http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010 20:59
THE MDC-T is demanding
drastic action against Zanu PF youths who last week
threatened Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai with unspecified repercussions
for not
advocating for the removal of sanctions imposed by western
countries.
The demand, made after Zanu PF youths marched through
the streets of Harare
on Wednesday is set to further widen the gulf between
the two parties in the
unity government.
The youths gave Tsvangirai a
March 24 ultimatum to call for the removal of
the sanctions.
The
latest spat comes at a time when Zanu PF and MDC-T are already trading
accusations over political violence in Epworth, which left several people
injured last weekend.
The parties are also sharply divided over
the recently gazetted
indigenisation law.
The parties wrote to
the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee
(Jomic) accusing each
other of engineering the violence betraying the
deepening divisions in the
unity government.
The MDC-T also called on Sadc, the guarantor of the
Global Political
Agreement (GPA) to intervene following the threats against
Tsvangirai.
"The MDC-T takes these threats seriously as several
attempts have been made
on the life of the Prime Minister," said the party
in a statement.
"History is littered with serious attempts to
eliminate him which have not
been not been taken seriously by the
police."
A decade ago some unidentified people tried to throw
Tsvangirai out of his
highrise office window while he was still the Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) secretary general.
In March 2007,
he was "almost" killed by police officers who brutally
assaulted him at
Machipisa Police Station.
"It is immoral, un-African and inhuman to
make the threats a week before the
memorial service of his wife, who was
killed in a suspicious accident which
may well have been an attempt on his
life," it said.
The party also called on the police to arrest the
Zanu PF youths saying the
case was a litmus test for the impartiality of the
country's security
forces, accused of being biased towards President Robert
Mugabe's party.
Rugare Gumbo, Zanu PF spokesperson, youth secretary
Absolom Sikhosana and
his deputy Edwin Chakanyuka addressed the
demonstrators.
The trio told the youths to intensify their
demonstrations against the
MDC-T.
Chakanyuka said: "Kana
zvikaramba tinoita zvaJune 2008 (If the
demonstrations don't work we will do
what we did in June 2008."
MDC-T says hundreds of its supporters were
killed by Zanu PF militias during
the violence ahead of the presidential
election run-off on June 27, 2008.
Nelson Chamisa, the MDC-T
spokesperson yesterday said Tsvangirai had not
received the
ultimatum.
"We have not received it," said Chamisa. "But our message to our
colleagues
in Zanu PF is; let's build not destroy. Such reckless talk is not
helpful at
all.
"Instead of plotting and scheming let's plan, the
focus really should be on
rebuilding the country. No stomach has ever been
fed by threats."
Chamisa also had a word for the police: "What is
good for the goose should
be good for the gander."
Jomic
spokesperson Joram Nyathi said the committee will visit Epworth this
week to
conduct further investigations and interview witnesses to establish
the real
cause of last week's political violence.
"Real cases of physical
violence have gone down but there are several cases
where people are
threatened or intimidated," he said.
The unity government hangs by a
thread after talks between the three
governing parties to resolve
outstanding issues from the GPA collapsed with
Zanu PF refusing to make
further concessions until sanctions against the
country are
removed.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
20:52
BULAWAYO — Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his two deputies
yesterday
stayed away from President Robert Mugabe’s lavish 86th birthday
party where
the organisers splashed thousands of dollars on exotic
food.
Mugabe’s actual birthday was last Sunday but Zanu PF’s communist
styled 21st
February Movement organised an all-night music gala on Friday
and the feast
yesterday.
Organisers estimated the budget at around
US$500 000, which was spent on,
among other things, bringing top Jamaican
reggae artist, Sizzla and South
Africa’s Soul Brothers as well as other
goodies for the annual party.
The more than 5 000 guests who thronged
the Zimbabwe International Trade
Fair Grounds were treated to expensive
cuisine at Bulawayo’s hotels.
Sources at Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s office said invitations for
the celebrations held amid concerns
over looming starvation in Matabeleland
arrived at his office on
Friday.
But it appears there were no takers as it was only ministers
from Zanu PF
who turned up.
It had become routine before the
formation of the unity government for
ministers to attend the celebrations
to show their loyalty to Mugabe.
MDC-T spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa
said they did not attend because it was a
“Zanu PF event, not a national
event”.
“We only converge with Zanu PF at national events,” he said.
“We should
spend our energy on more useful things.”
Mugabe used
the celebrations to defend the controversial new regulations to
give locals
majority shareholding in big corporations, which come into
effect on March
1.
“I have to state it clearly that we are not nationalising
foreign-owned
companies,” he said.
“What we want is to broaden the
ownership structures of these companies so
as to also involve our own
citizens.
“We do not need to force companies to follow the
regulations. They should
just follow them without coercion.”
He
told the guests, mostly school children that he owed his long life to God
and the security forces.
“Along the way to this day, there have
been attempts on my life,” Mugabe
said.
“Several people wanted my
life. They tried the use of parcel bombs and other
means, but they all
missed me.
“I had vigilant people around me, the security forces, the
Chimurenga allies
and many others ensured my safety.”
Zanu PF has
defended the extravagant parties it organises annually for
Mugabe saying it
is time to reflect on the contributions made by its
long-serving
leader.
Top South African poet Mziwakhe Mbuli was scheduled to take
part at the
event, but he pulled out in unclear
circumstances.
The birthday gala at the ZITF was turned into a
flesh-peddling market by sex
workers.
The women said the bash had
given them an opportunity to make “a killing”.
BY NKULULEKO
SIBANDA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
20:50
BULAWAYO - Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment
Minister Savior
Kasukuwere says the empowerment law that has rattled
investors is only the
beginning of legal interventions his ministry will
undertake as it seeks to
indigenise the economy. Last month, Kasukuwere's
ministry attracted
widespread criticism as he revived the Indigenisation and
Economic
Empowerment Act of 2008 which seeks to dilute the shareholding of
foreign
companies.
The law, which directs foreign companies to
provide details of their
indigenisation plans by March 1, was revived a year
after the formation of a
unity government.
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai led the criticism of the regulations
describing them as "null and
void" because they were passed without
consultation.
The Council
of Ministers chaired by Tsvangirai directed Kasukuwere to
consult
stakeholders on the new law with a view to reviewing the regulations
following an outcry from investors.
But Kasukuwere on Friday told
the business community in Bulawayo "the debate
around indigenisation is
dead".
"We are not about to re-open the debate. It is law now," he
said, in what
appears to be a complete disregard of Tsvangirai's
directive.
"There is a lot of emotionalism flying around. People who
have not read the
regulations are being emotional about them. We are not
about to destroy the
economy."
However, he said companies that
failed to submit their empowerment proposals
within 45 days from March 1
would be given more time to do so.
The regulations, which seek to
force foreign-owned companies to cede 51% of
their shareholding to locals,
have unsettled local businesses.
Last week the Business Council of
Zimbabwe (BCZ), an umbrella body for nine
business organisations, wrote to
Tsvangirai imploring government to reverse
the regulations saying they
exposed "lack of co-ordination and sensitivity
to the needs of our fragile
economy".
BCZ brings together the Bankers' Association of Zimbabwe,
Chamber of Mines
of Zimbabwe, Commercial Farmers' Union, Confederation of
Zimbabwe
Industries, Employers' Confederation of Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe
Commercial
Farmers' Union, Zimbabwe Council for Tourism, Zimbabwe Farmers'
Union and
the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce.
But in
remarks that might further alarm organised business, Kasukuwere said:
"While
there is this outcry over the recently gazetted regulations, it is my
ministry's view that we have not reached a stage where we can safely say the
indigenisation drive has gathered its full momentum.
"We have found that
there are 13 other laws that have relations with
indigenisation that have
affected our efforts.
"In this regard, my ministry, through
consultation, will embark on a process
that is endeavoured to see the
revision of these 13 laws or their total
repeal."
Stakeholders
drawn from various sectors of the economy said they were
"alarmed" by the
negative signals the unity government was sending to
investors through the
regulations.
Some said they came too soon after the disastrous land
reform programme
where mostly Zanu PF officials invaded and seized the most
productive farms,
which they are under-utilising.
The land
invasions have been cited as one of the major factors behind the
spectacular
collapse of Zimbabwe's once vibrant agriculture sector.
BY
NKULULEKO SIBANDA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010 20:49
PRIME Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai will return to work tomorrow to address
issues threatening the
fragile unity government after successfully
undergoing surgery in South
Africa, his office confirmed yesterday.
Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State in
Prime Minister's office, said
Tsvangirai would be seized with several issues
threatening cohesion in the
unity government.
They include the
controversial Indigenisation and Empowerment Regulations,
which Zanu PF has
stubbornly foisted on the country's already ailing
economy.
"I can
confirm that the Prime Minister will be back in the office on Monday
after
one week's rest," Moyo said. "He was recuperating after a successful
operation to correct damage to a bone in his nose that was causing him
breathing difficulties."
The damage has been linked to the savage beating
Tsvangirai received at the
hands of police in 2007 after he was arrested for
trying to attend a Save
Zimbabwe Campaign prayer meeting.
Moyo said on
his return Tsvangirai would have to deal with the
indigenisation laws and
the finalization of the government's work programme
for 2010.
The PM is
also likely to attend the traditional meeting of the principals in
the
inclusive government where he together with President Robert Mugabe and
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara would seek to address the impasse in
the talks between the three governing parties.
"He will also be dealing
with the issues of the Global Political Agreement
where talks are currently
stalled," Moyo said.
