Farmworkers union officers in hiding after police raids

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/

Feb 28, 2010, 13:18 GMT

Harare - The entire leadership of Zimbabwe's union for farmworkers has gone
underground after a series of raids, arrests and threats against them,
lawyers said Sunday.

The raids followed a documentary which the union had produced exposing
violent abuse of workers on white-owned farms seized by President Robert
Mugabe's backers, lawyer Trust Maanda said.

The documentary, titled The House of Justice, was released last year after
years of recording the lawless take-over of nearly all the country's
white-run commercial farms since 2000.

Maanda confirmed that Gertrude Hambira, secretary-general of the General
Agricultural and Plantation Workers Union of Zimbabwe (GAPWUZ) was in hiding
since Wednesday.

She had been interrogated that day for two hours at the police national
headquarters by 17 senior officers of the Joint Operations Command (JOC),
which combines the country's military, police and intelligence service and
which is known to direct the political strategy of Mugabe's ZANU(PF) party.

GAPWUZ officials said Hambira was told she would go behind bars for the
documentary, which showed gruesome images of farm workers murdered and
tortured by Mugabe's militias.

Lawyers say it is unprecedented and illegal for the JOC to carry out
interrogations and issue threats.

A second raid was carried out on Hambira's office on Friday in which two
officials were arrested, but released after a few hours. Two more have been
ordered to police for interrogation on Monday, GAPWUZ officials in hiding
said.

London-based Amnesty International last week denounced the latest in a
series of Zimbabwean human rights violations that continue despite the
formation of a power-sharing government of national unity in February 2009
by Mugabe and pro-democracy leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

 

Women in Zimbabwe: “We want a future”

http://www.oxfam.org.uk

Zimbabwe ready to pull out of Kimberly Process, says minister

http://www.inthenews.co.uk

Sunday, 28, Feb 2010 08:54

By Nqobani Ndlovu.

Zimbabwe will pull of a diamond trade regulatory body, the Kimberly Process
(KP), if the KP registers un-satisfaction with government efforts so far to
meet its requirements to allow the country to trade freely, according to
mines minister Obert Mpofu.

The KP, a global body created to curb trade in gems mined to fund conflict
decided not to suspend Zimbabwe's membership last year, but set certain
requirements the government has to meet before it can be allowed to trade
freely.

The KP gave Harare a June 2010 deadline to make reforms to comply with its
regulations.

The KP is just a mere membership driven body. No one is forced to be a
member of it," said Mr Mpofu.

"If the KP is unsatisfied with our efforts and says we have failed to comply
with their requirements to bar us from diamond trade, we will not lose
sleep. We are ready to just pull put and not lose anything.

"The KP does not own the diamond trade markets. Zimbabwe will pull out of
the KP and sell its diamonds to those markets," he added in response to
journalists' questions at a Press Club in Zimbabwe's second city, Bulawayo.

Human rights groups last year lobbied for a suspension of Zimbabwe from
diamond trade saying the precious minerals were being used to enrich
President Mugabe's allies and to fund a crackdown on innocent civilians.

Zimbabwe's Marange diamond fields are the most controversial in the world
with reports saying armed soldiers killed a number of illegal miners who
descended on the fields after they seized them from the London based African
Consolidated Resources Plc in 2006 when gems were found.

Harare last year granted the diamond concessions to Mbada Mining (Private)
Limited, Marange Resources (Private) Limited and Canadile Miners (Private)
to exploit diamonds at the seized ACR claims in a bid to comply with the KP
requirements.

Zimbabwe: Mugabe in eye of conflict diamond storm

http://www.israelidiamond.co.il/

28.02.10, 10:10 / World
Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe is facing a harsh confrontation with his
Reserve Bank and Supreme Court over the raging diamonds conflict in his
country, according to All Africa website.

Official Harare sources told the website that Mugabe has painted himself
into a corner after he accepted Mines minister Obert Mpofu's explanation
that gemstones extracted from the contested Chiadzwa diamonds fields must be
kept at the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe (MMCZ), instead of in
the Reserve Bank.

Mpofu and officials at his ministry reportedly informed Mugabe that the
Kimberley Process Certification Scheme requires that diamonds be kept at the
MMCZ as opposed to the central bank, a move the latter considers illegal, in
view of the recent Supreme Court ruling on the matter.
Keeping the diamonds at MMCZ is "illegal" as it brazenly defies the Supreme
Court ruling.

Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku on January 25 ruled that the 129,400
carats of diamonds must be kept at the Reserve Bank until an appeal process
to that effect was finalized. Africa Consolidated Resources (ACR), which
owns the contested diamonds, is fighting the stones' seizure.

Mugabe came out publicly suggesting Mpofu's position to keep the diamonds at
the MMCZ is correct even though the Supreme Court has ruled that the
diamonds must be surrendered to the central bank for safekeeping.

Zimbabwe's Supreme Court is anxious about the rule-of-law and
contempt-of-court ramifications of the move.
 

ZIMBABWE: University's funds looted, intakes frozen

http://www.universityworldnews.com

28 February 2010
Issue: 0048

The University of Zimbabwe is battling to recover nearly US$5 million in
research funds looted from its foreign currency account by the central bank
during the country's economic crisis. Meanwhile, the institution has frozen
intakes in some departments as the country's brain drain takes its toll -
and a nationwide lecturer strike at public universities continues.

The highest paid lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe earns US$290 a
month, far short of the salaries of up to US$2,000 paid to other academics
in the region. Following a decade-long political and economic crisis the
government said it could only afford a pay increase of $17 a month to state
employees, most of whom earn less than $200 a month.

When state coffers were empty during the economic crisis, the Reserve Bank
of Zimbabwe raided private accounts in a bid to prop up the regime of
long-time ruler President Robert Mugabe, threatened with collapse because of
rising opposition and targeted sanctions. A number of universities lost
funds this way.

A recent parliamentary report said University of Zimbabwe lecturers had
sourced US$4.71 million from donors for research activities. But the money
had been looted by the central bank and had still not been returned. The
report called on the bank to reimburse the money.

Earlier this month University World News reported that universities
countrywide were suffering a severe shortage of academic and non-academic
staff as a result of the brain drain, and that Zimbabwe University's science
departments had been hit most heavily. The institution has fewer than 500
lecturers but requires 1,200.

Vice-chancellor Professor Levi Nyagura said the brain drain meant some
departments could not admit students when the university opened in January.
Nyagura declined to give details but said metallurgy and mining engineering
were among fields where intakes had been frozen.

The Zimbabwe National Students Union, Zinasu, said the flight of academics
had forced tertiary institutions to employ under-qualified teachers
including recent graduates. This was impacting on the quality of graduates.

The Zimbabwe Chamber of Mines said the brain drain and closure of science
departments in universities was affecting the maintenance of mining and
metallurgical operations, the replacement of exhausted deposits and the
expansion of others in a country that boasts gold, diamonds, copper,
platinum, coal and other mineral deposits.

The chamber said in a report that vacancies for experienced people might
have to be filled in the short term by expatriate staff. But this would be
"inordinately expensive".

Meanwhile, Nyagura - who is on a list of people targeted by sanctions for
suppression of academic freedom - has come under attack for his claims that
despite problems besetting the university it remains a university of choice
in the world.

In an opinion article in a leading Zimbabwean weekly newspaper, Dr Bernard
Gwekwerere, an independent education and development analyst, said the claim
the institution was a university of choice was contradicted by world
rankings.

Gwekwerere cited the SCImago Institutions Rankings 2009 World Report, which
placed the University of Zimbabwe at number 1,847 out of the top 2,000 world
universities. It is not even among the top 20 universities in Africa, he
added.

"Excellence in teaching is an important virtue but it is not the defining
character of universities. Any university can teach. That is a basic role.
However, not every university can conduct research and create knowledge.
When it comes to universities, it is research that separates the boys from
the men," Gwekwerere wrote.

"Zimbabwe needs universities that conduct research to create knowledge that
helps to lift its people out of poverty."

On the brain drain, Gwekwerere argued that academics who had left the
country had done so because they could compete in the cut-throat global
employment market while those who remained generally had lower
qualifications.

Sibanda bounces back as new ZUJ president

http://news.radiovop.com

28/02/2010 17:34:00

HARARE, February 27, 2010 - Dumisani Sibanda, news editor with thestate
controlled Sunday News weekly, has bounced back as the new Zimbabwe Union of
Journalists (ZUJ) president following a rerun of the union's elections in
Bulawayo on Saturday.

Sibanda replaces Mathew Takaona, who has been at the helm of the union since
1999.

He would be deputised by the Herald's Michael Padera who was elected

first vice president while ZBC's Mercy Pote was elected second vice
president.

Freelance journalist Foster Dongozi shall retain his post as secretary
general while former ZBC staffer Vince Mugumbate was elected treasurer
general.

The fresh elections, which were held at Bulawayo's Royal Hotel, were
monitored by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN), Crisis

Coalition of Zimbabwe and National Association of Non-Governmental
Organisations, among other NGOs.

The election of the new ZUJ executive is also a carbon copy of the December
4, 2009 election whose results were set aside after four Harare based
freelance journalists challenged the outcome of the election. The four
litigants - Godwin Mangudya, Conrad Mwanawashe, Frank

 Chikowore and Guthrie Munyuki, claimed they were not afforded an equal
opportunity to contest for posts in the election.

 They further claimed they were disadvantaged by the failure by the Takaona
executive to publicise the venue of the elective congress and also the
identity of delegates. However, the Takaona executive did not challenge the
court application, instead choosing to hold another election on February 27,
2010 which has since produced the same outcome.

The four litigants did not contest for any posts however. It has since
emerged they will challenge the outcome claiming the old executive did not
address issues that led to the December dispute.

The four were clamouring for a constitutional reform process to be effected
before the union could commit itself into choosing its new leadership.

They are adamant the current ZUJ constitution disenfranchises the majority
of the membership as it only allows branch chairpersons and
their secretaries to vote.

The constitution's failure to provide a proportional voting system has also
been cited with some media houses which employ a hundred union members
ironically having the same voting voting quota with those with
only five.

Speaking from Bulawayo on Saturday, Dongozi was confident results of the
rerun were the best the system could produce.

"We invited the organisations to come and observe our elections because we
did not want to leave any questions as to the outcome," he said.
 

We’re taking white-owned companies!

By Haru Mutasa in

Africa

on February 28th, 2010

.

Photo from AFP

What are the pros and cons of transferring majority share ownership into the hands of black Zimbabweans?

I attended President Robert Mugabe’s birthday celebrations over the weekend – and heard him speak passionately about transferring majority share ownership into the hands of black Zimbabweans, part of the indigenisation law which takes effect on Monday 1 March.

Companies will be legally obliged to transfer a majority of their shares into the hands of black Zimbabweans. Companies worth more than half a million US dollars have until mid-April to show how they are going to comply with the share-transfer scheme.

Those who don't comply could face up to five years in jail. 

He got a raucous applause from those who support his idea – and Monday 1 March is the day companies have to show how they plan to achieve this. By mid April they must have outlined the roadmap to empowerment in their respective companies.

Any reports of this law being squashed are clearly wrong. From what I saw the plan to takeover white-owned companies is in motion.

I already knew what Prime Minister Tsvangirai’s party, the Movement for Democratic Change, thought;

http://www.newzimbabwe.com/news-1799-Tsvangirai+rejects+black+quota+law/news.aspx

I was more interested in hearing the opinions of Mugabe’s party, ZANU PF.

Political analysts and independent economists seem mainly cautious about this Indigenisation law. Some say economically the timing isn’t right. Zimbabwe is trying to recover from a decade of economic decline, scaring away investors who could help resuscitate this country’s ailing economy may not be a wise move.

Some fear a repeat of the farm invasions saga – when mainly white commercial farms were seized by supporters aligned to Mugabe – war veterans and war collaborators and they are popularly known here.

Ten years since the invasions started some new black owners have tried to make a success of their new possessions – but many farms are either lying idle or operating at a bare minimum.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201001060360.html

So here I was mingling with the most senior ZANU PF officials and I put these concerns to them. There is a perception in Zimbabwe that most of these companies will be given to army generals, ZANU PF loyalists and anyone who President Mugabe needs to help him stay firmly in power.

The responses I got were predictable. Some laughed at me, others dismissed me and some accused me of being anti-nationalistic. I was given a history lesson of how many black people died for Zimbabwean and it’s about time the majority started reaping the benefits of the country’s abundant natural and very lucrative resources.

But some had very convincing arguments.

1) Shares have to be bought by prospective black business people i.e. anyone who wants shares in white owned establishments have to buy them at the market price. “There will be no grabbing,” said the indigenisation minister.

2) Government is willing to look at special cases and give them more time to comply i.e. if a white owned business feels transferring ownership to blacks is too soon and will jepordise profits of the company and the country as a whole, they have to outline how they plan to equip black Zimbabweans with necessary skills needed to one day take over.

3) It’s not just the elites who will benefit – it’s a programme for the workers i.e. some companies implement schemes where the workers end up owning shares within the organisation. That way even the lowest paid factory worker will have shares he can invest in and benefit from them.

It all sounded good on paper – and as a black African myself empowering the black majority, who are often the poorest, needs to be addressed.

But I had concerns;

1) The law appears racist i.e. the term indigenous applies to people who were previously disadvantaged during colonial rule. Non-whites were subjected to racist and often oppressive laws where they weren’t allowed to participate actively in the country’s economy. So technically this law implies if one is white, one is not indigenous and white Zimbabweans have to give over 51 percent of their shares to black Zimbabweans. Is this fair?

2) Only the elite will benefit – South Africa’s Black Economic Empowerment programme saw the rise and rise of the black diamonds i.e.  the super wealthy black upper class mainly aligned to the ruling party the African National Congress. The poor haven’t seen the rewards of empowerment yet. It could happen in Zimbabwe. It did with the farms – why would this latest move be different? There are reports of senior ZANU PF officials fighting for diamond mines, farms and other assets – resources many it seems expect to be given rather than pay for.

http://newzimsituation.com/30130uT/zanu_pf_faction_behind_attack_on_british_diamond_c.htm

3) Is President Mugabe trying to keep those around him happy, so he stays in power – reward the army generals and influential players within the party – some of whom wouldn’t mind taking over from Mugabe one day? They flatly denied this theory understandably – and I was advised not to pursue such a line of thought so “I lived to see the fruits of the country’s empowerment process.” They may have been dismissed but it is a theory some analysts are peddling around.

The reality is indigenisation is going to happen – the wheels are in motion. Those trying to stop, stall or disrupt the process are wasting their time in my opinion.

I've met both black and white Zimbabweans who agree the process needs and should happen - it just shouldn't be haphazard like the farm invasions were.

What people should be asking perhaps is how to ensure the process is not abused by a few individuals?

The next few months in Zimbabwe are going to be interesting. ZANU PF is in a weakened position as the MDC seemingly gains ground with the masses largely because of the slight positive turnaround in the economy.

If free and fair elections were held tomorrow some analysts say the MDC would win hands down. Those who follow the Zimbabwe story know President Mugabe and his party officials ZANU PF won’t go down without a fight – is taking over ownership of companies perhaps the latest phase of the battle for control of Zimbabwe?

Zanu PF plays hardball over dual citizenship

http://www.newzimbabwe.com

28/02/2010 00:00:00
by
E mail this to a friend Printable Version

ZANU PF has proposed that only children born in the Diaspora be allowed dual
citizenship in a development which, if adopted, is certain to be a huge blow
to non-resident Zimbabweans, many of whom have taken up foreign citizenship.

The large non-resident Zimbabwean community had been hoping that the ongoing
constitutional reform process would bring back dual citizenship which was
outlawed at the beginning of the decade.

Currently the constitution stipulates that a person can only have single
citizenship. To reclaim lost citizenship individuals in the Diaspora would
have to renounce their foreign citizenship.

However, hopes that dual citizenship would be allowed had been encouraged by
supportive comments from the two leaders of the MDC formations, prime
minister Morgan Tsvangirai and deputy premier Arthur Mutambara.

In a Chatham House presentation during a visit to the United Kingdom in June
last year Tsvangirai said the coalition government would work towards
allowing dual citizenship.

"One of the challenges for us is the issue of dual citizenship. You may
think it is a very innocuous demand but it is a real-life issue for those in
the diaspora. So we have to work toward allowing that dual citizenship," he
said.
Professor Mutambara has also repeatedly weighed-in to support the issue.

"We need to change our laws. Let's not force people to choose against their
country. You cannot have all your citizens in the country even if the
country does well there are some Zimbabweans who will remain in Japan or
England.

"Let's use our people outside to attract foreign investment and invite
tourists to Zimbabwe," Mutambara has been reported as saying.

But in a summary of the party's position on the constitutional reform
process Zanu PF has signalled it will play hardball over the issue of dual
citizenship.

The party is insisting that only children born in the Diaspora should be
allowed dual citizenship, setting the stage for a bruising fight with its
coalition partners in the intermittent constitutional reform exercise.

The proposal by Zanu PF, if sustained, will dash the hopes of many
non-resident nationals who have taken up citizenships in their countries of
residence.

While most of these would prefer to remain in their adopted countries dual
citizenship would still be a welcome convenience as it would enable them to
visit family members back in Zimbabwe with little trouble.An estimated three million Zimbabweans left the country in the last decade,
most to escape the country's near-economic collapse as well as political
instability.

HRT Vindicated on Alleged Corruption by City Councillors in Highfield

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

Written by The Zimbabwean
Sunday, 28 February 2010 17:46

The Harare Residents' Trust (HRT) commends the work of its affiliate in
Highfield who have exposed acts of alleged corruption involving three
Councillors of Wards 24, 25 and 26. The Councillors are named in a housing
scam in which they allegedly used their public offices and authority to
change the ownership of houses from ordinary residents into their names (The
Herald 25 February 2010). We demand their immediate suspension pending the
outcome of investigations.  The HRT tolerates no abuse of office by elected
officials from any political party. They must explain what roles they have
played in circumventing council's policies on housing.
This must serve as a warning to other Councillors who continue to amass
wealth through abuse of their public offices. In the same vein the HRT
commends the position taken by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC-T)
for their principled stand against corruption. We now urge them to
investigate the involvement of Councillors Maxwell Katsande (Ward 26), Silus
Machetu (Ward 25) and Job Mbadzi (Ward 24), and if found guilty they must be
expelled from the party, the council and the Criminal Investigations
Department must take decisive action. An example must be set with those in
the Capital City.
Agreed facts by the Highfield Residents' Trust are clearly repeated in the
Herald article and we commend the newspaper exposing this evil act by
elected officials. According to the Herald article titled Councillors in bid
to grab houses, the affected three families have received council bills in
the councillors' names indicating the properties had changed ownership.
'Bills for house number 5577 are now registered in Councillor Maxwell
Katsande's name while the bills for house number 5043 are appearing in Cllr
Job Mbadzi's name. Council is also billing Cllr Silas Machetu for house
number 5567 in the same suburb. Mrs Rina Manuwere Chitembo (72) has lived in
house number 5567 since 1965.
Councillor Katsande should explain how his name can be on a bill of a
property unrelated to him. His response that "I have been given virgin land
to build a house in Waterfalls, l am not interested in that house anymore
because it is rented accommodation" is a sure sign that his objective of
becoming a councillor if aimed at accumulating wealth and not serving
residents of Highfield. What if it was not rented accommodation? We can only
speculate.
Way Forward:
-    The City of Harare should institute thorough investigations into the
conduct of these three identified Councillors, establish their roles and
hand over their findings to competent bodies who must deal decisively withal
implicated officials.
-    The MDC-T, on whose ticket these Councillors came into office, should
make its position public and hold these officials accountable, if they are
serious about fighting corruption.
-    The Minister of Local Government, Rural and Urban Development Ignatius
Chombo and his Deputy Minister Murisi Zwizwai have to censure these
Councillors demand written reports and  have to intervene
-    The Highfield Residents' Trust continues to document other acts of
alleged corruption by their elected Councillors and will submit these
reports to Council, Parliament and the Local Government Ministry.

For Mugabe's children, life gets tougher and tougher

http://www.independent.co.uk

Zimbabwe's leader lavishly celebrated his birthday last night. But four in
five of his country's young cannot afford to go to school

By Rachel Shields

Sunday, 28 February 2010

In a shanty in north Harare, a 12-year-old girl with thin, malnourished arms
uses a hoe far too heavy for her to scrabble in the dried sewage, refuse and
rock. Her name is Grace and, beneath the surface of this filthy townscape,
she is looking for broken bones. She and her father will collect all they
can find, and sell them for pennies to the local sugar refinery. Grace is
not dodging school; she is trying to get there. Like 80 per cent of
Zimbabwe's 4.5 million children, Grace and her 10-year-old sister have left
school, turned away because they can't afford the $5 (£3.25) fee. In a
country that once boasted the best education in Africa, it has come to this.

Grace's father, Joseph, tells her: "With the money from the bones, we'll pay
the school fees for the whole year." But not this week, they won't. After
days of back-breaking work, the family has collected several sackfuls, only
to find that the lorry which collects them has broken down, so they are
unable to sell them. For want of the price of a pint of beer in Britain,
Grace will have to continue scouring the dirt for a chance to go to school.
On Friday night, by way of contrast, on the other side of Zimbabwe's
capital, in a setting so palatial it might as well be another planet,
President Robert Mugabe celebrated his 86th birthday with an all-night party
expected to cost well in excess of $100,000.

Grace is just one of "Zimbabwe's forgotten children" who are the subject of
a revealing documentary produced by the Bafta-award winning South African
film-maker Xoliswa Sithole, which will be screened at 9pm tomorrow night on
BBC4. The film examines the lives of some of the country's poorest children,
growing up without an education, grappling with poverty and starvation, and
either orphaned by Aids or caring for parents who are sick with the disease.

"When economies fall apart, women and children suffer," said Ms Sithole, who
grew up in Zimbabwe and was given permission by the government to make a
documentary about her childhood there. "With Zimbabwe, the focus has been on
Mugabe. I don't think there has ever been a contextualisation of where
Zimbabwe is at."

Today's children and teenagers are likely to prove instrumental in shaping
the country's future: a massive 46 per cent of its 13 million population is
under 18. It is more than a year since Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the
opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), and Mr Mugabe formed a
power-sharing deal. Since then the country has shown signs of improvement.
The last harvest of maize, the country's staple food, doubled from the
record low of 2008. And the introduction of the rand and dollar has helped
to stabilise an economy whose hyperinflation went beyond an astronomical 1
billion per cent at its peak in late 2008. However, the Red Cross estimates
that 22,000 people have no access at all to foreign currency and are thus
unable to pay the compulsory school fees introduced in 1991.

In a country that once had a literacy rate of around 80 per cent, its
children now face a very different prospect. The number of children
attending school in Zimbabwe dropped from 85 per cent in 2007 to below 20
per cent in 2009, a decline mostly attributed to unaffordable school fees
and a shortage of teachers.

It is the first day of term, and 1,115 children line up in front of the
half-finished brick building that passes for a school in rural Zimbabwe.
Only 100 of the children have paid their school fees, which have already
been reduced from $10 to $2 a term in order to help struggling parents. Even
this is too much for most people; the average wage in Zimbabwe is estimated
to be $1 a day, while more than 80 per cent of Zimbabweans are unemployed.
Those who haven't paid are granted five days to find the money, but to no
avail. A week later, the school accountant sends 889 children home for
non-payment of fees.

Obert is one of those children. A 13-year-old Aids orphan who has been
looked after by his elderly grandmother since his parents died in 2005, he
has spent the past few weeks illegally panning for gold in an attempt to
find money for the fees. Just one gold "point" - the smallest amount he can
sell - would earn him the $2 he needs.

"While others play, I pan for gold," he says. When he is not panning, he and
his friends spend hours trying to catch small birds which they can use to
supplement their diet. "We only eat once a day - we have a beans and maize
meal." Such a spartan diet is not unusual in Zimbabwe, with half of all
parents depending on food aid to feed their children.

Obert's family used to be comfortably-off; his grandmother was a foreman on
a farm owned by a white Zimbabwean, before the farmer was forced off his
land as part of Mr Mugabe's land reform programme, which redistributed farms
to black Zimbabweans. In the past 10 years 4,000 of the country's 4,500
white farmers have been similarly ejected. Just this month new regulations
introduced by Mr Mugabe's share of the government have forced white
executives of companies worth £320,000 to hand over 51 per cent of their
shares to black Zimbabweans or face five years in prison.

Obert's grandmother goes to the school to plead with his young teacher,
Chenzira, to let him attend school. "If my child doesn't finish high school
because of school fees, my heart will break. I will die trying to find the
money," she begs. Chenzira offers to reduce the fees to as little as 50
cents, but that is still too much for her and she breaks down crying. Obert
is equally despondent. "My future is dark if I don't go to school: you grow
up not knowing anything."

The extreme shortage of teachers means that, even with many of the children
sent home, Chenzira still has a class of 63. Teachers were among those
targeted by Zanu PF during the bloody run-up to the 2008 elections, because
they were perceived as either supporters of the MDC or members of the
Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe. This persecution led to the closure
of many schools and a mass exodus of teachers: the PTUZ estimated that as
many as 25,000 teachers left Zimbabwe in 2007 for countries such as Namibia
and South Africa. Many of them have never returned.

Nine-year-old Esther has not been to school for more than a year. A
beautiful girl in a dusty floral dress, she has to care for her mother, who
is dying of Aids, and her 18-month-old baby sister, Tino. Like one in seven
Zimbabweans, she, too, is HIV positive. The country has more children with
Aids per capita than any other country in the world. In a matter-of-fact
tone, Esther turns to the camera and tells of her daily routine: changing
the baby's nappy, washing her mother when she defecates on herself, cooking
for the family and cleaning their clothes.

"It is heartbreaking to see a child this age working so hard," says her
gaunt mother, who lies on the floor of their tin shack swathed in blankets
despite the bright sunlight. "If only God would bless me with better health,
then I can look after you like you look after me." Life expectancy in
Zimbabwe is among the lowest in the world, at just 45 for men and 44 for
women.

The burden of looking after her family weighs so heavily on Esther's small
shoulders that when her mother dies midway through the making of the film,
she simply says: "It is much easier to look after Tino now, because I don't
have to look after Mummy as well."

The children are taken in by their uncle, who shows little interest in them,
locking them out of the house during the day. Lynn Walker, Zimbabwe country
director of Save the Children, says: "That one story is replicated across
the country; there are 100,000 child-headed households in Zimbabwe."

Like many of the country's 1.6 million orphans, Esther's 17-year-old sister,
Yvette, has left the family and taken to the streets.

Readers who wish to donate to Zimbabwe's forgotten children can do so via
the film's website at: zimbabweschildren.org

Zimbabwe Vigil Diary – 27th February 2010

Vigil supporters discussed President Zuma’s state visit to the UK. We were surprised that, on the eve of his visit, he called for the lifting of EU targeted sanctions against Mugabe and his cronies.

We at the Vigil thought perhaps he hadn’t realised that the measures had recently been extended for another year. It gradually dawned on us: Zuma is just another Mugabe appeaser . . . give Mugabe what he wants and he will play ball (fat chance!).

So it’s no change then in South Africa’s foreign policy, which has seen consistent championing of anti-democratic regimes from Burma to Iran. South Africa’s voting history at the UN spells it out.

The Vigil has learnt that Zuma is to call at the South African High Commission in London on Friday 5^th March and we will be there to greet him with our new banners: ‘Zuma Save Zimbabwe’ and ‘Elections in Zimbabwe Now’.

Here’s an extract from a letter the Vigil sent on 24^th February to the South African High Commissioner:

“Dear Dr Skweyiya

Exiled Zimbabweans are hopeful that President Zuma will help resolve the impasse in Zimbabwe so that we can go home. 

The MDC’s chief negotiator in the SADC-mediated negotiations, Tendai Biti, said last week: ‘We are going nowhere on the dialogue and therefore it is very important for President Zuma and South Africa to step in and step in quickly. We as negotiators have reached our ceiling. It should be taken out of our hands. Continuing to let us negotiate we are wasting time because we have tried. We have been negotiating since the 14th of May 2007. I think we have reached where our human capabilities can take us as negotiators. Therefore we need a bigger brain - that of President Zuma and more wisdom - that of SADC.’

The Zimbabwe Vigil, which has been protesting outside the Zimbabwe Embassy in London since 2002, would like to present President Zuma with the following petition during his visit to London from 3^rd – 5^th March:

Petition to President Zuma of South Africa

We call on President Zuma to arrange free and fair elections in Zimbabwe in his capacity as the mediator appointed by the Southern African Development Community to sort out the Zimbabwean impasse.”

The petition, signed by hundreds of people who have passed by the Vigil will be accompanied by the following letter to President Zuma:

“The Zimbabwe Vigil is pleased that you are supporting elections in Zimbabwe in 2011, as envisaged in the Global Political Agreement. We are aware that politicians in Zimbabwe don’t want new elections until they have had their fill at the trough but we believe that the situation can only worsen until there is a democratically elected government in place.

What Zimbabweans want to know from you is how SADC can ensure that the elections are free and fair, given that Zanu (PF) has already reactivated militia bases and refuses to implement the GPA.”

Do come and join us outside the South African High Commission in Trafalgar Square on Friday 5^th March from 11.30 am to make our protest to President Zuma.

At our usual social gathering after the Vigil a wide-ranging discussion ensued in which it was suggested that people should bring banners to the protest saying:

·       ZUMA GET RID OF MUGABE

·       ZUMA YOU ARE THE GPA GUARANTOR – RESULT?

·       ZUMA ARE YOU MUGABE’S HOUSEBOY?

·       NO RULE OF LAW IS THE PROBLEM – NOT EU SANCTIONS

·       MUGABE LIFT ‘ILLEGAL’ SANCTIONS ON ZIMBABWEANS   

Our link to ZimVigil TV / ZBN News is now live (see menu at the top of the home page of our website). We were interested to hear from Dr Tim of ZBN News that his coverage of last week’s Mugabe Birthday demo had unprecedented response from all round the world especially, of course, Zimbabwe and South Africa.  He was surprised at how widespread the interest was. Thanks to David McAllister for sorting out the link.

Other points:

·       The reaction of people passing the Vigil shows deep concern for the suffering in Zimbabwe. A disable man pushing a lady in a wheelchair stopped to put £10 in our donation box.

·       One of our supporters, Josephine Zhuga, has been invited to speak at City and Islington College’s International Women’s Day event on Wednesday 3^rd March. She will be talking about the situation of women in Zimbabwe and her personal story.

For latest Vigil pictures check: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zimbabwevigil/. For the latest ZimVigil TV programme check the link at the top of the home page of our website.  For earlier ZimVigil TV programmes check: www.zbnnews.com

FOR THE RECORD: 154 signed the register.

EVENTS AND NOTICES:

·       The Role of the Media in Zimbabwe's Transition. Thursday 4^th March from 6-8 pm. Venue: Royal Commonwealth Society, 25 Northumberland Avenue, London WC2N 5AP. Chair: Xan Smiley, Middle East and Africa Editor, Economist. Speakers: Tabani Moyo, Advocacy Officer, MISA, Zimbabwe, Sue Lloyd Roberts, BBC  journalist, Innocent Chofamba Sithole, Zimbabwean political journalist, Richard Bourne, Associate Fellow, Commonwealth Foundation.

·       Demonstration to greet President Zuma. Friday 5^th March. Meet at 11.30 am to be ready for Zuma’s arrival between 12 and 12.30.  Venue: South African High Commission, Trafalgar Square, London WC2N 5DP. Nearest station: Charing Cross.

·       ROHR Stevenage & Hatfield (Hertfordshire) general meeting. Saturday 6^th March from 1.30 – 6 pm. Venue: Poplars Bandley Hill Community Centre, Magpie Crescent, Stevenage SG2 9RZ. ROHR executive present and respected guests. Contact: Kennedy Mashonganyika 079623838720, Jemtiasi Mare 07909338769, Bertha Mwatse 07404112684, Clarkson Shumbanhete 07958550506 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 / 07932216070.

·       ROHR Brighton general meeting.  Saturday 6^th March from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton BN13XG.  Contact: Sinikiwe Dube 07824668763, Wellington Mamvura 07949595506 or P Mapfumo 07915926323 / 07932216070.

·       ROHR Chelmsford general meeting. Saturday 6^th March from 1.30 – 5 pm. Venue: Springfield Parish Centre, St Augustine’s Way, Chelmsford CM1 6GX. Contact: B Machekano 07765459538, Martha A Magwaza 07748644911 or R Mafigo 07944815190.

·       ROHR Liverpool Demonstration. Saturday 6^th March from 2 – 5 pm. Venue: Church Street (Outside Primark) Liverpool City Centre. For details please contact: Desire Chimuka 07917733711, Anywhere Mungoyo 07939913688, Trywell Migeri 07956083758. Future demonstrations all on Saturdays: 20^th March, 3^rd and 17^th April, 8^th and 22^nd May. Same venue and time. 

·       Iran Solidarity International Women’s Day March: Sunday 7^th March at 12 Noon. Meet at the Iran Embassy, 16 Princes Gate, London SW7 to support our Iranian friends in their struggle against the anti-women Islamic regime of Iran.

·       Kings College London Project Zimbabwe - International Women’s Day Open Mic Night. Friday 12^th March from 8 pm – 1 am. Venue: Roebuck Pub, 50 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4YG. Features guests (musicians, poets and comedians) from Zimbabwe’s Book Café in the UK. Tickets at the door: £5 NUS / £8. All proceeds will go towards Project Zimbabwe's support of healthcare, education and training in Zimbabwe. For more information check: www.kclprojectzimbabwe.blogspot.com.

·       ROHR Sheffield launch meeting. Saturday 13^th March. Venue: Ruby Lounge, 35 Carver Street, Sheffield S1 4FS. Come and share ideas on how we can tackle the human rights abuses of our fellow countrymen. ROHR President & Executive present together with some VIPs. Contact: Prosper Mudamvanji 07846621050, Raymond B Jonga 07729472879 or P Mapfumo 7915926323 / 07932216070.

·       Swaziland Vigil. Saturdays from 10 am – 1 pm. Venue: Swazi High Commission, 20 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6LB.  Please support our Swazi friends. Nearest stations: St James’s Park and Victoria. For more information check: www.swazilandvigil.co.uk.

·       Zimbabwe Association’s Women’s Weekly Drop-in Centre. Fridays 10.30 am – 4 pm. Venue: The Fire Station Community and ICT Centre, 84 Mayton Street, London N7 6QT, Tel: 020 7607 9764. Nearest underground: Finsbury Park. For more information contact the Zimbabwe Association 020 7549 0355 (open Tuesdays and Thursdays).

·       Strategic Internship for Zimbabweans organised by Citizens for Sanctuary which is trying to secure work placements for qualified Zimbabweans with refugee status or asylum seekers. For information: http://www.citizensforsanctuary.org.uk/pages/Strategic.html or contact: zimbabweinternship@cof.org.uk.

·       For Motherland ENT’s videos of the Vigil on 30/01/2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oeI4veVo0H0 and the Vigil on 26/12/2009: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdPsBsief0s and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX6sv2T9gwk&feature=related).

Vigil Co-ordinators

The Vigil, outside the Zimbabwe Embassy, 429 Strand, London, takes place every Saturday from 14.00 to 18.00 to protest against gross violations of human rights in Zimbabwe. The Vigil which started in October 2002 will continue until internationally-monitored, free and fair elections are held in Zimbabwe. http://www.zimvigil.co.uk.

One year after the formation of the inclusive government : which way Zimbabwe?

Coalition governments are by their very nature,tenuous.The situation becomes
even more delicate when unwilling political players are circumstancially
compelled to enter into the same government.This is somehow akin to a forced
marriage.You will have to take leave of your senses first before you can
believe that a forced marriage will be blissfull, happy and longlasting.The
MDC led by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and ZANU-PF  are strange
bedfellows.Whilst the MDC is a young,vibrant and forward-looking political
party, ZANU-PF is basically an old boys and old girls club that remains
perpetually locked in the mantra of communist-style dogmatism where the
cultivation and nurturing of individual personality cults is the order of
the day.For this reason, it is impossible to imagine the existence of
ZANU-PF as a unified party beyond the natural life of its present
leader.ZANU-PF has perfected the '' art '' of totalitarianism.In this
moribund party, the supreme leader is the party and the party is the supreme
leader.

The inclusive government in Zimbabwe was formed in February 2009; a little
over one year ago.The formation of this government was, infact, the
culmination of the failure by ZANU-PF to accept defeat at the harmonised
elections that were held on March 29, 2008.For the record, let me
acknowledge the fact that Morgan Richard Tsvangirai won the presidential
elections that were held on March 29, 2008.No amount of propaganda by
ZANU-PF and its rabid crew of latter-day apologists can successfully wash
away that fact.This fact is, indeed, cast in stone.Because ZANU-PF literally
bludgeoned the voting population into submission through the primitive use
of thuggery and violence during the electoral farce held on June 27, 2008,
the whole civilised world, including our very own brothers and sisters in
SADC, flatly refused to accept the legitimacy of the joke that took place in
Zimbabwe on that fateful day. Because Morgan Tsvangirai and the MDC have
always been guided by the need to put the interests of Zimbabweans first
before their own interests, they reluctantly agreed to enter into an
inclusive government with a person who had clearly and emphatically lost the
mandate of the people to govern.To some of us, the  mere idea of
accomodating an electoral loser into government was an act of
abomination.But because our leaders in the MDC were motivated by the need to
take Zimbabwe away from the abyss of becoming a failed state, we were
convinced that in life, one may have to make very difficult and painful
decisions for the common good of everyone.At any rate, this is the essence
of patriotism and nationalism.It is, therefore, important for readers to
understand the background behind the formation of the inclusive government
in February 2009. This was a forced marriage and as such, we should not be
surprised when the forced marriage goes through regular periods of
turbulance.That is the way it is and sadly, that is the way it shall remain
until the people of Zimbabwe are afforded a free and fair opportunity to
decide who should be their leader.Put alternatively, it will be folly to
expect the inclusive government to function smoothly.

More than twelve months after the formation of the inclusive government, the
global political agreement is yet to be fully complied with.For instance,we
still have a ZANU-PF controlled print and electronic media that continues to
churn out hate messages against Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and senior
members of his party, day in, day out.Hardly a day passes without the Herald
newspaper and the ZBC radio stations and ZTV carrying out some denigrating
hate messages against Morgan Tsvangirai, Tendai Biti and several other
leading MDC members.Instead of helping to cultivate a culture of tolerance,
the ZANU-PF controlled media outlets are loaded with anger, hate, ridicule,
contempt and malice.Whilst during the day ZANU-PF functionaries talk of
national healing and nation building, they Nicodemously spread messages of
hate and intolerance.They preach the '' gospel '' of violence and thuggery.
They will talk of so-called '' sanctions '' until their voices are hoarse.
What they dismally fail to appreciate is the fact that the people of
Zimbabwe are not stupid.On the surface Zimbabweans might appear docile and
disinterested but you can only take them for granted at your own peril.The
people of Zimbabwe know exactly what they want and whom they want to govern
them.The people of Zimbabwe, from the Zambezi to the Limpopo and from the
majestic Eastern Highlands to the mighty Hwange National Park in the west,
have repeatedly rejected totalitarianism and tyranny.They will continue to
reject the moribund party called ZANU-PF, a party that is still locked in
the nationalistic rhetoric of the 1960s and 1970s; a party that has
hopelessly failed to mutate and thus, adapt to the modern principles of
politics where the concepts of democracy, the rule of law and good
governance reign supreme.

The ZANU-PF controlled media, of late, has been awash with numerous reports
about the so-called '' illegal'' sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe by Britain
and the her allies.A not so clever ZANU-PF apologist recently wrote an
article in the ZANU-PF controlled Sunday Mail, wherein he unintelligently
linked the collapse of the Shabanie-Mashava Mines (SMM) to the so-called ''
illegal'' sanctions.How the so-called sanctions could have influenced
ZANU-PF to loot Mutumwa Mawere's mining empire clearly boggles the mind! How
asset-stripping and downright thievery and looting can be sugar-coated as ''
black economic empowerment'' again beats me. How someone can possibly see a
link between the looting of Mawere's assets and so-called '' illegal ''
sanctions can only be explained by a rocket scientist; I believe.

Whilst the inclusive government has scored some modicum of success;
particularly in eliminating hyper-inflation by the adoption of the
multi-currency system,there is still a lot to be achieved before some of us
can give it a definate thumbs-up.For instance, over 85% of the population
still live on less than US$2 a day meaning that the majority of the people
of Zimbabwe live in abject poverty.There is an all-pervading liquidity
crunch where it is a virtual nightmare for the average person to have US$10
in his/her pocket.The majority of the people live from hand to
mouth.Delivery of basic services such as water and electricity remains
erratic and unacceptable.Civil servants' salaries, including the salaries of
legislators, are still pathetically low.Corruption remains endemic and it is
literally threatening to tear the inclusive government apart.Perhaps more
importantly, the failure to fully comply with all the provisions of the GPA
is the biggest letdown of the inclusive government.I hold no brief for Roy
Bennett but in all fairness, I honestly wonder why he still hasn't been
sworn in as a deputy minister of agriculture more than twelve months after
the formation of the inclusive government.For God's sake; the man has not
been convicted by any competent court of law. And so why hasn't Roy Bennett
been sworn in as a deputy minister? In all civilised communities, everyone
is presumed innocent until proven guilty by a lawful and competent court of
law. If the contracting parties to the inclusive government cannot even
trust one another, how do they hope to have the rest of the world trust
them? Isn't it said that charity begins at home?

One of the biggest deliverables of the inclusive government should be the
making of a new, people-driven constitution.Already, the constitution-making
process is running about seven months or so behind schedule.It would appear
that there are some people within the inclusive government who would like
the constitution-making process to take forever.We know that some folks are
veteran electoral losers and the last thing they would want to have is an
early election.But then it is such selfish and myopic interests that will
spell doom and gloom for the inclusive government.Surely, if the inclusive
government fails to deliver a new people-driven constitution to the people
of Zimbabwe, it would have dismally failed the litmus test for its
success.Going forward, we should see a more focused and concerted effort to
drive the agenda of constitution-making.This start-stop kind of laid back
approach to constitution making will spell disaster for the country. The
constitution should be the bedrock of any democratic dispensation in
Zimbabwe.An autocratic and undemocratic constitution will ensure that
Zimbabwe shall remain mired in political conflict and socio-economic misery.

It is also important for the inclusive government to realise that they are a
transitional arrangement.It would be dangerous for members of the inclusive
government to lose focus and think that we have now reached the biblical
land of Canaan.The journey to a truly democratic and progressive nation
state of Zimbabwe is still long and arduous.Whilst some of us have clearly
developed signs of weariness and fatigue, the majority of the people should
never lose focus regarding where exactly we are going.The inclusive
government is some form of difficult pregnancy that needs to be carefully
cared for and managed to ensure that the baby is not aborted.But, at the end
of the day, Zimbabwe should be governed by someone who wins the people's
mandate  during free and fair elections.Anthing short of this will be a
mockery of democracry, good governance and the rule of law.

Written by :

Senator Obert Gutu

Bill Watch 7/2010 of 27th February 2010 [Indigenisation Regulations in Force March 1st]

Bill Watch Special of 28th February 2010 [Parliamentary Committee Meetings 1st - 5th March]

BILL WATCH SPECIAL

[28th February 2010]

House of Assembly Portfolio Committees and Senate Thematic Committees: 1st to 5th March

The meetings listed below are open to members of the public, but as observers only, not as participants.  [See note at the end of this bulletin on public attendance/participation at different types of committee meetings.]

Monday 1st March at 10 am

Public Accounts Committee

Oral evidence from the Ministries of Economic Planning and Investment Promotion, Regional Integration and International Cooperation, National Housing and Social Amenities, and Higher and Tertiary Education

Committee Room No. 4

Chairperson:  Hon Mashakada                      Clerk:  Mrs Nyawo

Portfolio Committee: Natural Resources, Environment and Tourism

Policy brief from CBNRM [CAMPFIRE]

Committee Room No. 311

Chairperson:  Hon P. Dube                            Clerk:  Mr Munjenge

Portfolio Committee: Mines and Energy

Oral evidence from Mbada Diamonds board of directors

Committee Room No. 413

Chairperson:  Hon Chindori-Chininga           Clerk:  Mr Manhivi

Monday 1st March at 2 pm

Thematic Committee: Gender and Development

Oral evidence from Ministry of Youth Development, Indigenisation and Empowerment

Committee Room No. 3

Chairperson:  Hon. Chitsa                              Mrs  Khumalo

Portfolio Committee: Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs

Oral evidence from Public Protector on justice delivery system

Committee Room No. 413

Chairperson:  Hon. Matutu                             Clerk:  Miss Zenda

Tuesday 2nd and Wednesday 3rd March

No meetings open to the public. 

Thursday 4th March at 10 am

Portfolio Committee: Media, Information and Communication Technology

Oral evidence from NetOne Board

Committee Room No. 413

Chairperson:  Hon Chimanikire                      Clerk:  Mrs Nyawo

Public Attendance at and Participation in Committee Meetings

These portfolio and thematic committee meetings are open to the public to attend as observers only.  Members of the public wishing to attend a meeting should telephone Parliament first [on Harare 700181], to check with the relevant committee clerk that the meeting has not been cancelled.  If you are attending, please use the Kwame Nkrumah Avenue entrance to Parliament.  IDs must be produced.  Members of the public are only free to participate when committees call public hearings.  Veritas will send out separate notices of these public hearings and outline the procedures.  Committees also sometimes have meetings where invited stakeholders [and those who notify Parliament that they consider themselves stakeholders and are accepted as such] are able to make representations and ask questions.  These meetings will be highlighted in these notices.  Portfolio and thematic committees meetings for deliberations are not open to the public, and these are not listed in these notices.

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied.