http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
08 February 2012
ZANU PF ‘mischief’ is believed to be behind
recent statements attributed to
the European Union (EU) commissioner in the
country, who was quoted as
dismissing the Gukurahundi massacres as a ‘tired
song’.
The Bulawayo based Sunday News reported over the weekend that EU
Ambassador
Aldo Dell’Ariccia had urged the people of Matabeleland “not to
continue
living in the Gukurahundi past as it has the effect of blurring
their
development vision.” The newspaper quoted Dell’Ariccia as saying that
the
issue of “Gukurahundi has become so much of a tired song in
Matabeleland.”
“We should focus more on developing the region rather than
continuously
blaming underdevelopment and marginalisation on the issue.
People should
look ahead and let not history hinder the process and prospect
of developing
the region,” the newspaper quoted the Ambassador as
saying.
The newspaper also said the Gukurahundi was being used as a
“topic for
political grandstanding.”
But the EU Ambassador has
angrily denied making such comments, saying the
newspaper misquoted him. In
an emailed reply to a Matabeleland activist who
actively campaigns for
justice for the Gukurahundi, the Ambassador said that
“NONE of the quotes
reported in the article are true.”
“I presume that the source that
disseminated the false declarations obeys to
a strategy of defamation of the
European Union and tries to create animosity
between us and the people of
Matabeleland,” the Ambassador said in the
email.
Zimbabwe’s
co-minister of National Healing, Moses Mzila Ndlovu meanwhile
told SW Radio
Africa this week that he is “totally convinced that he (Dell’Ariccia)
did
not make those comments.”
The minister spoke to the EU Ambassador on
Tuesday to get to the bottom of
the story, and he explained that
Dell’Ariccia was clearly “outraged that
these comments were attributed to
him.”
“He believes it is mischief on the part of journalists at this
paper, which
we know is a pro ZANU PF mouthpiece,” Mzila Ndlovu
said.
He added: “I am relieved that he has denied this, because if it was
true it
would be very contrary to what the EU stands for.”
The
minister has vowed that the perpetrators of the massacres in the 1980s
will
be prosecuted, but he told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that ZANU PF is
standing in the way of justice.
“The ZANU PF side of government wants
to regard the issue as water under the
bridge, which we find insensitive,
vulgar, inhuman and cruel,” Mzila Ndlovu
said.
He continued: “We want
the people of Matabeleland, the victims, the
survivors, everyone affected,
to know that humanity is standing behind their
fight for justice.”
By Tichaona
Sibanda
8 February 2012
The three principals to the Global Political Agreement have agreed that the current position of Commissioner-General is now ‘vacant’ and Augustine Chihuri will serve in the position in an acting capacity.
Chihuri’s contract expired on 31st January and the two MDC formations were demanding a neutral personality within the force to take over. But Mugabe wanted to stick with Chihuri, who has publicly declared his allegiance to Mugabe and ZANU PF.
But following their two and half hour meeting at State House, President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara agreed to declare the position vacant.
The three principals agreed that the Police Service Commission must be ‘regularised’ so that it makes recommendations of potential candidates to the President.
The principals also agreed that, in line with the Constitution, the President would then consult and agree with the Prime Minister on the next Commissioner General of Police.
After the meeting, Tsvangirai and Mutambara briefed the media and said that as principals, they agreed that the Minister of Media Information and Publicity, must immediately implement their directive to reconstitute the boards of ZBC, Mass Media Trust and the Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) in line with the agreed formula.
“The licenses already issued by the illegally constituted BAZ board should be revoked forthwith,” a statement issued in Harare said.
On elections Mugabe and his counterparts from the MDC agreed that they would now be monitoring the constitution making process at their level. On Monday next week they will meet commissioners of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) to look at their needs for them to run an election that is free and fair.
See Principals to GPA Statement
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
08 February 2012
Riot police in Bulawayo assaulted
members of the Women Of Zimbabwe Arise
(WOZA) pressure group on Tuesday, and
arrested coordinator Jenni Williams as
she emerged from a meeting with the
Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee (JOMIC).
The brutal
assaults of WOZA members and bystanders took place in full view
of the JOMIC
team, who had just held a meeting with WOZA coordinators
Williams and
Magodonga Mahlangu.
According to Mahlangu, seven other WOZA women and six
bystanders were also
arrested while behaving peacefully outside the JOMIC
offices, where the
group had gathered to commemorate their 10th anniversary.
A pregnant woman
and a minor were among the arrested group.
In the
meeting, WOZA had appealed to JOMIC to forward their complaints about
police
abuse to the principal leaders in the coalition government. The JOMIC
team
said they needed concrete proof and moments later, police used baton
sticks
to bash WOZA members just outside.
“I can’t believe that JOMIC would want
us to go through brutal beatings so
they can have evidence. We hope they can
now take some action to stop the
police from abusing us,” Mahlangu told SW
Radio Africa on Wednesday.
She added: “I spoke to Jenni early this
morning and they spent the night
sitting on a wet floor in a cage. They are
being bitten by mosquitoes.”
The arrested women are reportedly being
moved from one office to another as
each division fails to press
charges.
Mahlangu said a lawyer was allowed to visit the WOZA members,
who are
currently detained at Bulawayo Central Police Station. A Chief
Inspector
Mandere told the lawyer no specific charges had been determined
and police
were meeting to decide how to proceed.
“It’s unfortunate
that Jenni is in custody just because she is a WOZA
leader. It’s very sad
the others were arrested as well since they were not
part of the
demonstration yesterday,” Magodonga explained.
A statement from WOZA
said: “We believe that JOMIC now has their evidence
and expect them to take
urgent action to correct the situation.”
http://www.radiovop.com/
By Ngoni Chanakira Harare, February 08,
2012 - Some commercial banks in
Harare have run out of United States
dollars, sending shock waves within the
business community.
A survey
done in Harare today showed that mainly indigenous owned and
controlled
commercial banks had no cash this morning.
Interfin Bank Limited, a
subsidiary of Interfin Financial Holdings Limited
had no cash at its Towers
Branch along Samora Machel Avenue.
"You can come later this afternoon," a
teller said in an interview. "There
is no cash right now because the Reserve
Bank did not give us any last
night."
Interfin is listed on the
Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE).
CABS, Zimbabwe's largest building society,
also did not have cash and there
were long queues outside most of its
branches.
However, Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe Limited and Standard
Chartered Bank
Zimbabwe Limited had cash.
They are foreign owned and
controlled but Barclays is listed on the ZSE.
Other commercial banks were
limiting customers especially from ATM machines
this
morning.
Zimbabwe is facing a serious cash crisis ever since sanctions
were
introduced on its economy by the US and the European Commission as well
as
Australia and New Zealand.
The Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti,
has come out clearly admitting that
the country has run out of cash and,
therefore, he could not allow the civil
service to get their annual salary
increase resulting in a nationwide
strike.
The RBZ had not issued any
statement on the cash crisis by Wednesday.
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/
By Jan Raath Feb 8, 2012, 2:06
GMT
Harare - An inquest to clear up the cause of a fire that killed an
influential former general in Zimbabwe's army has left many questions
unanswered, amid suspicion he was assassinated.
The last testimony to
a commission of inquest on the death of Solomon
Mujuru, aged 66, was given
on Monday. The magistrate heading up the
investigation would not say when a
final report would be issued.
Mujuru, a veteran of the liberation war
against the whites-only government
in former Rhodesia, was regarded as one
of the most influential and wealthy
figures in the southern African
country.
Observers considered him a king-maker within the ruling Zanu-PF
party. He
was reportedly pushing for his wife, Joice - one of two
vice-presidents - to
become the country's leader after long-serving
President Robert Mugabe.
Zimbabwe's president, aged 87 and believed to be
in poor health, has stated
his intention to retain his seat and contest the
next election.
