Associated Press
By Angus Shaw (CP) – 6 hours
ago
HARARE, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe has seen a surge in political violence
and
intimidation as the government prepares for national elections, an
independent advocacy group said Sunday.
The Southern Africa Coalition
for the Survivors of Torture said in a new
report that tensions rose
markedly in January. They reported mob attacks,
threats, assaults,
questionable arrests by police and at least one shooting
in the capital of
Harare and its suburbs.
During one clash in a Harare township, a
supporter of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's party was shot and four
others were wounded, the report said.
It also said 19 people were arrested
for public violence since Jan. 16.
Tsvangirai, a former opposition
leader, entered a coalition with President
Robert Mugabe after
violence-plagued elections in 2008. Mugabe has called
for national elections
later in 2011.
Mugabe, in Ethiopia for a regular summit of the
continentwide African Union,
on Sunday was quoted in state media as saying
elections can be held this
year even if the rewriting of a new constitution
is not complete.
The Sunday Mail newspaper, controlled by Mugabe
loyalists, said Mugabe met
with Zimbabwean residents in the Ethiopian
capital of Addis Ababa on
Saturday and told them that if all goes well,
elections will be held under a
new constitution.
But failing that,
polls would be called under existing constitutional
provisions, he
said.
An all-party panel recommending constitutional reforms is scheduled
to
finish its work by June, way behind schedule, ahead of a referendum on
the
reforms and possible elections three months afterward.
Mugabe has
described elections as the only way to bring the shaky coalition
to an end,
after two years of haggling, and to create a decisive government.
Public
meetings on the constitution were plagued by violence last year.
Human
rights groups say Mugabe militants backed by loyalist police and
soldiers
are still in place in bases across the country in anticipation of
rushed
elections.
Regional mediators, including President Jacob Zuma of South
Africa, the
leader of mediation efforts, have cautioned against early polls
and propose
a longer-term "roadmap" that would include electoral changes and
revisions
of the voters' lists.
Research has shown that as many as 27
per cent of 5.5 million listed voters
have died and many others are under
voting age or are registered in more
than one voting district.
The
advocacy group said Sunday a team of armed riot police watched and did
not
intervene when youths and women chanting Mugabe party slogans stormed
the
headquarters of the Tsvangirai-led Harare city council on Jan. 21. Five
people were injured in those clashes.
Across the city in the Budiriro
township the next day, youths assaulted
patrons leaving shops and bars using
"heavy sticks, fists and booted feet."
Marauding youths also went on the
rampage in the Mbare township and attacked
a Tsvangirai party meeting
centre, smashing windows and breaking down a
perimeter wall.
Victims
in the attack were given refuge at the local Matapi police station
and then
were charged with inciting public violence. They were taken to
court and
freed on bail. None of the attackers were brought to court, the
group
said.
Earlier, Rugare Gumbo, a spokesman for Mugabe's party, told
reporters his
party leaders were holding routine meetings of their
supporters at their
homes and denied they were establishing militant bases
in the townships
ahead of proposed elections.
Monitors reported
elsewhere across the country that villagers were having
their names and
identities written in log books and were being forced to
sign a petition
condemning interference in Zimbabwe by Western nations that
allegedly back
Tsvangirai's party.
http://www.radiovop.com
30/01/2011 12:02:00
HARARE, January 30, 2011- President
Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF) has started
unleashing violence on the people,
setting up bases throughout the country
as the ageing leader insists
Zimbabwe will hold general elections this year,
according to a report
published in The Sunday Times.
The militia running the bases are said to
comprise members of the military,
Zanu-PF youths and war veterans.
Systematic beatings of well-known
anti-Zanu-PF activists have increased in
the past week, especially in
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)-controlled
areas of Budiriro, Mbare and
Mabvuku in Harare.
Zanu-PF and military
insiders confirmed to the Sunday Times last week that
Mugabe was under
pressure from hardliners to go for elections where they
expect intimidation
to coerce people to vote for them.
It is reliably understood that the
military will take centre stage in
intimidating people and there are reports
that at least 150 soldiers will be
deployed in every district of the
country.
People in rural and urban areas have already reported spotting
heavily armed
soldiers moving around their areas without explanation.
The
terror campaign is reminiscent of the 2008 post-March elections
violence, in
which at least 200 MDC supporters were murdered but to date no
arrests have
been made.
The MDC is wary of the threat of violence, with spokesperson
Nelson Chamisa
urging supporters to be vigilant. He called for intervention
from SADC,
arguing that police were not taking action against the
perpetrators of
violence.
"We are on our own, our people are being
beaten up and when they go to make
reports at police stations, they are the
ones who are being arrested. We
appeal to SADC to intervene and stop this
nonsense because innocent people
will be killed. For now we have to be
vigilant because the police are
failing to protect us," said Chamisa.
"We
will not participate in elections where people are killed, raped and
beaten
up. The elections road map must be clear so that we have a free and
fair
election which produces a credible result. We can't go for elections
where
our people will be killed," said Chamisa.
Zanu-PF officials have in the
past been contradicting themselves on the
issue of violence. Spokesperson
Rugare Gumbo last week denied setting up
bases, arguing that it was normal
party business for members of Zanu-PF to
conduct mini rallies and meet at
their leaders' homes.
"There is nothing like that (setting up bases). It is
only that youths are
always engaged in meetings with their various leaders,
campaigning. We are
always mobilising our members and educating them on
various political issues
concerning the party. It is an ongoing programme
that we undertake
frequently," he said.
But this contradicts assertions
by Vice-President Joyce Mujuru, who recently
castigated Zanu-PF hardliners
for perpetrating violence and killing people,
saying this had to
stop.
The party's secretary for administration, Didymus Mutasa, told the
Sunday
Times last year that Zanu-PF resorted to violence when
provoked.
An MDC youth leader, William Mukuwari, was assaulted and shot on
the leg in
Budiriro last Saturday. He alleged that Godfrey Gomwe, the
Zanu-PF
chairperson, was among those who shot him.
"We were walking
home on Saturday at around 5pm, when a group of known
Zanu-PF youths
attacked us. As we were escaping from them, I got shot in the
left leg and I
fell down," said Mukuwari, the MDC Youth Assembly Budiriro
district
treasurer.
"Gomwe came and further assaulted me, together with his gang and I
sustained
head injuries. He only stopped assaulting me after some of the
Zanu-PF
youths restrained him," he said.
His leg was operated on and
he is still having difficulty walking.
Gomwe has denied shooting
Mukuwari.
"I don't know what he is talking about," he said on
Friday.
In Mbare another youth leader, Barnabas Mwanaka, was also attacked by
suspected Zanu-PF youths. "Last Saturday we were at our Mbare office when
Zanu-PF youths came and attacked us," said Mwanaka.
"However, we
managed to drive them out but police officers from Mbare Police
Station
later came and broke down the locked door of the office and everyone
was
ordered to go to the police station," he said.
The police ordered Mwanaka to
remain behind guarding flea market goods and
the Zanu-PF youths returned and
brutally assaulted him.
Mwanaka sustained a broken right arm and head
injuries. He managed to escape
and made a report to police before he was
admitted in hospital. The other 19
MDC youths were arrested and remanded at
the Harare Remand Prison for a
night before being granted $50 bail
each.
War veterans leader, Jabulani Sibanda, has allegedly been
intimidating
villagers in Masvingo province for more than six months,
allegedly forcing
people to attend rallies where they are told to vote for
Mugabe or there
would be war in the country.
Sibanda told the Sunday
Times last week that he was indeed in the rural
areas but claimed he was
just mobilising the people "against imperialism".
In most of Harare's
high-density suburbs, Zanu-PF has set up militia bases
where drunken youths
are reportedly terrorising residents.
In Gokwe, in the Midlands province,
Zanu-PF officials on Thursday reportedly
forced villagers to sign a petition
condemning targeted sanctions against
Mugabe and his inner cabal.
Human
rights groups have warned that Zimbabwe cannot hold elections now
because of
violence fears, while President Jacob Zuma, the mediator in the
Zimbabwe
crisis, is against early elections without a clear road map.
Trevor Maisiri,
an analyst with a Harare-based think tank, said political
violence was
indicative of the stereotype among local political parties -
especially
Zanu-PF - on how elections need to be won: through violence.
"This
violence is driven by the need to infuse psychological fear into the
populace in order to coerce their non-deliberate vote. In that case the
violence must send a message to the SADC, the AU and the world that if
nothing substantial is done in Zimbabwe the stakes are so high that there is
desperation to win the next election even if it is over dead
bodies."
Reverend Useni Sibanda, the co-ordinator of the Zimbabwe Christian
Alliance,
said the church was concerned about the resurgence of political
motivated
violence in Harare townships and the failure by the law
enforcement agents
to arrest the perpetrators.
"The failure by the
Zimbabwe Republic Police to arrest the perpetrators of
the violence is
encouraging a culture of impunity," said Sibanda.
Sibanda said the GPA, if
implemented, would ensure that the law enforcement
agents carry out their
duties without fear and favour to create a peaceful
environment for the
citizens.
"As churches, we call upon the Co-Ministers of Home Affairs to
ensure that
the perpetrators of the politically motivated violence in Harare
are
immediately arrested. This should also include sections of the war
veterans
who have been terrorising communities in Masvingo," he said.
http://mg.co.za/
ALEX DUVAL SMITH - Jan 30 2011 04:33
The
global diamond industry has controversially cleared the way for
President
Robert Mugabe's regime to raise millions of dollars from exports,
according
to campaigners.
The Kimberley Process (KP) industry watchdog moved
earlier this month to
legalise sales from the Chiadzwa fields in eastern
Zimbabwe, which are
controlled by the military and have been described by
Zimbabwean finance
minister Tendai Biti as "the biggest find of alluvial
diamonds in the
history of mankind".
Diamond sales from Chiadzwa
could dwarf the impact of European and American
sanctions and set the stage
for Mugabe (86) to strengthen his military,
rebuild his power base and even
stage elections this year.
"The agreement would allow a huge amount of
diamonds from Chiadzwa to enter
the international market, despite the human
rights abuses that have been
reported from the fields," said Elly Harrowell,
who monitors KP for the
Global Witness lobby group.
The huge diamond
wealth of Chiadzwa in the Manicaland province was
discovered in 2006 when a
Zimbabwean company, backed by the military, moved
on to the site. Some
geologists say the concession -- from which a British
company, African
Consolidated Resources, was ousted in 2006 -- is the
largest find in a
century. Amnesty International has claimed that soldiers
deployed to guard
the fields have forced slaves to mine diamonds at
gunpoint. Some reports
have indicated security forces may have killed miners
working illegally on
the site.
Mugabe, who after disputed elections in 2008 entered an uneasy
coalition
with Morgan Tsvangirai, has called on his Zanu-PF party to prepare
for
elections this year. But Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change
(MDC)
says a fair and violence-free poll cannot be held until a new
constitution
is agreed. Pro-democracy campaigners are lobbying the African
Union, which
meets this week in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, to call
for the poll
to be postponed until 2013.
The MDC says renewed
persecution of its supporters suggests Mugabe is
determined, come what may,
to hold elections this year. There is evidence of
Zanu-PF (Zimbabwe African
National Union -- Patriotic Front) stepping up
distribution of seeds and
food in rural areas, a classic sign of looming
elections.
'Underhand
deals'
A University of Zimbabwe political science professor, John Makumbe,
said:
"We have just seen the appearance of £20-million of farming inputs --
tractors, seeds, tools and fertiliser. That can only have come from
underhand diamond deals."
The KP certification scheme was set up by
the diamond industry in 2003 in a
bid to reassure consumers that gems they
buy have not been used to fund
illegitimate groups, such as the rebel bands
which terrorised Charles
Taylor's Liberia. Rough diamonds without KP
certificates fetch much less
money and can only be sold through complex,
underhand networks. According to
the diamond trade press, KP legalised sales
of rough diamonds from Chiadzwa
on January 18 after a written consultation
process which followed deadlocked
talks in Israel last year.
KP
reintroduced a ban on exports from Chiadzwa in November last year, in
response to concerns about transparency and corruption following auctions in
August and September.
The new agreement comes as the industry is
clamouring for rough diamonds
amid a global shortage that has pushed up
prices. It not only makes
Zimbabwean diamonds legal but considerably
simplifies the process through
which the country has to go to sell them. It
does away with the need for a
KP monitor to supervise shipments and provides
for exports to be allowed not
only from the two companies operating at
Chiadzwa but also from future mines
in the fields. Already a major Indian
consortium of diamond-cutting firms
has welcomed the agreement. On Thursday,
Surat Rough Diamond Sourcing
announced that it would move to buy
£750-million of diamonds this year from
Chiadzwa.
