http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Saturday, 12 January 2013 10:19
HARARE -
Whistle blower website, WikiLeaks, is on the verge of releasing
millions
more confidential US diplomatic cables with Zimbabwe bracing for a
fresh
potential fallout.
The reports are likely to cause panic and tremors
especially in Zanu PF
where top officials were reported to have secretly met
United States
diplomats.
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said this
week the looming release would
cover every major issue in the world
today.
Assange did not provide details about their contents but said they
“affect
every country in the world.”
He made the statement from the
Ecuadorian Embassy in London, where he has
been holed up for more than seven
months.
Ecuador’s government granted him asylum in August last year, but
British
authorities have said they will arrest him if he leaves the
premises.
The release of the last 250 000 diplomatic cables — many
stamped secret —
rattled Zimbabwe and embarrassed the United States by
laying bare reports
about critical issues in Zimbabwean politics that senior
diplomats were
sending back to Washington.
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai was characterised WikiLeaks return triggers
tremors by US
diplomats as "weak and indecisive" while President Robert
Mugabe was said to
be plagued by old age and prostate cancer which has
metastasized.
The
cables branded the MDC “far from ideal” and is “convinced that had we
(the
US) had different partners, we could have achieved more already.”
If the
MDC forms an exclusive government, the current leadership would
"require
massive hand-holding and assistance should they ever come to
power," the
last batch of cables said.
The US diplomats admitted the MDC leader was a
"brave, committed man" with
"star quality."
The leaked documents also
named top Zanu PF officials who were speaking to
US diplomats in Harare and
Pretoria, something that is frowned upon by
Mugabe's
leadership.
WikiLeaks blew the cover on senior Zanu PF and government
officials,
including Vice President Joice Mujuru and serving and former
cabinet
ministers, Emmerson Mnangagwa, Nicholas Goche, Saviour Kasukuwere,
Jonathan
Moyo, and Sikhanyiso Ndlovu among others.
Senior MDC
officials were also quoted in the diplomatic cables.
The forthcoming
release threatens to expose more officials.
Sharon Hudson-Dean, the US
embassy spokesperson is on record stating that as
a matter of policy, the
embassy did not comment on documents that "purport"
to contain classified
information.
"We condemn in the strongest terms the deliberate and
unauthorized
disclosure of information represented as classified materials
by individuals
and organizations which puts lives at risk and jeopardizes
our national
security," Hudson-Dean said.
"Any unauthorised
disclosure of information by WikiLeaks has harmful
implications not only for
the lives of identified individuals, but also for
global engagement among
and between nations."
The ongoing systematic release of the diplomatic
cables is the biggest leak
of diplomatic cables in history.
US
diplomats face an uphill battle to stave off anger over the looming
cables.
http://www.herald.co.zw/
Saturday, 12 January 2013
00:00
Felex Share Herald Reporter
GOVERNMENT has failed to
effect the 5,5 percent inflation-related salary
increment it promised to
award civil servants this month. In his 2013
National Budget last year,
Finance Minister Tendai Biti
said the workers would get an
inflation-related salary increment this month.
However, soldiers received
their salaries on Thursday without any increment.
Most civil servants got
their January pay slips showing no salary
adjustment.
Government said
it was difficult to update civil servants on salaries and
conditions of
service because there was no one legally representing them.
The term of
office for the Apex Council, a body that represents civil
servants in salary
negotiations with Government, expired in February last
year.
Since
then, the body has been embroiled in a leadership dispute and last
week it
wrote to Government imploring it to recognise the old Apex Council
led by
its immediate-past chairperson Mrs Tendai Chikowore to spearhead
salary
negotiations.
Acting Public Service Secretary Mr Rodgers Sisimayi
yesterday said salaries
and conditions of service would not be communicated
through the media and
the Apex Council should reconstitute itself.
He
said Government lawyers were assessing if it was possible to engage the
old
committee.
“We acknowledge receipt of their letter requesting that we
engage the old
committee. We are looking at the legal implications of such a
move and we
will notify them in due course what we would have resolved,” he
said.
“The problem is that the Apex Council has failed to come up with a
new
leadership since last year yet salaries and updates are announced
through a
platform called the National Joint Negotiating
Council.
“This is a platform that brings to the negotiating table workers
side and
Government negotiators, but as it stands, there is no way
Government can
communicate.”
However, Mr Sisimayi declined to comment
on why Government had not effected
the increment.
College Lecturers
Association of Zimbabwe president Mr David Dzatsunga
yesterday said civil
servants unions would announce their next course of
action after they meet
on Tuesday.
“This is an insult and Government is setting a terrible
precedent,” he said.
“It means we are never taken seriously, but what
they should know is that
some unions are mobilising their members for a
possible industrial action.”
Mrs Chikowore, who is the Zimbabwe Teachers
Association president, said by
not effecting the increment, Government could
have taken advantage of the
squabbles.
“There is a breakdown of
social dialogue and they might have seen our
weaknesses and decided to go
quiet,” she said.
“We are going to meet and make sure we unite as we move
forward.”
Minister Biti said the 5,5 percent inflation-related increment
would push
the civil service wage bill to US$2,6 billion including
grant-aided
institutions.
This is about 68 percent of the total
expenditure.
Last year’s wage bill stood at US$1,4 billion.
The lowest
paid Government employee is getting US$296 per month while the
poverty datum
line is over US$600. Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe said the move
by Government
was “demoralising”.
"Most of our members opened schools anticipating that
something would come
up and obviously morale will be down on hearing that
there is nothing for
them.
“We are going to bury our petty
differences on Tuesday and move forward as a
united force in pressing for
improved salaries,” he said.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
secretary general Mr Raymond Majongwe
ruled out possibilities of getting a
backdated salary increment from
Government.
"This will never happen
with this inclusive Government," he said.
"To them the month of January is
gone and they are focusing on February as
we move towards general elections.
Somebody out there is pushing us to go
and strike and this is one issue we
will put into consideration come
Tuesday."
The workers have been
agitating for a salary increment since the formation
of the inclusive
Government in 2009, without success.
In January last year, civil servants
went on a five-day strike that resulted
in the disruption of work in the
public service.
The strike was called off after Government announced that
it had reviewed
civil servants’ housing and transport allowances, while the
basic salary
remained unchanged.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
11/01/2013 00:00:00
by Mail &
Guardian
Treasury to release voter registration
funds
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe is unlikely to carry out his threat to make a
unilateral call for elections in March because the new Constitution, a
prerequisite for the poll, remains bogged down by unresolved disputes and a
pending referendum.
Delays in staging the referendum have thrown
Mugabe's plan for early
elections into jeopardy, with rumours in political
circles that elections
may only be held in June.
A Human Rights Watch
report released on Thursday, Race Against Time: The
Need for Legal and
Institutional Reforms Ahead of Zimbabwe's Elections, said
Zimbabwe's unity
government has not made the reforms necessary for holding a
credible
election and that holding elections in March could result in
"widespread
human rights violations".
Zanu PF official and the co-chairperson of the
constitutional parliamentary
committee, Paul Mangwana, said this week that
there are still six
outstanding constitutional disputes between his party
and the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) formations.
The proposed
referendum on the Constitution can only take place after
consensus is
reached on these issues.
Mangwana remained upbeat: "We started off with 30
(sticking points) but just
a handful remain. We are optimistic that these
will be ironed out in the
coming weeks and that the referendum will happen
any time before March."
Mugabe was away in the Far East on his annual
holiday, leaving a leadership
vacuum in Zanu PF, which cannot adopt a
position on the outstanding issues
without his input. He returned this week
and Zanu PF's Politburo is set to
meet in the first week of February to
deliberate on the constitution-making
process and
elections.
Outstanding disputes
The outstanding issues are the
devolution of power, the creation of a
national prosecuting authority,
scaling down the executive's authority, the
formation of a national peace
and reconciliation commission, and the
adoption of running mates in the next
election.
Under the running mates clause, Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan
Tsvangirai
would have to pick individuals to stand alongside them in the
elections. The
running mate would automatically assume the post of deputy
president in the
event of a victory.
Zanu PF is opposed to the
proposal, reportedly seeing it as a potential
avenue for an internal
succession battle to spill over on to the election
stage. Vice President
Joice Mujuru and Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa
have been locked up in
a decade-long fight to succeed Mugabe.
This week, Zanu PF spokesperson
Rugare Gumbo restated the party's strong
opposition to the devolution of
power. Several provinces backed the
devolution proposal during the
constitutional outreach exercise.
"It's unimaginable to have devolution.
Zimbabwe is too small a country to be
divided," said Gumbo.
Voter
fatigue
Political observers said his stance reflects the dominance of
political
parties at the expense of the views ordinary people expressed
during the
outreach exercise.
Eldred Masunungure, a political
analyst, said "fatigue" had set in among
voters as a result of the
protracted fight over the Constitution between
Zanu PF and the
MDC.
"The people just want the constitution-making process to finish ...
they're
looking forward to seeing the principals come up with a compromise
this
year. If that happens, everything else will fall in place – the
referendum
and the elections," he said.
The constitution-making
process was initially supposed to take 18 months,
but has taken more than
three years because of bickering among political
parties.
Douglas
Mwonzora, an MDC official and a representative of the party in the
constitutional parliamentary committee, expressed optimism that a
breakthrough would be reached this week, when the committee was scheduled to
make its presentation to the cabinet committee.
"We agreed on
suggestions to unlock all the issues except the one on running
mates," said
Mwonzora.
Meanwhile, political observers say they expect Mugabe to back down
on his
earlier insistence that polling should be staged under the old
Lancaster
House Agreement of 1980.
He threatened to go this route if
the constitutional parliamentary committee
failed to incorporate Zanu PF's
demands in the Constitution.
John Makumbe, a lecturer at the University
of Zimbabwe, said Mugabe was
shrewd enough not to anger regional and
continental blocs by being
belligerent.
"If Mugabe calls for
elections under the old Constitution it will produce
the same result as the
2008 elections. The two MDC formations, the Southern
African Development
Community and the African Union would never accept such
a scenario."
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
12/01/2013 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
TREASURY will next week release the money needed to
kick-start the
registration of voters ahead of elections coalition parties
agree must be
held this year, Finance Minister Tendai Biti has
said.
Voter registration was expected to begin last Thursday but the
exercise
failed to kick-off with the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)
saying it
had yet to receive the US$21 million funding from
Treasury.
This was despite an assurance, last year, by MDC-T leader and
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai that he would engage Treasury to ensure the
money was
released.
“We are waiting for money and we are ready to
roll, if the money comes we
are ready to act,” said acting ZEC chair, Joyce
Kazembe, Friday.
“We have been told that the money is there but we don’t
know what is
delaying its release.”
The MDC-T leader has come under fire
for failing to make good on his promise
with top Zanu PF official and
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa quipping:
“Up to now there is no single
cent availed to the electoral body even for
publicity
purposes.
“Everyone was banking on the authority of the Prime Minister,
as one of the
Principals, to make the Ministry of Finance release the funds
but there is
nothing up to date.”
However, Biti told an investment
conference in London Friday that the money
would be released next week
insisting Zimbabwe must hold credible elections
before October.
He
said ZEC should ensure that the country’s voters' roll was sanitised to
remove "millions of deceased people who have a tendency of resurrecting
every time we have elections."
The Treasury chief, who is also the
secretary general for the MDC-T, told
prospective investors that the “make
or break” ballot must be credible and
legitimate to ensure “a sustainable
end to (country’s) political conflict”.
President Robert Mugabe wants the
new elections to be held by March but,
with a new constitution still to be
completed, the MDC formations insist a
credible ballot is only likely in
June.
Both Zanu PF and the MDC formations agree the coalition
administration has
been rendered unworkable by policy differences between
the parties as well
as disagreements over the implementation terms of the
GPA deal reached after
violent elections in 2008.
But Biti said the
unity pact had helped end an economic crisis that saw
runaway inflation
break “all known records” adding recovery had been
achieved through an "eat
what you kill" policy where "we sustainably live
within our
means."
He urged investors to give the country a look-in adding that
Zimbabwe was
now "unambiguously the place to be by 2015" for anyone serious
about good
investment returns.
Numerous lucrative opportunities
existed in coal and methane gas production,
platinum and gold mining as well
as "other marvellous discoveries I cannot
disclose at the moment".
A
new diamond law would also be enacted to bring transparency to the country’s
contested diamond sector with the country likely to become the world’s
biggest producer of the precious stones within a few years.
Biti also
said the government was prepared to reduce mining fees by up to 50
percent
and called on British investors to bid for tenders in the country’s
energy
sector saying government plannes to “spend a billion US Dollar in
upgrading
Hwange Power Station, (develop) a hydro power station at Batoka
and some 20
mini hydro power stations in Manicaland."
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Richard Chidza, Staff Writer
Saturday, 12
January 2013 10:05
HARARE - Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) chief Justice
Simpson
Mutambanengwe has returned home to prepare for the forthcoming
elections.
There was swirling speculation that the Namibian jurist could
be replaced
after extended period of absenteeism that saw his deputy Joyce
Kazembe
literally running the show.
Justice and Legal Affairs
minister Patrick Chinamasa on Thursday confirmed
Mutambanengwe’s
return.
“It is true he is in the country and we have held meetings with
him,”
Chinamasa said. “He already has meetings lined up with the other
commissioners.
“It is the press that has been trying to misinform the
people. We never
officially announced he had resigned from
Zec.”
Curiously, Mutambanengwe did not attend Thursday’s crucial indaba,
convened
by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to facilitate the provision of
financial
support for the election commission’s voter registration and
education
exercise.
There was speculation that former Chief Justice
Wilson Sandura was being
lined up to replace Mutambanengwe.
Chinamasa
denied any knowledge of such moves.
“There was never such a plan,” he
said. “It is all wishful thinking.
Mutambanengwe was just finishing off a
few things he had been assigned by
the Namibians and there was never talk of
him being reappointed or us
replacing him. The media is in the business of
appointing and disappointing
office bearers.”
Tsvangirai’s
spokesperson William Bango also denied reports of moves to
replace the Zec
chairperson.
“That is speculation and nothing more,” Bango said. “There
were never any
such moves and if it was there the Prime Minister was never
part of that. It
is also a fact that he chaired a Zec meeting as lately as
this year.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Saturday, 12 January 2013 10:14
HARARE -
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC has said its youths and
supporters in
Masvingo are being frustrated while registering as voters at
the local
Registrar General’s office (RG’s office).
At the same time, the party
said, Zanu PF supporters are being bussed in
from rural areas to
register.
Disgruntled MDC supporters this week said suspected party
supporters were
being frustrated by deliberate delays and flimsy excuses and
some were being
turned away.
The party alleged that officials at the
local RG’s Office “literally fell
over each other when Zanu PF supporters
come for registration.”
The party did not state how the officials at the
RG’s Office were
distinguishing the supporters.
But according to the
MDC ward 7 chairperson, Tafara Masimba, scores of party
youths and
supporters from his ward were being denied access to register as
voters
ahead of the next elections to be held this year.
Registrar of Voters
Tobaiwa Mudede has persistently declined to entertain
questions from the
Daily News about voter registration, and recently kicked
out our reporter
from one of his meetings in Harare saying the paper was not
welcome to cover
him.
Masimba said officials at the local RG’s Office were playing endless
mind
games.
“People are frustrated because workers at the local
Registrar General’s
Office are operating at a snail’s pace when our
supporters approach them for
voter registration,” he said.
“We
believe they want to make sure that only a handful of our supporters
register to vote compared to Zanu PF’s number of potential
voters.
“However, we are banking on the mobile voter registration
exercise to start
soon so that our youths can be able to register without
any hassles,” said
Masimba.
Masvingo Urban legislator, Tongai Matutu
assured party supporters the mobile
voter registration exercise would
commence soon.
“We are optimistic the mobile voter registration exercise
will start very
soon,” he said.
“We have spoken to the staff at the
local Registrar General’s Office and we
hope the whole process will be
carried out smoothly.
We heard that some overzealous officials are
turning away our members but we
hope sanity will prevail,” said Matutu. -
Staff Writer
http://www.herald.co.zw
Saturday, 12 January 2013
00:00
Wenceslaus Murape Senior Reporter
POLICE have
ordered their officers to shoot to kill when they encounter
carjackers and
armed robbers.
This follows the fatal shooting of a detective on Wednesday by
a carjacker.
Detective Assistant Inspector
Thadius Chapinga was shot
dead by a carjacker he was taking to Braeside
Police Station.
During a
memorial service for the slain officer at Morris Depot in Harare
yesterday,
the Officer Commanding CID Senior Assistant Commissioner Simon
Nyathi warned
criminals that they faced the full wrath of the law.
“They have started a
war they will never win. As police, we now have orders
to shoot and kill
such perpetrators,” said Snr Asst Comm Nyathi.
“Those who live by the sword
will die by the sword.”
He said the ZRP would never tire of their mandate
to protect people, their
property and ensure peaceful existence.
Snr
Asst Comm Nyathi described Det Asst Insp Chapinga as a diligent officer
who
had died during the course of his duties.
“Aive pabasa asi mabhinya
anotambudza vanhu akapfuudza hupenyu hwake. Hondo
yacho haipere,” he
said.
Snr Asst Comm said this was their fourth gathering within two years
at
Morris Depot to hold a memorial service for a slain officer.
“In
2010, we gathered here twice after the slaying of Sergeant Joseph
Maximus
and Chief Superintendent Lawrence Chatikobo while they were on duty.
Last
year, we held another memorial service for Inspector Petros Mutedza
after he
was killed by hooligans in Glen View,” he said.
Det Asst Insp Chapinga
was born on May 3, 1976 in Murakata Village, Bikita,
Masvingo.
He was
attested into the ZRP on October 31, 1997 and was later assigned to
the
Police Protection Unit.
In November 2000, Det Asst Insp Chapinga was
transferred to CID in Harare
where he was attached to various
sections.
He rose to the rank of Det Asst Insp and served in the Zimbabwe
UN
Peacekeeping Mission to Sudan for six months in 2010.
Since his
return, Det Asst Insp Chapinga had been attached to CID Vehicle
Theft
Squad.
He is survived by a wife and three children, two boys and a
girl.
Det Asst Insp Chapinga will be buried today at his rural home in
Bikita.
http://www.zimdiaspora.com
SATURDAY, 12 JANUARY 2013 14:23
Zimbabweans
have been urged to exercise extreme caution in light of the
continued
rainfall and the increased risk of floods.
In an interview, Head of the
Meteorological Services Department, Mr Tichaona
Zinyemba called for
collective effort to ensure maximum preparedness
especially in flood prone
areas with poorly drained soils.
“Local councils should maximise the way
they deal with the drainage
challenges currently prevailing in major cities
and towns in Zimbabwe,
parents should also ensure the protection of their
children by not forcing
them to go to school if a storm is coming,” he
said.
The Air Force of Zimbabwe has since pledged to assist people
affected by
floods in the country’s low-lying areas this season.
In a
statement, Local Government and Urban Development Minister Ignatius
Chombo
urged the public to be wary of the dangers emanating from the
continued
rains.
“The general public is advised to make an effort to know their
local weather
patterns, monitor water levels in their environs, take
necessary precautions
on the roads by driving at safe speed and be generally
aware of prevailing
hazards,” he said.
“Vehicle drivers, school
children and the public should desist from crossing
flooded rivers or
low-lying bridges, People should quickly move to higher
ground if they
notice that their area is becoming flooded,” he said.
Minister Chombo
called on the public and schools to teach swimming so as to
decrease the
rate at which people drown. He urged people to use safe water
to prevent
water-borne and water-based diseases such as diarrhoea, malaria
and
bilharzia.
Meanwhile, in a statement the Meteorological Department has
warned of heavy
rains this weekend.
“The rains are expected to be as
high as 100mm in 24 hours especially in
Manicaland, Mashonaland East and
Mashonaland Central and Masvingo, therefore
there is an increased risk of
flash flooding,” the statement read.
The met office said Zimbabwe
received the heaviest rains on January 4 in the
south east of the country -
Herald.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Saturday, 12 January 2013 10:14
HARARE -
Soldiers deployed at Mataga Growth Point in Mberengwa are harassing
villagers in the area for failing to produce identification documents (ID)
and allegedly backing Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC.
The
soldiers were deployed at a small army camp at Mataga under the so-
called
“Operation Maguta”. They have been on a rampage since Christmas Day,
beating
up villagers randomly, accusing them of disrespecting them.
On Wednesday
they descended at Makinya Business Centre in Chingoma area
demanding that
everyone at the centre produce ID cards.
Ishmael Chikwari and Edmund
Dziva were severely beaten by the officers after
they failed to produce the
IDs.
The army officers proceeded to Mundi-Mataga Dam where they beat up
villagers
who were fishing and seized three buckets of fish.
They
accused them of fishing from the dam illegally.
The soldiers early this
week also stormed the homestead of Trynos Shava, MDC
provincial secretary
for Defence, who stays adjacent to Mataga, but he
managed to
escape.
Shava reported the matter at Zvishavane Police Station and to the
Joint
Monitoring Implementation Committee (Jomic).
Last week another
group of soldiers from the same camp descended on Musume
Lutheran Church
Mission just a few kilometres from Mataga and beat up
villager Cornelius
Vutsvene, accusing him of disrespecting them.
Tamuka Ndhlera, a security
guard at Hungwe Store, was also severely beaten
by the soldiers and was
admitted at Musume Hospital.
Speaking to the Daily News at Mataga
yesterday, Zenzo Hove, the MDC deputy
provincial secretary said army
officers have turned Mataga into a “war
zone” and residents were living in
fear.
“The area now resembles a war zone, the soldiers are going around
beating up
innocent people and we condemn this behaviour,” Hove
said.
“This is a just a way to put fear in people as elections are
approaching. It’s
high time they should go away; they have caused too much
suffering here.
“We don’t want them here anymore they should go back to
their barracks, we
are not at war,” fumed Hove.
MDC Mberengwa East
district director for elections, Tirivangani
Gadu-Matavire said the army
officers were taking the law into their own
hands. He said two weeks ago
they stormed Mataga Night Club and beat up
revellers who were drinking in
the bar after one of the soldiers lost a
snooker match.
Midlands
provincial police spokesperson Emmanuel Mahoko said: “We encourage
all those
affected to report to the nearest police station so that police
can deal
with this matter, but we will definitely look at those cases
reported to
us.”
In another occurrence, soldiers allegedly held a meeting with
villagers at
Danga Hall in the presence of chiefs in December to warn them
against voting
for the MDC in the coming election.
According to one
villager, the meeting was held by six uniformed soldiers on
December
18.
Only one of the soldiers introduced himself to the chiefs as
Lieutenant
Colonel Mzilikazi of Five Brigade, the villagers told the Daily
News.
“They warned everyone against voting for MDC,” the villager said.
“The
chiefs were given a task to monitor movements of their people and
report
anyone who they suspect to be MDC.”
The Daily News heard that
four chiefs attended the meeting namely Chief
Chingoma, Chief Mataga, Chief
Mataruse and Chief Mahlebadza.
“Since then soldiers have been unusually
seen all around Mberengwa,” the
villager, speaking on condition of
anonymity, said.
The army spokesperson Alphious Makotore requested
written questions, which
were sent to him. - Pindai Dube and Bridget
Mananavire
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Fungai Kwaramba, Staff Writer
Saturday, 12 January 2013
10:19
HARARE - University of Zimbabwe (UZ) is barring MDC youth
leader Solomon
Madzore from resuming his studies ostensibly because he has a
pending
criminal case.
Madzore, along with 28 MDC activists, are
jointly facing murder charges.
Madzore was released late last year on bail
from Chikurubi Maximum Security
Prison after High Court judge Chinembiri
Bhunu ruled that his alibi was
plausible.
Now the country’s premier
learning institution is denying him the right to
resume his studies because
of the hanging murder charges.
A letter written to Madzore by the UZ
deputy registrar given as N Takawira
reads: “I regret to inform you that
your application for resumption of
studies was
unsuccessful.”
Madzore, who spent more than 12 months locked up in remand
prison on charges
of murdering police inspector Petros Mutedza, in Harare’s
Glen View suburb
in 2011, should have completed his studies were it not for
the long
incarceration.
Madzore was studying towards a degree in
Social Work.
“I was left with only one semester and now authorities are
denying me my
right to education,” Madzore said. “Some people at the college
told me that
the reason I cannot complete my degree is because I am still on
trial.”
Winding the clock some 40 years ago, Madzore says his situation
is no
different to what it was during the colonial era when Zimbabwe’s
founding
fathers including President Robert Mugabe and a host of other
nationalists
obtained degrees while they were doing time in
prison.
“Mugabe was facing numerous charges in the 1970s but the racist
Rhodesian
government allowed him to study while in prison. My situation is
different
because I am out on remand but I cannot be allowed to study,” said
Madzore.
Madzore has since engaged top human rights lawyer Beatrice
Mtetwa to
challenge the UZ.
“I don’t know whether the UZ is now an
extension of the office of the
Attorney General because they are continuing
with my persecution,” Madzore
said. “However I have since engaged my
lawyers. Even convicted criminals are
allowed to study in
prison.”
Madzore said he is seeking to establish whether his rights as a
citizen of
Zimbabwe have been infringed by UZ’s stance.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Saturday, 12 January 2013 10:19
HARARE - Zanu PF
Masvingo Province has disowned former Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) advisor
and aspiring senator Munyaradzi Kereke, saying the
maverick businessman was
not in the party structures.
This follows allegations that Kereke entered
into a “gentleman’s agreement”
with ward 23 secretary for finance Batsirai
Munyani to step aside to make
way for him.
Masvingo provincial
political commissar Tranos Huruba told the Daily News
that Kereke, a
Zimpapers board member who also owns Rock Foundation Medical
Centre was not
an office holder in the party.
Huruba, who is also Chivi North
legislator, confirmed there was
disgruntlement among party cadres over
reports that Kereke was the new
secretary for finance in ward 23 in
Bikita.
He said although Kereke could have been co-opted into the
structures without
his knowledge, there was no way he could have become
secretary for finance.
“As far as I know, Kereke is not in our structures
in Masvingo,” Huruba
said. “If he is in, it could be a new development that
I am not privy to,
but there is no way he could have become secretary for
finance.
“In fact, I have heard of the disagreements over his position in
Bikita. You
are 100 percent correct and there could be big politics at
play,” said
Huruba.
Zanu PF insiders allege that Kereke has been
splashing cash to woo the
electorate by dishing out developmental
projects.
But he has struggled to win the hearts and minds of the party
rank-and-file
ahead of primary elections to choose party candidates in
general elections
expected sometime this year.
The party structures
form the crucial Electoral College that votes during
primary
elections.
Insiders say Kereke is working closely with ward chairperson
Mathew Nkomo,
his close ally, in his bid to represent the party in the
elections ahead of
Claudious Makova, who is also eyeing the
seat.
Kereke also reportedly has the support of the war veterans’
district
chairperson Ignatius Murindi.
Kereke was not taking our call
when attempts to contact him for comment were
made yesterday. He did not
respond to subsequent questions sent to him by
text message.
But he
has written to the Daily News disputing that he is on a vote buying
spree
claiming the newspaper was out to tarnish his image.
Part of his letter
reads: “My word of advice Mr. Gama is that please you
and your team at the
Daily News must not seek the path of breeding conflict,
hatred and
disrespect among your readers through propagation of lies.” -
Mugove
Tafirenyika
Associated Press
Jan 12, 6:21 AM EST
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- Zimbabwe's
organization of tribal healers says its
leader, the eminent academic,
author, sociologist and politician Professor
Gordon Chavunduka, has died at
age 82.
The Zimbabwe National Traditional Healers Association said
Saturday the
group's president died in Harare on Friday after a long battle
with cancer.
Chavunduka, a former head of the main Zimbabwe University,
was widely known
for his research and writing that did much to bridge the
gap between Western
medical practices and Africa's traditional, tribal and
herbalist healers,
sometimes referred to in the West as
witchdoctors.
As a politician, Chavunduka took part in negotiations that
led to Zimbabwe's
independence from Britain in 1980. At the time of his
death, he chaired the
council of elders in Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic Change party.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
Staff Reporter 3 hours 37 minutes
ago
INDIGENISATION and Economic Empowerment minister
Saviour Kasukurewere has
vowed not to amend the country’s controversial
indigenisation laws,
threatening to take stern action against foreign-owned
banks which are yet
to comply with Zimbabwe’s equity laws.
Addressing
guests at the signing ceremony for the terms agreement between
the country’s
largest platinum miner, Zimplats, and government, Kasukuwere
warned that the
State would rein in banks that fail to dispose of
controlling stakes in line
with empowerment laws.
Foreign-owned companies are required to sell a 51%
stake to locals under the
country’s indigenisation and empowerment
legislation enacted in 2008.
Zimplats is a unit of Johannesburg Stock
Exchange-listed Impala Platinum
(Implats).
“I would like to encourage
other companies, particularly in the banking
sector, to comply with our laws
as no-compliance will no longer be
tolerated,” said
Kasukuwere.
“Uncalled-for defiance and arrogance will not be tolerated as all
companies
must respect the law and desist from provoking the
State.
“There will be no sacred cow spared, no stone unturned to ensure that
the
policies are fully implemented”
His remarks come as the MDC-T insists
government was working on amending the
equity law amid criticism that it was
discouraging foreign direct
investment.
Yesterday Zimplats agreed to
dispose of its 51% shareholding to locals in a
transaction valued at $971
million. The National Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Fund will have
31% while the Zimplats Employee Share Ownership
Trust and Community Share
Ownership Trust will have 10% apiece.
Kasukuwere said some government
officials “have been peddling falsehoods
that the law will be amended to
make exemptions for investments in certain
areas of the economy”.
“The
law will not be amended and not the least because there is no need to
do
so,” he said.
“. . . We have shown that the provisions of the law allow
government to
lower the threshold of indigenisation in areas such as massive
investments
for a certain period of time.
“Unfortunately, despite our
overtures to implement this regime, our
colleagues have continued to engage
in cheap politicking and unnecessarily
confusing the investors.”
Speaking
at the same function, Implats group chief executive officer
Terrence
Goodlace said the signing of the deal was expected to ease investor
uncertainty on Zimbabwe.
“I am, despite the hard times, excited about the
future for Zimplats and
platinum mining in Zimbabwe. To start with, the
uncertainty that had dogged
Zimplats during negotiations is now hopefully a
thing of the past,”Goodlace
said.
As of November, the white metal
dominated mineral exports contributing $689
million out of $2,4 billion
total ex
ports made by the capital-intensive sector.
According to the
National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Board,
over 1 300 firms
have submitted compliance plans and out of this, only 350
applications have
been approved.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
Staff Reporter 17 hours 52
minutes ago
London - Zimbabwe's Minister of Finance Tendai
Biti has told investors in
London, United Kingdom that Zimbabwe is putting
it's house in order and is
now a safe and lucrative place place to come and
invest arguing it is
"unambiguously the place to be by 2015" for anyone
serious about good
returns.
Minister Biti was speaking at the ZimInvest
London 2013 Forum "Why Zimbabwe
Matters" hosted by Country Factor at a top
hotel in London this morning.
Minister Biti assured investors that
Zimbabwe is going to have "make or
break" elections by 29th October 2013
which needed to be credible,
legitimate and provide a sustainable end to
political conflict. He said his
Ministry was next week going to provide
funds for the registration of voters
to ensure that the voters' roll was
sound and no longer contained " millions
of deceased people who have a
tendency of resurrecting every time we have
elections."
Minister Biti
said Zimbabwe was on course to have a new constitution even if
it meant
incorporating into amendment 20, the areas parties have already
agreed and
having a referendum at the same time as elections on those
contentious
issues.
Biti said Zimbabwe "is pregnant" with opportunities in energy,
mining,
agriculture and an educated workforce. He said his ministry was
working on a
new Diamond law that will enable a new Agency to be created
that will ensure
transparency in the contentious diamond mining in Zimbabwe.
He acknowledged
that "at the moment, there is a mismatch between production
figures and what
the treasury is getting." He said a new law was needed
because Zimbabwe was
likely to be the world's biggest producer of diamonds
within a few years.
He said the iron ore deposits in the Mwanesi area we
worth about USD43
Billion metric tonnes while coal and methane gas,
platinum, gold and "other
marvellous discoveries I can not disclose at the
moment" make Zimbabwe a
place to be for mining investors.
He said his
ministry was committed to reducing mining fees by 50 percent but
encouraged
the Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines to engage his office more on what
the industry
needed.
Minister Biti said since coming into Government in 2009, he had
initiated
the Short Term Emergency Programme (STEP) that has set Zimbabwe on
a growth
trajectory and out of the economic crisis where inflation had
broken all
records known to bring sanity with an "eat what you kill" policy
where "we
sustainably live within our means."
He said Zimbabwe
achieved the highest growth rate in the world in 2011,
which was testimony
to efforts to create a 200 billion economy by 2020.
He invited British
companies to consider applying for tenders in energy
because, "we will spend
a billion US Dollar in upgrading Hwange Power
Station, need a hydro power
station at Batoka and some 20 mini hydro power
stations in
Manicaland."
Zimbabwe businessman Mutumwa Mawere, attending the
conference said it was
good to hear of an optimistic picture of Zimbabwe but
encouraged the
Government of Zimbabwe to do more in the area of ensuring
security of
investment.
In the past week, the Ministry responsible
for Lands has committed to
ensuring that all farms that were covered by
Bilateral Agreements were not
going to be part of the resettlement programme
and moved out blacks who had
been allocated a farm in Mazowe in response to
those who feared breach of
their property rights.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
Staff Reporter 17 hours 39
minutes ago
HARARE - The MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai said its economic
policy plan Juice is a broad policy that is set
to benefit everyone and make
the people of Zimbabwe feel empowered, the MDC
Deputy Treasurer General,
Elton Mangoma said in Harare yesterday.
Mangoma
who is also the Minister of Energy and Power Development said this
during a
recent live radio interview on StarFM. JUICE stands for Jobs,
Upliftment,
Investment, Capital and the Environment and was launched by
President
Tsvangirai in Harare at the end of last year.
“In Zimbabwe we need a
broader economic policy that benefits everyone. The
major problem in the
country is lack of jobs and that is what the MDC will
redress through JUICE
as it will generate empowerment for now and in the
long term,” Mangoma
said.
He said Zanu PF was pursuing narrow minded policies through its
indigenisation programme. “There is nothing to celebrate about the
Indigenisation and Empowerment Act as it was done in such a bad way and it
is very loose. The Zanu PF policy is only meant for the enrichment of the
elite.
“The way it is being done is going to reduce the level of
investment in the
country. The ingredients being used by Zanu PF will create
mbodza,” Hon.
Mangoma said.
He said through Juice, there would be
capital injection into the economy in
the country. “We need to grow the cake
and when the cake grows the majority
of the people can be empowered by
having jobs and when you have a job you
are empowered without having a share
in that company. We must not accept
the Zanu PF model which is not creating
jobs.
“There should be collaboration between foreign and local investors.
Lets
grow the cake and the people will enjoy,” he said.
He said a
recent research done on employment in Zimbabwe had shown that only
10
percent of the population wanted to be entrepreneurs while the rest of
the
population wanted jobs.
On the issue of the ethanol project in
Chisumbanje, the minister said Zanu
PF was trying to protect Billy
Rautenbach who had illegally taken over land
from peasant farmers for his
ethanol project in the area. Hon Mangoma said,
after Rautenbach had been
given land from ARDA, he went on to encroach into
the surrounding communal
land thereby depriving the helpless villagers of
their land.
"This
man has been taking land from the peasants, which is even against the
land
reform act. Now we have peasants who have been dispossessed of land
while
Zanu PF by day is talking of taking land from the whites to give to
the
blacks, but here they are in the night, dispossessing the blacks to give
it
to Billy, something that does not go down well with the MDC. Until those
people are properly taken care of, it remains one of the situations
affecting the project,” he said.
Over 200 communal farmers have been
kicked off their land by Zanu Pf
politicians to pave way for Rautenbach who
had been allocated 5000 hectares
by Arda but took over another 3000 hectares
from the communal farmers who
have since been rendered
landless.
Mangoma said furthermore, Rautenbach wanted government to put
in place laws
that would make it mandatory for all service stations to blend
E10. He said
the project was meant to serve personal interests of Zanu PF
elites.
Turning to diamonds, Minister Mangoma said resources from Marange
should
belong to government and all companies that come in must work under
government adding that there was need to change the Mining Act. “As
government, we said we would set up a small team to look into this but that
team has not been set up. The law in Zimbabwe has been grossly misapplied,”
said the minister.
Last year only US$42 million was received by
Treasury when over US$2 billion
diamonds had been sold and up to now the
Minister of Mines and Mining
Development has failed to explain the
anomaly.
On restrictive measures imposed by the West on selected Zanu PF
individuals
Hon. Mangoma said the party had pressed a self destructive
button through
its clear failure of handling international relations and
should not blame
the MDC for the imposition of the restrictive measures on
them.
“It is very clear that Zanu PF has been brutalising people and that
is why
the measures were imposed on some of the individuals in the party,”
said
Hon. Mangoma.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
Staff Reporter 18 hours 5 minutes
ago
The Zanu-PF faction aligned with the late army general
Solomon Mujuru is
said to be courting Simba Makoni the former finance
minister and politburo
member, who defected from the party in 2008 to run
against President Robert
Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change leader
Morgan Tsvangirai.
A Zanu-PF source said the Mujuru grouping feels
strategically outmanoeuvred
by the faction led by Emmerson Mnangagwa, which
has managed to lure leaders
who left with Makoni, or who were suspended,
back to the party, the Mail &
Guardian reported.
The move to woo
Makoni is part of a strategy to strengthen leadership of the
Mujuru faction
following Mujuru's mysterious death in a fire at his
farmhouse in 2011, a
source said.
"Many doubt that under [party vice-president] Joice Mujuru
the faction can
match the tactical sharpness of the Mnangagwa faction. She
is not articulate
on policy issues. It's the reason Makoni is being looked
at," the source
claimed.
"Makoni can come in as a strategist, working
under Mujuru to give the
faction some polish."
However, Makoni denied
this week that he is talking to Zanu-PF about
rejoining the party. His
spokesperson, Joel Mapaura, said: "There is no
truth in these reports. He
has not been approached."
Some Zanu-PF leaders are also apparently
resisting Makoni's return.
"People like Didymus Mutasa [the Zanu-PF
secretary for administration]
oppose Makoni's readmission. He feels [Makoni]
could upset his possible rise
to a higher position and challenge him as the
party's godfather in
Manicaland," said the source.
"Remember that
they once fought after Makoni tried to oppose him in the
Zanu-PF primaries
some years back."
Zanu-PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said he was not aware
of any overtures
being made. "I've been on leave and I don't know about
these talks with
Makoni," he said.
Mutasa said Makoni would have to
seek readmission to Zanu-PF personally.
"Those who returned pleaded to be
readmitted; Makoni has not done that. But
if he wants to rejoin the party,
we will not just admit him like we did with
the others. A mini-meeting to
consider that would have to be held."
Mutasa declined to explain why such
a "mini-meeting" with Makoni would be
required.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
12/01/2013 00:00:00
by
Election Resource Centre
INTRA-PARTY democracy systems can have
positive or negative consequences on
national systems depending on the
internal policies used by political
parties or the political context of the
country.
The ability of political parties to put in place progressive
internal
policies that ensure the professional selection of qualified
candidates can
go a long way in providing leadership that will effectively
lead Zimbabwe
towards sustainable development.
Though some might
argue that too much party democracy may dilute the power
held by political
party leaders, the benefits of intraparty democracy at a
macro level are
much greater. Therefore, internal party systems should
uphold universally
recognised democratic principles namely transparency,
accountability and
participation.
Internal party democracy has a wider impact on national
governance. It
enhances a necessary democracy culture within political
parties that will
naturally transcend to the society at large. The
representation of the
electorate’s ideas starts at a grassroots level and in
most cases through
political parties, therefore the internal party
procedures should be free
and fair so as to facilitate the transfer of the
electorates’ views and
ideas from the grassroots to the national
level.
For that reason, the opening up of political parties is essential
in that it
creates space for new ideas and new members, who will then be
part of the
national system through national elections, if they are selected
as party
candidates.
Intra-party democracy has not been in the centre
of the international
community’s attention, hence there are no concrete
global guidelines on
internal party politics. However, many scholars have
come up with basic
principles of intra-party democracy and these are:
transparency,
professionalism, accountability, electivity, inclusivity,
representation and
participation. These are basically democratic principles,
which political
parties should be encouraged to adhere to.
The major
challenge in Zimbabwe is the haphazard selection of political
party
candidates. The internal party systems and regulations for candidate
selection are not precise enough to allow the democratic selection of
candidates. According to Matlosa (2005)1, a conflict issue within political
parties themselves is the lack of intraparty democracy, which in turn leads
to some party members deserting the parties and contesting elections as
independent candidates.
The applicable electoral law which regulates
political parties in Zimbabwe
are mainly the Electoral Amendment Act and the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
Act. For instance, the Electoral Amendment Act
provides that party
candidates must be endorsed by the party and bans the
use of party symbols
by candidates who are not endorsed by their political
party.
The current COPAC draft constitutional provision on the selection
of running
mates gives an element of governing internal party politics. But
in other
countries internal functioning of political parties is legally
regulated.
For instance, Kenya has a Political Parties’ Act which regulates
political
parties. It sets out the contents of the constitution or rules of
a
political party and participation in political activities and rights of
party members. Zimbabwe only has Political Parties’ Finance
Act.
Zimbabwe’s three main political parties – Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC
have all
instituted primary elections as a method of selecting candidates.
This is in
itself a democratic practice because it removes the power from
political
leaders and transfers it to the people. Primary elections should,
nevertheless, be conducted in a free and fair manner.
Candidate
selection procedures by Zimbabwe’s political parties
Movement for Democratic
Change - Tsvangirai (MDC- T)
There have been media reports that the MDC-T
elections directorate sent out
a document to all its structures countrywide
with guidelines of selecting
candidates from local government to
legislators. According to this document,
a prospective candidate for any
post would have to be a member of the party
for at least five years instead
of the previous two and should be a
registered voter.
Article 15.
11(e) of the document is on Election of National and Local
Government
Candidates. It states that, “Where more than one candidate has
been listed,
the National Elections Directorate shall conduct an election
among the
competing candidates in Wards in respect of Councillors and
Districts in
respect of Parliament”.
All candidates standing for election will be
approved by the national
council. The document provides criteria for
selection of provincial and
local authority representatives. A system of
proportional representation
will be used, with eligible voters voting for
their candidate in their order
of preference.
Initially two
candidates from each district, that is a woman and a man,
shall be elected.
The elected, “must undergo a further election to rank them
on the basis of
their popularity using the zebra method of woman then man
provided that at
all material times regard should be made to a fair
geographical spread of
candidates within the Province”.
On January 10, 2013, The Herald reported
that the MDC will not subject
sitting legislators to primary elections...and
those who fail to garner two
thirds majority confirmation by their
respective constituencies would go for
primary elections.
Zimbabwe
African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU PF)
The Zanu PF leadership is
reported to have indicated that they are in the
process of developing
procedures for the holding of primary elections to
select candidates who
will stand against other political parties in the
harmonised elections
scheduled for 2013.
In 2008, Zanu PF primaries were characterised by
violence after supporters
failed to agree on the procedures of choosing
candidates. Similar to the
MDC-T current procedures, Zanu PF selected
candidates who would have served
the party for more than five years. It is
yet to be determined if this
criteria will still stand this elective season,
given the emergence of new
conflict between the young turks, who have been
party members for less than
five years, and the old guard.
Movement
for Democratic Change – (MDC)
It is reported that the MDC led by Welshman
Ncube requests for nominations
and the aspiring candidates submit
applications which are vetted to see
whether they meet the party
requirements. Primary elections are then held to
select a candidate in cases
where there is more than one aspiring candidate
per constituency
The
Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU)
The Zimbabwe African People’s Union
(ZAPU) is reported to have an election
committee which consists of 10
members, who represent each province in
Zimbabwe. For an individual to be
selected as a candidate, the party calls
for CVs which are evaluated by the
Election Committee. The election
committee also conducts a background check
on the potential candidates to
see whether they meet the party
requirements.
Major effects of failed internal party
democracy
Imposition of candidates
The Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC primary
elections will probably be held early
2013. The fear is that the candidacy
of the next elections will be botched
because there are already certain
individuals that have been targeted for
nominations.
There will most
likely be impositions of candidates by over domineering
elites. The
imposition of candidates is exacerbated by the culture of
clientelism that
has perverted internal party politics. Therefore, this may
lead to voter
apathy since the party would have failed to give the
candidates who are
preferred by the electorate.
Disturbance of democratic
stability
Primary elections are generally divisive and have, in the past, led
to
intra-party conflicts. The possible forthcoming primary elections will
serve
as a barometer to measure the possibility of the recurrence of
political
violence in the 2013 national election.
If the selection of
candidates is not managed well, there is a possibility
of intra party
violence going beyond internal violence. If the selection of
candidates is
contested there are more chances that the harmonised elections
will be
highly contested. Already in some areas in the Mashonaland
provinces,
violence has erupted with some aspiring candidates accusing the
old seat
holders of using dirty tactics to retain their seats.
Loss of political
support for the party
Internal democratic procedures which lack the adherence
to true democratic
principles have led to the split and crises within
political parties. For
instance, the MDC has split into four parties since
2005 and Zanu PF
internal politics is marred by factionalism. This has been
caused by
disgruntled party supporters.
When a candidate loses the
primary elections, legally, there is a chance for
them to stand as an
independent candidate. Consequently, this will probably
lead to the
splitting of the party’s votes and the lack of confidence of the
electorate
in the political systems.
Recommendations
# Need for more open
candidate selection methods which will illustrate the
appointment to the
candidate selection system for primary election candidacy
# Coming up
with democratic internal legal frameworks
# Coming up with a national
legal framework that can influence political
parties’ discretionary power in
proposing candidates
# Party regulation and procedures that allow for
citizen participation in
the candidate selection procedure
# An objective
candidate selection procedure that ensures the selection of
competent
candidates who would have been endorsed by their constituencies
# The
candidate selection procedures to be transparent and accountable
http://www.cathybuckle.com/
January 12, 2013, 9:41 am
Dear Family and
Friends,
Greeting senior allies on the tarmac at Harare airport when he
returned
unexpectedly early from his annual Christmas holiday in the Far
East, Mr
Mugabe said that number thirteen was considered by everyone else to
be
unlucky but not for Zanu PF. 2013 was going to be their lucky year he
said.
Thirteen years after life, stability, the economy and food security
began to
unravel in Zimbabwe, we are again a country in waiting.
We
are a nation holding our breath this January 2013; watching, waiting,
dreading and growing increasingly uneasy by the day. So much has to happen
in the next few months starting with a long overdue draft constitution which
has to be printed, published and released to the public. Then there has to
be a referendum on the draft but no one yet knows which voters roll will be
used for that vote. Will it be the present one which the electoral
commission admitted in November contained the names of thousands of dead
people along with numerous other discrepancies and at least two and a half
thousand people aged between 101 and 110. So many Zimbabweans over a hundred
years old is cause for much derision in a country where the average life
expectancy is only 44 years.
The snail’s pace of the constitution and
confusion of voter eligibility
became even more muddled when a new-voter
registration drive started at New
Year. A few days later it stopped; then we
were told there was no money for
the voter registration exercise, and then
that voter registration had been
cancelled until funds were
released.
While this went on big crowds gathered outside run down
government offices.
Not allowed to queue inside people have to stand in the
mud, the rain and
the puddles waiting, waiting, waiting to be allowed in or
to be told what’s
going on.
Then there’s the hugely contentious issue
of whether the hundreds of
thousands of Zimbabweans who have been struck off
the voters roll in the
last seven years will be allowed to vote after being
classified as ‘aliens’
if their parents were not born in Zimbabwe. Or the
estimated 3 million
Zimbabweans living in exile in the Diaspora – will they
be allowed to vote?
The same questions apply to the elections which have to
happen before the
29th October 2013. Who will be able to vote, will
electoral laws have been
changed, who will be allowed to observe and monitor
the polls and will we
have a repeat of
2008 when it took five weeks
for the results to be announced and winners
were forced to share power with
losers? Our painfully long story about
constitutions, referendums and
elections has all become so murky that I
turned my attention to the weird
mushroom that’s been growing in my garden
since early January prompting
strange comparisons to our lucky/unlucky
Zimbabwe of 2013.
It started
when a thick stemmed, round topped, creamy white mushroom emerged
into the
light of day in a place where a fungus had never been seen before.
With
thick white flakes on its cap and peeling sections on its stem, it
developed
into the most unexpected creature in the following days As the
mushroom grew
taller the cap grew bigger and then flattened out with a hump
in the middle
until it looked more like a Mexican sombrero than a mushroom.
The cap soon
completely overshadowed the stem as it got still bigger and its
thick white
flakes disappeared to be replaced by dark brown giraffe-pattern
blotches.
When the mushroom stood 18 centimetres (7 “) high and its cap was
bigger
than a large dinner plate and measured 25 centimetres across (10 “),
the
mushroom began to expose its real self. The gills curled outwards
exposing
an 8 centimetre (3”) thick fleshy belly which pushed the edges of
the cap
up. Rain collected in the new lip, the blotches dissolved turning
the rain
puddle in the mushroom brown and new markings began to develop,
looking like
peeling sunburn. What had started out as a promisingly unusual,
round flaky
mushroom had turned first into a stylish sombrero and then a top
heavy
monster.
With its head too big to be supported by its stem, the mushroom
is destined
to melt into a gelatinous puddle of sludge but somehow I can’t
bring myself
to destroy it. It will have to do that all by itself. Until
next time,
thanks for reading, love cathy.
