http://www.zimtelegraph.com/news_article.php?cat=24&id=163
By
MOSES CHAMBOKO
Published: Saturday, February 07, 2009
It was quite
interesting to see and hear some African leaders (including The Emperor)
competing for public attention in the past few days, calling for a blanket and
immediate lifting of targeted sanctions imposed by the European Union, America
and other members of the democratic community, on selected individuals and
organisations largely in Zimbabwe and others based elsewhere.
The common
position adopted was that the Zimbabwe crisis is ostensibly a product of
"illegal sanctions".
This scapegoat, which has been recycled for the
umpteenth time, is as monotonous as Gono's desperate lopping of the zeros. Can
one of those leaders please tell us how "legal sanctions" look, feel or smell
like?
It takes very short memory to forget that ZANU PF misgovernance over
the past 28 years, particularly since the 2000 watershed referendum defeat, is
the primary source of our misery.
Who doesn't recall that the so-called black
economic empowerment, in essence, a sponsored looting project which benefited
those well connected, contributed significantly to this mess?
Were we under
sanctions in the late 80s when both Tekere and Zvobgo openly criticised the
government for its neglect of democracy and violation of the so-called
leadership code?
Did anybody listen to Didymus Mutasa when he once boldly
declared something like "I don't support ESAP, this idea of borrowing left right
and centre will never work"?
This was well before he started believing in the
miracle of rocks and diesel; a statement that relegated him to the political
dustbins of Shake Shake House for nearly a decade.
One thing those leaders
who masquerade today as the voice and greatest sons of Africa conveniently
forget is that these sanctions were literally invited by those targeted through
certain actions and misdeeds of their own.
Mostly, it was to do with
lawlessness, violation of basic human rights, disregard of property rights,
state sponsored violence, corruption and other forms of economic crime.
Some
were placed on the notorious list for their ambitious, shameless, preposterous,
divisive and inflammatory propaganda against innocent Zimbabweans whose only
crime was a cry for freedom and justice.
Now we hear that Tsvangirai should
start campaigning for the lifting of these sanctions. Have we suddenly forgotten
the "inconvenient truth" (to borrow from a popularly modernised but old phrase)
that Zimbabwe does not have the monopoly of sovereignty?
Europe and America,
among other nations, have their own leaders who make decisions for their
respective territories within the confines of their constitutions, beliefs and
history.
My understanding is that Tsvangirai will be Prime Minister of
Zimbabwe and not Foreign Secretary for America, Britain, Europe or any other
country.
It would be improper for anybody to expect him to direct policy
formulation for Western countries that were recently, albeit untimely, ordered
to "shut up" by one of our most learned but seemingly unwise or politically
naive brothers. Kuruma zamo rinosisa mukaka!
Most of these countries have
representatives in Zimbabwe who will be making progress reports to their
principals from time to time regarding the way the GNU will be
unfolding.
Journalists will also be keen to beam the Zimbabwean story far and
wide. The decision to review or revise sanctions, therefore, rests squarely with
the nations that imposed them in the first place.
Such a decision will be
informed solely by the results of the new government, particularly the positive
participation and sincerity of all three parties involved.
What the
transitional administration in Harare should do is to immediately put in place
genuine and strict measures so that, like the prodigal son, Zimbabwe can
immediately embark on its long awaited journey back into the fold of the
democratic, peaceful and prosperous community of nations.
One such measure is
to move swiftly in offloading one of the greatest liabilities, Gideon
Gono.
Like the biblical loving father, these nations will embrace us with
open hands, as one of their own. It is then that we could start making pleas for
the balance of payments support, access to line of credit, increased
humanitarian aid, donations for reconstruction, debt relief or cancellation (not
odious debt) and many other measures that have a direct bearing on the broader
economy and well being of common Zimbabweans.
Travel restrictions and asset
freeze for individuals must be at the very bottom of the new government's "to
do" list.
Those who invited sanctions for themselves must work hard to earn
their removal from the same list in their individual capacities before they
could start planning their next holiday in America, Europe, Canada Australia or
New Zealand, most likely, using looted money.
The sanctions list must be
reviewed progressively in line with tangible developments on the ground.
Passage of Amendment 19 or swearing in of the Prime Minister, cannot be an
automatic passport for the lifting of targeted
sanctions.
chambokom@gmail.com
______________________________________________
http://www.zimtelegraph.com/show_top_stories.php?id=101
Zimbabwe
Telegraph
By RUMBI MUNDIMBA
Published: Saturday, February 07,
2009
Reuben Barwe, the partisan political correspondent of the Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) has reportedly echoed that he does not recognise MDC
President Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister further branding him a sell-out of
the West.
Barwe who is in the habit overdoing things especially when he is
praise-singing his master Robert Matibili Mugabe was said to have clearly made
his position that he cannot come to terms with having Tsvangirai in the high
political limelight.
Tsvangirai will be sworn in as Prime Minister on 11
February and Barwe is likely going to give coverage to the grand occasion at
Zimbabwe grounds.
Sources say Barwe has echoed that he would rather pass the
button to his accomplice Judith Makwanya on the day so that he watches from the
sidelines.
Prior to the chaotic and violence marred March 2008 harmonised
elections Judith Makwanya and Rueben Barwe were the only journos who were
allocated a personal BT50 vehicle while their ex-editor Patrice Makova was
overlooked for such perks.
During that time they were said to have been
reporting to themselves and Makova was even afraid to assign them any duty as
they had just become glaringly arrogant with the support of the president’s
office.
Barwe was not reachable for comment as he was said to be at his farm
in Norton about 40 Kilometres West of Harare.
Prior to the serious
negotiations with the MDC last year, Mugabe was said to have sounded to his
lieutenants that the country will remain ungovernable if MDC is not given space
in the high seat of governance.
Political commentators have said that Mugabe
has a terrible task ahead to do psychological counselling of his subordinates
and praise singers like Barwe that are still basking in the dim light of the old
system of government.
They said that if Barwe cannot recognise the new order
of things, the better he resigns into farming because the MDC leader is here for
some time.
They alleged that Barwe cannot be employed by any sane
organisation owing to his partisan political line of thinking.
In the 1990s,
Barwe once failed to pass his probation period when he was engaged by the Red
Cross Society as a public relations officer and he shipped
out
______________________________________________
http://www.swradioafrica.com/news060209/governers060209.htm
By
Tichaona Sibanda
6 February 2009
New governors for the country’s ten
political provinces are set to be sworn in, on the same day as ministers and
their deputies.
This follows an agreement in South Africa between ZANU PF and
MDC negotiators that Robert Mugabe must reverse the appointment of all current
ten governors from his party. The appointments made late last year were in
contravention of the Global Political Agreement, signed on 15th September by all
the parties.
Party negotiators who met in South Africa on Wednesday have now
agreed to use the results of the 29th March harmonised elections to allocate the
governors’ posts. This formula now needs to be ratified by the party
principals.
Under this formula, according to the Zimbabwe Independent, the
MDC-T would get five posts, ZANU PF four and MDC-M one. The paper added MDC-T
would appoint governors in Harare, Bulawayo, Matabeleland North, Masvingo and
Manicaland. ZANU PF will have the three Mashonaland provinces and Midlands, the
MDC-M would appoint a governor in Matabeleland South.
Morgan Tsvangirai is
due to be sworn in as Prime Minister on Wednesday together with his two
deputies, Thokozani Khupe and Arthur Mutambara. Our Harare correspondent Simon
Muchemwa told us all political appointees who will serve the new government will
be sworn in next week Friday.
‘When the government is in place, all ministers
will be given the task of restructuring the government, starting with permanent
secretaries and ambassadors. This is a big task because it also involves the
restructuring of all government controlled parastatals,’ Muchemwa said.
A
source also told us that the National Security Council Bill, which was also
agreed to by the parties, will be tabled in parliament on Tuesday and is
expected to sail through without a glitch. We understand from our sources that
all state security organs, such as the army, police and the Central Intelligence
Organisation, will fall under the NSC and will be chaired by Mugabe, with
Tsvangirai deputizing him.
David Coltart, the Senator for Khumalo and a
representative of the MDC-M, said in the senate on Thursday that institutions
like the CIO have been used as partisan institutions to entrench Mugabe’s rule,
and that should change. ‘There are institutions such as the CIO and the AG that
have to be liberalized if we are sincere about forming a unity
government.’
‘In the new government, people who have committed crimes must be
prosecuted and face due process of the law,’ Coltart
added.
______________________________________________
http://www.miningweekly.com/article.php?a_id=152857
By: Leandi
Cameron
Published on 6th February 2009
Zimbabwe has the second-largest
platinum resource in the world, and a host of other metals and minerals, which
makes South Africa’s troubled neighbour an attractive mining
destination.
Some, like the world’s second-largest platinum company, Impala
Platinum, of Johannesburg, and junior Aquarius Platinum, which is listed in
Johannesburg and Australia, grasped the Zimbabwe nettle years ago and had been
reaping rich rewards until recently, when the platinum price
collapsed.
Others, like platinum and chrome explorer Kameni, are very recent
entrants, and then there are still others, like South Africa’s black-owned
African Rainbow Minerals, that make no bones about being attracted by Zimbabwe’s
prospectivity, have still not made any investment announcements and are
presumably awaiting a globally acceptable political settlement, which several
politicians, analysts and corporations believe may be only a stone’s throw
away.
Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Morgan
Tsvangirai, which is the frontrunning political entity that holds a key to a
possible acceptable political outcome, has been vocal about mining companies
investing in Zimbabwe.
The Johannesburg-based MDC treasurer-general, Roy
Bennett, suggests that any new Zimbabwe government would need to scrutinise the
mining investments that have been made to ensure that they are all able to
withstand the full glare of the most rigorous of modern-day corporate-governance
scrutiny.
Bennett says, in an exclusive interview with Mining Weekly, that
there will be a “day of reckoning”.
He says that, should the MDC come into
power, a committee will be formed to review all mining investments in
Zimbabwe.
“Anything that has been done transparently, accountably and
according to the legitimate laws of Zimbabwe will be respected,” Bennett says,
but there will be a low tolerance level for anything untoward.
Many in the
mining industry, who have studied the risk-and-reward ratios, believe that there
is a growing weighting towards reward.
Kameni CEO Stephen Gorven late last
year told Mining Weekly that the company sensed a “near-term” political
settlement in Zimbabwe.
In a more recent interview, Gorven reiterated his
contention even more stridently.
“I think Zimbabweans increasingly realise
that there has to be some kind of settlement. It’s hard to see how they can go
backwards from here,” Gorven expounded further to Mining Weekly.
As there is
a risk of losing dormant Zimbabwean assets on the basis of the ‘use or lose’
principle, Anglo American CEO Cynthia Carroll revealed that her iconic company
had given the go-ahead for infrastructural development to start at Anglo
Platinum’s Unki prospect, which happens to be not that far from where Kameni is
undertaking exploration drilling in the hope of creating a dual chrome- and
platinum-mining operation.
However, Anglo American, with its corporate office
in London, has not escaped criticism, in the light of the overwhelming low
regard that the world has for President Robert Mugabe and Zanu-PF.
Anglo
American had been mining in Zimbabwe for more than 50 years, and started
drilling in the area in the 1970s. Carroll made the point that Anglo Platinum
was, at that stage, not producing any platinum in Zimbabwe, nor was it paying
taxes to the government, but was developing the prospect into a future
mine.
African Rainbow Minerals chairperson Patrice Motsepe did not hide his
attraction to Zimbabwe as an exciting mining destination when questioned at a
recent results presentation, describing Zimbabwe as “a very, very important
country”, but his company has still to make any firm announcements of Zimbabwean
intentions.
His CEO, André Wilkens, said last year that the company was
considering “a number of platinum opportunities”.
But it is Impala Platinum
that has been the most communicative about its Zimbabwean mining activities,
over the longest period of time.
Impala Platinum CEO David Brown is
invariably open to media questioning at results presentations and has engaged in
transparent transactions and ‘indigenisation’, the Zimbabwe equivalent of South
Africa’s black economic-empowerment policy.
Brown has expressed particular
concern about the obligation that Impala Platinum has in Zimbabwe to continue to
provide the employment that its activities at its 87%-owned Zimplats and Mimosa
offer to the suffering people of Zimbabwe.
Brown is on record as praising the
diligence and can-do approach of the employees of Zimplats and Mimosa, a view
often also expressed by Aquarius Platinum CEO Stuart Murray.
Aquarius is also
a shareholding in the Mimosa mine and there have been occasions where quarterly
results have shown the high productivity levels that the Zimbabwe workforce is
able to achieve.
Carroll says that Anglo American is still developing the
infrastructure, roads and water supply at Unki, and, if the poli- tical
environment improves, expects to break ground and start producing platinum in
2010.
“It’s a very big ore-body. We have to keep investing to hold onto it.
We have responded to some of the media by saying that we are absolutely not
propping up the Mugabe regime. There are no taxes being paid into that
government today and we are bringing capital equipment in from outside the
country. That’s the state of affairs and we continue to watch it very closely,”
Carroll was quoted as saying last year, when questioned by journalists on the
company’s activities in Zimbabwe.
But the troubled global economy and
financial meltdown are resulting in pain.
In December last year, Impala’s
Zimplats discontinued its opencast mining owing to low metal prices. The company
also ran up a $ 16-million loss in the September quarter, despite its platinum
price averaging a relatively high $ 1 551/oz.
TRANSACTIONAL CONCERNS
There
have been instances in which companies have signed over a portion of their
mineral resources to the government in return for indigenisation or empowerment
credits, and Bennett questions some of these, especially in instances where
there are allegations that the mineral resources have allegedly been passed on
to Zanu-PF functionaries who have, in turn, allegedly sold these resources to
companies whose corporate-governance records have been challenged by
some.
Bennett’s reading between the lines is that certain of these
transactions need to be thoroughly scrutinised, particularly those that may have
involved businesspeople whose reputations were already known to be
dubious.
SHINING LIGHT
Cadiz Corporate Solutions mining analyst Peter
Major believes that, risk aside, Zimbabwe’s platinum prospects are
“fabulous”.
“The price to obtain mineral rights in Zimbabwe is so low now
that everyone is jumping to get in. Virtually every mine there has closed down,
accept platinum, and, currently, these mines are not operating at the capacity
they could be. Fifty per cent of the Chinese are saying that there is a better
future in Zimbabwean mining than in South Africa.
“If you invest in Zimbabwe
now, in five or seven years, there will be good money to be made,” Major
adds.
He disagrees that Zimbabwe is hardest hit when it comes to corruption.
“Zimbabwe’s corruption isn’t worse than ours in South Africa,” and he rallies
behind those who are investing in the country, commenting that “companies should
hold on to their mines - everyone knows it cannot get worse”.
“It’s similar
to the apartheid era in the late 1980s - investors knew that the African
National Congress would come into power and that apartheid would not last, and
they took the ‘pain’ and hung onto their assets, and the upside was so much
better. However, the worry is how strong the companies investing in Zimbabwe’s
permits are, and whether they will survive a regime change.”
Major does
concede, however, that investing in Zimbabwe does involve “walking a fine line”,
noting that companies should consider how much they are, in the process,
assisting ‘Bob’.
LETTING GO
Because of the difficulty in remaining
apolitical in Zimbabwe, Bennett advises companies to play it safe and withdraw
now.
He says they should not fear the ‘use or lose’ aspect, as he believes
that withdrawing concerns are unlikely to lose their assets, “because Zanu-PF
does not have the technology or the money to continue operating those
assets”.
Bennett urges companies to “remain on the moral
high-ground”.
Major says, however, that companies must try to be trans-
parent in their dealings in Zimbabwe.
He comments that the current Zimbabwe
government cannot just throw established players out of the country if they
refuse to do what it says - “it’s too risky” - and newcomers have nothing to
lose as the Zimbabwe government will not have much “collateral” on
them.
SHIPPING OUT
But some are leaving. Aim-listed Central African Gold
(CAG) ceased all its operations in Zimbabwe in December, saying that the closure
was “due to the adverse political and economic climate”.
CAG says that it
will continue to maintain its Zimbabwean assets “pending resolution to such
turbulence”.
CAG operates the Dalny mine, the Rix tailings treatment
operation, the Golden Quarry underground mine, the Camperdown quarry and the Old
Nic underground mine in Zimbabwe.
Other gold producers have also shut down
owing to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe’s (RBZ’s) failure to pay millions it owes
the industry. While the RBZ holds the sole gold dealing licence in the country,
it does not have the same hold on platinum-miners.
The RBZ is said to owe
gold-miners US$ 30-million for gold deliveries.
The African Institute of
South Africa’s chief research specialist, Dr Norman Mlambo, says, however,
companies that leave Zimbabwe create room for companies that are willing to risk
investing there. “It’s better to go into Zimbabwe now while there is still a
crisis, because it’s possible to negotiate cheaply.”
Mlambo adds that most
companies entering the country in a moderate way are hoping that they will be
able to go into full operation when things turn around.
“When Zimbabwe
stabilises politically, there will most likely be a flood of investors and not
all of them will be accommodated. To go in now is basically about avoiding the
scramble,” he says.
“Zimbabwe is not as volatile as other regions where there
is actual war, such as Angola and Nigeria, where people are actually being
killed while mining,” he says.
But Bennett laments that the world just stands
by and watches, while the people of Zimbabwe continue to suffer.
Editor:
Creamer Media
Reporter
______________________________________________
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/07/2485018.htm
Former
Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu, who faces a trial over allegations he assaulted
a leading cricket official, has pledged to use his day in court to blow the lid
on "corruption" in the game, his lawyer said.
Taibu has been accused of
assaulting Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC) general manager Esther Lupepe last year.
She
claims that he grabbed her by the collar and jostled her during a confrontation
over outstanding salary and expenses payments.
He was due to appear at Rotten
Row magistrates court, but because he is on tour in Kenya, the trial has been
put back, probably until mid-March, according to his lawyer Jonathan
Samkange.
Mr Samkange is reported to have stated at an earlier hearing that
Taibu would take the opportunity to "expose corruption" in ZC.
The national
cricket body, led by controversial chairman Peter Chingoka, were stunned when
the magistrate ordered ZC to produce all accounts relating to players for
audit.