The country will likely go to the polls this year or next,
although
political squabbling has prevented a date from being
set.
One evening in August 2011, the retired general - who owned mining
interests
in the south of the country - is said to have gone to a local bar.
Mujuru
drank whiskey with other patrons before announcing he would turn in
for the
night at his nearby farm.
In the middle of the night, police
guards awoke to find Mujuru's house an
inferno. The general was declared
dead and an inquest was opened into the
incident.
Highlighting his
popularity across the country's political divides, Mujuru's
closed-casket
funeral drew tens of thousands - one of the largest such
gatherings in
Zimbabwe since independence in 1980.
The former guerilla commander - who
seldom spoke and cut an enigmatic
figure - had a reputation as one of the
few within the ruling party who
would criticize Mugabe to his
face.
'The Mujuru affair has the potential to severely destabilize
Zanu-PF in the
months before the election,' warned a Western diplomat,
requesting
anonymity. 'They really needed a clear-cut outcome of accidental
death.'
A police statement at the opening of the inquest stated there was
no
evidence of foul play, but the 37 witnesses who gave testimonies at the
hearings painted a more complex picture.
During the three-week
inquest it emerged that the police had mishandled
crucial evidence, using a
contaminated plastic shopping bag to bundle up the
remains of Mujuru's
carbonized body.
His security guards were unprepared for the fire,
lacking even radio
equipment to call for help, the commission was also
told.
The fire department too was tardy in responding. The truck that
eventually
arrived was useless, as it had a leak in its water tank and
showed up empty.
Further fueling suspicion of foul play, Mujuru's
housekeeper, Rosemary
Shoti, said she heard gunshots two hours before the
fire was discovered. An
AK47 assault rifle lay near the burned
body.
Police pathologist Gabriel Alvero even admitted he was uncertain
the corpse
he examined was that of the general, as he lacked equipment and
access.
Critics of Mugabe, including some former fighters in the
liberation war, say
they would not be surprised if scores were being
settled.
They cite a long list of prominent political figures who they
claim were
killed by Zanu-PF since the battle against the white minority-led
government
kicked off in 1975.
Magistrate Walter Chikwanha, in
closing the testimony phase of the inquest,
also rejected calls by Mujuru's
family for the body to be exhumed for
independent examination.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
07/02/2012 00:00:00
by Phyllis
Mbanje
STATE-EMPLOYED nurses have rejected a 22.5 percent salary hike
offered by
the government raising the prospect of a damaging strike for the
country's
struggling health sector.
The Zimbabwe Nurses Association
(ZINA) dismissed the proposed increment as a
mockery.
Under the
proposal, 7.5 percent of the offer which was made during a meeting
between
the ZINA and the Health Services Board (HSB) would have comprised a
direct
salary hike while the balance would come as housing and transport
allowances.
The adjustment would have added US$57 to the package of
the lowest paid
health worker, increasing their monthly salary to about
US$310.
But ZINA President Regina Smith said the government’s offer was
way below
the poverty datum line which is now estimated at more than US$500
and
therefore unacceptable.
Smith, who is also the Chinhoyi
Provincial Hospital Matron, said
negotiations with the HSB had reached a
deadlock adding ZINA members – some
6000 nurses across the country – were
now waiting for another scheduled
round of talks before deciding the way
forward.
The ZINA chief said her members found it difficult to relate
government’s
default plea that state coffers are practically empty with the
recent
decision to award legislators backdated allowances of up to US$15 000
each.
The government also splashed millions of dollars on new vehicles
ministers,
their deputies and senior civil servants.
Finance Minister
Tendai Biti argues the government wage bill, at more than
60 percent of
overall income and expenditure, is already too big and
unsustainable.
Meanwhile, the deadlock in the nurses negotiations
comes after teachers and
other state employees – most of whom earn just over
US$200 -- recently
called a five-day strike after rejecting an average
salary hike of about
US$87.
The government insists that with the
economy still struggling to recover
from a decade-long recession and little
foreign assistance coming through,
wage demands by state workers cannot be
met.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai suggested early this year that
additional
revenues from diamond sales could be used to improve the working
conditions
of civil servants.
The government expects at least US$600
million in additional funds from
diamond sales but Biti allocated the funds
to various infrastructure
projects as well as a constitutional referendum
and general elections
expected this year.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Those seeking birth and national identification documents
here have lodged
complaints of corruption among staff at the Registrar
General’s offices.
08.02.1201:18pm
by Jane Makoni
“We have to
camp out if we have any hope of getting our documents,” said
Philip Mutema
fom Dombotombo. “Only the first 10 applicants are served
fairly, the rest
are forced to bribe the officials for their documents. I
have been waiting
here with my friends for eight days in the hope of getting
our papers. We
keep ending up at the back of the queue, whereas those with
spare cash to
grease the palms of the officials don’t even have to queue.”
The queues
are particularly long at the moment due to the number of school
leavers who
need ID documents to register for tertiary education or travel
permits.
“I have lost hope,” said another applicant, 18-year-old
Spiwe Mwenga. “I’ll
come back when there is no corruption and the staff is
more professional.”
The corruption allegedly started when security guards
established a system
where bribes would guarantee applicants a ‘deal’ with
government officials
to have their documents processed out of working
hours.
The District Registrar could not be reached for comment but a
senior
official at the offices said: “Although I do not want to defend
corruption,
I cannot confirm whether ‘dirty money’ is exchanging hands or
not. I am only
aware that a number of applicants were being turned away
without their
documents. The District Registrar is better placed to clarify
the issue”.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
07 February 2012
Teachers who served as polling agents
and presiding officers during
elections were routinely questioned by
security agents after the polls,
while a vetting process before the
elections qualified only those considered
“politically correct” by ZANU PF.
This is according to findings in a survey
by the main teachers
union.
The Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) told journalists
in Harare
on Tuesday that they interviewed 1,152 teachers about their
experiences with
elections in the years 2002 and 2008.
Programmes
officer Oswald Madziva told SW Radio Africa that the survey was
conducted to
add some “statistical value” to the facts that are already well
known about
teachers’ experiences during elections.
Madziva said the interrogations
were conducted by a four-member panel headed
by “district inspectors”. The
victims said they could not identify the other
three panel members but
suspected them to be “security details”, who asked
why ZANU PF had lost at
their polling stations.
“79% of the respondents were forced to attend
political rallies, some held
during work time and having far reaching
effects on education. Another 24%
reported having been displaced from their
work stations and communities,”
Madziva explained.
The PTUZ also
collected statistics on the perpetrators of violence against
teachers.
Madziva said 25% of the teachers surveyed had experienced violence
directly,
with 27% of the perpetrators known as war vets, 24% youth militia
and 20%
intelligence agents.
“We found that fellow teachers, including
headmasters and district education
officers, constituted 4% of the
perpetrators of violence against teachers.
Secondly school development
committee members also committed acts of
violence against teachers,
particularly in rural areas,” Madziva stressed.
He added that these two
new revelations made the survey even more valuable
and the PTUZ intends to
distribute the report to SADC (as the guarantors of
the Global Political
Agreement), the United Nations Security Council,
Education International and
the International Labour Organization. Madziva
said they would also
distribute the report to local structures, including
Zimbabwe’s legislators
and the leaders of all political parties.
http://www.radiovop.com
By Vusisizwe Mkhwananzi
Gwanda, February 08, 2012 – Gwanda magistrate Sheila
Nazombe has referred
the case involving three media monitors to the Supreme
Court after defense
counsel Kossam Ncube argued that the charge against his
clients violates the
right to freedom of expression and the right to
protection of the
law.
The three monitors namely Fadzai December, Molly Chimhanda and
Gilbert
Mabusa face a charge of undermining the authority of President
Robert Mugabe
by spreading falsehoods that engender feelings of hostility
towards him.
In his submissions Ncube argued that Section 33 of the
Criminal Law
(Codification and Reform Act) is couched in such wide and all
catching terms
that it becomes difficult for one to know what or what not to
say about the
head of state.
“There is no clear cut answer to that,
it is therefore left to the
subjective evaluation of the law enforcement
agents to decide what statement
they consider to be false, it sends a
chilling effect as it muzzles even
genuine hard hitting criticism of the
President,” said Ncube.
Ncube said the section effectively shields the
President from any kind of
scrutiny and seeks to create a situation whereby
only good things must be
said about him lest someone invites the wrath of
the law.
“The President is the primary figurehead of the nation and
therefore must
have the thick skin necessary to bear criticism even that
couched in not so
palatable terms as such the right to freedom of expression
as enshrined in
section 20 of the constitution is compromised,” argued
Ncube.
State counsel Blessing Gundani tried in vain to have the
application
dismissed arguing that it did not hold merit and was only meant
to delay
trial.
However magistrate Nazombe refused to remove the trio
from remand saying she
expected the Supreme Court to expeditiously deal with
the matter.
Ncube had pleaded with the court to have the three removed
from remand
saying Supreme Court matters took long to be heard.
They
were given a longer remand to the 30th of April when it is hoped that
the
Supreme Court would have ruled on the matter.
The charge against the
three media monitors arose after they facilitated a
civic education workshop
aimed at promoting public information rights in
Gwanda on the 24th of
November 2011.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
08 February
2012
The family of the late army general Solomon Mujuru have been urged
to
continue fighting for the truth, after a Harare magistrate declined their
request for his body to be exhumed and a ‘professional’ autopsy done by
foreign experts.
Reggie Perumal, a South African forensic scientist
hired by the Mujuru
family, raised doubts about the original autopsy done by
Cuban pathologist,
Gabriel Gonzales Alvero. Perumal said Alvero had not used
the appropriate
tools. He also queried why Alvero did the autopsy when he is
not registered
in Zimbabwe.
On Monday the family suffered a setback
when Magistrate Walter Chikwanha
ruled that he had no jurisdiction to order
the exhumation. He said only the
Attorney General and the Home Affairs
Ministry could order this, saying the
application was tantamount to ‘arm
twisting’ and ‘putting the cart before
the horse’.
But support for
the Mujuru family has been coming from many quarters
including the Daily
News newspaper, who in an editorial urged the family
‘not to despair’. Vice
President Joice Mujuru and family “must not be
deterred by the decision,”
and it should “not necessarily mean the end of
the road,” the paper
wrote.
“What has come out during the inquest are more questions than
answers with
serious inconsistencies in witnesses’ testimony particularly
from experts.
While magistrate Chikwanha is yet to give his full ruling, we
all hope that
his findings will give answers to questions raised during the
inquest,” the
paper said.
The state owned Herald newspaper was
meanwhile trying to kill off the matter
using an article entitled ‘Inquest
findings final, say experts’.
Quoting unnamed legal experts, the paper
said: “the presiding magistrate in
General Solomon Mujuru’s inquest has
absolute control of the proceedings and
there is no room for family members
and interested parties to appeal against
the court’s
decision.”
Lawyer Thakor Kewada has meanwhile said he is awaiting the
inquest’s outcome
before taking further instructions from the Mujuru family.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Harare, February 08, 2012- A whistleblower who
exposed maladministration at
the National Blood Service of Zimbabwe (NBSZ),
where the national blood
provider allegedly jeopardised the lives of several
patients by
administering unhygienic blood has been summoned for a hearing
over the
exposé.
Emmanuel Masvikeni, the NBSZ’s blood procurement
manager disclosed in court
papers filed in the Labour Court late last year
that the national blood
provider had at times stocked blood considered to be
health risk.
Masvikeni said he had attempted to remedy this act of
maladministration
which was being presided over by the blood bank’s chief
executive officer
David Mvere by alerting the NBSZ’s board of directors
through an anonymous
email. Through the email, the blood procurement manager
said he had
communicated to the board of directors that; “some of the blood
that was
banked was health risk blood since it is not being tested in terms
of
procedure.” Masvikeni also accused Mvere of corruption, nepotism and
paying
ghost workers on the NBSZ’s pay roll.
Mvere, Masvikeni said
was evading paying income tax to the Zimbabwe Revenue
Authority from his
monthly salary of US$10 164.
But NBSZ has now summoned Masvikeni for a
hearing which takes place on
Wednesday, where he faces misconduct charges
for authoring the email
exposing the wrongdoing and misconduct by his
superior.
In a letter written to Masvikeni, the NBSZ said it would
proceed with the
Wednesday hearing “with or without you and your legal
representation if you
do not turn up” because they had postponed
the
hearing on several occasions. The letter which was seen by Radio VOP was
written by Collins Mitala, the NBSZ chairperson of the disciplinary
committee.
Masvikeni through his lawyer Harrison Nkomo of Mtetwa and
Nyambirai Legal
Practitioners has challenged the disciplinary inquiry and
alleges that Mvere
wants to dismiss him “so as that he can silence me and
revenge me for
reporting the issue of maladministration that I had
raised.”
The NBSZ has refuted Masvikeni’s disclosures and claimed that a
subcommittee
of the organisation’s board of directors “dismissed the issue
of tainted
blood after it carried out its own investigation last year and
said
allegations of maladministration levelled against Mvere were
“unfounded.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Godfrey Mtimba
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
14:01
MASVINGO - Mainstream MDC-led Gutu Rural District Council has
blocked the
appointment of a new chief executive officer (CEO) by Local
Government
Minister Ignatius Chombo.
The Gutu RDC councillors on
Monday held a meeting with the district
administrator Roy Hove together with
other stakeholders and blocked Chombo’s
appointee Fredrick Tozvireva from
taking over as the council’s new CEO ahead
of their preferred choice,
Alexander Mutombwa.
The officials blocked him from entering the council
premises arguing that
Mutombwa should rightfully take over as the CEO
because he had outshone the
other job interviewees who had been shortlisted
for the job accusing Chombo
of seeking to employ a Zanu PF-aligned
official.
Gutu RDC chairman, Daniel Jinga told the Daily News that his
council which
is dominated by MDC councillors rejected the new
CEO.
“We held a meeting yesterday with all stakeholders in the district,
including our DA, Hove and resolved as council that we do not want Tozvireva
to assume the office of CEO as he was not recommended after he failed to
impress the interview panel. We were surprised that minister Chombo’s office
decided to give him the job when we had recommended Mutombwa who scored the
highest marks,” said Jinga.
The RDC chairman said Mutombwa scored 80
percent, followed by Nehemiah
Dewure whose marks stood at 71, 5 percent and
Tozvireva was in third
position with 68 percent and the interview panellists
had recommended the
top two people but were shocked to see the ministry
giving the job to a
person who was not recommended.
“I think this is
not fair and shows some form of corruption and politicking.
“How could
the person who scored the highest marks and recommended by the
panel fail to
get the job when someone from nowhere is handpicked. We have
agreed that we
are not going to let him work in our council and we will not
work with him,”
Jinga said.
Jinga also said they suspected foul play from the minister
and his officials
from the provincial administrator’s (PA) office which
processes the papers
before they go to Chombo’s office for
approval.
Efforts to get a comment from Chombo were fruitless as he kept
cutting his
phone but Masvingo PA, Felix Chikovo defended his boss saying he
had
prerogative powers to appoint any person from the top three in the
interviews.
“I am not sure about yesterday’s meeting but from my last
conversation with
my office in Gutu, we had advised them not to hold such a
meeting because
the minister had prerogative powers to choose any person
from the three
people who come top in the interview.
“Right now I
can’t say much because I haven’t heard from them since last
week because I
am in Mutare on assignment but that CEO (Tozvireva) appointed
by minister
Chombo should start work and they have no powers to block him,”
said
Chikovo.
The PA’s office had representatives in the interviews as well as
the human
resources department and all the players including the councillors
who made
the panellists, concurred to recommend Mutombwa.
Mutombwa is
also said to have higher educational qualifications than the
other two
candidates for the job.
He holds a Master’s degree in Strategic
Management while Tozvireva is said
to be a holder of only a first
degree.
“We have also resolved to write to the minister to reverse his
appointment
and follow our recommendation or else we are calling for fresh
interviews so
that the right candidate for the job who will have been
recommended by the
interviewers will get the job,” said Jinga.
Chombo
has been on the war path with MDC councillors over the years as he
has been
accused of disregarding their decisions as well as firing them for
no
apparent reason in a bid to frustrate his rival party officials in the
shaky
coalition government.
http://www.ipsnews.net/
By Ignatius
Banda
BULAWAYO , Feb 8 , 2012 (IPS) - Sibongile Dube knows the
devastation heavy
rain can leave in its wake. A villager in the lowveld area
of Mberengwa in
Zimbabwe’s Midlands province, Dube’s home is one of many
that were washed
away by flash floods last year.
"I am still
rebuilding my home," Dube told IPS, pointing to where she has
erected a hut
that she says serves as her bedroom.
Across the small yard stands a
shaky-looking grain storage bin, which has
become symbolic of the
devastation that swept away thousands of tonnes of
grain in last year’s
floods.
Hundreds of schools and villages were washed away amid criticism
of Zimbabwe’s
disaster preparedness and effective early warning systems.
This was despite
earlier warnings that the floods, which had already left a
trail of
destruction in their wake in countries that lie along the Zambezi
River in
Southern Africa, were headed for some parts of the
country.
"We were never told that the water would be that bad. We lost
livestock and
the grain we had harvested," Dube said, highlighting the
plight of thousands
of villagers who remain victims not only of natural
disasters but also poor
early warning and disaster monitoring systems in
Zimbabwe.
While rains have only begun to fall in some parts of the
country, the
Zimbabwe Meteorological Services have given conflicting reports
of when to
expect it to reach its peak. Initially the service first said
December 2011,
but then revised this to early January, then again to late
January.
Zimbabwe Meteorological Services chief, Tich Zinyemba, has also
reversed an
adverse forecast issued that warned of imminent floods. He said
in late
January that the cyclone, which had been expected to reach Zimbabwe
last
month, had since moved back to Mozambique.
Zinyemba’s latest
forecast came despite a warning issued by the Zambezi
River Authority that
parts of the Zambezi River, which flows through
Zimbabwe, would experience
floods and advised villagers to prepare for
evacuation to higher
ground.
This week, experts from the government’s weather services
department
announced the cyclone from neighbouring Mozambique was no longer
headed for
Zimbabwe. While villagers are no longer being prepared for the
possibility
of heavy downpours, for Dube and many others, the threat of rain
destroying
their homes remains a real threat.
These conflicting
weather reports have exposed the country’s lack of
preparedness for possible
floods.
"We do not know anymore when the rains would fall and how bad it
would be,"
Dube told IPS, expressing a popular sentiment here as many have
lost faith
in the reliability of weather forecasts from the meteorological
services.
The Civil Protection Unit, a government department responsible
for, among
other things, evacuating of communities from flood areas, also
issued a
flood warning last month. The unit has been severely criticised for
failing
to respond in time to the distress of villagers like Dube, last
year.
"There is lack of adequate expertise and the usual lack of
resources that is
why we even fail to have such things as helicopters to
assist our people
during floods," Tymon Ruzende, a disaster preparedness
expert who worked
with the Red Cross during last year’s floods, told
IPS.
"But I also think there is little in terms of preparing communities
deal
with the prospect of flooding. For example when it is already known the
waters will rise, communities must be told to move to higher ground, yet
others always resist this," Ruzende told IPS.
This year, communities
that lie along the giant Zambezi basin once again
find themselves at the
centre of rising waters.
It is here in the Zambezi basin in areas such as
Binga, an inaccessible and
remote district in northern Zimbabwe, where
communities have previously been
victim of flooding despite clear signs that
the banks would burst.
Jairos Lubimbi, a local councillor, said not much
is being done to prepare
villagers in the eventuality of
floods.
"People here have always lived with floods and it is something
which the
authorities think is natural and they cannot do anything about
saving lives,
grain and livestock," Lubimbi told IPS.
Last month, the
Zambezi River Authority told villagers living downstream on
the Zambezi to
evacuate their homes, but villagers who spoke to IPS said
they were still in
their homes because "they had nowhere to go."
"They tell us to move to
higher ground, but do not provide alternative homes
for us," said distraught
Taboka Sibanda, a villager.
Floods have already moved from Mozambique
into South Africa and according to
some media reports, the rising waters
have claimed up to 20 lives. Concerns
remain about possible localised
flooding in Zimbabwe.
Experts say Zimbabwe’s shifting climate patterns
that have moved the rain
season further into the New Year. They say that
this has made it difficult
to prepare for possible floods as the country
lacks state of the art weather
tracking systems. This comes amid calls by
the United Nations for all early
warning systems to be community centred.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
07/02/2012 00:00:00
by
Staff Reporter
A SOUTH African businessman has appealed to ZRP chief
Augustine Chihuri and
the High Court after Matabeleland North police refused
to release his
vehicle even after he was cleared on charges of allegedly
violating the
country’s immigration laws.
In papers before the High
Court, Diederick Jacobus Coetzer – who is
developing a multi-million rand
mining project in the Inyathi area of Bubi
district -- was arrested on
January 21 this year along with colleagues
Dereck Nielson and Dewet Reginald
Jacobs.
The trio appeared in court two days later charged with breaching
sections of
the Immigration Act and were released on US$400 bail with
Coetzer also
surrendering his vehicle as surety.
Charges against
Coetzer and Nielson were however, withdrawn before plea when
they returned
to court on January 30 and their bail money returned after it
was determined
that they had not violated any laws.
But officers at Inyathi Police
Station are said to be ignoring a court order
to return Coetzer’s vehicle,
forcing him to appeal to Chihuri and the High
Court.
In his affidavit
Coetzer says: “My legal practitioner has made all possible
efforts to have
the matter resolved without recourse to the courts but the
efforts have
borne no fruit.
“I pray to the court to find that my rights under laws of
Zimbabwe and the
international law have been violated and continue to
be.
“I have been denied the protection of the law and I have had my
property
seized from me without due process in the circumstances, which
amounts to
unlawful deprivation of property.
“I am being discriminated
against and I can only assume such discrimination
is on the grounds of my
race and nationality.”
His lawyer, Vonani Majoko said the case was an
embarrassment for the country
and urged Chihuri to intervene and help
“repair the damage that the
contemptuous conduct of police from Matabeleland
North province has caused
to the image of the justice system in the
country”.
“As an officer of the court I am embarrassed by the conduct of
the police
officers involved in this case as it undermines the confidence of
the public
in the police force, a vital component of the government tasked
to maintain
law and order,” Majoko said.
Coetzer said he now feared
he could be deported and declared a prohibited
immigrant and his vehicle
seized by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA).
The vehicle was brought
into the country on a temporary import permit only
valid up to January
31.
He added that he would suffer irreparable loss if Zimra were to seize
the
vehicle since he acquired it under a hire purchase deal in South
Africa.
Local business groups have warned that the case and similar
instances of
unnecessary police harassment would not help efforts to attract
investment
to a region already hit by negative perceptions and the closure
or
relocation to other towns and cities of several key companies.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Although the government is aware of labour
abuse within Chinese companies,
it is doing nothing to bring them to
account, according to veteran trade
unionist, Lovemore
Matombo.
