http://www.zimonline.co.za
by Charles Tembo Thursday 26 March
2009
HARARE - Zimbabwe will become a totally failed state in
the style of
anarchic Somalia if the country's new unity government
collapsed because of
a lack of resources, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said
on Wednesday.
Biti said the consequences of the unity government failing
were too drastic
including possible bloody civil unrest in the power vacuum
created in the
aftermath of government collapse.
"The consequences of
it (unity government) not working are drastic, it will
lead to a failure of
the state, a collapse of the state and all the civil
unrest that follows the
failure of a state," said Biti, during a joint press
briefing in Harare with
visiting Norwegian International Development
Minister, Erik
Solheim.
"To undo the consequences of a failed state, like Somalia, the
cost is more
than US$100 billion, so the little amounts that we are asking
are important
to ensure that this democratic experiment succeeds," said
Biti.
President Robert Mugabe, his long term rival Morgan Tsvangirai and
another
opposition leader Arthur Mutambara agreed to form a power-sharing
government
to end a political stalemate after inconclusive elections last
year.
The unity government immediately raised hopes Zimbabwe could
finally emerge
from its crisis but the reluctance of rich Western countries
to provide
financial support to the Harare government has sparked fears it
could fail.
Western nations - that continue to give humanitarian aid -
insist they want
Zimbabwe's unity government to submit a credible economic
recovery
programme, implement genuine and comprehensive political and
economic
reforms before they can lift sanctions and provide direct financial
support
to Harare.
The United States went further on Monday to demand
a new and democratic
constitution in Zimbabwe in 18 months followed by fresh
elections before it
could lift sanctions or provide significant
support.
Solheim, whose visit follows that of Danish Development
Cooperation Minister
Ulla Tornaes who was in Zimbabwe last week reportedly
to explore possible
reengagement with Harare, reiterated Western calls that
the new government
should first implement reforms before it can get
support.
"The international community must engage Zimbabwe and give
support but the
international community wants to see democratic development
in Zimbabwe, the
release of the remaining political prisoners and the
stopping of violence
and illegal farm occupations," Solheim said.
An
International Monetary Fund (IMF) delegation that was in Harare for
Article
IV consultations made similar calls on Wednesday on the Zimbabwean
government to show commitment to sound policies as well as clear outstanding
debts before the Fund could provide financial and technical
support.
"Technical and financial assistance from the IMF will depend on
establishing
a track record of sound policy implementation, donor support
and a
resolution of overdue financial obligations to official creditors,
including
the IMF,'' the Fund said in a statement after a two-week mission
to
Zimbabwe.
A summit of southern African leaders in Swaziland next
Monday is expected to
call on the United States, European Union and other
Western powers to
provide support to Harare as well as lift sanctions
against Mugabe and top
officials of his old administration and ZANU PF
party.
But analysts do not see this happening any time soon especially as
it
continues to look like Mugabe and hardliners in ZANU PF and the military
hold the sway in the unity government.
Zimbabwe says it requires US$2
billion immediately to kick start the economy
and restore basic services
such as health and education but says overall
US$5 billion is needed to
rebuild the country.
Meanwhile Biti said the government was operating on
a monthly deficit of
US$80 million as revenues had dwindled to only US$20
million per month,
which is not enough to pay civil servants allowances of
US$100.
"We have a huge fiscal deficit every month. We do not have that
money.
People are dying at the rate of 4 000 people per week as a result of
the
deficit. We need help," said Biti.
However, the Finance Minister
said the government had raised enough hard
cash to pay civil servants this
month, adding that long queues experienced
at banks were because banks were
still adjusting from using the Zimbabwe
dollar to using foreign
currency.
"The money is there in the various banks but the problem which
we are having
is the payment system after we moved from using the dead and
moribund
Zimbabwe dollar. The banks have not developed a payment system for
multiple
currencies, so there are massive delays in transfers," said
Biti.
Earlier in the day, scores of disgruntled civil servants attempted
to force
their way into Biti's office to complain about failure to get their
salaries
from banks but were stopped by security guards at the premises. -
ZimOnline
http://www.zimonline.co.za
by
Farai Mtshaka Thursday 26 March 2009
OPINION: The recently
launched Short Term Emergence Recovery Programme
(STERP) has articulated a
clear roadmap for Zimbabwe's economic recovery.
STERP has the ingredients
and hallmarks of a transformative social and
economic platform. What is
needed most urgently is the funding to kick-start
the economy.
The
newly formed inclusive government is unable to pay civil service
salaries,
let alone restore the dilapidated infrastructure necessary for
social
service delivery.
According to Finance Minister Tendai Biti, the
Zimbabwean economy is now
sustained by beer and tobacco!
With the
economy trapped in a vicious cycle of sustained decline, it is now
beyond
doubt that the country is on the verge of becoming a failed state.
The
donor community should rescue Zimbabwe from the abyss and give the
inclusive
government a fighting chance to avert grim social consequences.
Sadly,
many well-meaning critics of President Robert Mugabe and his cronies
often
succumb too easily to the temptation to frame the unfolding tragedy
around a
few personalities, including Mugabe himself.
This simplistic analysis
could have sufficed in the past 10 years when the
architecture of the
economic collapse we are witnessing today was ruthlessly
implemented.
The genesis of the current diabolical mess was nurtured
by a toxic ideology
driven by coercion and political fundamentalism, and the
progressive
"Zanufication" of key state institutions, especially the army,
police and
several state-owned enterprises.
Although not entirely
perfect, the global political agreement (GPA) seeks to
undo some, if not
most, of the damage done to the economy and the social
fabric over the last
10 years. If implemented with foresight and diligence,
the GPA may succeed
to pull back the country from the brink.
In as much as Mugabe and his
supporters want to believe that he remains the
"power and the glory" of
Zimbabwean politics, change is beginning to happen.
Undoubtedly, this is
the beginning of the end of Mugabe as the dominant
political force in
national politics. There is a new dynamic emerging in the
country, too
powerful to be subservient to the whims of an aging despot and
his merry
men.
There now exists an opportunity for a paradigm shift in the matrix
that has
driven a once prosperous country to the brink. Now is the time to
help
reconstruct the country for the good of all Zimbabweans who are
surviving on
nothing but hope for the future.
Now is the time to
re-examine the different dimensions and strategic intent
of all sanctions.
This re-examination has to be undertaken in conjunction
with an objective
assessment of the benchmarks set out in the GAP on the one
hand, and the
practical steps taken to bring about change in Zimbabwe, on
the
other.
The donor community has clearly indicated that they want to see
the release
of all political prisoners, a halt to seizures of white-owned
farms,
restoration of the rule of law and property rights, as well as a free
press.
Reports of continuing political violence and mayhem in some parts
of the
country and on some farms have become a convenient excuse for some
reluctant
donors. The inclusive government should take urgent steps to
address these
concerns.
It is delusional to expect buy-in by the
Zimbabweans and the donor community
in the GPA and the inclusive government
when there is hardly any change on
the ground. Confidence building measures
are simply not yet visible.
For as start, the inclusive government should
take urgent steps to rid the
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) of all corrupt
individuals, including the
Governor himself. No sane donor will release
funds to an institution reputed
for partisanship and corruption.
As
the inclusive government buckles down to implement the GPA, the donor
community should demonstrate readiness to step up to the plate and own
up.
The simple truth is that Zimbabwe is broke. It is in no position to
honour
its debts to the IMF, the World Bank and the African Development
Bank.
Paris Club creditors should urgently consider debt forgiveness
under the
enhanced Heavily Indebted Pour Countries Initiative
(HIPC).
In addition, punitive sanctions that prohibit the country from
accessing
lines of credit should be withdrawn henceforth.
Helping the
inclusive government succeed is the surest way to lay the
foundations of a
new democratic dispensation in Zimbabwe. - ZimOnline
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13974
March 25, 2009
By Sibangani
Sibanda
THIS week, I bought the Sunday Mail. I mention this fact because
this was
the first time in more than a decade that I have parted with money
to
actually buy Zimbabwe's biggest Sunday paper. I bought it because its
headline said something that is very close to my heart at the moment. The
City of Harare was to "slash" its rates!
This was the best news that
I had heard in quite a while.
Last week, Finance Minister, Tendai Biti
put paid to any hope that I had
that he would save the Zimbabwe dollar by
"freezing" its use - although I do
not know of anyone that was still using
it at that point. But apparently,
the very innovative Zimbabwean business
community had found a way of "using"
it by submitting all their tax returns
in Zimbabwe dollars thus "giving back
unto" our government what belongs to
them. Unfortunately, the "un-bookish"
economics of Robert Mugabe and Gideon
Gono have come back to bite the
government as much as it is biting the rest
of us. They found no use for the
Zimbabwe dollar either.
So, like me,
the government of Zimbabwe is starting afresh!
The City of Harare, like
all the other quasi governmental service providers
who stopped providing
services at about the same time that I stopped buying
the Sunday Mail, had
stolen a march on the rest of us. They had not only
started charging us in
foreign currency, they had pegged their charges at
rates that suggested that
we had to pay a lot of money that we do not have
for services that do not
exist!
Needless to say, many of us just ignored their bills.
We
simply could not afford them for it is un-Zimbabwean to resist anything
on
the flimsy grounds that it is unfair. We waited for them to stop
collecting
refuse to "punish" us for our non payment, but, of course they
had long
anticipated this and stopped collecting refuse in advance. We
waited for
them to disconnect our water supplies - which were cut off long
ago - and
then ask us to pay "reconnection fees" so that we get reconnected
to the dry
pipe lines.
They also stopped fixing roads and traffic lights, sweeping
the streets,
clearing storm drains (which meant that most of the city's
roads were
routinely flooded during the just passed rainy season). In short,
the city
stopped working, period. The Zimbabwe dollar rates we had been
paying had
apparently all been used for salaries and wages!
So,
having got used to getting paid for doing nothing, they decided to
increase
the charges in foreign currency so that they could pay themselves
more
without necessarily improving their service delivery - at least that is
what
the Sunday Mail article seemed to suggest. They had "agreed with their
employees on a wage bill that would chew up about 60 percent of revenues
collected". The remaining 40 percent would then be used to cover the backlog
of services required and presumably, the international donor community would
be asked to cover the rest.
Surprisingly, at a time when all other
government employees were being asked
to accept well below their market
value in salaries, the city was paying its
lowest paid workers - road
sweepers and refuse collectors - about three
times what teachers, bank
clerks and other professionals were receiving!
This, in my view has been
the norm in all semi-governmental bodies and
parastatals. Their charges have
largely been based, not on the level of
services provided, but on the
salaries that they wished to pay themselves.
Furthermore, there was no
attempt to actually manage the organizations by
looking at such things as
cost structures and how savings could be made. Nor
were there any attempts
to explore other ways of increasing revenue. The
consumer, who really has no
choice in the matter, had to be bled dry so that
they could be paid "decent"
salaries, which, in the context of Zimbabwe
today, turned out to be pretty
indecent.
Many years ago, the City of Harare had liquor outlets
throughout the city.
These provided much needed revenue for the city to be
able to fulfill all
its obligations without overburdening its rate payers.
In the name of
"Privatisation" (or was it "commercialization"), these wee
parceled out and
sold to, I suspect, the very well connected. Typically,
many of the new
owners of these outlets failed to "organize booze ups in
(their) pubs" and
they closed down. Meanwhile, the City had lost a major
source of revenue.
Perhaps now the City Fathers - and Mothers - will
begin to look at other
ways of raising revenues? I am not holding my breath.
They will probably
just blame government for not allowing them to charge
"economic" rates and
the city's services will deteriorate even more.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13988
March 25, 2009
By Raymond
Maingire
HARARE - Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara says President
Robert Mugabe's
apparent refusal to honour some of the provisions of last
September's unity
deal with his opponents is hardening attitudes towards
Zimbabwe in the west.
"The worst type of sanctions we have in our country are
sanctions we impose
upon ourselves," Mutambara told parliament Wednesday
afternoon.
He was delivering his inaugural address since being sworn in
as Deputy Prime
Minister in February this year.
"We impose sanctions
on ourselves through corruption, misgovernance,
fraudulent elections and
violence. We have done that for the past 10 years
and we are doing it
today.
"We have to remove those sanctions we can control and have imposed
upon
ourselves. Charity begins at home."
His address was punctuated
by cheers from MDC parliamentarians.
Mutambara said Mugabe's refusal to
release MDC supporters charged for
plotting a coup on his government and the
recent wave of farm invasions by
his supporters all vindicated the west's
position on sanctions.
"Right now, land invasions, abductees,
disobedience of court orders,
outstanding issues on the agreement, issues of
provincial governors,
permanent secretaries and ambassadors have not been
settled," he said.
"We must address all the matters that are outstanding.
If we don't, we are
imposing sanctions upon ourselves.
"If we don't,
we have no moral authority to ask others to lift sanctions.
"Even if
there are no farm invasions at all, given the perception of farm
invasions,
a perception of violence, a perception of the breakdown of the
rule of law,
perception becomes reality.
"You better address and correct that
perception. If you do not address that
perception, you are shooting yourself
in the foot."
The deputy prime minister however pleaded with the west to
remove the
sanctions.
"This is our message to the international
community," he said.
"We understand why you are skeptical. We understand
why you are hesitating
to lift sanctions. But hear us on this
one.
"We are determined as the three political parties to make this
agreement
work. This is an irreversible process in our country. We are in
this
government to save our people.
"We are determined to address
those matters within our control. That is why
I started with sanctions in my
control. That's why I started by sanctions I
have imposed on
myself."
He appealed to the west not to give Zimbabwe any conditions
before they
agree to lift the sanctions saying the delay in their removal
was hurting
Prime Minister Tsvangirai's efforts to redress the Zimbabwean
economy.
Mutambara said the wait-and-see attitude that has been adopted
by the west
was not in the best interest of Zimbabweans.
"If we don't
get humanitarian assistance, if we don't get balance of payment
support,
this country will collapse and if it collapses the people of this
country
will be the victims."
Zimbabwe desperately needs a short-term package of
US$2 billion to fund
government operations.
Mutambara continued,
"Please, remove any types of sanctions you have imposed
because you are
undermining Comrade Tsvangirai, you are undermining the
Prime Minister of
Zimbabwe, you are undermining the efforts of Zimbabweans.
"Grant us the
common sense; grant us the intelligence to know what is good
for
us.
"It's not for America, it's not for Britain to judge our wisdom or
lack of
it vis a vis the affairs of our country as long as we take charge of
what we
control."
Since 2002, the powerful western nations, led by
Zimbabwe's former colonial
power, Britain, have imposed a travel ban to
Europe and the United States on
some top government officials and frozen all
lines of credit to Zimbabwe.
This followed the disputed 2002 presidential
election in which Mugabe beat
his main opponent, Morgan Tsvangirai, leader
of the Movement for Democratic
Change (MDC) in controversial
circumstances.
More than 100 people, mostly MDC supporters, died at the
hands of Mugabe's
militant supporters.
Mugabe, 85, made an
impassioned plea last week to the west to remove the
sanctions which he says
are hurting ordinary Zimbabweans.
He contends there is no more
justification for the extension of sanctions as
his party has agreed to
share power with its opponents.
The west is adamant it will not lift
sanctions for as long as Zimbabwe is
not willing to implement broad economic
and political reforms.
Mutambara placed the blame for the deadlock
squarely on Mugabe's
intransigence.
4 hours ago
HARARE (AFP) - A man
whistles as he picks groceries from the shelves of a
supermarket in
Zimbabwe's capital. Another shopper, spoilt for choice,
compares cooking oil
bottles while queues form at the tills.
In Zimbabwe, these were simple
and almost forgotten luxuries.
For more than a year, supermarket shelves
were bare and shops resembled
empty warehouses as the country reeled under
an economic crisis that turned
sugar and the staple corn meal into rare
commodities.
Now shops are stocking up again, after the government in
January agreed to
allow retailers to conduct business in foreign
currency.
The government has even stopped printing Zimbabwe dollars,
which it once
churned out in trillion-dollar denominations that quickly
became worthless
under inflation that independent economists estimated in
the quadrillions.
The switch to foreign currency has already started
bringing prices down in
US dollar terms, according to official statistics
which are being borne out
at the till.
A 10-kilo packet of corn meal
used to make a thick porridge called sadza
cost 12 dollars in December, but
is now half the price. Two kilos of sugar
cost five dollars then, but is
also down by half.
"Things are back to normal," said Simbarashe Mawarire,
a manager at a branch
of the retail chain Savemor.
His store had so
much trouble obtaining goods last year that it simply
closed off four of its
five shelves.
"It's not only business which is now functioning properly.
Look at our
politics as well. They said (President Robert) Mugabe and (Prime
Minister
Morgan) Tsvangirai would never work together but since February 11
things
have taken a different dimension."
The two rivals formed a
unity government last month that remains fraught
with political tensions,
but so far they have made a show of common purpose
in efforts to revive the
economy, which has contracted more than 45 percent
over the last five
years.
The government has loosened price controls and eased import
restrictions,
making it easier for retailers to buy and sell
goods.
In the past Mugabe had rigidly enforced price controls. In June
2007 he
ordered businesses to slash their prices by half after accusing them
of
working with his Western foes to topple his government.
The price
blitz was accompanied by violence in grocery stores and led to the
closures
of shops, job losses and the shutdown of most factories.
The few shops
licensed to sell in foreign currency charged prices about four
times the
regional average. Now that all shops are competing under the same
rules,
prices are falling.
"Initially retailers were ripping us off, but due to
dollarisation this has
removed price distortions that were initially in the
market," said Tendai
Muzadzi, an independent Harare-based financial
analyst.
"We are moving in the right direction by having prices of goods
in foreign
currency as this allows prices of goods to go down. Before that,
most shops
had closed half of their wings."
Despite the falling
prices, most Zimbabweans still struggle to survive as
most have no income in
a country with 94 percent unemployment.
"The selling of goods in shops in
foreign currency has now stabilised their
prices," said Kumbarirai Katsande,
president of the Confederation of
Zimbabwe Industries
(CZI).
"However, what now has to be addressed is the issue of disposable
income to
enable people to buy the goods," he told AFP.
As a result
of the dollarisation, unions are now demanding pay reviews in
foreign
currency.
The government is giving civil servants a monthly allowance of
100 US
dollars, but the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions is demanding 450
dollars
as the minimum monthly salary.
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=14005
March 25, 2009
By Raymond
Maingire
HARARE -The Swedish government on Wednesday donated US$10
million towards
current international efforts aimed at alleviating
Zimbabwe's crippling
humanitarian situation.
The funds were donated
under the auspices of the Swedish International
Development Cooperation
(SIDA).
They would be channeled through the 2009 United Nations
Consolidated Appeal
Process (CAP) and the Red Cross plus a host of other
international
non-governmental organisations.
Swedish Ambassador to
Zimbabwe, Sten Rylander said the assistance will help
lessen the current
burden on the government's limited budget.
"This assistance comes in the
light of the progress that has been made by
the inclusive government in the
past few weeks," he said.
He was presenting the donation to Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the
latter's residence in Harare's middle
class Strathaven suburb.
The Swedish diplomat said he was impressed by
the current efforts to redress
the country's economy by Zimbabwe's six weeks
old unity government.
Rylander said the international community must not,
while celebrating the
initial steps of a unity government in Zimbabwe, lose
sight of the dire
humanitarian needs of ordinary Zimbabweans.
"As
Sweden, we reaffirm our commitment to save lives, alleviate suffering
and
maintain human dignity for the benefit of the people in need," he
said.
Nearly five million Zimbabweans are in need of food aid while over
4 000
people have succumbed to the outbreak of the cholera disease in a
period of
six months. Almost 100 000 have also been affected by the
epidemic.
Rylander said ongoing farm invasions by ZanuPF supporters,
among other ills,
have cast a negative international image on Zimbabwe,
further affecting her
current bid to reverse the world's worst managed
economy.
Tsvangirai, who is still recuperating from injuries sustained in
this month's
car accident that killed his wife, welcomed the Swedish support
in
humanitarian aid.
"Although this may not come as balance of
payment support, the donation is
very important to the people of Zimbabwe,"
he said.
"We have always had confidence with Sweden and the rest of the
Scandinavian
countries who have come to support our cause."
The MDC,
who said he had not yet resumed his official duties, said he was
very happy
with the progress that has been made by the inclusive government.
"As a
government, we do not ascribe to lawlessness," he said.
"We now have to
earn the confidence of the international community and we
have agreed on a
deliberate policy to re-engage the international world,"
said
Tsvangirai.
http://www.thetimes.co.za/
Moses Mudzwiti
Published:Mar 26,
2009
ZIMBABWE President Robert Mugabe yesterday denied his country
was holding
political prisoners in its notorious
jails.
The 85-year old leader made his remarks after a
meeting with visiting
Norwegian Minister of Environment and International
Development Erik
Solheim.
Mugabe's partners in the month old
inclusive government - the MDC led by
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai -
insist political activists are still in
jail.
In recent months
Zimbabwe's overcrowded and under-funded prisons have not
been able to feed
inmates, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
The
Norwegian government is understood to have pressed for the release of
all
political prisoners as a precondition for resumption of financial and
developmental aid.
(Johannesburg) - Zimbabwe's new inclusive government should carry out comprehensive justice reforms without delay to ensure accountability for past abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. The organization noted that the one-year anniversary is approaching for the controversial elections, on March 29, 2008, that ultimately resulted in the new government.
On March 30, leaders of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) are to meet to consider an economic recovery aid package for Zimbabwe. Human Rights Watch called on SADC members to take the opportunity to press Zimbabwe's government to demonstrate its commitment to human rights reforms before SADC releases non-humanitarian development aid.
"The government of Zimbabwe should take clear action toward restoring the rule of law and respect for human rights before the international community releases longer-term development aid," said Georgette Gagnon, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "There is no excuse for further delay."
In the aftermath of the general elections, President Robert Mugabe's ruling party, Zimbabwe National African Union (ZANU-PF), carried out a campaign of violence against the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) in which almost 200 MDC activists were killed, some 5,000 were tortured, and more than 10,000 required medical treatment for injuries.
Since signing a power-sharing agreement on September 15, Zimbabwe's leaders have not demonstrated the political will to carry out necessary human rights reforms and restore the rule of law in Zimbabwe.
Not one perpetrator of the abuses - whether police, military, war veteran or ZANU-PF official - has been held to account. The authorities have not provided victims of abuses with effective remedies, as required by international law, including judicial redress and other forms of reparation.
"Zimbabwe's political situation remains precarious, but unless the new power-sharing government promptly brings perpetrators of abuses to account and makes clear that no further abuses will be tolerated, the country risks sliding back to possibly even greater political turmoil," said Gagnon.
Human Rights Watch urged SADC leaders to press the Zimbabwe authorities to set a specific timeline for tangible progress on key human rights reforms. Actions that can be undertaken immediately and that will help demonstrate commitment to justice and human rights include:
Human Rights Watch also urged the transitional government of national unity in Zimbabwe to create the necessary conditions to hold internationally recognized free and fair elections within 24 months.
"SADC leaders should ensure that Zimbabwe has taken concrete and verifiable steps on justice and accountability reforms before they adopt an economic recovery aid package for the country," Gagnon said. "Human rights reform and rule of law are essential for economic recovery and restoration of investor confidence."
http://www.businessday.co.za
26
March 2009
HOPEWELL RADEBE
Diplomatic Editor
ZIMBABWE had the
second-highest number of people seeking asylum in
industrialised countries
last year, according to a United Nations (UN)
report released
yesterday.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
report said the number of
people seeking asylum rose last year for the
second year in a row, partly
due to an increase in applications by people
from Afghanistan, Somalia and
other countries that were experiencing turmoil
or conflict.
It said the countries of origin showing a
significant rise in applications
for asylum due to unrest or conflict last
year included Afghanistan (up
85%), Zimbabwe (up 82%), Somalia (up 77%),
Nigeria (up 71%) and Sri Lanka
(up 24%).
The report,
which contains provisional asylum statistics for 51
industrialised countries
last year, said about 383000 new asylum
applications were submitted in these
representing a 12% increase during
2007, during which there were about
341000 applications.
The UNHCR describes an asylum seeker as
an individual who has sought
international protection and whose claim for
refugee status has not yet been
determined.
The report
has argued that while the number of Iraqi asylum seekers declined
10% last
year, Iraqis continued to be "the largest nationality seeking
asylum" in the
industrialised world, with 40500 applications submitted last
year.
This is followed by Somalia, Russia, Afghanistan and
China.
The report said that the US was still the main country
of destination for
asylum-seekers , followed by Canada, France, Italy and
the UK. With Sweden,
Germany, Greece, Switzerland and Norway, these 10
countries received 73% of
asylum applications in the industrialised world
.
radebeh@bdfm.co.za
http://www.iol.co.za/
March 25 2009 at
09:30PM
The registration of Zimbabwean refugees living at the Central
Methodist
Church has been completed, the Gauteng local government department
said on
Wednesday.
"Currently, we have registered the people [staying
at the church] to get
their profile. Once we have the profile we can
determine their needs," said
spokesperson Lebogang Tladinyane.
The
Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, which organised the
registration, provided tokens for those who would be eligible for
relocation, 2563 in all.
Senior registering officer Andrew Hopkins
said only 1800 of those had come
forward for registration.
He could
not say why there was a shortfall of about 800 people but
speculated that
those who did not register may not be interested in
relocation.
However, he said it seemed that of
the 1800 who did register, most were
interested in moving.
Central
Methodist Church bishop Paul Verryn said that many of the refugees
living in
the church might want to leave.
"There are quite a few who would want
something better," said Verryn.
But Verryn also added: "There will be a
lot of people who want to stay."
Tladinyane said the relocation would
involve those both living in the church
and in the streets around
it.
Verryn said the tokens were distributed by having all the Zimbabwean
refugees, including those living on the streets, join those already inside
the church to be given tokens as they exited.
The 800 who did not
register would be given another opportunity to do so at
a future
date.
Tladinyane said those refugees identified in their profiles as the
most
vulnerable, such as unaccompanied children or people with disabilities,
would be the first to be moved to one of six buildings around
Johannesburg.
"The priority of the government is to restore order in the
area," he said.
The government was still reviewing whether the buildings
could accommodate
the refugees and what renovations might be needed in
preparation for
habitation.
Tladinyane said he could not yet announce
the available buildings until the
review was complete.
However,
Verryn said it was his understanding that the buildings would also
be able
to accommodate 300 people, far fewer than the 1800 who had
registered.
"The big question is what happens in three months time,"
said Verryn.
According to the bishop, the buildings marked for habitation by
refugees
would only have leases for three months, after which their fate,
and that of
the refugees they would house, was unknown. - Sapa
http://www.thezimbabwetimes.com/?p=13982
March 25, 2009
By Our
Correspondent
HARARE- The government is extracting between 50 000 and 60
000 carats of
diamonds per week from Chiadzwa in Manicaland, Mines and
Mining Development
Minister Obert Mpofu said Wednesday.
Mpofu told
Parliament that the Zimbabwe Mining Development Company (ZMDC)
was hamstrung
by a lack of adequate and proper mining equipment to extract
the precious
mineral hence the low production levels.
ZMDC is spearheading diamond
mining operations in Chiadzwa following the
violent clampdown and flushing
out of illegal diamond miners.
"We are exploring diamonds using equipment
that is not producing amounts
that we would want to produce," said
Mpofu.
"We are currently producing an average of 50 000 to 60 000 carats
per week,
which is small compared to the mineral resources that are
there."
He was responding to a question from Kambuzuma Member of
Parliament Willas
Madzimure during Parliament's question and answer
session.
Although he could not give the value of the diamonds mined
weekly, Mpofu
told Parliament his ministry was working on a plan to ramp up
diamond
production so that proceeds could average US$600 000 per
day.
"We would want to realize US$600 000 per day if we get state of the
art
mining equipment," said Mpofu.
The mining of diamonds in Chiadzwa
is currently at the centre of a probe by
an international team from the
United Nation's world diamond regulatory
body, the Kimberley
Process.
The UN is investigating reports of mass murder at the hands of
soldiers.
The international team, which monitors the trade in "blood
diamonds", will
report back on the allegations of killings at
Chiadzwa.
Chiadzwa has been the centre of controversy since last October
when the army
was called in to disperse thousands of illegal diamond
hunters.
The government seized the Chiadzwa diamond operation from
British-based
Africa Consolidated Resources in 2007 and set off a diamond
rush when it
encouraged locals to help themselves.
In November 2008,
Manicaland police disclosed that a joint police and army
crackdown on
illegal diamond mining in Manicaland and natural causes had
claimed the
lives of 20 people.
The illegal miners were allegedly shot during clashes
with the state
security forces or died due to various ailments at the
troubled diamond
fields.
Their bodies were said to have been dumped
at Mutare Provincial Hospital
mortuary. But on Wednesday Mpofu told
Parliament that the police and
soldiers had denied killing
miners.
"In our engagements with the police, they assured us that they
didn't kill
anyone," said Mpofu. "The police said it was the illegal diamond
miners who
killed each other during the scramble."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 25 March
2009
Staff members at a government-owned hospital in the city are
accused
of selling blood at black market prices as a blood shortage hits the
country.
Workers at Mpilo Hospital in the city told The Zimbabwean
that some
staff members, especially nurses, were selling blood to desperate
patients.
"There is critical shortage of blood at this hospital and
nurses have
taken advantage of the situation and are selling blood to
patients at
black-market prices," said one worker.
Patients treated
at government hospitals are supposed to get blood for
free.
Anna
Nyoni, whose brother was admitted at Mpilo after a road accident
and was in
urgent need of blood, told The Zimbabwean that she recently
bought blood for
R400 per pint from some nurses at Mpilo.
Mpilo Hospital hit the
headlines a fortnight ago after doctors and
other health professionals
downed tools in protest over corrupt practices of
the management
board.
The doctors said the hospital was operating with thin supplies
of
basic health medical implements yet the management was lining its pockets
with scarce foreign currency looted from its coffers.
The doctors
demanded a probe into the operations of the management
board in a bid to
root out corruption.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Serious worker victimization has started
at the Reserve Bank of
Zimbabwe (RBZ) Bulawayo, days after employees at the
institution downed
tools over no pay since November.
Heavily armed
police on Friday barricaded the premises of the RBZ
along Leopold Takawaira
Street to bar striking employees from leaving the
building to launch a
street protest over pay. One worker was seriously
injured and taken to
hospital after armed police pounced on him during the
brawl.
The
Central Bank workers had planned to march through the streets of
Bulawayo,
denouncing RBZ Governor Gideon Gono for failing to address their
poor pay
and working conditions.
According to RBZ workers, Gono, who is a close
ally and personal
banker of President Robert Mugabe, has refused to listen
to their demands
for salaries in foreign currency that has replaced the
hyper-inflated local
currency.
RBZ workers were used to flashy
lifestyles when Gono used to surprise
them with allowances when he was
printing money with reckless abandon. They
have seen their fortunes wane
following the dollarisation of the economy.
Workers have reportedly
been subjected to victimization by the
management led by RBZ Bulawayo
manager, Cassandra Sibanda, following the
protest that embarrassed
Gono.
Sources within the RBZ told The Zimbabwean that management had
embarked on a witch-hunt to flush out workers who instigated the strike
action. Workers committee chairman Witness Mugabe already faces the chop for
rallying workers to protest.
"Sibanda was seen taking down of all
the names of those who
participated in the strike and has forwarded them to
RBZ headquarters in
Harare and from our understanding, the management is
pushing for the
dismissal of all the organizers of the strike action," said
the source.
When The Zimbabwean visited the central branch this week
the
institution resembled a funeral session as workers who had been ordered
to
report for duty or face dismissal were all showing signs of stress.
Sources
say some members of the workers committee were picked up by state
agents for
interrogation over the strike action.
The RBZ workers
who used to live like Diplomats, driving the latest
flashy cars and
frequenting expensive food outlets and hotels for breakfast
and lunch used
to move with briefcases and bags full of loads of new notes
Zimbabwe dollar
notes while the majority of the Zimbabweans were wallowing
in poverty,
sleeping outside banks as they were failing to access their hard
earned
money from the bank.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
HARARE - There is no hope that Zimbabwean tobacco, one of the major
foreign
currency earners, could this season rejoin blends used by the
world's
biggest cigarette makers as the crop is projected to decline for the
ninth
year in a row, amid deteriorating quality, a growers' group said this
week.
The crop this year would plunge to an estimated 35 million
kilograms,
a 38-year low, officials in the Zimbabwe Tobacco Association in
Harare said.
The Tobacco Industry Marketing Board has proposed that the 2009
tobacco-selling season commence on April 29.
Andrew Matibiri, chief
executive officer, said the date was awaiting
approval by the Minister of
Agriculture, but all three floors had already
been granted licences. Nine
contract buyers have been granted the necessary
approval to purchase
tobacco.
The country harvested a record 237 million kilograms in 2000,
when it
was the world's second-largest exporter. Last year only 45 million
kilograms
passed through the auction houses in a grim illustration of the
dramatic
collapse of the agricultural sector.
The decline began in
2001, after President Mugabe began seizing
white-owned commercial farms for
distribution to Zimbabweans who were
deprived of land during white
rule.
Officials claim deliveries slowed last year because of a shortage
of
diesel needed to transport the crop to auction houses, said Lovegot
Tengundu, executive director of the Farmers' Development Trust. Growers were
also dissatisfied with the exchange rate being offered for their tobacco,
said Zimbabwe Tobacco Association President Andrew Ferreira. This year
growers would be paid in foreign currency in line with the official
dollarisation that has been approved by government.
While the
number of small-scale farmers had increased, less of the
top-quality "lemon
tobacco", which is used to flavour cigarettes, was being
grown, he
said.
US-based buyers Standard Commercial, Universal and Dimon have
traditionally bought the bulk of Zimbabwe's crop to flavour cigarette brands
such as Marlboro, Benson and Hedges and Camel.
British American
Tobacco, the biggest maker of tobacco in Zimbabwe, is
mulling laying off
more workers in the country because of the dwindling
crop.
"Nobody
wants to start investing if there is a good chance you will be
given 48
hours to get off your farm," said an official. "There is no
security.
Farmers are being chased off farms right now. The outlook for the
tobacco
sector, which could have helped in raising funds for the inclusive
government, is grim."
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
The
broke inclusive government has been urged to revive the collapsed
Home Link
scheme to raise funds to bankroll its embattled administration.
Most of
the estimated 3.5m Zimbabweans who live and work abroad have
increasingly
shied away from sending money through Home Link because it paid
out at the
official exchange rate and a large part of the Zimbabwean
Diaspora strongly
objected to the Mugabe regime, and did not want to
contribute to its wealth
by using the official channel.
The financial behemoth, Home Link, now
in the business of selling
cellphone airtime, could play a crucial role in
fundraising for the
government which is blighted with massive donor
fatigue.
An economic blueprint unveiled last week by Finance minister
Tendai
Biti, dubbed STERP, requires an injection of US$5 billion between
March and
December 2009, a tough challenge in the face of a biting global
financial
crunch and scepticism from the international community over the
sustainability of the inclusive government.
In the absence of
international goodwill, the government could
fundraise by reviving Home Link
and tapping directly into remittances from
Zimbabweans in the diaspora, who
could have a change of attitude given that
there was now an inclusive
government in place.
"Homelink can significantly raise part of the
US$299,4 million that
minister Biti said he needed to pay civil servants,"
said an economist.
"Properly administered, Home Link can bankroll Zimbabwe's
recurrent
expenditure such as salaries but there are concerns with the
people leading
the central bank, that is where there could be problems with
remittances
from the diaspora."
Homelink was established by the
Reserve Bank in 2004 to assure
increased government control over money
transfers as inflation and a
depreciated Zimbabwe dollar led to an
ever-burgeoning black market.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009 | |
Operation Clean-up /
‘Murambatsvina’
James Banda will be 90 years old this year if his identity card is correct. He says he came to this country from Malawi in 1931. He worked for one and the same company for 46 years, mostly as a driver: he must have been a good and reliable worker, or he would not have lasted that long. He married a Zimbabwean woman who gave him eleven children of whom six have died. When he retired he got his pension as a lump sum. He used it
to build three little brick cottages on his premises to be rented out to
lodgers. The idea was that the income would support him in his remaining years.
It worked well until 2005. Then Operation Clean-up / ‘Murambatsvina’ demolished
the cottages. Since then he is destitute, dependent on his children for help. At
the moment he is being treated for Tuberculosis. He should eat well, but can
only afford one meal a day. His widowed daughter who looks after him asked me
for food. It is an outrageous injustice which cries to high heaven for vengeance that a good worker whose labour has sustained our economy for so long should end up as a beggar, having to ask for charity, as if he had never done a day’s work. His work record is such that he deserves a carefree retirement. The ‘high and mighty’ responsible for this outrage should have to answer for it. No “forgiving and forgetting” for them. They should be obliged to come and meet the old man, more of a gentleman than the ‘dishonourable’ ministers who deprived him of his life’s savings. They should see his little house: though the furniture looks a bit worn and faded, the floor is spotlessly clean and shining. They should be told to apologize in front of the heaps of bricks and stones left of the demolished cottages. And pay for the damage from their own pockets. Though the numbers of cholera cases have gone down, cholera is still there. Presumably it will be there as long as the hygienic conditions are so bad. Twice in recent weeks the whole of Mbare was without water for about 36 hours. Again and again women are forced to fetch water in a small stream which is contaminated. Garbage is piling up on roadsides, sewage running along the streets. People keep dying of AIDS. There is still reluctance to get tested for HIV – or is it plain ignorance? When I am asked to visit sick people I find them often in an already alarming state. I ask the workers of our AIDS care centre to go and see what can be done about them. Often it is too late. The next thing we hear is that they have passed away. But this need not really be: there is a growing number of HIV positive people in our community who get the right treatment and are living normal lives. Funerals are financially crippling for many families. Funeral parlours are a thriving business. Instead of coming to the aid of bereaved families with sympathy and compassion, they exploit them mercilessly. The bereaved, sometimes not even able to pay for the body to be removed from the house, come to the parish priest, begging. We cannot help with the huge bills they show us. We have to think of the living first, those who need food, medication and school fees. What we can do is to warn people against the sharks among undertakers. I was delighted last week to see municipal workers clearing away the garbage piled up along Pazarangu Street, opposite Stoddard Hall. At long last something is being done! But then I remembered: there is a state funeral this week. That is why they remember us and our township drowning in muck. It takes a state funeral for them to come and do their duty. Not considerations of public health, not cholera: a “chef” has to be sent on his final journey, nothing less. We are not a socialist, egalitarian society. We are a class society: the “ruling elite” on the one hand, and the majority of ordinary people on the other. They do not remove this poisonous garbage, carrier of disease, for the benefit of us ordinary folk. We don’t count. It is only done for the “chefs”, even dead ones. Did people not join the struggle to do away with such discrimination, then racial, now economic and political? Are we back to what looks like ‘apartheid’? - BY OSKAR WERMTER, SJ MBARE |
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Wednesday, 25 March
2009
Last week, the Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, made an
impassioned
plea for international donor support to rebuild Zimbabwe's
shattered
economy.
Sitting right next to him was his biggest
problem - Robert Mugabe -
who then made his own grovelling appeal to the
international community to
support Biti's efforts.
The first thing
that must be done is Mugabe must be told in no
uncertain terms to shut up.
For years he has been deliberately provocative
in insulting western leaders
and governments - skilfully playing the
anti-colonial and racism cards. That
nonsense must stop. The world sees him
increasingly as lunatic and his words
mean nothing to them. Such childish
behaviour has no place - when our
currency lies abandoned in the gutters and
people are dying needlessly all
over the country.
Let's be frank about this - the only countries that
can help Zimbabwe
out of the economic mess created by Mugabe and his cronies
are the United
State, Britain and the European Union. Nobody else.
We can expect messages of solidarity from the Russians, the Chinese,
the
Malaysians and all Mugabe's other "friends"- but nothing more.
Since
1980, Zimbabwe's real friends have always been the west - if
friendship is
judged by those who help you when you are down and out.
Millions of pounds
and dollars worth of food, medicine and other basics have
poured into our
nation from the west, keeping alive hundreds of thousands
who would have
otherwise have perished.
And yet Mugabe continued to denounce them at
every opportunity - from
funerals to international forums. If he is serious
about wanting assistance,
he cannot continue with his hate speech.
Even more importantly though, he needs to be seen to be taking the
necessary
steps towards democracy. It is his flagrant abuse of human rights
that got
us into this mess in the first place.
In a true democracy there is no
room for oppressive laws such as POSA
and AIPPA. There has to be a return to
the rule of law, respect for property
rights, an end to the selective
prosecution of Zanu (PF) opponents while
ignoring the murders committed by
Zanu supporters, etc, etc. In other words,
if they want the targeted travel
and financial measures against them to be
lifted, Mugabe and his henchmen
only have to implement the terms of their
own power sharing
agreement
Once all these things have been put in place there will be no
reason
for the west to maintain the targeted measures, erroneously and
deceptively
touted as "sanctions" by Mugabe and his friends.
http://www.zimtelegraph.com/
By MIKE MAKOMO
Published:
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Jestina Mukoko the director of the Zimbabwe
Peace Project (ZPP) that was
abducted at dawn from her Norton home last year
was saved from being thrown
into Lake Kariba by Sydney Sekeramayi, the
minister of Sate Security who
feared that possible military intervention and
international pressure would
further derail the survival plans of Zimbabwe
from its economic turmoil,
Zimbabwe Telegraph has heard.
According to a
source within the central intelligence organization (CIO),
after all had
been done to torture Mukoko to extract information on the
so-called enemies
of ZANU PF there was a plot to dump the human rights
activist to the
crocodile infested Lake Kariba for her to be devoured.
"The idea was not
for her to die a painful death but to ensure that she
would not divulge the
horrendous episodes of torture that she endured in the
hands of her
captors," said a CIO source.
The source further said that making Mukoko
disappear in the mould of the
disappearance of Rashiwe Guzha would then
ensure the safety of the
operatives that were in charge of the
torture.
Rashiwe Guzha disappeared in the 1990s and her remains were
never found.
State security agents are believed to have been responsible for
her
disappearance
Most of the abductors are scared of eventually
facing charges related to
crimes against humanity given the widespread
torture of MDC and Human Rights
activists.
The Joint Operations
Command (JOC) was divided on the issue as other members
felt that the
disappearance of such a high profile activist could eventually
result in
military intervention.
This side felt even SADC could not defend Mugabe
and JOC once it was
apparent that Mukoko had been eliminated by the state
agents.
Sekeramayi was then said to have intervened following meetings
with Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and President Mugabe to free all the
captives who
had been in the dungeons on political grounds.
Sources
say Sekeramayi was between a rock (Tsvangirai) and a hard surface
(Mugabe)
at first used delaying tactics until he had no option except to
yield to the
pressure of Tsvangirai who kept reminding JOC that the
international
community is watching.
State Security minister Sekeramayi was not
reachable for a comment*
March 25, 2009
With Conrad Nyamutata
Dzinotyiweyi Heneri (MDC), Minister of Science and Technology
Professor Heneri Dzinotyiweyi was born March 15, 1950 and is married.
He is the MP for Budiriro Constituency in Harare.
He studied for his “O” Levels at Nyatsime College south of Harare and for his “A” Levels at Fletcher High School in Gweru. In 1971 he enrolled at the then University of Rhodesia where he studied Mathematics, Physics and Geology.
Due to the 1973 disturbances, following student demonstrations against racism at the university and in the country, Dzinotyiweyi was arrested and imprisoned. He completed his degree through private study in 1974.
After went to Botswana where he became a teacher in August 1974.
In December of that year, he won a scholarship to the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, where he obtained his MSc in Mathematics in one year.
He then proceeded to read for his PhD in the area of functional analysis at the same university.
Dzinotyiwei completed his PhD in 1977, and was awarded a post-doctoral research fellowship to work at the Catholic University in Nijmegen in the Netherlands.
His first teaching post was at the University of Nairobi. Dzinotyiwei is said to have abandoned the lectureship in mid-1979 to join the liberation struggle.
Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980.
After independence, he lectured at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ).
In 1983 he rose to the rank of associate professor, and became full professor in 1987. He was chairman of the Mathematics Department from 1983 until 1991 when he was elected Dean of Science.
Outside academia, Dzinotyiwei was a political commentator.
He later formed a political outfit called the Zimbabwe Integrated Programme (ZIP), to “advocate for integration as a basis for governance”.
But the outfit lacked visibility on the Zimbabwean political landscape. He announced that ZIP would now operate as a think-tank.
Dzinotyiwei joined the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC in June 2006. He said then that his decision had been influenced by the clear link between the country’s economic decline and its political policies.
Dzinotyiwei was elected the MP for Budiriro in March 2008.
Goche, Nicholas Tasanangurwa (Zanu-PF), Minister of Transport.
Born on August 1, 1946, Nicholas Goche is married.
He was one of Zanu-PF’s negotiators during the power-sharing negotiations with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). He is also a member of the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee (JOMIC), which was set up to monitor the government of national unity.
One of the more reclusive of President Mugabe’s lieutenants, Goche spent a long time as a career diplomat.
He holds an MA in International Relations and Public Relations, a Certificate in Human Resources Management and a Certificate in Management Studies.
Goche says he was expelled from Bradley Institute in 1962 after organising a strike on the banning of ZAPU. In 1963 he joined the ZANU Youth Wing and remained an underground activist after ZANU was banned.
In 1968 he became the secretary-general of the Rhodesian Explosives and Chemical Workers Union.
Between 1970 and 1974 he was an assistant personnel officer responsible for payroll employees and welfare at Zimbabwe Phosphate Industries Ltd (ZIMPHOS).
He was promoted to be the personnel officer between 1974 and 1977. He worked closely with the late Maurice Nyagumbo in 1975.
He left the country to join the liberation struggle in 1977 and trained at Tembwe in 1978. Goche returned to Zimbabwe in 1980 and was based at Dendera Assembly Point, set up in Mutoko for returning Zanla guerillas. While there he was for training as a diplomat.
Between 1980 and 1983 he was a senior administrative officer/ first secretary at the Zimbabwean Embassy in Washington responsible for political, consular and administrative affairs.
Between 1980 and 1983 he participated in the United Nations General Assembly Sessions as a member of the Third Committee dealing with de-colonisation issues.
In May 1984 he became an Under Secretary responsible for Eastern Europe, Asia and the Pacific in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Goche was appointed ambassador to Romania and Bulgaria in November 1984. Between 1987 and 1990 he was ambassador to the People’s Republic of China as well as non-resident ambassador to Pakistan and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
In September 1990 he was recalled to head office to become deputy Secretary for Political and Economic Affairs.
In 1991, Goche was posted to New York to assist a newly-appointed ambassador when Zimbabwe was the President of the Security Council during the Gulf War.
Meanwhile, on the political front, he became chairman of the Nehanda Branch of Zanu-PF in Shamva, Mashonaland Central in 1992.
In December 1993 he was elected to the Zanu-PF Mashonaland Central provincial executive as deputy secretary for production. He was elected into the Central Committee of Zanu-PF in September 1994.
Goche was elected to represent Shamva Constituency in Parliament in 1995 and appointed Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs.
In June 2000 he was re-elected in the same constituency and was appointed Minister of State responsible for National Security, taking charge of the Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO).
During his tenure the CIO is reported to have assumed ownership of some Zimbabwean newspapers, particularly Dr Ibbo Mandaza’s The Mirror, and allegedly The Financial Gazette, now owned by Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono.
He won the seat for Shamva again in 2005 and was appointed Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare.
He triggered domestic and international uproar when in June 2008 he banned non-governmental organizations from distributing aid during an acute food crisis.
“I hereby instruct all private voluntary organisations/NGOs to suspend all field operations until further notice,” he said. Goche accused them of breaching the terms of their registration. He did not elaborate.
However, it was later established that NGOs were forbidden to work after being accused of campaigning for the MDC ahead of the presidential run-off on June 27, a charge the organizations denied.
The organizations included Care International, Christian Care, USAID, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), World Vision and Action Aid
MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of the election, citing violence.
Goche was the Zanu-PF candidate for the House of Assembly seat for Shamva North constituency in the March 2008 parliamentary election.
He won by an overwhelming majority, receiving 10,385 votes against two MDC opponents, Godfree Chimombe and Anderson Matibiri, who respectively received 1 354 and 1 173 votes.
When the national unity government was sworn in on February 13, Goche was moved to the Ministry of Transport.
He owns Ceres Farm in Shamva.
Tomorrow: Joel Gabuza Gabhuza (MDC); Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, (Zanu-PF)
http://www.sokwanele.com/thisiszimbabwe/archives/3820
We asked a refugee living in Johannesburg,
South Africa, to write us
occasional blogs. This is his first.
When I
left Zimbabwe in 2002 after being arrested, tortured and charged on
several
occasions, including under AIPPA and the POSA, I was advised by the
MDC
party that I must leave the country only for my safety.
When I arrived in
Johannesburg I had no relatives here, only a letter from
the MDC stating
that I am a loyal member of the party. It also mentioned
that NGOs can help
me. The response I got from the MDC party in South Africa
was they are a
political party not a refugee organisation. This meant they
cannot help me
in terms of food, clothes and a place to stay.
I slept on the streets of
JHB for a year because I could not find work,
since I had no place to stay.
I published my stories in every newspaper only
to get no response from the
so-called refugee organisations.
After a year I found a place to stay in
a flat without electricity. The
situation in Zim became very difficult both
politically and economically and
my two brothers came to join me thinking
that it is better in South Africa.
Now we were 13 sharing a room without
electricity.
I used to write letters to my family letting them know that
South Africa is
more difficult than Zim economically but they did not
believe me, that is
why they came.
Where are they now? Back in
Zimbabwe. Now I have spent 6 years without
seeing my daughter and mother.
Sometime I wake up in the middle of the night
and cry for my only daughter
and the whole family.
After the signing of the GNU my hopes came up again
only to hear that Roy
Bennett has been arrested and hopes vanished again. I
phoned the MDC
Regional Office to confirm if is safe for me to come home.
The answer was
NO, not now, you have serious cases which need special
attention. No going
home, no hope, to me the GNU means nothing.
When
will I see my daughter? Is she learning? How tall is she? Is she alive?
How
does she survive? How does she say about me? Does she know she has a
father?
When I think of her and ask myself these questions I cannot sleep or
eat.
This entry was posted by SA Refugee on Thursday, March
26th, 2009 at 8:18 am
http://www.ghanaweb.com/
Thursday,
26 March 2009
the African union seems to be in disarray
and cannot put up a united front
on almost any issue. To promote democracy
and political stability, the union
has put in place resolution to reject any
government that comes to power by
the barrel of the gun. But the chairman of
the African Union, an autocrat
who usurped power through a coup d'état is
against this resolution and has
voiced his displeasure saying that democracy
is an alien concept to the
African and should not imposed on African
nations. The African Union is
sending mixed messages to new coup makers.
Whilst many African leaders
condemned the junta in Guinea, others like
Kaddafi and Senegal have fully
embraced the regime.
What is more,
when Robert Mugabe went to the African Union meeting, he
received a standing
ovation. Mugabe has been the scourge of his 10 million
plus countrymen. As a
result of the political crisis he has unleashed by
brazenly overturning an
election result that he lost, Zimbabwe has been
plunged into the worst
economic and political chaos since the founding of
that country. Several
thousands are starving and dying, and the entire
economy is in complete
paralysis. Nevertheless, many in the African Union,
particularly South
Africa, continue to support Mugabe. The African Union's
failure to sing with
one voice undermines and undoes everything it stands
for and tries to do.
And that disharmony is definitely making it impossible
for the African Union
to promote political stability and rein in on coup d'états,
which for
decades have been the bane of continental progress. Nation after
nation was
plunged into political chaos and economic mismanagement by
military
juntas.
Senegal
this nation for decades has been the beacon of
political stability and
democracy in a region often mired in political chaos
and civil wars. It is
therefore disconcerting that the highly respected
octogenarian ruler,
Abdoulaye Wade, has led Senegal into economy abyss and
political chaos. On
Mr. Wade's watch, corruption has thrived in Senegal and
the economy is very
weak, leading to political unrests. The man once the
perennial opposition
leader for over two decades and often arrested and
brutalized by the
incumbent government at that time is today harassing and
arresting political
opponents. And worse, he has sent a clear signal that he
is trying to pass
on the mantle of leadership to his son Karim Wade. No
wonder his party got
spanked in the just ended local elections.
South
Africa
There has been global outrage at South Africa for the last several
months --most notably for its soft treatment of Robert Mugabe in the face of
the gross abuse and torture of his political opponents, plunging his country
into a stage of political anarchy and economic calamity.
But the
latest scorn and rebuke at the ex-apartheid nation is the result of
its
denial of visa for the Dalai Lama, following threats from South Africa's
major trading partner, China. Even though the African National Congress
vehemently denies any connection to China in its decision to refuse visa to
the venerated Tibetan leader, it is conspicuous that fear of angering China
and hurting its business interest with that Asian economic giant was the
sole consideration.
It is extremely disappointing that a regime that
for decades had to rely on
help the international community to topple the
racist apartheid regime,
would give fodder to autocrats to oppress their own
people. The African
National Congress should be the regime that should be
most sympathetic to
groups or leaders fighting oppression. So for the South
African regime to be
putting loyalty to Mugabe and business interests to
China ahead of assisting
victims of oppression is morally reprehensible and
politically dumb. South
Africa has invited the scorn and ire of nations that
have supported them in
the past and should be their friends. So pursuing
their ill-advised and
imprudent narrow self interest hurts South Africa
politically. No wonder
condemnation from the global media and political
leaders has been swift and
universal.
Ghana
Reports of
unusually high incidents of child labor abuse should be worrying
to the
leadership of the country. The future of any nation rests on the
development
of its young generation. With so many documented cases of
children out of
school and performing economic activities for their parents,
the nation
risks losing its potential potent labor force. Law makers must
ensure that
the laws on the books against child labor abuse are enforced.
Kenya Still
is still reeling from the near civil war caused by election
rigging by the
incumbent government; the nation has suffered more setbacks
on two fronts:
Corruption is thriving under the unity government of Kibaki
and Odinga, and
is threatening to bring Kenya to near economic paralysis.
And worse, Kenya
is experiencing a drought that could lead to starvation.
Kenya is on the
brink and its leadership must rise to the challenge: first,
the leadership
reins in on corruption, and second, it must fully assess the
food situation
and call for donor help now than later, if need be.
Nigeria
The
huge drop in oil prices is hurting the super eagle nation's revenue. And
worse, Nigeria's failure to rein in on political violence around the oil
producing Nile Delta area is hurting the nation's oil production --Angola
has overtaking Nigeria as the biggest oil producing nation in Africa. To
compound the problem of shrunk revenue for the federal government, Nigerian
banks have also been hit hard by the global financial collapse and have
drastically curtailed lending. In effect, Nigeria risks sinking into a deep
recession, given these outlined problems.
http://www.voanews.com
By Al Pessin
Pentagon
25 March
2009
The annual Pentagon report on China's military power says China
continues to
increase the "pace and scope" of its military modernization,
and expresses
concern about a lack of clarity on how Chinese leaders intend
to use their
growing capability. But the report also says China is years
from being able
to seriously challenge U.S. military power, even in areas
fairly close to
China's borders.
The annual report, required by the
Congress, says China continues to spend
large amounts of money to upgrade
its forces and give them high-technology
capabilities. But the report says
it will be well into the 2020 decade
before China will have the ability to
sustain substantial forces far from
home. It says the Chinese army
compensates for its limited abilities by
investing in what the Pentagon
calls "disruptive" technologies, designed to
deny an adversary access to a
specific area or to attack an enemy's computer
networks or space-based
assets.
The report also says China has increased the quality and quantity
of its
strategic nuclear missiles. But it says "there is little evidence
that
China's military and civilian leaders have fully thought through the
global"
implications of using their nuclear arsenal, or their their
anti-satellite
and cyber-warfare capabilities.
The report says
China's efforts are changing the Asian military balance and
have
implications beyond the region. In particular, the Pentagon report says
China continues to build up its forces along the Taiwan Strait, a
development Press Secretary Geoff Morrell finds confusing.
"The fact
that the Chinese continue to build up their arsenal across the
Straits is
somewhat confounding, given the fact there has been a lessening
in tensions
between the two governments, post the elections in Taiwan," he
said.
The report says China is working to "deter, delay or deny" any
U.S.
intervention that might follow a Chinese attack on Taiwan. But it also
indicates China would only invade if its leaders believed they had no other
way to prevent the island from moving toward independence.
The report
calls for more transparency in China's defense budget and more
information
about its strategic intentions, saying such an approach is "a
responsibility
that accompanies the accumulation of national power." The
report says China
has made "limited improvements" in that regard.
Spokesman Geoff Morrell
says Defense Secretary Robert Gates believes more
transparency and more
U.S.-China military contact are the keys to preventing
China's military rise
from resulting in conflict.
"We could become adversaries if we allow
ourselves to go down that path," he
said. "The key is to prevent that from
happening. Enhanced
military-to-military relations, enhanced engagement,
more dialogue, greater
transparency is the key to avoiding that
path."
China suspended military-to-military contacts with the United
States to
protest an arms sale to Taiwan last October. Morrell says in spite
of the
incident earlier this month, when five Chinese ships harassed the
USNS
Impeccable in international waters in the South China Sea, those
contacts
are still set to resume soon.
"There's reason for optimism,"
said Morrell. "Despite the Impeccable
incident our talks, our
military-to-military talks with the Chinese, have
progressed faster and
better than the secretary had expected."
The Pentagon report also laments
continuing Chinese arms sales to unstable
parts of the world, including
Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Sudan. But the report
welcomes increased Chinese
involvement in international humanitarian relief
operations and the
anti-piracy effort off the east coast of Africa.
China typically
criticizes the annual U.S. report, but Geoff Morrell says
this year's report
is more factual than opinionated, partly in order not to
derail efforts to
move forward in defense relations.
"This is a very straightforward,
fact-based report," he said. "There is
nothing inflammatory or derogatory in
it. This is, actually, we hope,
another step in the right direction in terms
of fostering greater
cooperation, greater understanding, greater
transparency between our two
militaries."
The next step in that
process may come next week, when President Barack
Obama has his first
meeting with Chinese President Hu Jintao during the G-20
summit in
London.