http://www.nytimes.com
By ALEXANDER NOYES
Published: January 14,
2012
ZIMBABWE is fast approaching a dangerous tipping point. Last month,
its
ailing octogenarian president, Robert Mugabe, angrily defied his
critics,
calling for early elections in 2012. If a political settlement with
Zimbabwe’s
security chiefs is not negotiated before the vote, Mr. Mugabe
will no doubt
rely on them to once again begin a campaign of intimidation
and violence,
leading to sham elections that could precipitate a regional
crisis.
To prevent this, the international community — in concert
with African
regional organizations — must push for a deal that allows Mr.
Mugabe’s
coterie of security men to leave the political scene in a peaceful
fashion.
Although it is difficult to swallow from a human rights
perspective, any
deal will have to grant the security chiefs immunity from
prosecution and
permit them to keep a sizable portion of their
wealth.
The current power-sharing government between Mr. Mugabe and the
opposition
prime minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, has brought relative calm and
economic
stability to Zimbabwe since its formation in early 2009. However,
the far
from united “unity government” has failed to make any meaningful
progress on
the issue of how to deal with the so-called securocrats.
Addressing this
thorny question is the key to a peaceful democratic
transition in Zimbabwe.
Over the past decade, the Joint Operations
Command — Zimbabwe’s supreme
security council — has orchestrated violent
campaigns to guarantee Mr.
Mugabe victory in successive elections,
culminating in the 2008 crisis.
After the opposition’s initial success in
the 2008 elections, the J.O.C.
began a brutal campaign of violence that left
more than 200 people dead and
forced Mr. Tsvangirai to withdraw from the
poll. Little has changed since
then.
Although the power-sharing
agreement contained several opaque references to
security reform, the only
progress has been cosmetic because Mr. Mugabe, his
ZANU-PF party, and the
J.O.C. continue to unilaterally decide security
matters and use security
agencies for political purposes.
In anticipation of coming elections, the
military has reportedly already
deployed to rural areas to coerce people to
vote for Mr. Mugabe.
But a careful balance of carrots and sticks could
persuade Mr. Mugabe and
the securocrats to accept a deal. Headed by the
South African president,
Jacob Zuma, the South African Development Community
has been negotiating
with Zimbabwe on a “road map” to free and fair
elections.
The African Union, the United Nations, the United States and
the European
Union must pressure Mr. Zuma and the S.A.D.C. not to
countenance elections
without a deal that ensures the retirement of the
securocrats.
The prospect of lifting existing targeted sanctions and
promises of robust
financial assistance would give Mr. Mugabe and his
henchmen strong
incentives to make a deal. If they remain obstinate,
Zimbabwe’s neighbors
should consider taking punitive measures, including
economic sanctions.
As Mr. Mugabe’s health continues to falter and
political pressure from
neighboring countries increases, many of the
security officials surrounding
Mr. Mugabe are looking for a safe exit. They
oppose a settlement mainly
because they fear prosecution and losing access
to political patronage
networks through which they accrue their
wealth.
A successful negotiated solution must therefore include two key
“sunset
clauses” for the securocrats: immunity from prosecution for
political crimes
and assurances that they could keep enough of their
accumulated wealth to
live comfortably for the rest of their
lives.
With elections this year increasingly likely, the window of
opportunity for
the international community to prevent another round of
bloody elections in
Zimbabwe is rapidly closing.
Granting amnesty and
affluence to egregious human rights abusers may seem
like an unpalatable
trade-off, but it is the only viable avenue to securing
a full and peaceful
democratic transition in Zimbabwe.
Alexander Noyes is a research
assistant at the Africa Center for Strategic
Studies.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Bulawayo, January 14,
2012, ---More than 50 MDC-T youths were arrested in
Bulawayo Saturday
morning during the “Free Solomon Madzore’s campaign”.
Madzore’s the
President of MDC-T youth assembly and seven others have been
languishing at
Chikurubi Maximum Prison following his arrest October in
connection with the
killing of a Glen View policeman, Petros Mutedza.
By early morning
police had sealed all roads leading into Bulawayo city
centre from high
density suburbs and searched all vehicles before arresting
hordes of MDC-T
who were in trucks getting into town for the Free Mdzore
demonstration.
Promise Mkwananzi the MDC-T youth assembly secretary
general told Radio VOP
that those arrested were detained at Bulawayo central
police and others at
Nkulumane police station.
“There are more than
50 of our members arrested today some are locked up at
Bulawayo central
police station and others at Nkulumane police station.
Police have mounted
roadblocks at all roads leading into the city centre and
our members were
being searched before getting arrested.
When Radio VOP visited MDC-T
offices along Fort Street in Bulawayo heavily
armed riot police were
gathered with police dogs.
Bulawayo provincial Chairman Bekithemba Nyathi
told Radio VOP by phone from
Bulawayo Central station that he was arrested
together with more than 30
youths and there were being beaten by
police.
“I have arrested with 30 other comrades and there are assaulting
us,” said
Nyathi
Tsvangirai in December came under fire from his
party’s Youth Assembly for
failing to ensure the release of Madzore, saying
he is treating the issue
with kid gloves.
Mkhwananzi said they wanted
the party to treat Madzore's arrest in the same
manner it treated
treasurer-general Roy Bennett's arrest.
http://www.radiovop.com/
MASVINGO, January 14, 2012 – In a
shocking act of children rights abuse,
Masvingo Acting District
Administrator (DA) James Murapa who doubles as
staunch Zanu-PF supporter has
turned Beza Primary School classrooms into
pens for his
cattle.
Primary school children are now being forced to share
classrooms with cattle
and goats.
Beza Primary School is situated in
a farm, formerly owned by Benly Mitchel,
a white farmer who was booted out
at the height of fast track land reform
program.
Murapa who grabbed
the farm is justifying using the classrooms saying the
buildings are party
of his property since they are in his farm.
Murapa refused to comment
saying he had no time to respond to VOP. “I have
no time for you, write
whatever you want. I know that you are biased, you
are anti-land reform,”
said Murapa.
His boss, Masvingo Provincial Administrators and Acting
Governor for
Masvingo Felix Chikovo said he needed more time to investigate
the issue.
“I was not aware of the incident, let me investigate the issue
and come back
to you,” said Chikovo.
Parents with children who
are sharing same buildings with cattle and goats
condemned Murapa saying he
is abusing his powers.
“We are threatened of being removed from our plots
every time that we
confront him. We are scared that our children might get
infected by diseases
because they are forced to clear cow dung from
their
classrooms every day,” said Antony Moyo who has a grade 3
child.
Masvingo Provincial Education Director (PED), Clara Dube said the
issue was
too political.
“I am not very sure but I think the
issue is too political,” she said.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, January 14, 2012 - Zimbabwe Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on
Friday filed a complaint with the Zimbabwe
Media Commission (ZMC) against
the state owned Herald newspaper which
published a story last week alleging
that the MDC leader bribed editors of
private newspapers to write positively
about him.
The case will be a
test case for ZMC as it has in the past always warned
private newspapers
against writing “falsehoods” although the commission had
no evidence to back
its threats against private papers.
The Herald of 6 January 2012
carried an article titled “PM embroiled in
bribery scandal” alleging that
Tsvangirai had bribed editors from Daily
News, Newsday and Standard in order
to influence them to “write positive
stories on his political and personal
life.”
“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,” said
Tsvangirai in a
statement written on his behalf by Chief Secretary in his
office, Ian
Makone.
“The Herald story 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 premier further states that the 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,”
wrote Tsvangirai.
http://www.radiovop.com
Gwanda, January 14, 2012 – ZANU PF
co-Home Affairs Minister Kembo Mohadi has
evicted two war veterans and six
villagers from a farm at the centre of an
ownership wrangle between the
Mohadis and Given Mbedzi, a former freedom
fighter.
This came to
light after their lawyer Sibusiso Ncube made an application for
the
alteration of bail conditions.
Ncube said the accused persons can no
longer reside at Jopembe farm as the
Mohadis had sealed off the
farm.
The application came after the release of the eight on
Wednesday after the
state’s withdrawal of its appeal against Gwanda
magistrate Sheila Nazombe
who had last week granted free bail to the accused
persons.
The state counsel Mazwi Goto on Wednesday made a u-turn and the
accused were
released before the lapse of seven days as stipulated in
Section 121 of the
Criminal Procedure and Evidence Act.
The
magistrate had remanded Given Mbedzi, his mother Philani Ndou, Soforia
Ndou,
Jameson Mbedzi, Alifa Mbedzi, and Philemon Marubini Ndou, Ignatius
Ncube and
Knowledge Muleya out of custody on their own cognizance.
High Court
Judge Nicholas Mathonsi lashed out at biased prosecutors who
deliberately
invoke Section 121 to punish suspects.
“Persons who have been
properly granted bail should not be kept in custody
merely as a way of
punishment,” the judge said in a ruling where the
Attorney General’s Office
opposed bail to Media Monitoring Project of
Zimbabwe (MMPZ)
employees.
Philani is alleged to have cut a piece of fence from a
farm belonging to
Minister Mohadi, which resulted in several herd of cattle
straying, and
these are still unaccounted for.
Philani and her
alleged accomplices also face malicious damage to property
charges after
they damaged a door belonging to Minister Mohadi’s son,
Campbell
Junior.
The suspects have a long standing dispute with Mohadi over
some plots
adjacent to his farm and were arrested at the farm on New Year’s
Eve.
They deny the charges and say they (charges) are an attempt to
force them
out of their plots.
Two offer letters were issued to
both parties for the same plot; Given
Mbedzi has an offer letter issued in
2003 while Mohadi’s son Campbell Junior
was issued with a similar letter in
2009 after Mbedzi reportedly abandoned
it.
The case was moved to
6 March to allow the state to put their house in order
after it emerged it
is yet to record statements from the accused persons.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Wonai Masvingise, Staff Writer
Saturday, 14 January
2012 13:31
HARARE - Food prices and other basic commodities are set
to increase
following an announcement by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority that
a 25
percent surtax would be charged on the commodities starting January
1.
The development follows disclosures that government officials,
including
ministers, were bringing commodities into the country without
paying duty.
This includes luxury motor vehicles and even
food.
The surtax, according to Zimra, will be charged on things such as
food
stuffs, second-hand light passenger motor-vehicles which are more than
five
years old from the date of original manufacture, and many other
commodities.
Reads the notice in part: “...Surtax of 25 percent of the
value for duty
purposes shall be charged and paid in respect of the
importation into
Zimbabwe.
“Included in the goods to be taxed are
double cab vehicles for the transport
of goods, foodstuffs such as fresh,
chilled as well as frozen whole
chickens, frozen cuts and offals, milk and
cream, yoghurt, fermented milk,
buttermilk, cheese, bird’s eggs, potatoes,
tomatoes, onions and shallots,
garlic, carrots and turnips, mixtures of
vegetables, other vegetables, peas
(excluding garden peas and marple peas),
beans, sausages and similar
products, uncooked pasta, jams, fruit jellies,
marmalades, soup and broth
preparations, sweet biscuits, tomato ketchup and
other tomato sauces,” the
notice added.
Alcoholic beverages such as
malt beer, wine, cider, brandy, whisky, vodka
and spirits will also attract
surtax.
Smokers will not be spared either as virginia type flue-cured
tobacco,
burley tobacco as well as all other tobacco types will be
taxed.
Other products that will be attracting surtax range from beauty
products to
electric household equipment such as refrigerators, ovens,
cookers and other
reception apparatus for television sets.
Economic
analyst John Robertson said the move by Zimra will trigger massive
price
increases which will increase inflation.
Robertson said; “It will add to
the cost of those things unless if we can
produce them ourselves.
A
lot of these goods are not being made in the quantities needed by the
country and in most cases we can’t find them in our local shops because we
do not have the machinery to make them.
Power cuts are also
negatively affecting our manufacturing industry and we
have experienced a
loss of skilled people.”
He added: “We will see an increase in the price
of buying these goods and it
is going to affect inflation first and in the
next two years we might see a
positive result in that we might be able to
produce our own products but
this will be in the long run.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Wonai Masvingise, Staff Writer
Saturday, 14 January
2012 13:31
HARARE - Food prices and other basic commodities are set
to increase
following an announcement by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority that
a 25
percent surtax would be charged on the commodities starting January
1.
The development follows disclosures that government officials,
including
ministers, were bringing commodities into the country without
paying duty.
This includes luxury motor vehicles and even
food.
The surtax, according to Zimra, will be charged on things such as
food
stuffs, second-hand light passenger motor-vehicles which are more than
five
years old from the date of original manufacture, and many other
commodities.
Reads the notice in part: “...Surtax of 25 percent of the
value for duty
purposes shall be charged and paid in respect of the
importation into
Zimbabwe.
“Included in the goods to be taxed are
double cab vehicles for the transport
of goods, foodstuffs such as fresh,
chilled as well as frozen whole
chickens, frozen cuts and offals, milk and
cream, yoghurt, fermented milk,
buttermilk, cheese, bird’s eggs, potatoes,
tomatoes, onions and shallots,
garlic, carrots and turnips, mixtures of
vegetables, other vegetables, peas
(excluding garden peas and marple peas),
beans, sausages and similar
products, uncooked pasta, jams, fruit jellies,
marmalades, soup and broth
preparations, sweet biscuits, tomato ketchup and
other tomato sauces,” the
notice added.
Alcoholic beverages such as
malt beer, wine, cider, brandy, whisky, vodka
and spirits will also attract
surtax.
Smokers will not be spared either as virginia type flue-cured
tobacco,
burley tobacco as well as all other tobacco types will be
taxed.
Other products that will be attracting surtax range from beauty
products to
electric household equipment such as refrigerators, ovens,
cookers and other
reception apparatus for television sets.
Economic
analyst John Robertson said the move by Zimra will trigger massive
price
increases which will increase inflation.
Robertson said; “It will add to
the cost of those things unless if we can
produce them ourselves.
A
lot of these goods are not being made in the quantities needed by the
country and in most cases we can’t find them in our local shops because we
do not have the machinery to make them.
Power cuts are also
negatively affecting our manufacturing industry and we
have experienced a
loss of skilled people.”
He added: “We will see an increase in the price
of buying these goods and it
is going to affect inflation first and in the
next two years we might see a
positive result in that we might be able to
produce our own products but
this will be in the long run.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Nkululeko Sibanda, Senior Writer
Saturday,
14 January 2012 13:06
HARARE - Teachers have challenged government to
pay them “respectable”
salaries that can enable them to build their own
houses and buy motor
vehicles.
The pleas came from teachers at four
schools visited by Kuwadzana
legislator, Nelson Chamisa this
week.
Chamisa undertook the tour to assess the situation at the schools
following
their opening for the first term of 2012.
The opening of
the schools has been characterised by chaos as teachers have
threatened to
strike over salaries.
However, at the schools visited by Chamisa,
business was going on well with
little or no disturbances having been
reported.
During the interactions, teachers said they had lost respect
and dignity
that used to be associated with the teaching profession at the
attainment of
the country’s independence.
“As teachers, we believe
that government should do away with the issue of
incentives and pay us
better salaries.
“These will help to sort ourselves out and regain the
dignity the teaching
fraternity used to have long back,” said one of the
teachers at Kuwadzana 3
Primary School.
“We need schemes that can
enable us to build our own houses. It would also
be nice if government
increased our salaries so that we are able to buy cars
on our own,” another
teacher said.
“We are tired of lodging. People do not respect us because
we squat in their
houses as lodgers. Their children see us squat at their
houses. They lose
respect for us from that kind of situation and it makes
teaching difficult,”
another teacher added.
Some teachers raised
concern at government’s handling of their salary
issues.
They argued
that salaries should be a secret between the employer and the
employee,
chastising government for publicly declaring the salaries they are
paid.
“You know that our salary is very little. You worsen the
situation by
splashing those salaries in newspapers to try and argue that
you are, as
government, doing something to improve our plight.
“While
that is a noble idea, it makes people look at us with disdainful eyes
as
they compare their salaries with ours. It is shocking that at times we
play
second fiddle to women who sell vegetables in terms of salaries and
earnings
from various activities,” said another teacher.
The teachers also said it
was now difficult to raise money to fend for their
families, let alone
sending children to school. They called on government to
ensure it paid them
salaries commensurate with the Poverty Datum Line (PDL).
In response,
Chamisa said with better management of financial resources
derived from
natural resources and other government initiatives, the future
of the
country’s civil service looks bright.
“The government is aware of the
despair that is there in the civil service,
especially the teachers,” he
said.
“We are of the firm belief that these challenges we face as a
nation now are
the forerunner of good things to come.
With proper
management of resources from natural resources and other
initiatives, we
will, as government, be able to respond to your needs.
“I believe we need
to be a bit patient and hope that government puts its
priorities right so
that you, as taxpayers, get the salaries you want and we
are able to uplift
the economy of this country together,” Chamisa said.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Godfrey Mtimba
Saturday, 14 January
2012 12:57
MASVINGO - Militant teachers’ body, the Progressive
Teachers Union of
Zimbabwe (PTUZ) wants to meet coalition government
principals President
Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai to
table their demands
for salary increment.
The grouping says
negotiations with Cabinet ministers are a waste of time as
they have no
clout to change things.
PTUZ president, Takavafira Zhou told the Daily
News that his organisation
was tired of endless promises and now wants the
two men with the ability to
make decisions on the country’s purse to direct
the public service to
increase their salaries.
“Tsvangirai and Mugabe
hold the key to the improvement of teachers’ salaries
and conditions of
service, as such PTUZ would like to make it categorically
clear that the
plight of civil servants can only be resolved by the key
principals,” said
Zhou.
He said his organisation was aware that the two chair Cabinet
meetings and
have the final say in the meetings hence they wanted to deal
with their
issue urgently or they will paralyse the country’s education
system.
“Mugabe and Tsvangirai should urgently convene a Cabinet meeting
to
deliberate over the plight of civil servants,” said Zhou.
PTUZ
however, blasted the negotiations between the Apex council headed by
Zimbabwe Teachers Association (Zimta) president Tendai Chikowore and Lucia
Matibenga’s Public Service ministry saying they are useless.
“PTUZ is
worried that Apex council has become a liability to the civil
servants as it
is constantly changing goal posts. That council is romancing
with the
employer,” said Zhou.
Members of the Apex council however responded to
the PTUZ charges describing
the leaders of the militant teachers’ union as
cowards who have abandoned
negotiations for better pay.
Teachers and
the majority of civil servants earn between $180 to $250 an
amount far below
the PDL which is pegged at just over $500.
PTUZ says it is seriously
considering severing ties with the Apex council
because it has failed to
represent worker’s interests.
“As PTUZ we will walk our talk in order to
ensure maximum gains and maximum
losses for teachers. We are going to do it
our way as we are worried that
the Apex council has become an extension of
Zimta and anti workers. The
sooner Apex realises that Mugabe and Tsvangirai
have answers to our plight
the better,” he added.
PTUZ snubbed a
negotiation meeting between Apex and the Public service
ministry this week.
http://www.voanews.com/
13 January
2012
In Harare, residents who were paying $40-$70 a room for
residential
accommodations are now finding landlords demanding from $85 to
$150 per room
Gibbs Dube | Washington
Zimbabwean consumers
have faced steep rent increases since the turn of the
year with the cost of
urban accommodations going up as much as 100 percent
in some
cases.
Beckton Properties Co-Director Mpumelelo Ndlovu said housing costs
in most
parts of Bulawayo went up 10-15 percent. But in Bulawayo townships
costs per
room rented went up by a third, to $40 a room from $30. Real
estate agents
said rents went up by 50 percent in some of the more expensive
suburbs of
Bulawayo and Gweru.
In Harare, residents who were paying
$40-$70 a room for residential housing
are now finding landlords demanding
from $85 to $150 per room.
Apartments are going for $400 compared with
$300 previously.
Ndlovu said agents are raising rents under pressure from
landlords feeling
the economic pinch. But, "We always advise them to settle
for what people
can afford to pay."
Oswald Nyakunika, chairman of the
Estate Agents Council of Zimbabwe, said
his organization had resolved that
there would be no business and
accommodation rental increases this year due
to Zimbabwe’s depressed
economic environment.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw
Thursday, 12 January 2012
16:11
Paidamoyo Muzulu
THE continued collapse of state enterprises
is a sad indictment of the
present coalition government which seems
undecided over whether to privatise
or completely adopt China’s command
economic system.
While President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF have parroted
and successfully
implemented their Look East policy politically, they have
deliberately
ignored the Asian giant’s stringent management strategy of
parastatals.
National carrier Air Zimbabwe’s collapse is the latest
in a long list of
failed parastatals in the past decade, among them,
Ziscosteel, Zupco,
NetOne, GMB, TelOne and NRZ. The disintegration seems
irreversible unless
the government immediately liquidates and privatises all
state entities and
allows able investors to take over the operations of
these enterprises.
The coalition government came into office with
many promises of reviving the
country’s ineffective and loss-making
parastatals, but not a single
improvement has been made at any of the
enterprises. Instead, their
destruction has been accelerated as politicians
seek to benefit from the
crumbs of the once thriving
entities.
Out of the 10 state companies placed on the
privatisation/commercialisation
list, only steelmaker Ziscosteel has found a
taker. However, negotiations
have been long and cumbersome, and are yet to
be finalised nearly a year on.
Ironically, all the parastatals
enjoyed a monopoly and had healthy balance
sheets at Independence in 1980,
but they have progressively crumbled as a
result of continued
maladministration due to political patronage. The lean
AirZim structure
ballooned after 1980, and at one point the airline employed
1600 people to
man 11 planes. The once proud flag carrier now has just three
operational
jets and a staff complement of 1 400.
The airline faced excessive
interference from the government with planes
being commandeered to fly
Mugabe and his entourage on his perpetual foreign
trips.
Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara told parliament last month that the
government may be forced to adopt Chinese policies in managing state
enterprises. Mutambara said cabinet was seized with ensuring that
parastatals were profitable and Zimbabwe could learn from
China.
“In China for example, there is a fine, thin line between
inefficiency and
sabotage. So, if you are a head of a parastatal and you are
inefficient, you
can get shot because you are sabotaging the economy,”
Mutambara said.
His utterances confirmed the government’s indecision
on management of
parastatals.
But can Zimbabwe successfully
follow the successful Chinese management
style?
Soon after the
spectacular failure of the Cultural Revolution, China altered
its course and
embraced capitalism, albeit without private ownership.
Nationalised state
corporations had to operate on purely commercial lines
with management and
staff meeting agreed production targets.
China then pursued a
deliberate policy of identifying and nurturing
academically talented
students for future employment as company executives.
The training was as
meticulous and rigorous, leaving little room for
failure. This was in
addition to strict accountability imposed on state
enterprises
executives.
In the last quarter century, China has grown from a poor
military superpower
to the second largest economy in the world after the
United States. China
now has the largest US dollar reserves and plays a
crucial role in funding
developmental programmes in Africa and the rest of
the developing world.
The country’s conglomerates, such as
information technology companies
Lenovo, Huawei and ZTE, and construction
giants Sino Hydro have extended
their reach across the globe. China has
further strengthened its foothold in
the financial services sector by buying
a vital stake in South African
banking giant Standard Bank, which has
footprints in many African countries.
Zimbabwe could start by
initially taking action against failed parastatal
managers and set up a pool
of competent and accountable crop of managers. No
parastatal manager has
ever been fired for inefficiency since 1980. Instead,
most have been
rewarded with golden handshakes at the end of their tenures
while the rot
continued.
If the government does not want to relinquish control of
parastatals, maybe
it should identify prospective managers and send them to
China to learn that
country’s state entities’ management
style.
Since the two countries enjoy warm political relations, some
successful
Chinese executives could be seconded to local parastatals to
train and
implement practical turnaround policies that worked in the
communist state.
The bottom line is that the government should desist
from its policy
wavering and borrow best practices from around the globe and
blend them with
local conditions to create a hybrid policy suitable for
Zimbabwe.
By Trademark Dindingwe
The article by Masimirembwa and Mudenda on the so called Copac draft chapters raises a lot of questions and eye brows. Questions are raised on the credibility of 1. Zanu Pf 2. Copac and 3. The Zanu pf duo of Masi and Mudee.
Firstly, it looks like Zanu PF or a faction of Zanu PF is out to trash the constitution making process. The herald, is a well known and heralded Zanu PF propaganda tool. Whatever the paper publishes has the blessings of the former ruling party which holds the leash on the editorial and staff policy of the state (read Zanu PF) media. Whenever the paper publishes anything, political or otherwise, the intent is to further the interests of the former ruling party. It is clear the manner in which the so called national report(which is not a national report in any case), draft chapters’ critique and serialisation was at the behest of Zanu pf.
The question arises as to why Zanu Pf or a faction in Zanu Pf may want to trash the process. The fact of the matter is Zanu Pf sees the process heading towards the production of a democratic constitution. Reading through the constitutional principles, as agreed to by the three political parties, that Zanu Pf Co Chairperson Mangwana gave to civil society at the end of 2011 at HICC, it is clear the road to democracy has widened. The days of the former ruling party’s habit of strangling the wishes of the masses is fast loosening.
Actually the principles which we hear were approved by the management committee of COPAC, read well to the very principles that guided and motivated the rise against the Smith regime. From its actions Zanu Pf is trying, dangerously so, to deviate from the very principles of the struggle for liberation. What the commissars were preaching during the war is a replica of what is contained in the principles adopted by COPAC which form part of the drafters’ instructions. Let these principles be published and for those who saw and took part in the war you will recall what Charles Ndlovu was saying on the pirate radio from Mozambique in the late 1970s or what was heard propounded on radio Moscow.It is clear Zanu Pf’s attack is not for what the people of Zimbabwe want but its for what its leadership wants. They adultrated the 2000 draft and now they are trying to trash the process. What Zanu pf leadership wants has massively shifted from the ideals of the liberation struggle. They have plundered and looted and have become super rich or is it filthy rich.
We challenge genuine war veterans to challenge the truth that the COPAC list of constitutional principles captures the ideals that many Zimbabweans died for and suffered fo rbefore, during and after the liberation struggle. We draw your attention to the copac principles,unedited, below:
COPAC DRAFT CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLES
Supremacy of the constitution.
Recognition of Zimbabwe’s liberation, democracy, sovereignty of the state and its people.
Recognition of the principle of separation of powers.
Recognition of land and natural resources as belonging to all Zimbabweans.
The constitution should contain mechanisms of redressing colonial imbalances in the distribution of natural resources including land.
The new constitution must ensure the maintenance of unity, in diversity, peace, stability, security and prosperity for all the people of Zimbabwe.
Recognition of the rule of law, good governance and democracy.
Recognition that power to rule and govern must be derived from the authority of the people.
The recognition of fundamental human rights.
All organs of the state to respect, protect, promote and fulfil the rights and freedoms spelt out in the Bill of Rights.
Recognition of the principle of decentralization.
Recognition of the principle of devolution of power.
Recognition of gender equality and gender mainstreaming in all spheres of governance.
The recognition of the rights of children, the youth, the disabled, women, workers and vulnerable groups.
The recognition of universal adult suffrage.
The recognition of the importance of an electoral system that guarantees regular, free and fair and effective elections that ensure adequate representation of the electorate.
Recognition of the importance of Bill of Rights by entrenching it in the constitution and its justiciability.
Recognition of the principle of checks and balances among the levels of government and the Arms of the State.
Recognition of the need for equitable resource sharing mechanisms.
Recognition of the rights of racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious and political minorities.
That the management of public finances should be informed by transparency, responsiveness, accountability, responsibility, integrity and equity.
All arms of state to uphold the principles of democracy and good governance.
Recognition of the principle of constitutional transition and orderly transfer of power.
All Arms of State must uphold the constitution, respect human rights, be non-partisan and professional.
The constitution must recognize the diversity of languages, customary practices and traditions and must seek to protect and promote these.
The institution, status and role of traditional leadership, according to indigenous law, shall be spelt out and recognized in the constitution.
From the so called National Report it is clear that there are so many issues that are contradictory or not of a constitutional nature. It is our,reliably informed, understanding that COPAC tasked a team of technical experts from Zanu PF, the MDCs and the chiefs to extract, from the outreach data, constitutional issues for the consideration of the Select Committee, headed by Mwonzora, Mangwana and Mkhosi. This team included our erstwhile friend Masimirembwa and Fredy Gijima representing Zanu Pf. They met at Pandhari in October 2011.
The Pandhari list was further refined and adopted in Masvingo on October 31 to November 1 2011. On the Pandhari document Gijima put Zanu Pf’s signature, Gonese Innocent put MDC T’s,Chibaya Cosmas signed for the MDC Mutambara /Ncube while chief Mtshane Khumalo represented the chiefs. It is clear when these four appended their signatures they had clearance from their constituencies. This list contains raw constitutional issues as they appear in the outreach data. They were extracted as they came from the people.
We also understand that after the Select Committee agreed on the constitutional issues extracted from the outreach data it further tasked the technical team ,at HICC,to identify those issues that would actually make it into the constitution and those issues that would be catered for under legislation. This was done from the 14th to the 22nd of November 2011.On this document of the technical team Zanu Pf’s signature was penned by none other than Mr Jacob Mudenda(JFM),MDC T, Gonese Innocent(IG), MDC Mutambara/Ncube, Mahlamvana Tofa Angela(ATM). Masimirembwa and Mudenda were part of the Zanu Pf team which included Gijima, July Moyo and Angela Mususa. The Document was adopted by the Select Committee.
Using this document the technical team was further given the task of identifying gaps and propose ways of filling them. We think this understandable given that the outreach questionnaire was not exhaustive. In steering this technical team Zanu pf’s Mudenda was co chairing with MDC T’s Kucaca Phulu and the other MDC’s Angela Mahlamvana.
From what the Co Chairpersons of COPAC said when drafting started in December 2011 it was clear the drafters would work with these documents. What the public now want is for copac to publish 1. The official outreach data. 2. The list of constitutional issues extracted from this data and adopted by the Select Committee. 3. The list of issues that were deemed fit to be included in the constitution and those for legislation. 4. The official list of agreed constitutional principles. 5. The list of those issues the committee has not agreed on. 6. The draft chapters they have received and adopted from the three drafters.
The nation feels short changed by Zanu Pf. It has used the public media to critique the draft chapters, negatively, as a way of trashing the constitution making process. Like said earlier the Herald is Zanu Pf’s mouth piece.So is Mararike, Mahoso,Chivaura, - by the way these three were part of Zanu pf’s technical advisers during Thematic discussions. Mararike was in the Traditional institutions thematic area. Chivaura was in the languages one and Mahoso on the one on Media.
Zanu Pf is not sincere in this process as we see its functionaries who have been and are still part of the process trash it.From all the raucous that has been going on in public only the rabid robotic stooge Jabulani Sibanda and Kadzura haven’t been part of the process from the beginning. Kadzura’s only involvement was through housing of outreach teams at his Mount View hotel in Mutare. It is also clear that the rabid robot, Jabu, is being used to incite war veterans against the process.We call Jabu a rabid robot because he never witnessed Nachngwea, Mkushi, Chibawawa,Nyadzonia, Tembwe, Morogoro, Mboroma and Chimoio. Neither did the Cold Comfort based Dydmus Mutasa. The reasons why those places were bombed are what is contained in and sought by the COPAC adopted constitutional principles. We feel Zanu Pf is trying to subvert the total liberation of the Zimbabwean population.If it is not Zanu Pf itself then a faction in it to which Masimirembwa, Mudenda (Tsholotsho Declaration 2005),Mararike, Mahoso and the rabid robot are aligned to. If Zanu Pf is genuine that it has the wishes of the people of Zimbabwe at heart then it should disown these miscreants and uphold the principles of the revolution which gave them votes in 1980. These are the principles that the people of Zimbabwe are still struggling to fulfil. These principles are not defined for the people of Zimbabwe by Zanu Pf leadership. These principles have defined themselves through the experiences the children of Zimbabwe have gone through before, during and after the liberation struggle.
From COPAC we demand to know if it has a code of conduct. It looks like anyone can say anything on its behalf. We see the Herald publishing purported COPAC material without COPAC permission as evidenced by all the Co Chairs disowning giving the paper that information nor giving Mararike and team the draft chapters. The Herald used the COPAC logo and that’s fraud because it misleads readers into believing that it is a COPAC communiqué. Also the issue of Masimirembwa and Mudenda critique COPAC must come clean. Were they acting with the mandate of COPAC. We understand that this information for as long as it is not given by COPAC remains confidential information and we want to know what COPAC is going to do about its errant employees, Masimirembwa and Mudenda
The two individuals present interesting profiles. It is important to note that Masimirembwa presided over the damaging 2008 price controls that destroyed the economy of Zimbabwe. He ruthlessly subverted the principles of market economics and we ended up with no goods, actually no food, on our tables. In the melee he was driving expensive, imported vehicles.
Mr Masimirembwa is a discredited lawyer. He was struck off the register for defrauding clients he represented. He remains deregistered and may never practice for life. He is the current chairperson of the board overseeing contentious issue of diamonds. This issue remains contentious and a lot of shoddy deals are happening in the diamond industry. Mr Masimirembwa is even more affluent.
He has no known progressive record in academic and legal practice activities. His expertise in constitutional matters is highly questionable. We want to know his academic record and knowledge of constitutional matters.
Mudenda is famous for his participation in the infamous Tsholotsho debacle of 2005 at Dingane Primary School. The Tsholotsho meeting wanted to subvert the elevation of Joyce Mujuru to the post of vice president. He is also known for his record long time in finishing his law degree through course repeats albeit at an advanced age. He has been a lawyer for less than ten years.
Now these are the two men who are driving one of the key deliverables of the GPA into chaos. Technically these two men are doing a hatchet job to destroy this process and it seems like this group is bent on making sure this country is ungovernable. They want to plunge the country into chaos and to lead to another GPA. This is because there will likely be another contested election.
The purported critique is a mere regurgitation of the Zanu Pf position paper on the constitution and they now want to shove it down the throats of the Zimbabwean people.Everything in their so called critique is an echo and mirror image of their draft constitutional framework that led to Chindori Chininga being kicked out of COPAC. Coincidentally the man who did that document is the same Masimirembwa who now comes with the same document heralding it as a critique of the preliminary drafted chapters of the new constitution.
Dear Family and Friends,
Since Christmas we’ve been watching, wide eyed and
open mouthed, the
developments in Zimbabwe’s latest gold rush. This time it’s
in
Kwekwe where nuggets, metal detectors, panning, digging, pounding
and
hammering are the words on everyone’s lips.
Stories of gold rushes
from the old days of our history get blood
pumping and hearts racing.
Outlandish adventures, outrageous
exaggerations and the wildest characters
you can imagine taking part
in the frenzied search for gold. Myths, legends,
facts and fiction all
become a heady, swirling, maze: tales that Fig trees
were apparently
planted to mark sites that needed further exploration; pegged
claims
being swopped for cases of whisky; porcupine quills filled with
grains
of gold being found in the back of dusty, musty
caves.
Zimbabwe’s latest gold rush began with stories that 100 kilograms
of
gold nuggets had been found. Fact or fiction wasn’t important,
the
thought alone triggered the stampede. A Midlands police spokesman
said
the gold alluvial had been discovered near the Munyati River in
the
Sherwood Farming Block, about 20 kilometres outside of Kwekwe.
At
first there were reports of approximately four hundred gold
panners
trying to get a look in. Within a couple of days the press
reported
that thousands of people were pouring into Kwekwe to join the
gold
rush. Mayhem and politics was hot on their heels.
Armed police
with dogs arrived and chased the gold panners away
saying: "We want sanity to
prevail while we identify the proper owners
of the mining claim.” Violence
broke out and the police made a
confusing statement which has left us still
wondering exactly what
went down. “No one was killed. Only a few rogue thugs
who intended
to pan, threw stones at the police,’ said a police spokesman.
Kwekwe
hospital opened its doors and took in casualties. One man had
sixteen
stitches in his head after being beaten with a shovel.
Next on
the scene was Zanu PF. Hundreds of panners who had been chased
away from the
Sherwood Block gold field attended a rally addressed by
Owen "Mudha" Ncube,
the Zanu PF Midlands security official. The press
said Ncube announced that
the gold deposits belonged to Zanu PF. He
said Zanu PF had fought in the
liberation struggle to ensure that
Zimbabweans owned their land, and the
minerals in it, and therefore
had rights to control who mined at the gold
fields. NewsDay reported
that Zanu PF had started making a list of people who
would be allowed
to mine the gold field when it re-opened and this led to a
frenzied
scramble for Zanu PF membership cards with 3,500 being sold in
the
first two days. The cards sell for one US dollar each so this
seemed
like a very good way to make money too.
Meanwhile the Midlands
police spokesman said at least four people had
laid claim to the Kwekwe gold
field and the police were waiting for
the Mines Ministry to adjudicate
between them. No prizes for guessing
who wins this one.
Gold fever in
Kwekwe in 2012 left me looking for anecdotes about gold
mines in the area
from the past. I came across reminiscences of the
wife of a former manager of
the famous Globe and Phoenix Gold mine.
Mrs Atkinson wrote about the new
railway line that had opened in
November 1901 and went from the mine to
Harare, a journey previously
undertaken with pack mules and donkey carts:
“The railway journey
took about four hours… Not only did the train driver
stop to collect
more fuel by chopping down a tree or two but if he spotted a
herd of
buck or a flock of guinea fowl, he would go after them on foot
and
shoot ‘for the pot.”
‘The law of the jungle where the strongest
survive’ is how the
diamond human rights monitor Farai Maguwu described the
recent
scramble for gold in Kwekwe. Not much has changed in the last
hundred
years. Until next time, thanks for reading, love cathy 14th
January
2012. Copyright � Cathy Buckle. www.cathybuckle.com