ZC have protested that this was irrelevant to the legal
proceedings.
Taibu, the country's leading run-maker and long-established
wicketkeeper, was the spokesman for a striking group of players in 2005 and he
declared he would not perform in Zimbabwe colours while Chingoka remained in
charge.
He was eventually persuaded to return to the team after pursuing his
club career in South Africa and Bangladesh.
Taibu told the earlier court
hearing that the assault charge is an attempt to discredit him after he made
claims that there had been dubious financial dealings within the national
body.
-
AFP
______________________________________________
http://feeds.feedburner.com:80/~r/TheZimbabweTimes/~3/533731178/
February
6, 2009
Dr Simba Makoni fighting back.
By Our
Correspondent
Harare
Dr Simba Makoni, the leader of the Mavambo / Kusile /
Dawn (MKD) movement was on Friday officially suspended by his party’s National
Coordinating Committee on charges of embezzlement of funds and withholding of
party property
Makoni’s spokesman immediately dismissed the suspension and
the allegations, revealing that the MKD leader, a former member of the politburo
of President Mugabe’s Zanu-PF, was taking legal action against the people making
what he described as scurrilous allegations.
The stand-off is getting messy,
with the anti-Makoni group threatening to file an official police report Monday
to have Makoni arrested and charged with corruption.
The Zimbabwe Times can
report that Makoni was handed his letter of suspension Friday in his offices on
the 9th Floor of Old Mutual House by one of the NCC executive members, Kindness
Paradza. Paradza is the former publisher of the now defunct Tribune newspaper
and a legislator for Makonde in the last Parliament.
The letter, seen by The
Zimbabwe Times, cites abuse of assets and other resources of the movement as the
grounds for Makoni’s suspension.
Next Monday, the NCC claims it is furnishing
the police with full details of Makoni’s alleged plunder so as to immediately
institute investigations against the MKD leader. Makoni came third in
presidential elections held on March 29 last year.
“This letter serves to
notify you that following consultations in and among members of NCC, of the
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn movement, preliminary decision has been passed to suspend
your mandate to speak and act on behalf of the movement pending the outcome of
the investigations,” said Makoni’s suspension letter, jointly signed by Major
Kudzai Mbudzi and Paradza.
“The suspension came about on account of
allegations that:
a) You have failed and/or neglected to account fully and
transparently for the funds and assets of the movement.
b) You have abused
assets and other resources of the movement,
c) You have disregarded decisions
of the NCC of the movement,
d) Generally, you have conducted yourself in a
manner which is not in the interests of, and which is inconsistent with the
objectives and vision of the movement.”
Documents to hand reveal that Makoni
allegedly received US$ 3 million from donors, but has allegedly refused to
openly account for the funds.
He is alleged to have opened bank accounts in
South Africa and Botswana where he has moved some of the money.
US$ 1.5
million is reported to be lodged with a bank in Harare.
US$ 100,000 worth of
stationery was allegedly moved from Mavambo’s official offices at the Old Mutual
Building next to Africa Unity Square to a factory owned by Chipo Makoni, the
besieged MKD leader’s wife. The stationery allegedly disappeared
thereafter.
Makoni is also accused of unauthorized expenditure on personal
and family security “despite the clear absence of any threat”.
There have
also been allegations of abuse of the movement’s vehicles and fuel by
Makoni.
The MKD leader is further accused of having allocated to his family
use of two luxury Jeep Cherokee vehicles, 5 Mazda BT50 and two Nissan 1-Tonner
trucks.
Makoni’s spokesman Godfrey Chanetsa told The Zimbabwe Times: “Dr
Makoni is putting out a statement clearly saying the allegations are libelous
and he intends to take legal action, that’s the position.”
Makoni’s
suspension letter makes a number of demands.
“Your suspension pending
investigation is with immediate effect,” says the letter, dated February
6.
“In order to facilitate a proper investigation, you are required
immediately to:
-make a full declaration, in writing, of any and all assets
and finances of the movement
-surrender all financial and other records of
the movement
-make a full declaration in writing of any and all trusts formed
in the name of the movement or using its resources
-vacate the offices of the
movement,” the letter concludes.
A top official in the MKD, speaking on
condition of anonymity, said the allegations were fabricated ostensibly because
Makoni had refused to share the movement’s resources before a fully-fledged
political party had been formed.
He said Mavambo was not a political party
and was not even registered, adding the people agitating for the ouster of
Makoni did not even have membership cards because Mavambo was just a creature
created to back the MKD leader during the presidential race in March, where
Makoni polled 8.3 percent of the vote.
“Dr Makoni’s Mavambo is not a
political party, there are no membership cards,” the official said. “Where is
the membership?
Who are these people representing?
Mavambo is not even a
registered party. So how do you suspend Dr Makoni?”
The official alleged that
the group spearheading efforts to stage a “palace coup” wanted to unjustly
reward themselves before any proper structures had been put in place.
“They
want resources which Dr Makoni doesn’t want to release,” he said.
Asked why
Makoni was refusing to share, he retorted: “He is not refusing to share. The
idea is that resources will be released to the official party.
“Some of the
characters (in the anti-Makoni lobby) are known and have been dismissed from
everything they have done in their lives. No one is taking them seriously,” said
the official in thinly-veiled attack on Major Mbudzi, who was sacked from
Zanu-PF where he was Masvingo party spokesman before joining MKD
movement.
Asked what stage preparations had reached in transforming MKD into
the Zimbabwe Union of Democrats (ZUD), the delay which has prompted shrill calls
for Makoni’s ouster, the top official said: “That process of forming a party is
taking place.
“The whole idea of forming a party is crystallizing. The
likelihood of a party being announced in this quarter is very high. We want to
form a formal and credible party.”
The anti-Makoni lobby is also accusing him
of taking instructions from Retired General Solomon Tapfumaneyi Mujuru, alleged
to be his handler from Zanu-PF. The wealthy retired general is the husband of
Vice President Joice Mujuru.
Mujuru has declined to comment on his
association with Makoni or on whether he is the brains behind the Mavambo
movement.
______________________________________________
http://www.swradioafrica.com/news060209/mdcdeny060209.htm
By Lance
Guma
06 February 2009
MDC MP and lawyer, Douglas Mwonzora, has denied
press reports suggesting MP’s are now allowed to switch political parties in
parliament without losing their seats. On Thursday both ZANU PF and the MDC
united to pass a constitutional amendment in parliament to give legal life to
the shaky power sharing deal signed last year in September. Reports quoted
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa saying, ‘floor-crossing will now be a
permanent feature in our constitution.’ Mwonzora however told Newsreel Amendment
19 had actually resolved an anomaly that arose between rules that applied to
senators and those that were meant for MP’s.
Under the old constitution MPs
who switched parties, automatically lost their seats, but that same clause was
silent on whether this applied to Senators as well. Thursday’s amendment closed
that loophole and barred even Senators from crossing the floor. What this means
is that before Thursday, Senators from both parties could have actually switched
parties without losing their seat. Mwonzora explained that when former ZANU PF
heavyweight Edgar Tekere left ZANU PF to form his own party he took his Mutare
parliamentary seat with him. This is what led to the floor crossing law being
introduced and it is referred to in legal circles as the ‘Tekere
Amendment.’
A Tsvangirai MDC insider said they would be comfortable with any
floor crossing allowance, because they are confident none of their MP’s will be
willing to risk their political careers by joining a tainted ZANU PF party. But
others expressed worries it would open the door for ZANU PF to use ill-gotten
wealth to bribe impressionable MP’s in the MDC. Last year an MDC MP in Bulawayo
claimed she had been offered a luxury vehicle and money to run her business, if
she agreed to vote for a ZANU PF backed, speaker of parliament.
Newsreel
sources say both ZANU PF and the Tsvangirai MDC could use such a provision if it
existed ‘to fish for MP’s from the smaller Mutambara MDC.’ Last year a rebellion
by MP’s in the faction threatened to sink the party. Seven out of 10 MP’s
threatened to quit the party over allegations Mutambara was on the verge of a
bilateral unity deal with Mugabe. The story on the unity deal turned out to be
untrue, but the acrimony created tense relations between the party leadership
most of whom lost parliamentary elections. MP’s also felt they were being
sidelined from important decisions.
South Africa had a similar system of
floor crossing which proved disastrous. In April 2006 the Democratic Alliance
and Inkatha Freedom Party both pointed to the system as being prone to bribery
and corruption. The then DA party leader Tony Leon said, ‘floor crossing has
alienated voters who feel that their vote can be used and abused by unprincipled
politicians and political parties. Patronage politics, one-party dominance,
opposition fragmentation and the betrayal of voters' wishes are all factors that
contributed to the DA's decision to submit a bill to repeal floor-crossing in
its entirety,’ he said.
Whether Zimbabwe is now treading on the same path
already traveled by neighbouring South Africa remains to be
seen.
______________________________________________
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=11131
February
6, 2009
By Our Correspondent
HARARE, MDC secretary-general, Tendai Biti,
could find himself out in the cold amid revelations he could be assigned to
party duties outside the envisaged unity government between his party and
Zanu-PF.
Biti and MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai have, of late, not been the
best of friends, differing on whether the party should join in the unity
government with the Mugabe regime or not.
