Zimbabwe court says no foul play in Mujuru mystery death

(AFP) – 2 hours ago

HARARE — Zimbabwe closed the probe into the death of the country's first
post-independence army chief Solomon Mujuru in a mysterious blaze after a
court inquest found no foul play in its report released Thursday.

"I agree with the conclusion of the inquest, which finds that no foul play
suspicion is sustained," Attorney-General Johannes Tomana, told the
state-run Herald newspaper.

"In my capacity as the attorney-General, I have accordingly recommended to
the police that the docket be closed as a completed matter."

Tomana's statement came after a court inquest ruled out foul play but could
not pin down the cause of the deadly August fire which engulfed Mujuru's
farmhouse south of Harare where his remains were found.

"Despite the suppositions, speculation, conjectures and suspicions by
various people including the deceased's relatives, nothing concrete and no
evidence at all was placed before the court to show that there was foul play
in the death of the deceased," wrote Harare magistrate Walter Chikwanha.

"The court analysed the evidence of all the 41 witnesses to determine what
caused the fire to start but could not get any answers," added Chikwanha who
presided over the inquest which started in January.

There had been speculation that Mujuru, who was widely seen as a kingmaker
in President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, was killed by somebody within
his party and that his death was not accidental.

Mujuru was respected across the country's political divide as one of the few
people able to speak frankly to Mugabe about ending political violence
against the veteran president's opponents

He belonged to a faction of ZANU-PF whose members were seen as less radical
than its hardline elements, and was respected across Zimbabwe's political
divide.

When former finance minister Simba Makoni quit ZANU-PF to stand against
Mugabe in the 2008 presidential election, there were reports that Mujuru
supported the move and would join him.

Lawmakers, including his wife Vice-President Joice Mujuru, have queried how
he could have failed to escape from the burning farm house in Beatrice, 60
kilometres south of the capital, through various low-level windows.

The Mujuru family had called for an independent pathologist to be allowed to
examine his remains but a magistrate turned down the request.

Known by his war name Rex Nhongo, Mujuru led Zimbabwe's liberation forces
during the 1970s bush war against the whites-only Rhodesian government.

He funeral was at a shrine for national heroes was attended by a record
crowd including Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

Zimbabwe’s New Constitution Two-Plus Years Behind Schedule

http://www.voanews.com

March 29, 2012

Sebastian Mhofu | Harare

Zimbabwe’s new constitution is almost two years behind schedule.  The
government is not sure when the southern African nation will have a new
charter.  Even what will be in the constitution is everyone’s guess.

Power-sharing government

When President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai formed a
very uneasy power-sharing government in 2009, the two set July 2010 as the
deadline when Zimbabwe would have a new constitution.  Then the date changed
to November 2010.  Since then, it has changed several more times.

Besides disagreements between Mugabe and Tsvangirai on what to include in
the new constitution, inter-party clashes and lack of funds have contributed
to the delays.

But Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary and Constitutional Affairs Minister Eric
Matinenga is now hopeful the worst is over. In an interview with VOA, he
gave a fresh prediction for when the referendum on the new constitution
would be held:

“Referendum, I say optimistically September. If we can have it earlier it is
a bonus. It could be later than September. This constitution making
unfortunately can no longer be said time-driven, but activity-driven because
all parties have to agree on each activity.  It is difficult to give a time
factor,” he said.

Given the friction and infighting between President Mugabe’s and Prime
Minister Tsvangirai’s parties, some civic organizations have joined forces
to pressure the government to stop leading - or failing to lead - in the
constitution making process.

Government-led constitution

Edi Sithole is an official of the National Constitutional Assembly, which
has long campaigned against a government-led constitution referendum.

“The process is quite shameful; it is very unacceptable for them to do that.
We are going to be campaigning vigorously against that.  We wanted the
people, the real people on the ground to run the show,” Sithole explained.

The National Constitutional Assembly believes the new constitution will not
reflect the wishes of Zimbabweans, but of the politicians.

Not so, says Douglas Mwonzora, who is heading a government-appointed
committee drafting the new constitution.  He notes that local communities
have been consulted as part of the process for the last several years. “This
process is a unique process even by world standards, he stated. "There is
nothing more people-driven than that.”

Critics say this consultative process has been fraught with problems,
notably intimidation by political activists with President Mugabe’s ZANU-PF
party.

Constitutional Affairs Minister Matinenga says criticism and disagreement
are inevitable, since politics is by nature the process of debating and
reconciling differing viewpoints.

"It all depends where you are coming from.  But if you are able to reflect
what people have said and capture it in the document, then that’s what it
should.  Whether it will be overtaken by purely party positions is another
issue," Matinenga said. "But the point I have always said is that one can
always explain these with the context of what people have said.”

Minority rights versus presidential limits

Some of the issues that remain contentious are the fate of minority rights
in the new constitution and having presidential limits.

For many Zimbabweans, they want another chance to shape their country after
the rejection of a draft constitution in 2000.  In general, they say they
want the new charter to guarantee more freedoms and limit political power -
particularly of the president.

Chenai Murehwa, a vendor in Harare, says she told the government-appointed
committee what to include in a new constitution. “I feel that the powers of
the president should be reduced to suit the wishes of the people and not
himself and his government.  For example, the police must be independent.
He must not control them.  They must work on their own as an institution,”
she said.

Whether Chenai Murehwa’s wishes will be in the new constitution, whenever it
comes, remains to be seen.  A new charter is required before the next
elections can be held.  That deadline is no later than June 2013.

ZANU PF’s “Top Six” terror gang returns to Chinhoyi

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tererai Karimakwenda
29 March 2012

The notorious gang of ZANU PF thugs known as Top Six has been reactivated in
the town of Chinhoyi, Mashonaland West, amid reports that ZANU PF is
reviving other terror gangs around the country to prepare for elections.

Promise Mkwanazi, Secretary General of the MDC-T Youth Assembly, told SW
Radio Africa they had received information confirming that the Top Six gang
had been “resuscitated”. He said this is a sign that ZANU PF has gone into
“election mode” and plan to use violence to gain more support.

“In the past violence has been used to deter young people from participating
in electoral as well as general politics. But this time around we are
working hard to try and remove fear from young people,” Mkwananzi explained.

He described the Top Six as “a replica of the Chipangano gang that has
terrorised Harare” and said the MDC-T wants to ensure that all perpetrators
are arrested. He says the culture of “impunity and immunity” must end in
order to remove fear from young people so they can participate in political
activities.

A Chinhoyi resident who chose not to be identified told SW Radio Africa on
Thursday that he was assaulted by Top Six gang members in the runup to the
2008 Presidential election. He said the gang had disbanded after the
elections but locals have recently noticed them around town, harassing
people.

Our source said the gang was nicknamed Top Six because that is the number of
thugs originally hired in 2000 by the then Provincial Chairman for ZANU PF,
businessman Phillip Chiyangwa. The gang grew in numbers in the runup to the
presidential elections, with support from Chiyangwa and ZANU PF.

“They don’t work independently. They have impunity and get information from
the police, who notify them of the MDC rallies and meetings taking place,”
the Chinhoyi resident said. He added that there is currently not much
political violence in Chinhoyi, but Top Six are harassing people in public
places.

Judgement reserved in Zim torture case

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Alex Bell
29 March 2012

A South African Judge on Thursday reserved judgement in a landmark legal
challenge based on incidences of torture in Zimbabwe.

The case, which urges South Africa to honour its international legal
obligations and prosecute high level Zimbabwean officials, was filed at the
Pretoria High Court by the Southern African Litigation Centre (SALC) and the
Zimbabwe Exiles Forum.

The groups are trying to get the court to overturn a decision by the South
African police and National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) not to investigate
the torture of MDC members in Zimbabwe in 2007.

A dossier of the attack at the party’s Harvest House headquarters in Harare
was handed to the NPA’s head of the Priority Crimes Litigation Unit, Anton
Ackermann. It contained the names of the Zimbabwean officials responsible
for the raid and torture, as well as details of the incident.

Although the NPA reportedly did ask the police to investigate, this request
was refused, a decision that was then supported by the National Director of
Public Prosecutions. The matter did not resurface until earlier this year
with SALC and the Exiles Forum announcing that it would try to have the
decision overturned.

The case got underway at the start of this week in dramatic fashion, after
the NPA’s Ackermann effectively ‘switched sides’ by filing an affidavit that
implicated the NPA and the State Advocate in deliberately stopping an
investigation.

The court heard this week that the NPA and the police had failed in their
duties under international law not to institute a probe, with the rule of
law having failed Zimbabweans in their own country. Even the Judge in the
case this week appeared critical of the state institutions and their
decision, especially their argument that South Africa’s political
obligations outweigh legal obligations.

Judgement has now been reserved with a ruling expected in the next couple of
months.

Key army and CIO figures helping Mugabe stay in power: Part 2

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Lance Guma
28 March 2012

Over the years Mugabe’s regime has deployed serving and retired soldiers
into non-military structures, to ensure Mugabe remains in power. In Part 2
of this series SW Radio Africa looks at some of the individuals in both the
army and Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) who have helped keep Mugabe
in power.

Job Wabira is a former permanent secretary in the Defence Ministry who in
1998 disregarded High Court rulings to release Standard newspaper
journalists who had been arrested and tortured by the military, for writing
a story about an alleged coup attempt. Mugabe also deployed him to be part
of the 2004 Delimitation Commission, led by Justice George Chiweshe, himself
a Retired Brigadier General.

Mugabe has also made sure he appoints retired soldiers in key parastatals.
Retired Colonel Samuel Muvuti once headed the Grain Marketing Board (GMB)
before his dismissal in 2008 on corruption allegations. In 2004 Mugabe
appointed Retired Major-General Mike Nyambuya to the position of provincial
governor of Manicaland and later Minister of Energy up to 2007.

The National Oil Company of Zimbabwe (NOCIZM) was at one time led by Retired
Colonel Christian Katsande, who is now deputy secretary to Cabinet. The
National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is under retired Air Commodore Michael
Karakadzai who was appointed the General Manager.

In 2008 most of the Minerals Marketing Corporation of Zimbabwe board were
abruptly replaced and in came retired Colonel Nelly Abu Basutu to lead the
board. Her husband, Air Vice-Marshal Titus Abu Basutu, is deputy to the Air
Force of Zimbabwe chief Perence Shiri. Most of the parastatals have been run
down due to corruption and mismanagement.

It’s also reported that Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu is
refusing to regularise the boards of the Broadcasting Authority, ZBC,
ZimPapers, NewZiana, TransMedia and Kingstons because a total of eight
senior military personnel are holding positions there to entrench ZANU PF’s
grip. SW Radio Africa will continue profiling these people in this series.

In May 2008, Army Chief of Staff Major-General Martin Chedondo told soldiers
at an army shooting championship in Harare that “the Constitution says the
country should be protected by voting and in the 27 June presidential
election run-off, pitting our defence chief Cde Robert Mugabe, and Morgan
Tsvangirai of the MDC-T, we should, therefore, stand behind our
Commander-in-Chief.”

Chedondo added: “Soldiers are not apolitical. Only mercenaries are
apolitical. We have signed and agreed to fight and protect the ruling party’s
principles of defending the revolution. If you have other thoughts, then you
should remove that uniform.”  Even when soldiers were deployed countrywide
to abduct, torture and kill opposition supporters in the run up to the 2008
presidential run-off, Chedondo claimed they were there to help the police
control political violence.

Addressing a rally in Masvingo in May 2008 Major-General Engelbert Rugeje
said: “This country came through the bullet, not the pencil. Therefore, it
will not go by your x of the pencil. We cannot let the efforts of such
people as the late Chimombe to liberate this country just go to waste. Today
I came here by helicopter with the late Chimombe’s body. The next time I
will come next week to Jerera, the helicopter will be full of bullets. You
know what you did.”

Rugeje was making the remarks after Tsvangirai had beaten Mugabe in the
March 2008 presidential election. The intimidation was meant to ensure
Mugabe won the run-off that the regime had engineered. In Mudzi in April
2008, soldiers reportedly handed out bullets to villagers and told them:

“If you vote for MDC in the presidential run-off election, you have seen the
bullets; we have enough for each one of you, so beware.” To show that this
was coordinated and had Mugabe’s blessings, the ZANU PF leader held his own
rally at which he said:

“The war veterans came to me and said, ‘President, we can never accept that
our country which we won through the barrel of the gun can be taken merely
by an ‘x’ made by a ballpoint pen.’ Zvino ballpoint pen icharwisana ne AK?
(will the pen fight the AK rifle?) Is there going to be a struggle between
the two? Liyekele ukhupikisana lombhobho [do not argue with a gun].”

Before the March 2008 election, the head of the Zimbabwe Prison Service,
Retired Major General Paradzai Zimondi, said:

“Our comrade, Defence Forces chief, our leader President Mugabe and
comrade-in-arms will romp to victory. We say so because we have no apology
to make to any house nigger and puppets. If the opposition wins the
election, I will be the first one to resign from my job and go back to
defend my piece of land. I will not let it go. I am giving you an order to
vote for the President (Mugabe). Do not be distracted. I will only support
the leadership of President Mugabe.”

Political commentator Phillan Zamchiya spoke to SW Radio Africa about this
placement of military and CIO personnel in key roles: “It’s a manifestation
of the breakdown of ZANU PF structures. They are in disarray since Mugabe
lost elections in 2008 and there was this popular ‘bhora musango- ball in
the air campaign’ (where his own MP’s de-campaigned him). He no longer has
trust in the ZANU PF structures and has to rely on the military men he
thinks are still totally behind him.”

Zamchiya however warned that the military were not just ‘passive’ observers
“they are patiently waiting in the wings to grab state power in the event
Mugabe leaves power.” With the military so dominant in most political and
economic structures in the country, it’s hard to dismiss Zamchiya’s warning.

Grain loan scheme rocked by corruption in Manicaland

http://www.swradioafrica.com/

By Tichaona Sibanda
29 March 2012

The government’s grain loan scheme has been hit by rampant corruption in
Manicaland province, worsening the suffering of villagers hit by drought
this year, an MDC-T MP said on Thursday.

The organizing secretary for Manicaland and Musikavanhu constituency,
legislator Prosper Mutseyami, told SW Radio Africa that some politicians
from ZANU PF were sabotaging the program by distributing the grain to their
supporters.

Mutseyami said thousands of villagers in Chipinge, Buhera, Nyanga, Makoni
North and East and Mutare district required urgent food assistance, but are
being denied because they are MDC. All these areas fall under constituencies
held by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s party.

The inclusive government introduced the grain loan scheme last year in which
communal farmers get grain from the Grain Marketing Board and repay after
harvest. The scheme is supposed to benefit close to a million households in
grain deficit areas.

Mutseyami said each household is given a 50kg bag of maize per month, but
ward officers and the leadership of ZANU PF in most of these areas have
blocked all those linked to the MDC from receiving the grain.

‘With hunger stalking rural Zimbabweans, the last thing you want to see from
an inclusive government is the politicization of food aid.

‘We have noticed that the grain is also being distributed to areas where
there is a high concentration of their supporters. This is a disgraceful and
appalling act, to set aside food for the hungry to benefit your election
prospects,’ the MP said.

The MP also claimed the grain loan scheme has become a multi-million dollar
business, where only those from ZANU PF have won contracts to transport,
store and distribute the grain.

Former Chipinge South ZANU PF legislator Enock Porusingazi and Joseph
Chinotimba, best known for spearheading the violent land occupations, have
been implicated in this scam.

The GMB contractors transport the grain to local pick up points and
villagers are forced to pay for this to happen. Government had stipulated
that villagers only had to pay $1 to have their grain transported to a local
pick up point. But Mutseyami said: ‘What these guys (the contractors) are
doing now is demand $4 from the villagers. Each trip with a load of 900 bags
is netting these guys $3,600. Can you imagine what these transporters are
getting if they undertake four trips a day.’

The MP said they’ve alerted the Prime Minister and written a letter to
Joseph Made, the Agriculture Minister.

‘We are going to raise this issue in parliament because gone are the days
when food aid should be used as a campaign tool, especially by a party that
has nothing to offer to the people of Zimbabwe,’ the legislator added.

Governing Parties Agree on Devolution as Constitution Process Drags On

http://www.voanews.com

28 March 2012

But insiders in President Robert Mugabe's former ruling ZANU-PF are warning
that hardliners in their party may torpedo the process as they remain
uncomfortable with the changes which might dilute their power base ahead of
crucial elections Mr. Mugabe wants held this year

Blessing Zulu | Washington

The technical committee of Zimbabwe’s Parliamentary select committee
responsible for writing the country’s new constitution has reached a
compromise on the divisive issue of devolution - one of the three
outstanding things delaying the completion of the new draft document.

But insiders in President Robert Mugabe's former ruling ZANU-PF are warning
that hardliners in their party may torpedo the process as they remain
uncomfortable with the changes which might dilute their power base ahead of
crucial elections Mr. Mugabe wants held this year.

Sources say the management committee is also on the verge of reaching
consensus on the establishment of an independent prosecuting authority but
is still to agree on dual citizenship.

Constitutional Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga says the first draft of the
constitution is likely to be taken for the second all stakeholders
conference before the end of April, before it is put to the people early
September.

Sources say the select committee has assembled a twelve member technical
committee to complete to process which is currently holed up in Nyanga to
finish the job.

Co-chairman Douglas Mwonzora of the MDC formation led by Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai says the process will be completed it in the next few
days.

His co-chairman Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana of ZANU-PF concurs.

He adds, however, that political parties still need to further discuss the
devolution issue.

Indigenisation Minister eyes takeover of Masvingo firms

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tererai Karimakwenda
29 March 2012

Controversial Indigenisation Minister, Saviour Kasukuwere, is in the
headlines again. This time reports say he has set his sights on Masvingo
Province, where he plans to acquire 51% shares in the only lithium producer
in Zimbabwe Bikita Minerals, sugar growing giant Tongaat Hullet, Renco Mine
and Malilangwe Trust.

The development was confirmed on Tuesday by Munyaradzi Rubaya, chairman of
the Masvingo Industry and Commerce sub-committee, who said the companies
would be acquired under the “Community Share Ownership Trust”. Rubaya did
not know how the deals would be structured and it is not clear how this
“trust” would benefit the local communities.

The move is a continuation of ZANU PF’s “indigenous empowerment programme”,
which has been criticised as being nothing more than a massive looting
exercise for top officials in the Mugabe regime.

The director of Bikita Minerals, Dzikamai Mavhaire, is also the former
Governor of Masvingo and a member of the powerful, decision making ZANU PF
politburo.

Political and economic analyst, Bekithemba Mhlanga explained that foreign
investors like transparency and need confidence in the laws of the country
where they invest their money. In Zimbabwe’s case both are lacking. Mhlanga
said it is the way the empowerment policy is being implemented that
potential investors have problems with.

“Everyone understands there is a need for some local control but people are
not so sure how these deals are being structured and how the shares will be
paid for,” Mhlanga added. He said investors will wonder whether they are
equal players or working with a gun to their head.”

South Africa’s Impala Platinum was recently forced into a deal to turn over
majority shares in their Zimplats operations by Kasukuwere.

The company was criticised for giving in to “robbery”, instead of fighting
for their rights and the affair further damaged Zimbabwe’s reputation as a
potential investment prospect. A number of analysts said that ZANU PF’s
success with Zimplats has emboldened them to spread their net even further.

“Look at what happened with land reform despite the fact that everyone had
agreed it had to be done. The way it was done by ZANU PF tended to be
violent and sometimes unlawful and illegal,” Mhlanga explained, referring to
the chaotic invasion of commercial farms that destroyed Zimbabwe’s food
production and displaced hundreds of thousands of farm workers.

The coalition government recently intensified their global efforts to lure
foreign companies to Zimbabwe, organising investment conferences around the
world. But economic experts say a stable political environment and the rule
of law must be established first, if any progress is to be made.

Tsvangirai Was Warned About Housing Deal

http://www.radiovop.com/

Harare, March 29, 2012 - Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai was warned not to
accept the arrangement to acquire a house in Harare which is now the centre
of a political storm in Harare, wiki leaks cables have revealed.

Tsvangirai told his lieutenants in the MDC-T in February 2010 he would not
accept the housing deal.
Surprisingly the Prime Minister went ahead with the housing arrangement
which is now raising a lot of dust amid allegations of fraud involving the
Prime Minister. President Robert Mugabe and his party, Zanu (PF) are now
trying to use Tsvangirai’s alleged housing scandal to cow him ahead of
possible elections this year or next year.

Roy Bennett, the exiled MDC-T treasurer general, told the United States
ambassador to Zimbabwe, Charles Ray that he advised Tsvangirai not to accept
the arrangement because it would create a harmful perception. Bennett told
Ray, that he was aware of reports that Tsvangirai was “buying a US$1 million
house in Harare”.

In a US diplomatic cable dispatched to Washington after discussions with
Bennett, Ray said: “He (Bennett) was aware of reports that Tsvangirai was
buying a US$1 million house in Harare. Bennett said he investigated and
discovered that two individuals associated with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe
Governor Gideon Gono had proposed buying the house for Tsvangirai. Bennett
said he urged Tsvangirai to turn off the arrangement and Tsvangirai agreed.”

In the cable the US ambassador said Bennett told him that Tsvangirai had,
however, accepted two vehicles from the two individuals associated with
Gono. The two individual are not named in the cable.

Despite giving assurances that he would not accept the arrangement,
Tsvangirai went head and reportedly received US$1.5 million from the RBZ and
at the same time received another US$1 million from treasury for the same
purpose.

The deal is now embroiled in controversy after the police said they were
investigating the Prime Minister for possibly fraud. The PM is being accused
of diverting the initial US$1.5 million he received from the RBZ earmarked
for the renovation of his official residence, a double storey mansion in
Harare’s low density suburb of Highlands.

Reports in the state media suggest that while the PM’s official house was
still being built and almost complete and ready for occupation, questions
were being raised about what the US$1,5 million he received from the central
bank to renovate the house was used for.

In discussion with the former US diplomat, Bennett said there were rumours
that several MDC-T ministers were involved in corrupt practices but the
party would not act on rumours.

“He admitted, however, that the perception of corruption was harmful,” Ray
said.

Ray said Bennett told him that the MDC-T Standing Committee also discussed
in February 2010 the Marange diamond situation and resolved to take a firm
stand.

Tsvangirai Asks Britain To Remove Sanctions

http://www.radiovop.com/

Harare, March 29, 2012 – Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has asked British
Prime Minister David Cameron to remove western imposed sanctions on
President Robert Mugabe and his cronies.

Tsvangirai revealed this in Parliament Wednesday while responding to a
question by Zanu (PF) MP for Mwenezi East, Kudakwashe Bhasikiti who sought
clarification on the object of his recent visit to London.

“I met the Prime Minister of the UK Mr Cameron specifically on issues of
this nature (sanctions), that you cannot encourage reform by removing
certain people and leaving certain people on the list because it is actually
a discouraging move,” he said.

Tsvangirai, who was speaking for the first time since coming back from his
controversial visit to Britain last week, said he also asked the British
premier to impress upon the rich western countries to help the country clear
its debts. He said debt was slowing economic recovery in the country.

Tsvangirai also criticised Information and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu
for his continued refusal to act on cabinet directives aimed at media
reforms, adding he believed the minister was taking instructions from
elsewhere.

“It is not government policy for anyone who has sworn to uphold the
constitution, to uphold collective decisions of cabinet to defy them,” he
said: “My own conclusion is that this is nothing to do with him. Perhaps the
person who is giving him instructions must come forward and say why he is
giving him that direction. I don’t think any minister must stand up in
defiance against the directives of cabinet and against the directives of the
principals. There must be a reason behind that and especially where a civil
servant stands up to confirm that defiance..."

“It we don’t have media reforms, then we must as well forget about a free
and fair election. Not only are you undermining the right of Zimbabweans to
have what they are supposed to have but you are also undermining the right
of Zimbabweans to free information and free expression,” he said.

Turning to the ZESAgate, Tsvangirai asked President Mugabe and other ZESA
defaulters to settle their bills immediately to allow the struggling power
utility to get back to its feet.

“Services rendered must be paid for if you want the continued service to be
provided,” he said. “Senior government officials should be at the forefront
of settling these bills. My appeal to my colleagues in government is ...
please pay something. This culture of getting things for free must end. We
all have to pay.”

Mugabe appeals to the EU to remove sanctions

http://www.radiovop.com/

Harare, March 29, 2012 - President Robert Mugabe on Thursday appealed to the
European Union (EU) and the United States to remove sanctions on himself and
close cronies arguing that the embargo is restricting the country's trade as
a ministerial delegation is set to negotiate with the European trading block
officials.

Mugabe and his top Zanu (PF) officials were slapped with personal sanctions
as well as travel restrictions for human rights abuses in the country in the
past decade. Hundreds of opposition supporters were murdered and beaten in
several elections since 2000 when Zanu PF began losing elections.

The EU has said it will only remove the sanctions once democratic reforms
have been implemented.

Speaking at the launch of the National Trade and Industrial Development
policies in the capital Mugabe said the sanctions are hurting the economy.

"The illegal economic sanctions imposed on the country by some Western
countries have severely undermined Zimbabwe's full participation in World
Trade," Mugabe said.

"We, nevertheless expect the European Union and the United States to
negotiate in good faith , with the ministerial re-engagement team for the
total and unconditional removal of these sanctions."

A Cabinet Re-Engagement Committee is to deal with the crippling sanctions
issue.

The sanctions issue as discussed in the Global Political Agreement, a pact
which brought the unity government will be negotiated between a ministerial
taskforce of Zimbabwe together with the EU officials. The EU has said Harare
must respect basic freedoms and hold free and fair elections which will not
be disputed while calling for non-violent elections.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in his question and answer session in the
House of Assembly has said the people on the sanctions list must reform and
not to repeat human rights violations that led to the imposition of the
sanctions.

"I hope the European Union and the United States Government take us
seriously and remove the sanctions which are killing our economy," Mugabe
said.

The Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti, last week said Zimbabwe's
re-engagement process with the international community sought to normalise
relations and the removal of sanctions.

Biti said with the support of the Southern African Development community
(SADC) and the African Union (AU), the Cabinet committee would continue
engaging the EU and the US for "normalisation of relations and removal of
sanctions".

The Minister of Industry and Commerce, Professor Welshman Ncube said the
sanctions had indeed "crippled the industrial sector in Zimbabwe". "This was
worsened by the hyperinflation," he said.

Zanu (PF) Youths Convicted for Exortion

http://www.thezimbabwean.co.uk

A Bulawayo magistrate, Mark Dzira has convicted three Zanu (PF) youths for
extortion and kidnapping commuter omnibus touts at a long distance pick up
points.
29.03.1209:00am
by Zwanai Sithole Harare

The four youths, Hardlife Ndlovu (29) Nqobani Mlilo, Mthunzi Mabhena were
convicted despite pleading not guilty to the charges. In his ruling Dzira
said it was clear that the three had committed the offence.

