Civil servants strike off to a slow start

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
23 January 2012

Government offices in the country’s two main cities were operating as normal
Monday, on the first day of a week long strike called by the state workers
union, Apex Council.

On Friday last week, Apex Council said the five day strike was in response
to their employer’s refusal to raise their salaries. The civil servants are
demanding a minimum monthly salary of US$538, up from the current US$250.

Government insists it doesn’t have enough in its coffers to increase the
salaries. The Apex Council however blames the stubborn attitude of the
government for the miseries being faced by civil servants.

SW Radio Africa correspondents in Harare and Bulawayo said the nationwide
industrial action did not go as its organiser had wished, revealing deep
divisions among unions on how to tackle the government regarding the salary
dispute.

The Apex Council action was reportedly undermined by some union affiliates,
who discouraged their members from striking, warning that they would not
defend workers who lost jobs due to the strike.

It’s reported the strike had also not had a huge impact on government
workers’ ability to render services. Most workers reported for duty, and
that services at major state run institutions were operating as normal.

“It is business as usual at most government buildings in Harare, but we
understand the situation is different at schools were most teachers did not
report for duty,” according to the capital’s SWRA correspondent Simon
Muchemwa.

In Bulawayo, SW RA correspondent Lionel Saungweme said most civil servants
reported for duty and that it was not clear if union members got
notification of the strike.

“Most government employees reported for work and there seems to be no
information flowing to the union members on what to do,” Saungweme said.

Parties trade blame over civil servants strike

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/

23/01/2012 00:00:00
    by Gilbert Nyambabvu

THE MDC-T has claimed Zanu PF is blocking efforts to improve civil service
salaries by holding onto diamond sales proceeds and refusing to purge the
government payroll of an estimated 75 000 ghost workers.

State workers started a week-long strike across the country Monday to demand
a doubling of their basic wages to about $538 a month for the lowest paid
workers.
The job action followed a break-down in talks with Public Service minister,
Lucia Matibenga.

The government insists it does not have the resources to meet the wage
demands with Finance Minister Tendai Biti warning that salaries alone were
already accounting for more than 60 percent of overall expenditure.

But President Robert Mugabe has accused Biti – a senior MDC-T official -- of
deliberately sabotaging the government by refusing the increases.

However, the MDC-T hit back in a statement Monday and blamed its coalition
partners for the crisis.
“The MDC is aware and sympathetic to the plight of civil servants,” the
party said.

“It remains a concern that Zanu PF continues to hold back on those national
resources that should benefit the generality of Zimbabweans.
“The MDC knows that if certain actions are taken, funds will be available to
give civil servants a living wage.”

The party claimed revenues to from diamond sales were not being remitted to
the treasury adding little progress had also been made in ridding the
government payroll of “ghost workers”, many of them said to be Zanu PF
activists added by the party over the last few years.

“The MDC believes that it is possible to raise the (necessary) funds if
diamond revenues are remitted to treasury; if 75 000 ghost workers are
removed immediately from the government payroll; earnings from millions of
dollars in police coffers earned through fines; a drastic cut-back of the
run-away government foreign travel expenses; and revenue from all mining
concessions which are yet to be deposited in the government account,” the
party said.
“It is unfortunate that Zanu PF has taken the issue as a political tool to
further their unfounded claims.

“That party cannot today claim to care for the welfare of civil servants
when they are the ones who run down and (undermined) the efforts of these
dedicated men and women – some of whom they have turned into political
stooges.”

Biti announced during his 2012 national budget statement that he had been
promised US$600 million from diamond sales by Mines Minister, Obert Mpofu.

Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai later said the additional funds could be
used to improve state workers salaries although Biti had already allocated
the money to various infrastructure projects as well as the constitutional
referendum and new elections expected this year.

Zimbabwe elections ‘not feasible in 2012′

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
23 January 2012

Elections in Zimbabwe are not feasible this year because of the absence of
key reforms, particularly in the security and electoral sectors, a leading
pro-democracy activist has said.

Dewa Mavhinga, the regional coordinator for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition
based in South Africa said there is a litany of individuals who have a clear
partisan stance who must be weeded out from some of these sectors.

There is a strong call from other political parties, apart from ZANU PF, to
reform the military and security establishment, which they accuse of
meddling in the country’s elections.

“SADC, as a regional bloc has taken a clear position that elections in
Zimbabwe will not take place without reforms and I don’t see their stance
changing,” Mavhinga said.

Mavhinga told SW Radio Africa on Monday that the Zimbabwe crisis will be
discussed by SADC leaders on the sidelines of the African Union summit due
to start in Ethiopia this week.

The meeting by the regional leaders will also focus on issues troubling
other SADC nations like Malawi, Madagascar and the Democratic Republic of
Congo.

“Despite Mugabe trying to sweet talk the current AU chairman (Teodoro Obiang
Nguema) the continental body, as guarantor of the Global Political
Agreement, is unlikely to support any foolish notion of Zimbabwe elections
outside of reforms and full agreement and SADC endorsement,” Mavhinga said.

He continued: “What the AU needs to do is send a team to Zimbabwe to monitor
as tensions flare up and war vets attempt to disrupt the constitutional
reform process.”

Hundreds turn out for global Free Zimbabwe protests

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

 

 

 

Posted by Alex Bell on Monday, January 23, 2012

Exuberant Zimbabweans from all over the UK gathered outside the South African High Commission in London

By Alex Bell
23 January 2012

Hundreds of people worldwide showed their support for a free, fair and democratic Zimbabwe by joining in the ‘Free Zimbabwe Global Protests’ this weekend.

The demonstrations were organised by the MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai and took place outside Zimbabwean embassies and consulates around the world. The protests, which are set to become a monthly event, are targeting South Africa as the mediator in the ongoing political stalemate in Zimbabwe.

The demonstrations got underway last Friday in South Africa where an estimated 300 people gathered to voice their demands to the South African government. These demands include calling on South Africa to help solve the ongoing Zim crisis as well as force ZANU PF and Robert Mugabe to honour the Global Political Agreement (GPA).

Marvin Moyo, MDC secretary for Infomation and Publicity, handing over a petition to Mandisa Dora Marasha the SA ambassador in Sweden.

On Saturday, more protests got underway in Australia, America, Sweden, and the Netherlands, where people gathered at the South African embassy at The Hague. Netherlands based Zimbabwean student and MDC member Zwelithini Viki told SW Radio Africa on that the demonstrations were well received.”

“We really had a successful march despite not having a formal MDC structure here. We had people here from Belgium, Zimbabwean citizens and students. It was very encouraging,” Viki said.

Top Zimbabwean activists Grace Kwinjeh, Fortune Charamba and Courage Ngwarai also attended the protests and addressed the crowd, raising concerns about the worsening situation back home. Viki said the central message at the demo was to call on ZANU PF, SADC and South African President Jacob Zuma “to ensure that ZANU PF is forced to honour the Global Political Agreement.”

Adella Chiminya – the widow of activist Tichaona Chiminya. handing over the petition at the South African High Commission in London

Meanwhile protests also got underway in London where hundreds of people from across the UK gathered outside the South Africa High Commission to voice their demands. The group was also joined by the weekly Zimbabwe Vigil, who have been protesting outside the Zimbabwean embassy for more than eight years.

The Vigil’s Rose Benton explained that the London part of the Global Protests was a “very big success,” saying an estimated 300 people took part. She explained that although the South Africa High Commission is normally closed on a Saturday, “we were encouraged that the South Africans opened it for the delivery of an MDC petition by Adella Chiminya, who is the widow of activist Tichaona Chiminya who was burnt to death in 2002.”

Even Mugabe turned up to voice his concerns

“The more noise you make the more likely you will be heard so we are very pleased with how this protest went on Saturday,” Benton said.

She added that it was important to pressure South Africa to make a change in Zimbabwe, saying: “I’ve always thought that South Africa was the key to the region, they’ve never done anything.”

“Pressure like this needs to continue on South Africa and on the Zim government until we see real change,” Benton said.

Click here for more images by photographer Russell Pollard.

Click here for the Zim Vigil Diary for 21st January 2012

see more photos of the protests

Zim immigrants expelled

http://www.zimonline.co.za/

by James Mombe     Monday 23 January 2012

JOHANNESBURG – South Africa last week expelled more than 600 illegal
immigrants from Zimbabwe, a top official said at the weekend.

Zimbabwean assistant regional immigration manager Tamari Shadaya said the
deportees, who arrived at the Beitbridge border post between the two
countries in a convoy of eight buses, were handed over to the International
Organisation for Migration (IOM).

The IOM has for years operated an office at Beitbridge that provides
humanitarian assistance to deportees including protection services, basic
medical treatment, temporary shelter, food and transportation.

“We received 672 Zimbabwean border jumpers and they were sent to the
International Organisation for Migration (IOM) for vetting and assistance
before deployment to their respective homes,” Shadaya said.

South Africa’s Department of Home Affairs resumed last October expelling
illegal immigrants from Zimbabwe after a ending a two-year moratorium on
deportations of undocumented immigrants from its northern neighbour.

Pretoria had refrained from deporting illegal Zimbabwean immigrants while
carrying out a special project to issue permits to thousands of Zimbabweans
who continue to flock to their more prosperous neighbour in search for jobs
and better living conditions.

But only 275 762 Zimbabweans applied for permits under the project compared
to the estimated two million Zimbabweans that are believed to be living in
South Africa, many of them illegally.

South Africa, which has Africa’s most prosperous economy, is home to
millions of foreign nationals, many of them living illegally and seeking
better opportunities from failed economies like northern neighbour Zimbabwe.

Locals often complain that the immigrants steal their jobs or lower working
standards by readily accepting below market wages, while also overloading
government social services.

An outbreak of xenophobic violence in 2008 left at least 62 foreigners dead
and thousands of others displaced, leaving foreign investors unsettled and
South Africa’s image as one of the more tolerant countries in the world
shattered. – ZimOnline.

SA continues inhuman treatment of refugees

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Allegations of inhuman treatment on asylum seekers are continuing here, a
human rights organization being the latest to complain.
23.01.1206:45am
by Mxolisi Ncube

Zimbabwean human rights groups late last year accused South African
authorities of inhumanly treating asylum seekers in methods that include
beatings and corruption. The government said it would only act after a
formal report was presented, but more than two months after this was done,
the Home Affairs Department is still mum.

In the latest accusation, the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South
Africa said this week that it witnessed some of the “most heartbreaking and
inhumane” treatment of asylum seekers outside the Marabastad Refugee
Reception Office.

It said this illustrated the impact of a new shift in government policy on
asylum seekers in South Africa.

“Since the beginning of December 2011, CoRMSA has observed that, Marabastad,
Musina and Durban Refugee Reception Offices have been turning away asylum
seekers unless they are in possession of an Asylum Transit Permit,” said the
organisation’s spokesman, Gwadamirai Majange.

“However, at Beitbridge, one of the busiest points of entry for asylum
seekers to South Africa, it has been observed that the immigration
authorities are not issuing Asylum Transit Permits. It must be emphasized
that the practise requiring that asylum seekers be in possession of this
transit permit in order to gain access to the asylum process is in itself
unlawful. This requirement is neither contained in domestic laws nor
international conventions to which South Africa is a signatory.”

Resultantly, asylum seekers were unable to receive protection and vulnerable
to arrest, detention and deportation to countries of origin where they may
face persecution or death, while a “permanent roadblock” on the main highway
from the Beitbridge border post ensures that those people travelling into
South Africa have the required documentation.

“What is alarming however is that those same asylum seekers who have been
denied a transit permit at the border are subjected to further harassment,
detainment and deportation.

“It is clear that the South African government’s new policy with regards to
asylum seekers is not only contradictory and unclear but also violates the
right to seek asylum to which South Africa subscribes through domestic law
and international obligations.”

CoRMSA questioned how two arms of the same government department - Asylum
Seeker Management and Immigration, were not acting in concert.

“One demands that the asylum seeker produce a document which the other
refuses to issue. CoRMSA demands that there be clarity on the government’s
policy with regards to asylum seekers and that the rights of these
vulnerable persons be protected and defended.”

Typhoid outbreak hits Harare

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Gift Phiri, Senior Writer
Monday, 23 January 2012 12:35

HARARE - Zimbabwean health authorities have reported that Harare is under
siege from the biggest typhoid outbreak in recent history which might sweep
across the country with devastating effect.

At least 80 people have been hospitalised in Harare and reports indicate
that if the disease is not contained, it could spread rapidly.

The director of the Harare City Council Health Department, Dr Prosper Chonzi
told the Daily News yesterday the deadly infection has been traced back to
food that is being sold by illegal vendors in  Kuwadzana suburb, and frantic
efforts were
underway to combat the disease.

The latest typhoid outbreak comes amid another outbreak of a diarrhoeal
infection caused by the “shigella bacteria”, a
deadly mix that could prove to Typhoid outbreak hits Harare nbe a major test
for the city health department, which had never before been faced with a
typhoid outbreak on such a massive scale.

On the frontline of the battle to save lives and bring the disease under
control is medical charity Medicines Sans Frontiers (Doctors without
Borders) which has moved to pitch tents at the Beatrice Infectious Diseases
Hospital and in Kuwadzana to screen patients.

The Daily News heard that there was an emergency "partners meeting" on
Wednesday last week to coordinate a response to the spiralling epidemic.

Following that meeting, according to Chonzi, food samples from Kuwadzana
shopping were tested and came back positive of salmonella, an organism that
causes typhoid.

"We have traced it back to illegal vendors especially those selling fish,
chicken, beef and sadza," Chonzi said. "We took samples and they were all
contaminated by salmonella. We even examined those who prepare the food.

“We must stop illegal vending. People must stop buying that food. Very soon
it will be city-wide because the salmonella lives under finger nails. This
is not good for the city," he said.

Typhoid, a water-borne infection, has been virtually endemic in Zimbabwe and
this is just the latest outbreak, but at a much larger scale, health
authorities warn.

This is the second outbreak of typhoid in as many months, with health
authorities having diagnosed dozens of cases at Beatrice Infectious Disease
Hospitals so far.

"This is serious," Chonzi told the Daily News. "It is concentrated in
Kuwadzana and 80 people are in Nazareth (Beatrice Infectious Diseases
Hospital) right now."

Typhoid causes vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhoea - it can kill the old,
the young and those who are already weakened.

Although the city's water system is so out-of-date and antiquated that it
has failed to adequately supply the whole city, Chonzi ruled out water
contamination and said "in those areas, the city of Harare has tried."

"There is water in Kuwadzana and many areas around that area. There is no
sewer flowing," he said.

"There is both taped and borehole water. People are boiling water and there
is distribution of aqua tablets. The issue is now vending," he said.

A nurse at the Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital said  she was on duty
when the first victim was brought into the hospital, but had no idea at the
time of the seriousness of the outbreak.

The city hospital was eventually overrun with typhoid patients, with the
hospital opening up most of their beds to new typhoid admissions.

She said: "The authorities here were quite unprepared. They had no emergency
plan to cope with an outbreak, nor any stocks of emergency medicine.

"They appealed to the MSF and I must say they have really helped but it is
still a huge challenge."

The panic over the disease has been so great that very few outsiders are
daring venture further West into Kuwadzana.

The Beatrice Infectious Diseases Hospital has been swamped with people,
including false alarms as the city is thrown into panic.

The typhoid outbreak comes hard on the heels of the outbreak of shigella, a
diarrhoea infection that also hit the Western suburbs especially Warren
Park. The disease shows itself through a blood-stained stool, fever and
stomach cramps and 36 cases of shigella were diagnosed last week.

Dysentery, cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid and a whole bouquet of diseases have
been widespread in the capital: "We have been facing an epidemic of typhoid
and this is the second time since last month. We don't know
when this typhoid outbreak will stop," said Shorai Moyo, of Kuwadzana.

Zimbabwe’s public health system, which before the collapse of the last
decade was one of the best in Africa, is on a firm path to recovery but
still faces major hurdles.

Most of Zimbabwe’s public hospitals, which were forced to close their doors
as they could no longer afford drugs, equipment or wages for their staff at
the height of the economic crisis, began operating only months after the
formation of a coalition government by President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara in February
2009.

The power-sharing government promised to rebuild Zimbabwe’s economy and to
restore basic services such as health and education that had virtually
collapsed after a decade of economic meltdown blamed on Mugabe's previous
government.

But the administration, which says it needs $10 billion to revive  the
economy, is struggling to deliver mainly because it has failed to unlock
financial support from Western governments that have remained reluctant to
provide aid until they see evidence that Mugabe is committed to genuinely
share power with Tsvangirai.

Zimparks on high alert

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Bridget Mananavire, Staff Writer
Monday, 23 January 2012 12:20

HARARE - Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife Management Authority (ZPWMA) said they
are on high alert after devastating floods hit Kruger National Park in South
Africa last week.

Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou National Park is part of the Great Limpopo
Transfrontier Park (GLTP), a massive Pan-African Park that also includes
South Africa’s famed Kruger National Park and Mozambique’s Gaza.

National Park’s public relations manager Caroline Washaya-Moyo said though
Gonarezhou has not been affected by the flooding, they are monitoring the
situation closely.

Washaya-Moyo said her organisation was on high alert in the event disaster
strikes.

“Reports received from Gonarezhou National Park reveal that the Park is
currently under no threats from floods. So far Zimbabwe Parks and Wildlife
Management Authority has not received any requests from Kruger National
Park,” she said.

Media reports say heavy rains last week pounded the northern part of South
Africa for days, forcing park officials to evacuate 60 visitors who had been
stranded on safari drives.

Though no deaths or serious injuries were reported, six foreign tourists,
four Italians and two British were washed away in their car and had to be
taken to parks’ doctors for treatment, reports say.

Meanwhile, five people died in neighbouring Mozambique while almost 500 were
left homeless after their homes were destroyed by floods.

4 000 homes were flooded as the storm swept across the region. Weather
experts say more rains are expected in the region as the rain season
continues.
Late last year, the Ministry of Local Government Rural and Urban development
issued a statement warning people of heavy rainfall activity.

Chief moves to attach PM’s property

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

23/01/2012 00:00:00
    by Staff Reporter

A CHIWESHE chief says he will now move to attach Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s property after he failed to pay a fine for violating cultural
taboos by paying bride price in a forbidden month.

Chief Negomo, Luscious Chitsinde fined the MDC-T leader two cows, two sheep,
10 metres of white cloth and a ball of snuff for marrying his girlfriend,
Locadia Karimatsenga Tembo last November, a sacred month under Shona
customs.
Tsvangirai refused to attend the court hearing with his lawyers stating that
Chief Negomo had no jurisdiction over their client.

"From a legal point Tsvangirai will not appear before your court because the
entire process is manifestly illegal and void,” Tsvangirai’s lawyers, Dube,
Manikai and Hwacha Legal Practitioners said in response to the chief’s
summons.

"It appears to us that you have not read and or that you do not understand
the law, province and your limits as a traditional Chief."

But the chief says he has since registered the judgement with the Bindura
magistrates' court and will now move to attach Tsvangirai’s property after
he failed to pay the fine.

"Both families (Tsvangirai and Karimatsenga) were found guilty, but up to
now they have not yet paid the fines," Chitsinde told the state-run Herald
newspaper.

"We were waiting for these court papers and since we now have them, very
soon we will attach their property.
"I am going to sit with my aides and agree on the dates as and when we
should go and attach the property."

Tsvangirai has denied marrying Karimatsenga Tembo who is said to be pregnant
with their twins. The MDC-T leader said he had ended their relationship
after political rivals seized the saga to “inflict maximum damage on his
person and character for political gain”.

His MDC-T party also blasted Chitsinde, accusing the Chief of working with
Zanu PF and partisan state security agents in their propaganda war against
the premier.

“The MDC maintains that this whole debacle is a joint plot by desperate Zanu
PF and junta elements in the face of Mugabe's impending defeat in the
elections next year,” the party said.

“However, no amount of propaganda can save Zanu PF from the jaws of defeat
now that they have failed to gather enough courage to prevent Mugabe from
standing again as a candidate.

State ordered to investigate MDC-T ‘torture’

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
23 January 2012

The State has been ordered to urgently investigate the ‘inhumane and
degrading’ conditions that eight MDC-T activists are facing in prison, where
they have been held since last year in connection with the death of a
policeman in Glen View.

The order was made last Friday at the Harare Magistrates’ Court where the
activists were appearing for their routine remand, together with 20 others
who are out on bail.

According to the group’s lawyer Charles Kwaramba, one of the detained,
Councillor Tungamirai Madzokere of Ward 32, Glen View was last December
“severely assaulted” by a prison guard only identified as ‘Dune’. Kwaramba
said his client needed urgent prison medical attention but to date nothing
has been done.

The MDC-T said in a statement that during the assault, prison guard Dune
threw Councillor Madzokere three times against a wall, “exacerbating
injuries to his right hand which the police broke during his arrest in May
last year.”

“The reason why Councillor Madzokere was battered by Dune was because he was
not willing to remove his prison garb and hand it to another inmate on
remand for him to attend court. The councillor suffers from a rare skin
infection and cannot share his clothing with anyone,” said Kwaramba.

Madzokere and 25 of his co accused were all arrested in May last year
following the death of policeman Petros Mutedza last May. Madzokere and six
others were all denied bail and have remained in prison ever since.

Also being held is the MDC-T’s Youth Assembly Chairman, Solomon Madzore, who
was arrested in October last year and remains locked up at Chikurubi Maximum
Security Prison. The others in custody are Rebecca Mafikeni, Phenias
Nhatarikwa, Lazarus Maengahama, Stanford Maengahama, Yvonne Musarurwa and
Stanford Mangwiro.

According to Kwaramba, the two female activists Rebecca Mafikeni and Yvonne
Musarurwa are incarcerated in solitary confinement at the men’s section at
Chikurubi.

“Since 9 January this year, their tiny cells have raw sewage flowing through
and the two are ordered to clean it using bare hands. I don’t know why they
are being held at the men’s section of the prison when there is a women’s
wing but from what I have heard from the two, the prison officials are
claiming that they are facing political charges but we know that their
charges are not political but murder,” said Kwaramba.

He said the two were only allowed to go out of their cells for only 20
minutes a day.

“During these 20 minutes they have to do exercises, wash their clothes and
bath. They are being treated like hardcore convicted criminals yet they are
not, as they are yet to stand trial,” said Kwaramba.

Another activist, Stanford Mangwiro who is at the Harare Remand Prison, has
had a toothache since his arrest in May but is failing to get access to
medical treatment or to have the tooth removed because the prison
authorities are not co-operating.

“Most of the inmates are suffering from various ailments but cannot complain
to the prison officials as they see those with serious conditions not being
attended to,” said Kwaramba.

After Kwaramba filed the complaints, the magistrate immediately ordered the
State to investigate the claims. The matter was postponed to 10 February.

Mugabe is just a friend: Thai Minister

http://www.zimonline.co.za

by James Mombe     Monday 23 January 2012

JOHANNEBSURG – A newly appointed Thai minister has refused to step down
after the US government blacklisted her over alleged business dealings with
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s family.

Washington in 2008 put Nalinee Taveesin, who was due to be sworn in Monday
as minister in Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s office, on a list
of top allies of Mugabe banned from doing business with American citizens or
companies as punishment for supporting the Zimbabwean leader.

Justifying Nalinee’s inclusion on the list that is almost entirely made up
of top officials of Mugabe’s ZANU PF party and his key military commanders,
the US Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) said
she had facilitated several financial, real estate and gem transactions on
behalf of Mugabe’s wife, Grace.

But Nalinee, who says she was first introduced to Mugabe and his wife in
2002 when they visited Thailand, denied any business dealings with the
Zimbabwe’s first family, adding that their relationship was purely social
and commercial.

Nalinee, who said she was being punished for making friends, said she had
also helped many Zimbabwean students to study in Thailand and even brought
Zimbabwean officials to visit many royal projects over the past years.

"These are real social relations for the benefit of good relations, no
business deals," she said.

"The west and the east might have a different perspective on this matter.
We, Thai people, emphasise friendship and relations. I was sanctioned for
making friends with foreigners. I never imagined such friendship would bring
trouble to my political life."

Nalinee, who has hired lawyers J Michael Farrell in Washington to help
explain  to US authorities the nature of her ties with the Mugabes, rejected
what she said were attempts to twist the blacklisting and make it like look
she had been involved in criminal dealings with the Zimbabwean leader and
his family.

"The sanctions are political measures. It has nothing to do with criminal
violations," she said, clearly seeking to rebut what appeared like attempts
by the opposition to link her appointment to Zimbabwe’s murky diamond
industry.

The opposition Democratic Party has suggested that Nalinee was appointed to
her position so she could use her close ties with African leaders such as
Mugabe to assist former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s jewellery
business in Africa.

Thaksin reportedly has a stake in the Global PS Telecom Investment Co, which
held a 34.99-per-cent share in the Johannesburg-listed Miranda-Mineral.

"That's the reason Nalinee was brought into the position because she had
good relations with leaders in African countries," Democrat Party spokesman
Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said.

However, Nalinee has denied having any special knowledge in the jewellery
industry while her ruling Pheu Thai party rallied behind her insisting she
should be allowed to keep her new job because she was qualified for it.

"She should get a chance to work," said Pheu Thai spokesman Prompong
Nopparit. "And if the Democrat Party thinks she is unsuitable, it can seek a
censure motion against her. It shouldn't try to bring down the government
with this trick."

The US, European Union, Australia, Switzerland, Canada and New Zealand,
imposed targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his top officials about a
decade ago as punishment for allegedly stealing elections, human rights
violations and failure to uphold the rule of law.

The sanctions have been reviewed several times over the years to add more
names of people seen as supporting Mugabe’s rule and to remove some
Zimbabwean companies as well as some political figures who either died or
were seen as no longer working with the veteran African ruler.

Mugabe, who denies violating human rights or stealing elections, says the
sanctions have had a wider impact beyond the targeted individuals to damage
Zimbabwe’s once vibrant economy.

The Zimbabwean strongman has also used the sanctions as an excuse to refuse
to fully implement his power-sharing agreement with former foe and now Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Mugabe, who accuses Tsvangirai of instigating the sanctions, says he will
only allow democratic reforms promised under the power-sharing agreement
after the West lifts the targeted sanctions. -- ZimOnline

US$200m forestry plantations lost to illegal settlers

http://www.herald.co.zw

Saturday, 21 January 2012 00:00

Herald Reporter
ZIMBABWE has lost more than US$200 million due to activities of illegal
settlers in areas reserved for timber plantations, Allied Timbers chief
executive officer, Dr Joseph Kanyekanye said yesterday. Addressing
journalists in Harare yesterday, Dr Kanyekanye said more than 4 000 families
across the country have invaded 12 000 hectares of forestry land.
"US$200 million has been lost because of these culprits, these people are
destroying our economy," he said. "A lot of money is being lost because of
these people . . . we can say they are committing murder because it's
killing our country's economy."

Dr Kanyekanye said forestry plantations were vulnerable because Government
had not done anything to evict the illegal settlers.
He said they had tried to engage Government and the police to help them
evict the people without success.

Dr Kanyekanye said some of the illegal settlers started fires to give a
negative perception that timber companies were not replanting clear areas.
Dr Kanyekanye said people were illegally settled at district level against
Government policy that forestry land should not be occupied.

"The Government does not allow any settlements on forestry land, any offer
of land is given by the Ministry of Lands and Resettlements only," he said.
He said failure by the Government to stop the illegal resettlement would
result in the timber industry collapsing.

Dr Kanyekanye said the timber yield was going to be low this year because of
low rainfall received.

Indigenisation board to enforce regulations

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Temerity Mpofu Harare

As Zimbabwe's indigenisation regulations are generating public debate and
criticism in some sectors, the National Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Board (NIEEB) is set to enforce indigenisation regulations.
23.01.1205:42pm
by Wallace Mawire

NIEEB is set to engage Compliance Officers to be part of a team spearheading
the indigenous and economic empowerment programmes through effective
broad-based support of all sectors of the economy, according to a recent
statement.

The officers will monitor the implementation of the indigenous plans to
ensure compliance with the law,audit and evaluate company declarations of
various information affecting their obligations in terms of the law,conduct
research and consultations with stakeholders for the development and
improvement of appropriate legal and regulatory framework for indigenisation
and empowerment and to advise business on compliance issues.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) says uncertainty over the country's
indigenisation policy has negatively impacted on foreign investor
participation on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

The banking group said the situation had resulted in the local bourse
recording its worst performance for the year 2011 with the key industrial
index retreating from 160, 53 in August to 155, 82 in September,while the
mining index was down 152, 42 in September from 164, 52 in August.

Debate continues to rage about the indigenisation issue, with Zanu (PF)
elements inside the coalition government calling for the seizure of a
controlling 51% stake in established businesses, particularly mining,
ostensibly to empower previously disadvantage blacks.

It is reported in some circles that this proposal is flawed for many
reasons, but its main problem is that it does not actually help the cause it
purports to. On the contrary, it actually negates it.

Forcibly taking companies, or nationalisation, does not change the character
of the current status quo but only replaces it with a politically correct
colour - black.

"In fact this whole effort is nothing more than a racist attempt by members
of the cabal of the previous regime to force through their own acquisition
of massive amounts of wealth. It is imperative to note that there is no
dispute about the need to indigenise," says one analyst.

Mugabe to torpedo Dlamini-Zuma's AU bid

http://www.thezimbabwemail.com

by 5 hours 2 minutes ago

AFTER years fronting former South African President Thabo Mbeki’s skewed
quite diplomacy protecting Robert Mugabe as Foreign Minister, South African
Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma now has to put up with the
reality of Zimbabwean strongman’s ruthless streak in her bid for AU
Chairmanship.

Zimbabwe and South Africa's diplomatic relations could take a knock this
week following revelations President Robert Mugabe's government plans to
oppose its neighbour's bid for the African Union (AU) Commission
chairperson's post.

South Africa is pushing for its Home Affairs minister Nkosazana
Dlamini-Zuma's candidacy at the AU summit that opens in Addis Ababa this
week.

She will come up against the incumbent Jean Ping, a former Gabonese Foreign
Minister, who reportedly enjoys the support of the Economic Community of
Central Africa States (ECCAS) and of the Economic Community of West Africa
State (ECOWAS).

Under normal circumstances, South Africa would have been guaranteed of its
neighbour's support. But analysts say President Robert Mugabe is eager to
hit back at his counterpart Jacob Zuma for putting pressure on him to end a
decade long political crisis weighing down Zimbabwe.

A fortnight ago, Mugabe hosted Equatorial Guinea President Teodoro Obiang
Nguema who is also the outgoing AU chairman where he was reportedly
persuaded to back Ping. Sources said Nguema asked Mugabe to use his
influence to convince other Sothern African Development Corporation (SADC)
countries to back Ping.

Dlamini-Zuma will bank on support from the 15 member SADC to counter Ping's
backers mainly from West and Central Africa.

Mugabe's spokesman George Charamba said although SADC was likely to support
one candidate, Zimbabwe could change its stance if it felt the region's
choice was "weak." He hinted that Mugabe could punish South Africa because
it refused to support Zimbabwe's bid to join the UN Human Rights Commission
(UNHRC) in 2009.

"In fact, South Africa decampaigned Zimbabwe, which was against the AU
position because Zimbabwe's candidacy had been endorsed by the AU. Our
position is that we will support Dlamini-Zuma.

"Until we discover that our candidate is not strong, which we haven't done,
we will continue supporting her. If we discover that our candidate is not
strong, like in the previous term when we supported Ping, we will sit down
as SADC and choose which candidate to back.

"SADC always votes as a bloc."

If elected, Dlamini-Zuma would become the first female chairperson of the AU
Commission.

She may also become another headache for Mugabe who so far has been treated
with some measure of leniency by the AU but come under a lot of pressure to
reform from neighbours.

Relations between South Africa and Zimbabwe have been frosty in recent years
and deteriorated after Zuma replaced former president Thabo Mbeki as the
SADC-appointed mediator in Zimbabwe's political crisis. Zuma quickly
departed from Mbeki's "quiet diplomacy" by adopting a tougher stance against
Mugabe.

Dlamini-Zuma's candidacy will also be a test for South Africa's maturity
diplomacy as some observers feel Africa's biggest economy has not played its
role on the regional level.

Retaliating

Analysts in South Africa have questioned Zuma's understanding of the
continent's current mood and if the country was not punching above its
weight.

Paul-Simon Handy and Stine Kjeldgaard, both of the South African Institute
for Security Studies, argue that South Africa's has presented most of its
African partners with a fait accompli by announcing Dlamini-Zuma's
candidacy. "Its failure to consult substantially led to the perception that
Pretoria had a hidden agenda and that Pretoria is trying to control the AU
to boost its bid for a permanent seat at the UN Security Council," they
said.

And after South Africa unsuccessfully blocked Zimbabwe's bid to be elected
to the Geneva-based UNHCR,  the possibility of Mugabe retaliating cannot be
ruled out.

Meanwhile, Zimbabwe has put forward its own candidates for two other AU
commissioners' posts up for grabs. Names of Hesphina Rukato and Rudo Mabel
Chitiga have been submitted for Commissioner-Political Affairs and
Commissioner for Social Affairs respectively. -Africareport

New constitution draft inspection could end in chaos —ZLHR

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Gift Phiri, Senior Writer
Monday, 23 January 2012 12:22

HARARE - A forthcoming Zimbabwean conference to inspect a draft on a new
constitution could descend into chaos, rights lawyers warned this week.

Leading rights lawyers, Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), said there
was a high risk of the repeat of the chaos that erupted at the first
all-stakeholders conference in Harare in July 2009 when riot police had to
be called in to break clashes between rival delegates.

The clashes displayed strain within the troubled inclusive government.

Police drove the delegates out of the venue and cordoned it off, with both
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his old rival President Robert Mugabe
calling for their respective parties to close ranks and complete the
process.

The second all-stakeholders’ conference scheduled within the next two months
will accord the public an opportunity to inspect the draft drawn up by legal
drafters from information gleaned from countrywide public consultations. It
is a key part of an ongoing process to the long cherished adoption of a new
national constitution and fresh elections after that.

But the ZLHR is warning that the escalating friction portends deadly
clashes, and that the operating environment in which the constitution is
being drafted continues to remain polarised and repressive.

“Meetings to discuss constitutional issues continue to be banned or
disrupted using repressive legislation which should be a phenomenon of the
past,” the rights lawyers said in a statement issued at the launch of a
critique of the ongoing Article 6 process.

“Free speech has effectively been stemmed as a result of pressure from
various interest groups whose intimidatory tactics have made it difficult —
if not impossible — for other stakeholders to comment or put forward
alternative views for fear of retribution.

“Having been present at the most recent media and civil society briefing of
Copac, ZLHR is fearful that if urgent measures are not taken to address such
behaviour, the second all-stakeholders’ conference will collapse even more
spectacularly than the first, and the conditions preceding the referendum
will not be conducive to stemming violations of fundamental rights and
freedoms.”

ZLHR was speaking in the wake of the disruption of a press conference held
at the Copac offices in Milton Park in Harare last week that was hijacked by
war veterans demanding conclusion to the process.

Zanu PF Copac co-chairman Paul Mangwana pleaded with the boisterous
ex-liberation war fighters, appealing for more time.

“Imi wee, joko iri rinorema (Please bear with us, this is a tough job),”
Mangwana said.

“Tose tinoda kupedza basa asi zviri kutora nguva. Hazvinakidzi kugara une
zviso zvose izvi zvakakutarisa, zvimwe zvinokutuka. Tinodawa kupedza
tizorore. (We all want to wrap this process up. Its disorienting to have all
this focus on you all the time, to take insults regularly. We want to finish
this as soon as possible and rest),” Mangwana said.

This comes at a time the electoral cycle has just kicked off, and the two
principals, Mugabe and Tsvangirai have been forced to go different ways
because of political considerations.

The former ruling party is accusing drafters of “tampering” with views
gathered during a tumultuous four-month long public hearings held in 2010;
with Zanu PF claiming it has lost faith in the drafters.

The three principal drafters are former High Court judge, Justice Moses
Chinhengo, and constitutional law experts Priscilla Madzonga and Brian
Crozier — all of them consensus candidates agreed by the three ruling
parties.

Mugabe’s Zanu PF has made lot of accusations against the legal drafters amid
allegations they had acted outside the mandate given to them by Copac in not
looking at the national report during the drafting.

The drafters were accused of importing items that Zimbabweans had never
talked
about into the draft constitution chapters and attempting to emasculate the
views of the people allegedly in the service of the MDC.

The rights lawyers said the process has been sullied by lack of free public
participation and said the new constitution emerging from this process can
only be a transitional document, and the struggle for a people-owned
constitution must continue under a new government with one centre of power.

“This is so, because constitution-making presents moments of great
opportunity to create a common vision of the future of a state, the results
of which can have profound and lasting impacts on peace and stability in the
country which has been blemished by so much political scars. Only with this
common vision can we hope to move forward positively as one Zimbabwe.”

The ongoing chaos surrounding the legal drafting reflects the deep divisions
within the coalition government whose brief was to ease political tensions
and reverse a decade of economic meltdown.

