http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
29
July 2009
By A SPECIAL
CORRESPONDENT
HARARE - Despite his frequent and vociferous claims that
the land reform
programme was designed to give farming land to landless
blacks, President
Robert Mugabe and his immediate family have been exposed
as a multiple farm
owners.
The Mugabe family owns at least 10
large-scale commercial farms. Mugabe has
in the past said that even
polygamous men should respect the 'one family one
farm' policy, which he and
his polygamous inner cabal have flagrantly
violated.
Earlier this
year Mugabe took ministers on a tour of Gushungo Dairy Estates,
formerly
Foyle Farm which he grabbed from accomplished dairy farmer Ian
Webster, to
show off the millions of dollars of state-of-the-art equipment
he had
installed there. But he has kept very quiet about most of his farms,
presumably for fear of being exposed as a multiple farm
owner.
Investigations have revealed that Mugabe also owns Highfield Farm
on the
outskirts of Norton, while two nearby farms were acquired by the
state to
create a security buffer zone.
Iron Mask Farm, next to
Gushungo Dairy Estates, also belongs to the Mugabe
family although it is
believed to be in the name of his wife, Grace.
Iron Mask was owned by the
Matthews family and Grace was reportedly enticed
by their mansion farm house
with Italian tiles. Despite government policy
not to sell equipment found on
farms, Grace auctioned machinery at the farm
during a public
auction.
As accusations of multiple farm ownership against the Mugabe
family
increased, Grace tried to hoodwink the nation that she was building a
home
for street kids at the farm. The project has been quietly
forgotten.
Inquiries within the farming sector have revealed that the
Mugabe family has
also taken over Sigaru Farm, Liverdale Farm, Bassil Farm
and Mazowe Farm in
Mashonaland Central.
Grace is understood to be
currently completing the formal takeover of a farm
in Mashonaland West which
she wants to give to her son from her first
marriage, Russell
Goreraza.
His father, Stanley was posted to China several years ago as a
military
attaché before Mugabe helped himself to Grace.
Mugabe's nephew,
Leo Mugabe, according to divorce papers served on him by
his wife, has three
large-scale commercial farms while younger brother,
Patrick Zhuwawo has two
farms.
Mugabe's sister Sabina was involved in a much-publicised farm grab
in Norton
at the height of the farm invasions. It has not been possible to
establish
yet which other farms have been quietly acquired by the Mugabes -
but one
thing is certain, they have grabbed a large percentage of Zimbabwe's
best
arable land.
"We have not forgotten that in 2008,
Nathaniel Manheru predicted that there
would be blood on the political floor
barely weeks before Zanu (PF) went
into an orgy of violence following the
MDC's historic election victory last
year. Jonathan Moyo's diatribe has
been a forerunner to calamities against
forces of progress," the
spokesperson said.
This is not the first time a bullet has been sent as a
threat. In 2007, the
Deputy Editor of The Standard, Bill Saidi, received a
similar parcel after
publishing a cartoon in which baboons were laughing at
the payslip of a
soldier.
"As a party, we hope that there will be
full investigation on this matter
and we hope that the justice system will
move with speed in getting to the
root of this matter," said the
spokesperson.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
29
July 2009
By Joel
Mhizha
HARARE - State media has been ordered to address President Mugabe
as the
Head of state and government and the commander of the Army at all
times.
A senior journalist from the state-controlled Herald said
they received the
directive in the form of a fax from the Ministry of
Information and
Publicity on Friday 24, 2009. It followed the address by the
President at
the opening of the three day National healing
Program.
"We were forced to change all the scripts which we had written
to match the
directive. No reasons were stated for the change. We are not
free here,
these Zanu (PF) politicians give us a torrid time, especially the
editorial
team," said the journalist.
The directive was also given to
ZBC. Under the Global Political Agreement,
Mugabe is the head of State and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is the
leader of the
government.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
29
July 2009
By Joel Mhizha
GOKWE - Five MDC
members have been brutalized by Zanu (PF) supporters for
wearing party
regalia. According to a report dated July 24, 2009, five MDC
activists have
been assaulted by Zanu (PF) supporters and members of the
Zimbabwe National
Army in July. One of them was seriously injured and is
currently receiving
medical attention.
The report said all the cases were reported to
the police but only one was
acted upon.
The victims are Never Murandu
and Musungwa Ellarita who were attacked by two
soldiers identified as Dube
and Kwashi in Gokwe Kana in early July.
In Mashonaland East's Uzumba, Tafirei
Tofiromutsa, Fabion Chipiso and Ebba
Katiyo were badly assaulted by Zanu
(PF) militia. Apply Katiyo, Albert Mabu
and Sarah Mabulate were attacked
last week.
MDC Director of security, Kisimusi Dhlamini, who unveiled the
report, said
he was worried by the lack of protection by the law.
"We
wonder who is benefiting from these actions. We are surprised to receive
reports of violence on our members especially perpetrated by soldiers and
security agents. It is our prayer that the government, through the organ of
National Healing, Reconciliation and Integration, should seriously start its
long overdue responsibility," said Dhlamini.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Simplicious Chirinda
Thursday 30 July 2009
HARARE - Zimbabwean Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party has asked
Parliament to investigate the
country's Attorney General, Johannes Tomana,
who it accuses of carrying out
"politically motivated prosecutions"
targeting its members and human rights
activists.
In a motion that Parliament began debating Tuesday and will
conclude today,
the MDC urged the House to condemn "the continuous selective
application of
the law" by the AG's office and said an "Independent
Parliamentary Select
Committee" should be appointed to investigate
Tomana.
The former opposition party also urged Parliament to call for
"the immediate
withdrawal, reversal and quashing of all convictions or
pending
prosecutions" it said were politically motivated, a move that would
be a
first by the House.
MDC legislator for Masvingo Urban
constituency Tongai Matutu, who tabled the
motion, accused Tomana of
selectively using the law to secure conviction of
MDC legislators in a bid
to whittle down the party's slim parliamentary
majority.
Matutu told
ZimOnline: "We moved the motion to highlight what we perceive as
selective
application of the law particularly by the Attorney General. They
want to
reduce our members in parliament. This selective application of the
law does
not provide for national healing and integration. We must stop the
prosecutions."
However some legal experts questioned the MDC's call
on Parliament to
pressure the AG drop certain cases saying the Constitution
did not permit
the House to dictate to Tomana who to prosecute.
"I do
not think it is for Parliament to say this person can be prosecuted or
not
but Parliament can insist that laws be applied impartially," said Derek
Matyaszak, a former University of Zimbabwe law lecturer and now a researcher
with the Research and Advocacy Unit.
At least five MDC
parliamentarians are either facing serious court cases or
have been
convicted by the courts and sentenced to more than six months in
jail which
disqualifies them from Parliament under a law that says any
legislator who
is convicted of six months or more loses their seat.
Clerk of Parliament
Austin Zvoma has suspended from the House two of the
convicted MDC
legislators although they have appealed against the
suspensions.
The
Tsvangirai-led MDC would lose its slim majority in the House of Assembly
if
its MPs are eventually sent to jail for six months or more.
The MDC,
which formed a unity government with President Robert Mugabe's ZANU
PF party
and the smaller MDC formation led by Deputy Prime Minister Arthur
Mutambara
last February, has long opposed Tomana's appointment as AG.
Tsvangirai's
party accuses Tomana - a self-declared ZANU PF supporter - of
using his
position to advance the interests of Mugabe's party.
The MDC wants
Tomana's appointment rescinded because Mugabe did not consult
Tsvangirai and
Mutambara before making the appointment as is required under
a power-sharing
agreement that led to formation of the unity government. -
ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Charles Tembo Thursday
30 July 2009
HARRE - Police were by end of day Wednesday
still detaining a top official
of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC
party who they accuse of theft.
The police have held MDC youth chairman
and deputy youth minister in
Zimbabwe's unity government Thamsanqa Mahlangu
at their Rhodesville station
since arrest on Tuesday for allegedly stealing
a cellphone from Joseph
Chinotimba, a staunch supporter of President Robert
Mugabe who led the
veteran leader's controversial farm seizure
programme.
"He is currently at Rhodesville police station. He is going to
be detained
there again tonight. So we may go to court tomorrow (Thursday),"
said
Mahlangu's lawyer Charles Kwaramba.
"It is a very complex story
but he has an innocent explanation. He is
shocked that this is going this
far," said Kwaramba.
The police allege Mahlangu stole Chinotimba's phone
at a government workshop
last Friday that was addressed by Mugabe,
Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime
Minister Arthur Mutambara.
Mahlangu, who
is also Member of Parliament (MP), joins five other MDC
legislators who have
either being convicted or are facing various charges in
what the party
claims is an attempt to use the law to reduce its slim
majority in
Parliament
Legislators convicted of six months or more are disqualified
from
Parliament.
Meanwhile High Court Judge Charles Hungwe has
reserved judgment in a matter
in which MDC legislator for Chipinge East
constituency, Matthias Mlambo, is
seeking an order setting aside his
conviction and a seven-month jail
sentence for defeating the course of
justice.
Mlambo's lawyer also asked the court to order parliamentary
clerk Austin
Zvoma and Speaker Lovemore Moyo to allow Mlambo to attend
Parliament pending
outcome of his appeal against conviction and sentence. -
ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Clifford Nyathi
Thursday 30 July 2009
BULAWAYO - Three Members of Parliament
(MPs) expelled from Zimbabwean Deputy
Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara's MDC
formation for indiscipline on Tuesday
challenged their expulsion in the High
Court in Bulawayo.
The three - Abednico Bhebhe (Nkayi South); Njabuliso
Mguni (Lupane East) and
Norman Mpofu (Bulilima East) - as well as Alex
Goosen, an ostrich farmer
from Matabeleland North who is a member of the
party's national executive
council, were expelled two weeks
ago.
Their expulsion from the party means that they cannot continue to
execute
their duties as MPs in their constituencies or attend parliamentary
sessions, effectively reducing the number of the MDC-M lawmakers to seven
MPs.
The High Court has not set the date for the hearing of their
application.
They were accused of addressing meetings in their
constituencies attacking
the party leadership and allegedly urging party
members to join the rival
MDC-T formation led by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai.
A disciplinary hearing was conducted on July 4 but they
stormed out of the
proceedings, accusing the hearing officers of failing to
lay specific
charges against them.
In their application filed by
their lawyer Thamsanqa Khumalo, they argued
that the decision to expel them
was irregular and unfair and was reached as
a result of bias by party
national disciplinary committee chairman Lyson
Mlambo, who is cited as the
first respondent in the matter.
The MDC-M is the second
respondent.
"Proceeding with the hearing without the involvement of the
applicants by
respondents deprived applicants their right to be heard and is
thus a breach
of fundamental principle of administrative law," they
argued.
They also applied for an order setting aside the proceedings of
the
disciplinary hearing and requesting the reconvening of the disciplinary
hearing.
The application came on the heels of another application for
review of the
hearing proceedings they filed on July 14 to which Mlambo and
MDC-M filed
their opposing papers last Friday.
Relations between
Bhebhe and members of his executive have been strained
over the past year,
as the Nkayi lawmaker openly clashed with members of the
executive
council.
Earlier this year, Bhebhe was nominated by Prime Minister
Tsvangirai for a
ministerial post but his name was withdrawn at the last
minute after
complaints by Mutambara. - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=20394
July 30, 2009
By Muza Ray
Matikinye
BULAWAYO - Former fiery politician, Enos Nzombi Nkala, has
revealed that his
successor as Defence Minister, Moven Mahachi was
eliminated for his robust
opposition to Zanu-PF leadership's unbridled
looting of diamonds in the
Democratic Republic of Congo.In an exclusive
interview with the Zimbabwe
Times, Nkala, formerly the Minister of Finance,
National Supplies, Home
Affairs and of Defence expanded on allegations he
made last week that
Mahachi, was assassinated, apparently at the behest of
President Robert
Mugabe.
Nkala was sparing on the actual details of
the alleged assassination other
than to say Mahachi opposed the illicit
trade in diamonds which enriched the
army top brass and senior government
officials, allegedly including
President Mugabe. During the war in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) a
United Nations panel named current
Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa and
then commander of the Zimbabwe
National Army, Vitalis Zvinavashe, now late,
as being among individuals who
plundered the natural resources, especially
diamonds, of the war-torn
central African country.
"Moven was an outsider in an exclusive club -
the Committee of 26 -
comprising politicians of Zezurus and Korekore origin.
This committee of
looters have controlled the army, the police, the CIO and
appear to think
that they went to war for self enrichment," Nkala
said.
The late Mahachi was Manyika.
"To them," Nkala said,
"Mahachi was an obstacle in their quest to amass
wealth using the pretext of
fighting a prolonged war to restore sovereignty
in the DRC just as they had
done in Mozambique during the military campaign
against Renamo. So he had to
go."
Mahachi, (49) at the time of his death in a car crash on May 26,
2001, was
one of Mugabe's loyal confidantes.
The all-terrain vehicle
Mahachi was traveling in, a Range Rover, was
officially reported to have
collided with a smaller car as he travelled from
Mutare to Nyanga after he
attended a Zanu-PF Manicaland provincial meeting
in his capacity as National
Political Commissar.
Nkala questioned why it was only in Zimbabwe that a
large number of
high-profile people had died in "mysterious" car crashes
since independence
in 1980 and not in any other neighbouring countries in
the region such as
Zambia, Botswana, Mozambique , Namibia and South
Africa.
But Nkala was expected to provide answers, as promised, not to
ask
questions.
"This phenomenon can be traced to Hebert Chitepo, Josiah
Magama Tongogara,
Chris Ushehokunze, and others like Sydney Malunga, Border
Gezi and lately
Elliot Manyika," said Nkala.
"The irony of it all is
that Mugabe declares his victims national heroes. He
is an opportunist who
has used "amafikezolos" (Johnny-come-latelies) to do
his dirty work if he
feels surrounded by strong personalities whom he fears
might eclipse
him.
"Maurice Nyagumbo was haunted by top people in Zanu-PF and the CIO
who were
just as culpable in the Willowgate Scandal into committing suicide
because
of his strong personality in criticizing Mugabe and his murderous
henchmen's
actions. "Nyagumbo was a Manyika and did not fit in the
Zezuru-Korekore
clique."
Nyagumbo committed suicide at the height of
the Willowgate Scandal after he,
Nkala and four other ministers were found
guilty of perjury after they lied
under oath before the Wilson Sandura
Commission of Inquiry.
Tongogara died in a car crash in Mozambique on
Christmas Eve in 1979 soon
after the Lancaster House Conference. He was
travelling north from Maputo to
visit the Zanla guerilla camps and explain
the outcome of the just ended
conference and the beginning of preparations
for the journey back to
Zimbabwe and independence.
"I know who killed
Tongogara," Nkala said but refused to disclose any names.
"If he had come
back, the whole army of liberation forces who
hero-worshipped him would have
agitated for "Tongo" to become the country's
leader and Mugabe knew that
pretty well.
"Tongogara was eliminated because of his close liaison with
Dumiso Dabengwa,
the former ZIPRA military intelligence supremo."
In
an interview bristling with innuendo, Nkala was by implication Nkala
suggesting that President Robert Mugabe was behind the death of Tongogara.
This theory is not new, however. It has been the subject of speculation over
the past 30 years but has so far remained confined to the realm of
speculation.
Nkala said he had not spoken before about Mahachi's
death and other issues
which he says are revealed in detail in his
forthcoming book. He says the
book "chronicles goings-on in ZANU since its
formation and the chicanery
that led to the crafting of the Gukurahundi
massacres in Matabeleland and
the Midlands in the early 1980s".
The
four-year military campaign by a Korean-trained elite unit - Five
Brigade
-resulted in the death of victims variously estimated at up to 20
000
innocent civilians.
The government declared a state-of-emergency and
placed the affected areas
under curfew. The massacres were then carried out
under an effective veil of
secrecy as the affected areas became inaccessible
to the media.
"Gukurahundi had its seeds sown during our long years of
detention in
various detention camps," Nkala said.
"It was not a
spontaneous reaction to lies about ZAPU wanting to overthrow
the government
or Mugabe wanting to establish a one-party state as widely
believed."
"It was premeditated ethnic cleansing, which had been
simmering since our
early years in detention. The arms caches on ZAPU
properties were a perfect
excuse to unleash the notorious Five Brigade on
the Ndebeles to avenge what
their ancestors had done to the Shona
people."
Nkala, a Ndebele politician who was rejected by his own people
during the
1980 general election in favour of ZAPU and his bitter rival Dr
Joshua
Nkomo, is openly accused of being a leading instigator of the
Gukurahundi
atrocities against his own Ndebele people in retaliation for
their rejection
of him at the polls and in a bid to ingratiate himself with
Mugabe and the
Zanu-PF leadership.
He said he was often accused of
being part and parcel of the massacres but
explained that during that period
he was Minister of Finance before being
assigned to the newly created
National Supplies ministry.
But what ever ministerial portfolio Nkala
held he regularly held weekend
rallies in both Bulawayo and rural
Matabeleland where Nkomo was denigrated
while his supporters were forced to
make a bonfire of their ZAPU membership
cards before being issued with new
Zanu-PF cards. While carrying Zanu-PF
cards they still voted overwhelmingly
for PF-Zapu in 1985.
As Minister of Home Affairs Nkala established the
dreaded Police Internal
Security and Intelligence unit (PISI), a counterpart
of the Central
Intelligence Organisation, but operating within the
police.
PISI terrorised and incarcerated scores of ZAPU
supporters.
"I became Minister of Home Affairs after the 1985 elections
and was
succeeded by the late Herbert Ushewokunze when I became Defence
Minister in
1988 after the Gukurahundi massacres," Nkala said.
He
said all this was explained in his book.
He insisted in the interview
conducted in his Bulawayo home on Wednesday
that the book will be published
only after his death.
He said he needed to "protect people named in it
from possible victimization
or elimination".
Nkala said the
manuscript was "salted" abroad for safety.
"The book opens a can of
worms," he said. "Before its publication, I
challenge people like Emmerson
Mnangagwa, Sydney Sekeramayi who have headed
the Security and Defence
ministries, Robert Mugabe and me to a Truth and
Reconciliation Commission
about the atrocities that have been committed by
this government. The
commission will not be presided over by a local judge
because the judges
have been compromised."
He said in the event of his death before he had
completed the book he has
instructed his publishers to release the
book.
Nkala denied ever suggesting that Chief Fortune Charumbira should
arrange a
meeting between him and Mugabe.
"I don't know where that
came from," he said. "I don't even know Chief
Charumbira other than reading
about him in the papers."
He reportedly told a press conference after a
seminar to formulate Zimbabwe's
Vision 2040: "If you want to know more about
Robert Mugabe, seek for a day
when you call Mugabe, (former Zanu PF
secretary general, Edgar) Tekere and
myself with some respectful people
sitting there. He will chicken out. Why,
because he knows we will dress him
down and tell him who he is. I am not
back-biting."
Nkala was
referring to President Mugabe.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
28
July 2009
By Own
correspondent
CAPE TOWN - Little more than a year ago, Memory Shiriinorira
was a healthy
young mother of two. Life was hard, but she had hope, despite
the depressing
environment of the Epworth slum, just 12km beyond the Harare
city centre.
Hope came through the promise of change in Zimbabwe, change
promised by the
aptly named MDC.
She made plain her
preference for the MDC in the elections of June last
year, a choice that was
to prove a probable death sentence. Militants of the
ruling Zanu (PF)
rampaged through areas like Epworth, seeking out the
"disobedient"
individuals who supported, or who were suspected to support,
the MDC. Memory
was an obvious target.
She was not alone. The Zimbabwe Rape Survivors
Association (ZRSA) estimated
that more than 2 000 women and girls were the
victims of
"politically-motivated rape" between May and June of last year.
Some never
survived. Many, like Memory, are now HIV-positive and, again,
like Memory,
have to continue to live in fear in the same communities,
facing their
attackers on a daily basis.
Speaking out on film
She
lives in constant pain and, because of an insufficient diet, realises
she is
dying. So she feels she has nothing to lose, but worries about her
children,
daughters aged eight and 12. This is the reason she chose to speak
out on a
brief film made by the Harare-based Research and Advocacy Unit
(RAU) that
was brought to South Africa last week with the help of the
International
Centre for Transitional Justice.
She also feels that by making her story
as widely public as possible, she
may gain some protection. RAU also hopes
that sufficient attention and
pressure will be focussed on Zimbabwe to
perhaps lessen the incidence of
such violence that tends to peak at election
time.
The 16-minute film, Hear Us, features four women survivors, two of
whom
remain anonymous for fear of retribution and who were severely
assaulted -
also in June last year - by Zanu (PF) youths who called
themselves the
Taliban. However, as RAU programme manager Kudakwashe
Chitsike readily
admits, most of the women and young girls who suffered this
politically-motivated violence are too afraid to speak out, only too aware
that there is little or no protection should their attackers decide to
extract vengeance.
The Tree of Life
Unlike Memory, a large number
of them were not politically active. But, in
some cases, their husbands,
brothers or other relatives supported the
opposition - or were suspected of
"being MDC". Among them are women who were
not raped, but who were stripped,
sexually abused, humiliated, beaten,
kicked, trampled on and
tortured.
Increasing numbers of them are now coming together in small
"healing" groups
to talk through their trauma and gain support by realising
that they are not
alone. The groups, still mainly in the Harare area, were
established by a
non-governmental organisation, The Tree of Life.
One
of the organisers is Abigail Kadaira. A young woman, she was pregnant in
June last year, when she and others were kicked and trampled on by uniformed
police after attending a meeting of the opposition National Constitutional
Assembly. She suffered a miscarriage and is now unable to bear
children.
Diminutive and softly spoken, she came to South Africa to help
launch the
film, available on DVD, at a meeting in Cape Town's Centre for
the Book. She
and Kudakwashe Chitsike returned to Zimbabwe on
Saturday.
"Making the world aware of what has happened - and is still
happening -
seems one way to perhaps halt this violence," Chitsike noted
after the Cape
Town screening. The film is also being distributed and
screened in Zimbabwe
to heighten awareness of what has happened and to
provide support to
survivors.
Chitsike remains optimistic, but
admitted, when pressed, that it seemed an
uphill battle in South Africa
where xenophobia, often specifically targeting
Zimbabweans, seemed on the
increase. "But we have to keep trying," she said.
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Lizwe Sebata Thursday 30
July 2009
BULAWAYO - Zimbabwe's political parties are divided
over who should lead a
national healing process with President Robert
Mugabe's ZANU PF party
opposing plans by the former opposition Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC)
party to let the church and civic society steer the
sensitive process, it
has been learnt.
ZANU PF, which has been in
power since the country's independence from
Britain in 1980, is said to
favour a national healing process led by
politicians and political parties
in the hope of striking concessions
against prosecution for past human
rights crimes.
"We have a ministry bringing together the three political
parties - MDC-M
(led by Deputy Premier Arthur Mutambara), MDC-T (led by
Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai) and ZANU PF - that was tasked to undertake
and facilitate
a national healing process hence there would be no need for a
parallel
process," John Nkomo, ZANU PF chairman and one of the three
ministers in
charge of national healing and reconciliation told ZimOnline on
Wednesday.
But the MDC-M said it was pushing for the Church and civil
society to play a
leading role while government merely facilitates the
process.
"Politicians should not be leading the healing process. The
government
should facilitate and not control the process," said Minister of
State in
Prime Minister Tsvangirai's office, Gorden Moyo, on
Tuesday.
"The government should play a midwifery role; a midwifery role
is to enable
the child to be born but is not the one giving birth, it is an
issue we are
debating in government," he added.
Civic groups and
churches have said the Church should lead the national
healing and
reconciliation process because both ZANU PF and the MDC "lack
the morality
to conduct it as they are the originators of this conflict".
They are
adamant that the process would only succeed when there is
prosecution of all
perpetrators of human rights abuses.
Zimbabwe last weekend had a three
day programme of national healing after
Mugabe declared July 24, 25 and 26
official days for Zimbabweans to renounce
all forms of violence and dedicate
themselves to working together to ensure
security of all persons and
property and refrain from inciting political
intolerance and ethnic
hatred.
Both Mugabe and Tsvangirai - who formed a unity government in
February to
end months of political unrest following disputed elections last
year -
renounced political violence at the official opening of the national
healing
programme.
Tsvangirai said the event marked the start of
efforts to find justice for
victims of political violence.
However,
the country's civic groups united under the cluster on National
Healing
within the Civil Society Monitoring Mechanism (CISCOMM), snubbed an
invitation by the government to participate in the three-day programme,
saying government only wanted them to legitimise a flawed
process.
"We see the government's belated effort to involve civil society
. . . as a
lame attempt at legitimacy and a ploy by government or sections
of it, to
gloss over the serious and ongoing violations," the groups said in
a
statement last week.
CISCOMM added that the national healing
initiative was "dangerously flawed"
and "not victim-centered" but left the
door open for a "genuine partnership"
with the government only when
government agrees that there would be no
"amnesty for genocide, crimes
against humanity, torture, rape and other
sexual crimes".
Political
violence flared in the southern African country last year as
Mugabe fought
to reclaim power in a run-off vote after being defeated by
Tsvangirai
although the veteran trade unionist fell short of the margin
required to
take over power and avoid a run-off.
Tsvangirai eventually pulled out of
the run-off citing violence that the MDC
says left more than 100 of its
members dead and at least another 200 000
displaced, leaving Mugabe to claim
victory uncontested.
Western governments and a host of African nations
rejected Mugabe's victory
while the African Union and the regional Southern
African Development
Community piled pressure on the Zimbabwean leader to
form a power-sharing
government with the opposition. - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
28
July 2009
By Staff
reporter
BULAWAYO - Fuel queues that characterized most service stations
before the
announcement of the mid-term fiscal policy review a fortnight ago
have
disappeared.The city, like most parts of the country, ran out of
diesel, a
development that briefly saw the re-emergence of parallel market
activities
Suppliers of fuel had attributed the shortage to unspecified
supply
challenges.
A snap survey by The Zimbabwean revealed that the
price of diesel had
slightly dropped and was readily available.
In
his mid-term fiscal policy statement a fortnight ago, Finance Minister,
Tendai Biti reviewed excise duty on diesel from US$0, 20 to US$0,16 per
litre with effect from July 17.
Economic commentator, Erich Bloch,
said the reduction in the excise duty was
too small and would have little
effect on the overall pricing structure of
goods and service in the
economy.
He said some of the service stations had not yet reduced their
prices since
they were selling old stock and the new price structure would
only be
applicable to new stock.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
28
July 2009
By The
Zimbabwean
HARARE - Zimbabwe's clinical research programme has received a
massive boost
following the unveiling of an exchange programme with America.
The programme
will see University of Zimbabwe (UZ) postgraduate students
receiving further
research training in HIV and AIDS clinical trials at the
University of
Buffalo in the United States.
The move is expected to
improve Zimbabwe's ability to deal with HIV and
AIDS.
Speaking on the
sidelines of the exchange programme launch, UZ Vice
Chancellor, Levy
Nyagura, said the programme would see 15 postgraduates from
the UZ
benefiting over the next five years.
"The students will in turn offer
clinical pharmacology expertise to
multidisciplinary teams to achieve the
HIV and AIDS research goals for
Zimbabwe," said Nyagura. Buffalo University
Associate Dean, Gene Morse, said
his institution chose to partner with the
UZ following what he termed
"reputable expertise associated with the
college's medical clinic".
"University of Zimbabwe has a history of
credibility. It has also become a
universal phenomenon that the world
concentrates on research to do with
dealing with the pandemic," said
Morse.
http://www.businessday.co.za/
DUMISANI MULEYA Published: 2009/07/30 06:44:04 AM
THE gloves are off
in Zimbabwe's hotly contested constitutional reform
process, with major
political players engaged in heated exchanges over the
way
forward.
At stake is how to proceed with the process, which
is expected to lead to a
new constitution and free and fair elections by
2011.
The battle for the control of the process escalated
this week after the
leader of the National Constitutional Assembly , the
largest civic group
involved in the exercise, Lovemore Madhuku, accused
Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai of selling out the "struggle" by joining
forces with President
Robert Mugabe's repressive Zanu (PF) to block "a
people-driven
constitution-making agenda".
Tsvangirai and Mugabe
are now working together in the shaky inclusive
government, which came to
office in February. The new government is
struggling to pull Zimbabwe out of
the economic doldrums .
Madhuku told a National
Constitutional Assembly convention in Chitungwiza,
outside Harare, which
drew about 4000 people, that Tsvangirai had abandoned
the struggle and was
now enjoying the trappings of power.
He said Tsvangirai was
collaborating with Mugabe to deny people the right to
write their own
constitution beyond the reach of political
manipulation.
"Tsvangirai is now getting carried away. He is
now trying to create problems
for us. As NCA our problem is now Tsvangirai
and the MDC (Movement for
Democratic Change)," Madhuku said. "We used to
work together, we were also
arrested and beaten up together and we fought
together, but now he is
speaking a different language.
"He is now
saying Mugabe is a good guy, yet he forgets the MDC was created
to remove
Mugabe from power," Madhuku said.
There was no comment from
Tsvangirai's spokesman.
The NCA is opposed to the current
constitution-making process, which is
being driven by Zanu (PF) and the two
MDC factions via a select
parliamentary committee.
The
group wants what it describes as "an open, inclusive, participatory and
democratic process".
Zanu (PF) and the main MDC wing are
also fighting among themselves for
control of the process.
Mugabe
and his party want the Kariba draft constitution, produced under the
guidance of former South African president Thabo Mbeki , to be the basis for
the constitution-making process, while Tsvangirai and the MDC are rejecting
the document .
Negotiators from the three parties in
government have now come out saying
the Kariba draft will be the reference
point during the constitution-making
process.
"We want to
place it on record that the agreement of the parties was that
the Kariba
draft which was negotiated, agreed to and initiated by all three
parties to
the GPA (global political agreement) would be used by the parties
through
the Parliamentary Select Committee to consult people on the new
content of a
new constitution of Zimbabwe."
The select committee
would use the Kariba draft to gauge "which provisions
were acceptable or not
to the people, who would be accorded unrestricted
rights" to accept or
reject any provision and to put forward alternative
provisions.
The Ministry of Information, Communication
Technology has launched a
website.
"We need to use this way of
communicating to tell the world about the Global
Political Agreement GPA
which is a peaceful way of solving problems," said
Mr Nelson Chamisa,
Information, Communication Technology Minister.
http://www.ict.org.zw/ictdatacenter/index.php
http://www.itnewsafrica.com/?p=2977
July 30, 2009
A
HUMBLE but extremely reliable phone has landed Zimbabwe's Deputy Minister
of
Youth Thamsanqa Mahlangu in hot soup.
The Nokia 2310 is described as
"trendy and fun", "sleek and fashionable" and
"in tune with style" on the
Nokia website. But its users appear to barely
recognise that branding - many
of them seemingly attracted by its
reliability than anything.
It is
certainly a phone fit for Joseph Chinotimba, who is trying a hand at
farming
after terrorising the country's white farming community since 2000
when he
emerged as the self-styled "commander of the farm invasions".
The phone
which can be considered basic in today's technology rush, has an
alarm clock
which is handy for a farmer. When fully charged, its battery
will give
Chinotimba 4-5 hours of talk time.
It is available in five colours, including
pink, which can be particularly
useful for a farmer should it get lost in
the hay and he has to search for
it. That's not all, says a reviewer from
Pakistan writing online: "It is a
very ROMANTIC mobile set. That's
it."
The 2310 weighs just 85 grams, comes with an integrated hands-free
speaker
and supports SMS, picture messaging, animated screensavers and has
three
pre-installed games - just the sort of entertainment a farmer needs
when
taking some rest from the baking African sun.
For games,
Chinotimba can choose between Nature Park, Snake Xenia, and
Bounce. Computer
geeks have discovered with Bounce, you could activates
"cheat mode" and make
the ball indestructible and go to next level without
completing the current
one. Great!
The 2310 can store up to 200 numbers - enough for the leader
of the Zimbabwe
National Liberation War Veterans Association to keep numbers
of his comrades
countrywide. The phone will allow him 60 stored text
messages before sending
out a warning that its memory is full.
But
perhaps the biggest attraction for the 2310 is its price. Although in
Zimbabwe it retails for between US$80-$100, it can be bought for as cheap as
£5 in most of Europe.
A user from the UK wrote on a product review
website: "This phone does
exactly as it says on the tin. Phone calls,
messages. It's designed to be
simple and no-frills . I can't fault
it."
By Daniel Misi, NewZimbabwe