http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Sapa | 19 July, 2011 07:08
Zimbabwean
President Robert Mugabe will table the issue of the West's
economic
sanctions at the SADC Summit to be held in Angola next month.
This after
more than 2,2 million Zimbabweans signed a National
Anti-Sanctions Petition,
Zanu-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo said.
He said that Zimbabweans countrywide
had signed the petition following the
launch of a campaign in March. It drew
people from all walks of life, among
them academics, political, business and
religious leaders, Zimbabwe's Herald
Online reported on
Tuesday.
Gumbo said the issue would also be raised at other regional and
international forums such as the African Union and the United
Nations.
"We have collected more than two million signatures and we are
waiting for
the President to announce the decision on the results of the
campaign. He
[Mugabe] will go with that result to the forthcoming Sadc
summit to be held
in Angola next month."
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
19
July 2011
South African President Jacob Zuma’s facilitation team is
expected in Harare
this week, to reportedly once again engage parties in the
Global Political
Agreement (GPA).
SW Radio Africa is reliably
informed the facilitation team is expected in
Harare before Friday. The
team, comprising Charles Nqakula, Mac Maharaj,
(Zuma’s new spokesman) and
Lindiwe Zulu, is to meet with party negotiators
and possibly the three
principals to the unity government.
The visit by Zuma’s team is a follow
up to a SADC special summit on Zimbabwe
in Johannesburg last month at which
they mandated the Troika Organ on
Security and Defence to speed up the full
implementation of the GPA by the
warring parties.
The three parties
to the GPA were given up to mid next month when the next
SADC meeting is
held, to implement the GPA in full.
The Sandton summit also resolved that
the inclusive government should
complete all the steps necessary for the
drawing up of a new constitution.
http://www.zimonline.co.za/
by Tobias Manyuchi Tuesday 19 July
2011
HARARE – Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC
party said the
acquittal on Monday of one of its top leaders vindicates its
long-standing
claim that the country’s police and prosecution service were
using trumped
up charges to arrest and harass the party’s
officials.
“The MDC stands vindicated that the concocted charges against
Mangoma were
political and that his only crime was that he is a senior MDC
official,” the
party said, in a statement after prosecutors said they were
withdrawing
charges against its deputy treasurer Elton Mangoma.
The
prosecutors withdrew charges against Mangoma, who is minister of energy
in
the unity government; apparently afraid they could not sustain their case
against him.
The former opposition party has previously accused
Attorney General Johannes
Tomana and police chief Augustine Chihuri of
ordering the arrest of its
officials in a bid to frustrate it into quitting
the unity government, a
situation that would trigger off new elections
preferred by President Robert
Mugabe and his backers in the
military.
The party said: “Mangoma’s acquittal is an indictment on the
person and
office of the Attorney-General who has wasted the taxpayer’s
money in
besmirching and persecuting an innocent Zimbabwean.
“It is
no wonder that the so-called abuse of office charges against Mangoma
have
failed to stick, just as similar cases against thousands of MDC
activists
have crumbled like a deck of cards over the past 12 years.”
The state
accused Mangoma, a top confidante of Tsvangirai and one of the MDC’s
two
negotiators in inter-party talks with Mugabe’s ZANU (PF), of abusing his
office to interfere with the awarding of a tender to supply meters to
measure electricity consumption to the state-owned Zimbabwe Electricity
Transmission and Distribution Company.
But prosecutor Chris
Mutangadura told the High Court that he was dropping
the case after the
court three weeks ago quashed similar charges against
Mangoma in which he
was accused of interfering with the awarding of a tender
to supply fuel to
the country.
"We have withdrawn the charges against him because the
charges against him
were almost similar to those he was acquitted on
recently," said
Mutangadura.
There was no immediate response from
Tomana and Chihuri’s offices to the
claims by the MDC that they were
targeting the party’s officials and
activists for arrest.
Tomana and
Chihuri are among a key group of powerful state officials and
security
commanders seen as hardliner supporters of Mugabe opposed to the
unity
government and eager to bring about its collapse, a situation that
would
lead to new elections.
The group that includes all the most senior
commanders of Zimbabwe’s
military and secret service agency believe Mugabe
and ZANU (PF) are likely
to win elections held this year or in early 2012.
-- ZimOnline
http://www.radiovop.com/
Harare, July 19,
2011 - The Attorney General (AG)’s Office has withdrawn
charges of criminal
abuse of duty against a tormented top aide of Prime
Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, whose trial was supposed to commence at the High
Court,
Monday.
In a surprising climb down Chris Mutangadura, a chief law officer
in the AG’s
Office withdrew the charges before plea on Tuesday just as High
Court Judge
Justice Tendai Uchena prepared to preside over the
trial.
Mangoma, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) deputy
treasurer-general
was supposed to go on trial after the State alleged that
he had “fixed”
tenders for electricity metres for State power utility,
Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority (ZESA).
The prosecutors claimed
that Mangoma unlawfully and intentionally abused his
public office for the
purpose of showing disfavour to some local and South
African companies that
had participated in a tender for the supply and
delivery of prepayment
revenue management system meters.
The State alleged that Mangoma
unlawfully instructed former ZESA Holdings
chief executive officer Benjamin
Rafemoyo, the power utility’s board
chairperson Noah Madziva and the State
Procurement Board to stop processing
the tender for the supply of prepaid
electricity meters after adjudication
thereby effectively cancelling a
tender awaiting announcement of the winner.
But Mutangadura notified
Justice Uchena of the state’s resolve not to
prosecute on the basis that
Mangoma had been acquitted last month on similar
charges of criminal abuse
of duty as a public officer in a case in which he
had been on trial for
allegedly flouting tender procedures in the
procurement of
fuel.
Justice Uchena noted the withdrawal of the charges which was
welcomed by
Mangoma’s lawyers Beatrice Mtetwa and Selby Hwacha, who are
members of
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. Justice Chinembiri Bhunu
acquitted
Mangoma last month at the close of the state case.
Upon
Mangoma’s arrest, Mtetwa lashed out at the police and prosecutors for
preferring to prosecute the MDC leader in instalments. Mtetwa said the
police and the prosecutors’ actions were malicious as they could have laid
the charges against Mangoma when he was first arrested early in March for
allegedly contravening procurement procedures in the acquisition of fuel
supplies.
Meanwhile Zimbabwean prosecutors on Monday altered treason
charges levelled
against former Movement for MDC legislator Munyaradzi
Gwisai and
International Socialist Organisation (ISO) leader Munyaradzi
Gwisai to
inciting public violence.
In a dramatic twist State
prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba altered the treason
charge that the six activists
were initially charged with contravening to
conspiracy to committing public
violence.
Gwisai and the five social justice and human rights activists
were arrested
in February together with 39 other activists during a meeting
convened to
discuss ISO business and issues of democracy and
constitutionalism.
The police and prosecutors who charged them with
treason claimed that they
gathered with the intention to mobilize
Zimbabweans to revolt against
President Robert Mugabe’s administration. 39
of the activists were later
freed by Harare Magistrate Munamato
Mutevedzi.
Gwisai and six other activists told Mutevedzi that they were
subjected to
torture sessions during their detention by the police at Harare
Central
Police Station which were aimed at securing confessions from the
activists
which would implicate them in the commission of treason.
On
the new charge sheet which was handed over to the activists’ lawyer Alec
Muchadehama by Nyazamba, Gwisai and his co-accused are now facing a main
charge of contravening section 36 of the Criminal Law (Codification and
Reform) Act for allegedly conspiring to commit public violence and three
other alternative charges.
The activists face alternative charges of
contravening section 187 for
allegedly inciting public violence, for
allegedly participating in a
gathering with intent to promote public
violence, breaches of peace or
bigotry.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Tendai Kamhungira, Court Writer
Tuesday, 19
July 2011 15:22
HARARE - The state has charged Munyaradzi Gwisai with
inciting violence, in
a major climb-down from the initial charges of treason
levelled against the
firebrand socialist.
Gwisai, the head of the
International Socialist Organisation (Iso) Zimbabwe
chapter was arrested
together with 44 other social justice and human rights
campaigners in
February for allegedly plotting to oust President Robert
Mugabe through
Egypt-style revolts.
Gwisai and his co-accused had faced death when they
were first arrested and
charged with treason, but now face a lesser charge
in what defence lawyer
says is a sign that the state was trumping a weak
case all along.
Harare magistrate Morgan Nemadire recused himself from
the case yesterday
because he was “known” to one of the accused, forcing the
postponement of
the case to August 22.
Of the original 45 campaigners
arrested in February, only six remain in the
dock after the state withdrew
charges against 39 others in March.