The firebrand lawyer has been
opposed to the idea of “going to bed with the Mugabe regime” while Tsvangirai
now appears happy with the resolve to join the unity government, sources within
the party’s national executive have said.
Biti, the sources add, fears a
situation where after the formation of the unity government, Zanu-PF could
destroy the MDC from close range as it would now be able to dictate the pace and
direction of policy issues in the new government.
There is also fear that
Mugabe, desperately seeking recognition of his government through retaining the
presidency in the new establishment, could use the MDC to persuade Great Britain
and her allies to lift sanctions and then dump the party afterwards.
The
sources said while Biti was trying by all means to advise Tsvangirai to be
cautious in engaging and going to bed with Zanu-PF, the MDC leader was convinced
Mugabe had backed down on his former hostile stance towards the party, hence it
would be ideal to enter into a partnership with him before he changes
tack.
“The crisis that our party leadership faces at the moment is the
difference of opinion between the president and a number of his backers, on one
hand, and Biti and his backers, on the other hand,” said a source close to
deliberations at national executive council level.
“There seems to be a
yawning gap between the two because their approaches in dealing with Zanu-PF
have proved to be far different. The two are no longer the best of friends and
this is likely to cause further divisions within the party.”
Another source
revealed that already, there were pointers the differences between Biti and
Tsvangirai had reached boiling point.
The source disclosed Biti’s name had
been excluded from a list of the potential MDC ministers to sit in the new
envisaged government.
The list, however, is said to be kept under lock and
key as Tsvangirai was still playing his cards close to his chest on who was
likely to be part of the new establishment.
Under the Global Political
Agreement (GPA) signed in Harare last September, Zanu-PF will provide 15
ministers, while the Tsvangirai-led MDC will appoint 13 ministers, with three
reserved for the Mutambara-led MDC.
Mugabe, under the agreement, retains his
executive presidency, while Tsvangirai becomes the country’s prime minister with
Mutambara one of two deputy prime ministers. The other deputy prime minister is
Thokozani Khupe, Tsvangirai’s deputy in the mainstream MDC.
Said the source:
“Everybody waits with bated breath to hear who will be a minister and who will
be out. As of now, the (MDC) president is working on these names obviously with
his trusted lieutenants and it will take time for the names to be known.
“One
assurance that party members who have been following events at the party are
aware of is that Biti could find himself in the cold or could walk out of the
whole thing completely. He still has time on his side to start a new life
elsewhere.”
But Biti told The Zimbabwe Times: “The onus is on the party to
decide who goes into the animal called a government of national unity with
Zanu-PF. I am not at liberty to dictate what the party thinks is best for this
country. Let the process (of forming the new government) take place and let us
see who will be part of it.”
Party spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa also said
there was need for patience as the government formulation process was not an
easy task.
“People should wait. We are a few days away from the (SADC)
deadline of forming a new government. What is the rush about names and who will
be part of it. That is a process and we should all be patient for the outcome,”
Chamisa said.
Should he be left in the cold, our sources say, Biti would be
expected to lead the reform of party structures which the sources argue could be
the only opportunity availed to him to maneuver his way towards being the best
candidate to being the next leader of the
MDC.
______________________________________________
http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=4219
by Nokuthula
Sibanda Saturday 07 February 2009
* * * * * * * * *
RAYMOND MAJONGWE . .
. wants the least paid teacher to earn US$ 2 200 per month
Harare
The
Zimbabwe government has called on all teachers who have not yet reported for
duty to do so or face replacement.
Secretary for Education, Sport and Culture
Stephen Mahere on Thursday said teachers who do not report for duty by Monday
next week would be replaced.
"Where there may still be vacancies after 9
February such vacancies should be filled by engaging student teachers on
teaching practice, retired teachers and other temporary teachers," Mahere
said.
Thousands of Zimbabwean teachers went on strike demanding better
working conditions, and lately remuneration in foreign currency as the new
school term started on January 27, highlighting the country’s deepening
crisis.
Mahere, who two weeks ago directed school heads to take disciplinary
action against teachers who failed to report for duty, expressed disappointment
that critical time meant for student development was being lost due to lack of
teaching at most schools.
"Given the importance of education to the
development of the child and the importance of a strong bond between the teacher
and learner, the education system cannot afford to lose anymore time," he
said.
He said of concern was the low turnout of teachers at former Group B
and council schools.
Mahere said government was aware of the teachers'
concerns and was doing everything possible to address the challenges.
He
advised teachers experiencing specific challenges to approach their school heads
or responsible authorities for assistance.
Very little learning took place at
public schools in 2008 as teachers spent the better part of the year striking
for more pay or sitting at home because they could not afford bus fare to work
on their meagre salaries.
Political violence that swept across the country
following the defeat of President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU PF party in
elections in March further disrupted learning, particularly in rural areas as
teachers fled to the safety of urban areas.
The militant Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), one of two unions representing teachers in the
country, has said it wanted the least paid teacher to earn US$ 2 200 per month,
claiming that army generals and top government officials were being paid in hard
cash.
The Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA) has also said it had since
last October lobbied the government to pay teachers in US dollars because nearly
every basic commodity or service provider is charging in hard cash.
Paying
teachers in forex would also help stem a severe brain that has seen thousands of
teachers leave the country for better paying jobs abroad, according to ZIMTA
chief executive Sifiso Ndlovu.
Since schools opened on January 27 this year,
attendance of both teachers and pupils has been low at most rural and
high-density schools as most parents are failing to raise the required fees in
foreign currency while some teachers have left the profession.
With its value
eroded daily by the world’s highest inflation of more than 231 million percent,
the Zimbabwe dollar is nearly worthless, and both consumers and traders are
increasingly shunning the currency in favour of hard cash.
A collapsed
currency is the most visible sign of Zimbabwe’s deepening economic and
humanitarian crisis that is also seen in rising acute shortages of food and
basic commodities, amid outbreaks of killer diseases such as cholera and
anthrax.
The crisis has triggered a severe brain drain with thousands of
skilled professionals, among them teachers, bankers, lawyers, doctors and
engineers fleeing Zimbabwe to go abroad seeking better pay and living
conditions.
The PTUZ said more than 35 000 teachers left the profession last
year in search of greener pastures in neighboring countries, especially South
Africa and Botswana.
The union says the country requires 150 000 qualified
teachers for effective teaching but has plus or minus 75 000 teachers with
nearly half of them untrained.
Zimbabweans hope a government of national
unity between Mugabe, opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party
leader Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara, who heads a breakaway faction of
the MDC could pull the country from its crises.
The Southern African
Development Community (SADC) last week directed Zimbabwe’s rival political
parties to urgently form the unity government, ordering that outstanding issues
be dealt with between the parties’ negotiators before a unity government is put
in place by February
13.
ZimOnline
______________________________________________
http://www.zimonline.co.za/Article.aspx?ArticleId=4220
by Own
Correspondent
Saturday 07 February 2009
JOHANNESBURG
Zimbabwe's new
coalition government may not extradite Ethiopia's former Marxist ruler Mengistu
Haile Mariam, an opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) party official
told reporters on Friday.
The MDC, which has agreed to form an inclusive
government with President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU PF party, said it would seriously
consider extraditing Mengistu if it were forming a government by itself.
"But
what we are going to have is a government of national unity, and decisions there
will have to be reached through some consensus and I don't know whether that's
going to be possible," said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa.
Mengistu fled to
Zimbabwe in 1991 following an armed uprising against his rule and was granted
political asylum by his old friend, Mugabe.
The Zimbabwe government last year
said it would not extradite former Ethiopian dictator Mengistu who was sentenced
to death by his country’s supreme court for human rights abuses during his
17-year reign.
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said Mengistu would remain
under the protection of the government, pointing out that the former dictator
gave valuable support to nationalists fighting for Zimbabwe’s independence from
Britain.
Mengistu, a former army colonel who ruled Ethiopia from 1974 to 1991
with an iron fist, was last May sentenced to death alongside 18 of his former
senior officials.
The Ethiopian Supreme Court quashed a life sentence imposed
on Mengistu by a lower court saying the sentence was not commensurate to the
gravity of the crimes committed by the former dictator and his
cohorts.
Mengistu, a self-styled Marxist driven from power by Meles Zenawe’s
armed rebels, has ever since his overthrow spent his time in the lap of luxury
in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare.
Some experts say 150 000 university
students, intellectuals and politicians were killed in a nationwide purge by
Mengistu's regime, though no one knows for sure how many suspected opponents
were killed.
Human Rights Watch described the 1977-78 campaign known as the
Red Terror as "one of the most systematic uses of mass murder by a state ever
witnessed in Africa".
Mengistu, who now reportedly works as a security
consultant to Mugabe, is said to have advised the Zimbabwean leader to pre-empt
a possible mass revolt by depopulating opposition-supporting urban areas through
the controversial slum-clearing exercise in 2005.
The slum demolition
exercise, condemned by the United Nations as a violation of poor people’s
rights, left at least 700 000 Zimbabweans without home or food while another 2.4
million people were also indirectly affected by the clean-up
exercise.
Zimbabwe’s political rivals are in the process of forming a unity
government as directed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) last
week.
