The ZIMBABWE Situation
An extensive and up-to-date website containing news, views and links related to ZIMBABWE - a country in crisis
Please note: You need to have 'Active content' enabled in your IE browser in order to see the index of articles on this webpage
MDC-T
calls for yes vote as debate rages over new charter
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tererai
Karimakwenda
30 July, 2011
The draft of Zimbabwe’s new constitution
has fuelled passionate debate in
political circles and among ordinary
Zimbabweans, particularly because it is
unclear on several key issues that
the negotiators failed to resolve.
The MDC-T National Executive, which
met Saturday for extensive discussions,
endorsed the new charter, saying
they were “satisfied that the draft
essentially captures the views of the
people of Zimbabwe and represents an
incremental gain in the democratisation
process”.
In a statement the MDC-T said the draft would now be forwarded
to their
National Council, which meets this Friday, to come up with a final
party
position. The party is calling on Zimbabweans to vote Yes to the new
charter
in the coming referendum.
The statement said the national
executive had noted that some of the
positive aspects of the draft included,
“the resolution of the question of
citizenship by firstly, guaranteeing
citizenship to Zimbabweans who were
previously denied citizenship and
secondly allowing dual citizenship to
Zimbabweans by birth”.
But
conflicting views have emerged on the issue of dual citizenship because
the
draft does not clearly state that this right is guaranteed for any
Zimbabwean. The draft simply leaves it up to “an act of parliament” to
decide either way.
Madock Chivasa, spokesperson for the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA),
dismissed the MDC-T statement, saying the
draft does not represent the views
of the majority of Zimbabweans. Chivasa
told SW Radio Africa that the
outreach process gathered many views that were
ignored.
“Many issues are clearly ZANU PF positions. Zimbabweans did not
want two
vice-presidents or a parliament that is too big. Zimbabweans also
wanted the
right to a diaspora vote. We said earlier as NCA that the process
would not
produce anything representing the views of Zimbabweans,” Chivasa
said.
Regarding dual citizenship, Chivasa said: “This document does not
allow dual
citizenship. It leaves to an act of parliament. If they wanted it
why not
just clearly say Zimbabweans are allowed so and so. It’s clear they
don’t
want it.”
Chivasa said he found it actually “shocking” that the
MDC formations went
along with many of the issues that they used to
criticize ZANU PF for. “When
you look at all the issues they parked, they
are the same issues ZANU PF was
refusing to change,” Chivasa
added.
He agreed with the view of some observers who have said the MDC-T
chose to
compromise on key issues, hoping to win the elections then change
the
Constitution. The NCA official said this was tantamount to digging their
own
grave.
Meanwhile the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance is reported to
have accused the
drafters of the constitution of secretly deleting a section
dealing with the
controversial Gukurahundi massacres, from the draft’s
preamble.
Useni Sibanda, executive director of the Christian Alliance and
one of the
people who wrote the national report covering people’s views,
says the
section acknowledging Gukurahundi read: “…. also remembering
post-independence conflicts that occurred and we don’t want them to occur
again’.
Sibanda explained that a nation can never heal by trying to
forget or bury
the past. This is why the National Organ on Healing and
Reconciliation was
established, specifically to help heal the wounds of
hatred that the
Gukurahundi massacres inflicted on the nation.
Zanu
PF divisions over draft constitution
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
30/07/2012 00:00:00
by Gilbert
Nyambabvu
ZANU PF politburo member Jonathan Moyo has insisted
the organ is yet to
come up with a position on the draft constitution,
apparently
contradicting claims by another senior official that the party
was largely
happy with the charter.
The politburo, Zanu PF’s supreme
decision-making organ outside congress, is
set to meet again Wednesday to
continue examining the draft, spokesperson
Rugare Gumbo
confirmed.
“We have made our recommendations as the politburo and we will
have the
party’s final position on Wednesday. After that, our members in the
management committee will take the document to their colleagues in the MDC
formations. If they agree, the document will then be taken to the
principals,” he said.
Party negotiator and Justice Minister Patrick
Chinamasa said Sunday that the
politburo had endorsed about 97 percent of
the draft, adding the party would
engage its coalition partners over
possible amendments to the document.
“It was a no-holds-barred debate and
very robust. It was very constructive.
We went through almost line by line
(of the draft),” Chinamasa said.
“Most of the debate drew us negotiators
where there were deviations. We
were asked to renegotiate and realign the
document with the public views. On
the whole, 97 percent of the document has
been endorsed by the Politburo.”
He said Zanu PF would propose amendments
to provisions relating to the
appointment of provincial governors; the
establishment of the constitutional
court; the deployment of defence forces
outside the country and the proposed
restructuring of the Attorney General’s
Office.
Moyo told New Zimbabwe.com on Monday: “While I have seen the
media remarks
attributed to Cde Chinamasa, I am unable to confirm them one
way or the
other because I do not know anything about their source or
purpose.
“What I know is what the party spokesperson Cde Rugare Gumbo has
said to the
media to the effect that the party's politburo is still seized
with its
examination of COPAC’s final draft constitution and the official
position
of the party will only be known when that process has been
properly
concluded.”
Moyo, one of the main critics of the draft, also
appeared to query
Chinamasa’s claim that Zanu PF agreed with most of the
provisions of the
document.
He said: “As to the claim that the party
allegedly endorsed 97 percent and
queried three percent, I leave that to
mathematicians because I do not see
the relevance of those percentages
because constitution-making is not a
game of numbers but is a matter of
fundamental principles such that
getting one principle right or wrong can
in fact define or redefine a
whole constitution.
“In any
event, what percent of the body is a heart or a brain? Is it three
percent
or what? And is a body without a brain or a heart really worth
talking about
as a body?
“My advice to you is wait until you hear from the Politburo itself
[on
Wednesday].”
Chinamasa’s position was however, backed by Gumbo
who told The Herald:
“About 97 percent of the draft is okay, but we want to
make sure that we
iron out some loose ends on it. These are key issues, but
generally the
party is supportive of the draft constitution.”
The MDC
and MDC-T – who share power with Zanu PF in the coalition
government – have
also endorsed the draft which is expected to be put to a
referendum leading
to new elections.
Other political parties outside the coalition
government have yet to give
their verdicts although the National
Constitutional Assembly (NCA), a
civic organisation which has been
campaigning for a new constitution – has
already dismissed the document as
defective.
“We are going to vote for a NO. We believe it is wrong to have
a
constitution from politicians,” the organisation’s leader and
constitutional
lawyer Lovemore Madhuku said.
Gukurahundi
crime secretly removed from draft Constitution
http://www.zimdiaspora.com
Monday, 30 July 2012 07:55
Editor News
The Zimbabwe Christian Alliance has accused drafters of the
proposed new
constitution of tampering with the draft’s preamble and
secretly deleting a
section acknowledging the 1980s Gukurahundi massacres as
part of the country’s
historical legacy.
Useni Sibanda, executive
director of the Zimbabwe Christian Alliance, told
guests at a women’s
peace-building conference in Bulawayo on Saturday,
Gukurahundi had initially
been incorporated into the preamble of the draft
constitution released two
weeks ago.
“During the outreach programmes which were carried out, people
had mentioned
Gukurahundi as part of their legacy and as part of our history
so we were
meant to acknowledge that issue of Gukurahundi,” he
said.
“I was one of the people who wrote the national report and we
wrote:‘ . . .
also remembering post-independence conflicts that occurred and
we don’t want
them to occur again’. This part was removed from the preamble.
But you see,
you can never heal a country or nation by trying to forget the
past, by
trying to bury the past.”
Sibanda said it was important to
acknowledge in the constitution what
happened during Gukurahundi from 1983
to 1987 when a North-Koreaan-trained
army crack unit, the Fifth Brigade, was
unleashed on Matabeleland and
Midlands ostensibly to deal with armed
dissidents, but ended up killing an
estimated 20 000 innocent
civilians.
Sibanda said the preamble of the constitution should clearly
state that no
one should be killed because of their ethnicity.
“We
recognise there is a period we killed each other because of tribes so we
must write about it, the period of Gukurahundi. We should make a commitment
in our constitution that never again in our generation will we have people
killed because of ethnicity.” - Newsday
Firebrand
NCA Chair Threatens A No Vote
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, July 30, 2012- National
Constitutional Assembly chairperson
Professor Lovemore Madhuku says country
is going to have a heavily contested
referendum with his organisation
currently compiling a ‘long’ list of
defects in the draft constitution it
will soon present to the public.
Madhuku at the formation of the
inclusive government three years ago when
the writing of a new constitution
was initiated, announced that he was going
to oppose the whole
process.
He went on to launch an Anti-COPAC led constitution campaign
code named Take
Charge in which he is encouraging Zimbabweans to oppose the
new constitution
on the premise of the country’s constitution being written
by politicians.
As a result of the formation of the parliament led
constitution making body
COPAC ,the National Constitutional Assembly ran out
of funds, with donors
directing funding to government.
“Donors took
all the money from us saying we were supporting Zanu (PF). The
time is
coming and we will stand firm and tell Zimbabweans to resist a
flawed
constitution.
“ There is no basis of supporting this document which is
being decided by
politicians. We hear that the three principals have a final
say to the draft
constitution, and yes that is what is going to happen, and
do we want that
to happen? Politicians deciding for us?”, Professor Madhuku
told delegates
gathered for a two day SADC Media, Civil Society and
Political party players’
round table in Harare, Monday.
“We will be
publishing a long, long, long list of the defects of the
constitution and
make people see.
There will be a contested referendum. We are individuals
and not political
parties and we will make people vote No and that I think
is the only way
forward for our country. Our No campaign should not be
viewed as a Zanu (PF)
thing as ours is of substance, ” Madhuku
added.
The draft constitution was last week handed over to Principals of
the Global
Political Agreement, and parliament.
One of the GPA
partners the mainstream MDC-T has already endorsed it with
Zanu (PF)
contemplating on rejecting the draft constitution.
The document is
expected to go to a second all stakeholders conference where
amendments are
going to be effected if any arises before a referendum is
held.
ZANU
PF rocked by mutiny on ‘running mates’ clause
http://www.swradioafrica.com
ZANU PF plunged
further into political turmoil last Friday as a faction led
by Defence
Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa bluntly told the politburo they will
not accept
another attempt by the party to block him from succeeding Robert
Mugabe.
In a marathon ‘no holds barred’ meeting, Mnangagwa’s camp
accused the party
of enacting laws to prevent the ZANU PF strongman from
taking over the party
leadership.
In 2009, just as it seemed
Mnangagwa had garnered enough support to win the
Vice-Presidency of the
party, a ZANU PF congress resolution stated that one
of the party’s two
deputy presidents had to be a woman. This cleared the way
for Joice Mujuru
to be elected to that post.
Two months ago the politburo disbanded the
District Coordinating Committees,
after Mnangagwa’s camp had captured the
majority of the countrywide
structures. The politburo said he had used his
wealth to buy votes but
Mnangagwa’s faction saw this as a plot to block him
from using the
structures to have a run at the Presidency.
During
Friday’s politburo meeting Mnangagwa’s faction said they were adamant
that
the clause in the draft constitution that empowers the party leader to
choose his running mates will have to be amended, or deleted altogether
during the second all stakeholders’ conference.
The Midlands province,
which is the Defence Minister’s stronghold, is
strongly against this clause
and refers to it as the ‘Mnangagwa clause’
saying it eliminates him from
succeeding Mugabe.
While ZANU PF has tried to brush off the revolt
against Mugabe as ‘a storm
in a teacup’ analysts told us the situation was
very serious, as evidenced
by the party’s plan to hold three consecutive
politburo meetings in 7 days.
‘They met last week Wednesday at which they
failed to reach consensus. They
met again on Friday for 12 hours and failed
to reach an agreement and they
resolved to meet again this Wednesday where
they hope to finalise discussion
on the draft constitution and running mates
clause. This tells us it hasn’t
been easy, it’s been quite a challenge for
Mugabe and his ZANU PF party,’
the source added.
Full-scale
civil servants strike set for Zimbabwe
http://www.zimdiaspora.com
Monday, 30 July 2012 07:36 Editor
News
CIVIL servants have resolved to embark on a full-scale strike and
will meet
in Harare today to map out the modalities.
This comes after
Finance Minister Tendai Biti last week rebuked them for
demonstrating
against poor salaries and working conditions.
Today’s meeting is also
expected to end internal squabbles that have hit
civil servants unions over
the appointment of a new Apex Council
chairperson.
The civil
servants’ unions yesterday said they will start the strike at the
beginning
of the next school term.
Schools close on Thursday and the unions’
leaders said they will take
advantage of the holidays to start mobilising
their members.
Teachers make up the bulk of the civil
servants.
The Apex Council brings together the Public Service
Association, the
Zimbabwe Teachers Association, the Progressive Teachers
Union of Zimbabwe,
the Teachers Union of Zimbabwe and the College Lecturers
Association of
Zimbabwe.
Zimta chief executive Mr Sifiso Ndlovu said
at today’s meeting they will
strategise on how to pressure Government into
acceding to their demands.
“Tomorrow (today) is a day for strategising.
We are going to mobilise our
people such that we open schools geared up for
the strike,” he said.
“We are reviewing the demonstration we undertook
last week, especially after
being chided by Minister Biti. We are not a
political party, but people
fighting for bread and butter issues through his
ministry and he should not
rebuke us the way he did.”
Public Service
Association president Mrs Cecilia Alexander said today’s
meeting will define
the pending strike.
“We are going to chat the way forward and from there
we will start our
consultations on the strike,” she said.
The
Government workers are demanding an all-inclusive salary of US$564 for
the
least paid worker up from US$296.
They also want 15 percent of the basic
salary as rural allowance for those
working in outlying
areas.
Commenting on the Apex Council chairmanship, Mr Ndlovu said: “Our
association is going to appreciate anyone selected openly. No one should use
external territorial muscle in determining the transfer of power.
“We
are comfortable with anyone from any union chosen democratically.”
The
terms for Apex Council chairperson Mrs Tendai Chikowore and PSA’s Mrs
Alexander expired this year. The chairmanship should now go to PSA as the
appointment is on a rotational basis.
Mrs Alexander was the Apex
Council secretary. PSA has nominated Mrs
Alexander for the post, a
development other unions described as “recycling
old product”.
The
new leadership will serve for two years.
Teachers Union of Zimbabwe chief
executive Mr Manuel Nyawo said he hoped PSA
would come up with a new
candidate at the meeting today.
“Without that condition, the meeting will
not proceed. We want to have the
names to forward to the Minister of Public
Service,” he said.
“Vital at our meeting would be the issue of salaries.
We are going back to
the drawing board and after that we are likely to start
mobilising.”
Mrs Alexander said she should become the next Apex Council
chairperson.
“As for the leadership, our constitution stipulates that the
PSA president,
who is me, should represent the association at all
negotiating forum and
unions should not have a say in our operations,” she
said.
“We have not violated any Apex Council provisions and we are going
to stand
by our stance.”
College Lecturers Association of Zimbabwe
secretary for administration Mr
Jinggy Makarudze said Mrs Alexander had been
in the Apex Council for the
past eight years and should pave way for
others.
“She is part of the outgoing executive and we need someone new,”
he said.
“We are not worried about PSA taking over the chairmanship, but
recycling an
individual is unacceptable.”
Minister Biti last week
snubbed civil servants and denied them access to his
offices to hand over a
petition outlining their grievances.
The workers managed to handover the
petition to Parliament.
The civil servants have been agitating for
salaries that are in line with
the poverty datum line since the formation of
the inclusive Government three
years ago.
Minister Biti has
repeatedly told them that Treasury is operating on a
“shoe-string budget” -
Herald.
Bulawayo
Residents Face Severe Water Rationing
http://www.radiovop.com
Bulawayo, July
30,2012--Bulawayo City Council (BCC) pleaded with government
to urgently
complete the Mtshabezi-Mzingwane water pipeline as the city
faces critical
water shortages after most supply dams have been
decommissioned and tight
water rationing introduced.
Last week BCC announced shock water rationing
measures which will see water
supplies cut to some residents for 24 hours,
twice a week.
However in a statement to the media at weekend BCC public
relations officer
Nesisa Mpofu called government to urgently complete
Mtshabezi-Mzingwane
pipeline. Last year the government through the Ministry
of Water Resources
started constructing Mtshabezi-Mzingwane pipeline in
order to ease Bulawayo
water woes.
“The water supply situation is
critical, considerable progress has been
realised regarding the
Mtshabezi-Mzingwane link and we are hopeful that this
will come on board
shortly,” said Mpofu.
Mpofu added: “As at the end of this month five
city’s water supply dams had
a combined capacity of 156,4million cubic
meters of water against the
potential 263 million cubic meters of water
representing 43,1percent of
total capacity”.
The Matabeleland region
received less than average rainfall this year, and
Bulawayo has already
decommissioned two supply dams – Upper Ncema and
Umzingwane – leaving only
three dams: Insiza, Lower Ncema and Inyankuni.
Two weeks ago, Water
Resources Minister Sam Sipepa Nkomo announced that a
plan drawn in 1912 to
construct a 400km pipeline from the Zambezi River to
Bulawayo will become a
reality in two years after the Chinese government
availed US$2 billion for
the project.
The Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project is seen as a permanent
solution to
the water woes experienced by Bulawayo’s population of close to
a million
people
In past years funding problems have been blamed for
the failure of the
project to take off. In2005, a Chinese contractor, China
International
Water Electrical, abandoned the project due to lack of funding
and moved
equipment off the site.
Makoni
denies sanctions have hurt ordinary people
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Lance Guma
30
July 2012
Former Finance Minister Dr Simba Makoni has argued that
targeted sanctions
imposed by western countries on Zimbabwe have not
affected ordinary people.
The measures were imposed in response to serious
human rights abuses by
Mugabe’s regime and have been the subject of much
debate and point scoring
by ZANU PF.
Makoni, a former ZANU PF
politburo member who now leads the opposition
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn party,
told the state owned Sunday Mail newspaper that
these sanctions were only
targeted at a few individuals.
“What sanctions? The travel ban on
President Mugabe? And the freezing of
assets, whatever they are? Do you know
that today, all the platinum we are
producing is being sold to the West?
About 70 percent of the tobacco that we
produce is being sold to Philip
Morris and other Western countries? The
little horticulture products that we
still can produce are going to
Amsterdam?”
Makoni said: “The few
goods that we manufacture, such as shirts, we sell to
Germany, America and
other countries. If you look at the statistics of our
trade with the EU
today, our trade with the US today, it is growing. How
could it grow if
there were sanctions?”
Sunday Mail journalist Munyaradzi Huni then asked
Makoni to explain the
Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZIDERA)
which was passed by
the United States congress in 2001. ZANU PF argues the
Act is a form of
sanctions on the country, effectively restricting
Zimbabwe’s access to
finance and credit. But Makoni said ZIDERA was enacted
because Zimbabwe had
defaulted on its loan payments.
Makoni, who was
Finance Minister at the time, said “This is the reality. I
became Minister
of Finance in July 2000. We had defaulted on our payments to
the IMF and the
World Bank and the African Development Bank, exactly a year
earlier in
August of 1999.”
“And these institutions, of which we are members and
President Mugabe says
we are full members of these bodies, took resolutions
that this creditor has
defaulted on his repayment, we are not in a position
to continue lending
where we are not seeing prospects of being
repaid.
Makoni said the provisions in ZIDERA meant that American
directors on the
boards of the IMF, World Bank and the African Development
Bank would not
support the extension of further facilities to Zimbabwe until
it had paid
up.
When pressed by Huni to explain why the MDC had
supported the removal of the
targeted sanctions Makoni said:
“If you
believe I am not discussing facts, go and check because if you read
Zidera,
it will tell you why the US directors in the boards of these
multilateral
institutions were instructed not to support the extension of
further
facilities to Zimbabwe.”
Makoni was also critical of the controversial
indigenisation drive, telling
the paper: “I believe that in the 21st
century, the notion or concept of
indigenous is very difficult to affirm.
The world is one small village now.
Let me bring us back — the definition of
indigenous in our current law, if
you are white you are not indigenous, if
you are black you are indigenous.
“In the preamble of the Constitution,
it says Zimbabwe shall be a non-racial
country. Let me simulate — there is a
family whose forefathers settled at
Fort Salisbury in 1896. They have lived
here and they are a fifth generation
and have become residents of this
country.
“In our law today, those people are not indigenous. Contrast
this with a
family that settled here as farm labourers in 1956, or mine
labourers in
1976. There is even a family that settled here in 1983, they
are indigenous.
So that is my first position.”
Responding to claims
by Huni that fifth generation whites had over the
decades enjoyed government
support, due to racial laws that discriminated
against blacks, Makoni
responded by saying: “Two wrongs don’t make a right.
I would want us to
interrogate that assertion. They are x thousands whites
in Zimbabwe, I don’t
believe all of them behave un-Zimbabwean.
“There are y million black
Zimbabweans; I don’t believe all of them behave
Zimbabwean. So that’s my
take to the position of whites who behave
un-Zimbabwean. We can’t paint
every white person with the same brush,
particularly in the making of a law.
It’s very short-sighted.”
Makoni said: “The practice of indigenisation as
advanced by our government
at the moment runs contrary to our value
proposition in MKD, which is
genuine empowerment. Many Zimbabweans have
actually been disempowered.”
He added: “Zimbabwe was self-sufficient and
had food surplus not from the
white commercial farmers, not from the
resettled farmers, but from the
communal farmers . . . but today no A1
farmer, no A2 farmer, no resettled
farmer and no communal farmer has food on
their table, but we have got more
land in our hands. Those people have been
disempowered.”
Meanwhile the Zimbabwe Vigil in London has criticised
European Union (EU)
moves to ease sanctions on the Mugabe regime. Speaking
on our Behind the
Headlines series their press spokesman Dennis Benton said:
“if they (EU)
seriously believe that President Mugabe would change his
policies I think
they are absolutely deluded.”
Benton said if the
sanctions are removed Mugabe, “will find another excuse
to continue
subverting the constitution as he has done for many years now.
He could for
instance say the GPA, in addition to calling for the removal of
the
sanctions, also called for the ending of foreign broadcasts so he could
say
until the British government kicks you (SW Radio Africa) out of the
country
Lance, then they are not going to abide by the GPA.”
Benton said they
would still welcome the opportunity to demonstrate and ‘dog
the footsteps’
of any member of the Mugabe regime de-listed from the
sanctions who visits
the EU. He said they would use such occasions to
broadcast their crimes to
the world “and if we get the chance we will see if
we can take them to
court.”
SW Radio Africa has invited Dr Simba Makoni on its Question Time
programme
this Wednesday and listeners’ can send their questions in advance
of the
interview using Facebook, Twitter or Skype by typing lanceguma, on
e-mail
lance@swradioafrica.com
and in Zimbabwe you can text +263 772643871.
‘Mugabe
power grip weakens’ - Makoni
http://www.thezimbabwemail.com
NewsDay 13 hours 18 minutes
ago
HARARE - Disclosures by former Zanu PF politburo member Simba
Makoni that
the current wave of chaos rocking the party was symptomatic of
Zanu PF’s
failure to deal with leadership renewal seem to add currency to
beliefs that
President Robert Mugabe could be losing grip on
power.
Speaking about the chaos surrounding the recent disbandment of the
party’s
district co-ordinating committees (DCCs), Makoni — a victim of Zanu
PF’s
power struggles before he broke ranks with the party to form his own
Mavambo/Kusile/Dawn (MKD) project in 2008 — said Zanu PF was not capable of
managing change.
Makoni said this in a wide-ranging interview
published yesterday in the
State-run weekly, The Sunday Mail.
“Some
of the symptoms of what is happening in Zanu PF today — the disbanding
of
DCCs and the change in the provincial leadership, expelling of people
from
the party and their readmission — they are all part of the ongoing
process
of advocating for change. The misfortune is that the Zanu PF
leadership is
not capable of managing change,” he said.
Political analyst Charles
Mangongera yesterday agreed with Makoni and said
Mugabe’s weakening grip on
power had become most evidently clear from
disclosures in the WikiLeaks
cables.
“His grip on power has always been shaky and if you look at what
happened
following the WikiLeaks cables, senior Zanu PF politicians agreed
that he
had become a liability to the party but none had the courage to tell
him to
relinquish power. Makoni had to leave the party to criticise Mugabe
because
he could not do it from within,” said Mangongera.
“The party
leaders are also to blame because they have failed to use party
channels to
deal with the succession issue. (Dumiso) Dabengwa said they at
one time sent
(the late Vice-President Joseph) Msika to talk Mugabe out of
power. Why send
Msika? They resorted to using clandestine methods like the
Tsholotsho
Declaration. If they continue with Mugabe, he will be an
electoral liability
because he will lose. He is no longer that kind of brand
that would appeal
to the electorate,” Mangongera said.
Zanu PF grassroots structures are
reportedly in chaos following the
disbandment of the DCCs which the top
leadership accused of fanning
divisions. Some senior party officials at
district, provincial and central
committee level have openly voiced their
displeasure over the politburo’s
decision to disband the DCCs. The party
members claim the decision had
effectively cut off the umbilical cord that
bound the provincial and
grassroots structures.
Makoni said it was
“an open secret” that Zanu PF needed leadership renewal
as early as the
1990s and the need reached a crescendo in 2007 when
President Robert Mugabe
openly defied calls for him to step down as party
candidate allegedly after
party bigwigs predicted him losing to MDC-T leader
Morgan Tsvangirai in the
2008 polls.
“I recounted to you that a conversation started in Zanu PF in
the mid-90s
about the need for change. That conversation continued into the
extraordinary congress and that conversation continues today,” Makoni
said.
“Its (MKD) origins were in the conversations for change within Zanu
PF. When
that change was thwarted finally at the extraordinary congress of
December
2007, those of us who believed that if President Mugabe stood as
Zanu PF
candidate, he was going to be beaten by Morgan. That was an open
secret,”
said Makoni.
“Those of us who saw the danger of the party,
not only its presidential
candidate, being defeated and the party itself
being defeated and the legacy
of struggle and the legacy of
self-determination, and the legacy of being
our true selves being
threatened,” Makoni said.
Zanu PF’s succession battle has of late taken
an intricate twist with the
two leading contenders — Vice-President Joice
Mujuru and Defence minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa — reportedly fighting each
other using grassroots
structures, mainly the now disbanded
DCCs.
While most party bigwigs are believed to be pro-change, the matter
continues
to be debated with muffled voices for fear of being singled out
and labelled
as “sellouts”.
A few years ago, Mugabe partially opened
the floor for open debate on the
party’s succession, but closed the debate,
arguing it would cause more
fissures in the party. Last year, a Zanu PF
politburo member, Sikhanyiso
Ndlovu, was quoted by the whistleblower website
WikiLeaks saying there was
growing discontentment in the party over Mugabe’s
continued stay in power.
The late retired army commander, General Solomon
Mujuru, is reported to have
openly asked Mugabe to disclose his succession
plans. - NewsDay
Zimbabwe
hit by H3N2 influenza
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn
Updated: 2012-07-30 17:07
Zimbabwe has been
hit by H3N2 influenza with one person dead while more than
140,000 people
affected by the disease circulating all over the country, ZBC
News reported
on Friday.
Ministry of Health and Child Welfare Director for Epidemiology
and Disease
Control Dr Portia Manangazira said the upsurge in the number of
influenza
cases is typical in winter but what is worrying is the number of
cases of
the H3N2 influenza that have been recorded.
"There has been
an upsurge in the number of influenza cases, we have only
recorded one death
so far. The virus is likely to continue spreading as the
cold season is
still upon us," said Manangazira.
Manangazira said the recorded figures
of the H3N2 influenza cases have been
derived from the weekly disease
surveillance report that is compiled by the
Ministry of Health and Child
Welfare. The contagious disease has seen some
people being severely affected
while for others it has been life
threatening. Common symptoms of the H3N2
influenza virus include chills,
fever, sore throat, muscle pains, severe
headache, coughing, weakness,
fatigue and general discomfort.
Army
and lands officials invade poultry giant Glenara Estates
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By
Tererai Karimakwenda
30 July, 2011
Several ZANU PF officials in the
lands ministry and others believed to be
army officers are reported to have
occupied Glenara Estates, a lucrative
poultry farm belonging to CFI
Holdings.
According to the Zimbabwe Independent newspaper, several
government
officials were allocated 400 hectares on the 1200 hectare Estate.
It is now
feared that a rash of illegal settlers could invade the farm and
destroy the
poultry operations on the estate.
The process of taking
over Glenara Estates started back in February when
some of the military
chefs first appeared on the farm, telling the
management they had offer
letters from government.
CFI Holdings produce the well-known Suncrest
chickens and are Zimbabwe’s
largest marketers of frozen, dressed chickens
and their by-products. Their
facilities produce on average 40,000 live birds
each day when they are at
full capacity.
It is clear the ZANU PF
chefs are after the profits, but many families
employed on the farm and at
the factories would end up unemployed if the
farm’s operations are disrupted
or destroyed.
The development comes as the drafters of the country’s new
constitution face
strong criticism for producing a document that legalises
state theft of
land. It is feared this could lead to a final flurry of land
invasions.
The draft gives the state the right to seize privately owned
land and
guarantees land invaders the right to any properties they seize. It
states
that all agricultural land, including forestry land, conservation
land and
horticultural land may be “acquired” by the State for “public
purpose.”
The draft also leaves the responsibility for compensation up to
the former
colonial power, and only improvements made on the land are to be
compensated
for. The seizure cannot be challenged in court, even on the
grounds that it
is discriminatory. This ignores a ruling by the SADC
tribunal, which said
the Mugabe regime’s land grabs were unconstitutional on
the grounds that
they were racially discriminatory.
Mugabe
turns to Tsvangirai for help
http://www.dailynews.co.zw/
Written by Richard Chidza, Staff
Writer
Monday, 30 July 2012 11:43
HARARE - Beleagured
President Robert Mugabe seemingly stuck between warring
Zanu PF factions led
by his deputy, Joice Mujuru, and Defence minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa, has
turned to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for some
help.
Zanu PF
insiders told the Daily News at the weekend that Mugabe has
apparently been
stung by the depth of dissention from senior party officials
and a reported
rejection of a clause in the draft constitution requiring
presidential
candidates to nominate running mates.
The 88-year-old octogenarian at the
helm of both Zanu PF and the country
since majority rule 32 years ago will
reportedly take advantage of his usual
Monday meetings with Tsvangirai to
find a solution that could cool tempers
in his deeply fractured
party.
Briefings to the Daily News at the weekend by Zanu PF politburo
members
reveal that Mugabe would seek to persuade Tsvangirai to push his
party to
amend the draft on the issue of running mates.
This will not
be first time Mugabe has turned to his bitter rival to solve
his
problems.
Following the WikiLeaks revelations that Mugabe’s closest
allies in Zanu PF
had been secretly meeting United States officials, the
88-year-old leader
confided his anger and frustrations in
Tsvangirai.
Mugabe has also been confiding with Tsvangirai on his health
woes.
Tsvangirai’s spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka confirmed in an
interview his
boss will be meeting Mugabe today but declined to say whether
they would
discuss the contentious clause.
“The Prime Minister will
meet the President as always tomorrow (today) but
it will be presumptuous
for me to speculate on what will be the subject of
their discussion or their
agenda for this specific meeting,” Tamborinyoka
said yesterday.
A
chaotic and emotive politburo meeting on Friday spilled into the wee hours
of Saturday but failed to find a solution as warring factions jostled for 15
hours to assert authority and have their way in determining the future of
the divided party.
“It was hot, rather boiling, and sometimes rather
inconsiderate to ageing
members like the President but it had to be done
although nothing really
came out of it. The issue of running mates took most
of the time.
“The clause runs against Zanu PF’s constitution because
congress decides who
takes over while according to this draft Mugabe has a
chance to determine
who succeeds him,” said a highly-placed
source.
Zanu PF spokesperson, Rugare Gumbo, could neither deny nor
confirm the issue
of running mates had divided the party.
“We had a
long meeting that ended at 1:30am Saturday. It was robust and
candid
debate,” Gumbo said.
Asked whether Mugabe had suggested he would take up
the issue of running
mates with Tsvangirai, Gumbo seemed stuck.
“No,
no, no those are some people who want to complicate matters. I cannot
disclose to you the finer details of our discussions or if the President
will discuss with the Prime Minister,” is all he could say.
According
to the new draft constitution Section 5.5 (2) a presidential
candidate has
to nominate two running mates who will jointly contest the
election with
him/her.
“Every candidate for election as President must nominate two
persons to
stand for election jointly with him or her as his or her
vice-presidents,
and must designate one of those persons as his or her
candidate for first
vice-president and the other as his or her candidate for
second
vice-president,” states the draft.
Zimbabwe is currently stuck
in the throes of a succession battle for the
control of Zanu PF that has
captured the imagination of the country and at
times the region and
beyond.
Early this month, Mugabe pulled the rug from under Mnangagwa’s
feet by
surprisingly disbanding a vital party mechanism that drove the
party’s
election strategy — the District Coordinating Committees
(DCCs).
Mnangagwa’s faction had trounced bitter rival Mujuru’s faction in
DCC
elections countrywide thereby strengthening his hand at succeeding
Mugabe.
The decision to dissolve the DCCs has been met with resistance
particularly
by senior members from Mnangagwa’s home province of Midlands
and Masvingo
who in turn have demanded the dissolution of the powerful
politburo.
It would be a humiliating climax to Zanu PF’s intriguing
succession matrix
and a huge bruise on Mugabe’s ego if he were forced to
consult his biggest
political opponent in history on the resolution to a war
of attrition that
has threatened to sink not only his party but also the
country.
Army
continues to recruit, despite government freeze
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
30 July 2012
The recruitment of new soldiers by the army is
raising eyebrows as it is
being done without authority from the cash
strapped government.
Despite the fact that Zimbabwe is not at war with
anyone, the army last week
embarked on another countrywide recruitment
drive. Army spokesperson Major
Alphios Makotore confirmed to the Zimbabwe
Standard this weekend that they
were hiring new recruits.
‘Yes, we
are recruiting. It’s a national exercise,’ Makotore told the weekly
independent paper.
Last month, Finance Minister Tendai Biti condemned
as unlawful the
recruitment of soldiers and police officers in light of the
government’s
decision to freeze new appointments in the public
sector.
The army and Home Affairs ministry have so far recruited 4,600
soldiers and
1,600 police officers since May this year.
The MDC-T
also accuses the army of bias in its current recruitment exercise
as it is
allegedly targeting children of serving and retired soldiers, war
vets and
ex-political detainees.
Recently party spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora told
journalists the current
recruitment drive, which does not require minimum
academic qualifications,
was being done clandestinely to accommodate ZANU PF
youth militia.
Retired Army Colonel Bernard Matongo said the recruitment
drive looks very
suspicious as the country prepares to hold watershed
harmonized elections in
the near future.
The armed forces in Zimbabwe
have always been accused of propping up Robert
Mugabe and ZANU PF and were
responsible for the bloody 2008 election
violence.
‘While the
government says it has no cash to fund the recruitment drive, it
is clear
the army is getting money from diamonds sales to fund their illegal
activities,’ Matongo said.
Harare makes way for
Little Shanghai
http://mg.co.za/
27 Jul 2012 11:12 - Jason Moyo
Attracted by Zimbabwe's
government, that likes to see itself as China's best
friend, Chinese
businesspeople are making the trek to Zimbabwe.
At the packed Wing
Wah restaurant, the foodies stuff themselves with chow
mein while others
singing karaoke loudly are drunk on the white spirit,
baijiu.
At
another table, sophisticated diners are sipping wu-long tea, quietly
meditating on feng shui and getting their chi in balance.
It would
not be out of place in uptown Shanghai, but this is suburban Harare
where
the growing influx of Chinese nationals is causing something of a
cultural
revolution.
Attracted by Zimbabwe's new money and a government that likes
to see itself
as China's best friend, Chinese businesspeople are making the
trek to
Zimbabwe, hoping to stake out a new life – and with the wave of
Chinese
prospectors arriving, even more change is coming.
At the
University of Zimbabwe, the Confucius Institute is packing them in –
businesspeople, traders, students and many others gathering in large classes
to learn Mandarin. They enrol for courses such as "Chinese for tourism" and
"Chinese for managers".
Cultural differences
According to Chinese
officials, there are about 5 000 Chinese nationals
living and working in
Zimbabwe. But they are only those the Chinese embassy
can account
for.
The labour unions, the opposition and black empowerment activists
are united
in trying to stem the tide, although others say there is no
stopping it –
Zimbabweans must simply prepare for it.
This is why
Mandivamba Rukuni, a prominent academic, is charging $1000 for a
ticket to
his seminars on "learning the skills necessary to become an
effective
negotiator with the Chinese".
"The Chinese are very different from us.
That is a fact, not an opinion,"
Rukuni said.
"This workshop will
explore the cultural differences an African negotiator
needs to be aware of
in recognising the bargaining strategies and tactics
their Chinese
counterparts are using."
Reflecting the tide, one of the courses at
Rukuni's seminar will be on "how
the Chinese approach to negotiation differs
from the Western approach".
Prized by conservationists
It is not
hard to see why these lessons are popular, even at $1000. Trade
between
Zimbabwe and China has doubled to more than $800-million over the
past two
years, according to Chinese ambassador Xin Shunkang.
More Chinese
nationals are arriving, the wealthier and better connected
heading for the
diamond fields, but most trying to get in on the thriving
retail and
restaurant business.
"I arrived a year ago. No regret," said a Chinese
takeaway owner, who would
only give his name as Caijan.
"In China I
would never get the opportunity we have here. Not crowded, good
money, good
people."
On the western outskirts of Harare, marshland prized by
conservationists has
given way to a large hotel and mall being built by
Chinese investor Anjin,
which also has diamond concessions.
When
asked why Anjin had been allowed to build on the land, Karikoga Kaseke,
the
head of the state tourism agency, said Zimbabwe was not going to lose
investment "to protect frogs and a few trees".
But not everyone is
pleased.
Overshadowing
"Over the last five years there has been an
influx of Chinese businesses of
all forms. Instead of aiding the development
and growth of the economy, the
Chinese have brought nothing new except
exploiting the locals and
overshadowing them," said Paurina Mpariwa, labour
secretary of the Movement
for Democratic Change and also the labour
minister.
There appears to be nothing stopping the China wave – not with
the Sunday
Mail recently printing on its front page a note from first lady
Grace Mugabe
neatly handwritten in Chinese.
A local choir from the
Zimbabwe College of Music is touring China, singing
Mandarin love
songs.
"We sing most of the Chinese songs very well because of the help
of Chinese
lecturers from the University of Zimbabwe," said choir leader
Rachel Jera.
Every day there is a headline about some new, grand Chinese
project in the
works. This week: a Chinese company is to fund the
Matabeleland-Zambezi
water project, an ambitious venture first mooted by
colonials a century ago.
A few weeks ago, President Robert Mugabe bowed
as he received blessings –
rich with comparisons to Mao Zedong – from Kai
Hui, master of Jin'an, a new
Buddhist temple near the Chiadzwa diamond
fields.
The MDC
Today
http://www.mdc.co.zw
Monday, 30 July 2012
Issue - 404
Tapera Sengweni, MDC
Midlands North Youth Assembly chairperson and a human
rights lawyer who was
arrested last week in Gweru is still detained at Nkayi
Police
Station.
Sengweni was initially arrested two weeks ago in Kwekwe on
charges of stock
theft and released on a US$500 bail at the Gweru
Magistrates’ Court.
In Kwekwe, the MDC youths have expressed serious
concern over voter
registration delays by the Registrar General’s Office.
The youths said they
were failing to register because officials at the RG’s
office were only
registering 50 people per day.
Meanwhile, Hon
Mangoma MP for Makoni North commissioned a mortuary at
Chendambuya Hospital
and two classroom blocks at Kufa Primary School over
the weekend.
The
people’s struggle for real change – Let’s finish it!!!
Coventry misses out on 100m backstroke
final
30/07/2012 00:00:00
|
|
by Sports Reporter
|
| |
|
|
|
Short on pace ... Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry
| |
|
|
| |
ZIMBABWEAN swimmer Kirsty Coventry saw her 100m
backstroke Olympic record broken as she was dumped out in the semi-finals in
London.
Australia’s Emily Seebohm lowered the mark of
58. 77 seconds set by Coventry at the last games in Beijing as she clocked 58.23
seconds in the heats and backed it up with a dominant 58.39 in the semi-final on
Sunday night.
Seebohm was easily the fastest through to the
final ahead of Missy Franklin, of the United States, who, before the Games
began, many thought was unbeatable.
Coventry, who had sneaked into the semi-finals
with the 15th fastest time of 1:00.24, came home in 1:00.39 which placed her
14th of the 16 semi-finalists.
She won silver in the event in Beijing four
years ago.
The final will be contested by the top
eight.
Coventry – one of seven Zimbabwean athletes at
the London Olympics, remains the country’s best hope of winning a
medal.
She overcame a knee problem and then shook off
pneumonia to make the games.
The 28-year-old – who qualified for three events
in London – can still go for gold in her favourite 200 meter backstroke, and the
200 individual medley. She won gold in the 200m backstroke at the 2004 and 2008
games.
KIRSTY'S
REMAINING LONDON 2012 EVENTS
Monday, July 30, 2012
(10:45am) at Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park: 200 Individual Medley
Heats
Monday, July 30, 2012
(8:50pm) at Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park: 200 Individual Medley
Semi-Finals
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
(8:35pm) at Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park: 200 Individual Medley
Finals
Thursday, August 2, 2012
(11:45am) at Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park: 200m Backstroke Heats
Thursday, August 2, 2012
(7:50pm) at Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park: 200m Backstroke
Semi-Finals
Friday, August 3, 2012
(7:30pm) at Aquatics Centre, Olympic Park: 200m Backstroke Finals
Sunday, August 12, 2012: London
2012 Olympics Closing Ceremony at Olympic Stadium |
Transcript: Senator Obert Gutu
and Irene Petras on Question Time
Transcript: Senator Obert
Gutu and Irene Petras on Question Time
Both MDC formations in the coalition government
gave in to demands by ZANU PF that human rights abuses committed before February
2009 should not be investigated by the new Human Rights Commission.
Deputy Justice Minister Obert Gutu (an MDC-T
Senator) and Irene Petras (Executive Director of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human
Rights) join the programme to debate this controversial concession and also give
responses to questions sent in by listeners.
Interview
broadcast 18 July 2012
Lance Guma: Good evening
Zimbabwe and thank you for joining me on Question Time. Two weeks ago it was
reported that both MDC formations in the coalition government gave in to demands
by ZANU PF that human rights abuses committed before February 2009 should not be
investigated by the new Human Rights Commission.
This concession set off heated debate and
emotions. Tonight on Question Time we have invited the Deputy Justice Minister
Obert Gutu, who is also an MDC Senator and Irene Petras, the Executive Director
of Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights. We also asked you the listener to send in
your questions to help move this debate forward. Senator Gutu and Irene Petras
thank you for joining us.
Obert Gutu: Good evening Lance,
thank you for having me.
Irene Petras: Thank you very
much and good evening.
Guma: Okay let me start with
Senator Gutu: we understand MPs from the two MDC formations were pressured into
accepting this deal despite their strong resistance in parliament. We are told
Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told them that the matter had been agreed to
by the negotiators from the three political parties. That does not sound very
democratic Senator Gutu?
Gutu: Let me start by
clarifying the issue regarding how the Human Rights Bill ended up being pushed
through the House of Assembly. It would actually be inappropriate I think for
anyone to say that members of parliament from the MDC were pressured into
accepting something that they did not want.
Ordinarily the MDC has a parliamentary caucus
that meets weekly in most cases when parliament is in session and it is at this
caucus that all pertinent issues are discussed. There’s very honest, very frank,
very robust debate and views are not suppressed so for the insinuation that
members of parliament were literally forced, if I may use that term, into
agreeing to issues that they did not agree with, I do not think that is the
position.
For what has happened is that there was a
consensus that although there are a lot of things that we as a party are not
happy with regarding the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill with particular
emphasis to the cut-off date, it was felt that as a strategic move it is better
maybe to have the Bill passed through parliament with all the obvious
imperfections that are there so that by the time we go to the forthcoming
historic and make or break elections, at least we would have a fully functional
and operationalised Human Rights Commission.
Unlike the status quo where we have
commissioners who were sworn into office, I think almost two or four years ago,
they are occupying office but their Commission is not operational – why? –
because there is no operationalised Act of parliament that would enable the
Commission to start looking at human rights issues in a practical
sense.
So yes one might say there was concession, yes
there was concession but people should also appreciate and I would like
listeners to bear with us, to say we are in a very difficult period,
transitional phase this so-called inclusive government has been a very difficult
experience for us as the MDC and I’m happy to say that when we look at issues,
look at the global and holistic picture, it was always going to be difficult to
have Zanu PF agree to the kind of Human Rights Bill that we would have wanted as
MDC.
So we are saying half a loaf is better than
nothing; I think it’s better to have a functional Human Rights Commission rather
than to have no Human Rights Commission at all going into the forthcoming
historic elections.
Guma: Irene Petras, Zimbabwe
Lawyers for Human Rights, what’s your reaction to that?
Petras: Well Lance I think what
we need to put on the table right at the beginning is the Global Political
Agreement which was agreed by all three of the political parties that are
currently in the inclusive government and now in that Global Political
Agreement, undertakings were made to deal (a) with the human rights situation
and the violations which continue and which were happening at the time that the
inclusive government was set up (b) there was an undertaking that the culture of
impunity was going to be dealt with.
So all the cases of political violence and past
abuses were going to be looked into (c) there was also an undertaking that
issues around national healing and reconciliation were going to be dealt with
and by the three parties through the Global Political Agreement.
Now the three parties have been agreeing on the
Human Rights Commission but what they haven’t done is to show the same kind of
urgency in dealing with issues of impunity and in dealing with the issue of
national healing and reconciliation.
So now the public has got this perception and
this belief that because so much effort and so much talk has gone into setting
up this Human Rights Commission, that because the other two issues have been
ignored they are going to be dealt with by the Human Rights Commission. And of
course we have seen now what has happened and the time limits on what the Human
Rights Commission can look at.
Obviously there’s a lot of disappointment by the
public, by victims and survivors and the families of those victims so I think
that the three political parties have all got to share some of the blame for the
disappointments that people are feeling now and also they cannot use that as an
excuse to just shove aside the issues of impunity and national healing which are
also critical issues in the GPA.
Guma: Now talking about that
disappointment from people that Irene is talking about, we have a submission
here that came via Face Book from Morris Mbuta and this is directed at Senator
Gutu: he says “I talked to one of the MDC legislators who said this concession
was a tactic to pave the way for a free and fair election. How is this going to
create a free and fair election? And his other question is have you basically
traded human rights to win an election?”
Gutu: Let me again maybe
clarify the situation that we as MDC, we are obviously are not particularly
happy with the final version of the Bill as I’ve already indicated but we are in
a very difficult arrangement. We are basically in a forced marriage with Zanu
PF.
I think listeners should understand, listeners
should bear with me that this coalition government that we have was not the
coalition government that we ordinarily would enter into, it was literally
forced down the throats of the main political players as an outcome of the
disputed elections of 2008.
I’m sure the history of the matter is quite
clear so all we are saying that we are particularly aware as the MDC that people
and that includes us, that includes the majority, if not all our supporters,
they are not particularly happy with the fact that the cutoff date has been
agreed to be February 13 2009 on which date the inclusive government came into
existence.
But we are saying, if you look at it from a
strategic point of view, I also agree with Irene that issues of impunity, issues
of national healing have really not been given the priority attention that one
would have wanted ever since the inclusive government came into existence three
or four years ago and I’ll be the first one to admit that perhaps we should have
given more emphasis, we should have actually given more attention to issues of
issues of national healing, to the issues of transitional justice rather than
maybe just wait and then give the impression that perhaps there was going to be
impunity.
And I’m not surprised that the general feeling
out there is that there’s been impunity or there is now impunity, that all
perpetrators of the heinous crimes against human rights dating back to the
Gukurahundi era of the early to the mid-80s; Murambatsvina fiasco and the 2008
election fiasco are going to be swept under the carpet.
I can assure listeners that nothing can be
further from the truth. The mere fact that the Human Rights Commission Bill has
a cut-off date of 13 February 2009 does not by any stretch of the imagination,
imply that there has been impunity that has been granted to all perpetrators of
human rights abuses…
Guma: But Senator Gutu for this
Bill to pass it would have needed support from your MPs and from the reports
clearly a lot of your MPs were opposed to this so how did the Bill go
through?
Gutu: Look like I’ve already
said, I’ll be the first one to admit that not everyone was happy with the Bill
coming or going through in the form that it did i.e. with particular reference
to the cut-off date but we are saying that we are in a difficult arrangement,
where we appreciate that although we as a party are not entirely too happy with
this, sometimes you actually have as a caucus to agree on a common
position.
And I believe that listeners will agree with me
that it is virtually impossible to have unanimity especially on very emotive and
you know, very emotive and sensational issues such as human rights issues in
Zimbabwe but then as a party we have to move forward and I’m pleased that at the
caucus, people, that is all the participants, the various members of parliament
who attended, then realised that as a strategic move it is better to have a
situation where we have this Bill go through as it is, and then simultaneously
move forward to ensure that matters of transitional justice are also given the
urgency that they deserve. i.e. make sure that the organ on national healing and
reconciliation is fully operationalised because we all know that as I’m speaking
to you Lance today, there is no Act of parliament that has been enacted to give
the national organ on reconciliation and integration the force of
legality.
So we are saying that by doing what we did i.e.
by agreeing to have this Bill on the Human Rights Commission go through that
would obviously open avenues for us now at this juncture to make sure that
issues of transitional justice are also attended to simultaneously…
Guma: Okay let me bring in
Irene, point taken there; Irene what would have been the ideal alternative?
Senator Gutu seems to be alluding to Zanu PF’s well-known intransigence and he’s
saying this was a necessary strategic move. What would have been your ideal
alternative?
Petras: Well I think what
should have happened is we should have had a three-pronged way of dealing with
this issue and make sure that all three issues were prioritized. So what we
should have seen is more sincerity by the inclusive government to prosecute
perpetrators of violations which happened either in the election or further in
the past.
What we should have also seen is at the same
time that the Human Rights Commission was being agreed and set up, the organ on
national healing should have also prioritized the setting up of a mechanism
which would be able to look at the past human rights abuses; those which
happened during previous elections, those that happened during the era of
Gukurahundi and all of these past atrocities which are still fresh in people’s
minds and which need to be discussed and which need to dealt with.
By just dealing with the Human Rights Commission
and essentially leaving the impunity, not prosecuting anybody and not showing
urgency in setting up that, the transitional mechanism to look at those past
abuses we are now in this situation. But what I do want to emphasise is that the
Human Rights Commission is a very important body and it would be in the
interests of some of the political parties for people to just ignore that Human
Rights Commission, to not have any faith in it so that it will not be an
effective mechanism in reducing or preventing conflict as we move
forward.
And we all know that whenever an election is
coming up, there’s a lot of violence, the levels increase, there’s a lot of
violations and if we have a new Commission which has not got all the baggage of
some of these other Commissions which are there like the Media Commission, the
Electoral Commission, we have a very good opportunity to provide support to that
Human Rights Commission.
At the same time I think we need to keep the
pressure on to ensure that this other mechanism is going to be set up to look at
the past abuses, that it becomes operational, that it has its own Act of
parliament and we must also put pressure on the ministries and those who have
control of the justice delivery system to ensure that perpetrators of violations
who are very well known, there’s a lot of evidence, there’s a lot of information
about what they’ve done in the past.
Those people need to face the criminal justice
delivery system. We are talking about those who are in control of the police,
those who are in control at the Attorney General’s office and those who are in
control in the Judiciary – they must show they are not partisan, that they are
willing to look at and to arrest and to prosecute those perpetrators so that
people can have confidence that what has happened in the past is being addressed
but at the same time they can bring any new violations to a Human Rights
Commission which will be able to investigate and try and either reduce or
prevent conflict arising as we move forward.
Guma: Isn’t the problem Irene
the fact that we already have a coalition government comprising the victims and
the perpetrators and it seems it goes without saying that nothing can be
achieved as long as we have this coalition government because you cannot
seriously expect the perpetrators to agree to themselves being
prosecuted?
Petras: Well I think that’s the
conundrum that we have; you do have all sorts in the inclusive government and
we’ve seen through this whole debacle there’s not really any sincerity or
urgency to address issues which have happened in the past. I think it’s very
problematic that the organ on national healing is set up in the office of the
president rather than being set up as an independent institution which can go
out and do its own investigations and make its own recommendations on the type
of mechanism that should be used.
The organ has also not prioritized issues which
have been raised by victims; they seem to want to try and push some things under
the carpet, they don’t even seem interested in setting up a mechanism which is
going to deal with some of the difficult issues, so when you do have that kind
of situation it’s going to be very difficult to deal with issues of the past and
also if people think that we are in a transition, that’s also sometimes a
mistake to think like that because we still are in a conflict
situation.
And like you say we still have perpetrators and
victims who are together, you’ve got parts of the government which wants to
bring accountability, which wants to fight impunity, but you have another part
of government which is pulling in the opposite direction and wants people to
forget about what happened and as long as you have those two centres of power
it’s basically very difficult to deal with those issues of the past.
Guma: Senator Gutu we have a
question for you, it’s come via Face Book, it’s from Sibanengi Dube in South
Africa. He says what is clear now is that too many concessions are being made
without the consent of the masses, even if concessions are necessary there
should be a bottom line. Your comment to that.
Gutu: I’ve been deputy minister
in this government for just over two years now and I can assure you that working
in this inclusive, this so-called inclusive set-up is a real nightmare
particularly in my ministry where issues to do with justice delivery system you
know are far from being the ideal set-up of what we would want as human rights
defenders some of us.
But then we should then look at the whole issue
in a very holistic manner. I agree that look, there has been a lot of
compromises but then when you look at each and every compromise that we as the
MDC have made as a party, it has never been a sign of weakness. If you look at
it critically, if listeners look at all the concessions that we’ve made, they’ve
actually been made with the best interests of Zimbabwe at heart.
They have been made with the interests of moving
the country forward rather than moving it backward. Our counterparts in this
so-called inclusive government are just obsessed with one issue and this one
issue is about power retention. Power retention at whatever cost. So we are
saying look dealing with such a recalcitrant partner in a very unhappy and
pretty dysfunctional system, what should we do as MDC?
Because there’s no point if you are going to be
headstrong and there’s not going to be any movement at all then the problem is
that the people of Zimbabwe are going to suffer cumulatively. Our colleagues on
the other side of the political divide are not bothered. They know that their
days are numbered and obviously they will never accept a situation where the
train of democratization moves at a supersonic speed. No they will not do
that.
My own experience in this ministry, in this
government, has actually taught me to say look, we are in a very awkward
situation, this is the kind of job that no-one would want to have. It’s
frustrating; you are dealing with people who’d make sure that each and every day
they will put spanners into your work. They’ll make sure that nothing positive
comes out for the benefit of the generality of the people of
Zimbabwe.
Guma: But Senator Gutu are you
making sure as a party that you are making decisions that are supported by the
people because as Sibanengi seems to be suggesting decisions are now being made
at the top on behalf of the people, rather than the other way – you representing
what the people want.
Gutu: Yes I can actually assure
my brother Sibanengi that whatever we are doing as a party is actually done with
the best interests of the people at heart. We never have in the MDC a top-down
kind of approach to politics. If anything we have the converse. What we do is
that we hold meetings, we hold rallies countrywide, we are always in touch with
the grassroots, each and every move that the party makes we have a message card
that is generated from the national information and publicity department at
Harvest House of which I am a member.
I myself am the provincial spokesperson of the
MDC in the Harare Province and it is one of my tasks to make sure that at each
and every meeting that we have and we have at least one meeting every week,
every Monday at about 5.30pm we have a meeting as the provincial executive to
meet and brainstorm and also ensure that we are in touch with the structures. We
go back to the structures, we hold meetings, we hold rallies, we send out
fliers, we will never have a situation where people are just told that this is
what we have decided to do on your behalf. We don’t operate like Zanu PF and I
think this is why we are arguably the biggest and most popular political party
at the moment in Zimbabwe.
Guma: Irene, let me bring in
you here. Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa was claiming that there was no need
for MPs to keep arguing over this clause because the negotiators had already
agreed that complaints emanating prior to February 2009 would be dealt with by
the organ on national healing and reconciliation. What is the difference? Is
there a technical difference between this organ on national healing dealing with
these complaints or the Human Rights Commission? What’s the difference between
the two?
Petras: Well the Human Rights
Commission will be dealing with issues which have arisen since the inclusive
government was formed and the organ is supposed to have a backward looking
mandate and look at past abuses which have happened. So generally that is the
separation between the two.
Guma: Is that a necessary
separation? Is that just not being too technical for nothing? One body could
simply do everything could it not?
Petras: Well I think it
depends; if you look in the region, it’s not a common practice, in fact I can’t
really think of a single human rights commission which has had that backwards
looking mandate. There’s always some kind of mechanism which has been set up
which is separate from the human rights commission to look at what has happened
in the past…
Gutu: Exactly,
exactly.
Petras: …and that is to make
sure that the human rights commission can function effectively, obviously
resources are going to be limited and as their priority they need to have
promotion and protection of human rights moving forward as their mandate. So
that’s why you see even in Kenya, in South Africa, Uganda, lots of different
places, they have set up these mechanisms to look at past abuses.
But the one thing that I wanted to stress and
which the minister Chinamasa seems to be trying to gloss over and get people to
forget is that we also have criminal law in this country and we have Acts, we’ve
got the Criminal Code, we’ve got lots of legislation which talks about crimes
which have been committed and how people should be punished for that. So we must
not forget that there is that whole criminal justice delivery system and
perpetrators need to face justice.
The commissions, whether it’s a human rights
commission, whether it’s a truth and reconciliation commission are not able to
look at those issues of justice and that’s where the criminal law comes in. By
failing to use that criminal law, by failing to bring perpetrators before the
courts, having them arrested, having them investigated, having them prosecuted,
he is the one who is advocating for impunity and that is something which
everybody needs to fight and everybody needs to say – no we want perpetrators to
face the law and to be accountable for the crimes that they have committed in
terms of the law as it stands in this country now.
Guma: How do we move forward as
a country? Obviously a lot has happened in the past; we’ve had the Gukurahundi
massacres, we’ve had election violence in 2002, we’ve had Operation
Murambatsvina, we’ve had the June 2008 political violence – in terms of a model
of how to move forward Senator Gutu, what would your suggestion be? The South
African route of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission? What’s the best way
forward?
Gutu: In fact let me start by
thanking Irene for really coming out very clearly on what exactly the position
is and I’m sure this will help listeners. Going forward we really should not
necessarily copy and paste what other countries have done, like what South
Africa has done, what Kenya has done but we can actually learn from their
experience, we can learn from the Kenyan experience, we can learn from the
experience of South Africa, we can learn from the experience of Myanmar, from
the experience of Cambodia.
All I am saying is going forward we should not
really cry over this issue of saying because there is this cutoff date so what
will happen to perpetrators of human rights abuses prior to February 2009, that
has been taken into account. All we are saying is and I want listeners to
understand me clearly on this one, we should then look as these issues all the
time holistically. We have not at all abandoned the people.
All we are saying is we have made a very
strategic move backwards and a few months from now people will appreciate why we
as the MDC came up with the decision that we did. It was for their benefit.
Going forward I suggest that we can actually learn to capacitate the organ on
national healing and I’m happy that the draft constitution, although it’s not
yet in the public domain has actually a particular and separate chapter that
deals with the national healing program.
It actually has what it is going to be called I
believe a national peace and reconciliation commission which will be a
constitutionalised body and that’s a critical advantage for us as human rights
defenders to say look once we have the new constitution, and it is coming soon,
it is going to have a separate national peace and reconciliation commission that
will obviously give impetus to these issues to say what will happen to the
Gukurahundi issue, what will happen to Marambatsvina, what will happen to all
these other human rights abuses that have taken place in Zimbabwe, even prior to
independence.
That new commission is going to be tasked now to
look at those issues. So when you look at it we have actually scored a
spectacular win and people of Zimbabwe will appreciate this when the new
constitution comes on board to say the MDC has not made a stupid concession. If
anything it is a very strategic concession that will move this country
forward.
Guma: Irene – your way forward
in terms of transitional justice for the country?
Petras: Well I think the one
thing that we need to stress is the issue of impunity is critical. We need to
fight that and we need to continue fighting that as we move forward so I think
that we need to keep pressure and keep asking questions on the prosecuting
authority, on the police and put pressure on them to make sure that cases where
there’s information, where there’s evidence the perpetrators have committed
violations, face the full wrath of the law.
So anything, and I want to link that also to
this mechanism which may be set up if the constitution, the new constitution
comes into force that that cannot be the be-all and end-all. We have to learn
from the experiences of other countries, we cannot sweep past abuses under the
carpet. Even in South Africa, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission we see so
many years later, that there’s now a push to deal with perpetrators because
impunity just continues.
Perpetrators think that they can get away with
their crimes and that they will be able to repeat those and nothing will happen
to them. So I think it’s up to us particularly those who are in civil society,
those who are in the public and to keep pressure on to make sure that these
mechanisms that are set up will deal with the issue of impunity and that there
is a measure of justice for the victims of violations and also these other forms
of transitional justice including reconciliation, truth telling and moralization
and those kind of things.
But the moment that we try and stop justice from
taking its course and we try not to use the criminal law and we try to avoid
prosecutions where there is very clear evidence then we are going to be in
trouble.
Guma: I was just about to wind
up but we’ve just received more questions. I’ll direct one final one probably to
Senator Gutu – this is from Tinomudaishe Chinyoka he says several jurisdictions
have categorized some events occurring before February 2009 as crimes against
humanity. To what extent would you agree with this?
Gutu: I would readily agree
with that to say look, crimes against humanity have been committed in Zimbabwe,
as a practicing lawyer myself I would agree. When you look at it, Gukurahundi is
a crime against humanity because the unfortunate deaths of plus or minus 20
thousand people cannot be anything but a crime against humanity. It is actually
genocide in my humble opinion.
When you also look at the destruction of
Marambatsvina, the brutal destruction of people’s habitats, and to the lack of
compensation thereafter can also I think safely be classified as a crime against
humanity. When you look at the brutal murders and the horrific rapes that took
place in 2008, particularly during the presidential election run-off that
obviously would equate to a crime against humanity.
So I just agree with this and say look there is
nothing that as Irene correctly pointed out that is going to be put under the
carpet, there is no impunity I can assure listeners that there is no impunity,
there is the criminal law that has always been there and conveniently our
colleagues across the political divide would want the impression given that
there is nothing that is going to happen to perpetrators of human rights
abuses.
Obviously that’s a political spin that they are
giving to their supporters and to the world, deceiving the world in the process
but we are saying that all those who have committed human rights abuses should
know that their day with the law is coming and it’s coming very soon. Or put
alternatively – all those who have committed human rights abuses should know
that the chickens are coming home to roost.
Guma: Irene, we’ll give the
final word to you. Supposing this Bill passes through, becomes law, Human Rights
Commission starts its work, this clause, is this something that will be binding?
That Zanu PF will say that anything that happened before February 2009 you can’t
touch us or are there other ways of proceeding, let’s say maybe we will have a
new government?
Petras: Well Lance there are
always other ways of proceeding and we’ve seen that throughout history. Even if
you take the example of Argentina: you can go for decades and decades with
people trying to push things under the carpet, trying to escape justice for some
of the gross violations which happened and what have we seen in those
countries?
We’ve seen that the people will continue to put
pressure and they’ll make sure that they will have their day where they can
come, speak about what happened to them and get some measure of redress. I think
that listeners need to just keep that in mind, to make sure that they continue
to keep the pressure on and to make sure that whatever we do, we fight impunity
but also we try and give the Human Rights Commission a chance to prove itself
when it comes to issues which are happening now and issues that might happen in
the future.
Because while we want to look at things that
happened in the past we also want to prevent those terrible things from
happening again and if the Human Rights Commission can be an ally in that then I
think we need to try and support the work that it does and to strengthen it but
at the same time we need to demand from people within the police, the
prosecution and the judiciary that they also play their part in terms of the
constitution and they bring people to justice.
Guma: Well Zimbabwe, many
thanks there to Irene Petras, the Executive Director of the Zimbabwe Lawyers for
Human Rights and Senator Obert Gutu who joined us to discuss this very, very
contentious and emotive subject. Many thanks for your contributions.
Gutu: Thank you very much
Lance.
Petras: Thank you.
To listen to the
programme:
http://www.swradioafrica.2bctnd.net/07_12/qt180712.mp3
Feedback can be sent to lance@swradioafrica.com http://twitter.com/lanceguma or http://www.facebook.com/lance.guma
Finding the "golden
lining" in the Zimbabwean genocide
RW Johnson
29 July 2012
RW Johnson says the modest
agricultural successes described by the NYT were built on the pyre of a virtual
holocaust
In 2008 there was a sudden burst of articles by
Samir Amin, Mahmood Mamdani and other left-wing Africanists suggesting that
Robert Mugabe had been considerably misjudged and that his land reform programme
had much to be said for it.1
Quite what lay behind this clearly concerted
ideological offensive other than embarrassment at the international media's
treatment of white farmers as the tragic victims of the Zimbabwe crisis, remains
obscure. More recently there have been a number of articles also attempting to
suggest that the benefits of the "land reform" are at last evident. A notable example
is Lydia Polgreen's "In Zimbabwe Land Takeover a Golden Lining" (New York
Times, 20 July 2012).
Ms Polgreen attempts to be even-handed, bluntly
accepting that for white farmers the whole process has been one of appalling
loss and that crop yields today remain far below what was achieved before
Mugabe's land-grabs began in 2000. Instead, she focuses mainly on the 60,000 new
black tobacco farmers, toiling on tiny plots to produce 330 million pounds of
tobacco this last year (still a far cry from the 2000 crop of 522 million
pounds). She cites Ian Scoones of Sussex University on the "myth that land
reform has been an unmitigated disaster" and the happy comments of the
Zanu-PF-supporting black farmers, ending with the questions "But does it share
wealth more equitably? Does it give people a sense of dignity and ownership?
These things have value too." Hence the "golden lining".
Ironically, Ms Polgreen's article arrives along
with a warning from the World Food Program2 that a
new "hunger season" is almost upon Zimbabwe. 1.6 million people are expected to
need food assistance - 60% more than during the last hunger season; this because
of yet another disastrous cereals harvest of just 1,076,772 metric tons.
Although the rainfall has been "erratic", this deficiency would hardly have
caused much trouble before 2000 when the white commercial farmers were able to
achieve adequate crops even during full-blown droughts, thanks to their
sophisticated irrigation technology. The WFP attributes this year's miserable
crop to "limited access to agricultural inputs such as seeds and fertilisers, a
reduction in the planted area, poor farming practices and inadequate crop
diversification". The starvation faced by this 1.6 million rather overshadows
the happier situation of the 60,000 little tobacco farmers and thus the very
limited nature of the "golden lining".
However, to contrast Zimbabwe's recurrent
failure to feed itself now with its bumper food exports in the pre-2000 period
is merely to show that "land reform" has been achieved at the cost of food
security and the wider agricultural economy. The new constitutional draft agreed
between Zanu-PF and the MDC effectively acknowledges that the seizure of
commercial farming land after 2000 was a simple act of theft, for compensation
is now promised - though, doubtless, this will only actually occur if foreign
donors are found to foot the compensation bill. Prior to 2000 the World Bank
regarded Zimbabwe's commercial farmers as models for Africa in their innovation,
productivity and sophistication. All that has been destroyed, which makes it
difficult to celebrate the few green shoots one may observe now. But in any
case, all such comparisons very largely miss the point.
One must start with the pre-2000 situation.
Mugabe had run the economy into debt, quarrelled with the IMF, kicked them out
and cut himself off from credit. The economy stalled, unemployment soared amidst
growing public disillusion and Mugabe awarded a large cash hand-out to Zanu-PF
war veterans which, transparently, the state could not afford. Earlier in the
1990s the Commercial Farmers Union (CFU) had repeatedly tried to interest Mugabe
in land reform but he had ignored all such initiatives and the whole subject of
land reform stayed where it had stalled when the British had earlier pulled out
from their initial support when they saw Mugabe was only interested in awarding
land to his wealthy cronies.
It was amidst this sour atmosphere of stasis
that the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) was born in late 1999. Mugabe had
already called a referendum on a new constitution (increasing his presidential
powers) for February 12-13, 2000. The MDC, which was as yet unorganized, made no
movement to fight the new draft for it was in any case seen as a foregone
conclusion that it would pass. In fact it lost by 54.7% to 45.3%.
Closer examination showed that this was despite
the fact that the results had been clearly rigged in Mugabe's favour in
Matabeleland and perhaps elsewhere too3 Once this
was taken into account, Mugabe had lost by at least 60-40 and probably by more:
the poll we conducted simultaneously showed a 69-31 majority wanting fundamental
change in Zimbabwe.4
When one took account of the fact that the MDC
had hardly lifted a finger in the referendum but that its presence was now
rapidly growing amidst the sheer political momentum generated by the referendum
result, it was clear that Mugabe was facing a complete electoral rout in the
parliamentary elections due in mid-2000. It was as a response to this situation
that the land invasions by Zanu-PF thugs, more or less openly organized by
Mugabe's secret police, began.
How had Mugabe, long apparently unchallengeable,
lost support so massively? Part of the answer is to be found in the survey which
the Helen Suzman Foundation did right across Southern Africa in late
1996.5 Nowhere
else in the entire region was there such a dramatic contrast between urban and
rural sectors as in Zimbabwe. Urban voters had comprehensively lost confidence
in the ruling party, while rural voters remained mainly loyal to it. There was
not much Mugabe could do about this. It was no surprise that whites had no
confidence in Zanu-PF or that the trade unions led by Morgan Tsvangirai had
become bitterly opposed to the government, but in the countryside Mugabe not
only controlled all sources of news and information but exercised close social
control through his manipulation of food supplies during droughts and
famines.
In a word, those who failed to support the
ruling party did not eat and nor did they get supplies of seeds, fertilizer and
implements. However, what the referendum of February 2000 revealed was that
there had been a further large shift in opinion, for it was quite clear that the
2.4 million black Zimbabweans who lived on the 4,000 white farms had also
transferred their support heavily into the NO column. Foolishly, indeed, the
farmers had done little to disguise this fact and had ferried farm workers en
masse to the polls where they had cheerfully demonstrated their contempt for the
ruling party. With this further large shift in popular support against him,
Mugabe looked doomed.
Why were farmworkers and their families so
different? In a word, they lived under the protective umbrella of the white
farmers who guaranteed that even in the worst drought they and their families
would never starve. It was a cozy arrangement. Most farmers only employed one or
two hundred farmworkers but allowed them to bring their extended families to
live with them on the farms where they were trypically provided not only with
food security but farm schools, Aids orphan clinics and so forth.
The fact that the white farmers - in utter
contrast with their South African counterparts - felt perfectly easy about
having hundreds of Africans living cheek by jowl with them showed only too well
how comfortable the arrangement was for both sides. But the key political fact
was that Mugabe lacked his usual means of social and political control over the
farmworkers and their families, so when they became disillusioned with the
Mugabe government they were perfectly free to express their opinions. Not only
was this a dagger pointed at the heart of the Mugabe regime but it was obvious
that the farmworkers would be bound to spread their dissident opinions among the
surrounding subsistence peasantry living on the tribal reserves.
When the farm invasions began both Mugabe and
the international media played up events as a collision between white farmers
and landless blacks. There was no doubt that the whites were targets: a few were
killed, many more were savagely attacked and beaten; and all were robbed. But
politically, of course, this was meaningless. There were only 4000 such farmers
and everyone knew they had seldom supported Mugabe anyway. But the main target
was the farmworker population, on whom Mugabe now took a terrible
revenge.
At one farm after another the farmworkers were
corralled - grannies and babies too - into a farm building were they were
ceaselessly beaten as they were made to sing Zanu-PF songs. This would go on for
days on end and often the workers would be made to beat one another. Sometimes
they were tortured with red hot metal or burning plastic dripped onto naked
flesh, sometimes workers would be killed in front of the others to provide an
example.
It was a hell which sometimes went on for weeks
and of which the great continuous theme was that they must never again, upon
pain of torture and death, go against the will of Zanu-PF. No white farmer or
his family that I ever spoke to doubted that their own ordeal was as nothing
compared with what their workers were put through.
At the end of this these workers and their
families, often in an emaciated and traumatized state, were simply cast loose
upon the roadside verges. The new owners of the farms - usually Zanu-PF high-ups
- seldom wanted to farm properly and just treated their new properties as
holiday homes where they parked their wives while enjoying their mistresses in
town.
So there were few jobs for farmworkers and when
they existed they quickly found that they were expected to work twice as hard
for a fraction of the pay they had enjoyed in the past. Later, when I tried to
ascertain what had happened to this group - a whole 20% of the Zimbabwe
population - it was very difficult to understand their plight fully. Their death
rate had been extraordinarily high - they were suddenly deprived of food, all
their support services and of any idea what to do.
Naturally, the farm schools and Aids clinics
were all smashed. Some were HIV+ and soon died. Others - especially the old and
the small children - died of exposure and lack of food. But many seemed to die
of sheer exhaustion and despair: they simply had no idea of how to fend for
themselves in this hostile new environment. One often heard of people who just
laid down and refused to move, bereft of any reason to live.
The attempt, in effect, was to annihilate a
whole demographic segment - 20% of the population. Inevitably, some stragglers
survived and gradually established themselves on the fringe of urban squatter
camp life. These were the very same elements who were targeted once again in
2005 in Mugabe's "murambatsvina" (clear out the rubbish) campaign, when some
700,000 shacks and livelihoods were destroyed, affecting some 2.4 million
people.
I later attempted to track what had happened to
the victims of this campaign by going through local missionaries who had tracked
the fate of their parishes. In the Harare area the death rate reported among
those affected was 1 in 2. In the Bulawayo area it was 1 in 3. If one averages
that figure at two in five, one comes up with a figure of something like 480,000
dead. Everyone agreed that this figure included a large number of ex-farmworkers
and their families. Thus the murambatsvina campaign of 2005 seems to have
finished off what the farm seizures of 2000 had begun.
This is what one has to remember. Only now is a
new census planned and we may soon at last glimpse the true size of the genocide
Mugabe has visited upon his fellow-citizens, though it will not be easy to
gauge, for so many have also fled into exile. But have no doubt that well over a
million farmworkers and their family members died, many of them in desperate and
horrible circumstances. This, then, is what has to be remembered most about
Mugabe's "land reform".
This is not to say that we should not be happy
to see 60,000 small tobacco farmers flourishing today. We can, to be sure,
regret that Mugabe did not agree to such an initiative in the 1990s, which could
have avoided all the violence. But above all we have to remember that the very
modest successes of today's Zimbabwean agriculture are built on the pyre of a
virtual holocaust.
It is a bit like celebrating the (extremely
modest) successes of Soviet agriculture in the 1950s without paying heed to the
millions of productive kulaks annihilated on the very same land in the 1930s. So
while there is nothing wrong with Ms Polgreen's article as it stands, one should
not forget the absent and more productive farmworkers who died to make all of
this possible.
RW Johnson
References
1See for example
Mamdani's "Lessons of Zimbabwe: Mugabe in Context", London Review of
Books, 4 Dec.2008 and my reply in the subsequent issue.
2WFP Press
Release 27 July 2012.
3See RW Johnson,
Political Opinion in Zimbabwe 2000, Helen Suzman Foundation
(Johannesburg) March 2000.
4Ibid.
5See RW Johnson,
The Condition of Democracy in Southern Africa: Political Attitudes in
Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe (Helen Suzman
Foundation, 1997).
This article was published with the
assistance of the Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung für die
Freiheit (FNF). The views
presented in the article are those of the author and do not necessarily
represent the views of FNF.
Just When I Learn the Answers, They Change the
Questions: A Zimbabwean’s Journey
by Senzeni - Posts (12).
Posted Monday, July 30th, 2012 at 10:29 am |
I smile wryly as I go through my freshman
photos. It is hard to believe that just 2 years ago, I arrived in the United
States, fresh-faced and starry eyed; weighed down by suitcases, expectations and
an overwhelming fear of the unknown. In my head, as well as in my diary and
journal, was a clear strategy of how I would ‘attain greatness’.
It amazes me to look back and realize how
drastically my interests have changed, how dramatically my intellectual
aspirations have evolved and how even my fears are not the same anymore. The
certainty I once had about what I wanted to see and achieve is gone, the answers
replaced by more and more questions about myself and my path.
After the snow
My friend and I enjoying
our first day in the snow.
Prior to my arrival in the States, I had only
seen snow on television. It was with great anticipation and excitement that I
waited for the first snowy day. I vividly recall my first encounter with snow:
It was one of those mornings when I would steal glances at the rising sun from
behind my computer while frantically working to finish a paper. From my common
room window, I noticed the ice crystals slowly dropping to the
ground.
The sight was breathtaking. I dropped all my
work, raced to the window; and saw that Yale’s courtyard had been transformed
into a picturesque scene from a Disney movie. The beauty of what I was seeing
almost moved me to tears.
Snow in Silliman College –
Frank Teng MC ’13
Of course, the novelty has long since worn off.
With snow comes the obligation to wear layers of coats, all of which have to be
removed upon entering a building. There is also the hassle of having to trudge
to class in ridiculous snow boots. And after a snow comes the ‘freezing rain,’
which covers the roads with ice, turning the simple task of walking into a
Hunger Games-esque challenge.
These days, my
heart sinks when I see the snow. My optimism dies. My enthusiasm welters and I
just want to go home.
Fearing the cold
Having never encountered snow before, I was
afraid that when the snow did come, I would freeze. Today, I worry about a
different kind of cold I hadn’t encountered before America. My fear has evolved
into a paranoid feeling that the cold, impersonal nature of most Americans is
going to smother the warmth out of me.
America is a very cold country. Relationships
and human interactions which should be warm and earnest often come off as
superficial. Only in America does, “Let’s have dinner together sometime” signal
the end of a conversation, not an actual invitation to catch up over
food.
The predominant individualistic nature of most
Americans makes me yearn for Africa’s ubuntu society. Ubuntu, is a
communal social philosophy which emphasizes that a person is a person because of
the people around him. Ubuntu calls upon people to belive that “Your pain is my
pain. My wealth is your wealth. Your salvation is my salvation.”
It is a concept so impalpable to Americans that
my American roommate looks at me in consternation whenever she sees my
Zimbabwean friend Nod’s belongings in our room. To her, it signals intimacy. For
us, it is a mutual understanding that property rights do not exist between
people who inhabit the same space. Having grown up in a family where clothes did
not belong to the individual, but to the people who could fit into them, and
having gone to boarding school where anything from lotion to school uniforms
could be shared, navigating American laws of individualism has been as
traumatizing as tightrope walking.
Everyone is so wrapped up in a cocoon of endless
activities that they have no time to accommodate anyone else. Even in romantic
relationships, many college students, perhaps too busy to invest in their
attraction to someone else, resort to ‘hooking up’ because it provides a channel
to vent sexual frustration without having to deal with the emotional baggage
that comes with a relationship.
One girl is admitted in hospital for a week, and
her suitemate does not notice. Another frequently hooks up with a boy who
confesses after a year that he is in a 3-year long-distance relationship. I
shake my head.
Varieties of love
I also remember how fervently my family and I
prayed that I would not get a homosexual roommate. I remember the confusion I
felt when I unknowingly walked up to a LGBT stand during the extracurricular
activity fair for freshmen students and had to politely talk to the
representatives for 5 minutes.
I remember stopping in utter fascination as I
watched a person, who I swear was male, strut to class in a dress and high
heels.
My home country, Zimbabwe, is an intensely
homophobic country. Not only is it illegal to be homosexual, but it also
culturally and socially shunned. My society had taught me that gender and
sexuality was not debatable. However, during the past two years, I have watched
as people I knew came out.
I have sat in on intellectual and academic
debates on homosexuality. I have made friends, loved them, discovered their
sexuality, and realized that this does not change my opinion of them. I have had
paralyzing crushes on boys who I later discovered to be gay, and I have
questioned my own sexuality.
More questions than
answers
It has definitely been a difficult 2 years. I
have cried tears of joy, tears of pain, and tears of disappointment in myself,
in Yale, in America, in Zimbabwe. For me, college has not been a place where I
discovered myself. It is a place where I lost myself to the questions in my
head. If Christianity was forced on Zimbabweans during colonialism, why do
people still practice it? Should I wear my hoodie tonight? Is she attractive or
am I attracted to girls?
I have also constantly questioned whether
studying in the United States was a good decision. Will a 4 year absence from
Zimbabwe empower me to serve it better? How will my 12 engineering classes in a
liberal arts school stack up against 36 engineering classes and a 1 year
internship at the University of Zimbabwe? After seeing all the opportunities in
the United States, and after realizing the potential that I have, will I ever
happily go back home where electricity and water shortages will force me to be
less productive with my life?
I have been forced to defend my beliefs and to
have an opinion on some concepts that I could not have cared less about.
Sometimes, I have risen to the challenge – gone ice skating, dated outside my
race, danced to Katie Perry. Other times, my only comfort being the knowledge
despite feelings of a loss of identity; I have still retained an ability to be
vulnerable in a land where everyone is “doing well.”
I look at the naïve girl in those freshman year
pictures and sigh. Just when I knew all of life’s answers, they went and changed
all the questions.
Global Insider: Zimbabwe's Indigenization
Effort Proceeds on Partisan Lines
Zimbabwe recently announced it was moving ahead with plans to require foreign-owned banks to give 51
percent ownership to locals. In an email interview, Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni, a professor in the department of development studies at
the University of South Africa, discussed Zimbabwe’s indigenization
program.
WPR: What is the political and economic strategy
behind Zimbabwe’s move to indigenize ownership in various sectors over the past
few years?
Sabelo J. Ndlovu-Gatsheni: Over
the past 10 years, Zimbabwe has consolidated itself into a typical nationalist
state as opposed to a neo-colonial state. The leitmotif of this nationalist
state has been the ideology of “Chimurenga,” an articulation of history and
politics in terms of a series of nationalist-inspired wars of resistance, dating
back to 1896. As explained by President Robert Mugabe, the nationalist state of
Zimbabwe under the Third Chimurenga seeks to achieve what is termed “conquest of
conquest,” that is, the prevailing of Zimbabwean sovereignty over white settler
colonialism. The core marker of the victory of nationalist forces is the
repossession of land and the indigenization of the national economy. This is the
official position.
At the political level, this indigenization is part
of economic empowerment of the “sons and daughters of the soil,” that is, the
black people of Zimbabwe. This strategy is linked to attempts by Mugabe’s
ZANU-PF party to regain popularity while at the same time reversing colonially
induced injustices. Practically, ZANU-PF is using the “right of having liberated
the country from colonial rule” to economically empower its nationalist-military
formations and their clients as part of its consolidation of power. The
beneficiaries of indigenization so far have been mainly the “securocrats,”
active ZANU-PF politicians and a few clients. That there is a need for fair
redistribution of strategic resources to achieve economic and social justice has
long been a driving force of the liberation movement. What is worrying is the
partisan manner in which economic empowerment is unfolding.
WPR: What major companies and sectors have been
affected?
Ndlovu-Gatsheni: The farming,
mining and banking sectors have been identified for indigenization. The
fast-track land reform program has already been carried out. The mining and
banking sectors are now on the line, though there is still strong disagreement
within the unity government and even among ZANU-PF politicians on the
implementation of the 51 percent indigenous ownership threshold. This has meant
a delay in implementing the indigenization process in the mining and banking
sectors.
WPR: What impact has the effort had, in terms of
foreign investment and
ownership?
Ndlovu-Gatsheni: Land
repossession resulted in the redefinition of Zimbabwe as a pariah state and the
imposition of restrictive measures, including sanctions, on Mugabe and his close
associates. This move has impacted negatively on investment, as Zimbabwe has
been cast as a country that does not respect property rights. The current drive
to extend indigenization to the mining and banking sectors has affected the
unity government’s efforts in trying to attract investment as part of reviving
the national economy. Threats of indigenization have made some investors adopt a
wait-and-see attitude at a time when the country needs financial support. Again,
indigenization is not an inherently negative move in a former settler colony
like Zimbabwe, where a minority of white settlers appropriated strategic
resources for themselves. What needs to be thought about carefully is how to
conduct this process in a nonvindictive way and in a manner that would not harm
the economy.
Hope
for haemorrhaging Zimbabwe
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au
Chris Chatteris July 30, 2012
Morgan
Tsvangirai'Loss of nationhood, the disintegration of our society ...
the
forming of degenerate militias': these were some of the stark warnings
which
the Catholic Bishops of Zimbabwe voiced in 2011 and which they repeat
in
their recent pastoral letter addressed to 'Zimbabweans in the
diaspora'.
In this measured but powerful document, which is obviously
also meant to be
read by the government, the bishops speak about the
'decimation' of the
Zimbabwean population through the haemorrhaging, not
only of the
professional classes, but also of less educated Zimbabweans who
have fled
and continue to flee the country in large numbers. This latter
group they
call the 'southern diaspora' (read 'South
African').
'Decimation' is about right — at least one in ten has been
lost. In South
Africa that would mean 5 million people.
The concern
underlying this prophetic assessment is that Zimbabwe's plight
could get
worse; it could become a failed state degenerating ever further
into violent
anarchy like Somalia or eastern Congo.
But the bishops' pastoral concern
is to speak a word of encouragement and
acknowledgement to the diaspora. 'We
understand your plight. We know why you
left. You are not to blame,' they
tell Zimbabweans abroad. This will be a
welcome message for a group which
has suffered separation from hearth and
homeland, plus bureaucratic
indifference, harassment, exploitation and
violent xenophobia, most notably
in South Africa.
The letter documents one particularly appalling incident
in which a group,
having braved the Limpopo, were attacked by the gumaguma,
the thugs that
prey on them in South Africa. Five women were raped and two
infants were
torn off their mother's backs and thrown into the river to
drown.
i
The commentary on this incident is a powerful indictment of
the indifference
of Zimbabwean politicians of all stripes. 'No national
leaders came to
console these mothers who were raped. There were no state
funerals for their
children. These human beings were not seen as national
heroes; they are part
of a nameless mass.'
The Bishops also ask
whether any politicians have visited those members of
the diaspora who
huddle wretchedly in the border areas. They note that at
election time
diplomats and military abroad are able to cast their votes,
but the diaspora
is disenfranchised. 'The vast majority of those who leave
are seen as
politically insignificant and expendable. Their only 'merit' is
the
remittances sent home to prop up a severely depressed economy!'
What
motivates this letter and why now? Repentance for past neglect comes
through. The bishops confess: 'As Church leaders and as members of society,
we acknowledge, with a sense of humility and shame, that so many of our
citizens no longer felt welcomed at home, and had to take
flight.'
They look to the future too, with anxiety and some hope. Clearly
Zimbabwe
cannot be rebuilt without the future aid of the diaspora. The
bishops'
appeal is realistic and uncensorious. 'While we wish you grace and
blessing
in your new land, we hope that one day you will consider coming
home.'
There is also what is probably a final appeal to Robert Mugabe and
his party
to look to their legacy and the judgement of history as his era
closes with
his ebbing life. 'When the history of Zimbabwe is being written
in a future,
reconciled society, how will its authors look back and view the
phenomenon
of a displaced people?'
The bishops warn that the shameful
phenomenon of the diaspora could become a
central theme of that historical
memory: it 'cannot be treated as a footnote
to recent historical experience.
It is an effect of the core failure within
Zimbabwe to move beyond a narrow
ideological mindset to a more inclusive
view of life.'
With elections
on the horizon, the bishops makes one more call for an
inclusive political
dispensation that ceases to apportion power exclusively
to the hierarchy and
stops excommunicating and exiling its political
opponents.
But what
pervades the text above all is a simple concern to assert that
these people,
who have been so brutally and contemptuously made to disappear
from sight
and mind, do still count.
'We wish to affirm that those in the diaspora
are Godly human beings, made
in his image and likeness. They are not a
number or a statistic on some
foreign shore. They are not a stateless
people. They belong to the state of
Zimbabwe. They are our concern. We
embrace them as one of us. They must not
be forgotten.'
For the
international community, including Australia, which has received
members of
the Zimbabwean diaspora and recently hosted key Mugabe opponent
Morgan
Tsvangirai (pictured) in Canberra, it is devilishly difficult to find
the
most helpful stance to take with regard to the present regime. It is
naive,
however, to simply assume that things will come right once Mugabe has
died.
The fact is that things could get worse once he is off the
scene. The
members of the junta behind Mugabe could turn out to be worse
than him.
These are ruthless characters some of whom would be good
candidates for
arraignment at The Hague and so have everything to lose by
losing power.
What keeps them in funds and in power are the diamond
fields at Marange in
the Manicaland district. The international community
has, unwisely,
gradually been giving these fields access to the
international market on the
grounds that conditions on the fields have
improved now that international
companies have moved in.
I'm sure
many Zimbabweans in the diaspora would still say, with a Zimbabwean
I know
in Johannesburg, that the diamonds of Marange are 'dirty diamonds'.
They
enable Mugabe and his henchmen to do their dirty work.
At the very least
the international community should be saying licences to
sell on the global
diamond market could be rescinded in the event of a coup
after Mugabe's
death. The same threat should be made in the case of another
round of
violence at the upcoming constitutional referendum and the
presidential
elections in 2013.
Chris ChatterisFr Chris Chatteris is a Jesuit priest
teaching theology and
English at St Francis Xavier Seminary in Crawford,
Cape Town. A version of
this article was first published in the Cape Times.
A
media glasnost for Zimbabwe coverage?
http://africanarguments.org/
by Ian Scoones
July 28,
2012
The international media has had an appalling record of
balanced reporting on
Zimbabwe over the last 12 years. A single narrative,
repeating the myths we
attempted to demolish in our book is endlessly
repeated. All is disaster,
the land reform was a catastrophe and punitive
sanctions are the only route
to punishing Mugabe’s rogue regime. Even the
move to a coalition government
and the stabilisation of the economy gets
barely a mention.
Journalists complain that getting stories accepted on
Zimbabwe is really
difficult, especially if they run against this storyline.
One well-known
reporter commented that the British newspapers they send
articles to will
only accept ‘white farmer’ stories, ones which take an
explicitly racial
angle on the land issue. Another observed that editors get
worried when a
deluge of negative comments get attached to articles which
even hint at a
different story. When our book came out journalists were
astonished that
there was another perspective. They had no hint of an
alternative from their
local contacts, and our findings were genuinely news
to them.
We can see quite easily how distorted media coverage emerges.
Local contacts
are not hooked into research networks and repeat what their
paymasters
expect to hear. Journalists are always up against copy deadlines
and most
international news outlets do not have the resources for special
field
investigations. Editors avoid contentious issues if this has the
potential
to bring trouble. And repeating the standard line brings in the
money for
the stringers and freelancers. Of course in Zimbabwe, strict
government
control of international media reporting, at least until
recently, didn’t
help, and added to the problem, fuelling
misperceptions.
This international media coverage, especially in the UK,
has created a
particular view of Zimbabwe, often way out of kilter with
ground realities.
But is this now changing? Is there a new media glasnost
emerging around
reporting on Zimbabwe? In the last week two major articles
by two very
different but well respected journalists have appeared: one in
the UK Daily
Telegraph and one in the New York Times.
The first by
Peter Oborne argues that it’s time Zimbabwe needs to reassess
the UK
position on sanctions. He argues that the UK Foreign Office under
William
Hague is developing a pragmatic approach to Zimbabwe, and showing a
clear
shift from the shrill diplomacy of earlier periods under the Labour
regimes.
Echoes of that were evident in the House of Parliament in an
intervention by
Peter Hain, arguing for yet more sanctions. By contrast the
Foreign Office
is beginning to realise (belatedly) that the sanctions serve
no diplomatic
purpose, and even have the opposite effect. Zimbabwe, Oborne
argues, needs
to be ‘brought in from the cold’. Even the language used is
from the Cold
War era. Glasnost indeed.
The second piece appeared on the front page of
the New York Times
(remarkable enough for any African story), and was penned
by the NYT
Johannesburg bureau chief, Lydia Polgreen. It is based on some
field visits
to tobacco farms and auction floors in Zimbabwe and suggests,
following the
argument of our work, that there is a ‘golden lining’ to the
land reforms,
as many thousands of small farmers are benefiting, even if
there have been
some important downsides. The case of the booming tobacco
sector is used,
but the wider argument is made forcefully that a rethink is
required.
These two articles have attracted plenty of commentary, much of
it negative,
but they show a brave approach to critical journalism often
shied away from
by others. To their credit the BBC have engaged with our
work, both through
interviews and articles, and most recently with a field
visit, resulting in
a Crossing Continents programme. But as I have commented
before, the BBC
‘balance’ is sometimes inappropriate; for example
counterposing an
unsubstantiated commentary from the Commercial Farmers’
Union with mountains
of research evidence as if they were equivalent. What
makes these two recent
contributions stand out is their timing (around
renewed debates about
‘sanctions’), their location (the NYT and the Daily
Telegraph) and their
positioning (an unequivocal stance which challenges the
status quo view).
The media glasnost is to be welcomed. Let’s hope the
old Soviet-style era of
controlled storylines on Zimbabwe is over and a
proper debate can begin.
This blog was originally posted on the
zimbabweland blog. For more go
to:http://zimbabweland.wordpress.com/.
When is
Zimbabwe’s Tahrir Moment?
http://www.nation.co.ke
By CLAYTON PEEL
Posted Monday, July 30
2012 at 16:03
Mr Mohammed Morsys rise to power on the back of street
protests and resolve
by Egypt’s activists presents an example of grit by
ordinary citizens in
taking on the might of a powerful military
establishment, not once, but
thrice in 18 months.
Egypt’s experiences
will be particularly instructive in my homeland. With
the constitutional
logjam in Zimbabwe, where the military under President
Robert Mugabe
prevented a democratic transition after the March 2008
elections, and
southern African leaders cobbled up a coalition between him
and his
long-time opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, there have been no ‘Tahrir
moments’
to speak of.
But that there is a thirst for change is well-documented.
Hundreds of
Zimbabweans died between March and December of 2008 because the
electorate
voted for a new president.
Voting for change is one thing,
though. Delivering it is, as the Egyptians
have demonstrated, quite another.
Much more effort, sacrifice, loss of life
and limb is required in getting
the change to happen.
It was the people of Egypt who heroically fought
for leadership change. They
achieved this victory for themselves and by
themselves. They idolised no
one, allowing no individual to take the credit
and recognising no political
formation as synonymous with the
revolution.
Mubarak’s removal in February last year was greeted with
celebration in
Tahrir Square, the iconic focus of the revolution. In the
days after the
army conceded to people pressure and forced Mubarak’s hand –
the first
‘Tahrir Moment’ – the crowds thinned, and then
disappeared.
But they were soon back in force, fearing they had replaced
a civilian
dictator with a military one in Field Marshal Mohammed Tantawi
and his
unelected Higher Military Council. Tantawi responded by speeding up
parliamentary and presidential elections – another concession to public
pressure.
Legislative powers
When, on the eve of the
second round of the presidential election, Egypt’s
elected parliament was
dissolved and the military apportioned itself
legislative powers, Egyptians
took to the streets.
Morsy’s electoral victory was delayed as the
authorities withheld the
results, an eerie parallel to the intervention of
Zimbabwe’s generals in
March 2008, when Tsvangirai defeated Mugabe in the
first round of the
presidential election.
As with Zimbabwe, it seemed
the military would derail the democratic
transition in Egypt. But ordinary
Egyptians were having none of it.
Tahrir Square erupted once more, with
demands for the authorities to release
the results. They eventually did –
the third ‘Tahrir Moment’ – and Egyptians
were able to inaugurate their
first elected leader.
As ordinary Zimbabweans mutter helplessly, as
nearly a third of their
productive citizens are working abroad, as their
leaders bicker endlessly
and one side makes all the concessions, a
legitimate question may be asked:
Where is Zimbabwe’s Tahrir Square? What,
if any, are its moments? And who is
going to make them happen?
Mr
Tsvangirai, the winner of the first round of the 2008 presidential
elections, accepted a junior role in the government of the man he defeated.
Somewhere in the mist thrown up by African diplomacy, the loser of a
legitimate election came up tops
Tsvangirai was co-opted into an
exclusive club in which Mugabe holds all the
cards. Together, they have
trodden over key demands made by ordinary
Zimbabweans in the public
constitutional hearings, including one that bars
persons over the age of 80
from seeking election.
Mr Peel is a lecturer, Department of
Communication, Daystar University
Zimbabwe’s
military men will not return to their barracks soon
http://www.businessday.co.za
Reform of the
security sector is a key part of the roadmap to free and fair
elections
being facilitated by South Africa, but it will be difficult to
change the
culture of impunity in the security forces
DIANNA GAMES
Published:
2012/07/30 08:01:57 AM
ZIMBABWEAN Finance Minister Tendai Biti was forced
to hold a rally in a
clearing in the bush earlier this month after being
driven out of the chosen
venue, a stadium near President Robert Mugabe’s
home area, by busloads of
Zanu (PF)-aligned youths and soldiers. About a
dozen people from the
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) were beaten as
the crowd drove MDC
supporters into the bush, setting the grass on fire as
they went.
This is just one of a number of attacks on political parties
and their
supporters by Zanu (PF) in a rising tide of violence in Zimbabwe.
Election
talk is in the air with the completion of the draft of a new
constitution
and a directive by the courts for by-elections to be held in 38
vacant
parliamentary seats by the end of August — an election that might
change the
balance of power in the legislature.
Biti, a top MDC-T
official, has never been Zanu (PF)’s favourite person. Not
only does he
control the purse strings in the unity government, but he has
also been
making a lot of noise about the diamond-mining companies’ failure
to direct
the required revenue to the national fiscus. In his recent midterm
budget,
Biti cut the budget by 15% and reduced projected economic growth
from 9,4%
to 5,6%.
Zanu (PF) moved quickly to establish itself in the diamond
industry, seeing
a new patronage opportunity.
The companies operating
in the rich diamond fields of Chiadzwa have strong
links to "securocrats" —
serving and retired military officials who have
worked their way into key
political and business positions in Zimbabwe. The
mining companies in the
area are under scrutiny by the MDC and international
nongovernmental
organisations because of concern that Zanu (PF) is using
profits to fund its
own agenda. Anjin Investments, for example, is a
consortium of Chinese and
Zimbabwe military interests, while Mugabe’s wife,
Grace, is said to be a
shareholder in Mbada Diamonds. This is chaired by
close Mugabe associate
Robert Mhlanga, who made the headlines in South
Africa a few weeks ago over
his extensive property interests here.
State-owned Marange Resources is
chaired by retired colonel Tshinga Dube, a
top party official and former
head of an arms firm controlled by the defence
ministry.
The
securocrats are also running parastatals and hold other key economic and
political posts. They have been pivotal in keeping the party — and the
president — in power.
Civil society organisations have claimed that
thousands of youth militia,
war veterans and army commanders have been
recently deployed across the
country to revive the party’s structures in
anticipation of another,
probably violent, election campaign. Top military
officers have abandoned
the pretence of being impartial and have openly
declared their allegiance to
Mugabe. Earlier this month, army chief Maj-Gen
Martin Chedondo told soldiers
that Zanu (PF) was the only party that had the
country’s interests at heart.
The threat of a military backlash in the
event of an MDC presidential
victory is not idle. It was, after all, the
wave of violence unleashed
against the MDC after the president lost the
first round of votes in 2008
that led Tsvangirai to pull out of the race,
allowing Mugabe to win the poll
unopposed.
Reform of the security
sector is a key part of the roadmap to free and fair
elections being
facilitated by South Africa. The draft of the new
constitution provides for
the military to become more politically neutral.
But it will be difficult to
turn around the culture of impunity that has
invaded a large part of the
security forces over a decade. As one Zimbabwean
analyst said recently, the
army, air force, police and the intelligence
agency have failed to provide
security, have actively preyed upon the
population and have become
synonymous with human rights violations.
The MDC-T is confident a new
political climate in Zimbabwe will see the
security forces and their bosses
back in barracks and under civilian
control. But the securocrats are deeply
entrenched in power and in feeding
from the trough of patronage. They are
unlikely to give up easily — they
have nowhere to go.
• Games is CEO
of Africa At Work, an African business consultancy.
A Guide to the
Constitutional Draft
Monday,
30 July 2012 11:54
by Hon Douglas Mwonzora
(MP)
Introduction
The draft constitution is a
product of two key processes. The first process was the outreach programme where
views of Zimbabweans were enlisted. The second process was a negotiation that
was either as a result of the inconclusiveness of the data or because of
underlying political considerations. The negotiating process which was led by
the negotiators of the Global Political Agreement inevitably involved a
give-and-take process.
Chapter 1 : Founding ProvisionsThis chapter deals with four critical issues.
The
first is that it puts this constitution above every person, organ, agency or
institution of the State.
Secondly, it provides the basic principles upon
which Zimbabwe is founded as a nation. These principles include respect for the
supremacy of the constitution, rule of law, fundamental human rights and
freedoms, gender equality, good governance, free and fair elections, orderly
transfer of power following elections.
Thirdly, it provides that all security
forces must be taught the basic values of this constitution as part of their
training.
Lastly, all indigenous languages of Zimbabwe are recognised as
official while an Act of Parliament will prescribe languages of record from time
to time.
Chapter 2: National Objectives
This chapter
sets down those things that Zimbabwe as a nation aspires to achieve. These
include good governance, national unity, peace and stability, good foreign
policies, gender balance, food security, fair regional representation, rights of
elderly persons, children, youths, women, war veterans and the workers. It
enjoins the State of Zimbabwe to provide education, shelter, health care
services, legal aid and social welfare for its citizens.
Chapter
3: Citizenship
Zimbabwean citizens are divided into three
categories. These are citizens by birth, citizens by descent and citizens by
registration. All citizens are equally entitled to the rights and obligation of
citizenship. Some of these rights include entitlement to state protection and
identity documents like birth certificates, national registration documents and
passports. The obligations include duties of loyalty to Zimbabwe, observance of
the constitution and to defend Zimbabwe.
Under this constitution, dual or
multiple citizenship is automatically allowed for Zimbabwean citizens by birth.
Regarding citizens by descent or by registration, Parliament has the power to
make a law either to prohibit or to permit dual
citizenship.
Chapter 4:
Declaration of RightsThis
chapter provides a very comprehensive bill of rights. It provides both first
generation rights and socio-economic rights. Under this chapter, death penalty
is only retainable in respect of murder in aggravating circumstances. However,
the death penalty cannot be passed in respect of people under the age of 21 or
over the age of 70 or any woman. The bill of rights also provides such rights as
freedom to demonstrate and petition and labour rights. Labour rights include the
right to collective job action which encompasses the right to
strike.
Under freedom of the media, State broadcasters are required to be
impartial and to give fair opportunity to divergent views. Further, the
constitution prohibits incitement to violence, advocacy of hatred and hate
speech. All Zimbabwean citizens and residents are entitled to access to
information.
Unlike the current constitution, the draft constitution
provides for political rights. These include the right to form, join or
participate in the activities of political parties and organisations. They also
include the rights to peaceful, free and fair elections.
Under this
constitution the rights of accused and detained persons are spelt out including
the right to a fair hearing. The socio-economic rights enshrined in the
constitution include the right to education, health care, food and water and the
right to a safe environment. The constitution further provides elaborate rights
including rights of children, women, the elderly, people living with
disabilities as well as war veterans. Under this constitution, certain rights
can be limited under a state of emergency. However, the following rights cannot
be derogated under any circumstances;
- a.The right to life
- b.Human dignity
- c.Right not to be subjected to torture, cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment
- d.Right not to be subjected to slavery or
servitude
- e.The right to a fair
hearing
Chapter 5:
Executive Authority
Under the draft constitution, executive
authority is vested in the President and Cabinet. Among the duties of the
President is the duty to uphold the constitution and to ensure that all laws are
faithfully obeyed. The President has a maximum term of two 5-year terms of
office.
The draft constitution enjoins every presidential candidate to
provide the names of two running mates during the elections. These running mates
are designated as the 1st and 2nd Vice President. In the event of a President
dying or leaving office then the 1st Vice President automatically takes over.
Although, a President cannot be tried while in office, once he leaves office he
can be tried for the offences he committed before or during the time that he was
president.
The President has the duty to appoint ministers from
Parliament but may appoint up to 7 ministers from outside Parliament based on
professional skills and competency.
Under this constitution the President
has power to declare war or make peace but exercise this power subject to
Parliamentary approval. Although, the President has power to grant mercy he can
only exercise this power after consultation with Cabinet. The President is
allowed to appoint an Attorney General who is his legal advisor. However, this
Attorney General does not have prosecuting power.
Chapter 6:
Legislature Authority
The Parliament is made up of the Senate and
the National Assembly. The election into the Senate is by proportional
representation using a party list and the zebra system alternating men and women
with a woman on top of each list. There will be 88 senators, 18 of whom will be
chiefs, 8 will be Provincial Governors, 2 will be representatives of people
living with disabilities, while 60 will be elected by proportional
representation. Of this 60, each province will produce 6 senators based on
proportional representation based on the votes of the National Assembly for the
parties in that province. In the National Assembly the 210 seats will remain
while there is an addition of 60 women MPs elected by proportional
representation. Of these, each province will produce 6. The Clerk of Parliament
has a limited term of office of 6 years, renewable
once.
Chapter 7:
ElectionsThe chapter provides
that elections or referendums must be peaceful, free and fair. In particular,
the elections shall be free from violence and other electoral malpractices. All
contesting parties are entitled to all material and information necessary for
them to participate effectively. Further, they are entitled to equal access to
print and electronic media. All matters dealing with elections ranging from
voter registration, education up to the actual announcement of the results will
be done by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission. All elections are going to be
harmonised and will be held in the last month of a Presidential
term.
Chapter 8: The Judiciary and the Courts
Under
this chapter, the courts of Zimbabwe are listed and include the Constitutional
Court which is the highest court of the land. The other courts like the Labour
Court and the Administrative Court are given the same status as the High Court.
Provisions are made which guarantee the independence of the judiciary. In
particular, “Bangalou Principles” regarding the independence of the judiciary
are enshrined in this constitution. The appointment of judges is going to follow
a procedure where the Judicial Service Commission advertises the posts and calls
for applications and nomination of judges. The candidates, including those
nominated by the President will be subjected to public interviews before
appointment.
Chapters 9 &
10: Principles of Public Administration and the Civil
ServiceThe draft constitution
will deal with parastatals. These parastatals and state-owned enterprises will
abide by the principles of good corporate governance. The heads of the
parastatals will have a limited term of office. Ambassadors are going to be
appointed by the President while permanent secretaries are appointed by the
President after consultation with the Civil Service Commission. The permanent
Secretaries have a limited term office of 5 years, renewable
once.
Chapter 11:
Security ServicesUnder this
chapter, the security services are listed as the Defence Forces, Police Service,
Intelligence Services, and Correctional Services. Additional security services
may only be established under an Act of Parliament. Security Services are under
the authority of the constitution, the Parliament, the President and
Cabinet.
Members of the security services must not act in a partisan
manner. They cannot further the interests of political parties nor prejudice the
lawful interests of political parties. They are not allowed to violate
fundamental human rights and freedoms of the Zimbabwean citizens.
The
constitution sets up a National Security Council and obliges commanders of the
security services to provide it with reports on the security situation in
Zimbabwe from time to time. All commanders of the Security Services are
appointed by the President after consultation with the appropriate
minister.
All commanders of Security Services have a limited term of 5
years, renewable once. The constitution sets independent complaint mechanisms
for members of the public on the conduct of members of the Security
Services.
Chapter 12: Independent Commissions Supporting
Democracy
The independent commissions are:
- 1. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
- 2. Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission
- 3. Zimbabwe Gender Commission
- 4. Zimbabwe Media Commission
- 5. National Peace and Reconciliation
Commission
In the appointment of
these commissions, both the President and Parliament are involved. The
commissions appoint their own members of staff who are enjoined not to be
partisan or to prejudice or promote the interests of any political party.
The
National Peace and Reconciliation Commission has a duty to ensure post-conflict
justice, healing and reconciliation. It does not have a cut-off
date.
Chapter 13:Institutions
to Combat Corruption and CrimeThere are two institutions here, the Zimbabwe Anti
Corruption Commission and the National Prosecuting Authority. The Prosecutor
General who heads the National Prosecuting Authority is appointed in the same
way as a Supreme Court Judge is appointed.
Chapter 14: Provincial
and Local Government
This chapter provides for devolution of power
to the ten provinces. It provides the objects and principles of devolution. Each
Province is run by a Provincial Council made up of all senators, National
Assembly members as well as mayors and chairpersons of local authorities in that
province.
A further 10 people are elected by a system of proportional
representation. The jurisdiction of provincial councils is in the sphere of
social and economic development of the province. The provincial council is
headed by a Provincial Governor appointed by the President from a list of two
names submitted by a party with the majority of seats in that province
concerned.
Under the section dealing with local authorities, the removal
of councillors and mayors can now only be done in terms of the constitution. The
minister responsible for local government has no power to remove councillors and
mayors anymore.
Chapter 15:
Traditional LeadersTraditional
leaders are not allowed to be members of political parties or to participate in
partisan politics. They are neither allowed to further interests of political
parties nor to violate fundamental human rights. Their jurisdiction is limited
only to their communal areas or persons within their communal areas. The
appointment of chiefs is done by the President after consultation with the
Zimbabwe Council of Chiefs. However, the President of the Council of Chiefs will
have a limited term of office of 5 years, renewable once for a further 5
years.
Chapter 16:
Agricultural LandThe chapter
deals with land that is subject to Land Reform. It sets fundamental principles
including the principle that land redistribution must be fair and equitable,
having regard to gender balance and community interests. Every citizen is given
a right to acquire hold, occupy, transfer, hypothecate, lease or dispose of
agricultural land regardless of his or her colour. This chapter guarantees
security of tenure to persons lawfully occupying land. Owners or occupiers of
agricultural land are allowed to transfer, hypothecate, lease or dispose of
their rights. The draft constitution also allows full compensation for
indigenous Zimbabweans or those people holding land under BIPPA agreements. For
any other categories, the compensation is for improvements only.
The
chapter establishes a Land Commission which is appointed by the President and
Parliament. The Commission has the responsibility to ensure that there will be
periodic land audits and help enforce the principle of one person, one farm as
well as the appropriate compensation to be paid in respect of agricultural
land.
Chapter 17: Financial Management
This chapter
provides for Parliamentary oversight and monitoring of expenditure by government
or its agencies and institutions. Certain levels of borrowing would require the
approval of Parliament. Not less than 5% of the national revenue raised will be
allocated to the Provincial Councils.
Chapter 18: General and Supplementary
ProvisionsThe chapter sets
out the way commissions must be governed. It also deals with amendment of the
constitution. Generally, for all provisions of the constitution to be amended,
the proposed amendment must be supported by two thirds of parliament. However,
amendment to any provision of the bill of rights as well as chapter 16 which
deals with agricultural land must be done via a referendum. The office of public
protector is abolished as it is felt that it had no purpose.
Zimbabwe Inclusive Government
Watch : Issue 41
July 30th, 2012
The date of Zimbabwe’s next election has still
not been set, but the Zanu-PF hierarchy – with President Mugabe (88) still at
the helm after 32 years – is already intensifying well-honed strategies to
ensure the party retains power. Despite being split by bitter factionalism,
greed and an escalating internal power struggle, Zanu-PF is united in its
efforts to weaken Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC-T) party and manipulate the electorate.
The threat of violence has always been the
strongest weapon in Zanu-PF’s arsenal. The mass-scale violence that
characterised the 2008 pre-Presidential run-off poll was described by a team of
retired South African generals sent by President Mbeki to Zimbabwe to
investigate as a ‘horrifying picture” involving “horrific” cases of “extreme
brutality”. One commented it was the worst they had seen outside a war zone.
Already in the rural areas, fear levels are growing and there is intense concern
that the lives and livelihoods of these vulnerable people in particular will be
at risk once again.
Historically, the continued support of the armed
forces has been crucial for Zanu-PF’s election strategy and their role in
perpetrating violence is well documented. Defence Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa’s
demand this month for an additional US$2.5 million from the fiscus to bankroll
salaries for 5,000 new recruits therefore came as no surprise. It resulted in a
furious altercation between Finance Minister Tendai Biti (MDC) and Mnangagwa
(Zanu-PF) after Biti had turned down the additional defence funding. Mnangagwa
reportedly threatened to send army generals to Biti’s office but Biti stuck to
his guns.
The following week, veteran journalist Jan Raath
reported that more than 10,000 people had been hired illegally in Zanu-PF-run
ministries, including those responsible for the army and police. Senior
military personnel continued to proclaim their support for Zanu-PF, with Chief
of Staff Major-General Trust Mugoba declaring at a public parade mid June that
they would not even allow the MDC to go into office.
An authoritative report released by Zimbabwe’s
Research and Advocacy Unit in July last year, “Zimbabwe’s Security Sector – Who Controls the
Shots?”, listed the strength of the
armed forces as follows:
- The Defence Forces: 30,000 to 35,000 (army and
air force combined)
- The Police Force: 22,000
- The CIO (full time staff): 3,000 (Central
Intelligence Organisation)
As Commander-in-Chief, President Mugabe has
supreme command of the Defence Forces and the plenary power to determine their
operational use.
The youth militia, a paramilitary force for
Zanu-PF, has been responsible since 2000 for acts of torture, rape, arson and
murder, as well as the destruction of property and the denial of food aid and
health care to opposition members. The number of youth militia currently on the
government’s payroll is difficult to substantiate. In November 2009, it was
reported that 80,000 youngsters, many of them unemployed, had gone through the
controversial “youth service” programme. In March this year, SW Radio Africa
reported that nearly 6,000 youths from Zanu-PF’s militia squads, who had been
paid for unspecified jobs since 2008, had recently been removed from the
government payroll following a government-ordered audit.
On June 27, it was reported that Russian
Technologies may supply military helicopters to Zimbabwe in a swap deal to buy
the world’s second largest platinum deposit. An external military commentator
noted it was possible the helicopters would be used in Zanu-PF’s efforts to
retain power. He commented that, unless bought in very large numbers, they would
not add much to the internal security capacity. However, if the situation
spiralled out of control into something close to insurgency or civil war, they
would be a key factor.
Maintaining supremacy is a costly affair for
Zanu-PF, so the battle for control of the nation’s resources, notably diamonds
and platinum, continues. Zimbabwe is rich in minerals, and the Zanu-PF elite
have honed their skills in converting the proceeds into illegitimate funds to
both enrich themselves and stock war-chests in preparation for
elections.
Despite the ongoing controversy and friction
surrounding the draft Constitution, Elton Mangoma, the MDC-T Deputy Treasurer
said his party was optimistic of the developments. He said the draft had
managed to capture the views of most of the people and that his party would
support it in the referendum.
In this issue of ZIG Watch, we have recorded a
total of 77 media articles, each representing a unique breach of the terms of
the Global Political Agreement (GPA). Representative statistics were generated
by categorising the articles according to the nature of the breach.
The category with the highest number of recorded
violations was again that of the harassment of perceived ‘opposition’
politicians and supporters through litigation, with 23 cases having been
recorded. Second place was taken up by violations in the form of deliberate or
consequential economic destabilisation.
Instances of violence, intimidation, hate
speech, threats, abductions and brutality came in third, while cases of
deliberate non-cooperation with GPA partners came fourth. Zanu-PF was either
responsible for, or involved in, 98.7 percent of all breaches
recorded.
We have compiled and appended ten articles to
represent this month’s media coverage of events in relation to the GPA. This
list is neither comprehensive nor exhaustive because of the sheer volume of
articles. We invite our readers to review the list of summarised articles,
original articles (links provided) and previously captured articles, on the
webpage http://www.sokwanele.com/zigwatch and ask you to share this information with your
colleagues and other interested parties.
In the area of litigation, our first article
reveals the shocking arrogance of the police – this time in Mutare – who, having
been forced to follow the dictates of Zanu-PF, have become accustomed to a
culture of impunity. Rather than spending time hunting down the MDC-T Senator
for Mutare, Keresensia Chabuka, the police used innocent MDC activists as bait
to force her to come to them. The Senator and other MDC-T officials had been
accused of assaulting the acting Mayor of Mutare, George Jeryson. Senator
Chabuka told reporters that she was ashamed of the action of the police action
in arresting the 10 party activists as bait to entrap her. “They told the
activists they will only be released if I present myself to the police. That is
what I’m going to do,” said the Senator and handed herself in.
In the long drawn-out case in which twenty-nine
MDC-T activists were accused of murdering a police officer in Glen View last
year, the presiding judge dismissed their bail appeal again in the Harare High
Court. Justice Bhunu told defence lawyers to focus on the trial and not bail, as
it was “highly unlikely they will ever be set free before conclusion of the
case”. The judge went on to warn defence lawyer Charles Kwaramba to desist from
criticising him in the media or he would file contempt of court.
In another high-profile case, the Siwela treason
trial is also being deliberately dragged out. The case involves three Bulawayo
men who were arrested for allegedly distributing Mthkwakazi Liberation Front
flyers calling for the separation of Matabeleland and other parts from the rest
of Zimbabwe. All three men have denied the charges. Witnesses who testified for
the state, mostly police officers, appear to have weakened the prosecutors’ case
by giving contradicting evidence. If convicted, the three face the death
penalty.
Also in the litigation category, the state-owned
Sunday Mail reported on 24 June that the police had launched an investigation
involving Finance Minister Tendai Biti (MDC-T) over the disappearance of US$20
million in a failed bank. However, Biti explained that the money was part of a
2009 emergency International Monetary Fund (IMF) facility to help distressed
manufacturing firms. The paper said Biti had transferred the money from the IMF
into local bank Interfin, closed during June due to a liquidity
crisis.
In the category of deliberate or consequential
economic destabilisation of the country or its economy, Zimbabwe’s
indigenisation ministry, in a report dated 5 June, ordered all foreign-owned
banks operating in the country to start transferring majority stakes to local
people under its controversial empowerment program. Several executives of
foreign-owned banks were reported to have met with Indigenisation Minister
Saviour Kasukuwere and indicated they would comply with the law. Central Bank
Governor Gideon Gono protested the move, saying the banking sector should not be
indigenised, and that anyone who wanted to venture into the sector should apply
for a license to operate a private bank. The banking sector falls under Gono’s
controversial stewardship as Governor of the Reserve Bank.
Biti and Mnangagwa fought bitterly this month
over defence funding. Biti reportedly turned down Mnangagwa’s demands for an
additional US$2,5million from treasury to bankroll salaries for 5,000 new army
recruits. Tensions ran high, with Mnangagwa allegedly threatening Biti, claiming
there was a risk of mutiny and that Biti was compromising State security. Biti
was said to have refused to fund the recruits until the government got more cash
from controversial diamond mining operations. Prior to this, there had been
agreement within the severely cash-strapped inclusive government that no
additional troops were required.
Zimbabwe’s Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Act, passed into law more than three years ago, states that
Zimbabweans must be majority shareholders with a minimum of 51 percent in major
foreign-owned companies across the economy.
In a statement guaranteed to destabilise the
economy further and discourage foreign investment, President Mugabe told his
party’s central committee that 100 percent of company shares should remain in
the country. He claimed that the 49 percent was “a leakage” and that Zimbabweans
must be in control of the economy while foreigners came in as partners.” He did
not explain how prospective foreign investors could be persuaded to invest their
money in Zimbabwe for minimal returns.
In the category of violence, Zanu-PF secretary
for the Women’s League and Politburo member Oppah Muchinguri openly admitted to
journalists that her party hires militia regularly to unleash violence on
political opponents – a fact previously denied. Chipangano, the notorious,
militant Zanu-PF group operating in Harare’s Mbare suburb, has been accused of
murder, violence, robbery, intimidation, coercion, looting and the disruption of
businesses owned by ‘opposition’ activists, although any connection to Zanu-PF
has previously been denied. Ironically, Muchinguri is also co-chairperson of the
Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC), tasked with monitoring
and documenting violations of the Global GPA.
A female chief in the Mudzi North area of
Mashonaland East, Chief Otilia Chimukoko, is allegedly forcing villagers to
contribute money for a legal fund to assist seven Zanu-PF members accused of
murdering an MDC-T official during May. Each village is required to collect a
minimum of US$50 or face violent punitive action.
Our final article highlights the level of
non-cooperation between the members of the GPA. At a conference in Harare
organised by the Centre for Public Accountability, Mines Minister Obert Mpofu
refused to give an account of diamond revenues emanating from the vast and
highly controversial Marange fields.
Police use MDC activists as bait to hunt
down Mutare senator
SW Radio Africa (ZW):
13/06/2012
Police in Mutare are using innocent MDC
activists as bait to hunt down the party’s senator for Mutare, Keresensia
Chabuka. The senator and other MDC officials are accused of assaulting acting
Mayor of Mutare, George Jeryson. Jeryson was elected as an MDC-T councillor, but
is suspected of working closely with Zanu-PF Local Government Minister Ignatius
Chombo. Senator Chabuka told reporters that she is ashamed and left with no
words to describe the police action in arresting 10 party activists as bait to
get to her. ‘They told the activists they will only be released if I present
myself to the police. That is what I’m going to do this evening
(Wednesday).”
- ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
- ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL
HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND
INSTITUTIONS
29 MDC-T activists denied bail
again
SW Radio Africa (ZW): 19/06/2012
Twenty-nine MDC-T activists accused of murdering
a police officer in Glen View last year had their bail appeal dismissed again in
Harare High Court on Tuesday. Responding, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu said there
were no special circumstances to grant bail to any of the activists. Justice
Bhunu told defence lawyers to focus on the trial and not bail as it was highly
unlikely they will ever be set free before conclusion of the case. The judge
warned defence lawyer Charles Kwaramba to desist from criticizing him in the
media or he would file contempt of court, whilst giving activist Dewa Mavhinga
an earful for penning newspaper articles critical of his previous
judgments.
- ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
- ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL
HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND
INSTITUTIONS
Police deny exhibits in Siwela treason
trial
ZimEye: 20/06/2012
The eighth witness in the treason trial of
Mthwakazi Liberation Front (MLF) party secretary general, Paul Siwela, declared
ignorance over exhibits collected from Siwela’s offices when the investigations
re-started at the trial in Bulawayo. Siwela, together with other MLF leaders
Charles Thomas and John Gazi, are facing treason charges which they deny. The
witness, police officer Isheunesu Kadziya, told the court that although he was
part of the team which searched Siwela’s offices on March 4, 2011, he did not
read what was written on flyers, calendars and other documents. He said they
recovered 400 flyers, an MLF T-shirt, calendar and MLF membership cards. He
declined to be associated with flyers presented in court.
- ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
- ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL
HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND
INSTITUTIONS
Zimbabwean police investigate finance
minister
Reuters: 24/06/2012
Police said on Sunday they had launched an
investigation involving Finance minister Tendai Biti. The state-owned Sunday
Mail said the probe was over the disappearance of US$20 million in a failed
bank. Biti explained that the money was part of a 2009 emergency International
Monetary Fund (IMF) facility and intended to help distressed manufacturing
firms. The paper said Biti had transferred the money from the IMF into local
bank Interfin, closed this month due to a liquidity crisis. “Yes the money is
missing. The fact that Interfin was appointed the fund manager means it was them
who were handling the money and not me,” he said.
- ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
- ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL
HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND
INSTITUTIONS
Zimbabwe Minister Orders Foreign-Owned Banks to
Transfer Majority Stakes to Locals
VOANews (USA):
05/06/2012
Zimbabwe’s indigenization ministry has ordered
all foreign-owned banks operating in the country to start transferring majority
stakes to local people under its controversial empowerment program. Legal
adviser Psychology Maziwisa said several executives of foreign-owned banks who
met with Indigenization Minister Saviour Kasukuwere Tuesday indicated that they
will comply with the law. Maziwisa said at least two of the banks have already
made efforts to offload a 51 percent stake to indigenous people as prescribed by
the empowerment law. Central bank governor Gideon Gono protested the move Monday
saying the banking sector should not be indigenized, suggesting that anyone who
wants to venture into the sector should apply for a license to operate a private
bank.
- ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
- ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY
AND GROWTH
- ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL
HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND
INSTITUTIONS
Biti, Mnangagwa clash over
army
Daily News (ZW): 10/06/2012
Finance minister Tendai Biti, and defence
minister Emmerson Mnangagwa, locked horns on Thursday, in front of Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, over defence funding. Official sources said
Tsvangirai watched in bewilderment as the two fought verbally, with finance
minister Biti being threatened by Mnangagwa after he turned down the Zanu-PF
minister’s demands for an additional US$2,5million from treasury to bankroll
salaries for 5,000 new army recruits. Tensions ran high, with Mnangagwa
allegedly threatening to send army generals to Biti’s office, saying there was a
risk of mutiny and that Biti was compromising State security. Biti was said to
have declared that treasury would not fund the recruits until the government got
more cash from diamonds.
- ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
- ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY
AND GROWTH
- ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL
HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
- ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE
CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND
INSTITUTIONS
- ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND
PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE
Zimbabwe President Mugabe wants 100
percent local control of economy
News Track India:
30/06/2012
Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Friday said
the country wants 100 percent control over the economy by local people while
foreigners come in as partners. Mugabe said Zimbabwe must get the lion’s share
from the exploitation of its natural resources, arguing the 51-49 percent
ownership model was no longer acceptable. Foreigners benefits must be minimal,
around 10 percent, he stressed. He said this when addressing his Zanu-PF party’s
central committee. “… we want the 100 percent to remain in the country,” Mugabe
said, reiterating that Zimbabweans must be in control of the economy while
foreigners come in as partners. “That is why we are talking of ownership and not
mere participation,” he said.
- ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
- ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY
AND GROWTH
- ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL
HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND
INSTITUTIONS
Zimbabwe’s Zanu-PF official admits to
use of election violence
The Africa Report:
05/06/2012
Zanu-PF secretary for women’s league and
Politburo member, Oppah Muchinguri, has admitted her party regularly enlists
services militia to unleash violence on political opponents. Chipangano—the
notorious militant Zanu-PF group staying in Harare’s Mbare suburb – has been
accused of murder, violence, robbery, intimidation, coercion, looting and
disruption of businesses owned by opposition activists. Muchinguri on Monday
told journalists that her party engages the services of the group. Muchinguri,
also co-chairperson of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee
(Jomic), said Chipangano was being “hired” by politicians from Zanu-PF.
Muchinguri said the coalition government must speedily act on the group by
“sending a message to other similar groups that might want to set themselves
up.
- ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
- ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL
HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
- ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE
CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND
INSTITUTIONS
- ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND
PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE
Chief forcing villagers to pay defense
for Magura killers
SW Radio Africa (ZW):
14/06/2012
Chief Otilia Chimukoko has allegedly been
leading Zanu-PF activists in the Mudzi North area of Mashonaland East, forcing
villagers to contribute money for a legal fund to assist the Zanu-PF members
accused of murdering an MDC-T official last month. One of the few female chiefs
in the country, Otilia Chimukoko, is moving around the Chimukoko area with Never
Makita, Dudzai Kamhaka and another activist identified as Nyamuromo. They are
demanding that each villager pay US$1 with each village collecting at least
US$50 or there will be violent punitive actions. The villagers are being told
openly that the money is to provide legal fees for the seven party members
accused of murdering Cephas Magura.
- ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
- ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL
HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
- ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE
CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
- ARTICLE XVIII : SECURITY OF PERSONS AND
PREVENTION OF VIOLENCE
Obert Mpofu refuses to account for
diamond revenue
ZimEye: 11/06/2012
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu on Monday failed to
give an account for diamond revenue emanating from Marange fields when he
answered questions at a conference in Harare organised by the Centre for Public
Accountability. “I am minister of mines not minister of revenue … ZIMRA collects
revenue. Ask me about mining issues and I will explain. I do not deal with
figures but mining development. Anything to do with figures is not my duty,”
Mpofu told delegates in Harare Monday. Delegates had asked him where the diamond
revenue from Marange was going following Finance Minister Tendai Biti’s recent
complaints of non remittance to the treasury revenue by mining
companies.
- ARTICLE II: DECLARATION OF COMMITMENT
- ARTICLE III : RESTORATION OF ECONOMIC STABILITY
AND GROWTH
- ARTICLE VII : PROMOTION OF EQUALITY, NATIONAL
HEALING, COHESION AND UNITY
- ARTICLE XI : RULE OF LAW, RESPECT FOR THE
CONSTITUTION AND OTHER LAWS
- ARTICLE XIII : STATE ORGANS AND
INSTITUTIONS
This entry was
posted by Sokwanele on Monday, July 30th, 2012 at 8:38
pm.
Court Watch 14/2012 of 28th July [3 Cases with Important Political Ramifications]
COURT WATCH 14/2012
[28th July
2012]
This bulletin covers three court
cases that have important political implications.
1. The By-Elections Case
This was an appeal by the President to the Supreme Court after he lost a
case in the High Court over his failure to call by-elections to fill 3 vacancies
in Parliament. The Supreme Court
has ordered the
President to call by-elections to fill these vacancies. [The
decision sets a precedent for the other 23 Parliamentary vacancies needing
by-elections.] This is a decision
that will test the President’s willingness to abide by a court decision. If by-elections are held [there could be up to 26] they will test
the political temperature for the forthcoming general election and provide a
test run for the new Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.
2. Too many Ministers Case
This case
was lost in the High Court, but an appeal has been made to the Supreme Court.
It is a citizen’s complaint about a breach of Schedule 8 to the
Constitution, which incorporates Article 20 of the GPA; this stipulates that the
Inclusive Government should have 31 Ministers, but in fact 41 were sworn
in. If the appeal were won it would mean
a reduction and reshuffle of Ministerial posts.
3. The Provincial Governors Case
This is a complaint taken by the Prime Minister about the President’s
unilateral appointment of Provincial Governors.
A preliminary
technical objection about taking the President to court had to be dealt with
first. The objection was heard and
rejected by the High Court. There has,
however, has been a notification of intention to lodge an appeal at the Supreme
Court against this decision.
1. Supreme Court
Orders Three Parliamentary By-Elections:
Reasons for
Judgment Not Provided
Background In 2009 three MDC-M MPs were expelled from
MDC-M for undermining the party’s authority.
Forfeiture of their seats in the House of Assembly followed, creating
three parliamentary vacancies. As with all other vacancies in this Parliament,
the President failed to call by-elections although section 39 of the Electoral
Act provides that the President “shall”
gazette a notice ordering a new election to fill a constituency vacancy, and
must do so within 14 days of being notified of the vacancy by Parliament.
Bulawayo High
Court decision ordering by-elections The three former MPs took the President to
court. In October 2011 the High Court
upheld their case and ordered the President to ensure that by elections for the
three constituencies were held.
President’s
appeal to the Supreme Court The President appealed to the Supreme Court
against this order, arguing that section 39 of the Electoral Act is a merely
directory provision not legally obliging him to call by-elections, and also that
in any case the Government does not have the money to finance by-elections to
fill these vacancies and the many other Parliamentary and local council
vacancies that have built up since March 2008.
Supreme Court
orders President to call by-elections On 12th July 2012 the Supreme Court
unanimously dismissed the President’s appeal and ordered the President to
gazette a notice “ordering new elections
to fill the vacancies as soon as possible but no later than 30th August
2012.” This creates a precedent for
the other 23 vacant constituency seats in Parliament.
Reasons for this
decision were not furnished It is not known
when they will become available.
Until the reasons are available, one
can only speculate on whether or not the court:
· agreed with the MPs’ arguments that
the word “shall” in section 39 of the Electoral Act really does mean “must”,
and
· was not prepared to accept as a
legally valid excuse the Government’s claimed inability to fund a large number
of by-elections.
2. The “Too Many Ministers” Case – Judgment
Awaited
Background In this case the Prime
Minister and the President are both accused by civil society activists Moven
Kufa and the Voice for Democracy Trust of breaching Article 20.1.6(5) of Schedule 8 to the Constitution. The complaint is that the numbers of
Ministers appointed in February 2009 exceeded the maximum number allowed by the
Article and that this rendered the excess appointments unconstitutional, null
and void. [The Article says there “shall be” 31 Ministers, 15 nominated by ZANU
PF, 13 by MDC –T and 3 by MDC M. But, 41
Ministers were appointed.] The
applicants asked for an order unseating
the last 10 Ministers sworn in, alternatively an order compelling the President
to cut the numbers of Ministers down to 31.
High Court Dismissed the case in April 2011
Judgment Summary Justice Chiweshe ruled that
the Article’s wording was directory only, that the stipulated numbers had not
been “outrageously” exceeded, that
the inter-party proportions had been largely observed and that the “anomaly” in departing from the Article
did not warrant the order sought.
Moreover, to grant the
order sought by the applicants “would
destabilize the government of national unity and cause unnecessary confusion
within the body politic and prejudice the public interest at large”, which
he said would be inconsistent with the intention behind Schedule 8 to the
Constitution. [Judgment available from
veritas@mango.zw] The applicants noted an
appeal.
Appeal heard in the Supreme Court On 19th July the applicants’
appeal was heard in the Supreme Court, with the applicants pressing for a
straightforward application of the plain meaning of the Article, i.e. that 31
means 31.
The court
reserved judgment
3. Tsvangirai v Mugabe
[Provincial Governors Case]
Continuing from the point reached in Court Watch 10/2012.
Background In November 2010 Prime
Minister Tsvangirai launched a High Court case seeking an order setting aside
the President’s appointment earlier that year of ten ZANU-PF provincial
governors. His complaint was that the
President had not secured his agreement to these appointments, although he was
required to do according to Schedule 8 to the
Constitution, incorporating Article 20 of the GPA, which provides for key
appointments to be made by the President in consultation with the Prime
Minister
President’s technical objection The President’s lawyer, Mr
Hussein, objected to Mr Tsvangirai’s application on the grounds that Mr
Tsvangirai had gone to court without first obtaining leave to do so from a High
Court judge, arguing this was required by rule 18 of the High Court Rules.
Objection rejected It was not until 11th June
this year, that Judge-President Chiweshe, who was the High Court judge hearing
arguments for and against the President’s technical objection, ruled the
objection not valid and that the main case should go ahead in the High Court;
and the date was set for the 10th July.
President asks for leave to appeal to Supreme Court The President’s lawyer
promptly filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court against
this ruling. This resulted in the High
Court hearing set down for 10th July being indefinitely postponed pending a
decision on the appeal application. On
26th June Justice Chiweshe heard argument from sides on this application, and
reserved his judgment.
Leave to appeal denied On 24th July Justice
Chiweshe dismissed the President’s application for leave to appeal. [Judgment available from veritas@mango.zw]. He said the proposed appeal had no prospect of succeeding, because
the Supreme Court has already decided in a previous case that, notwithstanding
Rule 18, the President can be sued in his official capacity without prior
leave from a High Court judge. No date
was set for the main case to proceed.
Note: Some reports, including
one from the MDC-T Information Department, have wrongly described this as a
“Supreme Court
decision” – it was a High Court
decision. The matter may in fact go the Supreme
Court [see next
paragraph].
Further Appeal Direct to Supreme Court The Prime Minister’s lawyer,
Selby Hwacha, has received a letter from the President’s lawyer stating his
intention to apply direct to the Supreme Court for leave to appeal. [The
law states that if a High Court judge refuses leave to appeal, a Supreme Court
judge may nevertheless grant leave to appeal.] When the application is made, it will be
dealt with either by the Chief Justice or by one of the other Supreme Court
judges to whom it is allocated by the Chief Justice. It is only the preliminary technical objection that will be up for
discussion. The validity of the
provincial governors’ appointments will not be argued or
decided.
Meanwhile, Justice Chiweshe cannot set a date for the hearing of Mr
Tsvangirai’s main application in the High Court.
The real constitutional issue is still to be argued
The President’s
determined efforts to put an end to this case with his technical objection have
up to now caused long delays preventing Mr
Tsvangirai from having his day in court over the real issue in the case:
whether the President breached the Constitution when he unilaterally appointed
the provincial governors, and, if so, what the courts can or will do about
it. That, after all, is what this case
is really about.
Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot
take legal responsibility for information supplied.