Zimbabwe Vigil Diary – 24th July 2010

Govt mulls massive job

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

Saturday, 24 July 2010 19:45

A majority of Zimbabwe's dysfunctional parastatals are overstaffed with two
thirds of their staff deemed to be excess baggage, a government audit
carried out last year has revealed.

Cabinet has since been informed that massive retrenchments are inevitable if
the state enterprises are to be saved, sources said last week.

The inclusive government embarked on the audit soon after its inception in
February following concerns that utilities such as the Zimbabwe Electricity
Supply Authority (Zesa) and TelOne were forcing consumers to sustain their
huge wage bills through unreasonable tariffs.

As of December Zesa was spending US$7,6 million on salaries a month against
revenues of US$46,3 million, the audit, which has been kept under wraps by
the government reveals.

The highest paid employee was getting US$2 140 a month without allowances.
The National Social Security Authority (NSSA), which is struggling to pay
pensioners reasonable monthly stipends, is another state entity that was
found to have an unsustainable wage bill.

Its highest paid employee earns US$7 264 and its wage bill stood at US$724
112 as of December.
The audit shows the extent of the rot at the government-owned enterprises
most of them managed by Zanu PF apologists and boards whose terms of office
expired years ago.

Although Gorden Moyo, the Minister of State Enterprises and Parastatals said
he did not know anything about the audit ordered by his predecessor Gabuza
Joel Gabbuza, The Standard has it on good authority that its findings
informed his presentation to cabinet last week which proposed an overhaul of
the majority of parastatals.

The investigation concluded that in most cases two out of every three
employees ought to be retrenched for the parastatals to operate profitably.

A considerable number of workers at parastatals are beneficiaries of Zanu PF's
intricate patronage system.
An audit by the Auditor and Comptroller General's office last year revealed
that 10 000 Zanu PF youths had been illegally employed by the Ministry of
Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment as part of the party's
grand strategy to hang on to power.

Moyo said a cocktail of reforms approved by cabinet on Tuesday were about
reversing the steady collapse of the parastatals, which has hindered the
hugely anticipated renewal of the economy.
"Cabinet took a decision that salaries at parastatals should be affordable
given the state of our economy," he said.

He said line ministers have also been given a challenge to reconstitute
boards of parastatals that fall under their ambit following a realisation
that some of them operated without boards for years.

A number of strategic parastatals have boards led by retired soldiers seen
to be serving Zanu PF interests. Some ministers are also said to be running
parastatals "using remote control" after neglecting to appoint new boards,
with some chief executive officers having been on an acting capacity for a
very long time.

Moyo said the state enterprises had been given an ultimatum to take
corrective action on a number of areas where they were found to be lacking
in.

BY KHOLWANI NYATHI

 

PM gives up on State House 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

Saturday, 24 July 2010 19:39

PRIME Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai has given up on moving into Zimbabwe House
and has accepted a "lesser" house in Highlands, as President Robert Mugabe
continues to hold onto both the property reserved for the head of government
and State House, his official residence.

Zimbabwe House is ceremonially reserved for the prime minister, while State
House is the president's residence.

Since the formation of the inclusive government, almost two years ago,
Tsvangirai has been battling Mugabe for Zimbabwe House, but the veteran
ruler has been obstinate forcing the prime minister to settle for the
Highlands house.

Tsvangirai, on the other hand, has been resident at his family home in
Strathaven.
However, the house in Highlands is under renovations and Tsvangirai will
have to wait a little longer before moving into the house, The Standard can
reveal.

A confidant close to the prime minister revealed that the former trade
unionist had accepted the house though he was yet to move in.

Tsvangirai's daughter Rumbidzai and husband Calvin Nyarota, held their
wedding ceremony at the house a week ago.

The confidant said Mugabe's refusal to hand over Zimbabwe House to the prime
minister was part of a larger power game.

Nathaniel Manheru, a Herald columnist believed to be Mugabe's spokesman,
George Charamba often refers to Tsvangirai as a senior minister to show that
he is not an equal to the Zanu PF leader.

"They have never accepted that Tsvangirai is Prime Minister and if they were
to give it to him that would be a significant climb down and they do not
want to accept that," the source said referring to Mugabe and his Zanu PF
party.

The source said there was reluctance in Zanu PF to accept Tsvangirai and
this had led them to try and belittle and subvert him at every turn.

The source added that Tsvangirai was viewed as a "senior minister" and was
not accorded as much respect as Mugabe despite supposedly being equal
partners in government.

Tsvangirai's spokesman, James Maridadi confirmed that the prime minister had
since been allocated a house.

"The house is still being spruced up and the PM will only move in once that
is complete," he said.

Asked why Tsvangirai had settled for a seemingly lesser house not befitting
his stature, Maridadi said the prime minister had not been too fussy about
accommodation and had been quite comfortable at his family house in
Strathaven.

Maridadi said it was government protocol that Tsvangirai stay at a house
befitting his position and he felt that the Highlands house was adequate.

"At the new house he will be able to perform his premiership functions as
required by protocol and it befits that status," he said.

Between 1980 and 1987 Mugabe resided at Zimbabwe House while he was still
prime minister, while Canaan Banana, then president, lived at State House.

The two houses are opposite each other, while the Chief Justice is supposed
to reside next door to the president.

It has also emerged that the widows of vice presidents Simon Muzenda and
Joseph Msika are still holding onto the state houses which had been
allocated to their late husbands.

This has forced Joice Mujuru and John Nkomo to continue staying in their
personal houses instead of moving into these two government-owned houses
respectively.

Msika's widow resides in Mandara, a house, which ironically, was vacated by
Joshua Nkomo's family after his (Nkomo's) death.

Housing and Social Amenities minister, Giles Mutsekwa declined to comment on
the issue.
He claimed it was "unAfrican" to discuss dead people, saying the two widows
"were there because of their late husbands".

Mutsekwa, however, warned that the net was closing in on former ministers
who were still holding onto the government houses.

He said because former ministers were holding onto houses, ministers from
outside Harare were being inconvenienced.

 "I am also affected and I promise you that within the next few weeks we
will have produced records of who is staying where," he said.

BY NQABA MATSHAZI

Fight over statue goes to court 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

Saturday, 24 July 2010 19:38

THE Mining Industry Pension Fund (MIPF) on Thursday filed an urgent High
Court application in a bid to stop the Harare city council from erecting a
statue of the late Vice-President Joshua Nkomo at Karigamombe Centre.

Council had started preparing for the erection of the statue in defiance of
protests by Matabeleland-based groups on the choice of the site to honour
the memory of one Zimbabwe's founding fathers.

The protestors argue the Karigamombe building was named after Mugabe in
celebration of his brutal suppression of PF Zapu led by Nkomo during the
Gukurahundi genocide.

In court papers filed last week - in which the council and the co-ministers
of Home Affairs Theresa Makone (MDC-T) and Kembo Mohadi (Zanu PF) as well as
Mutual Construction Company are cited as respondents - the MIPF wants
construction of the statue to be stopped immediately.

The pension fund owns the land bound by Julius Nyerere Way, Kwame Nkrumah
Avenue and Angwa Street.

MIPF's application has been set down for hearing on Tuesday before Justice
Ben Hlatshwayo.
In a certificate of urgency filed in support of the application through its
lawyers Gill Godlonton and Gerrans, the MIPF say it wants the matter dealt
with as soon as possible because it fears that once it is erected the
property may become  a protected area under the National Museums and
Monuments Act.
This would prevent the MIPF from removing the statue once construction is
complete.

The MIPF said they own the land which they purchased in August 1999 from a
company known as Indigeco (Private) Limited and council had not sought
permission to erect the life-size statue.

The fund says it had already reached an agreement with fast food giant
Innscor to set up a food court at the site.

"The project to develop that piece of land is a major project for the
applicant, which will improve the immovable property and ensure generation
of profit from its asset for the benefit of the generality of the pensioners
of the mining industry," said the MIPF in its affidavit.

"In any event these developments jeopardise the applicant's arrangement with
Innscor as it is reasonably foreseeable that Innscor may not want to be
associated with any controversy over this piece of land.
"That would be more harmful to their brand. Time and resources have already
been committed to the arrangement with Innscor."

