The ZIMBABWE Situation
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US
not lifting Zimbabwe sanctions
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Sapa-AFP | 24 July, 2012 14:46
The
United States' outgoing ambassador to Zimbabwe said on Tuesday that
Washington would only lift sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and his
inner circle if polls are held peacefully.
"There are disturbing
signs of potential violence," Charles Ray said in a
farewell address to
journalists on completing his tour of duty in Harare.
"There have been
disturbing reports recently that could be problematic in an
election
environment."
The ambassador's remarks came a day after the European
Union agreed to lift
most sanctions imposed on Mugabe's inner circle if the
country holds a
"credible" vote on a new constitution.
Ray said the
United States would only lift its own sanctions on Mugabe and
his close
associates after Washington is satisfied with the electoral
conditions in
Zimbabwe.
"Sanctions were a response to a violent electoral process," he
said. "A
credible electoral process free of violence and intimidation would
make our
current policies irrelevant. The ball is entirely in this
court.
"It's hard to say to my government they should do away with a
policy that we
put in place as a response to certain issues when those
issues have not been
adequately addressed."
Sporadic cases of
violence have been reported across Zimbabwe in recent
months including the
murder of a district official from Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai's party
by Mugabe supporters.
Mugabe and Tsvangirai were forced into a coalition
government three years
ago to avoid a tip into fully-fledged conflict
following a bloody
presidential run-off election.
A local daily last
week reported an incident in which soldiers teamed up
with youth from
Mugabe's party to block a rally that was to be addressed by
Finance Minister
Tendai Biti, a Tsvangirai ally.
The ambassador, who is retiring after 50
years in the military and
diplomatic service, also urged security chiefs to
keep out of politics.
"The role of the military is to defend the nation,"
Ray said.
"In order to do that they must develop a degree of
professionalism. It means
that military people, in order to remain
professional and of service to the
country, must delink their personal
political convictions from the carrying
out of their professional
duties."
Some security chiefs have been quoted in the media making
partisan political
statements including suggestions that they would only
recognise a leader
with credentials from the country's 1970s liberation war.
Outgoing US
Ambassador to Zimbabwe Fears Violent Elections
http://www.voanews.com/
Sebastian
Mhofu
July 24, 2012
HARARE — The outgoing U.S. ambassador to Zimbabwe,
Charles Ray, says he
fears the African nation's next elections could be
violent, judging by
recent trends.
Speaking at his last media
briefing in Harare, retiring U.S. Ambassador
Charles Ray said elections in
Zimbabwe might turn violent, “There are
disturbing signs of potential of
violence," he stated. "That could be
problematic in an election
environment.”
Since 2000, when President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party
felt the challenge
of a strong opposition, Zimbabwean elections have been
violent. That
resulted in the United States, Britain and other Western
countries imposing
sanctions on Mugabe and his party leadership, beginning
in 2002.
The army, which has openly said it supports ZANU-PF, has been
accused of
fanning violence.
“I spent 20 years of life as a
professional soldier," said Ray. "The role
of the army is to defend the
nation. In order to do that you need to
develop a degree of
professionalism. While it does not mean that military
people are not
entitled to have political views, it means that military
people, in order to
remain professional and in service to the country, they
must delink their
personal political convictions from their current
professional
duties.”
The ambassador said Washington would lift sanctions imposed on
Mugabe and
his allies if it saw human rights being honored, and an election
reflecting
Zimbabwean wishes had been held.
The European Union made a
similar statement Monday, saying it will remove
targeted sanctions after
Zimbabwe holds "peaceful and credible" elections.
Zimbabwe is set to hold
elections by June 2013 to end the power-sharing
government of Mugabe and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. The two formed a
coalition in 2009, after
regional leaders nullified a violent election in
which Mugabe claimed
victory over Tsvangirai.
Tsvangirai welcomes EU moves to lift targeted sanctions
Statement by the
Prime Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe on the EU
Council decisions on
Zimbabwe
24 July 2012
I welcome the EU announcement made in
Brussels yesterday to suspend
restrictive measures on Zimbabwe. My
preference remains for a full lifting
of the measures in keeping with the
agreement between the GPA parties in
Zimbabwe and resolutions of
SADC.
However, linking a suspension to the successful conclusion of the
Constitution referendum is evidence that the EU is willing to respond to
progress in reform of the democratic process in Zimbabwe.
I remain
hopeful that we will in due course fully normalize our relationship
with the
EU and urge all parties to remain engaged. In particular, I urge
the GPA
parties in Zimbabwe to redouble their efforts in implementing the
commitments that we made to fully and honestly implement the global
political agreement and the roadmap to a free, fair, legitimate and credible
election whose results are not contested.
Morgan Tsvangirai
Prime
Minister of the Republic of Zimbabwe
DFAT to
review Zimbabwe sanctions
http://www.abc.net.au/
Updated July 25, 2012 00:51:09
Prime
Minister Julia Gillard has asked the Department of Foreign Affairs to
review
Australia's sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Zimbabwe's prime minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, who was formerly a torture
victim at the hands of president
Robert Mugabe's regime, argues there have
been many positive changes in his
country.
He has used a visit to Australia to call for restrictions placed
on the
Mugabe regime to be suspended.
He has argued the military,
financial and travel sanctions should be eased
in the lead up to the next
election, given the progress that has been
achieved.
Mr Tsvangirai's
comments coincide with European Union leaders praising
Zimbabwe's unity
government this week for improving freedom and prosperity.
The ABC
understands DFAT could make a decision on the request within weeks.
SADC
land ruling undermined by Zim constitution
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
24
July 2012
Zimbabwe’s commitment to the rule of law is facing serious
questions since
the release of the country’s new draft constitution, which
contains clauses
that undermine a key ruling by the regional human rights
court.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal ruled
in 2008
that Robert Mugabe’s land grab campaign was unlawful, in a landmark
court
case that upheld the right of the Zimbabwe’s battered farming
community to
seek redress.
The ruling slammed the land seizures as
‘inherently discriminatory’ and
against the standards and values of the SADC
Treaty that Zimbabwe, as a
signatory to the Treaty, is party to.
The
then ZANU PF government was ordered to compensate farmers in a ruling
that
was meant to be internationally binding. The ruling was never honoured
and
instead, the court was suspended by SADC leaders for a ‘review’. The
SADC
leaders were criticised for appearing to side with Mugabe over human
rights
and the rule of the law.
Justice is now set to be further delayed with
Zimbabwe’s draft constitution
actively undermining the still suspended
Tribunal’s ruling, by stating that
farmers will not be compensated and the
government has no obligation to do
so. The draft toes the ZANU PF line that
Britain is responsible for
compensating the farmers, because the land grab
was “addressing the
imbalance of the colonial era.”
The charter also
states that no one can challenge this refusal to pay
compensation in the
country’s courts, while the state takeover of land
cannot be legally
challenged on the grounds of ‘discrimination’. This kind
of takeover has
been legalised, with the draft detailing that the government
can acquire
land and take over title deeds with only a notice in the
Government Gazette
serving as warning.
Former Chegutu farmer Ben Freeth, who led the legal
challenge against Mugabe
at the Tribunal in 2008, told SW Radio Africa on
Tuesday that the land
clauses are “very worrying.”
“This is a harsh
and draconian thing to write into the constitution and it
makes it even more
simple for the state to seize the properties that are
left in Zimbabwe,
Freeth said.
He added: “What is most concerning for me is the
discriminatory basis that
this is being done on, which is a clear indication
of where we are in the
country right now. Discrimination has essentially
been written into the
constitution and signed by the democratic side of our
government, the MDC.”
Freeth said the land clauses not only “endorse
theft,” but also “go against
the principles of democracy that SADC is meant
to adhere to.”
“I believe that we are now at crunch time in terms of the
Zimbabwe’s future.
And it is yet to be determined if this is a future that
includes respect of
property and human rights and the rule of law,” Freeth
said.
Zanu
PF fights over constitution
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Written by Chengetai Zvauya, Parliamentary
Editor
Tuesday, 24 July 2012 14:10
HARARE - Zanu PF officials
dismissing the recently completed draft
constitution are “treacherous and
turncoats”, a party official has said.
Munyaradzi Mangwana, who is Zanu
PF’s co-chair of the Constitution Select
Committee (Copac), said party
propagandist and former information minister
Jonathan Moyo and Godwills
Masimirembwa were such turncoats.
He said this yesterday after Copac
chairpersons handed over the draft
constitution to Parliament’s presiding
officers House of Assembly Speaker
Lovemore Moyo and Senate President Ednah
Madzongwe.
