http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
07 January
2010
A controversial planned auction of Zimbabwe’s blood diamonds was
reportedly
cancelled Thursday, after it emerged that the international
diamond
regulatory body, the Kimberly Process, and other key government
departments
had not been informed of the sale.
An estimated 60kgs
(over 300 000 carats) of Zimbabwe’s blood diamonds were
set to go on sale on
Thursday, in a move that has shocked rights groups
campaigning for a boycott
of the country’s controversial gems. But according
to online news service
ZimOnline, the Ministry of Mines permanent secretary,
Thankful Musukutwa,
and Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation director
Onesimo Moyo rushed to
the auction site to stop the sale from going ahead.
This was reportedly
because of the absence of Kimberley Process regulators
at the sale, and the
lack of proper notification of the government.
The diamonds, mined from
the Chiadzwa fields, were set to be auctioned at a
new diamond processing
plant, conveniently located at Harare International
Airport. The state
authorised mining company heading the diamond auction,
Mbada Diamonds, said
the sale would be the first of more to come, with the
profits going directly
to the government. This was announced by Mbada’s
chairman Robert Mhlanga, a
former air vice-marshal who has a known close
relationship with the Mugabe’s
as a former courier for the first family.
Mhlanga was also in the diamond
trade in the DRC when Mugabe commited
Zimbabwean troops to the war there. He
was also a key witness in the 2003
attempt to frame Tsvangirai, then the
opposition leader, for treason.
Mhlanga testified that he had contact with a
former Israeli spy who claimed
Tsvangirai hired him to kill
Mugabe.
According to South Africa’s Sunday Times newspaper, Mhlanga operates
from
expensive offices in Johannesburg and his links to Mugabe “are so
strong
that he flies his helicopter in and out of Zimbabwe without passing
the
usual customs controls,” the newspaper recently reported. Mhlanga was
also a
key figure in the plan to convert the old Harare domestic air
terminal into
the new diamond processing plant, which the Sunday Times has
said is a way
of “getting round any future diamond export ban.”
Mhlanga
told journalists on Wednesday that the auction was in compliance
with
standards set by the Kimberley Process, the international diamond trade
regulatory body. The body last year spared Zimbabwe a potential ban from
international trade, over human rights abuses at the Chiadzwa fields. Its
weak excuse was a technicality in its mandate that defines blood diamonds as
those mined by abusive rebel groups, rather than abusive
governments.
The planned auctions are a slap in the face for
international human rights
groups, diamond retailers and other advocacy
groups who have called for a
boycott of Zimbabwe’s diamonds, citing ongoing
rights abuses at the Chiadzwa
diamond fields. Last year, Human Rights Watch
(HRW) made a written appeal
directly to top retailers, urging them to shun
Zimbabwe’s gems. The group
warned that diamonds from Zimbabwe were being
produced through “the use of
forced labour of adults and children, killings,
and severe beatings.”
“By any reasonable assessment, diamonds from Marange
are ‘blood diamonds’
and we are publicly calling upon retailers and
interested consumers to
boycott Zimbabwe diamonds unless and until the
abuses that we uncovered come
to an end,” HRW said.
At the same time,
international diamond traders, the Rapaport Group, has
also called for a ban
on the diamonds, stating that blood diamonds from
Zimbabwe may have been
illegally exported and may even be reaching
retailers. The boycott appeal
has also since been picked up by Ingle &
Rhode, the UK’s principal
retailer of ethical jewellery and engagement rings
produced using
‘conflict-free’ diamonds.
“Continuing to allow exports of Zimbabwean diamonds
would make a mockery of
the Kimberley Process that is meant to avoid just
such practices from
occurring,” the company said in a press
statement.
Gabriel Shumba, the co-coordinator of the Zimbabwe Blood Diamonds
Campaign,
told SW Radio Africa on Thursday that the auction is a glaring
indication
that the Kimberley Process has failed Zimbabwe, and its own
mandate. He
echoed calls for the Kimberley Process to drastically reform,
arguing “what
more proof of blood do they need to intervene when hundreds of
people are
dead, women are being raped, and many are being tortured.”
Shumba also
argued that the country is being ‘bled dry’ by people wielding
power, adding
that the government is being funded by murder and
abuse.
Meanwhile HRW, in an online campaign, is appealing to the public to
send a
letter to member states of the Kimberley Process, urging them to take
action
to stop the abuses in Chiadzwa. The letter, which can be sent
straight from
the HRW website, is addressed to five representatives of the
Kimberley
Process, the World Diamond Council and other major players in the
diamond
trade industry. It asks them to change the rules of the Kimberley
Process to
include human rights, as a mandatory minimum standard in the
diamond
industries of all participating countries, and to end the abuse in
Chiadzwa.
Diamond buyers from across the world have flown into Harare
International
Airport to partake in the three day auction that was supposed
to go ahead
Thursday. It is not yet clear who the potential buyers are what
countries
they are from, or even if the auction will go ahead at a later
stage. The
convenient location of the diamond processing plant at the
airport has
already raised some concern, because of the direct access for
other
countries noted for their plunder of natural resources.
In 1998
the ZANU PF government established direct air links, under the
control of
the air force, between Harare and the DRC’s capital, Kinshasa to
‘facilitate
trade’ between the two countries. This came not long after
Zimbabwe was
given a number of mineral and mining concessions by the DRC,
allowing the
plunder of its natural resources, in return for Robert Mugabe’s
support in
the five year conflict that erupted in the DRC in 1998, a
conflict that was
fuelled by the DRC’s enormous mineral wealth.
The relationship of plunder
that still exists between the two countries is
well known, and recently SW
Radio Africa revealed that the daughter of Vice
President Joice Mujuru,
Nyasha del Campo, tried to set up a deal involving
illegal gold from the
DRC. She and her husband Pedro live in Madrid in Spain
where they set up two
companies, allegedly with the help and financial
support of her
mother.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
7
January 2010-01-07
SADC member states on Thursday concurred with South
Africa's position that
they were not happy with the pace of talks in
Zimbabwe to resolve all
outstanding issues.
Mozambican Foreign
Minister Oldemiro Baloyi told journalists at the end of a
two-day SADC
ministers' meeting in Maputo that they shared South Africa's
concern that
the Global Political Agreement talks in Harare were taking too
long to be
concluded.
Fred Katerere, a Maputo based journalist, told SW Radio Africa
that Baloyo
made it clear the region was not happy with pace of the talks in
Zimbabwe.
'Baloyi said indications are that there may be problems in
Harare because
the talks have gone on for too long without a conclusive
deal. The ministers
resolved to press the Zimbabwe negotiators to speedily
work out the
remaining issues,' Katerere said.
South Africa's
International Relations Minister, Mait Nkoana-Mashabane,
briefed the
regional foreign ministers on the progress of talks to resolve
the
power-sharing dispute threatening the inclusive government.
The ministers
were meeting in Maputo to coordinate the region's support for
Malawi's bid
for the chair of the African Union. Katerere said there were
indications
that regional leaders will discuss the Zimbabwe crisis
informally when they
gather in Maputo next week for the inauguration of
President Armando
Guebuza. The Mozambican president was re-elected last
month to serve his
second term.
'There was talk in Maputo that the issue of Zimbabwe might
be thrashed out
during the gathering next week,' Katerere
said.
Negotiators to the GPA will resume talks next week Saturday,
following a
month long break. Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube
told us on
Monday that the talks, which broke off three days before
Christmas last
year, would resume on the 16th January.
The
negotiations have become bogged down over arguments that include the
appointments of central bank Governor Gideon Gono, Attorney-General Johannes
Tomana, provincial governors and the swearing-in of Roy Bennett as Deputy
Minister of Agriculture.
http://www1.voanews.com
Scott Stearns |
Johannesburg 07 January 2010
Southern African ministers are meeting
in Mozambique to prepare for next
month's summit of the African Union.
Madagascar, Zimbabwe and Democratic
Republic of Congo are major topics of
discussion.
Foreign ministers of the Southern African Development
Community met in
Maputo to prepare a report on the region's political
crises. It is to be
presented to African leaders at their upcoming summit
in Ethiopia.
SADC's Political and Diplomatic Committee has been mediating
three major
crises in the region.
SADC officials said the ministers
are pleased the various parties to the
unity government in Zimbabwe resumed
negotiations on implementing their
power-sharing agreement. They said they
believed Zimbabwe was on the right
path.
The officials said the
ministers also believe that progress is being made
toward easing the
conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and that
reconciliation
efforts between the government and various rebel groups were
on the right
track.
Andry Rajoelina (file photo)
AFP
Andry Rajoelina (file
photo)
But the officials said they were less optimistic about the
political crisis
in Madagascar. It erupted in March after Andry Rajoelina,
backed by the
military, seized power following the ouster of then-President
Marc
Ravalomanana.
SADC and the African Union do not recognize the
Rajoelina government and
have suspended Madagascar from their
organizations.
Negotiations mediated by SADC brought a power-sharing
agreement last year
between Rajoelina, Mr. Ravalomanana and two other former
presidents. But
Rajoelina boycotted a meeting in December to distribute
cabinet posts and
withdrew from the accord.
He subsequently appointed
a retired military officer as prime minister and
said he would organize
elections in March.
The opposition rejected the move and resumed its
demonstrations in the
capital. The government says it will arrest anyone
who provokes what it
called, "further unrest."
Western nations have
suspended most non-humanitarian aid to Madagascar, and
the United States has
canceled tax exemptions on Malagasy imports under the
African Growth and
Opportunity Act known as AGOA.
Madagascar Minister of Economy and
Industry Richard Fienena has reacted to
the cancellation saying it had
caused the loss of many jobs.
He says the government will have to find a
solution, in particular, for
workers who will suffer the consequences of the
break with AGOA.
The African Union says AU Commission Chairman Jean Ping
is to visit
Madagascar in two weeks to try to break the deadlock. It made
the
announcement after a meeting Wednesday in Addis Ababa of the
International
Contact Group on Madagascar.
The group includes the
African Union, the United Nations, the European
Union, France, the Indian
Ocean Commission, the International Francophone
Organization, and the United
States.
http://www1.voanews.com
Political scientist
John Makumbe says talks between the government and
opposition should include
reforming the military and security services
William Eagle | Washington,
DC 07 January 2010
In Zimbabwe, talks between the two parties in the
Government of National
Unity are set to resume in about two weeks. The
parties are ZANU-PF, led by
President Robert Mugabe, and two formations of
the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC), the largest is led by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The talks are being mediated by South
Africa. The goal is to settle a
number of issues not resolved by last
year’s Global Political Agreement,
which was reached after disputed national
elections that led to the current
power-sharing agreement. Among the issues
to be settled are the number of
governors the government will appoint from
the MDC and who should fill the
positions of central bank governor and
attorney general.
Military influence
But one important element has
been left out of the talks, says political
science professor John Mukumbe of
the University of Zimbabwe: the control
of the military and security
services. The military has been accused of
orchestating much of the
political violence which marred the 2008
presidential election in a bid to
intimidate voters to support President
Mugabe in a second round. The
National Security Council, made up of high
level security officials, remains
a potent political factor, observers say.
Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai
Army troops were recently
deployed around the country to enforce the
takeover of the few hundred
remaining white commercial farms after a decade
of land reform.
“Last
week, the army was deployed in [the region of] Manicaland to force
remaining
white commercial farmers off the land. They have only relented
somewhat in
terms of perpetrating violence, but they are still a very
serious force to
be reckoned with,” says Makumbe.
The ruling party has filled state-owned
enterprises and institutions with
retired military supporters loyal to
President Mugabe, he says.
A question of allegiance
On the other
hand, Makumbe and other observers say there may splits between
different
factions in the military, but he says none of them would be strong
enough to
weaken its influence.
“There is dissention in the army – it is not
homogenous and not uniform in
its thinking in terms of allegiance. It is
the middle and lower ranks that
say, 'We have to put the nation first and
the ruling party and Mugabe
second,’” according to Makumbe.
Civil
society is weak, says the political scientist, and one-party rule has
undermined the independence of state institutions. He says the military –
and ruling party – could be influenced by outside pressure from the African
Union and the Southern African Development Community. But so far, he says,
they have been slow to condemn the government.
http://www.zimeye.org/?p=11852
By Tungamirai
Mubande
Published: January 7, 2010
Rusape : A
Zimbabwean farmer’s son lay hostage last night as Zimbabwe’s
police kept a
distance from the crime after a mob of violent men threatened
a Rusape
farmer, Dolf DuToit telling him to vacate his farm.
As at the time of
writing, the farmer’s son was still in the hands of the
abductors and
Zimbabwe’s government was silent on the matter, a witness said
Wednesday,
“they have taken Dolf DuToit s son hostage and up to 2100 hrs
local time the
police have refused to react, we are trying to get some
action.”
At
the time of writing the police had not issued a media response.
The CFU
has said that it is concerned following recent statements by Robert
Mugabe
and controversial Attorney General Johannes Tomana, that the military
should
be deployed to help evict the last of the white commercial farmers, a
move
that would further scare investors. However, the evictions are being
carried
out with neither government procedure nor court order which two are
required
by the law.
In addition to this compensation is supposed to be paid
before a person is
evicted from his farm. US president Barack Obama has
hinted that President
Mugabe’s chaotic land reform is the cause of
Zimbabwe’s problems.
http://www.radiovop.com
Masvingo, January 07, 2009 - Vice
President John Nkomo has ordered soldiers
and police to evict over 10 000
settlers in Nuanetsi ranch to pave way for
president Mugabe's friend,
controversial Billy Rutenbech's project while in
Beitbridge over 300 000
orange trees have been destroyed by farmers who
invaded citrus farms in the
area in 2 000.
Speaking at a Zanu PF meeting here, Nkomo said:"We
are not going to sit back
and watch enemies of development in the
country.Those who are refusing to be
resettled elsewhere are against
development so we will deal with them, any
way that is why we have soldiers
and police we will order them to go and
remove them."
He said
Rutenbech's venture is set to assemble a $5 billion ethanol plant
and
venture into massive sugar cane plantations. Presently he is into
crocodile
farming with over 70 000 crocodiles and 40 000 eggs set to hatch.
The
crocodile project when it reaches its full potential will have 600 000
crocodiles and will become the biggest in the world.
The
settlers, most of them war veterans, invaded the spacious ranch during
the
height of the chaotic land reform programme and had been refusing to
vacate
the land afterRutenbech clinched a deal with Zanu PF and Zimbabwe
Development Trust(ZDT), a trust that was formed by the late vice president
Joshua Nkomo and his Zapu party in the 80s.
The war veterans
have been blaming Zanu PF for bringing back the white man
in the farms at a
time when they are evicting other white commercial
farmers. Nkomo is the
chairman of ZDT.
Nkomo's orders to evict the war vets clash with
his party here who have been
influencing the settlers to decline to move
out.
Meanwhile orange trees in citrus estates which used to produce
the bulk of
the country's orange juice concentrate in Beitbridge have been
uprooted by
new black farmers who occupied the estates during the land
invasions in
2000.
Since the beginning of the land invasions, 300
000 orange trees were
uprooted at Totter Citrus Estates, eight years
earlier than the lapse of
their life span. In most cases the orange
plantations have been replaced by
crops such as maize and
sorghum.
"My Estate used to produce orange juice concentrate for
both local and
foreign markets. When the estate was taken over from me in
July 2003 it
hadover 500 000 trees of newly planted orange trees but right
now the trees
have either been burnt or uprooted, said Morris Hebert , the
former owner of
the range who since relocated to Bulawayo.
More
than 200 000 orange trees were also destroyed at Manyula Estates,
which
used to be also one of the leading orange juice concentrate producers
in
the country before the chaotic land reform. The newly resettled farmers
are
failing to maintain the few remaining trees, adevelopment which has
resulted
in the trees drying up.
" It takes more than five years for a farmer
to reap the fruits of citrus
farming. Citrus farming is also an expensive
venture which needs huge
capital for irrigation and chemicals .The quality
of oranges which is now
coming from the newly resettled farmers is poor and
is not good for making
cordial drinks and orange squashes . Irrigation
facilities have
beenvandalized and there is no water to irrigate the crop,"
said Lameck
Smith , the former owner of Manyula Citrus Estate who now runs a
Orange
Juice Concentrate company in Beitbridge.
He is now
importing the concentrate from South Africa. The former
information Deputy
Minister Bright Matonga 's citrus farm which he grabbed
from a Chegutu
citrus farmer has also dried up. Matonga 's workers are now
selling the
oranges to motorists along the Bulawayo/ Harare
road.
Comment
"And more" by Tsitsi at Thursday, 07 January 2010
17:47
It doesn't stop there. All the oranges on the farm that Edna
Madzongwe
grabbed illegally, also in Chegutu have fallen off the trees
through total
neglect and ignorance. The kumquat orchard is virtually
destroyed.
There are no other crops for export or the local market on that
farm - it is
purely a citrus farm. Madzongwe moved onto the farm as the 6000
ton orange
crop was ready to reap. She reaped them for her own personal gain
and since
then has done absolutely nothing to ensure a crop for this
season.
This is sabotage to the nation, depriving the nation of
food.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Violet Gonda
07 January
2010
Villagers in parts of Mashonaland East are still being forced to
attend ZANU
PF rallies, in spite of the new political dispensation that was
supposed to
usher in freedoms. SW Radio Africa received a report on Thursday
from a
concerned citizen who witnessed villagers being harassed when he
recently
visited his family in the Munamba area in Murehwa. Our contact, who
prefers
to remain anonymous, said war veterans and youth militia were still
forcing
people to denounce the MDC.
He said at times the militia
'trick' the villagers to attend these meetings
by saying there will be food
handouts but on arrival they find out it's a
political rally, where they are
forced to participate.
Our contact said it is clear to people in urban
areas that there is now a
power sharing government that includes ZANU PF and
the MDC formations, but
this development is not so clear in many remote
areas - a situation that
continues to be exploited by the former ruling ZANU
PF party.
While there has been a significant decrease in the reports of
political
violence as a result of the formation of the new government, the
youth
militia are still running amok in many rural areas.
Three weeks
ago 30 villagers were left injured after violent youths, led by
war
veterans, brutalized them in Ruwangwe in Manicaland province. The
ZimDiaspora website said several people had to be hospitalised after they
were beaten for refusing to donate their personal belongings, including
cash, for the Unity Day Celebrations.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Taurai Bande
Thursday, 07
January 2010 08:44
HARARE - Construction of a multi-million dollar dairy
produce processing
plant is underway at Gushungo estates, owned by Grace
Mugabe in Mazoe, to
counter targeted measures imposed on President Robert
Mugabe and his
cronies.
Personnel and equipment from the government-owned
District Development Fund
(DDF), are clearing a piece of ground on a hill at
the estate, in
preparation for construction of the plant. Construction will
then be
fast-tracked and the plant is expected to manufacture products such
as
cheese, yoghurt, sterilised milk and other dairy products. "A ban on
sales
of Gushungo milk at Nestlé Zimbabwe prompted the first lady to
construct the
plant, which will process milk from the estate into various
products. The
products will be sold on the domestic market. When measures
are eventually
lifted as expected, other manufactured products will find
their way onto
lucrative European markets," a senior Zanu (PF) government
minister
revealed.
He said a Chinese-owned company was hired to speedily
put up the structure.
"Gushungo estates, which boasts a more than 2,000 head
of dairy cattle, no
longer has a viable market for its milk. The cattle were
forcibly seized
from white farmers who owned the estates," said a top
government official.
"Nestlé stopped buying milk from the estates in October
last year." Grace
Mugabe grabbed the formerly white-owned estates, through
the controversial
government sanctioned land reform programme. "An average
five calves are
born daily at the estates, while at least three cattle die
weekly due to
poor feeding. Clients buying milk direct at the estates are
complaining of
poor quality fresh milk because of excessive water mixture,"
said the
official. To dispose of the marketless milk, workers at the estates
are
given a daily two litre ration of milk.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, January 07, 2010 -
Controversial Harare businessman, Phillip
Chiyangwa, says an investigation
that has been instituted by the Harare City
Council to determine how he
acquired his many housing and business stands in
Harare is motivated by
malice.
Speaking to Radio VOP in an exclusive telephone
interview, Chiyangwa, said
he had acquired his stands in a transparent
manner.
"That investigation is motivated by malice, it is aimed at
tarnishing my
image, there are people who do not want to see people prosper
in life," said
Chiyangwa.
He claimed that it is the Harare City
Council which owes him land.
"I gave the Harare City Council my land and
all I was doing in the past is
to get back my land," said
Chiyangwa.
"I am wondering why this so called investigation is
concentrating on me as
if I am the only one who has bought land in the last
few years. I would have
understood it if this investigation was
investigating everyone who bought
land in Harare."
The Harare City
Council has set up a committee to investigate how Chiyangwa
acquired vast
tracts of land around the city without council approval.
The
investigating team launched the investigation on Wednesday.
Council has
already instructed the flamboyant businessman to stop developing
a public
open space meant for a recreational multipurpose park in
Borrowdale.
But Chiyangwa, a nephew of President Robert Mugabe, has
stuck his guns out.
"I cannot be stopped by people who have nothing,
people who have no vision,
no property, all they wait for is to look at how
they can destroy Chiyangwa
just because everything that he touches turns
gold," he said.
He went on to accuse the Mayor of Harare of being
jealous.
"My problem is that all things that I do succeed so there are
some people
who are not happy about that. We meet with Masunda somewhere but
let me tell
you in business I am strong," said Chiyangwa without
elaborating.
Asked about yet another land wrangle that he is involved in
with the
Chinhoyi Municipality, Chiyangwa said, "Let me finish with Harare
City
Council then I can deal with Chinhoyi."
Chiyangwa is allegedly
refusing to vacate a farm owned by the Chinhoyi
Municipality.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
07
January 2010
The mother of the 18 year old girl who underwent surgery in
the UK to remove
two tumours in her mouth has said the negative publicity
surrounding the
administration of her appeal fund is traumatizing her
daughter. Newsreel
spoke to Thandiwe Mapungwana, the mother of Taremeredzwa
Nomatter
Mapungwana, who said the squabbling and accusations of looting of
funds were
jeopardizing her daughter's chances of securing donations to fund
a second,
necessary operation that doctors say she
requires.
Zimbabweans worldwide rallied together to support an appeal by
the Girl
Child Network, run by girl child rights activist Betty Makoni. Over
£10,000
was raised, mainly in the United Kingdom, while close to US$20,000
was
raised in Zimbabwe. The money was to cover the costs of her operation
and
hospital stay. National airline Air Zimbabwe donated two return tickets
for
the family. But accusations that some of the money may have been misused
have generated heated arguments between those involved in helping the
girl.
Tare's mother said her daughter was daily reading the negative
stories on
the internet and this was 'distressing' her. She said every time
she reads
negative things on her computer she goes straight to bed. Mrs.
Mapungwana
also said she did not want to take sides in the squabbling but
told our
Behind the Headlines programme that it was not proper for people to
make
accusations without any evidence. She said if people had queries about
how
the money was used they could always ask for explanations.
Even
Tare's brother in Zimbabwe, Talent Mapungwana, was accused of stealing
money
from his sister's fund by some of the publications. Tare's mother told
us
that she spoke to Talent on Wednesday and he said he was also distressed
by
the whole case. She said the money raised in Zimbabwe was paid directly
to
the UK hospital that operated on Tare. This money was required as a
deposit
before they could facilitate her admission. The family are still
waiting for
doctors to tell them how much the second operation will cost.
According
to Tare's mother the Girl Child Network is still running their
appeal and
taking care of everything, including liaising with the hospital.
'All this
negative talk and squabbling is going to affect progress in
helping Tare,'
she said. On Thursday Tare told us doctors needed to remove
an over reactive
gland in her throat which is causing the tumours. They also
want to align
her gums, replace lost teeth and clean up part of her front
gums which are
swollen.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Stanley Chikomba
Thursday, 07 January
2010 08:23
The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) (Pictured) last week desperately
moved to
passive its restive rank and file when it distributed largesse in
the form
of hampers to its members.
The army is said to have taken the
move in a desperate bid to retain loyalty
which seems to have taken a
largely fragmented since the formation of the
inclusive government last
February. Many soldiers could be seen in central
Harare carrying green
plastic dishes containing a variety of goodies meant
to provide a little
festive cheer to a group which has otherwise been used
to special
treatment.
Before the establishment of the inclusive government soldiers were
regarded
as a special breed among the country's civil servants. They earned
more than
other civil servants and in most cases they salaries is not known
since they
are not part of the Public Service Commission (PSC). During last
year's cash
shortages they had money delivered at their barracks by the
Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) officers. But the inclusive government has
been singing a
different tune, imposing a uniform basic salary for all civil
servants. But
last week, many of them relived the good old days when a
75-seater bus came
full of hampers at the Army Headquarters in central
Harare.
Immediately the soldiers formed a queue outside to receive their
share.
"They are just hampers which force members are being given as
Christmas
presents," said one soldier who had just received his hamper. "We
used to
get these hampers long back but they had disappeared two years ago.
Here at
the headquarters we are getting hampers, others at other stations
are
getting meat and different other things." Inside the dish hamper was a 2
kg
bag of Ilovo sugar, 2 kg Pro Brands Rice packet, Stella tea bags, 1 litre
sterilised milk, two bars of soap, 2 litre cooking oil and a 2 litre Mazoe
Orange Crush.
While soldiers were getting hampers, nurses, teachers and
other civil
servants got bonuses from PSC. Teachers took home US$ 300 while
state
registered nurses went home with $390 with the extra US$ 90 coming
from an
undisclosed donor. Meanwhile the Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP)
Commissioner, Augustine Chihuri, who blocked government auditors from access
police records last month is said to be busy issuing out rogue policemen and
women with force numbers in a desperate bid to cover up the existence of
ghost workers.
Any person
who has ever owned or managed a business, albeit a rural bottle
store,
tuck-shop or manufacturing industrial unit, will attest to the need
and
benefits of a methodical annual audit. Zimbabwe must conduct a
comprehensive
national land audit before the premature declaration that the
looting
exercise in progress now-masked as land reform-is irreversible.
An urgent
national land audit is a political imperative that will occur
notwithstanding the machinations of individuals with landholdings and other
people's stolen property they do not wish society and the landless masses to
know about. The landless have a God-given patriotic right to know who now
owns the land in Zimbabwe. Landless Zimbabweans are demanding an audit of
their land.
Rudimentary accounting requires the verification of any
entity's balance
sheet, which lists the assets and liabilities of the said
business. This
then forms the basis for future business strategies. Audits
are essential
and invaluable management tools that also expose areas of poor
asset
utilisation, fraudulent activities and inefficiency.
Auditing
is an African tradition, an integral part of the pastoral practices
and a
good animal husbandry philosophy for successful farmers. Any person
who has
ever herded cattle in rural Zimbabwe remembers the gut wrenching
fear that
grips one's psyche upon losing a single animal. Spending the night
looking
for that one beast is an occurrence many herd boys will echo.
(kurasa mombe
muchitamba chihwandehwande)
As livestock is released for the day's
grazing, the counting of cattle that
normally occurs every early misty
morning (kumusha) at the cattle kraal is
essentially an audit, which
verifies that cattle rustlers did not steal any
beasts under the cover of
darkness.
Unfortunately, persons who are advocating for the stoppage of
the land audit
belong to a group that never owned or herded cattle in their
youth and now
sit on land that is meant for real farmers who understand the
value of an
audit.
For the purposes of clarity, if all the citizens,
the stake holders are
treated as shareholders and Zimbabwe is the company,
with immovable assets
such as land and natural resources, the citizens
therefore call upon the
management(in this case the GNU) to conduct an audit
of the company's
assets.
How then does another shareholder, a member
of an interested party which
looted the companies assets, call for the
obstruction of the audit?
With a national asset such as land having been
taken from one group of
people and given to another, it is an economic,
social and political
imperative that we know who the beneficiaries of the
land redistribution
exercise are.
Who got which farms? Are they being
utilised? Who are the multiple farm
owners? Were the landless peasants
resettled? What land is left unutilised?
These questions are genuine
patriotic concerns and the law requires that all
State assets be audited.
Why does a junior politician from a political
party, which looted State
assets, advocate violence against auditors? What
do the beneficiaries of the
fast track land acquisition exercise have to
fear about a transparent audit?
Why does the mere suggestion of a land audit
warrant so much rancour and
name-calling?
An international firm of chartered accountants hired by the
citizens of
Zimbabwe who believe in fairness, must conduct a comprehensive
land audit
for Zimbabweans. Ownership of the report, which must be made
public in all
official languages, belongs to the people of Zimbabwe who must
decide in a
referendum on the course of action.
Zimbabwe is now in
the midst of its fourth land reform programme. The first
three-all funded n
the 80's by the international community-failed due to the
politicisation of
the allocation of farms to "chefs" who were non-farmers.
These farms are
still derelict and were stripped bare of their entire
infrastructure before
our very own eyes. Tobacco barns were dismantled, the
bricks, roofing sold,
aluminium irrigation pipes were sold for scrap metal
and the land reverted
to savannah scrub.
Country clubs and private schools have been seized by
the well-connected as
part of the land reform, who owns these now? What is
the ethnic, gender and
cultural composition of all land beneficiaries? What
is the political
affiliation of all those allocated land? Did any foreigners
get land over
Zimbabwean citizens?
Zimbabwe is the only country in
modern history that evicts her
citizens-productive farmers-and replaces them
with foreigners who then get
protection under the Bilateral Investment
Promotion and Protection Agreement
(BIPPA), which gives the Zimbabwean
government immunity from prosecution for
post-2000 land seizures.
Is
there any prime land for Zimbabweans who wish to return from the Diaspora
and invest in agriculture, build homes or businesses? Who allocated land to
whom? Who is selling land that was acquired via the land reform programme
meant for the landless? What has become of the farm workers and their
families displaced by land grabbers and their cronies? Why does a prejudiced
ZANU (PF) lands committee member, a mere political party functionary,
determine who looses land and who gets land?
6 517 farms with a total
area of 10 463 954.5171 hectares have been gazetted
for resettlement
purposes since 2000, who owns these farms now?
Muchida musigade -the land
audit will occur - that is that sadza
rekuboarding.
Phil Matibe- www.madhingabucketboy.com
If you were to study Zimbabwean
history from independence, you will see the
name Mnangagwa pop up often.
And, invariably, whenever it does, it has
something to do with divisiveness,
violence or threats.
He wants to be considered seriously as a contender
for Mugabe's throne - and
is prepared to do just about anything to beat off
rival bids.
"Simmering tensions and power struggles in ZANU PF have
resurfaced amid
reports that members of the Defence Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa's faction
met in Gweru during the Christmas holiday to carry out
plans to launch a new
political party, a source said.
As ZANU PF
factions jostle for power, there is growing fear that Mugabe's
departure
will be worse than his presidency.
Mnangagwa was outflanked by a rival
faction in the battle to succeed veteran
Robert Mugabe in ZANU
PF.
The, 63 year old, is a sly politician who has long been touted by the
media
and his political allies as frontrunner to replace Mugabe as first
secretary
of ZANU PF, but his star has dimmed since 2004 when he was accused
of
plotting against his boss."
Mnangagwa's activities are very
similar to Mugabe's, in as much as he is not
afraid to use muscle, weapons
and devious tactics to achieve his goals.
Mnangagwa is also cited as one
of the most wealthy men in Zimbabwe - thanks
to his connections during the
war in the Congo which the Zimbabwean army
participated - and during which
Mnangagwa was 'paid' handsomely with
diamonds...
"Zimbabwean troops
intervened in the DR Congo conflict on the side of the
government and, like
other countries, it was accused of using the conflict
to loot some of its
rich natural resources, such as diamonds, gold and other
minerals.
But despite his money-raising role, Mr Mnangagwa, a lawyer
who grew up in
Zambia, is not well-loved by the rank and file of his own
party.
One veteran of Zimbabwe's war of independence, who worked with him
for many
years, puts it simply: "He's a very cruel man, very
cruel."
Another ZANU PF official poses an interesting question when asked
about Mr
Mnangagwa's prospects: "You think Mugabe is bad but have you
thought that
whoever comes after him could be even worse?"
ZANU PF
have the ability to make a little money and a lot of intimidation go
a very
long way.
And when it comes to Mnanagagwa, he has had a very good teacher
- in the
person of Robert Mugabe.
"On Christmas day, a well attended
secret steering committee meeting at a
farm just outside the city of Gweru
was organised by former Information
Minister, Member of Parliament for
Tsholotsho Professor Jonathan Moyo and
the meeting was chaired by former
Midlands ZANU PF Chairman July Moyo,
sources said.
Also in
attendance, was former ZANU PF chairman for Manicaland, Mike Madiro,
and
Member of Parliament for Mutare South, Fred Kanzama both representing
Manicaland province.
Minister of Mines Obert Mpofu came late after
attending to a family
bereavement in Bulawayo."
I also find it
interesting that the meeting should be chaired by Jonathan
Moyo, a ZANU PF
member who has only just come back to the fold, having been
thrown out by
Mugabe following the Tsholotsho debacle.
("Much philanthropy, including
scholarship programs and support for sport
over many years, has earned Moyo
a place in Tsholotsho, his family area.
This philanthropy increased during
the days leading up to the March 2005
parliamentary election, a fact that
critics feel made his win for the
parliamentary seat in the area
inevitable.
In the lead up to the 2004 party meeting, he held an
unofficial meeting in
Tsholotsho, of ZANU PF political heavyweights
including six provincial party
chairmen, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa,
and a militant war veterans'
leader, Joseph Chinotimba. It was aimed at
contesting one of the two
vice-presidential seats after the recent death of
Simon Muzenda on September
20, 2003, seen as a stepping stone to the
presidency in light of Mugabe's
presumed retirement in 2008.
He was
heavily censured at the later ZANU PF meeting, with other attendees.
Joyce
Mujuru won the vice-presidency at the party meeting.
The subsequent
decision to set aside the Tsholotsho seat in the 2005
parliamentary election
for female candidates was widely interpreted as
punishing those who
organised the unauthorised meeting, and in particular
Moyo.
In
February 2005 Moyo registered to run as an independent for the seat.
Doing
so earned the wrath of Mugabe, who expelled him from the party and the
cabinet. He won the seat in the elections, held on March
31.")
Whatever the intentions of aspiring hopefuls, Mugabe has got his
hands full
with not only knocking down any arrogance by senior members and
their
eagerness to prove themselves loyal and capable, but he also has to
somehow
keep the party together.
"We are also told that Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa is also involved
but only playing a low profile
for fear of Robert Mugabe's reprisal.
The meeting took 6 hours of intense
deliberations with Jonathan Moyo taking
the opportunity to appraise his
colleagues about the detailed plans based on
his scientific research and on
reflections of what had taken place at the
congress and the new game
plan.
The Defence Minister, Emmerson Mnangagwa himself did not attend,
amid
reports that he is now under 24 hour survillance by members of the
CIO's
close security."
Perhaps there is some wisdom in the saying,
"Keep your friends close and
your enemies even closer."
Robb WJ
Ellis
The Bearded Man
http://mandebvhu.instablogs.com/entry/moyo-joins-mnangagwa-in-power-struggle/