Zimbabwe teachers strike for more pay

(AFP) – 4 hours ago

HARARE — Zimbabwean teachers went on strike Wednesday demanding a 150
percent pay rise and an end to violent attacks by militant supporters of
President Robert Mugabe.

Takavafira Zhou, president of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
which called the strike, said about 25,000 of its members downed tools.

Teachers earn about $200 (140 euros) a month and want a raise to $500 -- the
monthly amount required by an average family of five, according to the
Consumer Council of Zimbabwe.

Teachers, especially in rural areas, have been the targets of attacks by
pro-Mugabe militants who accuse them of backing the veteran president's
rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Teachers are often used to staff rural polling stations, and Mugabe
supporters blamed them for his party's poor showing in 2008, when his
ZANU-PF lost control of parliament and he was forced into an inconclusive
run-off with Tsvangirai.

The country's public-sector workers, particularly teachers, nurses and
doctors, have been striking on and off for better salaries and working
conditions since 2008.

Zhou said about half the union's urban members had heeded the strike call
and about 75 percent in rural areas, adding teachers in one area northeast
of Harare were threatened with violence if they participated.

There was no immediate response from the ministry of education.

Teachers also want a review of their housing and transport allowance and the
removal of "ghost workers" from the government payroll.

Zimbabwe has 105,000 teachers on the payroll, but Zhou's union estimates
only about 77,000 are actually working.

Inflated payroll numbers are a problem throughout the civil service, with
Finance Minister Tendai Biti estimating that about one-third of the
government's 230,000 employees don't actually exist.

No Pay Increase for Zimbabwe's Civil Servants As National Strike Sputters

http://www.voanews.com

21 June 2011

One Harare teacher who declined to be identified said most teachers will not
join the PTUZ strike Wednesday as they risk losing monthly incentives of
US$40 to US$200 paid by various schools

Gibbs Dube | Washington

Thousands of civil servants received their pay checks on Tuesday without the
increase in salary promised by President Robert Mugabe, but indications are
that they will not heed a call to strike by the Progressive Teachers Union
of Zimbabwe.

The PTUZ put out a statement saying some teachers were gearing up to strike.
But the Zimbabwe Teachers Association said its members would not join the
strike.

Teachers reached by VOA said that even though their salaries have not yet
increased, they are still hoping for a pay rise, so are remaining on the
job.

One teacher in the Harare suburb of Highfield who declined to be identified
said most teachers will not join the PTUZ strike called for Wednesday as
they do not want to risk losing monthly incentives of US$40 to US$200 paid
by schools with parental help.

The teacher said a strike at this point is premature “because salary
negotiations are going on between state employee representatives and and
government.”

Another teacher in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second largest city, who also
declined to be identified, said the situation is normal in the city and many
teachers feared being victimized by education authorities if they joined the
PTUZ strike.

Phillip Rudanda, president of the National Association of Primary School
Headmasters, said most teachers showed up for work Tuesday after being paid
and are likely to ignore strike calls. “We sympathize with struggling
teachers and it appears as if few teachers will go on strike,” Rudanda told
VOA Studio 7 reporter Gibbs Dube.

Tsvangirai blasts Junta for violating people’s rights

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
22 June 2011

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has continued with his blistering attack on
the country’s securocrats, describing them as ‘a small, parasitic clique’ at
the helm of institutions violating people’s human rights in Zimbabwe.

“The challenge in Zimbabwe is that even after forming the inclusive
government, some state organs and state institutions have failed to respect
the new dispensation,” the Prime Minister said on Wednesday.

He added: “A small clique of top officials in the police, the army and the
intelligence services have vowed that they support Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF
and will not allow anyone else to govern the country, even if that person
wins an election.”

Speaking in Barcelona, Spain at the World Justice Forum, the MDC-T leader
moved to exonerate the rank and file of the country’s armed forces for the
crackdown on innocent Zimbabweans. He instead apportioned the blame on the
brutal atrocities committed mainly against his supporters on the military
elite.

Members of the army, police, militia, war vets and the CIO have been
implicated in regular acts of intimidation and violence against ordinary
citizens since the formation of the inclusive government in 2009. All these
institutions are led by a tight circle of securocrats, who sit on the Joint
Operations Command (JOC), now believed to be exercising executive power in
the country.

These powerful junta figures include General Constantine Chiwenga, the
overall military chief; Augustine Chihuri, the police commissioner-general,
General Paradzai Zimondi, the commander of the prison service, Air Marshal
Perence Shiri, the commander of the Air Force and Happyton Bonyongwe, the
CIO director-general.

All five fought in the ZANLA army during the war against white rule in the
1970s. Each has publicly proclaimed their support for the ruling ZANU PF
party. They have also benefited from Mugabe’s controversial seizure of
white-owned land, with farms and business concessions falling into their
hands, allowing them to amass considerable wealth.

“In our case (Zimbabwe), the problem has never been the ordinary soldier or
the ordinary police officer. It has always been a small, parasitic clique at
the helm of these institutions that is at the forefront of systemic
violation of the people’s fundamental rights and freedoms,” Tsvangirai said.

He castigated the Junta for being overtly partisan and seeking to undermine
the civilian authority, adding that everyday they are dabbling in politics,
even seeking to influence the date of the next election.

“When the Police Commissioner-General and the Attorney-General state
publicly that they support a particular political party in an inclusive
government, as in our case, the rule of law becomes perverted and people
lose confidence in the institutions they lead,” said Tsvangirai.

On Sunday at an MDC rally in Mkoba, Gweru, Tsvangirai challenged the
security chiefs to leave the military and join the political ring if they so
much wanted to be politicians.

“Some say we don’t support Tsvangirai and we will not support him. But let’s
wait and see what happens after the elections. Why can’t we cross the bridge
when we get to it?” he said.

The Prime Minister added: “If you want politics, remove the uniform and we
will show you what politics is. It is not guns. Stop intimidating people,
convince Zimbabweans to vote for you.”

MDC chairman for Hertfordshire branch in the UK and retired army colonel,
Bernard Matongo told SW Radio Africa that the Prime Minister has every right
to remind the Junta to serve all Zimbabweans and not one political party.

“Soldiers swear their allegiance to the state and every soldier must be told
upfront and recognise that he or she must follow unquestioningly the orders
of the civilian government of Zimbabwe and the laws that it enacts,” Matongo
said.

He added: “If they cannot, then they must be designated as rogue elements
who are not allowed to serve.”

COPAC Kicks Out Brigadier Nyikayaramba

http://www.radiovop.com/

10 hours 48 minutes ago

Harare, June 22, 2011 - The Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC) has
booted out controversial army commander, Brigadier Douglas Nyikayaramba for
participating as a Zanu (PF) technical advisor to the thematic committee on
elections in the new constitution making process.

Douglas Mwonzora and Edward Mkhosi, the other co-chairpersons representing
Movement for Democratic Change led by Tsvangirai and MDC respectively
confirmed that the overzealous army chief, who is on record as saying
President Robert Mugabe should rule for ever, was kick-off last week.

"He has been fired. Nyikayaramba is a serving soldier and therefore cannot
be a member of COPAC especially at an advisory level, “said Mwonzora.

Mkhosi said the issue of Nyikayaramba was now water under the bridge.

"He has left. It is now under the bridge," he added.

Munyaradzi Mangwana, while confirming that he was no longer with COPAC, said
Nyikayaramba's contract had lapsed.

"His contract with COPAC has come to an end so he has left. It is wrong to
say he has been booted out," he said.

The two MDC formations have long raised concerns about his involvement in
the constitution-making process since he was serving member of the army.

Police use force to disperse protestors

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Bulawayo Correspondent
Wednesday, 22 June 2011 16:21

BULAWAYO - Police in Harare used force to disperse Women of Zimbabwe Arise
(Woza) protestors who had marched on parliament protesting snail-paced
democratic reforms.

In Bulawayo, police remained camped at a private residence used by the
organisation to conduct its internal meetings, defying an order by High
Court Judge Nicholas Mathonsi for commissioner general Augustine Chihuri and
three subordinates to remove their office from the house.

Police and Woza did not say whether any arrests were made after the Harare
protest. The women had marched peacefully to parliament before riot police
pounced on them.

Fliers calling for quicker reforms were left scattered outside Parliament
building after the protestors, who included men dispersed.

Police said the protest was unsanctioned as required under the Public Order
and Security Act (Posa), a harsh security law that Woza has been campaigned
against.

Lawyers last night said the situation in Bulawayo remained unchanged as
police officers were still camped at the Woza property by last night.
Justice Manthonsi had made his ruling in the morning.

“The order we got directed Chihuri and his subordinate officers to remove
the police details who have been occupying that house for more than 10 days
now.

“However, I can confirm that the police have ignored the order and posted an
additional daytime guard to man the property. To the best of my knowledge,
there is no indication that they are complying,” Woza lawyer, Kossam Ncube
told the Daily News.

Woza leader Jenni Williams said her organisation would return to the courts
if the police failed to vacate by today.

“Our people around there say a new shift of police officers came in the
afternoon, which shows us that they have no plans of leaving. We sent
someone later in the day to fix the gate that was broken by the police when
they forced their way but they chased the workmen away,” Williams said.

A combined team of Law and Order detectives and riot police units stormed
the house on June 11 while Woza members were finalising plans for their
programmes.

All the members attending the meeting fled through a rear exit before the
police forced the gate open and invaded the property without any search or
arrest warrants, according to Woza lawyers.

At least five men in plainclothes were milling around the house when the
Daily News visited the property last night. Bulawayo provincial police
spokesman Inspector Mandlenkosi Moyo refused to comment.

Court Orders Police off Woza Premises

http://www.radiovop.com

10 hours 48 minutes ago

Bulawayo, June 22, 2011- A Bulawayo High Court Judge has ordered the police
to immediately vacate the offices of the militant, Women of Zimbabwe Arise
(WOZA), which they forcibly occupied a fortnight ago.

Police had occupied WOZA offices on the 10th of June.

High Court Judge, Justice Nicolas Mathonsi in his ruling restored full
possession and occupation of the house to WOZA and directed the police to
immediately vacate the place.

Police Commissioner-General, Augustine Chihuri, Chief Superintendent P.R
Moyo, the Officer Commanding CID Law and Order Section at Bulawayo Central
Police Station and the Officer In Charge CID Law and Order Section at
Bulawayo Central Police Station were cited as respondents in the case.

Justice Mathonsi directed the respondents “to order and facilitate the
immediate withdrawal of all police officers from the WOZA premises and the
surrounding yard and not to remove anything from the house without due
process”.

WOZA was represented by their lawyer, Kossam Ncube of Kossam Ncube and
Partners.

In his urgent application on 14 June after police had invaded the house,
Ncube was seeking an order directing police authorities to “remove all
police officers from the WOZA house and the surrounding yard with immediate
effect and to bar the police from removing anything whatsoever from the
house.”

WOZA spokesperson, Magodonga Mahlangu in an interview said the militant
pressure group had for the past two weeks failed to conduct its operations
as police had invaded their offices.

“…because of the occupation of our property, WOZA has been unable to use its
offices for its purposes. We have been unable to conduct our business,”
Mahlangu said.

South Africa's Zuma Wants High-Profile Facilitators to End Zimbabwe Crisis

http://www.voanews.com

21 June 2011

ZANU-PF hardliners led by former information minister Jonathan Moyo are
agitating for the arrest of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and senior aide
Jameson Timba who they say undermined President Mugabe

Blessing Zulu, Thomas Chiripasi & Irwin Chifera | Washington & Harare

South African President Jacob Zuma, mediator in Zimbabwe for the Southern
African Development Community, wants to recruit high-profile regional
experts who can make a difference at a delicate stage in the Zimbabwe
power-sharing crisis, an aide said.

Zuma foreign policy adviser Lindiwe Zulu says the South African president
has given his fellow SADC troika members and the SADC secretariat terms of
reference for three supplementary members of his Zimbabwe facilitation team.

According to Zulu, Mr. Zuma wants people who are “influential, have clout
and understand Zimbabwe’s politics." Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition Regional
Coordinator Dewa Mavhinga said Mr. Zuma is right to seek top
trouble-shooters for his team.

Meanwhile, the political temperature has been rising in Harare. ZANU-PF
hardliners led by Jonathan Moyo, a former information minister, are
militating for the arrest of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and senior
aide Jameson Timba.

The ZANU-PF hardliners say the prime minister undermined President Robert
Mugabe’s authority in comments he made to an MDC rally in Gweru, Midlands,
this weekend.

Mr. Tsvangirai is said to have accused Mr. Mugabe of lying about the
discussions in the just-ended SADC summit in Johannesburg. Moyo told state
media that, "I strongly believe that it is high time that the law should
take its course, it is totally unacceptable for Tsvangirai and Jameson Timba
to call Mr Mugabe a liar."

Moyo did not immediately respond to phone calls. MDC spokesman Douglas
Mwonzora dismissed the notion of arresting the prime minister for political
comments.

Elsewhere, the parliamentary select committee on constitutional revision has
ended the participation in the process of Brigadier-General Douglas
Nyikayaramba and other army and security personnel in line with a 2009
resolution excluding such individuals, as VOA Studio 7 correspondent Irwin
Chifera reported from Harare.

Meanwhile, following the sudden death of Mufandaedza Hove, a member of the
national executive of Prime Minister Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic
Change formation, the executive has been called into extraordinary session
to discuss honors for Hove. VOA Studio 7 correspondent Thomas Chiripasi
reported on the party reaction.

ZANU PF offering bribes to find MDC-T youth leaders

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
22 June 2011

There is mounting evidence that the spate of arrests and illegal detention
of dozens of MDC-T members over the death of a policeman in Glen View last
month is a politicised witch hunt that has seen ZANU PF play a prominent
role.

SW Radio Africa has information that the ZANU PF youth chairperson for
Harare Province Jim Kunaka, known as Jimmy, has offered MDC-T youths US$2000
each for any information leading to the location and arrest of MDC-T Youth
Assembly chairman Solomon Madzore and his Secretary General Promise
Mkwananzi.

Speaking to us on Wednesday, Mkwananzi vowed they would not hand themselves
over to the police and subject themselves to deliberate victimization.
“We have said that it is not legal in any way for the police to round up 24
people and say, we think one of you has killed a police officer,” Mkwananzi
said.

He accused ZANU PF, the police and the state security agencies of having
politicised the death of Inspector Petros Mutedza following a brawl with
vendors in a nightclub.
“We will not allow ZANU PF to disable us from exercising leadership of the
Youth Assembly. We have not committed any crime,” he said. Mkwananzi said
they will send their lawyers to enquire from the police on why they are
looking for them.

Meanwhile Anna Manjoro, mother to Cynthia Fungai Manjoro, one of those
arrested over the policeman’s death, broke down during SW Radio Africa’s
Question Time programme on Wednesday, while talking about her daughter’s
incarceration. She said her daughter was nowhere near the scene of the crime
and although police claim her car was seen in Glen View, they are using her
as bait to force the driver to hand himself over.

Cynthia, she told us, does not have a driver’s licence and only drove the
car under supervision the day she bought it some time ago. Mai Manjoro said
her daughter is not only asthmatic but has a 2 year old child that she needs
to look after. The female detainees are being held the Chikurubi Maximum
prison while the men are at Harare Remand Prison.

On Tuesday the defence lawyer Charles Kwaramba told SW Radio Africa that 19
out of the 20 MDC-T members accused of murdering the policeman were nowhere
near the scene of the crime. Kwaramba even challenged the state to
particularise and state the role played by each suspect in the offence to
prove ‘reasonable suspicion’ and the strength of the state’s case.

The state has failed to present any tangible evidence, amid reports all the
accused have strong alibis. A good example is Last Maengahama who was
arrested together with his three brothers, Stanley, Edison and Lazarus. The
MDC National Executive Committee member was at a church service during the
skirmishes and there is also video footage filmed by one of the priests
showing him among the parishioners.

Envoy abruptly ends term

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Maxwell Sibanda, Entertainment Writer
Wednesday, 22 June 2011 16:31

HARARE - The outgoing German Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Dr Albrecht Conze bade
farewell to journalists in Harare last month and regretted cutting short his
diplomatic term.

Instead, he was to spend a year attached to an overseas university, writing
a book on Africa. And one wonders what he would write about Zimbabwe.

“I would have loved to stay until the end of my term, but I have to go to
university while I await my next assignment. The times here were getting
exciting and although I would have loved to stay, I have to do other things,
among them writing a book about my experiences in Africa,” said Conze.

While the former ambassador wore a brave face and could not give the reasons
behind his abrupt departure, events that took place leading to his departure
affected his resolve to stay in Zimbabwe.

In a movie like episode, the ambassador’s official vehicle was attacked by
unknown assailants on his way home from work and it was severely damaged.

The Germany embassy issued a statement after the incident: “The Ambassador’s
driver had been forced to stop at the Churchill Road/College Road junction
as another vehicle, coming out of College Road, had the right of way.

As the vehicle stopped, the rear right window was twice hit from outside
with a heavy (probably metal) device.”
While the incident was reported at Avondale Police Station and the Foreign
Affairs Office, Conze told journalists before he left that since then there
had been no progress on his case.

“While we made a report of the incident, both the police and Foreign Office
have not said a word since, there has been no communication at all from
them,” he said.

It was not clear whether the ambush was motivated by robbery or other issues
as the aggressor – who only failed to knock down the window by refraining
from striking a third time – was not visible from inside the car and at
which time the driver sped off.

Worryingly, the attack happened at the same time President Robert Mugabe’s
Zanu PF was putting up a rally for its vaunted anti–sanctions signature
campaign and petition in Harare.

Germany being one of the European Union countries that have slapped Mugabe
and 163 of his top aides with travel bans, and asset freezes, the attack
came barely four weeks after the beleaguered party’s supporters accosted a
British embassy team officiating at a Mutasa Central hospital project, in
what was interpreted as Mugabe’s new offensive against the targeted
measures.

The attack on the German head of mission also came after he walked out at
Heroes’ Acre in solidarity with British envoy Mark Canning and his United
States counterpart Charles Ray when Mugabe descended into one of his routine
and trademark broadsides against the West during the burial of his sister
Sabina.

But the different view that Conze and his German government or any other EU
member countries hold on Zimbabwe should not catapult attacks on its envoys.

A Human Rights official said, “The Zimbabwean government should learn to
protect all international diplomats and in the case of Conze they should
have had made an effort to get in touch with his mission so investigations
could take place.

“But for government to just keep quiet and pretend as though nothing
happened to Conze is an abuse of official protocol. This will encourage more
such attacks on diplomats, especially from Europe."

“The attack could have sent tremors to the ambassador and sensitive as it
was, his embassy decided to relieve him and have him take a rest.”

What will likely follow is a programme of counselling for the ambassador,
his family and embassy colleagues who remain at the Harare station.

Even the new ambassador who will replace him will have a different view of
Zimbabwe, especially its security measures for protecting diplomats.

Added the official, “The Foreign Office should have taken responsibility
from the day the Germany embassy made its report. This should also have
sprung the police into action.

“The German government has done a lot for Zimbabwe and its diplomats should
be protected just like any from other countries.”

Conze told Daily News in an earlier interview, “Germany is actively engaged
with the IMF in order to assist Zimbabwe in finding its road to debt
restructuring. My country has provided substantial transitional aid to
Zimbabwe since 2008.

“Let me just quote the two most important items, with the sum of 21 million
US dollars, Germany has been the single biggest contributor to the national
programme of giving every school child a set of textbooks, and my government
has pledged 28 million US dollars for the ZimFund, a trust fund administered
by the African Development Bank which is just starting to invest in
substantial improvements for water sanitation and energy generation."

“ In view of all this, could you please tell me where there are sanctions?”

SA to assist Zimbabwe conduct referendum

http://www.sabcnews.com

     June 22 2011 , 3:39:00

The Department of International Relations says Zimbabwe may need South
Africa's assistance to conduct a referendum in September. The referendum is
aimed at changing Zimbabwe's constitution ahead of elections next year.

Director General Jerry Matjila was briefing the parliamentary committee on
International Relations. He explained why a stable Zimbabwe is important to
South Africa. Matjila says Zimbabwe has been one of the biggest market in
the continent. He says their economy is linked up to South Africa's economy.

"They are one of the tour major export destinations. Every year we see the
volume of goods and services increasing towards Zimbabwe. So it is in our
whole interest to see a stable Zimbabwe. As you can see in 2008, we exported
over R7 billion. In 2009, R11 billion, last year we almost exported
something like $2 billion of goods and services to Zimbabwe.

Meanwhile Parliament's International Relations and Co-operation Committee
Chairperson Tisetso Magama says despite the slow progress to resolve the
Zimbabwean political problems, it should be acknowledged that the political
situation in that country is better than what it was five years ago. Magama
says the public should be mindful of the fact that Zimbabwe remains a
sovereign country and South Africa on behalf of the SADC in any case can
only interact with the role players.

He says there is no way that President Jacob Zuma can take President Robert
Mugabe by the neck. "It simply does not work like that and so to have some
unrealistic expectations from what we can do as a country, does not assist.
Well we need the Zimbabwe government to move faster and to move with more
dedication and committed, correctly as president Zuma pointed out at the
Livingstone summit," says Magama.

Fifa anti-corruption officials will visit Zimbabwe

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

 

 

Wednesday, 22 June 2011 18:51

 

 

Page last updated at 17:51 GMT, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 18:51 UK

Fifa will be visiting Zifa house to finalise a probe into match-fixing

Fifa anti-corruption officials will travel to Zimbabwe next week to help wrap up a match-fixing investigation involving the country's national team.

The Zimbabwe Football Association (Zifa) has conducted its own probe, prompted by revelations about a tour of Asia in December 2009.

A number of players admitted taking money to lose matches on the trip to Thailand and Malaysia.

Fifa's visit marks the final part of the investigation.

"They are going to meet people in an effort to bring this issue to finality," Zifa vice-president Ndumiso Gumede told the Associated Press.

"Appropriate action will be taken on completion of the probe."

Zimbabwe captain Method Mwanjali and a number of his international team mates made sworn statements to Zifa admitting taking money to lose matches.

Zimbabwe lost 3-0 to Thailand and 6-0 to Syria and the players said they were paid between $500 and $1,500.

Mwanjali also described how a representative of the betting syndicates involved came to the team's dressing room at halftime to give instructions on how a game should finish.

Because of the ongoing investigation, Zimbabwe authorities delayed taking action against the players who admitted wrongdoing.

Mwanjali - a defender with South African topflight club Mamelodi Sundowns - was allowed to continue as captain of his country and led Zimbabwe in its last international, a 2012 African Cup of Nations qualifying win over Mali on 5 June.

Under Fifa rules, players and officials face fines and lifelong bans from any football activity, including entering any football stadium, in serious cases of match-fixing.

Undersea Internet cable in deal for Zimbabwe service

(AFP) – 7 hours ago

MAPUTO — The company running a high-speed Internet cable along Africa's east
coast said Wednesday it has reached a deal with Mozambique to provide a new
link to landlocked Zimbabwe.

Under the agreement, the parastatal Telecomunicacoes de Mocambique (TDM)
will allow its fibre-optic network to be used to link Zimbabweans to the
13,700-kilometre (8,500-mile) cable running along the coast, SEACOM said in
a statement.

"This agreement with TDM demonstrates our commitment to partner with
established players to improve the range of service to customers whilst
continuously expanding the reach of SEACOM's low-cost services into
land-locked countries across the region," chief executive Brian Herlihy
said.

The deal, whose value was not released, will also give the company another
route to link with regional powerhouse South Africa and landlocked Malawi,
the statement added.

The undersea cable already connects to Zimbabwe through South Africa, but
the extra route should improve the reliability of the service, it said.

New undersea cables along both sides of the continent have expanded the
capacity of Africa's fibre optic cable connections almost 300-fold since
2009, when the continent relied mainly on excruciatingly slow satellite
connections.

Zimbabwe Legislator Accused of Infecting Journalist With HIV-AIDS

http://www.voanews.com

June 22, 2011

Peta Thornycroft | Johannesburg, South Africa

A Zimbabwe legislator was arrested Tuesday, accused of infecting a state
journalist with HIV-AIDS.

Legislator Siyabonga Malandu Ncube turned himself in Tuesday at the Bulawayo
Central Police Station, accompanied by his lawyer, Mlweli Ndlovu.

Earlier, reports emerged in Zimbabwe media that a journalist working for the
pro-Zanu-PF Chronicle newspaper in second city Bulawayo reported to police
that she had been infected with HIV-AIDS by the legislator, a member of the
small Movement for Democratic Change party lead by Welshman Ncube.

Under Zimbabwean law, prosecutors would have to prove that the legislator
knew he had the disease, if indeed he does have it.

If convicted Siyabonga Ncube could face 20 years in jail.

Several lawyers in Zimbabwe said although the HIV-AIDS pandemic in Zimbabwe
is mature, they could not recall any similar previous criminal case due to
an allegedly infected person charging another with transmitting the virus.

Zimbabwe’s private health sector first recorded HIV-AIDS in late 1986 and,
at the time, the former Zanu-PF government led by President Robert Mugabe
blamed a white and Western conspiracy for the disease.

Many prominent Zimbabweans, including politicians, well-known musicians and
famous sporting personalities, died from the complications from the virus in
the early years.

The former Zanu-PF health ministry prevented production of a public health
film about the causes of HIV-AIDS and how to prevent catching it. In those
days the government harassed HIV-AIDS activists who tried to campaign for
action from the health ministry. The private medical doctor who first
noticed the virus in blood samples in Harare had to flee the country.

Eventually, the state media and public-health authorities launched
educational campaigns about HIV-AIDS. Now donor organizations try to ensure
those who need anti-retro-virals can get them for free.

The U.N. Program on HIV and Aids has revealed more than 168,000 Zimbabwean
youths between the ages of 15 and 24 are living with the HIV-Aids virus.

In the past 10 years, with many donor-funded programs, Zimbabwe has been
widely congratulated for a drop in its infection rate, from about 25 percent
to about 15 percent among the sexually active population.

Of thefive million HIV-positive young people in the world, close to four
million are in sub-Saharan Africa, according to UNAIDS.

Parliamentary group calls for end of ZBC monopoly

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
22 June 2011

A Parliamentary grouping investigating the state of the media in Zimbabwe
has called for an end to the monopoly of the state’s Broadcasting
Corporation (ZBC), calling it ‘incompatible’ with freedom of expression.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Media, Information and
Communication Technology has this week recommended a number of key reforms,
following investigations on the state of public media. Broadcasting and
media reforms have been recommended in tandem with the requirement
stipulated in the Global Political Agreement (GPA), which formed the basis
for the shaky coalition government.

In its report, the committee called for an end to ZBC monopoly, observing
that: “The current monopoly being enjoyed by the ZBC was regarded as
incompatible with the right to freedom of expression as Article V (of the
GPA) obliges the state to encourage a diverse, independent private
broadcasting sector.”

The portfolio committee also recommended the transformation of the ZBC from
being a state broadcaster into a genuine public broadcaster in line with
regional instruments.

“There were concerns that ZBC was wholly controlled by the Minister of
Media, Information and Publicity who appoints the body and issues directives
to the board and management and that it was highly as a state controlled
broadcaster, serving the interests of the state rather than those of the
public,” the committee’s report noted.

The report also castigated the current media laws, saying they infringe on
the rights of journalists. The report singled out the Access to Information
and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which continues to restrict the work
of journalists.

“In a way it curtails information on mismanagement or fraud in parastatals,
accountability by public officials and curtails the media’s watchdog role
function to expose corruption in the interest of the public,” says the
report.

The committee also noted grievances by editors that punitive measures
against journalists accused of writing falsehoods were too harsh. The
portfolio committee noted that retraction of the story by the editor
correcting the position and admitting that they lied, was more damaging and
adequate punishment than sending the journalist to jail.

MDC urges KP to lift Marange embargo

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

22/06/2011 00:00:00
    by Staff Reporter

PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party on Wednesday called on the
Kimberley Process to lift its objections and allow Zimbabwe to trade
diamonds from Marange on the international market.

“The people of Zimbabwe in general and our civil servants in particular
would tremendously benefit from the revenue generated from the sale of
diamonds,” the party said as the self-regulating international diamond
watchdog met in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Key KP members such as India, Russia, China and African diamond-producing
countries led by South Africa are pushing for the removal of a global ban on
rough stones from Marange, but Australia, Canada and rights groups from the
United States and the European Union have stated that the Marange stones
should be blacklisted as “blood diamonds”, arguing that they have been
tainted by human rights violations.

The MDC said the KP could offer “practical assistance” to Zimbabwe in order
to ensure that it is fully compliant with its requirements, warning that
blocking official channels for selling diamonds could result in smuggling
operations that would place the diamond income out of the national purse.

“It is clear if the diamonds are traded legitimately, this would assist in
the economic recovery of Zimbabwe,” the party said in a statement.
The KP meeting ends on Thursday with Zimbabwe hoping for a lifting of all
restrictions.

"Marange is fully compliant and we will resist any attempts to have any
special monitoring mechanism for Zimbabwe which is outside the Kimberley
Process guidelines," Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said.

In March, Kimberley Process Chairman Mathieu Yamba of the DRC unilaterally
decided that Zimbabwe could immediately begin exporting rough diamonds from
Marange despite a lack of consensus by other KP participants.  An
international embargo on the exports remains in place until the KP can
resolve the issue.

Mpofu accuses the United States and the European Union of politicising the
KP, asserting that those countries' sanctions against Zimbabwe are the real
reason behind the obstruction of diamond exports – to keep the country in
economic doldrums.

Finance Minister Tendai Biti has identified diamonds as the country's cash
cow as he bids to bring further stability to Zimbabwe's economy and assuage
the 230,000 public sector workers who are threatening strikes for better
pay.

Marange Diamonds Put Kimberley Process to the Test

http://www.voanews.com

June 21, 2011

The question of whether and how diamonds from Zimbabwe’s rich Marange field
should enter world markets has driven a wedge through the Kimberley Process.
The meeting in Kinshasa was called in a bid to resolve that internal
conflict, but some observers see little reason for optimism

Sandra Nyaira | Washington

The current inter-sessional meeting of the Kimberly Process Certification
Scheme taking place in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has
the potential to be one of the most critical meetings of the watchdog group
since its establishment in 2003.

For the past three years the Kimberley Process has struggled to address the
complex issues of human rights and corruption posed by Zimbabwe’s
development of its Marange alluvial diamond field in the east of the country
near the border with Mozambique.

The question of whether and how diamonds from Zimbabwe’s rich Marange field
should enter world markets has driven a wedge through the Kimberley Process.
The meeting taking place in Kinshasa was called in a bid to resolve that
internal conflict, but some observers see little reason for optimism.

Seasoned Kimberley observers including Global Witness campaigner Elly
Harrowell worry that Kimberly might not survive its own “Zimbabwe crisis.”

“Without a resolution very soon and without an agreement coming out of
Kinshasa, we’ll just find the Kimberley Process collapses, because it can’t
cope with the weight of its members all taking different approaches and
breaking rules whenever they please,” he said.

Kimberley restricted the sale of rough diamonds from Marange in November
2009, and some certified stones were auctioned during 2010. But Zimbabwe
chafed at the restrictions and a meeting late last year in Jerusalem failed
to find a consensus on how to move forward with Zimbabwe as Western members
and African producers divided.

Simmering tensions mounted to a Kimberley crisis in March 2011 when
Kimberley’s new Congolese Chairman Mathieu Yamba unilaterally declared that
Zimbabwe could sell Marange diamonds without further oversight.

But many participants and civil society groups argued that the chair’s
decision does not stand because there was no consensus or “collective will”
on an issue that needs to be addressed by all participants, citing a
November 2010 administrative decision stating hat the chair "represents the
collective will of the participants."

The United States, which saw Marange cash flows bolstering the ZANU-PF side
of the government in Harare, threatened to publish the names of companies
trading in Marange diamonds. Most participants have not been openly buying
such stones.

But Zimbabwe Mines Minister Obert Mpofu says Harare is still exporting
Marange gems.

Diamond market expert Chaim Even-Zohar told VOA Studio 7 that there is very
little to prevent Marange diamonds from entering international markets.

“Zimbabwe is currently issuing certificates. The question is: are other
countries accepting them?” Even-Zohar said. “Except for South Africa, no
country has publicly declared allowing formal Marange diamond imports."

"The danger is that traders in some countries which unofficially imported
Marange goods may mix these goods with other productions and then export
them with valid KP certificates and disguise the real origins," Eve-Zohar
said.

"How many customs officers in recipient countries have the expertise to
establish the origins in a parcel containing a 'mix' of diamonds? There is
very little that prevents Marange diamonds from flowing into the legitimate
diamond trade."

At this stage, “Zimbabwe fatigue” has set in among Kimberley members.
Harrowell suggested that Harare has outmaneuvered the diamond watchdog.

“This will be the fifth consecutive [Kimberley] meeting I’ve been to that
has been completely swamped by Zimbabwe,” Harrowell said. “It’s a tactic
that the Zimbabwean government knows well and uses to great effect. It
grinds down international forums."

"It waits everybody out. It waits until everybody’s fed up with talking
about it and then it gets away with a light touch deal. It’s frustrating to
see it happening, but people are tired of talking about Zimbabwe and they’re
tired of ignoring important and pressing issues.”

While participants want to move on to other business, the Marange field is
too rich to ignore.

Experts say it could yield two billion dollars a year in diamonds, making
Zimbabwe one of the world’s top diamond producers.

Such wealth has generated controversy and dispute. Having granted a
concession to the London-traded African Consolidated Resources, Zimbabwe’s
government booted ACR out in 2006 after it became apparent how rich Marange
really was.

A diamond rush followed as the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation, a
state entity, took it over and struggled to secure the 70,000-hectare
diamond field. Some 35,000 panners poured in, prompting the military to
launch "Operation No Return" in 2008. Human rights groups reported that
soldiers killed more than 200 people during the operation.

In 2009 a Kimberley review team observed military smuggling and recommended
that Zimbabwe be suspended. But at the following plenary meeting, Kimberley
members ignored the team’s recommendation and merely restricted the sale of
Marange rough stones.

The unprecedented move to restrict a region instead of banning the whole
country led to problems for Kimberley, which has been in uncharted territory
with Zimbabwe ever since.

Ian Smillie, a key architect of the Kimberley Process and the chairman of
Diamond Development Initiative told VOA that the Zimbabwe question “should
have been simple, it should have been clear. The Kimberley Process should
have got very tough with Zimbabwe right at the beginning.”

Zimbabwe signed off on an agreement for a joint work plan aimed at bringing
Marange operations into compliance with Kimberley standards. Some now
consider the plan a dead letter, noting that the KP Monitor Abbey Chikane
approved two companies operating in the zone, and Congolese Chairman Yamba
has given Zimbabwe sales a green light.

Chikane’s judgment has been widely questioned, especially after a prominent
social activist was arrested and tortured in 2010 because of information he
had given the monitor.

Western countries are pushing for recognition of the joint work plan, noting
that Harare never fulfilled the agreement and should remain under
restrictions.

Smillie argued that Zimbabwe is still far from compliance. “To be a member
of the Kimberley Process and to stay in the Kimberley Process, you have to
have good internal controls over your diamonds,” said Smillie. “You also
have to have credible penalties for smuggling. Zimbabwe has neither, in fact
government officials, military and police are actively involved in a lot of
the smuggling that is going on.”

Smillie worried that smuggled Marange diamonds are contributing “hundreds of
millions of dollars to [President Robert] Mugabe’s war chest”

“There’s going to be an election, and there’s almost certainly going to be
violence. And diamonds are going to contribute to it. The Kimberley Process
is supposed to stop conflict arising from diamonds, not contribute to it. It’s
certainly working against its own stated objectives,” said Smillie.

Despite progress, Zimbabwe has not complied with Kimberley’s minimum
standards in Marange, says Shamiso Mtisi, the so-called Kimberley local
focal point or nongovernmental monitor, a position created after Chikane
came under fire for his questionable assessment of the situation on the
ground in Marange.

“One of the key issues is the continuation of human rights violations in
Marange,” Mtisi said. “For example, we received reports last week that
people were beaten up in Chiadzwa.”

In Kinshasa this week, Mtisi will also report on smuggling, which he says
continues on a large scale and is overseen by the military and police.

“Whenever a delegation comes to Chiadzwa to see what is happening on the
ground, the police and the army just clears the land of these people,” Mtisi
said. “That is what normally precipitates violence.”

Mtisi explained that there were violent removals ahead of a visit by the
African Diamond Producers Association in April and just a week ago to
 “clean” the fields before a "fact-finding" visit by President Mugabe.

Human rights groups have tried to label Marange stones as “conflict
 diamonds” under a broader definition that they argue is more true to the
spirit of Kimberley’s mandate and includes violence perpetrated by
government.

But Harare and other Kimberley members say the Marange diamonds are
conflict-free because sales are not financing a rebel group. Kimberley
currently defines “conflict diamonds” as “rough diamonds used by rebel
movements or their allies to finance conflict aimed at undermining
legitimate governments.”

A text drafted in Dubai in April 2011—meant to find consensus amid the
confusion following Yamba’s March announcement—did not refer at all to
monitoring violence in Marange. It also raised the bar for human rights
complaints to be investigated.

Despite this, Zimbabwe did not sign on, insisting that it had complete
freedom to sell. Sources say the Dubai text will be the starting point for
discussions in Kinshasa.

Meanwhile, demand for rough stones is rising. “The annual global demand for
industrial diamonds” is at least “ten-times the total world production of
natural diamonds,” according to Mining Journal, an industry publication.
Most Marange diamonds are industrial grade.

As China looks to overtake India as the world’s center for cutting and
polishing, the countries are vying for a steady supply of rough stones. Both
countries have pushed for the unconditional certification of Marange
diamonds. China has two joint ventures with the Zimbabwean government to
develop portions of the Marange field.

Smillie said Kimberley cannot regulate effectively because the interests of
so many participants prevent consensus.

“There is a shortage of rough diamonds in the world today, and the
eagerness, the almost greed in the industry, particularly in India, is
palpable. You can almost hear it working in the Kimberley Process. It’s like
rats gnawing at the woodwork,” Smillie said.

“That’s something that is bringing the Kimberley Process down, this almost
inbuilt impossibility of reaching consensus, when you have to get tough,
when regulators have to regulate and can’t," he said.

The African Diamond Producers Association has also urged acceptance of Yamba’s
decision.  However, sources say that a West African faction might be
breaking ranks with the ADPA over the Zimbabwe issue. The major southern
African ADPA players are still speaking strongly in favor of supporting
Zimbabwe and upholding Yamba’s decision.

David Kassel, director of Mbada Diamonds, the largest company operating in
Marange, told VOA Studio 7 reporter Sandra Nyaira that Mbada has been
selling its rough stones and that South Africa has been the main buyer.

“We have sold very small parcels [of Marange diamonds] to customers in South
Africa, and we will continue to do so. And we continue to have people
viewing our diamonds for sale at the moment,” Kassel said. “There are many,
many buyers who want to buy, who are happy to buy. As far as we are
concerned, these are not conflict diamonds at all.”

Confusion within Kimberley Process has allowed Zimbabwe to export Marange
stones without consequences.

Mines Minister Mpofu called the Kimberley Process hypocritical: “They
contradict themselves. They say one thing and do another and at the same
time blame us for their mistakes.”

Participants and observers insist the stalemated issue is not whether or not
Zimbabwe should sell its diamonds but whether or not it has complied with
international standards that would ensure diamond revenues benefit
Zimbabweans—not merely an elite.

US Kimberley representative Brad Brooks-Rubin told Voice of America in an
e-mail: “The United States remains committed to the principles of Kimberley
Process and seeks a resolution to the impasse over exports from Zimbabwe's
Marange diamond fields.” The e-mail continues, “U.S. would like to see our
relationship with Zimbabwe and other producers strengthened in Kinshasa in
order to ensure the KP's future and enable diamond exports to contribute
positively to the region's economy.”

But the US wants such an agreement to come from dialogue and then consensus
among participants. With Western members calling for more supervision and
African producers insisting that Zimbabwe is certified already, few think a
consensus is realistic.

Given Yamba’s unilateral declaration, some are looking to the next Kimberley
chair to restore order to the process. But, for the first time in Kimberley’s
history, there is no vice chair to set up the succession. Even in this
decision, Kimberley looks deeply divided with the United States and the
United Arab Emirates – countries on opposite sides of the issue – in the
running for the vice chair position.

Insiders say some participants have mooted the creation of a “Kimberley
Process Plus,” in which members would adhere to stricter regulations with a
broader interpretation of what constitutes a conflict diamond. It’s not
clear if this overhauled organization would interact with the Kimberley
Process - or replace it - but a failure to achieve consensus in Kinshasa
would increase the likelihood of such a divisive move.

Mtisi, meanwhile, hopes Kimberley certification will increase transparency
in Marange.

But Minister Mpofu has brushed aside Kimberley’s non-governmental observer,
refusing Mtisi access to the Marange field. Mtisi has even been silenced,
trying to inform Parliamentarians about smuggling and abuses in Marange.
Mtisi wants a new Kimberley agreement to ensure that Zimbabwe’s government
respects the role of non-governmental observers.

“The Kimberley Process is being put to the test,” said Mtisi. “It’s going to
be a contentious issue that may break or even strengthen the Kimberley
Process.”

As Kimberly struggles to fulfill its mission, the situation on the ground in
Zimbabwe remains the same – seemingly to the liking of insiders who have
little to lose without certification and much to gain by Kimberley’s absence
or reduction to irrelevance.

Zimbabwe vows to oppose Marange gems monitoring

http://www.businessday.co.za

Published: 2011/06/22 07:37:13 AM

ZIMBABWE vowed to defy moves for the international monitoring of diamond
sales from its disputed Marange fields at a meeting of the global "blood
diamond" watchdog, reports said yesterday.

Mines Minister Obert Mpofu said Zimbabwe must be allowed to export diamonds
without any monitoring, insisting that the country has met the minimum
requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), which
seeks to prevent diamond sales from financing conflicts and crime.

"Zimbabwe met the KPCS minimum requirements and this was confirmed by the
last plenary" of the Kimberley Process, Mr Mpofu said on the sidelines of
the meeting in Kinshasa, according to reports.

He said Zimbabwe had for two years invested "in attempting to rectify all
KPCS issues in Marange area without any external financial assistance".
"Zimbabwe is not being treated fairly," he said. The Marange fields, touted
as Africa’s richest diamond find of the decade, have been at the centre of a
controversy for years over reported abuses by Zimbabwean President Robert
Mugabe’s military.

Monitors say the military seized control of the fields in late 2008,
violently evicting tens of thousands of small miners and then beating and
raping civilians to force them to mine the gems. Human rights groups say
about 200 people were killed, and Kimberley Process investigators later
documented "unacceptable and horrific violence against civilians by
authorities", prompting a ban on exports of the diamonds.

In March, the Democratic Republic of Congo — the current chair of the
Kimberley Process — allowed Zimbabwe to sell some diamonds from Marange. The
decision sparked an outcry among some members of the Kimberley Process.
Finance Minister Tendai Biti has said none of the funds from diamond sales
have reached the treasury. Sapa-AFP

Blood gem trade curbs imperiled by abuses in Zimbabwe

http://www.iol.co.za/

June 22 2011 at 06:13pm

A decade-old effort that has curbed trade in “blood diamonds” faces its
biggest challenge as the US and Europe split with African nations over how
to handle abuses in Zimbabwe’s gem fields.

Participants in the Kimberley Process, a watchdog group created by 75
nations, industry representatives and human-rights advocates will meet next
week to discuss diamond exports from Zimbabwe, where violence has gripped
mining regions with more than 200 deaths reported since 2008, Bloomberg
Government reported.

The dispute clouds the future of an effort begun in 2000 to assure consumers
that the diamonds they buy and wear aren’t tainted by financing civil wars.
Nations such as South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo said
Zimbabwe’s diamonds should be certified for export under the process.

Western nations are being “too strict on Zimbabwe” in the view of African
leaders, Eli Izhakoff, chairman of the World Diamond Council, a trade group
in New York, said in an interview. “Hopefully, we are moving into some kind
of understanding, because we don’t have the option of failure.”

Africa accounts for more than half the world’s diamonds and African leaders
moved this year to void a de facto ban on diamonds from Zimbabwe imposed by
the Kimberley group after violence in 2009. The US State Department and the
European Union have complained that Zimbabwe’s government has declined to
discuss the issue.

The Kimberley Process “works best when producers and consumers are
collaborating, and the US would like to see our relationship with Zimbabwe
and other producers strengthened” at next week’s meeting in Kinshasa, the
capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, to “ensure the KP’s future and
enable diamond exports to contribute positively to the region’s economy”,
the US State Department said in an e-mailed response to questions.

The debate is testing the Kimberley Process as a model for how Western
governments and human-rights groups seek to influence the effects of mineral
wealth in Africa, from gold and oil to tungsten and tin.

“We need to build a coalition for growth within Africa between governments
and the private sector,” Nicky Oppenheimer, chairman of De Beers, said June
9 at a conference in Washington. Kimberley “is a good example of what we
need in the developing world”.

The diamond industry endorsed outside monitoring to counter a campaign by
human-rights groups. The 2006 Leonardo DiCaprio film Blood Diamond, set
during the 1996-1999 Sierra Leone civil war in which thousands of people may
have died, heightened attention on the issue.

The Kimberley Process, named for the South African town where industry,
government and rights groups agreed to collaborate, requires nations to
certify the origin of rough diamonds as a way to block proceeds from funding
civil wars. The effort helped end brutal fighting in Sierra Leone, Liberia
and Congo, said Annie Dunnebacke, senior campaigner at the London-based
human-rights group Global Witness.

“There are not so many diamond-fuelled wars going on, and that’s a good
thing,” Dunnebacke said in an interview. “But Zimbabwe is a case study that
has brought to light the weaknesses of the Kimberley Process.”

While the multi-party monitoring is aimed at barring the sale of diamonds
used by rebel groups, the Kimberley Process lacks a remedy to forbid trade
when a nation’s own police or army cause violence, according to Martin
Rapaport, chairman of the Rapaport Group, which operates a diamond-pricing
service.

“People need to face up to the fact that the KP can’t be relied on to ensure
that the diamond you are buying is not a blood diamond,” Rapaport, who said
he is establishing his own fair-trade certification for diamonds, said in an
interview from Jerusalem.

Zimbabwe produced $20.4 million from 1 billion carats of diamonds in 2009,
according to the most recent data from the Kimberley website. That places
the country ninth among the world’s diamond-producing nations. – Bloomberg

Turbulence predicted for Air Zim

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/

Owes IATA nearly $4 million
22.06.1109:21am
Rebecca Moyo

If there was an award for a company that breaks its own records for losses
each month, Air Zimbabwe would win with flying colours.

The national airline has increasingly become a growing burden for its
shareholder - the government – which seems to have no idea how to revive it.

This week the Minister of State Enterprises and Parastals, Gorden Moyo, said
Air Zimbabwe was in such a shambles and its financial position so hopeless
it would be difficult to find takers - even if the government decided to
offload it.

“There are certain entities where we think surely government should be out
of,” Moyo said.

“But it may not be easy to sell Air Zimbabwe right now, even if you want to
offload it. You may not find a taker because of its state,” he said.

Flights cancelled

On Wednesday last week, Zimbabwe’s beleaguered national passenger airline,
cancelled several flights - including the Harare-London and
Harare-Johannesburg flights - because it could not meet its fuel
obligations.

Weighed down by years of mismanagement, poor industrial relations and
bureaucratic bungling, a new substantive Air Zimbabwe chief executive will
have a daunting task to improve operations at the national airline. Innocent
Mavhunga is currently acting CEO.

The airline is heavily indebted and morale among the staff is at its lowest
ebb. Frequent flight delays and cancellations, loss of luggage, overbooking
and shoddy passenger treatment are regular complaints from travellers.
Aviation experts this week said the problems were symptomatic of bigger
issues.

“When such things are not in order, human beings tend to display passive
resistance. How do you expect someone who has not been paid to smile or
offer you a pleasant service?” a senior manager at the airline asked.

“An airline is usually strong at home, but in Zimbabwe a lot of people
cannot afford to fly, necessitating a deliberate strategy to grow the market
outside of the country’s borders. However, since mid-2007 the contrary
happened. Management pulled out of a lot of both profitable and potentially
profitable routes, such as Malawi, Dar-es Salaam, Dubai and Nairobi.”

DRC profitable

The airline also briefly ran domestic operations in the Democratic Republic
of Congo in partnership with the national airline Ligne Aérienne
Congolaises. The DRC operation was described as “costly but highly
profitable”, providing the airline with enough liquidity to service its
debts and commitments as well as pay its staff.

The pullout was not supported by a strategy to retain market share enough to
offset both operating costs and fixed costs. This resulted in extreme
erosion of the revenue base, while the cost-base increased along with the
attendant spiralling debts.

Among the critical creditors is International Air Transport Association
(IATA) which is owed nearly $4 million.

To reduce exposure to the defaulting airline, IATA suspended Air Zimbabwe
from its clearing house, which effectively means that the airline cannot
feed into other airlines or accept traffic from other airlines through
interline arrangements.

Such arrangements mean that Air Zimbabwe cannot sell tickets on behalf of
other airlines and vice-versa.

Massive debts

This effectively means the airline can only carry point-to-point traffic,
forcing passengers including government officials to shun the national
airline in favour of more networked foreign airlines.

“Airline business is all about interlining which makes it easy for
passengers to connect and is cheaper for individuals whose destination
involves more than one flight as they will hold one ticket. As it stands,
Air Zimbabwe is operating like an army of one person,” an aviation source
said.

However, aviation experts say Air Zimbabwe was not a total right-off and
could still be profitable, if properly managed and a majority stake sold to
a financially sound strategic partner.

A recent investigation by parliament revealed the airline was operating on
an overdraft, unable to service its planes or retire delinquent debts
estimated at $64 million.

The parastatal is said to be operating at a loss of $2 million per month.

Competition

Air Zimbabwe has pulled out of 18 routes from a total of 25 and scaled down
on the number of flights per week to “rationalise operations and contain
costs”.

While the airline was withdrawing from these routes citing “viability”
challenges, its competition has stepped in to fill the void. Kenya Airways
now flies to Harare 12 times a week between Harare and Nairobi, while
Ethiopian Airlines now flies into Harare daily.

South African Airways also plans to increase frequencies from two to three a
day on the Harare-Johannesburg route while the national airline is
struggling to operate its two daily flights with regularity and punctuality.

The reduction of routes and frequencies impacted negatively on the
utilisation of resources, as the airline still found itself faced with same
fixed costs.

“What Air Zimbabwe needs to do is to maintain a reasonable amount of money
as maintenance reserve. History has shown that this very same fleet can
still be used to offer a decent product operating with regularity acceptable
in the industry if well maintained,” said an engineer.

He cited Boeing 737-200s, which are still operational and being used by most
companies in South Africa and are said to be in good condition.

“In fact, the airline leases the same equipment whenever they need
additional capacity,” insiders said.

A revolving door of chief executive officers has failed to boost confidence.
The latest in a long line, Peter Chikumba, left on December 31 last year. He
has the distinction of being the only CEO to complete his term of office at
the airline.

Zanu PF implodes

http://www.dailynews.co.zw

By Chengetai Zvauya, Staff Writer
Wednesday, 22 June 2011 16:09

HARARE - Zanu PF’s rapidly declining fortunes are set to worsen following
attempts by some securocrats and the faction linked to defence minister
Emmerson Mnangagwa to impose serial political turncoat Jonathan Moyo as head
of the faction-riddled party’s faltering election campaign.

Impeccable sources inside the former ruling party told the Daily News last
night that this “unpopular plot” had left the faction linked to vice
president Joice Mujuru fuming — as this would see embattled incumbent party
political commissar Webster Shamu being removed from the post.

The sources further alleged that President Robert Mugabe was also being put
under tremendous pressure to ditch Webster Shamu from the influential
Ministry of Media, Information and Publicity Bid to remove Shamu as Zanu PF
implodes and replace him with notorious media hangman Moyo.

Contacted for comment, Zanu PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo, said he was not
aware of the plot by the military and the Mnangagwa camp to topple Shamu
from both the ministry and the party.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. Our politburo members are chosen
at the congress and Jonathan Moyo is our party member and a politburo member
too.  It is not true. It is political speculation by certain individuals,”
he said.

Opponents of the push by the hardliners to elevate the controversial former
junior minister said they were surprised by the move as Moyo not only had an
“erratic history” with the party, but had claimed “rather sensationally and
painfully” in 2008 that Mugabe was so unpopular that he could even lose to a
donkey in an election.

Moyo was information minister before he was sacked in 2005, with Mugabe
claiming that he had plotted a coup against him.

Moyo was also the brains behind the repressive and much-disliked Access to
Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Aippa) which was used to shut
down the popular Daily News in September 2003.  In 2001, the mass
circulating paper had its printing Press bombed hours after Moyo threatened
to silence the newspaper.

“Shamu’s critics in the party are comparing this very civil party stalwart’s
tactics to the tactics of the bloody Zanu PF campaign employed during the
era of the late two political commissars, Border Gezi and Elliot Manyika. It
doesn’t help that when Moyo was the information minister, the party’s
communication campaigns were brutal and intimidatory,” the source said.

“The situation is being worsened by the fact that the military also believe
that their work of coercing the public can be better and easily enforced
with the political commissariat department being headed by the more hawkish
Moyo who is both combative and ruthless in his dealings with the media.

“Then you have the other dynamic where the Mnangagwa camp is desperate to
have Shamu kicked out and replaced with their own man. While I am on this,
please don’t listen to the patently untrue propaganda that Mnangagwa is not
interested in the presidency.

“He desperately wants power and is only saying this to mask his ambition and
to make sure that he remains in good books with Mugabe after the Tsholotsho
debacle,” said the top Zanu PF official.

Shamu’s term as the party’s political commissar is supposed to last for the
next five years. His sympathisers say he has “a job and a half” as he
battles to re-organise the former ruling party which is incapacitated by
factionalism and has lost popular appeal throughout the country.

Another source said most people inside the party that he had shared the
proposed move with were against it as they felt that Moyo was not a genuine
Zanu PF cadre given his “legendary political flip flopping”.

“It would be folly to give Moyo that position because we really don’t know
and don’t understand his mission in Zanu PF. Has the party forgotten that it
was only in 2004 that he (Moyo) tried and failed to topple President Mugabe,
together with members of his faction. He has also been one of President
Mugabe’s fiercest critics.

“When he was fired from Zanu PF he tried to join the MDC and demanded a very
senior post but they refused and now he is back again in Zanu PF and causing
commotion and divisions. During the time he was absent from the party, he
was abusing the President in the Press, the same way he is doing it against
President Zuma.

“Within the region, he has caused problems for President Mugabe and Zanu PF
by making reckless statements such as insinuating that President Zuma is
being used by the West to remove President Mugabe. If the president and the
party decide to push him through it will be a disaster because so far all he
has achieved is to further isolate and destroy Zanu PF,” the riled party
official said.

Moyo recently travelled to South Africa for the Sadc summit on Zimbabwe,
heading a propaganda team that dismally failed to sway the region’s thinking
in favour of Mugabe and Zanu PF.

Moyo spent that time appearing on television and radio while the MDC’s
representatives were meeting Sadc ministers and diplomats who really matter
in regional politics.

But our sources also said that Shamu — a veteran and more amenable
politician — would not be pushed out easily as he allegedly enjoyed support
from both Mugabe and many other senior Zanu PF members, especially the
faction linked to the Mujurus.

The Daily News reported last month that Moyo’s latest return to Zanu PF had
divided the party’s presidium as both Mujuru and co-vice president John
Nkomo fiercely opposed his appointment to the party’s politburo.

ZESA, politicians should be held accountable for massive forest destruction

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

MUTARE - Dumisani Jani (42) (not his real name) was retrenched from
employment 10 years ago leaving him with no source of income to look after
his family.
14.06.1009:47am
MISA

But due to continuous power cuts in the city, Jani's life is back on tracks
as he takes advantage of the continuous long power cuts by illegally cutting
down trees in a nearby forest for resale. On a good month, Jani said he
earns US$450 a month from firewood sales, twice the money earned by a civil
servant.

Owing to persistence long hours of load shedding in many high-density
suburbs of Mutare, destruction of forests for firewood purposes have become
rampant, leaving a little chance for the forest to recover in time.

suburb of Sakubva.

The once green forests of Dangamvura have been reduced to a visible desert
as residents indiscriminately cut down trees as alternative source of
energy.

Forests, mountains and farms close to the city have been the source of
firewood and have unfortunately been left bare, with no chances of recovery
in near future.

Every morning the streets of Mutare are littered with women and children who
have dropped out school and have taken selling firewood as their full time
job.

Environmental Management Agency (EMA), Police and Forestry Commission
officials have fought running battles with firewood vendors, but it seems
they have 'relaxed' after discovering that they were fighting a loosing
battle.

Police officers have been blamed for confisticating firewood for personal
use at their homes instead of enforcing law to stop environmental
degradation.

A local environmentalist said if the load shedding continued at the current
rate Zimbabwe would become a desert, as people were not replanting trees at
the rate they were cutting them.

A visit to mountains in Dora Dombo and Dangamvura proved that environment
was under siege and there was need for responsible authorities to take
action.

She added that the mountains, which used to provide beautiful scenic view
were now bare, an indication that all was not well in the country that used
to generate excess power for export.

Villagers from Dora Dombo said the endless power cuts that have greatly
affected industries in the city were a blessing in disguise as they were
earning a living out of it.

A small bundle of firewood cost around US$1 sometimes they barter trade with
sugar, salt and mealie meal. Villagers said due to scarcity of the United
States dollar they have managed to survive through that.

Resident interviewed said they were aware of the consequences of destroying
the environment such as climate change, but they had no choice against
erratic power supply.

Other residents complained that other sources of energy such as paraffin and
gas were expensive.

Paraffin cost US$1 for a 750 ml bottle. Residents said all the blame should
be shouldered on Zesa because it was charging them tariffs, which were far
beyond their reach, but giving them shoddy service.

Residents said Zesa announcement that they should brace for more power cuts
was likely to trigger further cutting down of trees in the province.

While customers have complained that they were getting electricity for less
than four hours a day, Zimbabwe Electricity Transmittion and Distribution
Company-a subsidiary of Zesa have threatened customers with outstanding
bills to settle their bills or risk disconnection.

The notice reads:

Commentators have said Zesa should come up with lasting solutions to current
power cuts and should know that they would be held accountable for
exacerbating the destruction of the environment through its long and
unscheduled power cuts.

ZANU PF urged to respect remains of liberation fighters

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Alex Bell
22 June 2011

The Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) Veteran’s Trust has urged
ZANU PF to respect the remains of former liberation fighters and other
villagers buried in mass graves across the country.

The Veterans’ Trust deputy chairman and retired army colonel, Buster
Magwizi, said ZANU PF needs to engage the international community and human
rights groups in the exhumations of the bodies. Magwizi said proper
scientific methods were needed to help identify the bodies.

Since March the state’s ZBC televisions news has reported on the exhumations
of hundreds of bodies from a site in Chibondo Mine in the Mount Darwin area.
ZBC has claimed that the bodies are those of people killed by the Rhodesian
forces in the 1970s. This is despite many pictures of the bodies clearly
showing that some of the remains are fresh. Some of the bodies still had
remnants of flesh and were still in stages of decomposition, suggesting the
deaths were more recent.

The exhumations of the bodies from the disused mine, an operation conducted
by the ZANU PF fronted Fallen Heroes’ Trust, has prompted calls for the
exhumation of all mass graves around the country. The state media the Fallen
Heroes’ Trust have insisted that thousands of Zimbabwe’s liberation war
fighters were buried at the site, despite contradictory evidence over the
age of the corpses.

ZIPRA earlier this year sought the court’s intervention to have the
exhumations stopped, amid growing international outcry over the how the
bodies were handled. Leading human rights group, Amnesty International, said
in April that this treatment of the remains was increasing the risk that
evidence of serious human violations could be lost.

SW Radio Africa correspondent Lionel Saungweme reported on Wednesday that
the focus of ZIPRA’s fight now is to ensure the respectful preservation of
the bodies. He said that what ZANU PF is doing is being widely condemned as
disrespectful of the dead and of African culture.

Saungweme explained that The ZBC footage of the exhumations was last week
shown to an exhumation workshop in South Africa, where experts from
Argentina condemned how ZANU PF has conducted the removal of the bodies.

ZIPRA’s Magwizi, who was also at that meeting, meanwhile said the archaic
methods applied at Chibondo Mine were ‘erroneous’.

“Scientific methods have to be implemented rather than look up to amadlozi
(ancestral spirits) to detect origins of the deceased. Victims whose origins
have not yet been identified and whose death has still not been declared are
regarded as missing and this is a scourge to their relatives,” he said.

Ignoring Zim Anti-sanctions Campaign Is Ignoring God- Zanu (PF)

http://www.radiovop.com

10 hours 45 minutes ago

Harare, June 22, 2011 - President Robert Mugabe's Zanu (PF) party says it
has now collected some 2.5 million anti-sanctions petitions, whose
signatures will eventually be submitted to the United Nations saying if
world body ignores the petitions, it would be "ignoring God."

Simon Khaya Moyo, Zanu (PF) chairman defended the on-going anti-sanctions
signature campaign saying this was being done to make sure the world knows
that the sanctions are not targeted, but were affecting everyone in the
country.

"The idea is to make the world realise that these sanctions are not
targeted," Moyo told Radio VOP.

"Every Zimbabwean knows that they are comprehensive. Right now I am informed
we are somewhere around 2-2.5 million, but once the signatures have been put
together they will get to 3 million.

"We will take them to all the institutions which are key in terms of
international law because sanctions are illegal. First they will be taken to
Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit, then African Union
(AU) and then they will take them to the  UN itself so that they know what
the people of Zimbabwe are saying. They are saying remove these sanctions,
they are hurting us. If you ignore that, then you even ignore God."
Moyo could not be drawn how soon the petitions could be  taken to both Sadc
and AU before they are taken to the UN.

Last week, a  group of demonstrators under the banner of the Anti-Sanctions
Trust on Wednesday stormed Finance Minister Tendai Biti’s offices demanding
that he sign the petition.  However, Biti refused to budge.

Mugabe early this year launched the anti-sanctions campaign as a national
program where members of the public sign a petition calling on Western
countries to remove the sanctions which they imposed on Zimbabwe in 2002
following the disputed presidential poll which the West condemned as a sham.

Several Zanu (PF) ministers and service chiefs have signed the petition.

There have been reports that several civil servants especially teachers have
been forced to sign while some people living in the rural areas have signed
the petition for fear of reprisals.

Moyo however denied this saying it  is "all propaganda coming from our
detractors."

The targeted sanctions essentially bar Mugabe and his cronies from
travelling to the West and the later are also barred from conducting
business by those on the travel restrictions.

Keeping it in the family: African migrants send home billions

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/BUSINESS/06/22/remittances.zimbabwe/

 

 

By Robyn Curnow and Teo Kermeliotis, CNN

June 22, 2011 -- Updated 0950 GMT (1750 HKT)

Zimbabweans abroad provide earnings

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Many Africans rely on money sent home from relatives who live overseas
• Remittances are a vital lifeline and can reduce poverty, says World Bank
• The cost of transferring money is very high, putting a burden on migrants and recipients

Mashonaland, Zimbabwe (CNN) -- They might have left their countries to earn themselves a living abroad but for millions of Africans their paychecks also provide a lifeline for their families left behind.

One such migrant is Zimbabwean Ebsalom Matapo. Based now in Bradford, England, he works rehabilitating drug users and ex-offenders, and sends a quarter of his hard-earned wages to his relatives back in Zimbabwe.

"I look after my parents," said Ebsalom. "I've got my family to look after, so sending money is part of our lives, basically.

"I can actually tell you what the rate (is) today, U.S. dollars and pounds. I know it by head because we are always doing that, so we send a lot of money," he added.

Ebsalom's family live in Zimbabwe's rural Mashonaland and usually get by with just a borehole and the crops they grow. For them, the funds coming from abroad are vital.

"Even if he can send $100 we survive," said Freddie Matapo, Ebsalom's father.

According to the World Bank, recorded remittances making their way into Africa increased fourfold between 1990 and 2010. They are now the continent's largest source of foreign capital after foreign direct investments.

World Bank lead economist Dilip Ratha said "30 million migrants send home $40 billion a year according to official statistics.

"The true size of remittances is significantly larger than that," he added, pointing out that a large proportion of funds is sent through various unofficial channels.

As much as we feel the strain, we are actually happy we are giving them a chance to survive.
--Ebsalom Matapo, Zimbabwean working in England

 

Remittances sent home by the African Diaspora provide a much-needed boost for millions of people across the continent and reduce poverty, the World Banks says.

Typically, these funds can lead to increased investments in land purchasing and house building as well as providing extra help for starting businesses and improving education.

In Zimbabwe, remittances have at times propped up the economy, providing an additional source of income in a country that has been battered by political and economic crises and has seen unemployment rocket to nearly 90% in recent years.

Freddie said the only time he leaves his home in Mashonaland is to go to Zimbabwe's capital Harare to collect Ebsalom's remittances from an international money transfer outlet.

However, the cost of wiring money to African countries is still very high. Some brokers charge fees as high as 25%, putting an added burden on migrants and those receiving remittances.

But for many Africans abroad, like Ebsalom, there is no other choice than to pay the high rates in order to sustain and help educate the family that's left behind.

"As much as we feel the strain, we are actually happy we are giving them a chance to survive," said Ebsalom.

And when the money make its way to the communities back home, it's time for an extra treat.

"We buy sugar, meat, flour," said Freddie, who is thankful for his son's help.

"I am praying to God to keep him for quite a long time. I am very grateful for what he does for me, to all of us. Me and my wife, we thank God."

 

History matters, but what history shall we teach?

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

The 1980s nationalist history syllabus lasted for a decade. It was replaced
in 2001 by the patriotic syllabus. But after 30 years has Zimbabwe come full
circle back to teaching only dry, dull history about Europe? Asks TERESA
BARNES.
22.06.1110:37am
The Zimbabwean Harare

I’ve been a fan of Zimbabwean high school history since 1982, when I went to
Zimbabwe to be a volunteer teacher at Danhiko High School in Harare. My
students were disabled ex-combatants who had returned to the country and
were keen to finish the educations that they had interrupted to fight in the
liberation struggle. They were focused, hard-working and wonderful students.

They did their reading and homework assignments with energy and purpose.
Working with them was one of the best experiences of my life. When I started
teaching, I had no idea about the “sanctity of the syllabus”. I taught a
kind of world history in my first classes – about Africa, Asia and Latin
America – topics that were not on the syllabus. When the students asked why
we were spending time on these topics I said, “Because they are
 interesting!”

Time and experience reined me in and, to my students’ relief, I eventually
learned how to teach to the syllabus. Back then it was the “Rhodesian
syllabus” - only European history and the history of European settlement in
Africa. It wasn’t until the end of 1991 that the Curriculum Development Unit
of the Ministry of Education published the long-awaited new syllabus.

Everyone called it “the nationalist syllabus.” It presented a narrative of
Zimbabwe’s history and development by relying heavily on comparative
international social and economic history. By then I had become involved in
a textbook-writing team. We were concerned to pack the book with sources –
pictures, quotations, and what we called back then, “popular voice.”

We were passionate about writing a new people’s history for a new nation.
The other teams for other publishers were also trying to do something new
and in better ways. It was an exciting time to be a high school history
textbook writer.

The nationalist syllabus was very long and focused on producing academic
historians who could write good essays. Our books were interesting but dense
and not sufficiently focused on “education for toleration.” But they
supported the skills of answering questions about the reliability of sources
and about interpretations of historical events.

This approach was the only antidote to the rote learning approach of the
“Rhodesian syllabus”. If students could be empowered and encouraged to read
historical sources and clearly present their own reasoned judgments on the
reliability of different information and perspectives, it would be the basis
of a new and liberated historiography for a new nation.

The nationalist syllabus lasted for a decade. It was replaced in 2001, at a
time of intense social turmoil in Zimbabwe, by what many have called the
“patriotic” syllabus. It did away with the comparative economic
international approach, and focused mainly on Zimbabwe, and European
political history.

It also did away with the emphasis on source-based questions. Exam questions
were no longer in essay format. They were in a short-answer format where
students were marked on recall, description and analysis. Recall and
description could receive a total of 17 out of 25 marks per question.
Critical thinking and interpretation were much less highly valued in this
syllabus.

“Patriotic history” is now ceaselessly trumpeted in official Zimbabwean
media and other circles. It is narrow and sectarian and claims that the
history of Zimbabwe is the story of one political party and one man, and
that in history there are only good patriots or evil sell-outs. Many people
have assumed that this approach has swept unopposed through Zimbabwean
history teaching.

I’ve been conducting research with high school teachers in Zimbabwe for the
last seven years. The story I have heard is much more complicated than that.
Teachers say they are proud to teach history to Zimbabwe schoolchildren.
They think it is very important. They are well-trained in academic history
at A-Level, teacher training colleges and the University of Zimbabwe.

They battle with huge classes, few resources and the temptations of leaving
the country. They are well-aware of the high stakes of their work and know
that they are on the front lines of the nation’s memory.

In 2010, teachers reported that they were choosing not to teach contemporary
Zimbabwean history at all, since it is so close to contemporary politics.
Human rights; structural adjustment; land resettlement; national political
unity; even the Second Chimurenga – these were all dangerous topics for the
classroom. Instead they were preparing students for the O-Level exams as
best they could on much less contentious topics like the Stone Age kingdoms,
Bismarck, and World War I.

The irony is that after 30 years, Zimbabwe may have come full circle to
teaching only dry, dull history about Europe.

Endgame approaching in the long Zimbabwe saga

http://www.businessday.co.za/

ALLISTER SPARKS: At home and abroad

Published: 2011/06/22 07:18:27 AM

AT LAST President Jacob Zuma has done what the South African government
should have done years ago — which is to get tough with Zimbabwean President
Robert Mugabe. He did so at a of the Southern African Development Community
(Sadc) summit in Sandton 10 days ago, at which all the region’s leaders
joined him in rebuffing Mugabe’s continued obduracy and confronted him with
a demand for a new, crisper road map with timelines to bring real political
change to Zimbabwe. They gave Mugabe and his Zanu (PF) party until August to
respond to this demand.

Of course, Mugabe and his diehard supporters may refuse once again, or even
seize power on their own. But the toughness of the Sadc stance, compared
with its previous limp-wristed responses to the old tyrant’s intransigence,
suggests that this time they may hesitate to do so. With the whole region
now united against them, a refusal might result in diplomatic penalties.

The confused reaction of Zimbabwe’s line-toeing, state-owned press indicates
a state of equivocation within Zanu (PF). Right after the summit, these
newspapers reported that Mugabe had once again faced down his Sadc
counterparts; the next day their analysis of the summit was more cautious
and ambiguous; and on day three they came close to hailing its decisions as
ushering in a welcome change of direction. That indicates acceptance may be
in the air. At the very least it shows the party is deeply split.

Zuma convened the extraordinary Sadc summit to endorse a decision by a
regional troika, led by him, to demand a new road map of the Zimbabwe
leaders at a meeting in Livingstone last March. Other members of the troika,
officially charged with monitoring the September 2008 Zimbabwe Global
Political Agreement (GPA), were the presidents of Zambia and Mozambique.

The meeting ended in confusion, when Mugabe’s spokesman, George Charamba,
slipped out early to issue a press statement ahead of the official release,
in which he said the meeting was divided and that Zimbabwe rejected the
troika’s call. Mugabe later described it as unacceptable interference in
Zimbabwe’s sovereignty.

To his credit, Zuma didn’t leave matters there. Instead, as facilitator, he
convened the extraordinary summit to ask all 15 of the Sadc’s members to
endorse the troika’s call, which they have now done.

What has caused Zuma, usually so decision-averse, to stiffen his spine on
this issue? Perhaps a realisation that the economic and political mess in
Zimbabwe is an obstruction to his best political achievement so far, which
was winning SA membership of the Brics group of emerging economies by
presenting SA as a gateway to the rest of Africa — and that fixing that
problem would give his international image a huge boost and almost certainly
ensure him a second presidential term.

Essentially, what emerges from the Livingstone and Sandton meetings is that
SA’s facilitation team has shaved down the complex GPA powersharing deal
negotiated by former President Thabo Mbeki that has enabled Mugabe to
quibble and stall interminably over details. They have stripped it down to a
single essential goal — the objective of holding a free and fair election.

Achieve that, the new thinking goes, and all else will follow.

The new slimmed-down road map calls for a redrawing of constituency
boundaries, the appointment and staffing of a new and truly independent
Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, and the securing of a commitment from the
armed forces to end political violence and support the electoral process.

Not least, it calls for a new voters’ roll to replace the spectacularly
defective existing one, which has obviously been the key instrument in
rigging previous elections. The current roll contains hundreds of underage
children, names without addresses, people of "undetermined" gender and, most
strikingly, 1488 centenarians listed as "new" voters, headed by what must
surely be the most venerable serving soldier of all time, 125-year-old
Nhanhla Khumalo of 41 Infantry Battalion, Masvingo.

How brazen can you get?

The Zimbabwe leadership is asked to resolve these issues and report back to
a Sadc summit in Angola in August. If they agree, a new Zimbabwe
constitution must be drafted and submitted to a referendum in October or
November. Followed by the election.

This sharpened focus has intensified pressure on the divided Zanu (PF). So,
too, has an awareness that Mugabe’s health is declining visibly, raising a
number of alarming prospects among the multitudinous Zanu (PF) beneficiaries
of nearly a lifetime at the trough of political power.

Mugabe was seen to be struggling physically at the Livingstone meeting,
where he reportedly had to be transported to his hotel room in a golf cart.
Since then, he has reportedly collapsed several times at his luxury home in
the Harare suburb of Borrowdale, and been flown four times to see medical
specialists in Singapore. His propaganda machine claims it is his wife,
Grace, who is ill, but few Zimbabweans believe that.

Aged 87 and ailing, it is obvious Mugabe cannot serve another five years as
president. So the party is in a quandary. The prospect of his early demise
or death in office, and of having to go into an election under a new
leader — probably Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) deputy, Joyce Majuru — with a loss of
legislative seats and government jobs in the likely event of a defeat is
causing near panic.

The prospect of a brutal intraparty fight over the succession is equally
alarming, for it would split the party and destroy the careers and
lifestyles of many.

Then there is the question of what the armed forces might do. They loom
formidably on the political scene in a body called the Joint Operational
Command (JOC), comprising the chiefs of the defence force, the army, the air
force, the police, the commissioner of prisons, the head of the ubiquitous
Central Intelligence Organisation and incorporating several Zanu (PF)
diehards. As a body, they have vowed not to recognise Morgan Tsvangirai,
leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), should he win the
presidency. Would the military seize power? Perhaps, but that would present
a challenge that Zuma, Sadc, the African Union and the United Nations could
not ignore — as action against Cote d’Ivoire’s Laurent Gbagbo has shown.

The smart thing would be for the MDC to intervene at this point with a
concessionary proposal of its own, to ease the potentially explosive
pressure on Zanu (PF). It could, for example, propose a deal that the
election be presidential only, rather than a general election including the
legislature and provincial governments — in exchange for the secure
retirement of Mugabe and a selected number of Zanu (PF) and JOC diehards.

This would leave all sitting Zanu (PF) legislators able to complete their
terms (the MDC has a majority in the House of Assembly anyway). Coupled with
a pledge by Tsvangirai to form a government of national unity should he win
the presidency, it might constitute an offer the Zanu (PF) moderates would
find hard to refuse.

Predicting what may happen in Zimbabwe is a perilous business, but it does
look as though the drawn-out saga in that sad but bountiful country may be
entering an endgame phase. The next two months could be decisive.

•Sparks is a veteran journalist and political analyst.

Keynote Address by the Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Right Hon Morgan Tsvangirai at the occasion of the World Justice Forum, Barcelona, Spain

Wednesday, 22 June 2011

Ladies and gentlemen,
I feel greatly honored to be part of this great gathering of colleagues committed to the rule of law as a key ingredient to entrenching a democratic culture in our societies. Today, we live in a world plagued by disease, crime, terrorism and hunger. We live in a world full of conflict, hate and war. A world plagued by oppression and violence. But from the depth of these vices must rise brave men and women; brave global citizens committed to bringing back justice and the rule of law to a vile world.

From the debris of crime and violence must rise the specter of justice so that innocent citizens in our communities can live in peace. From the slums of human fallibility must rise the rule of law to bring back order and accountability to a world full of confusion, petty crime and political violence.

I have been asked to speak to the topic: The Rule of Law and Credible Elections: The Case of Zimbabwe.

Elections in the absence of the rule of law.
Although elections are sometimes marred by fraud and do sometimes result in violence, no other means have brought about non-violent transitions with the same consistency as elections. According to a 2005 Afro-barometer survey, 60 percent of Africans believe democracy is preferable to all other forms of government. Even in the countries that have suffered most from failed or flawed elections or even from the failure to hold elections entirely the people have responded not by abandoning democracy but by increasing their demands for accountability and reform.

While it is true that genuine democracy goes beyond simply holding elections, a credible election is an important primary factor in building and entrenching a democratic ethos in any society. A conducive environment for elections includes the rule of law, judicial independence and enforcement; a transparent, accountable, and open government; a raft of media and political reforms and a determined fight against graft and corruption.

While these conditions are nominally independent of elections, a free and credible election is not possible without them. But democracy goes beyond a free and fair electoral contest. It is about building institutions that protect the people so that they can live in peace and harmony. There can be no credible elections in an environment of fear and intimidation.The people cannot freely express themselves in conditions of anarchy and violence, where perpetrators of crime go scot-free while the victims are persecuted and tormented.

Zimbabwe is under a coalition government of three parties following the inconclusive election of 2008. The party that I lead, the MDC, won the Presidential, Parliamentary and local government elections and I pulled out of the re-run following massive violence against the people. I refused to sacrifice the people and to subject them to further violence even though I had won the first round. State-sponsored violence was therefore at the epicentre of the disputed election of 2008 in Zimbabwe which led to the formation of the inclusive government.

Known perpetrators of violence who murdered over 500 people in that run-up to that election are still to be prosecuted as it appears the police and the Attorney-General have conspired to subvert justice and the rule of law.Thousands remain homeless; some were maimed and raped while others are still missing from the violence arising out of that disputed election.

Even though the perpetrators are still walking in the streets and in the villages, our law enforcement agents and the prosecuting authority have pretended nothing ever happened.
This is a sad testament of the tragedy that befalls innocent citizens when key institutions charged with enforcing the rule of law become politically compromised.

When the Police Commissioner-General and the Attorney-General state publicly that they support a particular political party in an inclusive government, as in our case, the rule of law becomes perverted and people lose confidence in the institutions they lead. It is an affront to the rights and freedoms of citizens when the rule of law is sacrificed on the altar of political expediency and when key institutions fail in their national duty of serving and protecting the people.

The challenge in Zimbabwe is that even after forming the inclusive government, some state organs and state institutions have failed to respect the new dispensation.A small clique of top officials in the police, the army and the intelligence services have vowed that they support President Mugabe and Zanu PF and will not allow anyone else to govern the country, even if that person wins an election.

They have overtly become partisan and are seeking to undermine the civilian authority. Every day, they are dabbling in politics, even seeking to influence the date of the election and the conditions under which that election will be held.

While the necessary conditions for free and fair elections have yet to be put in place, our colleagues in the coalition government who still wield power over the top echelons of the security sector have deployed the army in the countryside to intimidate villagers in order to predetermine the outcome of the next election.

In our case, the problem has never been the ordinary soldier nor the ordinary police office It has always been a small, parasitic clique at the helm of these institutions that is at the forefront of systemic violation of the people’s fundamental rights and freedoms.

They have created a war psychosis in the country; which by its very nature subverts the Constitutional order and undermines the legitimate civilian authority in the country.As we trudge from the disputed poll of 2008 towards yet another election, the onus falls on SADC, Africa and the broader international community to stand by the people of Zimbabwe to ensure that their security, their freedoms and their vote is protected.

I am glad that SADC and the facilitator, President Jacob Zuma of South Africa, have exerted their energies to ensuring that the parties in Zimbabwe come up with a roadmap to a free and fair election. In the modern world of regional groupings and interconnected economies, it is necessary for peace to prevail even in the homes of our neighbours. That is why we are heartened by the unstinting effort of our colleagues in SADC in helping us craft a roadmap that  will ensure a credible election, an undisputed result and a legitimate government.

A roadmap, with time-bound-bound milestones to ensure the people of Zimbabwe cast their votes in peace, with neither fear nor coercion. A roadmap that will ensure that the outcome of that election is respected and that the people’s will is protected.

I urge you all to be global citizens; to be responsible citizens of the world who will fight injustice and violence anywhere in the world, including Zimbabwe.

I call upon you to support the people of Zimbabwe as they navigate through this delicate transition into a new country, with new values and a new ethos.

I may be standing before you as leader of Zimbabwe’s biggest political party.  But the struggle facing the country goes beyond the person of Morgan Tsvangirai or the party I lead.
It has always been an ordinary people’s struggle; a collective struggle of a determined people from across the political divide fighting for a new Zimbabwe and a new beginning. A struggle by ordinary people in the villages, in the urban townships, in the mines and in the diaspora to bring back their dignity and to be allowed to express themselves in a free and fair election.

In 2008, the people spoke in an election that they wanted a new culture and a new beginning. But their vote did not count. Those who lost the election were smuggled into an inclusive government that is now dysfunctional due to competing interests and lack of a common vision.

The challenge before us is to make sure that this does not happen again. We must avoid the circus that began in Kenya, was perfected in Zimbabwe and backfired in the Ivory Coast.It is indeed a disturbing trend which must be discouraged where incumbents who lose an election are smuggled back through dubious power-sharing arrangements.

The challenge for us and the rest of the world is to vaccinate against yet another stolen election in Zimbabwe and to ensure the implementation of a roadmap to a free and fair election. A roadmap characterized by security sector realignment, a credible and neutral secretariat of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, a biometric voters’ roll, extensive  reforms and a new Constitution coupled with foolproof mechanisms to ensure security of the person and security of the vote.

So the date for our next election is going to be defined by a process. Only after this process has been concluded to our satisfaction will the President and I agree on the date for the next polls. Only a legitimately elected government, and not a coalition, can develop and implement a common vision and programmes that will deal with the massive unemployment and poverty that we currently face.

The world must stand by us as we try to agree and implement a roadmap to a free and fair poll. You must all stand by us as we embark on this political programme underpinned by political reforms, a commitment to the rule of law, defense of property rights and reward of individual effort. The major lesson from the struggle against apartheid in South Africa is that the world should not be a by-stander against repression.

So I call for global support to the people of Zimbabwe as we walk through this difficult transition; as we wage this protracted struggle to bring back our dignity and to become part of the global family of nations once again.

Yes, support the people of Zimbabwe as they struggle for a credible election and the rule of law underpinned by the basic freedoms of assembly, speech, movement and association. I am certain that we will succeed in our struggle for a new Zimbabwe and a new beginning. A new Zimbabwe where political differences are not an excuse for violence and unnecessary conflict; where state institutions promote peace and unity - not war and violence against defenseless people.
 
The challenge of the new crop of Africa leaders is to kill the culture of violence against defenceless citizens so that governments concentrate on pressing national issues such as eradicating poverty, creating jobs, growing the economy and delivering quality and affordable service to the people, especially health and education.

We will succeed in rebuilding our country in an environment of peace and security where every Zimbabwean will be free to pursue and live their dreams. Yes, join us in a global campaign for a peaceful election in our country because true democracy is possible in Zimbabwe.

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MDC Information & Publicity Department