http://www.monstersandcritics.com
Africa News
Jul 22, 2009, 13:06
GMT
Harare - Controversy over the perceived selective prosecution
of prime
minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MPs by officials loyal to President
Robert
Mugabe intensified this week after another parliamentary deputy was
sentenced to a jail term that could see him ejected from
parliament.
The state-controlled daily Herald reported Wednesday that MP
Ernest
Mudavanhu was jailed Tuesday for 18 months on charges of selling 20
tons of
fertiliser given to him last year in a state programme to boost
agricultural
production.
He was the fourth MP of the former
opposition Movement for Democratic Change
to be sent to jail in the last
month, while a total of 16 have been charged
with a variety of crimes since
Tsvangirai and Mugabe set up a coalition
government in February.
No
senior officials of Mugabe's former ruling Zanu-PF party have been
prosecuted, despite about 200 MDC supporters being murdered and thousands
tortured and displaced during his campaign for re-election last
year.
'It is total victimisation,' said MDC spokesman Nelson Chamisa.
'Zanu-PF is
determined to erode the MDC's majority in parliament by using
the coercive
apparatus of the state. It is a case of the guilty ones
prosecuting the
innocent.'
The MDC currently holds 99 seats in the
210-seat house of assembly, four
more than Zanu-PF.
That number
includes two recently convicted MDC MPs, who were suspended from
parliament
because of their convictions, even though both are appealing
against their
sentences. A sentence of six months or more earns an MP
ejection from
parliament.
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights head Irene Petras said the
suspensions
carried out by parliament's chief clerk, a Zanu-PF member, were
unlawful,
given that the MPs appeals had yet to be heard.
'The MPs
should immediately be permitted to continue attending parliament,'
she
said.
Elsewhere, state prosecutors were accused Wednesday of ignoring
court orders
to produce documentary evidence against Jestina Mukoko, a
leading human
rights defender, who was among 16 activists and MDC officials
abducted last
year on charges of insurgency.
The allegations by the
state last year of a conspiracy to oust Mugabe by
force were discredited by
Zimbabwe's neighbours.
'The judge told the state on Monday to provide
their documents immediately,'
her lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa said. 'And still
nothing. They have produced no
evidence whatsoever.'
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/4458
Via MDC-T Press Release - The well-orchestrated
plot to persecute MDC MPs
continues, with the latest purge on the MPs being
the sentencing to two
years in prison of Zaka North MP, Hon. Ernest
Mudavanhu, on Tuesday.
Hon. Mudavanhu was convicted by a Harare
magistrate on trumped-up charges of
abusing subsidised farming inputs
distributed under the Government's Farm
Mechanisation Programme.
Hon.
Mudavanhu's conviction brings to five the number of MDC MPs convicted
of
various crimes while several others continue to face various trumped-up
charges that are still before the courts.
The plot to convict the MPs
is a well orchestrated plan by Zanu PF and other
mischievous conspirators in
the inclusive government to decimate the party's
majority in
parliament.
In its latest plot, Zanu PF, assisted by the
Attorney-General's office, has
also targeted five other MDC MPs on spurious
charges ranging from kidnapping
to public violence.
As a party of
excellence, the MDC does not condone any form of corruption.
We believe that
the guilty should face the music but we remain concerned
that only MPs from
the MDC are criminals.
The bedrock and home of corruption is in Zanu PF
but the wheels of justice
have never moved in that direction. Moreover, even
though it is public
knowledge that Zanu PF was at the centre of the
political violence that
rocked the nation after the 2008 elections and led
to the death of over 500
MDC members, no one from Zanu PF has been
arrested.
This selective application of the law is clear testimony that
the conviction
of MDC MPs is politically motivated.
Together to the
end, marching to a new Zimbabwe
This entry was posted by
Sokwanele on Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009 at 7:06
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
22 July
2009
Two MDC MPs, who were sentenced on trumped up charges this month and
who
were both suspended from parliament as a result, will challenge their
suspensions in court, arguing the move is unlawful.
The Clerk of
Parliament, Austin Zvoma, last week suspended Chipinge East MP
Matthias
Mlambo after he was recently sentenced to 10 months in prison by a
Chipinge
magistrate, on trumped-up charges of public violence. The following
day,
Zvoma also suspended Mutare West MP, Shuah Mudiwa, following his recent
sentence of seven years imprisonment on a charge of kidnapping. Both MPs
have since appealed against their sentences and both are out of
prison.
The executive director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights,
Irene
Petras, explained the pair's suspension from parliamentary duties was
"null
and void".
"The suspension has been ordered despite the fact
that both MPs have
appealed against their convictions and sentences and
these appeals have yet
to be considered by the courts and/or finalised," she
said.
Petras said the Clerk of Parliament had no authority under either
the
Constitution of Zimbabwe or the Standing Rules and Orders of the House
of
Assembly to suspend any Member of Parliament.
"As such, his
actions are null and void," Petras said. "We will be
challenging the
unlawful suspensions in court."
Section 42 of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe says upon the sentencing of a
legislator to death or a jail term of
six months or more, 'such member shall
cease forthwith to exercise his
functions . and his seat shall become vacant
at the expiration of 30 days
from the date of such sentence.' But because
Mlambo and Mudiwa both won the
right to appeal against their sentences, this
allowed them to continue their
duties in Parliament, until the matters were
finalised.
Petras said
the action taken by the Clerk of Parliament "usurped the
functions of the
judiciary" and violated the principle of separation of
powers.
"The
unilateral action also violates several fundamental rights and freedoms
which are protected under the Declaration of Rights in the Constitution and
which the State is obliged to ensure, both on behalf of the individuals, and
the constituencies they represent," she said.
The MDC's secretary for
Legal and Parliamentary affairs, Innocent Gonese,
voiced his support for the
MPs' court challenges over their suspensions,
saying, "The whole process
smacks of double standards." He explained that
other MPs, namely from ZANU
PF, have escaped the same measures despite
charges being laid against
them.
"The law is being applied selectively and it is not in our (the
MDC's)
favour," Gonese said.
The MDC's parliamentary majority
meanwhile is fast diminishing after another
legislator was jailed for
corruption this week. Ernest Mudavanhu was handed
a two year jail term after
he was convicted of corruption involving the
diversion of agricultural
inputs from the government. He will serve a year
in jail after a Harare
magistrate Olivia Mariga suspended half of the
sentence, with six months for
good behaviour and six months on condition he
pays a hefty
restitution.
In a statement, the MDC said: "The MDC is concerned by the
continued
persecution of its MPs, officials and party activists. The plot to
convict
the MPs is a well orchestrated plan by ZANU PF and other mischievous
conspirators in the inclusive government to decimate the party's majority in
parliament."
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
22 July
2009
Cracks of disunity in the coalition government have continued to
appear more
than five months after the unity formation came into being, and
there is
still no word from the South African Development Community (SADC)
on
intervening.
Serious human rights violations, including assaults
and arrests, as well as
what appears to be a deliberate plot to whittle down
the MDC majority in
Parliament, are said to be creating serious and
understandable discord in
the unity formation. Yet another MDC legislator
was jailed this week on
spurious charges, while two MDC MPs were unlawfully
suspended from
parliament. At the same time, the fight over the reformation
of the
constitution has now sparked fears of a resurgence of violence, after
it
emerged that ZANU PF had deployed youth militia and war veterans to lead
a
campaign for support of the Kariba Draft, favoured by Mugabe. Youth
militia
in schools have already seen teachers flee their posts out of fear
of
renewed persecution, after what happened during last year's political
violence.
So while the government leaders have slowly come to
agreement on a few
issues - most recently an agreement to convene the
National Security
Council - critical reforms are clearly still a long way
off.
The MDC earlier this year sent a letter to SADC to intervene on the
outstanding issues of the Global Political Agreement (GPA), a role SADC, as
guarantors of the deal, is meant to fulfil. The MDC also presented a
document detailing more than 700 incidents of breaches of the GPA by Robert
Mugabe and ZANU PF, but to date there has been no move by SADC to address
the issues.
A summit that was mooted to begin at the end of this
month is now widely
believed to have been set down for September. It is
understood that despite
the plea for intervention from the MDC, the regional
body is waiting for its
first report from the Joint Monitoring and
Implementation Committee (JOMIC),
which is expected in mid-August, more than
six months after the government
was formed. JOMIC, a tripartite group of
high-level party members, is
supposed to ensure that the unity government
adheres to the GPA in full.
JOMIC is comprised of four members of the
Mutambara MDC (Professor Welshman
Ncube, Frank Chamunorwa, Edward Mkhosi and
Priscilla Misihairambi-Mushonga),
four members of the Tsvangirai MDC (Elton
Mangoma, Elias Mudzuri, Tabita
Khumalo and Innocent Changonda) and four
members from ZANU PF (Nicholas
Goche, Patrick Chinamasa, Emmerson Mnangagwa
and Oppah Muchinguri.)
MDC national spokesperson Nelson Chamisa on
Wednesday explained there has
been no response from SADC and there is an
urgent need for the regional body
to intervene. He also said there was
frustration and anger within the party
over what he called the
'non-existence' of JOMIC, saying the group had done
nothing to ensure the
implementation of the GPA.
"JOMIC is toothless, comatose even, and they
have let people down," Chamisa
said. "If they report back to SADC it will
only be about JOMIC's death and
disfunctionality."
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
Tony Blair has called for Zimbabwean president
Robert Mugabe to be "toppled"
as soon as possible.
By Sebastien
Berger, Southern Africa Correspondent, and Allan Hall In Berlin
Published:
5:04PM BST 22 Jul 2009
In an interview with German news magazine
Stern he said: "If you can do,
then you should do it.
"I think
whoever has the possibility should topple Mugabe - the man has
destroyed his
country, many people have died unnecessarily because of him."
Mr Blair's
comments do not specifically refer to military action but he
hinted that
intervention may be needed.
"My idea of foreign policy is that if you can
do something, you should do
it," he said.
"But of course you have to
operate carefully within precise boundaries."
Britain did not take direct
action against Mr Mugabe during Mr Blair's time
in office, aside from the
imposition of targeted sanctions against the
ruling elite.
A unity
government was formed in Zimbabwe with the former opposition
Movement for
Democratic Change earlier this year but critics say Mr Mugabe
has no
intention of genuinely sharing power.
A spokesman for Tony Blair said:
"These are comments which Mr Blair has made
many times before. His answers
were in response to a question on the case
for intervention against brutal
dictators. He also went on to make it
absolutely clear that it was obviously
something that we couldn't do in
practice everywhere, and so
didn't."
July 22, 2009
From left, Paradzai Zimondi
(Prisons), Perrence Shiri (Air Force), Constantine Chiwenga (Defence Forces),
Augustine Chihuri (Police)
HARARE – The all-powerful security chiefs have finally agreed to attend the inaugural meeting of the Zimbabwe National Security Council that has now been slotted for Thursday next week, July 30.
Official sources have told The Zimbabwe Times that all the commanders have confirmed their attendance of the maiden meeting, also expected to be attended by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, whose authority the generals have steadfastly refused to recognize so far.
The generals had previously boycotted three meetings starting on May 15 in open contempt for Tsvangirai’s leadership.
The new security think-tank will replace the shadowy Joint Operations Command, an informal group of top army, police, Central Intelligence (CIO) and Air Force commanders.
Confirmation of this first meeting signals a major step-forward for the Prime Minister and his deputy Arthur Mutambara, who are said to have met with Mugabe on Monday over the issue.
Tsvangirai and Mutambara are said to have reinforced their demand for the conclusion of implementation of all outstanding issue in the government of national unity, a demand that also ran through Finance Minister Tendai Biti’s supplementary budget.
The two principals were said to have told Mugabe that the failure to regularize the meeting of the Security Council was sending wrong signals to the donor community and precluding Zimbabwe from desperately needed financial assistance, official sources said.
James Maridadi, the Prime Minister’s chief spokesman said he would check with security staff on confirmation of the council’s maiden meeting and get back to The Zimbabwe Times, but had not done so at the time of publishing.
An official source close to the talks said Mutambara had told Mugabe that the generals were violating the law and the Constitution by their continued refusal to recognize the Prime Minister’s office which is enshrined in the Constitution through Amendment No. 19, which gave birth to the inclusive government.
“It’s a significant achievement by the Prime Minister and a clear realization by the residual elements that they can’t stop the momentum,” said a senior official in the Prime Minister’s Office. “If you can’t beat them, join them.”
Official sources say Mugabe had by implication continued to approve the holding of JOC meetings, despite the implied disbanding of the committee by the inclusive government through the establishment of the Security Council.
The Global Political Agreement does not expressly state that the JOC has been dissolved, however, a pretext reportedly cited by the army generals as they continued to meet Mugabe on JOC business.
The National Security Council is widely expected to be a much more democratic outfit than its predecessor the JOC and is expected to eradicate the excesses of the country’s security forces.
The Security Council is expected to supervise the operations of the army, police and the CIO, following the murderous reign of the JOC last year.
The JOC, which was chaired by Emerson Mnangagwa, violently overturned President Mugabe’s devastating electoral loss in the historic March general election through mass deployments of army personnel throughout the countryside to intimidate the electorate ahead of a presidential run-off election which was eventually boycotted by Mugabe’s rival Tsvangirai on June 27. The MDC leader cited violence and restrictions on his campaign as reasons for the pullout.
The senior security personnel coordinated violent attacks and assassinations of opposition figures, leaving over 200, mainly MDC supporters, dead.
There has been fierce resistance by the generals to the establishment of the Security Council, and the confirmation of next week’s meeting marks a dramatic climb-down by them.
The National Security Council Bill sailed through Parliament on February 10, but Mugabe sat on the bill for three months before signing it into law as sparks flew between him and security chiefs over sharp differences on the council, which the generals saw as stripping them of all their power.
After the bill was signed into law, service chiefs boycotted at least three monthly meetings.
Next week’s meeting is important, official sources say, because it sets new rules for the country’s security forces. The council is widely expected to ensure that security forces comply with the Constitution, in the way they discharge their duties. The new council will receive and consider national security reports and provide direction on how the country’s security forces operate.
President Mugabe will chair the council, which will also include the two Vice Presidents, Joseph Msika and Joice Mujuru, as well as Prime Minister Tsvangirai and his two deputies, Thokozani Khuphe and Mutambara. The ministers responsible for Finance, Defence and Home Affairs as well as one minister each nominated by the three political parties are also members.
The Commander of the Defence Forces, the Commanders of the Army and Air Force, the Commissioner-General of Police and the Commissioner of Prisons, the Director General of the Department of State for National Security will all be ex-officio members of the Security Council.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=20074
July 22, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE - President Robert Mugabe and his partners under the
Global Political
Agreement (GPA) will on Friday come together to commission
three days which
have been set aside by government to observe national
healing in Zimbabwe.
This follows a Presidential proclamation last week
which designated the
period between this Friday and Sunday as the days to
mark the dedication of
national healing.
The three days, which shall
not be public holidays, will see church groups,
traditional leaders and
spirit mediums leading rituals all in the name of
national
healing.
"This process would be led by the signatories to the GPA at a
ceremony that
has been scheduled for Friday, July 24 at the Rainbow Towers
," John Nkomo,
one of the three co-ministers in charge of Zimbabwe's organ
on national
healing, integration and reconciliation told journalists
Wednesday.
Nkomo, a Zanu-PF minister, said the national healing process
would focus on
the pre- and post-independence period, and would be followed
by a programme
in which the ministers will visit provinces to reinforce the
spirit of
national healing.
He refused to outline the programme
saying they were still trying to engage
experts to study the mindsets of
Zimbabweans on how they wanted the emotive
subject to be dealt
with.
Nkomo said since their appointment as ministers in charge of
national
healing, they had met church representatives, traditional leaders,
trade
unionists, war veterans civic organizations to gauge their opinion on
how
they want the process to be conducted.
He said the national
healing organ, which was incepted at the formation of
the unity government
in February this year, will not give in to pressure by
groups agitating for
the incorporation of justice on perpetrators of
political
violence.
He said justice would be done in a Zimbabwean way where
emphasis would be on
forgiveness.
"We will concentrate on addressing
the causes and not the symptoms," he
said.
"Virtually no one has not
suffered some form of injustice," said Nkomo. "No
one has not been a victim
at one time or another. They may be very few who
have not been perpetrators
at one time or another.
"All of us have gone through injustices. We have
been victims and probably
we are the best people to oversee this
process."
Sekai Holland, co-minister from the Morgan Tsvangirai led
Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) said conflict resolution in Zimbabwe
would be done
in the true African way.
"In the traditional African
society, the concept of justice is different
because it is all
inclusive.
"When the pre-colonial period started, there were no jails.
That did not
mean there was no crime. There was a way of dealing with
conflict together.
"Our form of justice does not separate people. Rather,
it forces them to
come together and to deal with the problems
decisively.
"The environment has to promote the togetherness of the
people so together
they can look for solutions to the problems without any
discrimination."
Gibson Sibanda, the third co-minister who comes from the
Arthur
Mutambara-led MDC, said those calling for justice were people who
had
ironically benefited from the 1980 blanket amnesty which was announced
by
Mugabe, then newly elected Zimbabwean leader.
The ministers,
however, conceded the continuation of violence in some areas
in Zimbabwe but
said the problem was not serious enough to derail the
national healing
process.
But some observers have criticized the secretive manner in which
the three
ministers have elected to handle the crucial
matter.
Victims of political violence are calling for some form of
compensation for
deaths, injuries, theft of livestock and some
transgressions that they were
repeatedly subjected to by the
perpetrators.
Thousands of Zimbabweans have, since independence in 1980,
been subjected to
recurrent acts of State-sponsored political violence
mostly on supporters of
Mugabe's opponents.
Victims variously
estimated at up to 20 000 died at the hands of President
Mugabe's North
Korean-trained Five Brigade in the early 1980s in the
Matebeleland and
Midlands provinces.
The country witnessed a recurrence of political
violence following the
rejection of a government-sponsored constitution in
the 2000 constitutional
referendum.
Between 200 and 300 mostly MDC
supporters were killed by vindictive Zanu-PF
militants who were out to
punish Zimbabweans for voting against Mugabe in
the 2008 presidential
elections.
But as government unveils its national healing programme, some
MDC
legislators are still being taken to court for cases which the MDC says
are
trumped up.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona Sibanda
22
July 2009
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is set to meet SADC chairman
and South
African President Jacob Zuma over the weekend, in an attempt to
push the
regional bloc to convene an urgent meeting and deal with the
remaining
issues in the Global Political Agreement.
Zuma, who holds
the rotating chairmanship of SADC, was sent a letter by
Tsvangirai and
Arthur Mutambara two months ago, asking for assistance in
resolving
outstanding disputes in the inclusive government.
A SADC meeting was
mooted for the end of this month but reports suggest it
might be deferred
until some time in September, forcing Tsvangirai to seek
an urgent meeting
with Zuma.
James Maridadi, Tsvangirai's spokesman, confirmed the Prime
Minister was
expected to be in Johannesburg by Friday evening for a
scheduled meeting
with Zuma.
It is understood Tsvangirai is hugely
frustrated by the lack of progress in
solving the thorniest issues in the
GPA, after Robert Mugabe on Monday
apparently refused to budge on his
re-appointment of Reserve Bank Governor
Gideon Gono and Attorney General
Johannes Tomana. The three principals have
since declared a deadlock on
these two issues, meriting intervention from
SADC as guarantors of the
deal.
Meanwhile the three principals, during their Monday meeting, agreed
that the
National Security Council, which had still not met since the
formation of
the government will convene for the first time next week
Thursday and
thereafter on a weekly basis.
Ambassadors from the MDC-T
and MDC-M will be appointed on the 1st September.
According to MDC sources
Roy Bennett, the deputy minister of Agriculture
designate, will finally be
sworn in, together with governors from the two
MDC formations in
September.
The MDC accuse Mugabe of not being serious and not moving on
any of the main
outstanding issues in the GPA. On Wednesday Tsvangirai met
members of his
parliamentary caucus who expressed concern over the high
number of arrests
and convictions of MDC MPs in the last two months.
The
MDC MPs warned their party President that illegal acts by militia and
security forces against MDC supporters and officials could provoke a serious
deterioration in the situation in the country.
Mathias Mlambo, the MDC MP
for Chipinge East, said that various legislators
told Tsvangirai they were
very concerned about the increasing number of MP
arrests and emerging acts
of violence by ZANU PF.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Violet Gonda
22 July
2009
Eliphas Mukonoweshuro, the Minister for Public Service, announced on
Tuesday
an increase in allowances for civil servants starting this month.
Teachers
will see their allowances go from $100 a month to $145 (after bank
charges
and taxes) while doctors will receive $170.
However, the
salary increases have not been received well by the Progressive
Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ), which has described the increases as an
insult to
the teaching profession. PTUZ President Takavafira Zhou said
teachers have
now been put in grade D with a gross salary of US$165, which
is a net salary
of $155 and that is reduced further to $145, after bank
charges. He said
teachers feel betrayed as the salaries are still
unreasonably low. The union
has resolved to continue with its weekly Friday
industrial
action.
Furthermore the teaching fraternity is not happy that the pay day
has been
changed from Tuesday to next Monday. Zhou said many teachers had
travelled
to the cities to get their salaries, only to be told that they
will receive
their money on 27th July.
Leaders of the union have
lashed out at Finance Minister Tendai Biti and
Mukonoweshuro, as they say
they are maintaining the ZANU PF hard-line stance
of exclusion.
PTUZ
Secretary General Raymond Majongwe is quoted by the website Kubatana
saying:
"Tendai Biti has continued and perpetuated the Zanu PF way of doing
things .
. .that he sits with whoever he sits with and he makes his
presentations
like Father Christmas without prior consultations with
relevant
stakeholders like trade unions."
Zhou said it is on the basic principles
of social engagement that his union
is criticising the Finance Minister who
went on to announce 'a budget
insulting to teachers' without
consultation.
With respect to Professor Mukonoweshuro, Zhou said: "We
were hoping that
this was a man, coming from a labour background and
representing the MDC-T,
would perhaps operate a new system. Unfortunately he
has maintained the
status quo and continues to run the Public Service as if
it was run by ZANU
PF."
We were not able to reach the Public Service
Minister, but Zhou claimed
Professor Mukonoweshuro 'only consults' trade
unions that are perceived to
tow the government line - such as the Zimbabwe
Teachers Association (ZIMTA).
He said: "On Tuesday the Public Service
Commission met with the Apex Council
(which engages with unions and civil
servants) and unfortunately we were not
even invited and we were not even
privy to the discussions that took place."
But the teachers' body did
have praise for their Education Minister, David
Coltart. Zhou said Coltart
is like former Education Ministers Dzingai
Mutumbuka and Fay Chung, who
listened and engaged all parties. "But
unfortunately he is not getting the
compliments he should be getting from
the Public Service Commission, from
Professor Mukonoweshuro as well as from
his permanent Secretary Dr. Steven
Manyere," said the PTUZ President.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Cuthbert Nzou
Wednesday 22 July 2009
HARARE - The UN's Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
said on Tuesday that Zimbabwe
remained at risk of a fresh outbreak of
cholera once the next rainy season
starts in less than five months time.
The OCHA said in a report released
yesterday that structural causes at the
root of the current epidemic that
killed more than 4 000 people over the
past 11 months had not been addressed
and could trigger another outbreak
during the approaching rain
season.
"As the next rainy season approaches, there are, however, fears
of another
cholera outbreak because the structural causes of the current
epidemic have
not been fully addressed," the OCHA report said.
It
added: "These include broken down and anachronistic water and sanitation
infrastructure characterised by burst sewer systems and water pipes, often
resulting in sewerage contaminating water before it reaches household
level."
The OCHA said the current epidemic had reached its tail end
as indicated by
the lower number of cases and deaths being
reported.
By 15 July 2009, the cumulative number of cases of cholera
infections
reported since August 2008 was 98 592, an increase of 61 new
cases from the
98 531 cases recorded by the same time in June.
The
number of cumulative deaths was 4 288 representing an increase of six
from
the 4 282 reported at the same time last month, with 2 631 community
deaths
in mid-July, which shows an increase by one from 2 630 in mid-June,
according to OCHA.
The UN humanitarian arm said most Zimbabweans had
no access to safe water,
raising the risk of catching cholera in the event
of an outbreak.
"The challenge of limited safe water and frequent water
cuts that force
people to resort to unsafe sources including shallow wells,
ponds and dams
among others, has not been addressed," the agency
said.
"The revised Consolidated Appeal for 2009, partners in the water,
sanitation
and hygiene (WASH) cluster estimate that six million people in
Zimbabwe have
limited or no access to safe water.
"Further, some
rural areas have extremely low latrine coverage, resulting in
unhygienic
practices that lead to the contamination of water sources during
the rainy
season. A combination of these factors increases the risk of
populations
contracting cholera."
The organisation said weaknesses in water and
sanitation services were
further compounded by a fragile health delivery
system.
"Although the health system has improved since the onset of the
outbreak,
with more services being available and accessible, it still needs
further
strengthening. In addition, despite an improvement in health
information
delivery including the weekly rapid disease notification system,
many health
facilities still lack quick and easy access to communication
equipment for
reporting," the OCHA said.
Given this scenario, the UN
agency said, the humanitarian community's focus
was on preventing another
large-scale cholera outbreak. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Cuthbert Nzou
Wednesday 22 July 2009
HARARE - A Zimbabwean magistrate will
next week decide whether to refer the
case of two editors of a
privately-owned weekly newspaper - facing charges
of publishing or
communicating falsehoods prejudicial to the state - to the
Supreme
Court.
Vincent Kahiya and Constantine Chimakure, the editor and the news
editor of
the Zimbabwe Independent, want their case referred to the Supreme
Court that
hears constitutional matters for a determination of the
constitutionality of
provisions of the Criminal Law under which they are
charged.
Magistrate Moses Murendo yesterday said he would make a ruling
on July 30 on
the application by the journalists and their newspaper's
finance director
Michael Curling who is representing the company in the
matter.
In their application, the journalists are arguing that Section 31
of the
Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act, which attracts a maximum
of 20
years in prison, infringed Section 20 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe,
which
guarantees freedom of expression.
The scribes said it was
important that the country's highest court decides
on the constitutionality
of the provisions as it was a matter of public
importance.
The law,
they averred, was a hindrance to the practice of journalism and was
not
necessary in a democracy.
"The issue for determination by the Supreme
Court should be whether Section
31 in its present construction contravenes
Section 20 of the Constitution of
Zimbabwe. It is respectfully submitted
that this is a fundamental question
in the development of our constitutional
law and in particular it has a
fundamental impact on the activities of our
media," the journalists argued
in their application.
The state has
asked the magistrate to dismiss the application by the
journalists saying it
was "frivolous and vexatious".
Charges against the two journalists arose
on May 8 this year when they
published a story claiming that a group of
political activists from Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party who
were abducted and severely
tortured by unknown people last year where in
fact in the custody of state
security agents during the time they were
reported missing.
The MDC activists are accused of committing acts of
banditry, terrorism and
plotting to overthrow Mugabe - charges widely seen
as trumped up.
The Zimbabwe Independent said in its story that indictment
papers for trial
of the activists in the High Court showed that the
activists were either in
the custody of the state's spy Central Intelligence
Organisation (CIO) or
the police during the period they were reported
missing. - ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Cuthbert Nzou
Wednesday 22 July 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe's largest labour
movement yesterday criticised the
government for approving a scheme to
import vehicles for parliamentarians
instead of buying locally assembled
vehicles.
The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said it was
"perturbed" that
the Ministry of Finance would facilitate the importation of
vehicles for the
over 300 lawmakers.
"This is at a time when the
country is going through a rough period and
government cannot afford to pay
civil service decent salaries," ZCTU acting
secretary-general Japhet Moyo
said in a statement.
"Members of Parliament should have led by example to
promote local auto
industry. If all this money was poured into the local
auto industry,
thousands of workers would have been ensured of an income and
a certain
degree of job security," said Moyo.
Finance Minister Tendai
Biti reportedly told a parliamentary caucus meeting
last week that
government has approved a scheme for lawmakers to import
vehicles from
suppliers of their choice.
Biti reportedly said the legislators were free
to approach any dealer other
than the local Willowvale Mazda Motor
Industries.
Minister Biti and the legislators have been at loggerheads on
the sourcing
of vehicles with the former insisting that they should get the
Mazda BT50
model from local assembler WMMI, which the lawmakers opposed
arguing that
the vehicle was ill-suited for rough terrain.
After a
standoff that lasted more than a month, Minister Biti convened a
joint
caucus meeting last week where he told the MPs they were free to
obtain
vehicles from sources of their choice.
But he told them the WMMI deal had
the advantage that they would also be in
a position to import another
vehicle duty-free.
This irked the ZCTU.
The union said: "On behalf
of the Zimbabwean workers, the ZCTU is dismayed
that legislators are not
concerned about promoting the local industry
more-so at a time when the
country is going through an economic crunch.
"Workers at car making and
assembling plants are facing a bleak future and
our lawmakers choose to
promote and secure jobs for workers in foreign
lands. Local workers have
been put on forced leave while others face
retrenchments because companies
are failing to generate enough business,"
Moyo said. - ZimOnline
http://www.voanews.com
By Brenda Moyo & Sandra Nyaira
Washington
21 July 2009
The formation of Zimbabwe's Movement
for Democratic Change led by Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara said
Tuesday that its expulsion of three
parliamentarians from its ranks would
strengthen the party, though others
saw the move as
destabilizing.
The party's disciplinary committee on Monday expelled
Abedniko Bhebhe, who
represents the Nkayi South constituency, Njabuliso
Mguni, representing
Lupane East and Norman Mpofu of Bulilima East for
alleged indiscipline and
subordination. All of the constituencies concerned
are in the western region
of Matabeleland, a stronghold for the MDC
formation.
Party spokesman Renson Gasela told reporter Brenda Moyo of
VOA's Studio 7
for Zimbabwe that officials tried to reason with the expelled
lawmakers
before expelling them.
The newly revived Zimbabwe African
Patriotic Union, or ZAPU party meanwhile
said it is eyeing with great
interest the three seats which seem likely to
be vacated, and is ready to
contest by-elections, said ZAPU Communications
and Marketing Director
Methuseli Moyo.
Meanwhile analysts concluded that the turmoil in the
Mutambara MDC formation
poses a major challenge to the stability of the
national unity government -
the deputy prime minister is one of the three
signatories to the September
2008 Global Political Agreement which formed
the basis for the national
unity government assembled in
February.
Political sources said that shortly before the expulsions,
party Secretary
General Welshman Ncube and Vice President Gibson Sibanda
apologized to party
faithfuls in Bulawayo for naming Mutambara president of
the formation. They
said ethnic Ndebeles have for too long held secondary
positions and promised
to address this in the next
elections.
Political analyst John Makumbe of the University of Zimbabwe
described those
statements as unfortunate, unbecoming of national leaders
and contrary to
the unity government spirit.
Makumbe said chaos in
the Mutambara MDC reflected poor management within the
party and could cost
the two MDC formations - the dominant grouping is led
by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai - its parliamentary majority of about 10
seats.
Three legislators from Tsvangirai's MDC risk losing their
seats due to
convictions on charges which the party says were trumped up by
officials in
the judiciary loyal to ZANU-PF.
Commenting in his
personal capacity, Fambai Ngirande, a spokesman for the
National Association
of Non-Governmental Organizations, said the expulsions
show there is trouble
not only in the MDC formation but in the broader
national unity
government.
Reached for comment, Mutambara told VOA that he only wanted
to discuss the
future of Zimbabwe, not internal party issues.
http://www.voanews.com
By
Jonga Kandemiiri and Chris Gande
Washington
21 July
2009
Many Zimbabwean teachers became agitated Tuesday to find that
neither their
accustomed US$100 monthly allowances or the increased salary
promised by the
finance minister last week had been posted to their bank
accounts as
anticipated.
An emergency meeting was called between
Education and Public Service
ministries and representatives of the Zimbabwe
Teachers Association. But the
Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, the
main union, was not represented
in that meeting, sources
said.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti said last week that state employees as
of this
month would see an increase in their monthly allowances, though he
did not
indicate the exact amount.
Teachers have been demanding a
base salary of US$454.00 a month.
Zimbabwe Teachers Association General
Secretary Richard Gundani told VOA
reporter Jonga Kandemiiri that government
officials promised salaries will
be paid next Monday.
Education
Minister David Coltart told reporter Chris Gande that delays were
unavoidable because the re-introduction of salaries meant more
administrative work to provide for taxes and other deductions, promising
salaries would be paid within a few more days.
http://www.voanews.com
By Patience Rusere
Washington
21
July 2009
U.S. diplomat Charles Ray, nominated by President Barack
Obama to be the
next ambassador to Zimbabwe, appeared Tuesday before the
Senate Foreign
Relations Committee which held nomination hearings on
appointments of envoys
to a number African posts.
The career diplomat
fielded questions from Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold,
chairman of the
committee, and ranking Republican John Isakson, touching on
China's
relationship with the country and the transitional unity government
now in
place in Harare.
Ray said that if confirmed, "I will continue our efforts
to assist the
people of Zimbabwe in their pursuit of a representative,
democratically
elected government that respects human rights, adheres to the
rule of law,
and undertakes the economic reforms necessary to bring
prosperity back to
Zimbabwe and and contribute to growth and stability in
the region."
Queried by Feingold on China's role in Zimbabwe, Ray said he
would draw on
his experience as a diplomat in Asia - including four years in
Beijing - to
develop understanding of China's role in Zimbabwe "and how that
can
complement what we are doing."
Isakson asked for Ray's thoughts
on the unity government in Harare and
President Robert Mugabe's role in it.
He responded: "I'm not sure that we
can depend on Mr. Mugabe being
cooperative. The key is to help the
reform-minded members of all parties in
Zimbabwe to develop the capacity...a
certain level of economic stability and
progress despite his presence and to
watch that progress closely to see if
it is real progress or just fake
progress."
In the same hearings
Tuesday the committee heard from ambassadorial nominees
to Benin, Burkina
Faso, Burundi, Guinea, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania,
Uganda and the
African Union.
Ray served as U.S. ambassador to Cambodia from 2002 to
2005. A member of the
State Department Foreign Service since 1983, following
his retirement from
the U.S. Army a year earlier with the rank of major, he
has also been posted
to China, Thailand and Vietnam.
The
African-American diplomat served as deputy chief of mission in Sierra
Leone.
Since 2006 Ray has been deputy assistant secretary of defense
for prisoners
of war and missing personnel affairs.
http://www.zimnetradio.com
By KING
SHANGO
Published on: 21st July, 2009
HARARE - At a recent meeting with
the MDC legislative caucus, Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai was briefed
about the humanitarian crisis in the
countryside where-in access to cash and
poverty was said to be drastically
mounting.
The MDC Parliamentarians
and Senators told the MDC president about the
suffering of the people in the
country and the struggle to get US dollars.
The situation was grim, they
told a miffed Tsvangirai, sources said.
The President was also briefed by
the MPs on the humanitarian crisis and
transport shortage that has seen
transport operators and other business
people raising charges for their
goods and services in US dollars and the
critical shortage of
fuel.
This, the MDC President was told, was just a telling reminder on
how
untenable and unbearable life had become in the country as everything
was
being charged in foreign currency which the ordinary people in the
countryside did not possess.
Tsvangirai, who met the MPs secretively
to sound them out on the ongoing
convictions and the determination to slash
the party's parliamentary
majority, said it was only through the full
implementation of the global
political agreement that the current problems
facing the country could be
resolved.
zim NET radio heard by an
official who attended the meeting that members
were in concert that there
was an apparent attempt by Zanu-PF to downsize
the MDC's slim but crucial
parliamentary majority as evidenced by suspension
of MPs from Parliament
well as the continued harassment and arrests of MDC
MPs.
Tsvangirai
was said to have warned and advised the parliamentarians to be
vigilant in
light of Zanu-PF machinations to target them, councilors and MDC
structures
through legal and extra-legal means.
The MDC President also said the
continued refusal to fully implement GPA
issues such as the RBZ governor and
AG's appointments, the swearing in of
Roy Bennett and provincial governors
as well as farm invasions were a slap
in the face of the GNU, saying it had
proved beyond any shadow of doubt that
Zanu-PF was not sincere in sticking
to the letter and spirit of the GPA.
Recently the MDC National Executive
reiterated the party's position that
there has to be finality on the
outstanding issues in the GPA, whether in
success or in failure.
http://www.channel4.com
Updated on 22 July 2009
By Channel
4 News
New evictions of farm workers and the vulnerable are forcing an
estimated
150,000 out of work and the problem is going unnoticed, writes
Helen.
Isaac was wearing patched, grey cotton trousers and a very
thin red jersey
and I could see he was cold. I greeted him and we stood on
the road chatting
for a few minutes, both trying to absorb a bit of warmth
from the weak
winter sun.
I first met Isaac four years ago in the
winter of 2005 when his wooden
cottage had been demolished by government
bulldozers in what was called
Operation Murambatsvina (clear out the
rubbish).
Isaac was one of an estimated 600,000 people who were made
homeless around
the country in the government's cruel winter demolition and
he had arrived
in the neighbourhood desperately looking for somewhere to
stay - a room,
shed, the back of a garage, anywhere.
Isaac found the
friend of a distant relation who cleared out a garden shed
for him and he
moved in.
That was the second time Isaac had lost
everything.
Isaac was originally a farm worker. He grew up on a
commercial farm where
his parents lived and worked. After attending the farm
school but not doing
very well, Isaac started working on the farm and stayed
with the same farmer
on the same property for over twenty
years.
A lifetime of caring for the environment and producing
has been turned
into destruction by necessity.
Isaac lost his job, home
and security in 2004 when the farm was taken over
by a senior government
politician and the farmer and all the farm workers
were
evicted.
Isaac knows all about growing maize and tobacco and about horses
and rearing
cattle - but nothing about living in a Zimbabwean town where 90
per cent of
people are unemployed.
For a year he pushed a wheelbarrow
into the bush every day, chopped trees
and sold firewood - it was all he
could find to do to survive and pay the
rent for the one room
cottage.
Isaac said he often didn't have enough to eat but he resisted
the urge to
follow others who went gold panning - that was just too
dangerous. Isaac
came back with his loaded wheelbarrow one afternoon and his
cottage was
gone - demolished by the same government that had evicted him
from the farm
he had lived on all his life.
The ex-farm worker, twice
a victim, shook his head sadly as we talked about
the latest evictions of
workers from commercial farms. None of us can
understand why, six months
after the MDC entered government, the nightmare
on farms is still going
on.
"They've got no power," Isaac said, referring to the MDC and the
obvious
stranglehold Zanu PF still has over the country.
Since
February 2009 an estimated 150,000 farm workers and ex-farm workers
have
lost their jobs and been forced to leave their homes on commercial
farms.
These are new evictions which are going virtually unnoticed by
the new
government and they include not only farm workers but women, the
elderly,
orphans and people in poor health according to a recent report by
the
Refugee Council. On one farm in Odzi, (north east Zimbabwe) 114 men,
women
and children have been camped out in the bush for three weeks since
being
evicted from a farm by a Zanu PF government official.
The
secretary general of GAPWUZ, the farm workers union, Gertrude Hambira
has
described the evictions as: "a cruel attack on helpless people.' In a
recent
independent newspaper, Hambira said: "This so called land reform is
just a
political game with no genuine desire to give land to landless
peasants."
Isaac and I parted company both saying nothing has
changed. He doesn't hold
out any hope of ever being able to do what he knows
and does best: growing
food and rearing livestock.
If anyone should
have benefited from land seizures, it should have been the
farm workers but
the one million like Isaac now chop trees, dig for diamonds
and pan for
gold. A lifetime of caring for the environment and producing has
been turned
into destruction by necessity.
HARARE, 22 July 2009 (IRIN) -
The demise of the all-but-worthless Zimbabwe dollar and its replacement with
foreign currency is being mirrored by a rise in violent crime, perpetrated
particularly by police officers.
Photo:
IRIN
Police
moonlight as criminals
Rampant inflation, unofficially
estimated at trillions of percent annually, saw the local currency withdrawn
from circulation in April 2009 and officially replaced by foreign currencies,
such as the South African rand, Botswana pula and US dollar.
A serving
Zimbabwe National Army officer, who declined to be identified, told IRIN that
junior soldiers and police officers were being driven to crime by desperation,
as they suffered the same economic hardships as most of the population. However, unlike
non-uniformed Zimbabweans - 94 percent of whom are thought to be unemployed -
soldiers and police, like all public servants, enjoy a US$100 monthly wage.
"They have observed how senior security officers drive luxury cars, get
free fuel for their multiple farms, and other benefits. Soldiers and police
officers have no other skills which they can use to raise extra money - all they
can do is to use guns, but when they get used to that lifestyle, they can easily
become warlords," the army officer said.
"From a security point of view,
what this means is there are underground armies, which can even be a danger
to national security because nobody knows how many there are, and how many
weapons are in their hands," he commented.
In late 2008, at the height
of hyperinflation, soldiers embarked on a looting spree in the capital, Harare,
over poor pay and non-payment. They were being paid in local currency, but
maximum daily bank withdrawals were pegged at Z$500,000 (US$0.25). Soldiers also
attacked Roadport, a regional bus station in Harare used by money changers, and
robbed them of local and foreign currency.
Expensive goods
Political journalist Dumisani Muleya told IRIN that since the
beginning of 2009, local newspapers have been awash with headlines like: "Four
detectives face robbery charges", and "Bank Heist: Two cops in court", which
illustrated the trend among security force personnel to resort to crime.
The dollarized economy has made goods and services more freely
available, but at high prices, which was "causing some rogue elements within the
security ... [forces] to use armed robbery as a way of raising extra income ...
and that creates a climate of insecurity and instability," he said.
The
numerous wars fought in the region, such as in the Democratic Republic of Congo
and neighbouring Mozambique, have made it easier for criminals to access
weapons, as have the policies instituted by President Robert Mugabe's government
prior to the power-sharing deal that led to the formation of the unity
government in February 2009.
Giles Mutsekwa of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC), who heads the home affairs ministry with a counterpart
from ZANU-PF as part of the deal, told IRIN that rogue elements were using
government-issue guns to commit armed robberies, but the government was "getting
on top of the situation, and there is no need for the population or visitors to
get worried".
Handing out guns
During the
violent 2008 presidential election period, guns were issued to government
security personnel to intimidate people into voting for the ruling ZANU-PF.
"We have started a process to ensure that all guns that were issued are
brought back, and that a complete
inventory of the guns in the
country is carried out. We believe that when all the guns are surrendered, then
we will be able to manage and control the upsurge of armed robberies involving
serving and ex-servicemen and -women."
We believe that when all the
guns are surrendered, then we will be able to manage and control the upsurge of
armed robberies involving serving and ex-servicemen and -women
Mutsekwa said there were also
concerns about National Youth Service graduates, a pro-ZANU-PF youth militia who
received "national values" education and military training, which was believed
to include firearms instruction.
"We long identified the potential
danger posed by former members of the youth service to communities if they
continue to be unemployed while living in abject poverty, and those are areas
that we are also looking into as a security
ministry."
http://www.voanews.com
By Ish Mafundikwa
Harare
21 July 2009
Zimbabwe's wildlife conservation
reputation has taken a knock in the past
few years and there are fears the
recent surge in the poaching of the black
rhino will lead to the animal's
extinction in the country.
The Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species [CITES] says
there has been an increase in the poaching
of the rhino for its horn
wherever the animal is found, but the situation is
particularly bad in
Zimbabwe. VOA asked Raoul du Toit of the Lowveld Rhino
Trust, a rhino
conservation organization what is driving the
poachers.
Du Toit says, "Part of it is obviously the national situation
in Zimbabwe
where there is reduced law enforcement and part of it is the
growing demand
for rhino horn, the growing Chinese foot print in Africa,
Vietnamese
footprint in Africa and the fact that the markets are now really
fueling
poaching in a very aggressive way."
The rhino horn is
believed to have medicinal properties in some Asian
countries where it is
used as an aphrodisiac and in the Middle East as
handles for ceremonial
daggers.
Du Toit added that Zimbabwe had seemingly got on top of the
situation when a
similar surge in poaching happened in the late 1980s and
early 1990s. He
said the rhino population had actually increased, but all
the good work is
being undone and the falling rhino numbers are once again a
cause for great
concern. He put the number of rhino poached in Zimbabwe
since 2006 at as
high as 250.
National Parks and Wildlife Management
Authority Director General Morris
Mtsambiwa agreed the situation is a cause
for concern, but said an Emergency
Rhino Protection Plan has been put into
place to counter the poachers. He
says his department; the police, the army
and rangers from wildlife
conservancies are involved in the program, which
he says has been
successful.
He pointed to the killing of six
poachers since the beginning of the year as
proof of action being taken, but
he said the country's economic problems are
hindering a more effective
response to the poaching.
Mtsambiwa says, "You can hear that poachers
have come into an area and you
want to deploy whether by aircraft or by road
but if fuel is not available
you have difficulties."
Organizations
such as du Toit's Lowveld Rhino Trust are also involved in the
relocation of
rhinos to areas where it is easier to protect them.
Mtsambiwa said
despite all these efforts some Zimbabweans, including those
in position of
authority, are involved in the poaching. He admitted some
rangers from his
own department were arrested for their involvement.
A recent article in
The Standard, a local weekly newspaper said two Cabinet
ministers from
President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF Party are being
investigated for poaching.
The reports said Environmental and Natural
Resources Management Minister
Francis Nhema admitted senior ZANU-PF
officials were implicated in the rhino
poaching.
Lowveld Rhino Trust's du Toit also blamed the courts for not
being harsh
enough on those poachers captured alive for sentences to act as
a deterrent,
but Mtsambiwa says his department is continually engaging
judicial officials
and the situation is changing.
Mtsambiwa explains,
"We have just had fines for poaching rhinos increased to
$120,000 from a
mere $1,500. You know when someone does not understand
something, they even
put more weight than the endangered rhino so these are
things that we are
explaining to them."
Du Toit and Mtsambiwa agree that while the rhino
gets most of the attention
because it is endangered, wildlife conservation
in Zimbabwe in general is
facing many challenges. Du Toit said Zimbabwe once
had what he described as
a proud record in conservation, but the country is
compromising some of its
own principles.
He said wild dogs, which are
also endangered, are also under threat as they
get caught in snares set up
by people hunting for meat. Of the animals that
do not seem to be attracting
that much attention he singled out the zebra.
He explains, "What we have
seen particularly in southern Zimbabwe is growing
commercial poaching of
zebra for their hide. Those hides are smuggled across
the Limpopo river to
South Africa and marketed in South Africa and exported
from South Africa to
European markets at pretty high values."
Conservation groups also blame
the settlement of landless Zimbabweans in
wildlife conservancies under the
country's land-reform program for the
decline in wildlife conservation.
Mtsambiwa admitted this had caused
problems, but it is now being
remedied.
Mtsambiwa says, "At the beginning of the land reform, huge
populations of
wildlife were decimated as people moved in and they were just
killing
wildlife wantonly. But now they are beginning to understand the
value and
they are assisting in its protection."
But Mtsambiwa
cautioned Zimbabwe cannot deal with the poaching problem on
its own. To this
end, he said, Zimbabwe is collaborating with other
countries in the region
and beyond to ensure poaching is checked.