Associated Press
Jan 7, 8:11 AM EST
By ANGUS SHAW
Associated Press
HARARE,
Zimbabwe (AP) -- A research group on Friday reported that
Zimbabweans fear
becoming victims of political violence if elections go
ahead this year to
end the nation's two-year coalition government.
An opinion poll carried
out by the continentwide think tank Afrobarometer
said seven out of 10
Zimbabweans feared intimidation and violence. The poll
said the same
proportion didn't feel free to speak their minds in a climate
of declining
civil liberties, along with almost "daily threats" of civil war
by militants
of President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party if it lost elections
proposed
later this year.
The poll, available Friday, said its findings from a
broad cross section of
1,200 voters - also called a "national probability
sample" - had a sampling
error of plus or minus 3 percent at a 95 percent
confidence level. In one
district, its researchers were chased away by
Mugabe militants.
Despite fears of violence and intimidation 70 percent
of respondents still
wanted elections completed this year, the group
said.
In what it called one of its most striking findings: "Seven in ten
would-be
voters are anxious to freely elect leaders of their choice, even in
an
atmosphere where security forces and party militias are again on the
move."
This displayed "the impressive depths of Zimbabweans' commitment
to
political rights" said researchers who included Michael Bratton of the
U.S.
Institute of Peace at Michigan State University.
Zimbabwe's
coalition between Mugabe, who led the nation to independence in
1980, and
former opposition leader Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was
formed in
February 2009 after disputed elections in 2008 that were marred by
widespread violence. Tsvangirai boycotted a presidential run-off vote
against Mugabe to protest violence against his supporters by militants,
police and military loyal to Mugabe.
At least 200 people died in the
violence surrounding those polls and
thousands of cases of torture,
abductions, assault, illegal arrests and
death threats were reported by
human rights groups.
Afrobarometer said the coalition was now stalemated
"in large part because
Mugabe and ZANU-PF have been unwilling to surrender a
meaningful share of
executive and military power."
Mugabe has
repeatedly called for fresh elections in mid-2011 after saying
the power
sharing agreement wasn't working and he wanted to see an early end
to the
coalition. Tsvangirai blames Mugabe for not abiding by several key
provisions in the agreement and has demanded the completion of
constitutional and electoral reform before any new polls can be
held.
Afrobarometer said its research compared the public mood over the
past two
years of the coalition.
A program to rewrite the
constitution through countrywide outreach meetings
last year had also been
marred by violence and with calls for fresh
elections the nation now "risked
relapse into another dangerous period of
political instability," the group
said.
It said public confidence in the coalition declined to about
one-third of
those polled in 2010, compared to about half of those polled in
similar
research in 2009. Confidence in the coalition government slipped
because of
leadership struggles and a policy deadlock, researchers
said.
In 2010, two-thirds of those polled believed Mugabe firmly retained
the
reigns of power. Just 14 percent thought there was meaningful power
sharing.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
07
January 2011
While the rest of the country was preparing to celebrate
Christmas, thugs
from the notorious Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO)
brutally beat up
an MDC activist in Chiredzi South.
Fourty-three year old
Julius Mutavira Gono is reported to have been severely
beaten in broad
daylight by three CIO agents following a botched attempt to
abduct him. The
incident took place on Christmas Eve while his family and
neighbours watched
helplessly.
The Restoration of Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) group said
“he was
assaulted by three armed state security agents who drove to his
house in
Madzimure Village in a Nissan twin cab with unmarked plates.” The
case has
been reported to Chikombedzi Police Station but no action is
expected.
ROHR identified the three state agents involved as
Matambanadzo, Tinago and
Magara all based at Chikombedzi Police Station.
Ironically this is the same
police station the victim went to report the
case. “A medical report
confirms that Mutavira sustained internal, back and
leg injuries, a swollen
red eye and he is still in need of further medical
attention,” ROHR said.
One of the assailants, Matambanadzo told Mutavira
that they were punishing
him for the complaints they had received about his
involvement in MDC-T
affairs. They told him ‘he will not live to see the
next election.’
Ominously the incident took place a few weeks after the
visit of war vets
chairman Jabulani Sibanda who is on a countrywide tour
threatening people
against voting for the MDC-T.
ROHR Zimbabwe said
‘as human rights defenders we are grossly disappointed by
the brutal
conduct, unprofessionalism, lack of independence of the security
agents and
uniformed forces who are supposed to be the custodians of the
enforcement of
the rule of law and guardians of all citizens regardless of
political
affiliation.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
07 January, 2011
Villagers in the Gwanda South area of
Matabeleland have reported that a war
vet named Witness Sebata, who is also
the councillor for ward 11, is selling
maize seeds and fertilizer that are
supposed to be free under a programme
sponsored by the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe.
Our correspondent Lionel Saungweme spoke to villagers who said
Sebata is
being assisted by a local Agritex official and backed by the
former MP for
Gwanda South, Abednigo Ncube.
Councilor Sebata is
reportedly selling 10 kg bags of maize for $2.00 to the
elderly, orphans,
widows and those diagnosed with HIV, telling them the
money is meant to
cover transportation costs. Those who are considered
able-bodied are being
charged $3.00 for the same maize bag.
Sebata has so far sold the maize and
fertilizer in the Ward 11 villages of
Ntalale, Nyambi, Mandihongola,
Tshongwe and Vela. Reports have also been
received from Ward 16 in Gwanda
South.
Our correspondent also talked to Councilor Temba Kunjulu from
Jabuba ward in
Binga, who complained that donated maize seed was being
provided to ZANU PF
supporters only. According to Saungweme, some villagers
in the area refused
to buy membership cards just to access the
maize.
Similar reports were received from Councilor Nyamukuta in Matobo
South, on
the other side of Matabeleland, showing how widespread ZANU PF’s
campaign
has become in a province that traditionally votes for the
MDC.
Saungweme reported at the end of 2010 that the violent war vet
leader
Jabulani Sibanda had travelled thorough parts of Matabeleland,
threatening
villagers with extreme violence if they vote for the MDC in the
next
elections. It appears that ZANU PF is counting on the threats and the
use of
food and farm inputs as political tools, to boost their support base.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
7 January
2011
The MDC-M, with just a day to go until its congress in Harare is on
the
verge of a major split following growing dissension within its
ranks.
It emerged on Friday that Welshman Ncube, the man poised to take
over the
party leadership from the incumbent President, Arthur Mutambara, is
now
facing an internal rebellion from members of his own national
executive.
Members of the current executive, led by party chairman,
Jobert Mudzumwe
organised a news conference in the capital on Friday and
announced they
would be boycotting the congress set to take place in the
City Sports centre
on Saturday.
Mudzumwe, a loyalist of Mutambara,
who was flanked by members of the
executive, including the award winning
writer Tsitsi Dangarembwa, alleged
‘massive violations and manipulations of
the party’s constitution’ by Ncube,
its secretary-general.
Mutambara
though distanced himself from the group saying it was acting on
its own and
he was not aware of the issues they raised. However, present at
the briefing
was Mutambara’s personal aide, Charles Manyozo, making it clear
to those
gathered that Mutambara was indeed fully aware of the group’s
actions.
There have been massive defections from the MDC-M in recent
months after
members claimed their continued membership to the party was an
endorsement
of practices that were becoming dangerous to the democracy that
many people
in Zimbabwe were struggling to bring into being. Others felt the
party was
no longer pursuing the original policies of the MDC-M when they
split from
the mainstream MDC led by Morgan Tsvangirai in 2005.
Our
correspondent Simon Muchemwa told us a split was imminent after the
current
executive, which was set to be voted out of office on Saturday,
accused
Ncube’s leadership of ‘excesses.’
One of the major issues raised by the rival
faction were ‘inconsistencies’
selecting delegates for the congress.
Mudzumwe also accused Ncube of
deliberately sidelining all party activists
known to have been against him
in his pursuit to dislodge Mutambara from
power.
‘There was a petition that was presented by the group that
outlined a number
of issues they felt needed to be tackled first before
convening a congress.
Mudzumwe and his group wanted an audit of the party
accounts as they know
the MDC-M has been receiving a lot of money from
donors.
‘They also brought up the issue of the selective application of
discipline
where those deemed to be anti-Ncube were either suspended or
expelled from
the party. The secretary-general stands accused of wrestling
all power from
other executive members and running the party as a fiefdom,’
Muchemwa said.
The pro-Mutambara group called on the party to postpone
the congress until
such time these problems were sorted out. But Edwin
Mushoriwa, the party
spokesman told us they would hold the congress on
schedule under any
circumstances. He said holding the congress is the
decision of the party’s
provincial committees and none of the officials
including Ncube has the
right to defer it or postpone it.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Tobias Manyuchi Friday 07 January
2011
HARARE – Deputy mines minister Gift Chimanikire on Thursday
insisted that
the Kimberley Process (KP) has approved exports of the
country’s Marange
diamonds as Harare and the diamond watchdog continued
issuing conflicting
statements about the controversial gemstones.
The
KP that regulates the world diamond industry has set January 10 as the
deadline for all participants in the voluntary monitoring scheme to respond
to a revised draft agreement on the fate of Zimbabwe’s stockpiled diamonds.
This, after Harare rejected the initial agreement last November.
But
Chimanikire, who on Monday told ZimOnline that the KP had already
approved
sales of the diamonds, last night insisted Harare had “documentary
evidence”
to show this, adding that a meeting of the KP he said was
scheduled for
January 10 would not change the decision to allow Zimbabwe to
export the
diamonds.
"They gave us that authorisation unless they are now denying
it,” said
Chimanikire, speaking to ZimOnline after a KP spokesman refuted
the deputy
minister’s earlier claims that the regulator had approved Marange
diamond
sales.
A spokesperson for the new KP chairperson, the
Democratic Republic of the
Congo’s Yamba Mathieu Lapfa Lambang, was quoted
by Rapaport News as saying
that claims that the international watchdog had
sanctioned exports from the
controversial Marange fields were
untrue.
“No decision has been made yet,” the spokesperson
said.
But Chimanikire was adamant that the KP approved Marange diamond
exports.
He said: “We have documentary evidence, they wrote us a letter
informing us
about the authorisation. In the letter they indicated that a
meeting will be
held on Jan 10, which is next week. That meeting will not
change anything at
all because they have already indicated that we can
sell."
ZimOnline was last night unable to reach Lambang and the KP’s
Zimbabwe
monitor Abbey Chikane, who is based in South Africa, for further
clarification on the matter.
The DRC took over the chairmanship of
the KP from Israel on January 1.
But Lambang’s spokesperson told Rapaport
News that the KP chairman was still
waiting for a response from participants
to an amendment to the draft
administrative decision that was sent out in
late December.
The amendment raises the veto conditions allowed to the
KP’s Working Group
for Monitoring (WGM) so that any three members of the
WGM, rather than two
previously suggested, can submit a report should
Zimbabwe breach the joint
working plan to bring the Marange operations into
compliance.
Zimbabwe is seeking unconditional approval to conduct the
sales.
Should the participants accept the amendment, the revised proposal
will be
forwarded to Zimbabwe for approval, the spokesperson
said.
The KP banned Zimbabwe from selling diamonds from the Marange
fields in 2009
over allegations of human rights abuses in the extraction of
the gems and
failure to meet minimum requirements for trading in the
precious stones.
But the organisation allowed Zimbabwe to conduct two
supervised sales which
took place in August and September last year
following a report by Chikane
that said Harare had met all KP
conditions.
The issue of Zimbabwe selling the Marange diamonds has
divided the KP along
political lines, with Western countries led by the
United States, Germany
and Australia as well as civil society groups that
are members of the
organisation calling for the extension of a
ban.
African and other countries, including Russia, have however opposed
the
calls to ban the diamonds.
Zimbabwe has criticised the calls for
a ban of the Marange stones, accusing
the West of using the diamonds issue
to punish President Robert Mugabe for
taking land from white farmers and
reallocating it to blacks. -- ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by simplicious Chirinda Friday 07 January
2011
HARARE – An envoy of embattled Ivorian leader Laurent Gbabgo on
Thursday met
Zimbabwe’s Acting President John Nkomo but it was not
immediately clear what
the two discussed.
Zoge Abie, who is the
Ivorian ambassador to South Africa, flew into Harare
yesterday afternoon and
met Nkomo to brief him on the situation in his
country – and presumably ask
for Harare’s support for Gbagbo in his bid to
retain power.
Abie did
not meet the local media as he flew back to South Africa
immediately after
meeting Nkomo who is acting president because President
Robert Mugabe is on
his annual vacation.
Zimbabwe’s Acting Foreign Affairs Minister Herbert
Murerwa also attended the
meeting between Nkomo and Abie.
“The
Ivorian envoy had come to brief the Acting President on the situation
in his
country,” Zimbabwe ministry of information permanent secretary George
Charamba told journalists in Harare. Charamba did not divulge details of the
meeting.
An official at Abie’s Pretoria offices declined to discuss
details of her
boss’s trip to Harare. “He travelled to Zimbabwe but only him
can tell you
the reason of the meeting,” said the female official who
refused to give her
name over the phone.
Gbagbo is under growing
international pressure to relinquish power after a
disputed poll which left
the west African country with two presidents.
His opponent, former
International Monetary Fund top executive Alassane
Ouattara, is the one who
is recognised by the international community.
Gbagbo has repeatedly
accused all his international critics including his
neighbours of unduly
interfering in the internal affairs of his country, a
favourite tactic of
Mugabe who regularly accuses critic of his controversial
rule of attempting
to undermine Zimbabwe’s sovereignty.
However unlike the Southern African
Development Community that has tip-toed
around Mugabe, the Economic
Community of West Africa has been more robust in
its condemnation of Gbabgo,
even threatening military action against him
should he continue to refuse to
hand over power to Ouattara. -- ZimOnline
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
07
January 2011
Zimbabwe will follow the African Union’s (AU) lead on how to
handle the
turbulent leadership crisis in the Ivory Coast, after an envoy
from the
country’s strongman Laurent Gbagbo failed to get the desired
support from
Robert Mugabe this week.
Gbagbo sent an ambassador to
Harare to solicit support from Mugabe in the
post-election deadlock, with
the decade-long Ivory Coast leader refusing to
hand over power after a poll
defeat last year. According to Mugabe’s
spokesman George Charamba,
Ambassador Herve-Brice Abie Zogoe met Vice
President John Nkomo and
delivered a “message of peace, pushing for a quest
for the truth.” The
ambassador didn’t speak with journalists.
Gbagbo refuses to hand the
Presidency to Alassane Ouattara, who is
recognised internationally as the
legitimate winner of the country’s
November 28 election. The resulting
violence that followed this deadlock has
left some 210 people dead, and
according to the United Nations (UN),
divisions in the country that have
festered since a civil war there in 2002
and 2003, are being
rekindled.
Gbagbo has been trying to find political support amid growing
isolation,
with the West African leadership bloc, ECOWAS, the UN and several
international countries condemning his refusal to step down from power.
Turning to Mugabe was expected, because the Zimbabwean dictator has
successfully managed to cling to power in Zimbabwe despite losing the 2008
election. But it appears that Mugabe will not risk placing his allegiance
with a political pariah ahead of a critical AU summit later this
month.
Instead, Mugabe’s spokesperson Charamba said on Friday that
Zimbabwe will
follow the AU position on the Ivory Coast crisis, adding it
will likely be
the main topic for discussion at the group’s meeting in Addis
Ababa starting
January 24. The AU meanwhile recognises Ouattara as the
winner.
Political analyst Professor John Makumbe said on Friday that
Mugabe cannot
risk the political embarrassment of publicly siding with
Gbagbo despite
being “cast from the same stone.” He said Mugabe is “himself
in a precarious
situation ahead of the AU meeting,” and he won’t turn more
attention on
Zimbabwe than necessary.
South Africa meanwhile is
joining talks on efforts to persuade Gbagbo to
step down from power.
International Relations and Co-operation MinisterMaite
Nkoana-Mashabane held
talks in Nigeria after the latest bid to resolve the
post-election crisis
through mediation ended unsuccessfully this week. Their
position on Ivory
Coast is in direct contrast to their response to Zimbabwe
over the past
eight years. Both South African Presidents Thabo Mbeki and
Jacob Zuma have
allowed Mugabe to stay in power despite contested elections.
Makumbe said
the situation is embarrassing for the Southern African
Development Community
(SADC), who drafted the deal that let Mugabe remain
President.
“If
they (SADC) had behaved like this with Mugabe things would be different
now,” Makumbe said. “ECOWAS has shown that they are a body that has bark and
bite, which SADC does not.”
http://www.radiovop.com
07/01/2011 15:33:00
Harare,
January 07,2011 - Controversial South African diamond monitor Abbey
Chikane
has said only Israel can confirm whether Zimbabwe has been issued
with a
Kimberly Process (KP) trading certificate despite claims by the
Zimbabwean
government that it has been given the green light to trade.
Chikane told
Radio VOP on Friday that the issue lies with the outgoing KP
revolving chair
Israel. “Israel is the only one that can confirm that. There
will be a
meeting on Monday next week and that’s where Israel is expected to
issue a
proclamation on whether Zimbabwe should now trade in diamonds,” said
Chikane.
A spokesperson for the new KP chairperson, the Democratic
Republic of the
Congo’s Yamba Mathieu Lapfa Lambang, told South African
media that claim s
by the Zimbabwean government that the international
watchdog had sanctioned
exports from the controversial Marange fields were
untrue.
“No decision has been made yet,” the spokesperson said. When
asked why
Zimbabwe has been insisting that it now has a diamond trading
licence,
Chikane said he might have been overtaken by events since he is
still on
leave.
“I am on holiday and would not want to bother my family
with the Marange
issue, maybe there might be some documents that I haven’t
read that might
have come while I was on holiday, I will only be back at
work on Monday,” he
said.
Chikane told Radio VOP last month that he
was confident that Zimbabwe will
soon be bale to sell its diamonds freely on
the international market.
Zimbabwe’s is not allowed to freely trade its
diamonds on the international
market until it meets a Joint Work Plan (JWP)
agreed by both parties at a
plenary meeting held in Namibia last November.
Under the JWP Zimbabwe
committed to a phased withdrawal of the armed forces
from the diamond fields
and for a monitor to examine and certify that all
shipments of diamonds from
Marange met KP standards. Zimbabwe was granted
more time to fall in line
with the minimum international standards of
diamond trade. But there are
still ongoing reports of brutal military
control of the diamond fields and
smuggling.
At a special meeting in
Russia in July, KP members agreed to permit Zimbabwe
to export two shipments
of diamonds under supervision of the body's
monitors, on condition that the
body would investigate conditions in the
Marange fields. The agreement also
tied all future exports of diamonds to
clear and measurable progress in
ending smuggling and abuses, and allowed
for local civil society groups to
participate in monitoring progress in the
fields.
http://www.radiovop.com/
07/01/2011
12:01:00
Harare, January 7, 2011 - The Chinese have built a state of
the art giant
television screen in Harare's busiest mall, the First Street,
which shows
Zimbabwe's Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) television programmes
and Zanu
(PF) jingles 24 hours daily.
The project is believed to have
cost about US$20 000 and was sponsored by
the Xinhua News Agency in
China.
The Minister of Information and Publicity, Webster Shamu, was
supposed to be
guest of honour at the unveiling of the huge
screen.
The television shows mainly ZBC TV programmes but which are
interrupted by
the now "infamous" Zanu PF "Team" advertisement showing
President Robert
Mugabe and his two deputies Joyce Mujuru and John Nkomo
playing football
together on the same "team".
Insiders said this
project would help the Zanu (PF) election campaign at a
time when membership
has nose-dived for the former ruling party ahead of
elections pencilled in
for later this year.
The huge tv screen has become popular with street
kids who sleep on First
Street.
The Chinese helped Zanu PF during the
liberation struggle against the
British Government leading to Independence
in 1980.
The mainstream Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by
Morgan Tsvangirai
this week issued a warning to foreign embassies against
continued funding of
Zanu (PF) after the Libyan embassy in Harare donated
tractors and other
farming inputs to the party.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Gugulethu Nyazema
Friday, 07 January 2011
16:51
HARARE - Twelve people died and several others were injured
when a South
African registered bus, Luqrey Coach, and a haulage truck
collided along the
Masvingo-Beitbridge highway, about 83km outside Masvingo
near Ngundu.
The bus was traveling to Harare from Johannesburg and
was believed to be
carrying cross border traders. There are fears that the
bus could also have
been carrying students coming back from
holidays.
According to the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC), 11 of
the people
died on the spot, while one died on admission to
hospital.
The accident occurred in the early hours of Friday
morning.
The Officer Commanding Masvingo Province, Senior Assistant
Commissioner
Fortune Zengeni, said the bus collided head on with the truck
which was
carrying cotton lint.
Some of the injured were taken to
Chibi Hospital for medical attention.
Police are still verifying the names
of the victims.
ZBC also quotes Senior Assistant Commissioner Zengeni
saying preliminary
investigations have shown that the bus was speeding and
was trying to
overtake another vehicle leading to the collision with the
truck which was
going the opposite direction.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Chengetai Zvauya
Friday, 07
January 2011 10:35
HARARE - Papers filed in the High Court of
Zimbabwe by lawyers representing
the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai show that
the ten Zanu PF provincial
governors have failed to prove that they were
legally appointed by president
Robert Mugabe to their posts in the coalition
government.
Tsvangirai, represented by Selby Hwacha of Dube, Manikai
and Hwacha, is
challenging the legitimacy and authority of Mugabe's
appointed governors.
The respondents are president Robert Mugabe, the ten
governors, Cain
Mathema, David Karimanzira, Martin Dinha, Aeneas Chigwedere,
Faber
Chidarikire,Jaison Machaya and Christopher Mushowe as well as the
Minister
of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development, Ignatius
Chombo.
Tsvangirai argues that the appointments of the governors did not
comply with
the Global Political Agreement (GPA) which stipulates that such
appointments
must be made in consultation with all three principals of the
GPA.
In the papers, filed on December 24 and copied to the registrar of
the High
Court of Zimbabwe and Mugabe’s legal representatives Hussein
Ranchod and Co,
Tsvangirai argues that “the context of Rule 18 of the
administrative rules
of the High Court is inapplicable in the circumstances
of this case
generally and in constitutional cases in particular.
The
simplistic interpretation placed on the Rule by the respondents leads to
absurdities which were not intended when the rule was made. It does not make
sense to argue that one must ‘sue the President for authority to sue the
President’.”
Through his lawyers, Tsvangirai further argues that Rule
18 was not designed
to “and cannot be used to defeat or delay superior
rights and obligations
enshrined in the constitution especially where the
issues are of importance
as is the case here.”
Tsvangirai says that
Mugabe and the governors were clutching onto ''straws''
to justify their
tenureship, and that Mugabe was using a colonial law to
duck the issue of
the constitutional appointing the governors.
The governors are cited as
respondents and are not covered under that rule.
They only responded through
supporting affidavits to Mugabe’s legal
arguments without responding to
their constitutionally appointment legality.
“Rule 18, if applicable at
all is certainly not applicable to these
respondents. They should all have
filed responses on the merits considering
also that the First respondent
Mugabe was available to them to testify if he
could defend their positions,”
said Tsvangirai.
The issue of the governors has remained one of the
outstanding issues which
is being disputed by the two MDC factions and Zanu
PF.
The MDC factions want this issue to be fully resolved before the
expiry of
the two-year term of the GPA next month.
Tsvangirai’s
lawyers also challenge the affidavit filed by Maxwell Ranga,
the acting
permanent secretary of the ministry of Justice.
“He (Ranga) fails to
appreciate that he is conflicted. He has not explained
how he is qualified
to render an opinion on the law or to contribute to the
facts.
There
is no proof that he is authorised to swear an affidavit on behalf of
the
first respondent. I further state for the record that any and all
averments
in the opposing affidavits which are inconsistent with my founding
affidavit
and these answers are disputed and denied.”
http://www.radiovop.com
07/01/2011
11:18:00
Harare, January 07, 2011 – Information and Publicity
Minister, Webster Shamu
has distanced himself from the exorbitant media
registration fees recently
gazetted under the repressive Access to
Information and Protection of
Privacy Act (Aippa).
The fees which
went up by 400 percent have been described as punitive and
retributive by
media freedom activists.
Shamu said in a statement the fees were pegged
by the nine-member Zimbabwe
Media Commission (ZMC), a statutory body
regulating the operations of the
local media.
"It (ZMC) only turns to
the Minister and the Ministry for legal
administrative instruments that give
full effect to its decisions.
Under the new fees, local journalists who
work for foreign media will be
required to pay a US$400 accreditation fee,
up from US$100, while their
employers will pay US$6000 annually. This is
more than double the current
rate of US$2500.
News organisations from
the Southern African Development Community now pay
annual fees of US$2000,
up from US$1000.
The Zimbabwe Union of Journalists has described the fee
hike as retributive.
Although the ZMC, formed last year under Zimbabwe’s
Global Political
Agreement, is deemed independent, critics say government
forces linked to
President Robert Mugabe could be in control of its
decisions.
Zimbabwe is accused of maintaining tough media controls that
have curtailed
the operations of its media.
Recent months have seen
the arrest of journalists working for the
independent media while supporters
of Mugabe’s party have openly advocated
for death penalties on journalists
writing so-called lies about Mugabe’s
unpopular administration.
The
state media has also been accused by other political parties of being a
Zanu
(PF) mouthpiece.
http://www.reliefweb.int
Source:
International Organization for Migration (IOM)
Date: 07 Jan
2011
IOM and partners have begun to implement a contingency plan to
provide
humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwean migrants who may be forcibly
returned
from South Africa this year following the end of a regularization
campaign
on 31 December 2010.
Hundreds of thousands of irregular
Zimbabwean migrants could face
deportation from South Africa as only about a
sixth of the estimated
Zimbabwean irregular migrant population applied for
legal status.
Nearly 276,000 Zimbabweans in the end registered for
regularization through
the campaign that began last September. However,
there are an estimated 1.5
million Zimbabweans living in South Africa, many
of whom migrated as a
result of the social and economic unrest in Zimbabwe
in recent years.
IOM, together with humanitarian partners and the
Zimbabwean and South
African governments will provide humanitarian and
protection assistance to
vulnerable returnees, including unaccompanied
minors. Under the plan, IOM
with support from local and international
organizations has prepositioned
non-food items including tents and blankets
at Reception and Support Centres
at the Beitbridge and Plumtree border
crossings in Zimbabwe.
The locations, bordering South Africa and
Botswana, are two of the principal
points for cross border traffic for
Zimbabwean migrants. The IOM Beitbridge
and Plumtree centres, which opened
in 2006 and 2008, have assisted some
316,000 and 121,000 returnees
respectively with protection services, basic
medical treatment and
health-related referrals, temporary shelter, food,
water and sanitation
facilities, psychosocial counselling, information on
HIV and AIDS, family
tracing and reunification assistance and
transportation.
In September
2010, agreement was reached between the Zimbabwean and South
African
governments to register all Zimbabwean nationals currently residing
in South
Africa. As part of the arrangement, irregular Zimbabwean migrants
had to
apply for legal residency status based on employment or business
ownership
in South Africa by December 31, or risk deportation.
Zimbabwean migrants
faced a number of challenges to regularizing their
status, including a
backlog for processing passport applications in Zimbabwe
itself.
IOM
assisted registration efforts by providing material, equipment and staff
to
support a mobile registration centre as well as working with a farm
association in the Limpopo border area to identify communities and
facilitate registration of Zimbabwean nationals within the
Province.
IOM continues to support community stabilization efforts in
some of the most
impoverished migrant sending areas of Zimbabwe through
income generation
programmes and other livelihoods initiatives.
http://www.mg.co.za/
RAY NDLOVU - Jan 07 2011
11:32
Jonathan Moyo, the controversial spin doctor expelled from
Zimbabwe's ruling
Zanu-PF, is on the political comeback trail.
At
Zanu-PF's national conference in Mutare before Christmas, President
Robert
Mugabe recalled him to the party's politburo, its highest
decision-making
body.
It was an indication of Moyo's reviving political fortunes in what
he once
described as "a party of octogenarians" -- he was last in the
50-member
politburo in February 2005 before Mugabe fired him from
government. But
judging by the roar of applause that met his reappointment,
as well as the
smiles of party officials and the gyrating women who welcomed
him back,
Zanu-PF and its "Dear Leader" are prepared to forgive and
forget.
Mugabe told delegates: "I don't want to call him a prodigal son.
He is back
as he was working in the party; he has talent and I am sure we
will be
satisfied with his work."
With elections expected this year,
Zanu-PF will need Moyo's "talent" as a
former spin doctor in government to
drive the party's propaganda machine.
Political observers acknowledge
that he was instrumental in securing the
presidency for Mugabe in 2002 amid
a wave of anti-Zanu-PF sentiment among
voters.
Moyo's
role
Although Zanu-PF did not immediately announce Moyo's role in the
politburo,
media reports tipped him for the post of deputy political
commissar, a post
left vacant by the death of Ephraim Masawi last
year.
This would be a new chapter in his zig-zagging 10-year political
career in
which he has been a government spokesperson, Zanu-PF information
and
publicity minister, an amateur musician who crafted the incessant
pro-Mugabe
jingles aired every five minutes on the state broadcaster, an
ardent critic
of Mugabe and on two occasions Zimbabwe's sole independent
legislator for
the Tsholotsho North constituency. His oscillating loyalties
led Mugabe to
label him a "deviant".
Moyo was also the alleged
architect of the repressive Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy
Act and the Public Order and Security Act. He
orchestrated the closure of
several independent newspapers in 2003.
In 2004 Moyo fell out of favour
with Mugabe for allegedly organising the
Tsholotsho Declaration where he
lobbied several Zanu-PF bigwigs to support
the appointment of Emmerson
Mnangagwa as vice-president at its December
national conference ahead of
current incumbent Joyce Mujuru. An angry Mugabe
fired him and suspended
several party officials linked to the succession
plot.
Last year,
however, Moyo rejoined Zanu-PF and began to dress down the
Movement for
Democratic Change, accusing it of working with the United
States to set up a
parallel government to effect regime change.
Ironically, Morgan
Tsvangirai's MDC assisted Moyo's re-election in 2008 as
an independent
legislator for Tsholotsho North by not fielding its own
candidate in that
constituency, on the understanding that Moyo would side
with the MDC in
Parliament. But Moyo has continued to be critical of the
MDC. In the latest
example he pounced on the WikiLeaks disclosures to claim
that they prove MDC
collaboration with American imperialism.
Moyo told the Mail &
Guardian: "We want elections now, as this unity
government is already
unworkable.
It is a tragedy that President Mugabe has to sit in Cabinet
with Morgan
Tsvangirai who then goes to plot with America to effect illegal
and
systematic regime change in the country. And you guys want to give
Tsvangirai the Nobel peace prize."
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
07/01/2011 00:00:00
by Staff Reporter
THE head
of a medium security prison offered a “fresh air” Christmas treat
for 15
inmates but was made to regret this moments later as the prisoners
scattered
in all directions.
Ten of the prisoners were rounded-up and returned to their
cells at Wha Wha
Prison in Gweru, but five made good their
escape.
The Zimbabwe Prison Service has suspended Wha Wha boss, the
brilliantly-named Chief Prison Officer Chanakidzwa, over the incident,
spokeswoman Priscilla Mtembo said from Bulawayo.
The state-run Herald
newspaper reported Friday that alarm was raised just
after lunchtime on
Christmas eve after Chanakidzwa offered the prisoners
from Section C a brief
“feel of the natural world”.
At the time, prison authorities say there
should have been at least three
guards in line with the Prison Service’s
four-inmates-per-guard policy.
Officials say no sooner had the prisoners come
out of their cells that they
started running in all directions to
escape.
A witness said: “The whole incident was like a Hollywood movie.
You could
hear Chanakidzwa shouting ‘ndibatsirei vanhuwe! Huyai mundibatsire
vasungwa
votiza’ (Help me please, come and help the prisoners are
escaping).”
Amazingly, officials said, low-risk prisoners in the last
stages of their
sentences, and who are allowed outside, came to
Chanakidzwa’s aid as they
helped him round-up ten of the
escapees.
However, five slipped the net and enjoyed more than just a
brief “feel of
the natural world” as they spent Christmas and New Year as
free men. They
were still on the run this week.
http://www.kubatanablogs.net/kubatana/?p=4433
Here’s a press statement
just received from Rooftop Promotions:
The Rooftop Promotions ten
member team of “Rituals”, which includes 8
artists, 1 driver and 1 tour
manager currently on a national tour, was
arrested on the late afternoon of
the 5th January 2011 and detained at
Cashel Valley Police station in a case
that is not only disrespectful to the
work of artists but also poses
serious challenges to the commitment of the
GNU to healing and
reconciliation. The team had finished two performances
for that day when
they were invited to the police station to answer a few
questions then later
detained for the night without any clear charges. Those
arrested constitute
arguably Zimbabwe’s crème de la crème and are
multi-award winners in their
craft. They are Chipo Bizure, popularly known
as Eve in Studio 263, Zenzo
Nyathi, popularly known as Mzambani on
Amakorokoza, Silvanos Mudzvova,
Mandla Moyo, Joyce Mpofu and Rutendo
Chigudu. The team spent two nights
(Wednesday and Thursday) in the cells
and are due to appear in court today
(Friday) represented by Cosmos Chibaya
instructed by Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights.
“It is sadly interesting that our artistic work in
promoting national
healing and reconciliation, through a play that has been
seen by the Organ
on National Healing Reconciliation and Integration and has
been approved by
the Board of Censors, is being thwarted like this when the
three principals
in the GPA agreed to prioritise national healing and
reconciliation in their
end of year address to the nation. We are disturbed,
and I should hasten to
say not discouraged or disheartened, by this
behaviour from this particular
police station especially considering that we
hold a valid censorship
certificate from a board which falls under the same
ministry (Home Affairs)
with the police. We do not take this irrational act
lightly at all because
there is nothing funny about sleeping in a police
cell for doing your job
and what makes the situation even more disturbing is
that we notified the
police appropriately according to the provisions of
POSA and had done 16
performances of the same play in that same province
late last year and we
were only left with 4 performances hanging in order to
fulfil our Manicaland
quota”, says Daves Guzha the founder and producer of
Rooftop Promotions.
We learnt about the arrest on the 5th January
around 5pm and contacted
Officer in Charge Inspector Chasara at Cashel
Valley Police Station to
establish the charges being levelled against the
team but he was very
evasive with that information and they went ahead to
place them in cells.
Only yesterday was it stated through a Sergeant Major,
who refused to be
known by his name, did they state the team was being
judged for criminal
nuisance under section 46 and there crime was disturbing
peace. Theatre is
one of the things exempted under POSA and AIPPA but we
still have always
notified police of our activities every time and in this
case we released a
schedule to Mutare Central Police which stated the areas
we were covering
when we started this tour and out of the 20 scheduled
performances for
Manicaland, we were left with only four at the time of
arresting and
detaining our team.
The team’s story, which was
supported by people who watched the
performance, was that they started off
very well, the people loved the show
and it was only when the play ended
that a police detail who was recording
the show confronted them and invited
them to the station to answer a few
questions to do with the clearance of
staging the play. They explained
everything but still they were detained and
it was only at 6am in the
morning that the charge shifted to criminal
nuisance whereupon they were
asked to pay a fine of $20.00 each which they
refused in no uncertain terms
and insisted they will wait for the Producer
since they believed they had
not breached any peace but just did their job
to entertain and educate
people. When we arrived at Cashel Valley Police
station, the said Sergeant
Major reiterated the same and said he had
instructions from the Officer In
Charge to make the team pay the said fine
or be detained and taken to court
something that we also could not accept
since paying a fine technically
means admission of guilt to a crime the team
insisted they never committed.
“As an artist who believes in the role
of theatre in promoting healing
and reconciliation, I watched in pain as I
saw my colleagues being escorted
by gun wielding officers as though they
were some high profile criminals and
the sad part of it was that they were
being locked up for promoting a
national agenda. I did not know whether I
needed to be disappointed with the
particular police officers or the entire
law enforcement system of my
country as I saw the country’s arts talent
being criminalised for doing a
play on healing and reconciliation. At a time
when the principals and
parties in the GPA are pushing for reforms and
reconciliation before
elections, it is unfortunate that some law enforcing
agents cannot wake up
and smell the coffee but still want to live in the
Zimbabwe that everyone
else agrees was not good. ”, says Tafadzwa Muzondo
the Marketing & Sales
Executive for Rooftop Promotions.
Written by Stephen Chifunyise after going through a research on
community
approaches to healing and reconciliation, directed and produced by
Daves
Guzha, featuring Mandla Moyo, Zenzo Nyathi, Joyce Mpofu, Chipo Bizure,
Silvanos Mudzvova and Rutendo Chigudu, “Rituals” is a story told in
panoramic fashion chronicling how community initiated cultural solutions
meet with serious challenges which either prevent their conclusive enactment
or achievement of the desired results.
“The fact that this
production is a result of a community research we
commissioned the writer to
do in order to come up with a play that
encourages community initiated or
driven healing and reconciliation
processes means it came from the people
and we have to take back to them
with our artistic input in order to
entertain and educate them. The play has
had up to 30 performances after its
successful premiere at Theatre in the
Park last year and also became an
instant hit when it was performed at the
All Africa Dance for Peace Festival
in Nairobi Kenya last year. It has also
been hailed as an effective tool of
making people begin dialogue and
ultimately start their own processes of
healing and reconciliation as a
community”, says Daves Guzha the Producer of
Rooftop Promotions.
In discussions and comments after the play, most
audience members
expressed the need to have more of such programs in order
to demystify the
culture of fear and violence in favour of tolerance and
unity in
communities. One of the audience members actually said: “People
like us who
have access to newspapers and other information know that there
is an Organ
on Healing & Reconciliation but we have not seen what it is
doing to do its
work. There are not coming to us to hear our concerns, our
grievances and
suggestions so how do they expect to heal us and reconcile
us?”
“The Sergeant Major tried to coax us into paying a fine for a
crime we
never committed and as artists we took a collective stand to let
the law
take its course because we are not criminals but professionals doing
our
job. But after our lawyer communicated that decision to him, he started
becoming un-cooperative and ordered us to beck in cells. One of the ladies
wanted some sanitary pads locked in the car but he refused and we believe
they are using our liberty as a bargaining tool to get out clean with
unlawfully detaining us. As artists, we encourage people to stand for
themselves and their rights so if we cannot stand for ourselves and our
rights also then we become “do as I say not as I do prophets. We refuse to
be incriminated for doing our work and fending for our families”, says
Silvanos Mudzvova, one of the cast members of “Rituals”.
“Rituals” was performed at the initiated Institute for Justice and
Reconciliation indaba which brought together participants from Zimbabwe’s
all political parties including the Organ on National Healing and
Reconciliation. It is available on DVD.
This entry was posted on
January 7th, 2011 at 9:13 am by Bev Clark