http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, July 23, 2011 – A
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) legislator
and five journalists were
Saturday beaten up by hordes of Zanu (PF)
supporters who invaded the
Parliament building to disrupt a public hearing
by a parliamentary committee
on the Human Rights Bill.
This follows similar disruptions at Mutare's
Queen Hall and Masvingo on
Friday.
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Bill is
part of democratic reforms that Mugabe and
Tsvangirai agreed to in 2008 when
they signed a power-sharing agreement.
Zanu (PF) favours elections this
year, but Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the
Movement of Democratic Change
(MDC-T) insists key political reforms must
first be
implemented.
Brian Tshuma, an MDC-T legislator for Hwange Central
constituency was beaten
up inside the senate chamber where the hearing was
taking place while
journalists Levy Mukarati (Financial Gazette), Tsvangirai
Mukwazhi (Daily
News), Nqaba Matshazi (The Standard), Aaron Ufumeli
(Newsday), John Cassim
(freelance photographer) were also beaten up by the
mob.
More journalists from both the State and independent media were also
forced
to seek refuge in offices within the parliament building as Zanu (PF)
supporters ran riot.
Most of the assailants were identified as
commuter omnibus touts and vendors
from the Harare's biggest fruit and
vegetable market, the Mbare Musika. The
meeting was abandoned as a result of
the skirmishes.
Tshuma, a member of the Justice and legal, parliamentary
and constitutional
affairs committee, met his fate when Zanu (PF) supporters
who packed the
senate chamber for the hearing noticed he had not been
singing the national
anthem.
“Zanu PF supporters accused me of not
singing the national anthem when we
were going through the introductory
stages of the hearing. They grabbed me
by my tie, my belt and some joined in
and the next thing I was shoved
outside the building. Some buttons from my
shirt were torn off," said
Tshuma.
"Instead of helping the situation,
police shoved me outside the building at
the instigation of the vociferous
Zanu (PF) supporters."
Matshazi also related his experience. “I was also
approached by Zanu (PF)
supporters while inside the parliament building who
accused me of not
singing the national anthem. I denied that but they
insisted on my leaving
the parliament building.”
“Someone came from
nowhere and beat me with a fist and more people joined
in. I was grabbed by
my jacket and kicked all over. They told me they did
not care about human
rights and they do not respect our newspapers which
they said write lies
about the country. They insulted me with all sorts of
unprintable words and
told me they only cared about President Mugabe and
no-one else.”
Levy
Mukarati also spoke about his ordeal.
“I was inside parliament for the
hearing and was forced to move out when I
noticed the security situation had
degenerated,” said Mukarati. “When I was
outside the building, one of the
ladies who was inside identified me as
among the journalists who had been
inside and that’s when I was mobbed by
more Zanu (PF) supporters who beat me
up. I was saved by the police.”
Zanu (PF) supporters were already outside
the parliament building as early
as 7am when the public meeting had been set
for 10 am.
Some 300 more tried for hours to force their way through the
entrance of the
parliament building as they sang and danced in praise of
President Mugabe
and in denouncing of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and
his party.
A dozen anti-riot police watched the situation
unfold.
In Mutare war veterans in this eastern border city disrupted a
hearing of
the same bill. In Masvingo the hearing ended prematurely after
Zanu (PF)
activists also caused mayhem.
Members of the public that
had gathered to give their submission started to
question why the bill was
read in english instead of using the vernacular
that every can
understand.
“The bill was read in English and we did not understand
anything, we also do
not understand what is human rights versus
criminology,” said one Zanu Pf
supporter.
Some members of the public
were saying that it is not fair for the hearing
to be read without
accommodating the deaf.
Amongst members of the crowd was a visually
impaired man who said the
purpose of the meeting was not justified as he
needed time to read and
comprehend the details of the bill before making an
informed contribution.
Commotion started when Zanu (PF) deputy secretary
for information and
publicity said the meeting should stop forthwith as
there was consensus that
they did not understand the bill.
“This
meeting has to stop because everyone here is agreeing that we did not
understand what was read, so we should leave,” said Samuriwo amid a wild
cheers from a group of war veterans and Zanu (PF) supporters.
War
vets and some Zanu (PF) youth started to sing songs accusing the
Chairman
Douglas Mwonzora of leading the committee which was waylaying
people’s
views.
The chair was forced to end the meeting prematurely after about 40
minutes
into the proceedings as charging war vets and other Zanu-PF
supporters broke
into songs and dancing in front of the 13 delegates from
the Parliament.
In an interview after the meeting Mwonzora said they have
noted the
submissions that have been made by the people of
Mutare.
“Some expressed that they have not been made aware of the bill
and some
think that it’s a duplication of the constitution making process
and they
want the constitution to be released first.” They were definite
submission
that were made and one was that the bill is not supported and
there was also
a submission that the investigation of human rights must not
only start in
2009 as envisaged by the bill but must go back to pre-colonial
time,” said
Mwonzora.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, July
23, 2011 - Zimbabwe’s tormented Finance Minister, Tendai Biti
has taken his
battle to the Supreme Court after the high court dismissed his
bid seeking
to interdict the police from obtaining details of his mobile
phone
transaction.
Biti, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T)
secretary-general
petitioned the high court early this month seeking a court
order to bar
police commissioner-general Augustine Chihuri, Chief
Superintendent Patrick
Maguta and Senior Assistant Commissioner Simon Nyathi
who had allegedly
secured a search warrant from the magistrate court to
enter Econet Wireless
and seize records pertaining to the call history of
Biti’s three cell phone
lines. Biti also wanted Econet to be interdicted
from providing the required
information.
The police claimed that they
wanted to pry into Biti’s communications as
part of an investigation into
allegations that the MDC secretary-general
unlawfully authorised an employee
in his ministry Petronella Chishawa to
travel on several foreign trips on
special per diem rates thereby showing
favour to her.
But high court
judge justice Chinembiri Bhunu on Friday dismissed Biti’s
application and
ruled that he could have committed an offence emanating from
Chishawa’s
foreign trips.
“While the applicant has the right to privacy under
section 18 of the
constitution, that right is not absolute. The police also
have the legal
right to detect, investigate and arrest suspects. Thus where
the police have
reasonable cause to investigate crime the subject’s right to
privacy must of
necessity give way for the common good and public interest
to fight crime.
The law does not prohibit lawful inversion of privacy. What
is prohibits is
wanton and unlawful inversion of privacy. In this case as
the police appear
to be acting according to law, the application cannot
succeed,” read part of
Bhunu’s ruling.
In response to Bhunu’s ruling,
Biti’s lawyer Innocent Chagonda on Friday
filed a notice of appeal in the
Supreme Court against the judge’s ruling.
In his grounds of appeal
Chagonda argued that Bhunu had misdirected himself
in dismissing Biti’s
application for an interdict. The feisty lawyer said
the search warrant
obtained by the police interferes with the Finance
Minister’s constitutional
rights and is void.
“In refusing the application, the court a quo (lower
court) is enforcing an
illegality,” Chagonda said in his notice of appeal.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 22 July 2011 16:54
Njabulo Ncube, Assistant
Editor
THE Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) and the Attorney General (AG)'s
Office
are under pressure from the Joint Monitoring and Implementation
Committee
(JOMIC) to come clean on allegations that there is the selective
application
of the law in favour of ZANU-PF within the two institutions.
JOMIC has
written to the police Commissioner General, Augustine Chihuri and
AG
Johannes Tomana demanding feedback on allegations contained in two
dossiers
accusing their officials of persecuting ZANU-PF critics.
Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's faction of the Movement for Democratic
Change
(MDC), the Elected Councilors Association of Zimbabwe (ECAZ) and
other
concerned citizens have sent several letters of complaint to JOMIC
alleging
the selective application of the law by law enforcements agents and
the
prosecuting authority, charges both institutions have previously flatly
denied.
Despite the denial, JOMIC is pushing for a meeting with the ZRP
Commissioner
General and Tomana to enlist their responses.
In particular,
ECAZ, made up of MDC-T councillors, has accused the AG and
law enforcement
agents of refusing to inve-stigate Local Government
Minister, Ignatius
Chombo over alleged corruption involving land deals in
and around the
country.
Prime Minister Tsvangirai's office specifically wants feedback from
the
police on 64 cases of political violence in which police officers are
accused of not treating the cases with the seriousness they
deserve.
Chombo has previously been quoted saying his hands are clean.
The
party claims that ZANU-PF members who perpetrated violence against MDC-T
supporters in the 64 cases have not been apprehended even though in most of
the cases, the culprits were known to the police.
The cases date back to
October last year.
Forty of the cases were committed against its supporters
by known ZANU-PF
activists. In some cases, the ZRP details were accused of
not taking any
action despite witnessing the crimes.
The 64 cases cited
in the report are supported by reference numbers, the
names of the alleged
perpetrators and in some cases the names of the
arresting officers.
On
May 24, 2011 JOMIC held a meeting with the co-Ministers of Home Affairs -
Kembo Mohadi and Theresa Mako-ne - to discuss JOMIC's concerns regarding the
implementation of the Global Political Agreement - the document that binds
the activities of the inclusive government - and the attitude and behaviour
of some members of the poli-ce in dealing with incidents of violence.
The
same documents show that JOMIC officials have met with representatives
from
the Office of the Commissioner General highlighting the same concerns.
The
police, according to minutes of the meeting with the ZRP
representatives,
made a commitment to work with JOMIC in dealing with issues
of political
violence.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
President Robert Mugabe's
“catch-and-release” methods of intimidating
political opponents came under
fire last week as civil society groups
accused the dictator of using the
legal system to cow the opposition.
23.07.1102:46pm
by Vusimusi
Bhebhe
Opposition to Mugabe’s strong-arm tactics increase last week
as the state
dropped corruption charges against Energy Minister Elton
Mangoma and altered
the charge-sheet against group of human rights activists
initially charged
in February with treason for allegedly watching videos of
pro-democracy
rallies in Egypt and Tunisia.
CIVICUS: World Alliance
for Citizen Participation, a global movement of
civil society dedicated to
strengthening citizen action and civil society
across the world, accused
Mugabe of using the legal system to undermine
democratic processes in
Zimbabwe.
It urged the Zimbabwean authorities to unconditionally drop all
charges
against the six rights activists who were arrested on 19 February
for
allegedly plotting Egypt-style protests against Mugabe.
The six,
who include former legislator Munyaradzi Gwisai, were supposed to
stand
trial in the Harare Magistrates Court last Monday but the State
suddenly
altered the treason charge to a lesser one of conspiring to commit
public
violence and had their case postponed to 22 August.
"The subjection of
the activists to protracted, inconsistent and unclear
legal processes
constitutes a flagrant violation of their basic rights as
citizens of
Zimbabwe. How can a government charge its citizens with treason,
subversion
and now with conspiracy to promote public violence for simply
watching
videos of uprisings in other countries?" said Netsanet Belay,
director of
policy and research at CIVICUS.
The six were part of a group of 46 human
rights activists, trade unionists
and student leaders initially charged with
treason for the same offence. The
other 40 were released on 7 March and
their charges dropped.
The Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition, an umbrella body
of local democracy and
human rights groups, also called for the immediate
and unconditional release
of the activists and the withdrawal of all charges
against them.
"The spurious charges levelled against the six activists
are a gross form of
abuse of the law; it is persecution through prosecution
which must cease
forthwith," said Dewa Mavhinga, regional coordinator for
Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition Mugabe has arrested scores of supporters of
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC-T and pro-democracy groups since the
end of 2010 when his
Zanu (PF) party announced plans to hold elections this
year.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Hundreds of teachers at
schools in this violence-prone district have
abandoned free houses offered
by the government in rural areas fearing
violence threatened by Zanu (PF)
during the next election, The Zimbabwean
can
reveal.
23.07.1102:42pm
by John Chimunhu
The teachers now rent
rooms in Zvishavane town and commute to their schools
daily at great
expense, they said.
At Makovere school, 10 kilometres east of the town,
this paper found only
one teacher still living in a school house. The rest
of the teachers had
relocated to the town. Their houses had been taken over
by Zanu (PF)
militants and villagers loyal to President Robert Mugabe's
violent party.
“We are now being forced to fork out huge amounts of money
in bus fares and
rents every month, but there is nothing we can do,” said a
teacher at
Dambudzo school in defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa's home
village.
The teacher said they faced daily threats from party thugs who
threatened
violence similar to what was unleashed in the area in
2000.
During that year's violent election campaign, Zanu (PF) hooligans
led by one
George Funhiro killed the MDC activist Chigwindiri Chidhakwa and
dumped his
body in the Dambudzo school football grounds to scare teachers.
The Zanu
(PF) mobsters said the MDC had committed a cardinal sin by
campaigning in
Mnangagwa's village and they had 'embarrassed'
the
minister.
Many teachers said they faced transport problems after many
buses withdrew
from the areas where schools were located citing threats from
'war
veterans', bad roads and lack of meaningful business. Some of the
teachers
said they had to walk distances of more than 20 kilometres daily
when they
failed to get public transport or when their meagre pay ran
out.
Teachers in the district are bearing the brunt of a backlash against
all
people perceived to have voted against Mugabe in the 2008 election,
which
the long-time dictator lost to long-time rival Morgan Tsvangirai of
the
MDC-T.
http://www.voanews.com
22 July
2011
Sources said that the Media Commission declined to
receive the facilitators,
though it is understood that Mr. Zuma's delegates
were to have wide access
within Zimbabwe's national unity
government
Violet Gonda | Washington
South African
facilitators in Zimbabwe this week for talks with negotiators
from the three
Harare unity government parties have headed home, promising
to return soon
to meet with the Zimbabwe Media Commission to discuss the
pace of reforms in
that sector.
Lindiwe Zulu, facilitator and foreign policy adviser to
South African
President Jacob Zuma, said her team hopes to see more progress
in Harare
ahead of a Southern African Development Community summit next
month at which
Mr. Zuma is expected to present a progress report including a
road map
toward Zimbabwe’s next elections.
Both President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU-PF party and the Movement for Democratic
Change formation of
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai have rejected the
latest version of an
elections road map, though for different reasons.
The South African
facilitators held in-depth talks with the Electoral and
Human Rights
Colmmissions and the parliamentary committee in charge of
revising the
Zimbabwean constitution, all highly relevant to eventual free
and fair
elections.
Sources from the Tsvangirai MDC formation said they held
extensive talks
with the South Africans on security sector reform - but Zulu
said the issue,
highly contentious from the standpoint of ZANU-PF which
controls the
military and police, did not come up.
“That has not been
put directly to us by the negotiators," Zulu said. "And
at such time when
that is being put in front of us we will deal with it when
it
comes."
Sources said that the Media Commission declined to receive the
facilitators,
though it is understood that Mr. Zuma's delegates were to have
wide access
in the government.
Zulu explained that the panel invoked
special procedures for such
consultations and that her team will meet with
the commission the next time
it is in town. “There are certain processes
that they are asking us to
follow and we don’t have a problem with that.”
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Xolisani Ncube, Staff Writer
Friday, 22 July
2011 15:27
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai yesterday gave
the boastful Harare
businessman Philip Chiyangwa a dress down telling him to
stop “primitive”
accumulation of wealth.
Tsvangirai gave the
business tycoon the low down at a housing delivery
indaba where he was the
guest of honour.
“The problem I have is primitive accumulation of wealth,
you cannot be
everything to everybody and everywhere, and you refuse to
focus on your best
capacity,” said Tsvangirai speaking at the meeting
organised by his office
with officials from all the country’s local
authorities.
“I am not jealous of your millions and billions if you have
them. No one
should pull you down but you must work within the confines of
law.”
Tsvangirai made the comments in response to Chiyangwa’s earlier
complaint
about the continued repossessions of most of the land he acquired
during the
hyperinflationary period from local authorities.
He told
Tsvangirai that he had helped most local authorities who were
struggling to
pay salaries by giving them cash and vehicles in return for
the properties
and the vast tracks of land.
However, some of the land that he lays
claim to is currently a target of
repossessions by the Harare City Council.
One such example is the Ballantyne
Park which the city is in the process of
repossessing.
“I helped most local authorities with cash and I bought
vehicles for some of
them, we agreed to exchange it for land, but they are
now after me,” said
Chiyangwa adding that “the change of administration has
resulted in all
spears against me saying I am a thief just because I have
been labelled
such.”
Chiyangwa has come under fire from the Harare
city councillors on
allegations of fraudulently acquiring land in Harare. He
is currently
engaged in a court battled with a group of war veterans over an
estate in
Waterfalls which has since been turned into a housing area by war
veterans.
Chiyangwa boastfully told the premier that he has constructed a
98-roomed
house in one of Harare’s splash suburb which he is now turning
into a hotel.
He said this was just but one of the many properties he owns,
among them 5
000 undeveloped land and 57 000 residential
stands.
Tsvangirai told local authority officials that his office was
prepared to
assist local authorities to improve housing delivery.
He
said local authorities should work closely with private developers to
reduce
the bloated housing waiting list.
Zimbabwe has a staggering 1.2 million
housing backlog according to Ministry
of Local Government statistics. Harare
leads the pack followed by Bulawayo,
Masvingo, Mutare and Gweru.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Everson Mushava, Staff Writer
Friday, 22 July 2011
12:31
HARARE - Cabinet ministers can no longer travel outside the
country with
security aides, while the civil service job freeze will be
widened and
tightened in new government measures to cut runaway
spending.
President Robert Mugabe and his ministers have since the
beginning of the
year blown about $30 million on foreign trips with the
87-year-old leader
having chewed up half of it.
Mugabe has been to
the Far East at least five times this year and will soon
be travelling to
the United Nations with his extravagantly large entourage.
The expense
cutting measure on ministers might come to nothing given that
Mugabe’s
travels have not been included on those embargoed.
The veteran Zimbabwe
leader travels with an entourage of more than 70 people
each time he flies
out of the country.
According to an internal government circular in
possession of the Daily
News, the tendency by ministers to carry large
entourages of intelligence
officers and personal aides was wasteful and
should stop with immediate
effect.
Only Finance Minister Tendai Biti,
State Security Minister Sydney Sekeramayi
and Foreign Affairs Minister
Simbarashe Mumbengegwi are allowed to travel
with aides.
The rest
of the ministers in President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan
Tsvangirai’s bloated government will have to get special presidential
consent.
“The remaining Cabinet ministers and the rest of deputy
ministers will not
require services of aides on travel outside the country,
unless advised
otherwise on the basis of threat assessments by the
President’s department,”
read the circular, dated July 7, 2011.
“The
current practice where most ministers are accompanied by security aides
cannot be sustained,” read the circular.
Biti proposed the cuts to
find ways of financing civil servants’ salary
increments that he says were
done behind his back and cannot be sustained by
Treasury under current
revenue collection levels, highly-placed government
sources
said.
Last year for example, government forecast its revenue at $1,44
billion
against expenditure of projected at $2,25 billion.
This year,
government has struggled to meet a revenue target of $230 million
a month,
according to Biti.
Biti told Parliament a fortnight ago that civil
servants’ increments would
cost the government an extra $29 million per
month, warning that with the
decline in government revenues, the country
would not sustain the new
salaries.
Mugabe, who pushed for the salary
increments, approved the spending cuts
that have caused friction in
government because they also target senior
departmental directors. Foreign
trips have particularly bled the fiscus.
Biti says foreign travel by top
chefs gobbled in excess of $30 million in
the first half of this year
alone.
The circular, signed by Misheck Sibanda, Chief Secretary to the
President
and Cabinet, has been distributed to all government
departments.
“There ought to be cut-backs in sizes of delegations
travelling for any
business outside the country,” according to the
circular.
Where government representation and participation is required for
regional
and international functions, the lead ministry will only travel
after
justifying the importance of the trip and confirmation of the sources
of
funding.
“With the above position, it is hereby directed that
travel allowances shall
be calculated on the basis of per diem rates as
regulated in the relevant
Treasury Circular. It therefore follows that
applications for ‘special’
rates should not be accommodated,” the circular
read.
“Regarding training of members outside the country, it is a
pre-requisite
that members can only proceed to travel outside and
participate where full
sponsorship from other sources is
secured.
“Accordingly, attendance at all courses outside the country is
cancelled,
unless fully sponsored from other sources,” read the
circular.
According to the circular, government will no longer be
employing new staff
until year-end.
“Notwithstanding the current
stance on the freeze of vacant post, the Public
Service Commission and
Treasury are required to tighten the freeze across
the board, especially
over the period to December 2011.
“To that effect, accounting officers
are advised against making applications
for the filling of posts under their
establishments. Given the above, there
is no scope for creation of posts
under ministries’ establishment,” read the
circular.
Government is
already reeling under the burden of a heavy wage bill that
Biti says will
now choke 74 percent of expenditure after the latest salary
increases.
A civil service audit by a professional accounting firm
from India recently
revealed that government was paying over 75 000 ghost
workers, mostly put on
the payroll to work for Zanu PF during the 2008
election mayhem.
Zanu PF elements in government have refused to accept
the audit findings and
have forced a fresh audit, according to Public
Service Minister Eliphas
Mukonoweshuro.
As part of government
spending cuts, the purchase of any new vehicles has
been frozen, while the
use of official cars for private business by middle
managers will be heavily
curtailed.
“Given the pressure piling on the treasury for resources for
the procurement
of vehicles and taking into account the growth in the bill
for vehicle
maintenance as well as fuel costs, procurement of vehicles and
any budget
provisions for the purpose are hereby suspended until further
notice,” read
the circular.
Sibanda also ordered an immediate stop of
government vehicles after hours by
workers who are not entitled to
them.
“It would appear accounting officers are turning a blind eye to
transport
management. This is evident from use of vehicles almost on a
permanent basis
by members such as drivers and middle management levels
whose conditions of
service do not provide for personal or official issue
vehicles,” read the
circular.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw/
Friday, 22 July 2011 16:50
Staff
Reporter
MINISTERS are among nearly 150 Members of Parliament who have failed
to
account for public funds since the deadline to account for Constituency
Development Funds lapsed at the end of March, The Financial Gazette has
established. The funds were disbursed last year following the setting aside
of US$8 million by Treasury for that purpose, with Constitutional and
Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Eric Matinenga subsequently setting March
31, 2011 as the deadline for accounting for the funds.
Each legislator
received US$50 000.
However, four months after the announcement of the
deadline, the majority of
Parliamentarians have failed to account for the
taxpayers' money.
The Fund is presided over by a committee in which Matinenga
is the
chairperson.
The funds are supposed to be utilised in
developmental projects like
drilling boreholes, repairing schools and
clinics and buying transformers
among other projects.
While the country
has 210 House of Assembly constituencies, by March this
year 203 members
were said to be in the Lower Chamber as a result of death
and
suspensions.
As of last week, about 60 members had accounted for the
funds.
At meetings held in Matabeleland provinces last week between
Matinenga's
ministry and the lawmakers, some parliamentarians had come
forward saying
they were unable to do the returns.
"We send standard
forms which forms require them to respond. Sometimes it
was a question of
people not having the capacity to do returns. I am told
some of them did not
have the capacity to do returns," said Matinenga.
As a result of failure to
submit accounts, the electorate would be punished
for the sins of their
lawmakers as one condition for the issuance of the
funds was that those who
fail to account would not receive additional
funding this year.
There is
also a real danger that Cabinet may decide to suspend the
initiative
altogether.
When the fund was established, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said
he had
struggled in Cabinet, especially in the Cabinet Committee on Economic
Affairs, the only Cabinet committee chaired by President Robert Mugabe, to
have funds set aside for constituencies. He added then that if the funds
were abused there was a high probability that the initiative would be
abandoned.
"It's a trial run. If it is abused we will abandon it. I know
some people
have the propensity to accumulate wealth," he said.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Twenty-four-year-old James Murimi from Rusape always
wanted to be a
professional soldier in the Zimbabwe National Army and after
completing his
O’Levels at Saint Faith Mission in 2007, his dream was
realised.
22.07.1103:14pm
by Jane Makoni
“I successfully passed
the army entrance tests at Vengere Police Station and
with hundreds of other
successful candidates, we were transported to
Cranebone Barracks in Harare,
March. Cranebone Barracks would be a transit
camp as we were destined to
under-go a six month military training either at
Llwellin Barracks
(Bulawayo), Magunji Barracks or at All Arms Battle School
in
Nyanga.
“On the eve of the harmonised March 2008 elections, we were
paraded by
senior army officials and told we would be released so that we go
home and
cast our votes.
“It was made clear that if ever Zanu (PF)
and Mugabe were to lose in the
elections our chances of joining the army
would be reduced to zero. On
returning from voting our fingers would be
inspected to verify that we had
cast our votes.
“We were subsequently
issued with bus and train warrants enabling us to
access transport on
government expense.
The March election was generally peaceful and we cast
our vote without
incident. Contrary to instructions given by the army that
we vote Mugabe and
Zanu (PF), I cast my vote otherwise, as the wind of
change was blowing too
strong to resist.
“As warned, on returning to
the barracks we were subjected to a thorough
finger - tip inspection to fish
out culprits who would not have participated
in the election.
Those
with suspicious and doubtful ink marks were given thorough
beatings.
“When the Presidential poll results took long to be announced,
anxiety
started mounting among residents in and around Harare suburbs. One
evening,
despite having not received military training, we were issued with
military
uniform and baton sticks before being deployed to beat up people
roaming
about suburbs such as Budiriro, Mabvuku, Glenview and
others.
“We were operating in groups of eight under strict instruction to
beat the
hell out of anything on two legs moving about in the night.
Innocent
civilians on their day to day activities were caught in the
cross-fire.
“Beating up civilians suspected to be MDC intensified with the
creation of
torture bases across the country by Zanu (PF). The evil exercise
became
routine until after the discredited Presidential election
re-run.
“At army camps, especially commando barracks, we witnessed
suspected MDC
activists brought to the camp for ‘political orientation
lessons’ in the
form of severe beatings.
“Soon after the June
election, we were put into three different groups
according to where one
would receive military training. Army buses were
availed to ferry us to
various training camps. I was destined for Llwellin
Barracks.
“The
number of deserters ran into several hundreds and this forced army
instructors to pick up any youth moving along the City-Airport road and
around town, as they were suspected to be some of the fleeing
recruits.
“I felt betrayed by the partisan senior army officers and Zanu
(PF) who
destroyed my childhood ambition to serve my country as a
professional
soldier. I found it difficult to believe Zanu (PF) politics was
so
institutionalised in the defence forces”.
Army insiders later told
the Zimbabwean that hundreds of other recruits in
Murimi’s situation slipped
out of training camps to desert the army.
Murimi is now pursuing
professional and technical courses at a technical
training college in order
that he might make a meaningful contribution
towards the country’s economy.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) which
carried out a public
survey in June has called upon the government of
Zimbabwe not to
re-introduce the Zimbabwean dollar.
22.07.1105:37pm
by
Fungai Kwaramba Harare
While Finance Minister Tendai Biti recently
said that the Zimbabwean dollar
may make a re-entry in 2015, some sections
of the coalition government are
keen for it to happen
sooner.
However, in its contribution to the mid-term budget, CZI said
that the
government needed to go a step further and issue a Statutory
instrument
which demonetises the Zimbabwean dollar.
"The
multicurrency system brought about the much needed stability in the
economy
and needs to be maintained," said CZI.
CZI also urged the government to
accelerate the privatisation of
parastatals.
"Talk of privatisation
has gone on for several years with no tangible
results. There is need for
government to prioritise parastatals, and ZESA
should be at the top.
Alternatively, ZESA should free up licensing to allow
private players to
actively pursue incentives.”
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
HARARE - Goromonzi South legislator Greenbate
Dongo says he knows at least
two ghost workers being paid for doing
nothing.
22.07.1105:26pm
by MDC Changing Times
Debating a
motion in Parliament introduced by Moses Mare (Chiredzi West) on
‘Accountability and Remittance of Diamonds Proceeds’ Dongo stunned the house
when he said: “Zanenga Luke, ID Number 47070923 W47 was vetted and qualified
as a political detainee in 2010 and was paid $2 122.01 in November
2010.
“Posthumous payment was done since this purported pensioner died on
the 2nd
October 2010. This person was born on the 1st October, 1968,
suggesting that
when the war ended, he was just 12 years
old.
“Muswewembudzi Peter, ID Number 42148132 L42, born on 22 September
1975 of
Western Triangle, Highfields. His war veteran number is VT1415094V
and he is
receiving receiving $116 per month as a war pension. This guy was
born in
1975, which means by the end of the war, he was five years old,”
said Dongo.
Mare had earlier called for transparency in the distribution
of the proceeds
raised from the sale of diamonds at Chiadzwa in order to
improve civil
servants’ salaries.
“Therefore, this august House calls
upon the government to ensure that all
proceeds from previous sales of
diamonds from Chiadzwa are properly
accounted for and remitted to
Treasury.
He further demanded: “That the government puts in place the
necessary
legislation and mechanism to enable Treasury to take full control
of all
diamonds in the country, ensure that all minerals are sold to the
best
advantage of the country and remove the over 70 000 ghost workers from
the
government pay-roll,” said Mare.
He added that the country’s
resources were not being utilised in the best
interest of the nation. “The
other one is; we want to minimise foreign trips
with large entourages
especially the trips to Beijing, Singapore and
Malaysia. This will boost
financial re-sources towards salaries,” he said
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Editor
Friday, 22 July 2011
15:32
HARARE - A committee leading the crafting of the country’s new
constitution
has told visiting South African talks facilitators that the
final draft will
only be ready by year-end, putting to rest misleading
claims by Zanu PF that
polls will go ahead this year.
President
Robert Mugabe last week said his party’s politburo had decided to
expedite
the completion of the constitution-making process to ensure
elections were
held this year without fail.
But Constitution Parliamentary Committee
(Copac) leaders from Zanu PF and
the two MDC formations effectively poured
cold water on the push for 2011
polls when meeting the SA facilitators
yesterday.
The facilitators, representing Sadc appointed mediator to the
Zimbabwe
political stalemate President Jacob Zuma, are in Harare as part of
consultations aimed at tying up a roadmap for the country’s elections ahead
of the regional summit scheduled for Luanda, Angola next month.
Copac
co-chair Douglas Mwonzora confirmed to the Daily News that although
the
committee was yet to work out definitive timelines, it was almost
certain
that a final draft would not be ready before the end of December.
Copac
had initially set September as the deadline for the production of a
draft,
to be followed by a referendum. But the game plan has shifted because
of
constant failure to meet deadlines due to political bickering and
underfunding.
He said this had been made clear to Zuma’s
envoys.
“Copac had been instructed to work out timelines for the
completion of the
constitution but it has not yet completed working on the
timelines. But
assuming that Copac is going to resume on August 1, it means
if you impose
the critical timelines, it will push the referendum date from
30 September
to end of the year,” Mwonzora said.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw/
Friday, 22 July 2011 16:58
Levi Mukarati, Senior
Political Reporter
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is seething with
anger over President
Robert Mugabe's alleged unilateral appointment of the
deputy chief of the
Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO), Aaron Nhepera,
without consulting
him.
The appointment of Nhepera has also been
condemned by the smaller faction of
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
led by Welshman Ncube.
President Mugabe last week announced the appointment
of Nhepera as deputy
director of the CIO. A former ZANLA cadre, Nhepera
replaced Mernard
Muzariri, who succumbed to cancer three months ago.
The
appointment comes as the protagonists in the troubled inclusive
government
are locked in a bitter wrangle over security sector reforms. The
MDC
formations want the spy agency to fall under the purview of
Parliament.
Nhepera's appointment has further widened cracks in the
tripartite
government with Prime Minister Tsvangirai and members from the
MDC
expressing unhappiness over President Mugabe's continued unilateralism
in
the government of national unity (GNU).
Prime Minister Tsvangirai is
expected to take up the issue with his rival
during their next principals
meeting. The meeting failed to take place this
week due to the
unavailability of all the three principals in the GNU.
Tsvangirai's
spokesperson, Luke Tambori-nyoka, confirmed his boss was not
happy about
President Mugabe's latest unilateralism.
"The Prime Minister was not
consulted . . . He (Tsvangirai) is not happy as
it has become a tradition
(of ZANU-PF) of not respecting the spirit of the
inclusive government. I
would not want to speculate our next move but we are
not happy," he
said.
Kurauone Chihwayi, the deputy spokesperson for the MDC, said his party
was
worried that ZANU-PF continued to be insincere.
"We are concerned
about this as a party in government. We are not going to
keep quiet because
we have legislators and ministers in government. This
should come to a
stop," said Chihwayi.
Disharmony has been the major characteristic of the
inclusive government.
Last year, Tsvangirai's MDC-T threatened to pull out of
the GNU after being
infuriated by ZANU-PF's appointment of provincial
governors and the
deployment of ambassadors to various countries without its
input.
The three parties' negotiators had agreed on a formula that would have
seen
the MDC-T getting five governorship posts, while the other four were to
go
to ZANU-PF and one to MDC.
But President Mugabe reneged on the
agreement and appointed members from
ZANU-PF forcing the MDC-T to go to the
courts in a case which is still
pending.
According to the 2008 Global
Political Agreement (GPA) signed by the three
parties President Mugabe is
compelled to consult other partners in the
inclusive government when making
key senior appointments.
Rugare Gumbo, the ZANU-PF spokesperson, however,
said it was folly for the
MDC formations to dare challenge what the
incumbent has decided.
"This is an appointment by the President and who is
complaining about not
being consulted? Consulted over what? Who said the
President is obliged to
consult? It is a general strategy of the MDC to cry
over issues. Who are
they to be consulted over security issues? It is a
prerogative of the
President as the Commander-in-Chief of the (Zimbabwe)
Defence Forces and
everyone should stand by it," said Gumbo.
ZANU-PF's
latest position that President Mugabe was not under any obligation
to
consult signals its unwillingness to continue working with its partners,
hence last weeks' declaration by the party's supreme decision-making body,
the Politburo, that elections must be conducted this year.
The former
ruling party wants elections this year to terminate the unity
government
while the MDC formations have been adamant that the environment
is not yet
conducive for the staging of fresh polls.
A road-map produced by the
negotiators in the GPA has tentatively set the
polls for August/September
2012 or early 2013.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 22 July 2011 16:52
Clemence Manyukwe,
Political Editor
PARLIAMENT has censured Youth Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment
Minister Saviour Kasukuwere over
controversial directives to foreign-owned
companies, which the legislators
said contravened the country's
Constitution.
The Parliamentary Legal
Com-mittee (PLC) noted that some of Kasukuwere's
directives dealt with
issues outside his jurisdiction.
In an adverse report tabled in the House of
Assembly on Tue-sday, the
committee said General Notice 114 of 2011 gazetted
in May this year was in
contravention not only of the country's Constitution
but also of the
Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Act itself.
The
censure of the minister by the PLC, which sat last Wedne-sday to
deliberate
on the matter, is the second such action inside two months.
Even ZANU-PF
members in the legal committee, Paul Mangwana and Beatrice
Nyamupinga,
concurred with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T)'s
Shepherd
Mushonga, who chairs the PLC, and MDC-T chief whip, Innocent Gonese
as well
as the MDC's Thandeko Mkhandla in condemning Kasukuwere, who has
come up
with a series of regulations meant to give effect to the
Indigenisation and
Economic Empowerment Act which seeks to force foreign and
white-owned
companies to cede 51 percent of their shareholding to indigenous
blacks.
In the condemned regulations, Kasukuwere directed that mining
companies
should only sell the 51 percent shareholding to designated
entities approved
by his ministry.
The designated entities are the
Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, the
National Indigenisation and
Economic Empow-erment Fund and a statutory
sovereign wealth fund. An
employee share ownership scheme or Trust and
management share ownership
schemes were also listed as designated entities.
"The net effect of these
directives is that in order to achieve the
prescribed indigenisation quota,
a mining business must sell its shares to
designated entities. In other
words, mining business entities cannot achieve
the prescribed quota by
selling their shares to partners of their choice.
The minister has already
found partners for them. This is clearly a fragrant
violation of section 21
of the Constitution quoted above, which is the
freedom of association
provision," the PLC said in its report.
The report added that a 1985 Supreme
Court judgment in a case between May &
Ors vs the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe, had defined shares in a company as
property.
Shares in mining
businesses are property and as such Kasukuwere's notices
for the compulsory
acquisition of those shares translates to compulsory
acquisition of
property, in violation of section 16 of the Constitution that
provides for
protection against deprivation of property, the committee said.
It said in
General Notice 114 of 2011, the minister went beyond matters that
were
allowed by law to be dealt with through notices.
According to the PLC report,
one glaring contravention was that whereas the
enabling statutory instrument
provides that only businesses with a net value
of US$500 000 or more must
submit provisional indigenisation forms, the
minister's general notice had
reduced the figure to a single dollar.
"Therefore, from the foregoing, the
learned opinion of the Parliamentary
Legal Committee is that General Notice
114 of 2011 should be repealed
because it is not good law. It is bad law
because it violates sections 16
and 21 of the Constitution; it is bad law
because it is ultra vires the
provision of the enabling statutory
instrument, which is the Indigenisation
and Empowerment Regulation 2010,"
said the PLC.
Kasukuwere is expected to respond to the criticism in
Parliament in due
course.
Last month, the PLC also unanimously condemned
a set of regulations that the
Indigenisation Minister had issued. The
empowerment regulations stated that
businesses that failed to submit
indigenisation plans or provisional plans
within 30 days of receiving a
notice faced imprisonment of up to five years.
They also said investors who
made investments resulting in them having
controlling shareholding without
appro-val in a sector in which locals must
have majority control also risked
imprisonment for up to five years.
The committee said the stipulated
penalties were not proportionate to the
offences as required by the
Constitution.
They added that an attempt by the regulations to impose prison
terms on
businesses was unreasonable and absurd.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said
it is sponsoring a
consultant to assist Zimbabwe’s discredited Organ for
National Healing,
Reconciliation and Integration breathe life into its
programmes.
22.07.1105:38pm
by Vusimusi Bhebhe
UNDP announced
last week that the consultant would craft a code of conduct
manual for
Zimbabwe’s feuding political parties and to organise a national
healing
meeting involving all stakeholders.
The consultant is also expected to
advise the organ on development of
packages for national healing,
reconciliation and integration. Zimbabwe’s
national healing process has been
dogged by problems and is viewed by most
people as an exercise in
futility.
The failure by the unity government to come up with
transitional justice
mechanisms adds to the growing disappointment of
victims who have lost faith
in the organ.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Hate messages were broadcast on state radio last
week as Zanu (PF) mounted a
campaign to discredit Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission chairman Simpson
Mtambanengwe ahead of crucial
elections.
23.07.1102:31pm
by John Chimunhu
The campaign to
tarnish the image of the man who is expected to run the poll
and announce
the results started after Mtambanengwe embarked on reforms to
make the ZEC
more transparent in line with the Global Political Agreement
(GPA).
Zanu (PF)'s shock troops, the 'war veterans' have since taken
up the issue.
War vet and Chivi North MP Trynos Huruva called on
Mtambanengwe to resign
over the affair, claiming he was a puppet of the
British, the usual label
for anyone who does not fulfil the wishes of Robert
Mugabe's party.
The Mugabe loyalists have also vowed to invade
Mtambanengwe's offices in
similar fashion to what they did to finance
minister Tendai Biti, if he
announces election results they do not
like.
The hate messages claimed Mtambanengwe had refused to read an
official
speech drafted by the ZEC officials for him to present at a
conference in
the United Kingdom last week. The state-sponsored Zanu (PF)
propaganda arm
claimed the retired High Court judge had abandoned his
official speech in
favour of a damaging report allegedly authored by a
British embassy
official.
State radio said the report presented by
Mtambanengwe had given the
'erroneous' impression that Zimbabwe was not
ready for polls. Zanu
(PF) has been calling for elections to be held
before the end of the year.
However, Mtambanengwe has reportedly said the
ZEC needs more time to make
sure the money is available and to sort out the
voters'
roll, said to be in a shambles.
The MDC and several
advocacy groups have also alleged that Central
Intelligence Organisation
officials dominate ZEC. They say these must be
weeded out of ZEC before the
elections as they have been placed there to
help Robert Mugabe
rig.
The official speech reportedly prepared by the CIO for Mtambanengwe
to
present at the recent UK conference, which the chairman allegedly did not
read, purportedly painted a glossy picture of the electoral terrain in the
country. The discarded speech also recommended elections this year, saying
ZEC was ready to hold them.
http://www.voanews.com
22 July
2011
Eighteen percent of Zimbabweans surveyed are said to be living
comfortably
on their present household incomes, twice the share seen in
2009
Gibbs Dube | Washington
Zimbabweans seem to be benefiting
from two straight years of economic growth
after the formation of an
inclusive government in 2009, according to a new
Gallup
poll.
Eighteen percent of Zimbabweans surveyed said they are living
comfortably on
their present household incomes, double the 9 percent share
in a 2009 poll.
Meanwhile, the 16 percent who reported they are finding
it very hard to get
by has significantly declined from the 31 percent found
in 2009.
But the Gallup polling firm warned that election-related
violence and
instability could jeopardize the modest economic gains that
Zimbabweans have
garnered.
Gallup said the results are based on 1,000
face-to-face interviews with
adults aged 15 or older conducted in 2009, 2010
and 2011.
Nonetheless, Mabvuku resident Robert Matava said most
Zimbabweans continue
to struggle to make ends meet. “We usually sell
cigarettes to our colleagues
at work in order to raise money for transport
and other needs,” Matava said.
Mberengwa teacher Onwell Chiponda said the
majority of Zimbabweans are
living below the poverty line of US$502 for a
family of five.
A Bulawayo resident who asked to be identified only as
Dube said some
Zimbabweans make ends meet by supplementing their main source
of income.
“Some families sell domestic animals and other valuables to send
children to
school and buy basic commodities because of low salaries in the
public and
private sectors,” he said.
The survey found that
Zimbabweans' personal economic situations improved
dramatically in the past
two years. “In 2011, 39 percent of Zimbabweans
reported they did not have
enough money at times in the past year to buy
food they or their families
needed, down from 73 percent in 2009 and 80
percent in 2008,” said
Gallup.
Now that ordinary Zimbabweans "no longer need to pay Z$10 million
for a loaf
of bread, many Zimbabweans are finding such basics more
affordable," Gallup
said. But it acknowledged that "a sizable percentage ...
are still
struggling.”
Zimbabwean perceptions improved greatly
relative to other countries.
“Zimbabwe stands out because its scores on the
Personal Economy Index
increased more than those of any other country
surveyed, rising from 8 in
2007 to 43 in 2009.”
Gallup said the
outlook of Zimbabweans regarding each of the four items in
the Personal
Economy Index improved, which might be attributable to the
easing of
hyperinflation in 2009 and economic growth that year for the first
time in a
decade.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw/
Friday, 22 July 2011 15:25
.
. . as they lose more cases than they win
National Agenda with Bornwell
Chakaodza
THIS week alone, two State cases against political activists
collapsed like
a deck of cards because prosecutors could not sustain the
charges without
sufficient evidence.
On Monday, State prosecutors
dropped treason charges against six activists
accused of plotting an
"Egyptian Style" uprising to overthrow President
Robert Mugabe's government.
The substance of the State case was that
Munyaradzi Gwisai, a former MP and
opposition activist, invited a number of
people to watch videos of the
unrest in Egypt which toppled President Hosni
Mubarak and to discuss
democratic reform in Zimbabwe.
In the wisdom, or lack of it, the Zimbabwe
Republic Police (ZRP)
investigating officers were convinced that the
meeting, attended by mostly a
handful of concerned intellectuals and
ordinary Harare workers, was a
prelude to a treasonous uprising in Zimbabwe.
How a professional police
force which prides itself in being regularly
called upon for UN
peace-keeping duties can come to this preposterous
conclusion and then
proceed to arrest and cause the prosecution of people
purely on the basis of
conjecture about their motivation defies
logic.
Earlier on Monday, State prosecutors announced they were withdrawing
corruption charges against Energy Minister, Elton Mangoma.
Last month,
Mangoma was acquitted of allegations that he corruptly bypassed
government
procedures in buying fuel from a South African company in
January. This case
also exposed a disturbing phenomenon of collusion between
some civil
servants and police in seeking to embarrass or humiliate those
belonging to
other political parties other than their own.
There are many other cases
dating back 10 or so years ago including arrest
of journalists in the course
of doing their work, police have routinely
failed to secure convictions
because of the paucity of evidence they
offered. In many of the cases
involving journalists, the sum-total of police
investigations have been
intimidatory interrogations of accused persons
apparently in order to force
them to disclose sources of information, which
in itself, is a violation of
journalistic ethics.
In countries where the State institutions function
normally, the
Attorney-General would take umbrage and anger with the police
for
continuously bringing for prosecution, cases without proper evidence.
But
that would be too much to expect from Johannes Tomana, the current
Attorney-General who, by virtue of being a self- confessed supporter of one
of the parties represented in the inclusive government, has proved time and
time again that he cannot be relied upon to be impartial in his
decisions.
While the Zimbabwe judiciary has remained largely professional and
independent in delivering justice where cases have been handled properly,
the same cannot be said about the police and the Office of the
Attorney-General. Indeed, as one observer noted recently, the acquittal of
Minister Mangoma was an indictment on the office of the Attorney-General who
wasted the tax payer's money in besmirching and persecuting an innocent
Zimbabwean.
Little wonder therefore, that so- called abuse of office
charges against
Mangoma failed to stick, just as similar cases against
thousands of others
which crumbled like a deck of cards over the past 12
years. The effect of
all this has been to completely destroy the credibility
of the police and
the o ffice of the Attorney-General which is most
unfortunate indeed for our
country. We do not need this state of affairs in
this day and age.
What is even more disturbing is that in all these cases
which have
invariably come to zero, the accused persons have been made to
suffer
humiliation and needless incarceration exposing them to physical
discomfort
and possibly chronic diseases at the hands of the police.
In
many of the cases, suspects were arrested publicly, bundled into police
vehicles and driven away to be locked up in some filthy police cells where
neither their relatives nor lawyers could reach them. It is therefore
difficult to escape the conclusion that in many of these cases, the police
were aware that it would be impossible to secure a conviction but were still
determined to punish the suspects by subjecting them to these inhuman
conditions.
It is also worth noting that many of the arrests,
particularly those which
appear to be politically motivated, seem to go
beyond normal law
enforcement. For instance, it is difficult to understand
why senior MDC
officials, a recent example being that an MDC Minister,
Jameson Timba,
always seem to end up at the notorious Matapi police station
when there are
many other less frightening places they could be taken
to.
In the Timba case like in many others before and after it, the police
motive
appeared to be persecution than prosecution. Apparently, in a
deliberate
effort to cause him as much anxiety as possible, he was shuttled
between
police stations including the infamous Matapi police station. I do
not know
whether there is something in the Police Act or Police Charter that
authorises such shuttling between police stations. But to what purpose
anyway?
It is blatant miscarriage of justice when the police, whose role
is simply
to arrest and hold people in custody while prosecuting authorities
present
their evidence before courts which have the final authority to
prescribe
punishment for offenders arrogate themselves the role of judge,
jury and
executioner - all rolled into one. This is an untenable situation
which, if
not dealt with as a matter of urgency, will one day come back to
haunt those
responsible for allowing it to happen.
Beneficiaries of this
miscarriage of justice being perpetrated by their
loyalists today must not
cry foul when the same injustices are turned on
them by the same people they
are turning to subvert the law. If you train
your child to be a hooligan,
you should not be surprised when that child
turns against you when it suits
him to do so at some point in his or her
lifetime.
It is also unfortunate
that professional policemen who have distinguished
themselves over the years
in ensuring that laws of the land are scrupulously
observed, find themselves
lumped together with rogue elements who believe
that the more brutal and
feared they are in the execution of their duties,
the more acceptable they
are to their paymasters. A number of senior police
officers have gained
notoriety not for their "Sherlock Holmes" skills but
for their brutal and
amoral methods of extracting confessions from suspects.
It is this behavior
of the police that justifies the on-going calls by
well-meaning Zimbabweans
for security sector reforms. A police force that
becomes a willing tool of
politics to persecute perceived opposition
elements cannot be relied upon to
be impartial in carrying out its duties.
More than 600 senior police
officers who were linked to the Mubarak regime
Egypt were forced to
relinquish their positions because they could not fit
in the new system.
They became the proverbial square peg in a round hole in
the new democratic
Egypt.
Surely, this is the last thing that Zimbabweans would want to see
happen in
their country.
- borncha@gmail.com
July 23, 2011
Zimbabwe XI 300
(Taylor 85, Siddle 4-45) and 49 for 3 (Taylor 32*, Starc 2-8) v Australia
A 498 (Finch 122, Warner 211, Price 4-116)
Scorecard
| |||
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Zimbabwe XI fought back gamely for most of the third day after Australia A's openers had put on a 289-run stand, Ray Price leading the way with four wickets as the visitors were restricted to a lead of 198. The Zimbabwean batsmen were soon under real pressure, however, as Mitchell Starc's early strikes left them precariously placed at 49 for 3.
The second day had belonged almost entirely to Australia but Zimbabwe made a good start on the third morning, taking just three overs to break a massive opening stand between Aaron Finch and David Warner. Price provided the breakthrough, bowling Finch for 122, and in the very next over Chris Mpofu had Usman Khawaja caught behind for a golden duck as Australia slipped to 290 for 2.
Callum Ferguson's fluent 48 helped Warner to stem the tide, the latter bringing up a 330-ball double hundred - his first in first-class cricket - in the course of their 78-run stand for the third wicket. Once Ferguson was removed, caught behind off Elton Chigumbura, there was another flurry of wickets and Price had Tim Paine caught by Craig Ervine for his second scalp.
Zimbabwe immediately took the new ball, with dramatic results. Mitchell Marsh had his stumps re-arranged by Mpofu, who trapped Warner in front of his stumps for 211 four balls later. Vitori got past both Luke Butterworth and Trent Copeland in the space of an over, and Australia had lost four wickets for one run in 10 balls.
Australia A were 437 for 9 when Price bowled Peter Siddle for his third wicket, but then came a determined fightback by Jason Krejza and Starc, who clung on to add 61 for the tenth wicket to frustrate the Zimbabweans. Krejza brought up a 72-ball fifty and was prised out by Price soon after, Australia A reaching 498 in the 138th over.
The momentum swung firmly back Australia's way in Starc's opening spell as he removed both Vusi Sibanda and Tino Mawoyo within the first six overs. Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor began to re-build the innings but Masakadza was removed by Copeland minutes before the close, and Zimbabwe's fortunes may well now hinge on Taylor, unbeaten on 32, as they look to save the game on the final day.
Dear Family and Friends,
The view from Zimbabwe’s window is gorgeous at
the moment. The bush
is gold and bronze and many of the deciduous trees have
started
shaking off their dusty old leaves as they prepare for a new
season.
Spectacular sunbirds give flashes of crimson and emerald as they
flick
in and out of the flowering aloes and succulents which have given us
a
spectacular show this winter. It’s always such a treat to see the
vast
range of delicate pink and purple bells, bright yellow spikes and
blazing
orange and red flowers emerging from these thorny, prickly
plants.
The
Paperbark Acacia trees are crowded with pods at the moment and it
takes just
a glimpse to transport me back to the time before farm
invasions, war
veterans and greedy, ugly politics ravaged our country.
A time just eleven
years ago when Zimbabwe was prosperous, peaceful
and so very productive. The
pods on the Acacia trees remind me of the
time when my then young son and I
would gather them up by the sack
load around our farm; lay them in the sun to
dry and then mix them in
with the winter feed for the sheep and
cattle.
Another sight that always brings back memories is a huge Fig
tree
growing on the roadside of a main highway. The trunk and branches
are
covered in thick clusters of figs. They are green and clinging on
at
the moment but in the next few weeks will turn orange and red and
start
covering the ground in heady, fermenting carpets. This too
reminds me of
winter afternoons on the farm. Followed by a straggle of
dusty, barefoot kids
we would go out to collect wild figs and fill
bags with the intoxicating
sticky fruits. The kids, of course, would
soon get bored and scamper off with
home made bows and arrows,
reluctantly emerging when it was time to head
home. The figs were
another natural bounty to add to the winter feed mixture,
relished by
all the livestock. The gathering of the fruits was a task not
without
hazards as the figs were always smothered in ants.
Happy
memories were banished when suddenly a line of vehicles stopped
on the road
ahead bought me back to the present. It’s yet another
police roadblock and
this time they are obviously looking for
something as everyone is being
stopped. Three or four police stand in
the highway questioning drivers while
a few metres off the road other
police stand, rifles in their hands and
hanging from their shoulders.
After a cursory glance at the drivers licence,
the policeman asks:
‘Any firearms on you?’
No, was the
answer.
‘What about behind the seat? Any weapons there?’
Again:
no.
‘In the glove compartment?’ the policeman asks, indicating that
it
must be opened so he can look inside.
Cars have to open their boots
and covered freight is looked at. You
don’t ask what’s going on, just
quietly, unquestioningly, comply.
For a moment a conversation from a few
years ago suddenly came into my
mind. I met a woman who had returned to
Zimbabwe for a visit. She had
left the country in the mid 2000’s when
political violence was
raging. She had gone to New Zealand and when I asked
her if she had
any regrets, she said the best thing was that her children had
learnt
to trust police and not be scared of them. I fear Zimbabwe is still
a
very long way away from that.
I end this week with a message of
condolence for people in Norway
engulfed in the horror of bombs in Oslo and
mass murder in Utoya. Our
thoughts and prayers are with you. Until next time,
thanks for
reading, love cathy. 23 July 2011. Copyright � Cathy Buckle.
www.cathybuckle.com
BILL WATCH
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE AND STATUS OF BILLS SERIES
[22nd July 2011]
Committee
Meetings Open to the Public 25th to 28th July
The meetings listed below will be open to members of the public, but as
observers only, not as participants, i.e. members of the public can listen but
not speak.
Note: As there are sometimes last-minute changes to the meetings
schedule, persons wishing to attend a meeting should avoid possible
disappointment by checking with the relevant committee clerk that the meeting is
still on and still open to the public. Parliament’s telephone numbers are Harare 700181 and
252936. If attending, please use the
Kwame Nkrumah Ave entrance to Parliament.
IDs must be produced.
Monday 25th July at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Natural
Resources, Environment and Tourism
Oral
evidence from Parks and Wild Life Authority on CAMPFIRE operations
Committee Room No. 311
Chairperson: Hon
Clerk: Mr Munjenge
Portfolio Committee: Mines and Energy
Oral
evidence from various players in the chrome mining
industry
Senate
Chamber
Chairperson: Hon Chindori-Chininga Clerk: Mr Manhivi
Tuesday 26th July at 10 am
Thematic Committee: MDGs
Oral
evidence from the Secretary for Agriculture, Mechanisation and Irrigation Development on the impact of
the 2011 budget on achieving targets for Millennium Development Goal 1 [MDG 1 is to
eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.]
Government
Caucus Room
Chairperson: Hon
Senator Chief Mtshane Clerk: Mrs Nyawo
Portfolio Committee: Health and Child Welfare
Oral
evidence on the functions of the Private Hospitals Association
Committee Room No. 1
Chairperson: Hon Parirenyatwa Clerk: Mrs Khumalo
Portfolio Committee: Industry
and Commerce
Briefing
from the Lobels Bakery Board of Directors and
Representatives of the Lobels Bakery Workers Union on
the operational constraints at Lobels Bakery
Committee Room No. 311
Chairperson: Hon Mutomba Clerk: Ms
Masara
Thursday 28th July at 10 am
Portfolio Committee: Agriculture, Water, Lands and Resettlement
Meeting with the Minister of Agriculture on the Ministry’s position
and role re joint venture agreements between the Agricultural and Rural
Development Authority (ARDA) and
partners
Committee Room No. 4
Chairperson: Hon Jiri Clerk:
Ms Mudavanhu
Portfolio Committee: Media,
Information and Communication Technology
Oral
evidence from the Ministry of Information Communication Technology on the First
and Second Quarter Financial Statements and Reports
Committee Room No. 2
Chairperson: Hon S.
Moyo Clerk:
Mr Mutyambizi
Status of Bills as at 22nd July 2011
Bills
Passed and Awaiting Presidential Assent and/or Gazetting as
Acts
Small
Enterprises Development Corporation Amendment Bill [final reading in the Senate 12th
July]
Bills in the Senate
Deposit Protection Corporation Bill [H.B. 7A, 2010]
Passed by House of Assembly: 1st June 2011 [with
amendments] [Electronic version
available]
Ministry:
Finance
Stage: Awaiting Second
Reading.
Public Order and Security Amendment Bill [H.B. 11A, 2009]
Private Member’s Bill introduced by Hon I. Gonese, MDC-T.
Passed by House of Assembly: 8th December 2010 [with
amendments] [Electronic version of Bill as amended by House of Assembly
available.]
Stage: Awaiting Second Reading
Bills in the House of Assembly
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill [H.B. 2, 2011] [Electronic version available.]
Gazetted: 10th June
2011
Ministry: Justice and Legal
Affairs
Portfolio Committee: Justice, Legal Affairs,
Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs
Introduced: 12th
July
Stage: Awaiting report from
Parliamentary Legal Committee
National
Incomes and Pricing Commission Amendment Bill
[H.B. 10, 2010]
Gazetted: 5th November 2010 [Electronic version available.]
Ministry: Industry and Commerce
Portfolio
Committee: Industry and Commerce
Stage: Awaiting Second Reading
Bill Being Considered by Parliamentary Legal Committee
[PLC]
Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill [H.B. 2, 2011] [Electronic version available.]
Referred to PLC: 12th July, immediately
after First Reading in House of Assembly
[Note: The PLC has 26 “business days” – until 19th August – within
which to report back to the House, but can be granted an extension by the
Speaker. The House cannot proceed to the
Second Reading stage of the Bill until the PLC has
reported.]
Bill Awaiting Introduction
Electoral Amendment Bill [H.B. 3, 2011] [Electronic version available.]
Gazetted: 27th June 2011
Ministry: Justice and Legal
Affairs
Portfolio Committee: Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and Parliamentary
Affairs
[Note: The Minister of Justice
and Legal Affairs is due to present the Bill on Tuesday 26th July; the Bill will
then be referred to the PLC for a report on its
constitutionality.]
Bill
being Printed
Older
Persons Bill
[H.B. 1, 2011] [Electronic version NOT
available.]
Ministry: Labour and Social Welfare
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information
supplied.