Zimbabwe police release 4 journalists detained for investigating political harassment

http://www.washingtonpost.com

By Associated Press, Published: July 16

HARARE, Zimbabwe — Four newly released Zimbabwean journalists say police
arrested them for asking about a police officer fired for political reasons.

Independent reporter Pindayi Dube spoke Saturday after the four were
released north of the city of Bulawayo after their Friday arrest. He says
they were arrested for trying to witness a policeman being evicted from a
police camp for listening to music on his mobile phone that allegedly
“incited” police recruits to join Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party.

Rights groups say police have launched a clampdown against independent
journalists and politicians opposed to longtime ruler President Robert
Mugabe since he called for elections this year to end the nation’s troubled
coalition.

Mugabe Tells MDC ,Hands Off Service Chiefs

http://www.radiovop.com/

Harare, July 16, 2011 – President Robert Mugabe has come out guns blazing,
urging Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC-T) party to stop grumbling over the biased conduct of the
country’s security chiefs.

“As Commander-in Chief of the security forces, I want to make it very clear
that no one should meddle with the command and Parliament cannot be the
commander in chief of the security forces. Never at all,” Mugabe told a Zanu
(PF) Central Committee meeting on Friday.

Mugabe said this in apparent reference to the MDC-T whose parliamentarians
this week approached the House seeking a resolution that compels the country’s
powerful commanders to stop meddling in the country’s political affairs.

MDC-T’s Mbizo legislator Settlement Chikwinya, mover of the motion, said the
continued interference in the country’s political affairs and threats by the
security commanders on party leader and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was
both “unconstitutional and treasonous”.

The MDC-T wants the security organs of the State to confine their operations
to the business of enforcing the country's laws and defending the country.
But Mugabe, frothing at the mouth, said the MDC-T was less qualified to
lecture the security chiefs on how to behave.

“Very few of our politicians today can dispense to these fine men and women
any lessons on freedom and democracy. We don’t want to teach them about
freedom and democracy. They fought for it. It’s their product,” Mugabe said
to loud cheers from party loyalists.

He added, “Teach the lesson on freedom and democracy to persons who
liberated them when they were on the other side, even refusing to
participate in the struggle for liberation and today they want to say the
security forces are not supporting them. They won’t support the because of
their past.

“Who are you as you stand there? Your character, your own nature, your own
beliefs. All these are judged by what you were yesterday and what you still
are today.

"How can those who wine and dine with the enemy. We see them going to
Europe, the Europeans who imposed sanctions on us and they will come and in
broad daylight, ask that the security forces will respect you.Are they
fools? They are not idiots. Change your ways, ngavachinje.”

Mugabe’s defiant stance on the partisan conduct of the country’s security
commanders put pays to hopes by both factions of MDC the country’s powerful
commanders will allow civilian authority to dictate the running of the
country and allow a smooth change of administration should Zanu (PF) lose a
future poll.

The security commanders are seen as the real power behind the Mugabe fronted
regime.

Zim Civil Servants Receive Increments Despite Biti’s Continued Denials

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, July 16, 2011 – Zimbabwe’s civil servants will receive their salary
increase this month, contrary to continued denials by Finance Minister
Tendai Biti that the national purse was still not able to finance the
additional expense.

Zimbabwe Teachers Association Chief Executive Officer Sifiso Ndlovu told
RadioVop Friday that the increase was already reflecting in the government
workers’ bank accounts.

“From an administrative point of view, we can confirm that the rest of our
public service workers will receive their improved remuneration," said
Ndlovu.

“If it is going to be delayed, it may be a day or so because of
thetechnicalities that led to the instructions being given to
theadministrative arms of the salary services bureau but definitely that the
money would be paid its quite clear. And that agreement has been done and
official instructions have been given from treasury to the relevant services
bureau.”

The disbursement of monies by government ends weeks of speculation on
whether the finance minister was going to award the increase. Biti has had
public clashes with the Zanu (PF) wing of the inclusive government, after he
continuously insisted government coffers were still too constrained to allow
the additional expense.

The minister’s office has, on more than two occasions in the past month,
been besieged by angry Zanu PF supporters who were demanding a salary
increase for government workers, failure to which he should resign.

Only last week, Biti was still adamant there would be no increased
remuneration for civil servants, insisting there was no money. Biti argued
that the review will increase the monthly civil service wage bill by US$29
million to around US$104 million against a monthly average of US$75 million
from January to June.

Air Zim Pilots Down Tools

http://www.radiovop.com/

Harare ,July 16, 2011 -Troubled Air Zimbabwe pilots last Friday, went on
strike to protest against the late payment of the their salaries and
allowances of more than four months running into several thousands of
dollars.

The pilots downed tools on Friday morning and told management that they will
not return to work unless they get their salaries and agreed payments of
allowances they did with the Minister of Transport Nicholas Goche.

Sources from Air Zimbabwe told Radio VOP that the pilots had resorted to the
industrial action to demand payment of their outstanding salaries and
allowances, which haven’t been paid since March this year despite promises
by management which undertook to clear the outstanding payments.

“The airline owes us a lot. After going for more than four months without a
salary we have just decided to down our tools. They haven’t fulfilled their
pledge to pay us in full. So this is the only language that they can
understand,” said a source.

The strike action resulted in the cancellation of the few remaining
international flights owing to a series of job actions and a depleted fleet.
Air Zimbabwe acting chief executive officer Innocent Mavhunga yesterday
confirmed that they have been struggling to pay their workers salaries
lately.
“Certainly we have had some challenges with regards late payment of salaries
of all our staff members and this morning we had of the job action from our
pilots. We have managed to secure some funding to a part payment of the
outstanding salaries,” said Mavhunga declining to give of the percentage to
the part payment.

He added he was very hopeful that the pilots will call off the strike and
return to work and get the troubled AirZimbabwe back to the air.

“As I speak to you right now the pilots are in their own meeting and are
hoping to get them back at work. Obviously we had to rush to our
stakeholders for them to provide the much needed financial support,” said
Mavhunga in reference to the government.

Sources said the part payment that the management had offered was the salary
for one month only leaving a three month outstanding salaries.

Efforts to get the pilots' reaction to the management offer were futile by
the time of writing this report but sources said the pilots had turned down
the offer.
The pilots' last strike was in March this year over the issue of salaries.
Zimbabwe's national airline has been plagued with gross mismanagement,
corruption and a lack of resources. Many experienced pilots have left
seeking better opportunities elsewhere.

Violence in Mbare Township: Testimonies from the Victims

Statement on Mbare Violence by Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace

A Plea To Politicians: Respect Human Rights and Dignity for Mbare Residents

Statement on Mbare Violence by Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe

The Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace in Zimbabwe (CCJPZ) is appealing to political parties and politicians as well as the youths to stop violence and respect human rights and human dignity of the people who live in Mbare. Violence in Mbare, since the beginning of this year is largely political. The organising points have been Carter House and Paget House in Mbare. This area is close to a place where some people, especially those who are HIV positive, collect their anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs). But the place has become so unapproachable and inhospitable that some of the victims of violence are now afraid to go and collect their drugs.  Systematic about the violence is that it is imported; most people behind the violence are not permanent residents in the area, but have been ‘shipped’ from other areas. 

The Commission believes that diversity is a positive value that can be used for the betterment of the country, but it seems we are destroying that diversity and forcing people to follow certain political positions.  The victims of violence say they are being punished for their democratic rights of participating in political associations of their choice. But our experience has shown that politicians will never win votes by beating and killing their perceived opponents. The best way of winning votes is by promoting human rights and human dignity. How, for example, can a person (and his family, relatives etc.) who dislocated his jaw as a result of political violence would vote for the political party responsible for dislocating it?

Usually, a family house is the safest place where an individual can seek refuge.  But in Mbare, there are politically related groups that force their way into private property of those with alternative political mindsets, confiscating household goods and other personal property. In extreme cases, some families in Mbare supporting a particular political position have lost their houses to people who belong to other political parties. Buying and (re)selling opportunities, some of the most forms of   survival strategies in Mbare have been availed on partisan basis. Vending positions, flea market tables have also been politicised. All this is happening amidst tense, but implicit political violence. Families have been broken by the violence, and some men have to go and see their families at night to avoid being caught by the politically dogmatic groups. Is this the freedom that claimed gallant daughters and sons of the soil during the liberation struggle?

However, all these scenarios do not only undermine the Universal Declaration of Human Rights - the will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government and guaranteeing to everyone the right that are essential for effective political participation - but are also against the Gospel values and principles which the Church follows. They undermine the principle of the Common Good which requires that political, economic and the social order should ‘allow people, either as groups or as individuals, to make independent choices to reach their fulfilment more fully and more easily’.

The political violence in Mbare also undermines the principle of human dignity, the human worthiness that we derive from God who loved us first and created us in his own image. It is instructive to consider every ‘neighbour without exception as another self, taking into account first of all his life and the means necessary for living it with dignity’. Every political, economic, social, scientific and cultural programme must be inspired by the awareness of the primacy of each human being over society. CCJPZ therefore advises the politicians, political parties and the youths to desist from violence in Mbare to enable citizens to live their normal lives. END! 30 June 2011

A.M Chaumba, National Director.

S. African Facilitator Rejects ZANU-PF Insistence on 2011 Zimbabwe Elections

http://www.voanews.com

15 July 2011

After months of haggling over when the next elections should be held,
negotiators from ZANU-PF and the two formations of the Movement for
Democratic Change agreed they should be held next year

Violet Gonda | Washington

Brian Kagoro, chairman of the Development Foundation of Zimbabwe, said it is
not enough to call for electoral and media reforms when there are so many
issues to address, including economic recovery and jobs

Facilitators working for South African President Jacob Zuma, mediator for
the region in Zimbabwe, responded Friday to a demand issued by the ZANU-PF
politburo demanding elections this year, saying the ballot will be called
according to the road map drawn up by Harare government negotiators and
agreed to by all power-sharing parties.

Lindiwe Zulu, a Zuma foreign affairs aide and spokeswoman for the
facilitation team that has been shuttling back and forth to Harare,
commented after the ZANU-PF politburo rejected the timeline proposed by the
Harare government negotiators.

ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo dismissed the statement from Pretoria.

“We are Zimbabweans, we decide what we want to do. Negotiations are not cast
in stone. We can accept or reject what negotiators have decided, so I don’t
want to listen to that kind of nonsense,” Gumbo told VOA Studio 7 reporter
Violet Gonda.

After months of haggling over when the next elections should be held,
negotiators from President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF, the Movement for
Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and the
smaller MDC wing led by Industry Minister Welshman Ncube unanimously agreed
elections should be held next year.

The timeline was stretched out to allow for a constitution to be drafted, a
referendum on it to be held, and for myriad electoral and other reforms to
be implemented.

But the timeline was almost immediately rejected by the ZANU-PF politburo,
the party's supreme decision making body, which insisted elections must be
held this year. Mr. Mugabe and ZANU-PF hardliners have been doing the same
for many months.

Commented Tsvangirai MDC Treasurer General Roy Bennett: “It might be their
machinations and hopes but it is not going to happen.”

The MDC official said reforms should have been in place by mid-February of
this year but said ZANU-PF had slowed the process and in particular
interfered with the public outreach or comment phase which took far longer
and cost more than it should have.

“If we need to do these things correctly and timeously we have to follow a
set of reforms in order that we can go into a genuine free and fair election
as guaranteed by [the Southern African Development Community, guarantor of
power-sharing].

Brian Kagoro, chairman of the Development Foundation of Zimbabwe, said it is
more realistic to hold elections next year, but added that it is not enough
simply to call for electoral and media reforms when there are so many more
issues the co-governing parties must address, including economic recovery
and jobs.

The commentator said ordinary citizens are looking for more secure
livelihoods and greater dignity in their daily existence.

He urged political parties to promulgate their manifestos between now and
the next elections so Zimbabweans will be able to see who is making a
commitment to deliver on jobs, social protection, elimination of corruption
and other basics.

Kagoro said there needs to be a change in political culture that goes beyond
fighting over procedural aspects of the rule of law, constitutional reform
and governance.

"These should be the election issues and not so much whether or not we have
a new electoral reform commission," Kagoro said.

Zimbabweans should take a cue from the liberation struggle, where the most
pressing issue at the late-1970s Lancaster House negotiations leading to the
independence of Zimbabwe in 1980 was the cessation of hostilities, Kagoro
continued.

“It will be the day after elections that the new government will be faced
with these challenges immediately, and it is not enough for a new government
to wait to start after the elections. People need to have dialogued about
them and reached a consensus on what direction to take beforehand,” Kagoro
concluded.

Lavish councillors face probe

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Xolisani Ncube, Staff Writer
Friday, 15 July 2011 15:24

HARARE - Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Deputy Minister,
Sessel Zvidzai, has given Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda the green light to
institute a probe into the lavish lifestyle of councillors.

Zvidzai told the Daily News yesterday, that he has given Masunda the go
ahead to launch investigations into the issue which has attracted great
interest among residents of the capital.

A number of councillors including Deputy Mayor Emmanuel Chiroto have been
identified among the council representatives who have had a dramatic change
of lifestyle since they assumed office in 2008.

“I have given him permission to investigate the change of lifestyle of
certain councillors,” said Zvidzai.

“It is his duty to ensure that he protects the city and also protects
service delivery so he has to take internal measures against those
councillors who will be found on the wrong side.”

Masunda had expressed worry over the extravagant life that some of the
councillors are leading in a brief with journalists on Tuesday.

He especially mentioned reports that his deputy is building a 23-bedroomed
double storey house in Mount Pleasant.

“I am worried about the lifestyle of certain councillors. I can’t keep a
blind eye to that,” said Masunda. I am yet to have a meeting with the Deputy
Mayor over the issue which appeared in the press.

“Such issues have a risk of putting the image of the city at risk and have a
tendency of haunting you later.”
Harare city councillors are believed to earn a measly $180 in monthly
allowances.

However most of them are driving top of the range vehicles despite the fact
that they have no known business that they are involved in.

Masunda also said he was keen to probe allegations that some councillors
were involved in the awarding of tenders to companies they have personal
influence over while others are said to be receiving kickbacks in such
transactions.

“There are allegations on procurement issues where some councillors are
working in collusion with companies winning tender bids,” said Masunda.

Two months ago, Chiroto attempted to defend himself on allegations of
influencing the supply of council vehicles.
He said at the time, that he played no part in the procurement process.

“Knowing the company that supplied the vehicles does not mean that I
influenced the process,” said Chiroto.

He also said the construction of the 23-roomed house was not something extra
ordinary.

“I started to build that house from the proceeds I got after selling my
house in Hatcliff and I bought the stand from the city of Harare as part of
my benefits as a councillor,” he said.

Zvidzai also said he had tasked Masunda to investigate allegations that some
council employees were involved in fraudulent activities by conniving with
ratepayers to erase their debts without settling them.

“As the ministry we have received serious reports that some council
employees were asking for bribes from ratepayers to cancel a certain amount
from their bills and pay less monies to council.

“I have asked the mayor to look at those issues,” said Zvidzai

Zanu PF disown Nyikayaramba

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

By Chengetai Zvauya, Senior Writer
Friday, 15 July 2011 15:02

HARARE - Zanu PF MPs have disowned “rogue” army general Brigadier-General
Douglas Nyikayaramba, who has said the military will do “anything” to keep
President Robert Mugabe and the party in power even if they lose elections.

President Robert Mugabe’s party appears to be on a campaign to clean up
their image ahead of the Sadc summit in Angola next month where the
political crisis in Zimbabwe will be up for discussion.

Joram Gumbo, the Zanu PF parliamentary chief whip, told reporters yesterday
that Nyikayaramba’s “treasonous statements” were his personal opinions that
had the potential of causing instability in a country at the centre of a
political stalemate.

Nyikayaramba has been in the limelight in recent months for repeatedly
trying to influence political processes, including demanding that elections
should be held this year. He caused alarm when he described Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai as a “security threat”. But in trying to diffuse a
potentially explosive parliamentary debate on the involvement of military
generals in politics, Zanu PF disowns Nyikayaramba over statement Gumbo
painted Nyikayaramba as a loose cannon.

Gumbo said Nyikaramba was not a spokesperson for Zanu PF, neither did he
possess the authority to speak on behalf of the army.

“Brigadier-General Nyikayaramba is not a service chief as alleged and his
statement does not represent the views of services chiefs. Furthermore, he
is not a spokesperson of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces (ZDF). His statements
must not be regarded as the views or legal position of the ZDF,” said Gumbo.

“He is not a Zanu PF MP and people should not mistake that. He is an
individual who is free to express his own mind. Personally, I think the
statements he made should not have been made given the political situation
in our country. Some words are better not said because they cause disharmony
in the country,” said Gumbo.

Gumbo said Nyikayaramba’s statements were “very unfortunate as it will send
the wrong message to our youths in our various constituencies who can end up
engaging in political violence”.

“As leaders in our constituencies, we must be very careful in what we tell
our members, and it is fact that Zanu PF and MDC supporters clash a lot and
we need to avoid any statements that incite them,” said Gumbo.

Gumbo’s statements followed a motion tabled on Wednesday by MDC MP
Settlement Chikwinya that members of security forces namely the military,
police, prisons and the intelligence should remain neutral in the political
affairs of the country.

The motion was seconded by MDC chief whip Innocent Gonese.

“We did not debate the motion that was moved by MP Chikwinya from MDC
because our members, who are supposed to debate that motion were not
present, and we shall debate it next week when they will be available,” said
Gumbo.

It is unlikely however, that Nyikayaramba will face disciplinary action from
the army as Gumbo appeared to exonerate the military man of gross
insubordination.

“The treasonous statements can be dismissed in light of the fact that the
brigadier-general was enunciating national values he holds dear in his
personally capacity,’’ Gumbo said.

Nyikayaramba’s statements follow a pattern set by his superiors as early as
2002.

Other serving service chiefs such as the late General Vitalis Zvinavashe,
current ZDF commander General Constantine Chiwenga, Air Marshal Perrance
Shiri, prison chiefs Paradzai Zimondi and police commissioner-general
Augustine Chihuri have in the past openly said they will not salute any
president elected by the people of Zimbabwe who did not participate in the
war of liberation for the independence of the country.

List reveals murder accomplice Machekanyanga as CIO office

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

At number 172 on the list of 480 CIO agents leaked to SW Radio Africa is
Deputy Intelligence Officer Farai Machekanyanga. Last year a Zanu (PF)
official known as Chikanya, from Cherutombo suburb in Marondera, stunned the
community after she began confessing how she and a gang, which included
Machekanyanga, assassinated suspected MDC-T supporters and dumped their
bodies in shallow graves and dams.
15.07.1106:18pm
SW Radio Africa

As reported in The Zimbabwean at that time, Chikanya, dressed in Zanu (PF)
regalia, had gone to her party offices and told them she wanted to confess
her crimes because she was experiencing hardships. But party officials paid
no attention so she went to the town bus terminus. Once there she gathered a
crowd and narrated the names of her accomplices, including Machekanyanga,
and how they killed MDC-T activists in the run up to the June 2008 election.

Zanu (PF) officials dispatched a truck to pick her up but she refused to be
driven away. According to her testimony Machekanyanga also took part in the
abduction of MDC-T District Chairman Bakayimana and youth organizer Kainos,
on May 22 2008.

Chikanya said: “We tortured them at Hurudza House (CIO offices) for weeks,
before taking them to various secret locations. We wanted to use them as
bait to lure Iain Kay (MP) and Farai Nyandoro (Mayor) to our killing
grounds.

“We even forced the captives to make distress phone calls for help from Kay
and Nyandoro. When the plot failed, we had no option but to assassinate them
and dump their corpses in Wenimbe dam. This is a Zanu (PF) tried and tested
solution for dealing with betrayers, dating back to the liberation
 struggle,” she said.

According to one report last year, Chakanya was later found dead in the
Wenimbe dam.

Only last week Zanu (PF) MP Tracy Mutinhiri accused CIO agents of wanting to
kill her and dump her body in the Wenimbe dam “like they did to hundreds of
innocent suspected MDC supporters in June 2008.” Mutinhiri is currently
locked in a bitter feud with State Security Minister Sidney Sekeramyi and
others in Zanu (PF), who accuse her of being too ‘cosy’ with the MDC-T.

At number 211 on the list is Robert Manungo, a Deputy Intelligence Officer
who allegedly ordered the failed assassination of former Daily News editor
Geoffrey Nyarota.

At the time Manungo was the Deputy Director of the CIO’s Harare province and
allegedly paid over $2,600 to Zanu (PF) activist Bernard Masara to kill
Nyarota. After spending one month watching the Daily News offices Masara
developed cold feet and later made a confession after a chance meeting with
Nyarota in a lift.

Nyarota recounted the incident saying: “It seems I met him in a lift on the
way to my office. I didn't realise what was happening, but he was tracking
my movements. He told me he had been assigned to kill me. At this stage, I
didn't believe him." To prove his story Masara then telephoned Manungo,
while the entire editorial staff of the Daily News listened to the call.

Manungo immediately recognised the assassin and asked, "Has the assignment
been accomplished?"

Manungo has since been promoted and we understand he is now the Assistant
Director (Internal). This would mean he is second in command to Elias
Kanengoni, who shot then opposition candidate Patrick Kombayi in the 1990
elections and received a presidential pardon from Mugabe.

Number 229 is Denford Masiya a “Senior Intelligence Agent’ based in Rusape.
In 2006 he was jointly charged with Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and
five others over incidents of political violence that rocked Makoni North
constituency in August 2004, during campaigning for Zanu (PF) primary
elections.

In one incident Masiya and a group of 23 Zanu(PF) youths ambushed and
attacked James Kaunye, who was contesting against Mutasa in the primary
poll.

The trial collapsed after magistrates were intimidated and attempts made to
bribe the complainants. Charges of attempting to defeat the course of
justice, later filed against Mutasa and the group, came to nothing.

More information continues to trickle in on Sign Chabvonga, at number 15 on
our list. Readers will remember the ‘MediaGate’ scandal which broke in 2005.
It was about the CIO taking over the independent Daily Mirror and Sunday
Mirror newspapers, starting in 2002, when the state security agency diverted
billions of Zimbabwean dollars to take control of the Mirror group and also
the weekly Financial Gazette newspaper.

In 2004 the CIO deployed Chabvonga as a ‘Features Editor’ in the Mirror
newsroom. The editorial team, then led by Innocent Chofamba Sithole, Stanley
Ruzvidzo Mupfudza (late) and Tawanda Majoni, was forced to work under his
watchful eye.

“He was a quiet fellow and personally pleasant, but it was clear to every
reporter that he wasn’t really there to write stories. That will go down as
the worst disguised deployment the CIO has ever done,” a reporter told us.

Before Chabvonga’s deployment to the Mirror newsroom he worked as a
‘political attaché’ at the Zimbabwean Embassy in the US capital, Washington,
from around 1999.

More information has been received on Bright Kupemba, number 162 on the list
published last week. Described as an ‘operative’ we understand he is
currently deployed at the Zimbabwean embassy in London.

Last year in March Kupemba attended a commonwealth sponsored meeting held in
London, that was looking into the needs of journalists based in the
Diaspora.

The serialization of the 480+ names on the list is being done alphabetically
over six weeks. This is Part 3. Although the document also contains their
home addresses, these details have been removed.

Mangoma Back In Courts On Tender Related Charges

http://www.radiovop.com

Harare, July 16, 2011 – Embattled Energy and Power Development Minister
Elton Mangoma is back in the court on Monday, this time on charges of
ordering the cancellation of a tender involving the purchase and supply of
prepayment revenue management system, meters and associated equipment by
government power utility.

“The trial is on Monday. It is a completely new trial altogether,” Chris
Mutangadura, Chief Law Officer in the Attorney General's office told
RadioVop on Friday.

Mangoma was last month acquitted of violating the country’s tender
procedures after he allegedly ordered the country’s oil company,Noczim, to
source diesel supplies from a little known South African company without
going to tender.

The State alleges he instructed the cancellation of a tender involving the
purchase and supply of prepayment revenue management system, meters and
associated equipment, just as the winner was about to be announced.

The MDC-T deputy treasurer general has twice been arrested and remanded in
custody for the two offences.

His lawyer Selby Hwacha said Friday he was confident Mangoma will again be
acquitted for the new charges.

“He is not guilty and am confident a ‘not guilty verdict’ would be
pronounced at the end of the trial,” he said.

The MDC-T has described the prosecution of its senior official as pure
harassment bordering on a systematic crackdown on party loyalists by Zanu PF
aligned officials within the country’s security services.

Lobel's set to reopen
By Eric Chiriga and Diana Chisvo

http://www.dailynews.co.zw/

Saturday, 16 July 2011 13:22

HARARE - Troubled Lobel’s Holdings Limited (Lobel’s) is set to reopen after
creditors and stakeholders approved a restructuring plan involving the
coming in of a new investor.

According to the plan or concept frame, put in place by Lobel’s’ financial
and legal advisors, CBZ Bank (CBZ) and Dube Hwacha and Manikai (DHM)
respectively, the potential investor will inject working capital to
facilitate reopening of the confectionary makers’ Harare bakery on August 01
and repay creditors by August 30.

“CBZ as the financial advisor has engaged two investors with the financial
capacity and technical competence to resuscitate Lobel’s within the concept
frame,” said DMH lawyer Edwin Manikai, but refusing to disclose the investor’s
identity.

“The investor will be announced in two weeks,” he said, adding that the
investor wanted guarantees that creditors would not attach further Lobel’s
property and agreed to the moratorium.

Manikai said banks, the major creditors owed in total $15 million, had
agreed to have their money converted into three year debentures and 15
percent interest per annum.

Banks owed by Lobel’s include CBZ, FBC Bank Limited and Metropolitan Bank
Limited.

Manikai said Lobel’s would pay a total $475 000 to 138 creditors owed $30
000 and below.

Lobel’s will spend another $3 million in paying 30 percent of debts above
$30 000 with the 70 percent balance to be converted into one year
debentures.

Manikai said the proposed restructuring plan will also involve the
unbundling of Lobel’s into two entities namely Lobel’s One and Lobel’s Two.

He said the group’s assets will be transferred to Lobel’s 1.

Shareholding or capital in Lobel’s One would be 98 percent through
debentures and two percent ordinary shares.

“Lobel’s Two will lease equipment and pay rentals to Lobel’s one,” he said,
adding that the revenue would be used for redemption of liabilities and also
fund working capital.

Manikai said assets in Lobel’s One will form primary security for the
debentures while CBZ and DMH will be appointed trustees.

He said Lobel’s Two shall be given the first right of refusal to purchase
assets from Lobel’s One.

Lobel’s Two will enter into a management and technical services contract or
agreement with Lobel’s One.

Manikai said following the approval legal procedures to be done included
incorporation of Lobel’s One and Two as separate entities, a lease agreement
between the two and the registration of a debenture trust deed.
He said redemption of the creditors’ debentures will be funded by the issue
of debentures in Lobel’s One and its initial public offer.

Lobel’s has a total capacity of 400 000 loaves per day from both its Harare
and Bulawayo bakeries.

As at June 01, the Harare factory produced 95 000 loaves while Bulawayo
produced 45 000 loaves per day.

The Harare bakery was temporarily closed on June 04 due to working capital
challenges and a huge debt overhang.

Lobels – among the largest break makers in Zimbabwe – held a 30 percent
share of Zimbabwe’s 1, 2 million daily bread market.

According to independent observations, Lobel's is valued between $25 million
to $30 million.

Land reforms erode property rights

http://www.financialgazette.co.zw

Friday, 15 July 2011 16:21

Farmers unable to access funding from banks

Tabitha Mutenga, Staff Reporter

THE negative effects of the country's chaotic land reforms will forever
haunt farmers as they have been unable to access funding from banks since
the year 2000 when more than 33 million hectares of prime agricultural land
seized from former white commercial farmers became State land. While
everyone is agreeable that the exercise was inevitable and a necessity in
terms of correcting historical imbalances, its haphazard implementation saw
the dismantling of both property rights and secure land tenure, damaging
investor confidence in the process.
The long and short of it is that property rights have been transferred from
the hands of the beneficiaries, in this case the resettled A1 and A2
farmers, into the hands of the State. The transfer has impacted negatively
on the country's economy because agricultural land is no longer bankable and
cannot be traded on the open market.
The lack of secure land tenure has been a major disincentive to those who
want to invest in agriculture. It has caused the poorly-funded black farmers
to neglect farm infrastructure and in some cases engage in asset-stripping.
In fact, much of the once productive land is either lying idle or producing
very little.
The Commercial Farmers Union (CFU), one of the most vocal critics of the
land reforms, said the manner in which the programme was executed resulted
in land value in Zimbabwe being lost.
Zimbabwe's agricultural land is now dead capital: It can no longer be used
as security when applying for loans for farming activities.
As a result, funding for agriculture has dried up.
In 2000, yearly lending to commercial agriculture sto-od at US$1,87 billion
but it has since plummeted to less than US$100 million last year.
Analysts see this trend continuing until Zimbabwe starts respecting property
rights.
In contrast, land values and land-based investments in southern Africa have
increased remarkably, especially in agricultural systems that allow farmers
to take control of the collateral value of their land.
"The current land tenure system does not provide security to the farmer,
investors or the banks because of clauses in the offer letter; land permits
issued to A1 farmers and the 99-year leases given to some beneficiaries,"
said CFU.
The union, the bulk of whose members lost their farms to black farmers
during the agrarian reforms, made the observation as part of proposals for a
policy framework that could facilitate successful agricultural investment
and economic development in Zimbabwe.
Clause VII of the offer letter implies that banks cannot lend money to
farmers if they cannot redeem it in case of default. As a result, banks have
not been accepting offer letters as collateral.
It reads: "The Minister reserves the right to withdraw or change this offer
letter if he/she deems it necessary."
The same applies to A1 permits; clause 4:2, says "the permit holder shall
not have title over the allocated land that is, he or she may not sell,
lease, hypothecate, bequeath or otherwise encumber the allocated land."
This is therefore making it impossible for farmers to harness the collateral
potential of their land, meaning they have been disempowered.
Also, the 99-year leases do not give enough rights to the bank when the
lessee defaults.
The Minister of Agriculture, and not the bank, retain control over who has
access to the land.
The bank cannot sell the title to recover its loan.
Paragraph 20 under repossession by lessor reads:
"The lessor may, at any time and in such manner and under such conditions as
it may deem fit, repossess the leasehold or any portion therefore . . . . "
In order to fund farming activities, farmers are now dependent on their
meagre resources or on State and donor handouts.
However, these have encouraged irresponsibility and dependency.
"The impact on agricultural production has been severe, domestic food
security has been dependent on don-ors for a number of years and we all know
that dependency on foreigners is not empowerment," CFU added.
Agricultural economist and consultant, Prosper Matondi, agreed there was
need to address the issue of land tenure and land rights.
"It is a matter of policy but substantive land rights need to be defined so
that farmers are also protected in the process and to ensure that the
freehold title is not abused in the process," he explained.
Economist, John Robertson, also emphasised the need to allow farmers to use
their land as collateral while at the same time giving banks the right to
foreclosure in case of default.
"The land has been taken out of the market and it makes it difficult for
investors to place their money into something that does not give them full
control. Land rights are essential; financing the sector to its full
potential has failed in the past because banks are not prepared to accept
the offer letter as collateral. Farmers need to retain the collateral value
of their land," Robertson said.
He added that there was need for a new constitution that protects property
rights as the current constitution had been amended in the wake of the land
reform programme to allow the State full control of the land in Zimbabwe.
"Agricultural land has to be traded on the market to allow the industry to
grow from what it is today," he said.
Over 11,8 million hectares have been acquired since 2000, which is 99,9
percent of the commercial farming land.
Foreigners whose land was also acquired in contravention of signed bilateral
investments agreement also lost their investments in the process and were
never compensated.
International and regional laws provide for compensation when land is
compulsorily acquired but almost all the former farmers are yet to be
compensated. Local and foreign investor confidence has largely been
destroyed not only in agriculture but also in other sectors.
Agriculture development in Zimbabwe was the envy of Africa.
The system was so successful that it encouraged investment, which brought
about development.
In 1998, at the conclusion of the donor conference on land reform, all
parties agreed to the acquisition of five million hectares and poverty
alleviation through land resettlement of 91 000 families. They also agreed
to increase the contribution of agriculture to the Gross Domestic Product,
promotion of environmentally sustainable utilisation of land and to improved
sustainable peace and stability.
But the land reform was to be implemented without disrupting agricultural
output.
However, its implementation has fallen short of the original goals:  The
results have proved that access to land does not mean success as farmers
need to be empowered through the collateral value of their land.

Mugabe blasts ‘politically drunk’ MDC-T

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

16/07/2011 00:00:00
    by Staff Reporter

PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has blasted the MDC-T’s “false courage” in calling
for so-called security sector reforms and warned the party against moves to
condemn in parliament army chiefs said to be dabbling in politics.

The MDC-T has moved a motion in parliament to discuss the country’s partisan
generals after Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba said the country's
security services viewed Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as a national
security threat.

Nyikayaramba’s remarks followed repeated declarations by his colleagues that
individuals without liberation war credentials would not be allowed to lead
the country, in comments widely seen as directed at Tsvangirai.

However, Mugabe backed his generals and told a recent meeting of his Zanu PF
party in Harare that parliament had no business meddling with the country’s
security services.

The Zanu PF leader charged: "As Commander-in-Chief of the security forces, I
want to make it very clear that no one should meddle with the command.

"Parliament cannot be Commander-in-Chief of the security forces. It has no
business debating the conduct of individuals in command; let them raise that
with me in appropriate forums.”

The MDC-T accuses service chiefs of interfering with electoral processes
and, in particular, playing a key role in President Mugabe’s retention of
power even after losing elections in 2008.
Mugabe said his rivals must raise the allegations to his face.

"We have the National Security Council where we all sit together with
commanders. No one has mustered the courage to raise issues with them.

"Their false courage only comes outside that platform, before their
supporters. This is why we repudiate demands they make in their politically
drunk condition, indeed dismiss them with utter contempt."

And in remarks targeted at Tsvangirai, Mugabe said the country’s service
chiefs would not take any lessons on freedom and democracy from individuals
who deserted the struggle for independence.
"Very few of our politicians today can dispense to these fine men and women
any lessons on freedom and democracy,” he said.

“How do you teach freedom and democracy to a person who liberated you,
especially when seen as the treacherous politician that you are today? How
do you point a finger at them; you who deserted the cause of your people as
they writhed in bondage? How do you accuse them when you are a person who
wines and dines with the coloniser?”

He added that calls for a reform of the country’s security services were
coming from Western ‘enemies’ keen to weaken the country.

"The so-called security sector reforms … are a proposition from an enemy who
wishes to weaken us. We are not in the habit of taking advice from our
enemies,” he said.

Chinese couple up for fraud

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Everson Mushava, Staff Writer
Friday, 15 July 2011 15:08

HARARE - A Chinese couple face jail after a botched attempt to defraud
Zimbabweans of their entire share holding in a local furniture company.

Zhaosheng Wu and Yan Yu tried to defraud a local company, Monomatapa Garden
Furniture’s (MGF) of over $500 000.

The two appeared before the Supreme Court yesterday to try and block an
earlier judgement by the magistrates’ court which had directed that they be
tried under the criminal law.

However, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and the two Chinese are set
to be tried under the criminal law.

The matter was before Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku sitting with Justice
Wilson Sandura, Vernanda Ziyambi, Paddington Garwe and Maphio Cheda.

According to court papers, the Chinese couple misrepresented that they had
acquired 1000 shares from MGF.

They proceeded to unlawfully register the shares in the name of their
company- Shomet Industrial Development, thereby prejudicing MGF of more than
$500 000.

The state alleges that in 2002, MGF directors Ferenando Dias and his
daughter Rosalie entered into an agreement to sell off their business’
entire share holding to the Chinese’s Shomet Industrial Development for $400
000.

But the Chinese failed to pay the sum required and in November 2008 forced
MGF to enter into a compromise agreement, reducing the price of the
furniture enterprise to $200 000.

According to the new arrangement, the Chinese were supposed to pay the
amount in full by 8 December the same year.

However,  the Chinese couple did not pay a cent by the set deadline.

MGF directors later discovered that while this was happening, the Chinese
were busy changing ownership of the business into their name.

Upon the discovery, MGF cancelled the compromise agreement in 2009.

But despite the cancellation of the agreement, MGF’s company secretary Dawid
Erasmaus continued working behind his employers and signed a share
certificate with the Chinese.

Erasmus then filed a CR2 form in January 2010 with the company registry
allocating 1000 shares to the Chinese and proceeded to file a CR14 to
register the Chinese as the directors without the consent MGF owners.

In doing so he alleged that the MGF directors had resigned.

MGF then approached the police fraud squad which effected arrests and the
matter was later heard at the magistrates court in February this year.

The magistrate’s court ruled that there was a bona fide criminal case.

But the Chinese couple argued that the case was supposed to have been
treated as a civil matter which led to the matter being referred tothe High
Court.

The High Court ordered that the matter be tried as a criminal case at the
lower court concurring with the earlier ruling by the same court.

Following the ruling, the Chinese then sought to have the matter referred to
the Supreme Court for a determination.

The Chinese argued that by treating a civil matter as a criminal case, their
constitutional rights had been violated.

Making his submissions at the Supreme Court yesterday, prosecutor Edmore
Nyazamba argued that the two willingly defrauded MGF after they failed to
honour the agreement they entered into.

Nyazamba said the case was no longer a civil matter and recommended that the
Chinese be tried under criminal law because it was fraudulent to present
themselves as the owners of the company yet the agreement had been
cancelled.

“In my submission,  these amended papers disclose an offence of fraud.
Admittedly, the offence emanated from a civil transaction,”  said Nyazamba,
adding that criminal charges could also emanate from a civil transaction
once the conduct of the accused person turned criminal.

Advocate Lewis Uriri, who represented the Chinese couple, maintained that it
was a civil case which should be strictly treated as such.

Zimbabwe lawmaker advocates once-a-month sex to curb AIDS

(AFP) – 3 hours ago

HARARE — A Zimbabwean lawmaker has called on scientists to develop a
chemical to dull men's libido and enable them to have sex once a month to
curb the spread of HIV/AIDS, a state daily reported.

Senator Sithembile Mlotshwa told the upper house of parliament that
scientists should "look into the issue of trying to inject men with a
substance that will make them lose appetite..." during a debate on access to
HIV/AIDS treatment.

"I want to contribute by saying all the other avenues have been looked into
and the only avenue left is for us parliamentarians to decide or suggest
reducing the appetite of men and their insatiable greed for women."

Zimbabwe is one of the countries worst affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic
although the rate of infection has gone down.

Extra-marital relationships are among the drivers spreading the pandemic.

Zim prison horror

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Staff Writer
Friday, 15 July 2011 14:57

HARARE - Prisoners are horrifyingly dying in their hundreds as a dire
shortage of food, drugs and clothing continues to haunt the country’s jails,
according to a special parliamentary report that has just been released.

Inmates living with HIV/Aids are in even more grave danger because of
government’s failure to provide them with regular medication, while children
incarcerated with their mothers are not catered for in food rations, the
report by the thematic committee on human rights stated.

The report which reads like a horror movie, paints a deathly picture of
prison conditions, was tabled in Senate this week.

Foreigners from countries such as Ivory Coast, Liberia, Guinea Bissau,
Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia and neighbouring Mozambique locked up
in local prisons were adding tension to the under resourced jails, the
committee said.

“The committee is of the opinion that their continual existence strains the
Zimbabwe Prison Services’ (ZPS) already inadequate budget and recommends
that these prisoners should be deported back to their countries.”

In some of the prisons such as Mutare Prison, the situation has not improved
since the jails were built a century ago by the country’s colonisers,
according to the report.

“One of the major challenges was that some of the prisons were built during
the colonial era when prisons were meant to be harsh and punitive. The
committee was informed that Mutare Prison was built in 1910 and
infrastructure was dilapidated,” reads the report.

The report makes sad reading, with cases of suspects staying in remand
prison for over a year because ZPS lacks resources to transport them to
court for hearings.

Zimbabwe has 55 prisons including satellites with a holding capacity of 17
000 inmates, according to Zimbabwe Association for Crime Prevention and
Rehabilitation of the Offender (ZACRO). ZACRO is an independent prisoner
rehabilitation organisation.

So bad is the situation in prisons that magistrates at times mistook
suspects for mentally retarded people because of the tattered clothing they
will be wearing, resulting in magistrates not giving “serious consideration”
to their cases.

Actual mental health patients locked up in prisons are some of the worst
sufferers because of a shortage of doctors or fuel to transport the doctors,
the report noted.

Chikurubi Maximum Prison, for example, has been without tape water since
2006, putting the lives of over 1 500 inmates at risk. Chikurubi is one of
Zimbabwe’s largest prisons.

“ZPS was failing to feed prisoners as required due to inadequate funding
thereby making it very difficult to maintain basic human standards. This has
resulted in prisoners suffering from malnutrition diseases such as
 pellagra,” read the report, which noted that inmates were being fed on
porridge without sugar.

“The Officer-in-Charge informed the committee that during 2008 and 2009, the
prison lost 839 prisoners due to suspected pellagra,” read the report.

According to the report, the situation has failed to improve after the
collapse of service delivery in 2008 and 2009 when Zimbabwe became one of
the world’s worst places to live in due to a grinding decade-long political
and economic tumult.

Prison deaths persist, 28 months after President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s coalition government was formed, according to
the situation captured in the parliamentary report.

Mutare Prison for example is now in a worse situation and “needed
refurbishment as a matter of urgency as it is no longer fit for human
habitation…to avoid eruption of diseases and other communicable infections”.

Worse, the officer-in-charge told the committee that refurbishment of the
prison was “not possible” because of financial constraints.

But it is the condition of children and inmates living with HIV/Aids that
makes the prison conditions unbearable.

“The committee observed that nursing mothers in prisons fed their children
from the rations they received. Children were being forced to survive on
sadza with beans and or vegetables. Lack of diet affects the growth of these
children,” stated the committee, noting that there were no crèches for these
children thereby affecting their right to basic education.

Young offenders are on the hook too, as they are battling to acquire
identity documents such as birth certificates because relatives are
reluctant to associate with and help them.

“Inmates who were HIV positive said they required balanced diet that is
critical to boost their immunity. HIV positive inmates got the same rations
as those that are negative and they are the most affected. Their health is
curtailed by lack of ARVs (HIV drugs),” read the report.

Touched by the plight, churches and aid organisations such as the
International Community of the Red Cross have intervened to supply food and
other amenities but the situation remained precarious, the committee noted.

Male prisoners were walking “half naked” in tattered clothes in front of
female prison officers, the committee noted.

The committee recommended an increase in the funding of prisons while the
Ministry of Justice and Legal Affairs should make available adequate
resources for the supply of utilities such as water and electricity.

Food shortage problems could be solved by increasing productivity on prison
farms by introducing technology such as irrigation, the committee
recommended.

Reckless disregard for life

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Comment

The thought that Zanu (PF) could, as it is doing by calling for elections
this year, so brazenly agitate for a repeat of the same dangerous political
stalemate that followed the inconclusive polls of 2008, along with the
violence and murder that accompanied it, is truly contemptible.
15.07.1104:22pm
Editor

"The (Zanu PF) politburo is unanimous that elections should be held this
year,” party spokesman Rugare Gumbo told the nation last week.

We must say we perfectly understand the reasoning – albeit not exactly
sound – behind their stance. The best option for Zanu (PF) is to have its
ageing leader contest, and (they hope), win elections this year before his
health deteriorates any further.

The calculation is that a fresh mandate from the people would give the
87-year-old Mugabe more time to manage the thorny issue of his succession
and make sure Zanu (PF) does not disintegrate upon his departure from
power - either voluntarily or by an act of nature.

We know too that Zanu (PF) remains an undemocratic movement, set in its
arrogant ways, violent and totally convinced that its leading role in the
liberation struggle gives it the right to rule Zimbabwe forever - regardless
of what the electorate may wish.

But even then we would never have expected Mugabe and his party to openly
clamour for a re-run of the same mindless violence that left at least 200
MDC supporters dead and displaced thousands of others from their homes in
2008 - just so they can tighten their grip on the wealth of our country, and
our very lives!

One does not need to be a rocket scientist, to use the tired cliché, to know
that anyone calling for elections this year in the absence of a new
constitution, when the voters’ roll is such a mess, when security forces
remain partisan, when the rule of law and human rights are being trampled
upon, is simply calling for a repeat of the bloody 2008 electoral fiasco.

Zanu (PF)’s call for elections this year take the party’s reckless disregard
for the welfare of Zimbabweans and for human life to new lows.

Last One Standing - Roy Lilford

From JAG - jag@mango.zw

Dear Jag

This article was written about me and my dogs by a local vet that depicts
the plight of not only me but  +- 4500 others as well.  I have got to know
the author through my dogs and who worked as a young vet in Zim just after
Independence so sort of knows where we have come from. He said he just hated
putting down so many perfectly healthy dogs in Zim as the people left the
country. It was his idea to write the article after picking my brains.

The article has caused quite a stir here after it was first published in the
Richmond Post and then the Natal Witness and I have had phone calls from all
sorts of people who I don't even know. I hope you can put this article out
via your networks and possibly have it put into a UK or other newspapers as
this sort of thing may make more impression than the hum drum compensation
thing. You will see I have sent you the text as well as the link to read the
article from the Witness.,

Our love to you all,

Roy & Felicity ( Pietermaritzburg.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE DOGS WITNESSED THE CONTINUOUS HARASSMENT OF THEIR HUMAN MASTERS, THE
THEFT OF EQUIPMENT, THE ARSON AND THE MUTILATION OF THEIR LIVESTOCK. THEY
CERTAINLY VOICED THEIR DISPLEASURE AT THE UNWELCOME PRESENCE.

* The author of this story is a practicing vet in Pietermaritzburg, with a
passion for his profession and a giggle in his heart. This story not only
depicts the demise of one Zimbabwean family and their dogs, but is a lasting
tribute to all those many farmers who have been dispossessed in Zimbabwe,
their employees and to their pets.

THE LAST ONE STANDING

She was born in 1994 into a chaotic family of fox terriers on Wicklow Farm
near Chegutu, between Harare and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. She was a pretty dog
with a quiet demeanor and she bonded particularly with the female human
members of the family. Her name was Sophia, which perhaps described her
reserved elegance and allowed her more boisterous relatives like Benjamin,
Danger Dog and Casper centre stage. The dogs were typical of their breed and
all related save for the odd male or female introduced on occasions to
provide some new genetics for the blood - line.

In those days it was an idyllic existence for the dogs. They had free reign
of the farm, plenty of exercise and farmyard excitement and food, luxurious
shelter and plenty of love and attention. In return they provided a level of
security, companionship and endless joy for Roy and Felicity Lilford and
their two daughters.

An uneasy calm pervaded the prosperous district of Selous. Like his granddad
and father before him, Roy had developed his land into a model Tobacco,
Cattle, Cotton and Maize farm. In 2000 he was named "Zimbabwe Cattleman of
the year". Produce prices tended to be good after 1980 and the prospects
were promising. The country had emerged from a long and futile war and the
citizens were looking forward to an improved future.

That all changed in 2000. The greed and corruption that polluted the
Zimbabwe political landscape bubbled over into land invasions. It started
with the odd drunken delegation appearing at their farm gate making
incoherent demands. Over a two year period, though, the pressures became
more militant and lawless, and the squatters started occupying strategic
positions on the farm. The dogs witnessed the continuous harassment of their
human masters, the theft of equipment, the arson, the mutilation of the
livestock and, although they were powerless to alter the inevitable
consequence, they no doubt were intimately privy to the traumatic
psychological (and occasional physical) stress that the family was
experiencing. I like to think, their enduring love and devotion helped their
human family members cope.

The ultimatum was presented in September 2002. They were given 24 hours to
leave the farm - 1 day to move a life-time's assets and memories. Amongst
the chaos the 6 dogs were piled in the family twin cab and temporarily
boarded with the S.P.C.A. in Chegutu. They were not used to the confinement
and had to be separated as the disruptions to the pack had caused conflict
between some of the dogs. This was a situation completely foreign to the
gentle Sophia and sometime during the first night she escaped. For more than
a week the already traumatized family scoured the area. Reports of
sightings, sometimes 20 kilometers away, bolstered their hopes, but none of
these proved productive. Then on the ninth day she was found by Roy and
Felicity on the main road, more dead than alive, eyes sunken, her ribs
protruding and the soles of her pads worn raw.

Roy and his family eventually found themselves in Harare where they tried to
fit into suburbia, all the while keeping abreast with news of the gradual
destruction of the farm. The beautiful thatched house that they had built
was torched, the tractors and implements lay rusting and useless the once
fertile lands overgrew with weeds and the systematic destruction of a cattle
herd that had taken years to build. The faithful labour force (which with
dependants, numbered over 500 people), had been displaced from their homes
and dispersed to who knows where.

The dog pack was struggling to adapt as well. Gone was the farmyard freedom
with constant stimulation. It was replaced with restrictive walls and
neighbours that complained about their boisterous behavior. And gradually
their numbers declined Benjamin, Danger Dog and Jan succumbed to a
combination of old age and various ailments before Roy and Felicity lost all
confidence in their once beloved country and made the decision to migrate
down south in May 2007. So began Sophia's final major move. The trip itself
was traumatic for all concerned but they eventually found their final
destination in a quiet, leafy suburb in Pietermaritzburg.

Months and years passed. Time ran out for Casper. Then Peanut

Finally Sofia. She was 17 years of age when she eventually succumbed to the
ravages of old age and some weeks ago, in my arms, in my clinic, she
breathed her last.

The conclusion of a vast dynasty of Foxies spanning 3 generations of
Lilford's and the last living and breathing vestige of a rich life under the
rural African sun.

                             Every life is a story and every story has to
end.

Three legged pot

Dear Family and Friends,
You can get very dizzy trying to follow Zimbabwe’s progress towards
the next election. This week provided a prime example of our endlessly
spinning circles. Just when it looked as if everyone including SADC,
Zanu PF and the MDC had come to an agreement about an election being
held in the second half of 2012, Zanu PF held a politburo meeting in
Harare. Behaving as they have for the past 31 years and ignoring the
fact that they are in a coalition government, they made a decision for
the whole country. Wide eyed and open mouthed we listened with
disbelief to the news headlines mid week. Zanu PF spokesman Rugare
Gumbo emerged from the politburo meeting and said:
"The politburo is unanimous that elections should be held this year."
‘Gobsmacked’ is a pretty good description of how we reacted to
Gumbo’s ‘unanimous’ announcement. Political Science lecturer
John Makumbe put his finger on it for anyone who might be confused:
“They are clearly living in the past and are refusing to realise
that they are no longer the ruling party. Now there is an inclusive
government and they are part of a three-legged pot, so it’s no
longer the politburo which runs the country.”
Not to be deterred, the best was yet to come. Speaking to the Zanu PF
Central Committee a couple of days later, Mr Mugabe said: "Having
joined government and tasted the warm sweetness of power, the MDC
formations no longer want elections. They want elections suspended
indefinitely and their governorship extended to infinite." Coming from
someone in power for 31 years that was rich!
As absurd as all the rhetoric and politburo’s unilateral decisions
are, events on the ground are already telling the real story of
what’s going on in Zimbabwe.

Later in the week, chatting with a man who lives in a rural village, a
lot of things started to make sense. Whether elections are held in
2011 or 2012, Zanu PF are readying their game plan. The man described
how their quiet lives were being repeatedly disrupted by groups of
Zanu PF youths. It started a couple of weeks ago when Zanu PF
officials arrived and all the residents in the village were called to
attend a meeting. Democracy doesn’t work at this level: attendance
at the meeting was compulsory in that the names of who was present and
who was absent were written down. The intimidation has begun. At the
meeting it was the same old same old: the same tired slogans and
chants; the same clenched fists, the same rhetoric, the same demand:
vote for Zanu PF. Nothing new to offer their voters then!

A fortnight later they were back. Without warning ten Zanu PF youths
arrived, split up into three groups and went door to door, house to
house through the village. They called people to come out and said
they knew who the MDC sympathisers and supporters were; they said they
were writing names down.
“You know what will happen to you if you vote MDC again,’ they
said.

And all this when an election is probably still a year away. We
shudder to think what lies ahead for Zimbabwe, particularly for the
most vulnerable people in remote rural villages. Only one thing will
be different this time round and that is the floodtide of technology.
From bustling urban to remote rural, almost everyone’s got a mobile
phone now so the news of every threatening visitation spreads like
wildfire in the pinging of thousands of text messages. Bravo Econet,
you are the fourth vital ingredient in the three legged black pot!
Until next time, thanks for reading, love cathy. 16th July 2011.
Copyright � Cathy Buckle.
www.cathybuckle.com