http://www.timeslive.co.za
Mar 26, 2011 9:11 PM | By ZOLI
MANGENA
Southern African Development Community (SADC) leaders are
expected to meet
in Zambia on Thursday to deal with Zimbabwe's deteriorating
political
situation amid renewed infighting between President Robert Mugabe
and Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
The meeting would follow
Tsvangirai's appeal to regional leaders to
intervene to save the government
of national unity from crumbling under the
weight of Mugabe's resurfacing
political repression and violence.
Tsvangirai is facing arrest for
criminal contempt of court.
This follows his recent attacks on judges
following a Supreme Court ruling
which ousted the speaker of parliament,
Lovemore Moyo, and the arrest of
Energy and Power Development Minister Elton
Mangoma in connection with
alleged tender irregularities involving a
$6-million fuel supply deal.
Although Mangoma was last week released on
$5000 bail, he was rearrested on
Friday over fresh allegations of tender
irregularities.
Tsvangirai was yesterday expected to meet South African
President Jacob Zuma
in Durban to discuss the Zimbabwe situation ahead of
the SADC troika meeting
on politics, defence and security in
Zambia.
The Zimbabwean premier has been on a region-wide trip to garner
support of
SADC leaders. Tsvangirai was last week in Zambia, Mozambique,
Botswana and
Swaziland.
He held discussions with President Rupiah
Banda of Zambia, President Armando
Guebbuza of Mozambique, King Mswati III
of Swaziland and Botswana President
Ian Khama, calling for "urgent action on
Zimbabwe to ensure the security of
persons and a peaceful environment in the
country".
Tsvangirai told regional leaders that the SADC should move and
act swiftly
on Zimbabwe.
He complained about "a renewed state of
siege in Zimbabwe, arbitrary
arrests, the escalating crackdown on democratic
forces in the country and
the culture of impunity seriously threatening the
health and the life of the
inclusive government".
This was the same
message Tsvangirai was expected to deliver to Zuma
yesterday.
After
his meeting with Zuma, he is expected to travel to Angola, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Namibia to explain the situation and seek
regional support.
Tsvangirai's spokesman Luke Tamborinyoka confirmed
the itinerary, but
refused to give details.
The Zimbabwean prime
minister has said he was increasingly concerned about
resurgent repression
and violence and has also complained about selective
application of the
law.
Tsvangirai himself is not being spared harassment. This week he was
forced
to apologise for attacking judges as pressure grew for him to be
arrested on
contempt of court charges.
"My recent comments on the
judiciary were clearly an immediate reaction
against a judgement (on the
speaker of parliament) that affected the morale
of my party.
Those
comments should not be taken out of context. They are not in any way a
departure from my strong belief in judicial independence, nor were they
meant to undermine anyone," Tsvangirai said.
The SADC is expected to
recommend an election road map to ensure free and
fair elections to end the
country's political stalemate.
HRD’s
Alert
26 March 2011
Zimbabwean authorities on
Saturday 26 March 2011 reportedly deported Yvonne Paperndorf,
a
German citizen who was arrested on Friday 25 March 2011.
Paperndorf, who works in Germany for an organisation called Bread for the World,
was arbitrarily picked up by three unidentified men from Pandhari Lodge in Glen
Lorne, Harare, where she was residing.
Paperndorf was visiting the country and
was participating in a meeting on Human Rights Defenders (HRD)s that Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) had
organised.
Immigration officials reportedly deported Paperndorf
on an Ethiopian flight around lunchtime on Saturday 26 March
2011.
On Friday 25 March 2011, lawyers from ZLHR had mounted a search for
Paperndorf and failed to locate her. By Saturday night lawyers had not yet
received any communication regarding the location of
Paperndorf.
ENDS
http://www.timeslive.co.za
Mar 26, 2011 9:11 PM | By
VLADIMIR MZACA
The US government is going all out to blacklist trade with
any international
company found dealing in Zimbabwean diamonds - this after
the Kimberley
Process had approved the sale of the gems.
The latest
development about Zimbabwe's controversial diamonds comes after
the new
chairman of the Kimberley Process, Mathieu Yamba, was quoted on
Rapaport
Diamond Trading Network's website as saying Zimbabwe should go
ahead until
"an administrative decision is passed". Rapaport is US-based
organisation
that links thousands of diamond suppliers and buyers around the
world.
The US and other European countries put a trade embargo on
Zimbabwe,
accusing it of gross human rights abuses in the Chiadzwa diamond
fields.
Yamba is said to have sent a letter to Kimberley Process members.
Part of
the letter, according to Rapaport, reads: "Zimbabwe is hereby
authorised to
resume exports from the mining operations of Mbada and
Canadile."
The US believed its policy on Zimbabwe had been compromised,
and said the
only way to curb Zimbabwean trade was by prohibiting firms that
deal with it
from dealing with US companies.
The World Diamond
Council has confirmed the US's standpoint. "As has been
widely reported,
Mathieu Yamba, chair of the Kimberley Process, recently
issued a statement
that defers discussion on unresolved issues to the
Working Group on
Monitoring, but in the meantime permits Zimbabwe to export
rough diamond
shipments from the two official concessions in the Marange
region, subject
to oversight by the appointed monitor.
"The World Diamond Council
understands that a number of Kimberley Process
participant countries,
including the US, Canada, Israel and the European
Union, are seeking clarity
on procedural issues surrounding this release and
have indicated that
exports should not be permitted until these issues have
been explained and
resolved."
The council advised members of the international diamond
industry to refrain
from trading in goods from the region until the
situation beca me clearer.
The US is one of the top five diamond
consumers. Rapaport's website said the
US had already communicated with the
United Arab Emirates and India about
its position on the Zimbabwean
diamonds.
It said that any of its trade partners dealing "in any way with
gems
originating from Zimbabwe would be blocked".
The two companies,
Mbada and Canadile, which have been given the green light
by the Kimberley
Process, are on the international sanctions list.
The Kimberley Process
decision would not help the situation, according to
economist John
Robertson.
"Most diamonds find their way to the US because it is the
biggest consumer
market in the world. No company would risk losing business
because of
Zimbabwe," he said this week.
The Minister of Mines, Obert
Mpofu, declined to comment.
Negotiations to allow the exports failed at
the Kimberley Process plenary
meeting in Jerusalem in November last year.
Further talks broke down in
January after Israel, in its capacity as 2010
chair, initiated a final
effort to bring all Kimberley Process members into
written consensus
regarding the "Jerusalem agreement"
proposal.
Following an initial announcement by Israel's chairman Boaz
Hirsch that
consensus had been reached, Yamba subsequently reported that
consensus had
not been achieved.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by John Chimunhu
Saturday, 26
March 2011 12:37
BULAWAYO - Desperate Zanu (PF) anti-sanctions
campaigners have invaded
schools countrywide, forcing teachers and young
children to sign up or face
death, the Zimbabwean has established.
While
they are at it, the Zanu (PF) hoodlums leading the campaign are
demanding $2
from every teacher and $5 from each headmaster, claiming this
is for
Independence Day celebrations. Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe
(PTUZ)
Secretary-General Raymond Majongwe confirmed the developments in an
interview with this newspaper.
"We have received reports that some
headmasters are giving (petition) forms
to pupils to sign. In some cases,
these people take over classrooms for the
community to sign," Majongwe said.
At Gresham Primary School in Zvishavane
last week, pupils were seen by this
reporter learning under trees on a
blistering hot day after the petitioners
invaded their classrooms. Majongwe
said this was happening throughout the
country.
While condemning the action, the union said it was advising teachers
not to
resist the petitioners' demands as that could expose them to
violence. The
union boss also confirmed that war veterans continued to
invade schools
demanding to force-feed pupils with Zanu (PF)'s skewed
version of Zimbabwean
history, while teachers continued to be evicted.
Majongwe said frantic
efforts were being made to assist affected teachers to
return to their
schools.
"We have areas where teachers ran away. We've
taken some of those teachers
back," he said, citing the example of Mt Darwin
where scores of teachers
were ejected last year. "W went to the political
structures and pleaded with
them. we told
them that victimising teachers
is tantamount to pauperizing and extending
poverty to the community. Where
teachers have withdrawn, it has taken long
to replace them." Education
Minister David Coltart has banned political
meetings in schools but Zanu
(PF) has defied his orders.
http://www.radiovop.com
26/03/2011 15:37:00
HARARE, March 26, 2011-
President Robert Mugabe’s anti-sanctions campaign
appear to have been
discredited after it emerged that Zanu (PF) activists
and party heavyweights
were appending their signatures on the petition more
than
once.
President Mugabe wants at least 2 Million signatures on the
petition. The
anti-sanctions petition has also been taken to the army
barracks and police
stations where officers are reportedly being forced to
sign it.In Harare
there were reports that state journalists were also being
forced to sign the
petition.
In Chikomba District of Mashonaland East
province a senior education
official has declared all schools in the
district would be used as signing
centres for the anti-sanctions petition
and that all school heads would be
required to act as “ polling officers
”.
This is despite a directive by Education, Sport, Art and Culture minister
David Coltart barring the use of schools for political
activities.
Chikomba district education director Ngoni Simon Mujuru
issued a circular to
all school heads in Chikomba District advising them to
be available for the
launch of the project on Saturday March 26.Zanu (PF)
supporters are
reportedly forcing villagers in various parts of the country
to sign the
petition. The Welshman Ncube led MDC party said some of its
members in
Mashonaland Central, Midlands, Mashonaland East, Manicaland,
Masvingo and
Mashonaland West provinces were being arrested or attacked for
refusing to
sign the petition.
Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khupe
’s personal driver Witness Dube was
arrested on Wednesday and was held at
Tshabalala Police Station for
allegedly denouncing the anti-sanctions
petition.Dube was arrested at
Nkulumane Shopping Complex by police after he
was overheard saying Zanu (PF)
was wasting resources setting up
anti-sanctions signing centres.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by Staff Reporter
Friday, 25 March
2011 06:08
GWERU - Local radio disk jockeys are being forced to play Zanu
(PF) praise
songs or risk being fired, Showbiz on Sunday was reliably
informed.
A source within the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) Radio
Services
department revealed that “all DJs have been instructed to devote
more
airplay to songs that praise Zanu (PF) and its leadership”. This has
seen
the resurfacing of many Zanu (PF) praise songs such as Makorokoto Baba
Mugabe, Happy Birthday, Hondo Yeminda, Gwindingwi Rineshumba, and Agirimende
by perceived pro-Zanu (PF) artists.
Forgotten party sympathizers such as
Last ‘Tambaoga’ Chiyangwa, fortunate
‘Sister Fearless’ Matenga, Joshua
Sacco, Brian Mteki, Andy Brown, Zex
Manasta and bands like the Harare Mambo
have since bounced back on the
airwaves, teaming up with new kids on the
block the Mbare Chimurenga Choir
and Born Free Crew. This has dampened the
atmosphere of the local airwaves
at a time when the radio stations are fast
losing listeners due to its
alarming propaganda content.
“All radio DJs
from the four radio stations were ordered to dig up songs
that portray a
positive picture on Mugabe and his ailing party (Zanu PF),”
said the source.
He added that the directive from ZBC chief executive
officer, Henry
Muchechetere, must have come from the Zanu (PF) minister of
Media,
Information and Publicity Webster Shamu. Several DJs from the four
radio
stations threatened to quit if Zanu (PF) politics continued to
jeopardize
their credibility.
Said one veteran DJ: “We have been subjected to this type
of madness for so
long whenever an election is coming up. We are sick and
tired of cleaning up
Zanu (PF)’s mess. I can no longer afford to loose my
credibility for cheap
politics.”
http://www.radiovop.com/
26/03/2011
12:52:00
LUPANE, March 26, 2011- Soldiers who have been deployed in
Lupane to
campaign for President Robert Mugabe,s party Zanu (PF) have moved
from
Gwampa Ward to other areas where they are intimidating villagers the
majority of them supporters of the two MDC formations.
According to
councillor Kenny Mpofu of Gwampa Ward, the soldiers organised
several
meetings on behalf of Zanu (PF) but most villagers refused to
attend.The
soldiers then sent youths to tell all the villagers that if they
did not
attend their meetings they would be given a preview of what happened
during
the early 80s when the government unleashed the notorious army unit,
the
Five Brigade into the villages of Matabeleland and the Midlands
provinces.
The two provinces were the political strongholds of Joshua
Nkomo,s Zapu
party.
“ The villagers decided to attend the soldiers
meetings after being
threatened with the return of the Fifth Brigade, ” said
Mpofu who is a
councillor for MDC-T.Mpofu told Radio Vop that the soldiers
ordered the
villagers to set up new Zanu (PF) structures in their
wards.
“ Its clear Zanu (PF) is now using soldiers to do its work in the
rural
areas that are controlled by the MDC, ” added Mpofu.But Defence
Minister
Emmerson Munangagwa was quoted in the media recently denying the
government
has deployed the army in Matabeleland.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com
26/03/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe has told critics only members of his
Zanu PF party
will be buried at the national Heroes Acre in Harare and said
those unhappy
with the development were free to establish separate shrines
for their own
heroes.
The Zanu PF politburo has, since independence,
exclusively selected the
country’s national heroes most of whom are then
buried at the North
Korea-built shrine just outside the capital.
The
party has consistently ignored calls for a non-partisan selection
process
from opposition groups.
But critics say Mugabe has used the honour to
punish critics as well as
reward loyalists, some of them undeserving of the
accolade.
Frustration over the process has seen some key figures in the
country’s
independence struggle who also spent most of their lives in
government
service refusing to be buried at the shrine, most recently
Thenjiwe Lesabe
and Welshman Mabhena.
Mabhena pointedly insisted that
he would not be buried among “thieves and
crooks”.
But President
Mugabe has again reiterated that only Zanu PF members who had
shown
consisted loyalty to the party would be buried at the shrine.
Speaking at
the funeral wake of politburo member David Karimanzira who died
at a Harare
hospital on Thursday, Mugabe said those unhappy with selection
process were
free to establish their own shrines at any of the country’s
innumerate hills
and mountains.
Speaking in shona, the Zanu PF leader told mourners: "Kune
vamwe vakati toda
kuendesawo vedu ikoko, asi takati kwete. Zvikomo zvakazara
munyika muno.
Ngavatsvagewo chavo chikomo vavigane ikoko”.
Mugabe
said there had not been any need a Politburo vote over Karimanzira’s
Hero
status.
“We did not even have to vote because everyone agreed that he
should be
buried at the National Heroes Acre.
The former Harare
governor, who was 64, would be buried on Sunday or Monday,
Zanu PF secretary
for administration, Didymus Mutasa said.
http://www.radiovop.com/
26/03/2011 11:33:00
HARARE, March 26, 2011-
Zimbabwe's co-Minister of Home Affairs Theresa
Makone is reported to be
still in hiding following reports that police are
planning to arrest her and
other officials of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai,s Movement for
Democratic Change (MDC) party.
Makone together with her colleague from
Zanu (PF) Kembo Mohadi are in charge
of the police but it is clear that the
coalition government is controlled by
President Robert Mugabe's
party.Yesterday police re-arrested Energy Minister
Elton Mangoma as they
intensified their crackdown against Tsvangirai's
party.
The whole of
this week speculation was rife that police were planning to
arrest more than
five MDC Members of Parliament in order to disable the
party ahead of the
election of Speaker of Parliament.The position of speaker
is up for grabs
after the Supreme Court nullified the election of incumbent
Lovemore Moyo
following a challenge by former Information Minister Jonathan
Moyo.
looking for her.Moyo is from Tsvangirai's MDC party.The
election of speaker
was postponed for an indefinite period this week in what
analysts say is
another Zanu (PF) ploy to win the post at all costs.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Mar 26, 2011 9:11 PM | By THEMBA
SIBANDA
The MDC-N party, led by Professor Welshman Ncube, has warned that
it will
deal decisively with its members of parliament who defy a directive
to
abstain from the election of speaker of the parliament of
Zimbabwe.
The seat fell vacant after the Supreme Court nullified the
election of MDC-T
national chairman Lovemore Moyo to the speaker's
post.
No date has yet been set for the election following the adjournment
of the
proceedings by the clerk of parliament, Austin Zvoma, last
week.
Parliamentarians were expected to choose Moyo's replacement on
Tuesday, but
the election was called off by Zvoma after the legislators
turned "rowdy" in
the house. They reportedly sang and chanted slogans of
their respective
parties, turning the house into a circus.
The MDC-T
party says it will retain Moyo as its candidate, while Zanu-PF has
picked
former Zimbabwe ambassador to South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo as its
candidate.
The two Moyos hail from Matabeleland South, in the south
of Zimbabwe.
Speaking at a public forum arranged by civic society
organisation, Bulawayo
Agenda, MDC spokesman Nhlanhla Dube said the party
would "deal decisively"
with "rogue" elements who defy the standing
directive.
"There is a rubicon that has been set by the party for all its
members of
parliament to adhere to. The rubicon simply states that all party
MPs should
abstain from casting their votes for the speaker's post," said
Dube.
"If any member of the party decides to go against that rubicon, the
party
has measures that it will take to decisively deal with
them."
There are fears that the MDC party could expel those members who
defy the
directive.
Three of the party's former legislators -
Abednico Bhebhe, Norman Mabhena
and Njabuliso Mguni - were expelled for
having defied the party's
directives.
The three are seeking the
nullification of their expulsions from parliament
and immediate
reinstatement through the courts.
Dube also revealed that Zanu-PF
officials had approached his party seeking
its support for its candidate,
Simon Khaya Moyo.
However, Dube said, his party had turned down the
request "on moral
grounds".
The party has for long been suspected of
being an ally of President Robert
Mugabe's party.
It has not been an
easy tag to shed, especially given the utterances of the
former leader of
the party, Professor Arthur Mutambara, who has on many
occasions sung the
praises of Mugabe and his party.
"We have been, for long, viewed as an
ally of President Mugabe and his
party. So many accusations have flown
across the political divide about our
allegiance and alleged bed-hopping
with Zanu-PF," Dube said.
"We have made it clear we do not belong to
anybody but to the people of
Zimbabwe. This stance that we have taken as a
party is a clear message to
all that we do not belong to anybody," he
said.
He also revealed that the MDC-T formation had yet to approach his
party for
support of Moyo's candidature.
He accused the Morgan
Tsvangirai formation of wanting to use money to lure
his party's legislators
to vote for Lovemore Moyo.
"We have seen in the past the dishing out of
holiday packages and cash to
our MPs so that they will vote in a particular
fashion.
"We are aware of these tactics again this time around. As I have
said, we
are going to deal decisively with any of our MPs who accept the
money and
goodies in return for defiance of our party's position on the
election of
the next speaker of parliament," Dube said.
http://www.newzimbabwe.com/
26/03/2011 00:00:00
by Staff
Reporter
ENERGY Minister, Elton Mangoma will spend the weekend in
custody after he
was arrested on fresh charges of criminal abuse of office,
the second time
the minister, a senior member of Prime Minister Morgan
Tsvangirai’s MDC-T
party has been arrested in two weeks.
Mangoma
appeared before a Harare magistrate on Friday and remanded in
custody after
being indicted to face trial at the High Court on July 18 this
year.
His lawyers said they would seek bail in the High Court next
week.
Mangoma is accused of irregularly awarding a multi-million- dollar
tender
for purchase electricity meters by a subsidiary of the power utility,
ZESA.
The state claims the Minister forced officials to cancel a tender
contract
for the deal, thereby prejudicing nine companies that had
participated in
the process. Mangoma's
The MDC-T said the allegations
were ‘false’ and part of an ongoing attempt
by the state to harass its
officials.
"As far as we are concerned this is part of a harassment
campaign that Zanu
PF has embarked on against our structures, and it is the
type of campaign
that we have suffered before every general election," an
MDC-T official told
Reuters.
MDC-T secretary general and Finance
Minister, Tendai Biti, told reporters
that the party was ‘shocked at the
swiftness’ of Mangoma’s arrest and
subsequent indictment.
Mangoma is
on US$5000 bail on separate charges of corruptly sealing a fuel
supply deal
with a South African company without going to tender.
Granting bail in
the fuel case, High Court judge Samuel Kudya said the
prosecution case
against the minister was weak.
“The state will have an uphill battle to
convince the court. The case
against Mangoma cannot be said to be strong,”
Justice Kudya said.
Mangoma’s arrests have worsened the already fractious
relations within the
coalition government with the MDC-T warning that the
‘continued harassment’
of its officials could end the coalition
deal.
After Mangoma was first picked up, Tsvangirai warned that he was
considering
a "divorce" from the coalition government his party formed in
2009 with
President Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF party and a smaller faction of
the MDC led
by Welshman Ncube.
http://www.timeslive.co.za
Mar 26, 2011 9:11 PM | By ZOLI MANGENA
Both are
accused of corruption but are unequal before the law
One cabinet
minister is accused of corruptly amassing wealth, including
farms,
companies, mines and real estate,while the other faces allegations of
manipulating tenders for yet-to-be-quantified private gain.
The one
accused of short-circuiting tender procedures is arrested. Being a
member of
a party trying to oust the "Dear Leader", he got picked up two
weeks ago for
allegedly awarding a $6-million fuel supply contract to two
South African
companies, Mohwelere and NOOA, without going to tender.
The high court
judge who dealt with his case in a bail application says the
charges were
based on "scant facts" and stand no reasonable prospect of
success at
trial.
The minister was granted $5000 bail and is due to appear in court
for trial
tomorrow.
The same minister was again arrested on Friday
for allegedly ordering the
cancellation of a tender involving the purchase
and supply of prepayment
revenue management system . His case was remanded
by the magistrate's court
to July 18.
His name is Elton Mangoma,
Zimbabwe's Energy and Power Development Minister,
who belongs to Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC-T party.
The one who is very wealthy,
but who faces serious allegations of
corruption, remains a free man, despite
intensifying complaints by taxpayers
and government officials, including
Tsvangirai, to Mugabe about his
excessive riches.
The minister's
wealth has become testimony of primitive accumulation in
Mugabe's corrupt
and incompetent regime. The minister in question is
Ignatius Chombo, who is
in charge of local government.
Chombo belongs to Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
He comes from the president's home
region and is seen as one of his
cronies.
This is a tale of two Zimbabweans, ministers working in the same
government
and facing allegations of corruption, which, however, differ in
extent and
quantum involved. The main difference between them is that they
belong to
two different political parties, hence their unequal standing
before the
law.
The cases of Chombo and Mangoma and how they are
being handled is a
manifestation of what is wrong with Zimbabwe. The trouble
with Zimbabwe is
simply and squarely a lack of good leadership. It's a
problem of corruption
and hypocrisy. A glaring lack of good governance,
transparency and
accountability, coupled with a huge democratic
deficit.
Mangoma was first arrested on March 10 over the controversial
$6-million
fuel supply deal. It is alleged he awarded the contract without
it going out
to tender. Mangoma allegedly gave a contract to NOAA which
works closely
with Mohwelere in violation of tender procedures.
The
agreement was to supply Zimbabwe with five million litres of fuel. It
was
signed between Zimbabwe's PetroTrade and South African companies,
Mohwelere
and NOOA in January in the midst of growing shortages in the
market.
However, Mugabe and his Zanu-PF section of government claim
Mangoma breached
tender procedures in awarding the contract. This led to the
minister's
arrest two weeks ago, although he was released on a $500 bail on
Tuesday
last week.
High Court judge Samuel Kudya said the minister
might have done the right
thing the wrong way as he was responding to an
emergency situation. He said
the state had relied on "scant facts" in
arresting the minister and the case
had dim prospects of success when trial
begins tomorrow.
Mangoma has blamed Mugabe for his arrest, saying it was
"malicious" to
arraign him because he had cleared the issue in cabinet on
March 1 and also
before Mugabe in a one-on-one meeting on March
3.
Just as Mangoma was thinking he would emerge from court a free man
tomorrow,
disaster struck. He was arrested again on Friday on new charges.
This time
the minister is being accused of manipulating a tender for the
supply and
delivery of a prepayment revenue management system.
It is
alleged that after he was transferred from the Ministry of Economic
Development to Energy and Power Development, Mangoma cancelled a tender on
smart metering awarded to Solahart and gave it to a company called Vas-X
Technology.
It is alleged the minister had a conflict of interest and
by inference had
something to gain.
By contrast Chombo has been
accused of being engaged in corrupt land deals
at the Harare city council.
The mayor Muchadeyi Masunda has publicly
complained about it. Councillors
have reported Chombo to the police.
Tsvangirai has approached Mugabe over
the issue. Residents and ratepayers
are complaining.
Despite growing
calls for Chombo to be arrested, or at the very least
investigated over his
disproportionate wealth, which includes at least 15
vehicles and more than
20 houses, nothing is being done.
The Chombo and Mangoma cases
graphically illustrate what sort of a country
Zimbabwe has become: a
latter-day version of the Orwellian dystopia, Animal
Farm.
http://www.timeslive.co.za/
Minister and his deputy tussle over
pair's fate
Mar 26, 2011 9:11 PM | By SUNDAY TIMES CORRESPONDENT
A tug
of war has erupted at the Ministry of Local Government - with minister
Ignatius Chombo and his deputy Sesel Zvidzai tussling over the fate of two
expelled Movement for Democratic Change councillors.
Last week
Chombo, a Zanu-PF member, fired two Harare councillors, Warship
Dumba and
Casper Takura, on allegations that they abused council funds while
on a
workshop last year - but Zvidzai, an MDC official, said the two
remained
councillors as they were illegally fired.
The feud has created serious
confusion in the ministry and in the Harare
city council. There have been
allegations that Dumba and Takura were
suspended over their persistent
investigations of the theft of land in
Harare by top government officials.
In two of the probes they implicated
Chombo, who they accuse of illegally
grabbing prime land in Harare. They
have since reported the alleged theft of
land to the police who have refused
to take action.
Chombo is also
accused of being on a crusade to suspend and expel elected
MDC councillors
and mayors throughout the country, using the Urban Councils
Act which gives
immense powers to the minister.
Last week Chombo drew the ire of the MDC
when he expelled the two fiery
councillors. It prompted Zvidzai to
immediately order the councillors back
to work.
In a memo to Chombo
in which the feud is exposed, Zvidzai said: "The
decision to fire the
councillors was done in the absence of any
consultations with the office of
the deputy minister. I only learnt of this
in a weekend paper.
"I
wonder whether this can constitute a ministry position. Such decisions
enjoin us all to the consequences of same.
"If this represents a
ministry position then I should have been involved. If
not, then the
dismissals are a nullity and the councillors should go back to
work pending
the constitution of the independent and impartial inquiry
committee."
While Chombo has reportedly not yet responded, Dumba and
Takura have already
started to work again at Town House.
Besides
reporting for duty armed with the letter from Zvidzai, councillors
Dumba and
Takura have approached the courts to try to force Chombo to
reverse his
letters of suspension.
Dumba said: "We are already going back to council
- and so far so good. What
has surprised us is that council has not
complained at all about the
so-called abuse of funds which Chombo used to
expel us.
"I don't understand this country. We reported Chombo for
criminal abuse of
office, but it's us who get expelled. It's ridiculous to
say the least," he
said.
"We will not stop investigating land thefts
in council and if he (Chombo) is
implicated, then tough luck. We have
nothing against him - but then rules
are rules. But the question is why does
he fire us for investigating land
thefts in which he is implicated. If he
has done nothing, then he must come
and face us and prove his
innocence."
Councillors around the country have been fighting back
against Chombo's
attacks and formed the Elected Councillors Association of
Zimbabwe (ECAZ),
which is now at the forefront of fighting for their rights
throughout the
country.
Chombo, the close aide of President Robert
Mugabe, has in the past decade
amassed wealth including more than 100 houses
and stands in local
authorities throughout Zimbabwe. An investigative report
on the land deals
in the Harare council last year implicated Chombo and
businessman Phillip
Chiyangwa in the illegal grabbing of prime land in the
capital.
The matter was reported to the police but instead the Harare
councillors who
carried out the probe were arrested.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk/
Written by John Chimunhu
Friday, 25 March 2011
06:07
HARARE - Relentless jamming by President Robert Mugabe's forces is
depriving
Zimbabweans of a wide array of free entertainment sources provided
by
foreign governments.
Music and soccer have become the latest
battlefronts, with talented
musicians forced to sing praises of Mugabe while
footballers play in
tournaments named after him. But the latest deployment
of Chinese-made
jamming has forced even the VOA to acknowledge routinely in
its Zimbabwe
broadcasts that the waves are jammed.
An announcer is now
regularly heard to say: "This is Studio 7 for Zimbabwe
broadcasting on 909
AM, but due to jamming your best reception would be on
Shortwave..." Zanu
(PF) made external broadcasts a major issue during the
negotiations for a
settlement in 2008, demanding that they be banned.
Recently, the
controversially-appointed Broadcasting Authority announced it
was ready to
take applications, which would be a first step for the
so-called pirates to
come home. None of the big players have taken up the
offer, citing continued
insecurity in the country and the sheer economics of
setting up independent
broadcasting in a collapsing economy.
Surprisingly, Zanu (PF) officials are
clamouring to be heard on the Voice of
America Studio 7, which is virtually
banned in Zimbabwe by Mugabe's
government. Recently, senior Zanu (PF) and
pro-Mugabe officials Rugare
Gumbo, Joram Gumbo, Mines Minister Obert Mpofu
and Attorney General Johannes
Tomana have freely given interviews to the
'pirates'.
http://www.radiovop.com/
26/03/2011
12:48:00
Radio Vop website on Friday carried a story headlined “
Journalist Turned
Politician Wins MDC Primary Elections. ”
We have
since established that this was not true and that the story did not
originate from our regular and trusted correspondent in Masvingo.Our
correspondent has denied authoring the story and points the finger to a
culprit who has access to his password.We sincerely apologise to Energy Bara
for the embarrassment caused to him and his family and also to the MDC-T
party.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Tavada Mafa
Saturday, 26 March 2011
12:43
HARARE - Zanu (PF) used the time when COPAC chairman Douglas
Mwonzora was
in jail to tamper with input from the diaspora on the new
constitution.
Mwonzora has confronted his Zanu (PF) counterpart Paul Mangwana
over the
deliberate exclusion of four key areas in the data uploading
process, and
says he very much doubts that it is possible to meet the
October referendum
deadline. In an exclusive interview with The Zimbabwean
Mwonzora said he had
refused to sign a report compiled by Mangwana and
Edward Mukosi from MDC-N.
“They want us to sign stating that the data
uploading stage is complete. I
discovered that during my time in custody
they deliberately skipped these
areas because they do not have the support
in the diaspora. I am ready to be
thrown back into remand over this.
“I
also discovered that my colleagues now want us to rush into the thematic
committee meetings without completing the uploading stage. I doubt very
much if we are going to meet the October referendum deadline.”
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Ngoni
Chanakira
Friday, 25 March 2011 12:02
...Chitungwiza alone, urgently needs
$56m
HARARE - Zimbabwe’s aged health institutions need more than $420
million for
their upgrade before the poor nation can boast about meeting its
health
Millennium Development Goal (MDG), a top Cabinet document has
revealed.
The 27-paged document made available to The Zimbabwean was prepared
by the
Ministry of Finance. The Government of National Unity (GNU) also
needs more
than $18 million to repair or purchase ambulances and service
vehicles.
Known as "Infrastructure investment priorities for Zimbabwe", the
document
is currently circulating among Cabinet ministers. Chitungwiza
Central
Hospital tops the list of needs with a staggering grand total of $56
717 000
from the government coffers which are, however, currently
empty.
The hospital, led by Dr Obadiah Moyo, wants $50 071 000 for
infrastructure
rehabilitation and development, a figure which is more than
five times what
the Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals need. Once the envy of
Southern African
medical practitioners, the hospital's facilities are now
very old and most
machines are not working. Wealthy citizens seek medical
treatment at
expensive local private institutions or even from abroad, while
the poor
just suffer and die. Only last week The Zimbabwean revealed that
President
Robert Mugabe was blowing an average of $3 million each time he
sought
medical treatment overseas.
Parirenyatwa needs a total of $10 335
000 for infrastructure rehabilitation
and development, but it needs a grand
total of $40 334 000 for upgrading
everything. The document shows that
Chitungwiza Central Hospital, located in
Zimbabwe's third largest city,
needs $1 128 000 for dilapidated medical
equipment, $5 395 000 to purchase
drugs and medical supplies, and $149 000
for its ICT spruce
up.
Parirenyatwa needs $13 392 000 for upgrading its broken down medical
equipment, a staggering $15 497 000 to purchase drugs and medical supplies,
and $1 110 000 for its ICT. Mpilo Central, the largest hospital in Bulawayo,
needs $19 399 000 for its upgrade, while its sister institution, UBH needs
$21 688 000.
Mpilo, another very old institution built before
Independence, needs $3 423
000 for purchasing medical equipment,
surprisingly "only $663 000" for
purchasing drugs and medical supplies, $13
336 000 for infrastructure
rehabilitation and development, $1 285 500 to
beef up supplies in its
general stores, $203 500 for ICT, and some $488 000
for buying "mobile
equipment".
Harare Central Hospital, which operates in
almost a similar style as Mpilo
and built for blacks before Independence,
needs $15 665 000 for its upgrade.
The hospital, located in Mbare High
Density suburb, among the poorest and
oldest in Zimbabwe, needs $6 513 000
for its infrastructure rehabilitation
and development, $4 547 000 for
purchasing medical equipment, $44 565 000
for drugs and medical supplies,
and $40 000 for its ICT.
The document reveals that provincial, district and
rural health centres need
$248 064 000 for upgrading. They need $145 138 000
for infrastructure
rehabilitation and development, $98 315 000 for medical
equipment, and $4
611 000 for purchasing drugs and medical supplies.
Zimbabwe's health
institutions are usually over-crowded and some are accused
of selling
expired drugs to unsuspecting customers.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by The
Zimbabwean
Saturday, 26 March 2011 12:49
HARARE – Alarm bells are
ringing in political circles after it has emerged
that the police lied about
Zanu (PF) bookings of municipal stadia for
political rallies.
Mayor of
Harare Muchadeyi Masunda revealed that the City of Harare had not
granted
Zanu (PF) permission to hold a series of rallies as alleged by the
police.
Masunda confirmed to the media that the police lied to in order to
block the
MDC from holding a rally at the Zimbabwe Grounds in Highfield
saying that
Zanu (PF) had instead made a block booking of the
venue.
According to
Masunda the city of Harare “does not permit block bookings of
any
facilities.” “Facilities under the control of the city of Harare are
available for use by any legitimate stakeholder with police clearance. The
facilities cannot be booked on a block basis, particularly Glamis Arena,
Zimbabwe Grounds or any such spaces,” said Masunda.
Political Analyst
Enerst Mudzengi told The Zimbabwean that the top command
of the police was
“Zanu (PF) to the marrow” and used as an extension of the
party to block
democratic discourse. “It is clear for all to see that the
police force is
being used by Zanu (PF). The party is abusing the police for
its benefits as
those in command are known Zanu (PF) members who have at
some point in time
made it clear that they will not accept any government
other than Zanu
(PF),” said Mudzengi.
A lecturer at the University of Zimbabwe who asked not
to be named said
“there is nothing to separate the police from Zanu (PF) and
therefore it is
not surprising that the police lie on behalf of Zanu (PF).
The truth of the
matter is that the police are part of the structure that is
Zanu (PF).”
Another UZ lecturer, Lovemore Madhuku, said: “The police have
always been
like that since 12 years ago. The MDC is failing to convince the
people to
ignore the police who are clearly partisan. People should not
listen to the
police.”
According to Masunda, who is also a lawyer, all
that is required in order to
have a rally is a clearance letter from the
police and not a police
permission The police have on many occasions denied
the MDC permission to
hold rallies, while Zanu (PF) has no such
restrictions.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by Chief Reporter
Friday, 25 March 2011
15:32
HARARE – At least seven financial institutions are believed to be
in
distress as the Finance Ministry steps up its onsite examinations of the
country's banking firms.
The Zimbabwean understands the ministry has
issued three "corrective orders"
to banks to try make them safe for the
public and will continue to carry out
risk-based assesments until the
industry is "safe and sound". Finance
minister Tendai Biti has told the
Parliamentary Portfolio Committee that
three banks are "in the intensive
care unit" but he refused to say which
institutions are in a risky
position.
The financial condition and performance of institutions is being
strictly
monitored through "off-site surveillance" against set prudential
standards,
a source said. Nigeria's EcoBank is moving to rescue one of the
distressed
banks and has already snapped up a 50 percent stake in Premier
bank. Last
week Biti arranged a US$30million credit line for AgriBank,
believed to be
one of the institutions in the red.
“We have been
observing the risk situation and watching those sick banks
closely, and one
of them is state-connected,” Biti said. The Finance
ministry's moves come
after several locally owned banks sent the financial
sector into turmoil
after closure before formation of the unity government
two years
ago.
Zimbabwe has seen the closure of at least a dozen private banks for
alleged
fraud and mismanagement. Depositors have been left at a disadvantage
as
accounts have been locked, and creditors of the banks that were affected
by
closure are still waiting for confirmation if they will get any part of
their money back.
http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk
Written by The Editor
Friday, 25 March 2011
16:23
When - as we have seen in recent months - the police decide which
politician
shall be allowed to address Zimbabweans; when army generals
brazenly declare
who shall be president regardless of the outcome of
elections; when security
forces blatantly disregard the civilian authority,
then what we have is not
a problematic or even a failing political
transition process.
What we have is a military coup in progress. The
global political agreement
(GPA), the blueprint of the political
transformation process that all
right-thinking Zimbabweans had hoped for, is
practically dead.
The popular belief, or is it fear, has been that the
Joint Operations
Committee (JOC) – that unelected and unelectable security
cabal whose word
is law in Zimbabwe – would allow the transformation process
to run its
course.
That they would let a new constitution be enacted,
let elections be held and
either block frontrunner to win a free and fair
presidential vote Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai from taking power, force
formation of another
unity government, or simply overthrow him in a
coup.
You have to give it to them - the JOC has pulled a fast one on
everyone. The
MDCs, Dumiso Dabengwa and his ZAPU, Simba Makoni and his
Mavambo, the SADC
and their facilitator, South African President Jacob Zuma
- will all have to
play catch up. The dreaded military takeover is already
happening. It has
been for months now!
The government of national
unity (GNU) is no longer in charge of the ship of
state. This is what it
means when the President and the Prime Minister of
the GNU agree, as they
did, that all parties should be allowed to hold
political meetings, only to
be overruled by the police chief. It matters
little that from time to time
the courts are brought in to legitimise Police
Commissioner General
Augustine Chihuri’s actions.
The military-led political violence
committed in many parts of the country,
the arrest of several legislators
and Cabinet ministers and even the
overthrow of the Speaker of Parliament
(done with the help of the courts) -
all have one thing in common. They
were not ordered by the GNU Cabinet and
they all signify one thing: another
force (read JOC) has seized control of
Zimbabwe.
Or put differently,
the GNU is dead and survives only as a national organ to
provide social
services such as health and education. Politically, its
powers were usurped
by the military many months ago.
So let no one – especially Mr Zuma and
his SADC colleagues – fool themselves
that the GNU is still alive and that
somehow the administration shall write
a new constitution that will lead to
free and fair elections.
A military junta is in charge in Harare. And we
just cannot see how the SADC
or anybody else for that matter is going to be
able to assist in resolving
the Zimbabwean crisis unless they wake up to
this basic fact.
http://www.cathybuckle.com/
March 26, 2011, 8:32 am
Dear Family and
Friends,
For the past fortnight Zimbabwe has been subjected to the most
horrific
images on ZBC television’s news bulletins. Every evening, during
what is
advertised as prime time, family viewing, ZBC TV have been showing
film
footage of hundreds of bodies being exhumed from a mine shaft in Mount
Darwin. The same film clips are repeated in early morning bulletins, as
children are getting ready for school, and again at lunch time; presenting
images of such horror that it doesn’t bear thinking how these gruesome and
gory sights are affecting young minds.
The exhumations are not being
carried out by the Ministry of Home Affairs,
Department of Museums and
Monuments, archaeologists, pathologists or other
specialists. There don’t
appear to be any independent witnesses, recorders
or experts on hand. The
Co- Home Affairs Minister, Kembo Mohadi was quoted
in the press as saying:
“My ministry is not in charge of the project and we
are not part of it.” The
Director of National Museums and Monuments said the
same, resulting in much
suspicion and political posturing. The Co-minister
involved in the
country’s programme of National Healing really put his
finger on the pulse
when he said: “The truth must be told during this
exercise, but how do you
tell the truth when evidence has been exhumed and
reburied without involving
organisations like churches, the Organ of
National Healing, civic society
and other groups?”
The exhumations are being carried out by a group
called The Fallen Heroes’
Trust whose co-ordinator is George Rutanhire, a
member of the Zanu PF
Politburo.
On television we do not see images
of professionals and specialists
carefully recovering the remains, instead
we see men in blue overalls
wearing gum boots and plastic gloves pushing and
shoving bones into plastic
bags. We do not see the recovered remains being
carefully laid out for
examination, investigation and scientific
identification; instead we see
great mounds of human remains, piled high on
top of each other, partly
covered with loose strips of plastic sheeting. We
do not see ropes and
barriers preventing members of the public from
disturbing the site, instead
we see people in their own clothes clambering
in and out of the mine shaft
to have a look. And then, horror of horrors,
comes the report that
schoolchildren, teachers and villagers in the area
were forced to go down
into the mine shaft to view the bodies close up. The
trauma of what they
have seen will surely haunt them for the rest of their
lives.
Zanu PF say that the bodies in the mine shaft are the remains of
people
massacred by Rhodesian soldiers in the 1970’s. Eyebrows are raised
for many
reasons, one of which is that the film footage being shown by ZBC
TV is of
some corpses with hair still attached; bones still joined; clothes
still
intact. Journalists described a putrefying stench in the mine shaft;
one
reporter described fluid dripping from a body and there appear to be
many
flies buzzing around the exhumed remains. All this from bodies that
have
supposedly been underground for over three decades?
Perhaps
worst of all is that this place of horror and tragedy has been
turned into a
prime Zanu PF propaganda venue. One after the other speakers
are coming
forward and castigating the MDC for not visiting the site and
condemning
Rhodesians. Speeches criticizing and rebuking Prime Minister
Tsvangirai are
being made alongside mounds of human remains and we sit and
watch in stunned
silence at the crass insensitivity and obscenity of it all.
Respect is
sorely absent throughout this whole gruesome spectacle; respect
for the
dead, for their surviving relations and for millions of Zimbabwean
children
seeing such horror on television at breakfast, lunch and supper
time.
Until next time, love, cathy
http://www.cathybuckle.com/
March 26, 2011, 2:19 am
For Zimbabweans immersed
in their own problems, it is sometimes difficult to
stand back and take a
broader view of the world. Recent events should remind
us that Zimbabwe’s
problems are perhaps not as unique as we sometimes think
they
are.
There has been much discussion in the UK media about whether Colonel
Gadaffi
qualifies to be described as ‘mad. It’s hard not to come to that
conclusion
when you watch him on television ranting and shaking his fist at
the world.
But, as one commentator pointed out this week, it is possible to
be ‘mad’
and at the same time a pretty shrewd operator politically. The
problem with
describing dictators as ‘mad’ is that it implies they don’t
know what they’re
doing, that they are not in control of their actions. The
question to ask
here is: by whose standards are we judging them? Madness, by
definition,
implies behaviour which does not conform to generally accepted
norms and
standards but the ‘mad’ dictator is acting perfectly logically
according to
his own standards of behaviour. In their own minds, Gadaffi and
Robert
Mugabe are both able to defend their actions in attacking their
opponents by
whatever means since the opposition represents a threat to the
leader’s
god-given right to rule.
There is one aspect that all these
‘mad’ dictators have in common; initially
at any rate, they inspire huge
public support. Hitler and Mussolini, for
example, addressed massive crowds
of adoring supporters. Move the clock
forward sixty years and we see the
same level of adulation for all the other
‘mad’ dictators. It is that very
hero-worship which feeds their colossal
egos and the longer it lasts the
more inflated the ego becomes; the madness
intensifies with every year that
passes. In Gadaffi’s case there have been
forty two of them; for Robert
Gabriel Mugabe, whose name did not go
unmentioned in the discussions about
‘mad dictators’, he has had thirty one
years of public adulation and
latterly of blanket media coverage to portray
him as the one man who
liberated Zimbabwe from the evils of colonial rule
and upon whom Zimbabwe’s
very survival depends. Like his friend Gadaffi, he
also rants and shakes his
fist and appears to inspire the same belief in his
godlike status among his
followers who, as this week showed are prepared to
go to any lengths to
ensure Mugabe wins another election. The truth is that
Mugabe’s sanity or
otherwise is no longer the issue. If he is indeed mad
then his followers
have become as mad as he is in their desire to keep him
in power and
themselves on the Zanu PF gravy train. War veterans digging up
thirty-year
old graves in Mount Darwin is their latest ploy to prove – what?
There are
no forensics, no d.n.a. analysis, no valid identification of bones
or body
parts and, most shockingly an absolute disrespect for the dead. If
the
intention of this appalling sacrilege is to show how barbaric the
Rhodesians
were in the Liberation War, one wonders what political point it
serves now
other than to prolong the past glories of the Chimurenga story.
Mugabe’s
description of the west as “Bloody vampires” for mounting the No
Fly zone in
Libya to stop Gadaffi killing his own people seems an apt
description of
what Mugabe’s followers are now doing in Zimbabwe.
It was the British
Foreign Minister, William Hague this week who commented
on the possible
effect of the Middle East uprisings on other dictatorships.
He mentioned
Mugabe by name and Laurent Gbagbo of Cote d’Ivoire who has
refused to stand
down despite losing an election. Mugabe will, no doubt,
dismiss Hague’s
comments as nothing more than western colonialism but the
mere fact that his
Cabinet met for a whole morning on Thursday to “defuse
the tensions” in the
GNU is a clear acknowledgement that all is not well.
Parliament is suspended
indefinitely and war veterans besiege the Treasury
on the grounds that they
liberated the country and are therefore entitled to
a greater share of the
country’s wealth than anyone else. Obviously, Mugabe
of the same mind; there
are reports that the Treasury has paid out some $12
million for his regular
trips to Singapore and the so-called ‘cataract
check-ups’. Mad or not,
Robert Mugabe is certainly a shrewd political
operator as the MDC is
learning to its cost.
Yours in the (continuing) struggle PH.