Zimbabwean
pro-democracy campaigners are divided over KP certification. In
November,
Mugabe's minister of mines, Obert Mpofu, admitted that
£100-million of
diamonds had been sold to India despite the KP ban in force
at the
time.
Makumbe said: "Without KP agreement Mugabe and his people sell
diamonds
anyway. At least if an official KP process is in place, there is
some way of
monitoring the income and there may be auctions which can be
audited.
"Zimbabwe needs money desperately. At the moment, things are so
tight that
the government of national unity is increasingly being seen by
the people as
not succeeding in bringing about meaningful change." -
guardian.co.uk ©
Guardian News and Media Limited 2011
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
30 January, 2011 12:26:00
TimesLive
President Robert Mugabe continues to wield enormous power
despite the Global
Political Agreement (GPA) stipulating that he should
share it with Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, a survey released this week
reveals.
Nearly two years after the formation of the coalition
government, a number
of GPA issues remain unimplemented as squabbles take
centre stage.
Survey findings on the performance of the inclusive
government undertaken by
a Harare think tank, Mass Public Opinion Institute
- aimed at gauging public
sentiment on the coalition - revealed that the
majority of Zimbabweans felt
that the government has failed to ensure a fair
distribution of power, with
Mugabe wielding excessive power compared to his
counterparts in the
coalition.
While a large majority, 73%, of the
people surveyed, felt that the economy
had improved in the past 12 months,
there were concerns that Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara were very
unco-operative.
"Power was not shared equally in
this inclusive government as an
overwhelming 76% believe that the President
has real executive power
compared to the prime minister," reads part of the
findings of the survey
conducted between August 18 and August 23
2010.
This was before Tsvangirai wrote to SA President Jacob Zuma, the
facilitator
in the Zimbabwe crisis, and the Southern African Development
Community
(SADC), the African Union (AU) and the United Nations, complaining
about
Mugabe's unilateralism in the coalition government, specifically his
arbitrary appointment of new judges, provincial governors and other senior
government employees. The GPA says he should first consult the
premier.
Thirty-one percent of the respondents felt that the partners in
government
were not co-operating, while 25% were in between and 14% felt the
partners
were working together fairly well. About 16% felt that the
inclusive
government was working "very well', 27% felt Zanu-PF was not
committed at
all to the GNU. Public opinion showed that 11% thought that the
MDC-T was
not committed at all, while 25% said the MDC-M was also not
committed.
On free political activity, 35% of those polled felt the GNU
performed
badly.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
30 January, 2011 12:10:00
bY
ZIMBABWE's constitution-making process, already far behind
schedule, is
slowly degenerating into a farce as it emerges data is being
manipulated to
favour President Mugabe's Zanu-PF.
Reports emerged
this week that the Central Intelligence Organisation have
seized data and
manipulated it to suit Zanu-PF.
Data and files with crucial information
have reportedly been stolen as the
country waits for the completion of the
new constitution.
A man was arrested last Friday after he seized a laptop
belonging to the
Constitution Select Committee, the parliamentary body
charged with drafting
the constitution.
The constitution-making
process has stalled several times due to political
haggling between Zanu-PF
and the two formations of the Movement for
Democratic Change .
Mugabe
told state media last Sunday that he would call for snap polls with
or
without a new constitution.
The Constitution Parliamentary Committee
(COPAC) the body mandated to
produce Zimbabwe's first democratic
constitution since independence in 1980
has hired a computer expert from
Kenya to be in charge of information and
data processing.
The move
comes in the wake of allegations of too much interference by
political
parties involved in the process.
“The committee has engaged an expert to
make sure that technical errors that
have occurred are corrected,” Douglas
Mwonzora the committee’s
co-chairperson said.
“He is an undisputed
expert who was in charge of the data processing during
Kenya’s constitution
making process.”
The expert whose costs will be met by the United Nations
Development
Programme (UNDP) is expected to arrive in the country next week
to take
charge of the process.
He has specialised in the use of
Hewlett-Packard computers that are being
used by the committee to store
information submitted by the people during
the outreach
exercises.
The UNDP is funding the constitution making process together
with many other
donors but so far it remains the main funding partner and
has since made a
commitment to do so until the completion of this important
exercise.
Meanwhile the committee has moved to ally fears caused by
reports of
information tampering in the country’s constitution making
process. This
after Zanu (PF) officials had claimed through suggestions in
the state media
that the mainstream MDC party led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai might
have tempered with information that has already
been
stored in the committee’s main information server.
Paul Mangwana,
the committee’s co-chairperson representing Zanu (PF) this
week briefed his
party on the disappearing of information on issues of land,
natural
resources and the environment.
These are the issues that Zanu (PF)
strongly campaigned for during the
public outreach meetings.
Its
officials immediately raised the red flag pointing fingers at MDC
officials
saying they could have been responsible for the removal of the
information.
However the Committee told journalists Friday that “no data had
gone
missing.”
“All the data collected was verified through a tri-partite
verification
process. There were just certain technical problems
in
uploading information with the server,” said Douglas Mwonzora one of the
three co-chairpersons of the committee.
“There are three technical
experts representing the three political parties
and they all confirmed
there was a technical era in the posting of
information in the giant server
and we have no cause to disbelieve them.”
In addition the spokesperson of
the Committee, Jesse Majome said, “It’s
totally impossible for information
to disappear because it was collected in
various forms – physical and
electronic forms such as
video and audio.”
The constitution making
process is a key aspect of an election roadmap
currently being drafted by
SADC appointed facilitator President Jacob Zuma
of South Africa. Other
requirements of the roadmap includes the drawing up
of a new voters’ roll,
ending political violence and passing of new
electoral rules by Parliament
however none of these are in place.
http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/
Eyewitness News | 6 Hours
Ago
While top Zanu-PF officials have apologised for the invasions of
lodges on
Lake Chivero last weekend, President Robert Mugabe’s nephew has
vowed to
continue.
This after youths carrying portraits of the Mugabe
invaded the lodges and a
bird sanctuary on Harare’s Lake Chivero last
Friday. Law enforcement
officers were called to intervene over the
weekend.
Tourism minister Walter Mzembi on Sunday said he felt stupid and
sad when
the invasions happened last weekend, exposing huge rifts in
Zanu-PF. He made
the statement in Spain, where he was promoting tourism in
Zimbabwe.
But Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwao has declared his support for
the
attempted takeover of white-owned lodges near Lake Chivero.
He
told Sunday’s Standard newspaper that Zanu-PF was determined to tackle
racists and added that they would invade again.
http://www.apanews.net
APA-Harare
(Zimbabwe) Zimbabwe owes US$6.9 billion to external lenders and
has built up
arrears amounting to US$4.8 billion on its foreign debt, the
central bank
said here Sunday.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono
said the southern
African country’s total external debt stock amounted to
US$6,929 million as
at 31 December 2010, representing 103 percent of
GDP.
This is way above the international debt sustainability benchmark of
60
percent.
“The bulk of the country’s external debt is owed to
multilateral creditors
which account for 36 percent of the country’s total
debt,” Gono said.
Bilateral and commercial creditors are owed 33 percent
and 31 percent,
respectively.
Central government was the largest
debtor at 57 percent while parastatals
and the private sector owed 35
percent and 8 percent, respectively.
The ballooning arrears on the
external debt have prevented multilateral
creditors such as the
International Monetary Fund and the World Bank from
extending new loans to
Zimbabwe, demanding that the country clears the
outstanding balances first
before becoming eligible for further financial
support.
JN/daj/APA
2011-01-30
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
30/01/2011 00:00:00
RISING fuel prices
and a strengthening South African Rand will continue to
stoke inflationary
pressures on the economy, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
(RBZ) has
said.
Zimbabwe experienced “low and stable” inflation in 2010 on the back
of
“sound macroeconomic policies and general improvement in the supply side
of
the economy”, the RBZ said.
Annual inflation remained within the
single digit range, peaking at 6.1
percent in May before declining to 4.2
percent in November.
However, the bank warned that rising fuel and food
prices as well as the
firming of the South African Rand against the US
dollar would increase
inflationary pressures on the
economy.
“Reflecting increases in international oil prices, domestic fuel
prices
increased in December 2010 by more than 20 percent, translating to a
first
round effect on prices of between 0.15 percent and 0.20 percent,” the
RBZ
said in a recent statement.
“The second round effects of the rise
in fuel prices would be more
pronounced as it is expected to cascade down to
the other sectors of the
economy.”
The bank also expects rising food
prices to add to the inflationary
pressures going forward.
“Resurging
inflationary pressures have to be fought through the unfailing
armoury of
increased capacity utilisation across all productive sectors of
the
economy,” the bank said.
http://www.radiovop.com/
30/01/2011 16:13:00
HARARE, January
30, 2011-President Robert Mugabe says Deputy Prime Minister
Arthur Mutambara
who was dethroned as leader of the smaller faction of the
MDC recently can
stay on in government as long as he want.
Mutambara ceased to be one of
the three principals of the Global Political
Agreement (GPA) after he was
dethroned as party leader by Industry and
Commerce minister Welshman
Ncube.
A meeting of the party’s national standing committee last week
decided to
recall Mutambara and re-assign him to the portfolio of Regional
Integration
Minister, while naming Ncube as Deputy Prime Minister in the
coalition
government.
The MDC move has sparked debate among legal
experts, some of whom –
including constitutional expert Lovemore Madhuku say
only Mugabe can force
Mutambara to move, if he chooses to stay.
Ncube
who is a constitutional lawyer maintains his party has the right to
recall
and reassign its officers in government. Ncube points to a reshuffle
by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai of his cabinet team in June last year
which
saw him drop National Housing Minister Fidelis Mhashu and Energy
Minister
Elias
Mudzuri.
Speaking for the first time on the MDC leadership change,
Mugabe said Ncube’s
declaration that he was now Deputy Prime Minister
“complicates issues”,
while taking the view that only two options existed:
either Mutambara
resigns, or he fires him.
He told a luncheon hosted
for him by the country’s ambassador to Ethiopia:
“It creates legal matters,
it complicates issues. They were able to remove
him politically, but legally
he was sworn in as a Member of Parliament. I
swore him in as Deputy Prime
Minister.
“It’s up to him if he wants to resign, but if he refuses, well,
we are
stuck, but the GPA will go ahead.”
Mugabe,s decision will
certainly not go down well with MDC-N supporters in
the party,s political
powerbase of Matabeleland.People in the region might
view Mugabe,s decision
as a show of support for Mutambara and denying Ncube
the right to the post
of Deputy Prime Minister.
Announcing his decision, Mugabe appeared
sympathetic to Mutambara who has
openly described him as one of Africa,s
greatest liberation war heroes.
Mugabe joked at the ceremony."Ah, poor
Mutambara, the people who invited you
say you have overstayed," Mugabe said
to laughter from the 100 guests of
Ambassador Andrew Mtetwa.Mutambara is
currently in Davos, Switzerland where
he is attending the World Economic
Forum together with Morgan Tsvangirai and
senior government and business
leaders.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Chengetai Zvauya
Sunday, 30 January 2011
18:37
HARARE -Professor Welshman Ncube has requested an audience with
President
Robert Mugabe to try and beg him to accept the proposed recall of
Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara from his post in
government.
But the signs on the ground do not look encouraging. Mugabe,
who was
attending the African Union (AU) summit in Ethiopia last week, has
already
signaled his intention to keep the robotics professor in
government.
The smaller faction of the MDC said it will formally announce
to Mugabe the
leadership changes and their bid to have Mutambara re-assigned
in
government.
In an interview with the Daily News, MDC deputy
spokesperson Kuraone
Chihwayi, said his party had sent a letter to the
President’s Office,seeking
a meeting with him.
''Our party leadership
shall be meeting with Mugabe this week and brief him
on the leadership
changes in our party. We hope that Mugabe will respect the
MDC position on
the re-deployments,” said Chihwayi.
“None of the principals in the GPA
should stand in our way because we
deserve respect as partners in the
inclusive government.
''We were informed by his (Mugabe’s) office that
upon his return from the AU
summit, we shall have the chance to meet and
brief him on the new
politically developments in our party,'' he
said.
Chihwayi said their congress endorsed the leadership of Ncube and
they did
not anticipate any legal problems from that
appointment.
''We have a new leadership that was chosen by all our
provinces and
Mutambara is aware of that fact. He was voted out office and
was assigned to
another ministerial post,” he said.
“He did not
contest that decision. This is what we want to brief Mugabe so
that we can
clear the air and confusion surrounding the Deputy Prime
Minister’s
position.”
But Mugabe, while in Addis Ababa, made it clear that removing
Mutambara from
his position as the DPM poses serious legal problems for
him.
The veteran leader’s statement resonates sharply with legal opinion
made by
constitutional law expert, Lovemore Madhuku, who has consistently
said at
law, Mutambara can remain in office unless he is fired by
Mugabe.
“This (removing Mutambara from his post) creates legal problems,”
Mugabe
told the local media in Addis Ababa.
“Politically, they were
able to remove him but legally, we swore him in a
Member of Parliament and I
swore him as deputy prime minister...it is up to
him if he wants to resign
and if he refuses to resign we are stuck. Bu the
GPA will move
ahead.”
Instead, Mugabe questioned Ncube’s ascendancy to the position of
the MDC
presidency by questioning his party’s congress.
Said Mugabe:
“I thought this is the opposition which was crying out Zanu PF
is
undemocratic. I don’t know whether people really took the decision that
came
out of that congress.”
Disgruntled members of the MDC have petitioned the
High Court to annul
results of the elections.
Led by Joubert
Mudzumwe, the members accuse Ncube of using undemocratic and
illegal means
to hold the congress.
But Ncube has been unrelenting in his push to
become DPM and represent his
party in government.
He has already
reshuffled his team by naming Mutambara new minister of
Regional and
Integration Affairs, while assigning incumbent Priscilla
Misihairambwi-Mushonga to his former post at Industry and International
Trade.
Ncube’s critics blame him for playing the tribal card and have
warned that
his party will suffer heavy defeats in the next
polls.
The much-maligned professor of law in 2005 led a breakaway
faction,predominantly Ndebele, from the original MDC led by Prime Minster
Morgan Tsvangirai.
Ncube and Tsvangirai had clashed over the party’s
participation in the
senatorial elections, resulting in the fall-out.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
30/01/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE Welshman Ncube-led MDC described as “curious” claims by
President Robert
Mugabe that Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara cannot
be recalled from
office by his party.
The MDC wants Ncube to take
over as deputy premier after he replaced
Mutambara as leader during a recent
party congress. Mutambara – who has not
publicly commented on the changes --
has since been assigned the post of
Regional Integration
Minister.
However, speaking in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he was
attending an
African Union summit, President Mugabe said Mutambara can only
be replaced
if he chose to resign.
“They (the MDC) were able to
remove him politically, but legally he was
sworn in as a Member of
Parliament. I swore him in as Deputy Prime
Minister,” Mugabe
said.
“It’s up to him if he wants to resign, but if he refuses, well, we
are
stuck, but the Global Political Agreement (GPA) will go ahead.”
But
in a statement released on Sunday, the MDC said Mugabe’s reading of the
power sharing pact was inaccurate.
“President has no power or right
to appoint any person into the cabinet
without the approval of (their) party
through (its) leadership,” said
Nhlanhla Dube, the party’s
spokesman.
“Equally clear,” he added, “is the right of each party to
reshuffle,
reassign or recall any of its representatives, the President
being
required only to formally make the appointments as requested by the
parties.”
The party drew comparisons with a mini-reshuffle by Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, leader of a rival MDC faction, in June last year
when he dropped
Energy Minister Elias Mudzuri and National Housing Minister
Fidelis Mhashu.
His party only communicated the changes to Mugabe, who
accepted.
Dube added: “It was never suggested that the MDC-T required the
consent or
resignation of those that it had reassigned or removed from
cabinet
position.
“It is curious that it is now suggested that there
is one rule for the MDC-T
and Zanu PF, and another for MDC. We are left with
no doubt that this is not
a legal question but a political one where some
parties are more equal than
others.
“We have no doubt that the public
can’t be fooled and will definitely
understand what is
happening.”
Mutambara returns this week from Davos, Switzerland, where he
attended the
World Economic Forum with a crucial decision to make over his
political
career.
http://www.radiovop.com
30/01/2011 12:05:00
HARARE,
January 30, 2011- The Mayor of Harare Muchadeyi Masunda says threats
by Zanu
(PF) suporters wil not stop him from implementing the city,s
by-laws.
Masunda told the Sunday Times this week he would carry out
his duties
"without fear or favour".
He was responding to scenes of
violence that engulfed Town House last week
when Zanu-PF supporters besieged
the council offices.
"When the 2008 harmonised election took place, the
people of Harare voted
and elected 45 out of 46 democratically elected
councillors of the MDC and
only one Zanu-PF councillor, Evelyn
Njiri.
"She came in courtesy of the gerrymandering that took place around the
Hopley Farm during the election and that is also the reason there is one
urban Zanu-PF MP in Harare, Lieutenant-Colonel Hubert Nyanhongo," Masunda
said.
"As a council we have no cause to be afraid because the
councillors who are
there reflect the will of the people.
"We have a duty
to carry out and that duty will be carried out until the
next elections. We
are the duly elected authority and we will carry out our
duties without fear
or favour."
More than 200 Zanu-PF supporters last week besieged the
city's headquarters,
with others ransacking offices, baying for Masunda,
following the slashing
of maize that had been planted in undesignated areas.
They also accused the
council of charging high tariffs.
But Masunda said
his council would run the city according to its by-laws.
"This is the
message that needs to be carried out to a lot of those
misguided loose
cannons," said Masunda. Zanu-PF supporters have often taken
the law into
their own hands, sometimes grabbing council land for their own
use. They
have so far managed to block some city roads and open spaces,
turning them
into street markets.
Scenes of violence directed at MDC officials are on the
increase as the
Zanu-PF officials up the ante on electoral rhetoric ahead of
a possible
election later this year.
Last week, the co-Minister of
Home Affairs, Theresa Makone, was barred from
addressing a meeting in her
Hatfield constituency. And as if this was not
enough, a marketplace she
built with money from her parliamentary fund was
destroyed by Zanu-PF
supporters on Tuesday night.
Ironically, Makone is the co-Minister of Home
Affairs responsible for the
police.
Vigil supporters have been watching
the unfolding revolution in
Why are we different? Zimbabweans
too are victims of a brutal and corrupt regime.
Perhaps the problem is the poor quality of opposition leaders . . . But
then they are not opposition now are they?
Certainly it doesn’t seem so from
the vacuous answers Morgan Tsvangirai gave at the Davos meeting of world movers
and shakers (see: http://www.cathybuckle.com/index.php?id=24). What are your feelings about a free and fair election
being possible he was asked. The Prime Minister replied that as long as the AU
and SADC played their part then the “Zanu PF dirty tricks will be minimized.”
Asked about the 51% indigenisation of businesses, Mr Tsvangirai said changes had
been made to the law, plans were being drawn up and that it was not a compulsory
takeover but one of mutual agreement. Asked about land reform and if farmers
were going to be able to return to their properties to farm, Mr Tsvangirai said:
“that is gone, we are past that.”
Mr Tsvangirai’s
comments were unlikely to attract investment from the assembled world bankers.
But then Tsvangirai is hardly a mover and shaker. He doesn’t seem to have
noticed that the cabinet has not met since December – not that it makes any
difference as he has no power of any consequence. Two years in government and
the shambolic constitution-making process is a year behind schedule. And (big
revelation!) nothing has been done about the rotten voters’ roll with thousands
of people older even than Mugabe.
As we gathered on an
icy day in
What is the MDC
leadership doing to counter this? The Vigil suggests a massive demonstration
during the visit to
Or will the MDC leadership follow
Other
points
·
Vigil
management team member Luka Phiri was invited to an annual lunch at the Anne
Frank Trust on Holocaust Memorial Day which was addressed by former South
African President F W de Klerk. Check http://www.annefrank.org.uk/node/256 for a photo of
Luka standing next to Mr de Klerk.
·
It was
good to welcome Vigil supporter Richard Taruvinga’s two young sons (12 and 7
years) who have just arrived from
·
A
supporter who works for Lonrho and in the past has given us a bundle of
Zimbabwean $100 trillion notes came by. He recounted a joke about the note which
he was told in Harare in 2009 – ‘the pictures on the note are all symbolic: the
waterfall symbolizes the direction of the economy, the big load of bull is a
symbol of government policy and the balancing rocks are symbolic of what you
have in your head if you think you can buy anything with
this!’
·
There has
been an explosion of technology at the Vigil thanks to ZimVigil TV. Supporters
can watch themselves on a television screen as they dance and sing and before
they leave they can pick up a DVD of the action.
· The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum
are inviting some people from Zimbabwean civil society to the
· The television in the Zimbabwe
Embassy was showing the tourism film
‘
For latest Vigil pictures check:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check http://www.zimvigiltv.com/.
FOR THE RECORD: 114
signed the
register.
EVENTS
AND NOTICES:
·
The Restoration of Human Rights in
Zimbabwe (ROHR) is
the Vigil’s partner organisation based in
·
ROHR Ashford
·
ROHR
·
ROHR
·
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
·
‘Through the
Darkness’, Judith
Todd’s acclaimed account of the rise of Mugabe.
To receive a copy by post in the
UK please email confirmation of your order and postal address to
ngwenyasr@yahoo.co.uk and 0send
a cheque for £10 payable to “Budiriro Trust” to Emily Chadburn, 15 Burners
Close, Burgess Hill, West Sussex RH15 0QA. All proceeds go to the Budiriro Trust
which provides bursaries to needy A Level students in
·
Workshops aiming to engage African
men on HIV testing and other sexual health issues. Organised by the Terrence Higgins
Trust (www.tht.org.uk). Please contact the
co-ordinator
Vigil
Co-ordinators
The Vigil,
outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri,
Political Analyst, London 30/01/11
A closer look at the Zimbabwean
situation unravels a frightening slide into
the unknown as Robert Mugabe
shows he is running of out of viable options to
salvage the fragile
coalition.
When Mugabe intimated that he has a “constitutional right” to
dissolve
Parliament and call for elections, even if it means using a
constitution
which he has amended almost 20 times since 1980, his spin
doctors might have
thought that he was asserting his authority. On the
contrary, it only helped
expose his Achilles heel as he would also be
dissolving his own legitimacy
as President of Zimbabwe and lose all the
immunities that go with his
office. Furthermore, we also learnt how it was
not feasible to run a snap
election because nearly one-third of Zimbabwe’s
registered voters are dead,
and others appear to be babies or up to 120
years old.
A stunning report by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network
(ZESN) cited a
lawmaker who found that more than 500 dead voters had all
been given the
same birth date – January 1, 1901 (Associated Press,
21/01/11). Apart from
intimidation and having its research material burnt,
ZESN was denied access
to the electronic version of the voters’ roll by the
Registrar’s General’s
office (Zimeye, 24/01/11). Compounding the situation
are claims that of the
250 000 civil servants on the government payroll,
70,000 are ‘ghost workers”
(News Day, 29/01/11). It could be argued that the
‘ghost workers’ could have
been intended as a Zanu-pf innovative fund
raising scheme in wake of
declining subscriptions and a million dollar
overdraft.
Mugabe might not have known it too that by dissolving
Parliament he would
also lose ‘his legitimacy as President of Zimbabwe’
which is solely based on
the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that he is
‘trying to rubbish’
(NewsDay, 24/01/11). In fact, it’s like vandalizing your
drip while
seriously ill and still expect to live. A timely reminder came a
day after
Mugabe threatened to call for early polls from the United States
ambassador
to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray who said Zimbabweans must have a say on
when and
how the country should hold elections (Daily News 24/01/11). That’s
democracy as we know it.
Manufactured external enemy
Natan
Sharansky aptly depicts what is prevailing in Zimbabwe under Robert
Mugabe
when he says non-democratic regimes stay in power by controlling
their
populations. ‘This control invariably requires an increasing amount of
repression. To justify this repression and maintain internal stability,
external enemies must be manufactured. The result is that while the
mechanics of democracy make democracies inherently peaceful, the mechanics
of tyranny make non-democracies inherently belligerent. Indeed, in order to
avoid collapsing from within, fear societies must maintain a perpetual state
of conflict’ (The Case for Democracy - The Power of Freedom to Overcome
Tyranny and Terror, 2004:88).
Similarly, Mugabe has manufactured his
external enemies conveniently in the
form of colonialism, imperialism,
‘illegal’ sanctions, the Americans, the
British, the Europeans or the West
in order to mask Zanu-pf repression and
buy time. Speaking at the graduation
ceremeny of Joint Command and Staff
Course Number 23 at the Zimbabwe Staff
College in Harare ‘last week’
(according to the Zanu-pf website accessed
30/01/11) Mugabe said:
‘This (training) is of utmost importance, moreso
at this point in time when
the country is facing the Western orchestrated
regime change agenda intended
to re-colonise Zimbabwe (zanupf.org.zw).
Regime change is a Zanu-pf
euphemism for presidential
elections!
Evidence of Zanu-pf’s ‘external enemy syndrome’
Nowhere
is Zanu-pf’s ‘external enemy syndrome’(EES) more painfully
pronounced than
in its hostility towards a free press. For example, the
threat to dissolve
Parliament was directed at the British media especially
the Daily Telegraph
as if they are Zimbabwean voters. Before that, the
hiking of media fees
under Jonathan Moyo’s draconian AIPPA law can be argued
as specifically
targeted at international news media outlets operating in
Zimbabwe and their
local correspondents.
The new fees which came into force on January 1
require an international
news outlet to pay US$6,000 for permission to
operate a bureau in Zimbabwe
(triple the old rate of US$2,000) in addition
to a US$1,000 application fee
for such permission (double the old rate of
US$500). According to CJP,
renewal of this permission went from being free
to US$5,000 (Ethiopian
Review, 18/01/11). The only logical thing for the
coalition government to
do, as we have said in the past is to repeal the
draconian AIPPA law
especially as a sign of inclusiveness under the GPA and
to ensure genuine
freedom of the press. Other examples of the ‘EES’ manifest
themselves in the
form of the planned Anti-Sanctions Bill, blackmailing
foreign companies to
denounce sanctions and so on.
‘Unhappiest
country in the world’
In a normal country elections don’t evoke sad
memories of violence and
retribution, but excitement and lively engagement
with constituents through
peaceful face-to-face meetings, posters, leaflets
and electronic campaigns
via social networking websites, televised debate,
phone-ins, and
door-to-door community meetings with candidates leading to a
calm and
organized voting process.
In Zimbabwe, talk of election
understandably reminds people of their bad
memories especially with 2008 in
mind. It’s no surprise that a survey
recently found that 7 out of 10
Zimbabweans fear political violence even
though more than two-thirds told
Afro-barometer that elections should be
held this year (The Zimbabwe Mail
05/01/11). The country is officially the
poorest (unhappiest) in the world,
while Norway is the world’s most
prosperous (happiest) country according to
Legatum Institute, London-based
think tank.
Defying the Wind of
Change
In a contribution to Defying the Wind of Change edited by Eldred
V.
Masunungure (2009), Anyway Chingwete Ndapwadza and Ethel Muchena note
that
Public opinion was significant in Zimbabwe’s 29 March 2008 harmonized
elections because it related directly to immediate political activity. The
authors revealed what Mugabe’s propagandists don’t want to know – the truth
about Zimbabwe’s public opinion.
‘In order to tap into public opinion
and make predictions about the
elections, the Mass Public Opinion Institute
(MPOI)1 conducted three surveys
in the first quarter of
2008…The MPOI
quantitative and qualitative survey results depict a shift in
support
from ZANU(PF) to the larger faction of the MDC led by Morgan
Tsvangirai
(MDC-T) and reveal consistent irregularities in the election
administration,
delimitation process, voter registration and voter
education’, they
commented.
Jumping the gun
However, the
documented irregularities have only worsened with Mugabe’s
threat to ‘jump
the gun’ by going to polls with or without a new
constitution which should
be put to a referendum in accordance with the
provisions of the Global
Political Agreement. There are fears that the
constitution-making process
may be aborted due to growing mistrust and
alleged tempering with sensitive
data apart from perennial funding woes.
Some analysts say Mugabe is under
pressure from his divided party especially
in the wake of ‘the jazzman or
facebook revolutions’ sweeping Africa from
the north. In a move described as
‘vile influence’, Mugabe’s spin doctors
Jonathan Moyo and George Charamba
have reportedly appeared on TV in support
of Mugabe’s election threat.
Similarly, with the supreme leader reaching 87
years next month, the
unresolved succession issue is also allegedly playing
a part in prompting
him to speed up elections and intensify an intimidation
campaign against the
opposition but it can backfire.
The level of Zanu-pf desperation has
reached incredible proportions with the
recent granting of presidential
amnesty by Mugabe to serial rapist Godfrey
Nzira who was seven days later
deployed to campaign for Zanu-pf among the
Apostolic sect in Muzarabani.
Zanu-pf seems to have a low opinion of rural
voters despite previous
electoral defeats.
Stalled roadmap to elections
Hopes of a roadmap
to free and fair elections elections and a clear transfer
of power have been
dashed by the failure of SADC’s Troika to meet this month
as previously
announced last year. However, civil society and political
activists are
urging SADC and the AU to ensure the road map to elections
also reforms
service chiefs.
MDC-T Marondera Urban District Youth Chairperson, Size
Vhilela, recently
said that individuals in charge of state security agents
should be turned
professional if ever elections in the country were to be
free and fair.
“Service Chiefs must be reformed to carry out their
official duties in a
non-partisan manner. This would help eliminate
political violence blamed on
state security agents and members of the
uniformed forces. Something urgent
should be done to ensure the service
chiefs discharge their duties in the
interest of all citizens across the
political divide,” said Vhilela (Great
Indaba, 08/01/11).
Zimbabwe’s
‘facebook revolution’
If, hypothetically speaking there was a ‘facebook
revolution’ in Zimbabwe,
what options would the regime have?
Chinese
Tiananmen Square Option
Although there are reports that the military have
been deployed through-out
the country ahead of elections that are expected
sometime this year if
Mugabe gets his way, it is unlikely that shooting
demonstrators would be an
option from what we have seen in Tunisia and
Egypt. Although the Chinese
have boosted their propaganda support for
Zanu-pf by installing widescreen
jingles’ television sets in Harare’s First
Street, Zimbabweans are not
gullible or just ‘urban peasants’ as Jonathan
Moyo used to refer to them in
class at UZ. Equally, while there have been
some fatalities in these
facebook revolutions, soldiers have been generally
reluctant to shoot at the
civilians despite widespread destruction of
property e.g. the burning of the
ruling party’s headquarters in Cairo. It’s
hard to imagine the current
Zanu-pf Headquarters (‘Shake-shake or Chibuku’
Building) going up in smoke!
Instead, civilians have been seen handing
flowers and flags to soldiers and
policemen in Tunisia celebrating their new
dispensation albeit a transition
only. Military deployment to instill fear
will not work in the long run in
Zimbabwe because the grievances are very
deep-seated and fundamental
including Gukurahundi, Murambatsvina, farm
looting, corruption, impunity,
disrespect for human rights and the rule of
rule, stalled political reforms
and so on. In the event of an uprising, we
have seen soldiers and policemen
being embraced by their countrymen and
women and children riding tanks in
celebration in North Africa, something
they never thought would happen.
