http://www.monstersandcritics.com/
Jul 29, 2011, 6:31
GMT
Harare - Zimbabwe's referendum for a new constitution may now be held
by
next January, an official leading the Constitutional Parliamentary Select
Committee (COPAC) told state-owned media on Friday.
'We will report
to Parliament by October 15 with the draft constitution,'
Munyaradzi Paul
Mangwana, COPAC co-chairman, told The Herald newspaper.
'Thereafter, a
referendum will be held within three months, but it is the
executive which
will decide a date that is practical,' he added.
With the three-month
limit, it would mean that the referendum would be
taking place by January
15.
Under the power-sharing agreement that Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai and
President Robert Mugabe signed in 2008, Zimbabwe is supposed
to have a new
constitution before general elections are held.
But
drafting the new constitution has been marred by lack of funds,
inter-party
violence and disagreements between Mugabe's Zanu PF and
Tsvangirai's party,
the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
As a result, a referendum on
the new constitution that was supposed to have
been held last November has
had its dates postponed several times.
Douglas Mwonzora, the other
co-chairman of COPAC, was quoted by The Herald
saying Zimbabweans if reject
the draft constitution, next polls would be
held under the current
constitution.
'If the people say 'no' to the new constitution, it will be
a tragedy as we
will go back to the constitution we have now,' said
Mwonzora.
The two COPAC chairmen represent the two main rivals, with
Mwonzora being an
ally of Tsvangirai and Mangwana representing Mugabe's Zanu
PF party.
In 2000, the MDC successfully campaigned for the rejection of a
government-drafted constitution saying it had ignored people's
views.
Welshman Ncube, who leads a splinter group of the MDC, told The
Herald that
the chances that Zimbabweans would reject the draft constitution
in January
were slim.
'It's not possible as all parties will make
sure they whip their people in
line to agree,' Ncube said. 'The pertinent
question to ask is what happens
if both parties do not agree on the draft
constitution which is a likely
scenario.'
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex Bell
29 July
2011
ZANU PF reportedly plans to defend its supporters who launched a
violent
attack in Parliament over the weekend, with a party official
insisting that
the group was ‘provoked’.
A gang of ZANU PF supporters
disrupted a hearing on the Human Rights
Commission Bill on Saturday, beating
up an MDC MP and assaulting
journalists. The attack, which has been widely
condemned by civil society
and human rights groups, happened in full view of
the police who did nothing
to stop the violence.
ZANU PF’s
Presidential Affairs Minister Didymus Mutasa, on Thursday said the
party
would defend its supporters, saying the victims of the attack must
have
provoked them.
“Is it possible for someone to just leave their homes to
go and beat up
people at Parliament without being provoked?” Mutasa asked,
during an
interview with NewsDay newspaper. “Why did they not beat up any
other
persons who were at Parliament?”
The Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition’s Phillip Pasirayi told SW Radio Africa on
Friday that Mutasa’s
comments prove that the disruptions of such public
meetings have been
organised by ZANU PF. He said it is no surprise that ZANU
PF is “propping up
its terror machinery in this way.”
“They know they can’t win a
democratic, free and fair election and they want
to create chaos because it
works in their favour,” Pasirayi said. “Minister
Mutasa’s comments shows
that this violence is organised and will be
defended.”
Meanwhile, the
ZANU PF thuggery has continued in other parts of the country
and this week
the house of an MDC activist was burned down by known ZANU PF
members. The
home of Marjorie Chikwasha, an MDC activist in Ward 12 Nyanga
South,
Manicaland province was burnt by what the MDC-T called “known ZANU PF
mobsters” on Tuesday night. Chikwasha lost three bags of fertiliser, two
50kg bags of maize and kitchen utensils. She made a report at Nyanga Police
Station but no arrests have been made.
This is the second attack on
MDC members in less than a week. On Sunday
night, in Chiredzi West, Tawanda
Imbayago's house, the MDC secretary for
Ward 28, was burnt down by known
ZANU PF arsonists. A report was also made
at Chiredzi Police Station but
again no arrests have been made although the
culprits have been identified.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Tichaona Sibanda
29 July
2011
Giles Mutsekwa, the MDC-T secretary for security and defence on
Friday
lobbed a ferocious verbal volley at defence minister Emmerson
Mnangagwa,
after he said it was not mandatory for members of the armed
forces to salute
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
On Wednesday,
Mnangagwa told Parliament that only those in the military
chain of command
can be saluted by security forces, explaining that in the
tradition of
armies the world over, subordinates salute superiors and the
seniors salute
in return.
His statement implied that only Robert Mugabe, as Commander of
the Defence
Forces and he, as Defence minister were the ones to be saluted
by the
service chiefs and other officers.
“It’s not only untrue but
nonsensical as well. It is unfortunate that a man
like Mnangagwa should make
such a comment in Parliament. You would expect
that with all the years that
he spent during the liberation war and also the
fact that he was minister of
state for security after independence, you
would expect him to know better,”
Mutsekwa, also a cabinet minister told SW
Radio Africa on Friday.
He
dismissed Mnangagwa’s comments as “ridiculous, sad and unnecessary,”
saying
the ZANU PF strongman misled the nation. Mutsekwa said if somebody in
authority like Mnangagwa wanted to make a statement it had to be “educative
and not a pack of lies.”
“Still on the issue of the military, I want
to let the nation know that I’ve
been inundated with representations from
serving members of our security
forces including brigadiers, high ranking
intelligence officers and the
police distancing themselves from people like
(Brigadier-General Douglas)
Nyikayaramba,” Mutsekwa
said.
Nyikayaramba recently said the army would not salute any President
without
liberation war credentials, adding that Tsvangirai is a “national
security
threat rather than a political one.”
Mutsekwa said: “On a
daily basis I get representations from senior assistant
commissioners and
below, Brigadiers and below and intelligence officers who
have said and made
it clear to me that they want to distance themselves from
these ruthless and
careless remarks that are attributed to some of their
colleagues in the
army.”
He added: “The messages they give me is that not only are these
their
personal views but that they are views of people who are not
professionally
qualified, who have not received requisite training when they
came back from
the liberation war.”
“They wanted to assure me that
they will respect and honour the result that
comes out of an election. In
other words what they are saying is they are
looking forward to a change in
government and indeed a government led by the
MDC,” Mutsekwa
continued.
The MDC-T MP for Mutare North, who is also a retired soldier,
said his party
was not worried by a growing number of “voices coming from
the army” that
they will never allow the MDC to rule even if they win the
next election.
“That is tantamount to coup. One thing I want to tell this
nation is that I’m
a professional soldier to start with and I know what it
means if officers
want to stage a coup,” Mutsekwa said.
“They
certainly don’t go about it advertising in newspapers like we see in
Zimbabwe. They don’t make it public, in actual fact a person who is
masterminding or planning a coup will do it secretly and if he’s to be
caught, he’ll be arrested at a very secretive place,”
“These
statements are meant to frighten or intimidate voters so that they
don’t
make free choices when elections come. Such statements only come from
a few
rogue and misguided elements in the military,” according to Mutsekwa.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
By Bridget Mananavire, Staff Writer
Friday, 29 July 2011
13:44
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party is
gunning for Defence
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa for presiding over a
military top command
accused of seeking to influence political process and
subverting democracy.
Reacting angrily to Mnangagwa’s statements in
Parliament defending “rogue”
military generals, MDC secretary for security
and defence Giles Mutsekwa
sensationally claimed that some top army
officials had approached his party
distancing themselves from Mnangagwa and
other generals that are publicly
voicing support for President Robert
Mugabe.
“There are professional senior members of the army who are
refusing to
comply with Mnangagwa’s lies because they want to be
professional and stick
to what the constitution dictates,” said Mutsekwa,
himself a former soldier.
“I cannot name them because I have to protect
them but we have had senior
people in the army coming to us and assuring us
that they will respect the
will of the people if we win the election,” said
Mutsekwa.
Top generals such as Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba
have inflamed
debate on security sector reforms after indicating that they
will not allow
Tsvangirai to rule even if he won
elections.
Nyikayaramba stands out because he went further to describe
the Prime
Minister as a “national security threat”, adding that the army
will do“anything”
to keep Mugabe (87) in power.
Nyikayaramba, who
heads Mutare’s 3 Brigade Infantry Battalion and has
previously been named in
election-related atrocities, went further to echo
Mugabe’s demand for
elections this year in defiance of Sadc leaders and
other coalition
government partners who argue conditions are too treacherous
to hold a
credible election.
Mutsekwa said his party would push for Mnangagwa to be
held to accountable
for defending such “treasonous” statements.
“My
understanding of the constitution is that uniformed forces are
subservient
to civilian authority, which refers to the legislature,
judiciary and
executive,” he said.
Mutsekwa claimed that three quarters of the military
was composed of
“educated people” who were not interested in partisan
politics being driven
by their commanders.
“I advise Mnangagwa that
it is his duty to acquaint himself with best
practices of the military the
world over. We have no intention as the MDC
and as a future government to
wage war with our security forces. If
anything, we want to improve their
welfare and will equip them so they enjoy
their profession,” said
Mutsekwa.
Mutsekwa’s statements bring back to the fore issues of how the
military,
generally seen as partisan, has contributed to instability in the
country
since the time tens of thousands of people in Matabeleland and
Midlands were
brutally murdered in the 1980s after being deployed by the
Zanu PF regime.
Parliament is currently debating the matter, which
analysts say has poisoned
chances of a smooth election and transfer of power
if Tsvangirai or anybody
else wins the next elections.
But Mugabe has
vigorously defended the army generals, who are seen as the
real power behind
his rule as the former guerilla leader and his party
continue losing public
support as evidenced by successive election defeats.
Two weeks ago, he
warned Parliament against debating the issue of military
generals’ growing
appetite for political influence.
“As Commander-in-Chief of the security
forces, I want to make it very clear
that no one should meddle with the
command. Parliament cannot be
Commander-in-Chief of the security forces. It
has no business debating the
conduct of individuals in command, let them
raise that with me in
appropriate forums,” Mugabe said in an ill-heeded
warning.
MPs ignored the warning and proceeded to debate the matter, with
some
calling for the arrest of generals who issued inflammatory
statements.
Magwegwe MDC MP Felix Sibanda told the House of Assembly in
his submission
that top military officials who had issued political
statements in the
country should be arrested by military police and
arraigned before a
military court.
“If they fail to resign, military
police should be activated to arrest all
unprofessional commanders so that
they are heard before a court marshal. The
other advice is individually
those who have breached the constitution of
Zimbabwe should apologise and
re-affirm their loyalty to Zimbabwe through
Parliament. Parliament
represents the people,” he said to cheers from MDC
colleagues and jeers from
Zanu PF MPs.
Nyikayaramba’s statements follow a pattern set by his
superiors as early as
2002.
Other serving service chiefs such as the
late General Vitalis Zvinavashe,
current ZDF commander General Constantine
Chiwenga, Air Marshal Perrance
Shiri, prison chiefs Paradzai Zimondi and
police Commissioner-General
Augustine Chihuri have in the past openly said
they will not recognise any
president elected by the people of Zimbabwe who
did not participate in the
war of liberation for the independence of the
country.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, July 29, 2011 - Struggling
Air Zimbabwe's pilots went on strike
Friday over the non-payment of
outstanding allowances.
The latest action by the pilots is the latest in
as many weeks. Just two
weeks ago the pilots went on an impromptu strike
action forcing the airlines
management into calling a crisis meeting.
Although the pilots later went
back to work, they openly defied their bosses
call for them to resume work
in front o stranded passengers.
On
Friday the legion of pilots who came to work ready to do duty could be
seen
milling in the Air Zimbabwe airport headquarters car park.
When
approached for a comment they refused to comment referring all
questions to
the company management.
Air Zimbabwe Chief Executive Officer, Innocent
Mavhunga said he was out of
the country and could not comment on what was
happening at the airline.
The airline’s chairperson, Jonathan Kadzura,
who two weeks ago threatened to
take unspecified action against the pilots
over the impromptu strike actions
could not reached for a
comment.
Air Zimbabwe’s hotline usually used by the public to book
flights was not
being answered when Radio VOP made several calls to enquire
about the strike
action.
Sources at Air Zimbabwe said the about 40
pilots working for the
government's airline, are grossly underpaid. Their
salaries despite being
the lowest in the region never came on time since the
economic crisis in
2008. The airline is also saddled with a US$60 million
dollar debt which
according to the Minister of Transport, Nicholas Goche,
has proved to be the
Achilles hill in the airline’s quest to attract a
foreign investor.
Air Zimbabwe has aging aircraft including two
Boeing 767 passenger jets,
three Boeings’ 737, which were recently suspended
after they were adjudged
to be past their designed service life and one
small Chinese plane for the
domestic routes and to Johannesburg.
Air
Zimbabwe has an impeccable safety record but has, like every other
government company or agency, been short of money for the last
decade.
Years of mismanagement and aircraft commandeering by President
Robert Mugabe
has also compounded the problem.
http://www.voanews.com
July 28,
2011
Peta Thornycroft | Johannesburg
Seven of eight people
arrested in Zimbabwe in connection with killing a
police officer in May were
again denied bail by Harare's High Court on
Thursday. Dozens of Movement
for Democratic Change, or MDC, supporters and
activists have been arrested
or gone into hiding since the officer was
killed in a bar room
brawl.
Harare High Court Judge Samuel Kudya said that seven of those
arrested in
May remained a flight risk and could not be released on
bail.
One of those arrested, Cynthia Manjoro, was released on $500 bail.
Two
other women are among those whose bail application was refused. Another
24
MDC activists were granted bail earlier this month in connection with the
case.
Police officer Petros Mutedza died after violence broke out at
a bar in Glen
View township after an MDC meeting.
Well know but
unpopular
People in the township say Mutedza was well known in the area
and was
unpopular with vendors who claimed he had regularly confiscated
their
merchandise. After they were arrested, Manjoro and several others
complained to attorneys that they were mistreated in
detention.
Lawyers acting for the 32 people accused in connection with
Mutedza's
killing say they have been supplied with no evidence linking the
MDC
supporters with the policeman’s murder.
Earlier this week, 13
members of the Zimbabwe independent human rights group
Restoration of Human
Rights were arrested during a demonstration in Harare.
The group members say
they had gathered to protest the detention of seven
people in connection
with the killing of the police officer. The group says
authorities are
targeting opponents of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and
the ZANU PF
party.
Zimbabwe human rights activists accuse ZANU PF loyalists of
disrupting a
public meeting last week to discuss legislation to create a
human rights
commission.
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Lance Guma
29 July
2011
Thirteen members of a human rights group, who were arrested on
Wednesday for
protesting the continued detention of eight Glen View
residents charged with
murder, were themselves freed on Friday. They were
forced to pay US$10 fines
each for what the police called ‘public
nuisance’.
Cosmas Ndira, Kimberly Nyatanga and 11 others from the
Restoration of Human
Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) group, staged a peaceful
demonstration at the High
Court demanding the release of the eight Glen View
residents, who are
accused of killing a policeman in a highly politicised
case that has
targeted perceived MDC-T supporters.
The ROHR activists
were detained at the Harare Central Police station and
were due to appear in
court on Friday. With no serious charges, the state
opted to fine them
instead. Group spokesman Stendrick Zvorwadza told SW
Radio Africa they were
taking three of their members to hospital immediately
as they were subjected
to ‘beatings’ and ‘serious torture’ by the police.
Zvorwadza told us the
activists were arrested while only wearing their
t-shirts and they had to
contend with the freezing winter temperatures in
detention with no blankets.
He condemned Wednesday’s arrests as “a
systematic ploy by the law
enforcement agencies to deny Zimbabweans the
right to freedom of
expression.”
Zvorwadza also noted that “the conduct of the police exposes
their bias and
lack of will in carrying out their duties professionally in
respect to the
upholding of the Rule of Law.” He cited the murder of
hundreds of MDC-T
supporters in the run up to the elections in June 2008 and
said the police
had not made a single arrest.
On Thursday Cynthia
Manjoro, one of the eight being held in the policeman
murder case, was
released much to the relief of her mother Anna Manjoro. For
months she
fought her daughter’s corner, pleading her innocence and
explaining that she
was nowhere near the scene of the crime.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Own Correspondent
Friday, 29 July 2011
15:06
HARARE - People claiming to be war veterans have invaded a plot
owned by MDC
Constitution Select Committee rapporteur, Charles Nyamutowa in
Nyanga’s
Juliasdale area, as violence and instability spreads across the
country.
Six known Zanu PF activists claiming to be former liberation war
fighters on
Tuesday invaded the 23-hectare self contained commercial plot
and demanded
that he leave the property.
Nyamutowa, who is part of 23
people charged with political violence against
Zanu PF supporters in Nyanga,
says he is being targeted for his political
affiliation.
He spent
weeks in remand prison in February together with Nyanga North MP
Douglas
Mwonzora and Rwisai Nyakauru, a headman who later died from injuries
after
severe torture.
Nyamutowa’s lawyer Cosmas Chibaya of Chibaya and
Associates confirmed to the
Daily News that he was handling the
matter.
“We will go to court to seek an order for those people to leave,”
said
Chibaya.
Chibaya said the invaders were still camped at the plot
on which Nyamutowa
claims to have invested $12 000 borrowed from a
commercial bank at a 12
percent annual interest rate.
He says an
irrigated potato crop that is two weeks from harvesting could be
affected by
the invasion.
“These guys just invaded my plot on Tuesday and demanded
that I harvest my
crop that still requires two weeks of irrigation then
leave. Worse still,I
have another set of seedlings ready for planting and
have bought the
necessary inputs including fertilizer using the borrowed
money.
“What am I supposed to do now,” asked the MDC official.
“I
am black and as much a Zimbabwean as any of these people. The land reform
programme is supposed to be apolitical and benefit all of us.
“I have
bonded my house in Nyanga to borrow money under the presidential
scheme that
is supposed to cater for A1 farmers but now where do I go?
“They want me
to lose everything I have worked for all my life in one swoop
just like
that. It is unfair and inhumane,” said Nyamutowa.
By late yesterday,
Nyamutowa was still on the plot as the standoff ensued
with the farmer
vowing to stay put.
He told the Daily News that the invaders were
stopping him from irrigating
his crop at a very critical stage of the its
growth and to attend to his
livestock.
“I have reported the case to
the police in Nyanga and the Officer-in-Charge
is handling the
case.
“These same guys tried to invade my plot earlier this year and
assaulted my
family while one of them tried to chop my head off with an
axe.
“They were arrested but I was later persuaded by police to drop the
assault
and attempted murder charges against the group after they promised
to leave
me alone.
“It’s not easy to get a Zanu PF activist arrested
but I will give it a try
and see what happens,” said the MDC activist.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Charity Mukwambo, Chimanimani, July 29
2011- Seven Movement Democratic
Change supporters belonging to the Morgan
Tsvangirai faction in Mutsamvu
area in Chimanimani are living in the bush
following their expulsion from
the area on Wednesday by the local
headman.
The headman accuses the MDC supporters of reporting three Zanu
(PF)
activists who had assaulted them to the police.
The seven were
severely assaulted by a group of Zanu (PF) supporters led by
Kumbirai
Mushango, the Zanu (PF) district chairperson for the area and his
deputy,
Uleki Mugebe for attending the MDC district meeting in the area. One
of the
victims, Chirongwe was admitted at Mutambara mission hospital after
he was
hit by a stone on the head by Mushango.
The seven identified as Mary
Kuretu, Lina Marova, Agnes Chishuro, Vivian
Chase, Eunice Kuretu,
Ndorekeraani Chirongwe and Naume Mutereke appeared
before the traditional
court of headman Timothy Madzianike facing charges of
reporting to the
police Zanu (PF) activists who in March this year severely
assaulted them
for attending an MDC meeting.
“Headman Madzianike summoned us to his
court on Wednesday and accused us of
reporting Zanu (PF) officials and war
veterans to the police without first
seeking his permission. As punishment
we have been asked to pay US$30 each
and leave the area with immediate
effect," said Kuretu. "The headman said he
does not want MDC supporters in
the area. Last night we slept in the bush,”
she told Radio VOP in a
telephone interview from the Chimanimani MDC
district offices where she has
sort refuge.
Kuretu said ironically her assailants, Mushango and Mugebe
also attended the
court session.
“Mushango and Mugebe assaulted us
but they are being shielded by the
headman. We have lost our homes for being
victims of Zanu (PF)’s political
violence. Where is the inclusive
government?” asked Kuretu in tears.
The MDC supporters reported the case
to the police but the police took time
to investigate the case until last
week when they finally started to carry
out some investigations.
The
MDC district coordinator for Chimanimani office, Pardon Maguta expressed
concern over the latest development in the area.
“The headman and
Mushango have caused a lot of suffering for our members in
this area.
Previously they have tortured, harassed and beaten our members.
They are
taking advantage of the remoteness of the area,” said Maguta.
The headman
could not be reached for comment.
Associated Press
By ANGUS SHAW, Associated Press – 4 hours ago
HARARE,
Zimbabwe (AP) — A security guard faces up to 12 months in jail
because of
remarks on the Zimbabwe president's health and a taunt over a
snack of
biscuits and a fruity milk drink, his lawyer said Friday.
After years of
acute shortages of food and confectionary, the guard
allegedly told a
colleague that President Robert Mugabe ruined the economy
and empty store
shelves were only restocked by the former opposition party
with cookies and
soft drinks that his pro-Mugabe colleague ate for lunch.
Attorney
Jeremiah Bamu said Friday the guard is charged with "undermining
the
authority" of Mugabe and goes to court Aug. 12.
He said no witnesses
overheard the remarks that include an alleged reference
to Mugabe's likely
death from illness. It is the latest case in a spate of
charges and arrests
over alleged presidential insults that carry a maximum
penalty of a year in
prison and have drawn in ministers and lawmakers of
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai's party.
Bamu said guard Zebediah Mpofu, employed at a private
security firm, was
reported to police by his colleague, a known supporter of
Mugabe's ZANU-PF
party.
He said an increasing number of reports came
from the workplace,
conversations eavesdropped by plain clothes security
agents on commuter
buses and even from authorized political
rallies.
"It is an attempt to gag political views," he said.
The
independent Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights group has identified one
man,
Gift Masuka, as already serving a yearlong sentence for cursing Mugabe
with
obscenities in southeastern Zimbabwe, where two students have also been
accused of illegally downloading an animated video showing a fictional
Mugabe assassination.
In the second city of Bulawayo on Monday, a
court freed on bail two property
owners, also to reappear in court in
August, on allegations they told
officials and militants of Mugabe's party
who inspected their land for
seizure to "go and hang together with
Mugabe."
Since Mugabe called for early elections to bring the shaky
28-month
coalition to an end, rights groups have reported a surge in
political
violence and intimidation.
At least five people in eastern
Zimbabwe have been charged with insulting
Mugabe by changing the words of
songs used by his loyalists, saying in one
of the songs: "Let's work hard to
remove this old man and install
Tsvangirai."
In May, a police officer
was detained for two weeks for using a toilet
reserved for Mugabe at a trade
exposition. The next month a minister in
Tsvangirai's office was arrested
for allegedly calling Mugabe a liar over
his accounts of a crucial summit on
Zimbabwe by regional mediators that
Mugabe said had cleared his party of
obstructing democratic reforms under
the coalition.
A senior
Tsvangirai lawmaker is still facing insult charges after he bowed
to a
portrait of Mugabe, compulsorily displayed in all public buildings and
commercial businesses, and said: "How is your health, how is your
eye?"
Mugabe's office said the president had traveled to Singapore for an
operation to remove an eye cataract but four later trips there this year
were reportedly for further medical care.
Zimbabwe's military chiefs
have refused to salute Tsvangirai, a former labor
leader who did not fight
in the guerrilla war that swept Mugabe to power in
1980. According to the
defense ministry, generals who have openly vowed
their allegiance to
Mugabe's party are not compelled to salute civilians,
but Mugabe remained as
their commander in chief.
"The regulations are unclear. We've never had a
coalition before.
Traditionally, we have always saluted civilians at
ceremonial occasions,"
said Zimbabwe defense analyst Michael
Quintana.
He said police and security services' active role in defending
the image and
stature of Mugabe and his party was common in Africa, China
and nations of
the former Soviet Union.
"It is not modeled on Western
concepts of the impartiality of the military
and state institutions,"
Quintana said.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
A Bulawayo Magistrate has decided that
September 8, 2011 is the trial date
for three youths who are being
prosecuted for laughing at a cartoon. Gift
Mlalazi, Mpumelelo Donga and
Kevin Ncube, all members of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC-T) and
residents of Nkulumane Township, are charged
with contravening Section 33
(2)(a)(ii) of the Criminal Law Codification
Act, Cap 9.23 “Causing Hatred,
Contempt or Ridicule of the President,”
29.07.1104:35pm
by Staff
Reporter
The state alleges that Kevin visited Sauerstown suburb on
February 20, where
he was arrested for allegedly being in possession of a
cartoon that the
police claims ridicules President Robert Mugabe, First Lady
Grace Mugabe and
Reserve Bank Governor, Gideon Gono.
After further
interrogation, Kevin is alleged to have disclosed to police
that Gift
initially discovered the comic strip on some tarred road in
Nkulumane
Township. It is alleged that Gift picked up the caricature and
showed it to
his two friends who laughed. From then on, Kevin is alleged to
have kept the
drawing, which Sauerstown police reportedly found on his
person.
The
trio is represented by Lizwe Jamela of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights
(ZLHR). As part of their bail conditions, they continue to report at
Nkulumane Police Station every Friday between 6am to 6pm. They are remanded
out of custody on $50 bail each. Jamela argues that, “Picking up the
caricature on the tarred road does not constitute an offence.”
http://www.radiovop.com/
Bulawayo, July 29 - Khami Maximum Prison
boss, Chief Superintendent Judah
Ndlovu has been fired from his job by the
Zimbabwe Prison Service (ZPS) for
insulting President Robert Mugabe’s late
sister.
According ZPS disciplinary court charge sheet, on July 31 last
year Ndlovu
and some of his juniors were having drinks at Khami Prison
Officers’ bar
whilst watching Sabina Mugabe’s burial at Heroes Acre on
Zimbabwe Television
(ZTV) which was being beamed live. Ndlovu who was in a
drunken state started
shouting on top of his voice saying that “Sabina was a
useless woman of
loose morals who was not supposed to be buried at the
National Heroes Acre.”
This did not go down well with some junior prison
officers who reported the
matter to ZPS Matebeleland region headquarters
based at Mhlahlandlela
government complex in Bulawayo the following day.
Ndlovu was dragged before
the ZPS disciplinary committee several times since
last year in August but
was denying the charges and making
appeals.
However on Tuesday he received a letter from ZPS national
headquarters in
Harare notifying him that he had been fired and should leave
the Khami
Prison Complex in the next seven days.
When contacted for
comment ZPS national spokesperson Priscilla Mthembo said
“she needs
questions in writing and will only respond to them when back in
office as
she was out of Harare.”
Sabina who was 10 years junior to Mugabe, served
as a Member of Parliament
(MP) for Makonde East in 1985 and later became the
legislator for Zvimba
South constituency between 1990 and 2008.She was also
a member of the Zanu
(PF) women’s league serving as its national secretary
for production and
labour. She died at Harare’s Avenues Clinic on July 29n
where she had been
admitted complaining of stomach pains.
http://www.voanews.com
28 July
2011
Minister Jameson Timba, stressed the only solution to stop
external radio
stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe is to liberalize the
airwaves and
establish a true public broadcaster that is not controlled by a
single
political party.
Benedict Nhlapho |
Johannesburg
The existence of external radio stations such as the
Voice of America's
Studio 7 for Zimbabwe, SW Radio Africa and Voice of the
People broadcasting
into Zimbabwe has come under the spotlight as the debate
on the prospects of
broadcasting reforms continues.
Speaking at the
Radio Broadcasting Conference taking place in Johannesburg,
Minister of
State in the Office of the Prime Minister, Jameson Timba,
stressed the only
solution to stop external radio stations broadcasting into
Zimbabwe is to
liberalize the airwaves and establish a true public
broadcaster that is not
going to be abused by a single political party.
The sole media
broadcaster Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation has often been
accused of
being aligned to ZANU-PF and being biased against other political
parties.
Prospective broadcasters wishing to operate in Zimbabwe have failed
to do so
due to the unavailability of broadcasting licenses.
Timba blamed ZANU-PF
for the continued resistance at efforts aimed to open
the
airwaves.
But Christopher Mutsvangwa, a member of the Zimbabwe Media
Commission, also
present at the conference, challenged Timba’s view on the
existence of
external radio stations arguing that they have a so-called
western agenda.
Gerry Jackson, the founder of SW Radio Africa, disagreed
arguing that the
only reason why these radio stations are operating outside
Zimbabwe is
simply because ZBC has been given monopoly over the airwaves
since 1980.
Media advocates have argued the Broadcasting Authority of
Zimbabwe is
foot-dragging as it is yet to issue its first license despite
the provisions
of Article 19 of the Global Political Agreement calling for
immediate
issuance of broadcasting licenses.
Advocates say BAZ
chairman Tafataona Mahoso's remarks in parliament that
there was no
equipment and money to monitor the new broadcasters, is casting
further
doubt on the government’s commitment to liberalize the airwaves.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 29 July 2011
10:58
Bernard Mpofu, Chief Business Reporter
The Confederation
of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) president, Joseph Kanyekanye,
has launched at
veiled attack on the government's Look East Policy, saying
Chinese imports
were now the single largest threat to local industries.
He said
government should regulate cheap imports from the world's second
largest
economy to ensure that local industries, still smarting from a
decade-long
economic crisis that was broken by dollarisation of the economy
in 2009 are
protected.
Local industries were currently operating at an average of 48
percent but
have failed to lift themselves out of the operational quagmire
of the past
decade due to an influx of cheap imports and lack of capital for
the
refurbishment and replacement of antiquated machinery.
"CZI has
observed that there has been an influx of goods particularly from
the
Chinese and I'm not xenophobic but I feel for my country,"
Kanyekanye
said in his contribution to the Medium Term Plan (MTP) launched
by
government a fortnight ago.
"So we are suggesting - let there be a crackdown
to shut them immediately
and let the locals come through. This is an area
that government has to look
at to ensure that we empower our
individuals.
"In terms of policy, this is what Minister (of Youth
Development,
Indigenisation and Empowerment) Savior Kasukuwere subscribes to
but on the
ground it's not happening. This needs to be sorted out,"
Kanyekanye charged.
His remarks fly in the face of ZANU PF's pronounced Look
East policy
launched in 2003 as the party sought to spite the West which had
imposed
targeted sanctions against President Robert Mugabe and perceived
members of
his inner circle.
The isolation of the country by the West has
resulted in a marked decline in
Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), which have
sunk from a high of US$444
million recorded in 1998.
China has since the
adoption of the trade policy emerged as Zimbabwe's top
tobacco buyer and has
invested in several mining projects around the
country.
A plethora of
memoranda of understanding signed between the Chinese and
several
parastatals however remain unfulfilled due to Zimbabwe's incapacity
to meet conditions precedent, some of which include collateral
for loan extensions to the beleaguered and frail economy.
Kanyekanye told
journalists that Zimbabwe could achieve its indigenisation
and empowerment
goals by prohibiting low capital Oriental investments which
he criticised
for suffocating local enterprises. He said small enterprises
such as
barbershops, retail and commuter omnibus operations should be
reserved for
locals.
President Robert Mugabe in 2008 signed into law The Indigenisation
and
Economic Empowerment Act which compels foreign-owned companies to cede
51
percent interest to black Zimbabweans.
The law has been criticised for
scaring international investors in a country
desperately in need of
FDIs.
The CZI, whose annual general meeting opened in the resort town of
Victoria
Falls this week, also advised government to form a certification
body with
"financial muscle and resources" to regulate the influx of cheap
imported
goods, citing the South African Bureau of Standards as a model.
Currently,
the Standard Association of Zimbabwe is mandated to scrutinise
the quality
of locally manufactured and imported products.
"I am
suggesting that within the next three months, government, through the
Ministry of Industry and Commerce, must enact a statutory instrument that
allows government to issue licences to other bodies that could carry out the
certification of goods at the border posts.
"It's a business opportunity;
our people will make money out of foreigners
trying to bring their
goods here. There is no cost to anyone, so let's
do that," Kanyekanye
said.
The coalition government, formed three years ago has, among other
economic measures, undertaken to open up the markets as Zimbabwe
pushed to reclaim its position on the international community.
http://mg.co.za/
RAY NDLOVU Jul 29 2011 14:33
Four months after being
bought by Indian firm Essar Global Holdings in a
$750-million deal,
production has yet to kick off at the Zimbabwe Iron and
Steel Company
(Ziscosteel), once Zimbabwe's largest steelmaker.
Ziscosteel was shut
down in 2008 amid allegations of "plunder and looting"
by senior Zanu-PF
officials and with a $300-million debt, and production is
now being hampered
by a wrangle over electricity, water and transport.
The country's
financially hamstrung parastatals, in an attempt to recover
money owed to
them by the steel giant, are reportedly withholding their
services to force
it to pay them. It is understood that the Zimbabwe
Electricity Supply
Authority is owed more than $10-million by Ziscosteel,
and the local city
council in Kwekwe is seeking $2-million.
In a bid to quell the
embarrassing row, Zimbabwe's government signed a
memorandum of understanding
with officials from global steel manufacturer
Essar last week to guarantee
the uninterrupted supply of essential services.
Welshman Ncube, the trade
and industry minister, confirmed the memorandum
and signalled that
"production will begin at the end of the month".
It is understood from
the memorandum that Essar will be allocated the
electricity produced by the
independent Munity power station to meet the
steel giant's power needs and
lessen the impact of the blackouts that
regularly afflict the
country.
Zimbabwe has a monthly domestic power demand of 2 200MW but is
generating
only 1 200MW, mainly from the Hwange and Kariba power
stations.
Meanwhile, Ziscosteel has embarked on a recruitment exercise to
"track down"
former employees, particularly those in South Africa.
If
successful, the exercise could be the first sizeable brain gain in
Zimbabwe
after years of economic decline and worker migration to
neighbouring
countries.
A local consultancy company, People Dynamix, is spearheading
the recruitment
exercise to track down nearly 1 000 former employees who are
suspected of
having migrated to South Africa.
People Dynamix
consultant Joe Mashinya said: "As part of the deal to revive
its operations,
Ziscosteel has embarked on a major recruitment exercise and
has 750
positions that need to be filled."
The vacancies are for boilermakers,
electricians, instrument and control
technicians and, said Mashinya, "very
competitive salaries" would be offered
to returning employees.
The
remuneration package for returnees includes benefits such as medical
aid,
housing and car loans, payment of school fees at private schools and
meeting
the returnees' full costs of relocating to Zimbabwe.
Economist Eric Bloch
said: "This is an expected event considering that a new
investor has come on
board and that with it there is fresh capital available
to resume full-scale
operations. However, we can't overrate Ziscosteel's
latest recruitment
exercise and expect an overnight change in the economy.
"What remains
relevant is that, in the long run, Ziscosteel's resumption of
operations
could lead to a drop in steel prices because steel is set to
become
available locally."
At peak operating capacity, Ziscosteel produced one
million tonnes of steel
annually, which made it the second-largest steel
producer in sub-Saharan
Africa after ArcelorMittal South
Africa.
Essar has indicated that it wants to increase steel production to
2.5-million tonnes in the next four years. It is understood that Essar
enjoys "partial exemption" from Zimbabwe's controversial empowerment laws.
It has a majority stake in Ziscosteel, despite the indigenisation law that
requires foreign companies to cede a 51% controlling stake to locals.
http://mg.co.za/
KATHLEEN CHAYKOWSKI JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - Jul 29 2011
13:01
Confusion about the future of Zimbabweans in South Africa
deepened this week
after the home affairs department suggested that those
who have applied for
special permits to stay in the country could be granted
an additional month
to finalise their papers, but avoided the word
"extension".
Meanwhile, nongovernmental organisations are gearing up
anxiously to receive
thousands of Zimbabweans who might be deported, but
officials remain
tight-lipped about the scale of deportations that could
follow the new
deadline.
Homes affairs deputy director general
Jackson McKay said last week the
department would continue to issue the
special permits into August, but
would complete reviewing applications for
them on July 31. The department
had previously indicated it was on track to
issue all the permits by July
31.
The government launched its
Zimbabwe Documentation Project (ZDP) in
September 2009, saying many
Zimbabweans were in South Africa illegally and
needed to apply for proper
documents.
"We will conclude the adjudication of the [ZDP] applications
by July 31 and
finalise all outstanding matters in August," McKay said at a
press
conference last week. "This will allow us sufficient time to dispatch
all
the required permits."
Cold Shoulder
Desperation mounts as
undocumented Zimbabweans queue for permits to live in
South Africa before
the deadline approaches, or risk deportation.
More slideshows
If this is
an extension, it is still too short, said Braam Hanekom, the
director of
People against Suffering, Oppression and Poverty (Passop).
"August had
never been mentioned before as part of permit distribution," he
said.
"Zimbabweans are panicking and really worried."
For one Zimbabwean
responding to this development on Passop's website, the
department's
announcement means "it's all guesswork right now".
He continued: "I went
to the showground offices today to check the status of
my application and we
were told the offices were under construction. We were
then told to leave
and not given a date when we could check again."
This week home
affairs spokesperson Manusha Pillai told the Mail & Guardian
the August
deadline would allow the department to dispatch permits and
enable people to
complete their applications.
Passop wrote to home affairs early in July
pleading for a minimum two-month
extension to the ZDP deadline. "We welcome
the month extension, but we are
concerned it isn't enough," Hanekom
said.
The apparent extension helps only those Zimbabweans who have
already applied
for their ZDP permits. For those who have not, and for
Zimbabweans not
judged to be bona fide asylum seekers, July 31 remains the
deadline after
which they could be deported.
McKay said last week
that 275 762 Zimbabweans had applied for permits and he
expected 99% of
these to be approved. The department still had 2 248
applications to
adjudicate.
Meanwhile, NGOs in Zimbabwe told the M&G they were
preparing to receive tens
of thousands of deportees from next
week.
The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has staffed two
reception
and support centres that have been dormant for the past two years,
said
Natalia Perez, the NGO's officer in Zimbabwe. "One week from the [July
31]
deadline, preparations are pretty well advanced," she said. Other IOM
officials said they were bracing themselves for between 15 000 and 17 000
Zimbabwean deportees a month.
"The worst-case scenario we're catering
for is 24 000 returnees a month,"
said the NGO's Yukiko
Kumashiro.
Centres in Beitbridge across the border from Musina and in
Plumtree on the
border with Botswana will offer hot meals, psychosocial
counselling, health
screening, transportation and escort services for
unaccompanied minors.
"If deportations start, the migrants are very
likely to go underground
again, which opens them [Zimbabweans] up to all
kinds of vulnerability,"
said Nefuso Theyise, an IOM officer in South
Africa.
Home affairs and the South African Police Service declined to say
what
deportation plans they were making for the July 31 deadline, while
experts
differed on what to expect.
Hanekom said the department would
not be "foolish enough" to embark on mass
deportation. Pillai said
Zimbabweans waiting for ZDP permits should not
panic after the moratorium
ended because anyone waiting for an approved
permit could present receipts
to police who threatened arrest.
Tara Polzer, senior researcher at the
forced migration studies programme at
Wits University, said: "What we're
hearing from home affairs is that they
aren't necessarily planning a major
deportation, but they have been very
tight-lipped about it."
But
Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, the head of the refugee and migrant rights
programme
at Lawyers for Human Rights, believes "deportations will begin in
earnest".
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Alex
Bell
29 July 2011
Officials from South Africa’s Home Affairs
department have denied reports
that two people, including a five year old
child, have died as a result of a
stampede at the Marabastad Refugee
Reception Centre.
The stampede was said to have happened on Monday
morning at the centre in
Pretoria, where 14 Zimbabweans were injured in a
similar incident earlier
this month. Four women were reportedly rushed to
hospital after being
crushed in Monday’s stampede. SW Radio Africa was then
told on Friday that
one of these women died in hospital.
A source,
who works near to the Marabastad centre, also told SW Radio Africa
that a
five year old girl was crushed to death in Monday’s stampede. The
source
explained that the incident was the result of serious overcrowding,
with
hundreds of people trying to secure their place in line to register at
the
centre.
“People have been sleeping on the streets waiting their turn to
register,
but some people are paying bribes to jump the queue. So when the
doors
opened on Monday people were rushing to get inside and some were
crushed,”
the source said.
But Manusha Pillai, a spokesperson from
South Africa’s Home Affairs
department on Friday denied that a stampede had
occurred. She also strongly
denied that there were any
deaths.
Gabriel Shumba from the Zimbabwe Exiles Forum (ZEF), who visited
the centre
on Thursday, said reports of the deaths are very
disturbing.
“We are terribly depressed and traumatised that this has
happened. We call
on the government to instigate investigations to prevent
this from happening
again,” Shumba said.
The Marabastad centre is
notoriously congested with asylum seekers, a
situation that has worsened
since the closure of the Crown Mines centre in
Johannesburg last month.
Shumba said on Friday that the stampedes indicate
that a new centre is
critically needed to accommodate the number of people
trying to register as
asylum seekers.
South Africa has the highest number of registered
asylum-seekers in the
world and about 95% of asylum seekers enter the
country from Mozambique or
Zimbabwe. The authorities are now trying to
toughen immigration laws,
including changing the amount of time asylum
seekers have to register at
Refugee Reception Centres.
The current
time limit of 14 days could be reduced to five if the department
of Home
Affairs succeeds in passing its Immigration Amendment Bill, which is
before
Parliament. The amendment could prevent many asylum seekers from
receiving
refugee status because already the 14 day period is not long
enough.
http://www.voanews.com
28 July
2011
Ruth Labode, president of the Matabeleland Confederation of
Industries said
private companies will rather import expensive power than
rely on the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority which is failing to cope
with demand.
Gibbs Dube | Washington
The Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) says government is blocking
private entities from
importing electricity from regional utilities despite
serious power outages
in Zimbabwe.
According to the Herald newspaper, CZI president Joseph
Kanyekanye told
delegates at the on-going CZI annual conference in Victoria
Falls that if
unresolved, power outages will soon cripple
industries.
He said though some private companies were early this year
issued licenses
to generate power, they have not yet started operating. at
least two private
firms are believed to be generating power for boosting
their operations.
Ruth Labode, president of the Matabeleland
Confederation of Industries said
private companies will rather import
expensive power than rely on the
Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority which
is failing to cope with demand.
Matabeleland regional Chamber of Commerce
president Isaac Mabuka said
industries will find it difficult to import
power from regional utilities
but he commends Finance Minister Tendai Biti
for crafting a package for
distressed industries.
Economist James
Wade said most industries are failing to meet production
targets due to the
high cost of loans and power outages.
For a close look at issues
affecting industries, Studio 7 turned to
economists John Robertson and
Prosper Chitambara of the Labour and Economic
Development Research Institute
of Zimbabwe. Robertson said Biti in his
mid-term budget review statement did
not say much that will help resuscitate
struggling industries in the
country.
In his budget review statement, Biti said a recent Zimbabwe
National
Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT) survey reveals that average capacity
utilization
during the first half of 2011 remains within the 40 to 50
percent range,
reflecting high levels of idle capacity.
However,
companies in the foodstuffs, drinks, beverages and tobacco,
non-metallic
minerals, mining and chemicals sectors recorded slight
improvements in
capacity utilization of over 50 percent as a result of
marginal investments
in those sectors.
Employment numbers in the textile sector have slumped
from 7,500 in 2010 to
3,000 in 2011 largely due to an influx of cheap
imports, working capital
constraints and obsolete equipment. Capacity
utilization has fallen further
to 8 percent from the 2010 levels of 30
percent, according to ZIMSTAT.
Tourist arrivals and bed occupancy growth
rates of 14.3 percent were
recorded in the tourism sector in the first half
of 2011 compared to the
same period last year.
http://www.businessday.co.za
TAWANDA
KAROMBO
Published: 2011/07/29 08:22:36 AM
ZIMBABWEAN businesses and
shops that fail to display the official exchange
rate risk a fine under a
new crackdown on exorbitant rand- dollar
exchange-rate charges by
unscrupulous operators.
Both currencies are used as legal tender in
Zimbabwe under a multiple
currency system introduced two years
ago.
Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti said this week that the
government
was concerned at the extent of unregulated exchange rates in
Zimbabwe’s
market since the introduction of the multicurrency system
.
He said that from September the Treasury will publish on its website a
mandatory exchange rate for the rand- dollar to protect the
public.
"All traders, with effect from September, will be required to
display the
official exchange rate in their shops and businesses," Mr Biti
said. Traders
would be fined for noncompliance.
Despite earlier calls
for the reintroduction of the Zimbabwean dollar, Mr
Biti said during the
presentation of his midterm policy blueprint on Tuesday
that the
multicurrency system would stay in place until at least 2015.
A snap
survey of banks, shops and traders this week showed a wide range of
rand-dollar exchange rates.
The rand on the JSE yesterday was at
R6,67/$ while it was being exchanged
for a minimum of R10/$ at most
Zimbabwean outlets.
"Businesses have been taking advantage of the little
knowledge that the
public has of the movements in exchange rates; and this
calls for state
regulation," economist Jeffrey Kasirori said.
Most
businesses in Zimbabwe do not have smaller coin denominations and
instead
prefer to sell consumers smaller items such as sweets for their
change.
"Efforts to import small dollar coins … are continuing, with the
Bankers
Association of Zimbabwe now spearheading the process in liaison with
US
financial authorities ," Mr Biti said. The coins are expected to be
available by the end of the year.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
29/07/2011 00:00:00
by
Gilbert Nyambabvu
THE United States does not favour any political
party in Zimbabwe and would
work with whoever wins a “legitimate,
non-violent and credible electoral
contest”, the US’ ambassador to Harare,
Charles Ray has said.
Dismissed by President Robert Mugabe’s key allies
as an agent for illegal
regime change and “Washington’s Uncle Tom in
Harare”, Ray insisted that the
US government was not “anti-Zanu PF” and
believed the party had an important
role to play in the country’s
future.
“It is not for the U.S. or any other outsider to dictate or
influence who
should make up the government; that is for the Zimbabwean
people alone to
decide,” Ambassador Ray said on Thursday evening while
addressing a public
policy dialogue meeting on icy US-Zimbabwe relations in
Harare.
“As long as the process is credible and respected, we do not care
which
party wins. Let me repeat that: ‘We do not care which party wins, as
long as
the process is legitimate’.”
Relations between Harare and
Washington have been frosty since the United
States backed Europe in
imposing sanctions on the country, citing alleged
human rights abuses and
electoral fraud.
Zanu PF dismisses the allegations, claiming the
sanctions are part of a
wider plot to drive President Mugabe out of power
and punish the party for
its controversial land reforms.
The party
accuses the US and other Western embassies in Harare of sponsoring
opposition groups as part of the “illegal regime change” agenda.
But Ray
said the US was not in the business of cherry-picking between the
country’s
political parties.
“The U.S. does not favour any one party over another
in Zimbabwe. We want to
see an environment where all parties have the same
ability to present
themselves to the public and to compete to represent the
people in
government,” he said.
“The U.S. fully believes that Zanu PF
will, and should, continue to play an
important role in Zimbabwe’s future;
we are not anti-Zanu PF and we do
recognise the many achievements that Zanu
PF has had over the decades for
the good of the Zimbabwean
people.”
He added that it was unfortunate that America’s support for “an
activist
parliament, independent courts, a responsible media, a professional
electoral commission (and) an apolitical military” were seen as part of
efforts to impose its political will on the country.
The US, he
argued, had learnt “through trial and error” the importance of
maintaining
strict “differentiation between party, government, and state”.
“We have
learned that when the strict differentiation between the political
party,
the government, and the institutions of the state are breached the
public’s
interest begins taking a back seat to vested interests of those in
positions
of power,” he said.
“We are not interested in imposing our way on any of
these groups and we
fully understand that Zimbabwe’s democracy will have its
own character and
will not be a duplicate of any other specific model from
the U.S., Europe,
or elsewhere.”
Ray conceded that the US imposed
sanctions against “about 120 Zimbabweans,
about 60 of the farms or companies
they own, or a dozen public enterprises”.
He, however, rejected claims these
were responsible for the near-collapse of
the country’s economy in the last
decade.
“If this economy is that dependent on 120 people and a few dozen
companies
then we should be concerned about a lot more than just sanctions,”
he said.
“(But) as soon as the parties honour their commitments under the
GPA [Global
Political Agreement] to allow for a return of the rule of law;
once state
institutions are separated from partisan allegiances; and once
credible
elections are held and honoured, there will be no reason to retain
the few
restrictions that are in place.”
The US envoy called for
increased dialogue between the two countries as part
of the “re-engagement”
process.
“Let us re-open those lines of communication that have closed
and rebuild
the bridges of mutual confidence that we have allowed to fall
into disrepair
for the people of both of our great nations,” he
said.
“Let’s have those tough conversations. When we must, let’s
disagree, but do
so without being disagreeable. When we can, let’s
collaborate to advance our
common interests.”
http://www.voanews.com/
28 July
2011
The pro-peace group said the Midlands Province was the worst
affected,
followed by Mashonaland East, Masvingo, Manicaland and Mashonaland
Central.
Ntungamili Nkomo | Washington
Persistent talk of
elections in Zimbabwe this year is pushing up cases of
political violence
and rights violations, and efforts by a joint monitoring
committee to create
a peaceful environment in the country are drawing a
blank, a local rights
group said Thursday.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project noted in its monthly
assessment report that cases
of politically-motivated violence and human
rights breaches surged to 1,014
in June compared to 994 the previous
month.
The pro-peace civic organization whose leadership has suffered
arrests and
harassment by law enforcement agents said the Midlands Province
was the
worst affected, followed by Mashonaland East, Masvingo then
Manicaland and
Mashonaland Central.
The habitually tranquil
south-western provinces of Matabeleland North,
Matabeleland South and
Bulawayo are barely affected, the peace project said.
It also noted that
President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF and the Movement for
Democratic Change
formation led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai were
both responsible for
the violence and intimidation.
But it accused ZANU-PF of being the main
offender.
Member of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee -
tasked with
dealing with such issues as violence - Thabitha Khumalo told VOA
Studio 7
reporter Ntungamili Nkomo they are doing all they can to curb
violence, but
added that the ultimate responsibility lies with the political
leadership.
"We are really disturbed by such reports of violence. The
problem is that
whenever there is an incident, often the political parties
will accuse each
other and it becomes difficult for us to deal with the
problem," Khumalo
said.
Political analyst Effie Dlela Ncube said
political violence is retrogressive
and should stop.
A Harare High
Court Judge meanwhile, dismissed a bail application Thursday
for all but one
of the eight Tsvangirai MDC activists jailed in connection
with the murder
of police inspector Petros Mutedza in Glen View almost two
months ago.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Thelma Chikwanha, Community Affairs
Editor
Friday, 29 July 2011 15:11
HARARE - Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC party has vowed to fight for
the total independence of the
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (Zec), saying it
will resist moves by Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa and other elements
in Zanu PF to meddle in the
commission’s work.
The MDC accuses former ruling party officials and
fringe supporters of
trying to meddle in the affairs of the electoral body
chaired by retired
judge Simpson Mutambanengwe, who has been under intense
verbal attack from
Zanu PF members and sympathisers in recent
days.
“We are very unhappy and totally against the control of Zec by the
minister.
We want Zec to be independent in line with the Global Political
Agreement
which states that the electoral commission must be independent,”
MDC
spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said.
Insiders say there is bad
blood between Chinamasa and Mutambanengwe.
The two are said to be
fighting over the control of the electoral body which
was established by an
Act of parliament.
Chinamasa is accused of trying to use control of Zec
finances to control the
electoral body.
The MDC says Chinamasa is
trying to maintain a tight grip on the body’s
finances by insisting that all
Zec funds pass through his office.
Zec was established with the specific
task of preparing, conducting and
supervising elections.
“The
commission must receive its finances independent of the ministry
because the
minister will have power of the purse compromising the
commission.
The issue of financial independence was raised in the
human rights
commission and we intend to do the same for Zec,” Mwonzora
said.
Staffing of the electoral body is also one of the major sticking
points,
with the MDC demanding that ex-military men and central intelligence
operatives working in Zec leave the body.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
By Pindai Dube
Friday, 29 July 2011
15:03
HARARE - Police in Lupane, Matabeleland North province, on
Monday stopped a
meeting of the mainstream MDC before shutting down party
offices.
Speaking to the Daily News, former Lupane MP Njabuliso
Mguni, who was
leading the MDC Lupane district executive meeting, said
police stormed the
meeting at Lupane Business centre and demanded that it be
stopped.
“We were having our district executive meeting at Lupane Agenda
offices but
police stormed the venue and stopped us before ordering
everybody to leave
and shut down the office. They said they had instructions
from their
superiors to stop all MDC meetings in Matabeleland North
province,” said
Mguni.
Mguni, who was expelled from Parliament in
2009 after the smaller MDC party
that he represented then accused him of
siding with the mainstream MDC said:
“We are shocked because this was an
internal party meeting which doesn’t
have anything to do with
police.”
According to Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR), a group
of lawyers
that offers free legal assistance to vulnerable groups, more than
40
politicians and human rights activists have been arrested or harassed by
police in Matabeleland North alone since January.
In April, National
Healing and Integration Minister Moses Mzila Ndlovu, was
arrested for
holding a meeting on the 1980s military-led massacres of
civilians or
Gukurahundi in the province.
Mzila-Ndlovu was again arrested in the same
province two weeks ago together
with Welshman Ncube, leader of the smaller
MDC formation.
Last month, ZimRights activists Florence Ndlovu and Walter
Dube were
arrested for conducting torture workshops in Nyamandlovu in
Matabeleland
North province.
ZLHR lawyers Lizwe Jamela, Nosimilo
Chanaiwa and Nikiwe Ncube were also
arrested and detained for a day in
Hwange.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 29 July 2011 12:23
Clemence
Manyukwe, Political Editor
A FIVE-MEMBER tribunal has been appointed by
the Harare City Council to
probe a string of suspicious land deals that took
place between 2004 and
2009 in an investigation that is likely to open a can
of worms.
The land deals have already sucked in leading ZANU-PF figures
such as Local
Government Minister, Ignatius Chombo, property mogul, Phillip
Chiyangwa, and
the party's Women's League boss, Oppah Muchinguri, among
others.
The ZANU-PF officials are being accused of having irregularly
acquired vast
tracts of land and stands in the capital during the tenure of
the then
controversial Harare City Council chairperson, Sekesai
Makwavarara.
The officials have denied the allegations.
The appointment of
the five-member tribunal, which includes two retired
judges, follows the
rejection of a damning report by a special committee
established by the city
fathers last year.
The report failed to pass the credibility test after its
authors were
accused of ignoring the laws of natural justice by not
affording the accused
persons the right to reply.
Harare mayor, Muchadeyi
Masunda, told The Financial Gazette this week that
the tribunal has now been
tasked with the responsibility of unravelling the
mystery behind the land
deals.
It will enquire into the land sales, leases and exchanges between 2004
and
2009, including the controversial Airport Road deal in which Chombo has
dismissed allegations that he was corruptly involved in its
arrangement.
Masunda is expecting to get confirmation today from the five
individuals
that council has approa-ched to be part of the tribunal.
The
identities of members of the tribunal would be released once they have
indicated willingness to serve.
"I am still waiting for confirmation from
the five (members) we have
approached. Hopefully, bef-ore Thursday (today).
Once I have received
feedback, I will tell you that these are the people to
serve on the panel,"
said Masunda.
The initial investigation into the
land deals was conducted by a special
committee, which was chaired by
suspended Movement for Dem-ocratic Change
(MDC-T) councillor, Warship
Dumba.
The committee had fingered the Local Government Minister, Chiya-ngwa
and
Muchinguri, among others as having accessed vast tracts of land
irregularly.
Controversy over the land deals deepened after Chombo suspended
Dumba and
Casper Takura, another councillor who was also a member of the
special
committee last December on allegations of gross mismanagement of
council
funds, amounting to US$600.
The councillors, however, alleged
that their suspensions were motivated by
their unearthing of the alleged
graft by the minister, which they were about
to table before
council.
"Before your letter of suspension, the committee, which I chair, had
completed (unravelled) yet another land scam in which you fraudulently sold
council land to Mr Chimeri without you having title to. In the same report
you converted rentals into purchase price on a suspected forged lease
agreement," Dumba wrote to Chombo.
"By so doing, we feel your letters of
suspensions were a ploy to stop such
an investigation although it is
unfortunate that we had already completed
the exercise.
"In the last
report, the committee discovered that you acquired a Capital
Gains Clearance
Certificate with neither the agreement of sale nor the title
deeds of the
said property."
And in February this year, the Elected Councillors
Association of Zimbabwe
(ECAZ) moved to petition Chombo, saying the
association was deeply concerned
with the manner in which the minister had
reacted to charges levelled
against him.
ECAZ claimed it had documentary
evidence to support allegations that Chombo
deprived Harare of land that
could have accommodated at least 42 000
families on the council's housing
waiting list.
In a previous interview with The Financial Gazette, Chombo
denied the
allegations saying he was being persecuted by MDC-T councillors
for
belonging to ZANU-PF.
Chiyangwa has also denied any
wrong-doing.
Last week, the property magnate publicly said he owns 57 000
residential
stands in Harare alone, but denied acquiring any land
illegally.
Chiyangwa said in Harare South he owns 5 000 hectares of land and
another 60
hectares in the Grange, known as Chisora Village.
He said the
5 000ha he owns in Harare South were acquired after he sold G&D
Shoes in
Bulawayo.
The businessman said he was under attack for having that land only
because
he was a member of ZANU-PF.
"I invested my money in Harare,
Chinhoyi, Kwekwe, Gweru and Kariba. Some
people call me tsotsi (thief), but
have no facts to back them up. I am under
attack.
"Do not be afraid of
people with money. Do not stifle a person because of
his political
affiliation," Chiyangwa said.
http://www.radiovop.com/
Gweru, July 29, 2011 - Un-employed
qualified nurses said they are being
prejudiced by government who have put
them on bonding while they are not
able to employ them.
“This is
very unfair especially to us who are entering the second year
without
employment despite that we passed the nursing exams. Life is so hard
if you
are unemployed and we feel it is unfair that we continue to wait
without
any knowledge on what will become of us,” said Rudaviro Mazivisa who
trained
at the Gweru school of nursing.
Some nurses who spoke to Radio VOP here
said they were concerned at the
uncertainty of their careers as government
was issuing conflicting
statements on their employment
conditions.
The nurses said the Health Minister Henry Madzorera had told
parliament that
nurses would be bonded for three years at government
hospitals, a period
equal to the number of years their training takes but
Fiance Minister had
said there should not be any new recruitment in the
civil service.
The nurses appealed to government to uplift the bonding
requirements if they
are not able to absorb them in the public
service.
Abel Charumbira who completed his Nursing Diploma last year
urged the
government to urgently and expeditiously deal with their issue.
“If
government cannot absorb us into the public service they should just
give us
our Diploma’s and we look for employment in the private
sector...rather than
insist on the bonding."
A government source said
over 5 000 nurses are under the government bond and
need to be absorbed as
most of the training institutions have two intakes a
year.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, 29/07/11
After the disruption of public
hearings of the human rights commission and
business in Parliament last week
by Zanu-pf activists, it is now clear that
the only answer to the Zimbabwe
crisis is the Diaspora vote. That is the
potent weapon in the opposition’s
arsenal which can withstand Mugabe’s army,
police, war vets, Green Bombers,
etc.
Before the date of the elections is known, when the voters roll is
still
unfit for purpose and the constitution remains abstract, Zanu-pf is
already
fine-tuning its electoral strategy or what Tangai Chipangura aptly
saw as
‘Zanu-pf’s three pronged electoral grand plan,’ Newsday
25/07/11.
In his brilliant piece, Tangai Chipangura perceived Zanu-pf’s
electoral
strategy to be:
“Shut out everyone else from Mashonaland
Central, East and West; brutalise
Masvingo and Manicaland back into line;
wreak as much havoc and confusion in
the cities and towns and leave only the
Matebeleland lost cause with some
semblance of democracy.”
What could
be described as a “dry run” of Zanu-pf’s electoral strategy is
what happened
in Harare last week with a raid on Parliament and assaults on
MPs and
journalists and a racist attack on an innocent white man by Mugabe’s
supporters in full view of the Zimbabwe Republic Police.
In
accordance with Zanu-pf culture of impunity – no arrests of the culprits,
but that of 13 human rights activists who were protesting at the denial of
bail by the High Court for the Glen View opposition supporters who remain
incarcerated save for one who was released on a hefty $500 bail which is
equivalent to two months salary of a civil servant.
From some of the
silly things done by Zanu-pf, one can draw parallels
between Zanu-pf and
Somalia’s al-Shabab organisation which recently was
refusing to allow
overseas aid agencies into drought-hit areas where
thousands are starving to
death. The group which is compared to the Taliban
has since banned samoosas,
playing or watching football, wearing
tight-fitting clothes and ordered men
to grow beards (Metro, 27/07/11).
All eyes are focused on Parliament
where the foundation for Zimbabwe’s
democracy will hopefully be laid through
the Electoral Amendment Bill which
was gazetted on 27th June 2011. The Bill
was expected to have its First
Reading this week after the procedural 14
days. The Parliamentary Legal
Committee (PLC) has 26 business days during
which it should report on its
constitutionality.
Hopefully, the PLC
will not allow Zanu-pf Minister of Justice Patrick
Chinamasa to fast-track
the Bill. Instead, the MPs should take a deep breath
and appreciate the
risks involved as well as the rare opportunity in their
hands to end
Mugabe‘s dictatorship once and for all via free and fair
elections including
those in the Diaspora.
This is the make or break stage, where MPs should
report one of the Bill’s
major flaws as giving the postal vote to a
politically select few i.e. less
than 300 diplomats and Mugabe’s servicemen
abroad but denying the same right
to an estimated 3 million Zimbabwean
voters in the Diaspora who include
thousands sleeping with one eye open due
to fear of Xenophobic violence and
forced removal to Zimbabwe’s notorious
ATMs (Abductions, Torture and
Murder).
However, some concerns have
been expressed rather convincingly that the
MDC-T might not be enthusiastic
about restoring the Diaspora Vote, in view
of the incident at Southwark
Cathedral in London where party president
Morgan Tsvangirai was booed by
less than a hundred people when he urged them
to return
home.
Hopefully, that is not true, because that would be victimisation.
Neither is
the MDC-T that petty. One of Isaac Newton’s laws is that, to
every action
there is always an equal and opposite reaction. The Diaspora
Vote is very
instrumental in finishing Mugabe’s iron-fist rule for good.
Similarly,
denying the Diaspora the right to vote will have a severe
reaction.
Clifford Chitupa Mashiri, Political Analyst, London,
zimanalysis2009@gmail.com
Friday 29th July 2011
It’s sometimes
hard to remember how long Zimbabwe’s nightmare has been going
on. It wasn’t
until I started research for a new book that the memories came
back. I was
researching 2008; the year in which Mugabe was widely condemned
both for his
delay in announcing the election results and for his brutality
against the
opposition MDC. That was the year when the economy was in
freefall, the
banks ran out of bank notes and people waited in endless
queues for their
own cash, for food and for fuel. By the middle of that year
inflation had
hit 42 million percent. Then Gideon Gono knocked 10 zeroes off
the Zim
dollar so that instead of 100 billion in the bank you had just $10.
From
billionaire, to pauper overnight!
That was the year the ZRP spent 2
million US dollars on tear gas, water
canons for use, not against a foreign
enemy, but against Zimbabwean
citizens. For the poorest of the poor, there
was nothing for it but to
endure but for anyone who could scrape the fare
together, there was only one
direction and that was out. Upwards of three
million people have left the
country.
The most striking feature about
this foray into the past was that the
principal players are still there
today. Mugabe still calls himself
president; Chihuri is still Police
Commissioner and the Service chiefs are
all still in place; still saying
they will never salute the opposition. In
2008 paid war vets and youth
militia roamed the countryside inflicting
horror on innocent villagers,
first to intimidate them into voting for Zanu
PF and after the poll to
punish them for voting against Zanu PF.
Teachers were branded ‘enemies of
the state’ on the grounds that they had
rigged the vote in favour of the
MDC. The education system collapsed as did
health care with patients having
to find their own food and pay upfront for
everything from surgical gloves
to operations. That was all just three years
ago; the year diamonds began to
make the chefs even richer.
What the scenes inside parliament did this
week was to remind us that Mugabe’s
violent followers respect no one - and
certainly not the rule of law. Under
the very noses of the police, mobs of
Zanu PF supporters burst into
parliament and beat up parliamentarians,
journalists and innocent bystanders
while the guardians of law and order
stood by and did nothing.
Contrast that with police behaviour later in
the week when 13 ROHR activists
were arrested for peacefully demonstrating
outside the High Court in Harare.
The 13 are charged with ‘public nuisance’
and nothing better illustrates the
police’s selective use of the law. That
disgraceful incident in parliament
shows us how important it is to learn the
lessons of the past and never to
forget the true nature of Zanu
PF.
Violence is their modus operandi and always has been. Has Robert
Mugabe
condemned the action of his followers? Has he, the ‘Father of the
Nation’
reprimanded these unruly thugs, visibly drunk according to
observers, that
this is no way to behave? It was a public meeting that was
so violently
disrupted; ironically, the subject under discussion was a
Zimbabwe Human
Rights Bill and the question of a Commission of Enquiry into
the 2008
elections and all the violence that took place then.
How
much has really changed since 2008? True, there is a GNU with the MDC
ostensibly sharing political power but in reality Mugabe still controls the
levers of power; the police and army continue to do his bidding; the
state-controlled media tells people only what he wants them to hear and the
courts of law have been compromised by their acceptance of Zanu PF ‘gifts’.
Economists tell us that the introduction of the US$ has led to great
improvements and certainly life is easier on a day-to-day basis for
non-political Zimbabweans. For politically active citizens it’s quite
another matter especially if they belong to the MDC.
Now in 2011 as
Zimbabwe faces another election there is once again evidence
of violence by
Zanu PF against MDC supporters. Tobaiwa Mudede is still
Registrar General
and his ‘perfect’ Electoral Roll has still not been
revised. An estimated
3-4 million people in the diaspora still have no vote
and
this week
Morgan Tsvangirai has threatened to boycott the poll. It’s hard to
see how
that would help the country out of the stalemate in which it has
been for so
long.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH. aka Pauline Henson author of
the Dube
books, detective stories with a political twist.