http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
13 January
2012
Several events in the last two months have shown that Zimbabwe’s
coalition
government exists in name only and that Mugabe and his ZANU PF
party are now
blatantly running a parallel government.
Towards the
end of December Mugabe unilaterally promoted Three Infantry
Brigade
Commander Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba, to Major-General.
Nyikayaramba has in the past been implicated in rhino poaching, partisan
food distribution, election rigging and even the murder of an army
captain.
Not only did Mugabe snub Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in
making the
promotions, but in June last year Nyikayaramba had told the ZANU
PF
controlled Herald newspaper that Tsvangirai was a “national security
threat
rather than a political one”, and suggested the military should step
in to
deal with him.
This month Mugabe cut short his leave in the Far
East to rush back to Harare
and meet the Equatorial Guinea President,
Teodoro Obiang Nguema. Obiang was
on his way back home when he stopped over
in Harare from South Africa where
he had attended the ruling ANC centenary
celebrations.
Highlighting the dysfunctional coalition government again
was the fact that
the two MDC formations knew nothing about Nguema’s visit.
A ‘raft’ of deals
are said to have been signed between the two countries and
only acting
Foreign Affairs Minister Nicholas Goche, from ZANU PF, was at
the signing
ceremony.
According to a report in NewsDay the deals:
“Included agreements to develop
programmes in education and training, public
administration, defence and
security, support for Equatorial Guinea’s
industrialisation programme,
agriculture, agro-industry and livestock
production. The two countries also
agreed to set up specific projects in
mining, infrastructure development,
communication and
commerce.”
Tsvangirai’s spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka said: “The PM did not
know anything
about the visit and is completely in the dark about the deals.
He was not
even invited to the State banquet for Nguema on
Monday.”
Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube also professed
ignorance on
the deals signed: “I am not privy to the agreements as I was
not involved. I
am not able to comment on something I do not know as nobody
from my ministry
was involved and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be
the best to say why
they did not involve us.”
Similarly Information
Communication Technology Minister Nelson Chamisa told
NewsDay: “That is news
to me. I am not aware of anything that was signed
about information and
communication as I was not involved in the discussions
and did not know
about Nguema’s visit.”
The end of January is expected to throw up another
opportunity for Mugabe to
snub his partners. The terms of office for the
Zimbabwe Defence Forces
Commander General Constantine Chiwenga and police
Commissioner-General
Augustine Chihuri expire at the end of the
month.
Expiring at the end of February will be the terms of office for
the Prisons
Services Commissioner, retired Major-General Paradzai Zimondi;
Air Force
commander Air Marshal Perence Shiri and Zimbabwe National Army
commander
Lieutenant-General Philip Sibanda.
Speaking to SW Radio
Africa on Friday, MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said
they did not expect
Mugabe to consult Prime Minister Tsvangirai, despite the
coalition agreement
saying the President had to do so. “Over the years
Mugabe has been renewing
their contracts from year to year,” without
consultation he said.
The
Zimbabwe Independent newspaper did quote the MDC saying: “MDC-T and the
smaller formation headed by Welshman Ncube said they would fight Mugabe
legally and politically if he renewed the service chiefs’ contracts or if he
made new appointments without consulting other players in the inclusive
government.”
There is however a feeling amongst many commentators that
the two MDC
formations have effectively given up fighting a losing battle
and both are
now just waiting for elections.
In an interview with SW
Radio Africa in October, Prime Minister Tsvangirai
admitted as much saying:
“Everyone thinks that the only way to resolve these
matters is to go to an
election.”
But he did add: “We still want the full implementation of the
Global
Political Agreement before elections.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
13
January 2012
Two of the seven men arrested on Thursday, following
skirmishes between
police and vendors in central Harare the day before, were
allegedly tortured
to confess their roles in attacking a police
officer.
Barnabas Mwanaka and Kudakwashe Usavi were among the first group
of three to
be picked up by the police in a morning raid at Harvest House on
Thursday.
The MDC-T said Mwanaka is their Youth Assembly secretary for Mbare
district.
The second police raid was conducted just after midday and
nabbed four other
people, also linked to the MDC. They are being held at
Harare Central police
station where lawyers have been denied access to them.
The four are Jephias
Moyo, Leonard Dendera, Samson Nerwande and Partson
Murimoga.
A highly placed source in the MDC-T told us they’ve received
credible
accounts of torture and beatings by police who accused the men of
being part
of the group of vendors who waged running battles with the police
on
Wednesday.
The police also accused Mwanaka and Usavi of beating up
a police officer
during the disturbances. The two allegedly suffered serious
injuries during
torture. They were taken under heavy police guard to Harare
hospital for
treatment.
Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa told us
police had still not leveled any
charges against the men, who deny being
involved in the running battles.
‘Lawyers are finding it difficult to get
to the group but there are some
sympathetic officers in the police force who
have relayed some vital
information to the MDC,’ Muchemwa
said.
Muchemwa says there is public anger at the display of excessive
force by
police when arresting the men, which he said was reminiscent of the
Ian
Smith regime’s methods before Independence.