08.02.1201:21pm
by Fungi Kwaramba
Matombo, who is
currently the leader of the splinter Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions, said
that on several occasions his organisation had engaged
the government
through the Tripartite Negotiating Forum, but nothing had
been
done.
“There are many cases of labour abuses at mines and construction
companies.
We have talked about this with the government, but they are
failing to
address the issue because the Chinese seem to be above the law,”
said
Matombo.
Chinese employees do not allow their workers to belong
to trade
organisations.
“There are no worker committees with the
Chinese. If a worker questions the
authorities, he is fired. It’s difficult
to bring the Chinese to task
because they are protected by the government,”
said Matombo. Matombo said
that Chinese had virtually taken over, and
through their bilateral
agreements with the government they escaped
punishment.
The Chinese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Xin Shunkang, said
Chinese companies
were following the country’s labour laws.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
A 24-year-old graduate of law and politics from
Rhodes University in South
Africa, David Hwangwa, is on a hunger strike in
Africa Unity Square.
08.02.1211:17am
by Seven Nematiyere
He is
protesting against escalating human rights abuses. The police have not
bothered him so far as they think he is a street kid.
“My aim is to
force the principals in the inclusive government to
acknowledge that the
levels of violence and human rights abuses are getting
out of hand. I hope
that this can force them to consider changing their
policies towards the use
of both their illegitimate and legitimate use of
violence,” Hwangwa told The
Zimbabwean.
“I was abducted by the Central Intelligence Organization when
I came back
from South Africa in June 2011. I was released after a few hours
because
they said I was a “Nobody”. This has not only made me strong but has
also
baptized me to the reality of life today. Such abductions happen every
day,
especially to those people outside the public spot. There are no
records of
such abductions or detentions by the police and it is a matter of
great
concern because who knows of how many people vanish forever as a
result of
this.”
He uses Facebook and Twitter as well as interacting
with people to get his
message across.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Wonai Masvingise and Thelma
Chikwanha
Wednesday, 08 February 2012 12:00
HARARE - Reports that
Temitope Balogun Joshua, a Nigerian prophet using the
name TB Joshua, has
foretold the death of an African president soon have
raised debate in many
African countries including Zimbabwe where ageing
presidents are still in
power.
TB Joshua, whose prophecies have often come to pass,
reportedly made the
shocking prophecy during a Sunday service this week,
according to several
online reports.
A Zambian website Tumfweko.com
claimed that TB Joshua prophesied this
message during a Sunday live service
broadcast on his Christian television
channel Emmanuel TV on Sunday, which
they monitored.
A Malawian website Nyasatimes.com also carried the story
yesterday.
TB Joshua is the leader of the Synagogue Church of All Nations
(Scoan),
based in Nigeria.
Joshua, who commands a large following in
Nigeria and beyond, said an
African leader would die within 60 days. He
failed to hint on the location
of the leader, leaving wild guesses to fly
around.
“God loves us, you should pray for one African head of state,
when I say
President… again the sickness that is likely to take life; sudden
death, it
could be sickness being in the body for a long time but God showed
me the
country and the place but I’m not here to say anything like
that."
“When it’s too close and there is nothing I can do about it, I’ll
mention it
clear; the place, the country and the person so that they can see
what they
can do to rescue him. Okay, it is very close. Jesus loves us. Wave
your
hand, wave your hand,” TB Joshua was quoted as saying by the online
publications.
His prophecy immediately attracted the attention of
Zimbabweans who began
posting their own conclusions on social networking
sites such as Facebook.
Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo, whose leader
President Robert Mugabe was
the subject of unsavoury facebook postings
following the “prophesy”, refused
to comment.
“I do not believe some
of these prophecies of doom,” said Gumbo.
Mugabe, turning 88 this month,
leads Africa’s league of aged leaders
struggling with reported
ill-health.
In the past, TB Joshua’s aides have been forced to deny some
prophecies
attributed to the “Man of God” although some of his prophecies
have been
proved to be true. The Daily News was yesterday inundated with
callers who
wanted to pass on the “prophecy”.
The Daily News tried to
call Emmanuel TV, TB Joshua’s Television Channel
yesterday evening but there
was no response.
Other aged African leaders that come to mind are
Senegal’s 85-year-old
Abdoulaye Wade. Once respected as a democrat after
spending more than two
decades as an opposition leader, Wade is ignoring
fatal protests by citizens
opposed to his manoeuvres to run for another
seven year term.
Kenya’s 81-year-old Mwai Kibaki, whose refusal to leave
power in 2007 led to
widespread violence that killed at least 1 200 people,
has stated his
intention not to contest in elections set for August this
year.
Paul Biya of Cameroon is 79 and has ruled for more than three
decades and
has shown no intention of leaving.
Sadc’s newest
president on the block, Zambia’s Michael Sata is an elderly 75
year-old and
has been reported to suffer several ailments.
One of Zimbabwe’s younger
politicians, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai (57)
has in the past consulted
TB Joshua, hoping for some charm.
TB Joshua is renowned for prophesising
the death of pop king Michael
Jackson, the resignation of Pakistan’s ex-
president Pervez Musharraf anԁ
the rise of the current president of Ghana
John Atta Mills, a few weeks
before the events took place.
TB Joshua
also “predicted” the fall of Cote d’Ivoire dictator Laurent Gbagbo
last
year.
Apart from Tsvangirai, prominent Zimbabweans known to have visited
the
prophet include Zanu PF politburo women’s affairs secretary Oppah
Muchinguri, Zifa president Cuthbert Dube and the late musician Tongai
Moyo.
In 2008, Atta Mills also visited SCOAN to seek divine assistance
during
elections in his country.
The Ghanaian president said in a
thanksgiving service following his
inauguration that TB Joshua had
prophesied his victory in the Ghanaian
polls, specifying there would be
three elections and the results would be
released in January.
In
Zambia and Malawi, there were calls on social networks and some onlines
to
pray for their presidents after TB Joshua’s reported Sunday prophecy.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
A shadowy group reportedly linked to Zanu
(PF) is fleecing residents of
their hard earned cash under the guise of
helping them get rid of debts they
owe to Harare City
Council.
08.02.1211:12am
by Kingstone Ndabatei
The Welfare
Trust, operating from Number 130 Main street in Engineering,
Highfield, is
forcing residents to pay up to $27 in order to have their
bills “wiped
out”.
But the city says the organization is bogus and residents should
not be
duped.
Council’s Finance and Budget Committee, Friday Muleya,
said the council had
not gone into partnership with Welfare
Trust.
“The only programme we are likely to have is relief to the poor
and even
that one has a lot of modalities still to be worked out,” Muleya
said.
Harare Residents Trust Director, Precious Shumba, said he knew the
organisation and its work was fundraising for President Mugabe’s birthday
bash.
“First they were operating from Zanu (PF) offices in Highfield
and now they
have their own office. But the money being paid to council
district offices
is not benefiting council. It is kept aside and a security
company collects
it on behalf of the party.
“What is surprising is
that Mayor Masunda and Town Clerk Tendai Mhahachi are
aware of this but they
are doing nothing about it,” Shumba said.
When confronted Masara said she
had invited reporters from the state media
instead who would understand
their work.
“We will not give you details because we have requested from
the President’s
office that we have reporters from the state media. They did
not pitch up as
arranged, but we will wait for them. Our work is known even
to the Police
Internal Security Intelligence, so we do not need you
questioning our
integrity,” Masara said.
She said they were not
promising anyone a miracle to get rid of their debt.
“Why should anyone
expect a miracle of having the thousands they owe council
disappear just
like that? We are only asking council to accept what people
have and move
on,” said an agitated Masara.
“Council has been very clear in that
residents should approach the city and
make arrangements to pay what they
owe in instalments,” Muleya said.
