Officials in Zimbabwe's coalition government are working on
tabling plans to hold elections at the end of next year.
Patrick
Chinamasa, chief negotiator for President Robert Mugabe, told state media
that party negotiators are set to agree on Wednesday on a timetable toward
elections after months of dispute.
He said negotiators were scheduled to
sign and submit a document with a proposed timing for polls to Mugabe and
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Crisis Coalition, an alliance of civic
groups, said a deal leaked to them by party officials proposes elections for
August or September 2012. By then, a new constitution and electoral reforms
demanded by regional mediators can be completed.
Mugabe had
previously called for elections this year to end the troubled coalition. --
Sapa-AP
By Chengetai Zvauya, Senior Writer Wednesday, 06
July 2011 12:29
HARARE - An agreement on electoral reforms to be
presented to coalition government principals by their negotiators today are
silent on security sector reforms despite Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai
making them his rallying call in recent days.
A negotiator from
the smaller MDC faction, Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga told the Daily News
last night that the negotiators had agreed on the timelines of the roadmap
without any discontent among party representatives.
“The roadmap does not
have anything to do with security sector reform,” said
Misihairambwi-Mushonga.
“We are going to sign the roadmap agreement
and timelines today and hand over the document to our principals who will
then hand it to the facilitation team from South Africa."
The roadmap
contains the constitution making process, media reform, electoral reforms
and the elections time frames.
A SADC task team is
heading to Zimbabwe after another round of talks to put timelines on the
election roadmap ended in deadlock this week. 06.07.1107:04am Chief
Reporter
Zanu (PF) has flatly refused to countenance security sector
reforms. On Monday negotiators in the GNU met in Harare and agreed on
timelines for everything on the election roadmap. But once again, Zanu (PF)
says there can never be any security sector reforms.
"Disagreement on
security sector reforms is timeless," Zanu (PF) negotiator Patrick Chinamasa
said after Monday meetings, adding that his party would never agree to
security sector reforms and there was nothing the MDC could do about
this.
The establishment of a task team by SADC, under the leadership of
President Jacob Zuma, to search for a solution to the situation in Zimbabwe
can be seen as "the most severe slap in the face yet" for President Robert
Mugabe.
"If a country's neighbours decide to speak about their
'brother's' problems in public, it is, in diplomatic terms, tantamount to
drawing the line on its actions," said political commentator Ronald
Shumba.
Despite Zanu (PF)'s raving and ranting, it has no choice but to
abide by SADC's election plan, including security sector reforms, he
added.
The task team was announced at the June 12 SADC summit in Sandton.
Zuma will appoint a high-level official to head the team, together with
officials to be seconded by the president of Zambia and Mozambique – South
Africa’s partners in the SADC troika.
"When heads of state within a
region join forces to intervene in another country, it emphasises the
seriousness of the problems," Shumba said. "It is also significant that
South Africa is prepared to take the lead, even though it is known to shy
away from strong-arm tactics. It is a masterstroke by Zuma not to tackle the
task alone, but to unite his allies in a multilateral
initiative."
Targeted measures by western nations have not had the
desired effect, but should Mugabe be isolated by the SADC leaders, it would
remove his legitimacy.
According to Shumba, it boils down to the
isolation of Mugabe. "When your neighbouring states start taking sides with
your own political opposition parties within your own borders, you do not
have much of a chance."
According to SADC executive secretary Tomaz
Salomao, the task team will shortly launch action plans. "Guidelines have to
be set, but to save time, groundwork can be done in the meantime. The task
team will work closely with the negotiation team and JOMIC,” he
said.
And it has to report back to the SADC summit in Angola next month.
“SADC is clear that it wants elections that are free and fair in any of its
member states, Zimbabwe included," Salomao said. "The region is trying to
work on ways and means in which these elections can be held.”
MDC
spokesman Douglas Mwonzora welcomed the involvement of other countries in
the region. They have not yet been fully informed about the composition of
the task team, but in the interim, the involvement of the task team "looks
promising".
"Should Mugabe be willing to co-operate, this can be a step
in the right direction," said Mwonzora. So far, Mugabe has shown open
contempt for SADC and its organs.
Harare, July 06, 2011- Negotiators
in the Global Political Agreement (GPA) who metTuesday in Harare confirmed
that the meeting went smoothly a sign likely to bring optimism to Zimbabwean
citizens.
The meeting discussed the full implementation of the political
pact.
In an interview soon after a daylong meeting one of the MDC-T
negotiators, Elton Mangoma said the meeting went on smoothly although he did
not divulge the outcome.
“Yes, we had our meeting and it went on
smoothly. There is nothing we can make public at this point until our
principals have gone through what we agreed on,” Mangoma said in a telephone
interview in Harare. Previous GPA review meetings had been marred with strong
disagreements with parties failing to get each other. Some of the meetings
had even lasted for days.
The Southern Africa Development Community
(SADC) special summit on Zimbabwe which was held in South Africa last month
mandated the Organ Troika to speed up the full implementation of the GPA by
Harare’s governing parties.
Harare was given up to August, 2011 when the
next Sadc meeting is held, to implement the GPA in full.
The GPA
signed in September 2008 is yet to be implemented in full as both MDC
formations and Zanu (PF) continue to fight on outstanding issues among them
sanctions imposed by the West and state sanctioned violence on selected
party members.
The MDC accuse President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) for
stalling progress.
The Organ Troika held in Livingstone early this year
resolved that there must be an immediate end to violence, intimidation, hate
speech, harassment, and any other form of action that contradicts the letter
and spirit of GPA); all stakeholders to the GPA should implement all the
provisions of the GPA and create a conducive environment for peace,
security, and free political activity.
The summit also resolved that
the inclusive government in Zimbabwe should complete all the steps necessary
for the holding of a credible.
HARARE, July 6
(Reuters) - Zimbabwe could take over mines that fall short of laws requiring
them to sell majority stakes to locals by September, a government minister
said on Wednesday.
Saviour Kasukuwere, the Indigenisation and Economic
Empowerment Minister, told state television that many of the miners had
submitted their proposals but they fell short of the empowerment
regulations.
"We have now analysed most of the proposals that have been
submited to us and we (are) seeing that many of them actually fall short,"
Kasukuwere said.
"What we are now doing is basically to invoke the law
and ensure that we, as government ... take over those assets if they are not
prepared to compromise with the position of government."
The
government in March issued regulations setting a June 2 deadline for mining
firms to submit plans on how they intend to dispose at least 51 percent
shares in their local operations to local black Zimbabweans by the end of
September.
Mineral-rich Zimbabwe has the world's second largest known
platinum reserves after neighbouring South Africa and foreign miners working
there include Zimplats Holdings (ZIM.AX: Quote), a unit of Impala Platinum
(IMPJ.J: Quote), global mining giant Rio Tinto (RIO.L: Quote), and Anglo
Platinum (AMSJ.J: Quote).
Kasukuwere has previously told Reuters that
Zimbabwe's cash-strapped government would not pay any money for the mining
stakes but would base any payment negotiations on the state's ownership of
the country's untapped mineral wealth. [ID:nLDE7441UE]
The television
report said most miners were insisting on selling 26 percent of shares
within five years while the remaining 25 percent would comprise credits from
social spending, local procurement and skills development. (Reporting by
MacDonald Dzirutwe; Editing by Ed Stoddard and Marius Bosch)
By Godfrey
Marawanyika and Brian Latham - Jul 7, 2011 2:39 AM GMT+1000
Plans by
mining companies in Zimbabwe to sell majority stakes to locals “fall short”
of government expectations, Saviour Kasukuwere, indigenisation and economic
empowerment minister, told state-owned television.
“What we are now doing
as government is basically to invoke the law and ensure that we, as
government, take over those assets,” the minister said.
The Zimbabwean
government won’t discuss “so-called empowerment credits” with miners that
have invested in social projects like schools and hospitals, said
Kasukuwere, who is a member of President Robert Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African
National Union-Patriotic Front.
Under a new law, foreign-owned miners
must cede or sell 51 percent of their shares to black Zimbabweans or
government- approved agencies. The law, known as the Indigenization and
Empowerment Act, doesn’t allow white Zimbabweans or foreigners to own
businesses with assets over $1 million.
About 173 mining companies, many
of them closely held, submitted their plans to the southern African nation’s
government explaining how they will dilute their foreign or white
shareholdings.
Zimbabwe has the world’s second-largest reserves of
platinum and ferrochrome after South Africa. The empowerment law affects
companies including Anglo-American Plc (AAL), Riot Tinto Plc, RioZim Ltd.
(RIOTZ) and Impala Platinum Ltd.
Public Service Minister Eliphas Mukonoweshuro has told SW Radio
Africa he expects the more than 75,000 ghost workers still draining the
government’s budget, will be removed from the payroll before August.
Mukonoweshuro was responding to questions from our listeners on the Question
Time programme.
With the debate over civil servants salaries dominating
the headlines in the past few weeks, Mukonoweshuro told us the work of an
inter-ministerial committee, looking at the civil service audit, was already
at an advanced stage. “Before August we should be able to say these civil
servants cannot remain on the payroll.”
Last year in November a civil
service audit exposed the fact that over 75,000 ghost workers are milking
US$20 million every month out of the cash-strapped treasury. Nearly 7,000
are ZANU PF youth militias, hired to terrorise political opponents of
Mugabe’s regime. But eight months after that same report was submitted to
cabinet for discussion, no action has been taken to resolve the
scandal.
Asked about the delay Mukonoweshuro said: “This is a question
that has to be asked elsewhere.” As the Minister he is required “to inform
and obtain the concurrence of the principals (Mugabe and Tsvangirai)” for
each and every step he has to take in order to remove these people from the
payroll. “This obviously adds to the inordinate delays which government
bureaucracy is well known for,” he said.
Turning to the confusion
over whether civil servants had recently been awarded a salary increase or
not Mukonoweshuro said: “There was no official announcement. What was
announced was a leak from the negotiation process by people who are not
authorized to disclose to their (union) members or members of the
public.”
Mukonoweshuro said the process of the Joint Negotiating Council
was well known. He said the council deliberations are sent to him and
“arrive on my desk not as a result that cannot be tampered with. It arrives
on my desk as a recommendation. My responsibility will then be to take the
recommendations to government and cabinet can vary it or increase
it.”
In this case this did not happen and he accused union leaders of
‘short-circuiting” the process. As things stand the announcement by the
Joint Negotiating Council of salary increases cannot be implemented without
him being involved. As far as Mukonoweshuro is concerned, the negotiation
process is still ongoing and nothing will be final without cabinet consent
and him making the announcement.
Mugabe has been trying to get
political mileage by running a campaign to force Finance Minister Tendai
Biti to award salary increases to civil servants, even though government
coffers are dry. Economic analysts have warned that inflation could be one
of the many results of any increases that are not backed by adequate
revenue. Others say ghost workers should be purged first, to free up money
to pay better salaries.
Harare - Nurses in Zimbabwe have been reduced to selling
tomatos and other fruit to survive due to poor public sector salaries, the
country's health minister said Wednesday.
Henry Madzorera was
speaking after receiving a donation from the US of computer equipment to
help register nurses' details in the virtually-bankrupt
country.
Washington has also donated a generator to Zimbabwe's nurse
registry agency, the Nurses Council of Zimbabwe, to use during power
cuts.
'We are left with immediately qualified nurses, mostly. Some senior
nurses are selling tomatoes in our streets. We need them to teach the young
ones,' Madzorera said.
Madzorera said 'the brain drain was
debilitating on Zimbabwe's health sector', with more than 2000 vacancies for
senior nurses as they leave for a better life, mainly in Great Britain, New
Zealand, and Australia and in the region especially neighbouring
Botswana.
'We still have a lot of work to do. We need to remedy a lot of
things that have happened over the past years,' he added, of his country's
coalition government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai formed two years ago.
Civil servants in Zimbabwe
have long complained of poor salaries and out-of-date equipment at their
work places.
Last week, Mugabe's government offered a 50 percent salary
increase, short of the 200 per cent civil servants are
demanding.
Public sector workers, on strike for more than three weeks are
divided over the offer.
They want the least past government worker to
get $502 as a monthly salary, from less than $200.
At least
10 children have died from a suspected diarrhoea outbreak which has affected
over 200 children in Zimbabwe's second city of Bulawayo over the past
month.
"More than 200 children suffering from the disease were admitted
during the month of June," The Herald newspaper quoted an official at the
government-run Mpilo Hospital as saying.
"Ten children have died.
Technicians at our laboratories are analysing stools to determine the cause
of the disease."
An official at a private hospital in the city said at
least three children had died of diarrhoea at the hospital.
Outbreaks
of diarrhoea diseases such as cholera are common in Zimbabwe, especially
during the rainy season.
Diarrhoea thrives in places without proper
sanitation. The disorder is preventable with clean water and proper
sewage.
Over 4,000 people died of cholera in Zimbabwe in an outbreak
which affected nearly 100,000 people in 2008.
According to UNICEF,
diarrhoea is responsible for 7.7 percent of deaths in Africa.
HARARE – Political violence is on the rise in five of
Zimbabwe’s ten provinces as tensions rise with ZANU-PF stepping up campaigns
in a bid to press for fresh general elections, which President Robert Mugabe
wants to be held this year, a local rights group has said.
The
Zimbabwe Peace Project (ZPP) which tracks and documents cases of political
violence and rights violation in the country said the political environment
remained tense, with increased harassment and intimidation of ZANU-PF
opponents in the month of May.
“There was a slight increase in cases of
politically motivated human rights violations to 994 as compared to the 977
witnessed during the month of April,” ZPP said in a report.
A unity
government formed between Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai is
struggling to ease political tensions between ZANU-PF and the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) supporters ahead of new presidential and
parliamentary elections which analysts say will most likely be held in mid
2012.
The ZPP report said cases of politically motivated violence
remained high and the political atmosphere was volatile in the Midlands,
Manicaland, Mashonaland Central, Mashonaland East, and Masvingo
provinces.
Political violence rose in 2008 after Mugabe lost to
Tsvangirai in a first round of voting when ZANU-PF supporters, war veterans,
youth militia and some army personnel targeted MDC supporters countrywide to
reverse the veteran leader’s defeat.
The MDC says up to 200 of its
supporters died in the violations, which forced Tsvangirai to pull out from
the run-off race, sparking a political crisis that forced Mugabe into
power-sharing talks.
ZPP said ZANU-PF supporters were behind most of the
cases of political violence in the many incidents that were recorded during
May.
Midlands remained the most volatile region with 201 incidents having
been recorded during the month, according to ZPP.
Although the figure
shows a slight decrease in violations recorded, political tensions have
remained very high in Mberengwa District where the highest number of
harassments and intimidations were recorded.
In a sign of deep-seated
political intolerance that still pervades Zimbabwe, an MDC activist was
badly assaulted by ZANU-PF In Gokwe Nembudziya constituency for wearing a
party t-shirt “in a so called ZANU-PF territory and the t-shirt was torn to
pieces”.
The rights group also said military presence in the province had
continued with serving members of the army reportedly spearheading ZANU-PF
campaigns especially in Kwekwe and Gokwe North and South
constituencies.
Manicaland recorded a big rise in cases of politically
motivated violations in May. There were 200 cases, up from 136 incidents
witnessed in April where the majority of the victims fingered war veterans,
ZANU-PF youths and traditional leaders for the actions.
Arson attacks
were also recorded and were continuing despite interventions by the Joint
Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC) in the eastern Chimanimani
district.
Zimbabwe has struggled with political violence since
independence from Britain 1980 but political analysts say the involvement of
state institutions such as the army, police and intelligence service has
entrenched a culture of violence and impunity.
“The military
involvement in mainstream politics has also been a major cause for concern.
The serving and retired soldiers are reportedly spearheading ZANU-PF
campaigns ahead of the proposed elections,” ZPP said.
Last month
Brigadier-General Douglas Nyikayaramba openly declared that the army would
die to keep Mugabe in power and said Tsvangirai was a national security
threat in comments seen by analysts as suggesting that the army could block
the former trade union leader from becoming president even if he won an
election. -- ZimOline
Harare,
July 06, 2011 - The state owned Zimbabwe Newspapers Group (Zimpapers) has
applied for a free to air national commercial radio broadcasting licence a
move that might be construed government wants to maintain a strong grip on
the media.
A notice in a local paper by the Broadcasting Authority of
Zimbabwe (BAZ) announced that Zimpapers which owns eight newspapers across
country is interested in owning a national commercial radio
station.
Zimpapers owns the following newspapers; The Herald, weekly
Sunday Mail, Sunday News, Chronicle, Manica Post, tabloid H-Metro,
vernacular newspapers Kwayedza and Umthunya.
A statement in the state
media issued by BAZ invited people who want to comment on Zimpapers’
application to call their office to register their views. BAZ gave people 14
days to submit their comments to their offices.
The BAZ which is the
authority and licensing authority in the broadcasting sector advertised for
interested broadcasting players to submit their applications to their
offices.
On Tuesday the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) said 15
aspiring radio stations submitted their applications to BAZ and if any of
the applicants are given licences this will end state media stranglehold on
the broadcasting sector. Radio Voice of the People is one of the 15
applicants.
"The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ) on 30 June 2011
said that a total of 15 aspiring radio broadcasters submitted applications
for the two advertised free to air national commercial radio licenses.
MISA-Zimbabwe has noted the requisite adverts by some prospective
broadcasters in the national newspapers. These include Voxmedia Productions
trading as Voice of People FM, Thonet Investments trading as Radio Africa,
AB communications Pvt Ltd, Black Thing Communications and Seddon
Investments," MISA said.
"In terms of Section 10 Subsection 3 of the
Broadcasting Services Act, applicants are required to publish their
applications in a national paper within 7 days of submitting their
applications. The processing of applications by the BAZ is upon proof of
production of the advert. Members of the public are also given a 14 day
window period to comment about the applications to the authority and lodge
any objections about an applicant."
The print media space in Zimbabwe has
been opening in the past two years after the unity government of President
Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to implement
reforms in the media. Several newspapers have been issued with licenses but
no new broadcasting player has been issued with a licence.
By Own Correspondent Wednesday, 06 July
2011 12:51
MUTARE - Chipinge East Member Parliament Matthias Matewu
Mlambo claims soldiers and Zanu PF supporters are harassing his supporters,
as efforts by Sadc leaders to contain political violence in Zimbabwe appear
faltering.
Mlambo said eight MDC members were assaulted and detained
by suspected Zanu PF activists and soldiers in Daisy Hill, about 30km south
of Chipinge town at the weekend.
Police had failed to act on the
deteriorating situation despite a report made at Chipinge Police Station,
said Mlambo.
“The supporters were beaten up and are being kept at the
soldiers’ base at Green Valley,” said Mlambo, adding that efforts to secure
their release had failed.
Mlambo named the eight as Fidelis Magumo,
Maxwell and Gondai Hanyanisi, Godfrey and Aleck Munjokodi, Chanditeya
Marange, Miriam Mlambo and Tineyi Dopore.
Provincial army spokesman
Captain Edson Mafare said he was unaware of the incident since he was in
Harare.
It was also not possible to immediately verify Mlambo’s claims
with the police as they were not forthcoming with a comment.
But in
recent interviews over reports of Zanu PF teaming up with soldiers to harass
political rivals, Zanu PF provincial deputy secretary for information and
publicity Charles Samuriwo has said allegations of assault on MDC members by
suspected activists from his party needed to be substantiated as, “some of
the reports lacked evidence”.
“When people say they are being beaten by
Zanu PF supporters there is need for critical information on when this
happened and who was involved and where it occurred as some of the reports
are baseless,” said Samuriwo.
“Some political parties enjoy playing the
victim in any situation while others have had a perpetrator tag for a long
time.
“We have seen others enjoying being seen as victims in acts of
violence even when there was an exchange in these acts of political
violence,” said Samuriwo.
Mlambo, however, accused police of being
partisan when handling issues involving political violence in his
area.
“I have made a police report in Chipinge and I have also made
another police report at Mutare Central Police Station as I have realised
nothing is being done to avert the continued onslaught on our membership in
Chipinge district,” Mlambo said.
MDC provincial spokesman Pishai
Muchauraya said reports of violence were not limited to Chipinge.
“We
are continuing to receive reports of our supporters being assaulted at the
hands of security forces and Zanu PF militia with no concrete and decisive
action being taken to stop this madness,” said Muchauraya.
Worried by the
rising cases of violence, Sadc leaders last month endorsed a plan to second
its officials to work with the Joint Monitoring Committee (Jomic) to
strengthen the body.
Jomic, a multi-party body, is mandated with
monitoring the implementation of the coalition government’s founding accord,
the Global Political Agreement (GPA).
Critics, however, say the organ
has failed to stop cases of violence, which appear to be on the rise as a
general election looms.
Surat, July 6 (ANI): India has imposed a ban on the import of
rough diamonds from Zimbabwe, in wake of reported acts of human rights
violations in the African country.
Owing to the reports of rampant
human rights violations of the diamond mine workers for the past several
years, the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) has passed a
decision not to import diamonds from the Marange diamond mines in
Zimbabwe.Chandrakant Sanghvi, the Regional Chairman of GJEPC in Surat, said
that India took the decision to impose the ban after the global community
and various organizations received reports of human rights violations in
Zimbabwe.
"It was decided unanimously that if all the countries are
ready, then only would we import Zimbabwe diamonds here (India). The talks
that the Zimbabwe diamonds had with the World Diamond Council and others,
still faces opposition from the European countries and the USA. Since there
is no full support, India has decided that Zimbabwe diamonds will not be
imported here," he said.
Sanghvi also stated that Marange mines were
not certified by the Kimberley Process Certificate, which is issued to
diamond mines by the World Diamond Council for adhering to labour laws and
human rights.
He also pointed out that the ban on the Zimbabwe rough
diamonds has created problems for the diamond merchants in
Surat.
"The import of Zimbabwe diamonds here can provide various sources
of livelihood to many people. Our country can incur more profits and
employment from this. However, due to the shortage, the prices of rough
diamonds have increased by forty to fifty percent in the last six months. It
is a loss of employment here. If the rough diamonds come here with
everybody's consent, then our people can receive employment and profits can
be incurred," said Sanghvi.
Traders in Surat are hoping that a
feasible solution is found to import the rough diamonds for the sustenance
of the diamond trade. (ANI)
NEW DELHI – The blood stains on Zimbabwe's diamonds have started
thinning -- though not by much, many say -- spurring one of the world's
largest gem and jewelry markets to push for imports of the stone.
"We
want rough diamonds," said Sanjay Kothari, vice chairman of India's Gem and
Jewellery Export Promotion Council, adding that a $170 million shipment of
Zimbabwe diamonds stranded in Dubai for several months was freed up a few
days ago, and that it will reach India soon.
The council helps source
diamonds from overseas and acts as a lobby group for the
industry.
News that the shipment has been cleared comes about two weeks
after the president of the Kimberley Process -- a group set up to check the
sale of "blood diamonds" -- said at the end of June that it endorses a
decision to allow exports from two mining operations in Zimbabwe's Marange
field with immediate effect.
The two operations are Marange
Resources, wholly-owned by the Zimbabwe government, and Mbada Diamonds, a
joint venture between the Zimbabwe government and South Africa's Grandwell
Holdings.
Civil society groups slammed the decision, saying they walked
out of the meeting when it was decided to allow sales, and that the move
doesn't address the issue of what they say is continuing violence in the
mining area.
Observers say the issue of the Marange fields blew up in
late 2008, when the military allegedly seized control, driving away small
miners and committing human rights violations.
Gems from the field
earned the label of "blood diamonds," or precious stones used to fund war
and atrocities against people, and were banned from world markets by the
45-member Kimberley Process in 2009.
Reports say the U.S., European
representatives and Canada were resistant to the idea of opening up
sales.
Mr. Kothari said the recent meeting of the Kimberley Process
"didn't arrive at a consensus. We will have to continue with
dialogue."
"We are asking the government of India to intervene so that
the issue between all these countries can get resolved," he
added.
Traditionally, most diamonds were sourced from companies such as
De Beers and Rio Tinto, but the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council,
or GJEPC, has been attempting to buy directly from producing countries in
recent years.
India has been trying to reopen and develop domestic
mines, but the sources are few, and so it buys billions of dollars of the
gem from overseas every year. Almost all of the diamonds are re-exported
after polishing and cutting.
India's gem and jewelry exports jumped
47% to $43.1 billion in the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011, up from $29.4
billion in the previous year, because of higher prices and demand, according
to GJEPC.
Mr. Kothari said that it is too early to give any projections
of exports for this fiscal year and whether the consignment from Dubai would
make any significant difference.
Earlier, industry officials forecast
that India's gem and jewelry exports could rise 15%-20% in
2011-12.
The Kimberley Process was established in 2003 to prevent the
diamond mining industry from funding war.
Sailesh Sangani, a member
of GJEPC's board, said that India will benefit from an opening up of sales
at Marange.
"India is the largest manufacturer of cut and polished
diamonds, so the country will be the biggest beneficiary," said Mr. Sangani,
who is also managing director of export company Priority
Jewels.
South Africa’s role in getting Zimbabwe’s diamonds back into
international trade is being slammed as “dangerous”, amid revelations that
government officials there have helped export millions of dollars worth of
Zim diamonds.
South Africa’s State Diamond Trader officials admitted
in parliament last week that they had helped Zimbabwe export diamonds from
Chiadzwa, despite an international ban on the trade. During a meeting of the
international trade watchdog the Kimberley Process (KP) last month the
country’s Mines Minister Susan Shabangu, had also publicly stated that
diamonds from the controversial Chiadzwa diamond fields were
tradeable.
That meeting ended with no consensus from KP members of
Zimbabwe’s future in the international diamond industry. But despite this
lack of consensus the KP chair, Mathieu Yamba, announced that Zimbabwe had
the green light to resume exports. It’s widely understood that this
unilateral declaration was prompted by South Africa’s open support for
Zimbabwe.
The announcement has been rejected by a number of other KP
members, including the US, Canada, Australia, Israel and most recently,
Switzerland. Analysts have now warned that the apparent split down the
middle of the KP membership on how to proceed with Zimbabwe, threatens to
collapse the monitoring body completely.
Alan Martin from Partnership
Africa Canada (PAC), one of the civil society groups who are part of the KP,
told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that South Africa was playing a “very
dangerous game,” at a time when “the KP is on life support.” Martin said
that South Africa had effectively put its own diamonds on a par with
Chiadzwa diamonds, if it continues to “launder” stones from there en route
to other countries, like India or the United Arab Emirates
(UAE).
“South Africa is jeopardising its own industry and is really
playing the wrong kind of leadership role. I’m afraid this is going to have
very serious ramifications for South Africa,” Martin said.
Martin
continued by saying that Africa’s support for Zimbabwe has taken a suicidal
turn, which threatens the entire continent’s future in the diamond
trade.
“Africa has shot itself in the head and is effectively wasting
political capital by shoring up a bunch of crooks and thugs in Zimbabwe, and
not recognising that the industry is at stake,” Martin warned.
He
explained that diamond traders, cutters, polishers and even consumers “are
going to turn to other sources that will guarantee their diamonds are not
sourced badly,” explaining that the whole of Africa is being viewed
negatively because of Zimbabwe.
“This could be the worst thing to
happen to African diamond producing countries since the wars of West
Africa,” Martin said.
State media in Zimbabwe on Wednesday reported that Harare was
negotiating a deal with South Africa to import power to improve domestic
supply.
Zimbabwe’s energy minister said the deal would see his country
importing power during South Africa's off-peak periods.
Minister
Elton Mangoma said the modalities of the South African deal are already
being worked out.
He said South Africa should stop reducing its power
generation during off-peak periods and export the excess to
Zimbabwe.
In March, Zimbabwe upped its power imports from the Democratic
Republic of Congo. But this has not been enough to offset a reported 600
megawatt shortfall.
This could hit Zimbabwean factories, mines and
homes that are already crippled by power cuts.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -FIFA anti-corruption officials have
delayed a scheduled visit to Zimbabwe on Sunday to later this month to give
local administrators more time to investigate a match-fixing
scam.
The Zimbabwe Football Association has been undergoing a probe into
admissions by national team players last October of taking bribes to lose
matches on tours to Asia.
ZIFA chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze
says on Wednesday that FIFA has been encouraged by its internal
investigation.
Mashingaidze says the FIFA team has deferred its arrival
in order to guarantee "a thorough and far-reaching investigation.''
MDC councillor for ward 32 in Glen View, Tungamirai Madzokera, has a
serious head trauma allegedly from police beatings after his arrest in May.
Madzokera was arrested along with over 20 MDC-T members on trumped-up
charges of murdering a police officer in Glen View.
Defence lawyer
Charles Kwaramba said his injury appears severe and a prison doctor has
ordered an urgent CT head scan.
Fellow inmates have noticed Madzokera
having problems in concentrating, remembering things and putting thoughts
together, all hallmarks of a serious head injury. Additionally his left arm
has been put in a plaster cast following a medical examination at
Parirenyatwa hospital last week.
‘He has been in pain since the beatings
and when he went for a medical check up last week, they discovered he had
two fractures in his left hand. He is still in pain and doctors at the
prison have said he needs to go for a head scan.
‘These are injuries
he suffered while in police custody and upon his arrest. We are monitoring
his situation closely to ensure that he receives adequate medical
attention,’ Kwaramba said.
The defence lawyer visited Harare Remand
Prison on Wednesday. He said the other seven still being held there,
including IT specialist and mother of one Cynthia Manjoro, were all fine.
Twelve activists who were part of the 24 activists facing murder charges
were granted bail by High Court Judge Tendai Uchena last week.
Among
those granted bail was Last Maengahama, an MDC-T National Executive Council
member and the party’s secretary for information, communication technology
and development. He was granted a US$1,000 bail with stringent reporting
conditions. The rest were granted US$300 bail each.
But two of those
granted bail are still in custody after they failed to meet their bail
conditions. Dube Zwelinzima and Edwin Muingiri were supposed to surrender
their passports as part of their bail conditions but it has turned out that
Zwelinzima does not have one while Muingiri lost his and it had also
expired.
‘We are going back to court to make sure that the conditions
that pertained to their passports are removed. When one is granted bail you
have to satisfy all conditions before a clerk of court can sign you out. If
you fail to provide one of the conditions, the court will not even allow you
to pay bail to be released,’ Kwaramba added.
On the remaining eight,
he said the defence team was on the verge of filing an appeal to the Supreme
Court against denial of bail. The activists have spent over a month in
custody since they were arrested at the end of May.
‘We know everyday
they spend in jail is an eternity. We anticipate we will lodge our appeal in
a few days time and only hope it will be set down quickly and that we would
be able to petition the court to give them bail. At most we are looking at a
time frame of two weeks to deal with the Supreme Court appeal,’ Kwaramba
said.
By Xolisani Ncube, Staff Writer Wednesday, 06 July 2011
11:32
HARARE - An association of councillors has upped the pressure
on embattled Minister of Local Government Ignatius Chombo, after they
approached the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (Jomic), to
help with his arrest and prosecution.
After failing to have the
mega-rich Chombo arrested for what they call “illegal acquisition of local
authorities’ property” throughout the country, the Elected Councillors
Association of Zimbabwe (ECAZ) believes Jomic might be able to pressure
partners in the inclusive government to take action.
This means President
Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Welshman Ncube, the
leader of the smaller MDC faction might be forced to intervene as principals
in the inclusive government.
A special committee of Harare City
Councillors carried out an audit into the sale of council land and in their
report implicated Chombo, businessman Phillip Chiyangwa and senior council
employees in the illegal acquisition of prime land.
Instead of
questioning those implicated, police arrested the councillors who carried
out the investigation but complainant Chiyangwa later withdrew the charges
for unknown reasons. Both Chombo and Chiyangwa who claim to be close or
related to Mugabe say they followed proper channels to acquire the vast
pieces of land.
In a letter to Jomic dated July 5, 2011, the
councillors are accusing the police and the attorney general’s office of
selectively applying the law saying they failed to deal with Chombo despite
“overwhelming evidence” against him and some Zanu PF officials.
“As
elected councillors, we are of the view that the police’s reluctance to
arrest a Zanu PF minister despite being provided with documentary evidence
of his wrongdoing constitutes a violation of Article XII (b) of GPA,” reads
part of the letter to Jomic.
The councillors are also petitioning
Jomic to deal with allegations against Mashonaland Central governor and
resident minister Advocate Martin Dinha over allegations that he swindled
Bindura residents after buying a house for 48 cents in 2008.
“The
people of Zimbabwe need an answer as to why the police and the office of the
AG have defied their request to bring Chombo to account on allegations that
are supported with well documented evidence,” reads the petition.
The
petition claims that the police are reluctant to deal with Chombo despite
having arrested three minsters from the MDC formations on charges the
parties say are frivolous.
“So far Chombo has been reported to the police
four times on cases supported with documented evidence to the effect that he
unlawfully benefitted from public property.
“However, it is in the
public domain that since the beginning of this year the police have arrested
at least three government ministers. Whereas they have shown the zeal in
arresting ministers from the two MDC formations even without an official
complaint.
“They have been inexplicably reluctant to arrest Chombo
despite documentary evidence presented to them.”Last month police told the
Daily News that they would not arrest Chombo until the city of Harare makes
a fresh report which will be done by council officials and the
mayor.
Allegations against Chombo are that he unlawfully disposed
subdivision K portion of Nthaba portion of Glen Lorne to Alois Chimeri
without council authority. He also stands accused of “conniving” with
council officials to irregularly acquire Stand 61 Helensvale without council
authority.
At least four police reports have been made against Chombo by
residents and councillors begging for his arrest and
investigation.
On April 20, 2010 Harare acting mayor Charity Bango lodged
a police report but up to this day no arrest has been made.
This
year, ECAZ lodged another report with attorney general Johannes Tomana to
invoke Section 76 (4a) of the constitution which allows him to order police
to institute investigations against any individual.
In his response,
Tomana told the Daily News that it was his prerogative to determine who
should prosecute.
“It does not matter who we start to prosecute. Whether
we start from the middle, bottom or top it does not matter. The
discretion is entirely in my hands on who I should start with,” Tomana
said.
Chombo, who has been having relentless battles with the MDC
councillors since his party started losing control of some local authorities
in 2003 has resorted to dismissing the elected councillors with Bindura
having lost two mayors while Harare lost at least six
councillors.
Some of those suspended or dismissed were involved in the
probe teams that nailed him.
Last week Harare mayor Muchadeyi Masunda
said he had approached at least eight people to constitute a tribunal that
will bring finality to the allegations against Chombo and some top council
officials.
Residents groupings have also appealed to council to institute
measures against council employees who were implicated in the shady
deals.
Chombo, who was unreachable for a comment last night, told the
Daily News a month ago that he had no case to answer as he acquired the
disputed property properly.
“As far as I am concerned, I have done
nothing wrong and they can go ahead and report me to whoever they want, but
I have not done anything criminal,” he said.
Chombo is currently
embroiled in a messy divorce with his wife Marian where details of his vast
wealth emerged. However, Chombo insists that the vast properties initially
mentioned in court were an attempt by his estranged wife to politically
damage him through the courts.
Chombo maintains that he is not as rich as
being portrayed in the media.
In 2005 President Robert Mugabe
committed one of his biggest sins against the people of Zimbabwe. He
destroyed their homes and left close to a million
homeless. 05.07.1105:34pm Fungai Kwaramba Harare
After
international condemnation Mugabe sought to save face by building new houses
in an operation code named Operation Garikai Hlalani Kuhle. But it was an
abysmal failure.
Six years on, people are still homeless and this winter
has been Ruthless - forcing many to build new illegal homes as the state’s
promise of new homes fast fades into oblivion.
In the sprawling town
of Chitungwiza, where a stand costs more than $3000 and accommodation is
getting expensive every day, shacks are returning. They not only homes to
hundreds of people but also a source of income to many pensioners whose
savings were ruined by the Gideon Gono era of hyper-inflation.
“I
built this room out of desperation. I am not employed and cannot afford the
rentals. I therefore decided to build this other room so that the tenants
can help me pay the bills,” said Andrew Nyoni who lives in a two-roomed core
house.
The new rooms are less conspicuous and have assumed a new name -
“side pocket” - as they are built just beside the core houses in many high
density suburbs.
With memories of Murambatsvina still fresh and
bitter, the bricks used are of cheap quality in order to avoid
losses.
“People from Chitungwiza town council have not said anything
about the cottages and therefore we have hope that we are going to be left
alone. I pay $30 for my room and even though it is small I have a roof over
my head ad have access to water and electricity things that I did not have
at Hopley Farm where the government had resettled me,” said Munyaradzi
Gwena.
The massive business empire that central bank chief
Gideon Gono built while destroying the nation's economy since 2003 is now
crumbling, sources close to the governor have revealed.
Employees of Gono
are now deserting the former tycoon, who built a fortune speculating on the
future of the country's now worthless Zimdollar.
On the
professional front, Gono received a major rebuke last week for his reckless
policies and activities at the central bank when the High Court ordered the
Reserve Bank to return to the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority $5 million that the
governor clandestinely transferred to Zanu (PF) between September 2008 and March
2009.
Private companies
and NGOs whose foreign currency accounts were looted by Gono to fund President
Robert Mugabe's death squads during the political tumult of 2008 are also
putting pressure on the RBZ to return their funds.
Sleepless
nights
However, what
would really give Gono sleepless nights are reports of his waning
wealth.
“We have been told
that we can not go ahead with Gono's projects because there's no more money,”
said a dejected employee, who asked not to be named. “Gono used to have so much
money that there would be queues of people outside his office as early as 6am
waiting to do business with him. Gono himself would be the first to get to work
at five and only leave at 11 pm. Most of his time was spent doing personal
deals. Now people don't want to see him because he has no more
money.”
Among the projects
that have failed to take off because of Gono's allegedly precarious financial
position is the previously lucrative Thomson Publications magazine and
promotions empire as well as Mighty Movies, in which he acquired equity in a
swap deal with controversial media mogul Supa Mandiwanzira's ABC Business
Communications.
Last year, Gono
reportedly sold six percent of his majority stake in The Financial Gazette in
exchange for the Mighty Movies shares, with the expectation that government
would open up the airwaves and the movie company could acquire a broadcasting
licence.
Fuel
deals
Failure by the
state to open up the airwaves has dealt a severe blow to independent producers
such as Mighty Movies who have to scrounge for jobs in a depressed TV ads
market. Gono was also expected to publish a daily paper, The Evening
Gazette.
According to
knowledgeable sources, Gono made a lot of his money as chairman of the
much-derided national fuel procurement committee, while he was CEO of CBZ Bank
and Mugabe's personal banker. Documents seen by this reporter show that Gono was
personally entitled to 40 percent of the invoice sums as commission for sourcing
fuel in a hostile environment after most traditional suppliers ditched Zimbabwe
for non-payment.
Gono made frequent
trips with Mugabe to countries like Libya, Iran, Kuwait and Venezuela scrounging
for fuel. Family members who were clinging to Gono are also said to be
abandoning him.
In 2009, Larry
Gono, son of the governor's late brother Peter, told this reporter that his
then-wealthy uncle had no interest in the Go Liner luxury coach
business.
Gono, however,
owns several farms and is a significant shareholder in several listed and
unlisted concerns, mainly through nominees. He also owns the prestigious Chivhu
Hotel in first lady Grace Mugabe's home town.
Bag of
cash
A former driver to
Gono described the RBZ chief as someone who had swum in money,
literally.
“Once I was
driving the governor on a trip to Kadoma when I asked for permission to see my
mother-in-law. The governor opened the huge bag of cash that he always carried.
He asked me to look aside and dip my hand into the bag. He said I could take
whatever I could hold in one hand and give to my mother in law. It was a lot of
money!” said the driver.
Another close aide
at the central bank, who has now jumped ship, said RBZ employees had become
'impoverished' as they could no longer dip into the endless tunnel of Zanu (PF)
freebies often dished out by Gono. The former bank executive said Gono had told
RBZ employees that he would no longer be responsible for the illegal deals that
enriched even the lowest central bank employee.
Gono's troubles
started when the inclusive government came into being in 2009. New finance
minister Tendai Biti called for an audit of the RBZ while the MDC demanded his
resignation. Gono's wings have severely been clipped and he has been ordered to
stick to his core mandate and not to dish out money to Zanu (PF) officials and
entities as in the past.
06 July 2011 MISA-Zimbabwe’s response to ZBC
attack
The recent malicious attack on MISA-Zimbabwe by ZBC aimed at
eroding the organisation’s integrity as an adherent of democratic values and
practices, cannot go unchallenged. The attack, which sadly came as MISA
mourned the death of its member Joseph Mandizvidza who died in a car
accident on his way to the organisation’s Annual General Meeting (AGM),
further illustrates the extent to which journalism standards have fallen at
the broadcaster.
In its Newshour of July 5, ZTV led with a blatant
fabrication pertaining to MISA-Zimbabwe’s AGM. With no shred of evidence
provided, ZTV reporter alleged that the AGM was “marred by serious vote
buying and rigging…” He went on to quote some faceless MISA-Zimbabwe members
alleging that bouncers were hired to bar aspiring candidates from
contesting.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The AGM and indeed
the election of the new board was held without any incident and in
accordance with MISA-Zimbabwe’s electoral guidelines. Evidence to support
this is readily available. If the journalist’s intention was to factually
report on the event he could have easily been provided with such evidence or
he could have sought comments from MISA-Zimbabwe, which is a phone call away
from ZBC studios.
Seeking comment from subjects of a story is a basic
tenet of journalism that all those who seek to factually report on events
would be ashamed of violating.
Therefore, the reason why this piece
of fabrication could be allowed to masquerade as news can never be
associated with professional journalism. Instead, it can only be located
within an attempt to mudsling the organisation and buttress the state
media’s conspiracy theories that civil society organisations were appendages
of a sinister western ‘regime change’ plot.
This became clearer as
the reporter tried to link the newly elected board members to the alleged 3
million pounds that MDC-T Minister Jameson Timba reportedly mobilised for
the private media ahead of elections. Again no evidence was provided to
substantiate the alleged link.
Such unfounded attacks on transparent and
accountable leadership renewal processes of MISA-Zimbabwe can only
strengthen the organisation’s calls for the transformation of ZBC –
currently shackled to the caprices of the ZANU PF arm of government – into a
true public service broadcaster. MISA-Zimbabwe will not be distracted from
pursuing the complete democratisation of the media space by such unashamed
propagandist schemes. We can only hope the authorities would urgently
process the broadcasting licence applications so as to give Zimbabweans more
choice of stations to listen to and thereby liberate them from the poisonous
daily propaganda they are subjected to by ZBC. Strong competition in the
broadcasting sector will go a long way in bringing the broadcaster back to
the professional fold. This is because the market will definitely reject
hogwash content and infantile propaganda in favour of quality
programming.
As an organisation that firmly believes in media self
regulation, MISA-Zimbabwe will lodge a complaint with the Voluntary Media
Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) in its efforts to get appropriate remedial action
following this scandalous attack.
By Bridget Mananavire, Staff Writer Wednesday,
06 July 2011 12:44
HARARE - Education Minister David Coltart says
financial instability and lack of confidence in the country’s public
education sector have resulted in increased school
dropouts.
Without giving figures, Coltart said his ministry was
concerned that the situation could worsen if urgent steps were not taken to
improve conditions at government schools.
“Most parents have lost
confidence in the country’s education sector and because of poverty they
would rather not send their children to school because they believe that it
is useless because schools have lost their credibility,” Coltart
said.
He was commissioning 59 vehicles for use by district education
officers that he said would ensure proper monitoring at
schools.
Coltart said it was difficult obtaining recent exact statistics
of the dropout rate in public schools because of lack of proper resources
for data collection.
“The commissioning of the vehicles will go a
long way to improve the operations of the schools which have been
infiltrated by lawlessness because of lack of proper monitoring,” Coltart
said.
“What makes this significant is that we got these vehicles out of
our own resources and they amount to $1.3 million,” he said.
Harare, July 06, 2011 - The Zimbabwe Women
Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN) on Tuesday pledged to support the
Parliament of Zimbabwe with $ 300 000 to fund gender
development.
ZWRCN director, Naomi Chimbetete told parliament officials
that her organisation will provide funding that will promote women in
parliament and in different constituencies across the
country.
Parliament and ZWRCN signed a memorandum of understanding on
Tuesday to exchange notes and promote gender development in the country.
Chimbetete said her organisation is looking forward to look for more funds
to sponsor women activities in the country.
The MOU was signed by
Chimbetete and Speaker of parliament, Lovemore Moyo at the House of
Assembly.
Moyo addressing the media after signing the memorandum of
understanding said :"We always look forward in this institution in making
friends with new development partners. We are indeed pleased that we have a
similar opportunity today with ZWRCN, this is a milestone. We are currently
implementing a three year strategic document that we think ZWRCN will be
interested in making sure its jointly funded by parliament and development
partners. We hope that we will be able to strengthen our relationship," Moyo
said.
Chimbetete said ;"Zimbabwe Women Resource Centre Network had
some relationship with parliament in the past years but not in a formalised
way. Over the last two years we have sat down as a network and recognised
that there is need to link much more, be connected much more. We are very
grateful that our relationship with parliament has been
formalised."
ZWRCN is an organisation formed in 1990 to champion women
issues that include oppression, gender equality and development. The
organisation works with policy makers, the media, human rights organisations
and other women organisations. The organisation has libraries and resource
centres to help women know about their rights.
“I love life,” says the European Union Ambassador to
Zimbabwe, Aldo Dell'Ariccia.
For any Western diplomat thrust into the
rough and tumble of Zimbabwean politics, that appears to be an optimistic
statement indeed.
Imagine a situation where everything you do in life is
related to what you do at election time. The predominant emotion in such a
system is fear and that is the situation Dell'Ariccia found when he came to
Zimbabwe towards the end of 2010.
There are usually two choices for
all foreign envoys working in Zimbabwe: either you toe the line of the
discredited regime of President Robert Mugabe and Zanu (PF), ignoring daily
human rights violations, theft of public funds and mismanagement, or you
choose to do a professional job, pointing out wrongs.
Dell'Ariccia,
it seems, chose to do a thorough job of his assignment to Harare, currently
a minefield because of the politics of division prevailing.
Highly
visible
Taking over from Xavier Marchal, Dell'Ariccia has been highly
visible, directing help to poor communities around the country during the
final days of a deadly cholera outbreak and participating in high-profile
public debates in defence of EU policies.
For Dell'Ariccia, who has
worked in other post-conflict regions of the world, this is not entirely
surprising. What is amazing, he says, is the resolve by many Zimbabweans to
carry on with life despite very difficult challenges they face.
"I
admire the capacity for human resilience and courage of the Zimbabweans.
There is fear, one can perceive it, but, at the same time, there is courage
and resilience.” Dell'Ariccia told The Zimbabwean in a recent exclusive,
wide-ranging interview at his offices in Mt Pleasant.
Dell'Ariccia
started his diplomatic career in India in 1988. He was then posted to Costa
Rica in Central America, where he spent five and a half years working in a
region that was recovering from the deep wounds of civil war. Although
countries like El Salvador and Guatemala were on a definite path to peace,
the Ambassador discovered that many of the people were still haunted by
their violent past.
Build peace
“There had been half a million
victims in Guatemala, most executed by death squads,” Dell'Ariccia said.
Helping to build peace became his major priority.
The Ambassador's
last post was in Papua New Guinea in the South Pacific. Prior to that, he
worked in Thailand and Cambodia in South-East Asia, the latter being another
country wrecked by conflict and fear.
Dell'Ariccia says when people are
scared, they are full of anguish and they become very sensitive, something
that he has seen in Zimbabwe.
Born in Italy 58 years ago, the career
diplomat moved as a child with his parents to Germany. Later, he went to
Switzerland where he studied political science, economics and international
relations before embarking on his diplomatic career.
Of his Zimbabwe
posting, Dell'Ariccia feels the assignment is straight-forward if one can
separate the confusing rhetoric from Harare's politicians from the reality
on the ground.
Good friend
“The presence of the EU is manifold.
We've been a good friend of Zimbabwe since 1980. But since 2002, the
situation deteriorated,” he says.
In 2002, the EU slapped Mugabe and a
handful of his associates with a travel ban to Europe and ordered their
assets frozen.
Dell'Ariccia says this was a logical step as the
Zimbabwean leadership had violated the terms of the EU-ACP agreement, based
on the respect of human rights and the rule of law.
The ambassador is
quick to point out - as he has done on numerous occasions since he arrived
in Harare – that restrictions on a few top officials should not be seen as
punishment on the whole of Zimbabwe.
“Support to the people of Zimbabwe
continues,” Dell'Ariccia said. “What drives our aid is solidarity and
support to the people of Zimbabwe.”
He said the EU, which is one of
Zimbabwe's largest support partners, did not stop aid programmes completely
as that would mean people are punished twice – once by the prevalent
situation in the country and then by the international community. Instead,
he said, the EU had adopted a new mechanism where aid funds for Zimbabwe are
channelled through UN agencies and non-governmental
organisations
Elections
Dell'Ariccia said the advent of the Global
Political Agreement power-sharing deal between Mugabe and leaders of the MDC
parties opened a new chapter for EU-Zimbabwe relations. He cited the visit
to the EU headquarters in Brussels by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in
2009 which, he said, raised the prospect of re-engagement between Zimbabwe
and the EU.
More importantly, Dell'Ariccia said, the GPA had been a first
step in Zimbabwe's return to normality, where the will of the people should
be respected through elections and human rights
observed.
Dell'Ariccia said it would be a good sign if the EU was invited
to observe the forthcoming elections in Zimbabwe.
He said the
presence of international observers generally made people feel safer and
more motivated to participate in elections. The presence of observers also
usually reduces the risk of fraud. However, he emphasized that the EU would
only send observers if invited to do so.
“If we're not invited we'd hope
that regional organisations (SADC and the AU) carry out the observation,”
Dell'Ariccia said.
He said Zimbabwe was a sovereign state and it's rights
should be respected. “It's not for people from outside to decide what they
(Zimbabweans) want,” he said.
The envoy said Zimbabweans had a right
to support whoever they wanted to lead them.
“The next election
should demonstrate the will of the people of Zimbabwe,” he
said.
Fragile
The Ambassador highlighted principles already
adopted by the AU and SADC, which could make the elections credible. These
include free access to the polls by all eligible voters, freedom from
violence, transparency, freedom of the media and respect for the
results.
Dell'Ariccia noted that the GPA had done a lot to halt the
damage to Zimbabwe's image and “resurrect” the economy but challenges
remained. “The GPA is a fragile agreement,” he said.
Dell'Ariccia
said Zimbabwe was a country blessed with raw materials but it faced the
classical challenge of turning these into wealth to benefit all it's
people.
The Ambassador has worked previously as a journalist in Central
America. He was Chief Editor of Infor Press Central Americana before the
peace process began. He says this was a sensitive task because of the
political environment.
“We had to be absolutely accurate,” he says.
Dell'Ariccia is not married and has no children but says this is not a
setback to his demanding job or outgoing lifestyle.
He is a stickler
for accuracy and is not shy to point out the mistakes others make during
public debates. This has made him a formidable opponent in debates in
Zimbabwe, where some officials have been known to spread blatant lies just
in order to win arguments.
For instance, he got the audience laughing
last year during a debate with historian Tafataona Mahoso at the Book Cafe.
Mahoso had described him as 'Anglo-Saxon' and started blaming his ancestors
for British colonialism when Dell'Ariccia quickly pointed out, “No, I'm not
Anglo-Saxon, I'm Roman.”
He has also proved to be a challenge for
propagandists at the state-run media by quickly responding to errors in
stories and setting the record straight, always without emotion or the usual
threats that a man in such a position could use.
Eddie Cross says illegal
mining is being used to fund a fight back against democracy
BULAWAYO
- You will recall my analogy last year of the wounded Buffalo in the Jesse.
Well I thought today I should revisit this situation and find out just what
has happened since then.
Visibility in lowveld Jesse is not more than 5
metres and when wounded, a typical buffalo will quickly find refuge in such
bush where he can wait for the inevitable pursuit. Anyone who has hunted
Buffalo will know they are extremely wily and dangerous. They will back
track and wait alongside their recent spoor to see what is coming and stand
completely still until they can start that short furious dash that so often
has resulted in a rather painful flight into a nearby thorn bush or worse
still impalement on his horns and possible death for the hunter.
In
our case the buffalo has been mortally wounded and he knows it - but there
is a lot of life in the old bull and he has some real dagga boys with him.
He knows pursuit is inevitable but has time and the environment on his side.
The question is what are his tactics?
Well, first he understands this is
a fight to the finish. Secondly he knows that stealth and silence are
essential, so he keeps his true intentions a closely guarded secret.
Thirdly, deception is a great help when it is available. Cut off from the
rich grass of the riverine bush and the vleis' his other need is nutrition
and water. Both are scarce and the sun is hot over head.
They have
found a patch of rich grass and browse at a place called Marange - there
they are finding the resources and water for the fight back. They know the
hunters are aware of the secret grazing but are confident that because it is
well into the Jesse they cannot be approached without warning.
For the
rest they understand that there is little they can do if the hunters catch
up with them and are able to train their weapons on them before the bulls
get going and therefore they strategise every day - constantly moving and
hiding in different locations - always watching what is happening and
keeping an eye on the weather.
So Zanu PF fights on. They have
latched onto the illegal mining operations at Marange and despite the
pressure from the whole world through the diamond trade and despite a High
Court ruling that the diamond find belongs to a British firm - ACR and the
diamonds being produced and marketed are stolen property, they are pressing
on with total disregard for the legal niceties and international and
regional opinion.
The real problem is that while output was fairly modest
in 2009, production has escalated sharply with the introduction of new
capital and equipment. So much so that I understand the volume now being
traded is impacting globally on prices. This has far reaching implications
for the political crisis in Zimbabwe and could affect the entire region. The
funds being generated from Marange far exceed the yield of blood diamonds in
Sierra Leone which led to regional instability and violence in West Africa
.
With these funds Zanu PF is now receiving the resources required for
the fight back. They can pay members of the armed forces and militia and
support their political programme of violence and intimidation. They can
make mischief in the region as they so choose. But the consequences of this
criminal activity for countries like Botswana and the other regional States
is such that they must be becoming increasingly alarmed at this turn in
events.
The GPA process is becoming a joke as it is now 16 months
since we signed the agreement in Harare, almost 12 months since we formed
the Transitional Government and only 12 per cent of the agreement has been
implemented - all of that exclusively by the MDC. Zanu PF has made a
complete fool out of SADC and continues to flagrantly defy regional rulings
and requests while they play games with the South African facilitators. Just
look at the process since the MDC suspension of contact with Zanu PF in the
State when Bennett was rearrested and charged falsely with crimes against
the State. Mugabe is on leave and I understand that there will be no further
discussions on the implementation of the GPA until February.
While
they fiddle - Zimbabwe burns. No progress with health and education or
economic recovery and investment. No reduction in political violence and
human rights violations. No change in the media and the daily outpouring of
propaganda. No change in respect for Court judgements and ethnic cleansing
goes on in farming districts. We are in the middle of a lousy rainy season
and another crop failure looms with an exhausted donor community and new
challenges such as Haiti on their minds.
If regional leaders do not
take effective action in the near future, MDC will have no choice but to go
into the Jesse on its own and try to finish this fight on the wounded
buffalo's territory. Only those who have been there before know how
dangerous that game can be. But we will have no choice.
In plain
terms this would mean a messy reform process, a totally inadequate situation
of electoral and governance reforms with continued international suspicion
and hostility and finally an election held under very similar conditions to
those in March 2008. An uneven playing field, complete Zanu PF control in
rural districts and a corrupt and distorted electoral process that is
vulnerable to manipulation and deceit.
Can we win in such circumstances -
of course we can but the danger is that if we do not, then the hunter may be
fatally wounded himself and the region will have to decide whether to leave
the old bull to die on his own and simply let Zimbabwe slide back into the
chaos and collapse that characterised our situation before the Transitional
Government was formed. We could be back at square one.
Eddie Cross is
MP for Bulawayo South and the MDC's Policy Coordinator. This article first
appeared o n his website www.eddiecross.africanherd.com
This
week SW Radio Africa journalist Lance Guma speaks to Anna Manjoro, who talks
about her daughter Cynthia Fungai Manjoro, one of 24 people arrested by police
in a politicized witch hunt of MDC-T members following the death of a policeman
in Glen View. Mai Manjoro who broke down during the interview says her asthmatic
daughter was nowhere near the scene of the crime and has a 2 year old child she
needs to look after.
Interview
broadcast 22 June 2011
Lance
Guma: Good evening Zimbabwe and
thank you for joining us on Question Time. Last week we spoke to the Secretary
General of the MDC Youth Assembly Promise Mkwananzi in relation to the murder of
a police inspector in Glen View last month and the subsequent arrest and
charging of 24 MDC members. As a follow-up to that interview I speak to Mai
Manjoro, that’s Anna Manjoro I believe, who is the mother to one of those
arrested, Cynthia Fungai Manjoro. Mai Manjoro thank you for joining us on the
programme.
Anna
Manjoro: Thank you for having me.
Guma: OK
opening remarks, would you maybe like to just summarise the problem you faced in
this issue in terms of what happened to your daughter in this case.
Manjoro:
Actually I learnt about it on Wednesday, when my daughter, my youngest daughter
informed me that Stephen and Cynthia had been taken by the police and she
couldn’t really tell what the reason was because I understand when they were
taken, they were just going for questioning. They were told they would be
questioned and sent back home but when Monday evening passed; Tuesday evening
passed she had no choice except to let me know that this is what has happened.
Stephen and
Cynthia were arrested at the police station. On further inquiry of what had
happened I was told that Cynthia’s car had been seen in Glen View, so I had to
do further checks to find out what had happened. Then I was told Cynthia had
gone to church, then a friend of hers was the one who had her car because the
car is registered in the name of her brother which is Stephen Manjoro. Cynthia
doesn’t have a driver’s license at the moment so each time she goes around she
has to have a licensed driver.
When she got the
car she only drove it once under the instruction of the brother, that is on the
day it arrived. Thereafter it has been the brother driving it and on the day in
question the brother was never with the car. Cynthia was at church and she only
got the car in the evening when the friend dropped her back home. Actually he
picked her from a friend in Avondale where she spent the afternoon.
On further checks
to find out who had the car I was told that he had the car and Cynthia was not
there. So when I attended the court hearing, the first remand court hearing on
the 3 rd it was mentioned that Cynthia was being held as bait so that this guy
would turn himself in so that she could be freed. That’s what has been said so
far and we have had two hearings, that is one for the 17 th which was a remand
again to the 1 st of July and we are now waiting for a bail hearing which we
don’t know the outcome as yet.
Guma: I’m
sure its infuriating, yesterday we spoke to the lawyer representing these
people, Charles Kwaramba and he was telling us 19 out of the 20 who are being
accused were nowhere near the scene of the crime so a lot of families are facing
a similar situation to yours.
Manjoro:
That’s what’s happening and it would have been nice if somebody was there then
you would say ah well she has to face the music but in this case, considering
she was with her friend where she spent the whole afternoon and let me emphasise
here something that people might not know, Cynthia has got a two year old child
and she had that child the whole afternoon in Avondale where she spent the day
with her friend Lynette and her mother and she only got home in the evening with
her child.
For her to be
accused of being in Glen View and being in Avondale at the same time it really
boggles my mind. So as a mother you don’t know how to think and how to behave in
such a situation where your child is labeled something else which you would have
never ever dreamt of. It’s really disturbing.
Guma: When
you are visiting her at the cells, what is she saying in terms of how are they
being treated?
Manjoro:
Well they are saying they are okay but they say okay in the sense that you are
in an environment where you have no choice of being there because if one had a
choice they wouldn’t want to be there and me personally, I wouldn’t want my
child to be there. My wish is if only they could grant them bail then try them
having them coming from their respective homes it would be more respectable.
That’s my wish and
I’m pleading that at least they should grant them bail and I’m not saying I
condone bad things happening but let the people who did the thing be the people
who face the music rather than having somebody who was out there who didn’t know
anything about it to be accused of something that she would have not done. It’s
so painful and I don’t know, I don’t know, I’m really at pains to believe this
is what my child is going through.
Guma: On
Tuesday, Kwaramba the lawyer was telling us they’ve challenged the state to
particularize and to state the role played by each of the suspects in this case
but the state has not done so. I suppose this is the sort of thing you want to
be told in terms of what your child is being accused of.
Manjoro:
Yah that’s the thing because they are just saying all of them participated. So
the participation, in my case I am saying if it is the case of the car I
wouldn’t mind them keeping the car but if they could only, I’m begging them to
please, let my child come home. She has got a child, she has got a job which she
has to satisfy and that’s where her livelihood comes from. So that’s my only
plea but at least if she could be tried coming from home. Everything else they
can do and investigate.
Guma: I
suppose the big difficulty with this case and a lot of people are pointing this
out is the fact that it’s now a politicized case where those who are perceived
to support the MDC or who work for the MDC are being targeted. Do you think this
is the biggest problem?
Manjoro:
Ah actually I wouldn’t say because I haven’t noticed my child being an activist
as they are saying, I wouldn’t know but the fact here remains that I’m more
concerned in having my child come home than anything else.
Guma: In
this case have you been able to pressure anyone, talk to ministers, people to
help? In terms of when you have situation like this and you want people to help
you, do something about this, so that maybe if there are people who are
listening in, what sort of pressure do you want?
Manjoro:
Me I would like a situation where we say the truth and nothing but the truth and
stop picking even people who were not at the crime scene. So I would like those
who are able to exert influence, anyone who can assist in this matter, and have
the matter expedited so that people can be tried while coming from their homes.
Anyone who can assist in this matter, me personally I would be very, very
grateful because I am most concerned about my child. She is an asthmatic, if she
has an attack there the outcome would be very, very detrimental and I don’t
think that I would be able to survive. I’m really, really worried about my
child.
Guma: At
this juncture when is the next hearing?
Manjoro:
They were remanded to the 1 st of July and in the meantime our best hope, I’m
saying our best hope considering that Cynthia is not the only one and the
relatives of those who are in the same predicament as Cynthia are also hoping
that the bail hearing will be a positive outcome so that at least we have our
children back home.
Guma: And
have you had the chance to meet the other families of those who are in a similar
situation to you and if so what are they saying.
Manjoro:
Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to meet anyone because I’m at work and I
was on leave just last month, that’s May so right now I can’t see myself taking
leave at this moment except being on a few days, one day, two days and which is
not enough for one to meet anybody and talk about it but I want to thank them
the lawyers because they have been keeping us, me personally informed because I
really phone and Mr Kwaramba, Mr Mtisi and Mandewere have been very, very
helpful.
They do their best
to keep me informed and try to calm us, saying just be calm, things will be okay
which is a consolation to know that there are some people out there who are
working tirelessly to ensure that these people are at least released on bail, at
least.
Guma: Are
you able to try things like approaching like the Home Affairs ministers and
other people with influence, is this something you could try.
Manjoro:
If I get access to them I wouldn’t mind because you are not carrying a child for
nine months, seeing her grow and you bring her to the best of your ability you
bring her up to the best of your ability, you are watching her she is blooming
like a flower and all of a sudden that flower is kind of cut off from your life,
from your eyes.
It’s really, I
don’t know, the feeling you can’t express it, you can’t express it because it
really pains you. This is the time where I was watching Cynthia blooming like a
rose, the rose bud which was now trying to bloom and stretching out and all of a
sudden this comes. Fine we say in life you get trying times and I want to
believe that this is just a trying time and God will deliver us out of this.
Guma: Now
what I’m going to do Mai Manjoro, part of this interview, I’m going to get in
touch with the co-Home Affairs minister Theresa Makone, hopefully also Kembo
Mohadi and play this interview to them so in the next few minutes I just want
you to say what you want to say to them because I’m going to try and make them
listen to this interview, so if you could just address them, I’ll play the
interview to them.
Manjoro: I
just wish as parents, they understand the situation I am in. I want my child
home. I want my child home, please, Cynthia was not in Glen View and all I’m
just asking is for my child to be home, please bring my child home. I’m begging
them to bring my child home…….
Guma: I
think we’ll end the interview here Mai Manjoro. Thank you so much for taking
time, I know it’s not an easy subject to talk about but I’m sure our listeners
are listening in and appreciate the situation that you are going through. We
will do our best also as journalists to approach the relevant authorities and
also see if anything can be done about this. I’d really like to thank you for
taking time out to talk to us. Thank you so much.
SW Radio
Africa – on line 24 hours a day at www.swradioafrica.com and daily broadcasts on 4880 kHz in the 60m band between
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