http://www.radiovop.com
08/01/2011 19:44:00
HARARE, January 8,
2011- Industry and Commerce Minister Professor Welshman
Ncube was on
Saturday elected unopposed to the position of party president,
replacing
Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara who did not seek
re-election at the
two day congress being held in Harare.
Ncube, who was the party's
secretary-general, was elected by all provinces
including Masvingo which had
earlier on led a rebellion by disgruntled
delegates who vowed they were
still loyal to Mutambara.
Ncube's deputy is Edwin Mushoriwa who was also
elected unopposed into the
party’s second most powerful position in a
contest where all positions were
up for grabs.
Addressing delegates
at the congress Mutambara said he had made a voluntary
decision not to
contest the party,s presidency in the spirit of keeping the
MDC unity intact
while demonstrating he was a leader of a party that
promoted true
democracy.
Mutambara who had become unpopular with party supporters over the
past two
years received a thunderous applause from the floor when he told
delegates
that he was prepared to be a ordinary card carrying member of the
MDC.Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga was elected Secretary-General
She
is a veteran of the struggle for women emancipation in Zimbabwe and a
founder member of the National Constitutional Assembly (NCA).She is also
Minister of Regional Integration and International Co-operation.
Former
deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and war veteran Moses Mzila Ndlovu
was
elected Deputy Secretary-General.Mzila has also held the position of
party
provincial chairperson for Matabeleland South. He is currently a
Member of
Parliament for Bulilima.Veteran politician Paul Themba Nyathi was
deployed
to the position of Treasurer General.He was the National Director
of
Elections.PT as he is known in political circles is one of Zimbabwe,s
most
experienced and respected political administrators.
Theresa Marimazhira was
elected Deputy Treasurer General.She was the
Secretary-General of the Women’
Assembly having risen through the ranks from
the position of secretary of
the Midlands Province.Goodrich Chimbaira is the
party,s new national
chairman.Ncube's election as party leader changes the
party's name to MDC-N.
http://www.radiovop.com
08/01/2011 04:00:00
Harare,
January 08, 2011 - The smaller faction of the Movement for
Democratic Change
(MDC) is on the verge of a split with disgruntled members
saying they would
not recognise Welshman Ncube as the new president.
Led by outgoing
national chairman, Joubert Mudzumwe, the members accused
Ncube of
unilateralism and regularly flouting the party’s constitution.
“(Arthur)
Mutambara is still our leader and will remain our leader till we
hold a
legitimate and constitutional congress,” Mudzumwe told a press
conference on
the eve of the party’s congress.
He said Ncube should call off the
congress set for Saturday and Sunday in
Harare, failure to which the party a
split would be inevitable.
Mudzumwe also announced the appointment of
Nomalanga Khumalo as the deputy
president, succeeding Gibson Sibanda who
died last August.
He said they had kept silent while Ncube flouted the
constitution as they
wanted to maintain stability within the party, but
matters boiled over ahead
of the congress, as the secretary general had
handpicked delegates to
attend.
“Power in the party has been usurped
by one person, he is literally running
the party on his own having taken
over from the chairman and the organising
department,” deputy organising
secretary, Morgan Changamire said.
He added that the party had virtually
been imprisoned by power hungry
individuals who were sidelining the
structures.
Mudzumwe said his grouping would hold a “legitimate and
properly constituted
congress” after a complete restructuring of the
party.
Ncube’s rise to the presidency had appeared unstoppable with 11
out of the
party’s 12 provinces picking him ahead of Mutambara.
If
the split happens, the MDC may see three factions in the country. The
original party was started in 1999 by former trade union members before it
split in 2005. Morgan Tsvangirai leads the mainstream faction.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/
08 January, 2011 03:45:00
Our Corresponent
HARARE - Outgoing President of the Movement for
Democratic Change, Professor
Arthur Mutambara and his Secretary-General,
"split specialist" Welshman
Ncube are said to be locked in bitter power
struggles, amid reports that
Mutambara stormed the top table and challenged
Ncube, according to latest
reports coming from the party's Congress in
Harare.
Led by outgoing national chairman, Joubert Mudzumwe, the members
accused
Ncube of unilateralism and regularly flouting the party’s
constitution.
“(Arthur) Mutambara is still our leader and will remain our
leader till we
hold a legitimate and constitutional congress,” Mudzumwe told
a press
conference on the eve of the party’s congress.
He said Ncube
should call off the congress set for Saturday and Sunday in
Harare, failure
to which the party a split would be inevitable.
Mudzumwe also announced
the appointment of Nomalanga Khumalo as the deputy
president, succeeding
Gibson Sibanda who died last August.
He said they had kept silent while
Ncube flouted the constitution as they
wanted to maintain stability within
the party, but matters boiled over ahead
of the congress, as the secretary
general had handpicked delegates to
attend.
“Power in the party has
been usurped by one person, he is literally running
the party on his own
having taken over from the chairman and the organising
department,” deputy
organising secretary, Morgan Changamire said.
He added that the party had
virtually been imprisoned by power hungry
individuals who were sidelining
the structures.
Mudzumwe said his grouping would hold a “legitimate and
properly constituted
congress” after a complete restructuring of the
party.
Ncube’s rise to the presidency had appeared unstoppable with 11
out of the
party’s 12 provinces picking him ahead of Mutambara.
If
the split happens, the MDC may see three factions in the country. The
original party was started in 1999 by former trade union members before it
split in 2005. Morgan Tsvangirai leads the mainstream faction.
http://www.voanews.com
Finance
Minister Tendai Biti allocated the Electoral Commission US$30
million to
hold a constitutional referendum and set aside US$20 million for
a range of
other tasks including a voters roll overhaul and redistricting
Blessing
Zulu | Washington 07 January 2011
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
has declared that the funds it was
allocated by the Ministry of Finance for
2011 are insufficient to cover the
costs of national elections such as
President Robert Mugabe and his ZANU-PF
party have urged be held this
year.
Mr Mugabe said late last year that elections should be held by June
and his
party later endorsed that course of action in its annual conference
early
last month.
But both formations of the former opposition
Movement for Democratic Change,
which is co-governing with ZANU-PF in the
unity government formed in
February 2009, backed by the Southern African
Development Community, say
many electoral reforms must be put in place
before elections can be held -
including adoption of a new
constitution.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti allocated the Electoral
Commission US$30
million to hold a referendum on the new constitution yet to
be drafted, and
set aside US$20 million for a range of other tasks including
a voters roll
overhaul and redistricting.
The commission has appealed
to Mr. Mugabe, Mr. Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara,
head of a rival MDC formation, for increased
funding.
ZEC Chairman
Simpson Mutambanengwe told VOA Studio 7 reporter Blessing Zulu
that his
commission cannot execute its reform agenda with its present
budget.
The predecessor electoral commission headed by now-High Court
Justice George
Chiweshe withheld the results of the first round of the 2008
presidential
election for more than a month, and was suspected by some of
tampering with
ballots or counts to deprive opposition candidate Tsvangirai
of a first
round majority and the presidency.
Zimbabwe's elections
have been disputed since 2000 resulting in the
imposition by the United
States, Europe and others of targeted financial and
travel sanctions on Mr.
Mugabe and more than 200 members of his inner
circle.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by The
Zimbabwean
Saturday, 08 January 2011 13:18
HARARE – The proposed
Electoral Act amendments are a ploy by Zanu (PF) to
preempt an election
roadmap currently being developed by South African
President Jacob Zuma and
that could include drastic changes unpalatable to
President Robert Mugabe’s
party, analysts have warned.
Zanu (PF) legal running dog Patrick Chinamasa –
who is also Zimbabwe’s
Justice Minister – has proposed to ban civic
participation in voter
education as well as punish anyone announcing
election results before they
are released by an election officer. The
Electoral Amendment Bill of 2010
also proposes to give the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (ZEC) more
responsibilities on voter education.
It
seeks to ban foreign organisations from providing any voter education
while
local organisations would be required to have their
material vetted by ZEC.
Organisations such as the Zimbabwe Election Support
Network would also be
required to disclose their sources of funding.
“Offensive” or “misleading”
election education material would be banned.
Other proposals include the
appointment of special police liaison officers
and special investigation
committees in provincial centres to handle cases
of politically-motivated
violence or intimidation in each province. The
special liaison officers
would be senior police officers, to be appointed by
Commissioner General
Augustine Chihuri, who would work closely with the
Zimbabwe Human Rights
Commission and a multi-party liaison committee during
the election
period.
Analysts however said the proposed amendments are meant to sidestep
Zuma and
his team of Southern African Development Community (SADC) mediators
who are
currently working on a roadmap for future polls in Zimbabwe. “The
amendments
are meant to counter any proposals that Zuma may come up with
that Zanu
fears may work against the party. They want to make
sure they
don’t leave their fate in the hands of the SADC team,” political
analyst
Donald Porusingazi told The Zimbabwean On Sunday.
The analysts said Chihuri
was an interested party and would not be expected
to be impartial when
dealing with cases of political violence or
intimidation. “We surely would
not expect someone who has openly stated his
allegiance to one of the
parties to then be an impartial referee in the
event there is a repeat of
the events of 2008 when hundreds of opposition
supporters were murdered by
Zanu (PF) militias,” said an investment banker
who spoke on condition of
anonymity.
Tsvangirai’s MDC-T party says more than 500 of its supporters were
killed in
the violence that accompanied a disputed presidential election
run-off
between the former opposition leader and Mugabe in June 2008.
Thousands
other MDC-T supporters were displaced in the ensuing violence
allegedly
perpetrated by Zanu (PF) youths, soldiers and so-called veterans
of the
country’s 1970s war of independence.
Zuma is the SADC’s official
mediator between President Robert Mugabe and
arch-rival Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai who came together in a unity
government under immense
pressure from the regional body keen to contain a
political crisis that
followed Zimbabwe’s inconclusive elections in 2008.
The proposed SADC
election roadmap includes adopting a new
Constitution, drawing up a fresh
voters’ roll, ending political violence and
passing of new electoral rules
by Parliament. The SADC election roadmap for
Zimbabwe will be modelled along
the lines of the regional bloc’s Principles
and Guidelines Governing
Elections which were adopted in Mauritius in 2004.
The guidelines stipulate
that SADC member states should uphold the full
participation of citizens in
political processes as well as freedom of
association, political tolerance,
equal access to state media for all
political parties, equal opportunity to
vote and be voted for, and voter
education. Zuma is understood to be working
on a document that will lay the
basis for establishing impartial,
all-inclusive, competent and accountable
national electoral bodies staffed
by qualified personnel.
Talk of new elections next year by Mugabe and
Tsvangirai to end their
marriage of convenience that insiders say is
increasingly becoming a hostile
affair has further stoked up tensions in
Zimbabwe in recent months. Civil
society groups say the country is not ready
for new elections because
political violence is still taking place, while
several electoral reforms
and a proposed new Constitution still need to be
implemented and given time
to take root to ensure the next vote is free and
fair.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 07 January 2011 13:59
Clemence
Manyukwe, Political Editor
SOUTH African President Jacob Zuma forced
ZANU-PF to backtrack on plans to
hold polls before the institution of
far-reaching reforms required to
guarantee a free and fair poll, The
Financial Gazette can reveal. It emerged
this week that Zuma, the
facilitator in the Zimbabwean dialogue has always
been opposed to rushed
elections, fearing that they may end up yielding a
contested result, the
trend since 2002 when the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC-T) started
fielding its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, as a
presidential candidate.
In
recent months, ZANU–PF leaders had appeared unstoppable in dragging the
country into another controversial poll as frustrations with lack of common
purpose in the three-party government took its toll, fuelling their
determination to go separate ways.
President Robert Mugabe, Vice
President John Nkomo and the party’s chairman,
Simon Khaya Moyo have all
previously said going into an inclusive government
with the MDC-T was a
mistake and elections, with or without a new
constitution, would be
held.
But in an interview with The Financial Gazette this week Zuma’s
international relations advisor, Lindiwe Zulu, revealed that the South
African President had intervened to save the situation hence the deferment
of the polls from the proposed month of June.
“It is an intervention by
the facilitator. The facilitator has been very
clear on the need for
elections with a difference. We cannot call it
backtracking on the part of
any of the parties. It is a matter of the
parties becoming realistic in
terms of the time frames,” said Zulu.
“There is nothing wrong with a
timeframe, but it needs to be realistic.”
Zulu said there was a lot of work
that needed to be done before the country
could hold free and fair polls
whose outcome would be acceptable to all the
country’s political parties,
the Southern Africa Development Community
(SADC) and the African
Union.
Apart from the required reforms, state appendages such as the Zimbabwe
Human
Rights Commission and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission needed to do
some
work to facilitate a credible poll.
Election talk had raffled
feathers even among those in ZANU-PF especially
some of its legislators who
were strongly opposed to cutting short their
current terms of office.
At
the party’s conference held in Manicaland Province last month, President
Mugabe said any legislator who was reluctant to go for polls would be
sidelined and new candidates considered.
At the last minute and in the
face of ZANU-PF’s determination to proceed
with the elections voting, the
MDC-T had sought to pre-empt ZANU-PF
conference resolution on elections by
coming up with a middle-of-the-road
approach.
The party said only the
disputed presidential poll was acceptable, arguing
that Members of
Parliament and councillors should be allowed to continue
with their
electoral mandates granted in 2008.
The country’s main workers’
representative body, the Zimbabwe Congress of
Trade Unions has also said
only presidential polls were to be held
completing a circle in which
ZANU-PF found itself at loggerheads with the
MDC formations, labour and
civil society in its scheme.
But the biggest opposition came from SADC
through Zuma.
Fearing both the intended and unintended consequences of going
it alone,
ZANU-PF finally buckled to pressure but not before putting up a
spirited
fight.
Since President Mugabe said elections would be held in
June this year,
ZANU-PF has been oiling its machinery in a campaign targeted
at mainly
youths and church groups with the overall underlining message of
indigenisation and empowerment.
A recent report by the party’s
commissariat submitted to ZANU-PF’s December
conference suggested new
strategies to win elections saying the party was
losing polls because its
membership of an estimated 2,5 million was not
translating into
votes.
The report said the empowerment programme; with a special emphasis on
mining
has a special appeal to the middle class, which has been hostile to
the
party.
The commissariat said the other problem ZANU-PF faced was that
officials
were inflating figures on membership hence there was need to
authenticate
the existence of members.
The department said ZANU-PF found
itself in a paradoxical situation where it
claimed to have a staggering
membership, yet facing declining subscriptions
and warned that: “those
guilty of inflating membership figures will
literally pay for such
inflations.”
It added: “In view of the fact that youths constitute the
majority of
voters, provincial structures emphasised that ZANU-PF should
target the
youths through relevant messages and programmes to win them over
to support
the party. It was suggested that programmes such as the
indigenisation and
empowerment must also incorporate this group.”
http://www.radiovop.com
08/01/2011 19:38:00
HARARE,
January 8, 2011--Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa will on Monday
appear
before a Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Mines and Energy to
explain
the circumstances leading to the annexation of Mutumwa Mawere’s SMM
Holdings.
Monday will be Chinamasa,s last chance to attend the
hearing having twice
skipped the meetings and failure to attend this time
will land him in
trouble with Parliament.
One is given three chances to
show up at a hearing and Chinamasa has bunked
meetings twice inside one
month in December. Edward Chindori-Chininga
confirmed Saturday that
Chinamasa will attend the meeting.
“He knows that he is coming for a
hearing on Monday and as far as we
(portfolio committee) are concerned, he
is coming,” Chindori-Chininga said.
The committee wants Chinamasa to explain
how the government used
reconstruction laws to seize Mawere’s
assets.
As the Minister of Justice, Chinamasa was instrumental in first
specifying
Mawere on forex externalisation claims and then pushed for
reconstruction of
SMM Holdings on the grounds that it was indebted to the
state by owing
parastatals and quasi government bodies money.
Chinamasa
angered the committee last month when he did not show up for a
meeting. It
later emerged that he had approached Speaker of Parliament
Lovemore Moyo
seeking permission to defer the hearing. Moyo told Chinamasa
that he had to
speak with Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma who oversees
portfolio
committees. Chinamasa later spoke to deputy clerk, Kennedy
Chokuda. However,
he did not make his request in writing.
“The minister neither submitted
anything in writing to the committee nor
submit anything in writing to the
Clerk of Parliament and therefore there is
nothing in record,” Chindori
Chininga said last month.
Mawere has already appeared before the
committee and after Chinamasa’s
appearance, the committee will write a
report recommending way forward on
the case. Mawere lost his prized assets
in 2005 after government said they
were indebted to the state by virtue of
owing parastatals money.
http://www.irinnews.org/
JOHANNESBURG, 7 January 2011 (IRIN) -
Undocumented Zimbabwean migrants were
given until 31 December 2010 to
regularize their stay in South Africa, but
this has been extended to 31
March, and problems with issuing passports by
the Zimbabwean authorities
could delay the process even further.
"There will be no deportations
until the end of March," said Ricky Naidoo,
spokesman for the South African
Department of Home Affairs.
In September 2010 South Africa announced a
moratorium on deporting
Zimbabweans and said it would allow migrants until
31 December to regularize
their stay by applying for work, business or study
permits.
The lull in deportations will give the department time to
process more than
275,000 applications for permits received from Zimbabwean
migrants. "We are
trying our best to complete the adjudication process in
the next few weeks,"
Naidoo said.
The South African government
relaxed its requirements as the 31 December
deadline approached and now
awaits a variety of outstanding documents,
including passports, to process
the applications.
Zimbabwean migrant rights organizations in South
Africa, such as the
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF), and People Against
Suffering, Suppression,
Oppression and Poverty (PASSOP), expressed their
appreciation.
"They [the South African government] even accepted
applications with just
birth certificates and, in some instances, not even
that," said Braam
Hanekom of PASSOP.
The two NGOs are helping
migrants who have applied for permits to obtain the
required documents. The
biggest problem was getting a Zimbabwean passport.
Earlier this week, the
Zimbabwean registrar general's office indefinitely
suspended the production
of passports, temporary travelling documents, and
other documents such as
national identity cards and birth certificates,
after saying an electrical
fault had affected its database in the capital,
Harare.
ZEF's Gabriel
Shumba estimated that at least 100,000 applications for South
African
permits had been submitted without passports.
Naidoo said South Africa
had offered to help the Zimbabwean government issue
the passports, but
refused to comment on whether the offer had been
accepted. So far, 42,779
applications had been finalized and approved,
10,166 were awaiting review,
and 222,817 were awaiting adjudication.
The Zimbabwean daily newspaper,
The Herald, which supports the
ruling-ZANU-PF party, on 7 January quoted
Registrar-General Tobaiwa Mudede
as saying that they would start issuing
passports again on 10 January.
"But will that help? They have a
tremendous backlog," Shumba noted.
Thousands of Zimbabweans who went home to
obtain identity documents have
been left stranded.
Kaajal
Ramjathan-Keogh, head of the refugee and migrant programme at Lawyers
for
Human Rights (LHR), a South African organization, told IRIN that the
Zimbabwean authorities had been issuing 500 passports a day before they
suspended production.
The price of not applying
Hundreds of
thousands of Zimbabwean migrants could face deportation from
South Africa,
"as only about a sixth of the estimated Zimbabwean irregular
migrant
population applied for legal status," the International Organization
for
Migration (IOM) said in a statement.
"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."
The
organization has reception centres for refugees at the Beitbridge border
crossing from Zimbabwe to South Africa and in Plumtree, the main border
crossing between Zimbabwe and Botswana, and is on standby to provide free
transportation to deportees. With support from local and international
bodies, IOM has prepositioned non-food items including tents and
blankets.
ZEF's Shumba said inadequate publicity about the regularization
process and
lack of information on the requirements had deterred many
Zimbabweans from
applying.
Employers had also often been reluctant to
provide letters of employment for
fear of persecution. "The home affairs
[department] assured these employers
that there will be no action taken
against them a bit too late," Shumba
said.
"Most Zimbabwean migrants
work part-time, it was difficult for them to
establish full-time
employment," Hanekom noted.
Nevertheless, Zimbabweans migrants could
still apply for asylum, he said.
"The application will provide them a
temporary asylum seeker’s status until
their interview to establish whether
they qualify - this can take up to two
years."
He noted that asylum
applications by Zimbabweans had a dismal record, "95
percent of them get
rejected, but it can still get you some time."
In the past 10 years, as
hyperinflation, and social and economic problems
have rocked Zimbabwe, more
and more Zimbabweans have sought refuge in
neighbouring South Africa, the
most economically advanced country in the
region.
[This report
does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
http://www.voanews.com
Nyanga South
Member of Parliament Willard Chimbetete said white-owned
tourist lodges and
cottages have been the main targets of a campaign
launched by war veterans
around the turn of the year
Gibbs Dube | Washington 07 January
2011
Self-styled Zimbabwean liberation war veterans have started to
take over
tourist lodges in Nyanga South district of eastern Manicaland
province in a
development reminiscent of takeovers of white-owned commercial
farms under
land reform from 2000 on.
Sources said war veterans and
youth militia aligned with President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party,
accompanied by operatives of the Central
Intelligence Organization, have
been seizing white-owned lodges, cottages
and other tourism
facilities.
Nyanga South Member of Parliament Willard Chimbetete said the
invaders, led
by a woman believed to be a former freedom fighter, have
caused havoc in the
area.
Chimbetete said some of the invaded lodges
are owned by foreigners. He said
the police have been informed of the
deteriorating situation. A police
official refused to
comment.
Reached by VOA, ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo declined to
comment.
Charles Kazhenga, a local official of the Movement for
Democratic Change
formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, said
Nyanga business
owners are now living in fear.
http://www.voanews.com
Kimberly Process members had until Monday to vote on an
amendment to an
agreement drafted in Jerusalem late last year which would
make it harder for
critics of Harare's Marange policy to initiate
investigations of abuses
Tatenda Gumbo | Washington 07 January
2011
Grave human rights abuses including killings and forced labor
are alleged to
have taken place in the Marange alluvial diamond field in
eastern Manicaland
province
Non-governmental organizations involved
in the Kimberly Process
Certification Scheme have challenged claims by
Zimbabwean Deputy Mines
Minister Gift Chimanikire that the watchdog group
authorized Zimbabwe to
hold two Marange diamond auctions in 2011.
In
published comments, Chimanikire has insisted that the Kimberly Process
confirmed the gems to be sold under the purported agreement were mined from
2006 to 2009, so they did not fall under a current suspension of sales
pending resolution of various issues.
A statement has yet to be
received from the new Kimberly Process chairman,
Mathieu Yamba of the
Democratic Republic of Congo.
Global Witness campaigner Elly Harrowell, a
Kimberly Process member, told
VOA that she knows of no such Kimberly
decision.
Harrowell told VOA Studio 7 reporter Tatenda Gumbo that the
question of how
diamonds from Zimbabwe's troubled Marange field may be
marketed has not been
resolved.
Kimberly Process members meanwhile
had until Monday to vote on an amendment
to the agreement the organization
drafted in Jerusalem late last year in a
final attempt by outgoing chairman
Boaz Hirsch’s to reach consensus on
Marange diamonds.
The amendment
would revise Kimberly protocols to require three instead of
two member
nations to accept reports of violence so the group can
investigate further.
The change would make it harder for critics of Marange
operations to trigger
a new inquiry.
Alan Martin, research director with Partnership Africa
Canada, a Kimberly
member group, said the amendment would not allow the KP
working group on
monitoring to quickly act on allegations of abuses, adding
that there are a
number of underlying issues that must be resolved for
Kimberly to clear the
way for more auctions of Marange
diamonds.
Grave human rights abuses including killings and forced labor
are alleged to
have taken place in the Marange alluvial diamond field in
eastern Manicaland
province, which has been under Zimbabwean military
control for several
years.
http://www.radiovop.com/
08/01/2011
19:39:00
JOHANNESBURG, January 8, 2011- The recently formed Mthwakazi
Liberation
Front (MLF) says it will soon start a programme of identifying
mass graves
containing the remains of thousands of people who perished at
the hands of
Five Brigade troops in the early 80s.
Speaking to a
small group of Journalists in Johannesburg,s spacious suburb
of Rosebank on
Saturday, MLF secretary for legal affairs, Sabelo Ngwenya
said they have
already started the process of identifying mass graves and
the
victims.
According to Ngwenya, who is a lawyer in Johannesburg, some of the
victims
of the Five Brigade included South African refugees who were running
away
from apartheid police and unarmed members of Umkhonto we Sizwe (Mk) who
were
absorbed into Zipra guerrilla ranks soon after independence in
1980.
Another MLF official, David Magagula who is an author and teacher
told the
meeting that his organisation will soon meet leaders of the African
National
Congress (ANC) and those from MK on the issue.
However it has
been learnt that some of the names of ANC cadres who died in
Zimbabwe during
and after the liberation war were compiled by Bulawayo based
Mafela Trust in
the 90s.
Last year some ANC leaders returned to Zambia where they had
military bases
to collect the remains of their guerrillas who died during
the struggle
against apartheid rule.The remains of MK cadres who died
fighting alongside
ZAPU guerrillas in the Zimbabwe liberation war have not
been exhumed and
taken back to South Africa for reburial.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Tobias Manyuchi Saturday 08 January
2011
HARARE -- The Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) said
preparations for the country’s fourth population census were underway but
said it was still looking for more funds to ensure the exercise set for
August next year will not flop.
ZIMSTAT, which was formerly known as
the Central Statistical Office, has
counted the number of Zimbabweans every
10 years since the first census in
1982.
Acting director of the
government data agency General Moffat Nyoni said it
was making frantic
efforts to raises funds and other resources from Treasury
and possibly
donors to ensure a successful census.
“We are still engaging government
our traditional sponsor and other
potential supporters to make this process
a success,” Nyoni said on Friday
He said an exercise launched last year
to draw household maps that will be
used during the census was progressing
well despite resource restrictions.
He said: “We began the mapping
exercise during the second quarter of last
year and our main challenge
during this preparatory stage for the census is
transport which has delayed
some of our exercises.”
Previous censuses have shown Zimbabwe’s
population increasing with the 2002
enumeration exercise putting the number
of people in the country at around
12 million.
But analysts expect
the next census to show either a drop in population
growth or stagnation
after a political and economic crisis drove at least
three million people or
a quarter of the country’s population to foreign
countries in search for
jobs and better leaving conditions. -- ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Lovejoy Sakala
Friday, 07
January 2011 12:28
CHIMANIMANI – MDC-T supporters here say they will not
abandon party
treasurer Roy Bennett despite warnings by war veterans and
Zanu (PF) militia
to ditch the exiled politician at the next polls or face
retribution.
Bennett, who is in exile in South Africa after fleeing
harassment by state
security agents, is a former legislator for Chimanimani
and remains hugely
popular among the MDC rank and file here.
However
a story carried by The Zimbabwean last December quoting several
villagers
declaring their support for Bennett appears to have triggered a
panic
reaction from war veterans and Zanu (PF) youths who have since then
besieged
the area intimidating and harassing MDC activists in a bid to cow
them into
abandoning their exiled leader.
But scores of MDC supporters last week
said they were going to back Bennett
should he stand as a candidate for
Chimanimani in the next election whose
date is yet to be set.
"We
will rather die for democracy and our rights,” said Maxwell Nyahoda, a
local
villager. He added: “Nothing will stop us from supporting Bennett ….
Pachedu
has done a lot for us.”
Pachedu, which is the local Shona language for
“together”, is the nickname
given Bennett by villagers here, a sign of the
white former commercial
farmer’s huge popularity in a constituency
comprising mainly black peasant
voters.
Meanwhile, some MDC
supporters here accused Zanu (PF) officials of hijacking
a state farm input
supply programme, with any suspected members of the
former opposition party
barred from receiving inputs.
"Although the rains have started we are yet
to receive support from the
government. The inputs here are being
distributed along party lines and
those perceived to be MDC supporters are
sidelined," said Ruth Munowenyu.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Own Correspondent Saturday 08
January 2011
HARARE – The International Organisation for
Migration (IOM) said it has
begun to implement a contingency plan to provide
humanitarian assistance to
Zimbabwean migrants who may be forcibly returned
from South Africa following
the end of a regularisation 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 registered for regularisation
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 announced this week that it would provide
humanitarian and protection
assistance to vulnerable returnees, including
unaccompanied minors under a
programme it has launched in partnership with
humanitarian partners and the
Zimbabwean and South African
governments.
“Under the plan, IOM, with support from local and
international
organisations, has prepositioned non-food items including
tents and blankets
at Reception and Support Centres at the Beitbridge and
Plumtree border
crossings into Zimbabwe,” a spokesperson for the agency
said.
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.
The centres also assist migrants with 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
regularising 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.
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
08 January, 2011
03:19:00 by Fungi Kwaramba
HARARE - MDC-T Youth Assembly Chairman,
Thamusanqa Mhlangu, has described
the party youth wing as the reservoir of
the country’s future leadership,
with the potential to turn around the
fortunes of the country and transform
2011 into the year of real
change.
The party led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was formed just
over a
decade ago and enjoys immense support from the youth, who have
suffered the
consequences of President Robert Mugabe’s misrule and the
resulting 85%
unemployment.
The Youth league of the MDC has so far
produced brilliant individuals like
Nelson Chamisa, the Minister of
Information and Technology, who has dazzled
aging Zanu (PF) ministers in
cabinet with his brilliance.
“The Youth Assembly has been the breeding
ground of leaders. We have young
people who have the capability of standing
up to Zanu (PF)’s aging
dictators.
“In 2011 a lot of young leaders
are going to emerge from the ranks. It is
common knowledge that the MDC
enjoys much of its support from the young
people who are about 65 percent of
the country’s population,” said Mhlangu.
“The Assembly stands resolute on
elections and is not worried whether
elections are held next month. We are
ready for elections. The elections
that we want are the presidential
elections as they were we disputed. The
MDC was robbed in broad daylight by
Zanu (PF) and Mugabe. We want
presidential polls that will give the nation
the leader of their choice,”
said Mhlangu.
Presently Zimbabwe is
being run by a shaky coalition government that is
riven by irreconcilable
policy differences.
Much to the dismay of Zimbabweans and the world at
large Mugabe, who lost
the polls, is the President of the country with
executive powers anchored by
the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that
ushered in the tenuous coalition
government.
Over the past two years
Mugabe has breached the GPA which unequivocally
explains he should exercise
his executive powers in consultation with his
partners in the GNU. - The
Zimbabwean
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by IRENE MOYO
Saturday, 08
January 2011 13:15
HARARE – The majority of Zimbabweans believe that
their liberties have
worsened since the formation of the coalition
government two years ago and
fear that political temperature could
deteriorate in coming months amid
election rhetoric by the main parties,
according to a survey published last
week.
The survey by Afrobarometer,
titled “Zimbabwe: The Evolving Public Mood”,
said confidence in democratic
liberties has gradually been replaced by a
resurgence of political fear
since the last study conducted in May 2009. For
example, whereas 51 percent
of the respondents said they were “somewhat” or
“completely” free to “say
what you think” in May 2009 shortly after the
coalition government between
President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai took office, a
significantly lower number of Zimbabweans
felt free to openly express their
opinions.
“In the atmosphere of October 2010, however, when agents of the old
party-state were again engaging in intimidation, only one third (32 percent)
held the same opinion. Looking at the same coin from the other side, some 67
percent of Zimbabweans do not currently feel free to speak their minds,” the
survey said. This proportion closely matches the 65 percent who felt that
people “always” have to be “careful what you say about politics” in October
2005 when Zanu (PF) held a much larger share of power.
Compared to the
early days of the inclusive government when the majority
said they felt at
liberty to speak, associate and vote, only a minority of
Zimbabweans express
a sense of enjoying these freedoms today. At the same
time, most of the 1
192 respondents also regarded power-sharing as a
compromise that fell short
of their preferred method of choosing a
government.
Only 42 percent
viewed the current coalition government as “a second-best
solution, to be
used only when elections fail,” a figure that held steady
over the previous
year.
The rest were divided, with one quarter seeing power-sharing as “a good
alternative to competitive elections, which rarely work well” and another
quarter (26 percent) viewing it as “a bad alternative that should never
replace competitive elections.”
According to the survey, the honeymoon in
public opinion following the
introduction of coalition government in
February 2009 is over. Evaluations
of the coalition regime also declined
during the 17 months between May 2009
and October 2010. Whereas in May 2009,
87 percent judged that the fragile
regime was performing “well” or “very
well,” some 66 percent offered the
same
overall assessment by October
2010.
Mugabe and arch-rival Tsvangirai were forced to form a coalition
government
in 2009 following a disputed presidential election run-off that
was marred
by violence. Their fragile union has been rocked by bickering
over positions
and mistrust among the partners.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Real Change Times
Friday, 07 January 2011
11:17
Zimbabweans need to understand the source of the war Ignatious
Chombo, a
Zanu (PF) politburo member, has declared on the MDC in general and
with the
Harare City Council, in particular.
For close to a decade,
Chombo was effectively the de-facto mayor of Harare
and used the city as a
looting platform for the obscene wealth Zanu (PF) and
himself, personally,
fraudulently pillaged from the people. In December
2009, the MDC council set
up a special land investigations committee to
examine what happened in the
city during the previous decade of Chombo’s
inspired hooliganism. The
committee unearthed a sordid tale and exposed the
horror of corruption and
asset-stripping Harare experienced in a decade.
For the avoidance of doubt
over the MDC’s concern and sincerity; and apart
from what is already in the
public domain about Chombo’s activities as a
public officer and a
politician, Zimbabweans must consider the following
additional
story.
Glen Lorne property
a) In Harare’s plush northern suburb of
Glen Lorne lies a piece of land
technically known as Subdivision “K” of
Nthaba which used to belong to the
city council. Chombo alleges that he was
allocated the same piece of land in
1995 by the then Ministry of Local
Government, Rural and Urban Development.
But there was no ministry with such
a name at the time although the date
stamp on Chombo’s lease agreement says
so. The ministry which existed was
that of Local Government and
Housing.?
b) This piece of land was donated to the city by a well
wisher, Walter
Serocold Pell Edmonds, in 1954 and transferred on October 8,
1973 to the
City of Harare on condition that it can only be used as a public
space.
Title Deed No. 3662/1954 was specifically endorsed to effect the
council
ownership. For years, the piece of land remained that
state.?
c) When Chombo went into full time politics, he claims to have
signed a
lease agreement with this non-existent government ministry on
January 2,
1997 and agreed to pay Z$6 301 as rentals per year. A further
conflicting
point here is that Chombo alleges to have bought the same piece
of land on
January 1, 1997. How this was possible on New Year’s Day beggars
belief??
d) Chombo tried to sell the land to a Mr Alois Ndaziva
Chimeri
(63-556768T26) who was then residing at 69 Steven Drive, Msasa,
Harare, for
Z$250 million on September 15, 2003. But this could not happen
as Chombo was
not the registered owner of the
property.?
town_house_harare
(Pictured: Harare Town House – At one
time Chombo acted as virtually the
mayor of the capital city)
e)
Records show that over the years, Chombo tried to transfer the land
into his
name but failed. Correspondence, dating back to 25 June 2004,
between the
ministry (through the then permanent secretary Mr Simon
Pazvakawambwa),
Harare City Council and lawyers Honey and Blackenberg show
clearly the
difficulties Chombo encountered in wrestling the property from
the city
council. Among the lawyers concerns were issues of conflict of
interest as
Chombo, now as the minister, was literally intending to change
the land use
for a personal advantage. Further, the lawyers wanted a Capital
Gains
Clearance Certificate, Title Deeds and an Agreement of Sale –
documents
Chombo did not appear to have.?
f) Pazvakawambwa, in a letter to the
City Valuer and Estates Manager, a
Mr Francisco, dated 25 June 2004
requested that the piece of land be
transferred to Chombo on the basis that
the stand had been allocated to him
in 1995. The Town Clerk responded to Mr
Pazvakawambwa’s letter on 21
September 2004 advising her that Chombo’s
application had been forwarded to
the Director of Works, P.C. Chiwanga for
onward transmission to the ministry
for a ‘change of use’ in terms of
Section 49 of the Regional Town and
Country Planning Act
(1996).?
g) On 19 November 2004, Chiwanga informed the city valuer in
writing that
he had no objection to the land being transferred to Chombo.
Because of a
stream that runs through the property, additional legal work
was needed with
regards the water rights at the piece of land. Chiwanga
advised that this
was now unnecessary because the new Water Act nullified
all water rights
which had been an obstacle in the transfer of the land to
Chombo.?
h) On 7 January 2005, the Town Clerk then wrote to Honey and
Blackenberg
to proceed with the transfer, further informing the law firm
that all water
rights have been nullified by Zinwa.?
i) On April
11, 2005, the lawyers requested the necessary documents and
details for an
effective transfer, among them, the original Agreement of
Sale to Minister
Chombo. Nothing happened for a whole month until Mr
Pazvakawambwa wrote
another letter to the City Valuer enquiring about the
position regarding the
transfer. On June 7, 2005, the Town Clerk responded
to Mr Pazvakawambwa’s
letter requesting for Chombo’s details as they were
needed by the lawyers.
Ten days later, the lawyers reminded the City Valuer
that they were still
waiting for Chombo’s details as per their 11 April 2005
letter.?
j) On the 21 July 2005, the Town Clerk advised Mr
Pazvakawambwa that the
state can go ahead and transfer the property to
Chombo. He advised Honey and
Blackenberg to close their file on the matter
as it was now being dealt with
directly by the state. Somehow, something did
not seem right as shown by the
subsequent turn of events.?
k) On
19 September 2005 Mr Pazvakawambwa wrote another letter to the City
Valuer
giving the available transfer details of Chombo. On the 11th of
November
2005, the Town Clerk was back at Honey and Bleckenberg with the
Chombo’s
details and requesting them to effect a transfer. The acting
Director of
Housing Services, James Chiyangwa, availed the lawyers with the
title deeds
to conform with their demands for documentation. This holding
deed gave
ownership to the City of Harare.?
l) It appears this was not enough.
The lawyers, on 10 February 2006,
advised the City Valuer that they needed
more details and reminded him of
their letter on the 11th of April 2005.
Five days later, the lawyers – in
another letter – complained about the
non-delivery of the Agreement of Sale
and the need for a change of land use.
In particular, they raised the issue
of ‘conflict of interests’ on the part
of Chombo as he was both the
beneficiary and the authority.?
m) To
cut a long story short, as it reads like high-grade fiction, the
council
lawyers in another letter on June 6, 2006 kept on highlighting the
conflict
of interest issue with the City Valuer. There was a lot
inter-departmental
activities and correspondence in the council as officials
frantically tried
to regularise the transfer of this piece of land to
Chombo.?
n) By
December 2006, L. Chimba, writing on behalf of the permanent
secretary,
informed Town House of a suggestion of a land swap with another
piece of
land in an unnamed low density suburb of Harare. Further exchanges
took
place until on 13th of June 2008 when L. Chimba informed the Town Clerk
that
the property must be transferred from Chombo to Chimeri as a way of
handling the conflict of interest issue.?
o) Chiwanga then advised
Honey and Blackenberg on 25 June 2008 that
Chombo has since disposed of the
land, which would make it easier for him to
authorise the change of land use
in capacity as the Minister administering
the Act. Here came in another
obstacle, and all this was happening without
the knowledge of the 29 March
2008 MDC council.?
p) On 24 November 2008, the lawyers insisted on the
fulfilment of the
demands of the letter dated 11 April 2005; requested an
agreement of sale
for the purposes of Capital Gains by Zimra. They also
requested the consent
of the City of Harare.?
q) In December,
Chiwanga gave the lawyers an Agreement of Sale between
Chombo and Chimeri.
In February 2009, the lawyers demanded proof of payment
and advised that
Chombo risked a heavy penalty from Zimra since he claimed
to have sold the
land in 2005 and did not pay capital gains tax within a
month as required by
law.?
r) On 28 October 2009, Chombo obtained a capital gains tax
clearance
certificate, citing the date acquired by transferee as the 5
September 2003
between Chombo and Chimeri and done by one Theresa Chenjerai
and Elias Foto,
all said to be employees of Zimra.
s) Honey &
Blackenberg, in a letter dated 3 November 2009, sought advice
from the
city’s rates department to determine Chombo’s liability. It nearly
took
another year before the sale could be effected because of the
opaqueness of
the deal.?
t) On 26 October 2010, Chiwanga – the man implicated in all
of Chombo’s
fraudulent land deals from previous investigations – advised the
city
treasurer that Sub-division K of Ntaba, Glen Lorne, had had its use
changed
from a designated public space to a residential property. Not
surprisingly,
this letter is dated 4 September 1996.
In conclusion, the
MDC and hundreds of workers in the City of Harare and in
the Inclusive
Government are aware of Chombo’s activities since Mugabe
brought him into
his Cabinet from a lecture room at the University of
Zimbabwe in 1990s. Like
the MDC, they are baffled as to why he remains in
public office. – First
published by the Real Change Times
• The Real Change Times is the
official mouthpiece of the MDC-T party.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw/
Friday, 07 January 2011 13:54
Levi Mukarati,
Senior Political Reporter
A NEW twist has emerged in the court
case in which Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai is suing President Robert
Mugabe for allegedly unilaterally
re-appointing 10 ZANU-PF provincial
governors, with lawyers representing the
ZANU-PF first secretary insisting
that their client is under no legal
obligation to respond to the premier’s
latest answering affidavit. Lawyers
representing Prime Minister Tsvangirai
on Tuesday officially served
President Mugabe with papers demanding that the
defendant make “a serious”
submission before the High Court over his alleged
unconstitutional
re-appointments of the 10 disputed bureaucrats.
In his
papers to Terrence Hussein — the defendant’s lawyer — Tsvangirai’s
legal
representative, Selby Hwacha, charged that the President presented a
simplistic view of a “serious constitutional issue”.
But Hussein told The
Financial Gazette yesterday that his client has no
legal obligation to
respond to the premier’s latest affidavit. He said, as
the President’s
lawyer, he was now only waiting for the High Court to hear
the case in which
Prime Minister Tsvangirai is contesting the legality of
the
re-appointments.
Hussein said President Mugabe had already responded to the
High Court
opposing the challenge on grounds that under Rule 18 of the High
Court
no-one had authority to sue or take a Head of State or High Court
judge to
court unless they applied to the High Court and were granted
authority to
do so.
“When Tsvangirai made the application I responded by
filing my opposing
papers to the High Court and that is the procedure. I am
now eagerly waiting
for the hearing date when we will stand in court and
that is where I am
obliged to respond.
“This ultimatum from his lawyers
to give us 10 days is nothing to us and I
will not respond. We never asked
for the 10 days and it was not for them to
give us the ultimatum. We have no
legal obligation to respond.”
While Prime Minister Tsvangirai is suing the
President for unilaterally
re-appointing the governors, President Mugabe’s
lawyers, citing Rule 18 of
the High Court, argued that it was impossible for
anyone to sue a Head of
State without first seeking permission from the
court.
But Tsvangirai’s lawyers in their latest submission to the High Court
said
it did not make sense to argue that one must “sue the President for
authority to sue the President.” “The simplistic interpretation placed on
the Rule (18) 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.
“It appears to
me also, that Rule 18 came about during the pre and
post-colonial era of a
ceremonial, non executive Head of State such as the
Queen of England,
governors of southern Rhodesia, Presidents of Rhodesia and
the first
president of the independent Zimbabwe. This is no longer the
position in
Zimbabwe’s constitutional democracy,” reads part of the premier’s
latest
answering affidavit.
The controversial governors whose stay in office is
being contested are
David Karimanzira (Harare), Cain Mathema (Bulawayo),
Christopher Mushowe
(Manicaland), Titus Maluleke (Masvingo), Aeneas
Chigwedere (Mashonaland
East), Martin Dinha (Mashonaland Cent-ral), Angeline
Masuku (Matab
eleland South), Thokozile Mathuthu (Matabeleland North),
Jaison Machaya
(Midlands) and Faber Chidarikire (Mashonaland West).
Prime
Minister Tsvangirai argues that he was supposed to have been consulted
by
President Mugabe over the re-appointments in terms of Section 115 of the
Constitution of Zimbabwe.
The section explains that ‘in consultation’
means that “the person required
to consult before arriving at a decision
arrives at that decision after
securing the agreement or consent of the
person so consulted”.
The three protagonists in the wobbly unity government —
President Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara —
were understood to
have agreed on a 5:4:1 formula on the appointment of
governors with MDC-T
taking five posts, ZANU-PF four seats and one to
MDC-M.
Under the formula MDC-T had lined up Seyiso Moyo (Bulawayo), Lucia
Matibenga
(Masvingo), James Makore (Harare), Julius Magaran-goma
(Manicaland) and Tose
Sansole (Matabeleland North), while the lesser MDC-M
faction had earmarked
Paul Themba Nyathi for the governorship of
Matabeleland South.
ZANU-PF governors who were set to vacate are Mushohwe,
Masuku, Mathuthu,
Mathema, Karimanzira and Maluluke.
President Mugabe is
adamant that he would not implement the agreed matrix on
governors unless
and until targeted sanctions slammed against him and his
inner circle by the
United States and the European Union are lifted.
http://www.radiovop.com/
08/01/2011 14:17:00
HARARE, January
8, 2011 - The Albino Society in Zimbabwe led by Professor
John Makumbe says
it is lobbying the government to remove duty on all cars
imported by its
members because of their disabilities.
"Albinism is a disability," said
Dr Makumbe when he addressed members from
his society."We want to bring in
motor vehicles and because we are disabled
we should be allowed to bring
them in duty free."
Makumbe said he had faced problems with the Ministry
of Finance because he
wanted to bring in his motor vehicle duty free because
he is "disabled".
Makumbe, a prominent political analyst in Zimbabwe, said he
felt and thought
that being an "albino" means that they are "disabled" as
said by those who
describe "disabilities".
"I intend to take legal
action if they (Ministry of Finance) do not give me
my motor vehicle duty
free," he added.
"We, in fact, demand that the regulations on disability and
imports be
changed in Zimbabwe. "We are disabled as said by the word
describing
disabilities."
Makumbe said he would be taking legal
action to ensure that his motor
vehicle was brought into Zimbabwe duty free.
http://www.radiovop.com/
08/01/2011
04:00:00
Harare, January 08, 2011 – The prices for newspapers in
Zimbabwe is too
steep according to the Zimbabwe Media Commission (ZMC) that
registers and
accredits media houses and journalists.
ZMC
chairperson, Godfrey Majonga in a statement said the exorbitant charges
were
a barrier to access to information. Majonga cited the state owned
Herald
which is sold for one US dollar and two weeklies, the Zimbabwe
Independent
and the Financial Gazette which are sold for two US dollars.
"The
two-dollar price which readers pay per copy of the Zimbabwe Independent
or
the Financial Gazette is not a normal price for a weekly paper,” Majonga
said in a statement. "The one-dollar which readers pay per copy of the daily
Herald newspaper is not a normal price. In the country where this currency
is issued, two dollars can pay subscription for a national newspaper for a
whole week.”
“One dollar can pay for several copies of national
daily. What subscribers
pay here for a quarter is enough in the US to pay
for two years," Majonga
said.
The ZMC recently increased
accreditation fees for foreign media which
operate in the country by over
300 percent.
By
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London 08/01/11
One of the
reasons why Zimbabwe needs a new constitution is because unlike
the US
Constitution which has been amended only 27 times since 1776,
Zimbabwe’s
Lancaster House Constitution has been amended some 19 times since
1980. With
at least five amendments regarded as imperfect even by some in
Mugabe’s
inner circle, the need for a new democratic constitution cannot
over-emphasised.
A constitution may be defined as ‘a document having
a special legal sanctity
which sets out the framework and the principal
functions of the organs of
government within the state, and declares the
principles by which those
organs must operate’ (E. C. S. Wade and G. Godfrey
Phillips, Constitutional
and Administrative Law, Longman: London, 9th
edition, page1). In the case of
Zimbabwe, Zanu-pf is the ‘State’ and the
State is ‘Zanu-pf.’
What the experts say about the Kariba
Draft
The National Constitutional Assembly (NCA) has focused its
criticisms on the
process, substance of the Kariba Draft, Structure and
powers of the
executive, presidential appointments, the legislature, the
judiciary,
elections, rights and national objectives, local government and
the
devolution of powers and size of government (‘Exposing the shortcomings
of
the Kariba Draft Constitution’, Zimbabwe
Independent,02/07/09).
Process
The NCA argues that very little is
known about the process that went into
the creation of the Kariba Draft
Constitution because it was written during
‘a clandestine meeting between
the principal negotiators of Zimbabwe’s three
primary political parties’.
Nearly all of the weaknesses that led to the
rejection of the Constitutional
Commission proposal (2000 Constitution) are
replicated in the Kariba Draft.
The Kariba Draft allegedly makes the removal
of a member of parliament
automatic after he/she has been absent for 21
consecutive sittings, a move
suspected to target opposition politicians
forced into
hiding.
Structure and powers of the executive
Under the Kariba Draft,
all executive authority rests in the president and
the office of the prime
minister is completely absent thereby removing a
vital check on the power of
the president.
Presidential Appointments
The Kariba Draft does
away with checks and balances on the president’s
power to make appointments
of vice-presidents, judges, senators, ministers
and diplomats by eliminating
the office of the prime minister.
The legislature
The Kariba Draft
allows the president to appoint 17 senators, dissolve
parliament at any
time, override proposed legislation and perhaps escape
impeachment. The
Draft allows the President to declare war without
consultation (http://zimbabweonlinepress.com).
The
Judiciary
The Kariba Draft fails to ensure the independence of the
judiciary by giving
the president or his/her appointee additional control
over the structure of
the judiciary.
Elections
The Kariba
Draft Constitution provides for an electoral commission that is
insufficiently independent.
Rights and National Objectives
The
Kariba Draft fails to protect many vital rights such as the freedom of
the
media and the right of workers to strike. While social and economic
rights
to housing, education and health are covered in “national Objectives”
of the
draft, compliance is not mandatory.
Local Government and the Devolution
of Power
Provincial and local bodies that are provided for in the Kariba
Draft may be
manipulated by the central government e.g. provincial governors
are
presidential appointees.
Size of Government
According to
the NCA, the Kariba Draft, opens the door for a bloated and
inefficient
government because it allows the president to appoint as many
ministers as
he/she chooses.
Other critics say the Kariba Draft is worse than the
constitution that was
rejected in 2000 because it gives the president
unbridled powers such as ‘a
clause permitting Mugabe to serve another two
five- year terms. Heaven
forbid!’ (The Zimbabwean, 01/07/09).
The
case for alternative constitutions
In contrast to the Kariba Draft, the
Law Society of Zimbabwe Model
Constitution provides for various checks and
balances, ensuring the
separation of powers and civilian control of security
services. The LSZ
Model Constitution provides for an enforceable Declaration
of Rights; a
bi-cameral elective legislature (with no appointed members); a
parliament
that is independent of the executive by determining its own
sittings; a
non-executive President as Head of State elected by Parliament
and an
executive Prime Minister or Head of Government elected through a
nation-wide
ballot for a 5-year term though Parliament will have power to
vote him/her
out of office.
Under the LSZ Model Constitution
ministers will be appointed by the Prime
Minister, not the President; Judges
will be appointed by the President on
the advice of the Prime Minister. The
security services – Defence, Police,
Prisons and intelligence will be
subject to civilian control. There is
provision for independent commissions
covering Judicial Services, Public
Service, Human Rights, Gender and
Anti-Discrimination, Truth and Justice,
Land, Media, Conflict Prevention,
and Security Services. There will be
extensive devolution and autonomous
local government institutions.
How did the Kariba Draft come
about?
In a statement, MDC’s spokesperson, Nelson Chamisa said the Kariba
Draft was
a compromise document drafted by three political parties and
initialled on
30 September 3007 to minimise the possibility of a contested
election result
in 2008, in line with a SADC resolution that had given
birth to the
dialogue. It was an interim Constitution that was meant to be
used only for
the 2008 election, but on 4 December 2007, Zanu-pf refused to
implement the
Kariba draft. Its function and intended purpose therefore
died
on 4 December 2007 because of Zanu-pf ‘s intransigence.
“Zanu-pf
cannot resurrect a document meant for the 2008 election which they
rejected
and turned down in December 2007. They must not be allowed to sneak
it
through the backdoor when Zimbabweans have ample time to make their own
Constitution”, said Chamisa. He also disputed the Zanu-pf position as
expressed in the Herald giving the impression that the GPA had made the
Kariba Draft it’s reference document.
Senator Obert Gutu of the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) led by Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
declared: “Nowhere in Article 6 of the GPA is it
unequivocally stated that
the Kariba Draft should be the ONLY reference
document for the constitution
making process”.
Media reports said that after an extra-ordinary national
executive meeting
on Tuesday, 23 June 2009 the MDC –T resolved to reject
what it called ‘any
attempt by Zanu-pf to foist the Kariba Draft, or any
other draft, on the
people’ (Zimdiaspora, 25/06/09).
However, an
“agreement” allegedly signed between Zanu-pf and the two MDC
formations on
23rd of July 2009 claims Jomic agreed to make Kariba Draft
‘Reference
Document’. The report shows that Tendai Biti of MDC led by Morgan
Tsvangirai
did not sign the original document while his colleague Elton
Mangoma
reportedly signed the original document alongside Priscillah
Misihairambwi-Mushonga (MDC-M), Welshman Ncube (MDC-M), Nicholas Goche
(Zanu-pf) and Patrick Chinamasa (Zanu-pf) (Zimbabwemetro.com,
28/07/09).
Given the confusion caused, it is imperative for the MDC to
effectively
inform the public about the correct position. Equally, unclear
is which
constitution the MDC is going to promote at the referendum if
Zanu-pf will
be campaigning for the Kariba Draft. Suggestions of a
negotiated
constitution made by MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai in September
2010 have
raised eyebrows that the country could be ‘bracing for another
Kariba Draft’
(Zimbabwe Independent, 17/09/10). Hopefully, it’s a dead issue
now.
What Mugabe is doing to promote the Kariba Draft
Mugabe has
never stopped using ‘politics of labelling’ or what Brian Kagoro
called the
art of ‘kusvibisa’ (techniques of soiling someone’s image) to
undermine
opponents as Alex Magaisa once wrote (Zimbabwe Standard,
27/02/10). Labels
like ‘mutengesi’ (a sell-out), ‘puppets’ and so on are
known to stick in
people’s memories especially those who may not be
discerning or are prone to
manipulation. Apart from that, Mugabe uses
diversionary tactics to great
effect and political blackmail to undermine
his opponents and avoid focus on
unresolved GPA and human rights issues.
During the constitutional
outreach programme the youth militia, CIO, the
military and war vets were
deployed to drum-up support for the Kariba Draft
‘against those trying to
reverse the gains of the land reform programme’.
Villagers were allegedly
coached to back the Kariba draft. In January 2010,
a senior air force of
Zimbabwe Air Commodore was named as one of several
military officers leading
a campaign to force villagers in Manicaland to
attend Zanu-pf meetings in
support of the Kariba Draft.
People in Mugabe’s rural home in Zvimba, 110
km west of Harare, and
neighbouring Chitomborwizi in Makonde district
allegedly now strongly
believe that those calling for a people-driven
constitution, who are opposed
to the Kariba Draft, want to include the issue
of gay rights in the new
constitution.
“Masoja akati addresser three
weeks ago. Vakatiudza kuti vanhu ava varikuda
zveconstitution nyowani isiri
yekuKariba, varikuda kuti tibvume
zvechingochani. Ah, kana ndiwe mwana
wangu, zvingaite here kuti ini
ndidanane nambuya ava? Kwete hatidi izvozvo.
(We were addressed by soldiers
three weeks ago. They told us that those
opposed to Kariba Draft want a new
constitution to allow homosexuality. My
child, how can I have a lesbian
relationship with this old woman? We say no
to that),” said an elderly woman
(Zimbabwe Independent,
01/07/10).
Some analysts feel that if people refuse to endorse the Kariba
Draft, Mugabe
can block the draft constitution in Parliament; refuse to call
a referendum
on the constitution; or refuse to sign the draft into law once
it is passed
by Parliament (Stanley Gama, ‘Zanu-pf wants Kariba Draft, or
nothing else’,
08/02/10, zimtransition.com).
Why Mugabe should go
now
That Mugabe must now go is no longer a dismissible opposition slogan
but a
strategic necessity that desperately needs urgent legal and
constitutional
action, according to Jonathan Moyo, before his re-admission
to Zanu-pf in
2009.
“Perennial wisdom from divine revelation and
human experience dictates that
all earthly things great and small, beautiful
or ugly, good or bad, sad or
happy, foolish or wise must finally come to an
end. It is from this sobering
reality that the end of executive rule has
finally come for Robert Mugabe
who has had his better days after a quarter
(now over a quarter) century in
power”, he said in one of his
articles.
Elsewhere, Moyo said:
“When Mugabe says the crisis
started in 2000 due to the rejection of the
land reform programme by Britain
and its allies he is not telling the truth.
Many in his government and party
know that the crisis started on August 16,
1997 when the compensation for
veterans of the liberation war became an
economic albatross to the fiscus.
It is also a widely known fact that the
demands for a new democratic
constitution started well before 2000. Indeed,
the MDC itself was formed
before 2000.”
Our next installation will be on what could have earned
Attorney General
Johannes Tomana a coveted entry on the targeted sanctions
list.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com