Gwisai, a 42-year-old law lecturer at
the University of Zimbabwe and former
Highfield MP, is now jointly charged
with Antonater Choto, 36, Tatenda
Mombeyarara, 29, Edson Chakuma, 38,
Hopewell Gumbo, 32 and Welcome Zimuto,
25.
In a major retreat,
prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba informed the court yesterday
that Gwisai and his
co-accused were now facing charges of conspiracy to
commit violence or
alternatively inciting public violence or participating
in a gathering with
intent to promote public violence, breaches of peace and
bigotry.
Nyazamba had initially preferred treason charges as defined
in Section 20 of
the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter
9:23] or
alternatively contravening Section 22 (2) (a) (i) of the Criminal
Law
(Codification and Reform) Act, that is attempting to overthrow the
government by unconstitutional means.
Nyazamba told the court that
the six had convened a meeting on February 19
this year at Zimbabwe Labour
Centre (Iso offices) in Harare, where they
agreed to act in concert to
forcibly and to a serious extent disturb peace,
security or public
order.
The state further alleges that Gwisai and his co-accused wanted to
mobilise
Zimbabweans to revolt against the government and demand the
resignation of
Mugabe, who has been in power for three decades since
independence from
Britain in 1980.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
19 July 2011
Defence lawyers representing eight MDC-T
activists still in remand prison on
charges of murdering a police officer in
Glen View, are set to make a fresh
attempt on Wednesday to get them released
on bail.
The defence team has decided against lodging an appeal with the
Supreme
Court for their release, as this could take much
longer.
Lawyer Jeremiah Bamu told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that a
‘change in
circumstances’ has also forced them to approach the High Court
again and
file a fresh bail application for the activists. All eight
strongly deny the
charges of murder levelled against them.
‘There has
been a change in circumstances and hopefully once the document
has been
finalized we would take it to the High court tomorrow to file a
fresh bail
application,’ Bamu said.
He said for tactical reasons they will only be
in a position to reveal the
changes when they file their papers with the
High Court.
The eight are part of a group of 24 MDC-T activists facing
trumped up
charges of murdering a police officer at Glen View 3 Shopping
Centre in May.
The police officer was killed by unknown revelers at a
night club and the
MDC-T has dismissed the murder charges as false and
trumped up. The eight
who were denied bail two weeks ago are; Tungamirai
Madzokere, Stanford
Maengahama, Phenias Nhatarikwa, Stanford Mangwiro,
Yvonne Musarurwa, Rebecca
Mafukeni, Cynthia Fungai Manjoro and Lazarus
Maengahama.
The other 16 are out on bail ranging from $300 to $1,000.
They were ordered
to surrender their passports and report to police three
times per week. Last
week Friday, all the 24 activists appeared in court for
their remand hearing
at which the magistrate set 29th July as their next
date in court.
Bamu also revealed the activists are still being denied
access to medical
attention by prison officials despite a court ruling
ordering that they
receive treatment.
Shepherd Yuda, a former
Zimbabwe prison officer, told us the reason why
injured inmates are denied
medical attention is done mostly to protect
police officers who would have
inflicted the injuries through torture.
‘Prison and police officers work
hand in hand and they try to cover each
other most of the times. You should
realise that in most cases, those with
visible injuries are not at all taken
to court and usually the reason given
for their no-show is lack of fuel or
transport,’ Yuda said.
Yuda said lack of professionalism has brought down
standards in all of the
country’s prisons. Many of them are under the
command of former war vets,
who are above the law.
‘It’s a pity that
these people have taken charge of these institutions where
standards have
dropped and they don’t even care. People now get sick and
most die in remand
prisons. Long back there used to be enquiries if such
things
happened.
‘Now it’s an everyday thing and these officers are not even
bothered with
what happens in their jails because they have the full
protection of ZANU PF
and the military Junta,’ Yuda added.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
16 July 2011
Allan Svotwa, the MDC-T
district chairperson for Headlands who was abducted
almost a week ago, has
been located.
The MDC-T said that Svotwa was taken by police officers
from his house last
week Wednesday and that all efforts were being made to
locate him. By Monday
he had still not been found and there were fears that
he was being tortured
by his captors and deliberately denied access to
medication and a lawyer.
On Tuesday Thabitha Khumalo, the MDC-T deputy
spokesperson, said he had been
located but he needed medical attention. “He
has been located and comrades
in Mutare are trying to get him medical
attention,” she explained. “I’m sure
they are scared of trying to get him
treated in Mutare because the people
that brutalised him are in
Mutare.”
She said they were trying to get him to Harare and more details
would be
made available later.
http://www.radiovop.com/
By Charity
Mukwambo, Bulawayo, July 19,2011- Zimbabwe's Education, Sport,
Arts and
Culture Minister David Coltart is investigating the abuse of school
children
in political campaigns under the guise of sponsoring soccer
tournaments.
In a telephone interview with Radio VOP on Monday, the
Minister, David
Coltart said: “We are going to take up the issue with
provincial directors
of schools involved .The ministry’s policy on this
issue is very clear.
School premises should not be used for anything rather
than for the purpose
of learning.”
Since the talk of elections
started this year, Zanu (PF) heavy weights have
been falling over each other
to sponsor the so called school soccer
tournaments in their respective
constituencies.
Some of the Zanu (PF) politicians who have organised
these “tournaments” in
recent weeks are Manicaland provincial governor,
Chrishopher Mushohwe,
Minister of Local government Ignatius Chombo,
Information and Publicity
Minister, Webster Shamu among others. Mushohwe
organised a soccer tournament
at Nyanyadzi secondary school in Chimanimani
where participating school
teams were given a soccer kit with Zanu (PF)’s
logo and the governor’s
portrait.
About three weeks ago, former Caps
United coach, Moses Chunga who is also a
former Dynamos player and coach,
addressed a Zanu (PF) campaign rally
organised by Chombo in Mutorashanga
where the minister sponsored a football
tournament.
The venue of the
tournament was decorated with Zanu (PF) campaign posters
including President
Robert Mugabe and Chombo’s campaign posters. Recently
Dynamos striker,
Murape Murape also accompanied Shamu to a Zanu (PF)
restructuring meeting at
Dzingai Nkomo cooperative in Chegutu where he took
to the podium amid wild
cheers from Zanu (PF) supporters and donated soccer
and netball balls to the
party youths.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Reagan Mashavave, Senior Writer
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
17:40
HARARE - Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Gideon Gono
yesterday
apologised “on behalf of everyone” for the chaotic period in which
the
country’s inflation reached unprecedented levels and where the central
bank
accrued debts of $1,1 billion.
Gono yesterday told
parliament’s budget, finance, economic planning and
investment promotion
portfolio committee that he acted on instructions from
government when the
Central Bank embarked on quasi-fiscal activities.
He said the RBZ had
since “repented” saying the bank was now concentrating
on core business.
Gono urged Zimbabweans to look forward.
Gono, who stands accused of
printing money to fund mostly Zanu PF aligned
activities that included farm
mechanisation, parcelled out vehicles to
almost every government department
and many other quasi-fiscal activities.
The RBZ governor said he had
instructions to embark quasi-fiscal activities
“as a measure against
sanctions.”
Gono also confirmed that the RBZ funded the controversial
2008 elections and
revealed that government owes the central bank more than
$1,4 billion. He
explained that of the $1,1 billion debt, they inherited
more than 60 percent
from previous regimes.
“I have accepted
responsibility and blame for everybody’s difficulties. I
will not even go to
talk about the politics or the sanctions or anything.
Yes, it was the wrong
advice of the central bank and we have repented and
are hoping that our
advice can be listened to, today and tomorrow,” Gono
said.
“In order
to lay to rest everything or anything to do with the past I would
say blame
it on the Governor and I have got broader shoulders to accept and
say yes,
whatever we did we erred, if we erred.”
“If we go onto trying to say how
this was done you will only find one black
sheep and that black sheep in the
Governor,” he said.
He said the central bank’s assets that have been
valued to date are worth
$86 million but the parliamentary portfolio
committee requested that the RBZ
board furnish them with all the assets that
the bank owns including shares
in other companies.
“I am requesting
that information of the board and of all assets in the name
of the Reserve
Bank including shares so that we can take it up with the
Executive as to why
they would want the Reserve Bank to continue to hold on
to those assets. It
is important that I ask for that information,” Paddy
Zhanda, the chairperson
of the committee.
Gono told the committee that the bank will engage in a
second round of
disposals that will include all the other assets that still
remain.
“There are also some (assets) where we have shareholdings where
we could
unlock no less than $50 million and we are still in debate in the
board as
to the desirability of us continuing to own those kinds of
companies. We
want out of any company,” Gono said.
At the height of
his governorship the RBZ raided foreign currency accounts
of individuals and
corporates with the money directed to government use
without the authority
of the affected individuals or organisations.
The central bank spent all
the funds that were kept as statutory reserves.