Mugabe will remain President in the coalition government while MDC
leader Morgan Tsvangirai becomes Prime Minister and rebel opposition faction
leader Arthur Mutambara takes up one of the two Deputy Premier’s post.
The
extent of the MDC's influence in the new administration remains
unclear.
Yoseph Kiros, the special prosecutor during the trial of Mengistu
and other senior officers, welcomed any chance that prospects for extraditing
Mengistu could have improved, saying any such decision by Zimbabwe "would bestow
great honour on that
country".
ZimOnline
______________________________________________
The Herald
2009 02 07
Beitbridge
Bureau.
Crossborder transport operators in Beitbridge have over the past few
days reported a slump in business following the recent introduction of payment
of duty in foreign currency for all imported goods by the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority.
Transport operators said the number of crossborder traders going
to South Africa had since the latest development gone down, resulting in a drop
in business.
"We normally rely on these people who cross into South Africa
daily to buy groceries, building materials and other goods for resale back home,
but since the introduction of duty in foreign currency the number of these
people has since gone
down and we are no longer getting meaningful business,"
said Mr Muvhuso Muleya, one of the transporters.
Zimra and the New Limpopo
Bridge Company last week also switched to foreign currency, the road access fees
and toll bridge fees.
All motorists entering Zimbabwe are now required to pay
100 rand road access fee, which until recently was $ 500 billion.
However,
light vehicles either entering or leaving Zimbabwe are now supposed to pay 100
rand toll fee for using the bridge while heavy vehicles are to pay 150
rand.
Prior to the latest development, motorists were paying between $ 500
billion and $ 1 trillion depending on the day’s inter-bank exchange rate.
In
the past, only foreign-registered vehicles were required to pay in foreign
currency. - Beitbridge
Bureau.
______________________________________________
The Herald
2009 02 07
Court Reporter
A
driver with the United States Agency for International Development, who is
accused of attempting to assassinate Air Force of Zimbabwe Commander Air Marshal
Perrance Shiri, has been denied bail.
High Court judge Justice Alfas
Chitakunye yesterday dismissed the application for bail by Frank
Muchirahondo.
He was arrested on January 22 at Forbes Border Post in Mutare
en route to Mozambique. In his ruling, Justice Chitakunye accepted the State’s
contention that if Muchirahondo was granted bail he would abscond.
The court
also noted that Muchirahondo was facing a serious charge that attracted a
lengthy term of imprisonment, which could induce him to flee.
Muchirahondo
was denied bail by the Bindura Magistrates’ Courts where he appeared last month
facing charges of attempted murder.
Through his lawyer Mr Bernard Chidziva,
Muchirahondo petitioned the court to release him on bail saying he was
innocent.
Mr Chidziva cited the weakness of the State’s case as the basis to
warrant the court to grant him bail.
He argued that the affidavit by the
investigating officer contained unsubstantiated allegations that made it
impossible to create a reasonable suspicion warranting the incarceration of
Muchirahondo.
But the prosecution insisted Muchirahondo was the only person
seen leaving the scene after the shooting and was driving a high-powered Toyota
Land Cruiser. To allay the prosecution’s fears, the lawyer suggested that his
client be granted bail coupled with stringent conditions.
But Mr Beaven
Marevenhema of the Attorney-General’s Office urged the court to reject the
defence’s application saying there was overwhelming evidence against
Muchirahondo.
He said Muchirahondo was facing a serious offence that
attracted a lengthy jail term upon conviction.
Mr Marevenhema said
Muchirahondo’s employers displayed an intention to facilitate his departure from
Zimbabwe and said Muchirahondo was not co-operative with the police.
The
State alleges that Muchirahondo shot and injured Air Marshal Shiri on the night
of December 10, 2008 as the AFZ chief was driving to his farm in Shamva, hitting
him in the right palm at around
8:30pm.
______________________________________________
The Herald
2009 02 07
Herald
Reporter
HEALTH professionals across the country have started receiving
allowances in foreign currency as an emergency measure to keep the health sector
going, the United Nations Children’s Fund has said.
Unicef spokesperson Miss
Tsitsi Singizi said her organisation budgeted enough for all health employees in
Zimbabwe but that payments were being made only to staff reporting for
work.
"We would like to re-emphasise that this is only a top-up allowance to
health workers’ salaries and that it is not our responsibility to pay them. It
remains Government’s responsibility to pay salaries for its employees," Miss
Singizi said. The payments, which began on Tuesday with Parirenyatwa Group of
Hospitals staff, are expected to extend to other parts of the country by next
week.
Miss Singizi said the allowances were worked out using the salary scale
provided by Government.
"We did not come up with our own figures. Instead,
stakeholders, in conjunction with Government, agreed to use the Government
salary scale to come up with the figures," she said.
Miss Singizi was
responding to concerns about some of the amounts received by employees, which
are as low as US$ 10, while some nurses and junior doctors who last reported for
work in November did not receive anything.
Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’
Association president Dr Kudakwashe Chimedza described the development as
"unfair" and likely to worsen the situation in public health
institutions.
"We were not coming to work because we did not have money. When
we resolved to call off the strike, it was after a promise that we would be
given allowances. But now that they have neglected us, we have no option but to
stay at home," Dr Chimedza said.
He said most of those who had benefited from
the allowances were administration staff.
"It’s not fair. Most people who got
the allowances were from administration and none from nurses or junior doctors,"
he said.
Junior doctors and nurses returned to work on Monday last week, but
most of them had not started work as they were still setting up equipment in the
departments which had been closed due to the
strike.
______________________________________________
http://allafrica.com/stories/200902060754.html
6 February 2009
A
United Nations humanitarian mission will be going later this month to Zimbabwe,
where the worst ever cholera outbreak in the country's history has now claimed
almost 3,400 lives, the world body announced today.
The UN World Health
Organization (WHO) said that as of 5 February, nearly 68,000 cases of cholera
have been reported since the outbreak began last August, and of those, 3,371
people have died.
The mission, led by the UN Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), will visit the southern African nation from 21 to
25 February and will also include the participation of WHO, the UN Children's
Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP).
Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon had announced on Monday that he would send such a mission to Zimbabwe,
following his meeting with President Robert Mugabe on the margins of the recent
African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
Mr. Ban had urged Mr. Mugabe to take
immediate steps to address the humanitarian and economic crises plaguing the
country, uphold the human rights and democratic freedoms of all Zimbabweans, and
promote national reconciliation, as he welcomed the power-sharing deal reached
by the Government and the
opposition.
______________________________________________
http://allafrica.com/stories/200902060822.html
Ecumenical News
International (Geneva)
6 February 2009
In its release from Zimbabwe it
stated, "We realise that this is not a triumph of African solutions and
principles but a reproach because it indicates that the voice of the people as
stated democratically through the ballot box in March 2008 has not been
recognised or respected.
"It is our sincere hope and prayer, however, that
God Almighty will intervene and this transitional arrangement will lead to real
democracy and consequently to justice, reconciliation, peace and prosperity to
our troubled land. At present the people of Zimbabwe are rather suspicious and
anxious. They need confidence building measures to be put in place to indicate
sincerity and the political will to transform the country."
On 6 February, a
Zimbabwean judge dropped charges of treason against the secretary general of the
Movement for Democratic Change party's, Tendai Biti, who had had faced a
possible death sentence after being accused of plotting a coup against President
Robert Mugabe.
On the same day in Geneva, the World Health Organization,
citing figures from Zimbabwe's health ministry, said that a cholera outbreak in
the southern African country has killed 3371 people and infected 67 945 since it
began in August.
The ZCA said it was anxious to see success for the national
unity government agreement hammered out in Pretoria.
"The people of Zimbabwe
have suffered enough," said the Christian grouping. "We would, therefore, like
to see a number of actions by the inclusive government to prove that they hold
the welfare and the interests of the people of Zimbabwe above their own
political power."
The alliance's demands included:
- Establishment of the
rule of law established in the country immediately and all political prisoners
released forthwith.
- Measures be taken to ensure agencies of government are
be apolitical in their delivery of services.
- That NGO's be free to
distribute food and other commodities without interference from government.
-
That the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe returns to its original mandate of keeping the
resources and distributing them as directed by the government, "instead of
meddling in politics and serving partisan interests".
- That the framework of
issues of transitional justice and reconciliation be worked out together with
the Church to heal the "cancer at the heart of the nation".
- That the
constitutional reform process begins according to the schedule agreed to and
that the process will allow all Zimbabweans to contribute meaningfully to the
process.
______________________________________________
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article5679369.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=797093
From
The Times
February 7, 2009
Martin Fletcher in Harare
Winfilda
Potoroya’s family could not begin to afford two or three hundred dollars for a
proper funeral when the 36-year-old mother died of Aids last week.
So they
improvised: they paid the police a Z$ 40 bribe to avoid the costs of
transporting her body to the mortuary, having a postmortem examination and
obtaining a death certificate. They cut a wardrobe in half for a coffin and put
a mattress beneath her decomposing corpse when it began leaking fluids. They
rented a street vendor’s trolley for another Z$ 10 and wheeled the makeshift
coffin eight miles (12km) to a patch of common land that has become an
unofficial cemetery for Zimbabwe’s poorest. There they paid Z$ 1 for a plot and
laid their mother to rest - mattress and all - in a hole they dug
themselves.
The whole affair cost Z$ 51 (less than 1p), raised largely
through donations from friends and neighbours, but it was hardly a dignified
send-off. Mrs Potoroya’s body was wrapped in old blankets, not the customary
shroud. Barely a dozen mourners attended the burial because the family could not
afford food for a wake. Her headstone will be an old wooden board.
The manner
of her burial has merely compounded her family’s grief. “I’m very upset . . .
The way she was buried is giving me nightmares,” said her daughter, Memory, 14,
who fears that her mother’s spirit will be angry. “It’s very painful, but when
you have no money what can you do?” asked Edisi Masarambani, 74, Mrs Potoroya’s
grandmother.
Such stories are common in Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe, where 3,000
people a week die from Aids alone, life expectancy is the lowest in the world
and 94 per cent are unemployed. It has become a country where millions can
barely afford to live but the cost of dying is even more prohibitive. “For many
a death in the family is financially an absolute disaster,” said Oscar Wermter,
a Jesuit priest who works in Mbare, one of Harare’s poorest districts, and often
receives desperate appeals for help from the bereaved.
In happier times
Zimbabweans clubbed together to form burial societies, paying monthly dues into
a common pot that would finance funerals, but with saved money halving in value
almost daily most have long since collapsed.
An official told The Times that
each month roughly 50 adults and 180 children receive paupers’ burials in mass
graves at Harare’s municipal Granville cemetery. Father Wermter said that such
conduct showed “the depth and enormity of [Zimbabwe’s] present disaster . . .
Shona culture believes in the ongoing relationship between the living and the
dead, and not to bury a person properly would cause people to be gripped by
terrible fear that their ancestors might take revenge.”
Roadside vendors sell
flimsy coffins for Z$ 50 but even if they had the money there is another reason
why Zimbabweans might hesitate to spend lavishly nowadays. The graveyards
attract thieves. Expensive coffins have to be covered in concrete so that they
are not plundered for their brass handles. Slabs of plain granite vanish within
days. “It’s rampant,” the owner of a gravestone company said. On the rare
occasions when he sells a tombstone he makes sure that its surfaces are all
covered with inscriptions.
______________________________________________
http://www.buanews.gov.za:80/news/09/09020610451001
Compiled by the
Government Communication and Information System (RSA)
Date: 06 Feb
2009
Title: Zimbabwe's senate passes Constitution Amendment
Bill
---------------
Harare
Zimbabwe's Senate has passed the
Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 19, paving the way for the establishment of
an inclusive government.
The Bill now awaits the signature of President
Robert Mugabe to enact it into law after 72 senators who were in the House
Thursday voted for its passage with no votes cast against it.
The Lower House
had earlier on Thursday endorsed the deal which will see the country's main
political parties forming a coalition government, expected to be in place by the
end of next week.
President Mugabe will retain the presidency under the
power-sharing deal, while Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the main Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) faction, will be appointed Prime Minister, and Arthur
Mutambara of the breakaway MDC faction the deputy prime minister.
The parties
will, among other things, also share Cabinet posts.
Presenting the Bill in
the Senate, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa
said the passage of the deal would be historic as it would usher in a new era in
the way Zimbabwe was governed.
A lot of hurdles had been faced and
compromises made for the Bill to be acceptable to all parties, he said.
"It
has been a long, frustrating, erratic, bumpy and quarrelsome journey
characterized by animosities, disagreements, mutual dislikes, name calling,
mutual demonisations, vilifications of each other's policies and leaderships,"
Mr Chinamasa told the Senate.
"But, notwithstanding the negatives, what is
important and significant is that we have managed to reach this far and for that
we remain forever grateful to our people and for their resilience, understanding
and support."
Mr Chinamasa gave a brief account of how the negotiations
between President Mugabe's Zanu PF and the MDC factions began way back in 2002
but had met various setbacks until finally an agreement was signed last
year.
Following the passage of the Bill, he said "it is now time for the
inclusive government train to leave the station" to applause from senators.
A
representative of the Tsvangirai-led faction of the MDC, Sekai Holland,
traditional chiefs' representative Chief Fortune Charumbira as well as David
Coltart, a representative of the smaller MDC faction, told Senate it was vital
for all parties to the deal to support it, as it was one instrument which would
take the country forward.
Admitting that the Bill was imperfect, they all
agreed that it was the only viable solution to addressing the seemingly
insurmountable challenges Zimbabwe was facing.
"The Bill is flawed and has
many potential pitfalls but that is inevitable because what we are debating is a
product of compromise," said Mr Coltart.
"This process will not work unless
we listen to each other."
The Bill has both permanent and temporary
amendments of the Zimbabwe Constitution.
The temporary amendments would only
be in effect for as long as the inclusive government is in place.
Formation
of the inclusive government has taken more than five months after the initial
signing of the agreements as a result of hardline stances taken by both Zanu PF
and the MDC over issues that the latter wanted addressed before joining the
envisaged government.
The Tsvangirai-led MDC finally agreed to participate in
the government last Friday. -
BuaNews-NNN
______________________________________________
http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/outside060209.htm
OUTSIDE
LOOKING IN
2009 02 06 ~
Dear Friends.
Another week of waiting for
an end to the nightmare that is Zimbabwe in 2009. When I wrote last week we
thought we were on the verge of a solution - however imperfect it was. After all
SADC in their wisdom had even given us the precise dates when all the various
steps would be taken that would install a so-called Government of National
Unity. Surely nothing could be easier; rather like a kids’ picture book game,
all the politicians had to do was to join up the dots and the picture would
emerge. The cameras showed us hundreds of people waiting on the streets outside
Harvest House for Morgan Tsvangirai to tell them that he had done his part. He
had agreed to join the GNU subject to the settlement of outstanding issues. Was
Zimbabwe at last on the way to a settlement that would bring Zimbabwe back into
the community of democratic nations?
As the week progressed, it became very
clear that Zanu PF were playing their usual childish but deadly games. First,
they delayed the necessary tabling of the Constitutional Amendment that would
install Morgan Tsvangirai as Prime Minister and Arthur Mutambara as his Deputy.
Zanu said it had no mandate to take such a step; what they really meant was that
Robert Mugabe was out of the country and without his presence they were
unwilling to act. And where was the Dear Leader at this crucial time in the
country’s history?
No sooner had Morgan Tsvangirai announced he would join
the GNU Robert Mugabe had flown off to the AU summit in Addis Ababa where his
old comrade, Muammar Gaddafi was installed as the new head of the AU. In
reality, of course, Mugabe was touting for support - or was it for fuel and arms
- from his African brothers. Meanwhile, at home the police and the courts
continued to act as if nothing had changed: Jestina Mukoko and the other
activists were refused bail again; students were arrested for demonstrating
against the announcement by the University of Zimbabwe’s announcement that they
would all have to find $ 400 US entrance fee to sit their end of semester exams.
MDC’s Star Rally, due to be held last Sunday was cancelled by the police and
even more significantly, Tendayi Biti’s treason trial was postponed. Biti faces
two charges: one, that he pre-empted the announcement of election results by
announcing that the MDC and Morgan Tsvangirai had won the March election. This
was after the ZEC had delayed announcing the results for five weeks and two,
that Biti had written and published a letter calling for the unconstitutional
overthrow of Robert Mugabe’s government. It is no coincidence that Tendayi Biti
is one of the chief negotiators in the MDC’s team. By holding the threat of a
treason trial over his head and by refusing bail for the other activists it is
clear what game Mugabe and Zanu are playing. Once again they are using the
judiciary and the police to ensure they have the upper hand; it is in effect
blackmail: play the game according to our rules or your people will face capital
charges which, incidentally, carry the death sentence in Zimbabwe.
However
much people, and I include myself, want to believe that the GNU will bring peace
to our troubled land, what is abundantly clear is that we are dealing with a
vicious and corrupt regime that simply does not know the meaning of the word
‘Truth’. All along the state-controlled media have sought to portray the MDC as
a party of western puppets bent on bringing back colonial rule to Zimbabwe. The
truth is that the only unity Zanu PF is interested in is one that will allow
them to get their hands on international investment. Here’s what Bright Matonga
said to the BBC, “We will respect property rights, we will respect the issue of
declaration and repatriation of dividends. So really we are inviting people in
manufacturing, in tourism, in farming, in mining.” And in the very week Matonga
made this remark, the President’s wife seized the farm of one Judge Ben
Hlatshwayo.
The learned judge had himself seized the farm from a prominent
and highly successful white farmer and is said to be furious at Grace Mugabe’s
action. She apparently wants the farm as a gift for her son from her first
marriage. So much for respect for property rights; rumour has it that Judge
Hlatshwayo will sue Grace Mugabe. How will they ever find an honest judge to
preside when we all know the judges have themselves been guilty of similar
thefts! No honour among thieves is the phrase that comes to mind.
Finally, on
Thursday the Constitutional Amendment was passed unanimously in the Lower House
and subject to its passing through the Senate, Morgan Tsvangirai will be sworn
in as Prime Minister on Wednesday February 11th. Despite this, the US and the EU
will not lift sanctions or resume financial aid until they are convinced that
there is genuine power sharing. They say that a week is a long time in politics;
in Zanu PF politics it can be a death sentence and who knows what dirty tricks
they may still have up their sleeves before this next week is out. As Morgan
Tsvangirai and the MDC prepare to share power with Zanu PF the ‘political
analysts’ will be out in force no doubt, predicting doom and condemning
Tsvangirai for ‘selling out’ but for the suffering masses it is a tiny glimmer,
no more, of hope. “ Let us make no mistake,” said Morgan Tsvangirai in his
statement announcing his party’s decision, “by joining an inclusive government,
we are not saying this is the solution to Zimbabwe’s crisis, instead our
participation signifies that we have chosen to continue the struggle for a
democratic Zimbabwe in a new arena…We have the majority in parliament, we
control all the main urban councils and many rural councils, we will have
control of 13 ministries and a presence in the key decision-making bodies of the
executive…The struggle continues.”
If this is not the end of Zimbabwe’s
nightmare it is perhaps the beginning of the end?
Yours in the (continuing)
struggle PH. aka Pauline Henson author of Countdown a political detective story
based in Zimbabwe and available on
Lulu.com.
______________________________________________
http://www.humanrights-geneva.info:80/U-N-Rights-Council-Turning-into,4098
6
February 09
UN Watch
The peer review sessions of the 47-nation U.N. Human
Rights Council are being misused by countries to praise allies and criticize
enemies instead of highlighting genuine cases of abuse, a non-governmental human
rights group said today.
According to a 124-page study by the Geneva-based
U.N. Watch, entitled “Mutual Praise Society,” only 8 of the 47 member states of
the Human Rights Council, including Canada, France and Britain, took a
constructive approach to scrutinizing each other’s human rights records.
U.N.
Watch rated the performance of 32 other countries-including Russia, Iran, China
and Cuba-as detrimental to destructive. The report evaluated 300 speeches made
by 55 countries, including several that participate in the council as non-voting
observers.
“While the U.N. promised to reform itself with a procedure that
would hold all countries to account on an objective and equal basis, and help
human rights victims worldwide, instead the council has turned into a mutual
praise society, giving a free pass to the world’s worst abusers,” said U.N.
Watch director Hillel Neuer.
“This week alone, we saw Libya praise Cuba for
‘promoting freedom of thought and expression,’ when Havana continues to keep
human rights defenders and journalists behind bars,” said Neuer. “And today
China praised Saudi Arabia for its record on women’s rights, when they can
neither vote nor drive a car.”
“But it’s not just repressive regimes
protecting each other. Many democracies, too, are failing to review countries
seriously, with some-like India, South Africa and Uruguay-undermining the
process by congratulating countries for practices that deserve condemnation,”
said Neuer.
The Saudi representative told the council today that, “We do not
have a religious problem with women driving, but our polls shows 80 percent do
not believe that women should drive cars, and we respect the wishes of people
and respect gradual developments.”
Key Findings and Recommendations
1. The
primary innovation of the UN Human Rights Council is its Universal Periodic
Review (UPR) mechanism, which is meant to review the human rights records of all
192 UN member states, once every four years. According to the Council’s
Institution-Building Package of 2007, UPR’s objectives are to achieve “the
improvement of the human rights situation on the ground” in the country under
review, and “the fulfilment of the State’s human rights obligations and
commitments.” Reviews are to be conducted in an “objective,” “non-selective” and
“non politicized” manner.
2. The substantial data compiled in this study
reveals, however, that the reviews conducted by the vast majority of countries
participating in the UPR process are failing to achieve its stated purpose. More
than 300 UPR interventions were analyzed and evaluated, as detailed in 12
country charts. Out of 55 countries examined-including all 47 members of the UN
Human Rights Council-only 19 had average scores indicating that they contributed
positively. Tragically, a majority of 32 out of 55 countries acted as a mutual
praise society, misusing the process in order to legitimize human rights
abusers, instead of holding them to account. (Four were neither positive nor
negative: two with average scores of 0, and another two having made no
interventions in any of the country reviews examined.)
3. As shown in Table
1, of the 19 countries with overall positive scores-who properly used the UPR
process to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms-Canada was the only
country that ranked as VERY CONSTRUCTIVE. It was the most consistent in
vigorously challenging countries on specific human rights issues, with strong
interventions that support the UPR’s purpose of reminding countries of their
responsibilities in order to help victims and address human rights violations
wherever they occur. We recommend that Canada continue to hold all countries to
account, particularly the world’s worst abusers, and that other countries
follow.
4. Close behind were France, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Slovenia,
Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States, all of whom were rated as
CONSTRUCTIVE. We recommend that these nations-which include some the world’s
leading democracies-undertake to do better. While it is in the nature of
governments to balk at confronting other countries for fear of affecting
friendly diplomatic relations, human rights cannot be neglected, and countries
must live up to their obligations as participants in the UPR process. The UN
member states that conduct UPR will only engender accountability from the
country under review, and thereby protect human rights victims, to the extent
that they pose tough and specific questions for each country under review.
5.
Another 10 countries were found to have made contributions to the review process
that were positive, yet WEAK: Argentina, Australia, Bosnia, Brazil, Chile,
Italy, Japan, Slovakia, South Korea and Zambia. That so many respected
democracies choose to ask soft questions, shying away from pointedly addressing
violations and ensuring scrutiny, is unacceptable. We urge a dramatic shift in
approach by countries that should be leading by example. (Included also in this
same category were two countries whose contributions were neither positive nor
negative: Cameroon and Ukraine.)
6. The rankings in Table 1 reflect only the
average quality of interventions made. They do not measure the quantity of
statements, the statistics for which are available in Tables 2 and 3.
Switzerland, for example, spoke only in 6 out of the 12 country reviews examined
in this report. Similarly, the United States spoke in only 7 of the 12 reviews,
and of late has been silent at UPR sessions. Argentina, Bosnia, Chile and
Slovakia spoke only a handful of times. We recommend that all countries-in
particular, those who are members of the Human Rights Council-fulfill their
duties by participating meaningfully in the UPR process.
7. Regrettably, a
majority of the countries examined in this report not only failed to fulfill the
stated objective of UPR, but acted to undermine it. Their interventions praised
and covered up for the country reviewed, effectively blocking, undermining and
spoiling genuine scrutiny of violations. When violators are granted impunity,
victims are let down. This group includes five countries whose interventions
were rated as DETRIMENTAL: Bolivia, Ghana, Russia, South Africa and Uruguay.
Even worse, 11 countries were rated in their performance as VERY DETRIMENTAL:
Angola, Egypt, Jordan, India, Iran, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nicaragua,
Saudi Arabia and Senegal.
8. The 16 worst UPR performers of all,
however-countries that specifically praised, legitimized and encouraged country
policies and practices that violate human rights-were rated as DESTRUCTIVE:
Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Indonesia, Libya,
Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, the Philippines, Qatar, Syria, Sudan and
Zimbabwe.
9. The report demonstrates that bloc affiliations played an
important role in determining how countries reviewed each other. For example, as
a rule, members of the 57-strong Organization of the Islamic Conference strongly
praised each other’s records. As a result, some of the poorest overall reviews
were those performed on Algeria, Bahrain, Morocco and Tunisia, closely followed
by Pakistan and Uzbekistan. We urge all UN members states not to allow bloc
politics to override their obligation to conduct UPR reviews in an objective,
non-selective and non-politicized manner.
10. While almost all of the
countries that acted positively in UPR rank as free democracies under the annual
survey by Freedom House, not all free democracies acted positively. On average,
the UPR interventions of Ghana, India, Indonesia, Mauritius, Senegal, South
Africa and Uruguay undermined human rights, while those of Ukraine were neither
negative nor positive. It is time for democratic countries at the UN to act like
democracies.
11. Each of the 12 country charts in this report begins with a
list of human rights violations committed by the country under review, as
documented by respected human rights NGOs, along with a link to the official UN
compilation of NGO submissions on that country’s record. Regrettably, as the
charts show, most country interventions failed to consider this NGO information,
and failed to address the most prevalent human rights violations.
12. We urge
the Human Rights Council to allow reliable NGO information to play a far greater
role. We recommend an end to the exclusion of NGOs from the oral debate of
review sessions. Moreover, in the modest time currently allotted to NGOs during
the Human Rights Council’s plenary sessions that treat each UPR report, the
freedom of speech of NGOs must be protected. States that frivolously interrupt
NGOs on one or another pretext should be disciplined by the council President.
At the same time, the UN secretariat should beware of submissions by
“GONGOs”-phony, government-controlled NGOs-that seek to subvert the
system.
See online: Full Text of the Report at
-
http://www.unwatch.org/atf/cf/%7B6DEB65DA-BE5B-4CAE-8056-8BF0BEDF4D17%7D/Mutual%20Praise%20Society.pdf
______________________________________________
http://allafrica.com/stories/200902060604.html
Claudio Schuftan,
Laura Turiano and Abhay Shukla
6 February 2009
--------
Over the last
two years, the People's Health Movement (PHM) campaign has advanced
significantly in Africa.
It now has active, funded campaigns in the DR Congo,
Congo-Brazzaville, Benin, Burkina Faso, Togo and Cameroon, with Zimbabwe and
South Africa also involved (without receiving PHM funding), as well as advanced
negotiations to launch the campaign in Senegal and Djibouti. Elsewhere, new PHM
circles have been formed in the last three months in Mali, Kenya, Morocco and
Uganda, where representatives will be submitting campaign proposals shortly. The
countries that are on the verge of completing the assessment are now eligible
for small, additional funding to hold national workshops through which to
present the results to their respective governments, along with UN agencies,
international and national NGOs and the media.
To put the People's Health
Movement campaign in perspective, we wanted to share with Pambazuka readers the
principle in which it is based. The progressive weakening of public health
systems, the growing privatisation of healthcare and the erosion of universal
access to healthcare are worldwide phenomena. The health sector globally is
still dominated by vertical and technocentric approaches, often supported by
'public-private partnerships' active at several levels.
There is therefore an
urgent need to replace this dominant discourse with a process aimed at
universally achieving the 'right to health and to healthcare' as the main
objective. In this way, we can hope to achieve more equitable healthcare systems
in both developing and developed countries. To counter and reverse the tide
promoting 'healthcare as a commodity', there is a need to establish a global
consensus on 'healthcare as a right'. Human rights violations are not accidents,
they are not random in distribution or effect and are acutely linked to social
conditions. It is the socio-political forces at work that determine the risk of
most forms of human rights violations. Our understanding of human rights
violations is thus based on broader analyses of power and social inequality and
their social, economic and political determinants. The promotion of equity is
the central ingredient for respecting human rights in health. It is mostly the
poor who are the victims and they have too little voice and no influence, let
alone rights. It is inequities of power that prevent the poor from accessing the
opportunities they need to move out of poverty. Structures and not just
individuals must be changed if this state of affairs is to change.
Since laws
designed to protect human rights and the right to health are mostly not applied,
what additional measures have to be taken?
This is what the People's Health
Movement's 'Right to Health and Health Care Campaign' (RTHHC) sets out to
explore. It is not enough to improve the situation of the poor within existing
social relationships. Rights are claimed through social action and the latter
depends on how power is distributed and used to address health issues. Human
rights legislation alone - without enforcement mechanisms - is not up to the
task of relieving suffering already at hand. Rights are not equal to laws, they
are realised through social action and by changing prevailing power relations.
Rights cannot be advanced but through the organised efforts of the state and of
civil society. To work on behalf of the victims of violations of the right to
health invariably means becoming deeply involved in pressing for social and
economic rights.
Public health must be linked to a return to social justice.
Denial of care to those who do not pay is simply legitimised in the free-market
system. The commoditisation of healthcare changes people from citizens with
rights to consumers with (or without) purchasing power. This leaves those who
are economically marginalised also marginalised from accessing comprehensive
healthcare. The global campaign proposed by the PHM is a step in the direction
outlined above, seeking the social transformations indispensable to resolving
the current inequities found in health.
THE RIGHT TO HEALTH: A HOLISTIC
OVERVIEW
The right to health has been defined as the 'right to the enjoyment
of a variety of facilities, goods, services and conditions necessary for the
realization of the highest attainable standard of health'. This right includes
both the right to all the underlying determinants of health (such as water, food
security, housing, sanitation, education, and safe and healthy working and
living environments), and the right to healthcare itself and the entire range of
preventive, curative and rehabilitative services including education and
activities around promoting good health.
In practice, this suggests two types
of tasks for the global health movement: tackling the right to all the
underlying determinants of health, and strengthening the right to healthcare.
Tackling the right to the underlying determinants of health includes supporting
and even co-initiating campaigns or initiatives addressing key health
determinants (for example, campaigns for water, for food security, and for
housing). There are initiatives already underway on behalf of these rights,
initiatives which are not necessarily spearheaded by health activists. We
contend that the focal point for each of these initiatives should be the
organisations with the most experience and commitment to a particular issue, be
it water, food security, housing, or the environment.
This recognition places
an obligation on health activists to actively support and strengthen such
initiatives, though not necessarily to take up the responsibility of primary
leadership of such groups. When liaising with these groups, PHM will bring the
health perspective to their campaigns. An additional important role that has to
be played by health activists is to help document violations of the right to the
underlying determinants of health, for example, by showing how the denial of
food security leads to worsening malnutrition, increased morbidity and
mortality. Health-based arguments can significantly strengthen the demands of
claim-holders to tackle these determinants from a right-to-health
perspective.
STRENGTHENING THE RIGHT TO HEALTHCARE
The global health
movement has a primary and unquestionable responsibility to take the lead on the
right to healthcare. We are all witnesses to the often catastrophic consequences
of the lack of economic access to adequate healthcare and the poverty trap that
leads to avoidable mortality.
What then does the right to health imply and
what is the added value of the human rights-based approach?
In every
development process, there are three types of actors: Claim-holders, duty
bearers, and agents of accountability. When the state does not respect human
rights, claim-holders have to demand their rights directly from the duty bearers
in government, all the while interacting with agents of accountability in the
form of human rights commissions, ombudsmen, and human-rights-oriented NGOs who
oversee the procedures being put in place by government and make sure duty
bearers fulfil their obligations, including remedies and restitutions.
If
claim-holders do not do this, they are partly responsible for their situation.
One can thus say that it is also the duty of those of us who are aware of human
rights to generate awareness about the bases of these rights, in partnership
with the marginalised and underserved groups we work with. When the right to
health is violated and when the poor, the marginalised and the discriminated, as
claim-holders, do not have the capacity to effectively demand their rights,
these rights themselves are also violated because duty bearers do not have the
capacity or the will to fulfil their obligations (technically called
'correlative duties'). Therefore, in a human rights-based approach one has to
carry out three types of analyses: 1) Situation analyses in which one determines
the causes of the problems by placing them in a hierarchical causality-chain of
immediate, underlying and basic causes or determinants; 2) Capacity analyses in
which one determines who are the individuals and institutions that bear the duty
to do something about the causes identified by calling on them to fulfil their
duties (as per their country's obligations as signatories of the UN human rights
convention); and 3) Analysis of and liaison with accountability
agents.
Herein lies the call for human rights activists to carry out rights
awareness work, for instance to educate and inform broader society about what
these rights mean and what accountability mechanisms should be put in place and
made to work. These three types of analyses have to be carried out in
conjunction with representatives from local communities and the beneficiaries of
the health system so that the rights being violated can be jointly identified
and those responsible also be jointly confronted in order that problems be
effectively tackled. Note that the rights activist's ultimate goal is not to
look for health policies that favour the poor as such; what is sought is
significant poverty reduction policies that directly address the social
determinants of health. As rights activists, we are no longer going to go and
beg for changes to be implemented; we are now going to demand them based on
existing international law already in force in most of the countries where we
work.
Disseminating this concept is in itself empowering. We should note that
people in countries that have not ratified these conventions have the same
rights; their problem is simply that their governments have not made a
commitment to honour them. PHM seeks to overcome the culture of silence and
apathy about the human rights violations in health that we all know are
happening, because human rights and the right to health will never be given to
poor, marginalised, discriminated and indigenous persons. Rights are never
given, they have to be fought for!
Fighting for these rights is precisely
what PHM's global RTHHC campaign is attempting to do. As regards the added value
of adopting a human-rights-based framework, several advantages come to mind: 1)
A RTHHC campaign possesses big potential for social mobilisation, and this is an
indispensable part of any campaign; 2) The human rights approach is backed by
international law; 3) The right-to-health approach demands - from a position of
strength - that decision-makers take responsibility; 4) Human rights imply
correlative duties that are universal and indivisible; and 5) The human rights
approach is focused on processes that lead to specific outcomes, and not simply
setting goals like those underpinning the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs).
WHAT MAY BE REALISTICALLY ACHIEVED?
PHM has no illusion that
systematically raising the issue of the 'right to health' will, by itself, lead
to the complete implementation of this right in countries across the globe. The
universal provision of even basic healthcare services involves major budgetary,
operational and systematic changes. In addition to shifting to a rights-based
framework, major political and legal reorientations are needed, and such major
changes cannot be expected to happen in full in the near future, given the
political economy of healthcare in most countries of the world today. PHM
expects, however, to be able work on a number of more achievable objectives,
objectives which can take us towards a broader human rights goal. Some of these
achievable objectives to be considered are: 1) The explicit recognition of the
right to healthcare at country level; 2) The formation, in some countries, of
health rights monitoring bodies (accountability agents) with PHM and civil
society participation; 3) A clearer delineation of health rights at both global
and country levels; 4) The shifting of the focus of the World Health
Organization (WHO) towards health rights and universal access systems and the
strengthening of groups within the WHO that will work along these lines; 5)
Putting the right to healthcare firmly on the global agenda by making it a
central reference point in global health discourse; and (6) Strengthening human
rights activists' networks in as many countries as possible so that all their
members work around a common and broad rallying point while continuing to build
partnerships.
* The People's Health Movement (PHM) is firmly committed to
expanding the Right to Health and Health Care Campaign (RTHHC) in Africa. Any
country not mentioned within this article is welcome to inquire with us how they
can get a PHM circle going. Please contact us at cschuftan@phmovement.org .
*
Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at
http://www.pambazuka.org/