http://www.rnw.nl/africa/article/secret-document-sparks-outrage-zimbabwe
Published on : 11 January 2011 -
4:19pm
Tensions between Zimbabwe’s two rival ethnic groups, the Shona and
the
Ndebele have reached boiling point. This follows the discovery of a
secret
document which calls for the continued marginalisation and oppression
of
minority ethnic groups in Matabeleland province.
By Thabo Kunene,
Harare
The subversive document called Grand Plan Enhancement - "Operation
Gukuradzviti" - a Shona word which means flush out the Ndebele, is being
circulated among Shona-speaking company executives, bankers, business people
and student organisations in Zimbabwe.
"As MDC, we would like to
assure our sponsors that the real enemy is not the
Shonas in ZANU-PF but
Ndebeles in both ZANU-PF and the MDC. We will continue
to strike fear in
their hearts but we must do so underground. Ndebeles who
challenge Shona
domination must be eliminated,” says the document.
Zanu-PF, not
MDC
One of the MDC’s senior leaders and Minister for Water Resources, Samuel
Siphepha Nkomo who is from the Ndebele tribe, denied his party is behind the
document.
“I am positive this document was authored by Zanu-PF or the
secret service
to try tarnish the image of the MDC which enjoys the support
of the Ndebele
communities of Matabeleland and Midlands provinces,” said
Nkomo.
Takeover
“We want every Ndebele to speak Shona and we will take
their land and give
it to the Shonas. Already we have succeeded in getting
70 000 Shonas into
Matabeleland to take over Ndebele land,” adds the
document. It is codenamed
Tripple X- Xenogany, Xenomania and
Xenophobia.
“When you read this document it reminds you how Hutus planned
the massacres
of Tutsis in Rwanda. It started with Hutus circulating such
information to
youths and the gangs to attack Tutsis,” said political
activist Xolani
Mabhena.
Recently, war veterans from Bulawayo
mobilised ZAPU youths and invaded some
farms in the Nyamandlovu area and
drove out the Shona settlers. But some of
these settlers, who were allocated
Ndebele land in the area, have started
building their houses there. They say
they did not confiscate the Ndebele
land but it was given to them by the
government.
“I come from Masvingo province. We were brought here by the
government. So,
if Ndebeles have a problem, they should solve it with the
government, said
one of the new settlers.
South Africa's
influence
The document goes further to accuse former South African President
Thabo
Mbeki of trying to give Ndebeles power in Zimbabwe when he negotiated
for
the inclusion of Ndebele-dominated MDC faction into the coalition
government.
It says current President Jacob Zuma is also proving
dangerous to the Shona
plans because of his links to the Ndebele. Zuma’s
daughter Gugulethu is
married to the son of Welshman Ncube, the powerful
Ndebele politician. Ncube
is hated by the Shonas for masterminding the split
inside the MDC in 2005.
No war
“We are going to stop the Shona
migration into Matabeleland. That’s why we
have launched this movement to
free our people from ZANU-PF oppression,”
David Magagula, secretary for the
newly formed Mthwakazi Liberation Front
(MLF) told Radio Netherlands
Worldwide.
But there are some Ndebeles who don’t want to associate
themselves with the
militant movement saying they don’t want war.
"I
am Ndebele and as much as we want to free ourselves from ZANU-PF
oppression,
we don’t want war. We can put pressure on Mugabe without using
force and if
we do he will use that as an excuse to crush our people again,"
said Mthuli
Ndlovu. Magagula launched the movement two weeks ago in Bulawayo
and said
their goal is to establish an autonomous state of Matabeleland.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
by Irene Madongo
11
January 2011
The presence of a giant TV screen in the centre of Harare,
which broadcasts
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) programmes and ZANU
PF jingles
throughout, is a strong indication that Zimbabweans have no
escape from
one-sided views both at home and outside, a media expert has
warned.
The screen is reportedly a donation from the Chinese government.
According
to the Media Institute of Southern Africa, Zimbabwe Chapter
(MISA-Zimbabwe),
it was not a donation to ZBC, but to some elements in the
Ministry of
Defence. The mainstream Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led
by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai recently warned foreign embassies
against funding
ZANU PF, after the Libyan embassy in Harare donated tractors
and other
farming inputs to the party.
Nhlanhla Ngwenya, MISA
Zimbabwe director said: “It is clearly an attempt to
suffocate Zimbabweans
with partisan one-sided coverage of the Zimbabwean
story. There is no escape
basically. You can imagine if they have similar
projects, like they
insinuated they would, in Gweru, Mutare, and all these
parts of
Zimbabwe.”
Ngwenya said MISA was not completely against the establishment
of giant TV
screens, but the problem is when there is a clear attempt not to
balance the
messages.
Despite being a national broadcaster, the ZBC
continues to air only pro-ZANU
PF jingles, a move which has been condemned
by other the other parties in
the coalition government.
Last year,
the Minister of Media, Webster Shamu, who is also a ZANU PF
political
commissar, tried to defend the jingles, insisting they were simply
liberation songs. He warned they were not going to be removed.
“The
country did not come on a silver platter. These songs were part of the
struggle, just like an AK (rifle) and bullets. No one will stop ZANU PF from
coming up with liberation songs,” he said.
http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za
Eyewitness News | 3 Hours Ago
It may
have its benefits in South Africa, but the strong rand is in danger
of
pushing up inflation in newly-stable Zimbabwe.
The country’s still
struggling to shed its reputation for galloping
hyperinflation during the
middle of the last decade.
Across Zimbabwe some prices are creeping up
and bringing back bad memories.
It may only be a rise of four cents per
tin of pilchards, or 10 dollars
extra for a month’s school bus pass that
used to cost 50 dollars.
Those kinds of increases do not come close to
matching the last decade’s
hyperinflation when prices doubled between
morning and afternoon.
However, authorities are worried since Zimbabwe
had been targeting an
end-of-year inflation rate of 4.5
percent.
Chamber of Mines officials have told state media part of the
blame lies with
Zimbabwe’s high level of import dependency.
Goods
bought in from South Africa are mostly resold in Zimbabwe for US
dollars,
but with a strengthening rand those prices are going up.
http://www.apanews.net
APA-Harare
(Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe’s power utility said Tuesday that it was
engaging Indian
experts to assist in improving electricity production at one
of the
country’s largest plants which has suffered constant outages.
The head of
the Zimbabwe Power Company said a team of experts from Water and
Power
Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) of India is coming to train and mentor
staff
at Hwange Power Station in northern Zimbabwe.
“This team will be
on-station early in February. We are optimistic that
there will be a
consistency in supply out of Hwange Power Station by the end
of the first
quarter 2011 followed by a gradual increase through the year,”
ZPC chairman
Richard Maasdorp said.
The coal-fired Hwange Power Station has been
dogged by ageing equipment and
lack of funding to buy spares to revamp its
six units.
To guarantee adequate supply, Zimbabwe has long planned to add
two more
units at Hwange, generating 300 megawatts (MW) each, and plans to
expand its
Kariba hydro-power plant with two generators, adding 150MW each
by 2012 at a
total cost of US$800 million.
Zimbabwe has over the
years failed to attract independent power producers
despite having several
power projects on the cards, which if implemented
would make the country a
net exporter of electricity.
JN/daj/APA
2011-01-11
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona
Sibanda
11 January 2011
The MDC-T, which has for years been on a
collision course with Local
Government Minister Ignatious Chombo, has vowed
to hit back at his
‘ceaseless bullying’ and firing of its elected
councillors and Mayors.
All MDC elected mayors and rural district council
chairpersons are meeting
in Harare on Wednesday, to plot a way to stop
Chombo’s legendary meddling in
council affairs.
The meeting is
expected to look at ways of restraining the wayward Chombo
from inflicting
damage to the smooth running of almost all towns and cities
in
Zimbabwe.
The MDC accuses Chombo, a former University of Zimbabwe
lecturer, of
corruption and of trying to cover up his vast accumulation of
wealth by
unilaterally suspending or dismissing any councillors who speak
out against
his actions.
His vast wealth straddles across every town
and city in the country. His
grand plan, according to the MDC, is to go
after elected mayors and
councillors, as he believes they are a threat to
his political lifeline.
His modus operandi has been the same countrywide.
Bindura, Kariba, Victoria
Falls, Bulawayo, Chegutu, Mutare and Chitungwiza
have all felt Chombo’s
meddling, which the MDC has said is all designed to
protect his vast
interests and a personal fortune.
The deputy Mayor
of Harare, Emmanuel Chiroto confirmed the meeting during an
interview with
SW Radio Africa on Tuesday. He said the meeting would also
look at other
problems being faced by local authorities.
A statement issued by the MDC
on Tuesday said Wednesday’s meeting was a
follow-up to another held last
year under the banner of the Democratic
Mayors’ Forum. During that gathering
council leaders recommended a
parliamentary inquiry into Chombo’s actions,
arguing that any delays are
likely to see a total disruption of local
authorities.
“Since ZANU PF lost the 29 March 2008 elections, Chombo has
sought to
interfere with the running of local authorities, intimidating
progressive
and hard-working councils and dismissing councillors he dislikes
under the
selective cover of sections of the Urban Councils Act.”
“In
Harare, for instance, Chombo has so far unsuccessfully tried to
frustrate a
comprehensive probe into a string of land corruption scandals in
which ZANU
PF officials and him are deeply involved. Attempts by the council
to file
charges against Chombo with the police have attracted a
mealie-mouthed
response and was officially ignored by the ZRP,” the MDC
statement added.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Own Correspondent Tuesday 11 January
2011
HARARE – The proposed Electoral Act amendments are a ploy by
ZANU PF to
preempt an election roadmap currently being developed by South
African
President Jacob Zuma and that could include drastic changes
unpalatable to
President Robert Mugabe’s party, analysts have
warned.
ZANU PF legal brains Patrick Chinamasa – who is also Zimbabwe’s
Justice
Minister – has proposed to ban civic participation in voter
education as
well as punish anyone announcing election results before they
are released
by an election officer.
The Electoral Amendment Bill of
2010 also proposes to give the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) more
responsibilities on voter education.
It seeks to ban foreign
organisations from providing any voter education
while local organisations
would be required to have their material vetted by
ZEC.
Organisations
such as the Zimbabwe Election Support Network would also be
required to
disclose their sources of funding.
“Offensive” or “misleading” election
education material would be banned.
Other proposals include the
appointment of special police liaison officers
and special investigation
committees in provincial centres to handle cases
of politically-motivated
violence or intimidation in each province.
The special liaison officers
would be senior police officers, to be
appointed by Commissioner General
Augustine Chihuri, who would work closely
with the Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission and a multi-party liaison
committee during the election
period.
Analysts however said the proposed amendments are meant to
sidestep Zuma and
his team of Southern African Development Community (SADC)
mediators who are
currently working on a roadmap for future polls in
Zimbabwe.
“The amendments are meant to counter any proposals that Zuma
may come up
with that ZANU fears may work against the party. They want to
make sure they
don’t leave their fate in the hands of the SADC team,”
political analyst
Donald Porusingazi told The Zimbabwean On
Sunday.
The analysts said Chihuri was an interested party and would not
be expected
to be impartial when dealing with cases of political violence or
intimidation.
“We surely would not expect someone who has openly
stated his allegiance to
one of the parties to then be an impartial referee
in the event there is a
repeat of the events of 2008 when hundreds of
opposition supporters were
murdered by ZANU PF militias,” said an investment
banker who spoke on
condition of anonymity.
Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party
says more than 500 of its supporters were killed in
the violence that
accompanied a disputed presidential election run-off
between the former
opposition leader and Mugabe in June 2008.
Thousands other MDC-T
supporters were displaced in the ensuing violence
allegedly perpetrated by
ZANU PF youths, soldiers and so-called veterans of
the country’s 1970s war
of independence.
Zuma is the SADC’s official mediator between President
Robert Mugabe and
arch-rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai who came
together in a unity
government under immense pressure from the regional body
keen to contain a
political crisis that followed Zimbabwe’s inconclusive
elections in 2008.
The proposed SADC election roadmap includes adopting a
new Constitution,
drawing up a fresh voters’ roll, ending political violence
and passing of
new electoral rules by Parliament.
The SADC election
roadmap for Zimbabwe will be modelled along the lines of
the regional bloc’s
Principles and Guidelines Governing Elections which were
adopted in
Mauritius in 2004.
The guidelines stipulate that SADC member states
should uphold the full
participation of citizens in political processes as
well as freedom of
association, political tolerance, equal access to state
media for all
political parties, equal opportunity to vote and be voted for,
and voter
education.
Zuma is understood to be working on a document
that will lay the basis for
establishing impartial, all-inclusive, competent
and accountable national
electoral bodies staffed by qualified
personnel.
Talk of new elections next year by Mugabe and Tsvangirai to
end their
marriage of convenience that insiders say is increasingly becoming
a hostile
affair has further stoked up tensions in Zimbabwe in recent
months.
Civil society groups say the country is not ready for new
elections because
political violence is still taking place, while several
electoral reforms
and a proposed new Constitution still need to be
implemented and given time
to take root to ensure the next vote is free and
fair.
http://www.radiovop.com
11/01/2011 11:55:00
Harare, January 11, 2011
– Professor Welshman Ncube, who has just been
elected new President of the
smaller MDC party, has denied accusations from
some disgruntled party
members he was a dictator.
Ncube led a group of MDC politicians to split
from the main MDC wing in 2005
after accusing founding leader Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai of being a
dictator.
But in an exclusive interview
with RadioVOP, Zimbabwe’s Industry and
commerce minister strongly denied the
same accusations now being levelled
against him.
“I have not dictated
anything to anybody unless someone thinks professor
Ncube has the capacity
to dictate to 12 provinces as to what they should do.
I do not have that
capacity. It is their prerogative,” said Ncube, who
further denies
performing a coup of former party President Arthur Mutambara.
“What
Morgan Tsvangirai did was to say I reject the democratic decision of
the
party. As one individual, I am annulling a collective decision. That is
what
dictatorship is, rejection of a majority decision.”
A group of rebels led
by former party chairperson Joubert Mudzumwe wrote a
petition on the eve of
last weekend of the party, accusing Ncube of
violating the party’s
constitution and imposing himself on the throne.
The party hass in the
past year also expelled three legislators who said
they were not satisfied
with the way the party’s affairs were being handled
by both Ncube and the
past president Arthur Mutambara.
Ncube denied personally inviting
Mutambara to become its leader saying this
was a media
creation.
Ncube, who has dismissed any possible merger by the two main
MDC factions
ahead of Zimbabwe’s elections, said he will only work with
Tsvangirai only
along the realm of a common objective of improving the
livelihoods of
citizens.
Ncube who said this week Mugabe should go
said he did not regard him as a
hero, although he was grateful for his role
in Zimbabwe’s liberation
struggle.
After the 2005 split, the MDC
party has suffered more break-ups. Former St
Mary’s MP and party secretary
for defence Job Sikhala last year went
separate ways and went on to form his
MDC-99 party.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Ngoni Chanakira
Tuesday, 11 January 2011
10:00
HARARE - ONCE Zimbabwe's best performing export crop, tobacco is
slowly
bouncing back and reaping huge rewards for the poor country - earning
millions once again.
Figures given to The Zimbabwean by the Ministry of
Agriculture show that
tobacco in 2010 stood at a 125 000 tonnes the best
since 2005 when a mere 74
000 toness were produced by the
nation.
Zimbabwe in 2000 embarked on a controversial land grab programme
where the
government of President Robert Mugabe grabbed land belonging to
white
commercial farmers dishing it out to "landless blacks".
However
the black commercial farmers, mainly war veterans, are now dismally
failing
to produce tobacco citing high input costs and refusal by commercial
banks
to give them loans.
The tobacco crop production had since nose dived and the
country, once among
the top three producers in the world, became a lauging
stock even among its
poor neighbours, Zambia and Malawi.
Malawi to-date
producees more tobacco than Zimbabwe.
In fact, the commercial farmers who are
doing well in Malawi were from
Zimbabwe and left after their lucrative farms
were grabbed from them by
President Mugabe's government in 2000.
Figures
given to The Zimbabwean show that in 2005 Zimbabwe produced 74 000
tonnes of
the tobacco crop which, however, fell to a mere 55 000 in 2006.
The Ministry
of Agriculture revealed that in 2007 Zimbabwe produced 80 000
tonnes of the
tobacco crop but that and this nose-dived to a mere 56 000
tonnes in
2008.
However, in 2009 the tobacco crop production improved to 59 000 tonnes
and
then shot up to miraculously 125 000 tonnes last year.
The
agriculture sector is the mainstay of Zimbabwe's struggling economy.
It
contributes about 16 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product
(GDP).
http://www.radiovop.com
11/01/2011
11:53:00
Harare, January 11, 2011 - Znau (PF) has accused the
Bulawayo and Harare led
city councils of undermining President Robert
Mugabe’s efforts by slashing
maize crops planted by residents in
undesignated areas.
Sanu (PF) Harare province chair Amos Midzi defended
the practise, which
causes soil erosion saying: “This is a political move
aimed at sabotaging
the efforts of our President Robert Mugabe who is giving
away agriculture
inputs to urban population in order to boost food security.
They are doing
so because they have realised that their Finance Minister
Tendai Biti’s
agriculture budget for this farming season has been surpassed
by that of the
President’s..."
Both Harare and Bulawayo City Councils
are led by MDC-T.
The City authorities are on a massive maize crop
slashing, saying the
practise was not only an environmental disaster but the
crop fields were a
haven for criminals.
Zanu (PF) has been accusing
MDC of sabotaging the land reform which it
embarked on, in 2000, and only
benefited its senior party members.
MDC said there should be a land audit
to establish genuine land users.
President Robert Mugabe in December last
year launched a parallel farm input
distribution programme which his party
is using for political campaign
throughout the country.
The party is
distributing the farming inputs to churches such as Johane
Marange, urban
and rural communities while demonising MDC, particularly Biti
whom they
accuse of failing to allocate enough funds to support the
agriculture
sector.
http://www.radiovop.com/
11/01/2011
10:38:00
Harare, January 11, 2011 - The cash-strapped City of Harare
is now using
tractors pulling trailers to help round up vendors who have
invaded the
capital city centre.
"We have no transport to take the
vendors to the Police," said a senior
official who was driving the tractor.
"The Council does not have money to
hire better vehicles either and so we
have to use this tractor and trailer
instead."
He said the council
did not have cash for fuel and this was hampering the
rounding up of the
vendors in the city centre.
"We are poor and need to survive," said a
vendor in an interview. "They
(City Fathers) must arrest thieves who are
causing havoc in town and not us
who are poor and only simply trying to earn
a decent living."
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
11 January
2011
The international diamond trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process (KP)
is
still to make a decision on Zimbabwe’s trade future, after the deadline
to
discuss a proposed agreement was extended until next week.
KP
members were set to meet on Monday to discuss amendments made to an
agreement on Zimbabwe, which was rejected by the Zim authorities when it was
drafted last year. But it’s understood that the deadline has been moved to
January 17th, allowing members more time to review the amended
agreement.
Last week Deputy Mines Minister Gift Chimanikire insisted that
the KP had
given the government the green light to resume sales. But a KP
representative has refuted the claims, insisting that “no decision has been
made yet.” The comment was made by a spokesperson for the new KP Chairman in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The DRC took over the
Chairmanship of the KP from Israel on January 1, 2011 with Yamba Mathieu
Lapfa Lambang assuming the Chairman’s position.
Chimanikire has
dismissed these comments, and has repeatedly said that the
green light has
been given to resume sales, stating he received a letter
from the KP. But
Alan Martin from the civil society group, Partnership
Africa Canada, which
is one of the KP participants, told SW Radio Africa on
Tuesday that no
letter has been produced.
“He (Chimanikire) had a week to show that
letter to the world and he hasn’t,”
Martin said, adding: “According to my
sources no such letter has been
issued.”
The state-owned mineral
marketing agency in Zimbabwe is reportedly making
preparations for two
diamond auctions, despite there being no official
decision from the KP.
Martin explained that the government is actually free
to have an auction,
and that the only issue would be exporting the stones
after they are sold.
He said that exports have been suspended until the KP
makes an official
decision.
“Right now no diamonds from (Chiadzwa) can be exported,” Martin
said,
calling the issue a “grey-zonal area for the KP.”
Zimbabwe was
suspended from trade in 2009 over human rights abuses at the
Chiadzwa
alluvial diamond fields, where the military has been accused of
violence,
forced labour, smuggling and murder. The KP, which was started to
end the
trade in blood diamonds, resisted pressure to ban the country
completely.
Instead, mining authorities were given a six month deadline to
fall in line
with international trade standards. That deadline was
accompanied by a ‘Join
Work Plan’ which included the demilitarisation of the
Chiadzwa
area.
This has not happened and there have been ongoing reports of
smuggling and
harassment by military officers. Despite this, the KP has
continued its
lenient treatment of the Zimbabwe situation, allowing two
auctions of
stockpiled diamonds last year. The sales were meant to pave the
way for full
exports to resume, but KP members have not reached the
necessary consensus
to allow this to happen.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
11 January, 2011 02:55:00
APA
Harare - Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is on a
two-day
official visit to Italy aimed at strengthening bilateral ties
between the
southern African country and the European nation, APA learns
here Tuesday.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai met Italian Foreign
Minister Franco
Frattini on Monday to discuss progress made since the
formation of Zimbabwe’s
coalition government in February 2009 and how the
two countries could boost
their ties.
Frattini said that Italy was
closely following current political
developments in Zimbabwe, particularly
progress towards peace and national
healing pacification.
“The future
general and presidential elections will be, not least in the
eyes of the
international community, an important opportunity to consolidate
the
process,” Frattini said in a statement after the meeting with
Tsvangirai.
He said Italy was looking forward to seeing Zimbabwe
holding credible,
well-prepared elections “with an appropriate and adequate
framework of
guarantees of legality and transparency”.
Tsvangirai
highlighted the progress made by Zimbabwe to revive its economy,
saying
growth prospects are expected to reach about eight percent this
year.
Frattini expressed an interest in improving the Italian business
community’s
knowledge of Zimbabwe.
This would pave the way not just
for the creation of a favourable climate
for inward investment but also for
closer bilateral economic relations.
http://www.radiovop.com
11/01/2011
17:00:00
Harare, January 11, 2011 - Foreigners seeking to invest in
Zimbabwe and to
be considered for permanent residency need to have US$1
million to become
eligible.
In addition, all new foreign investment
in Zimbabwe now requires an
Investment License issued by the Zimbabwe
Investment Authority (ZIA) upon
successful approval of a business project
proposal.
Zimbabwe's Department of Immigration said a processing fee of
US$500
non-refundable amount shall now be paid on submission of the
application and
US$2 500 would be paid when the licence is
issued.
"Any foreigner wishing to take up employment in Zimbabwe must
first be in
possession of a valid work permit," the document said.
"Immigration
regulations permit local companies to employ foreigners under
temporary work
permits. Such permits are only issued by the Department of
Immigration upon
application by the company, which should provide proof that
the requisite
skill cannot be sourced locally.
"The foreigner will
only be permitted to work within the capacity for which
that specific permit
was issued. Spouses and minors, on the other hand, may
reside in Zimbabwe
provided that they do not take up employment."
The document said visas
were not required for nationals of certain listed
countries and in "other
cases" visas could be obtained at the port of entry
or could be applied for
in advance on arrival from the Zimbabwe Embassies
depending on the category
of that country.
Zimbabweans are currently up in arms over the increasing
number of nationals
from China and Nigeria who are grabbing virtually all
office and apartment
space in the CBDs of the country. They have been given
"favoured nation
status" much to the dismay of locals.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
11 January
2011
ZANU PF is feared to be behind the severe beating of a Zimbabwean
man in
Cape Town last week, which left the victim with serious head, neck
and back
injuries.
Robert Nzara has laid assault charges against the
Zimbabwean consulate’s
head of security, James Ketelo after the attack last
week. Nzara was trying
to pick up his new passport at the temporary
consulate offices based at the
Bellville Home Affairs office. After standing
in a queue for most of the
day, Nzara asked the security official for
assistance. But instead of
assistance, Ketelo handcuffed Nzara and started
beating him.
Nzara told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that Ketelo accused
him of “causing
trouble.” He explained that he was forced to write a letter
of apology to
the Zimbabwean government, with Ketelo threatening to ‘deal
with’ his family
back home. Nzara said that Ketelo claimed to be working for
ZANU PF and the
notorious CIO.
After beating Nzara across the head,
Ketelo then took him to the Bellville
police station and forced him to admit
that he had caused trouble in the
queue. After police released him, Nzara
went back to the consulate office to
collect his passport, only to have
Ketelo detain him again. Nzara was
handcuffed to a chair in a side room and
beaten with a baton on the chest,
head and neck. He eventually fainted and
when he regained consciousness, a
security guard named Guy Kamiki released
him and told him to flee the
building. Kamiki has since been fired by
Ketelo.
“He (Ketelo) was going to get a gun so I think I am very lucky to be
alive.
I still can’t believe that I am alive,” Nzara said.
Anthony
Muteti, a Project Coordinator for the Western Cape based refugee
rights
group PASSOP, told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that they believe
Ketelo is
linked to ZANU PF. He said that Ketelo, while he was beating
Nzara, was
overheard saying: “We are going to show these MDC supporters that
we are in
charge here, and in charge at home.” Muteti added that Ketelo has
also been
harassing other Zimbabweans at the consulate.
“We are very angry.
Incidents like this are reminders of what is happening
at home and it is
worrying when it happens here too,” Muteti said.
Meanwhile Muteti also
insisted that the deadline for Zimbabweans to apply
for work or study
permits to remain legally in South Africa had not been
extended, despite
media reports suggesting otherwise. Muteti explained that
the government is
adjudicating all applications that were received before
the December 31st
deadline, and has only extended a moratorium on
deportations. Home Affairs
officials have announced that there will be no
deportations of undocumented
Zimbabweans until the end of March.
http://www.radiovop.com/
11/01/2011
11:55:00
Masvingo, January 11, 2011 - A senior official from the
Morgan Tsvangirai
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T) here has accused a
Zimbabwe National
Army (ZNA) General of abducting and torturing him for over
10 hours last
Saturday for allegedly frustrating efforts by Zanu (PF) to win
the support
of people in the constituency.
MDCT Masvingo south
secretary, Ellson Mutonhori told Radio VOP that he
endured severe assault
and torture after he was picked up by Major General
Engelbert Rugeje who was
accompanied by Operation Maguta provincial chef,
Colonel Philip Toperesu
early morning.
“They picked me around eight in the morning while I was
walking around my
homestead and bundled me in an open truck vehicle and sped
off. I was
frightened by the speed at which all this happened and the next
thing was we
stopped at a lodge where they took me to a room and started
questioning me
while they assaulted and torture me,” he
said.
Mutonhori said he was accused of frustrating Zanu (PF) efforts to
boost its
support base in the only constituency won by the party, Walter
Mzembi. The
party lost the other four seats to MDC-T in the 2008 harmonised
elections
for the first time since independence in 1980.
He said they
took him to a hidden booking house in the jungle of the
district called Rock
lodges where they locked him in a room and started
interrogating him on his
party activities ahead of the projected polls this
year. He was also quizzed
on why he was disturbing efforts by Zanu (PF) to
get support from the people
by continuously campaigning for MDC in the
constituency.
He added
that they demanded that he told them his party strategies to win in
the
province if elections where to be held.
"They would torture me and go for
breaks drinking beer until they got drunk
and come back again to torture me.
I went through over ten hours of pain and
agony until they released me at
around 9pm” said Mutonhori.
Mutonhori said he was also accused of wearing
an MDC-T T shirt during a
Unity Gala organised by the Tourism Minister
Mzembi at Renco mine in the
Constituency last December.
MDCT
provincial Information officer, Honest Makanyire confirmed the incident
and
said his party was assisting their official to get medical treatment
from
private doctors as he was feared to have sustained serious internal
injuries
during the fateful day.
“ He made a report to the office and we are
making arrangements that he get
medical attention from private doctors here
as his family says he is in
great pain and we are extremely disturbed by
continued violence against our
members by members of the Army,” he
said.
He said MDC-T in Masvingo was concerned with the continued
increased cases
of army induced violence particularly in the rural areas and
demanded that
the principals of the three parties in the inclusive
government stop rogue
soldiers from violating human rights on civilians
living in the countryside.
Efforts to get a comment from ZNA provincial
spokesperson, Kingstone Chivave
or Rugeje were fruitless.
Sources say
Rugeje is helping his junior, Toperesu to get support in the
constituency as
they intend to topple Mzembi in their party’s primary
elections ahead of the
said general plebiscite that seeks to end the tenure
of the shaky inclusive
government.
http://www.radiovop.com
11/01/2011
17:02:00
Harare, January 11, 2011 - The National Constitutional
Assembly (NCA) has
received a major boost in its campaign to reject the
proposed new
constitution after a coalition of churches said they were
unhappy with the
chaotic constitution making process that took place last
year.
“The church noted with concern that prior to the official launch of
the
outreach programme, the process was characterised by inordinate delays.
The
operating environment remains largely repressive and made a negative
impact
on the participation by the public in the reform process, this proved
by the
lack of transparency on the sequence and dates of the meetings that
continued to change,” read part of the pastoral letter released
Tuesday.
“The constitution making process needed to be more transparent
so that the
outcome will be a people driven constitution. All stakeholders
should have
been well represented in the constitution making process so that
the outcome
is not politically driven,” the church leaders said in the
letter.
The NCA, a coalition of civic organisations including, labour
unions,
student and youth groups, women groups, churches, business groups
and human
rights organisations advocating for the crafting of a people
driven
constitution is currently leading a “No Vote” campaign to reject the
proposed new constitution during the referendum set for this
year.
The Lovemore Madhuku-led constitutional reform body is opposed to
the
present political parties driven constitution-making
exercise.
Meanwhile reports in Harare said the constitution making
process is set to
be further delayed after workers hired to upload
information collected from
the outreach programme threatened to boycott the
process demanding more pay.
They signed the petition which they forwarded
to the Parliamentary
Constitutional committee that has been spearheading the
constitutional
process.
Efforts by Radio VOP to get an official
comment from all the three COPAC
co-chairpersons, namely Douglas Mwonzora
(MDC-T), Edward Mukosi (MDC) and
Paul Mangwana (ZANU-PF) were fruitless as
they were said to be in an urgent
meeting to resolve the impasse.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
11 January
2011
Businessman Mutumwa Mawere has rubbished claims by Justice Minister
Patrick
Chinamasa that the government now owns 100 percent of the Shabanie
Mashaba
Mines (SMM). Chinamasa made the claims while giving evidence to the
parliamentary portfolio committee on Mines and Energy.
The government
led by Chinamasa took over Mawere’s empire in 2004 claiming
he was heavily
indebted to the state and had externalised huge sums of
foreign currency in
the process. A controversial law allowing the government
to take over the
business empire was crafted and Mawere was declared a
‘specified’
person.
Although Mawere was de-specified last year, a move he hoped would
pave the
way for a return of his companies, reports suggest Chinamasa and
Defence
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa are vigorously blocking this. Chinamasa
told the
committee he was not consulted by the Home Affairs Ministry on the
decision
to de-specify Mawere, claiming: “I am aware that he externalised a
lot of
funds.”
Speaking to SW Radio Africa on Tuesday, Mawere said
Chinamasa had lied under
oath when he said the government owned 100 percent
of SMM. He argued the
government through AMG Global nominees Private Limited
had sought to
“negotiate and acquire certain rights given to T&N plc,”
the previous owner
of SMM Holdings Limited.
Mawere said the
government through AMG then approached the courts in the UK
in an attempt to
change the shareholding structure of the UK Company, but
the application was
dismissed with costs.
“Having gone through a court process I am baffled
by this statement from the
Minister. They were party to the litigation. They
were represented by UK
lawyers and the court made a determination,” he
said.
How does Mawere respond to claims that he was heavily indebted to
the state
and this was the reason government took over his companies?
“If
you are indebted to a creditor, why pass a new law?” he asked. He was
referring to the State- Indebted Insolvency Companies Act, the
Reconstruction of State-Indebted Insolvent Companies Act and the Prevention
of Corruption Act used to ‘fraudulently’ wrest his companies from him.
“Without this law what does the Minister have?” he asked.
Meanwhile
Chinamasa has revealed that the struggling Shabanie and Mashaba
Mines will
only be sold to Chinese investors. A baffled Mawere questioned
why someone
from a party that professes to stand for the ‘total empowerment’
of black
people would want the Chinese to “have exclusivity to wrestle
control of an
asset belonging to a black person. The same cannot happen in
China,” he
said.
What about talk that Mnangagwa and Chinamasa are the two main
stumbling
blocks to him getting his empire back? The businessman told us
“can you
imagine, as you are alleging, a minister of Defence, instead of
defending
the country, reducing himself to a small corner with the Minister
of
Justice, using the law to achieve improper ends against a defenceless
individual.”