http://www.zimdiaspora.com
MONDAY, 11 MARCH 2013 07:28
From
Correspondent
The head of the Sadc electoral observer mission Mr Benard
Bernard Membe
arrived in Zimbabwe ahead of the referendum set for
Saturday.
Mr Membe jetted into the country yesterday representing the
chairperson of
the Sadc Organ on Politics, Defence and Security President
Jakaya Kikwete of
Tanzania.
Speaking at the official launch of the
mission in Harare yesterday, Mr Membe
urged Zimbabweans to turn up in large
numbers, stressing the exercise would
also be used as a measure of democracy
in the country.
“My duty is to appeal to Zimbabweans to turn out in huge
numbers to make
their decisions in the referendum set for 16 March. This
will determine
democracy in the country,” he said.
Mr Membe said
Zimbabwe was ready for the referendum considering that the
referendum dates
have already been gazetted and that the political parties
were all agreed
on the date.
Speaking at the same occasion Sadc executive secretary Dr
Tomaz Salamao
urged Zimbabweans to demonstrate high standards of maturity
and to cast
their votes peacefully.
“The decision to have peaceful
and democratic vote lies in the hands of
Zimbabweans. We are simply
observing the process. We encourage Zimbabweans
to demonstrate political
stability to achieve a peaceful and democratic
referendum,” said Dr
Salamao.
They both hailed the inclusive Government and Copac in
particular for
working together in coming up with the draft Constitution.
The inclusive
Government was also commended for fulfilling the bulk of the
Global
Political Agreement issues.
Mr Membe said Sadc would deploy
between 80 and 100 observers to various
areas throughout the
country.
“The observers will be here up to 20 March,” he
said.
Responding to questions on whether the observers were enough to
cover the
whole country, Mr Membe said: “Yes the figure might appear
inadequate but
Sadc will never have the capacity to bring up to 1 000
observers, enough to
cover all the polling centres. After all we will not be
doing much. We will
simply be observing the activities,” he said.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
10/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
THE SADC troika on politics, defence and security cooperation
met in South
Africa at the weekend to discuss developments in Zimbabwe ahead
of this week’s
constitutional referendum.
The regional grouping
mediated talks for the formation of the unity
government after violent
elections in 2008 and has facilitated negotiations
between the coalition
parties for a so-called road-map to new polls this
year.
The Saturday
meeting was attended by South Africa President Jacob Zuma, SADC’s
point-man
on Zimbabwe, troika chair and Tanzanian leader Jakaya Kikwete,
Namibian
premier Hage Geingob as well as a representative from Mozambique.
In a
statement, the South African presidency said Zuma presented a report on
his
facilitation efforts in Zimbabwe adding the summit endorsed the report
and
its recommendations.
The troika said it would remain “seized with the
political developments in
Zimbabwe” and urged the coalition parties “to
continue to work together
towards creating a conducive environment for the
forthcoming elections in
the country”.
The meeting came at a time of
renewed bickering between Zanu PF and the
MDC-T over political violence in
the country ahead of this Saturday’s
constitutional
referendum.
Rights groups have also accused the police of mounting "a
sustained and
escalating assault" on activists to discredit their
organisations ahead of
the referendum and fresh elections.
The draft
new constitution, negotiated by Zanu PF and the MDC formations, is
part of a
raft of political reforms expected to culminate in elections to
replace the
coalition government later this year.
President Robert Mugabe and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai agree to the
unity government has been rendered
unworkable by policy and other
differences between their respective parties
with the MDC-T leader
suggesting new elections could be held in
July.
Meanwhile, the SADC observer team is already in the country ahead
of the
weekend referendum.
The regional grouping said it would deploy
between 80 and 100 observers
around the country and head of the team,
Bernard Membe, conceded Sunday that
the numbers could be
inadequate.
“Yes the figure might appear inadequate, but SADC will never
have the
capacity to bring up to 1 000 observers, enough to cover all the
polling
centres. After all we will not be doing much. We will simply be
observing
the activities,” he said.
Zimbabwe has refused to allow
observers from the European Union (EU) and the
United States over sanctions
imposed against the country but the coalition
parties appear to be divided
over the issue.
Said Finance Minister and MDC-T secretary general Tendai
Biti in South
Africa at the weekend: "As a country we should have nothing to
hide... (and
therefore) anyone, whether from Timbuktu, Beijing or Bali … you
should be
allowed to come."
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
11/03/2013 00:00:00
by
AP
FINANCE minister Tendai Biti said Monday he will ask President Robert
Mugabe
to order diamond mining companies to pay millions of dollars into the
nation's treasury.
Biti told reporters he was losing patience with
the companies' indifference
in helping to fund a constitutional referendum
on March 16 and elections in
July with at least $217 million needed for both
polls.
He said he had information that total diamond sales for 2012
amounted to
$800 million but the state has received only $45 million so far,
although
the companies would have owed considerably more than that in
taxes.
Biti said it was "criminal" that diamond mines and executives
failed to
submit their profits to the state.
"I will be appealing to both
the President and Prime Minister to make these
companies pay. We are
beginning to lose our patience," he said. "It is
irresponsible and
unpatriotic and a breach of our laws."
Diamond mining in in the Marange
area has been mired in allegations of human
rights abuses and illegal money
laundering by Mugabe's loyalists.
Zimbabweans will be voting in a
referendum for a new constitution which will
pave way for elections to end a
four-year-old coalition between Mugabe and
former opposition leader Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The unwieldy power-sharing government was
brokered by regional leaders in
2009 after violent and disputed elections in
2008.
The Marange diamond fields - one of the world's biggest diamond
deposits -
have been mined since 2006.
Biti and his former opposition
party in the coalition have criticised what
they call the militarization of
Zimbabwe's diamond mining by Mugabe's
loyalist police and military which
have gone into partnership with secretive
Chinese companies to exploit the
stones.
"It is totally unacceptable that the country is struggling to
raise money
for the referendum and election when such money is coming from
diamond
sales," Biti said.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu, from Mugabe’s
Zanu PF party, insists that
Western economic sanctions have prevented the
government from getting fair
prices for the diamonds on the international
market and forced some covert
selling.
Zimbabwe is said to have the
capacity to produce between 110 million to 160
million carats of diamonds
annually, ranking it as one of the top five
diamond producers by volume in
the world.
An international diamond watchdog, Partnership Africa Canada
alleged last
year that at least $2 billion have been stolen by Mugabe's
cronies from
Zimbabwe's eastern diamond fields.
It said the vast
earnings could have turned around Zimbabwe's economy,
crippled by years of
economic meltdown and political turmoil.
"We can't have a government
which is indifferent to the costs of a
referendum and elections," Biti
said.
He said funding for Saturday's referendum has been raised from NSSA and
other private interests as well as the sale of government treasury
bills.
Zimbabweans are to cast their votes in the referendum at 9,000
voting
stations countrywide Saturday. All political leaders have called for
a 'Yes'
vote from their supporters to accept a new
constitution.
Crucial national elections are expected to be sometime in
July, with
Tsvangirai, 61, running against Mugabe, 89, in the presidential
poll.
http://www.reuters.com/
Mon Mar 11, 2013 10:47am
EDT
* Bond floated for pension funds
* Referendum to be held on
Saturday
By MacDonald Dzirutwe
HARARE, March 11 (Reuters) -
Zimbabwe has raised $40 million from a special
bond floated to the local
unit of Old Mutual and the state pension fund to
help finance a
constitutional referendum this weekend, the finance minister
said on
Monday.
Tendai Biti said the one-year bond would attract an interest rate
of 7
percent.
Zimbabweans will vote on Saturday in a referendum on a
draft constitution, a
crucial step toward a general election later in the
year.
"This is a voluntary bond on the same terms that the companies are
lending
to the market," Biti told journalists.
Old Mutual Zimbabwe
and the government owned National Social Security
Authority are among the
country's largest funds.
Biti said the government had already given $31
million to the Zimbabwe
Electoral Commission and the additional $40 million
would be enough to cover
the costs of the referendum.
Adoption of a
new constitution seems almost certain since both President
Robert Mugabe's
ZANU-PF and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for
Democratic
Change back it and have the two-thirds majority needed to steer
it through
parliament.
The proposed supreme law seeks to curb sweeping presidential
powers while
strengthening state institutions such as the cabinet,
parliament and
judiciary.
Biti repeated that Zimbabwe would need the
help of foreign donors to fund
its presidential and parliamentary elections
that require $132 million. The
cash-starved government had only budgeted $25
million for the two events.
The elections are expected around
July.
The government is struggling to fund its national budget without
donor help
amid a slowdown in economic growth to 4.4 percent last year from
a 9.3
percent expansion in 2011.
Biti said the economy remained "very
depressed" with tax revenues below
target so far this year while government
spending, especially the salary
bill for its employees, continued to rise.
http://www.iol.co.za
March 11 2013 at 05:40pm
By
SAPA
Johannesburg - Cash-squeezed Zimbabwe has resorted to cutting
allowances for
election officials as it struggles to pay for a
constitutional referendum
later this week, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said
Monday.
The country goes to the polls on Saturday to adopt or reject a
new supreme
law, but faces a serious cash crunch after years of economic
stasis.
“We are rationalising, particularly on allowances, scaling down
costs to
realistic levels,” Biti said.
He admitted that organising
two sets of votes this year - the referendum on
Saturday and elections
slated for July - will prove tough.
“Things are excruciatingly tight,” he
said.
He was however optimistic that “Zimbabwe will hold a successful
referendum.”
Treasury has so far released $31 million to print ballot
papers, buy
indelible voting ink and for the transport and training of
polling officers,
the minister said.
A further $40 million would be
raised through treasury bills to cover other
costs of the
referendum.
But the $132 million price tag for elections will be tougher
to match.
“As far as elections are concerned there is a real challenge,”
Biti said.
“The support of the international community is
critical.”
An appeal has been sent to the UN for election
funding.
The election, which Biti says is a “make-or-break” vote will end
the wobbly
coalition government of veteran President Robert Mugabe and
long-time rival
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
Both Mugabe and
Tsvangirai have endorsed the draft constitution, which
limits the
presidential tenure to two five-year terms, curtails presidential
powers and
abolishes the post of prime minister. - Sapa-AFP
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Tichaona
Sibanda
11 March 2013
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has
refused to accredit the Zimbabwe
Human Rights Association (ZimRights) to
observe this Saturday’s referendum,
because the organisation is under police
investigation.
At a media briefing on Friday ZEC’s acting chairperson,
Joyce Kazembe, told
journalists that ZimRights’ application had been turned
down.
In January police laid charges of fraud and forgery against
ZimRights and
the group’s director Okay Machisa. The authorities alleged
that ZimRights
was involved in an illegal voter registration exercise. The
organization
denies participating in any illegal activities.
More
importantly, according to Machisa, ZimRights has not been convicted of
any
offence and they will be approaching the courts to see if ZEC acted
within
their jurisdiction.
Machisa told SW Radio Africa on Monday that they were
shocked by ZEC’s
decision: ‘I’m not sure whether ZEC has turned to be some
judiciary arm of
Zimbabwe. It looks like they’ve turned themselves into a
court of law or
police.
‘I don’t know why they decided to react like
that, we are facing allegations
that we strenuously deny. Our law in
Zimbabwe says you are innocent until
proven guilty, so why are they jumping
the gun? Asked Machisa.
He added: ‘We are going to follow the law and
approach the courts to ask
them to explain their reasons for declining our
accreditation.’
Political analyst Freedom Mazwi said it showed ZEC was
taking instructions
from some people, and that the body was not yet truly
independent.
ZEC has also ruled that diplomatic missions from embassies
outside Africa
will only be allowed to have five observers each for
Saturday’s vote.
SADC has sent a 100 strong contingent of observers who
jetted into Zimbabwe
on Sunday. They will be deployed to various areas
throughout the country.
Observers will stay until 4 days after the
referendum.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Nomalanga Moyo
11 March
2013
Zimbabweans on national duty outside the country will not be able to
vote in
the constitutional referendum to be held on Saturday.
This
was revealed by the acting chairperson of the Zimbabwe Electoral
Commission
Joyce Kazembe at a briefing for poll observers on Friday.
According to
freelance journalist Lenox Mhlanga, who attended the briefing,
Kazembe said
the time period for the application process for postal votes as
specified in
the Electoral Act could not be accommodated in this referendum.
The
briefing was also attended by members of the foreign diplomatic missions
who
were informed that each embassy represented in Zimbabwe will be
restricted
to five observers, all of whom should be foreign nationals.
Mhlanga said
Kazembe’s announcement confirmed fears raised by some that the
time allowed
for the preparations for the referendum was too short.
“This gives the
impression that the whole process is being rushed to avoid
answering certain
questions about the contents of the draft charter if a
longer period of time
was given, such as the 6 months that some were asking
for,” Mhlanga
said.
The National Constitutional Assembly recently lost its case in
which it was
seeking a High Court order to force President Mugabe to
postpone the
referendum, arguing people had not been given enough time to
study the
draft. The NCA has appealed the decision at the Supreme Court and
the case
will be heard on Wednesday 13th March.
A total of 12 million
ballot papers are being printed and will be
distributed to 9,449 polling
stations throughout the country.
According to the Electoral Act, Zimbabwe
will be taken as one constituency
and citizens aged 18 and above, and are
eligible, and will be allowed to
cast their ballots at any of the polling
stations.
Kazembe said that because of the nature of the referendum no
election agents
would be allowed, although political parties could register
observers.
http://www.swradioafrica.com/
By Alex Bell
11 March
2013
Human rights activist Jestina Mukoko is believed to be a target of a
deliberate campaign to stop the roll out of a violence monitoring
initiative, which she was reportedly involved in.
Mukoko, the
Director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, was last week charged by
the police
after voluntarily reporting at the Harare Central Police Station.
The police
had used the state media to say she was ‘wanted’ and was on the
run from the
law, in a move slammed as a ‘new low’ of persecution by the
police
force.
Mukoko was charged with contravening the Private Voluntary
Organisation Act,
the Broadcasting Services Act and the Customs and Excise
Act. In short, the
police accused her of running a non-registered
organisation and for
smuggling radios and cell phones, which had previously
been seized during a
police raid on the Peace Project offices.
Mukoko
denied all the charges and explained to the police that none of the
organisation’s activities were in any way illegal. In her statement to the
police she also questioned the irregularity of the charges against her.
Mukoko was then released into the custody of her lawyers after the
interrogation and the police indicated that they would advise of any further
action after assessing the docket.
It has since emerged that Mukoko
was in the process of starting a violence
monitoring initiative, using
smart-phone and internet technology to allow
people to report incidents of
violence. The initiative is using the Ushahidi
resource, an online mapping
resource that started in Kenya in 2008 to track
and map political violence
there.
Meaning ‘witness’ or ‘testimony’ in Swahili, Ushahidi has grown
over the
years to become a free to use, online mapping system, used around
the world
to report and track issues like violence and corruption. The
technology is
already used in Zimbabwe to map and report corruption through
the ‘I paid a
bribe’ anonymous reporting website. A political violence map
was also
started using Ushahidi in 2011 by the blog 3rdLiberation.
SW
Radio Africa was unable to get confirmation from the ZPP about their
reported involvement in the Ushahidi programme. Co-Home Affairs Minister
Theresa Makone’s phone went unanswered on Monday, although the minister has
previously said she has no power over the country’s police, despite her
position.
McDonald Lewanika, the Director of the Crisis in Zimbabwe
Coalition, said
that targeting any NGO for trying to monitor violence is a
clear form of
persecution.
“What is wrong if people are trying set up
this platform? This is citizen
policing to ensure violence is monitored and
prevented. What is wrong with
that? That is not illegal,” Lewanika
said.
Machinda Marongwe from the National Association of NGOs (NANGO)
told SW
Radio Africa that the attempts to criminalise the work of civic
groups “make
advocacy and lobbying very difficult.”
“When you are
tracking violence, the point is to have an early warning
system in place to
come up with appropriate intervention. But when it is
criminalised it means
there is someone who is intending to ensure violence
is not monitored
properly,” Marongwe said.
http://www.theage.com.au/
March 11, 2013 -
7:55AM
Retirement Pension Changewww.handsoffmysuper.com.au
Why
you need to be worried about proposed superannuation changes
Australia will
begin easing long-standing sanctions against Zimbabwe after
the country
announced it would hold a constitutional referendum this
Saturday.
Sanctions against 55 individuals including ZANU-PF
politicians, members of
the judiciary and media, provincial governors and
leading business figures
would be lifted, Foreign Minister Bob Carr said on
Monday.
Senator Carr said the 55 people were not hindering democratic
reforms,
undermining the goal of having free and fair elections in Zimbabwe,
or
involved in human rights abuses.
''Zimbabwe's reform process has
been painfully slow,'' he said.
''However, leaders such as Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai have made
genuine progress.''
Monday's announcement
follows Senator Carr's release in February of a
three-stage plan to peel
back the sanctions, which include travel and
financial restrictions against
153 individuals and four entities, and an
arms embargo.
At the time,
he said the Zimbabwean government must first set a date for a
constitutional
referendum, hold that referendum and then stage free and fair
elections.
Zimbabwe has since announced it will hold a constitutional
referendum on
March 16.
AAP
http://www.swradioafrica.com
By Nomalanga
Moyo
11 March 2013
The trial of the 29 MDC-T supporters accused of
murdering a police officer
finally resumed Monday, with the Cuban
pathologist who carried out the
post-mortem giving his testimony.
The
trial was postponed to Monday after Cuban medic Dr Alveiro Aguero,
failed to
turn up for the fifth time on Friday, despite assurances by
prosecutors that
he would.
Defence lawyer Gift Mtisi said that state witness Dr Aguero
indicated in his
testimony that the injuries on Inspector Petros Mutedza
“were consistent
with a blow from a hard object”.
Mtisi told SW Radio
Africa that following the pathologist’s testimony, the
defence team will be
applying for a discharge.
He said: “We indicated that we intended to make
an application for discharge
at the close of the state’s case, and after
consulting the prosecution on
the dates, we will be making the application
on March 25th.”
Mtisi said this would give his team time to analyse the
voluminous amount of
evidence which is still to be transcribed and also in
view of the large
number of the accused persons involved in the
case.
“At the moment we do not have the fully transcribed record to
enable us to
analyse the whole evidence but once we have that, we will be
submitting our
application,” Mtisi said.
Inspector Petros Mutedza was
killed when a police detail he was part of was
attacked, while responding to
reports of political disturbances in Harare’s
Glen View area in May
2011.
The accused MDC-T maintain their innocence and say the charges were
trumped-up, with a view to harassing the party’s supporters.
Lawyers
for the activists also insist that those arrested were nowhere near
the
scene of the clashes.
So far the trial has confirmed this, with state
witnesses giving conflicting
and contradictory statements.
The 29
have been on remand for more than a year. Some of them have been in
jail for
the whole of that time, with reports of torture, assaults and
denial of
medical treatment.
Three of the five activists who are still in custody
are reportedly being
held in solitary confinement.
On Friday Beatrice
Mtetwa, who is part of the defence team, slammed the
delays by the
prosecution as an injustice and a deliberate ploy to
“persecute the
innocent” activists.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
11/03/2013 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
A CHINESE company mining for tantalite in Bikita, Masvingo
Province, says it
has discovered diamonds in the area.
Gift Chimanikire,
the deputy mines minister, said Nan Jiang Africa Resources
Ltd had now
submitted a new application for a licence to mine diamonds
following the
find.
Chimanikire said four kimberlite pipes had been discovered at
Devuli Ranch
in the Budzi communal area – on the border with Manicaland
Province which is
believed to hold some of the world’s biggest diamond
deposits.
Kimberlite pipes – named after Kimberley in South Africa where
they were
first found – are believed to have developed from powerful magma
eruptions
between 1,100 million and 20 million years ago.
In
Marange, Manicaland, the diamond deposits are mainly alluvial – diamonds
that originate in kimberlite pipes but get moved by geological activity into
river beds and even flat surfaces.
Chimanikire said a team from the
ministry had been to Bikita and had
prepared a report of an analysis of the
type of diamonds found and their
estimated value. This information will be
used in considering Nan Jiang
Africa Resources’ application.
The
company has reportedly hired over 100 workers and brought in heavy
mining
equipment. The area where the diamonds were discovered is now
patrolled by
armed guards.
But Chimanikire warned Nan Jiang they could face sanctions
if they begin
mining before a licence is granted.
The company, meanwhile,
has been active in the local community – helping
villagers draw water from
Devure River for irrigation.
http://www.israelidiamond.co.il
11.03.13, 11:01 /
World
In an effort to diversify its economy, the government of
Zimbabwe is
advancing a law which would require diamonds exported from the
country to
already have had value added to them from a locally-performed
beneficiation
process, Rough and Polished reports.
Any diamonds
exported from the country in their roughest form will be hit
with
significant tax hikes.
Mines Minister Obert Mpofu announced the proposed
legislation, saying that
all diamonds exported from Zimbabwe will be
subjected to a grading system
consisting of several levels. According to
this system, the more processes
that have been performed on a diamond before
it has been exported, the lower
the royalty rate that the state will tack
onto it.
Polished diamonds sell for far more than rough diamonds, and
Zimbabwe is
keen to increase the tax revenues it earns from diamond sales.
The country's
current mining royalty rate for diamonds is 15%, according to
Rough and
Polished.
http://www.washingtonpost.com
By
Associated Press, Updated: Tuesday, March 12, 2:00 AM
HARARE, Zimbabwe —
Wildlife officials say they have renewed a lion alert at
the northern
tourism and fishing resort town of Kariba after the reported
sighting of two
more lions near the suburb where two people were mauled to
death last
week.
The state wildlife authority said Monday the weekend sightings were
in the
“same general area” around the Mahombekombe township suburb. Three
rogue
lions were hunted down and killed there Thursday and
Friday.
Officials said it was not proven that new “man eaters” have been
sighted at
all. Rangers and volunteers are deploying before dawn Tuesday to
look for
fresh lion tracks and echo animal calls to try and rouse any lions
nearby.
After rogue lions terrified the townspeople last week, “everyone
is seeing
lions in every shadow,” one official said.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
10/03/2013 00:00:00
by
Business Reporter
RESERVE Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor Gideon
Gono has warned exporters
against stashing money outside the country’s
adding the central bank would
continue to levy punitive measures against
such practices.
Gono told industrialists last week that it was
unacceptable that there was
some US$400 million being kept offshore as
outstanding exports proceeds at a
time when the country was scavenging for
money to finance general elections.
The RBZ chief was responding to
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI)
Vice-President Kurai Macheza who
had complained about the high penalties
being levied on exporters who exceed
the 90 day period for repatriating
export proceeds saying the penalties were
counterproductive and discouraged
exports.
Said Gono: “Let me clarify
that we are not against exporters. The measures
(we have announced) are
against those exporters who prefer to leave their
money outside the country
for days beyond the normal acceptable periods.
“It’s a common phenomenon
in this country that towards key national events
such as elections people
and companies alike have a tendency to pre-pay
their imports and delay the
inflow of the imports in to the country.
“This is borne out of experience
colleagues, because of the desire or rather
the fear of the unknown, you
have companies saying let’s keep the money out
there for as long as
possible. Now the responsibility falls on us to deter
such kind of
behaviour.”
Gono maintained that while the apex bank had no appetite for
controlling
business operations in the country, the behaviour by some
companies was
making it difficult for the authorities not to
act.
Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector has been lurching from one crisis to
the
other with capacity utilisation remaining below optimum levels due to a
myriad of factors, chief among them, liquidity constraints exacerbated by
the inability of financial institutions to extend long lines of credit.
Youth Agenda Trust has
launched a campaign that aims at encouraging
youth to seize the moment of the
elections, beginning with the
constitutional referendum that is set for
Saturday 16 March 2013 by
overwhelmingly casting their ballot. YAT will
encourage them to vote
for the adoption of the draft constitution.
The
campaign dubbed “Our time is NOW”, will reach out to youth from
most corners
of the country who will participate in the run-up to the
referendum and
ultimately general elections expected later this year.
The YAT district
leadership will popularize the campaign in their
respective areas by
reminding them of their obligation to choose a
constitution and a leadership
of their choice will coordinate the
campaign.
The campaign will begin this
week on the mobile (through the bulk sms
system) and social networking
platforms but will also make use of
current YAT programmes and will also feed
into the activities of other
youth organizations across the country.
Our
time is NOW, is a campaign whose conception is motivated by the
lack of
information by the youth about their electoral rights which is
worrying given
that the constitutional referendum is on 5days away.
There is a general
belief among the youth that the information
blackout on the referendum is
deliberate and designed to stifle the
participation of the youth in the
process.
Information gathered by YAT reveals that the youth have not
received
copies of the draft constitution including youth organizations and
the
voting procedures have not been communicated well to youth, both
in
urban and marginalised communities.
The sustained information blackout
has continued to worry the youth
who feel that this year they may be able to
play a part in deciding
their future and pluck themselves out of the abyss of
poverty,
unemployment, HIV and AIDS among other ills.
The youth also see
this year’s elections as a platform to elect an
accountable government that
will be able to respect the sanctity of
human life, respect human rights and
democracy and promote good
governance. Most youth are out of school or
college because they
cannot afford it, hence they expected the coming
government to be able
to provide them with decent education, and employment
opportunities
and must also be able to attract foreign direct investment into
the
country’s ailing industry.
Our time is now campaign is a timely
reminder for the youth to take
the initiative and prove critics wrong who
always say they do not want
to participate in the electoral
processes.
–
–
In pursuit of a democratic
Zimbabwe
_________________________
YOUTH AGENDA TRUST Zimbabwe
http://www.southernafricalitigationcentre.org
11 March, 2013
Nicole Fritz
On Friday, 1
March, Judge Ariranga Pillay, former Judge President of the
SADC Tribunal,
Professor Laurie Nathan of the Centre for Mediation in Africa
at the
University of Pretoria and I participated in a discussion hosted by
the
University of Pretoria’s Department of Political Science and the South
African Foreign Policy Initiative (SAFPI), titled: The SADC Tribunal:
Removing the Scales of Justice.
It was a wide ranging
discussion but I was most intrigued, and thought least
susceptible to any
ready answer, those sections of the discussion which set
law firmly in
opposition to political dynamics. Professor Nathan made the
interesting
observation that given the unsettled nature of sovereignty
within the
region, that it has so recently been won, that it is an as yet
uncompleted
project, that southern African states enjoyed de jure as opposed
to de facto
sovereignty, and that there were no common norms and standards
as between
them, the real surprise wasn’t so much that the SADC Tribunal was
disbanded
but that it had ever been established at all.
I speculated, I
recognise a little moot and academic at this point, that had
the Tribunal
refused on some procedural basis – i.e. on standing or
admissibility
requirements — to hear the highly contentious issue of
Zimbabwe’s land
reform process as one of its very first cases, it might have
lived to see
another day. Had it had some relatively uncontentious cases
under its belt —
some prisoners’ rights, or fair trial rights judgements
delivered — and had
it managed to secure some state compliance with these
rulings, before it
tackled the land reform cases, it would have made it more
difficult for the
SADC Summit simply to dismantle the court.
I fear I may not
necessarily be doing justice to Judge Pillay’s response,
but my recollection
of his response is that he believed that as a judge, his
province is the law
and he is not required nor indeed capacitated to look
beyond that realm. I
think that response would strike most jurists as an
entirely appropriate,
probably the only appropriate, response — that judges
cannot and should not
be required to calculate the political consequences of
their rulings, that
in any event in many cases these will be entirely
unknowable.
Still, why I know the combination of savvy
political strategist and wise
jurist is probably hard to come by, indeed
that combination may cancel
itself out (and how exactly would you assess for
such combination in any
appointment process?), newly established, fragile
regional and international
courts especially, dependant on states’ voluntary
support, require some
combination of that skill-set. And not only of their
judges. Think of how
the ICC might have avoided some of the more
debilitating fracas it has found
itself engaged in had Prosecutor Moreno
Ocampo made some smarter political
choices.
Accommodation of
political realities, however, forces some pretty hideous
conclusions. I
recognise the correctness of Professor Nathan’s observations
regarding
sovereignty in the region and the absence of shared norms and
values, but as
inhabitants of this region are we really to have to settle
with the
conclusion that supranational institutions offering protection of
our human
rights where domestic processes fail are not going to be available
to us but
may perhaps avail generations to come. . .
BILL WATCH
PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEES SERIES 7/2013
[11th March 2013]
Meetings of Portfolio and Thematic Committees have been suspended
until Monday 6th May.
The suspension follows the adjournment of both Houses until Tuesday
7th May.
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take legal responsibility for information supplied
