http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 13:18
BY PATRICE
MAKOVA
FEUDING Zanu PF chefs in Mashonaland West province come
face-to-face today
for an explosive provincial coordinating council meeting
which is expected
to seal the fate of businessman Phillip Chiyangwa and
other candidates
interested in contesting the vacant provincial chairmanship
post.
The meeting comes at a time when traditional leaders
and war veterans have
waded into the fight over the selection of a new
provincial chairman, openly
declaring their support for Chiyangwa who was
recently re-admitted by Zanu
PF after a five-year
suspension.
Acting provincial chairman, Reuben Marumahoko
said the party’s provincial
coordinating council meets in Chinhoyi today to
shortlist candidates who
will take part in the elections for a substantive
chairman. “The meeting is
in preparation for the elections to be held on
January 21. It will also
decide who is allowed to stand,” he
said.
Fireworks are expected as senior politburo members are divided
on whether to
allow Chiyangwa to contest the post, with reports that some of
them are
trying to block the businessman.
But traditional leaders
and war veterans in the province yesterday raised
their voice over the
selection of a substantive chairman to replace Robert
Sikanyika who died in
a car accident in April last year.
Chief Chivero of Mhondoro said
most traditional leaders in the province
wanted Chiyangwa to get his old
post back which he lost in 2005 when he was
arrested but later acquitted on
allegations of espionage. “When a child
misbehaves, he is punished before
being forgiven and given responsibilities
again,” he said.
Chief
Chivero said Chiyangwa was respected by traditional leaders in the
province
as he used to be their advisor for the different development
programmes
which were running in Mashonaland West. They have virtually
collapsed due to
lack of support, he said.
Chief Zvimba also confirmed his support for
Chiyangwa. “He (Chiyangwa)
should be the provincial chairman. You must come
to my farm in Banket so
that we can extensively discuss our position as
traditional leaders,” he
said.
Hurungwe-based war veteran leader,
Robson Goredema said former freedom
fighters were also lobbying for
Chiyangwa. “Some of our party leaders in the
province are feeding lies to
President Mugabe that Chiyangwa and John Mafa
(expelled provincial chairman)
are bad,” he said.
“They are jealous because Chiyangwa and Mafa are
capable of wooing back
people who left the party to join MDC. When Chiyangwa
was chairman, Zanu PF
was strong in the province, but now it has lost
several seats to the
opposition.”
A provincial executive member
who requested anonymity said traditional
leaders have no right to peddle in
politics.
“I know that chiefs openly support my party which is
wrong,” he said. “I
suspect they want Chiyangwa because of the financial
rewards that are likely
to follow. I have nothing against the businessman,
but I think for the time
being it is best that he maintains a low profile
for the benefit of
everyone.”
Other candidates interested in the
Mashonaland West chairmanship post
include Marumahoko who is said to be
backed by Zanu PF’s national political
commissar, Webster Shamu and Zvimba
South MP Walter Chidakwa, who is
reportedly being backed by Local
Government, Rural and Urban Development
minister Ignatius
Chombo.
Mafa and former deputy information minister Bright Matonga
are also running.
Efforts to get comments from Shamu, Chombo and Matonga
were fruitless.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 13:24
BY NQABA MATSHAZI
AND PATRICE MAKOVA
THE MDC-T has been rocked by fresh infighting with
some big wigs in the
party already jostling for parliamentary seats
considered safe ahead of
possible elections to be held either later this
year or in 2013.
Insiders said party stalwarts including
ministers have declared their
intention to pit their strengths against some
sitting MP’s even before the
nomination process has begun.
In
Bulawayo deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khupe is said to be eyeing the
Bulawayo Central seat, which is presently being held by Dorcas
Sibanda.
Sibanda is said to have agreed to make way for her and is
now interested in
the Mpopoma-Mabutweni constituency, much to the chagrin of
incumbent Samuel
Khumalo.
“Khupe fears that her popularity in the
party is on the wane and she has
instead chosen to move from Makokoba to
Bulawayo Central which is considered
a safe constituency,” said a senior
MDC-T official in the province.
Khumalo drew the ire of his party
when he was charged with possession of
Mbanje in March last year. Sources
said they feared Khumalo was also being
pushed out for his failure to
support Gorden Moyo’s bid for chairmanship of
the province. Moyo is an
appointee and reportedly gunning for the vacant
Entumbane
seat.
Matters also came to a head at the recent funeral of the
senator for
Mabutweni, Gladys Gombami, who herself was fighting to keep the
position of
chair of the Women’s Assembly caucus in
Bulawayo.
Gombami had reportedly fallen out of favour with Khupe and
Theresa Makone,
who heads the Women’s Assembly. Senator Siphiwe Ncube of
Emnganwini revealed
the infighting during Gombami’s funeral. She alleged
that Gombami died of
stress after a meeting of their party’s national
council where she was not
given a chance to speak.
Makone is also
under fire from a faction opposed to her involvement in
Tsvangirai’s
controversial marriage to Lorcadia Tembo.
The party’s provincial secretary,
Reggie Moyo initially dismissed the
reports of infighting as rumours and
speculation, but later claimed to be
“a bit out of touch” with happenings
in MDC-T.
“It’s just rumours. No one has come formally to the party
leadership over
such movements,” he said. Midlands province has also been
rocked by
factionalism with reports that scrambling for seats has also begun
with big
guns trying to elbow out minnows.
Sources said Midlands
South Provincial chairperson, Lillian Timvios with the
support of minister
of national healing and reconciliation Sekai Holland, is
allegedly trying to
ensure that former soldier Silent Dube stands in
Mberengwa
South.
He is likely to face off with South Africa-based journalist
turned
politician Sibanengi Dube, who was reportedly approached by
structures in
the constituency to stand.
The tussle for power is
also getting ugly in Zvishavane where Timvios is
said to be fighting it off
with Zvishavane Town Council chairman and
provincial organising secretary
Alluwis Zhou, who was recently arrested over
a housing stands
scam.
Zhou confirmed that all was not well in MDC-T, accusing his
opponents of
causing his arrest. “My arrest was purely political, because my
rivals in
the party want to ensure that I am convicted and therefore
disqualified from
standing in the next elections,’ he
said.