A Daily News crew
covering the running battles was also briefly detained by
the police, who
wanted to know from reporter Xolisani Ncube how he was going
to write the
story. Photojournalist Annie Mpalume was ordered to delete
photos from her
cameras.
‘Some people in the streets are saying there isn’t much
difference between
the police under Smith’s regime and Mugabe’s rule. They
think the police
under Mugabe have perfected the art of brutality to deal
with dissent and
protests.
‘During Smith’s rule this type of
behaviour by the police forced many
Zimbabweans to leave the country and
join the liberation and fight the
injustice,’ Muchemwa added.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai Karimakwenda
13
January, 2012
A group of soldiers camping at Sheba Estates in Mutasa
South are reported to
be randomly beating up villagers and estate workers.
The estate is owned by
Border Timbers, Zimbabwe’s largest producer of
timber.
The local MP Misheck Kagurabadza visited Sheba Estates on
Thursday to verify
the reports. He told SW Radio Africa on Friday that these
violent soldiers
appear to be working in cahoots with the Border Timbers
General Manager,
named Chinyadza.
Unfortunately we were unable to
contact Chinyadza for comment.
As reported earlier this week, Border
Timbers has been struggling to cope
with ongoing invasions, allegedly
coordinated by ZANU PF officials using
groups of locals, on another of their
estates. The real tragedy is that
these so-called settlers are cutting down
trees to plant crops on
mountainous fields, causing massive soil
erosion.
Border Timbers managing director Doug Dell, denied reports of
these
invasions when contacted by SW Radio Africa. But local activist Peter
Chogura said the management is too afraid to act on the situation and are
keeping quiet to maintain peace with the settlers.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Harare, January 13, 2012 - Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party has
accused President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu
(PF) party of waging a war against
its members by instructing the police to
randomly arrest them in recent
clashes between the police and vendors in
central Harare.
The party
says it will take up the matter with the political party
principals, the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) mediator,
Jacob Zuma as well
as the African Union (AU) whose chairman, Theodoro Obiang
Nguema was
recently in Zimbabwe to meet Mugabe.
“We will take the matter to the
political party principals and SADC. We hold
Zanu PF accountable for
anything that happens to our people because one of
its hard core factions is
working to destabilise the coalition government,”
said MDC spokesperson
Douglas Monzora.
“They want to cow us but we will not relent until we
have free and fair
elections.”
The police on Wednesday arrested about
10 vendors accusing them of
assaulting a policeman who was left injured
during clashes between the
police and the vendors.
The clashes
resulted in the arrest of two Daily News journalists who were
covering the
clashes.
On Thursday heavily armed anti-riot police officers raided MDC
headquarters
at Harvest House and arrested staff members working in the
party’s regalia
shop.
Eyewitnesses said police locked up the regalia
shop and took away some wares
and forced marched the workers to Harare
Central Police station.
This is not the first time that police has raided
the Harvest house under
the guise of searching vendors especially those
operating along Nelson
Mandela close to the MDC headquarters.
In
November last year police arrested dozens of MDC members after similar
skirmishes ensued between vendors and municipal police
officers.
Several MDC supporters and officials have been a subject of
harassment from
the police and other state security
agencies.
Meanwhile the MDC Deputy Minister of Local Government Sesel
Zvidzai was
summoned by the police to clear his name after a car he sold to
a Harare car
dealer was used in Rhino poaching.
Co-Minister of Home
Affairs Theresa Makone on Friday said she will approach
Mugabe and the
Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri over the partisan
conduct of the
police, a day after police details raided the MDC Harvest
headquarters and
deployment of massive police units in Nkayi.
"Once again, I will be
engaging the Commissioner-General and the President
about the deplorable
behaviour of the police in Nkayi and other areas,"
Makone said in a
statement released to the media.
"I will continue to do all I can within
my limited powers to ensure peace
and order in Zimbabwe. As we trudge
towards the next election, I urge the
police to respect the people of
Zimbabwe who are the very reason why they
exist as a police
force."
"I am aware that there are many professional men and women in
uniform whose
reputation is being dragged through the mud by those who have
chosen to
pursue a politically partisan line,"she added.
Makone said
previous engagements with Mugabe and Chihuri have yielded
nothing. Chihuri
who has openly said he supports Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party
has said he does
not report to Co-Ministers of Home Affairs but that he
reports directly to
the President.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Vasco Chaya, STaff Writer
Friday, 13 January
2012 10:56
HARARE - Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and Harare City
Council shall
continue facing tough resistance from illegal vendors
operating in the
capital until the police remove an “illegal” flea market
that is next to the
Harare Central Police Station, a representative group
has said.
Unemployed Mobile Youth Foundation (UMYF) secretary for
information Lovemore
Jack said this in response to the blitz carried out by
the police against
vendors in the capital this week.
The blitz
resulted in serious clashes between the vendors and police.
UMYF is a
pressure group that seeks to address the plight of unemployed
youth in the
country.
Jack said vendors had reacted harshly to the police because the
security
agents “are no longer executing their duty according to the law but
they are
showing the vendors their (ZRP) corrupt side”.
“How can ZRP
prohibit illegal vending yet they are running their own illegal
flea market
which is next to Harare Central Police Station?
“Harare City Council
should also not voice concern about vending until they
remove the police’s
illegal flea market,” said Jack.
Jack said in order to bring sanity into
the once Sunshine City, Harare, the
city fathers should also engage them
(UMYF) on way-forward meetings.
“A negotiated way to resolve the problem
of illegal vending or bringing
sanity to the city by engaging the vendors
should be put in place, as you
(the City of Harare) did with ZRP’s illegal
flea markets and kombi
operators,” highlighted Jack in the petition
addressed to the City of
Harare.
Jack slammed the ZRP for carrying
out its blitz on the vendors saying the
police move is intending to “boost”
the Harare Central Police’s illegal flea
market.
“Vendors sell
different wares similar to the ones sold at the illegal flea
market run by
police and they (officers) are trying to reduce the
competition by carrying
out these blitzes.
“Police are aware that vendors are a threat to the
illegal flea market run
by police,” said Jack.
“A hungry man is an
angry man. We (vendors) shall continue invading the city
centre until we
find the solution together, ZRP and City of Harare,” he
said.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
13
January 2012
Co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone has slammed the
conduct of some
members of the police force after incidents in both Harare
and Nkayi, where
officers assaulted “innocent people going about their
business”.
In a strongly worded statement Makone said: “As Minister of
Home Affairs, I
wish to register my displeasure at the deplorable action by
the police in
Nkayi who have also become notorious for dispersing lawful
gatherings
sanctioned by the courts.”
The police should be guided
only by their national obligation to serve the
people. It does not bode well
for the image of the police if they are seen
as being at the forefront of
assaulting and harassing people instead of
protecting them. There are a few
bad apples that are tarnishing the image of
the entire police force,” she
said.
In Harare police have been on the rampage, fighting running battles
with
vendors who are trying to make an honest living. An attempt by a dozen
officers to confiscate their wares backfired on Wednesday as the vendors
fought back by pelting them with stones. Riot police were called in and used
tear gas.
The following day the police descended on the MDC-T Harvest
House
headquarters, claiming youths selling pirated CD’s outside were
responsible
for the disturbances.
SW Radio Africa correspondent Simon
Muchemwa said: ‘The police brought three
trucks loads, carrying over 100
heavily armed riot officers, to arrest four
people. Many innocent people
were caught up in the crossfire as the police
went about beating innocent
people on the streets.”
‘It was a show of force in harassing and
detaining harmless residents.
People were saying this is typical of the
police, which sees itself as
beholden to the elite in ZANU PF while daily
intimidating and brutalizing
ordinary Zimbabweans,” Muchemwa
said.
Minister Makone echoed the same sentiments saying: “It is a fact
that as
Minister of Home Affairs, I have not been spared the embarrassment
of having
my own lawful rallies dispersed by unruly elements while the
police watched.
This undermines the people’s confidence in the police
force.”
Makone said she had engaged the police chief, “On many occasions
about all
these issues and nothing has changed. I have alerted the
President, to whom
all these service chiefs report to on operational issues,
and there has not
been any shift in the general conduct of some members of
the police.”
The general lawlessness and lack of professionalism within
the police force
is exemplified by the fact that they are also engaging in
money making
ventures like flea markets.
On Monday SW Radio Africa
reported how Police Commissioner-General Augustine
Chihuri, defended the
flea market which the police are running at the Harare
Central Police
Station car park. Despite having no council approval, vendors
are having to
pay police to set up at the flea market.
Some police officers are also
running large fleets of commuter omnibuses and
it’s now believed regular
crackdowns on so-called unroadworthy vehicles are
an attempt to get rid of
the competition. The same seems to be the case with
the targeting of street
vendors, when the police are also running flea
markets.
The general
lawlessness is also there for all to see in the mad rush for
gold in Kwekwe.
It’s reported 16 ZANU PF youths were arrested on Wednesday
including a
losing ZANU PF parliamentary candidate, Masango Matambanadzo.
The group
allegedly attacked a gold panner using a shovel while trying to
force their
way into Sherwood Block where huge deposits of alluvial gold
were recently
discovered. Reports say the panner received 16 stitches in the
head after
the attack.
Although the discovery triggered a mad rush by thousands of
gold panners
ZANU PF officials muscled in and declared that only loyal party
supporters
could mine there. It’s reported ZANU PF convened a rally,
attended by
hundreds of panners, and announced that the party had taken
over.
All these incidents are worrying developments indicating an even
greater
break down in law and order and the creation of ‘fiefdoms’ (small
areas
controlled by thugs).
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Police are maintaining
a heavy presence in high density suburbs as they
intensify their crackdown
on illegal vendors.
13.01.1210:25am
by Fungai Kwaramba
Harare
In the sprawling town of Chitungwiza residents woke up to the
sight of
hordes of police officers in riot gear who were roaming the streets
menacingly.
Residents from Harare suburbs confirmed that the police
were everywhere
while in the city centre police continued with their blitz
on illegal
vendors.
Police have teamed up with the city of Harare in
a clean-up blitz that is
targeting vendors who are accused of causing
congestion in the city.
The exercise has invoked memories of
Murambatsvina when in 2005, President
Robert Mugabe government demolished
people’s homes in a clean-up campaign
that was meant to clean the city of
Harare by destroying illegal structures.
On Thursday heavily armed police
raided the MDC-T headquarters, Harvest
House twice as they were looking for
vendors who started a mini war with the
uniformed forces on
Wednesday.
Co-Minister of Home Affairs Teresa Makone Zimbabweans have
lost confidence
in the police. She promised to engage President Robert
Mugabe and Police
Commissioner General Augustine Chihuri about the
issue.
“Reports that the police in Harare and in Nkayi went on the
rampage and
assaulted innocent people going about their business make sad
reading and
only serve to confirm why our collective confidence in our
police force
continues to be eroded every day,” said Makone.
Makone
said that despite the fact that the Mugabe and Chihuri have not lived
up to
promises they make to her.
“I want to assure the people of Zimbabwe that
I have engaged the
Commissioner-General on many occasions about all these
issues and nothing
has changed. I have alerted the President, to whom all
these service chiefs
report to on operational issues, and there has not been
any shift in the
general conduct of some members of the police,” said
Makone.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai Karimakwenda
13
January, 2012
Diaspora chapters of the MDC-T have organized “Free
Zimbabwe Global
Protests” to be held at South African consulates in the
United States,
Australia, Canada, South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom and
at the Haig in
the Netherlands.
The idea is to bring attention to the
ongoing political crisis in Zimbabwe
and to pressure the South African
government to push for the reforms, agreed
to by all parties that signed the
Global Political Agreement (GPA).
The chairman of the MDC-T UK chapter,
Tonderai Samanyanga, told SW Radio
Africa that the global protests will
focus on South Africa as they were the
guarantors of the GPA. He said
President Jacob Zuma, as the chief
negotiator, should pressure for its
fulfillment.
“It would be difficult to say he has done all he can to push
for change. We
want urgent action not negotiations that lead to more
negotiations and no
action on reforms,” Samanyanga explained.
“The
ANC Secretary General addressed the ZANU-PF conference and pledged to
support them in elections,” he said, adding that South Africa has not been
impartial in its role as the mediator. ZANU-PF also has links to Equatorial
Guinea’s Obiang Nguema, currently the African Union chairman.
In the
United States, MDC-T chairman Den Moyo said: “The GPA was the
brainchild of
former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki, who persuaded SADC
this was the
right course to take after contested elections in 2008.”
“We believe at
that point South Africa bore all the responsibility for the
outcome of that
arrangement,” Moyo explained. He further criticized Mbeki
for blocking
discussions on Zimbabwe at the U.N. Security Council, by saying
“African
problems require African solutions”.
Moyo stressed that it is very
important that large numbers of Zimbabweans
and supporters show up for the
protests, as this will let the world know
that we want our country
back.
He said: “We have decided enough is enough. Our people are scattered
around
the world, not by choice but because of the situation back home. It
is now
up to our people to rise up.”
The global protests are
scheduled for January 21st at 10:00 AM. In the
United States they will be
held at the South African Embassy in Washington
and at the consulates in New
York, Los Angeles and Chicago. In South Africa
there will be 15 buses
transporting people from Johannesburg to the Union
Buildings in Cape Town.
Other sites are due to be confirmed.
Detailed information about other
locations will be posted on our website on
www.swradioafrica.com, as soon as it is
available.
We sincerely hope that this time Zimbabweans hear this call to
protest and
finally come out in their many thousands. It’s time to stop
waiting for a
saviour and take action.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Harare,
January 13, 2012 – Over a dozen vocal war veterans on Friday took
over a
Zimbabwe Constitution Select Committee (COPAC) press conference and
hurled
insults at Copac co-chairpersons, accusing them of trying to smuggle
gay
rights into the new national charter and ignoring the views of the
majority.
The war veterans were also accusing Copac of deliberately
delaying the
completion of the constitution making exercise to enjoy
lucrative allowances
they were allegedly being offered.
The press
conference, which was held at the Copac offices in Harare's low
density
Milton Park suburb, was open to all stakeholders.
The war veterans also
threatened to beat up the co-chairpersons accusing
them of looking down upon
the rural folk who thronged the outreach centres
because of their
educational inferiority.
One war veteran accused Copac of circulating a
press statement that had not
been signed.
“Atidi kutambiswa bhora
rechikweshe panapa (stop taking us for a ride),” he
said.
"Look at
me. I am 63 years of age. My greying hair is a sign that I am older
than
you," said another war veteran to MDC-T Copac co-chair Douglas
Mwonzora, "
Please don't take us for granted. We fought to liberate this
country so that
you can sit on that chair and tell us what you want."
So tense was the
atmosphere that even journalists who attended the Copac
briefing refrained
from asking questions.
A member of the civic society, the only person who
gathered courage to ask a
question, was shouted down by the angry war
veterans who said his
contributions were not valid because he did not have
an idea of how bitter
the liberation struggle was.
One woman who
identified herself as Josephine Gandiya from the War
Collaborators
Association accused the Copac co-chairpersons of delaying the
process.
“Hamudi kuti zvipere nekuti murikudya (you don’t want this
to end because
you are benefiting financially),” she said.
For the
better part of the hour long press conference, MDC-T politician
Jessie
Majome, who was chairing the briefing and the other Copac
co-chairpersons
took pains to explain to the agitated former fighters the
process was still
ongoing and was a reflection of the views of the majority.
“We do not
seek to delay this process because this is a hot seat I can
assure you. Who
would want to be subjected to such accusations and threats
all the time? We
have our own jobs and would indeed want this to end. Please
bear with us. We
are trying our best,” said Zanu PF Copac co-chairperson
Paul
Mangwana.
Friday's fiasco happened hardly two days after hordes of war
veterans again
stormed Vumba Mountains where the Copac technical team has
retreated for the
drafting of the final document and demanded the halting of
the process.
Meanwhile, during his main address, MDC-T copac
co-chairperson Douglas
Mwonzora said the drafting process was on going and
that the three drafters
have since submitted four chapters for
review.
“Any judgement of these preliminary chapters is therefore
premature as the
Select Committee itself is seized with deliberating upon
these drafts during
which process they are subject to changes and continuous
development until
they reach the final form,” he said.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Staff Writer
Friday, 13 January 2012
14:54
HARARE - The Ministry of Mines and Mining Development has
ordered police to
evict Zanu PF activists from Sherwood Block in Kwekwe
following the
discovery of gold deposits in the area.
An official at
the mines ministry revealed to the Daily News that a letter
had been written
instructing the police, through the Criminal
Investigations Department
(CID) Minerals Unit, to evict the illegal
panners.
A copy of the
letter leaked to this newspaper, written on the January 4,
confirms the
latest development.
“We received a complaint from Clifford Sibanda that
some illegals have
invaded an area he pegged (to mine). His registration
papers were receipted
by this office on the 29th of December 2011 and are
awaiting registration.
“May you please assist him to remove these
illegals,” reads the letter from
the Midlands Mining Commissioner’s
office.
When contacted for comment yesterday, Wedzerai Dube, the
Midlands mining
commissioner, was non-committal, referring questions to
Midlands governor,
Jason Machaya.
Machaya’s mobile phone was
unreachable.
“Ask Midlands governor, Jason Machaya. He should be in the
picture of what
is happening there,” Dube said.
Sources in Kwekwe
confirmed there had been repeated and vigorous efforts to
have Sibanda’s
papers nullified.
“For the last five days, Zanu PF activists have been
making frantic efforts
to lodge their papers with the mines office but with
little success,” a
source said.
“They were told that the area they
want to claim has already been applied
for and they cannot get the license
but they are adamant they want to get
that place and no other,” said a
source.
The area where Sibanda applied to set-up a mining operation
covers 25
hectares.
http://www.voanews.com
12 January
2012
The APEX Council, which negotiates with the government on
behalf of civil
servants, has called for a strike starting next Thursday if
the government
does not come to terms
Gibbs Dube & Tatenda Gumbo
| Washington
Though negotiators for Zimbabwean civil servants
have threatened a national
strike next week to enforce demands for higher
salaries, a leading teachers
union whose members have already engaged a
sit-in strike complain that it
has been upstaged.
The APEX Council,
which negotiates with the government on behalf of civil
servants, has called
for a strike starting next Thursday if the government
does not come to
terms.
But the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe has dismissed that
threatened
strike as a non-event, complaining that the APEX Council has
undermined its
position.
PTUZ President Takavafira Zhou said APEX
Council moves have stalled
negotiations on behalf of teachers. But Sifiso
Ndlovu, head of the Zimbabwe
Teachers Association and a member of the APEX
Council, said the PTUZ charges
are nonsensical.
In any case,
observers say Zimbabwe does not have the means to increase
civil servant
salaries even under threat of a strike. They say any increase
in salaries
would have to be funded out of revenues from the Marange diamond
field in
the east of the country, just as the last increase in July 2011 was
made
possible by a diamond windfall.
Economists and analysts said Zimbabwe
would also have to divert resources
from social services like education and
health to cover the costs of
increased public sector salaries, which already
account for a whopping 70
percent of the budget.
Economic commentator
Rejoice Ngwenya said the only way the financially
strapped government can
boost salaries is to tap diamond revenues.
Meanwhile, the
state-controlled Grain Marketing Board has begun to
distribute food baskets
to civil servants based in Zimbabwe's rural areas.
The GMB along with local
partners under the Civil Servants Food Benefit
Scheme will supply groceries
to help rural workers who must travel far from
home to purchase basic
commodities.
Civil servants approved for participation will pay 10
dollars a month for a
basket including 20 kilos of rice, among other basic
commodities.
But some civil servants said they had seen such plans before
and are
skeptical.
Tafadzwa Takawira, a primary school teacher in
Mashonaland East province,
said previous food-support programs have lacked
proper management.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
12/01/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THERE is “no chance in hell” that Zimbabwe’s new
constitution will include
gay rights, according to a key MP who sits on the
parliamentary committee in
charge of the process.
Edward Mkhosi
(MDC), one of three chairmen of the Constitutional
Parliamentary Committee
(COPAC), says despite clamouring for protection on
foreign TV channels and
the internet, Zimbabwe’s homosexuals are “cowards”
who failed to make their
views known during a countrywide outreach.
Mkhosi told the Voice of America's
Studio 7: “We gave our people a chance to
decide what they want to see in
the new constitution.
“In all the outreach meetings in the provinces we
conducted, people were
very clear that they don’t want gays. As you know in
our culture, such
practises are foreign to us, we only know a family with a
father and mother.
“The gays and lesbians were cowards, not even one of
them came out to say ‘I’m
a homosexual and I want this’. We can’t talk for
them, they are not zombies.
They should have come out and said we want this
thing, but they didn’t.”
Three drafters appointed by COPAC have begun
writing the new constitution.
The first four chapters were published in the
media last week, immediately
sparking a row.
Zanu PF officials accuse
the drafters of seeking to leave the door open for
the imposition of gay
rights through the courts by deliberately using
ambiguous
language.
Chapter 4.6 (section 3) of the draft already published states
that everyone
has a right not to be treated in an “unfairly discriminatory
manner on such
grounds such as their nationality, race... natural difference
...”
Zanu PF supporter Tafadzwa Musarara blasted: “It is the term
‘natural
difference’ that, from a legal perspective, will import gay rights
into our
constitution. This phrase is not in our current constitution; it
was not
requested to be incorporated by the people during the
hearings.
“It is such terms that lawyers will use to argue in court, to
interpret it
as stating that gay rights are justiciable or
acceptable.”
Musarara points to South Africa where gay rights were
introduced by the
Constitutional Court which interpreted Section 9.3 of the
constitution
providing that “the state may not unfairly discriminate
directly or
indirectly against anyone on one or more grounds, including
race, gender,
sex, pregnancy, marital status, ethnic or social origin,
colour, sexual
orientation” to mean that gays were free to
marry.
“In our Zimbabwe case the writers are using ‘natural
differences’ to provide
a loophole that gays and lesbians can then use to
apply to the courts of law
to have their unions recognised,” Musarara
said.
Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (Galz) director Chesterfield Samba
says the
issue of gay rights will be a key test for the country’s new
constitution .
“It will reveal whether there is a determination to draw a
constitution
which will comply with Zimbabwe’s obligations and undertakings
in
International Law and the norms of human rights,” Samba said.
“It
will also reveal whether it will comply with the democratic requirement
of
an acceptance of difference, seek to build a non-stigmatising society
which
embraces all its constituents, or whether it will be merely an
expression of
subservience to those who wield political power.”
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
12/01/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
PUBLIC Service Minister, Lucia Matibenga was left close to
tears as
negotiations with civil service unions over a new pay deal stalled
during
the week forcing the government employees to declare a nationwide
strike.
Matibenga met the Apex Council – which represents the various
civil service
unions – on Wednesday but the parties failed to agree a deal
with the
minister pleading for time to take the matter up with the coalition
government principals.
The civil servants – who are demanding a
minimum salary of US$538 per
month – told her they would begin mobilising
for a nationwide strike set for
next Thursday.
"Minister Matibenga
almost cried during deliberations but that is not going
to stop us from
demanding what is due to us,” Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
(TUZ) CEO, Manuel
Nyawo said.
"We wanted to sleep in her offices to demonstrate how serious we
are before
she pleaded with us to understand her".
Apex council head
Tendai Chikowore added: "We met the minister, this time
without the
negotiators and we expected her to furnish us with the
Government's position
paper concerning our grievances.
"She appealed for a few days to consult
with the three principals in
Government and understanding that she is new in
the ministry, we agreed to
give her a chance.
"If we are not
satisfied with her response, as has been the case with
others, then all
Government workers will embark on a nationwide strike come
Thursday."
The government claims it does not have the resources to
meet civil servants’
demands with Finance Minister, Tendai Biti warning that
salaries alone are
accounting for an unsustainable 63 percent of overall
expenditure.
But civil servants have been angered by a recent decision by
the government
to pay legislators about $15 000 each in backdated
allowances.
"This time we are united as unions and believe that if
someone can give
legislators US$15 000 unbudgeted money, then the same can
be done for us,”
Chikowore said.
“There is a pool somewhere which must
also benefit civil servants."
Schools opened as normal on Tuesday
although learning was disrupted at some
institutions where teachers
affiliated to the more militant Progressive
Teachers Union chose to stay
away from work.
"We are not going to be seated. We will go around the
country mobilising
every worker to be part of the industrial action," said
Chikowore, who also
heads the Zimbabwe Teachers Association (ZIMTA), the
country oldest teachers’
union.
Civil servants salaries where
last increased by US$100 in July 2010.
The adjustment left the lowest-paid
Government worker earning US$253 from
US$128.
http://www.telecompaper.com
Friday 13 January 2012 | 11:04 CET
Zimbabwe's
teledensity rose to 74.7 percent at the end of 2011. The latest
mobile phone
subscriber statistics from the Post and Regulatory Authority of
Zimbabwe
(Potraz) show that growth at all the network operators. Econet, the
largest
mobile operator, now has 5.69 million subscribers, up from 5 .4
million in
September, while Telecel added the largest number of subscribers
since
September 2011 (575,000) to close the year at 1.88 million
subscribers.
NetOne, the state owned operator, added 156,000 subscribers in
the same
period. With 1.46 million subscribers NetOne is now the smallest
mobile
operator in Zimbabwe. The fixed-line operator TelOne had 337,881
subscribers. The regulator said 2011 did not register as much growth in
mobile as anticipated when the year started. Zimbabwe started off the year
with 67.5 percent mobile penetration, which fell sharply to 53.5 percent
after the Sim card registration exercise, and only started to pick up again
as the year progressed.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Business Writer
Friday, 13 January 2012
15:03
HARARE - Global diamond trade watchdog Rapaport Group
(Rapaport) says prices
for the precious stones could fall in 2012, despite a
19 percent growth in
the value of polished diamonds in
2011.
“Certified polished diamond prices rose in 2011 spurred by strong
buying in
the first half of the year. However, global economic uncertainties
and tight
liquidity in the cutting centres caused prices to soften in the
latter
half,” Rapaport said in a release yesterday.
“While
confidence has improved since January 1, following a period of
relative
price stability and a satisfactory United States (US) holiday
season,
concerns remain whether current price levels are sustainable.”
Martin
Rapaport, Rapaport chairman, said diamonds did extremely well during
the
first half of 2011 but declined sharply during the second half, adding
that
prices have stabilised over the New Year, but uncertainty prevails due
to
adverse economic conditions.
“Rough prices are declining as the European
crisis significantly reduces
liquidity to the trade. Chinese and Far East
demand are relatively weak but
should do better after the Chinese New Year
quiet period. US demand held up
well over the holidays and will likely
remain stable during 2012,” he said.
According to the just released
Rapaport Diamond Price Statistics Annual
Report 2011, the price increases
between January to June 2011 were
influenced by an aggressive overheated
rough market driven by over-easy
credit in the Indian market, speculative
demand and significant restocking
by retailers in the Far East and
subsequently in the US
The second half of 2011 was influenced by
increasing uncertainty caused by
the US and European economic crises,
volatile financial, currency and
commodity markets, as well as continued
political instability in the Middle
East.
The diamond body said tight
liquidity, particularly in India, impacted
trading from July as
manufacturers were unable to obtain replacement costs
on the high rough
prices they had paid earlier in the year.
Even as liquidity challenges
eased, weak currency markets continued to add
to cutting costs and these
factors are expected to continue to influence the
market in 2012.
For
2011, the RapNet Diamond Index (RAPI) for one carat of polished diamonds
rose 19 percent to 96,96 whilst the 0,3 carat category fell one percent to
16,11 and 0,5 carat increased 20 percent to 34,39.
The RAPI for two
carat diamonds grew 15 percent to 18,78 and three carat
rose 18 percent to
35,19.
There was however a stark contrast in price developments between
the first
and second halves of the year, apparently mirroring movements in
the
financial and commodities markets.
The US-based Rapaport Group,
which represents 6 750 diamond traders
worldwide and has daily listings of
over 800 000 diamonds valued over $5
billion in over 78 countries, announced
a boycott of
Zimbabwe’s Marange diamonds in December last year in spite
of the gems
having been certified by the Kimberly Process in November, 2011.
Critical
global diamond players like the European Union and the US
government have
also boycotted the Zimbabwean stones, arguing the gems are
being used to
further human rights abuses and tyranny in Zimbabwe.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By David Chidende
The
Youth Assembly of the main MDC formation will this weekend launch the
“Free
Solomon Madzore and others” campaign in Bulawayo with a car rally and
star
rally as they push for the release of 28 detained party activists.
Secretary
for Information Clifford Hlatywayo said the campaign will also be
taken to
all the country’s provinces including Harare.
“The campaign will begin
with a car rally throughout the 12 constituencies
of Bulawayo and a star
rally to be addressed by the Youth Assembly Deputy
President, Costa
Machingauta,” Hlatywayo said.
Hlatywayo said the arrest and continued
detention of Madzore and other 27
Youth Assembly members was illegal and a
deliberate ploy by the former
ruling party to disable and dismantle the
operations of the party’s youth
wing.
“We know the state knows that
Madzore and all the arrested people were not
there when Inspector Petros
Mutedza was killed and have nothing to answer,”
Hlatywayo said.
“We are
calling on SADC as the guarantor and mediator of the Global
Political
Agreement (GPA) to intervene,” he added.
Madzore was arrested last year
on allegations of murdering a police officer
and has been denied bail
spending the Christmas and new year holidays behind
bar.
MDC
supporters have also turned to social networking sites such as Facebook
to
push for the release Madzore. A group named “Mugabe free our Chairman
Solo
Madzore” has been awash with posts calling for the immediate release of
Madzore.
One of the posts by Pamella Vivian Chitimbe reads, “The
Police are the
kidnappers, we want our leaders out. Its time
up.”
Another member of the group, Happymore Chidziva posted, “Solomon
Madzore,
Rebeccah Mafukeni and others are innocent, this month should be
their month
lets mobilize all over.”
http://www.swradioafrica.com
RE: COMPLAINT AGAINST THE HERALD
ON THEIR ARTICLE TITLED, “PM EMBROILED IN
BRIBERY SCANDAL” WHICH WAS
PUBLISHED ON THE 6TH OF JANUARY 2012
The Office of the Prime Minister
notes with concern the article referred to
above.
On the 6th of January
2012, The Herald published an article titled “PM
embroiled in bribery
scandal” in which it was unambiguously alleged that the
Prime Minister had
bribed Editors from three private newspapers in order to
influence them to
write what The Herald described as positive stories on his
political and
personal life.
The Herald story however, does not provide proof of these
serious
allegations nor does it name the sources that provided them with the
evidence to support the bribery allegations. There is no attempt in the
whole article to substantiate the allegations of bribery against the Prime
Minister. The story is shockingly lacking in truth and detail. The specific
facts pertaining to the actual event or events wherein the alleged bribes
were dispensed are conspicuous by their absence. Indeed, there is no mention
in the article of what form these bribes took. In short, it is clear to any
impartial reader that the allegations as presented in the article are
without any substance.
The Prime Minister is naturally aggrieved by these
unjustified allegations
in the article concerned. These bribery allegations
are false in their
entirety. It is the Prime Minister’s view that these
allegations were
concocted by The Herald and those that are politically
associated with them
in order to portray him as a corrupt politician,
thereby discrediting him.
The fact that the article is devoid of any
specific detail concerning the
alleged bribery suggests to the Prime
Minister that both the author and the
publisher of the article must have
been aware of the falsity of the
allegations contained in the article even
as they were printing them.
It is pertinent to note that throughout the
tenure of the Government of
National Unity, the Herald has persistently and
consistently poured scorn
and abuse on the person and office of the Prime
Minister. This article is
the latest attempt by The Herald to discredit the
Prime Minister through
false allegations.
In view of the above, The Prime
Minister hereby lodges with your Commission,
a formal complaint against the
‘The Herald’ and the Editor of the Herald for
their conduct which is in
breach of all known journalistic ethics. It is his
view that the powers
vested in the Zimbabwe Media Commission by Sections 100
(p) and 100 (q) of
the Constitution and also by Section 39 (b), (i) and (p)
of the Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act, enable your
Commission to address
this complaint effectively. The cavalier attitude with
which the Herald
recklessly made allegations of such magnitude without an
iota of proof to
support them deserves censure by your Commission.
It is the Prime Minister’s
sincere hope that your commission will treat this
matter with the urgency it
deserves.
Yours Faithfully,
Ian Makone
Chief Secretary in the
Office of the Prime Minister
CC: Minister of Media, Information and Publicity
http://www.swradioafrica.com
Press Statement by the
Co-Minister of Home Affairs, Hon. Theresa Makone
Harare, 13 January
2012
Reports that the police in Harare and in Nkayi went on the rampage
and
assaulted innocent people going about their business make sad reading
and
only serve to confirm why our collective confidence in our police force
continues to be eroded every day.
As Co-Minister of Home Affairs, I wish
to register my displeasure at the
deplorable action by the police in Nkayi
who have also become notorious for
dispersing lawful gatherings sanctioned
by the courts.
Our police force should be the people’s police, guided only by
their
national obligation to serve the people. It does not bode well for the
image
of the police if they are seen as being at the forefront of assaulting
and
harassing people instead of protecting them.
There are a few bad
apples that are tarnishing the image of the entire
police force.
As
Co-Minister of Home Affairs, I am aware that there are many professional
men
and women in uniform whose reputation is being dragged through the mud
by
those who have chosen to pursue a politically partisan line.
We all want a
professional police force which discharges of its duties
professionally.
A people’s police force that protects them rather than
assaults them.
A police force that imbues confidence to the citizens and
respects the
verdicts of the courts.
It is a fact that as Co-Minister of
Home Affairs, I have not been spared the
embarrassment of having my own
lawful rallies dispersed by unruly elements
while the police watched. This
undermines the people’s confidence in the
police force.
I want to assure
the people of Zimbabwe that I have engaged the
Commissioner-General on many
occasions about all these issues and nothing
has changed. I have alerted the
President, to whom all these service chiefs
report to on operational issues,
and there has not been any shift in the
general conduct of some members of
the police.
Once again, I will be engaging the Commissioner-General and the
President
about the deplorable behaviour of the police in Nkayi and other
areas.
I will continue to do all I can within my limited powers to ensure
peace and
order in Zimbabwe. As we trudge towards the next election, I urge
the police
to respect the people of Zimbabwe who are the very reason why
they exist as
a police force.
Hon. Theresa Makone
Co-Minister of
Home Affairs
