into
obscurity alongside Simukai Utete for 20 years and only emerged three years
ago as the controversial leader of the Welshman break away.
He
remained tight-lipped over the accusation. Questions were also raised
about
how he was easily seduced to jump into bed with Zanu PF. No answer
came from
Arthur.
Munyaradzi Gwisai dismissed the deal as an arrangement of the
elite which
excluded people. Mutambara astonishingly admitted that he was
part of the
elite who decided for the people what is possible or impossible
in politics.
He never criticized even once the continued detention of MDC
Treasurer
General Roy Bennett. He never used the platform and opportunity to
complain
about the incarceration of MDC activists.
http://www.zimdaily.com
By SENATOR OBERT GUTU
Published: Monday 23
February 2009
ZIMBABWE - HARARE - Democracy invariably entails the respect of
the people's
fundamental human rights which include, but are not limited to,
freedom of
association, freedom of expression and protection from unlawful
and
arbitrary arrest and detention.
The all-inclusive government in
Zimbabwe is seized with the urgent and
compelling task of restoring the
people's confidence in the State and more
particularly; the right of
citizens to expect the State to jealously protect
their right to liberty as
well as the protection of their private property.
Thus; a situation
whereby might continues to be viewed as right inevitably
militates against
the acceptance of the new dispensation as a viable method
of extricating
Zimbabwe from its socio-economic and political quagmire.
For the
all-inclusive government to be seen to be working there has to be a
serious
paradigm shift especially amongst those of our colleagues who were
used to
operating as loose canons in the running of matters of State.
Put
differently, all State power should be vested in the organs of the State
as
conceptualised by the terms and conditions of the Global Political
Agreement
(GPA) that was signed by the principals of the three main
political parties
on September 15, 2008 in Harare.
We should not have a situation where
some big residue of State power is
still vested in some shadowy and
reclusive quasi-military structure that
literally behaves as a power unto
itself.
As patriotic and well-meaning citizens of Zimbabwe, we abhor the
militarisation of the State for as long as the all-inclusive government has
got the constitutional mandate to run the country.
In certain
situations, perception can easily become reality.
If ordinary citizens
perceive that State power still largely vests in some
shadowy military
cabal, whether this is true or not, the reality will be
that people will
quickly lose confidence in the all-inclusive government and
they will begin
to view it, may be with some degree of justification, as
some form of
ceremonial and cosmetic political arrangement that is nowhere
near genuine
power-sharing as envisaged in the GPA.
In my previous article, I adopted
the stance that the all-inclusive
government should be given a chance. I
still associate myself with that
view.
My main concern, however, is
that recent events in Zimbabwe have tended to
show that real and substantive
political power lies elsewhere; not
necessarily within the structures of the
all-inclusive government.
And to all right-thinking and peace-loving
Zimbabweans, this state of
affairs is a matter of grave concern. The recent
arrest and detention of Roy
Bennett, the MDC national treasurer and Deputy
Minister designate in the
Ministry of Agriculture has not helped matters in
trying to convince rank
and file members of the MDC that we have entered
into a genuine
power-sharing deal with ZANU PF.
The argument is put
forward that if high profile personalities like Roy
Bennett can easily be
picked up by State operatives, arrested and detained
on very spurious
trumped up charges; what guarantee is there that lesser
mortals out there
will be treated any differently.
As I write this article, Roy Bennett is
still in detention at Mutare Remand
Prison and we do not know whether his
bail application will succeed at the
High Court.
Assuming that Roy's
bail application is successful and that he is freed from
custody; still the
perception out there will remain that he was a victim of
some politically
motivated plot by some shadowy political force somewhere
out
there.
Readers of this column should get me right. I am not by any
stretch of the
imagination arguing that politicians who, on reasonable
grounds, are
suspected of having committed some criminal offences should not
be arrested.
All I am stating is that in the case of Roy Bennett, one
does not have to be
a rocket scientist to see that the charges against him
are as spurious as
they are baseless, frivolous and thoroughly
vexatious.
In making the afore-mentioned submissions, I would be reckless
if I fail to
mention the continued illegal detention of other MDC activists
such as Chris
Dhlamini, Gandhi Mudzingwa, Concillia Chinanzvavana and many
others.
The case of the human rights activist, Jestina Mukoko and her
colleagues at
the Zimbabwe Peace Project, is also closely connected to this
issue.
The all-inclusive government is more than a week old now but all
these poor
and unfortunate souls remain incarcerated. Personally; I feel
very, very bad
about this state of affairs inasmuch as it tends to show that
the
all-inclusive government's teeth have yet to bite.
In a
revolution, an injury to one is an injury to all. How am I expected to
celebrate and be happy when all these of our comrades are still locked up in
some dingy prison cells on thoroughly discredited and politically motivated
charges?
Of course, Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his team are
working flat out to
ensure that all these people regain their liberty. My
main bond of
contention here is the fact that our partners in the
all-inclusive
government do not seem to be bothered one iota about the case
involving
these detainees.
They put forward the sickening argument
that the law should be allowed to
take its course and that political leaders
should not '' politicise'' these
cases. Needless to emphasise; this type of
argument is completely devoid of
both factual and legal
support.
These detainees were ''arrested'' Mafia-style. They were
Nicodemously
abducted from their homes in the small hours of the day; taken
into custody
at some unknown places where most of them were subjected to
inhuman and
degrading treatment including torture.
I am confident
that our leadership in the MDC is very mindful of our
concerns in this
respect and I cannot wait for the day when all these
comrades shall regain
their liberty.
Prior to the inauguration of the all-inclusive government a
few days ago,
the State was virtually militarised. Even agriculture was now
being run by
some military generals. We have all heard of the activities of
Operation
Maguta as well as the military personnel who are running this ''
project''.
Since we now have a fully-fledged all-inclusive government
which even has
two ministries dealing with issues of land and agriculture,
here is hoping
that the involvement of the military in the affairs of land
will now be a
thing of the past.
I take comfort in the assurances
that we continue to get from our political
leadership in the MDC. We remain
focused and confident that our team in the
all-inclusive government will no
doubt deliver. But we have to urgently
address the issue of the
de-militarisation of the State.
Zimbabwe, to the best of my knowledge, is
not under a military dictatorship
and as such, matters of the State should
be exclusively administered by our
civilian ministers who constitute the
all-inclusive government.
We all expect our military structure to
play ball and not to resist change.
Some people have drawn all sorts of
conclusions regarding the non-attendance
of the service chiefs at the
inauguration ceremony of Prime Minister
Tsvangirai on Wednesday February 11,
2009 at State House in Harare. I am not
going to speculate on this
one.
I am not willing to spread alarm and despondency. What I know is
that all
patriotic Zimbabweans would like to see an end to the human
suffering and
misery in our motherland. If the all-inclusive government is
the bitter pill
we have to swallow in order to redeem ourselves from a life
of poverty and
destitution, so be it.
A new chapter should now be
opened in Zimbabwe. The all-inclusive government
should not only have all
the authority to run affairs of State; it should be
seen to be having such
authority. Otherwise; it will be a very long walk to
freedom. We are getting
there but we are not yet there. Not yet Uhuru!
Senator Obert Gutu can be
contacted on gutulaw@mweb.co.zw
http://www.nehandaradio.com
23 February 2009
By Bridget
Tapuwa
Reports that the Chief Executive Officer of ZIFA, Henrietta
Rushwaya has
just recently lavishly spent massive amounts of ZIFA funds in
acquiring
state of the art furniture for her office leave Zimbabweans with
many
unanswered questions.
It is reported that 'the furniture she
acquired includes, an LCD high
definition television set accompanied by a
DSTV satellite dish, a new
state-of-the art personal computer, in addition
to the laptop she already
has, a teak wall unit leather swivel seat, a couch
and brass coffee tables,
and a small fridge- where she stores an assortment
of beverages.' She has
'made subscriptions which entitle her to the
unlimited viewing of varied
programmes on the television during working
hours'.
Whilst it follows, through common sense, that a high profiled
position of
CEO, ZIFA would be expected to stay abreast and posted on all
major world
soccer events and any developments in the field, it remains
questionable
that ZIFA, an institution which is already cash strapped should
spend its
scarce financial resources in this way.
From one angle,
Rushwaya's panic buying, which shockingly falls against
Zimbabwe's GNU
between ZANU PF and the two MDC factions, exposes Rushwaya's
uncertainty
about her future in that ZIFA CEO position. She may be so
frustrated that
she would rather ruin ZIFA down to it knees just before she
vacates the
office.
Her uncertainty comes because the Ministry of Education, Sport
and Culture,
which is expected to monitor Zimbabwe's football mother body,
ZIFA was
allocated to the MDC-M, with David Coltart as the Minister. Under
the GNU,
members to Commissions such as the Sports Commission, a Commission
which
should also monitor ZIFA, would be expected to be non partisan, unlike
previously when it has been more of a Zanu pf institution.
Rushwaya
was planted in that CEO position by Zanu pf's Joseph Msika, without
following the expected recruitment procedures. She has been recognized in
different Zimbabwean circles as, a woman who lacks any credentials relevant
to football administration, such that her ascendancy in the apex structure
of the Zimbabwean football mother body remains a mystery.
The
'girl's' greater life has been riddled with controversy. It thus follows
suit that ZIFA is being run unprofessionally with nepotism and corruption
being the order of the day. Whilst I am a very strong advocate for female
empowerment, I find it imperative to highlight that Rushwaya's ascendancy as
a woman to a decision making position in Zimbabwe is not the only case which
raises eyebrows.
Under the Zanu pf led government, most of the high
profiled women (the women
who hold decision making positions) in government
institutions such as
Ambassadors, Permanent Secretaries, Commissioners and
other positions in
parastatals were awarded the positions by virtue of their
relations with
their male recruitment masters. And this was done under the
pretext of the'
female empowerment and gender equality' argument.
In
this regard they abused the United Nations' call and advocacy for female
empowerment and gender equality and in the process severely compromised
quality and efficiency in the running of the institutions. The GNU would be
rated well if it revisits all these appointments and award decision making
positions to women on the basis of qualifications and
experience.
Zimbabwe is blessed with many well educated and relevantly
experienced women
for some of these decision making positions (Permanent
Secretaries,
Ambassadors, Executives to Parastatals). Whilst placements on
the positions
are being made on the basis of political affiliation and are
thus never
advertised, the running of their offices really requires no
political
muscle.
On a different angle, Rushwaya's extravagance may
more likely be showing
that she is refusing to take cognizance of the
changes in Zimbabwe's
political arena. She may be quite convinced through
her ZANU PF masters that
she will not move an inch, as the political winds
will not blow her away.
Having in the past 'succeeded' in quashing
protests against not only her
dismal, but shameful leadership too in the
Zimbabwean football structures,
which is male dominated, Rushwaya is most
likely convinced that she is one
of the 'untouchables'. Surprising enough,
even those Zimbabwean men who are
well known for bashing their wives at
home, and are big soccer fans, they
have all stayed miles away from
Rushwaya.
To the ordinary Zimbabwean, there is the impression that all
Government
institutions and structures are currently organizing their books
to pave way
for the change in the running of the country, which would
naturally include
hand over take over, among many other changes.
But
surprisingly some incumbents are even 'planting' new policies and
engaging
in such big expenditures on office furniture, acts which have a big
bearing
in the long term running of the institutions. Such incidents to
Zimbabweans,
only but add more confusion and skepticism; thereby casting a
dark shadow on
the GNU.
Will Rushwaya survive in that lucrative position under the GNU
or will David
Coltart axe her and call for the recruitment of a relevantly
qualified and
experienced incumbent? Coltart has a lot of dirt to clean up.
Time will
tell..on how good His broom is...
http://uk.reuters.com
Sun Feb 22, 2009 9:55pm GMT
WELLINGTON
(Reuters) - New Zealand's government could stop the country's
cricket team
touring Zimbabwe later this year, Prime Minister John Key said
on
Monday.
New Zealand are scheduled to tour the strife-torn African country
for three
one-day internationals in July as part of the International
Cricket
Council's (ICC) future tours programme.
The centre-right
National-led government, like the Labour-led administration
it ousted last
year, has said it does not favour the tour.
"I'm pretty reluctant for the
Black Caps to travel," Key told Television New
Zealand on Monday. "There are
very real, genuine security risks for our
players."
New Zealand
Cricket could face an ICC-imposed fine if it opted against
touring, unless
ordered by the government, and Key said it was an option.
"Potentially,
yes," Key said when asked if the government would step in to
stop the tour.
"There are some options that I am working through at the
moment."
Zimbabwe has agreed to skip this year's Twenty20 World Cup
in England to end
a deadlock over demands for its suspension from
international cricket
because of Robert Mugabe's government.
Last
month, the ICC said Zimbabwe needed more time before they could hope to
return to test cricket.
The troubled African nation has not played
tests since January 2006 after
the side was left depleted following disputes
between senior players and the
administration.
(Editing by Miles
Evans)