The funds are still owed the
affected people.
He pleaded with the portfolio committee to persuade
government to take over
the debt with some legislators claiming what he did
was illegal.
“The challenge we are facing is one where we need to give
back to various
stakeholders monies that the central bank took from their
accounts under
instruction."
“We need to quickly do that so that we
can return some of the monies we kept
as statutory reserves, as FCAs and to
ordinary citizens and to corporates.
That is something we are forever trying
to cry,” Gono said.
He said Section 8 of the old RBZ Act that was amended
last year, gave
government through the Finance Minister to give instructions
to him adding
that all that was for him is to obey.
“The comforting
part is that when in the legislators in their wisdom they
put a clause which
allowed the Minister of Finance to give directives, which
directives are
lawful and therefore ought to be followed that was a bit of
an oversight on
the part of the legislature. I was obeying orders,” Gono
said.
http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/
Eyewitness News | 4 Hour(s)
Ago
Zimbabwean officials on Tuesday said they will close their northern
border
to prevent refugees from Ethiopia and Somalia from entering the
country.
Authorities believe refugees are using the country to make their
way to
neighbouring South Africa.
Regional immigration officer Evans
Siziba said a growing number of refugees
were coming into Zimbabwe on the
pretext of seeking refugee status. He said
they do not wait to have that
status formalised
Instead, they quickly move through Zimbabwe and then
into South Africa.
Siziba told state media that from now on, Zimbabwe’s
border posts in the
north will be closed to refugees.
These include
Nyamapanda, Kariba, Victoria Falls and Chirundu.
While this may stem the
tide in the short-term, Zimbabwe’s borders are
notoriously porous and many
refugees may resort to other means in their bid
to enter South Africa.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
by Irene Madongo
19 July
2011
ZANU PF officials are publicly claiming the issue of the Gukurahundi
massacres is closed because they fear it will be investigated when Robert
Mugabe loses power, ZAPU has said. 87-year old Robert Mugabe is known to be
suffering from health problems which could force him to step down or make it
impossible for him to win the next election.
The Gukurahundi
massacres, which saw an estimated 20,000 people in
Matabeleland killed by
troops loyal to Mugabe, have been classified as a
genocide by Genocide
Watch. Last year the organisation called for Mugabe and
his army chiefs to
be prosecuted for the crimes, which it says deliberately
targeted the
Ndebeles.
But top ZANU PF officials have been quoted in the state media
of late,
insisting the matter is closed and attacking those who keep saying
the issue
must be re-opened.
On Saturday Defence Minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa joined in, claiming the
private media and leaders of other
political parties were trying to damage
the country’s economy by opening up
the Gukurahundi issue.
He claimed that when Joshua Nkomo and Mugabe
signed the unity accord it was
a symbol of reconciliation and therefore ZANU
PF does not need to re-open
the topic. “If we try to open healed wounds by
discussing such issues, we
will be undermining and failing to recognise the
statesmanship exhibited by
President Mugabe and his counterpart, Dr Nkomo,
when they signed the Unity
Accord in 1987,” Mnangagwa said.
ZANU PF’s
John Nkomo, who is also the Vice President, recently said Mugabe
and the
late Joshua Nkomo had met in Bulawayo and concluded that the issue
should be
a closed one.
However on Tuesday, ZAPU spokesman Methuseli Moyo spoke to
SW Radio Africa
and said: “People are raising the issue of the Gukurahundi
now and there is
an indication maybe that the departure of Mugabe or the
loss by ZANU PF in
the next polls is going to open all opportunities for
people who
participated in Gukurahundi to be brought to book and people are
running
scared. That’s why they are coming up with those sorts of
explanations.”
Like ZAPU, other political parties such as the MDC-T and
Welshman Ncube’s
MDC faction are calling for those who committed the crimes
to be brought to
book and they say the issue is far from closed.
SW
Radio Africa correspondent Lionel Saungweme said Mnangagwa was State
Security Minister when the massacres were carried out and he is keen to
distance himself from them, especially now with a likely exit of Mugabe in
the near future. Mnangagwa is understood to be jockeying against Joyce
Mujuru to take over from Mugabe.
“It’s at a time when Robert Mugabe
is very ill, it’s quite obvious he’s on
his way out of power, if not
willingly then naturally. Emmerson Mnangagwa is
angling himself to take
over. But what he needs at the present moment is for
Zimbabweans to forget,”
he explained. “Mnangagwa was State Security Minister
at the time of the
Gukurahundi and worked with Perence Shiri. It’s very
important for him to
try to clear his image ahead of the take over, if it’s
ever going to
happen.”
Shiri was notorious at the time for being in charge of the
operation and the
extreme violence he personally used against
villagers.
But ZANU PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo confirmed to SW Radio
Africa that his
party considered the Gukurahundi a closed issue. “We don’t
think there’s any
need to open wounds and start retributions,” he said.
“National healing is
part of the GPA.”
He dismissed allegations that
key ZANU PF officials are claiming it’s a
closed issue in order to save
their political careers, saying: “I don’t
believe some of those
things.”
The issue of the future of ZANU PF big wigs when Mugabe goes, or
the party
loses in the next elections, was recently raised when the MDC-T
said several
ZANU PF officials have been approaching them in the last twelve
months,
trying to build relationships.
MDC-T spokesman Douglas
Mwonzora said this month: “Quite a number of ZANU PF
people at parliament,
at government level, and so on, have been making
overtures to the MDC with
an aim of working together with the progressive
forces. People come under
the realisation that President Robert Mugabe is
not the hope for the future
anymore.”
... as Zanu PF turns to wayward generals for whiffs of
oxygen
The cat is openly out of the bag.
Robert
Mugabe has done Zimbabwe and SADC a favour by admitting that he is the principal
power source of a few military generals now in charge of Zanu PF. In the
process, he explicitly assumed the main responsibility for the unending investor
anxiety, fear and political instability.
A coterie of security service
chiefs is in active politics to subvert the democratic will of the people,
especially during national elections, as a key Zanu PF pillar of support. The
position is not only dangerous to the civilian order but wholly unconstitutional
and illegal.
The Constitution of Zimbabwe and the accompanying statutes
which Mugabe swore to uphold are very clear. Chapter 11.02 of the Defence Act;
Chapter 11.10 of the Police Act; Chapter 7.11 of the Prison Act and Chapter
11.04 of the Public Service Act demand the neutrality of the military, the
police force and the prison staff and all civil servants in matters of politics,
governance and public administration.
“I want to make it very clear that
no one should meddle with the command,” a desperately looking Mugabe told a Zanu
PF meeting at the weekend.
“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... No one has
mustered the courage to raise issues with them. Their false courage only comes
outside that platform... This is why we repudiate demands they make in their
politically drunk condition, indeed dismiss them with utter contempt.”
It
is a pity that Mugabe won’t get away with such a careless gaffe. Any long term
solution to the Zimbabwean crisis shall have the blessing of SADC and the AU.
The next election and subsequent power transfer shall be a result of process
that has an extreme international interest and endorsement.
Neither Zanu
PF nor Mugabe, with the consent of a few in the military, can sustain and
maintain a rugged deportment in the political field, claiming to be a player,
referee and match commissioner – all rolled into one. Zimbabweans know that they
are past that stage and shall dismiss Mugabe’s nostalgic rage like drops of
water off a terrified buck’s back.
Further Article XIII of the Global
Political Agreement (GPA), an inter-party arrangement brokered by SADC with the
support of the African Union and saved Mugabe from extra battering and
humiliation after Zanu PF and he dismally lost the 29 March 2008 election,
requires all state organs and institutions to stay away from partisan politics.
The MDC and the people of Zimbabwe do not need to remind Mugabe and Zanu
PF that the GPA is now part of the national Constitution, again which Mugabe
swore allegiance to – apart from the signature he appended onto the agreement
that led to a regime change in February 2009.
In 13.1 the Article
explicitly reads: “State organs and institutions do not belong to any political
party and should be impartial in the discharge of their duties.
“13.2: For the purposes of ensuring that all state organs and
institutions perform their duties ethically and professionally in conformity
with the principles and requirements of a multi-party democratic system in which
all parties are treated equally, the Parties have agreed that the following
steps be taken:
“(a) that there be inclusion in the training
curriculum of members of members of the uniformed forces of the subjects on
human rights, international humanitarian law and statute law so that there is
greater understanding and full appreciation of their roles and duties in a
multi-party democratic system;
“(b) ensuring that all state organs
and institutions strictly observe the principles of the Rule of Law and remain
non-partisan and impartial;
“(c) laws and regulations governing
state organs and institutions are strictly adhered to and those violating them
be penalised without fear or favour;
“(d) recruitment policies and
practices be conducted in a manner that ensures that no political or other form
of favouritism is practiced.”
Given the above critical provision to the
legitimacy of the civilian regime in power in Zimbabwe today, Mugabe’s latest
outburst defies logic and cries out loudly for a cogent explanation. The
remainder of the content of his feeble speech to his party faithful pales into
insignificance, in particular when he slid into his usual anti-Western blusters
and rants.
“The so-called security sector reforms all of them emanate
from Western interests, are a proposition from an enemy who wishes to weaken
us,” he said. “We are not in the habit of taking advice from our enemies. Let
the MDC formations find something to talk about, not that one please!
“Beyond their present service, these are men and women who served in the
ranks of our two liberation armies, Zanla and Zipra. They have defended our
freedom, kept the peace. Above all, they have brought peace to other nations who
were in danger or needed assistance. Their record is there for all to
see.”
Mugabe’s comments followed a parliamentary motion, now under
debate, from Hon. Settlement Chikwinya (MDC: Mbizo) calling on the House of
Assembly to condemn all unconstitutional and treasonous public statements that
bring into disrepute the noble institutions of the army and the police and
further sought to appeal to all such bodies to restate their loyalty to the
Constitution and the laws of Zimbabwe.
Under the Privileges and
Immunities of Act, a parliamentary committee has the authority and power to
summon any Zimbabwean to appear before it to provide information on any matter
that is in the national interest. It would therefore be unlawful and
unconstitutional for Mugabe to interfere with the legislature and to stop the
Hon. Chikwinya motion. The basic duties of the security forces are defend
Zimbabweans, warts and all.
Mugabe’s desire to exhort the security
forces to discriminate against Zanu PF’s political enemies and competitors are
wishes that fall outside the expected duties and responsibilities of the
military, CIO, the police and the prison service.
The motion followed
remarks by Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba that the defence forces viewed
Mugabe as a life president and President Tsvangirai as a national security
threat unfit to run Zimbabwe even when the people overwhelmingly say so like
they did on 29 March 2008.
Because of the confusion inside Zanu PF, most
of the party’s legislators fully support comprehensive political reforms before
the next election and are uncomfortable with the bulk of the sentiments from the
few party activists in the military.
Last week, Joram Gumbo, the Zanu PF
chief whip, tried to distance Parliament from Nyikayaramba’s utterances
describing him as a misguided missile.
“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. 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. The 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. “The treasonous statements can be dismissed in light of the fact
that the Brigadier-General was enunciating values he holds dear in his
personally capacity,’’ Gumbo said.
But on the contrary Mugabe, while
responding to cases involving the selective application of the law by the police
force, said: “If you disrespect them (the police) they won’t respect you and so
we say to the MDC, yes we agreed to be partners with you in the GPA. You are
Zimbabweans, but we know you don’t have the same beliefs as ourselves. Your
allies are our enemies and even then you become enemies of those who liberated
the country.”
For the record, the majority of Zimbabweans and citizens
of Africa took part in the liberation war as a national and continental project
against decolonisation.
--
MDC Information &
Publicity Department
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
19
July 2011
A South African refugee rights group has called on the South
African
authorities to extend the deadline for Zimbabweans to get permits,
warning
that thousands of people are yet to receive their
paperwork.
The end of the Zimbabwe Documentation Project is less than two
weeks away
and South Africa is set to resume deporting undocumented Zim
nationals when
the process is finalised.
But according to the Cape
Town based PASSOP group, thousands of people have
not got their documents
yet, and fear is rising that they face possible
deportation in the coming
weeks.
The group’s Langton Miriyoga told SW Radio Africa on Tuesday that
they are
concerned that the process will not be completed by the July 31st
deadline,
saying a two months extension is needed.
“Some people
haven’t received passports from the Zimbabwe consulate. Some
haven’t been
contacted to give fingerprints, which means their applications
are not
completed. Others, who have completed their applications, still
haven’t been
contacted to fetch their permits,” Miriyoga said.
He added: “We estimate
that close to 100 000 people are still waiting for
their
documents.”
About 276 000 applications for permits were made by Zim
nationals since the
documentation process was launched last year, despite
more than two million
Zimbabweans estimated to be in the country. South
Africa’s Department of
Home Affairs last month said it still needed to hand
over about 100 000
permits, but insisted that it would meet its July 31st
deadline. The
department also confirmed that it would be resuming
deportations when the
process was completed.
But according to PASSOP,
with the outstanding number of permits still to be
delivered, there is an
urgent need to extend the current deadline. The group
has now written to
Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma asking for a
two month
extension.
Miriyoga said on Tuesday that they are yet to get a response
from Home
Affairs. But he said they are confident their appeal will result
in more
time.
“The Department has been very open to us during this
process and we are
quite confident they will hear our appeal now and grant
an extension,”
Miriyoga said.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Enock Muchinjo, Sports Editor
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
14:05
HARARE - Zimbabwe's match-fixing scandal has taken a dramatic
and criminal
twist following claims by Benedict Moyo, a member of Zifa’s
investigation
committee, that he has been threatened with death via
anonymous phone calls.
Anonymous callers told the former national
team player and club coach they
wanted to gun him down, forcing him to go
underground to protect his life.
He said he was trying to get in touch
with Zifa President Cuthbert Dube
before making a police report. Dube is out
of the country on Zifa business.
Moyo, who is the Zifa board member for
competitions, was part of an internal
inquiry that produced a damning second
Asiagate report leaked to the media
last week.
The report fingered
several players, officials and journalists as having
accepted money from a
huge underground network of illegal Asian betting
syndicates to lose matches
on several trips to the Far East between 2007 and
2009.
Moyo told the
Daily News yesterday that he had gone into hiding as he fears
for his
life.
“I received some funny calls over the weekend,” he
said.
“The anonymous callers said I had jeopardised their lives, and that
they
were going to make sure they Death threat
eliminate me, gun me down.
“They said they were going to make sure that my
image is also tarnished
through the papers.
“I don’t know if these people have any papers they
control. The message was
directed at me personally, and to the other members
of the (investigation)
committee,” Moyo told the Daily News.
Moyo has
already sought expert advice to reveal the anonymous callers’
identity.
“The messages on the calls were blank. I have already gone
to people who
know about these things to figure out who these callers were,”
he said.
“I received about four calls. The message was the same, but the
voices were
different. They said ‘you guys are pretending like you know it
all, you want
to be the gods of football’. I don’t know what wrong we did.
We were just
carrying out our task. We were tasked by the Zifa president,
who had been
instructed by the Sports and Recreation Commission to
investigate the issue.
We did just that.”
The former Zimbabwe women
team coach had not reported the matter to the
police at the time of
writing.
“Unfortunately, the Zifa president (Cuthbert Dube) and CEO
(Jonathan
Mashingaidze) are out of the country. I have discussed the matter
with other
board members, unfortunately I cannot divulge what we discussed.
But right
now, I’ve gone underground for a while,” he said.
Moyo hit
back at critics of the report, saying those questioning its
credibility are
building up a smokescreen.
“We did the best we could,” he said. “What is
there is the truth. Those
people making noise are trivialising issues. They
are not looking at the
bigger picture. We are accused of having a political
agenda. Some of us do
not see the politics.
“We did not personalise
the findings. That document does not contain our
opinion. We are standing by
what we were told by the people we interviewed.
People need to start
focusing on the real issues. The bottom line is were
matches not played?
They were played. Were people not paid? They were paid.”
Moyo said those
claiming that their submissions to his committee were
twisted were doing so
to protect themselves after realising the gravity of
the matter.
“I
admit that those people we interviewed were promised confidentiality and
it
is unfortunate that the report leaked,” he said.
“People are denying what
they said because it has come out. Some of those
people told us these things
in confidence. Now that it is in the public
domain, they are not
comfortable. The only way they can cover themselves is
to discredit the
report.”
Moyo said Zifa and his committee expected the kind of
sharp-tongued
vilification they were getting.
“We did not
underestimate the task,” he said.
“We knew the pattern. We knew people
would gang up, group and defend
themselves. When the first report was done,
there was less noise because it
only touched the players. Now that the big
fish have been mentioned people
are running around,” said Moyo.
He
recommended separate action for those fingered.
“My recommendation is
that those people involved in football must face an
internal disciplinary
committee,” he said.
“Those outside football must face the relevant
authorities. If those in
football did anything bordering on criminality,
Zifa can always hand them
over to relevant authorities.”
The
tough-talking Zifa director urged stiff punishment for players involved
in
the scam.
“Let’s go back to the basics,” he said. “It is difficult to
deal with people
who have tasted dirty money. If your wife leaves you for
another guy and
comes back after six months, can you really trust that wife?
That trust is
shattered.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Chengetai Zvauya, Staff Writer
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
15:03
HARARE - Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Gideon Gono has
disowned former
Zifa chief executive officer Henrietta Rushwaya, who claims
property donated
by the central bank was meant for her personal
use.
In a High Court affidavit, Gono said the four vehicles and four
generators
the central bank donated were for Zifa. Gono filed the document
to support
Zifa’s claims over the ownership of the property.
Rushwaya
has been holding on to the items since she was dismissed from Zifa
last
year.
The court documents in possession of the Daily News show Gono
disputing that
Rushwaya owns the property.
Gono said: “The Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe donated the said three motor
vehicles to the Zimbabwe
Football Association and not to Ms Henrietta
Rushwaya in her personal
capacity.
“The cars and generators were donated to the association for
use by the Zifa
officials who included her at the time since she was the
Zifa CEO.
“The property was therefore donated to Zifa for use by its
president, chief
executive officer and the national soccer coach while the
buses were donated
to the association for use by its representative teams.
It never said the
vehicles were donated to Ms Rushwaya in her personal
capacity.”
Gono said the vehicles and generators are the lawful property
of Zifa.
The property was donated to Zifa through the late vice-president
Joseph
Msika, who was the Zifa patron.
Rushwaya is holding on to the
property, claiming that it was given to her by
Msika in her personal
capacity.
She enjoyed a close relationship with Msika.
The Reserve
Bank of Zimbabwe was cited as respondents in the matter.
Rushwaya was
suspended by Zifa on August 27 last year on charges of
maladministration and
misappropriation of funds, and was subsequently
dismissed two months
later.
The former schoolteacher, who rose from relative obscurity to
become the
most powerful person in local football, has also been named by a
scathing
Zifa report as the mastermind of Zimbabwe’s match-fixing scam in
which
several players and officials were paid by Asian betting syndicates to
lose
matches on trips to the Far East between 2007 and 2009.
She has
denied the match-fixing claims.
http://www.voanews.com/
18 July
2011
Teachers, health care workers and other state employees said
electronic bank
advisories posted on Monday, one day before deposits, showed
net salary
increases of up to US$90
Gibbs Dube |
Washington
Some Zimbabwean civil servants said Monday that
information from the banks
suggests they are receiving a pay increase in
July remarks by Finance
Minister Tendai Biti last week saying the government
cannot afford to
increase state employee wages.
Some teachers, health
care workers and general administrative staff said
electronic bank
advisories posted Monday afternoon one day before deposits
are due showed
salary increases with some state employees getting raises of
up to
US$90.
Sources said indications are that the lowest paid worker will get
the US$230
announced by the Apex Negotiating Council three weeks ago,
sparking protests
from Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro who
said the Cabinet had
not approved the hikes.
A senior teacher in
Bulawayo told VOA that her account indicates that her
net salary has been
increased from US$249 to US$353.
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
Vice President Nokuthula Hlabangane
said the evidence is that civil servants
have been awarded a pay increase
despite the raging dispute within the unity
government over the pay increase
in recent days.
Apex Council
Chairwoman Tendai Chikowore assured state workers that they
will receive
salary increases, saying that "we have always believed that
salaries will be
adjusted according to an agreement we signed with the
government some weeks
ago."
But a Victoria Falls teacher who asked not to be named was less
sure about
getting a pay raise. "We have not heard anything from our unions
about
salary increases and this makes some of us feel that there is no
salary
increase this month," the teacher said.
Biti said recently the
government does not have money to increase salaries
of civil servants as
Harare faces serious cash-flow problems with a looming
US$500 million
deficit for 2011.
http://www.voanews.com
18 July
2011
Health Ministery malaria manager Dr. Joseph Mberikunashe said
2 million nets
were distributed to households in areas subject to malaria,
while intensive
spraying was carried out in 45 malaria-prone
areas
Marvellous Mhlanga-Nyahuye | Washington
Zimbabwean
health authorities are reporting 130 deaths from malaria since
the year
began, though this represents a decline attributable to an
aggressive
malaria prevention program.
Dr. Joseph Mberikunashe, manager of the
Ministry of Health's Malaria Control
and Command Center, said 2 million nets
were distributed to households in
areas subject to malaria, while intensive
spraying was carried out in 45
malaria-prone areas.
"We are happy
that the public responded well to the intensive malaria
prevention program
we have been running and we are pleased with the decline
in deaths we have
seen this year compared to the same period last year,"
said Dr.
Mberikunashe
Doctor Mberikunashe told VOA Studio 7 reporter Marvellous
Mhlanga-Nyahuye
that those who think they may have contracted malaria should
visit a
government hospital immediately for testing and treatment which is
being
provided free of charge to fight the disease.
http://www.theafricareport.com/
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
16:23
Zimbabwe’s power utility is scouting for international
investors to fund a
US$1.3 billion expansion programme meant to end the
country’s worsening
electricity shortages.
The Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA) says it is failing to meet
the estimated
2 200 megawatts (MW) of the country’s electricity demands as
its power
stations have an installed capacity of 1 960 MW.′′
The projects, if
funded will boost Zimbabwe’s generating capacity by 900
megawatts, ZESA
spokesman Fullard Gwasira said.′
Gwasira said they had sent out
expressions of interest to suitably qualified
contractors of financiers for
financing design, construction and
commissioning.′′
The current
power stations were built in the 1950s and designed for a
smaller
population, with little capacity added since independence in
1980.
This has forced ZESA to ration supplies to both commercial and
domestic
users.′′
Efforts to plug the shortfall with imports have
been undermined by the lack
of funds with ZESA said to owe regional
suppliers particularly Eskom of
South Africa millions of
dollars.′′
With no internal capacity – at both state and company
level – to improve
this parlous state of affairs, Harare has engaged both
foreign and local
independent power producers in an effort to boost
generation capacity to 3
000 MW.′′
But independent power
producers although keen to help, a stumbling block
has been low power
tariffs of 7.5c per kilowatt hour - against a regional
average of 12.6c.
′′
Energy problems are among the key challenges said to be holding
back the
country’s economic recovery.′′
Since the turn of the new
millennium, the country has struggled with
intensifying blackouts of up to
18 hours a day.
The power cuts have plunged many factories and homes into
darkness, as
demand outstrips supply.′′
Various high energy
consuming industries have been forced to invest in
expensive alternatives
such as generators.
http://www.diamondintelligence.com
19 July 2011
The
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has requested that the
government
conduct a survey on the value and quantity of the country's
mineral reserves
and the leverage on the abundant extractive resources in
order to attract
foreign investment, reports the state-run The Herald.
Sources say that
while the government is currently working on an
aeromagnetic survey of
minerals, it only identifies their location as
opposed to revealing the
quantity or value of them.
According to CZI President Joseph Kanyekanye,
"the issue of derivatives and
leveraging minerals has been done by other
countries. If they (Government)
do not have talent, they should let us
provide it," he said, as quoted by
The Herald.
Kanyekanye takes issue
with the fact that firms listed in London and South
Africa have obtained
mineral claims in Zimbabwe for "a pittance," reports
the news source.
Moreover, according to Kanyekanye, while these firms have
been allowed to
prospect and use the results to attract investors, they have
not brought all
the capital raised in their operations to Zimbabwe.
Kanyekanye says it
makes little sense for Zimbabwe to "brag" about its vast
mineral resources
when its people were not benefiting from this wealth,
reports The
Herald.
Zimbabwe's mining sector is projected to grow by 44 percent this
year,
driven largely by increased output from gold, platinum, diamonds,
nickel and
coal.
However, the country's mining firms continue to
suffer from the acute
shortage of affordable long-term funding. Local
funding is largely
short-term and prohibitively expensive, according to the
news source.
http://www.businesslive.co.za/
19
July, 2011 07:58
Wallace Mawire
Zimbabwe's potentially lucrative freshwater aquaculture sector,
which could
add a lot to the country's GDP, is facing a threat from problems
of
poaching, illegal fishing and corruption, according to Garikaimose
Tongowona, programme officer for Aquaculture Zimbabwe.
Tongowona says
that fisheries activities have risen sharply over the years
and still
provide the bulk of local fish supplies, though the sector is not
among the
top GDP contributors.
"The capture fisheries resources are almost
stretched to the limit in
present-day Zimbabwe, as shown by the massive
presence of fishing
cooperatives on the major lakes," Tongowona
notes.
He says that there are more than 160 co-operatives at Lake
Chivero, also
more than 160 at Darwendale Dam and more than 1,000 fisheries
permits at
Lake Kariba.
The situation is made worse by the fact that
there are no breeding
programmes in place to replenish fast-dwindling
aquatic resources, according
to Tongowona.
"There are challenges of
too many fishers, illegal fishing, corruption and
no political willingness
to develop the sector," he adds.
His organisation reports that the
Zimbabwean freshwater aquaculture sector
is slowly responding and awakening
to a world of opportunities.
They say that this is in line with global
trends, resulting in demand for
white meat products, viability of the
crocodile skin business, diminishing
wild fisheries resources and rising
food costs.
There are also downstream opportunities like fish oil
processing, filleting,
canning, fish soup manufacturing (frames), fish
meal/feed manufacturing,
just to mention a few.
According to
Aquaculture Zimbabwe, the country has more than 3,910 square
kilometres of
fresh water.
Tongowona adds, however, that there are no local investment
incentives and
support schemes for development and technical research to
develop the
fisheries sector.
Also, it is reported that there is no
financial support from the banking
sector. Other challenges affecting the
aquaculture sector in general include
the lack of a clear legal framework
targeting the economic growth of the
sector and the need to develop flexible
regulatory frameworks with
co-ordination across government agencies and
government.
Tongowona also notes that there is a need to adhere to
international
protocols like the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) trade
protocol/code of conduct for responsible fisheries.
He
adds that to develop Zimbabwe's aquaculture sector, including the
fisheries
industries, there is a need for an overall legislative framework
structure
definition to provide the basic context in which aquaculture can
operate, an
economic policy to outline the national economic strength,
income
distribution, market conditions, investment opportunities and trading
conditions.
The fiscal structures have to outline the positive and
negative aspects for
aquaculture, which is defined as a socially effective
activity.
Tongowona adds that there is a need to come up with an
environmental policy
outlining the environmental impact of
aquaculture.
Other issues will include consumer protection, public
health, resource
development and management, including employment
regulation.
Tongowona says that various issues affect aquaculture
development, including
the cost of production, security and market issues,
just to mention a few.
He adds that there is a need for policy and
planning to develop
strategically. It is also noted that the industry is
facing increased
competition from imports/substitutes, reducing local
identity for
production.
On disease management, Tongowona says that
there is no identification,
control and transmission management, resulting
in substantial loss potential
in most species. "There is a need to implement
monitoring and early-warning
systems," he says.
On environmental
quality, he says that there is no framework of suitable
environmental
standards for the sector and an aquaculture strategy.
He adds that
organisations like the Environmental Management Agency should
come up with
programmes to safeguard the country's aquaculture sector.
He says that
issues needing to be addressed include market prices, feed
supply and
technical capacity.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
THE Buy Zimbabwe Campaign "Chief
Executive's Walk" across Harare to The
Africa Unity Square has been
postponed to Wednesday, August 3, a spokesman
has
revealed.
19.07.1102:29pm
by Ngoni Chanakira Harare
The
Campaign was supposed to be held on Wednesday, July 20, but it clashed
with
the Indigenisation Indaba scheduled for the same day in Harare.
The
one-day Indigenisation Indaba will be held on Wednesday, July 20, at the
Harare International Conference Centre (HICC) at the five-star Rainbow
Towers Hotel.
Buy Zimbabwe Campaign General Manager, Muyaradzi
Hwengwere, confirmed that
the date had been changed to pave way for the
important Indigenisation
Indaba where top notches from the local business
sector will discuss the
country's new Indigenisation regulations as well as
try to pave the way
forward for Zimbabwe coming at a time when the economy
is gradually
recovering after falling asleep due to
hyperinflation.
Speakers for the one-day Indigenisation Indaba include
prominent tycoon and
Chief Executive of Pinnacle Property Holdings (Private)
Limited, Phillip
Chiyangwa, his friend and now Affirmative Action Group
(AAG) President, Supa
Mandiwanzira.
Mandiwanzira is Chief Executive
of Mighty Movies (Private) Limited. He is
also a board member of The
Financial Gazette weekly business and financial
newspaper.
Other
speakers for the Indaba are Cabinet ministers such as Saviour
Kasukuwere,
Welshman Ncube, Tapiwa Mashakada and the Deputy Prime Minister,
Arthur
Mutambara who give the key-note address at the event.
The Buy Zimbabwe
Campaign is meant to try and entice Zimbabweans to buy
their local products
instead of rushing for foreign made goods especially
shoes from China and
motor vehicles from Japan.
Chinese goods have flooded the Zimbabwean
market because most of them cost
US$1 and sometimes as little as US$1 for
two items.
Japan has also flooded the country with its cheap second hand
motor vehicles
coming at a time when they are very expensive in
Zimbabwe.
For example, a new motor vehicle in Zimbabwe from Willowvale
Mazda Motor
Industries (WMMI) costs about US$30 000, while a second hand
Honda Ballade
vehicle from Japan costs about US$1 200 in cash.
So,
many Zimbabweans are flocking to buy foreign-made goods especially civil
servants who earn an average of US$300 monthly. Hwengwere said The Buy
Zimbabwe Campign, therefore, would try to influence Zimbabweans to stop this
"unpatriotic practice".
http://www.ips.org/
By Ignatius Banda
BULAWAYO, Jul 18 (IPS) – Thomas
Njini is used to working with burst sewers
and water pipes. It is a daily
experience for him to respond to calls where
he has to shovel human waste to
clear blocked sewers. It is a job he
continues to do with unenviable
dedication in this city of two million
people.
"It's my job, what can
I do?" asks Njini who is one of the municipality’s
staff who work around the
clock to clear blocked water and sewer works
around the city.
But,
according to municipality officials, the work is slowly easing a year
after
the city embarked on the ambitious Bulawayo Water and Sanitation
Emergency
Response (BOWSER) project.
The BOWSER project was launched in 2010 under
the Australian government’s
overseas aid programme, AusAid. The 4,6 million
dollar grant has been used
to replace and also unblock old pipes that were
built before Zimbabwe's
independence in 1980 and which have become part of
the urban landscape here.
Raw sewage and flowing treated water have, over
the years, become a daily
occurrence, and there are constant concerns about
the spread of waterborne
diseases. In 2008 a cholera outbreak claimed around
4,000 lives across the
country.
According to council officials and
implementing partners, World Vision, the
city was losing up to 50 percent of
its purified water due to leaks and
burst pipes. But thanks to the project
this has been reduced to around 20
percent as of April. In an statement
earlier this year, World Vision’s
national director Edward Brown said sewer
blockages in the city had
decreased from about 250 per day to around nine a
day in the first quarter
of this year.
"The project seeks the removal
of excrement from blocked sites for
appropriate disposal and we will clear
the blockages through mechanical
jetting. We will also seek to clean water
through the city’s piped water
system," said council spokesman Bongiwe
Ngwenya in a statement to local
journalists.
The project is located
in high-density areas that have been the most
affected by burst sewers and
old water mains, Ngwenya said.
While the municipality has not quantified
the cost of the water lost through
leaks, the mending of leaks and
replacement of old pipes is welcome news for
a city that remains under water
stress. Supply dams are constantly under
threat of running dry and are
unable to provide enough water to residents of
the city.
For Njini
and those on the frontline of dealing with these water, sanitation
and
hygiene challenges, this is a positive step forward. "I think this is
welcome news, as honestly, not many people love a job where contact with
human waste is part of the job," Njini said.
"This is a long term
exercise as we hope this (the replacement of old pipes)
to stretch beyond
the 18 months BOWSER is expected to run," said a
municipality official who
did not wish to be named.
"Bulawayo is an old city and working on a
complete rehabilitation of water
works and sewer systems will need much more
than the Australian grant," the
official said.
City Mayor Thaba Moyo
says the city will need around 100 million dollars for
a total overhaul of
the city's water and sewer works. It is money that the
local authority can
only source from donor agencies.
Bulawayo is one of many African cities
that the United Nations Settlements
Programme, UNHABITAT, says have seen an
exponential growth of urban
populations in the past few years. But this has
not been matched by
infrastructure development. An audit by the Bulawayo
municipality notes that
constant burst sewers are a result of the stagnant
development of sewer
networks despite the continued growth of the
city.
And it has created problems for town planners who seek to develop
new
housing projects for home seekers.
Over the past two decades the
city of Bulawayo has seen the creation of new
residential areas. But the
council has issued housing lots in areas where
there are no sewer and water
works. It has forced new homeowners to turn to
the bush for ablutions and to
neighbouring residential areas for water.
Burst sewers and water works
have, however, become a nationwide problem as
municipalities struggle to
maintain ancient infrastructure amid low budgets
and long-running disputes
with ratepayers.
Residents say the mending of Bulawayo's sewers is
overdue as they have been
living with the threat of diseases, such as
cholera, for a long time.
"This has always been one of our major concerns
with the municipality – that
they demand rates from us when we continue to
live with burst sewers right
on our doorsteps. We hope this project is
indeed making a difference," said
Tholani Mkhwananzi of the Bulawayo
Progressive Residents Association.
"Residents will only pay for a service
they are getting, and it is our hope
that the city saves water from these
leakages from old pipes as water is
something this city cannot continue
losing," he said.
The project is yet to be replicated across the country.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
19 July 2011
War
vets leader Joseph Chinotimba might be well known for being the butt of
jokes which mock his broken English and clownish behavior, but today on our
Crimes of the Past series we look at his trail of violence, rape and
murder.
Chinotimba, a former security guard with the Harare City Council,
rose to
infamy in 2000 when he declared himself ‘commander in chief’ of farm
invasions. From guarding beer halls and other municipal facilities he
suddenly became the ‘poster boy’ for the violent land invasions and appeared
several times on state television leading violent mobs of war vets and ZANU
PF militants onto farms.
When ZANU PF selected Chinotimba to be their
parliamentary candidate for the
Buhera South seat in the March 2008
harmonized election, an even more
violent side to his character was to
emerge. Although MDC-T candidate Naison
Nemadziva eventually won the seat,
it was not before Chinotimba had
unleashed a variety of terror tactics, that
included mob violence, group
rape and even murder.
According to
eyewitness testimonies, on the 5th May 2008 Chinotimba, in the
company of
his cousin, raped an MDC-T member in Buhera. He threatened Idah
Munyukwi
with a gun before raping her twice.
Chinotimba also encouraged his
violent mob to use rape as a tool. Under his
instruction a group of about 21
ZANU PF thugs gang raped Memory Mufambi, an
MDC-T supporter in Ward 18 of
Buhera.
Girl Child Network founder Betty Makoni dealt with the case,
having provided
shelter for Mufambi in Botswana. She described in detail how
Chinotimba’s
mob raped the woman. She said they went to her home looking for
her husband
who was a prominent MDC-T activist and when they could not find
him they
started beating up his wife (Mufambi) until she
collapsed.
Makoni said the mob of ZANU PF youth militia and war vets then
took Mufambi
to their torture base where after initially putting a gun to
her head they
took turns to rape her over the course of a week. Mufambi says
she lost
count of how many men raped her but it was so violent she suffered
severe
internal injuries. She was only released after one of the men
involved
became ashamed at the extreme violence and pleaded for her to be
released.
Mufambi is still in and out of hospital suffering the long term
effects of
what happened to her.
In Botswana Makoni and her group had
provided counseling for the Mufambi
family as the woman’s ordeal continued
with the fact that her husband wanted
to divorce her because of the rape.
Makoni told SW Radio Africa that the
Mufambi case is one of 200 cases
documented by a team of international
lawyers and taken to the African
Commission on Human and People Rights. The
same dossier is reported to have
been sent to the International Criminal
Court (ICC) for possible
prosecution.
Meanwhile in the Ward 27 area of Chapanduka and also in
2008, Chinotimba led
a group of ZANU PF thugs who beat to death an MDC-T
activist known as
Sibamba. In another incident on the 18th May 2008,
Chinotimba’s truck was
used in the attack on Choukuse Nyoka Mubango in Ward
26. Mubango was axed to
death in full view of his wife and five
children.
In June 2008, undercover BBC reporter Ian Pannell described a
face-to-face
encounter with Chinotimba, saying: “His car blocked ours. He
got out with
three other men, striding towards us, wearing a T-shirt with
two
Kalashnikovs and Robert Mugabe's face printed on it. His eyes were
unflinching, a large, brooding man, full of hatred, smelling of alcohol and
full of threats.”
Chinotimba is said to have leaned into the car,
demanding to know what the
journalists were doing in the area. “It was only
fast and fluid talking by
two South African colleagues we were travelling
with that persuaded him to
leave us alone. I will never quite believe that
he really bought what felt
like a terribly flimsy cover story about
travelling to see friends, but he
did eventually let us pass,” Pannel
wrote.
Chinotimba, with the help of his violent mob, took control of the
area
behaving like a mafia boss. They rampaged through Buhera, targeting
numerous
rural peasants like Admore Chibutu, Petros Murinda, Tongeyi
Jeremiah, and
Mangwanani Zvichapera. They burned down their homes, beat them
up, killed
and stole their livestock.
At the moment Chinotimba is
living happily in a plush home in Marlborough,
with his round the clock
security.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Staff Writer
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
17:42
HARARE - Serial political flip-flopper and Zanu PF propagandist
Jonathan
Moyo has taken the decision to silence the Daily News from
publishing his
incisive opinion pieces which he penned during the time he
was jumping from
one political gathering to another.
Most of the
opinion pieces, written mainly for the Zimbabwe Independent
between 2008 and
2010 and also published on NewZimbabwe.com, highlight how
Moyo views
President Robert Mugabe, his vice-presidents and Zanu PF as a
party.
Moyo now says Mugabe is his hero.
While the court case
between the Daily News and Moyo rages on, the Daily
News on Sunday has, due
to public demand, decided to extract quotations from
Moyo’s well written
opinion pieces. The quotations were all taken from
websites.
Why
Mugabe should go now
Perennial wisdom from divine revelation and human
experience dictates that
earthly things great or small beautiful or ugly,
good or bad, sad or happy,
foolish or wise must finally come to an end. It
is from this sobering
reality that the end of executive rule has finally
come for Robert Mugabe
who has had his better days after a quarter of a
century in power.
That Mugabe must now go is thus no longer a dismissible
opposition slogan
but a strategic necessity that desperately needs urgent
legal and
constitutional action by Mugabe himself well ahead of the
presidential
election scheduled for March 2008 in order to safeguard
Zimbabwe’s national
interest, security and sovereignty.
One does not
need to be a malcontent to see that, after 25 years of
controversial rule
and with the economy melting down as a direct result of
that rule, Mugabe’s
continued stay in office has become such an excessive
burden to the welfare
of the state and such a fatal danger to the public
interest of Zimbabweans
at home and in the Diaspora that each day that goes
by with him in office
leaves the nation’s survival at great risk while
seriously compromising
national sovereignty.
Mugabe now too old, too tired
But the most
compelling reasons for Mugabe to resign now have to do with his
own fallen
standing in and outside the country.
The prevalence of unkind jokes about
him on text messages and the Internet
say it all. Mugabe now lacks the
vision, stature and energy to effectively
run the country, let alone his
party.
He is without compassion, maybe because he is now too old, too
tired and not
in the best of health.
His failure to visit stranded
families left homeless and suffering from the
irrational acts of his own
government speaks volumes of his cold and cruel
leadership
style.
From all discernible indications, Mugabe has lost influence and is
now
viewed with suspicion or cynicism or both by his peers in the Sadc,
African
Union and across the developing world where he used to enjoy
considerable
authority.
Of course, Mugabe is still respected as an
old man and he still makes very
interesting bombastic speeches that are
applauded for their entertainment
value and which are full of sound and fury
but signifying precious little at
the level of policy and
action.
Given the foregoing, President Mugabe has no reason whatsoever to
continue
in office as that is no longer in his personal interest and is most
certainly not in the national interest. He just must now go and the
fundamental law of the land gives him a decent constitutional exit that he
must take while he is still able to do so to save the nation and preserve
his legacy.
Mugabe not telling the truth
When Mugabe says the
crisis started in 2000 due to the rejection of the land
reform programme by
Britain and its allies he is not telling the truth. Many
in his government
and party know that the crisis started on August 16, 1997
when the
compensation for veterans of the liberation war became an economic
albatross
to the fiscus.
It is also a widely known fact that the demands for a new
democratic
constitution started well before 2000. Indeed, the MDC itself was
formed
before 2000.
If the truth be told, the 2000 land reform
programme was itself a hasty,
brutal and chaotic response to serious
national problems that were already
present.
It was not a sustainable
policy action. That brutal and chaotic response was
more about Mugabe’s
political survival than about redressing historical
injustice.
While
there can be no doubt about the historic necessity of land reform in
Zimbabwe and about the social justice of that necessity, the fact is that
the brutal and chaotic response in 2000 necessarily led to serious mistakes
being made. Those mistakes need to be corrected without making a bad
situation worse or falsifying history through Mkapa’s
mediation.
Mugabe’s leadership doomed to fail
On offer is the
self-indulgent leadership of Mugabe who is now too old
despite his
photogenic makeup, has become very tired, visionless and
beleaguered.
Mugabe remains in office not because he is in charge of
the goings-on in the
wider society but largely if not only because of
considerations of his
personal and family security in a world that is
increasingly becoming
hostile to former heads of state with unresolved human
rights and corruption
issues during their rule.
A leader in this kind
of a box in which Mugabe now finds himself tends to
invariably construct his
own political reality which in turn blunts his
ability to tell the
difference between winning a popular victory and
securing a stolen result at
the polls.
There is no way such a leader can ever enact correct policies
even if they
smack him on his face.
This explains why even with the
best of intentions by some within his inner
circle, Mugabe’s leadership has
become inherently limited and in fact doomed
to fail.
No wonder his
associates are now unable to distinguish between defending
their beleaguered
boss as a person and defending his principles, human
ideals or
policies.
Mugabe’s two deputies are not in a better position than him
vision-wise.
Vice-President Joice Mujuru is seemingly content with
wanting to become
executive state president by crisscrossing the country in
the glare of the
media hoping to win voters by waving “a pigs-and-chicken
manifesto” in an
economy whose wheels have fallen off.
Mugabe
behaving like a cornered rat
Although President Robert Mugabe has of late
been displaying bravado by
ruthlessly attacking in public some Zanu PF
contenders for his 27-year
tainted rule, such as Joice Mujuru, and
unleashing violence against
opposition politicians in police cells, while
giving the impression that he
is still like an invincible lion, the
inescapable home truth visible to all
and sundry is that he is now behaving
like a cornered rat whose quandary is
that every escape route it tries is a
dead-end.
This became clear after his astonishing yet revealing
indication last week
that he is set to dissolve parliament in the next few
months to enable him
to yet again stand for re-election under controversial
circumstances that
are certain to widen and deepen Zanu PF
divisions.
At best, the threatened dissolution of parliament which has
angered Zanu PF
MPs is designed to give Mugabe assured campaign assistance
from the ruling
party’s parliamentary hopefuls who would be forced to
support his divisive
candidacy in joint presidential and parliamentary
elections he wants to call
well before the expiry of his current term in
March 2008. But there could be
another sinister agenda to resuscitate
Mugabe’s dead 2010 plan.
In effect, Mugabe does not want to be succeeded
by anybody. Zanu PF
factional leaders who imagine that they are Mugabe’s
preferred successors
are living in a fools’ paradise because Mugabe does not
want any successor.
Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe
If there is one
sobering thing that can be unequivocally said about why the
Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (Zec) has scandalously delayed the
announcement of the
March 29 presidential election, it is simply that
President Robert Mugabe
did not win the election and is now desperately
trying to steal the result
through an unjustified recount because he does
not have any prospect of
winning a run-off or a re-run.
Had Mugabe won the election, even with
less than the absolute majority
required under the Electoral Act, Zec would
have announced the result ages
ago and Zimbabweans would have been spared
the constitutional uncertainty
and political anxiety that have put the
nation on the brink of utter chaos
and mayhem.
The simple truth which
Zec has found hard to stomach and which Mugabe and
his shocked cronies have
found hard to swallow is that Morgan Tsvangirai won
the presidential
election even if with less than the required absolute
majority. In other
words, Tsvangirai got more votes than Mugabe and thus
defeated
him.
If the Electoral Act had not been amended after the 2002
presidential
election to require a run-off where no candidate gets an
absolute majority,
Tsvangirai would have been sworn in by now and Zimbabwe
would be in a
totally new situation under his MDC government and we would
not have the
current charade of a dissolved cabinet whose defeated ministers
are now
seeking to unconstitutionally smuggle themselves back into office
under
spurious but self-serving interpretations of Section 31E of the
Constitution.
Mugabe, incoherent, disoriented
The saying that
when you are 40, half of you belongs to the past, and when
you are 80
virtually all of you is past material, best describes the
stubborn reality
facing the 83-year old President Robert Mugabe whose dream
to remain in
power for life is turning into a terrible nightmare as he finds
himself
trapped between the frustration of his rejected 2010 plan and his
hopeless
2008 re-election bid which would leave him and Zanu PF sitting
ducks at
polls should presidential and parliamentary elections be held
together early
next year.
Anyone who listened to Mugabe’s addresses at the hurriedly
organised
national assembly meetings of the Zanu PF youth and women’s
leagues in
Harare on March 16 and 23 would have noticed how Mugabe came
across as an
incoherent, disoriented, rambling and tired old man who wants
to remain
president for life without any compelling national
reason.
Throughout his addresses, he was prone to incomprehensible fits
of anger and
outbursts.
While Mugabe’s irrational desire to remain in
office for life by hook or by
crook is unfortunate but understandable, it is
utterly shocking to see that
there are securocrats in his office who are
desperate to force his
re-election bid through foul means including using at
least 14 government
ministries that are now doing commissariat work for
Mugabe.
The co-ordination work of these ministries is being done by
military
personnel who have been deployed in all of the country’s 59
districts and
120 constituencies to do political work for Mugabe as they did
in 2002 as
“the boys on leave” from the army.
Although everyone else
can see that Mugabe’s time has gone with the winds,
his securocrats want to
have the world to believe otherwise.
About The Victoria Falls Marathon Race
Developed in conjunction with the National Athletics Association of Zimbabwe, the Victoria Falls Marathon race is an AIMS (Association of International Marathon and Distance Races) registered event. The marathon race provides a platform for both local and international runners to pit themselves against the best! The marathon race route is fast and relatively flat and is well supported by regular water points and cooling down sections, all ably managed by the sponsors.
A full 42.2km marathon race, 21.2km half marathon run and a 5km fun run is available. The marathon race route starts at the Kingdom hotel then crosses over the Vic Falls Bridge, briefly into Zambia offering the social runner some of the most spectacular scenery in Africa and ends at the Victoria Falls primary school.
Besides the breathtaking landscapes, you will encounter on the marathon race there is plenty more to do and see. Known as the adventure centre of Africa, for good reason, the Victoria Falls has a wealth of activities available! Choose one of the standard travel packages, or tailor-make your own by combining the marathon race with some rafting, canoeing, boat cruising, game viewing, an elephant back safari or even a bungee jump! Safaris in neighbouring Botswana and Zambia are also available through Wild Frontiers the official organiser of the Victoria Falls marathon race. Wild Frontiers would be happy to furnish you with details of travel packages in the surrounding region and make all your travel arrangements for you. In addition, there are daily flights from Johannesburg to the falls, which makes linking from international flights to the region easy.
<By Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 18/07/11
One could argue that, in the
forthcoming elections, the Diaspora vote could
be potentially MDC’s most
effective means of sweeping to power. However,
reports that the Movement for
Democratic Change led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai appears helpless
in safeguarding that vote in this month’s
Electoral Amendment Bill could
have far-reaching implications.
If Mugabe can just change any law
unilaterally, regardless of the will of
the people as expressed through
their representatives in parliament, so why
is MDC in Parliament?
Presidential temporary emergency powers and the
prerogative of mercy which
have been abused at election time can be
abolished or amended so as to be
vetoed by Parliament among many checks and
balances which are long overdue
on the Zimbabwe’s executive presidency.
It would be very reckless and
suicidal for MDC-T to lend Zanu-pf a hand in
disenfranchising millions of
Zimbabweans who were forced to leave the
country due to circumstances beyond
their control and are living under very
difficult conditions abroad hoping
for one opportunity to vote the regime
out of power
peacefully.
Ensuring that the Diaspora vote is restored in the Electoral
Amendment Bill
is the sole responsibility of the MDC led by Morgan
Tsvangirai and the MDC
led by Welshman Ncube since Zanu-pf is opposed to it.
To safeguard the
Diaspora vote is not an act of charity. It is a national
duty. The
experience of the GNU has been so agonising and regrettable that
no sane
person wants it for any day longer.
MDC-T and of course the
other MDC and Zanu-pf are better advised not to
underestimate the power of
the Diaspora to campaign vigorously against any
injustices perpetrated by
the coalition government in Harare. Feigning
poverty in order to deny
millions of displaced Zimbabweans of their right to
vote in the most
decisive and historic poll would be grossly mischievous and
short-sighted.
Given the traditional Zanu-pf ritual of politically
motivated violence,
abductions, torture, murder and destruction of property,
any hope of free
and fair elections in Zimbabwe minus the Diaspora vote is
irresponsible.
The MDC-T will have no-one to blame but itself if the
Diaspora is
disenfranchised through the Electoral Amendment Bill now before
Parliament.
Similarly, MDC-T should not underestimate the ability of the
millions of
people in the Diaspora to fight for their democratic right to
vote and even
if it means falling out with former allies.
One would
have thought that the MDC-T has learnt enough lessons from its
experience in
the coalition with Zanu-pf’s perennial cry of anti-sanctions.
Today it’s
Zanu-pf moaning about targeted sanctions and asset freezes.
Inevitably,
there will be new candidates if the MDC succeeds in
disenfranchising
millions of Zimbabweans forced to live as second-class
citizens abroad,
thanks to Mugabe’s dictatorship.
Enough is enough, especially after the
MDC agreed to the Electoral Amendment
Bill in its flawed condition in
Cabinet and also voted for the Chinese loan
deal for a spy centre which has
the potential of causing human rights
violations in Zimbabwe. What more harm
is worse than disenfranchising your
own people? Don’t say we did not warn
you.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com