Political analyst Charles Mangongera said the ongoing chaos around legal
drafting was part of Zanu PF’s election grand plan, which is a build up on
the party’s Bulawayo conference resolutions.

“Zanu PF’s immediate plan is to rubbish the Copac process as a precursor to
pulling out of it and Mugabe calling for a snap election,” Mangongera said.

“Their reasoning is that they can justifiably call for an election under the
Lancaster House constitution once the Copac process has collapsed.

“I am not convinced that Zanu PF has a cogent and carefully thought-out
political strategy in place beyond the elections. The party seems to be in
fire fighting mode and is behaving like a clueless opposition political
party. There seems to be an incessant disposition towards chaos as a means
of survival.”

Lovemore Madhuku, leader of pro-democracy pressure group, the National
Constitutional Assembly said: “All that Zanu PF wants is to try and cripple
the constitution making process so as to call for an election in the absence
of a constitution in 2012.”

Although Zanu PF appears to be issuing statements suggesting it wants a
peaceful, free and fair ballot, that call could be short-lived.

The constitution that is currently being drafted by Copac will — if
adopted — inevitably shape the legal, institutional and administrative
framework of Zimbabwe.

It will be used as a standard to measure good governance, while its
implementation will also be used to assess compliance with the rule of law
in Zimbabwe, the rights lawyers said.

Observers are warning that the forthcoming all-stakeholder conference could
witness more clashes between delegates given the polarised positions of the
parties in the ruling coalition.

3.5 million Vulnerable Children Face Starvation-UNICEF

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, January 23, 2012-At least 3.5 million vulnerable children face
starvation as government fails to provide for their aged guardians, UNICEF
has revealed.

According to the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency (ZIMSTATS) Zimbabwe
has  over 7 million people who can be described as children and over 3.5
million of these live  under what the  Food Poverty Line (FPL).

“It is a statistical fact that 60% of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVCs)
are under the care of the elderly but the government has not done enough to
alleviate the plight of these people. We have put in place a program that
seeks to help over 55 000 of the 300 000 families that are believed to live
under the Food Poverty Line in Zimbabwe.

“This programme is also targeting about 25 000 individual children to
benefit from cash transfers. UNICEF has a budget of US$73 million for this
programme and we have already received US$46 million in pledges from donors
while the Zimbabwean government has set aside about US$16 million,” UNICEF
Child Protection specialist Elayn Sammon confirmed Monday.

According to the Ministry of Social Welfare only 540 elderly households
throughout the country are receiving cash transfers from the government.

Most vulnerable children are being taken care of by the aged after losing
their parents to HIV and AIDS, and failure by government to provide for the
elderly results in the starvation of the minors.

In an effort to try and counter starvation facing the vulnerable children
government said it will soon increase the number of households receiving
cash transfers from February.

Under the new program at least 300 000 economically disadvantaged families
will receive monthly grants of between US$10 and US$25 from the Government.

Free Zimbabwe Global Protest: Worth all the sweat

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Gift Kugara & Bornwell Madzingira.

Last Saturday, hundreds of brave Zimbabweans brought The Strand to a
standstill as they marched from Zimbabwe House in London to the South
African embassy. They presented a petition to the President of the Republic
of South Africa, Jacob Zuma.

Understandably, the mood was upbeat given the usually bad weather. Although
angry with what many called a slow progress in the implementation of Global
Political Agreement (GPA) signed in between the ZANU(PF)’s ageing tyranny
Robert Mugabe and the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) formations in
February 2009. The process was mediated by Thabo Mbeki who was leading South
Africa at the time.

Among other grievances raised include continued violation of fundamental
rights , denial of diaspora vote , dual citizenship and use of state
apparatus by Mugabe’s regime to target political opponents particularly MDC
and ZAPU members .Speaker after speaker, they narrated horrific ordeals they
endured at the hands of Central Intelligence Organisation , Police and the
Army before they fled Zimbabwe.

And even more strangely, there is less than perfect constitutional process
.Mugabe has threatened to abandon the process and call for an election. He
was since received a sounding support from Jabulani Sibanda, a war veterans
leader who has been going around terrorising the rural populace. A respected
retired Colonel Bernard Matongo who was representing MDC-UK’s Hertfordshire
Branch expressed resentment on the use of war veterans in political
campaigns as they are notoriously known for killing and abusing women
.Moreover, he cited how Mugabe gave in to previous ex-combatant leaders’
demands that later backfired.
Tawanda Muchanyuka from the same Hertfordshire Branch said: “Indeed, far
from living like normal citizens ZANU(PF) and the War Veterans ‘ actions
have fostered gangsterism on a scale that world has never seen before”.

And 21 year old Ruramai Madzingira from Portsmouth who also took to the
streets said she was delighted to be part of this democratic and peaceful
protest. “I can only look forward to the future now, as I believe the people’s
demands will finally be respected and there is evidence of failure and
repression by ZANU(PF)and a further evidence of autocratic tendencies even
in the presence of GPA”, she said.

But eventually the signed petition was handed in and thank God for that
.Because it not only provided a vital awakening to Zuma, that he has to act
now and the world is watching but also reminded him that Zimbabweans helped
South Africa in its fight against apartheid.

Gift Kugara is a political blogger and writes: A letter from Buhera at
www.giftkugara.blogspot.com & Mr Bornwell Madzingira is the MDC-UK Vice
Chair at Southampton Branch.