He remanded the trio in custody to a date yet to be advised after the Their
lawyer, Advocate Sabelo Sibanda asked the court for time to analyse the
case. According to the state outline, on March 7 the three went to Macs
Garage in the city centre where they kidnapped some touts who tout for
commuter omnibuses plying the Gwanda, Filabusi and Masvingo routes.

They took the complainants to the party’s provincial headquarters at Davies
Hall where they demanded $50 per day from the touts claiming the money was
for fuelling Zanu (PF) vehicles The youths were arrested by plainclothes
police officers after a tip –off when they went to collect the money.

Before their arrest, the youths had besieged long distance pick up points in
Bulawayo demanding protection fees.

Violent Mugabe henchman escapes jail despite fraudulently earning £151,000 working illegally in Britain as a CARER

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

    Phillip Machemedze walked free from court today after a judge ruled his
sickening past was in 'another land'
    Hearing heard how he broke one victim's jaw with a pair of pliers and
shocked another with electric cables

By Jill Reilly

PUBLISHED: 18:26 GMT, 29 March 2012 | UPDATED: 18:26 GMT, 29 March 2012

A violent former henchman of Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe has escaped
jail despite fraudulently earning thousands of pounds working illegally in
Britain as a carer.

Phillip Machemedze walked free from court today after a judge ruled his
sickening past was in 'another land'.

The former enforcer, 47, lied about his immigration status to work in the
drug and alcohol recovery unit at The Priory for five years without a visa.

He was also employed for seven years as a support worker for the Milestones
Trust, a charity helping people with learning disabilities.

He fraudulently earned £151,000 while working illegally in Britain.

Former African enforcer Machemedze only successfully applied for asylum to
the UK two years ago - allowing him and his wife to permanently stay in the
country.

An immigration hearing heard how he broke one victim's jaw with a pair of
pliers and shocked another with electric cables while working as one of
Mugabe's henchmen.

But Machemedze - who claims benefits funded by the UK taxpayer - walked free
from court today after admitting two charges of obtaining pecuniary
advantage by deception.

Judge Julian Lambert, sitting at Bristol Crown Court, gave Machemedze his
liberty after receiving a notebook logging work he completed to 'benefit'
his local community in the city.

The judge said: 'You are 47 years old and you have no previous convictions
recorded against you in this country.

'Your past is in another land and that which took place in your past took
place beyond our jurisdiction.

'When prohibited from working by your immigration status you got two jobs.

'The case is notable because you worked rather than sought state benefits.

'You worked hard and there are no complaints about the quality of your work.

'You are a Zimbabwean national and it has been determined by others that you
may stay in this country and not return there.

'But your lies here should not have been told.'

Judge Lambert sentenced Machemedze to nine months imprisonment, suspended
for two years.

He ordered him to be electronically tagged and observe a curfew between 9pm
and 6am for six months.

Machemedze, who has just acquired a new job working for 42 hours a week,
will pay a fine of £1,000 in £10 weekly instalments.

Last October the judge told Machemedze he would walk free from court if he
volunteered at his local Pentecostal church for just half a day a week for
six months.

Machemedze, who lives in Redfield, Bristol, with wife Febbie, was a
bodyguard to a senior minister as part of Mugabe's feared Central
Intelligence Organisation.

Richard Posner, prosecuting the case, previously told the court how
Machemedze had arrived at London Gatwick from Zimbabwe in July 2000 and was
given a six-month visa but prohibited from working.

But he stayed in Britain - working illegally as a carer at an adolescent
unit with The Priory in Bristol from June 2005 to May 2010.

He also worked as a support worker for the Milestones Trust from May 2003 to
May 2010.

Bristol Crown Court heard Machemedze had illegally secured jobs by getting
through several checks, including an enhanced criminal record bureau check.

To obtain employment the Zimbabwean had also been able to provide the Home
Office letter, a National insurance number as well as birth and marriage
certificates.

In April 2005, the Milestones Trust were tipped off that Machemedze was
working illegally - but he provided a letter from the Home Office stating
otherwise.

During the seven-years of work, Machemedze took home a net income of around
£151,000 before eventually applying for asylum.

An immigration judge decided Machemedze could face torture if he was
returned home in May 2010.

He ruled that the African and his wife - who was also granted asylum - could
stay in Britain indefinitely and earn a living.

Jane Chamberlain, mitigating, confirmed her client could pay £10 each week
towards his £1,000 fine, starting from May 1.

She said: 'Up until this point he has been receiving benefits.'

Machemedze, dressed in a black open necked shirt and black trousers, did not
comment as he left the court.

State to appeal against leniency of Gwisai sentence

http://www.swradioafrica.com

By Tichaona Sibanda
29 March 2012

The state will appeal against the sentence meted out to academic and former
MDC-T MP Munyaradzi Gwisai and 5 other activists.

Prosecutor Edmore Nyazamba told Magistrate Kudakwashe Jarabini on Thursday
that they will be bringing an appeal against the ‘lenient’ sentence, in the
hope that it will be reversed. The state insists the group must serve a
prison sentence.

Gwisai was last week convicted on charges of conspiracy to commit public
violence. He was jointly charged with Antonater Choto, Tatenda Mombeyarara,
Edson Chakuma, Hopewell Gumbo, and Welcome Zimuto.

The magistrate ordered the six to pay a $500 fine each, 12 months of the 24
month prison term were suspended on condition of good behaviour for the next
five years. The remaining 12 months were suspended on condition the six
perform 420 hours of community service, starting on March 31st.

Defence lawyer Alec Muchadehama on Thursday finally presented his
submissions to court explaining why the group cannot proceed with community
service when an appeal against conviction and sentence is pending. The
hearing was postponed three times this week, twice because of the
unavailability of Nyazamba and once because the Magistrate failed to turn up
to court.

Muchadehama said the group must not embark on the community service until
the matter has been heard as it would be prejudicial should the appeal be
granted. The community service is due to begin on Saturday. The magistrate
will give his ruling on Friday.

A legal expert who spoke to SW Radio Africa said that all things being
equal, the state appeal would not see the light of day.

U.S. health agency intensifies typhoid fever outbreak investigation

Harare, March 29, 2012: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC) has dispatched a multi-disciplinary team to Harare to support the
Ministry of Health and City of Harare response team with epidemiologic
investigation, improved surveillance, water testing, and provision of
laboratory supplies.

“We have some additional studies that we are doing, including helping
evaluate the distribution of non-food items that were given out by NGO
partners in response to the outbreak.  We are hoping to see what the
coverage of those items was, what worked, and what can be improved upon for
the next time, so that we can help direct those donations moving forward,”
said CDC’s Rachel Slayton in Harare on Tuesday.

Slayton is part of a seven member multi-disciplinary team involving two
microbiologists from Kenya and a South African-based Zimbabwean field
epidemiology student.  The team arrived in Zimbabwe last week as part of
efforts by the Atlanta-based global health agency to assist Zimbabwe to
contain the typhoid outbreak.

“We have also been looking at the value of the diagnostic test to see how
well it performs in the field.  If the test works well, it allows doctors to
diagnose patients more quickly than traditional methods which could help
improve patient outcomes,” said Slayton.

CDC collaborates with health experts to create the expertise, information,
and tools that people and communities need to protect their health.  This is
done through health promotion, prevention of disease, injury and disability,
and preparedness for new health threats.

CDC’s Zimbabwe program was established in 2000 and works to support and
sharpen the policies, guidelines, standards, and programs of the Zimbabwean
government in their fight against HIV and AIDS (with funding from the
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief or PEPFAR) and other diseases by
applying scientific findings. The office is staffed by highly trained
epidemiologists, medical officers, public health specialists, and laboratory
specialists, who provide essential technical and administrative assistance
to implement health programs in Zimbabwe.

“We brought supplies for blood cultures, which are the gold standard
diagnoses of typhoid fever; rapid test kits that we are validating; and the
necessary susceptibility testing supplies, so that patients’ samples can be
fully worked up…,” said Slayton.  Slayton and fellow epidemiologist Katie O’Connor,
both based at CDC headquarters in Atlanta, were in the country in December
2011.  She said the team also brought water testing supplies to check for
e-coli and chlorine test kits for household surveys.

This is the second CDC delegation to visit Zimbabwe since the outbreak of
typhoid was noted on October 10, 2011.

# # #

ZimPAS is a product of the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs Section. Queries and
comments should be directed to Sharon Hudson Dean, Counselor for Public
Affairs, hararepas@state.gov, Url: http://harare.usembassy.gov

MDC MP Drags Zanu (PF) Chief To Jomic

http://www.radiovop.com

By Roy Chikara. Masvingo, March 29, 2012 - Masvingo central Member of
Parliament for the mainstream Movement for Democratic change, Jefferson
Chitando has dragged a self styled Zanu (PF) chief to Jomic accusing him of
tormenting him while performing his duties in his constituency.

Chitando has written to Jomic asking for intervention after he was recently
summoned by Chief Murinye, Ephias Munodawafa to appear before his
traditional court and fined two beasts, a goat and $5 for allegedly holding
a rally and distributing MDC fliers in his area without his permission.

In a letter dated 23 March this year addressed to the Jomic provincial
offices here, Chitando alleged that the Chief was tormenting him because of
the party he represents in Parliament.

“Chief Murinye summoned me to appear to his Community Court (sic), and the
charge against me was I distributed fliers without his approval. Before I
appeared in the court he found me guilty and convicted me before presiding
the case...this is a pure political case. I am Member of Parliament for
Masvingo central Constituency,” Chitando said in his letter to Jomic.

The letter of complaint alleges that on 17 March this year, at a district
rally at Chenhuwe Business Centre ward 16 in his constituency he received a
letter from the Chief summoning him to appear before his court on the 1st of
April this year for allegedly failing to seek clearance despite having done
that with the police.

Chitando says he wanted Jomic to stop the chief from further harassing him
as the laws of the country clearly spells out that politicians and their
parties seek clearance from the Zimbabwe Republic Police not traditional
leaders.

Chitando who attached the chief’s summons of case number 89/12 dated 17
March 2012 signed Chief Murinye and stamped said the continued persecution
by the traditional leaders was against the spirit of the Global Political
Agreement (GPA).

“This is totally against the spirit and principle of the GPA that brought to
us this government. The parties in the GPA agreed that chiefs and other
traditional leaders should not dabble in politics but My Chief Murinye is
doing the opposite I want Jomic to stop him so that I do my political
activities freely,” said Chitando.

Efforts to get a comment from Chief Murinye were fruitless.

Air Zimbabwe Summons Flight Crew

http://www.radiovop.com/

By Professor Matodzi Harare, March 29, 2012 - Zimbabwe’s ailing state-run
airline, Air Zimbabwe has summoned all of its flight crew to attend
refresher training courses so as to keep them in shape ahead of planned
resumption of service.

Information gleaned from informed contacts at Air Zimbabwe by Radio VOP,
shows that the troubled airline, which suspended normal flights in January
recently called its flight crew of pilots and airhostesses to attend one
week refresher courses at the airline’s headquarters at Harare International
Airport to enable them to keep their licenses current and fly at short
notice.

The training sessions which are being conducted by the airline’s operations
safety training officers are held in phases and commenced last week where
the first batch of pilots and air hostesses attended.

The second group commenced training on Tuesday.

“The refresher training is done internally and the first session was
completed last week on Thursday and a new group started today (Tuesday),”
said one of the Air Zimbabwe’s insiders.

Pilots are subjected to regular tests to ensure that they are still capable
of performing their duties.

Air Zimbabwe, which grounded all its planes in January, intends to resume
domestic and international flights in May. The airline is currently grounded
and is not servicing any routes owing to poor management and lack of
funding. Last year, creditors seized the airline’s aircraft in South Africa
and UK over debts.

Transport, Communications and Infrastructure Development Minister, Minister
Nicholas Goche recently told Parliament that the government had disbanded
Air Zimbabwe Holdings and formed a new state-owned company, Air Zimbabwe
Private Limited while National Handling Services, a subsidiary of Air
Zimbabwe Holdings, will now operate as a stand-alone company.

Goche also announced the appointment of an interim board led by his
permanent secretary Pattison Mbiriri to oversee the airline’s operations and
indicated that the government would soon engage a strategic partner to
invest in the newly created airline.

But the airline’s current management led by acting chief executive officer,
Innocent Mavhunga told workers that it was in the dark about the
transformation of the airline, which was announced by Goche.  Mavhunga told
workers a fortnight ago that he was yet to be appraised about the new
arrangement.

The MDC Today – Issue No. 328

Thursday, 29 March 2012

The MDC demands the immediate release of 29 party incarcerated members
being framed for murder and public violence.

High Court Judge, Justice Chinembiri Bhunu, is yet to make a ruling,
one week after reserving judgement in a bail application by the MDC
members.

The 29 MDC members, who include the MDC Youth Assembly chairperson,
Solomon Madzore, are facing false charges of murdering a police
officer in Glen View last May and of public violence.

Those in remand prison include; Last Maengahama, a National Executive
Committee member, Councillor Oddrey Sydney Chirombe of Ward 33,
Budiriro, Councillor Tungamirai Madzokere of Ward 32, Glen View,
Cynthia Manjoro, Lloyd Chitanda, Stanford Mangwiro and Tendai
Chinyama.

The others are; Jefias Moyo, Abina Rutsito, Gabriel Shumba, Stephen
Takaedzwa, Linda Madyamhanje, Tafadzwa Billiard, Simon Mudimu, Dube
Zwelibanzi, Simon Mapanzure, Augustine Tengenyika and Gapara
Nyamadzawo, Paul Rukanda, Lazarus and Stanford Maengahama, Kerina Dewa
and Memory Ncube, Rebecca Mafukeni, Yvonne Musarurwa, Phineas
Nhatarikwa and Stanford Mangwiro.

The people’s struggle for real change – Let’s finish it!!!

--
MDC Information & Publicity Department

Mugabe’s pleas for peace: falling on deaf ears?

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

When President Robert Mugabe finally spoke out against political violence
earlier this year many heaved sighs of relief. They genuinely believed that
this, coming from his authoritative self, would bring an end to the brutal
violence which has bedevilled the country for decades.
28.03.1212:13pm
by Pius Wakatama

In an hour-long address during his 88th birthday celebrations, Mugabe urged
his supporters not to resort to violence. He said, “We used to fight each
other. Time has now come for us to do our politics in a much more cultured
way. Although our differences are ideological and sometimes quite negative,
we must not regard them as a source of hatred. Those opposed to us are also
a part of our society. We should recognise their rights. So, no, to
violence. No, no, no, no to violence!”

After this moving speech, parties in the coalition government proposed to
hold joint rallies where the public would be urged to stop political
violence.

Some, including the writer and trusted analysts, are sceptical and wary.
They remember what is often said: “Zanu ndeye ropa. Tamba wakachenjera.”
(Zanu thrives on blood. One must be careful when playing with it).

Even as the President was speaking about the need for peace, his followers
were beating up journalists and MPs right inside Parliament while the police
watched without raising a finger. Violence continues across the country
despite his calls for peace. One can, logically, come to two conclusions.
Either he is speaking with a forked tongue and is not sincere - talking
about peace in public but privately urging his people to continue with the
violence.

Or, violence has become so entrenched in Zanu (PF) culture that it will take
more than the president’s words to root it out. He may be sincere but his
own people have been perpetrating violence on their perceived enemies with
impunity for so long that they don’t believe that he means what he is
saying.

If Mugabe is sincere, his words must be followed by action against the
perpetrators. As long as known perpetrators, who have tortured, injured and
killed innocent people for political reasons, continue to walk the streets
freely, nobody is going to take him seriously.

Just a few days ago, Tendai Savanhu, a former Zanu (PF) MP, spewed a hate
speech that was nakedly racist. He threatened to eliminate the current MP
for Marondera, Iain Kay just because he happens to be white.

Savanhu’s hate-filled speech was a far cry from 1980 independence- day when
Mugabe fervently preached reconciliation, peace and unity between the races.
After his peace crusade, Mugabe would have been expected to rebuke Savanhu
for preaching such violent vitriol. One can safely bet that if what Savanhu
said had been said by a member of any party other than Zanu (PF) they would
be behind bars by now.

It was reported this week that MDC-T cabinet ministers and MPs were banned
from holding rallies in Harare by Chipangano. Piniel Denga, MP for Mbare,
was recently banned from the area and beaten up by Zanu (PF) after he had
visited to supervise his Constituency Development Fund projects.

Does this sound like a party whose leader is serious about bringing about
peace and stability?

This reality makes it clear that the leopard has not and is not about to
change its spots. It would, therefore, be foolhardy for any party to hold
joint peace rallies with Zanu (PF). That party has lost the confidence and
support of the people. Tambai makachenjera.

Chipangano must be stopped and disbanded

http://www.swradioafrica.com

March 29th, 2012

It is my hope that from wherever he is, Border Gezi is allowed to look down
today and see the legacy of his narrow-minded and self-serving actions in
Zimbabwe.

I cannot pray for his comfort while I and our people continue to suffer
primarily because of his ignorantly selfish dabbling in politics.

If he feels a fraction of the pain and discomfort his invention is currently
causing to our nation, then there is no need for us to pray for justice or
for him.

The so-called Border Gezi Training Centres were nothing more than camps that
turned our youths into vigilantes and places where Gezi indoctrinated our
children with the art of brutality and political hooliganism, unsupported by
common sense.

These centres of evil are now mutating into several “independent vigilante
groups”.

Gezi taught our children to kill their own people, parents and relatives in
the pursuit of glorifying a man who had given him a job.

When Gezi’s murderous “graduates” left their training bases, son could no
longer trust parents; parents could no longer trust their daughters and
family relations were strained due to suspicions of each other.

Although the Border Gezi graduates were ZANU-PF party cadres, they were
government sponsored, making us understand that they were actually civil
servants on national duty.

Yes, it was a party issue, a misguided undertaking to brainwash the youths
into supporting and forcing people, through violence, to accept an unpopular
government and its policies.

But, with all their indiscriminate violence, akin to the same government’s
deployment of the murderous North Korean-trained Fifth Brigade for the same
purposes years earlier, the Border Gezi trainees were incorporated into
government policy.

Indeed, our children could no longer be admitted to secondary schools,
training institutes and like educational establishments without a
certificate from the Border Gezi Training Center.

Border Gezi instituted and ran so-called training centres for the youths but
when they graduated, we were suddenly their targets. Son was set against
father; mother against daughter and the once “together families” were
suddenly dangerously suspicious of each other, causing breakdown in
families, marriages and society.

In typical North Korean fashion, the government (ZANU-PF) sent our own off
spring to spy on us. Gradually, families degenerated into individuals. The
fall out from the Gezi madness destroyed families.

The Border Gezi kids were so successfully well trained in brutality that
they earned the moniker “Green Bombers”.

It is precisely because of this man Border Gezi that ZANU-PF legitimised
violence as can be seen in the mushrooming of several abnormally militant
vigilante groups aligned to ZANU-PF, like the infamous Chipangano, whose
epicentre is Mbare, and the Hurungwe-based Jochomondo, which are today
terrorising the nation but remain untouchable to the law.

These groups of violent youths have practically paralysed the nation to the
extent of making the police part of their victims because they appear to be
more powerful than the police while even ZANU-PF stalwarts and cabinet
ministers are literally afraid of them.

In November last year, “a US$5 million dollar housing scheme that would have
seen new housing units being built for the poor in Mbare” had to be moved to
Dzivarasekwa, after the notorious Chipangano gang demanded 51 percent of the
houses.

The housing scheme had been made possible by the philanthropic Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, which was also sponsoring similar projects in
Malawi and Angola.

Harare Mayor, Muchadeyi Masunda, of all people, powerlessly conceded that
they had to move the project to Dzivarasekwa because they risked losing out
on the funding if they gave in to Chipangano’s outrageous demands.

Earlier in the year, the group had rampaged through Harare Town House,
beating up council employees as police watched.

This culminated in this group of misfits invading Parliament, beating up MP’s
and journalists. To this day, no arrests have been made for the violation of
the sanctity of parliament and the injuring of lawmakers.

The other day, Chipangano was reported to have “taken over many council
properties in Harare and are now collecting huge sums of money illegally
from vendors and minibus drivers”.

Claims, which could not be contradicted, were made to the effect that
“Chipangano is practically running a ‘parallel Council’”.

Newsday reported that “MDC-T Cabinet ministers and MPs whose constituencies
are in Harare have resorted to holding secret door-to-door meetings with
their supporters following a ban on their rallies” by Chipangano.

How an illegal group of misfits can thumb their noses at law and order,
prevent lawmakers from doing their rounds in their constituencies and defy
the police is a mystery only in that we do not know who, in ZANU-PF, their
master is.

ZANU-PF has always had a knack of establishing groups whose control they
eventually lose.

ZANU-PF first lost control of itself; then they created the bogus war
veterans, who must be quite exasperated by the emergency of Chipangano, and
went on to lose control of that group as can be evidenced by it being
dominated by non war veterans like Jabulani Sibanda and Joseph Chinotimba.

Now Chipangano has entered the scene with pretty much the same kind of
violent intentions as we witnessed with the war veterans during the heyday
of farm inventions.

While war veterans invaded farms, beat up or killed their rightful owners,
Chipangano is doing the very same thing but now against the black population
of Zimbabwe, particularly in the urban areas and their tentacles are
spreading.

The heart of the matter is that ZANU-PF, like the famed tokoloshi, has never
been able to survive without violence, without blood letting.

Chipangano is just one symptom of many that afflict ZANU-PF whose elders are
now so blood-soaked that they need daily doses of blood, not water.

The trouble with violence is that it feasts on itself and its offspring.

It is a matter of public record how so many people, from the revered Josiah
Tongogara to his deputy Solomon Mujuru, died under mysterious and still as
yet unexplained circumstances.

Without violence, ZANU-PF does not stand a chance.

The other day, Harare Council Housing and Community Services Committee
chairperson, Charles Nyatsuro, told Newsday that even Local Government
minister Ignatius Chombo is worried about Chipangano in Mbare and “promised
to engage the Home Affairs co-ministers, Kembo Mohadi and Theresa Makone, so
that they bring to an end the chaos”.

Only last year did these two concede that Chipangano was more powerful than
the police and that, indeed, Chipangano was actually arresting the police.
Chombo is naïve.

Apart from beating up people, Chipangano is also disrupting development
projects meant to benefit the people in the area. They are not just causing
mayhem; they are actually setting up structures and are extorting money from
people. They are also setting up branches in other towns around the country,
yet there is no indication if whoever created this gang of misfits can still
control them.

The Stanley Foundation, which seeks “a secure peace with freedom and
justice, built on world citizenship and effective global governance”, says
that mass violence is a political tool used by those with power for their
own strategic objectives.

“It is not an unpreventable and unmanageable explosion of existing tensions.
Ethnic and other social divisions can be manipulated by the powerful, but
genocide and mass atrocities don’t occur spontaneously. And that means they
can be prevented.”

But who is going to rein in Chipangano? ZANU-PF and its government created
the war veterans and gave them powers outside the parameters of law.
Eventually, they lost control and the war veterans’ organisation is now
fragmented and basically ineffective with physical violence being the only
thing it claims to have.

Now Chipangano is going national and the politicians who created it are
quacking in their boots.

ZANU-PF and the unity government must move quickly to disband Chipangano and
arrest the perpetrators of violence and the extortionists along with those
ZANU-PF leaders who have and are benefitting from the illegal existence and
operations of this group.

After the way in which our country and our people suffered and continue to
suffer at the hands of the so-called war veterans, Chipangano must be
stopped as a matter of urgency. Our nation cannot stomach the existence of
another vigilante group of cowards who feast on the innocent, hardworking
citizens.

But, again, looking at how ZANU-PF people benefitted from the farm invasions
led by the war veterans, Zimbabwe is once again exposed to rape and anarchy
by its own children.

Shame on us.

I am Tanonoka Joseph Whande and that, my fellow Zimbabweans, is the way it
is today, Thursday, March 29th, 2012.

‘Do diplomatic ties trump human rights?’

March 29 2012 at 01:58pm
By ZELDA VENTER

A Pretoria High Court judge questioned what recourse the victims of crimes against humanity in Zimbabwe had, if the South African police and the National Prosecuting Authority refused to investigate and prosecute the perpetrators.

According to the police, they had no obligation to investigate these crimes, as the South African courts did not have the jurisdiction to hear the matter.

“Does this mean one can take all the complaints regarding acts of inhumanity and put them in the dustbin?” Judge Hans Fabricius asked.

He was also not impressed by the arguments advanced on behalf of the SAPS that one of the reasons why the SAPS did not investigate these crimes – committed in 2007 when the Zimbabwe police raided the offices of the Movement for democratic Change (MDC) – was because this could strain diplomatic relations.

The judge wanted to know whether diplomatic relations with the Zimbabwean government were more important than people’s human rights. While counsel for the police elaborated on this point, the judge remarked: “I can just throw my hands in horror…”

The judge said he judged this case on law and not on politics.

Counsel for the SAPS, Andre Ferreira, delivered his argument on Wednesday in the application by the Southern African Human Rights Litigation Centre Trust and the Zimbabwean Exiles’ Forum (Salc).

They are asking the judge to review and set aside the decision by the NPA and SAPS not to investigate Zimbabwean officials allegedly linked to acts of torture when more than 100 people were arrested and tortured following the 2007 raid in Zimbabwe.

Salc said SA was, in terms of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court Act (ICC Act) obliged to investigate these crimes.

Ferreira said the issue which cut through this case was that there was no purpose for investigating these crimes, as the South African courts did not have jurisdiction to try this case.

He said this was one of the reasons taken into consideration by the then police commissioner Tim Williams for not investigating the matter.

“It would have been an exercise in futility… The commissioner said: ‘Why should I investigate if the courts here have no jurisdiction to adjudicate against the crimes committed?’”

Ferreira said it wasn’t their case that the SAPS couldn’t investigate cases under the Rome Statue, but in this specific instance it would have served no purpose.

“If we do not have the jurisdiction to try the case here, an investigation would have been a waste of the South African public’s money.”

He told the court that it wasn’t the case of the SAPS that torture wasn’t a crime in SA, but questioned why South Africans should foot the bill for “something which would lead nowhere”.

Ferreira asked that the application by Salc should be dismissed with costs, saying the application was bad in law from the start.

This prompted Judge Fabricius to ask Ferreira whether he was a philosopher. The judge cited a German phrase, roughly translated as “a value in itself”. The judge questioned whether cases weren’t sometimes brought to court so that victims could bring injustices to the court’s and the public’s attention.

“Maybe this is a value in itself… If everyone is silent, no one will be heard,” he said.

Pretoria News

Small steps in fixing Zimbabwe