City Spokesperson Leslie Gwindi’s phone
went unanswered while Police
Provincial Spokesperson Inspector James Sabau
said he did not deal with
issues to do with the President’s
office.
Residents interviewed said they did not have a choice but to
listen to
anyone who seemed able to help them as council had refused to
communicate
with them.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Editor
Wednesday, 08 February 2012
13:52
HARARE - Human rights activist Stendrick Zvorwadza has become
the latest
victim of the ruthlessness of Chipangano, a vigilante group
aligned to
former ruling party Zanu PF.
Civil society groups, church
organisations and political parties, including
those in the coalition
government, accuse Chipangano of causing terror in
the political hot bed of
Mbare.
Zvorwadza, who has business interests in Mbare said on January 28
this year,
he was mobbed by about 50 youths wielding sticks and
stones.
He said the group wanted Zvorwadza, who has a petroleum company
in the area,
to abandon his project in the poor suburb.
The
businessman, who is also the spokesperson for the Restoration of Human
Rights (Rohr), was subsequently taken to Matapi Police Station where he made
a report.
Upon arrival at the station, Zvorwadza said he got the
surprise of his life
when Zanu PF youth chairman Jim Kunaka manhandled him
in full view of the
police.
“Kunaka held me by the shoulders and
started shaking me. I ran into a small
office where I hid.
“Outside,
the group of youth was chanting, hausi mwana weropa naizvozvo
muMbare
haumushande. Zanu PF yaka deura ropa revanhu vakawanda rako
haringashamise
(You are not a son of the soil therefore you cannot work in
Mbare, Zanu PF
has spilt a lot of blood and yours will not be an
exception),” Zvorwadza
quoted the youth singing.
In narrating his ordeal, the Rohr spokesperson
said he was disheartened by
the lack of police action after he was attacked
in their presence.
He bemoaned the partisan manner in which his case was
handled by police at
Matapi Police Station.
“When are the police
going to stop partisan policing? Their actions are
undermining the
peace-building efforts the country is trying to put in
place,” a defiant
Zvorwadza said.
Kunaka denied ever attacking Zvorwadza at Matapi Police
Station. He,
however, did not deny that he was part of the group of youths
at the station
on January 28.
“Don’t you know that assault is a crime
in this country? If I assaulted him
at the police station, why wasn’t I
arrested?
“I do not think that is true,” Kunaka told the Daily News.
Quizzed on his
role in Chipangano, Kunaka said he had no idea what
Chipangano was about. I
do not even know what Chipangano is. I don’t know if
it is a club or a bar.
These are just stories spread by those people from
the opposition."
“They are scared of me because my ground is secure. They
want my things. I
have all the youths and their tricks will not work because
ndiri
chandagwinyira (I am resolute),” Kunaka said.
Recently, Morden
Chirwa, a Zanu PF Mbare official was arraigned before the
courts to answer
charges of rape.
Chipangano is believed to be in Mbare based at Charter
House.
Residents in Mbare are now living in fear of this group which has
a tendency
of dealing ruthlessly with its enemies.
http://latitude.blogs.nytimes.com/
February
8, 2012, 6:04 am
By EUSEBIUS
MCKAISER
JOHANNESBURG — Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen and soon perhaps
Syria — over
the past year many long-ruling dictatorships have been
collapsing like
houses of cards. Where will the next revolt hit? Looking
around sub-Saharan
Africa, Zimbabwe would seem ripe for
revolution.
President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe in July 2011.Tsvangirayi
Mukwazhi/Associated PressPresident Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe in July
2011.
State-led land grabs started there in 2000, some 20 years after the
country’s
independence, a disastrous policy response to the legitimate
problem of
unequal land distribution created by British colonialism. Since
then, living
standards have plummeted. Zimbabwe consistently ranks very low
in
international ratings on quality of life. At least one-third of the
country’s
12 million people live outside its borders, many as economic
migrants and
asylum seekers in South Africa.
President Robert
Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF Party is chiefly responsible for
this deterioration.
There are no free and fair national elections, and the
government has become
increasingly repressive. Zanu-PF’s leadership is drunk
on political power
and is prepared to use violence to remain at the helm.
Zimbabwe can no
longer be described as a democracy.
But don’t bet on a revolution there
any time soon.
Why not? For one thing, Zimbabweans are too scattered to
coordinate a
revolt. Of the eight million who live inside the country less
than 40
percent reside in urban areas. The majority are scattered across the
countryside, making the ignition of social discontent into a fiery uprising
unlikely.
Zanu-PF has also been exceptionally effective at clamping
down on perceived
dissidents. Mugabe relies on the police, as well as
Zanu-PF’s militia, to
intimidate, assault and sometimes even kill political
opponents. Zimbabweans
live in deep fear of the security forces.
Only
too aware that cities might become epicenters of resistance, in 2005
Zanu-PF
launched Operation Murambatsvina (“Drive Out Filth”), an
innocuous-sounding
campaign that really amounted to demolishing the shacks
and stalls of
supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change
(M.D.C.). It
left 700,000 of the country’s 2.4 million urban dwellers
homeless.
It
does not help, of course, that the M.D.C. itself has failed to capture
the
imagination of both locals and the international community, despite
ostensibly winning the last election in 2008. The party has been crippled by
the Mugabe security forces’ thuggery; its leaders are often jailed on what
appear to be trumped-up charges. The Zimbabwean opposition, that tired
bunch, would first need to reinvent itself before it could lead an
uprising.
And then there is Zimbabweans’ complicated relationship with
Mugabe and
Zanu-PF. Many suffer from a political version of Stockholm
syndrome. Zanu-PF
not only liberated Zimbabwe from colonial rule, before
everything started
unraveling, it also delivered some measure of prosperity.
The Mugabe brand
is a mix of irreparably damaged and historically glorious,
and that
confusing combination serves as a psychological block against
revolt.
And so for now Zimbabweans face only one long political season:
winter.
Eusebius McKaiser is a political analyst at Wits University in
Johannesburg,
South Africa.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Zanu (PF) has become the tragedy
of a party with seemingly good policies for
the Zimbabwean populace failing
to win free and fair elections. If one were
to compare the policies of the
different political parties in Zimbabwe the
result would show Zanu (PF)
winning overwhelmingly on the relative scorecard
with respect to empowering
the people.
08.02.1212:35pm
by MBANGO SITHOLE
But, why does
this party seem to be struggling? Why does a party with
evidently populist
policies have to resort to violence to get votes? The
bottom line is that
the party failed to take advantage of the land reform
programme, and its
other empowerment policies.
The overall assessment of land reform gives
conflicting results - depending
on which lenses one uses. Pro-Zanu (PF)
lenses tend to magnify the success
of it while others seek to discredit it.
This is only to be expected in our
highly polarized society. The only
consensus is that land is a major,
complex emotional issue that should have
been addressed many decades ago.
Objective analyses show that land reform
had empowered some Zimbabweans.
Government sources claim that about 300 000
families were allocated land
under the A1 and A2 models. This is disputed
because there has never been a
full land audit.
Government records in
2009 show that the A2 model had resettled about 16 000
farmers and the A1
model about 146 000. Even if the 300 000 is accepted as
given, it is far
less than people envisaged when the process was initiated.
If we assume that
each family has five people, we can infer that about
1.5million benefited
(this number is too liberal) – about 11% of the
population of 13 million.
The reader can judge whether this is success or
failure.
Land: core
of
the struggle
The majority of those resettled were Zanu (PF)
supporters and senior
government officials, including the army and war
veterans. Many politicians
and senior government officials received multiple
farms. Land audits have
been instituted but the results have not been made
public for fear of
exposing the personalities involved in this wanton
greed.
The leadership lacks the will to deal with this. The reasons for
this
apparent inertia are surprising as the confiscation of multiple farms
could
easily have projected Zanu (PF) as a party intolerant of corruption
and
greed. Land reform is clearly unfinished business. It is a process which
posterity will have revisited and inequalities addressed. This will not be a
process of restoring land to former white owners but to address the black
against black inequalities, which made it a dismal failure.
Zanu (PF)
missed an opportunity to reverse their fortunes in the urban
areas.
Following the triumph of the “No Vote” in the 1999 referendum, which
was
widely regarded as a total rejection of Zanu (PF) by the people, the
party
panicked. They then turned to land to win back votes. But, how do you
expect
to improve your waning support by empowering only those who are
already in
the Zanu (PF) fold?
This is what we saw happening in the selection of the
beneficiaries. Had
Zanu (PF) followed an objective process it would have
been their Lazarus
moment. The Zanu (PF) government had scored very highly
in the 80s and early
90s through their policies of free education and
healthcare. These policies
succeeded (in the eyes of the public) because
they were implemented in the
true spirit of the liberation struggle before
greed set in and corrupted the
minds and hearts of those in
power.
Without any doubt Robert Mugabe is a shrewd politician. He knew
what needed
to be done. We know that although the land reform was on the
agenda from the
80s going to the 90s it had started to lose momentum as
powerful black
politicians started joining the CFU, having bought farms
under the willing
buyer willing seller system. The cost of land had started
soaring as the
fears of political instability began to decrease in the
mid-eighties.
The return of Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole from his
self-imposed exile and
his speech on land reform, following by his
resettling about 4000 families
on his personal Churu farm served as a
wake-up call for Mugabe. Although
Zanu (PF), through the official newspapers
was quick to dismiss Sithole’s
opinions, Mugabe was quick to see a threat in
his former boss’s utterances.
He remembered the promises made during the
liberation struggle. Land was the
core of the struggle.
Land:
unfinished business
Populist policies usually win crucial votes when push
comes to shove at
election time. The problem is that Mugabe allowed his
lieutenants to turn
the good intention of the land reform to serve only a
few, leaving millions
to suffer the consequences. The majority of the
people, about 89% of the
population, who did not benefit only saw severe
food shortages,
de-industrialization, cash shortages, price increases and
many other ills
that befell them.
Zanu (PF) will argue that that
these were a direct result of sanctions. But
debate continues to rage
concerning this complex issue, which has been
confused by deliberate
misinformation and blatant untruths.
If one reads ZIDERA legislation, the
reasons advanced were more to do with
the method employed in the farms take
over and the violence of the 2000
elections. Has anyone stopped to imagine
what could have happened if the
land redistribution had been carried out in
a non-violent way? There are
significant chances that there would not be any
ZIDERA today. It would have
been extremely difficult to justify. – To be
continued next week.
I would like to comment on the view expressed by one Christopher Jarrett of
the Southern African Commercial Farmers' Association SACFA in today's
installment of The Zimbabwe Situation.
Let me state first that I am not a
ZANU-PF apologist or a supporter of the
unplanned land seizures of the early
2000s to date . All I want to point out
without denigrating the collosal
impact these terrible land expropriations
had on the Zimbabwean economy is
that the economy did not collapse with the
land invasions or with the war
veterans' gratuities as some believe .
Remember that the chaotic land
reform started well after the Movement for
Democratic Change was formed in
1999 and well after ZAPU was re-launched in
1998. Remember also that the
formation or the rise of these movements was
inspired by the 'collapse' of
the economy for the majority. Perhaps for the
commecial farmers as
represented by Mr Jarrett the economy was in good shape
until the invasions
but I want to submit that when the ZCTU under the
leadership of Gibson
Sibanda staged successful strikes in the late 1990s the
economy had
'collapsed ' for the majority of workers.Workers were fed up, it
was a
culmination of years of restraint , fear and suffering.
I raise these issues
so that the pursuit for a solution to the crisis in
Zimbabwe a given the
correct diagnosis since correct diagnosis is half the
cure.
SIKHUMBUZO DUBE
ZAPU- FEDERAL
PARTY
President
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri,
08/02/12
Amid claims that Marange diamonds have brought stiff competition
on the
international market, causing prices to fall sharply, especially in
India
(the Herald, 6 February 2012) the big question is ‘Where is Zimbabwe’s
diamonds cash going?’
This week’s flashy headlines: ‘Zim diamonds
shake the market’ and ‘Companies
to auction diamonds’ seem to tell only part
of the full story.
Despite claims in the state-owned media that Zimbabwe
is set to rule the
global rough diamond supply market in the next few years,
the country is at
the mercy of an increasingly rich and powerful ruling
elite.
Observers believe tens of millions of dollars in diamond profits,
probably
even more, are being secretly extracted from Chiadzwa minefields
and by
passing Treasury to fund Mugabe’s election terror campaign while the
Kimberley Process dithers on the definition of conflict
diamonds.
Diplomats talk of how diamond sales are being made through
suitcases full of
cash and anti-sanctions units in local banks, raising
concerns that proceeds
to treasury are just a token for maintaining mining
licences and a semblance
of legality.
The basis for that accusation
is the US$60 million shortfall in diamonds
cash identified in the national
budget statement which experts see as just
the tip of an
iceberg.
Another indicator of a possible stash of arguably ‘unaccounted
for cash’
somewhere is the regime’s increased election rhetoric despite
Treasury
saying there was no money for both the referendum and the general
elections.
If Zimbabwe could not independently fund COPAC and failed to
give the
Election Commission more than US$8.5 million, it is mind boggling
that
Zanu-pf is so confident about funding elections when it was servicing a
bank
overdraft in 2010.
There is also speculation about Zimbabwe
diamonds possibly about to rescue
the next AU summit in Malawi after the two
leaders met in Harare last week,
followed by reports quoting Malawi’s vice
president saying her country was
not prepared to host the 54 heads of state
and government in June/July 2012.
Recently, a firm mining Zimbabwe’s
diamonds allegedly hired a private jet
for Mugabe to go where most average
Zimbabweans will hardly visit at their
own expense, in such luxury – the
Far East, for unclear reasons as there
are daily connecting flights via
Jo-burg.
Rather than the diamonds funding war chests, they should better
address
impending crises, such as:
“World Food Programme to feed 1
million Zimbabweans through March’; ‘Maputo
threatens to switch off Zim’;
‘Typhoid outbreak imminent in Harare’;
‘Chitungwiza vulnerable to typhoid’;
‘Funds shortage slows down construction
of mortuary’ and so
on.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
BILL WATCH 4/2012
[8th February 2012]
Both Houses are adjourned until Tuesday 28th February
2012
Media Commission and Foreign Newspapers
The Zimbabwe Media Commission [ZMC] chairperson has threatened action
to stop the circulation in Zimbabwe of foreign newspapers that are not
registered under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act
[AIPPA]. Part XI of AIPPA, which deals
with registration, while requiring Zimbabwean mass media owners to register,
makes no clear provision for registration of foreign newspapers, although there
is a section allowing for a “representative office of a foreign mass media
service” to be registered. But it does
not say that a foreign newspaper that is circulated in Zimbabwe must have a
registered representative office here.
So action by the ZMC to stop the importation or circulation in Zimbabwe
of foreign newspapers would require an amendment to AIPPA.
Spokespersons for South African newspapers that are popular in
Zimbabwe have denied that AIPPA requires them to register; no doubt they have
legal advice to that effect.
Appointment to Key Public Offices Remains Contentious in Inclusive
Government
Appointments in the inclusive government have always been
contentious. Before it was even sworn in
there were months of argument over allocation of ministerial posts. The disputes over appointments of the Reserve
Bank Governor and the Attorney General were taken to SADC repeatedly. There were further rows when the President
unilaterally appointed provincial governors, ambassadors and judges instead of
first agreeing the appointments with the Prime Minister. The MDC parties in the inclusive government
have based their objections to the President’s unilateral appointments after the
inclusive government was sworn in on the following legal
provisions:
Constitution, Schedule 8 : Paragraph 1: “For the avoidance of doubt, the following provisions of the
Interparty Political Agreement, being Article XX thereof, shall, during the
subsistence of the Interparty Political Agreement, prevail notwithstanding
anything to the contrary in
this Constitution.”
It then sets out Article 20 of the GPA, including 20.1.3(p):
“The President ...
in
consultation with the Prime Minister, makes key appointments the President is
required to make under and in terms of the Constitution or any Act of
Parliament”
Constitution, section 115(1) “In
… Schedule 8 … “in consultation” means that the person required to consult
before arriving at a decision arrives at the decision after securing the
agreement or consent of the person so consulted.”
Constitution, section 113(5) “In
this Constitution, unless the context otherwise requires, a reference to the
power to appoint a person to any public office shall be construed as including a
reference to the like power to reappoint him to that
office.”
Current Disagreement over the Post of Police
Commissioner-General
The position of both MDC parties in the inclusive government is that
Mr Chihuri ceased to be the Commissioner-General of Police at the end of January when his term of office expired, and
that his reappointment or any new appointment would not be valid unless there
was consultation and agreement between the President and the Prime
Minister. If Mr Chihuri’s term of office expired and a reappointment took place
after the expiry date or is still to take place, it is difficult to disagree
with the stance of the MDC parties – notwithstanding the contrary opinion
strongly expressed by the Attorney-General in a ZTV interview on 2nd
February. As well as the constitutional
provisions cited above, the following provision is relevant:
Constitution, section 93(2) states that “Subject to the provisions of an Act of Parliament, the Police Force
shall be under the command of the Commissioner-General of Police, who shall be
appointed by the President after consultation with such person or authority as
may be prescribed by or under an Act of Parliament.”
The only way Mr Chihuri’s term of office might possibly have been
extended outside the constitutional parameters set out above would have been if,
prior to its expiry, the issue had been dealt with in the terms of section 6 of
the Police Act, which makes provision for the President to extend the
Commissioner-General’s period of service for up to twelve months at a time. But even this would have been open to
different opinions on whether an extension is the equivalent of a
reappointment. It is obvious however
that no such extension was done before Mr Chihuri’s term expired. The Prime Minister’s office ought to have
been officially informed and it clearly was not; it was not made public in any
way; the Attorney-General has used constitutional arguments to justify an action
which, he seemed to imply, is still to be done; and there was no appropriate rebuttal when the
PM refused to attend the National Security Council Meeting scheduled last Friday
on the basis that as his term had expired Mr Chihuri should not
attend.
Perhaps most importantly, apart from the legal questions, there is
the point that in the public interest all parties in the inclusive government
and also the general public should have confidence in the impartiality of the
Commissioner-General of Police. If there
is no general confidence in his impartiality, it may be in the country’s
interests that we have a new Commissioner-General appointed with the agreement of the inclusive government, especially
now that the country is heading towards elections.
Duration of the GPA
One report of the Attorney-General’s 2nd February interview on the position of the Commissioner-General suggested that the Attorney-General
had said the GPA came to an end in February 2011. The statement must have come as a surprise to
many, including President Zuma and SADC as guarantor of the GPA. As pointed out a year ago in Bill Watch
4/2011 there is no
express statement in the GPA that it will come to an end on any particular
date. Nor can a two-year life-span be
read in by implication. When the GPA was
negotiated it was certainly expected by all sides that the Inclusive
Government would last only about two years.
It was also then expected that the constitution-making process would
follow the timetable set out in Article 6 of the GPA. Then, assuming a “yes” vote in the
referendum, a new constitution would have been enacted by Parliament not later
than mid-October 2010. There would then
have been time for the holding of elections and the formation of a new
government under a new constitution before February 2011. But the constitution-making process is still
far from complete and has not been abandoned or disowned by the GPA
parties. So the GPA has remained in
force.
AU Summit
Full communiqué not yet
available Although the AU Summit ended
on Monday 30th January, the full communiqué recording its decisions and
resolutions has not yet been published.
However, an AU press release dated 30th January announced that the Heads
of States adopted “25 decisions, one
resolution and two declarations” and clarified the effect of the Summit’s
failure to agree on a new AU chairperson.
No election of AU Commission chairperson and deputy chairperson, and
commissioners Neither of the two
candidates for chairperson of the Commission – incumbent Jean Ping and Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa – could obtain the two-thirds vote stipulated in
the AU constitution. After long debate
the Summit therefore decided to:
· postpone not only the
elections of the chairperson and deputy chairperson of the Commission, but also
the elections of the other eight commissioners
· to set up an ad hoc
committee as soon as possible to look into the election matter ahead of the next
AU summit scheduled for June 2012 in Malawi, in the expectation that this
committee will meet in March
· to extend the mandate of
the present Commission until the next Summit.
The ad hoc committee will
be made of Heads of State and Government of the following AU members: Benin [new AU chair], Gabon and South Africa
[the countries of the candidates for Commission chair] and one from each of the
AU regions [Central, Eastern, Northern, Southern and Western].
Election of members of AU Peace and Security Council Ten new Council members were
elected for a
two-year term ending in 2014: Cameroon and DR Congo [Central Region]; Djibouti and Tanzania
[Eastern Region]; Egypt [Northern Region]; Angola and Lesotho [Southern Region];
Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia and Guinea [Western Region]. Zimbabwe’s current term of office on the council ends on 31st March
2013.
Status of Bills as at 3rd
February 2012
[no changes since Bill Watch
2/2012 of 29th January]
[Electronic versions of these Bills available from veritas@mango.zw]
Bills passed by Parliament
awaiting Presidential assent/gazetting as Acts
Small Enterprises Development
Corporation [SEDCO] Amendment Bill [sent
to President’s Office by Parliament on 30th September
2011]
Deposit Protection
Corporation Bill [sent to President’s
Office by Parliament on 8th December 2011]
Bill awaiting Second Reading
in the House of Assembly
National Incomes and Pricing Commission Amendment Bill
Bills gazetted and awaiting
presentation
Older Persons Bill [gazetted 9th September]
Urban Councils Amendment Bill [as
gazetted by Parliament on 16th December]
Lapsed Bills from previous
session awaiting restoration to the Order Paper
Public Order and Security [POSA] Amendment Bill [Private Member’s
Bill]
Electoral Amendment Bill
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill.
Government Gazette
Land acquisition – Whiteside Farm GN 22/2012, a last-minute
addition to the Gazette dated 3rd February 2012, notifies the immediate
acquisition by Government for “resettlement for agriculture” of Subdivision H of
Whiteside, in the Goromonzi area.
Increases in mining fees SI 11/2012, dated 27th
January and effective immediately, amends the Mining (General) Regulations to
prescribe:
· new fees payable by registered holders of mining rights for the
preservation of those rights [inspection fees, protection fees, site rent,
etc]
· a new “designated mineral” levy.
· a new schedule of other fees, such as fees for registration of mining
locations and for export permits, and fees for laboratory services and services
provided by the Department of Mining Engineering.
[Electronic
version of SI available from veritas@mango.zw] The increases are substantial.
[Note: In his 2012 Budget
statement in November 2011 the Minister of Finance forecast these
increases. He said the major purpose of
the increases would be “to discourage holding of mining claims for speculative
purposes, thereby attracting credible investors in the mining sector”, and also
that the revised fees would ensure “a
sustainable fee structure commensurate with services rendered by the Ministry of
Mines and Mining Development, thereby
improving revenue inflows to the fiscus.”]
Government financial statements: GN 15/2012 gazetted the Government’s Consolidated Statements for
November 2011, as required by the Public Finance Management Act.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied