http://nehandaradio.com
June 10, 2012 4:02 pm
By
Richard Chidza
HARARE – President Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF is panicking
after a key meeting
between Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and former
North Atlantic Treaty
Organisation (Nato) commander, General Wesley
Clark.
Former North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) commander, General
Wesley
Clark
Former North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato)
commander, General Wesley
Clark
Zanu PF stalwart and Justice and
Legal Affairs minister Patrick Chinamasa
exposed the party’s panic at
Tsvangirai’s meeting with the Nato commander,
rehashing the often repeated
accusations that the MDC leader was “selling”
out. Chinamasa claimed
Tsvangirai’s meeting with the Nato chief “will bring
utter chaos to this
country.”
Speaking at a monthly public discussion hosted by Sapes Trust
on Thursday
under the theme “After Luanda, Whither Zimbabwe”, Chinamasa said
Tsvangirai’s
meeting gave Zimbabwe army generals carte blanche to meddle in
Zimbabwean
politics.
Tsvangirai reportedly met Clark when he visited
Vienna and attended the
second meeting of the Centre for Global Dialogue and
Cooperation from May
16-18. His spokesperson Luke Tamborinyoka confirmed the
meeting but warned
that noone had the right to prescribe who the Prime
Minister meets.
Nato helped the rag-tag Libyan rebel army to oust and
kill dictator Muammar
Gaddaffi last year. Chinamasa said it was unacceptable
that Tsvangirai goes
to meet the head of such a body and come back and tell
“our liberators not
to comment on such threats.”
“If any leader
hobnobs and meets with the Nato commander hoping to reverse
the gains of
that revolution, it is very careless, I want to emphasise it is
very
careless,” Chinamasa told the policy dialogue.
“For that leader to come
and say I have freedom to meet Nato commander but I
do not allow former
freedom fighters who are in the army to say how angry
they are with that
threat, I do not agree with it,” said Chinamasa.
Representatives of the
two MDCs in the Global Political Agreement (GPA)
Tendai Biti and Priscilla
Misihairabwi-Mushonga who also attended the
discussion forum had earlier
warned that their respective parties will
continue to push for realignment
in the security sector.
“The Troika’s seventh decision is clear in that
it urges parties to desist
from violence and election talk, implement
reforms that include electoral,
media and security sector and we agree with
that,” said
Misihairabwi-Mushonga. She warned generals to stop dabbling in
politics.
In hard-line bombast, Chinamasa said Zimbabwe’s independence
and freedom did
not come on a silver platter; and that there was a
protracted armed struggle
waged by two liberation armies, some of whose
members are still serving in
the army. Daily News
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, June 10, 2012 -
Zimbabwe, whose economy is still under performing,
currently has the highest
youth unemployment in the Southern African region,
says prominent
International Council Committee (ICC) economic development
and management
consultant, Barbara Vitoria.
Vitoria said this is due to various issues
including poor macro-economic
policies, expensive education as well as low
training.
"Zimbabwe has the highest rate of unemployment in the Southern
African
region due to its economic decline over the last decade, with
corresponding
negative effects on the health, well being and skill
development of youth in
Zimbabwe," she said in Harare.
"There is
limited up-to-date information about youth unemployment and the
policies and
strategies that were designed to address unemployment in the
past are now
out-dated. Zimbabwe has changed a great deal since many of
these were
devised and new approaches are needed."
Vitoria conducted a survey on
this topic and interviewed youths and adults
countrywide.
"The
methodology for this assignment involved gathering relevant secondary
data
and conducting a literature review of youth unemployment in Zimbabwe,"
she
said.
"I also designed and piloted questionnaires, training enumerators,
and
determining sampling, conducting interviews with 100 youth, 24 focus
group
discussions, 20 key informants, compiling and analysing data using
SPSS, and
identification of key findings."
She said unemployed youth
reported that they struggle on many fronts as a
result from joblessness,
including an overall low standard of living (22
percent), social exclusion
and stigmatisation (15 percent), poor health (12
percent), inability to pay
for education (nine percent), and pressure from
family (six
percent).
"Fifty five percent of youth reported that their communities
looked down
upon unemployed young people or treated them with suspicion,"
she said.
"Only 21 percent reported that their communities saw unemployed
youth as
normal or understood," Vitoria said.
She Zimbabwe's steep
economic decline had also caused the rate on youth
unemployment to
soar.
"This is not conducive for investment," she
said.
"Instability is compounded by macro-economic policies which have
not been
conducive to either local or foreign investment."
She said
as a consequence, the economy shrank rapidly and with it numbers of
jobs.
Young women were most affected by this scenario, Vitoria said in her
report.
"Although young women were often found to have higher
qualifications, they
are less likely to be employed," Vitoria said.
http://www.radiovop.com
Harare, June 10, 2012-High Court
Judge Justice Andrew Mutema will on Tuesday
afternoon hear an urgent chamber
application filed by human rights lawyer,
Roselyn Hanzi to interdict the
police from arresting motorists, who haven’t
renewed their vehicle licence
discs.
Hanzi petitioned the High Court on Thursday seeking an order to
stop the
police and the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) from
arresting
motorists who haven’t renewed their vehicle licence discs, which
expired at
the end of May.
The human rights lawyer, who works for
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights
(ZLHR), took the matter to the High Court
after police fined her $10 for
allegedly failing to produce a valid vehicle
licence disc.
This was after ZINARA unilaterally and without warning
revoked the licensing
extension it had granted to motorists.
ZINARA
had extended the deadline to renew the licences to 30 June, startled
motorists when it announced through the press that it had reversed the
decision.
The roads regulatory authority also instructed police to
arrest motorists
without “valid” licence discs.
Hanzi argues that
police were not supposed to penalise her until the last
day of this month.
She argues that the decision to “unilaterally and without
warning” revoke
the deadline extension was “irrational”.
“In any event, the actions of
the 1st Respondent (ZINARA) are afoul of the
provisions of the Constitution
of Zimbabwe, the Administrative Justice Act,
as well as the common law which
requires administrative decisions to be
reasonable,” reads part of Hanzi’s
founding affidavit.
The human rights lawyer argues that the conduct and
actions of ZINARA and
Police Commissioner-General Augustine Chihuri are
against Section 3 of the
Administrative Justice Act.
The law
provides, among other things, “that an administrative authority
which has
the responsibility or power to take any administrative action
which may
affect the rights, interests or legitimate expectations of any
person shall
act lawfully, reasonably and in a fair manner”.
Hanzi wants the High
Court to stop the police from arresting and or fining
any person whose
vehicle licence expired on the 31 May. The human rights
lawyer also wants
ZINARA and the police barred from impounding vehicles
whose licences expired
on the 31st of May.
Hanzi also asked the court to force the two
organisations to publicise the
court order to members of the public, who of
late have been living in fear
of police roadblocks mounted on almost all
roads.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Written by Fungi Kwaramba, Staff
Writer
Sunday, 10 June 2012 13:02
HARARE - The increasing foothold
of police officers in everyday life and
their propensity to use high-handed
tactics is raising fresh concerns that
Zimbabwe is fast becoming a “Police
State.”
Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) said the country is
sliding towards
a rule by fear especially in light of the violence that
characterised the
beginning of the long awaited trial of 29 MDC activists
accused of murdering
a police inspector last year.
“From my
perspective, what is happening is the creation of a police state,”
said
Andrew Makoni, ZLHR chairman.
“Wherever you go, whatever the activity
might be, you must notify the
police. More and more activities are being
regulated by the police, whether
it is political or private. Many
Zimbabweans are now questioning whether
Zimbabwe has just become a police
state.
Beatrice Mtetwa, one of the lawyers representing the 29 suspects
described
the police conduct as disturbing and also questioned whether
Zimbabwe has
become a police state.
Makoni said that the tentacles of
the police have spread to all facets of
life.
“It is cause of concern
to have the police interfere in private lives,” he
said.
“The police
are interfering even in the vehicle licensing process which must
be carried
out by Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara).”
In the High
Court on Tuesday, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu heard one of the
state witnesses
in the MDC activists’ trial, police driver Judith Mutsikwa,
confirmed that
whenever members of the public see police in riot gear they
run
away.
“It is normal that when police go to public places people run
away,” said
Mutsikwa who was speaking under oath.
http://www.politicsweb.co.za/
Politicsweb.co.za
10 June
2012
Zimbabwean President lashes out over Gauteng High Court's torture
ruling
At the official opening of a summit of SADC liberation movements
in Harare,
on Friday, President Robert Mugabe racially attacked Gauteng
North High
Court Judge Hans Fabricus, calling him a "boer Judge". Mugabe was
reacting
to a recent judgment by Fabricus ordering South African authorities
to
investigate Zimbabwean officials accused of involvement in torture and
other
crimes against humanity.
According to the Zanu-PF supporting
Herald newspaper (see here) Mugabe
challenged the summit -attended by
representatives from Zanu-PF, the ANC,
Angola's MPLA, Mozambique's Frelimo,
Tanzania's Chama Chamapinduzi and
Namibia's SWAPO - to denounce the ruling
in a resolution. The newspaper
reported Mugabe's remarks as
follows:
"In this context, it is important to remember that this Harare
meeting takes
place after the recent ruling by one Boer Judge Hans Fabricius
in the North
Gauteng High Court in South Africa calling on authorities in
that country to
probe alleged atrocities in Zimbabwe, arrest and prosecute
alleged offenders
under the International Criminal Court of which South
Africa is a party and
Zimbabwe is not.
Needless to say, we take
umbrage at these residual Rhodesian and Apartheid
forces that are finding
space in our midst, to use our courts in a manner
that seeks to mollify
their defeat at the hands of our liberation struggles
and reverse the gains
that we have attained for our collective peoples. That
judgment, like those
outrageous ones of the Sadc Tribunal which has now been
dissolved,
constitutes a direct assault on our sovereignty by shameless
forces
afflicted by racist nostalgia.
... I wish to urge our colleagues in the
ANC of South Africa to see this for
what it is and apply every means at
their disposal to ensure that such
machinations are not in the end, allowed
to negatively affect our cordial
relations."
According to News Day
ANC Secretary General Gwede Mantashe, who was
attending the summit,
dismissed this call. "The ANC does not ignore the rule
of law, so we respect
the ruling made in the High Court," the newspaper
quoted him as saying.
http://www.africanmanager.com/
PANA
Zimbabwe Friday hailed the
collapse of US efforts to link world diamond
trade to human rights, and
widen the criteria for marketing the gems.
Strict global diamond
marketing rules were introduced several years ago
after rebel groups in
Africa waged fierce wars against their governments,
deriving funding from
gems.
This was particularly the case in Angola, DR Congo, Sierra Leone
and Liberia
which suffered wars that claimed millions of lives.
As a
result, the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) - a watchdog
group
- was formed to ensure conflict diamonds were kept out of the market.
But
in recent years, the US had been pushing for the criteria to be widened
to
include human rights.
The issue topped the agenda of a KPCS meeting in
Washington, DC, this week,
where African producers rallied behind Zimbabwe
in rejecting the US attempt
to link diamond trade to human
rights.
Washington has slapped bilateral sanctions on Zimbabwe's
diamonds, accusing
the country of gross human rights violations, a charge
Harare denies.
Zimbabwe's Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said producers had
rejected the US
push for the inclusion of human rights in diamond trade
because they
realised this was a political ploy to control them.
"In
the Kimberley Process, we must fight to stop politics from finding
expression in the core business of the organisation, which is eliminating
trade in blood diamonds," he said. "The debate on KPCS reform must take the
KPCS forward and not reverse the gains and achievements of the organisation
which have seen trade in conflict diamonds reducing to below one
percent."
Attorney General Johannes Tomana, who took part in the
Washington meeting,
said the country's position had triumphed despite strong
US lobbying.
"Zimbabwe continues to register success in its efforts to
assert its rights
and exercise its responsibilities as an equal member of
the KPCS and the
wider international community," he said.
Zimbabwe
has discovered huge diamond reserves in the east of the country,
but their
exploitation has been hampered by Western sanctions on grounds of
human
rights violations.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 08 June 2012 10:55
Clemence
Manyukwe, Political Editor
THE two formations of the Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) are now
pushing for a June 2013 poll asserting that
is the time when the life of the
inclusive government legally
expires.
The just-ended Southern African Dev-elopment Committee (SADC) summit
apparently bought the idea and rejected ZANU-PF’s argument that at law the
coalition government has already expired.
This resulted in regional
leaders directing that fresh polls should be held
within 12 months, with the
deadline being June 2013.
ZANU-PF was pushing for new elections to be held
this year.
Sources this week told The Financial Gazette that South African
President
Jacob Zuma, as facilitator of the local talks, was the first to
make a
presentation on the situation in Zimbabwe where he said all the
parties were
committed to dialogue.
Zuma is said to have not directly
touched on when polls should be held, save
to mention that the election
roadmap should be fully implemented.
President Robert Mugabe is said to have
followed with a presentation that
said elections were now long overdue as
the inclusive government expired two
years ago.
The ZANU-PF leader is
alleged to have accused the MDC formations of
employing delays tactics so
that polls are not held this year.
Sources said President Mugabe added that
there were some fundamental
differences between his party and its partners
and cited the issue of dual
citizenship in the ongoing constitution-making
exercise. He allegedly added
that while the MDC formations favoured dual
citizenship, ZANU-PF would never
allow it as a matter of principle and as
such the only way to go round it
was to have polls with the winners charting
the way forward.
However, MDC leader Welshman Ncube is said to have differed
with President
Mugabe’s statement that the inclusive government exp-ired two
years ago,
with the former stating that it would do so in June next year as
the
disputed presidential run-off election that led to its formation was
held on
June 27, 2008.
Even though parliamentary polls were held in March
2008, the electoral
impasse that followed resulted in Parliament not being
convened for five
months with members only being sworn in on August 25 the
same year.
On reforms, sources said Ncube alleged that issues such as the
constitution-making process which is being spearheaded by the Constitution
Parlia-mentary Select Co-mmittee were progressing but others that have no
institution to spearhead them were at a standstill. The MDC leader is also
said to have recommended that implementation structures be set up and also
that President Zuma should visit Zimbabwe as a matter of urgency, positions
that were adopted.
On the other hand, MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai in
his presentation is
said to have touched on violence allegedly being
unleashed by ZANU-PF and
gave as an example the recent murder of a party
member in Mudzi, Cephas
Magura.
The Prime Minister also accused President
Mugabe of not reigning in his
bureaucrats such as Media, Information and
Publicity Minister, Webster Shamu
and Justice and Legal Affairs Minister,
Patrick Chinamasa who were said to
be stalling reforms.
In an interview
with reporters at the Harare International Airport upon his
arrival from the
SADC summit, MDC-T secretary general Tendai Biti said the
inclusive
government expi-res in June next year.
“The inclusive government expires in
June 2013. The term of the President
also expires at that time,” said
Biti.
Ncube also confirmed that legally, the inclusive government expires in
June
next year.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Written by Wendy Muperi, Staff
Writer
Sunday, 10 June 2012 12:55
HARARE - A Zimbabwe election
watchdog has called on Southern African
Development Community (Sadc) to send
a team of monitors and not observers
three months ahead of
elections.
The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (Zesn) said Sadc
principles and
guidelines for elections, clearly state that national and
international
observers and monitors must be accredited and given free
access to everyone
concerned in the electoral process.
Sadc must be
invited to send a mission team at least 90 days before
polling and
representatives of parties plus candidates must be allowed in
polling
stations and counting stations.
Zesn said the current election
legislation is still not satisfactory in this
respect.
Board member
Mfundo Mlilo said Zimbabwe needed a powerful monitoring
mechanism than an
observation team to manage the pre-election violence.
“We think the
country should have a strong monitoring force at least 90 days
prior to an
election to assess and control the situation and Sadc must send
monitors not
observers,” Mlilo said.
“Zanu PF is known to beat up people a month
before election and stopping two
weeks before observers come. At least
monitors can say no to violence and
intimidation or recommend for the
election to be called off, unlike
observers who just assess and then make a
report of the whole process. That
report will not be useful because power
would already have gone,” said
Mlilo.
The election process has over
the years been marred by violence, torture and
intimidation during pre and
post-election periods, often resulting in voter
apathy.
Mlilo said
political leaders should start working towards instilling voter
confidence
in order to translate the number of their supporters into cast
votes.
“We think political leaders must do something to re-energise
their followers
who have lost confidence in the system. We would not want a
recurrence of
the 2008 election situation where, out of all the registered
voters only 42
and 33 percent of those people in Harare and Bulawayo
respectively, cast
their votes,” he said.
Registrar General Tobaiwa
Mudede has constantly been accused of imposing
stringent registration
requirements for voters.
Mlilo said the need for proof of residence
should be scrapped as it is
impeding the majority of the urban population to
register as they are
tenants.
“The Copac team agreed to leave proof
of residence when registering as a
requirement in the new constitution, what
these politicians are failing to
see is the fact that majority of urban
people do not own properties but are
in fact renting,” he said.
http://www.dailynews.co.zw
Written by Gift Phiri, Chief Writer
Sunday, 10
June 2012 13:05
HARARE - Two senior cabinet ministers locked horns in
angry scenes on
Thursday, that were witnessed by Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai, over
burgeoning demands for more defence
funding.
Informed official sources said Tsvangirai, who chairs the
Council of
Ministers, watched in bewilderment as the two went for each other
hammer and
tong, with finance minister Tendai Biti allegedly being
threatened by
defence minister Emmerson Mnangagwa after he turned down the
Zanu PF
minister’s vociferous demands for an additional $2,5million from the
fiscus
to bankroll salaries for 5 000 new army recruits.
The Council
of Ministers is a body of Zimbabwean government ministers
conceptualised as
a separate body from the cabinet as per the dictates of
the Global Political
Agreement (GPA).
While Cabinet is chaired by the President and is a
decision-making body, the
Council of Ministers is headed by Tsvangirai and
is a liaison office tasked
with the formulation of policies, implementation
of cabinet policies and the
supervision of government ministries.
The
Daily News on Sunday heard from two impecabble sources that tensions ran
very high as partisan political warfare exploded at Munhumutapa Building —
the citadel of government power, with Mnangagwa allegedly threatening to
send army generals to Biti’s office.
The sources said Mnangagwa
reportedly told the Council of Ministers he had
to restrain angry generals
from going to confront Biti at his New Government
Complex offices because
soldiers were going dangerously hungry in cantonment
areas around the
country and as a result the commanders were at risk.
“Ngwena was really
upset, he was fuming,” said one source.
The Defence minister, who is also
Chirimanzu-Zibagwe MP, pooh poohed Biti’s
military spending as endangering
Zimbabwe’s security. Mnangagwa was not
immediately available for comment
yesterday.
Biti declined to comment on the heated confrontation, choosing
to say: “We
had a discussion with the minister of defence after the Council
of Ministers
and we have come to an understanding”.
Biti was said to
have stuck to his guns, rejecting Mnangagwa’s controversial
request, a move
that provoked the no-holds-barred exchange that ended with
the intervention
of minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jameson
Timba, who
managed to quell the boiling temperatures.
Biti is said to have torn into
Mnangagwa’s policy of recruiting more
soldiers when finances were
tight.
Biti also allegedly drew Mnangagwa’s attention to a parliamentary
debate
raised by Magwegwe MDC MP Felix Magalela-Sibanda on why the army was
recruiting villagers without Ordinary Level qualifications.
Mnangagwa
admitted in the House of Assembly on Wednesday that the army was
recruiting
privates with substandard entry qualifications because “we
unfortunately
find it difficult sometimes to secure enrolment in some parts
of the country
because most of the young persons with qualifications have
gone out of the
country.”
“In those circumstances, in order to keep a balance we may
grant
exceptions,” he said then.
Biti was said to have declared that
treasury would not fund Mnangagwa’s
unqualified recruits, until the
government got more cash from diamonds.
The Daily News on Sunday heard
that temperatures rose even higher when
Mnangagwa said there was a risk of
mutiny and that Biti was compromising
State security.
“He (Mnangagwa)
said rations were dwindling,” said another of the sources.
Biti
reportedly insisted that he would not bankroll the 5 000 new recruits
from
the fiscus at a time when cash promised from diamonds was not
forthcoming.
The ZNA currently has an active duty- strength of 30
000.
Mnangagwa reportedly exploded saying he had been forced to move
money from
other areas to boost the food budget.
But a recalcitrant
Biti lamented the woeful diamonds cash trickling into
Treasury from Chinese
firm
Anjin, which has partnered with government to mine for diamonds in
Marange.
Biti reportedly warned that government actually risked failing
to pay July
salaries for civil servants if treasury continued receiving the
pittance
that was currently trickling in from Marange
diamonds.
Biti’s $4 billion budget for 2012 is secured by an anticipated
$600 million
from the alluvial Marange fields, where the government has a 50
percent
shareholding in four of the five mines currently operating
there.
Matters apparently worsened when Finance minister allegedly
suggested that
Mnangagwa pays the recruits from cash that was being stolen
from Anjin,
which he said had not been contributing anything to the
fiscus.
The Zimbabwean members of Anjin’s executive board are senior
serving and
retired military and police officers.
Anjin’s executive
board includes Martin Rushwaya, the permanent secretary in
the ministry of
Defence; Oliver Chibage, a commissioner in the Zimbabwe
Republic Police
(ZRP); Nonkosi Ncube, a commissioner in the ZRP; Munyaradzi
Machacha, a Zanu
PF director of publications; and Mabasa Temba Hawadi, a
director of Marange
Resources (Pvt) Ltd, a subsidiary of the ZMDC.
Non-executive board
members are Morris Masunungure, a retired officer in the
Zimbabwe Defence
Forces (ZDF) and Romeo Daniel Mutsvunguma, a retired
colonel.
Anjin’s
principal officer and company secretary is Brigadier Charles
Tarumbwa.
Biti said diamonds had in the first quarter of this year
only provided $30,5
million from projected inflows of $123 million, leaving
a budget deficit of
over $96 million in the first quarter of this year
alone.
http://www.financialgazette.co.zw
Friday, 08 June 2012 10:58
Tinashe Madava and
Clemence Manyukwe, Staff Reporters
ZANU-PF bigwigs Ignatius Chombo and
Webster Shamu are on the ropes after an
appeal to the party to discipline
them as factional fights in the
revolutionary party took a new twist, The
Financial Gazette can exclusively
reveal.
The push to have the two
charged with misconduct emanates from political
infighting in President
Robert Mugabe’s home province, Mashonaland West
where provincial
chairperson, John Mafa is fighting for his political life
as party hawks
seek his ouster.
It has now emerged that Mafa wants ZANU-PF to prefer charges
of misconduct
against Chombo, the party’s national secretary for lands and
Shamu, the
party’s national political commissar.
Mafa has petitioned
Simon Khaya-Moyo, the party’s national chairperson,
seeking to have Chombo
and Shamu censured.
The development could be embarrassing to Shamu who is in
the middle of
clearing the mess in other provinces caused by District
Coordinating
Committee (DCC) elections conducted last month which were
marred by
allegations of vote buying and the imposition of candidates.
In
his letter dated May 28, Mafa alleges that Chombo and Shamu have never
accepted his election as the party’s provincial chairperson.
“Cde
chairman sir, I seek your protection from these very senior persons in
the
party who wished that some persons other than myself should lead the
province notwithstanding the fact that I was overwhelmingly elected to that
position . . . I strongly believe that these two have never accepted my
election as provincial chairman,” wrote Mafa.
“I also believe that they
are busy actively undermining the smooth operation
of the province with a
specific view to prove that I am incapable. Chairman,
I therefore seek that
these two senior comrades be charged for not
conducting themselves honestly
and honourably in their dealings with my
provincial executive committee. To
be specific, I believe Cde Chombo and Cde
Shamu are in contravention of
Article 3 (Membership), Clause 18 (Duties of
Members), Sub-section 5 (Honest
and Honourable Dealings with the Party),” he
added.
In the four-page
letter copied to Didymus Mutasa, the party’s secretary for
administration,
Nathan Shamuyarira, Edna Madzongwe, Patrick Zhuwao, V.C
Gumpo and Douglas
Mombeshora, Mafa elaborates in detail five instances that
he says Chombo and
Shamu have interferred and caused disruptions in his
committee’s
duties.
Mafa says Chombo and Shamu are undermining the resolutions of the
provincial
executive committee to conduct and conclude the restructuring of
the
districts and DCCs by advising and encouraging the DCC chairpersons to
disobey directives from his committee.
Interestingly, Shamu, as the
party’s national political commissar, was
tasked by the politburo to oversee
the completion of DCC elections
nationwide, including nullifying results
where allegations of imposition of
candidates emerged
As a result of the
“campaign of disobedience”, Mafa alleges that his
committee then instituted
disciplinary proceedings against two DCC
chairpersons, Temba Mliswa of
Hurungwe and Simon Solomon of Kadoma but
alleges the two ministers
attempted to nullify the process.
A prohibition order to Mliswa signed by a J
M Chirongoma as the provincial
political commissar and dated May 3 alleges
that the fitness trainer is
“putting the party into disrepute”.
He also
says Chombo and Shamu bigwigs attempted to unilaterally impose
Rueben
Marumahoko, the deputy Minister of Regional Integration and
International
Cooperation, as vice chairperson of the province at a
Provincial
Coordinating Committee (PCC) meeting on May 19.
Marumahoko and Walter
Chidakwa, who were backed by the two government
ministers, were defeated by
Mafa in the provincial chairmanship elections
held earlier in the year.
Chidhakwa is the ZANU-PF legislator for Zvimba
South.
“This attempted
co-option is in contravention of the provisions of the party’s
constitution
with regards to co-option as stated in Article 29 (General
Provisions),
Clause 250, which stipulates the manner in which co-options are
conducted,”
wrote Mafa to the party’s national chairman.
Mafa’s political future is also
hanging by the thread: He is being accused
of attempting to create parallel
structures loyal to Emmerson Mnangagwa, the
party’s secretary for legal
affairs whose name features prominently among
those tipped to succeed
President Mugabe in ZANU-PF.
Those against Mafa are mainly loyal to President
Mugabe although their
allegiance extend to Vice-President Joice Mujuru,
another contender in the
succession debate.
Within the week that Mafa
sought to have Chombo and Shamu censured, all the
six districts in
Mashonaland West also wrote to the national political
commissar seeking
intervention after accusing the provincial chairperson of
a myriad of crimes
including dereliction of duty that might cost the party
in the next
polls.
Although the provincial district chairpersons did not pass a verdict
on
Mafa, their actions pointed to loss of confidence in an individual they
helped win the chairmanship in polls held in January.
Solomon, the Kadoma
DCC chairperson, in an interview on Tuesday, said it was
Mafa who was
causing divisions in the province and confirmed they had
written to Shamu
for the party to take action against the provincial
chairperson.
Mliswa
also told The Financial Gazette that Mafa was putting the party’s
name into
disrepute and accused him of taking instructions from Oppah
Muchinguri, the
ZANU-PF Women’s League boss and from other senior figures
outside the
province.
He also accused Mafa’s executive of failure to action disciplinary
cases
against ZANU-PF Hurungwe East lawmaker, Sarah Mahoka who is accused of
having insulted Vice-President Mujuru.
“Mahoka insulted Vice-President
Mujuru and previously tete Sabina (President
Mugabe’s late sister) and these
are pending issues that Mafa was supposed to
take up as per the PCC
resolution,” said Mliswa.
“They are taking instructions from Oppah
Muchinguri. Muchinguri comes to the
province vakuru vasingazvizivi.”
The
district chairpersons said their provincial leader had failed to
re-organise
the top six positions in the province as was directed by the
politburo, the
party’s supreme decision-making body in between congresses,
and the central
committee.
They added that because of lack of progress on the matter, Mafa
has failed
to provide direction or a programme for the province in relation
to
restructuring and preparedness for elections and has disregarded
positions
raised by the party’s districts.
Mafa is also being accused of
stuffing the provincial executive with some of
his loyalists, with members
coming from Kadoma, Chegutu and Zvimba in
violation of a central committee
directive that each of the province’s six
districts must contribute one
member to the six member executive. Hurungwe
and Kariba were left
out.
Another fight has also erupted over Phillip Chiya-ngwa’s replacement as
vice
chairperson of the pro-vince after he was barred from taking up the
position.
Sources this week said Marumahoko recently wrote a letter to
Mafa informing
him that he was the de facto vice chairperson of the
province.
Marumahoko insists that he held the vice chairman’s position before
the
January polls to choose a new chairperson, and had only been the acting
chairperson by virtue of having been the deputy after the then acting
chairperson Robbie Sikanyika had died.
To add to the confusion, the
party’s secretary for security is also laying
claim to the position citing a
previous party resolution to that effect.
In an interview, Marumahoko
confirmed that he had written to Mafa informing
him that he had reverted to
the vice chairman’s position, which he held
before the provincial
chairmanship polls.
“In my letter to Mafa I did not expect a response because
I was just
reminding him that I am still the vice chairperson and he should
invite me
when he calls meetings,” said Marumahoko.
http://www.afriquejet.com
Harare, Zimbabwe - Zimbabwe
earned US$95 million from tobacco exports in the
first half of the year, an
industry representative group said on Saturday.
In a statement, the Tobacco
Industry Marketing Board said the bulk of the
crop was exported to China,
with South Africa in second place.
It said as of 1 June, 2012, the
country had exported a total of 23.2 million
kilogrammes of tobacco, mainly
to Asian and European countries.
Zimbabwe's tobacco is one of the finest
in the world and it is highly sought
after by buyers from around the
world.
But production in recent years has slumped after the government
took over
farms from white farmers, who dominated tobacco farming, to
resettle
landless blacks.
This year the country expects to export 150
million kilogrammes of the crop,
down from peak production of over 200
million kilogrammes by white farmers.
The marketing agency said about 20
countries imported tobacco from Zimbabwe
in the first six months of the
year. Tobacco is one of the country's main
exports.
Pana 10/06/2012
Vigil supporters were
pleased at the impact in Zambia made by our small demonstrations in London on
Wednesday against the visit by President Sata.
After staging a
protest at Marlborough House, where the Queen was joining Commonwealth leaders
for lunch, a group of us went on to the Zambian High Commission with a letter
protesting at Sata’s abject support of Mugabe. Zambian diplomats refused to
accept the letter and a broom we wanted given to Sata so that he could resume
his former career as a sweeper.
A Zambian website
which carried a report about our demonstrations soon had more than 80 comments –
mainly supportive of our action. Someone even suggested regular Friday ‘broom’
days (see: Zambian officials refuse to receive
Sata’s broom from Zim protesters in London – http://www.zambianwatchdog.com/2012/06/06/zambian-officials-refuse-to-receive-satas-broom-from-zim-protesters-in-london/).
The Zambian Foreign
Affairs and Tourism Minister, Given Lubinda, said that we should go home and
‘participate in various processes aimed at bringing harmony’ (see: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/jun8_2012.html#Z7
– Sata answers Zimbabwean critics). He ignored the reasons why an estimated 2 –
3 million Zimbabweans out of a population of about 12 million have been forced
into exile by Mugabe’s oppression and his destruction of the economy. Nor did Mr
Lubinda explain why President Sata was supporting Mugabe in his less than
‘harmonious’ brutal suppression of dissent.
We sadly report to
Zambians that Sata was called a ‘clown prince’ in news reports of his antics at
the SADC meeting in Luanda at which Mugabe was ordered to stop obstructing
reforms he had signed up to in the coalition agreement with the MDC four years
ago (see: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/jun8_2012.html#Z6
– Sata’s theatrics embarrasses ZANU PF at SADC summit).
The Vigil certainly
intends no disrespect to the people of Zambia. On the contrary we are grateful
for Zambians’ support during the liberation struggle and admire their
democracy.
But these quotes from
a news report explain why we will continue to protest at Sata’s interference in
Zimbabwe’s affairs (see: Sata’s antics get into overdrive – https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/jun9a_2012.html#Z4):
·
‘Zambian President
Michael Sata stole the show at last week’s SADC summit in Luanda with his
exaggerated antics which bordered on embarrassing clowning, in the process
annoying some delegates who felt his remarks were more appalling than comical.
Right from the start of the troika meeting, Sata appeared determined to indulge
in attention-grabbing clowning around when he welcomed President Robert Mugabe
with chants like “sekuru, sekuru (old man)”, pamberi ne Zanu PF, pamberi ne
Jongwe (forward with Zanu PF, forward with the cock (Zanu PF’s
symbol).’
·
‘On media reforms,
Sata said there was no need for media reforms because “if you are a news maker
you will always make news anyway!” whether there are reforms or
not.’
·
‘In response to
Tsvangirai’s contribution on Mugabe unilaterally re-appointing the top army and
police commanders, Sata retorted: “Where in the world have you seen a situation
in which to appoint generals the president must first beg the prime
minister?’
·
‘Sata’s remarks on
women such as Malawian President Joyce Banda whom he described as an “amateur”,
Thokozani Khupe, Priscillah Misihairabwi-Mushonga and a lady in the Botswana
delegation, infuriated some delegates. Equally infuriating was his call for SADC
to bribe other African countries to vote for South African Home Affairs minister
into the AU position.’
The last comment
about bribery chimes with allegations that Mugabe bankrolled Sata’s election
campaign. Further allegations about his links with Mugabe appear in the Zimbabwe
Mail (see: Sata hires Zimbabwean CIO hit-squad to assassinate opponent – https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/jun9_2012.html#Z9).
The Vigil wants Mr
Sata to know that – with all respect to Zambians – we will protest whenever he
comes to London as long as he continues his opposition to freedom and democracy
for the people of Zimbabwe.
To the people of
Zambia who have to live with him: good luck from the Zimbabwe
Vigil.
Other
points
·
Despite Sata’s
contempt for Malawi’s new President because she is a woman, we at the Vigil
applaud her decision to refuse to host an African Union summit next month. She
objected to the attendance of President Bashir of Sudan, who is wanted by the
International Criminal Court, but all too acceptable to the AU (see: Malawi
cancels AU summit over Bashir – https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/old/jun9_2012.html#Z8).
·
In light of the
Zambian Foreign Minister’s comment that we should go home to protest, we were
glad to see cranes outside Zimbabwe House. Presumably he has arranged for the
building to be taken to Zimbabwe as well so we can continue to hold our regular
demonstrations.
·
A remarkable
coincidence: an Irishman in his 60s spoke to us of his ties to Zimbabwe. He
said that in the mid-70s his fiancée went to teach in Bulawayo and was shot
dead. We asked him when this happened and he said it happened on 9th
June. We pointed out that this was the date today. He hadn’t realised.
·
We urge everyone to
look at two useful new websites: www.zanupfcrime.com which reports on Zanu
PF abuses and www.ipaidabribe.org.zw where people can
report corruption in Zimbabwe.
For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/.
Please note: Vigil photos can only be downloaded from our Flickr website – they
cannot be downloaded from the slideshow on the front page of the Zimvigil
website.
FOR THE
RECORD: 60 signed the
register.
EVENTS AND NOTICES:
·
Next Swaziland
Vigil. Saturday
16th June from 10 am – 1 pm. Venue: Swazi High Commission, 20
Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6LB. Please support our Swazi friends. Nearest
stations: St James’s Park and Victoria. www.swazilandvigil.co.uk.
·
ROHR
North East Meeting. Saturday
16th June from 12 - 3pm. Venue: Gateshead Council Civic Centre, Regent
Street, Gateshead, Tyne and Wear NE8 1HH. 3mins walk from
Gateshead Interchange and Metro station before Gateshead Central Police Station.
Free parking available. For directions please contact Tapiwa Semwayo 07722060246
/ 07412236229, Susan Ndlovu 07767024586 and Catherine Tshezi
07428189705.
·
Official launch of
ROHR Slough Branch. Saturday
23rd June from 6 pm until late. Venue: 100 Lounge Bar, 100 High
Street, Slough SL1 1HL. There will be a speech from ROHR Founder Ephraim Tapa,
new member registration and the election of an interim Slough Executive. Music,
food (including BBQ) and drink available. For more information: Mary 07946 072
989, Ernest 07989 859 427, email: desmondmatt@yahoo.co.uk, facebook:
www.facebook.com/RohrZimbabweSlough. Please call, text, email or facebook to
confirm attendance.
·
Zimbabwe Action
Forum. Saturday
30th June from 6.30 – 9.30 pm. Venue: Strand Continental Hotel (first
floor lounge), 143 Strand, London WC2R 1JA. Directions: The Strand is the same
road as the Vigil. From the Vigil it’s about a 10 minute walk, in the direction
away from Trafalgar Square. The Strand Continental is situated on the south side
of the Strand between Somerset House and the turn off onto Waterloo Bridge. The
entrance is marked by a big sign high above and a sign for its famous Indian
restaurant at street level. It's next to a newsagent. Nearest underground:
Temple (District and Circle lines) and Holborn.
·
Zimbabwe Vigil
Highlights 2011 can be viewed on this
link: http://www.zimvigil.co.uk/the-vigil-diary/363-vigil-highlights-2011.
Links to previous years’ highlights are listed on 2011 Highlights
page.
·
The Restoration of
Human Rights in Zimbabwe (ROHR) is the Vigil’s
partner organisation based in Zimbabwe. ROHR grew out of the need for the Vigil
to have an organisation on the ground in Zimbabwe which reflected the Vigil’s
mission statement in a practical way. ROHR in the UK actively fundraises through
membership subscriptions, events, sales etc to support the activities of ROHR in
Zimbabwe. Please note that the official website of ROHR Zimbabwe is http://www.rohrzimbabwe.org/. Any other
website claiming to be the official website of ROHR in no way represents the
views and opinions of ROHR.
·
ZBN
News. The Vigil
management team wishes to make it clear that the Zimbabwe Vigil is not
responsible for Zimbabwe Broadcasting Network News (ZBN News). We are happy that
they attend our activities and provide television coverage but we have no
control over them. All enquiries about ZBN News should be addressed to ZBN News.
·
The Zim Vigil
band
(Farai Marema and Dumi Tutani) has launched its theme song ‘Vigil Yedu (our
Vigil)’ to raise awareness through music. To download this single, visit: www.imusicafrica.com and to watch the video
check: http://ourvigil.notlong.com. To watch other
Zim Vigil band protest songs, check: http://Shungurudza.notlong.com and http://blooddiamonds.notlong.com.
·
Vigil Facebook
page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=8157345519&ref=ts.
·
Vigil Myspace
page: http://www.myspace.com/zimbabwevigil.
·
Useful websites:
www.zanupfcrime.com which reports on Zanu
PF abuses and www.ipaidabribe.org.zw where people can
report corruption in Zimbabwe.
Vigil
co-ordinators
The Vigil, outside the
Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to
18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil
which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored,
free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.
http://www.cathybuckle.com
June 10, 2012, 11:14 am
Another
military officer has publicly declared his loyalty to Robert Mugabe.
“The
army will fight with their blood any leader whose policies are
different
from Mugabe’s,” he said. So much for a tolerant society and hopes
for a
democratic future in Zimbabwe! Again and again, we hear the claim that
it’s
all about defending the freedoms won by the Liberation Struggle; the
current
crop of military men apparently believe that one of those freedoms
is
unswerving loyalty to Zanu PF and Robert Mugabe. Didymus Mutasa remarked
that just because soldiers and the police support Zanu PF, it does not mean
the next elections will be violent and the President’s spokesperson, George
Charamba said it was ‘OK for them (the military) to be involved in politics
because they fought in the struggle’.
This constant harping back to
the Liberation Struggle makes it difficult
to see the way ahead for the
country. With a population made up largely of
people who were not even born
when that struggle was being fought, it is all
ancient history to them. All
societies must learn from their past but to
make the past the lens through
which contemporary events are seen leads to a
distorted picture. There was a
common enemy then but that enemy no longer
exists. Zanu PF, however, appears
to need an enemy and judging from what
these military men are saying, the
enemy is anyone who disagrees with Zanu
PF and Robert Mugabe; to me that
sounds suspiciously like dictatorship.
Morgan Tsvangirai has described the
generals’ statements as ‘treasonous’ and
says – not for the first time -
that he will confront Robert Mugabe with
them. Robert Mugabe is unlikely to
take any action against generals who
openly support him. He has not said a
word about the behaviour of his
so-called war veterans who continue to cause
mayhem in the country. Even
Zanu PF MP, Oppah Muchinguri admitted this week
that Zanu PF politicians
have been known to hire the services of the
notorious Chipangano gang. There
is violence and tension in the Harare
suburb of Epworth where war veterans
are violently displacing bona fide
residents from their homes on the grounds
that these home-owners are members
of the MDC. By definition, to quote the
military man’s words, ‘their
policies are different from Robert Mugabe’s’
In spite of all this
evidence of sporadic violence up and down the
country, SADC ‘commends’ the
coalition government for the progress it has
made! Yet, according to Prime
Minister Tsvangirai, SADC was ‘shocked’ by the
murder of Cephas Magura in
Mudzi last week. Speaking at Magura’s funeral,
Tsvangirai said ‘the police
should have done more to prevent it’ to which
the police spokesperson Wayne
Bvudzijena responded that the police were
‘investigating it all.’ Whether
they will ever make their findings public
remains to be seen but past
experience tell us that it is unlikely. JOMIC,
the body which is charged
with monitoring the GPA has called on leaders to
‘walk the talk’ on
violence. The EU delegation based in Zimbabwe also voiced
its concern over
the Mudzi murder but there are no signs that Mugabe is
about to rein in his
dogs of war despite all the voices raised in
condemnation. The violence in
Epworth continues and this week the police
intervened only when a joint Zanu
PF/MDC report was made to them.
Civil society groups have declared that
they want the UN to set up a
permanent monitoring group in Zimbabwe. With
all the calls on the UN’s
resources from the different trouble spots around
the world, that is almost
certainly not going to happen. The news that
Zimbabwe is to send peace
keepers to Syria, one of the world’s most
explosive trouble spots, can only
provoke wry amusement. Instead of going
half way across the world to keep
the peace, Zimbabwe could do with genuine
peace keepers at home. As the
economic situation continues to deteriorate,
ordinary people are finding it
harder to survive and, however
well-intentioned Finance Minister Biti may
be, he is powerless to change the
situation, faced as he is with empty
coffers. The combination of poverty,
violence and political insecurity does
not suggest a bright future for the
post-Liberation generation.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle. Pauline
Henson