Meanwhile, sources said the controversy over the
indigenisation law had the
potential to torpedo the inclusive government and
Tsvangirai would be under
pressure from his party to take a principled
stand.
MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said the party was not disputing the
shared destination of empowerment but was disagreeing on the journey to its
achievement.
"We have issues around the form, content and motivation of
the proposed law.
"To the best of our understanding the matter is still being
discussed within
the context of the inclusive government. . .," he
said.
"If it is an inclusive government, the policy formulation and
implementation
has to be inclusive."
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010 20:45
UNDER-FIRE
Harare councillors have accused residents' associations of using
donor funds
to decampaign them instead of helping to improve service
delivery. The
charges, raised at a full council meeting on Thursday, were a
culmination of
the war of words between the MDC-T councillors and the
associations over
service delivery.
Residents' associations have scaled up criticism of
the councillors'
corruption.
Councillor Herbert Gomba of Glen
Norah said residents' associations were
wasting donors' money on newspaper
statements, condemning them.
"The money they are using to vilify us
in the media can be used to buy such
things as compactors and other
equipment to benefit the same residents they
allege to have at heart," Gomba
said.
"We are reliably informed that one association representative
has six
vehicles but continues to attack council to get
more."
Councillor Thomas Muzuva of Kambuzuma said representatives of
residents'
associations should know that at the end of the day councillors
and
associations' officials had a stake in the affairs of the
city.
"We are all residents," Muzuva said. "Let us assist each other
in doing some
of these things.
"If someone sees that a house they
live in is dirty, do they go about
maligning others who live in the same
house or they take a broom and sweep
the house?"
Others said the
current council deserved praise, claiming that they have
done better than
any other council since Ian Smith's time.
While efforts to get a
comment from the Combined Harare Residents'
Association were futile, the
Harare Residents' Trust (HRT) dismissed the
councillors' claims saying it
was not their duty to manage the city's
affairs.
"Residents are
paying too much to local authorities and it is being wasted
on buying flashy
cars at the expense of service delivery," HRT board of
trustees chair Emilia
Chakatsva said.
"There are even areas like Mabvuku which have gone
for long periods without
water but residents there continue to pay rates and
one wonders what that
money is being used for if it cannot be channelled
towards improving
service.
"The councillors cannot ask us to give
them money given to us by donors as
that is specifically meant for
association activities like capacitating
residents through training them on
leadership and their rights."
Chakatsva said associations were
already doing enough as they conduct
periodic clean up campaigns and have
also as filled potholes and repaired
roads.
Residents'
associations have in the past complained about local authorities'
poor
service delivery, high rates and what they have described as skewed
priorities.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010 20:43
HARARE City
Council last week resolved to forcibly remove controversial
“inventor”
Daniel Chingoma’s “helicopters” following concerns that he had
set up
illegal “aerodromes”. A full council meeting on Thursday endorsed the
decision to remove Chingoma’s helicopters from an area near the City Sports
Centre and Snake Park, along the Bulawayo-Harare highway.
The
part-time musician dumped the “helicopters” in March last year after he
was
evicted from Harare Showgrounds for failing to pay rentals.
Council’s
environment management committee had recommended that the director
of Urban
Planning Services, Psychology Chiwanga, be given the task to remove
the
dysfunctional inventions.
“The committee expressed concern regarding
an illegal aerodrome for Chingoma’s
helicopters,” read the committee’s
minutes for a meeting held recently.
“Some had been dumped in the
open space near the City Sports Centre whilst
another was on display along
Bulawayo Road near the Snake Park.”
Chingoma first came into the
spotlight in 2003 when he launched his
home-made “helicopter”, named the
Zimcopter.
He was not available for comment on the latest
developments.
Zimbabweans received the self-styled engineer’s
inventions with mixed
feelings, with some saying he could help improve the
country’s aviation
industry.
Others said he was out to fleece
people of their hard-earned cash as he
charged a fee to those viewing his
“invention”.
The musician who claims to be a natural engineer never
studied aviation,
engineering or anything remotely linked to
helicopters.
Condemned as not flight-worthy, his inventions are made
from scrap metal and
car engines among other things.
But
Chingoma’s creations may remain at their current locations a little
longer,
as the city has no means of removing them.
The minutes say a shortage
of transport and manpower slowed down enforcement
programmes, leading to
failure to take action against the sprouting illegal
structures in the
greater Harare area.
BY JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
19:54
LIBERTY Mudyiwa sits miserably throughout the day watching his
ailing
parents going about their daily chores. In pain, he also watches his
siblings loitering around at a time when their peers are at
school.
Mudyiwa, who is now confined to Witchhood Bulk M Farm in
Mutorashanga,
wishes he could help.
The 22-year-old, who recently
returned from Hwahwa Young Offenders' Prison
near Gweru, has been
"imprisoned" forever.
Amid intermittent sobs, he tells the sad story
of how his time in jail
changed his life for the worst.
His is a
story of how prisoners are abused in Zimbabwe's jails by officers
who are
never punished for their crimes against prisoners.
"I left home on my
two feet, hoping that after serving my sentence, I would
come back to assist
my parents in caring for my siblings," Mudyiwa says.
"I never thought
I would be punished beyond the sentence given to me by the
court."
In 2004 a Bindura magistrate convicted Mudyiwa, then 17,
for rape and
sentenced him to 10 years' imprisonment.
The then
Grade VII pupil at Caesar Mine Primary School in Mutorashanga was
relieved
when the sentence was reduced to eight years.
But the relief was
short-lived. While serving at Hwahwa, Mudyiwa was
allegedly forced to carry
a heavy log which led to his paralysis.
"We had just finished working
in the garden when the Principal Prison
Officer told us to go and clean
tanks used for preserving the officers'
beer," he recalls.
He
alleges that the officer he identified then forced him and another inmate
to
carry a heavy log.
"I told him that the log was too heavy for me but
he threatened to beat me
so I carried it," he said. "As we walked, I felt
sharp pain from the
shoulder down to the back."
The officer
ignored him when Mudyiwa complained to him about the pain. "On
dropping the
log, I also fell down and my whole body went numb. I later
learnt that I had
been paralysed and my joints had dislocated."
X-rays conducted at
Thornhill Airbase and Gweru General Hospital confirmed
Mudyiwa's hip had
been dislocated and his spinal cord damaged.
He was advised to
urgently go to Parirenyatwa Hospital for an operation. In
both cases, he was
taken back to prison.
"Officers gave me sleeping tablets so I could
sleep all day," Mudyiwa said.
When he was taken into a Harare-bound
prison truck on January 15, 2008,
Mudyiwa thought he was finally being taken
to Parirenyatwa.
Instead he was transferred to Harare Central Prison.
Another prison doctor
attended to him. He was given more sleeping
tablets.
The prison doctor ignored Mudyiwa's questions on why he was
not being taken
to Parirenyatwa.
Prison officers Mudyiwa had
befriended at Harare Central helped inform
relatives and parents about his
condition.
They came after 12 days. Mudyiwa's parents were told there
was no ambulance.
Their offer of using their own transport was turned
down.
He was finally taken to Parirenyatwa on February 6, 2008 in a
prison
ambulance.
All appeared on track at Parirenyatwa after
doctors ordered him not to eat
in preparation for an operation the following
morning. The operation did not
take place because the ZPS had not paid the
doctors' fees.
His parents sold all their livestock to raise the
money, but were told not
to bother because the ZPS would pay.
"My
father wept because he had sold all his livestock thinking he could do
something to help me," Mudyiwa explained.
He was taken back to
Hwahwa.
Attempts by some doctors to secure his release hit a brick
wall after his
prison documents "disappeared".
He was moved to
Harare in February last year.
From May 2009 up to his release on
February 6, 2010, Mudyiwa was confined to
a small cell.
Now
confined to a wheelchair at home, he is battling a lot of
problems.
His mother suffered a stroke while his father broke his rib
in an accident.
The only assistance he got was a wheelchair from St
George's College in
Harare. Last week the wheelchair broke
down.
The Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and
Rehabilitation of the
Offender is aware of Mudyiwa's plight.
When
Mudyiwa was released from prison, the organisation wanted to take him
home
but they were blocked by the prison officers who attempted to keep
everything under wraps.
The prison officers took him home
instead, raising suspicions.
ZPS acting spokesperson Priscilla
Mutembu last month confirmed Mudyiwa was
injured in their custody.
Last
week she asked questions to be faxed to her, but she had not responded
by
the time of going to press.
Zacro chief executive Edson Chihota said:
"The ZPS must honour its promise
to help him. He does not have anyone to
assist him."
BY JENNIFER DUBE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010 19:52
A
senior United States diplomat, James Garry says the sanctions imposed on
Zimbabwe have no significant effect on the country's macro-economic
policies. Garry, the US embassy economic advisor was addressing journalists
on the implications of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)'s recent
decision to restore Zimbabwe's voting rights.
He said the IMF
decision had nothing to do with US policy towards Zimbabwe
and that it was
an indication the embargo did not affect the country's
relations with major
lenders.
"ZDERA (The Zimbabwe Economic and Democracy Recovery Act)
was passed in
December 2001," Garry said. "Already by February 2000 Zimbabwe
had arrears
to the IMF, Zimbabwe was already ineligible for any kind of
loans way before
ZDERA became any law."
"ZDERA has never been a
binding constraint on Zimbabwe . . . it has never
been an obstacle to
anything.
"So the noise made about ZDERA in the press, especially in
the official
press, there is no relationship whatsoever with its actual
practical
significance to Zimbabwe because it has never blocked any kind of
access to
financing from multilateral lenders."
ZDERA prohibits
US companies from doing business with some Zimbabwean
companies and also
imposes a travel ban and asset freeze on President Robert
Mugabe and his
close associates.
Garry said if ZDERA was to be repealed today,
Zimbabwe would still not be
able to access loans because of its arrears to
the multilateral lenders.
"There is a widespread misapprehension that
the US has some kind of veto at
the IMF. It is not true," he
said.
"The IMF, for example, makes most of its decisions by majority
vote, and
voting strength is assigned essentially according to the country's
financial
interest in the fund.
"The US has just 16.77% of the
voting power at the IMF, and it is not in a
position to veto IMF
decisions."
Zimbabwe still has an opportunity to re-establish sound
relations with the
international donor community if it takes advantage of
the political
developments, he said.
"People who are interested
in restoring the government's finances and
getting the economy growing again
in a sustainable fashion should focus on
other things rather than worrying
about sanctions; they aren't really an
issue when it comes down to the
economy," Garry said.
Zanu PF youths last week held a protest outside
the US embassy in Harare
calling for the lifting of the sanctions.
BY
BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010 19:47
GETRUDE
Hambira, an activist for farm workers, has gone into hiding after
she was
threatened by members of the Joint Operations Command (JOC) over her
role in
exposing the widespread violation of workers’ rights on commercial
farms
being seized by President Robert Mugabe’s supporters. JOC is an outfit
made
up of security, military, prisons and police officers and senior Zanu
PF
officials loyal to Mugabe.
On Wednesday Hambira went into hiding
after five men and a woman who
identified themselves as officers from the
Criminal Investigation Department
(CID) raided offices of the General
Plantation Workers’ Union of Zimbabwe
(Gapwuz), where she is
secretary-general.
Before the raid she was hauled before an Assistant
Police Commissioner
identified only as Mthombeni.
After that
meeting, Hambira was summoned to the Police General Headquarters
(PGHQ)
where she was interrogated by 17 high-ranking security officials from
the
Police, Army, Air Force and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
and
the prisons service who threatened she would rot “behind
bars”.
During the interrogation the panel stated that a recent Gapwuz
report and
documentary exposing the rampant human rights violations
contained “very
serious” allegations for which Hambira must be
detained.
Hambira, who was accompanied by the union’s assistant
information officer
Ndai Kamoto to PGHQ, was grilled for nearly two
hours.
She was eventually dismissed but not before the panel warned
they would call
on her again.
“She was interrogated for nearly
two hours,” said Gapwuz information officer
Tapiwa Zivira.
“They
wanted to know who was behind the report, who funds the organisation
and who
was writing press statements about the farm invasions.”
The
controversial report, If Something is Wrong, is an account of the
violations
committed during the state-driven, chaotic land reform programme
since
2000.
It has farm workers’ testimonies of murder, torture, and
violence
perpetrated by state agents.
Even after Hambira had gone
into hiding, police have continued to stalk the
organisation’s
staff.
“Some of staff members have received anonymous calls from
people threatening
them with unspecified action if Hambira does not come out
of hiding,” said
Zivira.
On Friday, the police summoned two staff
members to their headquarters for
further questioning.
Two others
are expected to go for interrogation tomorrow.
“The police are
currently interrogating every member of staff, and it is
feared that they
are likely to target the information department because
they perceive it
holds all the information about the organisation,” said
Zivira, who is also
in hiding.
Meanwhile, human rights watchdog, Amnesty International
(AI) has called on
the government to end harassment and intimidation of the
union members.
“The Zimbabwean police must immediately stop the
harassment of human rights
defenders including Getrude Hambira,” said
Veronique Aubert, deputy director
of Amnesty International’s Africa
programme.
“These actions are the latest in a series of persistent
human rights
violations that have continued despite formation of the
government of
national unity in February 2009.”
AI said
persecution of human rights defenders for their legitimate
activities is a
contravention of Article 9 of the African Charter on Human
and Peoples’
Rights.
Deputy Chief Police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka said he was
not aware of
Hambira’s case and would investigate.
“I am not
aware of that case. I will have to find out from the police
officers
involved,” he said.
Last year Hambira escaped what she called a
kidnap attempt at her house in
Harare after she had successfully launched
the If Something is Wrong DVD in
the United States.
The would-be
abductors missed her by a few minutes as she arrived home late
from a US
trip where she had presented the documentary at a high-profile
seminar held
at Syracuse University in upstate New York.
The 26-minute long video
entitled The House of Justice, contains evidence of
people who were beaten
up, harassed and sometimes shot at by Mugabe’s
militia under the guise of
redistribution of arable land previously in the
hands of white Zimbabwean
commercial farmers.
Fresh farm disturbances have reportedly rendered
more than 4 000 farm
workers homeless since the formation of the unity
government by Mugabe and
the two MDC formations in February last
year.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
19:44
GETRUDE Hambira, an activist for farm workers, has gone into hiding
after
she was threatened by members of the Joint Operations Command (JOC)
over her
role in exposing the widespread violation of workers' rights on
commercial
farms being seized by President Robert Mugabe's supporters. JOC
is an outfit
made up of security, military, prisons and police officers and
senior Zanu
PF officials loyal to Mugabe.
On Wednesday Hambira
went into hiding after five men and a woman who
identified themselves as
officers from the Criminal Investigation Department
(CID) raided offices of
the General Plantation Workers' Union of Zimbabwe
(Gapwuz), where she is
secretary-general.
Before the raid she was hauled before an Assistant
Police Commissioner
identified only as Mthombeni.
After that
meeting, Hambira was summoned to the Police General Headquarters
(PGHQ)
where she was interrogated by 17 high-ranking security officials from
the
Police, Army, Air Force and the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
and
the prisons service who threatened she would rot "behind
bars".
During the interrogation the panel stated that a recent Gapwuz
report and
documentary exposing the rampant human rights violations
contained "very
serious" allegations for which Hambira must be
detained.
Hambira, who was accompanied by the union's assistant
information officer
Ndai Kamoto to PGHQ, was grilled for nearly two
hours.
She was eventually dismissed but not before the panel warned
they would call
on her again.
"She was interrogated for nearly
two hours," said Gapwuz information officer
Tapiwa Zivira.
"They
wanted to know who was behind the report, who funds the organisation
and who
was writing press statements about the farm invasions."
The
controversial report, If Something is Wrong, is an account of the
violations
committed during the state-driven, chaotic land reform programme
since
2000.
It has farm workers' testimonies of murder, torture, and
violence
perpetrated by state agents.
Even after Hambira had gone
into hiding, police have continued to stalk the
organisation's
staff.
"Some of staff members have received anonymous calls from
people threatening
them with unspecified action if Hambira does not come out
of hiding," said
Zivira.
On Friday, the police summoned two staff
members to their headquarters for
further questioning.
Two others are
expected to go for interrogation tomorrow.
"The police are currently
interrogating every member of staff, and it is
feared that they are likely
to target the information department because
they perceive it holds all the
information about the organisation," said
Zivira, who is also in
hiding.
Meanwhile, human rights watchdog, Amnesty International (AI)
has called on
the government to end harassment and intimidation of the union
members.
"The Zimbabwean police must immediately stop the harassment
of human rights
defenders including Getrude Hambira," said Veronique Aubert,
deputy director
of Amnesty International's Africa
programme.
"These actions are the latest in a series of persistent
human rights
violations that have continued despite formation of the
government of
national unity in February 2009."
AI said
persecution of human rights defenders for their legitimate
activities is a
contravention of Article 9 of the African Charter on Human
and Peoples'
Rights.
Deputy Chief Police spokesperson Oliver Mandipaka said he was
not aware of
Hambira's case and would investigate.
"I am not
aware of that case. I will have to find out from the police
officers
involved," he said.
Last year Hambira escaped what she called a
kidnap attempt at her house in
Harare after she had successfully launched
the If Something is Wrong DVD in
the United States.
The would-be
abductors missed her by a few minutes as she arrived home late
from a US
trip where she had presented the documentary at a high-profile
seminar held
at Syracuse University in upstate New York.
The 26-minute long video
entitled The House of Justice, contains evidence of
people who were beaten
up, harassed and sometimes shot at by Mugabe's
militia under the guise of
redistribution of arable land previously in the
hands of white Zimbabwean
commercial farmers.
Fresh farm disturbances have reportedly rendered
more than 4 000 farm
workers homeless since the formation of the unity
government by Mugabe and
the two MDC formations in February last
year.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
19:12
BULAWAYO - Council has blamed its deteriorating service delivery on
failure
by government departments to settle more than US$3.7 million in
arrears.
Thaba Moyo, the mayor said they had since resorted to approaching
individual
ministers to encourage the departments to honour their debts,
some dating
back to last year.
Attempts by council to arm-twist
the departments by cutting water supplies
over the ballooning debt were met
with stiff resistance especially at police
camps where municipal workers
were barred.
"As a council, we have resolved to meet ministers
individually in order to
push them to direct their departments to settle
their debts," Moyo said on
Thursday.
According to a recent
report of the council's finance committee, although
residents and the
business community are not paying their bills on time, the
government debt
was the highest.
In January, council was forced to cut water supplies
to the Bulawayo Prison
Complex, popularly known as Grey Street Prison and
Western Commonage
magistrates' courts, over unpaid water bills of amounting
to more than
US$700 000.
Meanwhile, the BCC has also resolved to
sue parents and guardians of pupils
who completed their Grade VII at its
schools last year to force them to
settle outstanding
fees.
Council says it is owed about US$800 000 by the former pupils.
"Schools were
requested to submit lists of fee defaulters for all Grade VII
pupils.
"Summons would be issued to recover monies owed to
council.
"The outcome of this action would be reviewed to see the
effects and
possible interventions that could be done for the rest of the
school
pupils," the report said.
Meanwhile, the local authority
says it has been forced to put on hold
several capital projects due to
delays by the Ministry of Local Government
in approving its application for
borrowing powers.
Council wants to borrow about US$89 million to
finance various projects.
About US$20 million and US$10 000 is
required respectively to rehabilitate
the city's sewer system and to
purchase equipment for water treatment
plants."We are still waiting for the
ministry to approve our application for
borrowing powers," Moyo
said.
"The late approval of borrowing powers has severely affected
many areas of
service delivery because the local authority has no
funds."
Local Government Minister, Ignatius Chombo refused to comment
on the matter
last week saying he was attending meetings.
BY
NQOBANI NDLOVU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
19:06
NINETY-YEAR-OLD Filda Muchuchu struggles to prepare food in the
huge black
pot for her 14 orphaned grandchildren. Thick varicose-like veins
protrude
from her emaciated arms, as two grandchildren sit besides her
looking hungry
and malnourished as they impatiently await their
rations.
"I have to cook even though it's hard for me," Mbuya
Muchuchu told The
Standard.
"I cannot just look at them. I know
they are hungry because they have not
eaten a meal since morning but its
already past midday."
Mbuya Muchuchu cares for her orphaned
grandchildren in Muchuchu Village in
Buhera District of
Manicaland.
Here crops are a write-off and food is hard to come by.
She suspects that
the children's parents died of HIV/Aids-related
conditions.
"I think they succumbed to this dreadful disease that has
wiped out people,"
she said, wiping sweat from her brow.
In a
district where 90% of this season's crop has been declared a write-off,
providing food for her grandchildren is a major challenge for Mbuya
Muchuchu.
"I feel sorry for these children. They are growing up
under very difficult
conditions. At times, they sleep on an empty stomach,"
she said.
The maize and sorghum crops in the small patch around her
homestead have
wilted due to a prolonged dry spell that affected most parts
of the country.
At night the children sleep in tiny rooms because of
inadequate
accommodation.
The family's small granary recently
collapsed after a heavy downpour.
Fortunately, Mbuya Muchuchu and her
grandchildren aged between two and 16
are some of the beneficiaries of the
Zimbabwe Red Cross Society (ZRCS)'s
Orphans and other Vulnerable Children
Programme.
Under the programme the society assists children orphaned
by HIV/Aids and
other vulnerable people countrywide.
Had it not
been for the society which has been supplying her with food,
Mbuya Muchuchu
says her grandchildren would have starved to death.
The society also
pays fees for the children who attend a nearby primary
school.
"I
am happy because the Red Cross pays the children's fees and gives us
food.
"They also gave us two chickens and two goats to breed,"
she said.
Maud Kadzimu, who received small grains, seed and
fertilizer from the
society last year, said despite the assistance she will
not harvest anything
this season.
All her maize crop wilted in
the scorching heat.
"I don't know how I will feed my children. I
wasted my seed, fertiliser and
energy," said the 46-year-old mother of
three, who is taking care of two
other orphaned children.
In an
effort to overcome effects of the drought, some villagers have started
poultry and gardening projects.
Letwin Tokotore (24) last year
teamed up with nine other villagers and
started a poultry project in a bid
to raise money for food and schools fees
for their children.
They
were not very fortunate. Their chickens died from fowl pox and a
parasitic
disease.
"We are left with only 15 chickens," she said. "They died
from fowl pox and
coccidiosis while others were eaten by wild
cats."
ZRCS provincial food security and livelihood officer Onias
Fukuzeya said the
society urges the people in Buhera and other dry areas to
grow
drought-resistant crops such as sorghum and millet to ensure food self-
sufficiency.
"We encourage people to grow small grains," he said.
"But others resist
because they are used to growing maize."
In
Manicaland, the society last year assisted 3 500 households with small
grains, seed and fertiliser.
Fukuzeya said areas most affected by
drought in Manicaland are Marange,
Chipinge, Chimanimani and
Buhera.
Another senior ZRCS official Tafadzwa Makata said there were
indications
that the country might experience serious food
shortages.
"We are going to conduct a post-harvest food assessment at
the end of March
to get a clear indication of the situation but generally
the picture does
not look good due to erratic rains and dry spells," Makata
said.
The society last October assisted 25 000 households with fertiliser
and seed
while over 210 000 people received food
assistance.
Chief Chimwi Kandenga Nyashanu of Buhera described the
food situation in his
area "as dire".
He fears that hundreds of
people will die if they do not receive assistance
in time.
"This
year is worse than last year," Chief Nyashanu said.
"There is no one
here who will get enough food for his family. I fear some
people will die
because of this hunger."
Villagers said they walk nearly 100km from
Muchuchu village to Chivhu to
look for piece work in exchange for
food.
The chief's Zunde ramambo (community granary) project has not
been
successful because of recurrent droughts.
For the past
decade Zimbabwe has experienced serious food shortages
precipitated mainly
by the violent seizures of commercial farms which began
in
2000.
As a result an estimated five million people out of a
population of 13.5
million people in the country were surviving on donor
food handouts for the
greater part of this year.
The UN says 2.4
million people already need food aid.
BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
18:20
EMPLOYERS and workers' representatives in the energy and textile
sectors
have come up with new policies in an attempt to foster debate around
HIV/Aids at the workplace. The unions want to make the debate part of the
"boardroom agenda" at executive meetings.
On Wednesday, the
Employers' Confederation of Zimbabwe (Emcoz) and Zimbabwe
Congress of Trade
Unions (ZCTU) launched two HIV/Aids policies for the
energy and textile
sectors as part of their new search for a lasting
solution to the problems
caused by the epidemic at the workplace, and the
negative impact it has had
on productivity.
The project was supported by the International
Labour Organisation (ILO) and
the Swedish International Development Agency
(Sida).
Speaking at the launch of the policies, chairperson of the
Emcoz labour
committee, Edwin Murwira, said there was need to strengthen the
institutional capacity of the employers' and workers' organisations to
"coordinate workplace actions, lobby for action and leverage
resources".
"Emcoz realised that to start at the beginning, there is
a need to formulate
HIV and Aids policies at sector level," said Murwira,
who is also the group
human resources director for CFI
Holdings.
He said the policies had to be "ultimately reflected in
better economic
performance for the benefit of the
stakeholders".
To reduce employment-related stigma and discrimination
against persons
living with HIV/Aids, Emcoz embarked on a campaign to raise
awareness and
getting commitment at the highest corporate level, in a
programme dubbed
"making HIV and Aids a Boardroom
Agenda".
Murwira challenged other enterprises and sectors to come up
with
comprehensive interventions at senior management
level.
"Successful and comprehensive HIV and Aids intervention
strategies will only
happen provided there is board buy in and support,"
said Murwira.
Zimbabwe Energy Workers' Union (Zewu) president,
Angeline Chitambo said
there was need for the government and employers to
take issues of HIV/Aids
seriously.
"HIV is now a topical
workplace issue which cannot be ignored. We want the
government and
employers to take and borrow what the policy says," said
Chitambo.
Labour and Social Services Minister, Paurina Mpariwa
said Zimbabwe remains
among countries that are most affected by HIV/Aids in
the world.
She said the two sectors, textile and energy were among
the most vulnerable.
"The energy sector is one of the most
vulnerable, owing to the nature and
scope of the work within the industry.
The energy sector offers fertile
ground for the spread of HIV," said
Mpariwa.
In the textile sector, Mpariwa said the impact of HIV/Aids
was being
compounded by such occupational diseases like tuberculosis, which
spread
easily among employees because of dust from the spinning mills, dye
house
chemicals and coal dust.
The policies highlight priorities
and strategies for curbing HIV/Aids in the
two sectors, and guiding the
implementation of a comprehensive response.
BY VUSUMUZI SIFILE
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010 18:19
BULAWAYO
- About 50% of children and teenagers admitted to hospitals in
Zimbabwe are
HIV positive, results of a research by a British institution
have revealed.
The study whose results were released recently was conducted
by the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) last month,
Sally Hall, the
media manager of the LSHTM told Standardhealth.
Hall was responding
to questions about the research which she said was led
by Rashida Ferrand, a
lecturer in Clinical Epidemiology at LSHTM.
"Research from the London
School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)
has shown that almost 50% of
children and young adults admitted to hospitals
in Zimbabwe were HIV
positive," she said.
"The patients, aged between 10 and 18 years of
age, had gone to hospital
with various complaints unrelated to HIV and were
tested as part of the
study.
"This demonstrates the growing
crisis of HIV infection acquired at birth in
children in the developing
world.
"They were then given routine investigations, including HIV
testing.
"Nearly half of participants were HIV-positive. . . they
were also more
likely to have lost their mother to HIV, or to have an
HIV-infected mother
than HIV-negative adolescents."
About 1.8
million Zimbabweans are said to be living positively with HIV,
according to
United Nations estimates.
Out of the 1.8 million HIV-positive people,
about 16 000 of them are on
anti-retroviral drugs in Zimbabwe, according to
the World Health
Organisation (WHO).
Many people are however
reportedly dying before they begin accessing the
drugs because of a shortage
of CD4 count machines.
The shortage of the equipment that determines
when one can access the ARVs
is slowing down government ARV rollout efforts
and the fight against
HIV/Aids, according to the National Aids
Council.
In Bulawayo for example, there are only two CD4 count
machines - a situation
that has resulted in many patients failing to access
the life-prolonging
treatment.
BY NQOBANI NDLOVU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
18:15
When Cecilia Chimbga discovered she was pregnant five years ago she
went to
an ante-natal clinic thinking it was just a routine visit. But
little did
she know that it was going to be a life-changing
experience.
She decided to enrol on the just introduced Prevention of
Mother To Child
Transmission (PMTCT) programme out of
curiosity.
"I was shocked when the result (HIV test) came back
positive. When I went
back to my husband and shared the result with him he
was furious and in
denial," Chimbga told a recent International Treatment
Preparedness
Coalition (ITPC) breakfast meeting.
Chimbga was
among HIV activists who shared their experience at the meeting
to discuss
findings of an ITPC report: Missing the Target Failing Women,
Failing
Children, HIV, Vertical Transmission and Women's Health 2009.
The
report among other things notes that rates of mother to child
transmission
of HIV remain high in developing countries.
"Although he refused to get
tested I went ahead with the programme to
protect my child," she
recounted.
When she was eight months pregnant she was given
nevirapine, an ARV drug to
prevent mother to child transmission which she
was advised to take at the
onset of labour.
Today Chimbga and her
five-year-old daughter are living testimony of the
effectiveness of the
PMTCT programme when done properly.
Her daughter is HIV
negative.
Chimbga and her daughter are some of the few fortunate ones
in Zimbabwe who
have managed to access PMTCT.
Research shows that
for most women in the developing world PMTCT is still a
pipe
dream.
According to the report, which profiles at least six countries
including
Zimbabwe, over 900 new cases of HIV infections in babies in
developing
countries occur everyday because of inefficiencies in the PMTCT
programmes.
"Vertical transmission of HIV (commonly known as mother
to child
transmission) has been virtually eliminated in the global North,"
said the
report.
"This development - one of the rare, undeniable
and ongoing success stories
in the global response to HIV/Aids over the past
quarter century - is due to
most wealthier nations' ability and will to
provide HIV positive women with
testing, counselling, comprehensive
prevention and treatment, including the
best drug
therapies."
However, the report says the situation is by far
different for women and
families in poorer parts of the
world.
"The vast majority of the 1.5 million women with HIV who
become pregnant
each year in the developing world do not have access to all
(or, often, any)
of these vital services," the researchers
said.
"Only one third of them receive even the least effective drug
regimen: a
single dose of the drug nevirapine for themselves and another for
their
newly born, a therapy that has been shown to be at best just over 40
percent
effective in preventing vertical transmission."
It says
most women in developing countries have no access or knowledge of
infant
feeding guidance or support programmes designed to keep mothers and
infants
alive and healthy even when such programmes exist in their
countries.
In Zimbabwe, the report noted that the PMTCT programme
was one of the best
performing HIV interventions but years of economic and
political turmoil had
led to the collapse of the health care
system.
"There is a severe shortage of health care workers and frequent
drug
stock-outs and an increasing number of women deliver their babies at
home,
without antenatal services, post delivery support or follow up," added
the
researchers.
"Shortage of tra-ined staff also means many
pregnant women do not receive
sufficient advice on infant
feeding.
"Violence (domestic) against women has long been among the
most significant
deterrents to uptake of HIV/Aids services for
women."
Research on Zimbabwe for the report was done by Matilda Moyo
(Pan African
HIV/Aids Treatment Action Movement), Caroline Mubaira
(Community Working
Group of Health) and Martha Tholanah (Network of
Zimbabwean Positive Women).
The report calls on governments and
United Nations agencies to account for
their failure to meet their
international commitments in the fight against
the pandemic.
In
2001 world leaders at the UNGASS agreed to a goal of reducing the
proportion
of infants infected with HIV by 20% by 2005 and 50% by 2010.
This
included ensuring that 80% of pregnant women accessing antenatal care
have
information, counselling and other prevention services available to
them,
said the report.
BY BERTHA SHOKO
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
18:12
PLANS by South Africa's diversified mining group African Rainbow
Minerals
(ARM) to invest in Zimbabwe's mining sector are facing resistance
from
shareholders worried about the new indigenisation law. ARM chairman,
Patrice
Motsepe who is one of the wealthiest black businessmen in the
neighbouring
country has been championing the initiative to invest in
Zimbabwe's world
class platinum group metals.
But Anglo-Rand
Financial Services (ARFS), one of the investors in ARM is
objecting to the
proposed venture citing the new law that comes into effect
tomorrow
(Monday).
The law, which seeks to force foreign-owned firms to cede
51% of their
shareholding to locals within the next five years, has caused
consternation
among investors.
Last week, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai appeared to be losing his battle
to have the regulations reversed
after the Zanu PF politburo endorsed them.
ARFS portfolio manager,
Louis Venter told Standardbusiness that none of his
investors will take
their money to Zimbabwe.
Venter had also challenged Motsepe, at the
presentation of ARM's company's
financial results early in the week after
the chairman insisted on the
Zimbabwe investment.
"I am not
interested in investing in Zimbabwe at the moment until things
normalise,"
he said.
"Neither will I hazard sending my investors to Zimbabwe
under the current
circumstances.
"It is not proper to do so and
it does not make business sense at all."
Venter said there was no way
an investor would pour money into a venture
only to get minimum
shareholding.
"We can come and invest in Zimbabwe on condition there
is a free market.
"There is no way we can bring our money into a
venture to aid the Zimbabwean
government and at the end of the day get 49%,"
Venter said from South
Africa.
He said although there was a lot
of interest in Zimbabwe by foreign
investors, the new regulations would see
most of them developing cold feet.
"We believe that investors should
get value for their investment," Venter
added.
"In the case of
Zimbabwe, getting the smaller shareholding is not what the
investors
want.
"And they will not come there until the Zimbabwean government
puts its house
in order."
ARM was one of the first foreign
companies that expressed interest in
exploiting Zimbabwe's vast mineral
wealth following the formation of the
inclusive government in February last
year.
The unity government had brought with it a lot of promise that
foreign
investors would flock back into Zimbabwe but incessant squabbles
over policy
have severely dented the huge expectations.
BY
NKULULEKO SIBANDA
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
18:11
TELECEL'S US$1.7 million fraud claims last week took a new twist
with police
saying the mobile operator had not made any report despite a
glut of public
statements on the matter. The fraud was reportedly detected
by MD Aimable
Mpore, a DRC-born Canadian citizen who has since had his work
permit
cancelled by Zimbabwean authorities.
The country's second
biggest mobile operator had said it had detected the
fraud where some
unnamed employees allegedly issued recharge cards and
starter packs using
manual invoices, a method long banned by the company.
Last week,
Telecel said it had convened a disciplinary hearing against staff
involved
in the fraud and that police had been alerted. "The matter has been
handed
over to the police for further investigations," the mobile operator
said in
a statement.
"The company has taken the necessary steps to prevent a
recurrence of such
fraud."
But the police's Criminal
Investigations Department (CID) last week said no
report had been
made.
"As police detectives charged with the duty of investigating
serious fraud
cases we have not yet received any report from Telecel
involving the
fraudulent issuing of recharge cards and starter packs," said
Augustine
Zimbili, the CID spokesperson.
"If they did report the
matter to any police establishment we are yet to
have it referred to
us."
Police spokesperson, Jessie Banda had referred Standardbusiness
to the fraud
section for a comment.
Tobias Jack, Telecel's acting
MD told Standardbusiness: "There is no comment
from our
side."
Telecel is dogged by infighting over the control of the
company pitting the
two shareholders - Telecel International and Empowerment
Corporation.
Empowerment Corporation, a consortium of local business
investors argues
that it should have a say in key appointments at the mobile
operator.
Telecel is owned 60% by Telecel International and 40% by
the Empowerment
Corporation of Zimbabwe.
Telecel International is
in turn 100% owned by Orascom Telecom, an Egyptian
conglomerate listed on
the Cairo and London stock exchanges.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010
17:36
This is the second and last part of an article by Katazo C Mbetu,
Executive
Dean at the Midlands State University on whether Zimbabwean black
family
businesses plan for their future once the owner or founder is dead.
SEVENTY
percent of the respondents indicated that the business owner had not
planned
for the retirement and future of the business and
self.
Only 40% scouted for a successor in or outside the family
while 60%
indicated that they preferred their own family member to inherit
the
business irrespective of having interest or not.
Sixty percent of
the successors were hand-picked by the owner and given on
the job training
while 40% had gone through a period of formal and
apprenticeship training in
business succession. Stewardship was considered
the most essential quality
of a good successor.
A majority of the respondents stated that they
assumed an advisory role on
retirement.
It took them between three
and five years to adjust to a pending retirement,
let go of the business and
fully develop external interests. Seventy percent
of the respondents kept
advisor reports and documents for future reference.
While monthly
progress reports were given sometimes, a quarter of the
respondents said
that they saw no need of getting monthly reports once
advice had been given.
Almost half of the respondents held a Board of
Directors meeting while over
half consulted family members only when there
was need.
The black
family business in Zimbabwe especially in the young generation
category is
making great effort at succession planning. Failure to plan
succession is a
recipe of failure to business continuity.
There is a possibility the
owner might fail to retire when he/she is due.
The owner owes it to the
family to create a realistic and workable
succession plan. Strengths and
weaknesses of the successor must be
identified. Provision and development of
skills is necessary.
Ownership and management transfers are conscious
acts of intentions. A tough
and pragmatic decision as to which family member
if any, can continue to run
the business successfully has to be
made.
The successful continuation of a business requires objective
decision-making
by all family members and a commitment to develop personal
goals within the
family business structure.
Old generation business
persons fear to disclose information about the
business operations, but the
majority of the young and first generation
entrepreneurs have spurned the
cultural belief that once you disclose
information about your riches then
you are dead.
Lack of past experience in business management and
ownership is fast being
overcome.
Black family business owners are
making a conscious effort to ensure that
they plan for succession in their
businesses.
In order for family-owned businesses to be successful
members must
communicate rationally and objectively. The characteristics of
each family
or potential successor must be identified.
The qualities
should include commitment to the business.
There should be constant
dialogue between the advisor and the business.
Follow up strategies to
obtain buy-in for family objectives must be made.
Accountability goals
and task timeliness for all parties in the succession
process must be
developed.
Failure to utilise family council may lead to delayed
decision of who takes
over.
That is devastating to the
business-especially in the event of death, where
the business can end up in
limbo due to probate.
The founder should meet and discuss with the family
to determine who has the
desire, skills and vision warranting taking over
the business. Ways to share
wealth and ensure ramification of extended
family such as spouses should be
examined. - The African Executive.
*
Katazo C Mbetu is Executive Dean, Midlands State University, Gweru,
Zimbabwe.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010 18:04
GOVERNMENT
will this year finalise the Information and Communication
Technologies
(ICTs) regulations to provide the necessary legislation for the
growth of
the sector. There have been a number of policies to drive the
sector but the
regulations to anchor those policies are missing, ICT
Minister Nelson
Chamisa said on Monday.
The new regulations would be a component of
the strategic plan launched on
Monday designed to create an enabling
environment for the growth of the
industry.
"We launched the ICT
policy in 2007 but it was not anchored on a particular
regulation.
"There is no regulation. . .we need regulation as of
yesterday," Chamisa
said.
"The ICT Bill has been finalised and we
want to make sure it passes through
Cabinet soon so that it goes to
Parliament."
The ICT Bill was withdrawn last year after it created
tension in the
inclusive government as it extends to other ministries but it
has been
revived in the new Strategic Plan 2010-2014.
The Bill
seeks to establish a single authority that would regulate the
information
and communication technology sector.
The ICT Bill will repeal the
Broadcasting Services Act, Postal and
Telecommunications Act and amend some
sections of the Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy
Act.
At least 10 policies have been launched since independence to
harness ICT
for social and economic development to alleviate
poverty.
But the absence of a legislation to govern the industry has
been the missing
link.
Chamisa said the vision of the ministry is
to see Zimbabwe attain a high
mobile penetration rate.
He said the sector
should be driven by indigenous players.
"The ICT revolution is the
only revolution being led by young people. All
revolutions have been led by
the old," he said.
He said efforts were being made to tap into
"catching them young so that we
don't lose the fruits and benefits of the
ICT revolution".
The strategic plan aims to develop and expand cross
border interconnection
and access to internet backbone.
The plan
envisages the development of broad band optic fibre links to all
major
cities by 2014.
Chamisa said by June, Zimbabwe should be connected to
the undersea cable via
Mutare and Beitbridge.
The ambitious plan
wants to tap into ICT human resources in the Diaspora and
increase their
participation by at least 10% every year to nurture human
capital
development in ICT skills.
ICTs will be made mandatory curricula at
all schools and institutions of
higher learning by January
2011.
It also seeks to promote the use of electronic business
services and
products to at least 20% of all services for public utilities
by January
2013 and 30% by January 2014.
By December 2014, there
should be at least 10 public private partnerships in
the ICT sector,
according to the plan.
President Robert Mugabe has over the past few
years been distributing
computers to schools in both rural and urban areas
in order to boost IT
development in the country.
However,
computerisation of schools, particularly in rural areas, has
remained
hamstrung by shortages of electricity.
BY OUR STAFF
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010 17:47
THE
African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has teamed up with a
pan-African
housing finance company to provide funding for the country's
tourism
industry. Gift Simwaka, Afreximbank's regional manager for Southern
Africa
told Standardbusiness that Shelter Afrique is willing to finance
tourism
projects in Zimbabwe.
"Our partnership leverages Shelter Afrique's
long experience in construction
finance and ours in structured financial
future flow pre-financing in
support of the tourism industry," he
said.
"We refinance projects originally funded by Shelter Afrique, up
to a maximum
tenure of seven years."
The move is set to renew the
tourism which has suffered years of neglect
during the economic crisis of
the past decade.
Players have been crying for capital injection to
revive the industry.
With local banks offering short term credits it
means that there is no money
for long term projects such as the building of
new hotels.
Simwaka said the bank had set a specific amount but the
cap on such
facilities would be determined by the country limit for
Zimbabwe.
It is hoped that Afreximbank can support a wide spread of
financing requests
based on their merits.
"We can also confirm
that this is in line with our strategy wherein we seek
to expand our support
to service export generative industries, an area which
has traditionally not
received the attention it deserves as most trade
finance institutions have
concentrated on supporting commodity exports,"
Simwaka said.
The
growth of the industry is largely dependent on the support it receives
from
enabling sectors as echoed by speakers at tourism summit last
week.
The Pan African Tourism Investment Summit drew over 300
investors and was
held by the ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry
in conjunction with
Africa Investor.
Funders told stakeholders
that they were awash with cash but wanted to see
bankable
projects.
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) deputy chief executive
officer, Solomon
Asamoah, told stakeholders "there is no shortage of cash
for good projects
in Africa".
"Infrastructure is relatively well
known but a difficult sector because it
is long term so you need long term
money," he said.
AFC's main thrust is in power, transport and
infrastructure,
telecommunications and heavy industries.
All of
AFC's main thrusts save for heavy industries are vital for the growth
of the
tourism industry.
AFC will have a bilateral meeting with the ministry
of Energy and Power
Development on how it can finance power generation,
Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara said.
Kevin
Teeroovengadum, a director with private equity firm, Actis, told
stakeholders the firm is looking at financing projects in the range of US$20
million to US$40 million.
He said the private equity firm can
assist in adding on boards of
hospitality groups.
Actis can also
help management to raise debt as it has partnerships with
developmental
financial institutions.
He said the firm's experience in the
hospitality sector was gained after
investing in Protea Hotels which allowed
"us to understand how hospitality
works".
Actis has interests in
emerging markets.
Mbuyazwe Magagula who is in the Tourism Business
Unit of South Africa's
Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) said the
South African firm is in
talks with a Zimbabwean
operator.
Magagula says IDC sees opportunity in refurbishment, not on
creating
capacity.
But what do investors want to see in an
environment before committing their
funds?
Asamoah says a stable
political and economic environment sways investors
into a
destination.
He says there is need for full partnership between
government and private
sector and the partnership should be in action not
words.
Catherine Namugala, Zambian Tourism, Environment and Natural
Resources
Minister said ministries in charge of tourism should influence
legislations
"so that by the end of the day we become facilitators of
investments".
She said Zambia had reduced the number of licences that
investors can get to
work in any sector.
"In some cases you have
a hundred licences and this is a hassle for
business.
"The core
of business is to create wealth. When you do an audit you see that
many of
them (licences) are unnecessary," she said.
The time it takes to
invest in a destination is cited as a plus or hindrance
for
investments.
Zimbabwe is simplifying the procedure and says it will
create a one-stop
shop by June.
As Zimbabwe searches for
investors, the gazetting of the Indigenisation
regulations has unnerved a
number of interested parties.
But Tourism and Hospitality Industry
Minister Walter Mzembi, said the
tourism industry is compliant with the Act
and is looking for foreign
partners.
". . .80% of the tourism
sector is already in indigenous hands and therefore
it has scope for greater
external shareholding, as well as for other
innovative models that can give
comfort to the external investor, than might
be the case in our other
sectors," he said.
BY NDAMU SANDU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27
February 2010 18:52
ZIMBABWE has witnessed its first strike of all civil
servants. Civil
servants have patiently waited for the Inclusive Government
to recognise
their plight, as they struggle to survive on an average salary
of US$150 a
month.
Every month a civil servant has to choose
between either feeding the family
or paying rent. Utilities cost at least
US$90 a month. More often utilities
cost more than the whole month's salary.
Telephones and medical help have
become unaffordable
luxuries.
Civil servants have been offered salary increases of
between US$2 and US$27
a month, on the grounds that the government is broke
and cannot afford
anything better. Is this true?
The 2010 Budget
totalled US$2 250 million, of which US$600 million
(excluding pensions)
comprised salaries. More than a third of the total
budget - US$810 million,
consists of donor funds.
The government has thus reserved 41.7% of its
own funds of US$1 440 for
salaries. The 2009 salary budget was US$385.7
million (including pensions).
Thus there was an increase of US$214
million for salaries, a 55% increase.
If civil servants were given a 55% pay
increase, this would come to an
average of US$225 a month, a low salary, but
substantial enough for
survival.
It is therefore surprising that
civil servants are being offered such dismal
pay increases.
They are
to be given housing and transport allowances of US$9 each. What
type of
housing and what type of transport costs US$9 a month?
We are in the dark
as to why the government cannot award civil servants the
pay package
announced under the 2010 budget at the very least. There is need
for more
transparency.
One reason may be that the government has decided to
pay the armed forces
more than the rest of the civil service, as starving
armed soldiers are very
dangerous.
We have not been informed about
this, so it is in the field of conjecture.
We have, however, seen and
heard sounds of disaffection from the armed
forces, such as the reported
theft of RBZ Governor's chickens, attacks on
civilians accused of causing
inflation, and the endemic requirement to pay a
US$5 bribe every time you
are stopped by the police. These are minor
infractions, but they may grow if
our armed forces remain underpaid.
Another reason may be an expansion
of the size of the civil service.
We have already heard that the 13 000
plus Zanu PF militia illegally
appointed as "youth officers" are now having
civil service posts created for
them or are being appointed into any vacant
civil service post available.
The illegal militia will soon be a legal
militia, and will be found in many
more ministries than before, despite the
fact that the Public Service
Commission is under an MDC-T
minister.
An increase in the size of the civil service will of course
mean that there
is less to provide for the genuine long-serving civil
servants. The only way
to approach this is for the Public Service Commission
to declare a freeze on
additional post creation. This is not being
done.
One clear reason for the shortage of funds is that the
government is
over-bloated with 32 ministries, a cabinet of 36, and over 60
ministers and
deputy ministers.
A number of ministries are
duplicates, for example with two ministries
sharing agriculture, two
ministries sharing education, two ministries
sharing information, two
ministries sharing foreign affairs, several
ministries sharing water
development, etc., etc.
If ministries which received less than US$5
million as a budget in 2010 were
joined together with other related
ministries, there would be fourteen fewer
ministries - 18 instead of 32
ministries!
This would be an enormous saving. Having fewer ministries
would make the
government much more efficient, as well as saving lots of
money. It would
enable ministers, deputy ministers and officials to work
more co-operatively
rather than behaving as bitter and mutually destructive
rivals.
However, the Global Political Agreement (GPA) is based on the
concept of
sharing privileges, and the more ministries the better. This is
definitely
costing Zimbabwe a lot in terms of efficiency and effectiveness,
not to say
in paying the bloated civil service much too
little.
Another way of solving this problem is to make savings by
cutting out luxury
expenditures. The Foreign Affairs budget has increased
from US$28.7 million
to US$42.4 million, a 47.7% increase.
Foreign
travel, which was US$28.6 million in 2009 needs to be drastically
cut, in
line with the needed financial austerity measures.
Cutting the number of
luxury vehicles, such as the much loved Mercedes Benz,
could bring about a
major saving. And why should ministers now have two
cars?
Zimbabwe
should follow the lead of other Sadc countries where ministers are
given
generous loans to buy their own cars, and are paid for subsistence for
travelling on business.
Ministers are more likely to use their cars
more carefully if they owned
them anyway. Probably US$50 million could be
saved to enable the
government to pay its civil servants
more.
One way of solving this problem of having too many civil
servants being paid
too little would be to increase the amount of money
allocated for civil
service salaries from US$600 million to say US$650
million.
This will average US$2 826 a year or US$235 a month. This would
increase the
wage bill from 41.2% to 45.1% of the 2010 Budget (excluding
donor funds).
Is this a good idea? Is this good for the economy, for
example? It may be
a good idea in that civil servants will be spending
their money inside the
country, and their pay increase would in fact be an
additional investment
into our economy.
The suspension of customs
duties on "basic" commodities could provide more
income to the government,
whilst at the same time helping to boost local
production.
The
government has decided to go against the business community in this
regard,
but it may be that the business community knows better.
If the waiving of
customs duty was retained for salt, sugar, maize, rice,
seeds and
fertilizer, we might have a win-win situation of boosting local
productivity, whilst earning more money through customs
duties.
In 2008, the latest figures published, there were 201 000
civil servants.
We know there has been a big increase since 2008. In 1990
the figure was
181 402 civil servants.
This gives an additional 20
000 civil servants in two decades. I think it
is generally recognised that
the civil service was much more efficient in
the 1980s and 1990s than
today.
The bloating of ministries has clearly led to more inefficiency,
especially
in view of the fact that so little is left for infrastructure,
equipment,
transport and materials which can allow civil servants to do
their job more
effectively.
Civil servants in 1990 averaged a pay of
about US$500 a month, as compared
to the present US$150. If the government
were to return to a smaller and
more efficient number of civil servants, it
will be possible to increase
their salaries more
substantially.
Instead the civil service has been used as a form of
patronage, but the
negative side of patronage is inefficient and underpaid
civil servants.
Having 20 000 fewer civil servants would entail a saving
of US$36 million
per annum (at a salary of US$150 a month). Having 40 000
fewer civil
servants would entail a saving of US$72 million per
annum!
Another approach is to separate civil servants into different
commissions,
as has happened to Health and Security workers.
For
example, education workers could be employed through an Education
Service
Commission. This would allow more flexibility. Education staff
number
about 100 000, the rest of the civil service another 100 000, whilst
the
armed forces are estimated at 30 000. Separate commissions will also
enable
the different sectors to respond to the different professional
needs.
In conclusion, civil servants deserve to be treated much
better. They are
as important to the health and survival of the nation as
the armed forces.
By treating them badly we will ruin the
country.
BY FAY CHUNG
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27
February 2010 18:47
A woman in the community in which I experienced my
formative years had an
unpleasant reputation. It was generally believed that
she had certain
talents in the dark arts.
They said she was a witch.
They said she was capable of many unkind deeds.
We all grew up believing her
to be a witch. That is what we were told. Most
people accepted it to be the
truth.
I do not know for sure if she was or if indeed, such dark
arts exist at all.
But that is beside the point. The point is that she was
labelled a witch and
that ugly label stuck with her all her life. I look
back and wonder whether
this labelling was fair. It's an easy label to stick
on someone but it's
hard to remove.
This woman's circumstance
represents an every day image of what can be
observed in national
politics.
You only have to stick a label on someone to discredit them and
their views.
And there are many labels at the disposal of those who wish to
employ them.
The trouble is that this labelling causes one and all to lose
focus and
concentrate instead on peripheral matters.
More
importantly, labelling has an exclusionary effect, causing those so
labelled
or likely to be labelled to withdraw from national affairs.
Labelling is an
easy tool to silence people; to bully them into submission.
I attempt
here to illustrate a few of these labels that have been and can be
used to
achieve these ends.
Mutengesi (A Sell-out): This is by far the most
common label, easily
targeted at those who otherwise differ from the
majority or senior
leadership.
Notwithstanding the rhetoric on
democracy when it comes to application on
the ground, people are generally
sceptical of those who espouse different
views.
They are perceived as
agents trying to sell-out the "revolution". It is an
easy weapon, often
employed to thwart rivals, often with tragic
consequences.
A
story is often told in my village how one elder met a cruel end during the
liberation struggle.
He owned a bicycle. In the humble circumstances
of village life, a bicycle
was apparently, an item of status and
prestige.
His ownership of a bicycle drew admirers as well jealous
neighbours. It took
one unkind soul to label him a "sell-out" for the elder
to lose his life. It's
fair to say many people lost their homes, broke
limbs, indeed lost lives
simply because they were accused of being
"sell-outs" before being tried
before Kangaroo courts where they could never
stand a chance.
Those who have written about their experiences during
the struggle, like Fay
Chung and Edgar Tekere in their recent
autobiographies, talk about the
reckless way in which the "sell-out" label
was deployed within the
movements. If you were an opponent or a perceived
rival, you were simply
labelled a "sell-out" - mutengesi.
There can
be no worse accusation in a struggle. That's because of the
ruthless manner
in which so-called sell-outs are treated. There may indeed
have been
sell-outs, as happens in war situations, but it's fair to say the
label was
also misused and abused to settle personal scores or simply to
endear
themselves to the leaders.
I read an account the other day about a
West African leader who was
surrounded by a coterie of advisers who kept him
busy with tales of complex
conspiracies that were allegedly being planned
against him. They would tell
of how they had foiled the plots by the
sell-outs. Not only did this make
the leader more paranoid and therefore
power hungry, it also meant he came
to believe that these hangers-on were
indispensable!
This label remains prevalent across and within
political parties. It is
employed from time to time to create an
exclusionary effect - to undermine
one's credibility and legitimacy. It
works negatively to stifle otherwise
useful debate and democratic
participation among ordinary people.
MuCIO (He's a CIO): The mention
of Zimbabwe's dreaded Central Intelligence
Organisation sends shivers down
many a spine.
It conjures up images of men in dark glasses who do bad
things to people.
Whether or not this is a correct representation is neither
here nor there.
The point here is that because of this negative
reputation, if one is
labelled "muCIO", then you are more or less associated
with the darker arts
and therefore your credibility is
undermined.
And it's very easy for people to say, "muCIO uya hauzivi?"
(Do you not know
that he is a CIO?). It is stated in a matter-of-fact
fashion, soon everyone
nods in unison, agreeing that indeed, the person
labelled is a CIO.
I remember the label being used very generously
against certain students at
university. It continues to be used. It's a very
cheap shot which is
designed to undermine an individual's standing and
credibility.
MuRacist (He's racist): In Zimbabwe, it seems there are two
qualifications
to attain the label of being a racist: you have to be white
and take a
different opinion from the majority.
You can say something
that could otherwise be said by a black person but
still be branded a
racist! It's hard to deny that our country has a messy
history of racial
discrimination.
A war was fought over this, among other concerns. So the
feelings of
animosity, especially among the older generation run very
deep.
They are so deep that in recent years, there have arguably, been
forms of
reverse racism and any challenge on this ground is met by
references to what
happened in the past - a vicious cycle. Yet,
notwithstanding the genuine
need to deal with a dirty past and the continued
existence of racist
elements, the racist label has often been abused for
selfish motives.
It's not unusual for example, that when a white
person expresses a different
view or tries to be critical, even in
quasi-opposition circles
("quasi-opposition" because they are not really in
opposition given the
GNU), there is a high likelihood that he will be
labelled a racist bent on
promoting white supremacy.
To my mind
drawing the race card on occasions of difference is not only
unfair but
represents a sign a weakness.
In fact, it makes a mockery of all those
people who have and continue to
suffer actual racism.
Yet the purpose of
employing this label is very clear: it is designed to
silence. It doesn't
matter that the accuser has no evidence to support the
labelling - drawing
the race card serves the purpose of creating the
division between them and
us and because of the messy historical past of
racial discrimination, the
accused almost always has a mountain to climb to
clear his name.
The
option for many is to withdraw from public life and say nothing hence
simply
acquiescing to a situation that is otherwise untenable. These labels
have an
unnecessary exclusionary effect, thereby diminishing the force of
citizen
participation in national governance.
NdeweZanu (He's Zanu): This is
a common one in quasi-opposition circles
particularly when someone expresses
a view that appears to resonate with
Zanu PF rhetoric on national issues. It
represents a failure to distinguish
the state from the party.
Zanu
PF's roots run deep into the era of liberation politics and as a party
that
led the struggle for independence, it is hardly surprising that its
rhetoric
is couched in nationalist and anti-imperialist terms. The ideas
that it
espouses centre on national sovereignty, empowerment, redressing
colonial
imbalances etc.
Now in principle, all these issues are relevant and make
sense to many
people. Where differences arise is in the methods of
implementation.
So for example with regards to issues like the role
of international
financial institutions like the IMF/World Bank, there may
be good ground to
be critical of their prescriptions and methods in
developing countries.
There may indeed be good reason to challenge certain
things done or said by
the West.
However, because such views are
likely to be shared by Zanu PF those in
quasi-opposition may feel the need
to distance themselves from such critical
positions.
In the process
what should be a national issue is relegated to party
political squabbles
and anyone who espouses an otherwise credible view,
against sanctions,
against exploitative structural adjustment programmes,
etc is labelled
"ndewe Zanu" (He is Zanu). It's important to avoid this
obsession with petty
labels relating to party politics because they stand in
the way of what is
otherwise in the national interest.
One should be free to take a view
and defend an idea without being labelled
along party political lines;
without being named a racist, indeed without
being tagged a
racist.
It is exactly this politics of labelling that dissuades many
decent people
from espousing their views publicly and therefore reduces the
scope of
citizen participation in national affairs.
A large part of
repairing Zimbabwe's politics is dealing with the political
culture.
This politics of labelling is sadly, something that is part
of this
retrogressive political culture and to be sure, it is one that is
prevalent
within and across political parties.
Worse it is one that
permeates the bulk of society. My friend and brother
Brian Kagoro called it
the art of kusvibisa - techniques of soiling someone's
image.
It has
to change. Change of this nature is beyond the reach of the law. It's
about
decency and common sense. It's about people being more critical of
those
things that they are told.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Saturday, 27 February 2010 18:43
HOW
does Zanu PF reconcile its commitment to the National Healing process
against threats by its youths during last Wednesday's demonstration in
Harare to "go back to June 2008"? Not one of the leaders at the Zanu PF
headquarters or those who marshalled the "anti-sanctions" march to the US
Embassy remonstrated against the youths' recourse to inflammatory
language.
It is deplorable that such grandstanding against a party
that is in
government could be tolerated. The violence of June 2008 is
nothing to gloat
over. It remains a crime that should see the perpetrators
being brought
before the International Criminal Court for gross human rights
violations.
The June 2008 violence perpetrators must have their day
in court because it
is only by punishing the culprits that we will bring
some comfort to the
surviving victims and to the communities that were
traumatized.
More significantly, action against the perpetrators will
deter future
criminals and bring nearer the day when no leader, political
party or
organisation anywhere can continue to abuse the rights of others
with
impunity.
But it is a measure of the calibre of Zanu PF's
leadership that they could
stand by while their youths fanned violence. Such
leaders are committed to
an order that only promotes their interests, no
matter the cost.
It is important to record the role and exhortations
of these leaders because
one day they will have to account for these crimes.
The geriatrics that fuel
these virulent outpourings will not be around much
longer to protect their
pawns. And the ghosts of their victims will return
to haunt them.
Zanu PF allowed its youths to threaten the Government
of National Unity.
What is tragic is that the law-enforcement agents appear
impotent in the
face of this threat to the fragile national
stability.
It should not be difficult to identify the merchants of
violence as they
were captured on state-controlled media.
If
law-enforcement agencies respect the Global Political Agreement and the
Government of National Unity, let them demonstrate zero tolerance to
inflammatory statements that threaten and seek to undermine the gains
Zimbabwe has made during the past 12 months.
The threats last
Wednesday came in the wake of inter-party violence in
Epworth. While the
parties are engaged in blaming each other, surely the
three principals can
ill-afford their loud silence? They must come out
against elements in their
midst sowing seeds of division.
Zanu PF has profited from violence.
It can sugar-coat itself when the
occasion commands but violence and Zanu PF
are two sides of the same coin.
It is not just the violence of June 2008
that claimed the lives of more than
200 people while several thousand others
were maimed. There are also scores
of lives lost in the wake of the MDC-T's
shock electoral victory during the
2000 elections.
The government
abandoned the Leadership Code, because there was no political
will. Right
now there is ambivalence towards investigating allegations of
corruption of
the Chiadzwa diamonds and there might never be a proper land
audit because
of the rapacious nature of Zimbabwe's political elite.
The
Parliamentary Committee on Mines and Energy should be allowed to carry
on
with its work. Anyone who is found to have looted the diamonds should
face
the music. The land audit must go ahead.
If there are multiple farm
owners, they must know their time is up. Zimbabwe
cannot afford to continue
to condone corruption while a handful of
acquisitive people
benefit.
It is time the three principals to the GNU reined in their
followers and
senior officials.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw
Saturday, 27 February 2010
18:38
INTERNATIONAL Women’s Day is celebrated on March 8, which falls on
Monday
next week. This year’s theme is Equal Rights, equal opportunities:
progress
for all. Why does this matter?
Empowering women and
promoting gender equality — one of eight United Nations’
Millennium
Development Goals — is recognised as one of the world’s main
development
challenges.
The United Kingdom has signed up to this. So too has
Zimbabwe. Educating
girls is one of the most effective ways of reducing
poverty. Few would argue
with that and I have been impressed by Zimbabweans’
commitment to giving
their children the best education they can
manage.
But education alone is not enough. We need to see more women
in leading
positions in politics and business.
There are high-profile
examples in both Britain and Zimbabwe — Margaret
Thatcher served as British
Prime Minister for 11 years, while Joice Mujuru
has been Vice-President here
since 2004. Many other talented women are
striving through politics and
other routes to make a difference — but there
is more to do to make women’s
participation the norm rather than the
exception. Women also need better
access to health and other services, and
protection from
violence.
How are we rising to the challenge? We are working with our
partners in the
European Union to promote women’s rights. Harriet Harman,
the UK’s Minister
for Women and Equality, and her Spanish counterpart,
co-hosted the second
Women in Power Summit in Cadiz on February 3. The event
championed gender
equality and called for more balanced representation in
public life.
In the United Kingdom, we have focused on tackling hate
crime against women
because of race, religion, disability or sexual
orientation. We have tackled
women trafficking, providing support for
victims. And we have targeted
domestic violence, introducing routine
enquires for all pregnant women and
providing information about domestic
violence support services.
The United Kingdom is also helping
Zimbabwean women meet the challenges of
development. At a strategic level,
our Department for International
Development’s (DFID) office in Harare,
together with other donors, funded
the first ever National Women’s Economic
Summit held from October 15-16,
2009 at the Celebration Centre in
Harare.
The summit included a training workshop for women and led to the
production
of a six-year National Women’s Economic Development Plan.
Further work is
being carried out through the office of the Deputy Prime
Minister, Thokozani
Khupe MP.
The United Kingdom is investing
$100 million in Zimbabwe this year — our
largest ever programme —and a key
element in that is an effort to make a
real difference to the lives of
ordinary women.
In June 2009, DFID contributed almost $1.5 million to a
three-year programme
aimed at gender support. The programme is managed by
the United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and includes the
European Commission and
Danish Aid.
More than 30 organisations have
already benefited in areas ranging from
access to education, economic
empowerment and improved access to health
care. DFID is also giving just
under $2 million over five years to the
Zimbabwe Women’s Resource Centre and
Network (ZWRCN). ZWRCN aims to empower
women, strengthen networking between
organisations, and promote the women’s
movement in Zimbabwe.
A
vital area for our support to women is HIV/Aids prevention and treatment
as
60% of people living with HIV in Zimbabwe are women and HIV/Aids is a
major
cause of maternal mortality.
For example, DFID funding has helped
Population Services International (PSI)
train hairdressers as peer
educators, teaching them about PSI’s Care female
condom, common
misperceptions about the disease, and how to answer questions
about HIV and
HIV prevention.
Hairdressing salons across the world are known as places
of straight-talking
advice. Thanks in part to hairdressers telling their
customers about the
importance of safe sex, there has been a sharp drop in
the number of new HIV
infections in Zimbabwe.
International
Women’s Day is about celebrating these successes.
But it is also about
looking to the future. As father to a young daughter,
and as employer of
many intelligent and strong women, I am excited about the
prospects for
women to play ever greater roles both in the United Kingdom
and
Zimbabwe.
There remains much to do. But in the meantime I congratulate
women for what
they have already achieved and particularly for the work they
do, much of it
unheralded and all too often unnoticed, without which the
world would be a
much harsher and less rich place.
Mark Canning is
the British Ambassador to Zimbabwe.