Moyo and Masimirembwa have been at the forefront of attacking
the draft,
which they describe as a compromise document between coalition
partners.
“It is highly treacherous and I did not expect Masimirembwa to
be a
turncoat. He participated in the constitutional process as a technical
person and Moyo is a Member of Parliament who is also expected to support
this constitution. This is not acceptable at all,” said
Mangwana.
This is not the first time Mangwana has attacked Moyo over the
draft
constitution.
MDC Copac co-chair Douglas Mwonzora said he did
not expect anything
progressive to come from Moyo.
“These people are
well-known opponents of the constitution. Jonathan Moyo
and some of his Zanu
PF members do not like this constitution and noone must
expect anything
different from them."
"However, the truth is that it is a good document
which tried to capture the
views of the people on what they want to see in
the constitution,” said
Mwonzora.
Mwonzora said Copac would engage
the public and inform them on the contents
of the draft constitution before
a referendum is held, most likely in
October.
Civil
servants strike, demand salary hikes
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
24
July 2012
Just one hundred civil servants in Harare went on a protest
march, to
denounce the government’s failure to meet their salary
demands.
Our correspondent in the capital, Simon Muchemwa, told us it
took the civil
servants almost two hours to gather at the Harare gardens in
central Harare
where they began their march. The decision to go on a one day
strike was
taken last week following Finance Minister Tendai Biti’s mid-term
budget
review.
Biti downgraded the national budget from $4 billion to
$3.4 billion due to
lack of diamond revenues from the Marange fields,
dashing any hopes of a
wage increase for the civil servants.
The poor
attendance at the protest showed up the fundamental differences
between the
affiliates of the Apex Council.
The Apex Council is an umbrella union for
civil servants, bringing together
the Public Service Association, Zimbabwe
Teachers Association, Progressive
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe, Teachers Union
of Zimbabwe and the College
Lecturers Association of Zimbabwe.
Apex
chairperson Tendai Chikowore told us last week that civil servants
wanted
their salaries raised across the board, with the lowest paid workers
demanding a raise from $286 to $560 per month.
The demonstrators on
Tuesday marched from the Harare gardens to the new
government complex that
houses the Ministry of Finance and to the Parliament
buildings. The public
sector employees held up placards that read: ‘We want
our money, we want our
diamonds” and “MPs $15,000 civil servants $0.”
Muchemwa said at both the
Ministry of Finance and Parliament, the civil
servants left petitions
calling on the government to seriously look into the
dire situation of those
in the public sector.
He said it was clear the demonstration was marred
by differences of opinion
among the Apex affiliates. Some wanted to take a
militant stance against
Biti, while others opposed the idea, saying they
were protesting against
government, not an individual.
‘They argued
on the wording of the placards, some of which called Biti
names. This was
decided against as the majority felt the Finance minister
wasn’t solely to
blame for their crisis but the whole government,’ Muchemwa
said.
On
Monday Biti claimed the Central Intelligence Organization (CIO) and
Robert
Mugabe’s ZANU PF party were backing Tuesday’s demonstration by civil
servants.
He told the VOA he saw a hidden hand in the demonstration
after police took
swift action in giving the civil servants the green light
to protest and
that during the Tuesday march, police kept watch from a
distance.
Biti,
civil servants unions trade fire
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
23/07/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
FINANCE Minister Tendai Biti last night accused public
sector workers’
unions of being used by Zanu PF on the eve of their street
protest over low
pay, which will culminate at his office in
Harare.
Biti, forced to reduce his 2012 budget by US$600 million last
Wednesday,
claimed Zanu PF – which is in a coalition with his MDC-T party in
which he
is secretary general – was trying to project him as
incompetent.
But his claims of collusion between Zanu PF and the unions
were
contemptuously rejected by unionists last night who insisted that their
protest was not personalised.
Biti presented his mid-term budget
review last Wednesday in which he ruled
out pay increases for the
government’s 230,000 workers.
This year, Biti said, 73 percent of his US$3,4
billion budget will be used
to pay salaries. That is unsustainable, he
said.
He blames his budget’s poor performance on a lack of transparency
by diamond
companies in Marange. So far this year, treasury had received a
meagre US$41
million from diamond sales – despite production going up by 129
percent.
“If they are genuine workers who are genuinely interested in
understanding
why the economy is not moving, surely I would have rather
thought the people
they should be demonstrating against are the people that
are stealing our
money which is the diamond producers, in particular that
Chinese company
called Anjin,” Biti said last night.
“I have no
problem with the right to demonstrate, but I have a problem with
politicians
masquerading as trade unionists, and the hand of the CIO
[Central
Intelligence Organisation] that I see in this process.”
Biti said he was
“prepared to meet genuine workers anytime”, but added:
“Genuine workers
would also know the procedures to be followed, which are
not being followed
here.
“The police have been quick to say ‘oh we are allowing them to
demonstrate’
when clearly provisions of the law have not been followed, it
just shows you
the dark hand and the dark forces that are behind this job
action.”
Biti claims the protest is specifically targeting his office, yet
the budget
is approved by the coalition government.
“What the
government was basically saying through me last Wednesday is that
we don’t
have money. We are cutting the budget from US$4 billion to $3,4
billion and
the primary reason is the non-performance of diamonds,” Biti
told the Voice
of America’s Studio 7.
Advertisement
But Richard Gundani, the
secretary general of the Zimbabwe Teachers
Association (ZIMTA), rejected
Biti’s claims that he could “clearly and self
evidently see a political
hand” in the planned march.
“That conversation is neither here nor there
because our cause is not driven
by politics, nor is it motivated by
political parties,” Gundani said.
“What we have done is we have made a
resolution as the Apex Council
[umbrella body for public sector unions], a
resolution which we have also
adopted as ZIMTA that we are going ahead with
Tuesday’s demonstration.
“It is a demonstration which is 100 percent to
do with bread and butter
issues; it is a demonstration to do with the
budget. We want to believe that
the budget is a product of government, the
different ministers put together
constitute a government, so this is not
directed at any one individual.”
Gundani accused Biti of creating a
“wrong perception which is meant to
misdirect people and the general public
that we are bent on attacking
persons from particular political
parties”.
“We are directing our anger at the government in its totality,” he
insisted.
Biti’s call for the civil servants to protest in Marange was
also rejected
by ZIMTA, the largest and oldest union for
teachers.
“That is the mandate and the purview of the government
ministers to work
with those companies to make sure that they unlock those
resources,” Gundani
said.
The lowest-paid public sector worker earns $286
per month, which unions want
raised to $560 per month.
Apex Council
president Tendai Chikowore said they held talks with the police
on Monday to
supply information about their route and plans.
She revealed that the
unions had sent an urgent petition to President Robert
Mugabe last Thursday
asking him to step in to avoid the industrial action,
but they had received
no response from his office.
Spy Agency Manipulating Civil Servants' Protest:
Biti
http://www.voanews.com/
23 July
2012
Gibbs Dube & Jonga Kandemiiri |
Washington
Finance Minister Tendai Biti says the Central
Intelligence Organization
(CIO) and President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party
are backing Tuesday’s
one-hour demonstration by civil servants demanding
increased salaries.
Biti told Studio 7 Monday that he saw a hidden hand
in the demonstration
after police took swift action in clearing the agitated
civil servants to
stage the Harare protests.
He said though some of
the workers will be genuinely demanding salary
increases, there are others
who were being manipulated by the CIO to engage
in the protest.
Biti
said the civil servants should, in fact, stage protests in Marange
where
diamonds worth millions of dollars are disappearing.
"If there are
genuine workers interested in knowing why the economy is not
moving, I would
think that they should have demonstrated against companies
in Marange that
are stealing our diamonds, especially that company called
Anjin (Investments
of China)," he said.
The civil servants decided last Thursday to stage
the demonstration after
Biti downgraded the national budget from $4 billion
to $3.4 billion due to
drying diamond revenues from Marange
field.
The diamond revenues were this year expected to boost state
coffers by at
least $600 million. Zimbabwe generated $41.6 million from
diamond sales
between January and June this year instead of the expected
$123 million.
Secretary general Richard Gundani of the Zimbabwe Teachers
Association said
the protest was not targeting the finance
minister.
"These claims are not true because we are not being driven by
any politics
and our actions are not motivated by political parties," said
Gundani.
Apex Council chairwoman Tendai Chikowore said preparations for
the
demonstration have been finalized.
MP
seeks explanation for troops’ presence in his constituency
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By
Tichaona Sibanda
24 July 2012
The MDC-T MP for Makoni South, Pishai
Muchauraya, has said the decision by
the army to deploy a 400 strong
battalion in his constituency is a desperate
move on the military’s
part.
Muchauraya, who is also the spokesman for the MDC-T in Manicaland
province,
told SW Radio’s Hidden Story program that the deployment of the
troops is
intended to instil fear and intimidate the electorate ahead of
crucial
harmonized elections, set for 2013.
He said the approach of
the army, led by die-hard supporters of Robert
Mugabe, was not only
dictatorial but also uncivilized, adding: ‘It is the
fear of losing that is
making them use state might to get soldiers deployed
in the area, so as to
wage psychological war on our people.’
‘The deployment of soldiers
against unarmed villagers during peace time
shows how primitive our
democracy is. Zimbabwe is not at war and we are not
facing any threats, so
why should the army deploy its troops in heavily
populated areas and not go
to areas where its ideal for training purposes,’
the legislator
said.
He explained that he has since requested to meet with the
commanders
responsible for the deployment, to seek answers about the troops’
presence
in Makoni South. The MP said he is suspicious as to why the troops
are
always sent to constituencies held by the MDC-T and not ZANU
PF.
‘Of all the exercises that have been staged in Manicaland province
since
2008, all have been held in constituencies under the MDC-T. Why not
have the
exercises in one of the six ZANU PF constituencies in the
province.
‘The army and ZANU PF are afraid that Zimbabweans have started
finding their
voice and they are looking for a means to intimidate us. It
just shows how
much of a dictator Mugabe and his junta are and how
insensitive they’re to
the plight of the common villager in Makoni South,’
Muchauraya said.
Last week we reported that soldiers from the 3.2
infantry battalion at
Tsanzaguru outside Rusape were deployed in Nyazura for
an exercise, but
their real goal was to campaign for ZANU PF.
Truck
loads of army vehicles dropped off close to 400 troops at Gwangwaza
shopping
centre. They were being transported from their main base at
Tsanzaguru,
which is 30 km away. Reports say they have been roaming the area
menacingly.
The heavily armed soldiers have been telling villagers
they’re in the area
for a training exercise, although they’re singing
revolutionary ZANU PF
songs and toy-toying.
Chief
in Mberengwa orders MDC supporter to leave area
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
24 July 2011
A traditional chief from Mberengwa district
in the Midlands Province has
been accused of victimising a supporter of the
MDC-T, following reports he
has ordered Rugare Gwezuva to vacate the
area.
According to the MDC-T, Rugare Gwezuva was given until August 4th
to vacate
his home in Mberengwa North by Chief Mapiravana. This was shocking
because
Gwezuva had been the victim of an assault by ZANU PF thugs whom he
reported
to the police, leading to their arrest.
A statement from the
MDC-T said a well known ZANU PF thug named Admire
Sibanda and four of his
family members targetted Gwezuva for assault back in
June, simply because he
supported the MDC-T.
The police later arrested Sibanda’s son-in-law,
named Dube, who was
eventually sentenced to 12 months in prison. Another
ZANU PF thug was also
arrested for taking part in the assault on
Gwezuva.
The MDC-T said Sibanda was angered by the arrests and he
“connived” with
Chief Mapiravana in ordering Gwezuva to vacate the
area.
“As we speak, unknown people, supposedly acting on the orders of
Chief
Mapiravana, have removed the perimeter fence surrounding my homestead
and
vandalized my cattle pen,” Gwezuva is quoted as saying.
Llewelyn
Sibanda, the MDC-T Provincial Secretary for Midlands told SW Radio
Africa
that Chief Mapiravana is known to be a loyal ZANU PF supporter in
Mberengwa.
Sibanda said most of the politically motivated violence that has
taken place
in the area has involved the chief. He said he is going to take
Gwezuva to
Harare to seek assistance from the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights.
ZANU PF has politicized the role played by traditional chiefs
and headman by
providing them with a monthly salary and vehicles to use in
their rural
constituencies. Some of these once revered leaders have been
used to compile
lists of the villagers in their area, for use during
elections.
Teacher
victimised for supporting MDC-T in Bikita South
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
24 July 2011
A teacher who chaired the School Development
Committee (SDC) at a school in
Bikita South has been ordered to step down
and resign from her job, after
she spoke out over funds being misused by a
senior official. But the real
issue has turned out to be political, with
ZANU PF intimidating teachers and
residents of Mberengwa South.
The
teacher, named only as Angie for fear of reprisals, told SW Radio Africa
that she was arrested on July 18th and accused of defamation, after she
asked the deputy headmaster named Hari to account for school funds he had
spent on groceries for the students. The supplies were purchased from Hari’s
own shop.
Angie said the headmaster then told her that the charges
would only be
dropped if she apologized to Hari. A meeting was arranged for
her to
apologise in front of parents and according to Angie the ZANU PF
district
chairman, Nathan Zeya, was also present.
But the apology
served no purpose because the charges were not dropped and
Angie was told
that parents at the school do not want her there any longer.
The teacher
said she then realised that there was something else at play.
Angie
remembered that in the meeting she had been accused of favouring MDC
supporters when it comes to hiring assistants at the school. “Handi ite
zvebato re MDC pa basa,” she said ( I do not conduct MDC business when I am
at work). But she said many teachers and parents are afraid and they have
gone against her in fear.
Ward 8 in Bikita South is said to be very
tense. ZANU PF officials are
reported to be on a serious party registration
drive, holding meetings at
least three times a week to register first time
voters. Residents are being
threatened by party members, who say they will
visit those who do not
register at their homes during the night.
Zanu PF Warns Members Against Factionalism
http://www.voanews.com
23 July
2012
Ntungamili Nkomo |
Washington DC
The Zanu PF party of Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe has warned its
members to desist from factional politics, saying
those found aiding and
abetting divisions will be expelled regardless of
their position or
standing.
The warning follows the decision by the
party's top leadership to dissolve
its grassroots structures, or District
Coordinating Committees, saying they
were the central source of the
infighting.
Zanu PF's Secretary for Administration Didymus Mutasa told
party officials
in Harare Monday that the liberation movement will not
hesitate to act and
restore unity and integrity.
Mutasa was leading a
taskforce formed to placate the party's provincial
structures and explain
why the district committees had been dismantled.
He delivered the stern
warning as his four-member panel concluded its
country-wide mission in the
capital after visiting all Zanu PF provinces.
As it to instill fear into
the party members, Mutasa invoked the expulsion
several years ago of the
late Ndabaningi Sithole and Edgar Tekere saying no
one was indispensable to
the party.
He also waded into the leadership dispute of the Zimbabwe
National
Liberation War Veterans Association saying Jabulani Sibanda was the
legitimate leader.
Zanu PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo told VOA the party
is determined to restore
unity, adding the mission by Mutasa’s taskforce was
a success.
"The mission was a big success," he said. "Our supporters were
happy that we
dissolved the district structures which were proving to be
very divisive."
Gumbo added however, that the biggest challenge his party
now faces is to
bridge the gap between its provincial structures and the
districts - now
without any representation.
Political analyst
Nkululeko Sibanda, lecturer of politics at the University
of Huddersfield in
Great Britain says despite the action, he sees bickering
continuing at the
high echelons of the party.
DCCs:
Zanu PF faces Midlands revolt
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
23/07/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE Midlands province – powerbase of presidential
aspirant Emmerson
Mnangagwa – has condemned the dissolution of Zanu PF’s
District Coordinating
Committees and called for the dissolution of the
presidium, an official said
on Monday.
Zanu PF spokesman Rugare
Gumbo, who was part of a team headed by the party’s
secretary for
administration Didymus Mutasa which was sent around the
country to explain
the politburo’s decision to dissolve the DCCs, said of
all the party’s 10
provincial structures, only the Midlands had dissented to
the
development.
The dissolution of the DCC has been seen as a political
setback for
Mnangagwa as his loyalists had claimed most of the DCC posts
ahead to a
rival faction led by Vice President Joice Mujuru.
Mnangagwa
and Mujuru are trying to position themselves as possible
successors to
President Robert Mugabe, who is 88 this year.
“In Midlands, some said the
presidium should have been dissolved,” Gumbo
said in reference to the
party’s top hierarchy of Mugabe, Mujuru and second
Vice President John
Nkomo.
But Gumbo downplayed the calls for leadership changes, insisting: “It
was a
comment, it was not a demand.”
Gumbo said the party’s DCC were
fast turning themselves into “kingmakers”.
President Mugabe announced the
dissolution of the DCCs which he said had
“made things more difficult”. This
followed resolutions passed by the Zanu
PF politburo and central
committee.
“We have experienced quite a lot of commotion, fighting for
places in regard
to positions in the DCCs and therefore we have been looking
at what is
happening and we discussed that in the Politburo. We are worried
the DCC has
become a weapon used to divide the party,” said
Mugabe.
Mutasa's team finished its tour of the provinces in Harare on Monday
night
with threats to expel divisive members.
Mutasa said: "You have
to stop the tendency of using DCCs for bad things
because Zanu PF is
developing teeth.
“It doesn’t matter what position you hold in the party.
(Edgar) Tekere and
(Ndabaningi) Sithole were fired from the party yet they
held senior
positions. You can also be expelled if you do wrong things."
Chipangano,
Zanu PF product: Dydmus Mutasa
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Yesterday, ZANU PF Harare provincial
leadership was left biting the dust
after the ZANU PF secretary for
administration, Mr Didymus Mutasa unmasked
Chipangano. The notorious and
violent Mbare based youth militia group which
is being used by the Harare
provincial leadership to unleash violence to any
perceived MDC supporter was
said to be bringing untold losses to party in
terms of people support as
opposed to the founding spirit which saw its
formation.
24.07.1204:33pm
by CHRA
Mutasa lamented the
untold dwindling of the party’s support which has been
caused by incessant
harassment of commuters, vendors and the ordinary Harare
residents by
Chipangano.
“Cde Midzi if you tell me that you don’t know that group, I
will tell you
that you are lying. Instead, I want to know what is not ending
it”, said
Mutasa. The call by the ZANU PF secretary for administration has
come at a
time when CHRA has been calling for the disbanding of this
notorious group
which is allegedly led by Jim Kunaka. However, along the
way, some
unrepentant ZANU PF functionaries continue to live in denial with
regards to
Chipangano political ties.
Tendai Savanhu, a well known
ZANU PF hardliner who is seriously eyeing the
Mbare constituency and is also
believed to be one of the core sponsors of
the group has been on many
occasions quoted dissociating ZANU PF from
Chipangano. The same has been
done by most of the ZANU PF Harare provincial
leadership who were chided at
some point by Mrs. Oppah Muchinguri during a
joint press conference under
the banner of JOMIC castigating fellow
political leaders for using the
services of Chipangano in their respective
areas to advance political gains
through violence.
The call by Didymus Mutasa gives us a ray hope but it
is up to those who are
directly involved to take a great step of compliance
in disbanding
Chipangano. We are concerned that if the operations of
Chipangano continue,
City of Harare will continue to lose revenue since it
is currently being
pocketed by these ZANU PF youths who operate under
Chipangano. In the same
vein, it is also important to note that the European
Union has put
non-violent elections as one of the major pre-conditions for
the removal of
targeted sanctions on Zimbabwe and it will be an important
milestone
achievement for Zimbabwe if Chipangano is stopped.
Zanu
PF calls Chipangano to order
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
24/07/2012 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
ZANU PF has ordered its Harare province to reign-in
Chipangano – a terror
group based in Mbare - after admitting its activities
were undermining the
party’s electoral chances in the
capital.
National secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa ordered
provincial
chairman Amos Midzi to bring the militant youth group, which is
said to be
aligned to senior party officials, under control.
“We hear
that there are some people who are harassing commuters and commuter
operators in the name of the party,” Mutasa said, admitting the group was
losing the party support in city.
“Cde Midzi, if you tell me that you
don’t know that group, I will tell you
that you are lying. Instead, I want
to know what is not ending it.”
Midzi said some of the alleged Chipangano
members were just hooligans
terrorising people in the name of Zanu
PF.
“The last time you called us to your office about this, we came back and
we
talked about it,” he said.
“It is true that there are problems
with these people, but there are others
we don’t know who go about and do
bad things and they are labelled Zanu PF."
The MDC-T has long accused
Zanu PF of using the group to terrorise its
supporters while civic
organisations have also expressed concern over its
activities.
The
group has mainly operated in impoverished suburb of Mbare for nearly a
decade and faced allegations of beating up and evicting suspected MDC
supporters from council flats.
Its gangs would also allegedly extort
money from vendors and traders at
Mupedzanhamo where people were forced to
pay “protection fees” with those
who refused banished from the popular
markets.
Harare
mayor gives ‘thumbs up’ to mall, despite protests
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex
Bell
24 July 2012
Harare Mayor Muchadeyi Masunda has given the ‘thumbs
up’ to the construction
of a mall in Borrowdale, despite the plans still
being widely protested.
Building work for the Mall of Zimbabwe, which has
been commissioned by Vice
President Joice Mujuru, is meant to get under way
soon, despite public
resistance to the plans and the lack of an independent
environmental impact
assessment report.
Masunda has now also given
his approval, saying existing shopping malls in
the Borrowdale area were
failing to meet the expectations of the “fairly
affluent
residents”.
Masunda’s praise for the plans comes as a petition has been
launched to try
and stop the construction, because the Mall is set to be
built on a wetlands
area. Conservationists have warned that building on
wetlands will have a
significant environmental impact, including having a
very negative impact on
Harare’s water supply.
The petition, posted
on the Avaaz website, is addressed to Vice President
Mujuru, and urges her
to reconsider the site of the Mall. Mujuru is also
being urged to ensure an
independent environmental impact assessment is done
before any construction
is allowed at the current site.
You can sign the petition here:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/Stop_Loss_of_Borrowdale_Vlei/
The
Harare City Council’s environment committee meanwhile has given the
plans
its blessing, ahead of a full Council meeting where a unanimous vote
in
favour of the projected is understood to already have been
determined.
The Chairman of the Council’s business committee, Thomas
Muzuva, was quoted
by the state media recently as saying that the plans have
already been
approved by Cabinet and councillors had no power to “stall the
development
of national projects.”
“It’s a national project. Cabinet
has approved the project. Council is a
substructure of Central Government.
We cannot be seen going against national
policies. Council has no power over
Cabinet decisions. We cannot fight
Cabinet,” he said.
The project has
also come under scrutiny because of the involvement of
controversial
businessman Ken Sharpe, who has previously faced corruption
accusations.
Critics say the Borrowdale Mall plans have been pushed through
because of
Sharpe’s government connections.
SW Radio Africa has tried phoning Sharpe
for comment, but his phone has gone
unanswered.
Zim
Labourer Faces Jail Over Mugabe Health Remarks
http://www.radiovop.com
By Professor
Matodzi Harare, July 23, 2012 - An employee at a Zimbabwean
private security
firm faces up to one year in jail for allegedly commenting
on President
Robert Mugabe’s health status and taunting that he had ruined
the economy of
the once prosperous southern African country.
Zebediah Mpofu, a 53
year-old security guard, has been summoned to stand
trial on August 14 at
Mbare magistrates court.
State authorities charge that Mpofu insulted
Mugabe when he taunted Gilbert
Matarutse, a work-mate at the security firm,
who supports the octogenarian
leaders’ Zanu (PF) party that he should thank
MDC leader and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai for easing the country’s
decade long economic and
political crisis when he formed a coalition
government with the former
guerrilla leader.
“…the accused unlawfully
made a statement in a public place about or
concerning the President by
saying that the President has ruined the country
and that he was going to be
dead by December 2010 with the knowledge or
realising that there is a real
risk or possibility that the statement is
false and that it may engender
feelings of hostility towards the President
in person or in respect of the
President’s office,” reads part of the
summons served on
Mpofu.
Apparently, Mpofu, who was represented by Jeremiah Bamu of
Zimbabwe Lawyers
for Human Rights, was removed from remand in October last
year by a Mbare
Magistrate after state witnesses failed to pitch up in court
during his
scheduled trial.
At that time prosecutors alleged that
Mpofu told Matarutse during a
lunchtime chat that he owed a fruity drink and
a packet of biscuits he was
enjoying for lunch to sound economic policies
spearheaded by Tsvangirai, the
first opposition leader to trounce President
Mugabe in presidential polls in
2008, who formed a coalition government with
the Zanu (PF) leader after the
Southern African Development Community (SADC)
recommended such a settlement
to end the political crisis.
The
prosecutors also alleged that Mpofu also stated that “President Mugabe
had
ruined the country and that he was going to be dead by December 2010
then
Morgan Tsvangirai would take over as President of Zimbabwe”.
ZLHR, which
is representing more than 40 Zimbabweans accused of insulting
Mugabe in
nearly all of the country’s ten provinces, say the use and abuse
of insult
laws is an attempt to gag political views from Mugabe and his Zanu
(PF)
opponents ahead of a planned referendum and general elections.
Air Zim
Using Obsolete Aircraft
http://www.radiovop.com/
By Professor Matodzi Harare, July 24,
2012 - Zimbabwe's state-run airline,
Air Zimbabwe is operating obsolete
aircraft equipment which warrants the
shutting down of the airline while the
aircraft which ferries President
Robert Mugabe on his jaunts has a defective
toilet sensor, Radio VOP can
report.
The airline’s aircraft fleet is
so decrepit that all its planes are
defective and warrants an overhaul,
according to an Air Zimbabwe aircraft
status obtained by Radio VOP this
week.
Two of Air Zimbabwe’s long haul Boeing 767 planes have various
degrees of
faults. One of the smaller wide bodied plane which has been
grounded since
last year needs to undergo a test flight. But it has to first
have its
certificate of airworthiness which expired in December
renewed.
The aircraft doesn’t have a taxi light and air speed indicator.
The
cash-strapped Air Zimbabwe needs to fork out $119 000 to purchase oxygen
generators and $259 000 for a “C” check. The aircraft’s thrust reverser fan
duct is also due for refurbishment.
Air Zimbabwe bought the aircraft
in the late 80’s. According to the aircraft
status one of the Boeing 767-200
aircraft, which ferries President Robert
Mugabe and his family on his
regional and international excursions, has
defects that include a faulty
toilet sensor while its certificate of
airworthiness expired last month.
However, its airworthiness certificate has
been to the end of
July.
One out of three Boeing 737 aircraft is operational and is
currently
servicing the Harare, Bulawayo and Victoria Falls routes while all
of the
three Chinese-manufactured Modern Ark 60 are grounded.
The
shocking aircraft status is just but one of the woes affecting the
national
flag carrier. Once one of the best airlines in Africa, Air Zimbabwe
has been
run down due to successive years of mismanagement and inadequate
funding.
Zimbabwe
PM seeks help in mining country for growth
http://www.theaustralian.com.au
by: Brendan
Nicholson
From: The Australian
July 24, 2012
12:00AM
ZIMBABWE'S Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has asked
Australia for help in
developing Zimbabwe's abundant mineral
resources.
Mr Tsvangirai told The Australian that bilateral economic
co-operation with
Australia was very important to his country as stability
returned and it
prepared for growth.
The Zimbabwean democracy
campaigner and opposition leader became Prime
Minister in 2009 in a
power-sharing agreement that followed years of civil
rights abuses and
brutal physical attacks that left Mr Tsvangirai badly
injured.
He
said he wanted to invite and convince Australian business that they
needed
to look at Zimbabwe again as a destination, "that the time to
re-engage in
Zimbabwe is now".
Australia's strong mining experience was especially
important to Zimbabwe,
he said. "A lot of mining expertise resides in
Australia and we can benefit
a lot from that co-operation with the
Australian mining industry."
The most influential people in Sport
Mr
Tsvangirai said there was no longer a security issue in his country: "It
is
purely a business consideration. The country is stable. It has all the
minerals except oil. One can exploit gold, platinum, chrome,
whatever.
"The country is going through a stabilisation program and I
think we need to
go to growth . . . and you can't have growth without
investment."
He has also urged the Gillard government to suspend economic
sanctions on
his country until after the elections due there next year. He
said sanctions
could be imposed again if President Robert Mugabe and the
"securocrats" who
backed him prevented free and fair elections.
Mr
Tsvangirai said while there was still much to be done in Zimbabwe, much
had
changed.
"What you need to do is make an assessment," he said. "Is there
sufficient
reform to warrant a reward and the encouragement of that reform?
I think
there is justification for the international community to remove
sanctions
because I think they've outlived their
usefulness."
Hyper-inflation had been tamed, political reforms had been
instituted, the
new constitution was ready, electoral and human rights
reforms had been
accepted. And his once deeply antagonistic relationship
with Mugabe had
evolved into a working relationship. "We've moved on," he
said.
Trade Minister Craig Emerson told ABC television yesterday the
government
was considering lifting sanctions.
"If (Mr Tsvangirai)
indicates to us that there is a case for easing some
sanctions, that is to
reward the reformers and show the hardliners that
reform does actually pay
dividends, then we will be open to those sorts of
arguments," he said.
Speaking
Shona in Matabeleland 'disrespectful': Moyo
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
24/07/2012 00:00:00
by
Staff Reporter
FRONTLINE government workers and cabinet ministers
must be fluent in
Zimbabwe’s two main vernacular languages as a
pre-condition of their
employment, Zanu PF national chairman Simon Khaya
Moyo has said.
Moyo’s ire was sparked by Local Government Minister
Ignatius Chombo who
spoke at an event in Bulilima district, Matabeleland
South, last Friday
through an interpreter.
The former ambassador to
South Africa – a Ndebele speaker – told Chombo that
he had recently been to
a funeral in Mt Darwin where he spoke in Shona, the
language spoken by
locals.
“In South Africa, they have 11 official languages, but three main
languages – Zulu, Xhosa and Sotho. In my 10 years in South Africa, I noted
that the political leadership were fluent in all three languages,” he
said.
“In Zimbabwe, we are fortunate that there are only two major
vernacular
languages – Shona and Ndebele. It is imperative that every
Zimbabwean leader
must be at least conversant in the two languages so that
when they visit
different parts of the country, they are able to show
respect by addressing
people using their local languages.”
Moyo said
he was frustrated by the deployment of civil servants – including
police
officers, registry officials and teachers – to arrears where they
were not
conversant in the local language.
Locals were being “inconvenienced” at
police roadblocks by having officers
who do not speak a word of the local
language.
In 2009, former Bulawayo mayor Joshua Malinga was charged with
“undermining
police authority” after he ignored police instructions given in
Shona.
Malinga was alleged to have called a police officer “idiotic” for
asking him
to move his car – which had not been properly parked – in Shona.
The charges
were later dismissed by a court.
The employment of civil
servants who are not able to speak the local
language is a political hot
potato in Matabeleland.
Local pressure groups have made much play of the
fact that all the provinces
in the region have Shona-speaking police
commanders. Bulawayo is under the
command of Senior Assistant Commissioner
Stephen Mutamba, Matabeleland South
is headed by Senior Assistant
Commissioner Billy Mushonga, Midlands by
Assistant Commissioner Claudius
Mateko and Matabeleland North was until last
month headed by Senior
Assistant Commissioner Edmore Veterai.
“How do you expect such a person
to assist the public? The elderly suffer
the most in such cases. I am
advocating for a system whereby people take
time to at least learn the two
major local languages,” Moyo said, speaking
at the installation of
23-year-old Thursus Ncube as Chief Madlambuzi.
Moyo said he had told
President Robert Mugabe that ministers should be
compelled to take language
courses or quit public service.
Zimbabwe
Diaspora welcome event for Team Zimbabwe 2012
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
The Zimbabwe Diaspora
Olympics Support Network (ZDOSN) is inviting all
Zimbabweans and their
friends to come to a free welcome event for Team
Zimbabwe on Thursday 26
July.
24.07.1207:33am
by Staff Reporter
The event, to be
held near the Olympic Park at Stratford Old Town Hall, 29
The
Broadway,Stratford, London E15 4BQ, will be an opportunity to meet and
greet
Zimbabwe's Olympians, past and present, prior to the official start of
the
Games a few days later.
Zimbabwe's 2012 Olympic competitors are: Sharon
Tawenga (marathon); Wirimai
Zhuwawo (marathon); Cuthbert Nyasango
(marathon); Chris Felgate (triathlon);
Jamie Frazier Mackenzie (Rowing):
Micheen Thornycroft (rowing): and Kirsty
Coventry (swimming).
The 26
July Stratford programme includes a variety of events including
presentations, entertainment and other activities. The evening will be an
opportunity to show support for Team Zimbabwe as our Olympians go for gold.
It is also an opportunity to build a lasting legacy of partnership between
Zimbabwe's sportspersons and the Zimbabwean diaspora community.
EU move on
Zimbabwe sanctions won’t help the economy or promote reform
http://blogs.ft.com
July 24, 2012
1:07 pm by Tony Hawkins
The EU’s proposal to suspend its targeted
personal sanctions against 112
Zimbabweans is much ado about very little.
The sanctions, imposed a decade
ago, have had no discernible impact either
on the economy or on Zimbabwe’s
politics.
The latest move from
Brussels is another chapter in the long history of the
failure of
sanctions.
When three political parties signed a coalition agreement in
September
2008 – including president Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF and the
opposition
Movement for Democratic Change - the EU response was that
sanctions would
not be lifted until all the terms of the agreement had been
implemented.
Now Brussels has shifted the goalposts and, instead, the
suspension of
sanctions is contingent on the holding of a “credible”
referendum on the
draft constitution published on July 20, with no mention
of other
still-to-be-implemented reforms.
Immediate Zimbabwe reaction
has been near-dismissive. Justice minister
Patrick Chinamasa refused to
comment until he had read the EU resolution.
Elton Mangoma, a senior member
of prime minister Morgan Tsvangerai’s MDC,
supported by most EU governments,
complained that by suspending and not
lifting sanctions immediately, “They
(the EU) are not listening to us”.
US sanctions that target state-owned
companies as well as individuals are
more effective but these will remain in
place, suggesting that the Zimbabwe
economy is unlikely to benefit from the
change of heart in Brussels. After
three years of a strong recovery since
dollarisation in early 2009, during
which time growth has averaged almost 8
per cent a year, the Zimbabwe
economy is slowing under the impact of the
worsening global economy, weaker
commodity prices, depressed investment, a
poor farming season and
unmanageable balance of payments and budget
deficits. Not even the most
adroit Brussels or Whitehall spin doctor will be
able to suggest that
suspending personal sanctions will change
this.
The EU’s conditionality – the holding of a credible constitutional
referendum – looks like a formality. There is little enthusiasm in Zimbabwe
for the draft constitution, described by politicians from all parties as “a
flawed compromise”. The expectation is that it will be approved in a
referendum in October-November but with a low turnout, which will make it
hard for the EU to claim it has majority voter support.
However,
having given so much ground in its support for political reform in
Zimbabwe
– the draft constitution is little different from the one currently
in
place, though it does limit the executive presidency to some degree –
Brussels is likely to accept the outcome and lift the remaining sanctions,
except those on the 88-year-old Mugabe (pictured) and a few of his closest
cronies.
More important – and impossible to call – is the electoral
impact. Once a
new constitution is in place there will be parliamentary and
presidential
elections towards the end of 2013. Mugabe and his Zanu-PF will
claim to have
won a famous victory in forcing the EU into a U-turn. But this
is unlikely
to resonate with the electorate, especially since, as the
sanctions go, so
the economy will get worse, with GDP growth slowing to
around 5 per cent or
even less in 2012 and quite possibly – depending on
global economic
developments – slipping further next year.
That said,
Mugabe is more likely to benefit than lose from the EU’s action.
But,
provided the 2013 election is reasonably free and fair, he and his
party
will still lose.
Why
Western sanctions on Zimbabwe may not matter anymore
http://www.csmonitor.com
Yesterday, the
European Union announced it would lift sanctions on Zimbabwe
if the country
held a referendum on a new constitution. How much do
sanctions affect the
country?
By Scott Baldauf, Staff writer / July 24, 2012
Since
2003, the United States and the European Union have maintained
“targeted
sanctions” against individual members of the government of
Zimbabwe,
including President Robert Mugabe and many of his closest advisers
and
cabinet members.
Now, the EU is talking about lifting some of those
sanctions – including
travel bans and arms embargoes – if Zimbabwe holds a
referendum on a new
constitution by the end of this year.
Behind the
usual chatter about whether it is time to lift sanctions or not
is a more
fundamental question: How much impact do “targeted” sanctions
really
have?
In a country like Zimbabwe, where the state and the ruling party
maintain
tight controls on who can buy and sell land, and on who can profit
from the
exploration of natural resources, the answer is more
straight-forward than
it might seem. If most of the country’s assets are
indeed owned by the
leadership under sanction, then it would make sense the
country would
suffer. If targeted sanctions were imposed on Bill Gates, for
monopolistic
tendencies perhaps, it’s likely that the company he founded,
Microsoft, and
the town of Redmond, Wash., would feel the effects of those
personal
sanctions.
After the EU announced yesterday that it might
lift sanctions, Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai – a longtime rival of
President Mugabe and now a
member of a coalition government with Mugabe –
was among the first to praise
the move.
"Linking the suspension
to the successful implementation of the constitution
referendum is evidence
that the EU is willing to respond to progress in
reform of the democratic
process in Zimbabwe," Mr. Tsvangira said yesterday.
In truth, by imposing
sanctions for so long, the EU and the US may be losing
their leverage.
Today, Zimbabwe’s largest trading partner is South Africa,
and China is its
largest export destination, receiving 5.6 percent of all
the goods and
products that Zimbabwe produces.
These sanctions, though, have effects
far beyond their “targets.” When
Mugabe’s government launched a brutal “land
invasion” campaign, urging
militias to use force to push white commercial
farmers off their lands
starting in 2000, the agricultural economy began to
collapse, and Zimbabwe
began to run into arrears on its foreign loans. Both
the World Bank and the
International Monetary Fund – which rely heavily on
US budgetary support –
cut off Zimbabwe from any further aid until 2009,
after President Mugabe had
formed the coalition government with Mr.
Tsvangirai’s party.
Zimbabwe’s coalition government of today is a far cry
from the Mugabe
government that President George W. Bush imposed sanctions
on back in 2003.
Back then, Mugabe’s land redistribution policies helped
turn southern Africa’s
leading food exporter into its leading food-aid
recipient. All the same ugly
elements of repression by the Mugabe regime
remain today: During the Arab
Spring months, Zimbabwe police arrested a
professor in Harare for watching a
video about the Tahrir Square protesters,
and charged him, along with 45
others attending his seminar that day, with
treason. But the government has
also begun a series of reforms that have
helped turn Zimbabwe’s economy
around.
In theory, the coalition
government formed in Feb. 2009 after flawed
elections in March 2008
shouldn’t function at all, and in truth, it doesn’t
function all that well.
But the coalition government has given breathing
room for both of the major
parties, and welcome relief for Zimbabwe’s
citizens, who once struggled to
survive with 1 million percent inflation
rates and virtually empty store
shelves.
As for those violent “land invasions” that were the cause of all
these
sanctions, there are signs that they, oddly, may have had some
positive
effects.
On a recent trip to Harare, Lydia Polgreen of the
New York Times and
photographer Lynsey Addario found a silver lining in
Zimbabwe’s economic
storm clouds. In the old days, Ms. Polgreen writes, the
faces of the people
selling tobacco and other produce to Zimbabwe’s export
houses used to be
white. Today, the farmers’ faces at export houses are
largely black, and
despite all the talk about land being given to Mugabe’s
“cronies,” most of
the new landowners are not members of the political
elite.
Polgreen's article – which created a firestorm among Zimbabwe's
vocal
expatriate community – puts a different face on a policy that has been
roundly, and rightly criticized. While the land invasion policies of 2000
were brutal, and certainly extra-legal, they may have given a broader number
of farmers among Zimbabwe’s black majority access to land that they couldn’t
have had a decade ago.
This creates a political challenge: If a
growing number of people have
benefited because of Mugabe’s land invasion,
and more people have a vested
stake in the new status quo, it becomes much
more difficult to imagine
returning Zimbabwe to the way it was before
sanctions.
Have sanctions lost their target? If so, should they simply be
stopped?
Zimbabwe: Sanctions Should
Stand
On Monday, the European Union announced that it
is resuming direct aid to Zimbabwe’s government and that sanctions on some
targeted individuals and entities (excluding President Robert Mugabe) will be
suspended following the country’s constitutional referendum that could come as
early as October.
This decision is flawed, and it is unlikely to
contribute to meaningful reform. Under the unity government, Mugabe and his
Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) have continued to
abuse power and violate the rule of law. Considering that the draft constitution
is viewed as a flawed document that makes too many concessions to ZANU-PF, the
EU is rewarding the regime for complying with an action that it is not likely to
contest in the first place.
The real test of ZANU-PF’s ability to reform
will be next year’s elections. However, the EU’s recent decisions reduce
incentives for the Mugabe regime to adhere to free and fair elections, which
will determine Zimbabwe’s future leadership. Only when Mugabe and those
individuals and entities are shown to be in full compliance with the rule of law
should aid be restored and sanctions removed.
Background
In 2000, after Mugabe failed to change
Zimbabwe’s land reform policy in the constitution, hired thugs of the regime
illegally seized lands from predominantly white Zimbabwean farmers, causing
widespread instability. In response, the EU invoked Article 96 of the Cotonou
Agreement, calling for “special consultation” (read: dialogue) with the Mugabe
regime. However, when an EU election observer was denied entry to Zimbabwe for
the 2002 parliamentary elections, the EU levied an arms embargo and targeted
sanctions on individuals in Mugabe’s inner circle. This included travel bans and
the freezing of financial assets, funds, and other economic resources linked to
Mugabe and members of his cabinet and military.
The EU has renewed these sanctions every year
since. In 2009, the EU added 40 entities associated with government abuses.
However, in 2011, 35 individuals were removed from the sanctions list as
Zimbabwe’s economy made steps toward recovery. Much of this progress, however,
was owed not to the reforms by ZANU-PF but to those instituted by Minister of
Finance Tendai Biti, a senior official in the Movement for Democratic
Change-Tsvangirai (MDC-T).[1]
The U.S. has also taken restrictive measures
against the Mugabe regime. In 2001, Congress passed the bipartisan Zimbabwe
Democracy and Economic Recovery Act, which prohibits U.S. financial assistance
to Zimbabwe by international financial institutions until the President is
certain that conditions of good governance have been met. In 2003, President
George W. Bush imposed targeted sanctions against the Mugabe regime’s top
officials. These sanctions have been renewed annually and include financial
restrictions, travel bans, and an arms embargo. Additionally, the U.S., aside
from certain humanitarian and technical assistance, does not provide assistance
to Zimbabwe’s government.
Sanctions: Imperfect but Necessary
International sanctions have had little success
in remedying the behavior of the Mugabe regime. EU and national governments have
repeatedly undermined their own policies by frequently granting Mugabe and his
henchmen permission to travel. In 2003, a year after sanctions were agreed to,
Mugabe traveled to Paris to participate in the Franco–African Summit. Mugabe
also attended the 2007 EU–African Union Summit in Lisbon. The U.S. has also
permitted sanctioned individuals to attend meetings at the U.N. in New York and
participate in discussions of the Kimberley Process in Washington.[2] Additional setbacks include the ability of ZANU-PF to
purchase weapons from countries like China. Financial sanctions have been
moderately successful, but some targeted individuals have been able to store
assets in Asian bank accounts.[3]
The Southern African Development Community
(SADC), as the guarantor of the 2008 Global Political Process, is opposed to
sanctions, arguing that such measures do not create constructive solutions. EU
officials argue that the lifting of most sanctions following a credible
constitutional referendum would serve as a confidence-building measure in the
run-up to presidential elections. Even Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Biti
of the MDC-T (who are not sanctioned) have requested the easing of some
sanctions to spur economic growth.
However, these arguments are premature. Mugabe
has shown repeatedly that any threat to his power will not be tolerated. MDC-T
officials are frequently arrested and their supporters intimidated.[4] Free speech is oppressed under the Public Order and
Security Act, and political participation not associated with the regime is
often punished with jail time, torture, and even murder.
Human rights activists have urged wider
sanctions on the Mugabe regime for its illegal mining practices. Apart from
forced labor of residents living in mining communities and the use of child
labor, a number of diamond reserves have not paid taxes, which could be used for
infrastructure, services, and government salaries, all of which are severely
lacking.[5] There is also a fear that the Mugabe regime, as it has
done in the past, is using the profits from the diamond industry to amass
personal wealth and strengthen its military capabilities to suppress public
dissent in the upcoming election.
The draft constitution, crafted by both
political parties, is considered by many as a flawed document that makes too
many compromises to ZANU-PF. While the referendum on the constitution is
expected to pass, the determining factor will be the presidential election.
Rewarding the Mugabe regime without meaningful course correction would play into
Mugabe’s long-standing propaganda campaign that the sanctions are “illegal” and
a violation of Zimbabwe’s sovereignty. Mugabe would hail any removal of
sanctions as a victory and exploit such action as weakness on the part of
Europe.
Recommendations
- Current U.S. restrictions should be maintained
and Congress should strengthen them where applicable;
- The Obama Administration should discourage any
efforts by the EU or its member states to resume aid or reduce sanctions on
Zimbabwe until Zimbabwe adopts a constitution that incorporates strong
guarantees of freedom, fundamental human rights, and representative government
and holds a national election that is verified to be free, fair, and entirely
without the intimidation perpetrated by ZANU-PF over the past decade; and
- The Obama Administration should advise South
African President Jacob Zuma (who is in charge of Zimbabwe’s reform process in
SADC) that SADC’s effectiveness will be questioned if it fails to hold Mugabe
and ZANU-PF to the strictest standards in both the referendum and the upcoming
elections.
A Powerful Mechanism
The EU’s misguided policies on Zimbabwe will not
lead to positive change in the Mugabe regime. Rewarding the Mugabe regime for
the reforms that MDC-T has implemented will strengthen ZANU-PF and embolden
Mugabe’s campaign for re-election. Though imperfect, international sanctions are
a powerful mechanism for prodding change. They should not be abandoned because
of overly optimistic hopes of reform. Rather, they should be maintained until
reform is verified.
Morgan Lorraine Roach is a Research Associate
in the Douglas and Sarah Allison Center for Foreign Policy Studies, a division
of the Kathryn and Shelby Cullom Davis Institute for International Studies, at
The Heritage Foundation. Brett Schaefer, Jay Kingham Fellow in International
Regulatory Affairs in the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at Heritage,
assisted in the preparation of this paper.
EU conditions laudable, draft constitution a fraud
By Clifford Chitupa
Mashiri, 24th July 2012.
The conditions set by the European Union (EU)
for the suspension of targeted
restrictive measures against some Zimbabweans
and entities are laudable.
The EU sent an unambiguous message to all the
interested parties to the
Zimbabwe crisis about minimum standards that need
to be met before the
restrictive measures can be suspended.
It was a
laudable move because the EU ensured its measures are
‘performance-based’
like a ‘bonus’ and avoided rewarding people accused of
human rights
abuse.
At a time when the regime had deluded itself into believing that
the louder
it made noises, the sooner it would get off the hook, it couldn’t
be more
disappointed.
The positive thing about the EU restrictive
measures is that they are not
intended for the ordinary people of Zimbabwe
as claimed by the regime’s
propaganda machinery.
The restoration of
direct foreign investment should be seen as an incentive
to reform than as
an opportunity for looting.
The immediate effect of the EU’s position is
the ramping-up of pressure on
the Harare regime to expedite reforms needed
to hold a peaceful, free and
fair referendum on a new
constitution.
If the regime wants the so-called sanctions to be
suspended, it has been
given a clear roadmap and benchmarks to follow. The
ball is in the coalition
government’s court.
As for the draft
constitution that is due to be put to a plebiscite after
going through
Parliament, in its present form, it is a fraud to say the
least.
Admittedly, it has some cosmetic changes like making the
president seek
parliamentary approval for declaring war (of course how would
he/she go to
war without funding?)
It is a fraud because it does not
reflect the views that were voluntarily
expressed by the people during the
outreach programme, save for Operation
Chimumumu, whereby the CIO allegedly
spoke on behalf of Zanu-pf.
For instance, during outreach people rejected
a power executive president,
preferring a return to President Banana
days.
By legalising state seizure of land without fair compensation, the
draft
constitution was reduced to a Zanu-pf election manifesto for political
expediency – with serious implications for direct foreign
investment.
Given the fact that Robert Mugabe and his family reportedly
own 39 farms
while less than 1% of the country’s 1.8 million commercial
agricultural
workers and their families were resettled, the draft
constitution arguably
fails an important test – that of redressing Mugabe’s
and the colonialists’
blunders.
The other shortcomings of the draft
constitution that make it worse than the
Lancaster House Constitution before
Mugabe’s 19 amendments include:
a. denying millions of Zimbabweans who
were displaced by the Mugabe
regime’s political violence and mismanagement
of the economy, the right to
dual citizenship and the right to vote as other
regional countries do;
b. leaves the door open for 88 year-old Robert
Mugabe to rule for another
10 years because the two term limit of 10 years
would only start with the
adoption of the new charter
c. giving
Mugabe not only immunity but a flimsy defence of good faith for
alleged
criminal offences such as murder, genocide, corruption and so on
committed
before the adoption of the new charter;
d. short-changing people on
human rights violations committed by the
Mugabe regime and some before
independence, by duplicating commissions and
giving them muddled-up terms of
reference e.g. TRC also called NPRC plus
ZHRC – overloaded with jobs for
boys and girls of course;
e. providing for a bloated government (like
the present one with 70
ministers and their deputies who are all driving
expensive and imported
Mercedes Benz cars or four-wheel drive Cherokees
reliant on such a small tax
base, no wonder why Treasury is
broke);
f. a too powerful president who makes senior appointments
including
ambassadors, permanent secretaries, commanders and so on without
checks and
balance from parliament;
g. allowing the president to
deploy the army internally without
consulting parliament (given the
experience of 2008, it is not wise move);
h. stipulating 16 languages
which constitute official languages
regardless of cost to the state and
violating human rights of those left out
when maintaining English as the
official language with permission to use all
indigenous languages as
necessary would have been better;
i. prevaricating and inconsistency
on the death penalty e.g. by ignoring
gender equality and sparing males
under 21 years at the time of committing
the capital offence when they are
generally some of those accused of violent
and politically-motivated
crimes.
The draft constitution ended up being negotiated by a small group
of people,
is severely flawed by entrenching Mugabe’s rule and should be
rejected in
its entirety.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political
Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
Bill Watch 35/2012 of 24th July [Parliamentary Vacancies for By-Elections]
BILL
WATCH 35/2012
[24th July
2012]
Updated Details of Vacant Parliamentary
Constituencies
There has been considerable confusion recently about the number of
Parliamentary vacancies due for by-elections, with discrepancies between figures
mentioned by Minister Chinamasa in the Senate and picked up by the media, and
those given in Veritas bulletins. This
bulletin will hopefully clear up the confusion.
All figures and facts about vacancies in this bulletin have been
verified against Parliamentary records.
Possible Reasons for Discrepancies
Veritas when talking about by-elections has referred only to the
number of seats due for by-elections.
Only constituency seats are, when they become vacant, up for
by-elections. There are other vacant seats that need to be filled but not
through by-elections. There are also some seats which the press have reported as
vacant which are not officially vacant.
Vacant seats not requiring by-elections
· 2 of these are appointed Senate seats:
1 was occupied by the late Senator Dr David Karimanzira who was
Harare Provincial Governor [vacancy to be filled by the President by appointment
of a new Provincial Governor for Harare]; 1 was occupied by the late appointed Senator Dr Tichaona Mudzingwa of MDC-T [vacancy to be filled by an MDC-T nominee]
· 2 of these are chiefs seats:
Replacements are needed for the late Chiefs Bidi of Matabeleland
South and Chimombe of Manicaland.
Provincial assemblies of chiefs in these provinces have to sit as
electoral colleges to replace them.
Seats that have sometimes been reported as vacant
Senator Bennett’s seat is not vacant
It is a common misconception that his seat fell vacant long ago because
he has been out of the country and not attending the Senate since early
2010. But his seat is not vacant,
because the Senate has not voted to expel him, even though it could in theory
have done so at any time since 30th March, 2011, when he had missed 21
consecutive sittings in a single Parliamentary Session.
Seats of MDC-T MPs sentenced to imprisonment are not vacant. Four MDC-T MPs were automatically suspended from the House of Assembly for long
periods. This was in terms of section 42
of the Constitution, after they were convicted of offences by magistrates and
sentenced to gaol terms of six months or more.
All subsequently won their appeals against conviction and sentence, so
their suspensions then automatically came to an end.
[While suspended they were omitted from the party voting strength numbers
which Veritas periodically distributed.]
There are 26 Vacant Seats Due for By-Elections
Details giving constituencies, and which party previously held these
26 seats, are set out below. To fill the
vacancies the President should issue a proclamation calling by-elections. From then on the by-elections will be
conducted by the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission [ZEC]. The Presidential
proclamation will fix dates for the sittings for nomination courts and the
polling days. Polling is only necessary
in constituencies when two or more candidates are nominated. There may be constituencies in which only one
candidate is nominated – and that person automatically gets the seat – so the
actual number of constituencies in which ZEC has to oversee voting may be fewer
than 26.
GPA
Parties “No-Contest” Pact
In
Article 21 of the GPA the three GPA political parties agreed that if and when
electoral vacancies occurred during the first twelve-months of the GPA, the
three parties would not field candidates against each other in the resulting
by-elections. After the expiry of the
twelve-month period, the principals agreed to extend this pact for the duration
of the lifespan of the Inclusive Government, and President Zuma reported this
agreement to the SADC Summit in August 2010.
If the GPA parties honour this pact, every by-election held now would
have to be either not contested or a contest between the GPA party that formerly
held the seat and Independent candidates or candidates from parties outside the
GPA [ZAPU, Mavambo, etc].
Is
the pact legally enforceable? No.
Article 20 of the GPA was not included in Constitution Amendment No.
19. It would have no force in the
courts.
HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY VACANT SEATS FOR BY ELECTIONS [TOTAL
16]
Breakdown by Party that Won the Seat in
2008
Reason for vacancy indicated in brackets for each
constituency
ZANU-PF [8]
Manicaland [1]
Mutare North [former incumbent
Charles Pemenhayi deceased]
Mashonaland Central [4]
Bindura North [former incumbent Elliot Manyika deceased]
Guruve North [former incumbent
Cletus Mabharanga deceased]
Mount Darwin East [former
incumbent Betty Chikava deceased]
Shamva South [former incumbent
Samuel Ziteya deceased]
Mashonaland East [1]
Marondera East [former
incumbent Tracy Mutinhiri expelled
from party]
Masvingo [1]
Mwenezi West [former incumbent
Neddie Masukume deceased]
Midlands [1]
Gokwe-Gumunyu [former
incumbent Ephrem Mushoriwa deceased]
MDC-T [5]
Bulawayo [1]
Emakhandeni Entumbane [former
incumbent Cornelius Dube deceased]
Harare [1]
Mabvuku-Tafara [former
incumbent Shepherd Madamombe deceased]
Manicaland [1]
Makoni Central [former
incumbent John Nyamande deceased]
Masvingo
Gutu South [former incumbent
Eliphas Mukonoweshuro deceased]
Matabeleland South
Matobo North [former incumbent Lovemore Moyo elected
Speaker]
MDC [3]
Matabeleland North
Lupane East [former incumbent
Njabuliso Mguni expelled from
party]
Nkayi South [former incumbent
Abednico Bhebhe expelled from
party]
Matabeleland South
Bulilima East – former
incumbent Norman Mpofu expelled from
party]
SENATE VACANT SEATS FOR BY-ELECTIONS [TOTAL 10]
Breakdown by Party that Won the Seat in
2008
Reason for vacancy indicated in brackets for each
constituency
ZANU-PF [6]
Mashonaland Central [1]
Bindura-Shamva [former
incumbent Misheck Chando deceased]
Mashonaland West [2]
Chegutu [former incumbent
Ednah Madzongwe elected President of
Senate]
Kadoma [former incumbent
Chiratidzo Gava deceased]
Masvingo [1]
Chiredzi [former incumbent
Titus Maluleke appointed Provincial Governor]
Midlands [2]
Gokwe South [former incumbent
Jason Machaya appointed Provincial Governor]
Mberengwa [former incumbent
Richard Hove deceased]
MDC-T [4]
Bulawayo [1]
Mabutweni [former incumbent
Gladys Dube deceased]
Masotsha-Ndlovu [former
incumbent Enna Chitsa deceased]
Matabeleland North
Hwange [former incumbent
Jabulani Ndlovu deceased]
Midlands
Gweru-Chirumanzu [former
incumbent Patrick Kombayi deceased]
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal
responsibility for information supplied
COURT WATCH 13/2012 of 24th July [Human Rights NGO Forum Director in Court 25 July]
COURT WATCH 13/2012
[24th July 2012]
Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum Director Abel Chikomo in Court 25th
July
Time: 8.30 am. Court No. 5, Magistrates Court, Rotten
Row.
This case is of wide interest and importance for human rights
activists and the NGO sector
Abel Chikomo,
director of the Zimbabwe Human Rights
NGO Forum [HR NGO Forum], will be in Harare Magistrates Court tomorrow to answer
a charge of contravening the Private Voluntary Organisations Act [PVO Act]. The defence lawyer is Mr Selby
Hwacha.
The HR NGO
Forum
This
is a coalition of nineteen human rights NGOs in Zimbabwe which, while
having their own objectives, are all concerned with the level and nature of
organized violence and torture in the country.
Its Public Interest Unit, which
undertakes legal
proceedings on behalf of victims of organised violence and torture, currently
has over 700 active cases that are before the magistrates court, High Court and
Supreme Court.
The Case
The charge
The charge is that Mr Chikomo manages an unregistered private
voluntary organisation knowing that it carries on its activities without having
registered in terms of the PVO Act. That
is an offence under section 6(3) of the Act.
Mr Chikomo denies having contravened the PVO Act
Mr Chikomo denies that the HR NGO Forum, as a common law universitas
[association with legal personality distinct from its members] that is
recognized by section 89 of the Constitution, is required to register under the Act.
Late delivery of documents to the Defence
Although the State only supplied the defence with the witnesses’ statements this
afternoon, 24th July, the defence is ready to proceed with the
trial.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied