http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in News
NIKUV
International, a shadowy Israeli intelligence company allegedly hired
by
Zanu PF to rig the forthcoming general elections through manipulation of
the
voters’ roll, has a checkered history in the region, as it was dragged
to
court in Zambia on allegations of tampering with voter registration to
rig
polls, Zambian court records show.
Hazel Ndebele
Zambian court
documents obtained this week by the Zimbabwe Independent ––
which first
reported on Nikuv’s role in local electoral activities in
2000 –– show that
although former Zambian Chief Justice Matthew Ngulube
dismissed the
application by the United National Independence Party and
Liberal
Progressive Front in 1996 on the technical grounds that the voter
registration was legally conducted by the electoral commission, not by the
Israeli firm as claimed, the allegations left Nikuv’s reputation badly
dented.
Nikuv, which was embroiled in a controversial US$6,9 million
contract in
which under clause 2. l on page 85 it was to supply government
with up to
four million voters cards although it eventually only registered
2,5 million
people in Zambia, has been involved in shady voter registration
activities
in Zimbabwe for some years now.
Zimbabwe’s recent voter
registration exercise was chaotic and the voters’
roll is in a shambles
ahead of elections on July 31, raising fears of ballot
rigging and
theft.
In the Zambian situation then, as is the case in Zimbabwe now,
Nikuv was
accused of being contracted to manipulate and rig the elections
from the
voters registration exercise to the declaration of
results.
The applicants argued the company was hired to rig the electoral
process to
retain the then ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) in
power.
The decision to approach Nikuv had been made by MMD in a bid to
secure
re-election in 1996 after the party under the leadership of the late
president Frederick Chiluba had defeated founding leader Kenneth Kaunda in
1991 during the first multiparty elections in the country.
However,
the applicants argued that the contract, signed by the
vice-president’s
office and designed to rig elections in favour of MMD, was
“unlawful” as it
violated the Electoral Act and Zambia National Tender Board
Act.
They
also charged it ousted the jurisdiction of the Zambian Electoral
Commission.
A government technical committee was appointed by the
government to work
with Nikuv, effectively sidelining the electoral
commission.
Nikuv has been working with Registrar General Tobaiwa Muede’s
office amid
claims it has been manipulating the voters’ roll to help
President Robert
Mugabe and Zanu PF to rig elections 2000.
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai questioned Nikuv’s role during a meeting he
held
with Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec) chairperson Justice Rita
Makarau
and her deputy Joyce Kazembe three weeks ago.
He charged that Zanu PF,
through the Registrar General office, was working
with the secretive Israeli
company to tamper with the voters’ roll, which
Zec has also admitted is in a
shambles.
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka said the premier
had asked Zec
to investigate the role played by Nikuv in the voter
registration exercise.
The Zambian parties which took Nikuv to court
wanted, among other things, an
order of certiorari (an order by a higher
court directing a lower court,
tribunal, or public authority to send a
record in a given case for review)
quashing the decision by the Zambian
government to award the contract of
registration of voters to Nikuv and
another order prohibiting the electoral
commission and the director of
elections from delegating its function to
register voters to
Nikuv.
They also wanted an order making it clear Nikuv is not entitled to
conduct
the registration of voters in Zambia;
that the said contract
be declared null and void;
that the said contract was wrongly classified
as “secret” by the Zambian
government and that the registration of voters
exercise being conducted
under the direction Nikuv be halted forthwith and
that the said registration
be declared null and void as it was a violation
of the laws of Zambia.
The applicants further wanted an order of
prohibition to bar the Electoral
Commission and the Director of Elections
from delegating its functions to
register voters to Nikuv and also an order
of mandamus (an order instructing
a public body to do or to refrain from
doing some specific act which it is
obliged to do under law) that the
Electoral Commission be ordered to direct
and supervise the registration of
voters and the compilation of an updated
voters’ register for the conduct of
elections later that year.
Nikuv International – which was then called
Nikuv Computers – had signed a
contract with the Zambian government in
November 1995 to supply it with up
to four million voter cards at a cost of
US$6 870 000.
The contract Nikuv to compile an up-to-date registration of
voters,
something applicants argued was in breach of the Zambian
constitution and
the Electoral Act which state that the electoral commission
should be the
major player in the registration of voters and conduct of
elections.
When questioned by the Supreme Court, Nikuv’s project manager
Gershom Korda
confirmed his company had been awarded a contract but because
he knew it was
known the firm was not registered, he chose not to give
evidence to avoid
cross examination.
Despite the order being
dismissed on technical grounds, the case left Nikuv’s
image tainted as it
became notorious all over Africa as an elections rigging
machine which many
incumbents and their governments, including in Zimbabwe,
resort to when they
desperately need to win elections to ensure political
survival.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in News
THE Transparency
International Zimbabwe (TIZ) Annual State of Corruption
report for 2012
shows that mining policies appear to be partisan and are
being abused by
Zanu PF for private gain.
Hazel Ndebele
The report brings to the
fore corruption involving those entrusted with
power and
authority.
Zanu PF officials who use the mining industry for political
expediency and
self-aggrandisement rather than for growth and development to
sustain the
industry are on the list of corrupt officials.
Top police
and military officers, bureaucrats and influential business
people are also
cited among the most corrupt.
According to the report, about 62% of
Zimbabweans have paid a bribe in
different sectors of the economy, including
the judiciary, tax revenue and
land services.
People interviewed by
TIZ in Gwanda and Kwekwe, for instance, said: “Machef
emusangano (Zanu-PF
top officials) ndivo vari pamberi penyaya dzehuori
nekuti ndivo vanotanga
kana tasvika panyaya dzengoda (the Zanu PF bigwigs
are the ones involved in
corruption as they are the ones who control gold
panning).”
According
to the report, if one does not bribe Mines ministry officials,
their chances
of acquiring a mining licence will be close to nil, which
explains why most
people are illegal miners.
It said politicians, acting in cahoots with
the police as well as illegal
miners, are depriving the country of gold and
revenues which should
contribute to economic growth.
The involvement
of the police and military suggests that limited recourse to
justice is
available to small-scale and artisanal miners because of fear of
backlash
and intimidation.
TIZ lead researcher Farai Mutondoro said the main
findings of the report
showed that illicit activities and corruption
tendencies are destroying the
economy.
The mining sector contributes
about 16,5% of gross domestic product (GDP)
with gold weighing in with
around 30% of this contribution, implying that
gold is officially
contributing around 5% of the GDP.
“There are high chances that this figure
can be understated by as much as
10%-20% as a result of leakages and
corruption,” said Mutondoro.
If incorporated, the gold contribution could
be as high as 8% of GDP while
the mining sector contribution could be as
high as 20%.
TIZ has recommended the establishment of a clear policy and
the legal and
institutional framework governing the Community Share
Ownership Trusts
(CSOT).
Currently, the framework governing CSOT is
not clear as there are
contestations between the ministry of indigenisation
and the ministry of
local government over control of the CSOT.
It is
government’s duty to ensure that the CSOT are governed by one ministry
and a
CSOT Act would give it a clear legal structure which is non-partisan.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in News
THE Central
Intelligence Organisation (CIO), whose budget is secretive,
recently
splashed US$3 million acquiring about 100 Nissan double cab
vehicles from a
Harare car dealership for use by its members in rural areas
ahead of crucial
general elections.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
The spy agency acquired the
new 4×4 Nissan NP300 double cab vehicles through
a dealership known to the
Zimbabwe Independent, which were distributed to
its officers in the rural
areas last week.
The agency has in the past been involved in political
activities, including
abductions and torture of MDC formations and human
rights activists
countrywide.
Investigations by the Independent show
the vehicles cost on average R245 000
each in South Africa. It could,
however, not be established if the vehicles
had been imported from South
Africa.
“The organisation bought new trucks for field operations, and
distribution
started last week to all district officers,” a source
said.
The security sector, which includes the police and army, has
invested
heavily in new fleets during the course of the year.
Last
year the army spent US$45 million on 1 000 vehicles ahead of
elections.
President Robert Mugabe is on record saying CIO spies for Zanu
PF and keeps
him informed of political activities within the party and MDC
formations.
The Joint Operations Command (Joc) has over the years been
taking an
increasing political role in the governance of Zimbabwe.
The
security services politicisation and partisanship still remains one of
the
outstanding Global Political Agreement issues.
Joc has been playing a
commissariat role for Zanu PF since the emergence of
the MDC as a serious
contender in the political arena.
Hurungwe East MP Sarah Mahoka early
this year told a Chinhoyi magistrate
that Zanu PF candidates for 2013
general elections were sending their
applications and curriculum vitaes to
the CIO for vetting.
Mahoka made the revelations while testifying in an
intra-party violence case
where she accused Temba Mliswa of setting party
thugs on her in Hurungwe.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe yesterday said they are considering
allowing
servicemen and women who failed to cast their ballot during the
chaotic
two-day special voting process to vote on July 31 along with the
rest of the
country.
Hebert Moyo
Reacting to reports that it
was not possible for those who failed to vote on
the designated days to do
so with the rest of the country, Mugabe absolved
the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission (Zec) of any wrong doing in the fiasco
that engulfed the process
saying the failure by most uniformed forces to
vote was due to lack of
sufficient voter education.
For example, Mugabe said some officers
registered to vote in Beitbridge but
were on duty in Harare failed to vote
because they thought their ballot
papers would be available in the
capital.
He said this could have been avoided if there had been good voter
education.
“Hameno kuti zvichaitika kuti vabvumidzwe kuvhota musi wa31 (I
don’t know if
they will be allowed to vote on July 31), but we will be
examining this
issue to see if it can be fixed,” Mugabe said.
Mugabe
welcomed media reports that MDC–T leader Morgan Tsvangirai has
accepted the
reality of the July 31 poll but called on the MDCs and other
parties not to
obstruct the electoral process with all kinds of applications
to the High
Court and Supreme Court, saying Zec should not be treated as an
enemy but an
institution assisting the parties.
“Let us freely help Zec and the
security forces,” he said.
“Our parties should confer on situations to
assist Zec and not just do
fault-finding. They are our elections as parties
and Zec is helping to
create an environment where our people can cast votes
for us,” he said.
Mugabe also took a swipe at Zanu PF members who decided
to stand as
independents after losing primaries, saying they had expelled
themselves
from the party.
He singled out Marian Chombo and attacked
her for contesting against her
ex-husband, Local Government minister
Ignatius Chombo.
“There is Marian, who still calls herself a Chombo. She
does not want to
accept her divorce although she is divorced from her
husband. She keeps
pestering her ex-husband. We didn’t interfere in her
domestic affairs but we
will not remain silent on our Zanu PF issues. She
must back off,” said
Mugabe.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
MDC-T and Zanu PF’s chances of winning a majority in general
elections took
a dent when some disgruntled party members refused to
withdraw their
independent candidature by last Friday’s legal withdrawal
deadline.
Paidamoyo Muzulu
The parties find themselves in a sticky
situation with a combined 34
National Assembly constituencies with two or
more candidates from the same
party filing nomination papers and therefore
running the risk of splitting
the vote.
However, the MDC-T will be
affected more than Zanu PF after most of the
latter’s disgruntled members
withdrew from the race except four.
The four remaining disgruntled Zanu
PF members running are Jonathan
Samukange (Mudzi South), Daniel Garwe
(Murehwa North) and Marian Chombo
(Zvimba North), who are running as
independents, and Munyaradzi Kereke
(Bikita West) who filed on a Zanu PF
ticket together with the party’s
endorsed candidate, Elias
Musakwa.
Kereke has since been expelled from the party over the
issue.
Among Zanu PF members who withdrew their candidature are Dorothy
Mabika
(Chipinge Central) and Christopher Chingosho
(Headlands).
There are 28 MDC-T members who rejected the party’s
directive to withdraw
and thus became independents in Bulawayo (5),
Matabeleland North (4),
Manicaland (4), Matabeleland South (3), Midlands
(3), Mashonaland West (3),
Harare (2) and Masvingo and Mashonaland East with
one each.
Among the prominent MDC-T members who filed as independents are
former MPs
Felix Magalela Sibanda, Samuel Sandla Khumalo, Prince Dube and
Kidwell
Mujuru in Bulawayo, as well as Misheck Shoko and Emmanuel Chiroto in
Harare.
In Manicaland, the MDC-T has double candidates in
Dangamvura/Chikanga, Giles
Mutsekwa and Arnold Tsunga and independents Regai
Tsunga (Mutasa South) and
Geofrey Nyarota (Makoni South).
Other MDC-T
members who ignored the party’s directive to withdraw are former
MPs
Severino Chambati (Hurungwe West) and Moses Mare (Chiredzi West). Former
Gweru mayor Tedius Chimombe is also contesting on an independent ticket in
Gweru urban.
Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo said the party was not
worried about
“rebels” and they should consider themselves expelled after
standing as
independents.
“The party resolved that all members who
are still standing as independents
have been expelled and should not use the
party’s symbols and colours in
their campaign materials. Our supporters have
also been advised not to work
with rebels,” Gumbo said.
MDC-T
national organising secretary Nelson Chamisa said the development was
bad
for the party since it will split their votes, especially proportional
representation seats.
“We are confident that the development does not
affect our presidential
candidate but obviously it will have a knockdown
effect on those seats
allocated under proportional representation,” Chamisa
said.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Elections 2013, News,
Politics
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe will be on the ropes this weekend as he
faces close
scrutiny at the Sadc troika on politics, defence and security
and the
African Union (AU) peace and security council meetings less than two
weeks
before crucial general elections set for July 31.
Elias
Mambo
Sadc and the AU, guarantors of the now abandoned Global Political
Agreement
(GPA) and attendant roadmap towards elections, will meet to
discuss Zimbabwe’s
state of preparedness for elections today and tomorrow
amid unfolding chaos
engulfing the electoral process following a messy and
rushed mainly due to
lack of funding and capacity within the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission (Zec).
The AU meeting will be held today in Addis
Ababa, the Sadc one will on
tomorrow in Pretoria. The two meetings are
expected to scrutinise Zimbabwe’s
electoral processes and make defining
resolutions on the issue.
In an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent
yesterday, South African
President Jacob Zuma’s international relations
advisor Lindiwe Zulu, who is
part of his facilitation team, said the troika
will assess Zimbabwe’s
preparedness ahead of elections as well as review
progress made on issues
highlighted during its last meeting.
“We are
going to have a troika meeting over the weekend and Zimbabwe will
top our
agenda since the country is going to hold elections at the end of
this
month,” said Zulu. “We want to check on the progress that has been made
in
terms of preparations for the elections and also get an update on the
preliminary report from the Sadc observer mission team.”
Sadc has
deployed a 600-observer team – its largest contingent of election
observers
ever – to check if the country was ready for polls. The AU also
has 60
observers.
Sadc troika chairperson, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete
will convene the
meeting which will be attended by Zuma in his capacity as
the Sadc
facilitator on Zimbabwe. Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba
also sits on
the troika.
South Africa’s Department of International
Relations and Co-operation
spokesperson Clayson Monyela said Zimbabwean
political parties were not
invited for the troika meeting despite complaints
by the MDC formations over
the current chaotic electoral process.
“It
is a troika meeting and only members of the troika will take part and
not
political parties,” Monyela said.
Zulu, recently insulted by Mugabe as an
“ordinary, stupid, idiotic street
woman”, said the troika will also discuss,
among other things, the political
and security situation in Zimbabwe as the
country marches towards elections
and review the resolutions made at its
last in Cape Town in May and the
Pretoria summit in April.
The troika
summit in May commended Zuma for his efforts in pushing for full
implementation of the GPA to ensure a credible, free and fair constitutional
referendum on March 16.
However, the troika urged the parties to the
GPA, Zanu PF, MDC-T and MDC, to
finalise outstanding reforms and follow the
roadmap to hold free and fair
elections.
The Sadc troika and AU
security council meetings come against the backdrop
of the Sadc
extraordinary summit in Maputo last month where Zimbabwe was
urged to
prepare for peaceful and credible elections.
It also said government
should approach the Constitutional Court to seek an
extension of the polls
date and go to parliament to regularise Mugabe’s
illegal amendments to the
Electoral Act.
Government went to court – which always ruling in favour
of the executive on
key electoral matters – and the application was
dismissed, endorsing Mugabe’s
actions.
Mugabe said he would be
sending Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa to Addis
Ababa after accusing the
two MDC parties earlier this week on reporting him
to the continental body,
a charge they rejected.
African diplomats in Harare say Mugabe’s dispatch
of Chinamasa to the AU
meeting is a desperate attempt to ensure the July 31
elections go ahead in
the midst of chaos and fears of vote
rigging.
“Mugabe was the first leader locally to talk about the AU
meeting in Addis
Ababa this week as he was trying to pre-empt its
discussions.
Knowing that there was going to be a Sadc troika summit in
Pretoria, he was
trying to outflank the increasingly firm regional leaders
who are insisting
on free and fair elections in Zimbabwe,” an African
diplomat told the
Independent yesterday.
“Just like he did when he
invited Malawian President Joyce Banda to Harare
recently as he she is going
to the next Sadc chairperson just after
elections next month and visited
Lesotho this week for diplomatic lobbying
under the guise of King Letsie
III’s birthday celebrations, Mugabe would be
sending Chinamasa to lobby the
AU Commission chaired by former South African
president Thabo Mbeki’s right
hand minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the AU
security council and the AU
itself currently chaired Ethiopia’s Prime
Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
Remember Mbeki will head the AU observer
mission.”
Mugabe has always
enjoyed good relations with Ethiopian leaders, right from
the days of
Mengistu Haile Mariam who was given asylum in Harare after he
was ousted in
1991. Hailemariam has been AU chairman since January.
Together with Sadc,
the AU is a guarantor of the GPA. Mugabe attend the AU
summit in Sharm
el-Sheik in June 2008 a few days after his controversial
re-election widely
rejected by Sadc and the continental body, as well as the
international
community.
Sadc, under Mbeki’s leadership, brokered the GPA agreement
leading for the
formation of the coalition in 2009 to prepare for free and
fair elections, a
task it has dismally failed as shown by the current
situation.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in News, Politics
AFTER
more than a decade of political and economic turmoil, which was
briefly
interrupted by the coalition government between 2009 and this year,
Zimbabweans will on July 31 go to critical general elections in a bid to
break a running political stalemate which has nearly left the country as a
failed state.
Column by Velempini Khumalo
Of course, Zimbabwe
did not become a failed state, but remains a fragile
state which is
significantly susceptible to crises given its brittle
institutional
arrangements and sub-systems.
Since 1980, Zimbabwe has been vulnerable to
internal and external shocks or
domestic and international conflicts as
shown by the situation in
Matabeleland and Midlands in the 1980s; events
during the second decade of
independence following the adoption of the
International Monetary
Fund-inspired reforms in 1991 and towards the end of
that decade when the
labour movement became restless due to economic
decline; and the explosive
coalescing of democratic forces against
authoritarian Zanu PF rule in the
late 1990s, leading to the formation of
the MDC in 1999.
Events between 2000 and now have shown that Zimbabwe is
a fragile state with
weak institutional arrangements that embody and perhaps
preserve the
conditions of crisis, politically, economically and
socially.
Politically, the country is volatile due to the persistent
stalemate caused
by disputed elections results and institutions that
entrench exclusionary
coalitions in power along ethnic, regional and
factional lines, a situation
exacerbated by fragmented security agencies
that dabble in politics.
In economic terms, the situation is unstable
since radical policies such as
land reform and indigenisation were adopted
in the middle of an economy
which was already reeling from extended periods
of mismanagement.
Socially, Zimbabwe has extreme inequalities and poor
delivery of services,
particularly water, electricity, health and
education.
Given the current situation, Zimbabwe’s next elections will be
fought in
different political and socio-economic conditions.
Since
the coalition government came in 2009, the political and economic
situation
has relatively stabilised after the country adopted a
multicurrency system
which led to the end of hyperinflation and tangible
changes on people’s
lives and social conditions.
This has created a new environment in which
the parties have never engaged
in an electoral battle before.
The
change is also demonstrated by the drop in political violence and
intimidation. While there are still skirmishes, the brutality of the
previous elections has largely disappeared as parties preach messages of
peace and hope to ensure free and fair elections.
Opinion surveys
show Zimbabweans remain anxiously uncertain about the
political future of
their country. Despite cautious optimism the next
elections could bring
definite change, many continue to fear the uncertain
future they
face.
Amid claims in opinion polls that President Robert Mugabe and Zanu
PF have
recovered support due to the controversial land reform and
indigenisation
programmes — which in reality have not changed the living
conditions of an
average Zimbabwean despite researches and books written to
justify them —
backed by their liberation struggle, independence and
sovereignty mantras,
while Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his MDC-T
party have lost ground
due to their mediocre performance in the coalition
government and
mismanagement of local authorities, uncertainty has become
the biggest
variable in the next elections.
Apart from party
political fanatics who will vote for their organisations
and candidates even
if they have not delivered and are unlikely to deliver,
Zimbabweans in
general say they do not know who will win the next elections
even if there
is growing fear of rigging after Mugabe unilaterally
proclaimed elections
dates with the support of the judiciary.
The chaotic voter registration
process and special voting fiasco, which were
beset by complaints and
disputes, have given rise to the belief the
elections would be rigged, hence
lead to the rejection of the results. That
will take Zimbabwe back to square
one.
Optimists, however, say it is possible clean winners and gracious
losers
will emerge. This is what Tsvangirai said he was told by Mugabe at
one time
before he realised he was being taken for a ride.
Pessimists
do not only talk of disputed outcomes, but a possible military
intervention
if Mugabe loses, although analysts see this as a remote
possibility given
internal and geo-political dynamics around Zimbabwe.
Dumiso Dabengwa has
probably provided the most candid assessment of the
military factor in his
few remarks on the issue than analysts and
researchers have done in volumes
of studies and comments. Dabengwa says the
military will not be a major
factor even if there is a decisive outcome
against Mugabe.
In other
words, they will only continue to be a factor before and after
elections if
only the people have not spoken clearly and emphatically.
Zimbabweans are
torn apart between pushing for change and cynicism.
The new voters’
registration figures, which have pushed the number of
registered voters
above six million and the record electoral turnout of more
than three
million during the March constitutional referendum, show their
enthusiasm
about the upcoming elections despite the lingering fear, feeding
off growing
cynicism, of ballot fraud.
Fears of another stolen election, fuelled by
Mugabe’s rivals who repeatedly
flag the issue either as campaign strategy or
a genuine concern, are growing
by the day.
The situation is worsened
by the fact that despite a change in the political
and economic environment,
some things have remained unchanged, especially
institutions and individuals
running elections.
As Botswana President Ian Khama said last year when
his ally Tsvangirai was
losing the plot, almost all of those who ran the
past elections whose
results were disputed amid accusations of human rights
abuses and ballot
rigging, are still in charge.
To make matters
worse, the reform process is stalled and by the time it
ground to a halt, it
had not gone far enough to clean the system to allow
the country to start on
a new slate.
The state machinery which organises or has a bearing on the
electoral
process, including the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission,
Registrar-General’s
Office, military, judiciary and public media (witness
the propaganda
overdrive at the state-controlled Zimpapers and ZBC), remain
intact, meaning
the people accused of manipulating and rigging elections
before are still in
place.
As the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
staggers to an end, the dumping of
the roadmap, reform deficits, limited
electoral institutional capacity and
credibility, the rejection of a United
Nations (UN) electoral needs
assessment mission linked to funding of the
polls and Mugabe’s defiance of
the Southern African Development Community
(Sadc), all show a continued
absence of conditions for peaceful and credible
elections, despite the new
constitution adopted in March
2013.
Zimbabwe has not invited the UN to observe the elections. It has
invited the
Sadc, Comesa and African Union (AU).
Individual
countries, which include Algeria, Kenya and Uganda, have also
been invited.
From Asia, countries invited included China, India, Indonesia,
Iran and
Malaysia, while from the Americas invitations have gone to Brazil,
Jamaica,
Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba.
The European Union (EU) and United States
observers have either not been
invited or turned down. It was the expulsion
of the EU head of the observer
mission to Zimbabwe, Pierre Schori, in 2002
which triggered Western
sanctions against Mugabe and his
cronies.
This means international legitimacy is likely to be denied to
the winner,
especially if it is Mugabe, despite that Western countries have
of late been
pushing for rapprochement with Harare.
This leaves
Zimbabweans — scarred by seemingly endless political wars raging
for over a
decade now — torn in all directions during this election
period.
Zimbabweans in general jump from great anticipation the next
elections will
be a watershed and bring change to their lives to fear of
rigging which will
keep things as they are, showing how people are
politically tormented by the
current situation and attendant
uncertainty.
What is clear though is that the next elections will be the
most important
since the country’s Independence from Britain in 1980 as they
have the
potential to usher in a new political dispensation or perpetuate
the old
order after the country has gone through a four-year transitional
arrangement.
This followed a disputed presidential election run-off
in June 2008 in which
at least 200 mainly MDC-T supporters were killed in an
electoral bloodbath
triggered by the military which spearheaded a campaign
of brutality to
rescue Mugabe from the jaws of defeat after he had lost the
first round of
polling to his archrival, Tsvangirai.
Following the
bloody June 2008 presidential election run-off and the
rejection of Mugabe’s
disputed victory, Sadc, under the tutelage of former
South African president
Thabo Mbeki — likely to bounce back as head of the
AU election observer
mission with ex-Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo —
pressured Zimbabwe’s
main political leaders to sign the GPA and form the
coalition government to
give the country a respite to prepare for new free
and fair
elections.
Throughout the four-year tenure of the unity government, Zanu
PF and the two
MDC parties, their principals and Sadc leaders, via their
current South
African facilitator President Jacob Zuma and summits, battled
to implement
the GPA reforms and the attendant roadmap.
Summit after
summit resolved Zimbabwe parties must implement the GPA and
roadmap before
elections are held.
During their Maputo summit last month, Sadc leaders
once again emphasised
that parties to the GPA must “undertake immediate
measures to create a
conducive environment for the holding of peaceful,
credible, free and fair
elections”.
However, given the unprocedural
proclamation of the election date and
illegal Electoral Act amendments,
chaotic voter registration exercise which
disenfranchised thousands of
people as well as the messy special voting
process, the situation seriously
threatens Zimbabweans’ rights to freely and
fairly vote on July
31.
Thus, turmoil is becoming increasingly inevitable by the day, leaving
the
country on the edge.
Khumalo studied political science,
government, business and ethics, and
international relations at the
University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in News, Politics
SADC,
the African Union (AU), European Union (EU), United Nations (UN) and
other
international organisations would admit that elections in Zimbabwe are
not
for the faint-hearted, particularly from 2000 when the MDC emerged as a
formidable opposition to Zanu PF since Independence in 1980.
Herbert
Moyo
The 2008 elections were disputed after the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission
(Zec)took a month to announce the presidential poll results in
which
President Robert Mugabe lost to MDC-T leader, Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai triggering a bloody run-off which resulted in the latter
withdrawing, citing widespread violence and intimidation against his
supporters.
Zimbabwe was plunged into a crippling political and
economic crisis
prompting Sadc to broker a power-sharing deal under the
Global Political
Agreement (GPA) between Zanu PF and the two MDC parties to
stabilise the
country.
The GPA and subsequent Sadc summits
resolutions on Zimbabwe prescribed a
raft of reforms to be implemented in
the media and security sectors to
create an atmosphere conducive to the
holding of free, fair and credible
elections.
However, Mugabe’s
unilateral decision to push ahead with elections on July
31 without fully
implementing reforms under the GPA is likely to give
international bodies
headaches and create a crisis of legitimacy, especially
if Mugabe wins
controversially.
It is interesting to see how Sadc will pronounce the
elections when they do
not meet even the regional body’s own requirements
for democratic polls or
the GPA.
What will the EU do since it had
begun efforts to normalise relations with
Zimbabwe through the “Friends of
Zimbabwe” initiative before the March
constitutional referendum? The EU had
lifted targeted measures imposed on
some Zanu PF officials and companies in
preparation for full normalisation
of relations.
A delegation of
ministers, led by Zanu PF’s Patrick Chinamasa, was even
allowed to visit
Europe for re-engagement talks. This followed an earlier
meeting where EU
countries met Zimbabwean government representatives in
London on March
26.
While the EU waxed lyrical, the US remained unmoved refusing to lift
sanctions, suggesting that it will not accept a flawed election.
The
AU and UN also find themselves in a conundrum.
Sadc appears to hold the
highest moral ground having baby-sitted Zimbabwe’s
coalition government by
appointing successive South African presidents Thabo
Mbeki and now Jacob
Zuma as facilitators to the GPA negotiation process.
Although Sadc has
endorsed previous elections — except Mugabe’s dubious
re-election in 2008 —
despite outcries from the MDC parties, this time
around the regional bloc
has remained steadfast in calling for reforms
before elections.
Only
last month, Sadc reacted to Mugabe’s unilateral July 31 election
proclamation by requesting him to approach the Constitutional Court to seek
an extension to allow more time to implement reforms.
Analysts say
the regional body wants to bring finality to the long-running
Zimbabwe
election saga and is unlikely to accept a sham election.
Its resolute
insistence on reforms has already been vindicated following the
chaos that
characterised the special vote on Sunday and Monday where absent
or delayed
ballot boxes and the late casting of votes at most polling
centres,
demonstrated how Zec was not ready for the polls.
Political analyst
Godwin Phiri said Sadc’s insistence on reforms signalled
that the regional
bloc means business and is determined to ensure polls can
still pass the
credibility test despite the inherent flaws.
“They (Sadc) have invested
so much time and effort on Zimbabwe and so they
are determined to make the
most of it,” said Phiri.
Sadc appears committed to salvaging the elections
and ensure that they have
some semblance of credibility as demonstrated by
the bloc’s decision to send
over 600 observers.
Of particular
interest are reports that Botswana, a fierce Mugabe critic,
contributed 200
of these observers.
Phiri, however, warned that a defiant Mugabe will
test Sadc’s resolve by
proceeding with the elections without full
reforms.
A chaotic voter registration exercise was marred by claims that
thousands
were denied the right to register as voters.
The MDC-T has
written to Sadc complaining about the restrictive voter
registration
exercise with party secretary-general Tendai Biti claiming that
more than
300 000 people failed to register in Harare alone.
According to the
Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn), 750 000 eligible
urban voters were
not registered in urban wards deemed as MDC parties’
strongholds.
“If
this issue is not addressed, it might seriously undermine the
credibility of
the whole electoral process,” Zesn warned.
In addition, Zimbabweans in
the diaspora, the so-called “aliens” (mainly
those born in Zimbabwe with
foreign descent but failed to register as
voters) and prisoners will not
vote despite constitutional provisions
granting them the right to
suffrage.
Zec has blamed logistical challenges for this
development.
Despite the glaring deficiencies, political commentator
Blessing Vava still
believes international organisations should not have any
problem endorsing
the polls as the prevailing conditions are just the same
as those that
characterised the constitutional referendum.
“Why
should there be a problem now when Sadc, EU and Zimbabwe’s own
political
parties endorsed the referendum? The conditions are the same as
those under
which the referendum was held,” said Vava.
But the situation is more
complex than Vava says and even the partisan state
media failed to cover up
the chaos of the special voting exercise.
They had to join other media
houses in reporting that anti-riot police were
called in to control
uniformed forces who attempted to force their way into
a polling station at
Town House in Harare on Tuesday evening protesting
delays in the
distribution of ballot papers.
“If that does not discredit the polls,
then what else will?” asked Vava.
The UN will probably join the Sadc-AU
bandwagon in demanding no less than
credible polls after Mugabe turned down
its request to send in an assessment
mission as a pre-condition for
releasing poll funding that government had
requested in
February.
Clearly, the elections will be held without full reforms and
the question is
what will Sadc, the AU, EU, UN and the US do particularly if
Mugabe wins?
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in News, Politics
LIKE the
Biblical Moses who descended from Mount Sinai with two tablets of
stones
with the 10 Commandments, President Robert Mugabe was completely clad
in
white robes and held the trademark apostolic sect stuff when he attended
the
Johane Marange annual passover feast at the church’s Mafararikwa shrine
in
Manicaland last weekend.
Elias Mambo
Mugabe was the perfect
picture of a deity, barefooted and surrounded by a
train of “prophets”,
taking slow steps and chanting “Rugare! (peace)”, which
was acknowledged by
tens of thousands of church members.
“Tambirai, tambirai, tambiraiwo
zvauya nemutumwa (receive what the messenger
has brought from God)”, they
sang as they welcomed Mugabe. To them a leader
is a messenger of God, chosen
to lead the people as Moses was anointed to
take the Israelites out of
bondage in Egypt to the promised land of Canaan.
“He is Gabriel and it is
not by accident that he was given such a name and
we welcome him here every
year to open our annual passover feast,” said one
senior church official who
manned the rivulet which Mugabe crossed as he
descended to the
shrine.
However, unlike Moses who came down from Mount Sinai with the 10
Commandments, Mugabe had gone to the shrine to meet the worshippers with
nothing but a plea for their votes in the general elections on July
31.
In his address to church members, Mugabe called on Zimbabweans to
reject
political parties which believe that black people are not capable of
prospering without the assistance of Westerners. Mugabe also castigated
foreign ideologies being pushed by the MDC formations.
“You heard
when the American President Barrack Obama came to Africa saying
that we must
allow homosexuality in Africa. Surely, how can that happen
allowing a man
and a man to marry? Where will the offspring come from,”
asked
Mugabe.
Mugabe could not continue to pretend to be a deity shouting
“peace, peace,
peace”.
The political animal inside betrayed him and
the true to form Mugabe
exploded as he bellowed “Pamberi neZanu PF (Forward
with Zanu PF)” instead
of “Rugare!”.
Mugabe’s Marange excursion was
instructive. As election fever grips
Zimbabwe, parties across the political
divide are jockeying for the support
of local churches, especially those
that draw thousands of followers to
their worship services. Most local
churches have been infiltrated by
politicians who have turned places of
worship into political rallies as the
struggle for the religious vote takes
centre stage.
The church, seen as an important constituency in the power
matrix, is now
invaded and used as political theatre to woo voters, shunning
rallies which
are increasingly becoming stage-managed and
tiresome.
Political parties are particularly battling to entice the
United Family
International Church led by Emmanuel Makandiwa who draws up to
60 000
worshipers to his Sunday services.
For politicians, these
numbers are a jackpot if harnessed. Mugabe and senior
Zanu PF leaders have
been trying hard to endear themselves to churches.
The battle for the
church vote intensified in 2010 after MDC-T leader Morgan
Tsvangirai was
forced to cancel his scheduled visit to the Zion Christian
Church (ZCC)
Mbungo Shrine in Defe, Gokwe, after state security agents
reportedly
threatened and intimidated the church with unspecified action.
In 2011
Vice-President Joice Mujuru visited Mafararikwa for the church’s
ceremony
where she addressed more than 300 000 people. Like Mugabe, Mujuru
was
promised more than a million votes.
Most politicians have now mastered
the art of lacing their statements with
Biblical quotes to appeal to
multitudes of churchgoers attending different
houses of
worship.
After his address, Mugabe was whisked away without meeting
hundreds of his
supporters who had been barred from entering the shrine
because “it was a
church gathering and those wearing party regalia were not
welcome”.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in News, Politics
SOME churches in
Zimbabwe have postponed their annual gatherings, which
usually take place
between July and August, fearing the events would be
hijacked by politicians
as the country marches towards crucial polls set for
July 31.
Staff
Writer
Sources in the Salvation Army said the church’s annual meeting
that had been
pencilled for July in Gweru was called off to avoid
politicians turning the
events into political rallies.
“We were to
have our annual meeting in Gweru but judging by the political
temperatures
which are rising, the leadership decided to postpone them until
after the
elections,” said a Salvation Army member.
“In the past we have seen
politicians taking over our meetings and turning
them into
rallies.”
The sources also said Vice-President Joice Mujuru, who is a
senior captain
in the Salvation Army, would most likely have attended the
meeting with her
party supporters.
As part of its campaign strategy,
Zanu PF is approaching churches to woo
voters in an attempt to reverse the
loss President Robert Mugabe and Zanu PF
suffered in 2008 to Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC-T.
The flurry of “church activities” by
Zanu PF bigwigs during the past four
years has betrayed the party’s
motives.
Last week, Mugabe attended the apostolic sect annual passover
festival in
Marange where he pleaded with them to vote for Zanu PF in the
forthcoming
elections.
However, hundreds of his supporters, who had
been bussed to the shrine, were
not allowed into the centre because church
officials said it was a religious
gathering, not a party rally and anyone
clad in party regalia was not
welcome.
The Seventh-Day Adventist
Church almost postponed its annual camp meetings,
which start on August 11
countrywide, when there was talk of extending
elections by two
weeks.
“Plans were afoot to postpone the dates of the camp meetings
countrywide to
avoid a similar situation which happened in 2012 when census
officials
disturbed our gatherings,” said one church
member.
Political parties are particularly battling to get the backing of
the United
Family International Church (Ufic), led by Emmanuel Makandiwa,
which draws
crowds of more than 60 000 people at Sunday
services.
Senior Zanu PF officials such as Tourism minister Walter
Mzembi, Local
Government minister Ignatius Chombo and Bright Matonga are
regulars at Ufic.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in News, Politics
A CLOSE
relative of First Lady Grace Mugabe, Lisbon Marufu, who is an
aspiring
Zengeza West Zanu PF MP, has been accused of unleashing marauding
youths to
disrupt MDC-T candidate Simon Chidakwa’s rallies.
Brian
Chitemba
As the election date draws nearer, political temperatures are
rising in
Chitungwiza where Zanu PF youths are moving around constituencies
intimidating MDC-T supporters, according to Chidakwa.
The aspiring
MDC-T legislator said Marufu’s supporters disrupted his rally
recently at
Zengeza grounds and he had to seek police intervention.
“We have had
nightmares in Zengeza where two trucks packed with Zanu PF
youths are moving
around intimidating our supporters not to attend rallies
while forcing
everyone to Zanu PF functions,” said Chidakwa.
“This has made the political
playing field uneven.”
Other frustrating tactics employed by Zanu PF
include sticking posters on
top of MDC-T candidates’ posters as the former
ruling party supporters seek
to dominate the election campaign
period.
The Zanu PF youths’ disruptive behaviour, Chidakwa said, has already
been
reported to the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
“Despite the
intimidating tactics, people are braving the tense atmosphere
to attend our
rallies. We have also launched a door-to-door campaign as well
as churches
and schools campaign distributing fliers to counter the removal
of our
posters,” he said.
President Robert Mugabe has been preaching peace but
some of his supporters
are turning a deaf ear and engaging in violent
behaviour although the
situation is relatively calmer than during the 2008
presidential poll
run-off bloodbath.
Chidakwa is promising to address
perennial water and sewer problems in
Zengeza West, while more attention
will also be given towards rehabilitation
of roads and public buildings
which have been neglected by successive
councils. He has also promised to
resuscitate industries which were shut
down at the height of the economic
meltdown.
The MDC-T’s strategy to revive the economy is through luring
investors to
re-open closed companies to create employment for many youths
roaming the
streets.
However, Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo
dismissed Chidakwa’s claims that
party youths were wreaking havoc saying the
MDC-T was panicking after
witnessing record crowds at Mugabe’s star
rallies.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in News,
Politics
ELECTION fever has gripped Zimbabwe with posters and banners
lining many
roads as the country gets ready to go to the polls on July
31.
By Faith Zaba
President Robert Mugabe and his Zanu PF party,
who have ruled the country
since Independence in 1980, face formidable
opposition that promises
economic prosperity, transparent governance and
respect of civil liberties.
Zanu PF had romped to victory in every
election since 1980 until the March
2008 polls that shook Mugabe’s grip on
power.
For the first time, Mugabe lost the first round of the
presidential
elections and his party also lost its parliamentary majority to
the MDC-T.
Mugabe then went on to contest the presidential run-off alone
after MDC-T
leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out citing rampant violence and
intimidation
against his supporters.
Zanu PF now faces the fight of
its life against MDC-T again.
The MDC-T, whose support base has always
been Matabeleland, cities and towns
since its formation in 1999, made great
inroads in Manicaland, Masvingo and
Midlands province in the March 2008
elections.
It won in Manicaland, but lost marginally in Masvingo and
Midlands provinces
to Zanu PF.
However, the Mashonaland provinces,
where Mugabe hails from, have always
denied Tsvangirai and his party victory
in previous elections by
overwhelmingly voting for Zanu PF.
A visit
to Zanu PF’s traditional stronghold, Mashonaland Central, gives a
sneak
preview of what Zimbabweans can expect in the forthcoming elections.
As
you drive into Mashonaland Central along the Harare-Bindura road, there
is
no doubt that you have entered Zanu PF territory.
Vendors selling
oranges, tomatoes and roasted mealies are all clad in Zanu
PF regalia
bearing Mugabe’s portrait. The women are wearing bright yellow
and green
wraps with matching caps, while the men are clad in different
coloured
T-shirts and matching caps.
As you pass them, instead of waving, which
can easily be mistaken for the
MDC-T’s open palm symbol, you get the
clenched fist Zanu PF symbol or the
thumbs up sign.
Entering Bindura
you are greeted by a sea of bright yellow and green
regalia.
Driving
deeper into areas like Mt Darwin and Rushinga, MDC-T posters get
fewer while
Welshman Ncube’s MDC banners and posters are non-existent.
In the eight
hours that the Zimbabwe Independent crew drove through Mazowe,
Glendale,
Bindura, Mt Darwin and Rushinga, it only came across five youths
wearing
MDC-T regalia bearing Tsvangirai’s portrait.
At Matope Business Centre in
Mt Darwin, three MDC-T youths in the company of
their aspiring House of
Assembly candidate for Mt Darwin South Gift Sambama
could be seen putting up
Tsvangirai posters, as Zanu PF supporters watched
with
amusement.
Asked why they were sneering at the MDC-T youths, first-time
voter Primrose
Mudita said: “Aiwawo (a dismissive tone), let them put up the
posters, but
they won’t get any votes this side. Tsvangirai will not win,
never! Ino
imbori nyika yaani? Not munyika yaBob (Never, whose country is
this — not in
Robert’s country).”
“We were told by our leaders that
people are free to join whichever party
they want and that we should allow
them to campaign peacefully and we should
not pull down their posters. We
don’t want to give them any excuse to have
these elections discredited. The
message is very clear that we want a
peaceful and violence-free
elections.”
The Independent crew was also able to watch the MDC-T
supporters put up more
posters in Chatumbama which they referred to as one
of Zanu PF’s no-go areas
in Mt Darwin South, where Sambama is squaring off
with Indigenisation
minister Saviour Kasukuwere.
Sambama told this
paper: “We have managed to put up our posters, but in some
areas they are
putting up their posters on top of ours. Otherwise, we haven’t
encountered
any other problems.
“We have held meetings with our supporters, but the
problem is that people
are afraid to attend. People here don’t want to come
out openly in support
of the MDC-T.”
Tsvangirai was in Mashonaland
Central last week where he held several
rallies and meetings with party
supporters.
During his visit after a poor turnout at Rushinga Business
Centre and a
non-appearance of supporters at Matope, Tsvangirai said
although
intimidation and open political violence have declined, the fear
factor is
still lingering in the three Zanu PF Mashonaland provinces. He
said his
supporters are still being intimidated and reminded of the horrors
of the
2008 elections.
But is it really about the fear factor or is
it about Zanu PF’s strategies
which are proving to be more effective or
both?
In Mashonaland Central, Zanu PF is employing a village-based campaign
strategy, where the party is targeting at least 50 people per
village.
Zanu PF Mashonaland Central chairperson Dickson Mafios said:
“Our strategy
is not based on rallies, but is village-based. We are aiming
for at least 50
people per village to vote for Zanu PF. We have 21 people in
each village
who are in the party structures and we are telling each person
to mobilise
at least two people to vote for Zanu PF.
“If we do that,
from our calculations, we should be able to deliver a
minimum of 18 000
votes per constituency in Mashonaland Central,” Mafios
said.
The
issue of homosexuality is taking centre-stage in the party’s election
campaign, with Zanu PF telling villagers in Mashonaland Central that
Tsvangirai and his party are promoting same-sex marriages.
Zanu PF
messages at the meetings held on Tuesday in Mazowe South claimed
that
Tsvangirai would legalise same-sex marriages if elected into power.
They
also alleged he is working with former white farmers to reverse the
land
reform programme and his key allies are “western imperialists”.
Emotions
ran high when speakers claimed that Tsvangirai will legalise
homosexuality.
Mazowe war veterans deputy chair, Efanos Mudzimunyi, a
survivor of the
Nyadzonya massacre, said: “It is impossible to vote for a
person who
supports homosexuality. It is not godly; he is against God. They
preach
Mugabe must go, but he is a leader chosen by God to lead this country
and
MDC-T should respect God because he is the Almighty.”
Mudzimunyi
said people would not vote for Tsvangirai because of his alliance
with the
whites and Western countries. This, he alleged, would reverse the
gains of
the liberation struggle and would be an insult to thousands of war
liberators who died in the war.
“Opposition in a country is not bad,
but it should be home-grown. We have
our brothers and sisters who were
massacred at Chibondo (some 20km away from
Mt Darwin) and are buried in mass
graves there; and MDC-T is telling us now
that we must love whites who
slaughtered them,” he said.
“We also went to war for the land and
Tsvangirai wants to give them back the
land, so what did our brothers and
sisters die for?”
Langton Shamuyarira, who is in his early 20s, concurred
with Mudzimunyi,
saying people in his province preferred Zanu PF because of
its
indigenisation and land policies.
Several people spoken to also
said the focus in this election is to ensure
that Mugabe wins with 50% plus
one vote.
Amos Gororo, from Rushinga, said: “What we want is to ensure
that Mugabe
gets a decent exit while in office; whether it will be retiring
or dying.
We know that the West is waiting to pounce on him if he loses
and we don’t
want that. He has done a lot for this country and we don’t want
him
humiliated.
So, if anything, it’s bhora mugedhi (vote for him)
for Mugabe and where
there were impositions of candidates, you might see
people voting for Mugabe
and not the MP. We want to secure victory for the
president.”
In the March 2008 elections, Mugabe garnered a total of 157
626 in
Mashonaland Central compared to Tsvangirai’s 75 722 votes and in
Mashonaland
East, the province behind the bhora musango (internal electoral
sabotage)
strategy, Mugabe won 160 965 votes and Tsvangirai 119 661, while
in
Mashonaland West the president had 134 730 and the MDC-T leader 107
345.
Tsvangirai also lost in Midlands, Masvingo and Matabeleland South.
In
Midlands, 166 831 people voted for Mugabe and 153 288 for Tsvangirai, in
Masvingo 156 672 preferred Mugabe and 145 198 Tsvangirai and in Matabeleland
South Mugabe had 46 156 and Tsvangirai 34 885 votes.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in News, Politics
MDC-T and
Zanu PF’s dogged contest for the religious vote continued in
earnest this
week with President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai both
securing endorsements in different parts of Manicaland
province.
Herbert Moyo
Retired Bishop Sebastian Bakare led a
team of Anglicans in endorsing
Tsvangirai for the presidency at the party’s
rally at Sakubva Stadium in
Mutare last Saturday.
Bakare equated
Tsvangirai to the biblical Nehemiah who led the rebuilding of
the walls of
Jerusalem.
“Zimbabweans are like the Israelites who endured two spells of
bondage in
Egypt and in Babylon,” said Bakare. “Tsvangirai is Nehemiah who
will lead
Zimbabwe out of the second bondage.
“I am here because of
my yearning to see the birth of a new Zimbabwe.
He (Tsvangirai) has been
sent to build a new Zimbabwe and that Zimbabwe will
not be built with
fists,” Bakare said alluding to political violence that
has marred previous
elections in Zimbabwe.
Some 100km away from Sakubva in diamond-rich
Marange, Mugabe received
similar endorsement from the Johane Marange
apostolic sect during its
passover festival.
Mugabe donned the
lily-white garb of the sect in his quest to win over their
vote.
His
efforts did not go “unrewarded” as he was endorsed as mutumwa (messenger
of
God). Mugabe was subsequently promised more than two million votes from
the
church’s membership.
Lyrics to well-known religious songs were suitably
altered to accommodate
both politicians with chants of Tambirai mutumwa,
tambirai mutumwa! (Welcome
the messenger) accompanying Mugabe’s every step
into the shrine at Marange.
Not to be outdone, Bakare’s choir lionised
Tsvangirai with the song lyrics
“Save ndimambo, ndiye mwenje kana murima
handitye (Tsvangirai is king, he is
the light and even in darkness I fear
nothing)”.
Away from the glare of the cameras and in a brief private
moment, Bakare
continued with his pro-MDC crusade hailing
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn leader Simba
Makoni for teaming up with Tsvangirai in a
loose election alliance to unseat
Mugabe.
“I am happy you are here,”
Bakare whispered to Makoni. “We are the security
here in Manicaland,
guarding the place for you,” he said.
Bakare has been a fierce Zanu PF
critic over the party’s human rights
violations and interference with the
internal affairs of the Anglican Church
due to its support for
ex-communicated Harare Anglican Bishop Nolbert
Kunonga.
In a show of
support for Tsvangirai during the run-up to the 2008 elections,
Bakare
called on voters to use their vote to “express themselves on the
state of
the nation, wrecked by hyperinflation and a permanent political
crisis”.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Business
‘Price
Stickiness’ is a concept popular in economic circles and used to
describe
the resistance of a price to change despite changes in other
economic
fundamentals that suggest a different price is realistic.
Kumbirai
Makwembere
Prices are described as ‘sticky on the downside’ when they
hold up at a time
when the costs of other factors of production are coming
off.
However, they are also described as ‘Sticky on the upside’ when they
sometime fail to respond to a slight upward change in variables.
This
concept of prices being sticky on the downside can be used to best
describe
how prices are behaving locally when linked to inflation trends.
Zimstats
recently announced that Zimbabwe’s year- on-year inflation in June
slowed
down to 1,87% shedding 0,33 percentage points on the May 2013 rate of
2,2%.
Simply put, basing on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures
the weighted
cost of goods and services locally shed 1,87% between June 2012
and June
2013.
The month-on-month inflation rate in June 2013 was
-0,13% gaining 0,08
percentage points on the May’s figure of
-0,21%.
Inflation has been on a downward trend since the beginning of the
year.
Year on year inflation stood at 2,91% in December 31
2012.
There are several reasons for the decline in CPI figures chief
amongst them
being the softening trend in the South African Rand since the
beginning of
the year as the country imports close to 60% of its products
from across the
Limpopo.
The depreciation of the South African
currency is a result of the unending
job disputes in their mining sector,
particularly among platinum producers,
and this has resulted in output
declining.
Again, demand for platinum has also been on a decline owing to
the
technological advances in the production of catalytic converters as they
now
require less platinum and palladium.
In addition production of
vehicles has been falling especially in the
European Union. This has in turn
reduced the amount of exports from South
Africa.
The protracted
recession in the Euro Zone has also had a negative impact on
the Rand since
the European Union absorbs most of the exports from South
Africa.
Another contributing factor to the decline in inflation
figures has been the
subdued demand locally due to tighter liquidity.
Disposable incomes remain
low and this has forced both individuals and
corporates to reorient their
spending priorities.
Another reason why
prices have been sticky could relate to the assertion
that South African
exporters are increasingly invoicing their goods in US
dollar
terms.
This has been done so as to eliminate or reduce the currency risk
exposure.
Some executives in the retail business have concurred with this
assertion
which somehow explains why prices are sticky
downwards.
Ideally, the trends in inflation should be felt in the day to
day life of an
ordinary Zimbabwean. If inflation is going down, as Zimstats
claims, prices
should also come off and vice-versa.
This however has
not been the case as the cost of living has in actual fact
gone up over the
past 12 months. According to the Consumer Council of
Zimbabwe the cost of
living increased by 0,54% to US$564,73 in the month of
June from US$561,73
in May.
Therefore, why are prices not coming off when CPI figures have
been
declining? What therefore could be the reason for the disparity? Could
it be
that the CPI figures compiled by Zimstats are wrong?
Market
players have in many instances argued that the CPI basket is outdated
and as
a result does not give a true reflection of trends in consumed
prices.
The majority of Zimbabweans live from hand to mouth with
food,
accommodation, transport and school fees accounting for close to 90%
of
their incomes. These basics have gone up significantly over the past year
but inflation figures have not responded accordingly.
The importance
of CPI figures cannot be over emphasised as they are being
used as a
benchmark in many circles.
Examples include the wage negotiations whilst
in corporate circles
executives use inflation figures as a measure of how
well their companies
will be performing. These inflation figures are again
used for planning
purposes.
It is therefore important to put measures
in place that ensure that any
statistics gathered in the country are
accurate so that they can be useful.
CPI figures are not the only figures
that are disputed by many in Zimbabwe.
Other examples that readily come to
mind include nominal Growth Domestic
Product (GDP) figures. The country’s
GDP for 2012 is estimated at US$9,80
billion according to the IMF report on
Zimbabwe. Is this believable
considering that Zambia has a GDP of US$20,7
billion, Botswana US$14,41
billion, Mozambique US$14,3 billion and Malawi
US$4,3 billion.
Well for GDP it is understandable as the economy is now
informal to a larger
extent and as such collecting data from the sector is
difficult. Bankers on
the other hand strongly believe that the amount of
deposits circulating
outside the banking system now stands at US$4
billion.
The million dollar question is where is the money? What is the
population of
Zimbabwe? All these are examples of statistics that are
disputed but should
be readily available.
It would appear that the
challenge we have as a country is on coming up with
such key figures or
statistics.
There are many occasions where authorities have had to revise
down their
growth projections. For instance, in 2012 government had
initially projected
GDP growth to expand by 9,4% before revising the figure
to 5,6% on
presenting the midterm fiscal policy. However, overall the
economy is
believed to have grown by only 4,4% in 2012.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in
Business
ZIMBABWE’S preparations for the United Nations World Tourism
Organisation
(UNWTO) general assembly are gathering pace with new confidence
arising from
Treasury’s release of part funding for the critical conference
this week,
businessdigest has learnt.
Taurai Mangudhla/Hazel
Ndebele
Highly placed sources on Wednesday said the Ministry of Finance
had already
paid for some key activities and is, by end of this week,
expected to
release up to US$2 million towards the general assembly which
Zimbabwe
co-host with Zambia end of August.
Tourism minister Walter
Mzembi refused to confirm the amounts, saying it was
too early to give exact
figures, but said Treasury had disbursed cash
towards critical invoices for
the event.
“We have already started eating significantly into the UNWTO
state budget
which is a major relief for us,” Mzembi
said.
“Government has actually started releasing money now and we have
paid some
critical invoices for travel tickets for the UNWTO team, fees for
the
professional conference organiser and the conference
solution.”
The move is expected to bring new confidence to the UNWTO
secretariat and
conference delegates weeks after the private sector
undertook to fully fund
the event.
Early June, Mzembi said he was
unfazed by Treasury’s reluctance to fund
preparations for the general
assembly to be held from August 24 to 29,
saying the private sector had
extended tremendous support and adequate
resources had been
mobilised.
Zimbabwe requires about US$11 million for the successful
hosting of the
general assembly.
According to the budget, US$6, 5
million is to be channeled towards core
general assembly activities while
US$5, 2 million will go into
infrastructure development for the host
town.
Earlier this week, Mzembi met industry players to discuss his term
of office
as well as future policy trajectory in what was seen to be his
farewell
event ahead of elections that are slated for next
week.
Mzembi said the upcoming polls are a rebranding opportunity as
governance is
among the six pillars to a country’s brand
image.
Giving an update of preparations for the general assembly, he said
everything was in place with conference facilities being constructed by a
South African company.
Mzembi also said professional conference
organisation (PCO) is being done by
a South African firm in partnership with
a Zimbabwean company. The tender
for the PCO was only for US$300
000.
Mzembi said the National Tourism Policy which has three substantive
areas
specifically that of tourism development related issues, tourism
facilitation in Zimbabwe and the broader institutional framework, will be
unveiled after the upcoming general elections slated for July 31 and
provides a road map for the sector for the next 15 years.
He also
said Zanu PF plans to extend Statutory Instrument 124 of 2011 and
199 of
2012 for another five years. The instruments were enacted for duty
free
exemptions on tourism inputs.
“One thing which wasn’t explicitly shared
in the manifesto is that I have
proposed for an extension of the two
instruments because you have not yet
fully benefited from them as Finance
minister Tendai Biti never understood
matters to do with tourism and as such
there was a policy gridlock which
filtered through to administration
gridlocks at the level of the civil
servants.”
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Business
ZIMBABWE’S
year-on-year inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index
(CPI)
increased by 1,87 percentage points between June 2012 and June 2013,
figures
released by Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) show.
Taurai
Mangudhla
However, prices decreased by an average 0,13% from May to June
as the
month-on-month inflation rate in June 2013 was -0,13 %, gaining 0,08
percentage points on the May 2013 rate of -0,21%, according
Zimstat.
Year-on-year inflation performance shed 0,33 percentage points
on the May
2013 rate of 2,20%.
The statistics agency said year on
year food and non alcoholic beverages
inflation stood at 2,90% whilst the
non food inflation rate was 1,35%.
Month-on-month food and non alcoholic
beverages inflation stood at -0,33% in
June, shedding 0,05 percentage points
on the May 2013 rate of -0,28% whilst
the month-on-month non-food inflation
stood at -0,03%, gaining 0,14
percentage points on the May 3012 rate of
-0,17%.
The CPI for the month ending June 2013 stood at 100,81 compared
to 100,94 in
May 2013 and 98,97 in June 2012.
This comes as economic
experts have predicted a further decline in Zimbabwe’s
inflation rate as the
country’s economy slows down and local prices track
the declining value of
the South African rand, resulting in generally
decreasing local
prices.
The softening of the South African Rand since the beginning of
the year has
helped Zimbabwe maintain a downward trend as it imports close
to 60% from
its southern neighbour.
Analysts say the depreciation of
the South African currency is a result of
the unending job disputes in the
mining sector, particularly among platinum
producers, a development that has
seen output declining.
Last month, Zimstat reported year-on-year
inflation rate for the month of
May 2013 dipped 0,29 to 2,20% from the April
2013 rate of 2,49%.
However, while prices as measured by the all items
CPI increased by an
average of 2,20 percentage points between May 2012 and
May 2013, the
month-on-month statistics showed that prices are actually
falling.
The month-on-month inflation rate in May 2013 was -0,21% which
was 0,14%
lower than the April 2013 rate of -0,07%.
The Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe (RBZ)’s latest monthly economic review states
that the
decelerating inflation is on the back of depressed domestic
economic
activity and tight liquidity conditions.
Going forward, the RBZ said
inflation was expected to remain low and stable,
though largely depending on
the movement of international oil prices, the
US$/Rand exchange rate
developments, as well as fluctuations in the level of
aggregate demand in
the economy.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in
Opinion
From Marie Antoinette, Emilda Marcos, Elanor Roosevelt, Winnie
Madikizela-Mandela to Sally Mugabe, spouses of political leaders have played
significant roles in shaping political processes and power retention schemes
of their partners.
Opinion by Pedzisai Ruhanya
With two weeks
to go before Zimbabwe holds its post-transitional election,
it is important
to interrogate the roles the First Lady Grace Mugabe and
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai’s wife Elizabeth are playing as they
attempt to convince
the electorate to vote for their husbands.
This is critical because
history has taught us that spouses of political
players are potential
sources of stability and instability to the political
aspirations of their
husbands.
They can be stabilising or destabilising forces on the
electoral campaigns.
They can be sources of wise counsel to their
husbands, but they can equally
be destructive.
There are interesting
contrasts between Grace and Elizabeth this far. Grace
kick-started the
public campaigns when she addressed a Zanu PF rally at
Nzvimbo growth point
in Mashonaland East Province.
She took to the stage and launched
vitriol attacks against Tsvangirai,
describing him using all sorts of
abusive words. Grace did not appreciate
the Zanu PF election manifesto in
order to convince people why President
Robert Mugabe should retain the
presidency.
Instead, Grace told her supporters and thousands of
Zimbabweans who watched
news on Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation Television
(ZBC-TV) how ugly
Tsvangirai was.
She went on to openly declare that
there was no vacancy at State House yet
there is an election to precisely
fill that vacancy in terms of the legal
and constitutional
requirements.
The message that Grace sent was that of arrogance and
disrespect of the
electorate and the electoral processes. She was telling
Zimbabweans that
their votes do not matter because Mugabe will remain
president irrespective
of the legitimate and democratic will of the
people.
Most critically, the arrogance, the lack of love, the hate
language was very
spiteful to the voters. She did not plead for the people’s
votes. In this
case, the millions who watched her public display of
arrogance could hardly
be forced to support her husband.
In
contradistinction to Grace, Elizabeth made a passionate plea for peace,
tolerance and the avoidance of hate speech by political leaders especially
those representing the MDC-T when she addressed thousands of supporters over
the weekend in Sakubva and Mucheke stadiums in Mutare and Masvingo
respectively.
On Saturday, Elizabeth took to the stage in Sakubva
stadium and told the
MDC-T leadership to address issues to do with maternal
mortality arguing
that it was disheartening to experience the death of women
during child
bearing.
She said that families who have suffered such
loses expect the leadership to
provide solutions to serious health problems
especially in rural areas.
The crowd responded by a huge applause
indicating that she was addressing
real issues to do with common everyday
problems.
Elizabeth also talked about how families have been destroyed
because of lack
of jobs and how women are stressed up because of failing to
feed their
families and the agonies they have of looking after unemployed
husbands and
graduate children.
She challenged Tsvangirai and his
leadership to desist from hate speech and
attacking political opponents and
come up with solid programmes to address
rampant poverty in the
country.
The third issue she addressed was the issue of mandatory free
primary
education for all children.
She argued that while the state
would assist parents by funding primary
education, parents should then
mobilise their resources in preparation for
secondary and tertiary
education.
The suggestion and the solution received huge applauses during
the two
rallies she addressed.
At Mucheke , Elizabeth summed up her
message by urging people not to give up
their quest for freedom by citing
the story of Moses when he led the
children of Israel to the Promised Land.
He urged the supporters to continue
to invest in hope and change. She
pleaded with them to remain focused on
victory by voting in their thousands
on July 31. The Biblical reference
received a huge applause from the
supporters.
What is clear from the campaigns of these two ladies is that
Grace is
hurting Mugabe’s campaign through arrogance and failure to address
real
issues that resonate with public expectations while Elizabeth has been
humbly pleading for votes by articulating how citizens would benefit if her
husband is elected president on July 31.
It is also becoming clear
that Elizabeth appreciates some policies of the
MDC-T which are social
democratic and seek to address the daily problems of
workers, the poor and
students such as the need to revive the economy, job
creation and rural
transformation.
In contrast, so far Grace thinks that Mugabe is a monarch
who who is there
to stay at State House. She also exhibits lack of
understanding of the core
issues in the Zanu PF manifesto.
She
resorts to a mudslinging game in front of an electorate that wants
solutions
to move the country forward and not a slide back to years of
political and
economic decay that marked Zimbabwe before the formation of
the inclusive
government in 2009.
Going by the public outrage at the hollow elections
campaigns that are
marked by threats and hate speech, it is possible to
suggest Grace could be
hurting Mugabe’s campaign while Tsvangirai could
benefit hugely from the
clear articulation of election issues by Elizabeth
provided she remains
consistent.
The subject of morality that Grace
dealt with was not strategic because she
is not a saint either. The point to
observe from this is that those who live
in glass houses should not throw
stones. My hope is that her advisors drew
some hard lessons from her
misguided political outbursts that exhibited
thorough
emptiness.
Unlike Grace, the late Amai Sally Mugabe was a mature and
compassionate
woman. She was not involved in building mansions in a country
engulfed by
poverty. Sally was not involved in extravagant shopping sprees
in foreign
capitals unlike Grace who is notorious for that.
In short,
Sally brought political capital to Mugabe. She was a source of
fortunes and
not misfortunes to the First Family.
There is a general belief among
Zimbabweans that the death of Sally marked
the beginning of the president’s
political misfortunes as evidenced by the
massive civil servants strike in
August 1996.
The strike came after Mugabe’s lavish wedding to Grace at
Kutama Mission the
same year. The riled public servants were protesting
against poor conditions
of service and extravagant spending associated with
the government.
There are other cases worldwide where first ladies were
the source of
political misfortunes for their husbands that Mugabe and
Tsvangirai’s
spouses should learn from, especially during political
campaigns
It should be remembered that former South African president
Nelson Mandela
divorced Winnie Madikizela-Mandela when he realised that she
was a source of
political instability because of her scandals that had a
potential to
destroy Mandela’s political brand despite that she was an asset
before that.
During the French Revolution in 1789, history students
appreciate the
political disaster in Marie Antoinette, the wife of French
King Louis XVI
when she allegedly said peasants should eat cakes at a time
the country was
hit by bread shortages.
Imelda Marcos, the wife of
the late Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos
was known for her corrupt
activities and her unquenchable thirst for
expensive fashion
designs.
The late Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese Seko’s wife was also known
for her
shopping escapades in Europe while the country was engulfed in
poverty and
civil strife.
Other first ladies in the mould of Sally
who were sources of stability and
who contributed to humanity and world
peace were the late United States
first lady Eleanor Roosevelt. She was a
humanitarian, a pioneer of
modern-day human rights and played a leading role
in the formation of the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights in
1948.
As the country proceeds with the electoral and political campaigns,
advisors
of the two ladies should find time to counsel them with a view to
making
sure that they are not liabilities to the two political gladiators,
Mugabe
and Tsvangirai.
The same goes for the two gentlemen — they
should address the economic and
political issues facing the country and not
dwell on sloganeering and hate
speech.
Ruhanya is director of
Zimbabwe Democracy Institute.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Opinion
NEWS of President
Robert Mugabe appointing six new judges to the High Court
and one more judge
to the Supreme Court on Monday ahead of general elections
could have gone
unnoticed by many ordinary Zimbabweans.
Opinion by Bart
Simbisai
Some may have taken notice, but were probably unbothered.
The
country has woken up to the news of new shotgun judicial appointments
for
much of the last 33 years.
Mugabe has appointed judges at will for so
long that it is no longer really
newsworthy except for those connected with
the legal profession or related
to the appointees.
There is a
worrying circumstance with the recent appointments which came
ahead of
further appointments to the Electoral Court to be made soon.
These have
been made on the eve of a new constitutional dispensation that
would totally
change and substantially improve the process of making
judicial
appointments.
The appointments also came on the eve of crucial general
elections in which
judges have so far played a critical role.
On May
22, Mugabe signed and gazetted into law the new constitution.
Certain
parts of the new constitution immediately became effective.
This included
the establishment of the Constitutional Court.
Immediately after signing
the constitution, he swore in two new judges to
the Supreme Court whose
juries will have additional Constitutional Court
duties for the next seven
years.
These appointments are in principle worrisome.
The
inescapable conclusion is that the appointments were made in order to
pack
the bench in the event of a change of government or to avoid the
rigorous
processes under the new constitution.
The appointments were also made in
the context of the next elections.
Judges always play a key role when
elections are held, particularly if there
is a disputed outcome.
What
else explains these appointments when there is no urgent need for
permanent
appointments?
Could Zimbabwe have been worse off by waiting for the new
reformed and
credible appointment processes to take effect on the assumption
of office by
the newly elected president in three weeks’ time?
One
only needs to compare the old and the new constitution to find the
underlying challenges sought to be avoided by the
executive.
Appointments previously
Section 84 of the old
constitution, which is still effective, provides that
the Chief Justice,
Deputy Chief Justice, judges of the Supreme Court, Judge
President and
judges of the High Court are appointed by the president after
consultation
with the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
Where the president has
appointed any of these judicial officers
inconsistent with any
recommendation made by the JSC, the president shall
inform parliament as
soon as is practicable. This requirement does not give
parliament powers to
rescind or vary the appointment. It is simply a
courtesy
notice.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has often argued that in terms
of the old
constitution, as amended by Amendment Number 19, he is entitled
to be
consulted when these appointments are made. But Mugabe has
consistently
demurred and ignored all protestations.
What is clear is
that under the old constitution, the president enjoys
extensive appointment
power that makes the appointment of judges open to
manipulation. If the
president is set on appointing a person who meets the
minimum legal
qualifications, no one can stop it.
That is not the only concern. The
appointment process is secretive. No
interviews are conducted. No vacancies
are announced. People are approached
or willing candidates approach powerful
people to inform them of their
desire to be appointed as judges.
If
the executive is happy, the candidates are usually railroaded onto the
bench. Party political factors and connections play a crucial role. The poor
selection process explains the poor quality of many appointments, judges and
their judgments.
The JSC itself is made up of presidential
appointees. It consists of the
Chief Justice, chairman of the Public Service
Commission, Attorney-General
and two or three other members appointed by the
president.
Of these two or three additional members, one of them has to
be a current or
former judge or is or has been for not less than five years
qualified to
practise as a legal practitioner in Zimbabwe or possess such
legal
qualifications and experience that the president considers suitable
and
adequate for appointment to the JSC.
The remaining additional
member(s) are to be chosen for their ability and
experience in
administration or professional qualifications or their
suitability otherwise
for appointment.
With a JSC that is made up of the president’s men and
women, the president
has even greater power in determining who will be
appointed. The JSC
commissioner position is a secondary
position.
Save for the Chief Justice who enjoys some security of tenure,
the rest of
state office bearers know that acting against the interests of
the president
may prejudice their careers. As a result, the president is
bound to have his
way if he insists upon it.
What the old
constitution does not state is the role of the minister
responsible for
justice.
In the experience of judicial appointments in Zimbabwe, the
minister plays a
critical role in choosing candidates and recommending them
to the president.
In fact, it is generally accepted that the president
relies on the minister
to point out “suitable” candidates.
It is an
open secret among legal professionals that those who want to go on
the bench
need the minister’s blessings. The role of the current minister in
the
purges of judges and packing of the bench since 2000 has left no doubt
as to
his power in choosing who should sit or not sit on the bench.
New
constitution
The new constitution seeks to limit executive influence in
judicial
appointments by limiting the power of the president to push his
preferences
as parliament has the final say.
In terms of Section
9.14, senior judges, that is, the Chief Justice, Deputy
Chief Justice,
judges of the Constitutional Court and the Judge President of
the High
Court, are appointed by the president.
Before the president can do so,
the JSC is required to advertise the
vacancy; conduct public interviews of
prospective candidates; prepare a list
of three qualified persons as
nominees for the office; and submit the list
to the president. The president
must select one of the nominees for
appointment from the JSC list and refer
that nominee to the Parliamentary
Public Appointments Committee (PPAC) for
its approval.
If the president considers that none of the persons on the
list submitted by
the JSC is suitable, he/she must request the JSC to send a
second list of
three qualified persons. The president is required to pick
from the second
list and refer the nominee to the PPAC and he/she cannot
object to the
second list. If the PPAC is unhappy, the process of submitting
further names
is repeated until PPAC is happy.
This is a unique
position which gives our elected representatives the final
say.
These
provisions introduce new critical components meant to curb the abuse
of
political power in the making of judicial appointments. They are intended
to, as much as possible, insulate the bench from partisan political
appointments. They are also critical in securing the independence of the
judiciary.
The president and the minister responsible for justice
under the new
constitution will no longer be at liberty to secretly
originate candidates.
The process of selection will now be open and the
vacancies publicised.
There will be an open application process, followed
by interviews. A limited
list is submitted to the president from which he or
she must pick. The
limited number of nominees on the list fetters the
president’s discretion.
These cumbersome appointment procedures ensure
that there is a series of
quality control mechanisms which will review the
proposed appointees’
suitability, qualification and skills to ensure
progressive jurisprudence.
So senior judges cease to owe their positions to
political connections,
which is ideal for individual and collective judicial
independence.
Appointment of other judges
With regards to the
appointment of judges other than the senior judges, the
new constitution
says the president must act on the advice of the JSC.
The previous
constitution required that the president acts after
consultation.
The
change in wording is critical. The president no longer has the power
that
he/she enjoyed under the old constitution where consultation was a mere
courtesy.
As with senior judges, the JSC must advertise each judicial
post to be
filled; conduct public interviews of prospective candidates;
prepare a list
of nominees for the office consisting of twice the number of
nominees as
there are posts to be filled.
Unlike in the old days when
the president or the minister responsible for
justice’s choice carried the
day unfettered, the new constitution introduces
new measures meant to
strengthen the bench and weed out partisan political
influence in making
appointments.
It also presents an opportunity for public observation. It
is a great effort
in attempts to restore credibility to the
bench.
Composition of new JSC
The JSC itself, under the new
constitution, is a widened body that is
intended to be representative of the
various interests connected with
judicial work. It is now a body
constituting of 15 members.
Clearly, the new constitution introduces a
new animal with wonderful
democratic, progressive and accountable features.
That partly explains why
Mugabe is in a hurry to appoint new judges in terms
of the old constitution
just before elections.
Transparency of
processes
The JSC is constitutionally required in Section 9.28 to conduct its
business
in an open and transparent manner and in particular, it must ensure
that all
interviews of candidates for judicial office are conducted in
public.
Zimbabweans have made this choice to open JSC’s processes to
public scrutiny
because of their life experiences. They have chosen that
matters relating to
the JSC are so important that they should not be decided
in dark corners.
They have elected to allow the public to see how judges
are selected and
appointed. They want to see for themselves the candidates
for judicial
office and make up their own minds about the justifiability of
appointments.
They want to participate. They want an independent
judiciary and accountable
judges, not political activists packed on the
bench.
Reflection of society
The new constitution also demands that
appointments to the judiciary must
reflect broadly the ethnic diversity and
gender composition of Zimbabwe. The
fact that out of the group of seven, six
appointees are women presented an
opportunity to show the new way under the
new constitution.
However, the hurried appointments raised more questions
than answers. It is
doubtful if some of the women appointed could have made
it under the new
constitutional appointment process.
The greater
danger is that if a new government comes into office in three
weeks’ time,
it may look at the recent events and appointments as judicial
packing.
It may borrow from experiences of our recent past and tear
the
constitutional fabric on the grounds of political necessity. The lesser
and
yet more pernicious danger is that some promising judicial careers among
these questionable appointees may never resurrect from this momentary
triumph.
Tired of the desecration of the judicial oath under
successive oppressive
governments in the last two years, the people of Kenya
took a novel
constitutionally mandated step and subjected every sitting
judicial officer
to re-vetting. Many resigned out of shame. Others were
asked to leave. They
could not defend their own previous conduct on the
bench.
Unintended consequences
History has shown that politically
motivated appointments have not always
produced supine judges.
In the
United States, Franklin Roosevelt regretted the appointment of the
irrepressible Felix Frankfurter to the US Supreme Court. Theodore Roosevelt
regretted the appointment of the great Oliver Wendell Holmes. Chief Justice
Earl Warren became a sore to Dwight Eisenhower’s backside. There is hope.
But harsher judgment awaits their failures.
Conclusion
The
secretive appointments on the eve of a new selection process and
elections
is not only suspicious, but it stinks. The stench will linger on
for many
years to come. Unfortunately, it will engulf the judicial gowns of
the new
appointees.
As Lord Salisbury, the then British Prime Minister, after
whom the
Zimbabwean capital was previous named, complained in a letter to
the then
Lord Chancellor, Lord Hailsham, in 1897 about poor judicial
appointments: “…
the judicial salad requires both legal oil and political
vinegar; but
disastrous effects will follow if due proportion is not
observed.”
Zimbabweans do not want even a droplet of political vinegar on
the bench,
especially given a series of recent controversial rulings,
particularly the
Constitutional Court judgment on elections.
Simbisai
is a senior Zimbabwean lawyer based in South Africa.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Opinion
As campaigning
for the forthcoming general elections accelerates,
ever-increasing nails are
being driven into the coffin of the Zimbabwean
economy, reversing the minor
recovery achievements of the last four years.
Column by Eric
Bloch
Key to a substantive growth of the economy has been, and continues
to be,
that Zimbabwe attracts substantive foreign investment, which would
assure
the revitalisation of the long distressed viability of the
manufacturing
sector, enhancement of the development and growth of the
country’s immense
potential of mining, recapitalisation and increased
funding for the
financial sector, massive improvement in agricultural
output, greatly
heightened tourism upsurge and redevelopment of considerable
opportunities
of employment for many Zimbabweans desperately anxious to
generate
livelihood.
The economy having intensively declined from
1997 to 2008, it was good that
there was some economic upturn from 2009
(once the so-called Government of
National Unity came into being),
notwithstanding that the extent of the
recovery fell far-short of what was
needed.
Because of the upturn that was achieved, which included cessation
of the
worst-ever hyperinflation sustained anywhere in the world throughout
recorded history, hopes and expectations of recovery increased.
The
guarded optimism of ongoing improvement steadily increased between 2009
and
2012, notwithstanding a continuing decline in the manufacturing sector,
resulting in more unemployment.
Complacency did not exist, for the
revival of the economy was not as
extensive as needed, but nevertheless
expectations of even greater recovery
progressively, but guardedly
increased.
In recent weeks, on good and sound grounds, those expectations
have ceased,
and instead the “doom and gloom” perceptions of previous years
have been
restored.
The change in the formerly moderate anticipations
has, within weeks,
radically changed.
That transformation from
guarded optimism to negative and apprehensive fears
has been almost entirely
a consequence of the exceptionally foolhardy
economic policy projections
enunciated by various election candidates as
contained in some of their
manifestos.
Foremost of those sources of destruction of the moderate
expectation of
further and economic recovery has been the Zanu-PF election
manifesto, and
to some extent the divide in the opposition to that
party.
Among many ill-conceived and ill-advised economic policies
contained in the
Zanu-PF manifesto is a declared intent to continue the
destructive
indigenisation and economic empowerment programmes, instead of
modifying
constructively and effectively those policies.
That would
reverse the immense harm that the existing policies and
legislation have
caused on the population and economy.
In the Zanu-PF manifesto, and the
president’s speech during its launch, it
was contended that:
“Only
the indigenisation and people’s empowerment reform programme can meet
the
good of the people. There is no other alternative.”
“Takeovers will
realise US$7,3 billion in assets for the government, and
will progressively
create total value of US$29,2 billion.” (This is
tantamount to admitting an
intent to expropriate business and their assets
without fair
compensation).
It cannot be denied that if Zimbabwe would pursue
indigenisation and
economic empowerment policies in a manner which would not
benefit a selected
few using state-controlled (oft abused) funds, but
instead as has
successfully been done by many countries in the Far-East, and
several
countries in South America and in Africa, it would benefit millions
of
Zimbabweans, and the economy as a whole.
In contradistinction,
pursuit of the present ill-considered, dogmatic
policies, will leave more
people unemployed and poverty-stricken, as the
much needed foreign
investment will continue to be withheld.
A second most harmful aspect in
the manifesto, reinforced by the
presidential statement, is the intention to
restore the Zimbabwe dollar as
the national currency.
Although that
electoral contention did not prescribe a time period within
which that
should occur, and the president acknowledged that it must be
founded and
secured by adequate national gold resources, it immediately
provoked immense
nationwide concerns and fears.
The result has been increased reluctance
of the public to avail themselves
of banking services, fearing a
consequential loss of currency with a value,
being replaced by one expected
to be devoid of value.
Fortunately, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor, Dr
Gideon Gono, said that a
return of the national currency would not be
immediate, but only when
accorded meaningful reserves’
support.
However, the political statement had planted such great fears
that the
governor’s statement did not suffice to allay them, and the already
severely
squeezed money market instantaneously contracted yet
further.
The manifesto further pursued the frequently stated
misrepresentation that
Zimbabwe’s economic ills are mainly a consequence of
“illegal international
sanctions”, contending that they have cost the
country US$42 billion in lost
donor support and foreign investment,
withdrawals by foreign lenders of
private sector loans, and high “premiums”
on such commercial loans.
These contentions were oblivious of the facts
that save for measures on
government, its parastatals and some named
individuals within the political
hierarchy (and enterprises owned by them),
no substantive sanctions have
been applied.
They also ignore that the
absence of loan funds was, to a very considerable
extent, due to Zimbabwe’s
recurrent failures to effect repayments on
previous loans, endlessly
defaulting in servicing its debts.
Similarly, despite the marked decline
in donor funding to government, there
has been considerable donor provision
for food, healthcare and education
financing by donors.
The
consequence of these and other political misrepresentations are not only
a
further damage to prospects of economic recovery but would accelerate
economic decline.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Opinion
WHEN
President Robert Mugabe unilaterally announced that Zimbabwe’s general
elections would be held on July 31, this seemingly provocative action was
met with unusual silence by Europe and United States’ political
class.
Opinion with Simukai Tinhu
This muteness contrasts with
reactions prior to 2008 when such an
unprecedented move would have provoked
an immediate and strong response from
senior officials in Washington and
Brussels, and certainly from a British
prime minister.
Though this
might not indicate an overarching change of policy, the
international
community’s indifference to such a major political development
exemplifies
what appears to be a broader phenomenon, namely, changing
attitudes in the
West’s view of the Zimbabwean polity.
In particular, the lifting of
sanctions against some members of Mugabe’s
inner circle is the clearest
indication yet that the international community
is experimenting with
reconciliation. Indeed, some of the Zimbabwean
government’s aides were
recently invited to London for a “re-engagement
meeting”.
The
European Union (EU) and US apparently did so on the basis that there has
been some progress on Zimbabwe’s political scene. But this rationale appears
disconnected if one considers that there have been virtually no political
reforms — apart from a seriously flawed new constitution which Zanu PF
intends to violate or change soon after the July elections (which they have
no intention of losing).
Reaching out to the West
One might argue
that the Zimbabwe government has been making attempts to
reach out to the
international community. In particular (and commendable),
the efforts by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, via his world tours, have
helped sanitise
Harare.
There is, indeed, no doubt that Tsvangirai’s party, the MDC-T,
has given
Harare a friendly face.
Mugabe, though half-heartedly and
indirectly, has also been attempting to
reach out to the West. For example,
his rhetoric against the British
government appears to have toned down as
compared to the period in the
run-up to the elections in 2008.
Mugabe
here to stay
The US and Britain might have also accepted that Mugabe’s party
is unlikely
to be going anywhere. Reconciliatory language could be
interpreted as some
level of acceptance that, contrary to analysts who
dominate the discourse on
Zimbabwean politics, Zanu PF has support within
the country.
Surveys undertaken by Afrobarometer and Freedom House show
that support for
Zanu PF surged in 2012.
Phillan Zamchiya, a
University of Oxford academic, explains that even if
Zanu PF were to lose
the election, getting rid of Mugabe might still be an
impossible task as he
will attempt to stay in power by hook and crook.
Thus, given that
Mugabe’s party is deeply entrenched in Zimbabwean politics,
unrelenting and
harsh criticism of his person and party by Washington and
London risks
driving Zimbabwe into the arms of other interested parties,
particularly the
Chinese.
China’s increasing grip on Zimbabwe is a threat to British’s
influence in
the country, and has also left most Western countries in the
cold in the
rush for minerals.
Not only have mining rights for the
biggest diamond mine to be discovered in
a century been given to Chinese
companies, Mugabe’s government has
threatened to revoke mining licences on
other minerals granted to Western
companies.
So could the West’s
change of tack in its relations with the Zimbabwe
government be seen as a
demonstration of realpolitik in order to get access
to its mineral wealth?
There is nothing new (or particularly surprising)
about states pivoting
their policies to fit their interests. It is a common
and acknowledged
practice in international relations.
Opposition’s fraying image
It is
uncontroversial to observe Western support the opposition enjoyed in
the
first 10 years of its formation has thinned out since the MDC-T and the
other formation headed by Welshman Ncube joined the coalition
government.
This can partly be explained by the MDC-T’s fraying image as
a result of
corruption and undemocratic practices in its internal
workings.
Also, a desire to not want to be viewed as hypocritical by
constantly
criticising Mugabe and his party for the same practices that the
opposition
are guilty of, may explain why the West appears to be taking a
more
“hands-off” approach with Zimbabwean politics.
Change of
government in UK
There is little doubt that former British prime minister
Tony Blair and
former US president George W Bush, through the Zimbabwe
Democracy and
Economic Recovery Act, were the main architects of the policy
that saw
Mugabe’s government become a pariah state.
Blair’s
relentless lobbying of the EU persuaded the Brussels-based
organisation to
impose sanctions against Mugabe.
His successor Gordon Brown intensified
the attempted defenestration of
Mugabe’s regime. When the current
Conservative government took over, Prime
Minister David Cameron quickly
faded into the background on Zimbabwe policy.
Today, the EU (without
intensive lobbying from London), has become
circumspect in its criticism of
Mugabe’s policies. Some of the most senior
Tory officials have been cited
using a conciliatory tone towards Zimbabwe.
The British coalition
government’s lack of interest in Zimbabwean politics
reflects the genesis of
its government’s younger legislators who have little
inclination to engage
seriously with Zimbabwean politics, and also
Westminster’s pre-occupation
with internal problems such as the economy.
More faith in Zuma?
The
former president of South African Thabo Mbeki, who was tasked with
resolving
the political crisis that engulfed Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2008,
pursued a
softer policy towards Mugabe’s government, dubbed “quiet
diplomacy”.
This policy was heavily criticised by the EU and US,
with Mbeki seen as
reluctant to put pressure on his fellow “revolutionary
cadre” to institute
political reforms.
It appears that Britain and
the US were unable to rely on Mbeki to referee
the political situation in
Zimbabwe, leaving the two powers with no choice,
but to directly deal with
the government.
In contrast, President Jacob Zuma has been more assertive
in the conduct of
his foreign policy towards Zimbabwe. In this regard, he
has been supported
by US President Barack Obama.
As a result, in his
most recent trip to South Africa, Obama praised Zuma’s
administration for
reining in Zanu PF, and for confronting them on numerous
issues such as
violence and intimidation, and lack of progress on electoral
reforms. As a
result of this confidence, Washington and Brussels have taken
a hands-off
approach and left Zuma to take a leading role on Zimbabwe.
Lessons from
Kenya
The other argument proffered is that criticising Mugabe, and openly
supporting other political parties as in previous elections, risks
accentuating the influence of anti–Western rhetoric (already significant) in
Zimbabwean politics.
This could create a similar situation as in
Kenya, where ill-timed
statements by British and American officials —
warning Kenyans against
voting for someone wanted by the International
Criminal Court (ICC) — were
seen as an attempt to micro-manage Kenyan
politics.
President Uhuru Kenyatta, the ICC indictee, used these
statements to run an
anti-Western campaign, credited with contributing
significantly to his
eventual victory.
Thus, fresh attempts to
defenestrate Mugabe and his party and at the same
time portray opposition
leaders as saints, could be interpreted as giving
endless fodder for stoking
nationalism and anti–Western rhetoric — favouring
Mugabe. By dropping the
tactic of publicly criticising Zanu PF, one could
argue that Washington and
Brussels are depriving Mugabe of ammunition to
take on opposition parties as
imperialist agents.
But relations may change
For the last 10 years, EU
and US officials have placed a burden on Mugabe’s
government to stop human
rights abuses, corruption and an end to political
violence before they could
rehabilitate his government back into the
international
community.
However, despite having seen no political reforms; judging
from the lifting
of sanctions, toned down criticism, and some conciliatory
language used by
the two powers, it appears the substance of the
relationship between
Zimbabwe and the international community is
changing.
Rather than confrontations, the EU and US have been attempting
to manage the
differences that they have with the Zimbabwe
government.
But this does not mean that the era of tense relations with
Zimbabwe have
come to an end. Given the chaotic nature of Zimbabwean
politics at the
moment, a more difficult and potentially dangerous situation
is likely to
result after the elections and the US and Britain might be
forced to change
their stance again.
Tinhu is a political analyst
based in London.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Comment, Opinion
‘Vote
Zanu PF to restore dignity, electorate urged.”
By The
MuckRaker
Does that include calling candidates “ugly”? That their
“ugliness” inspires
fear? What sort of dignity is that?
We noted that
Zanu PF posters are claiming the party has created employment.
Exactly where
is that employment? Perhaps the party could show us.
But the Herald’s
front page on Monday showing all those policemen milling
around tells a
story in itself. Zimpapers have yet to understand that much
of its
propaganda is counter-productive.
“President bags votes” for instance is
not a good thing to advertise. Votes
are won, not “bagged”.
“Victory
is ours”, the Herald last Friday proclaimed. Just supposing Zanu PF
did win
a majority of votes, it is unlikely to win an overwhelming majority.
What
would it do in that situation? The other parties are obviously going to
reject an electoral outcome that is based on chicanery and military
threats?
Then there is the captive media which has provided a platform
for the former
ruling party which seeks to claw back what it lost in 2008.
So a Zanu PF
victory would be the last thing anybody really wants: More
unemployment with
sanctions as the excuse? More rallies and fist-waving but
nothing to show
for it except threats and insults?
Rein in
‘commissars’
Adding to the circus, George Charamba has been calling for
media
organisations to be objective in their reportage.
Zimbabwean
media institutions, Charamba said, follow partisan agendas and
stories are
well coordinated in support or against particular political
parties.
Journalists should be guided by national interests which
should not be
swayed by political orientation added Charamba.
Said
Charamba: “You cannot be seen to be supporting a political party
against all
odds because you will sink with it. The facts are that Zimbabwe
was born in
1980 after a struggle. That is a fact, you cannot repudiate on
that.”
These are very sensible comments but why then is Charamba not
reining in
journalists under his purview like Reuben Barwe and Judith
Makwanya who have
become more of commissars than journalists? It is ironic
Charamba made these
comments while the state media’s propaganda onslaught is
in overdrive.
Barwe’s grovelling sometimes outdoes Zanu PF spokesperson
Rugare Gumbo or
even Webster Shamu.
As long as the rabid bias of the
state media remains unchecked, Charamba’s
words ring hollow.
No more
pretence
As the elections draw ever closer Zanu PF has stopped pretending
they
expropriated land for nothing else other than patronage.
The
Daily News reports that Vice-President Joice Mujuru has promised church
leaders in Masvingo farms and houses if they ensure Zanu PF wins the
forthcoming general elections.
“I instruct our party leaders here who
form the Lands Committee, (Titus)
Maluleke, (Dzikamai) Mavhaire and (Felix)
Chikovo the provincial
administrator to immediately see to it that the men
of cloth get land,”
Mujuru said.
As if giving church leaders land for
merely supporting Zanu PF was not
outlandish enough, Mujuru promised them
houses for preaching the “gospel” of
Zanu PF.
“They do not have
proper houses for their families as they spend most of
their time preaching
the word of God,” was Mujuru’s lame justification.
“Our party will see to
it that they get nice houses for their families
because it is because of
them that President Robert Mugabe continues to rule
this country.”
So
much for redressing colonial imbalances!
Those in glass
houses
Grace Mugabe told a rally last week there was no vacancy at State
House. She
was repeating a statement she made in 2008. She said leadership
was not
about changing women or going on holiday.
Indeed, it is not
about trips to Hong Kong and Singapore either.
Tsvangirai flirted with
women two years before he settled for his present
wife, the Herald told
us.
Why does this sound familiar?
Grace pointed out that the president
of Israel was older than her husband.
But she forgot to mention Shimon Peres
was a ceremonial head of state.
The first lady got more than a mouthful
for her diatriabe against
Tsvangirai, who she had labelled a philanderer
“who wasted time on salacious
exotic beaches”.
Tsvangirai’s
spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, responded in kind saying: “Of
all the
people, Grace Mugabe is not qualified to comment on the prime
minister’s
morals because she destroyed the marriage of an otherwise
honourable first
lady that we had.
“The philanderer the prime minister knows of is a
president who fell in love
with his secretary whilst his legitimate wife was
dying of a kidney ailment.
It is sad that Grace is taking us down this
route during an important
election where we should be talking about our
manifesto, issues and
programmes that address the people’s interests rather
than name-calling.”
Ouch! As they say, people who live in glass houses
shouldn’t throw stones.
Madiba’s example
Nicholas Haysom’s account
of Nelson Mandela’s tenure in the South African
presidency, carried in the
Sunday Times, makes interesting reading.
Haysom was Mandela’s lawyer. He
provided a fascinating glimpse into Madiba’s
five years at the
helm.
How many people for instance know that he taught himself Afrikaans
in prison
so that at the right time and place he would be better placed to
negotiate a
transition to a non-racial democracy?
Haysom refers to
the strong stand Mandela took against the Nigerian military
junta and the
way he used sport to unify the nation.
The donning of the No 6 Springbok
rugby jersey at the 1995 World Cup finals
would be his most effective
evisceration of the white right-wing, Haysom
writes, illustrating Mandela’s
political skills.
As president he rose each day at 5am or earlier and
made his own bed, much
to the concern of hotel house-keeping staff around
the world.
“He treated all who came into contact with him with equal and
generous
attentiveness and appreciation,” Haysom tells us. He preferred
informality
and was uncomfortable with protocol and ostentatious
motorcades.”
His time at the presidency was known as the Camelot period.
When he stood
down he had stocked the country with a reservoir of goodwill
both internally
and externally.
When he stepped down, Haysom says,
despite pleas to remain, he was
responding to one of his most strongly held
beliefs.
“Presidents should not stay in office for long. Beyond one,
perhaps two
terms, cronyism would become entrenched.”
And don’t we know
it!
Quelle horreur!
The French have retrenched to the extent of
excluding diplomatic wives from
this year’s Bastille Day which took place on
Sunday.
The function is widely regarded as one of the more elegant
national-day
parties with a selection of wines and cheeses that regulars
look forward to.
We are told a newly arrived ambassador phoned the French
embassy to point
out an omission.
His wife had not been included on
the invitation. That was no omission, the
ambassador was told. That was an
austerity measure!
Sacré Bleu! What next? No fromage? One wife chopped
from the list said she
had been going for 33 years. Her husband got his card
as usual but she had
to content herself with watching the parade down the
Champs Elysée on TV.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Opinion
THE campaign
season has begun.
Opinion by Simon Allison
If all goes according
to plan — the plan that nobody admits to liking, even
as everyone concerned
seems powerless to halt it — then there is not much
time to persuade voters
one way or the other: Zimbabweans will mark their
ballots in just a few
short weeks, on July 31.
It’s hard to imagine, however, that there are
any Zimbabweans who need an
introduction to this particular drama; and even
fewer who haven’t made their
mind up one way or the other already.
As
in 2002 and 2008, this presidential contest pits President Robert Mugabe
against his erstwhile foe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, in a fight that
is about far more than occupancy of State House.
Even in South Africa, we
know these characters well, and the plot.
Mugabe is, of course, the
arch-villain: a template of how to do a tin-pot
African dictatorship, and
how to get away with it, all the while maintaining
a flawless complexion
(seriously, how does he do that? Ladies, ditch the
Clinique and seize the
reins of state power instead).
Tsvangirai, meanwhile, is the plucky
fighter, a tragic hero who has endured
arrests, intimidation, and the death
of his wife, but remains Mugabe’s most
outspoken critic, even if he has been
forced to compromise a few of his
nobler ideals along the way (can he
recover from the ignominies of sharing
power, or the illusion of power, with
Comrade Bob?).
This is meant to be Tsvangirai’s turn. He has patiently
suffered through the
government of national unity, waiting for his
opportunity to right the
electoral injustice that was the 2008
poll.
This time around, Zimbabwe has a new constitution, the security
sector has
been comprehensively reformed and the election will be held under
the
watchful eye of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) — all
factors meant to play into his hands, given that by now, surely, enough
Zimbabweans have had enough of Mugabe.
That was the theory,
anyway.
The reality is a little different.
There is a new
constitution, sure, but it’s not exactly the most progressive
document
around, and many key provisions will only take effect after a
decade (by
which time everybody, including the old man himself, reckons
Mugabe will
have headed off into the “Great Presidential Palace in the
Sky”).
The security sector is exactly where it was five years ago —
firmly in Zanu
PF’s pocket.
And Sadc is playing a very delicate game,
which looks like it might have
backfired: after five years of general
acquiescence to Mugabe’s demands, the
regional organisation finally stood up
to Mugabe at a summit in Maputo on
June 15, demanding that he push back
elections — which Zimbabwe is not even
nearly ready for — to give them a
better chance of actually working.
Mugabe wasn’t happy, threatening to
pull out of Sadc completely and
dismissing South African President Jacob
Zuma’s international relations
adviser Lindiwe Zulu, who has been
co-ordinating the Zimbabwe mediation, as
a “stupid, idiotic woman”. This is
going to greatly complicate the regional
body’s intended role as guarantor
of the Zimbabwean elections.
It makes sense then, that on the day he
launched his campaign, Tsvangirai
was already on the defensive. In fact, he
sounds like he has already given
up hope.
“We participate with a
heavy heart … We have tried our best over the last
four years, against
serious resistance from our counterparts in government,
to ensure that this
country is prepared for a genuine, free, fair and
credible election,” he
told thousands of supporters in Marondera.
“Regrettably, what we have
witnessed in the last few weeks is a concerted
effort designed to rob the
election of legitimacy before it has even begun.”
Tsvangirai maintains
that he trusts that the people of Zimbabwe “will do the
right thing”; and
that he has got God on his side. Mugabe, however, has got
the army and the
police on his side — and so far in Zimbabwe’s history, they
have been more
powerful.
It is also important to remember that, even if all things were
equal, Mugabe
would be no electoral push-over. Opinion polls in recent
months have
repeatedly shown that Tsvangirai’s popularity has been hurt by
divisions
within the opposition and his own scandalous love-life, putting
him and
Mugabe neck-and-neck, with the wily president even edging in front
on
occasion.
This is all a long-winded way of saying that Mugabe is
looking good to win
these elections — and if he does have to cheat, he
doesn’t have to cheat by
all that much. This is hardly a revelation. We are
talking about Zimbabwe,
after all, and one of Africa’s longest serving
leaders.
What we should really be worried about is that, even if they are
as flawed
as Tsvangirai thinks they will be, the elections might still pass
the
regional test of fairness and transparency, making Mugabe a
democratically
elected president once again.
For this possibility,
Sadc has only itself to blame. Rewind to December
2011, to the
just-concluded elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
This was far
from a model vote.
A range of international observers were watching, and
uncovered a long list
of offences: evidence of vote tampering; impossibly
high rates of voter
turnout in places known to be loyal to the president;
strangely low turnouts
in opposition areas; the mysterious disappearance of
2 000 polling station
results in Kinshasa; and violence in the run-up to and
during the campaign
which killed 18 people, mostly committed by incumbent
Joseph Kabila’s
presidential guard.
And yet, Sadc, along with the
African Union and three other African observer
missions, declared that the
elections were “successful”, duly confirming
that the organisation’s
standards of fairness and transparency are very low
indeed; and sending a
message to other leaders, like Mugabe, that there is a
fair amount of
electoral mischief that they can get away with before the
regional body will
call them out on it. And if Mugabe is called out, he is
well within his
rights to point out Sadc’s hypocrisy — and ignore their
verdict.
Once
again, somehow, Mugabe holds all the cards. There is a reason why he
has
lasted in power so long — and why he still got a little while to
go.
Simon Allison is a South African freelance journalist based in
Hargeisa,
Somaliland. He specialises in Middle Eastern and African politics.
He has
lived in Egypt, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Elections 2013,
Opinion
Despite modest recovery, Zimbabwe’s economy is literally
disintegrating
right in front of our eyes — the poverty figures released by
the Zimbabwe
National Statistics Agency (Zimstat) for 2011/12 bear testimony
to this.
Candid Comment by Dingilizwe Ntuli
The foundations of the
country’s economy have long rotted away under
President Robert Mugabe and
Zanu PF’s ruinous 33-year rule plunging millions
of ordinary Zimbabweans
into abject poverty.
Poverty is defined by the dictionary as the state or
condition of having
little or no money, goods, or means of support.
According to Zimstat, the
overall poverty rate has reached a record high of
63% with Zimbabwe’s
estimated population of 13 million vastly classified as
poor and 16% living
in extreme poverty.
The poverty rate in
Matabeleland North province is now the highest in the
country at a shocking
81,7% followed by Mashonaland Central with 75,4% and
Mashonaland West 72,4%.
Bulawayo has the least poverty rate in the country
at 34,5% while Harare has
35,7%.
But just how did we get to these frightening levels of poverty
having
inherited a relatively prosperous economy at Independence in
1980?
Zimbabwe is endowed with vast mineral resources and yet the depths
of
poverty are increasing every year as the economy regresses. Why have we
not
used these rich natural resources to improve the lives of
citizens?
Corruption and poor governance, which Mugabe has allowed to
flourish in his
successive governments by deliberately turning a blind eye,
have given way
to poor policies that created limited employment
opportunities and ruined
infrastructure resulting in poor resource
exploitation.
Poverty can only be fought in the presence of strong
institutions and
equitable distribution of resources. Many developmental
programmes have
never been fully implemented because funds would end up in
the pockets of
corrupt government officials.
Because of Mugabe’s
seeming reluctance to punish corrupt officials over the
years, a culture of
impunity developed and this created a society with a
small influential and
powerful political elite and a poor majority.
The lack of transparency in
the mining and sale of diamonds from Marange is
a case in point. Everything
is done in secrecy with only a privileged few in
the know.
Political
violence, intimidation and the absence of the rule of law have
also
contributed to rising poverty and social decline in the country forcing
the
International Monetary Fund to freeze aid and many charitable
organisations
abandoning their operations in Zimbabwe.
Unemployment has reached about
85%, tourism has declined and hospitals and
schools function on shoe-string
budgets.
While there may not be many Zimbabweans dying of hunger or
sleeping in the
streets, the majority are languishing in an intolerable
situations from
which they cannot extricate themselves.
Instead of
taking serious and pragmatic steps to find solutions to reduce
poverty,
Mugabe’s response has been to point the blame elsewhere — sanctions
imposed
on him and his inner circle.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Elections 2013, Opinion
WHEN
Zimbabwe became independent in 1980, it was a relatively thriving
economy,
despite emerging from a devastating liberation war and
international
isolation.
Editor’s Memo by Dumisani Muleya
After 33 years of
self-rule, the country is now at a crossroads again as
general elections
loom. Given President Robert Mugabe’s disastrous record
and his old age,
failing health and the way he is out of touch with reality,
re-electing him
on July 31 amounts to helping him to fulfil his
president-for-life dream
while condemning the nation to renewed implosion.
Besides his personal
and maybe family interest, which includes the ambition
to be president for
life, the need to secure immunity to avoid being held to
account and
protection of his wealth, there is no public interest or
ideological
principle behind Mugabe’s latest re-election bid.
Mugabe’s story after
Independence is complex yet simple as it can be
digested into a life of
power, violence and plunder, dotted with intervening
patches of success and
vast swathes of failure.
Initially, as prime minister, Mugabe, who had
little knowledge about how to
run an economy, kept the ship steady. This
resulted in the continuation of
the command economy policies carried over
from the Unilateral Declaration of
Independence and the war
years.
The commandist policies were designed by reactionaries in Ian
Smith’s
right-wing government to ensure survival of a siege economy. Taken
over by
Mugabe’s left-wing regime, the policies maintained an economy under
siege —
from within.
While Mugabe’s socialist agenda helped expand
education, health and other
social programmes, the running thread through
wealth redistribution in the
first decade was that of affirmative action,
the forerunner to
indigenisation — racketeering by
regulation.
Mugabe’s vast social programmes, funded by scarce public
resources, were
later to wreak havoc with the economy until he was forced to
adopt the
Washington Consensus prescriptions for crisis-wracked developing
countries
which entailed macro-economic stabilisation, liberalisation on
trade and
investment and a market framework. Predictably, this failed due to
domestic
and exogenous factors.
Meanwhile, Mugabe tried to build a
one-party state under an ideological
cloak of national unity and
anti-imperialism. To consolidate and maintain
his authoritarian project,
repressive and fascist methods were used. He
unleashed terror against his
former liberation struggle Zapu comrades,
crushed dissenters, stoked the
fires of regionalism and ethnicity, committed
and tried to cover up
massacres in the mid-south-western regions, and
allowed corruption to spread
— all well before the late 1990s when his
radical land reform programme
finally collapsed the economy already reeling
under the weight of extended
periods of mismanagement.
Some were initially fooled by the Mugabe
regime’s rhetoric of
reconciliation, democracy and socialism, failing to
understand its true
character and philosophy.
Only after 2000,
following land invasions and fierce political repression,
did they begin to
comprehend, and even then very slowly and perhaps not yet
fully, the Mugabe
regime’s commitment to hold onto power at all costs.
Prior to that, by
1997, impatience over government’s failure on land reform
and failed
economic policies, which triggered labour unrest and riots, had
led to
growing discontent.
The raiding of Treasury and huge outlays to pay war
veterans, the Congo war
and the currency crash, against a backdrop of
underlying structural
problems, plunged Zimbabwe into a wave of uncertainty,
instability and
eventually crisis.
Facing political demise due to his
leadership and policy failures after he
was forced into abortive
constitutional reforms in 1999, Mugabe went into
survival mode. There
followed land invasions, repression, political violence
and killings,
blood-soaked elections and disputed outcomes, sanctions and
instability —
culminating into a political and economic meltdown which left
Zimbabwe on
the brink.
Despite modest recovery since the coalition government emerged
in 2009,
Zimbabwe, initially a source of optimism about Africa’s future, is
now a
basket case of a country. Consequently, re-electing Mugabe on July 31
will
simply be a disaster for the country.
http://www.theindependent.co.zw/
July 19, 2013 in Elections 2013, Opinion
AS the
general elections draw closer, it is increasingly becoming clear
Zimbabwe is
not ready for the polls despite what Zanu PF officials and their
state media
hacks would have us believe.
The Zimbabwe Independent
Editorial
President Robert Mugabe, his sycophants — who survive by
clinging on his
political coat-tails — and grovelling state media
journalists who know the
truth, but want to railroad the country into
chaotic elections for their
narrow self-serving ends.
This has always
been the strategy: Mugabe and his genuflecting Fifth
Columnists will do
everything to subvert the people’s will by denying them
the right to
participate in free and fair elections run by professional and
impartial
electoral institutions and officials before stealing the result.
How do
elections become credible when the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(Zec),
Registrar-General (RG)’s Office, bureaucrats, judges and state
security
forces, mainly the military, are so shamelessly partisan? Why is
Mugabe and
Zanu PF, as well as their cronies, afraid of free and fair
elections? If
they are popular, as they would have us believe, why not allow
people to
register and vote without hindrance in line with the constitution
and laws
of this country, as well as the Sadc and international norms?
This brings
us to the Zec issue. The Harare-based think tank, Research and
Advocacy Unit
(Rau), has unearthed serious irregularities in the voters’
roll and wanted
to launch the findings of its detailed audit. This comes in
the wake of its
preliminary report released on July 5.
However, Rau was this week forced
to cancel the launch because the RG’s
Office — which works with Zec and
shadowy Israeli intelligence company Nikuv
International on voter
registration — rushed to get a High Court interdict
to stop the event. This
was despite the fact that the RG’s Office and Zec
were informed and thus
knew what Rau was doing.
The reason, however, is not hard to find. Rau
wanted to announce that the
voters’ roll is deeply flawed because two
million potential voters aged
under 30 are unregistered; one million people
on the roll are either
deceased or departed; 63 constituencies have more
registered voters than
inhabitants and 41 constituencies deviate from the
average number of voters
per constituency by more than the permitted 20%,
among many miscellaneous
discrepancies.
Judges came into the mix
again amid Rau protests that the court order for an
interdict was granted
and the application admitted and decided on yet the
certificate of urgency,
which is part of the court application, was not
signed as is required by
law. Rau says it finds it unprocedural and an abuse
of the justice system
and court process the fact that it was not served with
the application when
it was filed, meaning it only received it at the same
time as the order for
an interdict.
Judges, as shown by the elections date case, have been
playing a partisan
role in the electoral process, mainly since the 2002
presidential election
in a scandalous way. Elections can’t be free and fair
in an environment
where conditions are not remotely free and
fair.
What is happening is really a huge disservice to democracy. But the
real
question here is: what is Zec afraid of? What does it have to hide?