More sparks flying in the Midlands
Sparks
are also expected in Mberengwa East where the party’s district
Chairman, a
KW Moyo is said to have fallen out of favour with the top
leadership.
“The problem with the current leadership is that they
want to impose
candidates, igniting resistance and unnecessary infighting
throughout the
province,” said another provincial executive
member.
However, Timvios dismissed the allegations saying the process
of selecting
candidates has not yet started. She said Holland was free to
take part in
party activities as she was a founder member of MDC-T who
hailed from
Midlands.
“She (Holland) is interested in being the
Provincial Representative so those
who fear her are now coming up with all
these theories to distract and
discredit her.”
Jostling for seats
is also rife in provinces such as Manicaland, Masvingo,
Harare and
Chitungwiza where two factions have emerged with one sympathetic
to Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and another one loyal to party’s
Secretary-general Tendai Biti.
Mutare has not been spared, and
last week mayor of the city, Brian James
temporarily quit his post citing
bad working relationship with his fellow
MDC-T councillors, a number of whom
are eyeing parliamentary seats.
MDC-T national organising secretary
Nelson Chamisa late last year had to
threaten to fire the faction ridden
Masvingo provincial executive.
MDC spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora
could not be reached for comment. However,
the party’s deputy national
spokesperson, Thabhita Khumalo yesterday said
the MDC-T national executive
has not yet received reports of divisions
within its
structures.
“The provincial leaderships are the best to comment on
the issue because
they have not yet informed the national executive of any
infighting taking
place in their areas,” she said.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 13:16
BY
JENNIFER DUBE
LACK of district monitors has resulted in the proliferation of
illegal
structures in Harare, making it impossible for the city council to
maintain
order in the development of residential areas.
There
have been complaints that the city fathers are allowing illegal
structures
to crop up again all over the city taking away the beauty of the
capital.
In 2005, the government carried out Operation
Murambatsvina where several
illegal structures were destroyed and thousands
of people rendered homeless.
Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda said council’s
failure to prevent the developments,
coupled with human rights
considerations, made it possible for the
developments to go
unchecked.
“We have a problem of prevention. In the past, we used to
have foot soldiers
who operated from district offices and would move around
their areas and
would report all illegal structures to the superintendent
and these would be
nipped in the bud at an early stage,” Masunda
said.
He added that there has not been political will to have the
foot soldiers in
the post- independence era and hence the proliferation of
the illegal
structures.
Masunda said the monitors comprised of
officials from the city’s departments
of health, urban planning services and
education as well as housing and
community services.
Illegal
structures have sprout up in various suburbs in Harare where they
serve a
double purpose of providing accommodation to desperate residents and
a
source of income to stand owners.
One such development is at stand
number JJ1 in Waterfalls avenue in
Ardbennie where more than 20 plastic and
cardboard structures are being
rented out at US$20 per month. Residents
allege that the same stand is also
used as a brothel and a
shebeen.
The owner also sublets space on his yard to those willing to
construct
“cottages and tuckshops” under a contract which allows them to use
the
structures for as long as they want.
The tenants pay minimal
rentals and later hand the structure over to the
stand
owner.
Council, in partnership with CABS and Old Mutual, will soon
construct 3 102
housing units in Budiriro but Masunda says this is a drop in
the ocean as
the housing backlog is far much more than that. It is estimated
that Harare’s
housing backlog stands at 500 000.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012
13:09
BY NUNURAI JENA
CHINHOYI — An increasing number of pupils with
hearing problems in
Mashonaland West province are not attending school due
to lack of resources
and the absence of specialist teachers, The Standard
has heard.
Parents and guardians of children with hearing impairments
said their
children have not been going to school because there were no
teachers
proficient in sign language.
They said those that go to
school are usually isolated and discriminated
against by their peers. Isabel
Chitate of Lion’s Den in Mashonaland West
province is both bitter and upset.
Her only granddaughter, Charity, cannot
proceed with her education due to
lack of qualified teachers at Murereka
Primary School.
“They
accepted her at the school for two terms, but withdrew her because
there are
no teachers who can teach her,” said Chitate. “They advised me to
seek
assistance from Jairos Jiri but I could not go there because I don’t
have
the money.”
Jairos Jiri Association is a philanthropic organisation
set up in 1950 to
support and train disadvantaged people, including
children. Another parent,
who only identified herself as Mai Tariro from
Gadzema, a high-density
suburb in Chinhoyi, said she had also been
struggling to find a place for
her child with a hearing
disability.
She said could not send her child, to a special
school like Emerald Hill in
Harare, because the high fees charged by
specialist institutions were beyond
her reach.
Fortunately,
Sinoia Primary School, which is in the same town, has started a
special
class for hearing-impaired children and she hopes to enroll Tariro
at the
institution beginning this term. At first, said Mai Tariro, she was
reluctant to have her child exposed to others as she feared
stigmatisation.
Mai Tariro said sign language must be taught to all
pupils so that affected
children can easily communicate with their peers.
She appealed to the
Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture to equip
every trainee
teacher with the necessary skills to manage and educate
hearing-impaired
pupils.
Very few teachers choose to speciliase
in fields like sign language after
graduating from college or university.
Mashonaland West Chairperson of the
Association of Societies for the Care of
the Handicapped, Tichaona Mlauzi,
said there was a growing need for
mainstreaming sign language in schools. He
said his organisation was
lobbying to have sign language recognised as an
official
language.
It is estimated that 300 pupils have hearing impairments in
Mashonaland West
province.
‘Ministry fighting to assist
disabled pupils’
Education minister David Coltart said his
ministry was trying by all means
to assist not only pupils with a hearing
impairment, but all those with any
form of disability.
He however, added
that such efforts were being curtailed by shortage of
funds.
“The
situation is dire on the ground,” said Coltart.
“As long as we get little
funds from government, such children will continue
to be affected.”
In a
bid to improve accessibility of education to pupils with hearing
impairments, the government in 2010 put in place a policy that compels all
schools to have a special class for children with disabilities.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 13:05
BY
STANLEY KAROMBO, recently in Johannesburg, South Africa
TINASHE Ndebele (16)
is a Zimbabwean boy languishing in the Baviaanspoort
Correctional facility
in South Africa. Other boys of his age are attending
secondary school,
dating girls or even playing sports — but alas, he is
behind the closed
prison door waiting to be deported to Zimbabwe when he
finishes his jail
term.
He has spent two years in the correctional facility together
with at least
42 other Zimbabwean juveniles. He is still a teenager, but the
tattoos on
his arms belie his youth. He was convicted of armed robbery and
possession
of stolen goods.
He stands motionless as Lucky
Mthethwa, the director of administration in
the South Africa Correctional
Services, announces the department’s intention
to ensure that when inmates
finish serving their sentences they can use the
acquired skills to earn a
living.
Like all the convicted teenagers, he wears a red T-shirt,
blue faded jeans,
and grey snickers. His eyes tell the story of the anguish
and agony he is
going through.
The teenager sleeps on a single
bed. His undergarments and a face towel hang
preciously on the edge of his
metal bed.
There is no rubbish paper on the floor, and the plastic bin in the
corner is
empty.
Thuso Khumalo, a freelance journalist with Voice
of America says, the sight
of young boys being in such conditions is very
upsetting and shocking.
Tinashe seems to be a soccer fan: his cell
walls are covered with pictures
of mostly black soccer players. There is a
colourful magazine pullout of the
Ivorian international Didier Drogba and
the Zimbabwean goal keeper, Energy
Murambadoro.
Also conspicuous
in the cell is the inscription written: “Home sweet home,
Zimbabwe!”
Interesting, the only female picture in the cell is that of the
former
Generation soapie actress, Connie Ferguson.
But the question remains,
has the teenager repented?
A bible school certificate also stuck on the white
walls of his unit shows
that he has completed a course in bible studies.
Noreth Momoza, head of
correctional centre of the youth at the Emthonjeni
Youth Centre — a complex
within Baviaanspoort, thinks
otherwise.
She says: “He is such an aggressive and rude person. Are
Zimbabweans
aggressive people? He also doesn’t want to attend
school.”
She told The Standard that Tinashe and one of his Zimbabwean
colleagues
“attempted to commit suicide by burning themselves a week
ago.”
Tinashe is one of the 70 Zimbabweans serving their sentences at
the
correctional facility.
Zim seeks to emulate south africa
model
There are 13 prisons in South Africa which have provision
for juveniles,
with 1 275 youngsters between the ages of 14 and 18 years
behind bars,
according to the Department of Correctional
Services.
South Africa has adopted a model where prisons are built on
farms. The
Baviaanspoort Correctional Facility is built on a 616 hectares
farm east of
Pretoria.
Farming experts are recruited to help
inmates till the land and keep
livestock for their own consumption. Besides
acquiring farming skills,
inmates also maintain all the equipment they
use.
During a two-day learning tour in South Africa recently, the
Zimbabwe Deputy
Prison Commissioner Rhodes Moyo, said the trip was an eye
opener and the
Zimbabwe Prison Services (ZPS) department will be soon
adopting the same
model to enable it to become less dependent on government
funds.
He however, admits that there will be huge challenges such as
acquiring
equipment needed for the farming. According to the Zimbabwe
Restoration of
Human Rights (ROHR), conditions in Zimbabwe’s prisons are not
suitable for
human habitation.
There have been reports of severe
malnutrition. ROHR reports that since
2000, the conditions in prisons have
deteriorated to alarming levels due to
lack of food, proper sanitation and
health facilities.
This has resulted in increased deaths in prisons.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 13:03
BY OUR
STAFF
CROSS-border traders are demanding that government provide them with
land
for residential and commercial development as a reward for “averting”
the
total collapse of the economy during the height of the economic crisis
in
the country.
Cross-Border Traders Association of Zimbabwe
president Killer Zivhu said
members of his association did not benefit from
the land reform programme,
yet they earned foreign currency for the country
and provided goods in short
supply when the Zimbabwe dollar become virtually
worthless due to runaway
inflation.
He said the association had
since written to the appropriate ministries in
government requesting them
to respond to the demands.
Zivhu said there were several farms around
cities which can be acquired to
provide residential stands to the more than
one million people, a majority
of them women, whom he claimed were now
surviving on cross-border trading
due to the high unemployment
rate.
“We are mobilising ourselves in huge numbers to benefit from
land
redistribution without going back on this idea as part of our benefit
as
Zimbabweans,” wrote Zivhu to the three ministers. “What we only need is
the
land to build our own houses. We can pool our resources together and
build
our own houses if given the land in peri-urban
areas.”
Zivhu said most members of the association who now include
those operating
hair salons, had been on the housing waiting list for more
than 21 years.
There are no prospects of them ever getting residential
stands of their own,
he said.
He said the association should also
be allocated land which some local
authorities were failing to service. “We
need these pieces of land to build
our properties. Without a place of your
own in your country of origin where
others are getting land for free, it is
like living under sanctions,” wrote
the Cross-Border Traders Association
boss.
Zivhu said his association supported the indigenisation
programme and was
ready to mobilise its members to “defend the gains of
independence”.
Grievances addressed to three Ministries lines
THe
Cross-Border Traders Association of Zimbabwe has written to three
ministries: Lands and Resettlement, Rural Housing and Social Amenities, as
well as that of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development spelling out
their demands and requesting them to respond soon.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 12:57
BY EDGAR
GWESHE AND NQOBILE BHEBHE
THE proposed joint peace rallies by the parties in
the coalition government
to end political violence in the country will not
achieve the desired
results because Zanu PF has a tradition of not honouring
its political
pledges, analysts have said.
The former ruling
party has a history of publicly denouncing violence while
behind closed
doors urging its supporters to decimate their political
rivals.
The rallies, a first of a kind in the country’s political
landscape, are set
to be addressed by President Robert Mugabe, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
and Welshman Ncube, leaders of MDC-T and MDC
respectively.
But commentators said the peace rallies, a brainchild
of Zanu PF, will give
Mugabe, whose rallies have of late been attended by
fewer people, an
opportunity to address huge gatherings ahead of elections
planned for this
year or 2013.
The Southern African Development
Community (Sadc) has said Zimbabwe cannot
hold free and fair elections
without necessary reforms, a development which,
analysts said, flies in the
face of Mugabe’s assertion that polls will be
held this
year.
With the snail’s pace at which negotiations are going, reforms
may take
another year or more, meaning polls might not be held this
year.
MDC-T spokesman Douglas Mwonzora said his party needed to see
some key
issues addressed before committing itself to the peace
rallies.
The rallies will, said analysts, achieve nothing, just like
the organ on
national healing, reconciliation and integration, which failed
due to the
leaders’ lack of political will to heal wounds of past
atrocities.
Political analyst Lovemore Madhuku said that the proposed
joint rallies were
not the panacea to ending political violence in the
country.
“Political violence is not in any way addressed by joint
rallies,” said
Madhuku. “It does not help when you speak about ending
violence at political
rallies but privately you are encouraging people to go
for violence.
Violence is not organised publicly, it is organised
privately.”
In November last year, the three leaders together with
other stakeholders
held an indaba on political violence but barely a week
later a Zanu PF
militia group, Chipangano, started beating up suspected
MDC-T supporters.
They ignored an appeal from Mugabe to end violence as they
besieged market
stalls at a shopping complex in Harare, demanding the
eviction of all
vendors perceived to belong to MDC-T.
Almost
during the same time, Zanu PF chairman Simon Khaya Moyo was quoted
urging
his party supporters to retaliate whenever they are provoked, a
comment
which does not bode well with the promotion of peace and
co-existence.
MDC-T has said at least 200 of its supporters were
killed by Zanu PF militia
and state security agents during the 2008 violent
elections. Most of the
perpetrators, though known, have not been brought to
justice.
Political analyst Charles Mangongera said ending violence
requires political
will that lacks in the parties in the inclusive
government. He said police
needed to operate in an impartial manner if
political violence is to be
eradicated.
“What’s needed is the
political will to stop violence. Police should
properly do their work and
arrest all perpetrators of violence,” said
Mangongera. “In fact, the justice
delivery system should work against the
perpetrators.”
In July
last year, Zanu PF supporters went on the rampage disrupting the
Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission Bill hearings at Parliament building where
some
journalists were assaulted. After the skirmishes, Zanu PF secretary for
administration Didymus Mutasa said his party would defend their supporters
for their actions.
On the other hand, Mangongera views the joint
rallies as positive in the
sense that it showed political leaders recognised
that political violence
was pervasive in the country and needed to be
addressed.
Ernest Mudzengi, another political analyst, who also
believes political
violence can only be addressed if there is political will
among the leaders
said, “It needs not end at conducting joint rallies
alone.”
“There is need for other processes to complement these joint
rallies. These
other processes must be driven by political will on the part
of the key
political players. Yes, it’s a good step, but it must be
complemented by
political will on the part of the party
leaders.”
Bulawayo-based political commentator, Goodwill Phiri said
while it is a
noble move, rallies on their own would not guarantee
peace.
“The rallies without critical security reforms are just a hollow
publicity
stunt by the three principals,” said Phiri.
“At this
moment Zimbabwe does not need rallies but concrete security reforms
and full
implementation of the Global Political Agreement (GPA).”
Zapu
spokesperson Methuseli Moyo laughed off the proposed rallies saying MDC
formations would be foolish to participate in such rallies as they will be
further entrapping themselves. “Firstly, those three parties want to create
a false impression to the electorate that they are the only political
parties in Zimbabwe. They are scared of inroads made by Zapu hence they want
to monopolise the political space” said Moyo.
“I find it very
foolish for both MDCs to want to participate in such
rallies. I foresee a
situation whereby Mugabe would address first and when
it’s the turn of Ncube
and Tsvangirai, Zanu PF would provoke violence to
create the impression that
MDCs’ supporters are violent.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 13:33
BULAWAYO — Local pastors
last week thwarted attempts by immigration
officials to detain and deport
Congolese refugees who had sought shelter at
a church in Makokoba suburb
after fleeing political violence in their
country.
The official
stormed the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Zimbabwe
(AMECZ) where 26
Congolese, fleeing political turmoil in the Democratic
Republic of Congo
(DRC), were staying alleging that they had illegally
entered the
country.
Reverend Amon Mthombeni of AMECZ confirmed the raid saying
the immigration
officials stormed the church in the middle of the night
intending to arrest
the DRC refugees.
The refugees, who included
16 minors, arrived in the country a fortnight ago
stayed for three days at
the Amakhosi Cultural Centre before moving to the
AMECZ where they were
being taken care of by charitable organisations.
“They
(officials) said they want to send the minors to Mlondolozi prison and
adults to other prisons in Bulawayo before deporting them to their country
of origin,” said Rev Mthombeni. “There is no way as the church could have
allowed them to do such a cruel thing. We told them to instead either shoot
or arrest us for taking care of these people who are fleeing their
country.”
Efforts to get a comment from assistant regional
immigration officer for
southern Region, Francis Mabika, were fruitless last
week.
But fearing the immigration would return, Rev Mthombeni said the church
arranged with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) to
have the refugees to Tongogara Refugee Camp in Chipinge,
Manicaland.
Attempts to get a comment from the UNHCR were fruitless
last week. Rev
Mthombeni said the Congolese nationals did not want to leave
the church
fearing deportation.
“They were crying,” he said.
“They looked dejected in the morning when they
were informed that they are
now being taken away. They thought they were
being taken to prisons before
being deported. We only had to console them
with prayers.”
— BY
NQOBANI NDLOVU
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 13:30
BY OUR
STAFF
A legal battle is looming between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
the
state media following the publication of stories alleging that the MDC-T
leader bribed private media editors to stop them from writing damaging
articles about his party and love affairs.
Tsvangirai’s
spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka yesterday said a legal battle
may soon ensue.
“We are looking at the possibility of suing,” Tamborinyoka
said. “It is
obviously utter hogwash to say that we engage in bribing
reporters.”
This is a highly defamatory story and we are looking
at the possibility of
suing those who published it.” The Zimbabwe
Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)
and state owned newspapers last week carried
stories alleging that
Tsvangirai had allegedly bribed editors of local
private newspapers to stop
the negative portrayal of his party and his
“promiscuous” behaviour.
Titled Tsvangirai bribes journalists, the
story alleged that the MDC-T
leader allegedly held secret meetings with
three editors from the private
media and directed them to get editorial
instructions from his office.
The story also alleges that Tsvangirai
dangled thousands of dollars to
editors from the local private media to gag
them.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 13:40
BY
NDAMU SANDU
TROUBLED Air Zimbabwe disregarded recommendations that would have
resulted
in the airline having a lean staff compliment after shedding 1 000
jobs in a
restructuring exercise.
The revelations come at a time
when the airline is sinking deeper into
trouble with workers, embarking on
an industrial action last week over
unpaid salaries.
Air Zimbabwe
last paid its employees six months ago and its flights have
been on and off.
Standardbusiness heard last week that Nicholas van
Hoogstraten, who has over
the years bailed out the airline with emergency
funding, was approached by
government four years ago to provide solutions on
how the airline would be
resuscitated.
Among his recommendations were to chop the labour force
to 260 employees
from 1 300. The airline would then get six new Boeing
planes on a lease
purchase basis and share Gatwick slots and routes with a
strategic partner.
The arrangement would be similar to the one
Kenya Airways has with KLM/Air
France and Ethiopian Airlines has with
British Midland/Lufthansa.
“Had my suggestions been implemented the
airline would not be in the
moribund state that it is today at great cost to
the Exchequer (treasury)
and to the image of the country,” van Hoogstraten
said last week.
“Harare Airport and the infrastructure and facilities
we have in Harare are
far superior to those at Nairobi (Kenya) or Addis
(Ethiopia). The demise of
Air Zimbabwe is a disgraceful waste of a former
valuable asset which is now
beyond redemption.”
Van Hoogstraten said that
there is no way that the airline could be rescued
and that it has to be
liquidated.
“It would be a total abuse of Exchequer money to give the
airline more
funding. No private investor will provide funding,” he
said.
Events at the airline have led to experts arguing that only the
liquidation
of the airline is the best option.
An expert said:
“The idea is to liquidate the company, form another airline
with slightly a
leaner staff. “At the moment no turnaround will happen when
the airline has
over 1 000 employees. Doing what in the first place?”
Van
Hoogstraten, who claimed that he is known in the UK as the “Lender of
Last
Resort” as he could come up with substantial sums of money at short
notice,
said all the loans he made to the airline were interest-free.
The
businessman said his association with the airline came when he was
contacted
by senior officials at Air Zimbabwe when they needed emergency
funding.
The contact person was normally the airline’s head of
station in the UK. Did
the airline managed to repay the loans? “Yes, but on
a couple of occasions I
needed to go higher up the tree in order to recover
my money,” he said.
Air Zimbabwe has over the years been seriously
affected by mismanagement and
government interference. It has also recorded
a high turnover of CEOs,
meaning that there hasn’t been any
continuity.
At the same time, the airline has crafted a number of
turnaround strategies,
but at the end of the day printing would fade on the
various blueprints.
There have been suggestions that the airline
embraces a technical partner,
but analysts warned that no serious airline
would take Air Zimbabwe on
board.
Shut down Air Zimbabwe
immediately: MDC-T
Last month MDC-T National Council resolved
after a meeting that Air Zimbabwe
Private Limited, as it is defined right
now, should be shut down
immediately.
It also resolved that a new
Zimbabwe airline that partners with a foreign
investor should be formed that
will take over the whole staff at Air
Zimbabwe and that tax payers money
should not be used to fund “any corrupt
and unsustainable parastatals”.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012
13:31
BY LESLEY WURAYAYI
It was a hive of activity in Harare yesterday
as parents were shopping for
school uniforms, books and other materials
ahead of the opening of the first
term of the year on
Tuesday.
Uniform shops, book stores and retail outlets in the city
recorded brisk
business despite the “January disease” associated with a
shortage of cash
due to overspending during the long festive
season.
Some suppliers of school wear had to reinforce their security
and forced
shoppers to queue outside to reduce overcrowding inside their
outlets.
“The shop is small and can only take up to 20 shoppers at a
time to avoid
overcrowding,” said one parent queuing outside Metro Trading
uniforms
centre.
Even on the pavements, school wear dealers in
downtown Harare recorded brisk
business as some parents preferred to buy
cheaper uniforms from informal
traders.
Patrick Mukaro, a
“pavement” dealer said business was good especially after
Christmas. “Our
business is at its peak now,” he said. “Sales might drop
next week as
schools open. These day residents seem to spend less money
during the
festive season in order to save cash for January.”
Bigger retail
shops like OK, Afrofood and Spar were also busy with parents
and children
pushing food trolleys and arguing amongst themselves over
grocery
lists.
Banks were also busy as parents rushed to deposit schools fees
for their
children ahead of opening of schools. Last week, parents were also
seen
queuing outside Schools such as David Livingstone outside the city
centre,
trying to secure grade one places for their
children.
There were reports that some parents had to spend nights
queuing to secure
places for their children. The opening of schools this
week is reportedly in
doubt as teachers have threatened to strike if
government does not award
them salary increments by Wednesday this week.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 13:14
BY JENNIFER
DUBE
THE Zimbabwe Chamber of the Informal Economy Association (ZCIEA) says it
has
started mobilising members of the public to sign a petition against
government’s decision to charge duty on a number of products being imported
into the country.
ZCIEA secretary general Wisborn Malaya last
week said cross- border traders
were against stringent duty regulations as
they do not only affect their
businesses but also every citizen’s personal
life.
The Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) late last year scrapped
the US$300
rebate on some goods which are popular with cross-border traders
and
introduced duty on them.
Importers of blankets, footwear,
refrigerators, stoves and other electrical
gadgets now pay 40% of the
purchasing price plus a flat rate of US$5 per
unit as duty. Government is
also now charging between 10% and 25% duty on
basic commodities such as
maize meal, cooking oil, potato chips, baked beans
and mixed fruit
jam.
Importation of undergarments has been banned completely. “We
have started
mobilising members of the general public to join us in
contesting these
unfair charges which are affecting not only the cross
borders’ livelihood
but all citizens’ personal lives,” Malaya
said.
“If a Zimbabwean visits another country they can’t buy shoes
for their
family members anymore as they will have to pay duty for these and
this is
not right.
Apart from being an infringement of citizens’
rights, said Malaya, the
charges were too high considering that duty would
end up being higher than
the purchasing price as some of the products would
have cost less than the
US$5 flat rate.
“There are some like the
Chinese who can afford to import in bulk for resale
locally but what is the
government doing condemning all of us to cheap
Chinese shoes which wear out
in no time,” he said.
Malaya said some cross-border traders preferred
buying fridges, stoves and
other goods after selling their merchandise in
other countries as a way of
ensuring that they do not lose their money to
thieves.
“They would resell the goods on arrival in Zimbabwe and get
their money and
a little profit but the duty now makes that impossible,” he
said.
Malaya said his organisation, which aims to improve conditions
for more than
two million informal economy workers, will soon hold a meeting
to discuss
the recently introduced requirement for travellers to declare
their goods to
Zimra at least three hours before arrival at the port of
entry.
“That is not realistic,” he said. “What type of mindset is
that which does
not even consider where one will be during those three
hours?
“I have travelled to many countries and never heard of that
before unless in
relation to commercial goods which go through
agents.”
Sceptics said new regulation would inconvenience Zimbabweans
who cross the
borders for a few hours’ shopping in Botswana’s Francistown,
South Africa’s
Musina and in Lusaka, Zambia.
But Cross-Border
Traders Association president Killer Zivhu said declaring
goods in advance
would reduce the time they spend on the borders.
He however,
criticised the ban imposed on importation of undergarments
saying there was
no local company manufacturing them. Those that are sold at
big clothing
stores, said Zivhu, were not affordable to many.
Finance minister
Tendai Biti last year said men who buy second-hand
underwear for their wives
are failures. His comments were followed by the
banning of importation of
undergarments.
Biti’s remarks an insult
Zivhu said Biti’s
remarks were an insult to poor people, the graduate with
no job and the
cross-border, who is trying to make ends meet.
“The minister is among
those in the MDC advocating for the creation of
employment but people have
resorted to cross-border trading because there
are no jobs,” said
Zivhu.
“We are also against the US$5 flat rate and the 40% duty on
goods which are
not manufactured locally like 2-in-1 blankets and tackies.”
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012
13:46
BY NDAMU SANDU
ZIMBABWE has to address its external debt and
arrears to attract investment
needed to drive the economic growth, according
to a report by one of the
continent’s leading financial
institutions.
In an analysis of the US$4 billion budget for this
year, African Development
Bank (AfDB) said that money allocated to energy
(1, 2% of the budget) and
water and sanitation (2, 8%) was inadequate due to
problems faced by the
sectors.
It said the low funding
demonstrates the need to encourage private sector
investment in these
sectors by making sure tariffs are set at cost recovery
levels.
“Furthermore, the need for Zimbabwe to find a way of
resolving its external
debt and arrears situation is critical,” AfDB
said.
“The needed investments are simply not going to materialise without
addressing this important issue.”
Zimbabwe’s external debt is
over US$8 billion and has been termed
unsustainable until 2029 by a
consultant engaged by government three years
ago.
Despite
promising to adopt a hybrid model that uses traditional methods and
resources pledging to clear the debt, Zimbabwe has not moved an inch,
mirroring the problems in the inclusive government where consultations can
take ages due to a polarised environment.
The delay in clearing
the debt is coming at a huge cost to the country as it
cannot access lines
of credit to help rebuild the economy devastated by a
decade of recession
which was only halted with the creation of a unity
government in
2009.
For instance, there is US$93,1 million which has been escrowed
since 2009 as
Zimbabwe still owes the International Monetary Fund. The money
was part of a
global rescue package given to members to shore their reserves
in the wake
of the global financial crisis.
The huge debt has
meant that the country can only access technical
assistance from bilateral
and multilateral financial institutions.
The revelations by AfDB come at a
time government has been looking for
investments to drive the economic
growth and has promised to put in place
reforms to lure
investors.
The reforms, which include the conclusion as well as
negotiating for new
Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection
Agreements, are designed to
provide a favourable environment for investors
and get a bigger chunk in
terms of the global Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI) inflows.
FDI inflows into the country were US$105 million in
2010. Government has
identified FDI as one of the engines of economic growth
under the Medium
Term Plan (MTP).
According to the MTP unveiled
last year government wants investment to
contribute 20% of the Gross
Domestic Product in 2015 from the current 4%.
Analysts fear the
indigenisation legislation would scare away investors as
principals in the
inclusive government are not singing from the same page.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012
12:16
A myriad of shortcomings are bedeviling the unity government, owing
to Zanu
PF’s willy-nilly and crafty tendencies as the party tramples on the
entire
tenets of the Global Political Agreement, rendering the whole
historic
document a hoax and a deception.
There is so much
discord about who really wields power and much politicking
about the whole
matter is threatening to rip apart the fragile unity
government, with
President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF plotting to pull out of
the marriage of
convenience, citing irreconcilable differences with his
long-time rival,
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Zanu PF is reported to be all out,
amassing support countrywide, setting the
stage for a bruising electoral
showdown with its arch enemy, Tsvangirai — a
battle that is likely to turn
bloody and chaotic while the latter is
accusing the country’s former ruling
party of seeking to bulldoze the
country into a tumultuous election without
electoral reforms in place.
It may be possible that Zanu PF is just
buying time, sensing its ailing
leader is faltering and could fall at any
time. The party faces a leadership
crisis ahead of the plebiscite scheduled
to take place later in 2013,
certainly not in 2012 as Zanu PF bigwigs would
want the nation to believe.
It is now widely accepted that the
party cannot possibly win any free and
fair election, but will once again
lobby for another unity government in
the hope of keeping its leader afloat
as they await nature to take its
course.
But then, what would
happen if something were to happen to the President
right at this minute?
Possibly, the nation will be plunged into a bloody
civil war, with Zanu PF
politicians drawing swords against each other,
seeking to find out who
really should find his way to State House.
Factions that have been
reported in the independent media as secretly
conniving against each other
will come out clean and Zanu PF willbe
fragmented into miserable shreds,
degenerating into the inevitable demise of
the liberation
party.
All the same, the current lame unity government should take
note of this and
gear up for a worst case scenario. While all the good
things may be said
about the present government, it is fair to note that
someone was deceived
by the political compromise that led to the formation
of the government of
national unity.
First, Tsvangirai was made
to believe that it was going to be a stroll in
the park, having equal powers
with Mugabe, but that was not to be.
Mugabe is in control even if
people say the army has taken over. The state
media sings every moment about
Gushungo being at the helm and never have we
heard them bragging about the
army being in power or stating their
recognition of the PM as the
President’s equal partner in running the
country’s affairs.
Even
if the army may be giving instructions to Mugabe on how to run the
country
or vice-versa, the fact still remains: Zanu PF is in charge and
Tsvangirai
is being sidelined in all serious governance issues.
The Global
Political Agreement, from the outset, indicated that the security
sectors,
including the military and the police, would execute their duties
in a
non-partisan manner, but alas; that only exists on paper.
MDC
activists and politicians are constantly arrested and most are rotting
in
remand prisons across the country on trumped up charges while calls by
the
PM for justice to prevail have been to no avail.
The entire
government of national unity was a calculated ploy to deceive the
victors in
the March 2008 elections — a well-orchestrated move to keep
losers in power
and avoid a legal backlash for alleged crimes committed
against
humanity.
BY JEFFREY MOYO CHARI
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012
11:43
When you are a newsroom operator more concerned about editing, fact
checking
and copy deadlines, you hardly find the time to respond to each and
every
brickbat thrown at you or your newspaper.
The demands of
the newsroom deadlines are such that you tend to dismiss
anything that can
only be a distraction to your day-to-day work.
That is how I reacted
to a story that appeared in The Herald alleging
editors of privately-owned
newspapers had been bribed by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai to spruce up
his image in the wake of his “marriage
scandal”.
I also failed to
notice that during the last few days, ZBC radio and TV had
been aggressively
running the same malicious story.
The climax was reached on the Friday 8pm
bulletin when ZBC analyst, Gabriel
Chaibva was wheeled on the set to “name
and shame” journalists who are said
to be implicated in the so called bribe
scandal.
I was among the journalists named and so was Standard
editor, Nevanji
Madanhire. Brian Mangwende, the editor of NewsDay and Faith
Zaba, the
political editor for The Zimbabwe Independent were also
named.
Once Chaibva “named” us, phones started ringing; the first one
obviously
coming from family members who had been watching the box. The same
happened
to Madanhire and, I presume, to the other editors as
well.
Chaibva is a good old friend of mine. We interacted quite a lot
both on
personal and party matters when I was active as a reporter covering
the
political beat.
I remember in the lead up to the 2005 split
of the main MDC, Chaibva aligned
himself to Welshman Ncube’s faction, and
then became a harsh critic of
Tsvangirai.
I will not burden you
with the reasons Chaibva made the somersault, and also
why he later turned
his back on Ncube’s faction and then became more aligned
to Zanu
PF.
But soon Chaibva evolved into a star ZBC analyst, outshining the
likes of
Vimbai Chivaura, Claude Mararike, Tafataona Mahoso and
others.
And on Friday, he was at his best as he explained to ZTV
viewers about the
so-called bribe scandal. Notably, Chaibva sought to prove
that the
journalists had a generally corrupt relationship with Tsvangirai,
going as
far as to suggest that they cast a blind eye to his sexual
exploits.
He categorically stated, that the private media never wrote
a single story
that was negative about the premier. While I can’t say much
about other
papers, I have no hesitation to dismiss Chaibva’s utterances as
baseless,
uninformed, if not outright stupid.
So-called ZBC
analysts need to be reminded that before they open their
mouths on
television, they need first to be informed.
Chaibva and whoever planted that
story in the state media needs to be
reminded that it was The Standard, a
paper that is unwavering in its quest
to bring politicians to account, that
brought to light Tsvangirai’s
relationship to Locadia Karimatsenga
Tembo.
That was way back on May 30 2010 when The Standard published
an exclusive
story headlined: PM finds new love. The story for the first
time revealed
that the Premier had started a relationship with the wealthy
commodity
broker.
On February 27 2011, we ran another exclusive:
“Tsvangirai fathered my
baby.”
In the story that set tongues wagging, a
23-year-old Bulawayo woman, Loreta
Nyathi, alleged that she was carrying the
PM’s baby.
Her lawyer Josphat Tshuma of Webb Low & Barry
confirmed that he had received
an instruction to draft a maintenance letter
of demand to Tsvangirai.
The Standard ran a number of articles until
the case was resolved without
going to court. Even when news about
Tsvangirai’s alleged marriage to
Locadia came to light, The Standard also
covered the story.
It is from this background, that we find
suggestions that The Standard
editors were bribed to stop writing anything
negative about Tsvangirai’s
love affairs not only mischievous, but also
patently dishonest and
malicious.
Tsvangirai, like any other
politician, has never been a sacred cow at this
paper and will never be. As
long as he remains in public office, he will be
held to
account.
Just a few weeks before Christmas, on this space, Madanhire
chastised the
way Tsvangirai conducted his affairs. Under the title,
Bed-hopping
Tsvangirai soiling his own image, the editor penned a piece
critical of the
PM’s “open zip” approach to
relationships.
Writing in the column, Madanhire recalled an incident
when a teacher came to
class with his zip open and one brave pupil wrote on
a piece of paper only
three letters of the alphabet “XYZ” which meant,
“close your zip” and gave
it to the teacher.
Madanhire wrote:
“Can someone write the same three letters and please throw
them at Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai? In the wake of his November
marriage, or
whatever it was, no one knows what he will do next. Sing
Zuma-style Mtshina
Wami, Mtshina Wami (Bring my machine gun) or like Silvio
Berlusconi, host
bunga-bunga parties?”
So where is the cover up?
We therefore find
Chaibva’s suggestions that The Standard has been trying to
cover up the PM’s
indiscretions baffling. Either these unfounded allegations
were made out of
malice or sheer ignorance.
They could also be an unintelligent
attempt to rubbish a newspaper that is
connecting with the readers. The
alleged bribe scandal could be a creation
of someone who is desperate to
stop privately-owned newspapers from
carrying out their important role
ahead of elections this year or in 2013.
Chaibva and like-minded
people must be reminded The Standard does not pander
to the whims of
politicians. When politicians mess up, it cannot be the role
of The Standard
editors and journalists to clean-up the mess.
We have set ourselves a
code of conduct that has been well-publicised and we
will abide by
it.
By Walter Marwizi
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 11:41
For
the umpteenth time, Air Zimbabwe workers last week embarked on a
demonstration to press for outstanding salaries and allowances. Their action
brought to the fore, the problems at the national carrier which has failed
to pay its employees for the past seven months.
Before the
demonstrations, the Transport, Communications and Infrastructural
Development ministry had issued a directive to the airline not to fly long
haul routes, fearing that creditors would impound its few remaining planes
over outstanding debts.
The directive came after an American company
impounded an Air Zimbabwe plane
at Gatwick Airport last month over a US$1,2
million debt.
The other plane had been impounded in South Africa over
a US$500 000 debt.
On Wednesday, disturbing reports surfaced that the
airline, mired in a
US$140 million debt, had grounded domestic flights,
leaving passengers
stranded. Passengers scheduled to fly to London and the
Far East were also
stranded in Harare as the airline failed to refund
them.
Sadly, all these developments — happening at the once
prestigious airline —
do not shock anyone because Air Zimbabwe has been
literally struggling for
the past few years. It has become the epitome of
state failure in the
running of parastatals.
What is worrying is
that the shareholder, through Nicholas Goche’s ministry,
is clueless on how
to extricate the airline from this mess. The board
running the airline is
equally not up to the task, meaning that this rot is
set to continue, unless
the airline is privatised.
Over the years, numerous turnaround
documents have been written, but were
thrown in the dustbin as Zanu PF,
which maintains a tight grip on the
government-owned transporter — which
flies President Robert Mugabe on his
numerous Far East jaunts — maintained
the status quo.
All Zanu PF officials have done recently is to accuse
Finance minister
Tendai Biti of failing to rescue the struggling
parastatal.
But surely, how many times can Air Zimbabwe be rescued? Treasury
and the
central bank have done so on a number of occasions to no avail. All
they
have succeeded in doing is to throw the public funds down the
drain.
The lesson from the Air Zimbabwe saga is that when governments
fail to run
their airlines, the logical thing is to leave them in private
hands. This is
the only way to ensure a lasting solution to the
transporter’s challenges
that seem insurmountable.
Quote of the
week
"Anyone who would want to soil that, we will meet head on,”
Police
Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri reacting to plans by the
Harare City
Council to shut down an illegal flea market operating in a car
park adjacent
to the Harare Central Police Station.
http://www.thestandard.co.zw/
Sunday, 08 January 2012 11:32
Zimbabwe has
now entered its 12th year without a clear political direction
to guide its
citizens. Since 2000, political rot has been the major
characteristic of the
nation, in which political parties continuously engage
in bitter battles
that result in bloodshed and destruction of property.
Despite joining
forces on September 15 in 2008, by signing a Global
Political Agreement
(GPA), Zanu PF and the MDC formations are still to
achieve the desired
outcomes in terms of service delivery. The nation got
partial healing when
the inclusive government was formed in February 2009,
with the economy
showing a semblance of stability.
However, politicians continue to
quibble over critical issues such as the
drafting of the new constitution,
elections and national healing without
resolve. Each of the political
parties in the inclusive government seems
convinced of own, albeit
self-serving, relevance in today’s national and
global
politics.
But the crucial question is what are their chances if they
are to contest in
any election to win the hearts of so many who are
desperately in need of
better living standards, employment, sound health
delivery systems and
better education?
Let’s begin with the
former ruling party, Zanu PF which, without doubt,
played a key role in
shaping the present-day Zimbabwe by joining forces with
Zapu to wage a war
against the Ian Smith regime to liberate the nation in
1980. It is a party
most will remember for the struggle to make the majority
attain the highest
level of education soon after getting into power and into
the early
90s.
President Robert Mugabe arrived in Highfield residential
area in 1980 to a
thunderous welcome because he belonged to a party whose
motive was cherished
by the majority. It was prestigious then to be a member
of Zanu PF.
After enjoying a monolithic political atmosphere — a
defacto
one-party-state — Zanu PF believed itself to be the sole party that
deserves to rule the nation in perpetuity.
The party became
increasingly authoritarian over a docile following and
resisted any form of
rejuvenation. It promoted its leader, Mugabe, to a cult
persona, in the
process, suppressing individual liberties. Anyone
contesting elections
against President Mugabe, was branded a sellout.
For lacking the
ambition to revive itself, Zanu PF may have unwittingly
dumped itself into
the political dustbin. Everything is changing; companies
are rebranding,
generations are changing and Zanu PF must realise that
without a new face to
appeal to the new generation electorate, it is like
the ancient steam
railway-engine trying to out-run the electrified modern
inventions.
Its chances of romping to victory in any
election, is nil. In a free and
fair environment, the party could only live
to regret its failure to read
the writing on the wall. Zanu PF is now like a
monument, which people visit
to commemorate the history of
Zimbabwe.
Rising from a workers movement into a formidable political
force to
challenge the dominance of Zanu PF, MDC-T, has had its problems,
especially
in relation to intra-party squabbles that seemed to present a
major threat
to its stability. It was thrown into controversy last year when
Tsvangirai
was caught in an as yet to be cleared marriage
controversy.
The issue has irked many sections of the society,
but many believe his
personal failure is unlikely to affect the political
clout he developed over
the years. Tsvangirai, like many other Zimbabweans,
suffered at the hands of
Zanu PF in the struggle for
democracy.
The MDC was disallowed many times from holding
rallies, with police
selectively applying the law to accord its rival, Zanu
PF, more space to
preach its propaganda to the electorate. All these
constraints proved
useless, as in March 2008 election, the MDC-T trounced
Zanu PF to win the
harmonised polls.
Despite winning the
election, MDC-T was denied its right to rule and today
it is playing second
fiddle to the losing party.
If elections were to be held today, without even
campaigning, there are high
chances that the MDC-T would win without having
to labour because the tide
of change seems unstoppable.
MDC-N,
remains no more than a splinter of the main MDC that hired Deputy
Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara to be its president in 2005. With most MPs
deserting it, MDC-N’s relevance on the political scene is largely a thing of
the past and MDC-N president, Welshman Ncube, should be grateful that he
remains in government, courtesy of the inclusive government.
BY
GUMISAI NYONI