Similarly Zimbabwean soldiers are
unhappy due to low incomes. Some of them
especially at the lowest ranks are
living rough and are fed-up. They would
benefit from restraining themselves
than becoming trigger-happy.
Indeed, desperate times call for desperate
measures and to that effect, Air
Force of Zimbabwe Vice Air Marshal Henry
Muchena is reported to have assumed
the directorship of the Zanu PF
commissariat thus confirming the
militarization of the party ahead of
elections. But we all know that in the
modern world there is a difference
between a military establishment and a
political party – civilians! They are
free thinking and sophisticated.
Perhaps good reading for the Air Vice
Marshal would be Geoffrey Regan’s
Great Military Blunders, 2000 published by
Channel 4 Books. Writing about
‘underestimating the enemy’ Regan says:
“Superior fire power gave European
armies an overwhelming advantage in
colonial warfare, but some commanders
failed to understand that the
non-European, non-white opponents did not
‘play the game’ according to the
rules that said the white man always won”
(p.62).
Para-military
If Mugabe pins his hopes on war veterans
to retain power in an uprising, he
couldn’t be more wrong because there is
disunity, infighting and low morale.
For example, genuine war veterans in
Chipinge have declared that Zanu (PF)
will never win any future elections in
Manicaland province, saying the party
has failed to fulfil its promises and
has neglected them (The Zimbabwean,
25/01/11). Amidst allegations of
witchcraft assassinations as if AK47shave
really been beaten into
ploughshares, squabbling war veterans are likely to
do the ‘Tunisia way’ by
joining the oppressed masses. Of course, it’s not
that simple. There are
some diehard brainwashed veterans who would fight to
the bitter end.
Mugabe’s serious opponents need to cultivate a good rapport
with the
military now through praise and sympathy rather than condemn them.
Dubai
or Saudi Option
This would entail doing what the North African leaders
are said to have done
during the ongoing uprisings – flying to Dubai or
Saudi Arabia. In line with
Zanu-pf’s Look East policy there are many other
possible exile destinations
depending on the prevailing circumstances in the
host country. However, in
London a Foreign Minister has today denied reports
that the embattled
Egyptian President Mubarak has asked for asylum in
Britain (BBC Radio4 News,
30/01/11). We hope Zanu-pf stands by its rejection
of Lord Renton’s
suggestion that the UK should give Mugabe a home in the UK
(Daily News,
12/11/12). It would be grossly insensitive for the UK to even
to consider
the move in view of the fresh memories of looting of white
commercial farms.
Dysfunctional
The United States Institute of
Peace feels that Zimbabwe’s coalition
government is increasingly
dysfunctional mainly due to a defeated incumbent
ruler’s unwillingness to
surrender real executive authority to a popular
opposition and in its
view:.
‘International actors can help to bring Zimbabwe’s transition to a
peaceful
and democratic conclusion by guaranteeing power sharing,
supervising
elections, and maintaining targeted sanctions’
(reliefweb.int/rw, accessed
30/01/11)..
In the wake of indigenization
rhetoric and its repellent effect on foreign
investment, the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank have
cautioned that far-reaching
political reforms are a pre-requisite to
sustainable growth in
Zimbabwe.
Similarly, the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa
(OSISA) has
suggested that a comprehensive, standing presence/observer
mission of SADC
and/or the AU be stationed in Zimbabwe until ‘such time as a
new
Constitution has been drafted, that the draft has been submitted to
referendum and that free and fair presidential and legislative elections
have been held’ (osisa.org).
As Mugabe runs of out of viable options
very fast, Zimbabwe remains what
Natan Sharasnky described as a ‘powder keg
ready to explode’. However, that
does not mean that the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) led by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai should sleep
on the job. MDC should show a more
visible presence than the military. It
should respond to every statement
issued by Jonathan Moyo, George Charamba,
Tafataona Mahoso and other Zanu-pf
propagandists. MDC should come up with
alternative legistation to AIPPA,
POSA, Anti-Sanctions Bill even if it
eventually fails to become law in the
face of Zanu-pf resistance. The
message will have gone home that MDC is
paving the way forward. The MDC
should turn problems into opportunities.
Nothing conceivable stops the MDC
from starting their own broadcasting radio
and television e.g. on the
internet where Zanu-pf has no control. I am
independent but my soul is in
Zimbabwe where my parents and sister are
buried.
Clifford Chitupa
Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
The following is part of a series of Shona lessons provided by http://www.learnshona.com. The audio versions are available at learnshona.com. Please note that learnShona.com courses are designed to teach you by listening and repeating the words, as this is similar to the highly effective and proven Pimsleur technique. As such, it will be more difficult, and much slower, to grasp by reading alone. We recommend downloading the audio course to listen and repeat. We welcome your
feedback and hope that you find this useful. This week’s lesson is about discussing your home life and contact details. Read on and you will find that ‘Havana’ is not just the capital city of Cuba. The read (listen) and repeat formula is designed to increase your intuitive understanding of Shona sentence structures. Home (Kumba)
To live - Kugara You live - unogara Where - kupi Where do you live? - Unogara kupi I live in Alex Park - Ndinogara kuAlex Park Where is that - Ndekupi ikoko? Near - Pedyo It is near Mount Pleasant - Iri pedyo neMount Pleasant
Marital Status
To marry - Kuroora To be married - Kuroorwa Are you married? - Wakaroora/wakaroorwa here? I’m married - Ndakaroora/ Ndakaroorwa I’m single - Handina kuroora/kuroorwa I’m engaged - Ndakapiwa chitsidzo I’m divorced - Ndakarambana nemukadzi/murume I’m a widow - Ndakafirwa nemurume I’m a widower - Ndakafirwa nemukadzi
To Have Kuva/Kuve
I have - ndine A child - mwana Children - vana I have two children - ndine vana vaviri You have - une He/she has - ane It has - ine / chine / rine You have (singular or informal) – une You have (plural or formal) - mune We have - tine They have - vane I don’t have - handina I don’t have any children – handina vana You don’t have (singular or informal) - hauna You don’t have (plural or formal) - hamuna She /.He doesn’t have (singular or informal) - haana She /.He doesn’t have - havana We don’t have - hatina They don’t have - havana |