MIPF said attempts to resolve the matter amicably with the city council
through Town Clerk Tendai Mahachi had been fruitless because the local
authority had refused to acknowledge that the property belonged to them.

Mahachi yesterday said he could not comment on the matter as he was driving
from his rural home.
In a Bulawayo, another life-size bronze statue of Nkomo is being erected in
the central business district. Nkomo died on July 1 1999 and government has
been accused of failing to properly honour his memory.

BY BERTHA SHOKO
 

Storm over diplomats reshuffle

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Saturday, 24 July 2010 18:57

MDC-T yesterday said the unilateral re-assignment of Phelekezela Mphoko as
the country's ambassador to South Africa must be reversed because the other
principals in the inclusive government were not consulted.

President Robert Mugabe last week reshuffled diplomats with Mphoko replacing
Simon Khaya Moyo who now works full time at Zanu PF headquarters in Harare
following his elevation to party chairman last year.
Mphoko was Zimbabwe's top diplomat in Moscow, Russia.

But MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said Mugabe's unilateral appointment
of ambassadors undermines the credibility and confidence of the unity
government.

An agreement reached by the two MDC formations and Zanu PF in September says
the allocation of diplomatic posts is to be decided by mutual consent as and
when vacancies arise.

"It's a grab and take all reminiscent of yester-year politics when Zanu PF
was the only song in town," said Chamisa. "It is only fair that
power-sharing is not only on paper but in practice."

Party insiders say Zanu PF was not comfortable with allowing the MDC-T to
take control of the embassy in Pretoria, as it feared the party would take
advantage of the posting and use its ambassador to create strong relations
with the South African ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC).

ANC leader and South African president Jacob Zuma is the facilitator in the
ongoing Zimbabwe power-sharing talks.

Chamisa accused Mugabe of preaching the gospel of a unity government while
doing exactly the opposite.

He said Mugabe appointed judges and heads of parastatals without consulting
his partners Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur
Mutambara.

In May, MDC-T protested when Mugabe appointed a new Supreme Court judge and
four High Court judges, without the knowledge of his partners in government.

Mugabe also promoted Retired Brigadier General George Chiweshe to the
position of Judge President.

Chiweshe is the former chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(ZEC) that kept Mugabe in power in 2008 by withholding election results for
more than a month while massaging the figures.

Rita Makarau, who was Judge President, was promoted to the Supreme Court,
while Nicholas Mathonsi, Andrew Mutema and Garainesu Mawadze, became judges
in the High Court based in Bulawayo.
"They (Zanu PF) are talking inclusivity but walking exclusivity," said
Chamisa. "There is definitely no consultation or communication in the
cockpit."

Chamisa however could not say how his party would force Mugabe to reverse
the appointment but insisted, "we have wailed and wailed before. We can't be
a wailing party. We have to put a stop to this."
Sources said Tsvangirai was fuming that Mugabe had failed to consult him
before the appointment, which shows wanton disregard of his position in the
inclusive government.

"These issues could be raised at the Sadc (Southern African Development
Community) summit," said one source.

The summit will be held next month in Namibia.

Efforts to get a comment from MDC-M spokesperson Edwin Mushoriwa were
fruitless.

Mugabe's re-deployments saw ambassador Boniface Chidyausiku leaving his post
as the country's permanent representative to the UN in New York to take up a
post in Harare while Chitsaka Chipaziwa replaces him.

James Manzou, who was in Angola, replaces Chipaziwa who was Zimbabwe's
permanent representative in Geneva while former ambassador to Australia
Stephen Cletus Chiketa has been moved to Sweden to replace Mary Mubi, who
was moved to Italy.

Mubi takes over from Margaret Muchada, who is still to get a post.

Early this year, five envoys from the two MDC formations were posted to
different countries.

The diplomats are Hebson Makuvise who was posted to Germany, Hilda
Suka-Mafudze (Sudan), Jacqueline Nomhla Zwambila (Australia), Mabed
Khumbulani (Nigeria) (all from MDC-T) and MDC-M's Trudy Stevenson, who took
her post in Senegal.

BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE

Sikhala targeted in bomb attack 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

Saturday, 24 July 2010 18:56

MDC99 leader Job Sikhala had his residence bombed late on Friday and he
claims this could be the work of Zanu PF.

A minibus outside his St Mary's home in Chitungwiza was burnt, in what was
suspected to be a petrol bombing incident. No one was injured.

Sikhala yesterday said the police had since collected what had remained of
the petrol bomb and were conducting investigations.

He said the assailants were travelling in a car without number plates and
guards outside his house had failed to apprehend the alleged bombers despite
giving chase.

Sikhala, who said he was not at home at the time of the attack, said the
assailants had left MDC-T fliers outside his house insinuating that they
were responsible for the attack.

"It is not the MDC-T, I am certain this is the work of Zanu PF. Why would
the MDC bomb my residence then leave fliers implicating themselves?" he
asked.

The fliers allege that Sikhala is having secret meetings with Finance
minister Tendai Biti, Fidelis Mhashu, Elias Mudzuri and 2008 election
presidential candidate, Simba Makoni.

"We have had enough of you, this is just but a warning," read one of the
fliers.
Mudzuri and Mhashu were recently axed as ministers, while Biti is reportedly
leading a faction opposed to party leader, Morgan Tsvangirai.

Sikhala suspected that the bombing could have been linked to a statement he
issued about alleged corruption in diamond mining and sales.

Police spokesperson, Wayne Bvudzijena said he was not aware of the bombing.

MDC-T spokesman Nelson Chamisa laughed off insinuations that his party was
involved in the bombing. "For me to even apply my mind, it would be very
difficult in such a case," he said.

Sikhala claims there have been several attempts on his life, with the most
recent being an alleged shooting at his car when he was driving from Gutu.

The former MP was part of the original MDC when it was formed in 1999.

He joined the formation led by deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara when
the MDC split on tribal lines in 2005 and has since ditched the faction to
form his own party.

BY NQABA MATSHAZI

Anti-corruption Commission probes ZBH vehicles scam 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

Saturday, 24 July 2010 18:54

THE Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating the Zimbabwe Broadcasting
Holdings (ZBH) management following allegations of corruption in the
procurement of vehicles for its staff.

The commission on Thursday visited the national broadcaster to investigate
the fraud.
On Friday, ZBH hastily issued a statement exonerating its management from
the allegedly corrupt deals that have sucked in a former Zanu PF diplomat.

The investigation stems from the procurement of 28 BAW vehicles, but it was
not immediately clear how much money was spent on the deal. The vehicles
were sourced from China and it is believed that a senior official at ZBH
benefited richly from the deal.

An insider revealed the official could have got as many as three cars as
kickbacks for facilitating the deal with the Chinese car maker.

The insider revealed that ZBH had a deal with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority
(Zimra), to get the cars into the country duty free, but the procurement
committee claimed the deal had fallen through without giving details. The
procurement committee is made up of senior managers.

A BAW pick-up vehicle reportedly costs US$2 000, with shipping and after
customs clearances the cost of one car may go up to as much as US$6 000.
However, ZBH is reported to have paid US$12 000 for each vehicle; and that
has raised eyebrows.

"Initially the committee was given US$50 000 to acquire the vehicles, but
went back to request another US$50 000," the insider said. "They kept going
back requesting for more money until the vehicles were enough and that
probably caught the attention of the Anti-Corruption Commission."

The insider added that initially they had wanted to buy Isuzu trucks from
South Africa, which cost US$12 000 each, considering that they would not pay
duty, but the official at the centre of the alleged corruption reportedly
vetoed that in preference to the BAW deal.

It was further revealed that a dossier compiled by auditors had been
released and it documented the extent of the rot at the state broadcaster.
ZBH spokesman, Sivukile Simango denied that the Anti-Corruption Commission
had visited them, though he confirmed that there was an external audit being
undertaken.

It was not immediately clear if anyone else had benefited from the deal,
though the whole executive was under investigation.

On Friday night, ZBH went on a charm offensive denying that they were being
investigated. A statement was read on all its bulletins refuting the story.

The corporation stated that disgruntled individuals were circulating
allegations of corruption and these were false.

"The document contains falsehoods and is aimed at tarnishing the image of
the corporation and some members of the executive management by alleging
that some unscrupulous deals were conducted unethically," reads the
statement by ZBH.

"There are external auditors looking at our 2009 books at the moment," he
said, before referring questions to Happison Muchechetere, the ZBH chief
executive officer.

Contacted for comment, Muchechetere, said he did not discuss such issues
over the phone before hanging up.

BY OUR STAFF

Silence on Zim rights abuses condemned 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

Saturday, 24 July 2010 18:48

VIENNA - The region and international human rights advocates have come under
fire for ignoring the sexual rights abuses that occurred in Zimbabwe during
the 2008 orgy of rape, violence and intimidation of opposition supporters.

On the sidelines of the 18th International Aids conference, human rights
watchdog, Aids-Free World and activists from South Africa, Botswana and
other countries vowed to continue to apply pressure on regional and
international bodies such as Sadc, the African Union and the UN Security
Council to take action against the perpetrators of political violence
carried out against opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)
supporters.

"There is not the slightest question that Mugabe has his youth corps and his
war veterans and they are ready to do it again, said Stephen Lewis,"
co-director of Aids-Free World.

Lewis, who is also the former UNAids special envoy to Africa, added that the
reluctance to intervene in Zimbabwe by the African Union and Sadc in
Zimbabwe was a "terribly disturbing commentary on the moral standing of the
leadership in Africa".

He dished out similar criticism against the international human rights
community.

"The use of rape as a political tactic is the lowest, brutal, disgusting
thing that any politician or political organisation can use," said Vuyiseka
Dubula, the general secretary of the Treatment Action Campaign (Tac) of
South Africa.

She also rebuked the South African government for its "cowardice" in
responding to the Zimbabwean crisis and stated that Sadc leaders were
refusing to take responsibility for the situation in Zimbabwe.
As many as four million out of a total of 13 million Zimbabweans, are
believed to be living outside the country because of the severe economic and
political violence in the last decade.

Aids-Free Worlds' report, entitled 'Electing to Rape: Sexual Terror in
Mugabe's Zimbabwe' presents alleged evidence of the rape campaign waged by
the ruling Zanu PF party during the 2008 election period.

Over the course of six field visits, the group's lawyers interviewed rape
survivors and witnesses, resulting in 70 sworn affidavits from victims
describing brutal beatings, abduction, gang rape and torture.

According to the report, every one of those 70 women was either a member of
MDC, or closely related to a member of the then opposition party.

But amid these statistics it was a tearful Tabitha Khumalo, MP for Bulawayo
East, who provided a human face to the session.
"Rape is a silent driver of HIV and Aids and is now being used as a
political weapon so that as women we are denied the right to stand up and
demand what is rightfully ours," she said.

Khumalo said the act of rape leads to stigmatisation of the victims by the
police, health institutions (who refuse to treat the survivors) as well as
the victims' children and partners.

Current statistics show that HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe stands at 13,7% with
unprotected heterosexual sex being one of the drivers of the pandemic.

But the MP said she was proud to know that the international community
gathered in Vienna was taking the issue of Zimbabwe women seriously.

"Please help the Zimbabwean women," she pleaded before breaking down into
tears.
"We have done everything in our power and we have failed."

The Conference, which opened on Sunday last week , is taking place under the
theme, 'Rights Here. Right Now' and is calling for a human rights-based
approach to responding to HIV and Aids.

BY FUNGAI MACHIRORI

Is Zimbabwe guilty of xenophobia as foreigners rot in jail? 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

Saturday, 24 July 2010 16:23

ZIMBABWE is fast becoming hell for foreigners who seek asylum as scores of
them are literally filling up Harare central remand prison.

This emerged during a tour of the prison facility by the newly appointed
deputy Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Obert Gutu.

As prisoners were given a chance to air their views, a Zambian stood up to
describe the torment he had been put through since his arrival.

"I came here in May and sought asylum and I was given instructions on what
to do," he said.
"However I was soon arrested and thrown here in 'D' Class section, which
houses notorious and dangerous criminals."

The Zambian national, who did not give his name and seemed knowledgeable on
conventions governing human and refugee rights, said he was arrested on May
2 and since then he has been wallowing in remand prison without any help
forthcoming.

"I am being treated like a criminal, with leg irons and all. My crime is
seeking asylum in Zimbabwe," he continued.

Another foreigner, a national from the Democratic Republic of Congo also
narrated how he was arrested on his way to the United Nations High
Commission for Refugees (UNCHR) offices in Harare, and arraigned before the
courts.

"The first time I went to the courts there was a language barrier since in
DRC we speak French and I could not understand a word of English. I was told
to come back some other time," he said.

On his return he was fined US$100, which he claims was paid for by a Good
Samaritan, since he did not have any money.

"I am running away from war and wish to be taken to the refugee camp, I have
no relatives in Zimbabwe and I have no money. I wonder why I am being kept
here," he said.

The main refugee camp is Tongogara, south east of the country, which houses
about 5 000 refugees.
There are reports, however, of social tensions and sexual violence being on
the rise, with Burundians being expelled from the country for formenting
violence.

The remand prison is also teeming with a number of Somalis, who seemed quite
happy and expectant that the deputy minister could help them in their quest
for freedom and asylum.

One spoke with the help of an interpreter and chronicled how they had fled
war-ravaged Somalia, hoping to find asylum in Zimbabwe.

He said they would be quite grateful if Gutu could help them.
The Somali said they were in the company of children and a 72-year-old
woman, when they sought asylum in the country.

On the other hand, there were some foreign prisoners, who said they had
served their prison terms but were still being kept in remand for no reason.

"I have served 10 years in Zimbabwe and when I asked why I am not being set
free I was told to raise an air fare to South Africa.

"I have been here for a long time and since my relatives do not know where I
am how can I raise the amount," a Zambian inmate said.

Speaking in fluent Shona, as if in testimony of the long time he has been in
prison, the Zambian said since there was no direct flight between Zimbabwe
and his country, immigration authorities said he had to buy an air ticket to
South Africa and another one to Zambia as the only way to win his freedom.

"(Deputy) minister I beg you please help me, as I can only raise bus fare. I
have served my time and I deserve to be free," he pleaded.

An Ethiopian, is also wallowing in a similar predicament. He was arrested in
Zimbabwe in 2006 and is yet to be brought before the courts.

Another inmate spoke on behalf of the Ethiopian, Ebrahim Gebrselassie, who
did not seem conversant in English and Shona, saying for the past four years
he was being told he would be extradited to South Africa, where he was to
face murder charges.

"We are always told that he will be sent to South Africa but four years is a
long time to wait and it seems nothing is being done to have him sent
 there," the inmate said.

Gutu, seemed shocked at the stories he was told and was often out of answers
for the foreign prisoners, who had anticipated his visit.

"I am told immigration is looking at your issues and very soon things will
be sorted out," he said to the prisoners who had served their time and were
waiting to be either deported or extradited.

However, there were murmurs of disgruntlement from some prisoners, when he
told the asylum seekers that the reason for their prolonged incarceration
was probably due to the fact that security checks were being conducted on
them.

Gutu was, however, non-committal on how long the process would take but
assured the foreigners that their issue would be looked at.

He said his visit had not been about personal experiences but rather about
the infrastructure.
Contacted for comment on the issue of foreign prisoners, co-minister of Home
Affairs, Theresa Makone pleaded she be left alone.

"I am begging you please leave me alone, that is all I am asking, let me
rest," she pleaded.
Labour and Social Services minister Paurina Mpariwa said she was not aware
of cases of refugees being detained for trying to seek asylum in Zimbabwe.

Efforts to establish the number of refugees in the country's prisons were
futile as the UNCHR representative to Zimbabwe Marcelin Hepie was
unavailable.

However, Zimbabwe could be afoul of a number of conventions governing the
treatment of refugees and displaced people.

Article 31 of the Refugee Convention states that refugees should not be
penalised for having entered a country illegally if they come from a place
where they were in danger and have made themselves known to authorities.

This article further states that asylum seekers should not be detained for
destroying or carrying forged identity documents.

Refugees are entitled to the same treatment afforded to locals and their
human rights should be respected, says the article.

Zimbabwe's prisons are notorious for being under-funded with reports that
inmates go for days without food.

The Red Cross and the United Nations Children's Emergency Fund have since
chipped in to ease chronic food shortages.

As one inmate pointed out, the diet at the remand prison is almost
exclusively made up of beans and sadza and sometimes they are limited to one
meal a day.

BY NQABA MATSHAZI

 

Zanu PF poll strategy hits sour note 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

Saturday, 24 July 2010 16:21

PARTISAN jingles played on national radio and television by Zanu PF in an
attempt to win back votes in preparation for next year's elections could
backfire as they remind the electorate of the violence and repression that
characterised previous polls, analysts have said.

The jingles proclaim 86-year-old President Robert Mugabe as supreme leader
and denounce the MDC-T as an unequal partner in the unity government.

Zanu PF recently ordered all Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC)
stations to play the controversial jingles, at least twice every hour, as it
tries to lure back support ahead of the polls that may be held next year.

The jingles are from a compilation of eight songs on a CD produced by a
local music outfit, Mbare Chimurenga Choir, with the assistance of Minister
of Media, Information and Publicity, Webster Shamu.

But political analysts see it as a feeble attempt to psyche up the masses
for next year's elections and assure them that Zanu PF's political dominance
is still intact despite the formation of the coalition government.

Analysts said it was part of a broader undeclared election campaign strategy
that has seen increased cases of intimidation, harassment, torture and
abduction of supporters of the MDC in recent weeks as the party gears itself
for elections.

Attempts by the two MDC formations to have the jingles pulled off the air
appear to have failed.
MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa said Zanu PF was defying a recent Cabinet
directive to stop playing the jingles.

"We will deal with this issue in the context of the inclusive government,"
said Chamisa.
"These jingles poison the current atmosphere and it petrifies us when they
celebrate an individual as if he is a representative of God here on earth."

The MDC-T believes the introduction of the jingles on ZBC marks the
beginning of an election campaign by Zanu PF, which started with the
harassment of its supporters during the ongoing constitution-making outreach
programmes countrywide.

But analysts said it appears Shamu, the architect of the jingles, has not
read anything about Joseph Goebbels's principles of propaganda which say: "A
propaganda theme must be repeated, but not beyond some point of diminishing
effectiveness." Goebbels was Adolf Hitler's chief propagandist.

They say Shamu has failed to establish that the jingles were actually
alienating potential supporters instead of luring them.

They added the jingles were a grotesque reminder of the hateful songs that
became synonymous with the era between 2000 and 2005 when Jonathan Moyo was
Information minister.

Moyo's music, instead of building political support for Zanu PF, helped
build a groundswell of discontentment against Mugabe's rule, the analysts
said.

One of the latest jingles called "Ndikusetere team", says the Zimbabwean
leadership team is headed by Mugabe, followed by vice-presidents Joice
Mujuru and John Nkomo and no one comes after the three.
Efforts to get a comment from Shamu, who is also Zanu PF political
commissar, were fruitless last week.

Political analyst Eldred Masunungure said the jingles were a "psychological
appeal" by Zanu PF in an attempt to mobilise the masses, re-assure and
demonstrate that Mugabe was still in control of national politics.

Masunungure believes the jingles would neither lure more people to Zanu PF
nor change the perceptions Zimbabweans already have about the party.

"This is a psychological appeal in the absence of material goods to give
away," said Masunungure.
"But the years of symbolic politics are long gone. People want performers
and not psychological politics."
Masunungure said Zanu PF has engaged in an early election campaign without
openly declaring it.
Another political commentator Ernest Mudzengi also believes the jingles were
related to impending elections.

He said Zanu PF was very much aware of its waning popularity in the past two
decades due to poor management of the economy and gross human rights
violations.

"They are so desperate to win the hearts and souls of the people," said
Mudzengi.

"So they are trying to reposition themselves on the political platform but
over-doing it in the process."
Chamisa said besides Zanu PF abusing tax-payers' money, the party was
forcing people to listen to propaganda by foisting the jingles on radio
listeners and television viewers who did not have any other alternative.

"This is an abuse of tax-payers money and listeners who are forced to pay
for licences to consume Zanu PF propaganda," he said.

Chamisa said instead of airing political jingles, the ZBC should be
screening jingles promoting the constitution-making outreach programme and
economic revival.

ZBC spokesperson Sivukile Simango refused to comment on matter saying the
matter was being handled at a "higher political level."

One political commentator who requested anonymity said playing hateful
jingles to lure political support for Zanu PF was like  playing a soft tune
to revive a "decomposing corpse".

"What they are doing is like playing soft music to a corpse in the hope that
it will rise and dance to the nice lyrics," he said. "They should try other
strategies."

Masunungure concurred saying chances that Zanu PF would be able to reverse
"political migration" to the MDC formations that has been happening over the
years were next to none.

Last week, Mugabe wore white robes at the Johane Marange Apostolic sect
gathering in Manicaland in what commentators say is another attempt to lure
them to his party whose support base is declining.

Members of the apostolic sect have become Mugabe's captive audience for a
long time as they are regularly commandeered to sing for him when leaving or
arriving from international trips.

BY CAIPHAS CHIMHETE

Evicted white farmers become destitute 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw

Saturday, 24 July 2010 16:17

SOME white commercial farmers who accepted compensation from the government
after their farms were seized under the violent land reform programme are
now destitute, farmers' representative bodies have said.

An estimated 200 out of the 4 000 white commercial farmers that were in the
country in 2000 have so far been compensated.

But the Commercial Farmers' Union (CFU) said the majority of those
compensated got less than 10% of the real value of their properties.

"Most of those who accepted the compensation were elderly people who were so
desperate," said CFU president Deon Theron. "But now some of them are
destitute because they quickly exhausted the paltry compensation they were
given during the Zimbabwe dollar era."

Some are living with friends while others are being housed by charitable
organisations.
The Southern African Farmers' Alliance (Safa)  concurred saying those who
took the offer were desperate because they had nothing to live on. Others
wanted to leave the country.

Most feared for their lives after traumatic experiences at the hands of war
veterans, who forced them to flee their farms.

Chris Jarrett, the chairman of Safa last week said some of the farmers were
sick and wanted money for medication.

He described the payments as "extortion".

"We heard of another couple with a small property in the Midlands who
accepted what was offered as they were ill and destitute and desperately
needed money for their medical bills," said Jarrett.

"To get an idea of the pitiful compensation government was prepared to pay,
a farmer in Inyathi was offered what could then buy a very old second-hand
pick-up truck as 'fair' compensation for 19 000 thousand acres which was
fenced and paddocked, also having a homestead, boreholes, pumps,
outbuildings and cattle handling facilities."

Others, said Jarrett, accepted the compensation because they were leaving
the country permanently. Efforts to get specific amounts of what the farmers
got were fruitless as farmers' representative bodies said they needed
consent from the affected individuals.

But some of the white commercial farmers have not lost hope of regaining
their properties or at least getting fair compensation.

BY OUR STAFF

Residents cry foul over sewage trouble 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

Saturday, 24 July 2010 16:14

ON arrival at the Casabanana section of Porta village on the outskirts of
Harare one is hit by a powerful smell emanating from rivulets of raw sewage
meandering through the compound.

But most of the residents are unperturbed saying they have become accustomed
to the stench as the sewage has been flowing for the past five years.

The 178 families have to hop and skip to avoid splashing in streams of human
waste every day after four septic tanks started overflowing in 2005. Despite
repeated appeals to the Harare City Council, there has been no reaction from
the city authorities.
Built by a private construction company, the compound was meant to provide
temporary shelter for workers contracted to lay a pipeline that connects the
Morton Jaffray water works to Darwendale dam a few years ago.

On a daily basis children play in the water seemingly oblivious of the
danger of water-borne diseases such as cholera and typhoid, which have
claimed scores of lives in Harare's poor settlements over the years.
Some of the more enterprising residents are doing roaring business selling
dried fish, a few metres from the septic tanks.

"We survive by the grace of God," said Nelson Mangezi, a fish monger.
"We have been living like this for more than five years now and if it wasn't
for God's mercy we would have died."

His sentiments were shared by many of the residents who spoke to The
Standard recently when the Combined Harare Residents' Association (CHRA)
joined them as they battled to empty the septic tanks.
"Most of us staying here were construction workers and the company that we
worked for built these wooden shacks for us as temporary shelters more than
10 years ago," said Goodwill Mutogo.

"This was supposed to be temporary shelter but we have been here ever since.
Some of us now even have families and the living arrangements are no longer
conducive.

"The city council has been promising to allocate us stands to us but nothing
has materialised. I think they have even forgotten that we exist," he said.
To avert a possible health hazard CHRA hired a waste removal truck to empty
the septic tanks.

Barnabas Mangodza, the CHRA CEO said they had to intervene to avert a health
disaster.
"What was happening here is really sad and pathetic," Mangodza said.

"People have been living in their own waste and it is really a miracle that
there has not been a major disease outbreak.
"These people have been paying rates and council has actually been sending
letters of final demand to some of these residents yet there is no service
delivery here."

Glen Norah councillor and chairman of the Environmental Management
committee, Herbert Gomba said the plight of the Casabanana residents
required urgent attention.

"The situation here is very bad. I was pained when I saw children playing in
the dirty water," he said.
"We certainly need to do more as the city council for this community to
prevent a disease outbreak now that I am aware of this."

Raw sewage has become a common sight in Harare's high-density suburbs such
as Mufakose, Mabvuku, Tafara, Mbare, Highfield, Glen Norah and Dzivarasekwa,
according to CHRA.

In some areas, residents had resorted to digging drainage trenches across
their yards to prevent raw sewage from flowing into their homes.

The frequent bursts of sewer pipes has been blamed on ageing infrastructure,
which is long past its lifespan and on increasing pressure caused by a
growing population.

A series of cholera and typhoid outbreaks have done little to spur the
government to deal with the problem that has spread to almost every urban
centre in Zimbabwe.

BY BERTHA SHOKO

Researchers hail anti-HIV gel breakthrough 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

Saturday, 24 July 2010 15:10

HIV prevention researchers in Zimbabwe say results of the first clinical
trials showing that an antiretroviral (ARV) based microbicide gel can reduce
the transmission of the virus to women by 39% have raised hopes of a
breakthrough in search of an anti-HIV gel.

The trials were carried out by the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research
in South Africa (Caprisa) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in
Durban.

The breakthrough was announced on Wednesday at the International Aids
Conference in Vienna, Austria.
Researchers tested a microbicide gel that contained tenofovir, an ARV drug
that is used as an oral treatment for HIV in many countries including
Zimbabwe.

Caprisa was the first trial to evaluate an ARV-based microbicide gel for the
prevention of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV infection among women.
The trial started in May 2007 and a follow-up study was done in December
2009.

It enrolled 889 South African women aged between 18 and 40 who were
HIV-negative, sexually active, and at high risk of becoming infected with
HIV.

Women in the trial were asked to vaginally insert a first dose of tenofovir
gel no more than 12 hours before having sex and to insert a second dose no
more than 12 hours after having sex.

During the trial researchers sought to find out whether the tenofovir gel
reduced the risk of HIV infection among women using the gel compared to
women provided with a placebo gel.

All participants received regular HIV risk-reduction counselling, condoms,
and treatment of symptomatic sexually transmitted infections, if required.
The study also measured whether the gel was safe to use regularly over a
longer period of time than had previously been assessed in clinical safety
studies.

Women in the trial typically used the gel for 12 to 18 months.
In addition to showing efficacy against HIV, the trial also found evidence
that the gel also prevents transmission of the herpes simplex virus type 2
(HSV-2).

HSV-2 is a lifelong and incurable infection that can make those infected
with the virus two-to-three times more likely to acquire HIV.
Data collected during the Caprisa study indicated that the tenofovir gel
provided 51% protection against HSV-2.

Although Caprisa was a relatively small trial, designed to explore whether
the gel was a promising microbicide candidate and not designed to provide
sufficient evidence to licence a new drug, researchers and advocates were
pleased with the results.

Chief Executive Officer of the International Partnership for Microbicides,
Zeda Rosenberg said the results were proof that ARV based microbicides have
the potential to work to prevent HIV infection in women. "These efficacy
results are statistically significant and should be celebrated," she said.
"For the first time, the HIV prevention research community has evidence that
ARVs topically applied to the vaginal mucosa can offer protection against
HIV and potentially other pathogens.

The data generated by the Caprisa study represents "proof of concept" for a
topical microbicide, making this a landmark in HIV prevention."
Through the Vaginal and Oral Interventions to Control the Epidemic (Voice),
Zimbabwe is conducting a similar study and the results of Caprisa have given
researchers hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Voice which is being done by the University of Zimbabwe in collaboration
with the University of California-San Francisco (UZ-UCSF) is assessing the
daily use of tenofivor whereas Caprisa was assessing the effectiveness of
tenofovir when used before and after sex.

"It is gratifying that we are a step closer to identifying a safe and
effective HIV prevention method for women.
"But to know for certain that tenofovir gel is effective, additional studies
must be performed, because we can't be sure that what worked for the women
in Caprisa  will be the same for women elsewhere," said Mike Chirenje
co-chairperson of the Voice study.

"Should other studies testing tenofovir gel, like Voice, confirm these
results, widespread use of the gel at this level of protection could prevent
over half a million new HIV infections in Southern Africa alone over the
next decade."

Nyaradzo Mugodi, the director of the Microbicides Trials Network, which
operates under the auspices of the UZ-UCSF said Caprisa represented an
exciting milestone in HIV prevention.

"Now that these results are out more research is needed to confirm them and
to see if there are ways that tenofovir gel use can be more effective," she
said.

"Additional studies beyond Caprisa are needed to test tenofovir gel in more
women and with different dosing strategies.

"Research also needs to continue exploring similar approaches involving the
use of antiretroviral drugs for HIV prevention."

BY BERTHA SHOKO

Swine flu vaccinations underway 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

Saturday, 24 July 2010 15:06

THE Ministry of Health and Child Welfare last week launched an immunisation
campaign against the deadly Influenza (N1H1) virus. Swine flu was first
recorded in Zimbabwe in August 2009.

The disease originally occurred in pigs but there are now concerns that its
impact in humans may have been exaggerated.
The pandemic caused panic around the world forcing many governments to place
orders for the vaccine.

Zimbabwe received 1,2 million doses of NIHI the vaccine from the World
Health Organisation (WHO), which were enough to cover 10% of the population.

Douglas Mombeshora, the Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare said the
vaccination campaign was targeted at vulnerable groups like the health care
workers, pregnant women, school children and the chronically ill.

"The main objective of the N1H1 vaccination programme is to reduce
infections in the targeted vulnerable groups and protect those at risk of
developing severe diseases," Mombeshora said at the launch of the
vaccination campaign on Thursday.

Last year's N1H1 outbreak started in Mexico and the United States before
spreading to Europe, Asia and Africa.
Towards the end of November 2009, Zimbabwe recorded a total of 1 538
suspected cases of N1H1 with 253 cases testing positive.
Out of the 253 tests done by the rapid detector test kits only 41 cases were
confirmed.

The vaccination comes a month after the measles immunisation campaign that
left a 13-year-old boy from Nyatsime College in Chitungwiza hospitalised
after a health complication linked to the jabs.

But former Health and Child Welfare minister David Parirenyatwa said the
incident must not discourage efforts to curb disease outbreaks through
vaccinations.

"It is very unfortunate for that boy from Nyatsime College that he reacted
from the measles vaccine," Parirenyatwa said.
"We have to consider that out of all the children who were vaccinated only
one case of severe reaction was recorded, so that is not an issue to worry
about."

"People should not be afraid to get the N1H1 vaccine. The targeted groups
must all come and get vaccinated against the pandemic," he said
Mombeshora added that, "Vaccines have proven effectiveness against their
specifically targeted diseases and as such must be used where indicated.
"If at least 80% of the targeted population is vaccinated, the need for
intensified health care will be much reduced in the event of a surge in
cases of N1H1."

Mombeshora said many African countries were confronted with challenging
health care systems making it difficult to talk about prevention of the
pandemic as the vaccines were not available.

He said, "We now have a vaccine and some countries in our region were
selected as priority countries.
"In Zimbabwe we are honoured to be on the list."

Many governments in Europe and North America are saddled with expensive
stockpiles of the vaccine as cases of N1H1 were not as outstanding as
expected.

There are fears that the vaccine will expire leaving the developing
countries as possible recipients of the vaccine through donations.
"The vaccine we have is certainly not expired and we do not expect it to
expire any time soon as we have only received vaccines that would carter for
only 10% of the population which is not even enough," Parirenyatwa said.

The vaccination campaign would be done before winter ends.

BY PERPETUA CHIKOLOLERE

Chanakira gets last chance on de-merger 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

Saturday, 24 July 2010 16:12

NIGEL Chanakira has been given up to August 5 to present a favourable
proposal to secure a controlling stake in Kingdom Financial Holdings Limited
(KFHL) seen as the shortest route to end the financial institution's
troubled marriage with Meikles.

This deadline shows growing impatience in the Meikles Limited family over
failure by Chanakira to amicably end the marriage.

Meikles Limited will hold an extraordinary general meeting on August 6 where
it will deliberate Chanakira's anticipated proposal which, if it satisfies
the meeting, would allow the businessmen to take over KFHL.
If the proposal does not meet the expectations of Meikles, a de-merger would
take place, Farai Rwodzi, Meikles board chairman told an annual general
meeting on Friday.

"We are going to requisition an EGM on the 6th of August and before now and
the 6th the shareholders will give Nigel (Chanakira) and Kingdom time to
come up with a firm proposal on whether they are interested in buying 100%
of the bank," he said.

"If the proposal is good enough we will table it before shareholders in the
requisition for an EGM on the 6th of August.

"If it's not, we will then requisition for a de-merger of the business on
the 6th of August as we had previously undertaken to do."

Rwodzi said they had made some substantial progress in dealing with all the
regulatory authorities to ensure that all the outstanding matters involving
US$22,5 million were resolved.

Meikles lodged US$22,5 million with the central bank to meet the minimum
capital requirements of KFHL's subsidiaries and the money has to be repaid.

Insiders said if the central bank does not have the money, Meikles would
most likely settle for tax credits from the Ministry of Finance.

The ministry has already said that government would take over the debts of
the central bank.
Information obtained last week shows that the deal proposed by Meikles is
valued under US$15 million though it was unclear whether Chanakira would be
able to fulfill his side of the bargain.

Chanakira's spokesperson said on Friday "they have not yet been formally
advised of the outcome of the Meikles shareholders' meeting therefore it
would be presumptuous to comment at this stage".

"However, issues related to the de-merger are being dealt with in
consultation with the relevant regulatory authorities, who, together with
all parties, are focused on coming up with a lasting win-win solution. The
parameters of the solution, though still consultative, have reached an
advanced stage."
Insiders said the deal is the best option available unlike the previous deal
that had been negotiated by the parties.

Initially, the parties had agreed to de-merge with Cha-nakira swapping his
6% shareholding in Meikles for John Moxon's 18% stake in KFHL giving
Chanakira 24% in KFHL.
Moxon had agreed to sell his remaining 25% to Chanakira for US$11 million
paid over two years on condition that Moxon was despecified.

Moxon was despecified in May.
KFHL merged with Meikles, Tanganda and Cotton Printers in 2007 to form
Kingdom Meikles Limited, then one of the largest capitalised companies
listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange.

However, irreconcilable differences between founding chairman Moxon and
chief executive officer Chanakira led to the proposed end of the marriage
after months of acrimonious squabbling in both the private and public
spheres.

In May, Brendan Beaumont, Meikles group chief executive officer told an
analysts briefing that conditions precedent to the de-merger have not been
met and the board had made every effort to effect the de-merger and
agreement had lapsed on April 21.

The board was tasked by shareholders to find the way out of the logjam and
was supposed to report on or before May 31.

No solution was found paving the way for the latest attempt.

BY OUR STAFF
 

Tobacco output doubles 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

Saturday, 24 July 2010 16:11

TOBACCO output breached the 100 million kg mark on Wednesday nearly doubling
last year's deliveries to the auction floors, figures from the Tobacco
Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) released last week show.

The milestone marks a major rebound despite a proposed global ban on the
crop.
According to TIMB figures 100 810 264 kg had been auctioned by Wednesday
raking in US$297 106 623 since the selling season opened on February 16.

The output is nearly double the amount auctioned in the same period last
year when
56 738 341 kg went under the ha-mmer raking in US$169 799 656.

This year's target had been set at 77 million kg but was later moved to 100
million kg two weeks ago.
With sales having breached the 100 million kg mark, it means the sales are
now within touching distance of the 120 million kg target set by Finance
Minister Tendai Biti in the 2010 national budget.

Tobacco output has plunged in Zimbabwe since 2001 following the chaotic farm
invasions that started in February 2000.

In 2000, Zimbabwe produced 236 million kg of tobacco and was the world's
second largest exporter after Brazil.

It now ranks behind Brazil, India, the US, Argentina and Tanzania, according
to the web-site of Universal, the world's biggest tobacco leaf merchant.

The high output is attributed to the interest by farmers in the crop on the
back of high prices that prevailed last year.

Tobacco is one of the country's largest foreign currency earners and
contributed 26% of the national Gross Domestic Product last year up from 12%
in 2008.

Zimbabwe and other tobacco producing countries have to stave off measures
from the World Health Organisation's Framework Convention for Tobacco
Control (FCTC) proposed guidelines that would have a bearing on the crop.

Article 9 of the FCTC proposes measures for testing and measuring the
contents and emissions of tobacco products.

It also calls for the regulation of these contents and emissions under
Article 9.

Articles 17 & 18 of the convention advocate support to farmers to grow
alternative crops and the protection of the environment and health of
persons respectively.

BY OUR STAFF

Lack of credit for the poor hampers development

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

Saturday, 24 July 2010 16:07

A large segment of Zimbabwe's population has no access to financial services
and is forced to rely on informal systems which charge usurious rates of
interest and are often risky, a new report by the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) shows.

The situation works against poverty reduction strategies as the poor have no
access to capital to break the poverty cycle.

The report, the last in UNDP's series of documents on Zimbabwe, sought to
draw from the global experience and highlight some of the key issues
concerning state effectiveness, and the importance of this variable in terms
of explaining both rates of economic growth and poverty reduction in
developing economies.

The report, State Effectiveness, Economic Recovery and Poverty Reduction:
Some Evidence from the Global Experience for Zimbabwe, said the growing
recognition of the importance of micro-level analysis in the designing of
pro-poor growth strategies has led to a new field of endeavour aimed at
analysing how the poor interact with markets.

It has also led to the development of proposals that enhance the ability of
the poor to benefit from the strategies.

The report says renewed international interest in the phenomenon of both
informal economies, and the role of micro, small and medium enterprises
(MSMEs) that tend to be owned by the poor, are a reflection of an interest
in understanding the variables that currently impinge on poor people's
capacity to increase their output and productivity.

In the case of Zimbabwe, the report said, the need to factor in such
variables into the design process of national policy in a post-crisis
situation "are self-evident given both rising levels of poverty and the
growing informalisation of the economy that have taken place over the last
decade".

"To this must be added the downsising and disappearance of many previously
viable SMEs, due largely to the collapse of purchasing power in their former
domestic markets as a result of extremely high levels of macroeconomic
instability, the rupturing of previously robust value-chains, added to the
physical destruction of many of their assets in the context of government
'slum clearance' operations," it said.

An estimated 70% of the economically active population in Zimbabwe does not
have access to formal financial services, and are forced to rely on informal
systems which are both riskier and often charge high interest rate.

The UNDP added that a chunk of the 70% had, up to 2003, been served by
Microfinance Institutions (MFIs), of which there were an estimated 1,700
filling a gap left by the large-scale commercial banking sector.

But the number of the MFIs went down dramatically as a result of
inappropriate and sub-economic lending rates they were forced to charge by
the central bank during the hyperinflationary period.

However, the report said that decision-makers should exercise caution in
interpreting this existing 'market failure' as indicating a need for
open-ended, subsidised state credit to the poor through MFIs given that one
key feature of the focus of approaches to building inclusive financial
systems is precisely that of financial sustainability.

"Zimbabwe's own experience in this regard translates into a need for extra
caution given that the worst performing MFIs in terms of loan repayment
rates were precisely those operated by government, namely the Small
Enterprise Development Corporation  and the Social Development Fund," the
report said.

It added "where such government assistance is given on the grounds that
there are sufficient 'public goods' characteristics involved, this should be
subjected to intense ex-ante scrutiny at the risk of such assistance both
falling prey to patronage and introducing damaging distortions into the
market to the long-term detriment of the poor".

"Experience both globally, and in the case of Zimbabwe, shows that
consistently poor repayments rates rapidly undermine the capital base of
MFIs and turn such actors into debt collection agencies rather than
providers of both investment and working capital to the poor," UNDP said.

BY OUR STAFF

 

Comment: Politicians ill-suited for national healing

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

Saturday, 24 July 2010 17:16

PARTIES to the inclusive government last week took tentative steps to begin
a much-awaited process of national healing and reconciliation in the
country.

The Zanu PF politburo and the national executive councils of the two MDC
formations met in Harare for the first time ever and explored the issue
which is central to laying a foundation for a stable and prosperous country.

The parties tasked their secretary-generals and the Organ on National
Healing, Reconciliation and Integration to come up with a report detailing
how the healing process should be taken to the grassroots.

While we wait with bated breath for the report, we need to quickly point out
that a healing process that is driven by politicians alone is flawed and can
hardly be accepted by people who endured human rights violations.

Some of these politicians have openly boasted about their "degrees in
violence" and are prone to waving their fists whenever they feel their power
is threatened.

Can such people be trusted to lead a process of national healing?
We are about to see a half-hearted attempt at national healing by an
inclusive government that has been heavily criticised for putting this
important national issue on the backburner for far too long.
All along the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration,
which could have spearheaded the process, has been asleep. To make matters
worse, utterances by the ministers responsible have shown they have no clue
as to how to tackle the issue.

With elections looming, the three parties to the inclusive government have
suddenly realised the importance of promoting national healing. This could
be for selfish reasons.

The MDC formations, for example, will need to go back and meet their
supporters who were bludgeoned by Zanu PF militias during the past
elections. These people have been calling on the formations to push for
justice without success.

There are thousands of other Zimbabweans who have harrowing tales of their
experiences at the hands of Zanu PF militias. These victims are seething
with anger over the way they were beaten up, abducted and tortured.

Many who lost their properties are demanding compensation. In Matabeleland
and Midlands where the Fifth Brigade killed thousands of unarmed villagers
during the 1980s, the wait for justice has been long and agonising.

Calls for compensation have largely been ignored.

The question that has to be addressed - not just by the leadership of Zanu
PF and MDC formations is: How can Zimbabwe genuinely deal with its violent
past?

What should be done about those who unleashed violence on innocent citizens?
There are also issues to do with compensation.

How can people whose livelihoods were destroyed by the Gukurahundi operation
be compensated?
These questions cannot be answered only by the secretary-generals of the
parties and the Organ on National Healing, Reconciliation  and Integration.

These are national questions that should be addressed by all stakeholders,
including the victims themselves, if the wounds of the past are to be
healed.

Whether we like it or not, a transitional justice process is needed to help
our country deal with the legacy of mass human rights violations. Broadly
defined, transitional justice involves all the initiatives that societies
can undertake in order to deal with their violent past.

These may include truth and reconciliation commissions, reparations for
victims, tribunals where perpetrators are tried and punished. Institutional
reforms are urgently needed.

A number of countries on the African continent have carried out their own
transitional justice processes. Across the Limpopo, South Africa embarked on
a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Other countries that also had such
commissions are Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana.

But while these countries managed to score some successes in their quest to
deal with the unresolved problems of their past, Zimbabwe's case is more
complex because individuals accused of spearheading human rights violations
remain ensconced in their positions.

 These same ruthless people are expected to define the healing process when
they should be accounting for their deeds. A credible healing process
shouldn't be managed by politicians.
 

Sundayopinion: Govt must revise concept of student support 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

Saturday, 24 July 2010 17:14

FROM the Finance Minister, Tendai Biti's allocation of US$5 million dollars
to student support in his Mid Term Fiscal Policy Review on July 14, which
was of course arrived at without consultation with the students of Zimbabwe,
we realise the need by the government of Zimbabwe to redefine the extent and
concept of student support.

The money that has been allocated to each student is far below the fees that
are being charged in state tertiary institutions in the range of US$500 per
semester.

Notwithstanding, that the actual support per student will be slightly higher
than our calculation which is in the range of quarter of a thousand dollars
in the context of the Cadetship scheme in which the money is coming into
effect. The amount will be higher, thanks to the fact that the scheme
excludes most of the students who are in need simply because on the
arbitrary Cadetship "scale of poverty" they are less in need than the
beneficiaries, who are a small section of the entire community of the
students of Zimbabwe. Even these lucky beneficiaries would receive small
batches of partial payments, on which they will be asked to top up.

Some time ago, I wrote to the Financial Gazette to the effect that the
Zimbabwe Manpower Development Fund (ZIMDEF) had been a cosmetic entity in
the face of challenges that are confronted by the students of Zimbabwe to
which an official replied in difference and a student from Mutare
Polytechnic College actually concurred with me. We remain adamant that not
enough has been done.

The government must realise that, here presupposing their political will,
the road to returning to student grants cannot be achieved without any
engagement with the private sector and broadening of the scope of
institutions like ZIMDEF.

But first we have to broaden together, our mental conceptions of the
relevance of student support in the context of a largely rural, developing
and education-dependent Zimbabwe. Besides the fact that the final broad
realisation of the right to education in Zimbabwe will lead to a pleasant
knock-on effect, towards attainment of all other socio-political rights,
this is also in the economic sense of developmental direction. The other
context of this student support is a Zimbabwe where the government is the
largest and the employer of reference in as far as  the working standards
are concerned.

Currently, civil servants are earning at most about half-way below the
poverty datum line of about US$500. The Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, in
his Mid Term Fiscal Policy review proposed, or confirmed the reality of a
salary freeze for civil servants. The question of whether the son or
daughter of a civil servant, whose lot constitute the majority of the
workers in Zimbabwe, will not be financially shut out of Zimbabwe's tertiary
institutions and high schools in terms of educational accessibility and
eventually disempowered, should be interrogated in the context at hand, of
rampant deferment of studies by students, high rate of college/university
drop-outs and that over fifty thousand O-Level and A-Level students failed
to register for their examinations to be written at the end of the year. At
the same time, remembering the peasants who are by far the majority.

The Cadetship scheme which is the form of student support at present,
requiring top ups by students, beneficiaries, at tertiary institutions does
not recognise the necessity of living expenses for students which are by far
the important determinant of whether one will attend university or not. This
regime of expenses is the whole array of money requiring sides of the
learning environment that include transport fares, photocopying expenses to
supplement the meager libraries , catering for our feeding habits, health
bills and accommodation fees.

This is the premise on which the government and all stakeholders of
education in Zimbabwe should broaden their mental conceptions of student
support.  Having done this, they may as well widen their net of seeking for
solutions to finally disband the financially discriminatory nature of the
crisis which has totally priced education out of the reach of the sons and
daughters of the toiling civil servants and peasants progressively, in the
last of the two decades after initial emancipation from colonial,
educational shackles of discrimination in 1980.

*Vivid Gwede, ZINASU National Secretary General.e-mail vgwede@yahoo.com This
e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled
to view it

BY VIVID GWEDE

Editor's Desk: Devolution must extend wealth distribution 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

Saturday, 24 July 2010 17:11

I was in Bulawayo last week - what a whale of a time!

 It was great to be in a clean city. There was no litter on the streets and
I hardly saw any street people. I didn't see anyone telling me where to park
my car and I was assured that my car was safe.

In the evening I was taken out for an outing by my colleagues. The joint was
clean and the waitresses beautiful and well-groomed. Later in the evening
when the bill came and I asked my hosts how much I could contribute to it,
they said ah-ah, they wouldn't have any rand from me. (Unlike in Harare, in
Bulawayo the currency of choice is the rand and they have got change too,
because they have no problems with coins.)

My hosts were really my subordinates and I had brought some T&S with me but
they were feisty, they told me to my face: "When we're in Bulawayo we look
after you; that is devolution!"

We laughed and became slightly more serious because that word "devolution"
is on everyone's lips in that part of the country. That evening for me
devolution  meant good old hospitality and lots of free beer.

But the following morning I set out to find out what the people in that part
of the country meant by devolution. I found it meant different things to
different people.

The lesson I learnt from my research was that ours is a scarred nation and
the scars are festering again and will soon be gangrenous and poison our
body politic.

On my way back passing by Imbizo Barracks I recalled King Lobengula's last
recorded words when his army had been defeated by the settlers' superior
fire power. "To think that the Imbizo Regiment has been destroyed by mere
Babes!"

The Imbizo Regiment is said to have been Lobengula's elite force made up of
his best fighters. I thought if international justice was an issue then or
even immediately after the Anglo-Matabele War, the British South Africa
Company should have been charged with genocide. How could they have used the
maxim gun to literally mow down people only armed with an assegai?

To me the Anglo-Matabele War took a new significance - this whole thing
about impunity. It was the beginning of a long story of mass killing in that
part of our country in which the perpetrators got away without punishment;
it was also the beginning of the concentration of power in the legislative
capital Harare. We know there was a time at the inception of colonialism
when Bulawayo was considered to become the capital of Rhodesia.

When in the early 1980s history repeated itself by another mass killing of
genocidal proportions also masterminded from Harare, the people of this
region really felt victims of the centre of power. Devolution to them means
a kind of liberation from the tentacles of Hararian hegemony with all its
genocidal connotations.

But can devolution be a national issue? I am interested in the history of
Manicaland. I would say by the early 1970s the province was arguably the
most developed in the country. There was modern infrastructure in place;
almost every school and township had a telephone line. There were highly
developed mission schools. Ndabaningi Sithole had already written a book;
Herbert Chitepo was already a world-renowned lawyer.

When Zanu and Zanla relocated to Mozambique after the Chitepo assassination
Manicaland became the battlefield for the chimurenga war. All the
infrastructure was pulled down; the telephone lines that used to grace the
skies were pulled down by the guerrillas and the mujibhas whose strategy was
first to cripple the Rhodesian government by hitting hard at its
infrastructure.

A tour of this province now will make one almost cry! It is therefore not
surprising that most of the leaders of the opposition have come from this
province. Name them: Sithole, Edgar Tekere, Abel Muzorewa and now Tsvangirai
and Arthur Mutambara!
What would devolution mean to the people of Manicaland now that it has been
discovered they sit on an estimated 25% of all the diamonds in the world;
and also that they are nearest to the Indian Ocean through which most of our
imports should come into the country?

What does devolution mean also for the people of Mashonaland West where
Robert Mugabe hails from? The province has dominated power for 30 years and
it seems all post-independent Zimbabwe's development has happened there.

What does devolution mean to the people of Masvingo, another province also
heavily scarred by the liberation war of the 1970s?

The call for devolution is evidence of a failure at nation building by the
people who have been in power for the past 30 years. If they had been
responsive to the needs of all the other provinces, instead of making
national governance a Zezuru project, under which any other voice that spoke
of the national consciousness was crushed by force of arms, there would be
no call for devolution.

The Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (MZWP) is emblematic of this wanton
disregard of the needs of other provinces. Despite the issue of MZWP
cropping up whenever there is an election looming, Harare wouldn't give a
damn about what the residence of the Matabeleland provinces use to flush
their toilets!
The newly discovered diamonds of Manicaland, I can bet, will not be used to
restore the infrastructure destroyed during the war of liberation; it will
most likely be used to maintain the Robert Mugabe Highway! Already we have
heard that money from tollgates has been channelled to the Mashonaland
provinces in a skewed manner.

The failure at nation-building that we have witnessed in the past three
decades is coming back to haunt us!

BY NEVANJI MADANHIRE

Sundayview: Christianity and constitutional reform in Zimbabwe 

http://www.thestandard.co.zw/

Saturday, 24 July 2010 17:02

IS Christianity the most practised religion in Zimbabwe? If so, does that
make Zimbabwe a Christian nation? Should Zimbabwe be declared a Christian
nation in the new co stitution or should any other religion be adopted as a
state religion?

The impetus to contribute on this topic came when I was going through the
Kariba draft constitution. So far it is the only constitutional document
that has a clause asserting a religious belief.

Both the NCA and the Chidyausiku draft constitutions have no clauses linking
the state to a particular religion directly or indirectly. The preamble to
the Kariba draft  opens by stating, "We acknowledge the supremacy of the
Lord". Inevitably such  a constitutional provision is bound to raise
controversy and is subject to  different legal and theological
interpretations and implications. In this discussion the word Lord is
applied as referring to the Christian God.

The current Zimbabwean constitution does not proclaim 'the supremacy of the
lord' anywhere; neither does it attempt to link a particular religion to the
state of Zimbabwe. Reference to God is found only in the Oath of loyalty
with the words 'So help me God'. The oath is taken by senior public
officials when taking office and is only an oath of allegiance. It is not
compulsory to pronounce 'So help me God' as it is only taken in affirmation.

However aspects of the Christian religion are evident in the sphere of
Zimbabwean public life In our courts of law before giving evidence witnesses
are required to swear by the Bible the truthness of their account.

Prominent Christian festivals, Easter and Christmas, are public holidays in
Zimbabwe, even though the holidays are better known for social pleasure than
the celebration of a religious event .In most schools Bible Knowledge has
been a common subject nationwide but its importance has been greatly
reduced, with some schools actually scrapping it. On most funeral occasions
church leaders preside over the burial of the deceased, just as most do on
weddings and marriages.

Archbishop Chakaipa presided over President Mugabe's first inauguration as
Prime Minister in 1980 aswell as over his wedding to Grace Marufu in 1997.
However the absence of official prayers and other religious procedures and
leadership at any official government function or meetings points to the
fact that religion is not integral to the function of the
establishment.Historical facts point to the fact that before the arrival of
the colonialists, present day Zimbabwe practised some form of traditional
worshipping, with emphasis on spirit mediums.

Christianity was brought about by early missionaries. There is not much
written about the role played by  main wing Christian establishments during
Zimbabwe's struggle for indepedence. In contrast, reference is made of the
role of spirit mediums, notably Mbuya Nehanda and Sekuru Kaguvi, and roles
played by traditional chiefs like Chief Rekai Tangwena.This does not mean
though that religious leaders did not offer any form of support leading to
the birth of Zimbabwe. Abel Muzorewa, Rev Ndabaningi Sithole were appointed
to lead the  struggle when nationalist leaders were incarcarated.

Mugabe himself benefited through the works of Fathers Dieter Scholz,Emmanuel
Ribero and Sister Mary Acquina who were sympathetic to the nationalist
cause. They would  eventually also help him to hide and later cross into
Mozambique.

Answering the first question in my introduction, it could be very true that
Christianity is the dominant religion in Zimbabwe. That fact however does
not in itselfqualify Zimbabwe as a Christian nation. Neither does the
inclusion of the proclamation of the supremacy of the Lord in the Kariba

draft. To have a nation founded in a particular religion means that
particular religion is the primary and probably the sole basis upon which a
national government exists and is structured.

BY SANDERSON MAKOMBE

Message from Barbara

Thank you to everyone who sent such kind messages when I broke my arm.  I
did appreciate them but could not reply!  My arm is healing slowly.  The
break was worse than they first thought and I am distressed to find that I
still have to use the mouse in my left hand which is a very slow process.
So please do not send "hurry-up" messages if things are not posted as soon
as you wish.

Barbara